is fronted towards tlie south by the Himâlaya, properly so
termed.*
From the late traveller Lieutenant Wood, we have obtained
some valuable information as *to the approximation
of these principal chains. He says, ‘‘ that the Himâlaya,
to the westward of the Indus* extends tp. the meridian
of Kabul. It and the Himdû-Khûh belong to the same
great system of Himâlayan-Tartaric mountains. Hindu-
Khuhisthe northern, Himâlaya the southern wall.” “ The
former,” he adds, “ would appear to be the superior ridge,"
since it divides the waters of Central Asia from those which
flow southward. It is one continuous chain,-while on the
contrary the Himâlaya is pierced by the rivers Kuner and
Indus asjvell as by others further eastward.”
According to the information obtained shy the late Mr.
Moorcroft* the proper Himâlaya has its western.extremity-
or commencement from the valley of Pandschir, which. is,
situated in the meridian of Kabuli; Kearly^in the same
meridian, but to the northward of the HindfeKhuh, is the
high plain of Pamer, probably connected with the.mourn
tains of Bolor, which run northward from this Alpine region.
The Thsoung-ling is, as Humboldt informs us, thewestern
part of the chain of Kuen-lun. The high region of Pamer
is, according to Lieutenant Wood, correctly described by
Marco Polo, who represented it as a high table-land^ At
the western side of it is the Sir-i-kol, the^ lake which ris the
source of the river Oxus. The surrounding plain is called
by the neighbouring people Bam -i-Duniah or the Roof of
the World, r The high mountains of Pamer around Sir-i-kol
give rise to some of the principal rivers in Asia. From the
eastern part flows the river of Yarkiang ; from the low hills
on its northern part rises the Sirr or river of Kokan, and
from the Snowy-Chain to the southward, the river Kuner
as well as both branches of the Oxus. Pamer is not only a
radiating point in the hydrographical system of Central
Asia, but it is the focus where some of its principal mountain
chains originate. The plain of Bam-i-Dûniah has an
elevation of 15,600 feet, which is nearly equal to that of the
* Ritter’s Erdkunde.
summit of Mount Blanc.,« From Pamer the ground sinks in
every direction except towards the south-east, where sitnilar
plateaux extend along the northern face of the Himâlaya
into Tibet. The,valleys of Giljit, Gungii, and Chitral, are
mountain defiles which, act as water-courses to dram Pamer.
“ They table-land of Pamer,”- says Lieutenant Wood, “ is
buttressed by Tibet,«slopes northward upon Kokan, having
the Chinese4erritori.es on the« east and the rugged country
that feeds the river Oxus and the Sirr to the west. *
From all these accounts* if the reader will take trouble
to compare, them, h e .p il% led,to theconclusion, that M.
Humboldt is justified in viewing the Kuen-lun or Thsoung-
ling chain, so-called by the Chinese, of which the Karakorum
çhain of.^the .Tartars is probably a branch, together with the
Himâlaya, as bifurcations from rone rcommon nucleus of
mountains. This nucleus is,' the. Hindâ-Khûh, or perhaps
rather thé table-land of Pamer. Therelation of these chains
to each o th ers thus described*by M. de Humboldt :m--m
“ Le .troisième et le quatrième système de montagnes
(Kuen-luriïet Himâlava) sont comme fondus dans les grands
noeuds de Badakshan,,du PetitTuhet, et de Kashgar Au
delà des.69.iejt 70° méridiens, il n’y a qu’une chaîne, celle de
l’Hindoti-kho, qui s’abaisse vers Hérat, mais qui ensuite, au
sud d’Asterabad, s’élève à . une hauteur considerable vers le
sommet volcanique et. pierreux du Démavend. Le plateau
d’Iran qui, -daûSFBà^lus grandeéfendaejp Tehran à Chyrax,
paraît avoir une hauteur moyenne de-630 toises, envoie vers
l’Inde,et,le TubeLdeux branches, l’Himâlaya et la chaine du
Kuen-lun ; il forme une bifurcation de la fissure de laquelle
| les masses de montagnes se'sont, le v é e s ” ' ' "s 1 '
The two branches ,o:f the Hiudû-Khûh, as they are thus
represented, namely, th e , Kuen-lun and the Himâlaya,
diverge as they extend eastward. The former keeping a
direction nearly due east and the latter turning to the southeast^
They include between them a considerable space,
which is found to contain, countries of various but generally
considerable solevation. Katschi and Tibet are within this
* Lieutenant Wood’s Journey to the sources of the Oxus, p. 337,