Southern Tibet : vol.1 / Page 300 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0300	Southern Tibet : vol.1

means Yunnan, which borders on Tibet, — begin to melt, the rivers swell to such a
degree that the whole country becomes inundated of it, as Egypte from the waters
of the Nile.¹ In this case Leria probably means Salwen and Mekong which have
their sources in Tibet, and only flow through Yunnan.
Finally Martini has heard, from Chinese informants, that nearly all of the
greatest rivers which flow to the south, amongst them the Ganges of Bengal, and
the rivers of Pegu and Siam, have their sources in the mountains of Kwen-lun. We
must remember that Martini had at his disposal for the countries west of China only
very poor and false maps, and that he had no easy task in locating the Kwen-lun;
which he supposes is not very far from Lahor and the kingdom of Tibet.² Thus in
this case the Ganges comes from the Kwen-lun. But at another place ³ he says:
»Just there (note: from where the Ganges takes its source), towards the west, is a
very great lake which is called Kia, from which come the Ganges & the other rivers
I have marked on the map.« It would therefore seem as if Martini imagined the
Kwen-lun to be situated somewhere between the Tibet Regnvm and the Kia L. of
his map, as the Ganges comes both from the Kwen-lun and the Kia Lacus. And
here we have the poor Ganges starting upon a new visit to China.
It seems to have taken a few years before the great northern branch of the
Hwangho, coming from its lake near the coast of Mare Tartaricum was finally ex-
tirpated from the maps. While F. DE WITT on his map of about 1660 ⁴ has accepted
the Hwangho of Martini, he has retained the long northern branch, which is to be found
on Ludovicus Georgius' map of 1584 (Pl. XXIV), and then on Hoeius' of 1600 (Pl.
XXVI), and on Ianssonius' 1641 (Pl. XXVIII). THEVENOT, who makes a reprint of
Martini's map, has entered a river coming from the west and flowing north of Koko-
nor,⁵ and not existing on the original map. Kircher faithfully follows Martini.⁶
Returning to the S.W., we find that also the example given by Sanson d'Abbe-
ville in 1654 was followed in the next years. Such is the case with the Indian map
of de Witt, about 1660, on which the Cincui Hay Lacus stands as an anachronism,⁷
and with a map of NICOLOSI, 1660.⁸ To the same category belongs the map illus-
trating the work of FRANÇOIS BERNIER, 1670,⁹ and certainly innumerable others.

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books