Burnes, Alexander: Travels into Bokhara: containing the narrative of a voyage on the Indus from the sea to Lahore, ... and an account of a journey from India to Cabool, Tartary and Persia ; performed by order of the supreme government of India, in the years 1831, 32, and 33 (Band 1) (London, 1835)

PREFACE

TO

THE FIRST EDITION,

In the year 18311 was deputed in a political capacity
to the Court of Lahore, charged with a letter from
the King of England, and a present of some horses,
to the ruler of that country. The principal object of
my journey was to trace the course of the Indus, which
had only been crossed at particular points by former
travellers, and had never been surveyed but between
Tatta and Hydrabad. My success in that under-
taking, which was attended with many difficulties,
and the sight of so many tribes hitherto little known,
gave fresh strength to a desire that I had always
felt to see new countries, and visit the conquests of
Alexander. As the first European of modern times
who had navigated the Indus, 1 now found myself
stimulated to extend my journey beyond that river
— the scene of romantic achievements which I had
read of in early youth with the most intense
interest.

The design received the most liberal encourage-
ment from the Governor-general of India, Lord
William Bentinck, whom I joined at Simla, in the
Himalaya Mountains, after the termination of my
mission to Lahore. His Lordship was of opinion

a 4*