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

Io6

TIiE Pli\TDITS OF MO`TGOMERIE.

outside would have taken him to the source of the Indus, which at the farthest point he visited was still a good-sized stream.» The robbers seemed to belong to the nomadic inhabitants of the Shellifuk (Selipuk) and Majin districts, who were noted as professional robbers.

After his return, on September 4th, the whole party left Giachuruff and went down the Inclus. On September 12th they reached the junction of the Indus and Gartok rivers. Quite correctly the Pundits regarded the eastern branch as the head river. 1

From the junction the third Pundit went to Demchok and the Ladak frontier, and the first, Nain Sing, to Gartok. As to this name he found it to be a corruption

of Gdrtod or upper Gar, but it was also called Gar-Yårsd from ydrsd summer and sa abode. The lower place was called Gar-Gunså, from gunga winter, and sa abode.

Over Totling they returned to Badrinath, after 18,000 square miles survey, 85o miles route-survey, So heights and 75 latitudes. From Totling to Shipki the route had not been surveyed before. Montgomerie summons up the important results of this expedition as follows : 2

The routes have also defined the courses of both the upper branches of the River Indus from near their sources to their junction, and the conjoint stream from that point into Ladak. Neither of these branches had been previously surveyed in any way, except a small portion of the Gartok branch above Gartok, which had been roughly laid down by Moorcroft. — The existence of the eastern branch was doubted by many geographers, as no Europeans had ever seen it.3 The Pundit's route has now proved that this eastern branch is the main stream known to the natives as Singh-gi-Chu or Singh-gi-Khamba (Lion's mouth), the River Indus itself, whilst the other branch, hitherto generally supposed to have been the main stream, is much smaller than the eastern one, and invariably called the Garjung-Chu. 4 — A number of lofty snowy peaks were determined from various stations of the route-survey, the most remarkable being the Aling-Gangri group north of the Indus, which, judging from the great mass of snow seen on the southern face during August and September, must be upwards of 23,000 feet above the sea, possibly as much as 24,000 feet. The Aling-Gangri group had never, as far as I am aware, been heard of before. They appear to be a continuation of the range between the Indus and the Pangkong Lake. The Pundit could see no farther continuation of the range to the East of Thok-jalung. — The Pundits crossed the great range between the Satlej and the Indus three times, that between Gartok and Chajothol once, between Chajothol and Giachuruff once, the Chomorang Range twice, and the Himalaya Range three times, each of the crossings involving a pass of over 17,000 feet, two of them being over 19,000 feet.»

As to the real source of the Indus Montgomerie makes the following interesting reflections, showing that he felt inclined to let the Indus rise from Kailas, although he found it more probable that it came from a place farther east.5

I After this trip no traveller went to the upper Indus, and the »3 or 4 marches» to the source were still left unknown when I succeeded in reaching the Singi-kabab, or source of the Indus in 1907.

2 Loc. cit. p. 158.

3 Only Henry Strachey had, from native information, indicated it on his map.

4 This view is the only correct one. By direct measurement I found in 1907 that the Singikamba, coming from Singi-kabab was considerably greater than the branch from Gartok. See lower down.

5 LOC. cit. p. I6o.