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

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works, in which hardly anybody except himself was at home. Klaproth's map was
practically the best in existence for some 40 years and all maps of Asia printed in
Europe during that time were copied from it. Dutreuil de Rhins' map, on the
other hand, had no special geographical importance, only a great interest as a curiosity.
Klaproth's map has the following title: Carte de l'Asie Centrale dressée
d'après les Cartes levées par ordre de l'Empereur Khian Loung, par les Mis-
sionaires de Péking, et d'après un grand nombre de notions extraites et traduites
de livres chinois par M. Jules Klaproth. Paris 1836.
We are, already at first sight, struck with the great harmony existing
between the orographic and hydrographic systems as shown on this map. The
basin of nearly every one of the great rivers is bounded in the most regular way
by mountain ranges. Such is the case with the upper Indus, Satlej, Map-chu,
Tsangpo, Raga-tsangpo, Targo-tsangpo and others. Here, to a certain extent, it
has been sufficient to make use of the most elementary laws of physical geography,
but on Klaproth's map the boundary ranges have become too simple; there is
always only one single range separating two river systems from each other, as if
the water-parting line always coincided with the highest crest of the different ranges.
And therefore the orography, as a rule, becomes false, a fact which does not in
the least diminish the great merit of the map and the high value it had at the
time of its appearence. Many years after Klaproth's time European maps of Tibet
were published, the orographical representation of which, for the country north of
the Tsangpo, was much further from the truth than Klaproth's map.
There is a great resemblance between d'Anville's and the Ta-ch'ing map on
one hand and Klaproth's on the other. But while d'Anville north of the Tsangpo
has a great number of ranges, independent of each other, Klaproth has combined
the different ranges into one main range, from which several smaller ranges issue
in different directions. On the meridian of Katmandu, however, the principal range
divides into two, situated north and south of the river Dargou zzang bo tchou or
the mysterious Targo-tsangpo.
I will now discuss the principal features of the map so far as it touches upon
our regions. The source of the Satlej is shown as situated in Lake Gounghiou at
the northern foot of Mount Langtsian kabab ghang ri, and the topography is here
nearly the same as on d'Anville, though on all three maps it is difficult to say
whether L. Gounghiou or L. Goungha is meant to be the Gunchu-tso. The two
famous lakes, Mapham mtso and Lang mtso are taken from Moorcroft, though
Klaproth's hydrography is very much improved. He has the channel between both
lakes in the right place, and the Tirtapuri Satlej issuing from the western lake.
The sacred mount north of the lakes is drawn rather as a range than a peak,
and called M. Tise, Tese Ghang, Ti se ri or Kaïlas'a. A short distance N.E. of its
northern slope is the source of the Singdzing Khampa, and in the same neighbourhood
we find the M. Sengghe kabab ghang ri. The southern Indus branch is called R.