Southern Tibet : vol.7 / 527 ページ（カラー画像）

0527	Southern Tibet : vol.7
南チベット : vol.7

blocked by glaciers. But rumours were persistent that there was a practicable pass, though
its existence was always openly denied . . . . My judgement, backed by the experience of
Ney Elias, was against the possibility of the existence of such a pass; still there might
be one. Some of the shrewdest Kashmir officials believed in it, and they were most anxious
to prove the mystery, for, in case of any further trouble with Hunza, a turning road might
be invaluable.

Later exploration showed that no pass existed over the Saltoro, and that the tra-
dition as to the existence of a road must have descended from remote times. It is pretty
evident that in this portion of the Hindu-Kush the glaciers have advanced, for there seems
good ground for believing that Skardu, in Buddhist times, was on a well-used high road
leading to Kashgar, and that this high road has been closed by glaciers. It was a relief
to find that no easy pass led to the north, for its existence would have very seriously
affected the solution of the frontier problem.

In 1894 E. Delmar Morgan published an article on The Mountain System
of Central Asia¹ in which he pays due tribute to Humboldt and Richthofen.

In spite of the title of his paper, Delmar Morgan does not say anything of
the Kara-korum, and, of course, nothing of the Transhimalaya, which does not belong
to Central Asia Proper.

A very good little map is added to the paper, and was fairly well up to date
in 1894. His Mustagh or Kara-korum Range is strongly marked and stretches, S. E.,
being in connection with the Aling Gangri, but farther east it disappears in the
country Katchi. In the far east the Tang-la Range is marked, without any connection
with the Kara-korum. The Nien-chen-tang-la is continued westwards along the southern
shore of the Dangra-yum-tso and all the way to Manasarovar, a new form of Hodgson's
range, but no improvement of the original. As usual all the mighty systems are
called Ranges and are drawn as such.

In 1896 Ujfalvy returns to mention the trade across the Kara-korum Pass,
though his statement is now not quite in accordance with the one quoted above:²

Actuellement, les passes entre Cachemire et Yarkand sont peu fréquentées, toutefois
il est établi que la passe du Karakorum est ouverte pendant toute l'année, de plus, la
communication entre l'Inde et Yarkand par cette route est devenue plus fréquente dans
les dernières années; il est reconnu aussi qu'autrefois l'Hexapole était beaucoup plus peuplée
qu'actuellement.

In Vol. III, p. 211, I have referred to Sir Clements Markham's excellent
address to the Royal Geographical Society in 1896, and will, therefore, here only
remind the reader of the cardinal points of his speech.³ In eloquent words he directs
the attention of geographers to the importance of exploring the Nien-chen-tang-la.
His Northern Himalaya Range, identical with the Nien-chen-tang-la, was called Kara-
korum in its western part, which shows that Markham had the right grasp on the

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