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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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| 0283 |
Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
Citation Information
OCR Text
He had also the intention of visiting the Nubra-tso, »the lake under the
Kurukurum mountains», whence the Shayok was supposed to take its rise. He
knows the range of mountains, »more than 16,000 feet in height, behind Leh,
which divide the valley of the Shy-Yok, or Nubra River, from that of Ladakh,
the nearest distance between them, from Ladakh, being about 20 miles, in a
direct line».
Vigne characterises Leh as the well known rendez-vous for merchants to and
from Yarkand. But he has also heard of another road by the plains of »Chang
Thung», to the north of Ladak, although closed by the jealous Chinese. He believes
that these plains commence but a few days march from Leh. »The only inhabitants
are wandering shepherds, who range with their flocks and their families over an
almost boundless extent. The elevation of these plains must be very great, probably
between 13 and 14,000 feet.» The peaks rising from these plains are generally
covered with snow, and the cold is intense.
Gulab Sing was annoyed at Vigne's visit to Little Tibet, and now as Vigne
was at Leh, Gulab Sing feared that the traveller intended to explore the road to
Yarkand. Not without difficulty he obtained permission to visit Nubra under condition
that he should not proceed any farther. There were two alternative roads over the
mountains behind Leh. The road he took went first east and then north over a
pass 16,000 feet high and situated in »dark-coloured trap». Then he came in view
of mountain masses and tops in every direction and chiefly on the other side of
Shayok or the river from Nubra-tso. »Amongst those on the north, the snowy
sierra of the Muztak, extending from Hunzeh to Nubra, arose with conspicuous and
most majestic grandeur.» The village Shayok is mentioned as the last inhabited
place on the way to Yarkand and he knows that it takes a little more than one
month to reach Yarkand. »The road to Yarkand ascends the bed of the river,
which is constantly crossed and recrossed by wading; and the mountains or pass of
Kurukurum are in this manner reached about the 9th or 10th day from Ladakh.»
He correctly says the road to Yarkand crosses two passes, Broknanpah (?) and Sisur
(Saser), before it reaches Kara-korum, which he calls a pass or a mountain. »The
Kurukurum mountains I believed to be a branch or spur from the Muztak, and the
principal crest to be passed in the way from the Shy-Yok to Yarkund.» The word
»Kurukurum» he correctly translates The black rocks.
The following passage dealing with the Kumdan glacier is interesting:¹
Both the roads I have mentioned, meet before the last ascent commences, and from
the place of junction, the glacier of the Nubra Tsuh is visible on the left, and the incipient
Shy-Yok flows from it. The Nubra Tsuh is, as well as I could collect, a head water,
formed by a vast barrier of ice, that has dammed up a valley formed between two spurs
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386
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397
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407
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420
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432
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444
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457
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467
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478
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488
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499
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520
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530
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541
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552
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563
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573
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583
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593
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605
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615
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625
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635
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646
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656
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666
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681
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693
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704
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714
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726
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737
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747
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758
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773
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788
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801
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813
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833
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848
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864
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876
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888
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