Great Tibet to the of Gafhmir. It would fte*n |htt the ffihiaefs
. Lamas, in their great hafte to ofekpe' from thnElnts,: who attacked
"Lafla,5 Were contented with hare reports, not only | concerning - thq
fburces ‘of the Ganges, but the whole weftern provinces of Tibet*
..From their rude drawings D’AnviHeplacedthe nortKern limit nf this
.country, (as well' as of Cafhmir) in lat. 340, and when Major RenheU
judiqiouffy, but cautioufly, moved it one-degree further the- north,1
Jhe might fafely have extended it at leaf!: thr^ePdegrefesf^-The fource- of
the Ganges flood in the Chinefe map lat. 290. ^0': D’Anville'found it
Indilpenfiblq’to raufe it to 320, and Rennefl to 330. 15'.4 ■ HenicU it appears
that one radical defeat, in that .very imperfect and ettoneois’
map, was the great diminution of the latitude. To -fill uh ffl^'de-^
ficiency geographers have here iiitrdduced the great Sandy Defert of
Gobi; which,- as appears from Marco Polo, and other travellers, isin the
centre of Alia, correiponding in latitude with that of Shamo, on'the
N. of China, beginning near Yarkand, but Spreading iiito*1^ far wider
expanfe at the city of Lop, further to the E.7
The extracts from Giorgi^nd others, concerning Tibfcf; in Bernoulli’s
third volume, bear that it is divided into three parts, Upper,
Middle, and Lower. Upper Tibet chiefly comprifes the province of
Nagari, fall of horrible rocks, and mountains covered with eternal
fnow. Middle Tibet contains the provinces 'of'Bhang, Ou, and
.Kiang: while the provinces of Lower Tibet are Takbo, Congbo, and
Kabang.
In this divifion the countries of Lata, or Ladak, (Latac!*1 and Bre-
guiong, or Bramafcion, (perhaps Sirinagur, which abounds with Bra-
imns,) mentioned in another here given, being omitted, it is probable
that they conftitute, with Nagari, what is called Upper Tibet.
5 Du Halde, ir. 577. 6 Rennell, 310.
1 Paid. Venet.Cap.43, 44» edit. MuJIer, 1671, 4th.
* By .Defideri’s account Lett. Edif. xv. and Aftley, tv . 453, Latac forms a kind o f detached
fovereignty. The town is feven miles N. of the river Lachu, which falls into the Ganged
(rather the Indus, for G a n g a only means the river). Chaparong Hands 80 miles S. E. probably
on another river which joins the Indus. I f Latac, or Chaparong ftood near the Granges they
would he well known to the Hindoo pilgrims, which is not the cafe.
- Many of thefe -provinces are again fubdivided: for inftarice. Nagari, j
p hfeh is confideie&Masfr'h kin^fim of w|ee ’Ifparthiehts, Sangkar,
Pouring,1 and Tamd^Dam’, or Daum?).. Shang is On the W. bounded
f‘ 4 'Bhe-l'iprAiHflte' of Ou contains Lafla, the capital of Tibet.
Kiang is to the north (N. E.) of O u ; and is inhabited by mingled Ti-
, betans and Monguls in tents. Kahang is in the S. E. bordering ou the
Birmans, and is divided into twelve departments,^
'i,:. T o theft' muft be added the wide region of Amdba, if it be not the
ftriSe with Kahang, but it feems more probably to embrace the confines
towards China, as the natives are remarkably ingenious, and fpeak the
Chib eft lahgda^^ The country ofHor is fituated betwixt Tatary and
' the provinces of Nagari and Kiang, and feems to be the tlobonor of
our maps.. In tracing thefe numerous provinces the map of the Lamas
syill be found entirely ufefefs/ Our Bootan is by the natives ftyled
Uecpo, or Takbo: all the countries to the weft of which, as Moringa,
or Morung, hlocampour, ISfipal, Gorca, and Kemaoon, (for Almora
isofily a city;)-are not confidered as parts of Tibet: The cpnfufion of
Chinefg .Mongul, and Tibetap appellations has been a great impediment
in the geography of this extcnfive country;- the N. E. part of which
was, with the Chinefe, province of Shenfi, before the great wall was
- extended in this quarter, the celebrated Tangut of oriental hiflory and
geography, t On the weftern fide high mountains, covered with perpetual
fnow, and with ail the terrible avalanches, and other features'of
the Swifs Alps, have in all ages prevented the Perfians, and the conquerors*
of Bucharia from invading this country; while the deferts in
the N. E. have proved ineffe<ftual barriers againft the Monguls and
Tluts. Thefe almoft inacceflible weftern mountains have alfo prevented
travelers from penetrating in that quarter, which is little better
known at prefent than in the time of Ptolemy.
* p eiina informs us that the' feinilar princes had ma|s o f the country, and it is to be regretted
that our, envoy did H6t requeft one' from the Lama.
+ In the. German work called- New Memoirs of the Nor.th, of which Pallas publifhed four
volumes 8vo, 178,3, there is vol. i. an account o f Tibet from the reports of the Lamas to Muller
and Pallasi.' In vol. iv. Hackmann has abftra'&ed all the intelligence' concerning this'country.
r\ voi.. n. < . r T - The