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

turned to the South, came within two miles of the Cow's mouth, and fell into the Ganges
about sixteen coss lower.²

The Sita-cánt'há is the Satlej but probably not the Sitocatis of Arrian. Stating
that it springs to the west of the Manasarovar the author makes it clear that no other
branch than the Langchen-kamba can be meant as the head river of the Satlej. But
here again we encounter the common mistake that the Satlej is called Ganges. Wil-
ford is, however, not quite sure about the river which originates from the Manasarovar,
as can be seen from the following passage of his:
›The four sacred rivers springing from the Mán-sarovara, according to the divines of
Tibet, are the Bramá-putra, the Ganges, the Indus, and the Sitá. The Ganges is the only
one that really issues from that lake, or if the three others do, it must be through subterranean
channels; and such communications, whether real or imaginary, are very common in the
Purán'as. The Sitá may be the Sitodá, Sitlodá, supposed to communicate with the Satlaj or
Satodara.›

Thus Wilford arrives at a rather hopeless result in trying to reconcile re-
ligious prejudice with geographical facts. In another place he says that the Sitá of
the Purāṇas, also called Para-Gan'dica or Eastern Gan'dica is the Yellow river com-
ing from an eastern lake, Arun'oda or Orin-nor. First he says that the Ganges
is the only one really issuing from the Manasarovar. Then that Sitá may be the
Satlej, which is a contradiction. On the other hand the Karnali and not the Ganges
is, in Tibet, supposed to take its rise from the sacred lake. ¹

Speaking of the Indus Wilford says:
›The Indus was supposed formerly to have its source not far from Mán-sarovara, which
P. Monserrat² places in thirty-two degrees of latitude North; and the source of the Indus in
latitude 32° 15', the difference of longitude between the source and the lake 1° 45' . . . but
what is more surprising, the good father was ignorant that the Ganges issued from it. Abul
Fazil places the source of the Indus nearly in the same latitude with Cashmir, but eighteen
degrees to the Eastward. The Indus has its source four or five days journey to the North-
West of Yáre'hand, according to Czernichef; it runs thence in a direction South South-East to-
ward Ládac, and within two days journey of it; nay, merchants, who trade from India to
Cáshghar, say it can be done in one day. The Indus then turns immediately toward the West,
taking an immense sweep round Cashmir; and the place near Ládac, where it turns suddenly
to the Westward, has been mistaken for its source.› ·

It is curious that Wilford could accept the extraordinary view of CHERNI
CHEFF without hesitation.

Of the country round Meru, as given in the Purāṇas, Wilford says: ›The
mountainous tracts to the North of India, are so little known to us, and to the
Hindus themselves, that I can by no means throw any light upon so extravagant
and obscure descriptions of them, as are to be found in these Purán'as.› The only