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

Ganges, a question which afterwards was so eagerly discussed in the *Asiatic Re-
searches*. I cannot believe, however, that the surveying Lamas or the Lamas of the
gompas round the Manasarovar made the mistake, as even at the present day all
Tibetans round the lakes know that the river which issued from Rakas-tal was the
Satlej, so much the more, as both Tibetans and Chinese know and use the Tibetan
name of Satlej even for that part of the river which is situated east of the Manasarovar.
It must have been owing to the misinterpretation of the Europeans who obtained the
material; or the Lama surveyors may have been compelled to save themselves before
they had time to enter upon that question and to follow the Satlej to the west.
However, as the missionaries were convinced that the latitude of Kailas was un-
certain, they addressed themselves to d'Anville and found him only too willing to
combine the material from the little known parts of Asia which had to be improved
in the way that had the greatest probability of being correct. The necessary ma-
terial for making corrections was regarded to be more easily obtainable in Europe
than in China. The most surprising thing of d'Anville's map is, that both the
upper Satlej and the upper Indus are dragged into the system of the Ganges. And
still the upper Indus, except the very sources of the two branches, is tolerably correct.
We find there: Tchasir tong (Tashi-gang), Tchiese (Tikse), Latac (Leh, Ladak) and
Pitoc (Spittok). But from Pitoc the river turns straight southwards to the Ganges.
On the upper Satlej the hydrography is correct and much better than on many maps,
published during recent years. We find the river issuing from Mapama Talai and
entering Lanken L and continuing from there as the Lanctchou R (Langchen-kamba)
to Cogue (Koge), Dshaprong (Tsaparang) and Tchoumourti (Chumurti), and then,
again, suddenly turning south, joining the Indus and forming the Ganges.
As to the sources of the Tsangpo, this part is much more reliable than even
the map of Nain Sing. Ryder's map was the first to prove how near the Lamas
were here to the reality. To this and other parts of the Lama map we shall have
to return later on.
Otherwise there is not much about Tibet in du Halde's compilation. He
has something to say of the history and religion of the people. He knows the
route from Bengal to Tibet which had been travelled for several years. He thinks
that a good deal of the gold brought to China comes from Tibetan rivers.
In this chapter we have to pay special attention to d'Anville's detailed map
of south-western Tibet, of which Pl. LI is a reproduction. We have seen from
Régis' report in du Halde that, regarding the Ganges, the surveyors contented
themselves with the information they obtained from the Lamas in the gompas round
the Manasarovar. But as to the lakes and their rivers one has only to compare
d'Anville's map with the little map of the lakes which I published in 1909.¹ South-
east of L. Mapama we find the mountains of Lantchia Kepou, a region which is