SACRED ISLES IN THE WEST, &C. 331 



sara, in Sanscrit, signifies the lake of the Gods, or 

 the divine lake. According to them it is near the 

 mountains o^ Andcmas from the Sanscrit And'^ha-Ta- 

 Viasa, ox Andli-Tamas : both words imply darkness; 

 but being joined together, imply it in a superlative . 

 degree; and it is the name of one of the divisions 

 of hell. On their summit is the Bclur, or dark coun- 

 try of the majjs. The Anfhema mountains are called 

 Sacranthcma by Bernard Goez. An intelligent and 

 well informed native of Biducshan, and royal mes- 

 senger of that country for fjrty years, under 

 Ahmed and Zeman-Shah, inform.ed me that Ser- 

 Anthana is the true name ; that ser or sereh signi- 

 fies in his country, end, limit, or border, and ap- 

 pears to be the name of a place near the Anthema 

 mountains, as Ser-Hind, or on the borders of Hind, 

 This lake is said to be three days journey in cir- 

 cumference. The O.vus does not spring immedi- 

 ately from it, but^at the distance of fifteen miles to 

 the West it emerges from the ground. The Cocsha 

 is the sacred stream which sanctifies the waters of 

 the Odus ; but by no means the main stream, which 

 is more to the North. It is so with regard to the 

 Ganges, the sacred stream of which is called Alaca- 

 nanda, and is but a small river, the source of which 

 is twelve coss to the North-East of Badaricasrar/ia, 

 and, I believe, about 130 miles from Hardzvar. 

 From the lake to the hills to the Eastward is an 

 extensive plain, called Sardgh-Chopawn, or the 

 plains of Chopaum. There are four places there men- 

 tioned by GoEz, Ciarciunar, or Chdr-Chundr the 

 four cedars, like the four cedars, or pines, perhaps, 

 near Cashmir, called Char-Chundr also : these four 

 trees no longer exist *\ Sarcil was explained to me, 

 by Camber-Ali, the king's messenger, by Sereh- 



* Mr. FoRSTER renders the word Chunur by plane trees in his 

 account of Cashmir, and he is perhaps right, 



