NOTE ON THE MAP. THE map of Central Asia which these volumes have the privilege of containing may certainly be considered to be the most remarkable that has accompanied any work upon this subject, or probably any other. I may say this without fear of being considered egotistical, as my share in its production has been very small. The credit belongs exclusively to Messrs. W. H. Allen and Co., who with rare enterprise have, at very great expense, placed at the disposal of the English reader and student a fac-simile of the latest issue of the map of Central Asia compiled by the Russian War Department. The names of all the principal places are marked upon it. The original map is contained in twelve sheets, and there are probably not a dozen copies of it in this country. The fac-simile is in half-scale-that is, one fourth the size of the original-and even thus reduced its bulk is considerable. I would beg to be permitted to point out that the great value of the map is that it discloses what the Russians believe to be the true geographical configuration of Central Asia. By reference to Walker's Turkestan, or other English maps, it will be found that in many points their information differs from ours. It may certainly be accepted as the highest authority on all the region north of the Oxus, including more particularly the Pamir and the adjoining khanates. While offering my acknowledgments to the publishers for the great assistance they have given my pages by the production of this, I believe, unequalled map, I indulge in the hope that their enterprise will be duly appreciated. D. C. BOULGER. |