The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-18
WORLDS EIGHTH WONDER.
The TsangpO in Asia Is the Loftiest
of All Rivers.
Flows for n Thousand Miles mt an
Elevation of 1900 Feet Above
the Sen--Drops 5000 Feet In $50
Miles - Mystery of Its Course.

Miles - Mystery of Its Course.
The Tsangpo is in several respects the
| most remarkable river in the world 1t
| is the highest of all navigable streams
| flowing for nearly thousand miles at an
| elevation of from IL, 900 feet to 1900 feet.
| During the greater part of its course its
current is sluggish. but for hundred
| miles or more the mighty river. in its de-
scent to the coast plain, runs with the
| speed of mountain torrent. Though one
| of the largest Of Central Asian streams 1t
| has never been followed from it's source
to its mouth, and until recently 1t was
doubtful of which of two well known
rivers it was the headwater.
The Tsangpo rises in the extreme south
western corner of Tibet. at a height of
| nearly 1900 feet. Receiving the drainage
of the slopes of the Himalayas and of
| little known Tibetan range running parai-
lei with these mountains, it soon becomes
| a stream wide and deep enough to be
| navigable. There is considerable boat
traffic upon it, at an elevation OF little
below the summit of Mount Blanc. 1t
flows due east for some 500 miles. re-
ceiving numerous large tributaries from
both south and north. and when near
Lhasa it is, at low water. nearly a third
of mile wide and twenty feet deep:
in flood, two miles wide and of unknown
depth. In longitude "a degrees east it
makes a sharp bend to the SOUTH and
passes through the Himalayas in course
known only to the savages WHO dwell
upon its precipitous banks.
When last seen by an explorer it is at
height of from 5000 to Il. 900 feet, but
when 1t energies in Assam it is only 400
feet above sea level. From this point it
pursues its sluggish way for another
500 miles as the Brahmaputra to the
Gauges and the Bay of Bengal There
has been long controversy, into the
details OF which it is not necessary to
enter. as to whether the Irrawaddy or the
Brahmaputra is the continuation of the
Tsangpo. Though there has been as yet
no direct evidence-the last expedient of
throwing in marked logs in Tibet having
failed-the general consensus of scientific
opinion is in favor of the Brahmaputra,
and the latest English gazetteer describes
it under this name.
1t is hardly to be expected that pure
science will be much benefited by the lift
ing of the veil which hangs over this
part Of the rivers course. But there can
be little doubt that it hides scenes of mag
nificent beauty and grandeur which will
thrill the expectant world and give it
new and nobler conceptions.
The Imagination fails to grasp the real
ity, there is no other instance on earth
of a large river dropping 5000 feet in $50
miles, plunging with a mad rush of a
mountain brook hemmed by ranges whose
peaks are from ZOO to 2.000 feet in
height. The native testimony is conciu-
sive as to the existence of at least one
awe inspiring fall before Tibetan territory
is left. u
Its attempted ascent from the plains of
Assam has been absolutely prohibited
hitherto by the Indian government on the
entirely reasonable ground 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
necessitate a 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 Tibetan officials also, while
preventing so far as they are able any
white man from Tibet, for some unknown
reason forbid Tibetans even TO attempt
to descend the river beyond their own
frontier.
ever, with the exception of this $50 miles,
notwithstanding the opposition of the
Tibetans and the difficulties presented by
the highest mountain region in the world,
though not by white men,
At any time within the last thirty-five
years the trans-Himalayan traveller might
have met caravan of Tibetan and Indian
traders with their pack-laden sheep
climbing or descending some steep noun
tain pass, or crossing the Tsangpo on
RATS. Walking humbly with the servants
or slaves. for to walk is a mark of servi-
tude with those people. there would be an
Indian with tea bowl and prayer barrel
suspended at his girdle. counting his
rosary as he walked, differing in nothing
apparently from his companions. except
in his more intelligent face and the great
interest with which he noted every
thing about him. But open his prayer
barrel, which he piously twirls when he
comes to some particularly dangerous
spot, and there will be found in it, instead
of the scroll with the Buddhist prayer,
"Om mani padmi hon." notes of the
journey after the boundary was crossed
observations with seXtant and compass
and a simple route survey showing the
length of each days march, the relative
position of the prominent peaks, the
course of the streams and their approx
mate breadth and depth.
Examine closely his rosary, and one
would discover to his surprise that. in
stead of the orthodox Jos beads there
We're only 100 and that he dropped one
at every 100 steps. which were uniformly
2Jsfeet long. II he We're watched careful
ly he would be seen to steal from camp
at night when all else were sleeping. If
biting wind, freezing cold, and driving
snow permit, with his box and tea bowl. |
Taking from beneath the false bottom of
his box a few instruments and pouring
some quicksilver into his tea bowl for an
artificial horizon, he makes an observa- |
ton of some star, notes the condition of
barometer and thermometer, compares |
his thermometer with his watch. and then |
goes back to camp to write up his journal, |
and at length to sleep.
Years after the traveller might see this /
same man at the Great Trigonometrical
Survey in Calcutta reading to an English |
officer his Journal explaining his obser-
vations and route survey. and narrating |
his adyentures-in one instance these in |
Guided a seven years slavery in Tibet |
He asks who he is, and is amazed to |
learn that he is only a schoolmaster in a
little Hinalayan village in the district OF |
Kumaon.
What is his reward for these years long |
tolls sufferings, and dangers, this daily |
risking his life in an attempt to add to |
the worlds knowledge? little piece of |
land. possibly a small pension. and, while |