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MOORCROFT, WILLIAM (c. 1770–1825)

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 807 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOORCROFT, See also:WILLIAM (c. 1770–1825) , See also:English traveller, was See also:born in See also:Lancashire, about 1770. He was educated as a surgeon in See also:Liverpool; but on completing his course he resolved to devote himself to veterinary See also:surgery, and, after studying the subject in See also:France, began practice in See also:London. In 1795 he published a pamphlet of directions for the medical treatment of horses, with See also:special reference to See also:India, and in 'Soo a Cursory See also:Account of the Methods of Shoeing Horses. Having been offered by the See also:East India See also:Company the inspectorship of their See also:Bengal See also:stud, Moorcroft ]eft See also:England for India in 18o8. Under his care the stud rapidly improved; in See also:order to perfect the breed he resolved to undertake a See also:journey into Central See also:Asia to obtain a stock of See also:Turkoman horses. In company with See also:Captain William Hearsey, and encumbered with a stock of merchandise for the purpose of establishing See also:trade relations between India and Central Asia, Moorcroft See also:left Josimath, well within the mountains, on the 26th of May 1812. Proceeding along the valley of the Dauli, they reached the See also:summit of the frontier pass of Niti on the 1st of See also:July. Descending by the towns of Darba and See also:Gartok, Moorcroft struck the See also:main upper See also:branch of the See also:Indus near its source, and on the 5th of See also:August arrived at the sacked See also:lake of Manasarowar. Returning by See also:Bhutan, he was detained some See also:time by the Ghurkas, and reached See also:Calcutta in See also:November. This journey only served to whet Moorcroft's appetite for more extensive travel, for which he prepared the way by sending out a See also:young See also:Hindu, who succeeded in making extensive explorations. In company with him and See also:George Trebeck, Moorcroft set out on his second journey in See also:October 1819.

On the 14th of August the source of the See also:

Beas (Hyphasis) was discovered, and subsequently that of the See also:Chenab. See also:Leh, the See also:capital of Ladakh, was reached on the 24th of See also:September, and here several months were spent in exploring the surrounding See also:country. A commercial treaty was concluded with the See also:government of Ladakh, by which the whole of Central Asia was virtually opened to See also:British trade. See also:Kashmir was reached on the 3rd of November 1822, See also:Jalalabad on the 4th of See also:June 1824, See also:Kabul on the loth of June, and See also:Bokhara on the 25th of See also:February 1825. At See also:Andkhui, in Afghan See also:Turkestan, Moorcroft was seized with See also:fever, of which he died on the 27th of August 1825, Trebeck surviving him only a few days. But according to the See also:Abbe See also:Hue, Moorcroft reached See also:Lhasa in 1826, and lived there twelve years, being assassinated en his way back to India in 1838. In 1841 See also:Moor-See also:croft's papers were obtained by the See also:Asiatic Society, and published, under the editorship of H, H. See also:Wilson, under the See also:title of Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the See also:Punjab, in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawur, Kabul, See also:Kunduz and Bukhara, from 1819 to 1825. See See also:Graham Sandberg, The Exploration of See also:Tibet (1904).

End of Article: MOORCROFT, WILLIAM (c. 1770–1825)

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