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

94

ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, THE SCHLAGINTWEITS, AND OTHERS.

Cunningham obtained from different people, namely, »that the Garo river is the Singgé-chhu or Indus, and that there is no great eastern branch». We know that this view is a great mistake, for the river of Garo is Garchung or Gartang and the »great eastern branch» is the Singi-kabab. Cunningham believes that this eastern branch entirely owes its existence to Gerard, who could only account for the two names of Higong-chu and Singgé-chhu by supposing them to belong to different streams. Previous to Moorcroft's travels, he says, an eastern branch had been inserted on the maps, but afterwards Arrowsmith represented it by a clotted line.

He is positive in giving the exact place of the source of the Indus: »According to my information, the true source of the Inclus lies to the north-west of the holy lakes of Manasarovara and Rawan Hrad, in the south-western slopes of the Gangri or Kailas mountain, in latitude north 31° 20', and east longitud 8o° 30'. Calculating the discharge he also proves that no large stream can join the Garo river above Rânak.

As to the Satlej, whose name in the hills is Satludr or Satrudr, he has the following passage, which proves that he was clear-sighted enough to believe in and understand the important discoveries of the Stracheys : 2 »The rise of the Sutlej in the holy lakes of Manasarovara and Rawan-Hrad has been satisfactorily ascertained by the adventurous journeys of Captain H. Strachey and Lieut. R. Strachey. The most remote sources of the Sutlej are the eastern feeders of the holy lakes, in N. lat. 30° 35', and E. long. 81° 35'. Numerous small streams flow from all sides into the great lake of Manasarovara, which overflows at its N. W. corner into the lake of Rawan-Hrad.» The Tibetan name for the Manasarovar he gives as Tsho-Maphan .3

A splendid map by JOHN WALKER adorns his book. On it the N. E. branch of the Indus is called »Senge Khabap or Indus R» which is correct but not in harmony with the text.

ADOLPH and ROBERT SCHLAGINTWEIT reached Ngari-khorsum in 1855. They had no opportunity to proceed to Tibet Proper but gathered much information about it from natives in Sikkim, Nepal, Ladak and Ngari, as well as from British Pundits and French missionaries at Bonga and Tse-jrong.4 HERMANN VON SCHLAGINTWEIT tells us that the Pundit (NAIN SING) went to the sources of the Dihong and found that Maryum-la was the watershed between Satlej-Indus and Dihong. The sources of the Indus he calculates at a height of 16,000 feet on an average. but on his map the N. E. branch is not marked at all, in which he agrees with Cunningham's text,

I Op. cit. p. 84.

2 Op. cit. p. 128.

3 In »A Gazetteer of the territories under the Government of the I- ast-India Company, London 1857, p. 951, Edward Thornton quotes the description of the source of the Satlej as given by Cunningham. He also believes that Moorcroft seems to have approached near to the source, having come upon the Sutoodra or Sutluj.» As to the source of the Indus he says that Moorcroft, Trebeck and Gerard established, beyond any reasonable ground of doubt. that it was situated north of the Kailas Mountains, which is indeed the case.

4 Hermann von Schlagintweit: Reisen in Indien and Hochasien. Band II: Hochasien. Jena 1871.