ains to note that Marco was
right, too, in his reference to the peculiar language of Wakhan; for
Wakhi--which is spoken not only by the people of Wakhan but also by the
numerous Wakhi colonists spread through Mastuj, Hunza Sarikol, and even
further east in the mountains--is a separate language belonging to the
well-defined group of Galcha tongues which itself forms the chief extant
branch of Eastern Iranian."

XXXII., pp. 171 seq., 175, 182.

THE PLATEAU OF PAMIR.

"On leaving Tash-kurghan (July 10, 1900), my steps, like those of
Hiuan-tsang, were directed towards Kashgar.... In Chapters V.-VII. of my
Personal Narrative I have given a detailed description of this route, which
took me past Muztagh-Ata to Lake Little Kara-kul, and then round the foot
of the great glacier-crowned range northward into the Gez defile, finally
debouching at Tashmalik into the open plain of Kashgari. Though scarcely
more difficult than the usual route over the Chichiklik Pass and by
Yangi-Hisar, it is certainly longer and leads for a considerably greater
distance over ground which is devoid of cultivation or permanent
habitations.

"It is the latter fact which makes me believe that Professor H. Cordier
was right in tracing by this very route Marco Polo's itinerary from the
Central Pamirs to Kashgar. The Venetian traveller, coming from Wakhan,
reached, after three days, a great lake which may be either Lake Victoria
or Lake Chakmak, at a 'height that is said to be the highest place in the
world.' He then describes faithfully enough the desert plain called
'Pamier,' which he makes extend for the distance of a twelve days' ride,
and next tells us: 'Now, if we go on with our journey towards the
east-north-east, we travel a good forty days, continually passing over
mountains and hills, or through valleys, and crossing many rivers and
tracts of wilderness. And in all this way you find neither habitation of
man, nor any green thing, but must carry with you whatever you require.'

"This reference to continuous 'tracts of wilderness' shows clearly that,
for one reason or another, Marco Polo did not pass through the cultivated
valleys of Tash-kurghan or Tagharma, as he would necessarily have done if
his route to Kashgar, the region he next describes, had lain over the
Chichiklik Pass. We must assume that, after visiting either the Great or
Little Pamir, he travelled down the Ak-su river for some distance, and
then crossing the watershed eastwards b