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『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

Langchen Khanbab. There were two others running parallel and at a short distance
from one another. They are called Tokpo Rabsum.» After 1¹/₄ mile he came to
encampment. Twenty eight out of his 30 servants had bolted when he followed the second river
(Samo-tsangpo) on its right bank (the left on his map). »A chain of snowy peaks stretching from
south-west to north-east» was seen. It is not said whether this chain was north or south of the
route, but it does not matter much, as there is no such chain in this part of Tibet. His further route
does not agree with any existing map, but as he travelled between Tokchen and Maryum-la, as Nain
Sing had done in the opposite direction, he obviously followed the ltsam. On his way to Tokchen
he must have crossed the lower course of the Tage-tsangpo, but there is no sign of it, either in the
text, or on the map, although, 13 years later in Paris, he pretends to have discovered both the eastern
source of the Satlej (Tage-tsangpo), where he had never been, and the western, Darma-yankti, which
was discovered by Henry Strachey in 1846. (Journal Asiat. Society of Bengal, as above).
However, he crosses Maryum-la. »A little rivulet, hardly six inches wide, descended amongst
stones . . . This was one source of the great Brahmaputra, one of the largest rivers of the world. I must
confess that I felt somewhat proud to be the first European who had ever reached these sources . . .»
(Op. cit. Vol. II, p. 40). Desideri and Freyre were the first Europeans to cross the Maryum-la and to
see the sources of the Maryum-chu, which is a tributary to the uppermost part of the Tsangpo.
What he says of the »Gangri Chain» stretching eastwards from the Maryum-la, and of which
only the southern ranges can be seen from his route, is correct, and had already been said and proved
by Nain Sing. To the S.E. and S.W. he could see »a very high, snowy mountain range», of which,
however, there is no suspicion on his map. Nain Sing had it on his map 30 years earlier and gives
the correct legend: »Many large glaciers.» Webber and his party had crossed it somewhere.
On leaving Tarbar (not on his map, nor on any other map) he admired the »magnificent
panorama of the great rugged mountain-range to the S.W.» The higher peaks were nearly all of a
pyramidical shape, »and at 226° 36' (b. m.). »I observed a gigantic quadrangular peak, which I took
to be Mount Everest.» Op. cit. Vol. II, p. 84. Which is situated some 300 miles or 3¹/₄° east of
the point where he must have been when he believed he saw it to the S.W.!
The critical encampment was called Toxem or Taddju, from where he was brought to »Namj
Laccé Galshio or Gyatsho.» There was on a hill a fortress and a large lamasery, which had, however,
disappeared when Hyder and I travelled that way, unless the poor little Ganjo-gompa should be
meant, which is, however, situated at 83° 37' E. long., whereas Namj Laccé is at 85° 8' E. long.
We have already seen that he has placed Toxem (Tuksum) at 84° 48' E. long., instead of 83° 30',
by which manipulation, so easy to control, he gained some 93 miles towards the east.
From »Namj Laccé» he is brought back to the west. »On reaching a spot which from observa-
tions taken on my outward journey I reckoned to lie in longitude 83° 6' 30'' E. and latitude 30° 27' 30''
N. I had a great piece of luck. It is at this point that the two principal sources of the Brahma-
putra meet and form one river, the one coming from the N.W., which I had already followed, the
other proceeding from the W.NW. The Tibetans, to my delight, selected the southern route, thus
giving me the opportunity of visiting the second of the two principal sources of the great river. This
second stream rises in a flat plain, having its first birth in a lakelet in approximate longitude 82° 47'
E. and latitude 30° 33' N. I gave the Northern source my own name . . .» (Op. cit. Vol. II, p. 178).
I do not need to discuss this passage, as it is sufficient to refer to the chapter dealing with the source
of the Brahmaputra, which is one and situated 82° 16' E. long. and 30° 7' 36'' N. lat. There is not
even a small tributary which rises in a lakelet on a flat plain, as even the lakelets must be fed from
somewhere. As to the »Northern source», to which he modestly gave his own name, it should be
baptised after its first surveyor, Nain Sing, who was a reliable and trustworthy man, — if it had not
already a Tibetan name: Maryum-chu.
His Tibetan geography has been characterised by Jacques Bacot in the following words: »Il
est déjà extraordinaire que M. Landor ne veuille pas reconnaître son erreur passée. Mais qu'il s'obstine
à faire confirmer et endosser cette erreur par tous les voyageurs qui l'ont démentie, c'est là un cas
spécial qui sort du domaine géographique . . . Je ne sais quelle préoccupation le pousse à ces dénégations
répétées de l'évidence; elle ne peut être qu'étrangère, à moins que hostile à la géographie.» (L'Asie Française,
Mars 1911, p. 113, 119). Jacques Bacot who knows the Tibetans from his own experience (Vide: Dans
les marches Tibétaines, Paris 1909: Le Tibet Révolté, Paris 1912, etc. etc.), in regarding the tortures
as the single certain result of this journey, adds: »Il a trouvé des Tibétains lâches et cruels alors que
les voyageurs qui l'ont précédé et suivi au Tibet ont vu des Tibétains doux, gais et hospitaliers. Outre