Southern Tibet : vol.3 / 120 ページ（カラー画像）

0120	Southern Tibet : vol.3
南チベット : vol.3

most the same as to deny the existence of a Tibetan continuation to the system,
where Humboldt at least has his Khor or Hor range.
With our present knowledge the Tengri-nor is not more characteristic for the
high plateaux between the Kwen-lun and Himalaya, than any other of the innumerable
lakes, unless the fact that it is larger than the rest should be sufficient. And still
Humboldt had at his disposal the Chinese maps and d'Anville. But he did not be-
lieve in them. He says that d'Anville's conjectures belonged to a time, in which
the most confused and erroneous ideas prevailed regarding the mountain ranges of
the plateau of High Tartary, the ranges running in all directions without the
least order. So far as the Transhimalaya is concerned we have seen that this view
happens to be correct. And still d'Anville's map is here more correct, generally,
than Humboldt's. Both originate from the same initial sources, which have been far
better understood by d'Anville than by Humboldt. D'Anville's map lets us suspect
the existence of several different ranges as is indeed the case. Humboldt's map
makes us believe in the existence of only one single range, the Dzang, north of the
Tsangpo and south of Tengri-nor.
I have referred here to Humboldt's map of 1831 (Pl. VIII.) The one published in
Central-Asien, 1844, is somewhat different. There we see a range: »Nubra oder
Karakurum», and S.E. of it another called »Geb. Ghiang-ri», which is identical with
the Gangri or Kailas. The lakes he calls Rawana-hrada and Mana-sarowar; the
latter had been called Manasa on the earlier map. He has no channel between the
lakes, but the Satlej issuing from Rakas-tal, where Moorcroft has been his authority.
As Humboldt died in 1859 he lived sufficiently long to see the results of H. and R.
Strachey's exploration.
The brilliant perspicacity of Humboldt could not be satisfied with the dogmas
of the past, which with such obstinacy kept the new time in their spell and proved
to be a hindrance to independent observation. But Humboldt to a certain extent
exaggerated the value of his own orographical system, for he says: ¹ »Ich verweile
hier bei einer Erörterung, welche, wie ich mir schmeichle, den Schleier über einige
für die historische Geographie interessante Verhältnisse in einem an grossen Erinne-
rungen so reichen Theil der Erde gelüftet hat.» Humboldt will always be given
the honour of having brought order into the orographical systems of the interior of
Asia. He drew the boundaries, Kwen-lun and Himalaya, for the Tibetan highlands,
from which the knowledge of Kara-korum and Transhimalaya had to develop at a
much later time. In the points in which he criticised d'Anville and Strahlenberg² he
was wrong. If he had accepted them as he accepted Klaproth, his map would have
been improved. His Dzang or Ghiang-ri range, is not a discovery of his own, nor
the result of orographical or morphological conclusions, but simply a statement,
which he, as did Ritter, borrowed from Klaproth.

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