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

RICHARD STRACHEY.

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cuts it through caused us to descend to the level of the lake     This depression in the

ridge between the lakes marks the point where the south-eastern dated gravel deposits, over which

we had been travelling from Lagan-Tung-kong (   1 corner of the Rakas-tal), give

place to the stratified rocks which constitute the projecting headland on the east shore of Rakas-tal, and which are continued across to the cliffs at the north-west corner of Manasarowar we crossed the hollow, which was close to the edge of Manasarowar, there were one

or two small pools of water, around which the flat and the lake muddy and covered with an

efflorescence of salt,     Between this muddy a   e is a raised beach of shingle,

its top, I suppose, about six feet above the level of the water of the lake on the one side, and of the muddy flat on the other, between which it forms a complete raised embank-

ment     These beaches are, no doubt, mainly produced by the action of the breakers

After having reached the neighbourhood of the outgoing stream, Richard Strachey and Mr Winterbottom went on to examine the place where the stream that flows from the Manasarovar leaves the lake. Approaching Ju (Chiu-gompa), a steep rocky point forced them to ascend. »From the height to which we climbed we looked down on the stream that connects Manasarovar and Rakas-tal. The rocks on which we stood formed one flank of the ravine through which it flowed; on its

opposite bank was the monastery of Ju     The ground at the bottom of the
ravine was quite flat, and about on a level with the surface of the lake. A raised beach, which swept in a well-rounded curve along the edge of the lake, was cut through by the effluent stream. This was of no great breadth, and apparently shallow and connected with several pools of still water that looked like old channels. It is strange that Moorcroft, deliberately going to look for the point of efflux, should not have noticed it.»

After a quotation from Moorcroft he continues : »From this it would seem that he passed over the identical beach I have mentioned, and that he describes the pools of water under the monastery outside of it. The illness from which he tells us he was suffering may have interfered with his powers of observation, but for the rest it must be presumed, that the water in the lake was lower than usual when he passed, or that the bar was higher, so that no water was then actually running over it; and as he walked along the edge of the lake, his eye would have been so near the level of the water that a very small irregularity of the beach might have concealed the course of the stream from his view.»

He made a sketch of the outlet and says the eastern lake is of course somewhat higher than the western, but he could not ascertain the difference. From some distance he could »trace the hollow through which the stream that connects them runs.» I As to the hollow or bay about halfway oil the western side of the Manasa-

I A German, H. Singer, has written a short and rather good article: »Rakas-tal und Manasarowar» (Petermann's Mitteilungen, 46. Band, 1900, p. 166), in which he discusses the diary of. Sir

y   g   9

Richard Strachey, published in the Geographical hical ournal z 00. Here, however, we read the sur rising reflexion: »Das Tagebuch des Generals beweist nicht das, was es beweisen soll; eher das Gegenteil.v Further he says : »Liest man ferner die Beschreibung,die R. Strachey von dem Ausfluss und dem Thale gibt, und vergleicht damit seine Skizze, so ersheint der Gedanke doch keineswegs Völlig ab-