Tincal is npw difcovcrcd to be the fubftance whieh produces
B orax. t h e fait Borax; the borax under the name o f Natron Boracicatum
is retained in our dil'penfary, but I do not know the
application. It is o f great ufe in the making of glafs, and
making artificial gems; it is employed alfo as a flux, and by
dyers to give a glofs to filks,
Mr. Saunders fcarcely enters on zoology. He fpeaks of
the vaft herds o f chowry-tailed cattle, my grunting ox, Hijl.
Quadr. i. p. 24, tab. v. I with I had called it the horfe-tailed,
for in the words of Mr.Bogie, Phil. Tranf. vol. lxvii. p. 489, that
part fpreads out broad and long, with flowing hairs, like thole
o f a beautiful mare, of a moft elegant filky texture, and o f a
glofly filvery color. I have feen one fijc feet long. They are
in great requeft in Hindooßan, as flaps to drive away flies, and
alfo to ornament the ears o f the ftate elephants, dElian gives
a very clear account of this fpecies, under the name of Poe-
pbxgus *.
T h e R iv e r I Now arrive at the banks o f the Burrampooter, and crofs
B u r r am p o o te r : . n t o ^ £acre(j jaljd of Thibet. Here we mult make a long and
reverential flop! in honor of a river fuperior to the Ganges in
fize, fuperior in extent of courfe, and fuperior in the number
o f nations which it vifits, and fuperior in a moft Angular
aberration from its original fetting out, unfortunate only
in not palling through a trail known to the clalfical learned
of remote and of prefent ages. It wandered through barbarous
climes, unknown, and undecided as a moft capital river, till the
recent year of 1765.
• Mian de Anim. lib. xvl. c. xi, tranfctibed into the Hift. Quadr. i. p. p. 27,28.
n T h e
G A N G E T I C H I N D O O S T A N '. 355
T he Tbibetians name this river Sampoo, or the River; the O r Sampoo,
Indians call it Burrampooter; it is faid to be written in the
Sanfkrit language Brahma-poo ter, or the fon of Brahma. The
feat o f the antient Brachmani may be placed near its banks, between,
the Cbanmaning and Lajfa.
T his great river rifes in about Lat. 31* 30' north, eaft Lon- O r ig in o f.
gitude from Greenwich 82° 40', in the kingdom o f Thibet, or
country o f the grand Lama, and on the oppofite fide o f the
fame mountains which give rife to the Ganges. It originates
from three fprings, the neareft of which does not meafure (in
the map) above fifteen miles* from the head o f that celebrated
river. From its fountains it bears, for the far greater part of
its eourfe, the name of the Sampoo. It takes an eaftern direction
for a confiderable way, keeps confined in the vale of
■Thibet, between the vaft chains of the Tbibetian mountains,
probably with a moft rapid courfe. * The fummits o f thele
chains are covered with eternal fnow, the vaMies deep, each
with their torrent, which helps to augment the rivers o f Bengal.
The cold of Thibet is very great, occafioned by the vaft
trail o f fnowy regions, whieh the northern wind pafles over
in its courfe. Mr. Bogle found at Cbanmaning, where he G r e a t C o in ,
wintered, the thermometer in his chamber 29“ below the
freezing point, notwithftanding the latitude was in 31” 39', or
eight degrees to the north o f tHe burning Calcutta. In April
all the Handing waters were frozen. In Thibet the mountains
are quite naked, and bear a very different afpecft from thofe o f
Bootan, or that part which is adjacent to the province of Bengal.
I may here obferve, that the inhabitants of Bootan, Thibet,
z z V AJam, •