Southern Tibet : vol.4 / Page 88 (Color Image)

0088	Southern Tibet : vol.4

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is a small accumulation of sand, but there is not even a rudimentary formation of
dunes. The colours are bright: the brilliant yellow grass, the clear blue sky, the
dark violet, greyish yellow and red mountains, the white snow-caps on the highest
summits, and the black rocks below the snow.

The grass comes to an end and the ground is then covered with fine, black
gravel. One of the transverse valleys to the north is considerable; its dry water-
courses, however, are very diffused. Where we again reach a branch of the brook the
grass is abundant, and the bed has a very low and rounded erosion terrace. On
its other side there is barren sand with ripplemarks, but no dunes. Clay ground is
also common. This alluvial region is curious. Wherever one goes there are signs
of running water but the branches of the brook are meandering in all directions
and in very undecided beds. Sometimes one gets the impression that the whole
central part of the valley, to a breadth of several kilometers, is the bottom of a
dying river, of which now only a few scant watercourses remain. Finally the ground
consists of yellow clay covered by coarse sand or fine gravel of quartz grains of
4 mm. diameter as an average. This sand is arranged in great ripplemarks with a
distance of from 1 dm. to 1 m. between the waves. The latter have obviously been
formed by very strong winds, but they still show no tendency of accumulating into
dunes. Now being moist, they were immovable. From Camp XI the chief branch
of the brook seems to be situated near the foot of the southern hills, though the
distance to them may still be considerable.

Panorama 26A and 26B, Tab. 5, is morphologically of exactly the same type
as the preceding panoramas, though the open gap in the east marking the con-
tinuation of the latitudinal valley has dwindled to a very narrow space depending
upon the configuration of the projecting spurs from the mountains north and south.
Comparing the panorama with the map it seems as if this open gap ought to have
been situated a little south of straight east, or about S. 80° E. The disagreement
is caused by the corrections inflicted on the map from the topographical knowledge previously possessed regarding the country in
general. I am sure that the bearings of the panoramas are more reliable than these
corrections. In another part of this work Colonel H. Byström has discussed the
great difficulties he has had in constructing the map of 1:1,000,000 on account of
the discrepancies existing between the itineraries of different explorers. In connection
with this observation it may be said that the panoramas give a much clearer idea
of the mountains than the maps. In the former there cannot be any greater errors
in the bearings than 1 or 2 degrees. When, in the future, the astronomical points
will be duly corrected, and the situation of Tibet as a whole well fixed within the
net of coordinates, the value of the panoramas will increase. The scientific conquest
of this country will still take centuries.

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

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

Citation Information

OCR Text

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