We leave Robert Fortune's gripes, discoveries and adventures behind for now and start anew with someone else of antiquarian interest.  Sven Hedin (1865-1952) was a Stockholm-born adventurer, explorer, cartographer, scientist and author.  His admiration for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis aside, Hedin was truly one of the most admired men of his day.  He traveled to some of the most remote and unexplored regions on the planet, places that 19th century maps simply left blank. Sven Hedin went there and with his scientist-geographer-cartographer's eye, noted down everything. Future generations of explorers and adventurers benefited from his achievements.  I'm going to present excerpts from his two-volume work, "THROUGH ASIA" and focus on the parts when he was mainly in and around Xinjiang.  He went all over Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere but my focus will be on his adventures within China.  Enjoy!

THROUGH ASIA by Sven Hedin, Published by Methuen & Co., 36 Essex Street, W.C., London, 1898