The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-21
THERE ARE EIGHT WONDERS

THERE ARE EIGHT WoNOG1sS'
 Everyone has heard of the seven wonders Of the world--the hanging gar dens of Babylon. the leaning tower or Pisa, the Colossus of Rhodes, the pyra- mids of Egypt, the statue or Jupiter q. Athens. the Pharos of Alexandrla ana the temple of Diana at Ephesus. 10 these must be added an elgnth huiiper no less remarkable than the others although 1t is the handiwork or nature not of man. This Is the Isdhspo River. which is the highest of all haVl- gable streams, which flows TOT ainosa 1000 miles at an altitude of from l., ,0oo to IA. O0O feet above the sea level. For the greater part of it's course It IS sluggish body of water, but as 1t hears the coast its current increases In velocity and the river becomes rag ing cataract, sweeping all obstacles from its pathway and often inundatlns the country on either bank.
 The Tsangpo .has never yet been ex- plored throughout its entire course. !a rises in the extreme northwest or mi bet, a mountainous region, at a neisnt of nearly 15,000 feet above the sea. IL soon becomes a navigable river and considerable traffic is conducted upon it9 where it's bed almost reaches the clouds. It's direction is nearly due east for some 800 miles. It receives numer- ous large tributaries from both soutn and north and when near Lhasa 1t IS at low water nearly Q third of a mile wide and of unknown depth. In longi- tude 94 degrees east it makes sharp bend to the south and passes through the Himafayas in a course known only to the savages who dwell upon It's pre- cipitous banks.
 Descending to the Sea.
 When last seen by an explorer the Tsangpo is at a height of from 5000 to Il 900 feet. but when it emerges in As- sam 1t Is only 400 feet above sea level. From this point it pursues it's sluggish way for another 800 miles as the Brah- maputra to the Ganges and the bay of Bengal. There has been long con- troversy, into the details of which 1t is not necessary to enter, as to whether the Irawada or the Brahmaputra is the continuation of the Tsangpo. Though there has been as yet no direct evil dence-the last expedient of throwing ing in marked logs in Thibet having failed-the general consensus of scientific opinion is in favor of the Brahmaputra and the latest English gazetteer describes it under this name.
 It is hardly to be expected that pure science will be much benefited by the lifting of the veil which hangs over this part of the rivers course. But there can be little doubt that it hides scenes of magnificent beauty and grandeur which will thrill the ex- pectaIrt world and give it new and noble conceptions.
 The imagination fails to grasp the reality, as there Is no other instance on earth of a large river dropping 5000 feet in 150 miles. plunging with the mad rush of a mountain brook hemmed by ranges whose peeks are from 1S,000 to 22,000 feet in height. The native testi- mony is conclusive as to the existence of at least one overlapping f9ll be- fore Thibetan territory Is left.
 Its attempted ascent from the plains of Assam has been absolutely pro hibited hitherto by the Indian govern that there is almost certainty that the explorer would be killed by the savage Mishmis. who are intolerably Jealous of the presence of a stranger | in their country. This would necessi- | tateAa punitive expedition costly in | treasure and in life-an evil by no means commensurate with the gain of | having satisfied what is, after all, pure curiosity. The Thibetan officials also, | while preventing So far as they are able any white man from entering l Thibet, for some unknown reason for | bid Thibetans even to attempt to des- cend the river beyond their owr | frontier.
 Explored by Stealth.
 The Tsangpo has been explored. how | ever, with the exception of this 15C miles notwithstanding the opposition oi | the Thibetans and the difficulties pre- scented by the highest mountain region in the world, though not by white men l At any time within the last thirty five years the trans-Himalayan travelel might have met caravan of Thibetar and Indian traders with their pack. laden sheep climbing or descending | some steep mountain pass or crossing | the Tsangpo on rafts. Walking hum bly, with the servants or slaves-for tC walk is a mark of servitude with those people-there would be an Indian witt tea bowl and prayer barrel suspended at his girdle, counting his rosary as ht walked, differing in nothing apparently from his companions except in his nor intelligent face and in the greater in terest with which he noted everything | about him. But open his prayer bar rel. which he piously twirls when h, comes to some particularly dangerous spot, and there will be found in it in | stead of a scroll with the Buddhis prayer "Om mani padmi hon." note of the journey after the boundary wa crossed. observations with sextant ant compass, and a simple route surve! showing the length of each day.
 march, the relative position of tn
 prominent peaks, the course of th
 streams and their approximate breadtl and depth.
 Examine closely his rosary and on
 would discover to his surprise that, in stead of the orthodox los beads ther
 were only 100, and that he dropped on at every 100 steps, which were uni
 formly two and a half feet long. If h.
 were watched carefully he would b. seen to steal from camp at night. whel all else were sleeping, if biting wind freezing cold and driving snow permit | with his box and tea bowl. Takinj from beneath the false bottom of hi
 box few instruments and pouring some quicksilver into his tea bowl fo an artificial horizon he makes an obser vation of some star, notes the con dition of barometer and thermometer compares his chronometer with hi
 watch and then goes back to camp t
 write up his journal and at length [ sleep.
 First of the Adventures.