304 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4. 



by the aid of the papers in question, as will be apparent to all familiar 

 with the subject. All the maps I have consulted only tend, in my 

 humble opinion, to confuse and mislead ; for instance, the direct 

 distance of Kuti from Katmandu, according to Kirkpatrick's Map, 

 is only 48 miles N. 88° E. ; Walker's engraved Map gives 63.6 miles 

 N. 60° E. ; Parbury and Allen's 60 miles N. 55° E. ; according to 

 Crawford, 75 miles N. 75° E. ; Arrowsmith's Map 56.6 miles 5T. 78° 

 E. ; according to the Preliminary Sketch Map compiled at the Sur- 

 veyor General's Office, Calcutta, 72.6 miles N. 53° E. ; according to 

 the route of Kaji Dalbhanjan Pande, the distance is 101.5 miles. 

 The Chountra omits Kuti altogether. 



Amidst these conflicting values it is of course impossible to arrive 

 at any satisfactory conclusion. The following extract from a letter 

 from Major Eamsay, Eesident at Nepal, to Major Thuillier, regarding 

 the compilation Map of that country, dated 11th June, 1855, will 

 serve to convey an idea of the conjectural materials and discordant 

 elements we have to deal with. " Tou are doubtless aware that no 

 European has ever travelled in the interior of this country, and that 

 all the information we possess of it, is derived from the reports of 

 persons who are totally devoid of scientific knowledge, and accustomed 

 in their comparisons of distances to trust to vague estimates formed 

 by parties who have travelled through the different districts." 



With respect to the sketch map it will be seen, that Mr. Hodgson 

 gives only one isolated peak segregated from all the rest ; whereas 

 nothing can be more contrary to the fact as regards the Himalayas. 

 Besides the configuration of the ground must be very different to 

 that represented by Mr. Hodgson, being in fact difficult in the 

 extreme. There is, however, no evidence to shew that Mount Everest 

 and Deodangha are identical. Mr. Hodgson says, " The Bhootia 

 Cosi has its source at Deodangha, a vast Himalayan peak situated 

 some sixty or seventy miles east of Grosaiuthan, and a little north 

 and east of the Kuti Pass, being probably the nameless Peak* which 

 Colonel Waugh conjectures may rival Kanchanjinga in height. The 

 river flows from the base of Deodangha past the town of Kuti, and 



* The words underlined by me are omitted in Mr. Hodgson's communication 

 on the native name of Mount Everest. J. A. S. No. V. 1856. 



