gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Walker presents the annual report of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India for 1865–66, summarizing surveying operations, geographical observations, mapping, and exploration undertaken in and beyond British India. Of particular importance is Appendix A, containing an account by W.H. Johnson of his journey across the Karakoram to Khotan in Chinese Turkestan. Johnson describes the difficult routes, high passes, geography, settlements, and conditions encountered and records information on Khotan and its surrounding region. His observations are particularly significant for the history of jade, since Khotan was the principal historic source of nephrite supplied to China, obtained from the rivers and mountain districts around Khotan and Yarkand. The report provides an early firsthand European account of a region that remained extremely difficult for Western travelers to access during the nineteenth century.