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

,   138

THE SOURCE OF THE SATLEJ.

1907 there was a depression in the curve of precipitation, between two maxima. But already in 1908 the curve had begun to rise decidedly again as will be seen in the next chapter.

On his map there is no connection between the two lakes, but the Satlej issues from the Rakas-tal.

Dr. Longstaff joined Sherring on June 27th and entered Tibet on July 14th by the Lipu Lekh pass (16,780 feet). He was the third European to visit Taklakot. After a trip to Gurla he rejoined Sherring on July 29th and »marched the next day along the neck of land which separates this lake (Manasarovar) from that of Rakas, and camped on the shingle beach below Jiu Gom-pa, having crossed the partially dry, but deeply cut, connecting channel at the hot springs. The east end of the channel was closed by a raised bank of shingle, apparently due to wave-action, although there are signs, especially on the low cliffs at the north-west corner, that the level of the lake has fallen in recent times.» 1 Referring to p. 34 above, I will only say that this description of the very mouth of the channel does not quite agree with the one given by Sherring who saw a 4 feet high wall of sand thrown up by the eastern storms, whereas his companion saw a raised bank of shingle due to wave action. In 1907 and 1908 there were none, but this may be different in different years.

Then they continued to Misser (Misar), Tirtapuri and Gyanima. The Gyanima lake was smaller than in Strachey's time, which is not surprising as in Strachey's days the Manasarovar had a strong outflow, whereas the summer of 1905 was unusually dry as Sherring tells us.

On their way to the Shelshel pass (16,300 feet) they forded the Darma Yankti, Gan Yankti and Chu Naku, all rapid glacier streams with only slightly sunken beds. »The former is undoubtedly, as Sir Henry Strachey suggested in 1846, the longest branch of the headwaters of the Satlej, while the three streams which combine to form the Chu-Kar must carry a greater volume of water than the Satlej where I forded it at Tirthapuri.» 2

As I only saw the mouth of Chu-kar from the northern bank of the Tirtapuri Satlej I cannot judge, but find it not unlikely that the Chu-kar carries more water, generally, than the Satlej, although I found the northern, Transhimalayan tributaries to the Satlej very considerable in 1908. But adhering to Colonel Burrard's definition, the Darma-yankti is not the longest branch of the headwaters of the Satlej, for from its source to the junction it is, as the crow flies, only 43 miles long, whereas the length, from the source of the Tage-tsangpo to the junction, as the crow flies, and including the lakes, is 93 miles.

I »Notes on a journey through the Western Himalaya.» Geographical Journal, Vol. XXIX, Febr. 1907, p. 201 et seq.

2 Loc. cit. p. 208.