IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 : vol.4 |
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Citation Information
504
EXPLORERS' JOURNEYS IN HIGH TIBET.
aujourd'hui à sec, qui ont été façonnés et polis par les eaux durant des siècles et affectent une régularité qu'on croirait artificielle. Sur les parois du lac Sinueux on aperçoit la marque de l'ancien niveau à près d'un mètre au-dessus du niveau actuel. Nous avons noté deux lacs récemment desséchés, dont le fond peut avoir encore un peu d'eau au mois de juillet. Enfin entre l'Altyn tâgh et l'Oustoun tâgh, particulièrement sur notre route entre le Kéria daria et l'Angid koul, et en divers points des plateaux du nord, nous avons observé un grand nombre de cuvettes de faibles dimensions, où les eaux ont évidemment séjourné autrefois, à une époque assez
reculée.»
Generally speaking, all this agrees on the whole with my own observations, except that we must not restrict the desiccated lakes to the area indicated by Grenard: the region in which they occur with the greatest frequency would appear to be in the neighbourhood of the highest mountains.
With regard to the rivers of the Tibetan plateau Grenard says that the longest have a course of 5o to 6o km. Amongst them he names the Jäschil-su in the west and »la rivière de l'Antilope» in the east. In the region to the north of the Dutreuil de Rhins mountain-range he speaks of a river which was 15 m. broad and 3 feet deep, though it was only a sound connecting two lakes. On the south side of the same range they passed a river-bed, which was 32o m. broad, but perfectly dry, and which terminated in a lake that was likewise dried up. South of lat. 32° 20' running streams became more numerous. »La rivière des Lièvres qui se jette dans le lac des Perdrix, roule à la fin d'octobre une eau rapide, profonde de deux pieds. Sa vallée est d'ailleurs exceptionnellement encaissée. Le torrent tributaire du lac ammoniaque est aussi assez abondant et encaissé.» South of the Lha-ri Me-long range the rivers are bigger still. He estimates at 75 km. the length of the Gyou tchou, which empties into the Panggong-tso; while he puts the length of the Bogtsangtsangpo at 135 km.
But I cannot dwell longer upon Grenard's valuable and extremely useful work, beyond saying that it is absolutely indispensable for every student of the geography of Tibet; it is far superior to any other of the accounts which I have here briefly touched upon. And its own intrinsic value is in a high degree enhanced by the map which Grenard prepared and has published in an atlas of 25 sheets on the scale of 1: 500,000. This again marks an incalculable advance upon even the maps prepared by the officers of the Russian General Staff. The astronomical observations were made by Dutreuil de Rhins. The mountain-ranges are shown by means of equidistant curves, which makes them stand out with sufficient distinctness, even though they are sometimes drawn only in outline. All altitudes are entered, and the depressions are shown in a clear and distinct way. The map would undoubtedly have gained in appearance had colour been used, although it can of course be dispensed with. In so far as I am in a position to check the topographical details of the map, they are very exact, and it is not difficult, even without the help of the astronomical observations, to determine where you are. Such errors -- and it is of
* J. L. Dutreuil de Rhins, Mission Scientifique dans la Haute Asie 1890-1895. I. Récit du Voyage ; III. Histoire-Linguistique-Archéologie-Géographie, by F. Grenard.
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