There were no means of communicating with her.

A letter could be conveyed only by a special messenger; he could not get a messenger, and even if one had been forthcoming, he could not instruct him how to reach Thyma Castle.
He did not know himself; the country was entirely unexplored.

Except that the direction was west, he had no knowledge whatever.

He had often inquired of the shepherds, but they were perfectly ignorant.

Anker's Gate was the most westerly of all their settlements, which chiefly extended eastwards.