1842."] of the Himmalay a Mountains, xi 



these will throw perhaps some light on the subject, and will at all 

 events enable us to take a view of this tract, altogether different 

 from what has hitherto been adopted. 



3. If we [consider the map of Asia, we shall be struck with the ap- 

 pearance of a] large central space, which is strongly marked by the cir- 

 cumstance of being but little intersected by rivers, while yet on every 

 side innumerable streams flow from it, and unite to form some of the 

 largest rivers of the Old World. The Amur, the Hoangho, the Yangtse- 

 Kiang, the Maykaung, the Maygive, the Irrawaddy, the Kiendun, the 

 Burampooter, the Ganges, the Indus, the Oxus, the Jaxartes, the Obi, 

 the Jenisei, and the Lena surround with their sources this tract, and 

 with courses varying from 1,200 to 3,000 miles in length, radiate from 

 it to the surrounding seas in every direction. 



4. Inasmuch as the source of every river must be higher than 

 any other part of its course, it is just to infer, that the zone in which 

 these rivers originate is higher than the plains through which [they 

 flow~\ to seek the Ocean. [Their] lengths of course may be consider- 

 ed to be, within certain limits, proportional to the elevation of the 

 source ; we may further infer, that the line which connects the water- 

 heads of these great rivers, must be of very considerable elevation, 

 compared with other parts of Asia external to that line. 



5. We know from observation, that the tract in which are found the 

 sources of the Ganges, the Indus, the Oxus, the Obi, the Jenisei, and 

 the Lena, is diversified by lofty mountains, some of them the highest 

 on the globe. The Himalaya, the Karakoorum, the Hindoo Koh, the 

 Beloor Tag, the Bogdo, the Alak, and the Altai mountains are all found 

 along this line. We are then entitled to infer, that this mountain zone 

 is in like manner continued to the S. E. and to the E., consequently 

 that it completely surrounds the central tract. 



6. Of the particular features of the interior, little is known. It has 

 been usual to call it a plateau, and to suppose it of very great elevation, 

 The great sandy desert of Cobi, which is known to occupy part of it, 

 affords some grounds for this appellation ; but with regard to the con- 

 viction of its great elevation, this seems to have originated in incorrect 

 ideas of natural boundaries, and a consequent misapprehension of what 

 is, or is not the central plateau. [It has been] presumed that the [whole 

 line of] elevation along the mountain barrier above indicated should be 



