1848.] Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan, fyc. 145 



upon the lakes during the summer, and the people of Kyunglung take 

 the eggs. 



In the season of heat and rain the Chugarh is a very considerable 

 stream, sometimes unfordable, and perhaps equal to the Tirthapuri 

 river ; it is the furthest eastward of the large feeders which the Sutlej 

 receives from the Indian Himalaya, and may be considered as one of 

 the main sources of that river. 



From Lama-Choktan we descended into the plain by a long, but easy 

 declivity, and crossed the flat where it is about a mile and a half wide ; 

 reaching the middle of which, we saw it extending many miles in a 

 long valley confined between the base of the Byans Himalaya, and the 

 ranges of the lofty hill which I noticed from Lama-Choktan. The 

 origin of the Karnali is close upon this valley ; the river enters it a 

 few miles further down (south-westward) coming out of ravines in the 

 North-eastern face of the Byans Himalaya, its principal source pro- 

 bably from the north slope of the Mankshang pass, though I could 

 get no accurate information on this point. It is a curious fact that 

 the sources of the Sutlej and Karnali, main branches respectively of 

 the Indus and Ganges, should lie so close together and divided by an 

 almost level plain, across which a man might walk from one river to the 

 other in an hour or two, without vertical ascent or descent of 500 feet. 

 The case is much the same with the south-eastern source of the Gar- 

 tokh Indus (the Biphu-kula) and the north-western branch of the 

 Misar Sutlej, which are separated by a mile only of mere rising ground 

 (Jilkwa-La), and it would probably be found the same with the Jahnav* 

 above Nilang, the main source of the Ganges, yet unexplored by Eng. 

 lishmen ! 



The end of this valley appeared to turn southward where it entered 

 the head of the Pruang valley, and the view in this direction was ter- 

 minated by a huge snowy mountain, the last and greatest of a chain 

 which comes from the south-eastward along the left bank of the Kar- 

 nali. I immediately recognized this remarkable mountain as the same 

 that I had seen from the high plain between Dungpu and Chirchun, 

 and of which the Jwaris who were with me could give no account ; 

 according to Kechu, the Hunia name of it is Momonangli, and the 

 Bhotias call it Gurla. It is one of the grandest objects I ever saw; 

 from this point of view, the huge towering mass of snow that forms 



Q 2 



