国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

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XXVIII

Through nearly 160 years, the monstrous apparition which had received the name of Lago de Chiamay, had haunted all the maps of Asia. In Ramusio's Na-

vigationi et Viaggi, 1550, we find this lake first mentioned. It originates from the description of Giovan de Barros. This lake was located to the district N.N.E. or

N.E. of the Bay of Bengal, and it was believed to give rise to four or more large

rivers. In the year 1649, Vincent le Blanc even knows the dimensions and other characteristics of this lake. The great cartographers Sanson d'Abbeville and Mar-

tini are blind believers in its existence. Ptolemy had no idea of such a lake. Lago

de Chiamay must therefore be a new conception which had got a footing in the maps. I have succeeded in proving that this seemingly phenomenal lake nevertheless

had a solid foundation in reality. According to Visscher, Lago de Chiamay has already begun to wander. On the map of Cantelli, it has made so large a stride to the West, that Barantola and Lassa are situated to the East of its bed. Isbrants Ides in 1704 removes the lake far to the N.W. but, to be on the safe side, he lets another lake lie in the old place and form the source of the great rivers. In 1705, Delisle retains the lake, but lets only one river take rise from its waters. On his map of 1723, he has, as mentioned, finally struck it out. But in the meantime the lake has wandered towards the West to the place where it is in reality situated. Lago de Chiamay is namely nothing else than Manasarovar, which has been considered, and by the peoples of the East is, to this day, believed, to give rise to the great Indian rivers.

In my relation I then pass on to two Swedes of great merit, Strahlenberg and Renat, who had served in the army of Charles XII and occupied their time during captivity to make peaceful conquests in the interior of Asia. The map of Strahlenberg, published at Stockholm in 1730, touches principally on the northern parts of the continent, but even extends so far to the South as to comprise the sources of the Indus and the Ganges. In several respects, it is superior to many other contemporary maps. This can be said in a still higher degree of Renat's map of the Tarim basin and its adjoining district. Here, Renat's map of 1733 is at least as near to reality as the map referring to Central Asia in Stieler's Hand-Atlas

of 1875.1

I In this connection I wish to mention another Swede, whose name is not to be found in my relation. For linguistic purposes, Johan Otter made a journey in 1738-1739 to Bagdad, Ispahan and Basra, thereby taking the opportunity also to note down certain geographical observations. About the Ganges he says: »Le Gange, une des grandes rivières de l'Inde, sort des montagnes du 'l'ebet ou de la Tatane. Il coule du nord au sud et se décharge par deux principales bouches dans le golfe de