MOORCROFT, William (c. 1770-1825), traveller in Asia, was born in Lancashire, about 1770. He was educated as a surgeon in Liverpool, but on completing his course he resolved to devote himself to veterinary surgery, and, after studying the subject in France, began its practice in London. In 1795 he published a pamphlet of directions for the medical treatment of horses, with special reference to India, and in 1800 a Cursory Account of. the Methods of Shoeing Horses. Having been offered by the East India Company the inspectorship of their Bengal stud, Moorcroft left England for India in 1808. Under his care the stud rapidly improved; in order to perfect the breed, he resolved to undertake a journey into Central Asia to obtain a stock of Turcoman horses. In company with Captain William Hearsay, and encumbered with a stock of merchandise for the purpose of establishing trade relations between India and Central Asia, Moorcroft left Josimath, well within the mountains, on 26th May 1812. Proceeding along the valley of the Dauli, they reached the summit of the frontier pass of Niti on 1st July. Descending by the towns of Daba and Ghortope, Moorcroft struck the main upper branch of the Indus near its source, and on 5th August arrived at the sacred lake of Manasarowara. Returning by Bhutân, he was detained some time by the Gùrkhas, and reached Calcutta in November. This journey only served to whet Moorcroft’s appetite for more extensive travel, for which he prepared the way by sending out a young Hindustani, who succeeded in making very extensive explorations. In company with this young man and George Trebeck, Moorcroft set out on his second journey in October 1819. His enterprise was looked upon rather coldly by the directors, who merely allowed him his pay for a time, all ...the expenses being borne by Moorcroft himself. By way of Almorâ and Srinagar, Lahore was reached on 6th May 1820. On 14th August the source of the Biyah (Hyphasis) was discovered, and subsequently that of the Chenäb. Leh, the capital of Ladâk, was reached on 24th September, and here several months were spent in exploring the surrounding country. A commercial treaty was concluded with the Government of Ladâk, by which the whole of Central Asia was virtually opened to British trade. Kashmir was reached on 3d November 1822, and by the Pir Panjâl mountains Jalâlâbâd on 4th June 1824, Cabul on 20th June, and by Khulm, Kunduz, and Balkh Moorcroft arrived at Bokhara on 25th February 1825. Everywhere he bought horses for the company, and endeavoured to establish trade relations. At Andkho in Cabul Moorcroft was seized with fever, of which he died on 27th August 1825, Trebeck surviving him only a few days. It was not till several years afterwards that his papers were obtained by the Asiatic Society, and published under the editorship of Horace Hayman Wilson in 1841 under the title of Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjâb, in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawur, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara, from 1819 to 1825. Though published so long after the traveller’s death, the narrative was a valuable contribution to a knowledge of Central Asia, and still remains a classic. In vol. xii. of Asiatic Researches will be found an account by Moorcroft of his first journey, and in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i., a paper on the Purik sheep.
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