156 GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS AND EXPLORATIONS. 



At Sama A k was informed that lie would certainly bo killed 



if he tried to pass through, the Mishmi country, consequently he.was 

 reluctantly obliged to return by a northerly and circuitous route to 

 Lhasa leading over the INeching Gangra range, which appears to 

 be the eastern prolongation of the Himalayan chain.'* The route lay 

 in a northerly direction, and to the west of the Giama Nu Chu ; 

 many of the streams crossed draining into it. At the fort of Lho 

 Jong the great high road from Darchendo to Lhasa was struck, and 

 thence the route lay westward and fairly coincident with that 

 followed by the Abbe Hue on his return journey from Lhasa to 

 China, but instead of revisiting the capital, A k travelled south- 

 wards to Chetang on the Brahmaputra, and finally arrived at 

 Darjeeling on the 12th November 1882. 



Such are the main features of this remarkable journey, which 

 extended over 3,000 miles of country, and lasted over four years and 

 a half. There is much of considerable interest in Mr. J. B. JST. Hen- 

 nessey's Beport,f which it is impossible to reproduce here, but one 

 important result was to demonstrate the fact that the great Tibetan 

 river, the Sanpo, does not flow into the Irawadi basin, and that it 

 has no other possible exit than through the channel of the Dihong. 



During the course of his travels A k took observations for 



latitude at 22 stations, and heights by boiling point at 69 places. 

 He displayed great ingenuity in secreting and preserving his instru- 

 im nts throughout all his troubles, and his perseverance and pluck in 

 the face of disasters and privations earned for him the highest praise 

 from his employers, and from all geographers. He was rewarded 

 with a grant of a jaghir of land from Government, the title of Bai 

 Bahadur, a grant of money from the Ro} r al Geographical Society, 

 a gold medal from the Paris Geographical Society, and one 

 awarded by the Venice Geographical Congress. Still more meri- 

 torious were A k's courage and perseverance amid difficulties 



sufficient to have daunted most men. Not only was he plundered 



* A k travelled down the Zayul river to about 10 miles below Rima; there lie 



ascertained from native information only that it is the source of the Lohit Brshmapatra 

 which flows into Assam. The accuracy of this information having been questioned, 

 Mr. Needham, a British Pi 'lice Officer in Assam, made an adventurous journey up the 

 Lohit Brahmapatra to a point within a mile of Rima, and conclusively ascertained that 

 the /.aval is the source «t' that river. See General Walker's paper on the Ln river of 

 Tibet, in the Proceedings of the R.G.S. for June 1887. 



t Report on the Explorations in Great Tibet and Mongolia, made by A k in 



1879-82. Dehra Dun, 1884. 



