A Note on the Road to Tibet. (With a Map)

8/10/2019 A Note on the Road to Tibet. (With a Map)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-note-on-the-road-to-tibet-with-a-map 1/4

A NOTE ON THE ROAD TO TIBET. (WITH A MAP)

Author(s): DOUGLAS W. FRESHFIELDSource: The Geographical Teacher, Vol. 2, No. 4 (February, 1904), pp. 143-145Published by: Geographical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40556218 .

Accessed: 19/11/2014 08:02

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Geographical Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The

Geographical Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 202.41.10.30 on Wed, 19 Nov 2014 08:02:33 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=geoassoc

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40556218?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp





http://www.jstor.org/stable/40556218?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=geoassoc



THE

Geographical

Teacher.

A NOTE ON THE ROAD TO TIBET.

(WITH

A

MAP.)

By

DOUGLAS W.

FRESHFIELD,

Presidentf

he

Geographical

ssociation.

T'HE

map

given

with

this note

was

prepared

or

me for

se

in

the

■*•

Journal

ublished

y

the

Royal

Geographical

ociety,

nd is re-

produced

with he

permission

f

the

Council.

I

have

furnished,

n

the

Geographical

ournal

or

January

ast,

full

ummary

f our

nformation

with

egard

o

the routes hown

n

it. I

do not

propose

o

repeat

here

what

have

written bout the western

oad,

he

double

route

which

splits t Chungthangnthe Tista* Valleytorunnorthhrough amba

Jong

o

Shigatse

r

over

he Donkia

Pass to

Gyangtse.

These roads

have been

abandoned

by

our

forces

nd

are

not

ikely

or

he

present

o

come

nto

prominent

otice.

It

may

be serviceable

o

some

of our

members f

I

add

a

few

sentences

s to theroute

elected thatvia the

Chumbi

Valley.

This

is an old

historical oute

preferred,part

from

olitical

ircumstances,

on the

ground

f

the

absence f

any

serious

ifficulty

n the

passage

of

the

main water

parting

etween

he

streams

lowing

o

the

plains

of

Bengal

nd the

UpperBrahmaputra

r

Tsangpo.

The

reader

will notice that north f

this

parting

f

the

treams,

which orresponds oughlyo latitude 8PN.,there s much ess topo-

graphical

etail

n

the

map.

This,

no

doubt,

s

partly

ue to deficient

material,

ut

t

reflects

lso a

physical eality.

The

traveller

r

native

who

journeys

rom

he south

calls

Tibet

a

plain

country

r

maidan.

Sir

J.

Hooker

Himalayan

ournals,

ol.

IL,

p. 170)

writes Here one

may

ravel

or

many

mileswithout

ising

r

falling

,000

feet,

et

never

descending

elow

14,000

feet

(this

is

somewhat

oo

high)

partly

because

he

flat

winding alleys

re

followed

n

preference

o

exhausting

ascents,

nd

partly

ecause

he

passes

re

seldommore

han hat

levation

above

the

valleys

whereas

n

Sikhim

ises

nd

descents

f

6,000,

nd

even

9,000,

eet re common n

passing

rom

alley

o

valley,

ometimes

in oneday'smarch. The mainslopeS. to N. up tothewater arting

is

comparatively

radual,

while the transversal

idges

running

.

from

the

Himalayan

ableland

re

excessively teep-sided.

A

rough

iagram

*

Readers re

reminded

hat

he

vowels

n

most

eographical lace

names re

pronounced

s

in

talian.

Hence

pronounce

eesta.

G.T.

No. 8. Feb.

1904,

Vol.

I,

Part

4.

B







144

THE

GEOGRAPHICAL

TEACHER.

may make matters learer. The trackof a traveller ollowing heTistato its source ndthen

ntering

ibet

might

e

represented

hus

16,400

500

vvhilehat

f a

traveller

rossing

he

map

from hutan o

Nepal,

E.

to

W.

in

the atitude

f

Chumbi,

ould

be

something

ore ike this

16,400

14,400

'

2,000

This

is

mainly

he

result f

the

erosive ction

f

water.

No

good

path

follows

he

ower ourse

f

he

tream,

he

Ammo

Chu,

that

uns

own

rom

he

asy

Tang

La. Its

upper

basin,

he

fertile

lpine

Vale of

Chumbi,

s

gained

by

traders

oming

from

hutan on

the

E

and

Sikhim

n

the

W.

The

track

rom

hutan s

the

easier.

Several

passes

rough

mule

racks

resembling

he

Great

St.

Bernard s

it was

when

crossed

by

Napoleon

and

until

carriage

oad

was

made lead

over

14,000-1

,000

eet

pur

othe

ikhimese ista

Valley.

One

of

hese,theJelep, as beencrossedbyourtroops. There s a steepandrough

descent f

4,000

feet

rom

t

to

the

E.,

and

it

is

probably

he

hardest

day's

march

etween

he

plains

of

ndia

and

Lhasa.

The

ascent

f

6,000

feet

rom

humbi o

the

second

pass,

the

Tang

La,

seems

o

be

very radual.

The

descent n

the

furtheride

to the

village

f

Thuna

s

still

more

o.

General

Macdonald eems

o

be

riding

backwards

nd

forwards

ver

t

January 5).

Beyond

he

Tang

La

the

tableland

f

Tibet

begins.

I

quote

from

myprevious

rticle

Cultivations

confined o the

shallow

valleys

of

the

treams,

here

requent

illages

re

found.

These

are

separated

y

rolling

plands,

are

and

brown,

xcept

for fewweeks

n

spring,

ver

which oamthe dokpas,r shepherds, ith ast flocks f sheep. The

sun

s

hot

by

day,

when

t is

not

overmastered

y

bitter

winds,

nd the

nights

re

very

old.

It is an

inhospitable

egion,

ut

one

which

has

never

formed

barrier

o

frequent

ntercourse

etween

he dwellers

n

the

pleasant

valleys

of

Shigatse

and

Gyangtse

and their southern

neighbours.

From

Siliguri,

he

railway

erminus,

o

Gyangtse

s

213

miles.

Lhasa

is

ten

days'

march

rom

yangtse

y

a

fair

oad.

The

height

f

Gyangtse

s

12,900feet,

nd that

of

the

valley

f the

Tsangpo

between

higatse

nd Lhasa

12,000

nd

11,000

eet.

I

take

this

opportunity

o

note

two obvious

misprints

n

my

Geographicalournal rticle. On page 81, line 10 frombottom,or

1892

read

1902

;

on

page

85,

line

4

from

bottom,

or

313

read

213

miles.







A

NOTE

ON

THE

ROAD

TO

TIBET.

145

THE ROADS from SIKHIM into TIBET.





Documents

A Note on the Road to Tibet. (With a Map)