THE SOURCES OF THE GANGES. , 437 



'describe the .horrid aspect of the country, and i;s etenicil winter;* should 

 jnake no mention of so remarkable a circumstance a^ that of ,the Ganges 



.flowing near to the town, and, for a considerable p.art of the way, at very 

 little distance, from their route. Yet &uch.is,.th^^ i^urse..pf the riY.er ^n.d 

 position of LM'Z/^, accordfflg to the Lama's m^p.. The Lama's repQ?-** 

 too, so far from b^ing^. unimpeached, as is argued by Major Rei^n.ell, 

 seemed, on various accovints, and for reasons long ago-set forth rby. An- 

 ^UETIL Du pERROM, liable to great suspicion of error and misrepresenta- 

 tion. The information colle6led by them on the eastern side of a chain of 

 mountains, concerning a river not seen nor identified by thern, and said to 

 flow on the \yesl-ern side of the same chain, was likely to be replete with 

 error and misrepresentation ; and at best was assuredly less to be depended 

 on, than information procured on the hither side of the mountains, and in 

 sight of the river to be identified. Now, it is acknowledged by Major 

 'Rennell, that, until- the result of the expedition sent hy the emperor 

 Camhi (Kang-hi) was known in Europe', it wks believed- on the faith 6f 



^^he Hindus, that the springs of the Ganges were at the foot of mount 



" Himalaya. '\ 



The Hm<^M5, when questioned^ do indeed refer to the fabulous ac* 

 counts, which are to be found in their mythological poems, entitled Purd" 

 nas, and which have been thence copied into graver works, including even 



c . . , — ■ i I. ' -n 



- jprecaution. Pour peu qu'on fit lin faux pas, on rouleroit dans des precipices avec grand dan- 

 ger de la vie, on du moins de se fracasscr les bras et les jambcs, conime il ,arriva u. quelques- 

 lins qui vojagcoieiit avec nous. Encore si cos montagnes avoient des arbrisseaux auxquels 

 on pu( se tetiir ; mais elles sont si steriles, qu' on n'y trouve ni plantos, ni iiicine un seul 



,j^rui d'i»(yl)c. Faut-'il passer d' uiie montagne a 1' autre ? on a. traverser des torrens iinpe- 

 lucux qui Ics bopareni, ei V on ne trouve point d' autre pont que quelqucs plancbcs etroites ct 



riremblantes, ou quqlques cordes (endues el entrelassees de brand) ayes veids. 



* Quant a la iiature du climat, il est fort Jiude, ainsi qu' on pent I' infercr de ce que j' ai 



■.dit, Jli'liiver est presque la seule saison qui y rcgne toute r auuee. En tout temps la ciuie 

 des monlagncs est couvertc de neigcs. Lettres edif. ?tij, 440. 

 t Memoir of a map, p. oil. 



M 5 



