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

KLAPROTH.

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works, in which hardly anybody except himself was at home. Klaproth's map was practically the best in existence for some 4o years and all maps of Asia printed in Europe during that time were copi▪ ed from it. Dutreuil de Rhins' map, on the other hand, had no special geographical importance, only a great interest as a curiosity.

Klaproth's map has the following title: Carte de l'Asie Centrale dressée d'aj5rès les Cartes levées par ordre de l'Emj5ereur Khian Loung-, par les Missionaires de Peking, et d'après un grand nombre de notions extraites et traduites de livres chinois par M. ,pules Klaj5roth. Paris 1836.

We are, already at first sight, struck with the great harmony existing between the orographic and hydrographic systems as shown on this map. The basin of nearly every one of the great rivers is bounded in the most regular way by mountain ranges. Such is the case with the upper Indus, Satlej, Map-chu, Tsangpo, Raga-tsangpo, Targo-tsangpo and others. Here, to a certain extent, it has been sufficient to make use of the most elementary laws of physical geography, but on Klaproth's map the boundary ranges have become too simple; there is always only one single range separating two river systems from each other, as if the water-parting line always coincided with the highest crest of the different ranges. And therefore the orography, as a rule, becomes false, a fact which does not in the least diminish the great merit of the map and the high value it had at the time of its appearence. Many years after Klaproth's time European maps of Tibet were published, the orographical representation of which, for the country north of the Tsangpo, was much further from the truth than Klaproth's map.

There is a great resemblance between d'Anville's and the Ta-cla'ing map on one hand and Klaproth's on the other. But while d'Anville north of the Tsangpo has a great number of ranges, independent of each other, Klaproth has combined •

the different ranges into one main range, from -which several smaller ranges issue

•                      in different directions. On the meridian of Katmandu, however, the principal range divides into two, situated north and south of the river Dargou zzang bo tchou or the mysterious Targo-tsangpo.

I will now discuss the principal features- of the map so far as it touches upon our regions. The source of the Satlej is shown as situated in Lake Gounghiou at

the northern foot of Mount Lang,tsian kabab ghang- ri, and the topography is here

• ,   nearly the same as on d'Anville, though on all three maps it is difficult to say

whether L. Gounghiou or L. Goungha is meant to be the Gunchu-tso. The two famous lakes, Mapham mtso and Lang mtso are taken from Moorcroft, though Klaproth's hydrography is very much improved. He has the channel between both lakes in the right place, and the Tirtapuri Satlej issuing from the western lake.

The sacred mount north of the lakes is drawn rather as a range than a peak, and called VI. Tise, Tese Ghang, Ti se ri or Ka'flas'a. A short distance N.E. of its northern slope is the source of the Singdzing Khampa, and in the same neighbourhood we find the M. Sengghe kabab ghang ri. The southern Indus branch is called R.

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