of the ruler of Kashgaria, who was also the mother of the current ruler of Hotan. She was returning to her homeland from a hajj to Mecca and had run out of money. The Jesuit lent her some funds, which she later repaid with quality jade. From another traveler he met, Góis learned about the existence of "a city called Capperstam, into which no Mahomedan is allowed to enter" (according to Yule, a reference to the region of Kafiristan), and he got a taste of the local people's wine, which he found quite similar to European wine. From Kabul, Góis and Isaac went north, crossing the Hindu Kush. Having left the domain of the Moghuls and entered the territory under the authority (at least nominally) of the Khan of Samarcand, Ferghana, and Bukhara, they made a stop in Taloqan ("Talhan") in today's northern Afghanistan. The area was in turmoil, with the "Calcia" people, "of light hair and beard like the Belgians" being in rebellion against the Bukharan rulers. While "Galcha" is an archaic term that referred a broad number of people, which cannot be directly matched to any single modern ethnic group, it was described by at least one author as a name used by lowland Tajiks for the Pamiri people. Having passed through the land of the Calcia rebels with only minor losses, the caravan continued eastward, on dangerous roads across the Pamirs. Neither Yule in 1866, nor Cornelius Wessels in 1924, was able to identify most of the places mentioned by Góis, but they mentioned that his was probably the only published account of a European crossing the region between the expedition of Marco Polo and the 19th century. The caravan reached Yarkand ("Hiarchan") in November 1603. Yarkand had been the capital of Kashgaria (western Tarim Basin) since the days of Abu Bakr Khan (ca. 1500). Góis and Isaac spent a year there to wait for the formation and departure of a caravan to Cathay. They knew that every few years a caravan would leave Yarkand, with primarily of local merchants carrying jade to the capital of Cathay (i.e., Beijing) under the guise of "tribute" to the Ming Emperor, from various Central Asian rulers. According to the custom, the emperor would choose the best jade for himself, generously reimbursing the Kashgarians, and the rest of the jade could be sold to Beijing merchants. Góis also made a side