National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Southern Tibet : vol.2 |
i
TAGE-TSANGPO THE SOURCE OF THE SATLEJ. 143
mouth. So the result at which I arrived by hydrographical deductions was perfectly corroborated by the opinion of the natives.
The uppermost Tage-tsangpo is formed by two branches. The northern one, which originates from the Tamlung-la (17,382 feet) is a mere brook. The southern, Ganglung-chu, which comes from the Gang-lung glacier, is more considerable. There can be no doubt as to which of these two is the most important. Of course the one which is longest, which has the greatest amount of water, which originates from the greatest absolute height and which is fed by glaciers. This is the case with Ganglung-chu and therefore the source of the Satlej is situated at the mouth of the Ganglung glacier, which was clearly visible at a distance of some nine miles south of my route over Tamlung-la.
In my earliest reports I called this source »the genetic source of the Satlej But having examined the problem now, I think the best term would be: the real and principal source of the Satlej at the present epoch.
The Ganglung glacier is fed by eternal snows and nevées on a mountain massive, called Ganglung-gangri and which is a link in the gigantic chain to which Gurla-mandata and Kubi-gangri belong. This Ganglung-gangri, or »Ice mountain of the glacier valley» is called, on d'Anville's map of April 1733, IIont Lantchia Kepou, which is a corruption of the Tibetan Lanchen-kabab or Elephant's mouth.
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