But Though I Prefer Sir H. Yule's
Route From Badakhshan, By The River Vardoj, The Pass Of Ishkashm, The
Panja, To Wakhan, I Do Not Accept His Views For The Itinerary From Wakhan
To Kashgar; See P. 175.
- H. C.]
The river along which Marco travels from Badakhshan is no doubt the upper
stream of the Oxus, known locally as the Panja, along which Wood also
travelled, followed of late by the Mirza and Faiz Bakhsh. It is true that
the river is reached from Badaskhshan Proper by ascending another river
(the Vardoj) and crossing the Pass of Ishkashm, but in the brief style of
our narrative we must expect such condensation.
WAKHAN was restored to geography by Macartney, in the able map which he
compiled for Elphinstone's Caubul, and was made known more accurately by
Wood's journey through it. [The district of Wakhan "comprises the valleys
containing the two heads of the Panjah branch of the Oxus, and the valley
of the Panjah itself, from the junction at Zung down to Ishkashim. The
northern branch of the Panjah has its principal source in the Lake
Victoria in the Great Pamir, which as well as the Little Pamir, belongs to
Wakhan, the Aktash River forming the well recognized boundary between
Kashgaria and Wakhan." (Captain Trotter, Forsyth's Mission, p. 275.) The
southern branch is the Sarhadd Valley. - H. C.] The lowest part is about
8000 feet above the sea, and the highest Kishlak, or village, about
11,500. A few willows and poplars are the only trees that can stand
against the bitter blasts that blow down the valley.
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