224 EUROPEAN SPECULATION UP TO THE MIDDLE OF THE LAST CENTURY.
and not at the Kubi-tsangpo, which, otherwise, on his map correctly comes from »the mountain with a horse's head».
HENRY STRACHEY also used the opportunity he had to get some information about the source of the Tsangpo, and what he found is this: »Immediately east of the mountains which bound that side of Cho Måpån near the Såmo-tokchim Tarjum, in the district of Hor Tol, rises a stream, Chima-Yungdung, so named from the profusion of the sand, 'Chima', which covers the ground about, probably the same granitic debris that spreads for miles around the base of Momonangli. This river flows eastward past Digarcha and Lhassa, and informants recognize the name of Bråhmapûtra, as applied to it by the Hindus of Nipål; or pretend to do so, for I am not sure that the Nipalese do identify the river as the Bråhmapûtra. — Chima Yundung is the local name of the sandy ground, in which the last river rises: it is said to originate in springs. East of its source in Hor Tal, this river takes the name of Eru-Zhungbu ...»
Enumerating, in the same article, the animal sources of the four rivers: Indus, Satlej, Karnali and Brahmaputra, Henry Strachey says, that the Brahmaputra, or Tamjyak Kamba, originates »from the Horse». The horse is Tamchok-kabab. But, from his informants, he gives the name Chima Yundung to the sandy ground >>in which the last river (Brahmaputra) rises». Here the confusion comes in: The Tarnchok-kamba rising from a place called Chema-yundung. Where then is Tamchokkabab or the source of the Horse river situated ? Chema-yundung may easily be the name of a sandy region, but the river that flows through it is not Tamchok-kamba but Chema-yundung. And the source of this river is a glacier, or perhaps several glaciers in the mountains called Chema-yundung-pu. In this particular point even the vague hydrography of KAWAGUCHI is better than Henry Strachey's. It is not surprising that Strachey's informant knew only the Chema-yundung and consequently believed that it was the source of the great Tsangpo. For the ordinary road over Tamlung-la touches Chema-yundung but not at all the principal river, which is Kubitsangpo. The nomads prefer the grass of the Chema-yundung which is more abundant and easier to get at. And there may, perhaps, be Tibetans, who really regard the Chema-yundung as the source of the Tsangpo, in which case, however, the Tamchok-kabab would have to be placed at Chema-yundung-pu, which is not the case.
Sir ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM who visited Ladak in 1846 and 1847, has, naturally enough, had no occasion to contribute to the knowledge of the source of the river. All he says is that the Brahmaputra's source is situated »on the eastern face of the Kailas mountain»,2 which proves, either that he did not know, or did not
I Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan (Rakas Tal), Cho Mapan (Manasarôwar), and the valley of Pruang in Gnari, Hûndés, in September and October 1846. Journal As. Soc. Bengal. Vol. XVII, Part II 1848, p. 327, 33o.
2 Ladak etc., with notices of the surrounding countries. London 1854, p. 158.
IIIFカラー高解像度
