"This route ... leads not only to Ilchi and Yarkand, but
also via Lob to the large and important city of Karashahr." And among the
routes attached to Mr. Johnson's original Report, we have: -
"Route No. VII. Kiria (see note 1 to last chapter) to CHACHAN and LOB
(from native information)."
This first revealed to me the continued existence of Marco's Charchan; for
it was impossible to doubt that in the CHACHAN and LOB of this Itinerary
we had his Charchan and Lop; and his route to the verge of the Great
Desert was thus made clear.
Mr. Johnson's information made the journey from Kiria to Charchan to be 9
marches, estimated by him to amount to 154 miles, and adding 69 miles from
Ilchi to Kiria (which he actually traversed) we have 13 marches or 223
miles for the distance from Ilchi to Charchan. Mr. Shaw has since obtained
a route between Ilchi and Lob on very good authority. This makes the
distance to Charchan, or Charchand, as it is called, 22 marches, which
Mr. Shaw estimates at 293 miles. Both give 6 marches from Charchand to
Lob, which is in fair accordance with Polo's 5, and Shaw estimates the
whole distance from Ilchi to Lob at 373, or by another calculation at 384
miles, say roundly 380 miles.
