314 AN ESSAY ON THE 



by saying, tliat the obliquit}^ of the direction of 

 these ranges was to be retained in the maps, ex- 

 actly as it was in the old ones. The whole reduc- 

 tions are thus exhibited in the following table: — 

 The North Pole, yo' 



66° parallel of 66' or Polar circle, 



128" 64° first range North of il/e;'w, 



1 14 2' 57 1 second ditto, ditto, 



104 52 third ditto, ditto, 



90 45 Merif, 



76 38 third range, South of Mem, 



65" 8' 32° 34' second range ditto, 



52 ..... 26 snowy mountains. 

 Instead of the numbers beyond Meru, their com- 

 piemeiit to ninety is 10 be used. 



But as Mem, or the centrical point between the 

 sources of the four great rivers, is not in the lati- 

 tude of forty-five degrees, a further correction must 

 take place Nn precision can be expected here ; 

 but this centrical point cannot be carried further 

 North tlian thirty-nin''. or forty degrees ; and the 

 three Northern ranges will fall in the following 

 latitudes. 



IVIe'ru in 40°, the Nila range in 47°, Sxveta m 

 59^, and Sriuga-van in 59"' 



The summit of Mem is represented as a circular 

 plain, of a vast extent, surrounded by an edge of 

 hills. The whole is called Ilatratta, or the circle 

 of Ila, and considered as a celestial Earth, or 

 Swargabliiiim ; and it is thus called to this day, by 

 the people of 7'ihtt, the Chinese, and the Tartars ; 

 and, like the Hindus, they have it in the greatest 

 veneration, worshipping its encircling mountains 

 whcnc\er they descry them. According to Df. 

 GuiGisEs, the Chinese call them Tien-chan, and 



