236 Notes on Moorcroft' s Travels in Ladakh, [No. 148. 



Captain Gerard remarks, that the existence of an outlet to these 

 lakes is evident, because their waters rise and fall. This argument, 

 however, would rather prove there was no outlet ; the tendency of 

 such an opening being to reduce the rise and fall, while in the present 

 case, if the outlet were very free, it might reduce the variation of 

 heights to almost nothing, for the feeders of the lakes are not large, and 

 the slow melting of snow does not, like heavy rains, cause a sudden 

 influx of water. Now Moorcroft in August, (1812,) considered the rise 

 and fall to amount to four feet, and as the lakes are not I would 

 say, (judging from the analogy of such of the streams north of the 

 Himalayas as I have seen,) at their lowest until the middle of Novem- 

 ber, the rise and fall of the Mansarawar may be estimated at six 

 or seven feet, a difference which in my opinion precludes the probabili- 

 ty of a free egress for its waters, although it does not absolutely prove 

 there is no such egress. The rise and fall however of Rawan Hrad 

 are not known, and this argument does not affect the rise of the Sutlej 

 in it. My belief, however, at present is, that the river has no con- 

 nection with the lake, and Gerard, when he says, that the Sutlej has 

 its origin in the lake, (pp. 27 and 137,) and adds, that Moorcroft 

 found such to be the case, (p. 23,) asserts more than Moorcroft's narra- 

 tive warrants. He distinctly says, he left the point unsettled, and 

 does not appear to argue either way. ( See As. Bes. XII. 473. J 



The main eastern branch of the Indus rises to the north of the Gangri 

 hill, and is joined by the Higong (Heegong) or Garo branch at Teshi- 

 gang. This eastern branch of the Indus, even when joined by the Garo 

 branch, is not a broad, a deep, or a rapid stream, and is generally 

 fordable until within a few marches of Leh. The Shayuk, or the 

 branch rising in the Karakoram hills, is described as a more turbulent, 

 and perhaps as a larger stream. 



The Feeders of the Pitti River. — This river, (the Pitti,) has five 

 branches. First the Para, issuing from Chumorcreel lake ; it runs 

 about sixty miles, and is then joined by the Zang-cham, a large 

 and rapid stream; six or eight miles lower down it receives the Speetee, 

 formed of two principal branches. Little further down, the united 

 stream is joined by the Chaladokpo. — Gerard, p. 30, 31. 



There is no separate feeder of the Para, termed the Zangcham, 

 but Zangcham is a place on the right bank of the Para, about 3 



