国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

But here we are concerned only with the first and by far the most important
of Moorcroft's journeys.¹ He has described it in a most excellent and con-
scientious way in an article, which was presented to the Royal Asiatic Society of
Bengal by H. T. Colebrooke.² The motive of this first journey was to open
to Great Britain means of obtaining the materials of the finest woollen fabric,
but the result was, as Colebrooke puts it, that Moorcroft and Captain HYDER
HEARSAY brought back, with indefatigable perseverance and admirable intrepidity
an interesting accession of knowledge of a country never before explored. By this
journey one of the most important geographical and hydrographical problems of
Tibet and India was, at any rate, solved in a preliminary way. With the know-
ledge Europe then possessed of these regions, Colebrooke could not appreciate
the value of Moorcroft's journey to its full extent. This has only been possible
during recent years. Therefore, in his introductory note, Colebrooke states that
the two travellers ascertained the existence, and approximately determined the situ-
ation of the Mánasarόvara, verifying at the same time the fact that it gives origin
neither to the Ganges, nor to any other of the rivers reputed to flow from it. And
who would not excuse Colebrooke for a misunderstanding which was entirely
founded upon the description given by Moorcroft. For now we know that the Satlej
comes from the lake, although its channel happened to be dry in 1812. And Cole-
brooke carefully adds: »Mr. Moorcroft, as will be seen, found reason to believe
that the lake has no outlet. His stay, however, was too short to allow of his mak-
ing a complete circuit of it: and adverting to the difficulty of conceiving the evap-
oration of the lake's surface in so cold a climate to be equivalent to the influx of
water in the season of thaw from the surrounding mountains, it may be conjectured,
that, although no river run from it, nor any outlet appear at the level at which it
was seen by Mr. Moorcroft, it may have some drain of its superfluous waters, when
more swoln, and at its greatest elevation, and may then, perhaps, communicate with
Ráwan lake, (in which the Satlej takes its source) conformably with the oral in-
formation received by our travellers.» Colebrooke never knew how true the theory
was which he conjectured in these words.
In publishing Moorcroft's report, Colebrooke has made use of his liberty
of selection from the original diaries and he has been more complete in those parts
which were wholly novel. We may be sure that his selection has been carried out
with the greatest care and that nothing of importance has been omitted.
On the journey, Hearsay carried the compass and brought up the rear, and
Harkh Dev Pandit was directed to stride the whole of the road at paces equal
to 4 feet each.