'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎91] (110/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
91
of the water was 32° Fahr. At a distance of 600 yards
from the shore the depth of water was found to be nine feet;
it emitted a slightly fetid smell, and was of a reddish tinge."
The description and position of this lake, which was called by
Lieutenant Wood's guides, " Sir-i-kol," and to which he pro
posed to give the name of Lake Victoria, after Her Majesty, of
whose accession to the throne he had just heard, are accurately
given by Marco Polo, who states that it is the source of a
" handsome river."
The details of Wood's return to Koondooz, afford nothing
remarkable, and he arrived there after an absence of three
months. When on a visit at Hazrat Imaum, he heard that
Mohamed Rahim, the chief of Wakhan, whom he had seen, had
been murdered in open durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). by Murad Beg. Lieutenant
Wood and Dr. Lord also visited Khulm, and at Mazar, thirty
miles from thence, where the last of Moorcroft's party died,
Dr. Lord obtained possession of every book belonging to the
party, including even the daily cash account book; but there
were no manuscript records of their journey. On the 11th of
April, 1838, Messrs. Wood and Lord quitted Koondooz, re
entered Cabul on the 1st of May, and rejoined Captain Burnes
at Peshawur.
For his great achievement. Lieutenant Wood received
the Patron's Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society,
as stated, 44 for his survey of the Indus, and rediscovery of the
sources of the river Oxus.""* Not long after his return to Bom
bay, he resigned the Service, emigrated to New Zealand, under a
strong belief in the great future before that colony, but soon
after returned to Europe. In 1849, Sir Charles Napier,
then proceeding to assume the office of Commander-in-chief in
India, applied for permission to the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. to take
Lieutenant Wood with him, as his special knowledge of Scinde
and the Punjaub rivers would have been of advantage in the
^ The following are the other contributions to geographical literature by
Lieutenant John Wood:—"Memoranda on the River Indus," ("Bombay Geo
graphical Society's Journal," vol. i.); "Report on the Sources of the Oxus,"
(" Royal Geographical Society's Journal," vol. x. p. 520) ; " Selections from the
Records of the Bombay Government," No. 17.
There are several manuscript maps by Lieutenant Wood in the Geographical
Department of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; a series of sheets of the Indus, and a chart of the
Indus from Mittun to Attock (1838), four sheets, on a scale of two inches to the
mile. The original MS. maps, showing the routes of Lieutenant Wood in Central
Asia, are also preserved in the Geographical Department of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. .
They consist of a map of the valley of the Oxus from Koondooz to its source,
showing the new ground explored by Lieutenant Wood, 1837-38; a survey of
routes from Peshawur to Bamian, with sketches and sections of the Khyber and
Hindoo Koosh Passes; the route of Burnes' mission to Cabul in three sheets,
and the whole of Burnes' route from Cabul to Bokhara, and thence through.
Persia to Bushire, in nine sheets, drawn by Lieutenant Wood. There are
also a set of route-surveys in Turkistan (seven sheets), and a reconnoitring
survey of the Khawk Pass, the most easterly from Cabul to Balk in
Turkistan.