522 THE INDUS RIVER. 



The Nile, as we have seen, is an example of a 

 great river ordinarily fed by the downpour of the 

 tropical rains. The Indus on the other hand, is 

 primarily dependent for its water-supply upon the 

 melting' of the eternal snows, which have accu- 

 mulated upon the elevated plateaux and peaks of the 

 Himalayas. 



In our section on " Great Mountain Ranges" we 

 have described as clearly as we could the laws which 

 (so far as present knowledge extends) appear to govern 

 the winter snowfall there. Like almost all great rivers 

 proceeding from such sources, the Indus takes its rise 

 at an immense elevation in " The Abode of Snow," 

 as the translation of the native name of Himalaya 

 implies. * The locality lies in about Lat. 3 2 N. and 

 Long. 81 E. on the northern slopes of the sacred 

 Kailas mountain, not far from the sources of the 

 Sutlej, another great river, which subsequently unites 

 its waters with those of the Indus. 



The drainage area of the Indus is estimated at 

 372,000 square miles, and its total length at a little 

 over 1800 miles, f It will thus be seen that it is by 

 no means the longest river in the world; it cannot 

 compare for instance in this respect with the Mississippi, 

 whose length is quite 2500 miles; or with the still 

 greater length of the Mississippi-Missouri system whose 

 length amounts to some 4000 miles. Nevertheless as a 

 mighty torrent, thundering with indescribable violence 

 through precipitous ravines, and eating its way by the 

 attrition of its swiftly flowing waters through wild rock- 

 cut gorges of enormous depth, the phenomena which 



* From the Sanskrit " Hima" snow, and Aldyd abode. 



-j- Encycl. Brit., 9th Edition, Vol. x., p. 68. (Article "Indus.") 



