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

NAIN SING.

236

place he says: I »From the Mariham-la the road descends gradually, following close to the north of the main source of the Brahmaputra, and within sight of the gigantic

glaciers, which give rise to that great river. About 5o miles from its source the

road is for the first time actually on the river ...» First he says that the road from Maryum-la follows the main source of the Brahmaputra, i. e. the Maryum-chu.

Then that the glaciers, i. e. of Kubi-gangri, give rise to that great river, and finally that only after 5o miles from the source is one actually on the river. These 5o miles bring us to Tamlung-la for the Maryum-la is only 3o miles from the confluence. Thus it is impossible to say whether Maryum-la, Tamlung-la or the glaciers are regarded as the source of the river. 2 Although it is most likely that he regards the branch, which I have identified as the Chema-yundung, as the source.

Between the upper part of this branch and L. Gunkyud Cho, Nain Sing has correctly entered a chain of mountains. But the above-mentioned mighty range stretching N.E. from Gurla and which on his map does not give any change at all to Tage-tsangpo, does not exist. He has entered the Kubi-gangri and its continuation south of the Chema-yundung as a continuous range. He correctly places, »l\Iany Large Glaciers», from which three small tributaries go down to Chema-yundung. There is no sign of the Kubi-tsangpo as in reality the confluence of that river with the Chema-yundung takes place below the junction of the Maryum-chu and Chemayundung. So that although Nain Sing understood that the Brahmaputra received the greatest amount of its water from these glaciers, he never saw the source branch of the Tsangpo and consequently has nothing to tell us about it in his report, nor on his map. His journey was a beautiful and admirable performance, but as far as the source of the Brahmaputra is concerned his map is a step backward into the darkness, — if compared with the Lamas' map. The same must be said of his representation of the mountains S.W. of the sources. The Lamas knew that the Gurla, the Langchen-kabab, the Tamchok-kabab and the »M. Cocoun Kentchian» etc., all belonged to one and the same upheaval or fold in the earth's crust. This important truth, which gives the key to the understanding both of the orography and hydrography of these regions, has been disfigured on

I »Report on the Trans-Himalayan Explorations, in connection with the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, during x865-67: Route-Survey made by Pundit —, from Nepal to Lhasa, and thence through the upper valley of the Brahmaputra to its source.» Proceedings Royal Geogr. Society Vol. XII, 1867-68, p. 146 et seq. Further in T. G. Montgomerie : »Report of a Route-Survey made by Pundit —, from Nepal to Lhasa, and thence through the Upper Valley of the Brahmaputra to its source.» Journal Royal Geogr. Society Vol. 38, 1868, p. 129 et seq.

2 Nor has Petermann in his translation of the report been able to make the meaning clearer: »Vorn Mariam-la senkt sie (die Strasse) sich wieder langsam, indem sie dem Hauptquellfluss des Brahmaputra nahe an seinem nördlichen Ufer folgt und in Sicht der riesenhaften Gletscher bleibt, welche jenem grossen Strome den Ursprung geben.» Petermann's Mitteilungen, 1868, p. 233 et seq.