IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
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Citation Information
404
CROSBY, ANGINIEUR, RAWLING, BRUCE.
The same year GRAHAM SANDBERG makes the Kara-korum, with the Karakorum Pass, continue straight to the east, to 85°, and calls it »Snowy Range seen by Wellby». But the map' on which this extraordinary information is given is very rough and cannot be treated seriously.
During the summer of . 1903 Captain C. G. RAWLING, together with Lieutenant HARGREAVES and the sub-surveyor RAM SING, carried out his memorable Exploration of Western Tibet and Rudok.2 Its chief object was the extension of Captain DEASY'S survey made in that direction in 1896.
RAWLING took the way of Lanak-la into Tibet and arrived at the Sumjiling Plain, which had been traversed by BOWER, DEASY and WELLBY. The way to Arport-tso was well known. Rawling turned south-east, keeping first south, then north of Bower in j890. Then he went due north following Deasy's track at the Antelope Plain, which was the farthest eastern point reached by Deasy. From here he returned to Yeshil-köl, where Hargreaves waited. Lungnak-la, 18,650 feet, was found to be of »partly disintegrated granite». I went, in 1908, a little north of Lungnak-la where everything was limestone.
Regarding the Shemen-tso he found that »at some former date it evidently occupied a much greater area». It was bitterly salt. North of the lake was the »Kiang Plain». From Rawling's map as well as from Deasy's, it is easy to see that the mountains in this part of Tibet are arranged in a much more irregular way than otherwise. »Largot Kangri runs roughly east and west, and from the east end of that range the Aru-tso mountains run south». On the map, however, the former stretches S. E., the latter S. S. E. which is more likely. Then he turned N. E. Of a part of the way to Memar Chaka he says: »Great ridges of limestone lying at an angle of 45° rose on either hand, while the bed of the stream was filled with immense boulders of concrete.» The Memar Chaka was found to be bitterly salt; »signs were plainly visible of the lake having been at some remote period about 8o feet higher than its present level».
The »Deasy Group» was estimated at »well over 21,000 feet».
Regarding »Lake Markham» he made the following observation:
The water of the lake at its western end is fresh , but as one travels towards the east the water becomes more and more impregnated with salt, until at its eastern end it becomes undrinkable. At the time of our visiting Lake Markham there was no overflow, the surplus water being apparently absorbed by the soil, or lost by evaporation. There is, however, a narrow channel at the eastern extremity, which at this date was very dry, but which bore evidence that at some season of the year the water escapes by this channel and drains into the low-lying ground to the north, which is white with salt.
1 The Exploration of Tibet. Calcutta, London 1904.
2 Geographical Journal. April i 905. Vol. XXV, p. 414 et seq. — and The Great Plateau. London 1905, Part. I.
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