Chap. 22.] 
ACCOUNT OF COUNTEIES, ETC. 
43 
comes nearest to the sea, and above tliem are the Mandei and 
the Malli.^* In the territory of the last-named people is a 
mountain called MaUus : the boundary of this region is the 
river Ganges. 
CHAP. 22. (18.) — THE GANGES. 
Some writers have stated that this river, like the Nile, 
takes its rise from unknown sources,'*^ and, in a similar manner, 
waters the neighbouring territory ; others, again, say that it rises 
in the mountains of Scythia. They state also that nineteen 
rivers discharge their waters into it ; those among them that 
are navigable, besides the rivers already mentioned,^^ are the 
Condochates,^^ the Erannoboas,^^ the Cosoagus,"*^ and the 
Sonus. Other writers again say that it bursts forth at its 
very source with a loud noise, hurling itself over rocks and 
precipices ; and that after it has reached the plains, its waters 
become more tranquil, and it pauses for a time in a certain 
lake, after which it flows gently on. They say also that it 
is eight miles in breadth, where it is the very narrowest, and 
half-way between the rivers Mahanuddy and Godavery; and the territory 
of the Calingse seems to correspond pretty nearly to the district of Circars, 
lying along the coast of Orissa. 
By the Malli, Parisot is of opinion that the people of Moultan are 
meant. 
So much so, indeed, that its sources were unknown to the learned 
world till the beginning of the present century, although the Chinese em- 
peror Tang-Hi on one occasion sent a body of Llamas for the purpose of 
inquiring into the subject. It is now ascertained that the river Ganges is 
the result of the confluence of three separate streams, which bear the re- 
spective names of the Gannavi, the Bhagirathi, and the Alakananda. The 
second is of the most sacred character, and is the one to which the largest 
concourse of pilgrims resort. The ancients held various opinions as to 
the sources of the river. 
The Cainas and the Jomanes, mentioned in the last Chapter. 
"^"^ The modern Gandaki or Gunduk is generally supposed to be repre«- 
sented by the Condochates. 
Represented as flowing into the Ganges at Palimbothra, the modern 
Patna. There has been considerable discussion among the learned as to 
what river is indicated by this name. It has, however, been considered 
most probable that it is the same as the Sonus of Pliny, the modern Soane, 
though both that author, as well as Arrian, speaks of two rivers, which 
they call respectively Erannoboas and Sonus. ,The name was probably 
derived from the Sanscrit Hyranyavahas, the poetical name of the Sonus. 
Supposed to be the same as the river Cosi or Coravaha. 
