"Montgomerie's first recruit was Mohamed-i-Hameed [Abdul Hamid], a young Muslim clerk already trained in simple survey work. In the summer of 1863 he set out from Ladakh, the last outpost of British influence, and head across the Karakoram passes towards Yarkand, and oasis town on the ancient Silk Road. Both he and Captain Montgomerie knew that he was taking his life in his hands, and that detection meant almost certain death. Every effort, therefore, had been made to reduce to an absolute minimum the risk of discovery.  The surveying instruments he carried were of the smallest possible size, designed and made specially in the Survey of India workshop."