56 



Facts respecting the Laws which regulate the Distribution of 

 Rivers, and the Principal Watersheds of the Earth. By 

 William Rhind, Esq. * 



In the investigation of the hydrology of the globe, we shall 

 find that there are certain limits of latitude within which the 

 great majority of rivers have their origin. Thus all the rivers 

 of the first magnitude have their sources within the tropical 

 or sub-tropical zones. The greater proportion rise within 

 the fortieth or fiftieth parallel of latitude ; and no river, of 

 even fourth or fifth rate magnitude, derives its origin beyond 

 the sixtieth degree of latitude. 



The following table of the principal rivers of the globe, 

 with the latitudes in which their extreme sources originate, 

 will serve to illustrate this fact : — 



Rivers of Asia flowing North and North-West. 



Obi, rises in lat. 48° N., flows into Arctic Ocean in lat. 65° N. 

 Yenesei, rises in lat. 50° N., flows into Arctic Ocean in lat, 71° N. 

 Lena, rises about 50° 2$., flows into Arctic Ocean in lat. 73° N. 

 Amour or Sagalien, rises in lat. 48° N., flows into Sangalin Gulf in lat. 



53° ls T . 

 Jaxartes, i rise in Pamir, lat. 36° N., elevation 15,000 feet, flow into Arabian 

 Oxus, J Sea. 



Rivers of Asia flowing South and South-East. 



Indus, rises in Kailas, M. Himalaya, lat. 31° 30' N., elevation 18,000 feet, 



flows into Indian Ocean, lat. 24° N. 

 Ganges, rises in Himalaya, lat. 31° N., elevation 13,000 feet, flows into Bay 



of Bengal. 

 Brahmapootra, rises in Tibetan Mountains, about lat. 30° 3" N., flows into 



Bay of Bengal. 

 Irrawadi, rises in East Tibet, about lat. 28° N., flows into Bay of Bengal. 



Hoang-Ho, 1 



, r „, „ I/T1 ,.„ } rise in East Tibet, flow into Yellow Sea. 



\ang-tse Kiang, J ' 



Hong Kiang, rises in South China, flows into China Sea. 



Menam Kong, rises in Tibet, about lat. 33° N., flows into Gulf of Siam. 



Godavery, I 



Kishna I r * se * n w " est Ghauts, Hindostan, about lat. 20 N. 



Euphrates, rises in Armenia, lat. 40° N. } flows into Persian Gulf. 



Read before the Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh, March 1853. 



