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

44-

STRAHLENBERG's EXCELLENT OROGRAPHY.

251

at its very foot. The interruption caused by the rivers Karausun and Ulanusun, the Black and the Red Water, does not agree with reality. Strahlenberg has practically discovered the existence of Tian-shan, though it seems very unlikely that he ever proceeded so far south personally. Of this fact ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT says: »Strahlenberg has the merit to be the first who has represented the Tian-shan as a special, independent range, without knowing the volcanic activity of the same.»'

Humboldt is less fortunate in his criticism of Strahlenberg's nomenclature.

I cannot help quoting two or three passages by Humboldt in his own words. He says: )Strahlenberg hat den Thian-shan auf der Karte, welche seinem ... Werke ... beigegeben ist, unter dem unrichtigen Namen Musart so dargestellt, dass er ziemlich leicht erkannt werden kann ; er nennt den Bolor Mustag und setzt dabei noch olim Paropamisus, was auf eine S.—N.-Kette sehr schlecht passt. Die Benennungen Musart und Mustag sind Corruptionen des tartarischen Wortes Muz-tagh., 2 In connection with Strahlenberg's merit of representing the Tian-shan on his map Humboldt says: »Er giebt ihm den sehr unbestimmten Namen Mousart: der, weil der Bolor mit dem allgemeinen, nichts individualisirenden, nur Schnee andeutenden Namen Mustag belegt wurde, noch ein Jahrhundert lang zu einer irrigen Darstellung und albernen, sprachwidrigen Nomenclatur der Gebirgsreihen nördlich vom Himalaya Anlass gegeben hat, Meridian- und Parallel Ketten mit einander verwechselnd.» 3

What Humboldt says of such a name as Mustag is quite right; it gives rise to misunderstandings and should disappear from the maps. In our own days one sees from time to time the Western Kara-korum called Mustag from the pass of the same name. I used to call the easternmost range of the Pamir Mus-tag,4 though Colonel Burrard prefers the name Kashgar Range, a proposal I most willingly accept. 5

Strahlenberg's Musart, on the other hand, is no corruption, as Humboldt believes. He says the correct word is Moussour tagh or Moussar tagh of which Musart should be the corruption. On the last edition of Stieler's Hand-Atlas, No. 62, the name is spelt exactly in the same way as on Strahlenberg's map 183 years ago, namely Musart. The only mistake, very excusable indeed, which Strahlenberg cornmitted in this case was to transfer a name, which belongs only to a very important pass situated just east of Khan-tengri, to the whole system, the Chinese name of which was unknown to the Swedish officer. Another mistake was to believe that Tianshan consisted of only one single range, but this was also Humboldt's opinion, 6

I Kosmos. Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung. 1858, Vol. IV, p. 607.

z Central-Asien, Übersetz. Dr. W. Mahlmann. Berlin 1844. Bd I, p. 372.

3 Kosmos, IV, 1858, p. 607. Compare also Fragmens Asiatiques, Tome Premier, Paris 1831, P. 48 and 6o.

a See my little map in Zeitschrift der Gesellsch. f. Erdkunde zu Berlin Bd. XXIX, 1894, Tafel 8. Through Asia, Vol. I, p. 273 and 311, Vol. II, p. 705.

5 A Sketch, etc. Part I. Calcutta 1907.

6 Fragmens Asiatiques, map.