Southern Tibet : vol.2 / Page 328 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0328	Southern Tibet : vol.2

and not at the Kubi-tsangpo, which, otherwise, on his map correctly comes from
the mountain with a horse's head².

Henry Strachey also used the opportunity he had to get some information
about the source of the Tsangpo, and what he found is this: »Immediately east of
the mountains which bound that side of Cho Mápán near the Sámo-tokchim Tarjum,
in the district of Hor Tol, rises a stream, Chima-Yungdung, so named from the
profusion of the sand, 'Chima', which covers the ground about, probably the same
granitic debris that spreads for miles around the base of Momonangli. This river
flows eastward past Digarcha and Lhása, and informants recognize the name of
Bráhmapútra, as applied to it by the Hindus of Nipál; or pretend to do so, for I
am not sure that the Nipalese do identify the river as the Bráhmapútra. — Chima
Yundung is the local name of the sandy ground, in which the last river rises: it is
said to originate in springs. East of its source in Hor Tal, this river takes the name
of Eru-Zhungbu . . .¹

Enumerating, in the same article, the animal sources of the four rivers: Indus,
Satlej, Karnali and Brahmaputra, Henry Strachey says, that the Brahmaputra, or
Tamjyak Kamba, originates »from the Horse«. The horse is Tamchok-kabab. But,
from his informants, he gives the name Chima Yundung to the sandy ground in
which the last river (Brahmaputra) rises². Here the confusion comes in: The Tam-
chok-kamba rising from a place called Chema-yundung. Where then is Tamchok-
kabab or the source of the Horse river situated? Chema-yundung may easily be the
name of a sandy region, but the river that flows through it is not Tamchok-kamba
but Chema-yundung. And the source of this river is a glacier, or perhaps several
glaciers in the mountains called Chema-yundung-pu. In this particular point even
the vague hydrography of Kawaguchi is better than Henry Strachey's. It is not
surprising that Strachey's informant knew only the Chema-yundung and consequently
believed that it was the source of the great Tsangpo. For the ordinary road over
Tamlung-la touches Chema-yundung but not at all the principal river, which is Kubi-
tsangpo. The nomads prefer the grass of the Chema-yundung which is more
abundant and easier to get at. And there may, perhaps, be Tibetans, who really
regard the Chema-yundung as the source of the Tsangpo, in which case, however,
the Tamchok-kabab would have to be placed at Chema-yundung-pu, which is not
the case.

Sir Alexander Cunningham who visited Ladak in 1846 and 1847, has,
naturally enough, had no occasion to contribute to the knowledge of the source of
the river. All he says is that the Brahmaputra's source is situated »on the eastern
face of the Kailas mountains«,² which proves, either that he did not know, or did not

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

Citation Information

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