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『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

90

RICIIARD STRACHEI'.

north-eastern corner, and one comes from the S.E., but none of them can be identified with the Tage-tsangpo.

Already three years after his return Richard Strachey had written an important article: On the Physical Geography of the Provinces of Kunidon and Garha'czl ni Me Hine laya Mountains, and of the adjoining parts of Tibet.' There he expresses the following view of the source of the Indus: > One of the feeders of the

Indus, but not a principal one, likewise takes its rise a little to the N. of these lakes. From his brother he had heard that the main supply of water in the upper part of the Ladak Indus comes from the Sanskar river; the other affluents rise in a much dryer climate and contain by far less water. Moorcroft had made the same observation. J. E. Winterbottom regarded the Shayok as more important than the Ladak Indus.

He gives a beautiful description of the grand landscape round the lakes with the Kailas in the background and as a contrast to the utter desolation of everything. About the source of the Satlej : 2 :A stream, the head of which we visited,

flows from Manasarowar into Rakas Tal, and the latter occasionally, when high, sends off a feeder into the Sutlej ; the main sources of this river, however, are possibly in the streams that fall into it from the Himalaya, I o or 15 miles to the W. of Rakas Tal.

The nice little map illustrating the paper gives about the same as his brother's map mentioned above, Pl. XI. There are three affluents to the Manasarovar and effluents from both lakes.

Richard Strachey observed the relations between mountain ridges and river

courses, and found that the rivers almost universally flow in directions either parallel to the general direction of the chain or perpendicular to it. He distinguishes four different groups of rivers following this law: I) Those that drain the lower parts of the mountains. 2) "Those that rise immediately to the N. of the great peaks, passing between them in channels on the whole perpendicular to the chain, for instance the main affluents of the Ganges, and many of the rivers of Nepal. 3) Those having a considerable portion of their course parallel to the chain, and then suddenly turning to the southward issue from it in a direction at right angles to their upper parts; such are the Satlej and the Chinab. 4) The northern streams, as Indus and Tsangpo. This question has been dealt with by several geographers and geologists in recent years. 3

Richard Strachey also gives a good description of the course of the Satlej through the oeolian deposits of Guge and Chumurti.4

A year later Richard Strachey went viii the Niarshak pass (18,5W to Rajhote, visited the pass into Tibet called Tumjun-la (16,500) and went clown the river

I Journal Royal Geographical Society Vol. 21, 1851, p. 57 et seq.

2 Ibidem, p. 63.

3 Compare, for instance R. D. Oldham's article »The evolution of Indian Geography». graphical Journal, March 1894, Vol. III, p. 169 et seq.

4 Jour. Roy. Geo. Soc. 1851, p. 62.

Geo-