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
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LIEUT. MACARTNEY.
II9
lay down a range of mountains under the name of Mus Tag, which seems to cornmence to the north of the eastern extremity of Hemalleh , and to run parallel to that mountain on the north, as far as the 67th degree of east long.»
The inquiries they made during the Cabul Mission only traced a small part of the extent of this range. Lieut. MACARTNEY followed it from Aksu to the west
of Leh, »but the remaining part of its alleged course is probable, and though I have
not access to the proofs of its existence, I have no reason to doubt it». He, however, takes the chain for granted and calls it Mooz Taugh. He translates the word
correctly and says at least one place in the range is called so, namely, where this
name »is occasioned by a glacier near the road from Jarcund to Laudauk. This range, or a particular pass in it, near the road just mentioned, is well known in
Toorkistaun by the name of Karra-koorrum». Elphinstone thus suspected that the
now so famous name of Kara-korum might easily belong to a whole range, and not only to a pass. And he believes that, although the Mus-tagh stands on higher
ground than the Hindu-kush, its summits must be lower. »It is in the southern side of Mooz Taugh, that the Indus appears to have its source, and on the opposite side the waters run north into Chinese Toorkistaun». As Elphinstone regarded the Shyok as the source of the Indus, the above passage is perfectly correct and I think no European before him has expressed this truth.
He believes in the existence of a tableland south of the Mus-tagh, supported by Himalaya and Hindu-kush and from which the descent to the plains of Hindustan
is comparatively sudden. He thinks it may be 200 miles broad, but he has no
information of its eastern extension beyond the meridian of Ladak. »The eastern part of it is occupied by the extensive country of Tibet.» The general rule which
we remember already from Ptolemy, viz., that the knowledge becomes more vague
the farther north, appears here as well. Elphinstone tells us that west of Tibet is Little Tibet and Kaushkaur, mountainous countries of no great extent. North-west of
Kashgar he places the »plain of Pamere». The western face of the table-land is
supported by a range of mountains, which runs from the chain of Mooz Taugh to that of Hindoo Coosh. This is called Belur Tag, »which is evidently a corruption
of the Turkish . words Beloot Taugh, or Cloudy Mountains». Not knowing any general Turki name for the range he calls it Beloot Taugh. It is the political division between independent Turkestan and Chinese Turkestan and it is the water-parting between the rivers of the two countries.
In Appendix D. there are some extracts from Lieut. MACARTNEY'S Memoir. He complains of the difficulty he had in finding out the real names of ranges and rivers. The name of Hindoo Koosh he regards, however, as settled, although it, in fact »is the particular name for one snowy peak of the ridge». The Pamir he regards as a ridge, not as a plateau.
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