Lamas' map is, which errs 3° in latitude. It alfo placed Laffa, which ought to be a well known pofition to them, a full degree too far to the fouth.

In the construction of the map of the Gogra, 32 coffes are reckoned to a degree, in a country, the most rugged and moun-tainous, imaginable; while 42 is the ftandard in the level country. A diftinction, however, must be made in the fcale of the upper and lower parts of the courfe of the river.. For, from Mirzapour, which occurs in my map of Oude, to the lake DoulooSagur, the country is generally level and was alfo explored by Tiefentaller himself; while the upper part is taken from the reports of a native. Therefore I have allowed 43 coffes to a degree, between those two points; fo that the distance will be 98 G. miles, instead of the 131 in the map. Then for the upper part of the river, I have allowed 60 coffes to make a degree, instead of 32: by which the distance from the lake Douloo-Sagur, to the lake Lanke, is only 230 G. miles, instead of the 373 on the map. To those who may object to fo great a diminution, as from 60 to 325 I fhall obferve, that 32, or even 37 coffes to a degree, is a proportion widely different from that which my experience fuggefts: and which allows 42 in the level country of Hindooftan proper: (fee page 5) and whofoever has travelled in very mountainous countries, and has moreover traced the course of a river through it; will not object to the diminishing to 1, what was 1,43 in the plains: for this is the proportion between 60 and 42.

If Tiefentaller's fcale is right, the Lanke lake would be in latitude 36° and upwards; which I confider as highly improbable. It is certain that our best maps of Afia (that is, D'Anville's) present nothing but a blank space, in the part affigned to the heads of these rivers, by M. Anquetil du Perron: and therefore, there is no pofitive evidence against it.

In afcending this river Gogra we find noted in the map, not far within the first ridge of mountains, and near the fecond ridge,

three

three fubterraneous caverns, from whence proceed with violence, fire, wind, and water. No other particulars are given. About 30 miles higher up, the Gogra forces its way through that vast ridge which has been often taken notice of before, under the name of Himmaleh, and which is a branch of the Himaus, or Imaus, of the ancients. This ridge, which is covered with fnow, and visible from the plains of Hindoostan, appears to be the general boundary of Thibet, through that whole extent from the Ganges to the Teefta river; inclofing-between it and Hindooftan, a tract of country, from 100 to 180 miles in breadth; divided into a number of finall ftates, none of which are understood to be either tributaries or feudatories of Thibet: fuch as Sirinagur, Almora, Kemaoon, Gorka, Napaul, and Morung. Bootan, a feudatory of Thibet, clofes on the eaft of this tract; and is the extent of our knowledge, as to particulars, that way.

The final number of towns and villages on the banks of this river, induces one to suppose that the western part of Thibet, is no better inhabited than we have before defcribed the eastern part of it to be. Indian names prevail, even within Thibet: and a temple of Mahadeo is found on the banks of the Manfaroar lake.

We have before ftated the diftance of the cow's mouth, or Gangotri, to be about 280 or 300 road miles, above Hurdwar; where the Ganges enters the plains of Hindooftan. As the compass of Tiefentaller's map of the Ganges, declines 12 degrees more to the weftward of north, than that of the furvey does, between Allahabad and Hurdwar; this allowance is made accordingly: and Tiefentaller's diftance exceeds that of the furvey, within the fame fpace, which is 331 G. miles, about of the whole. Not being abfolutely certain whether or not Tiefentaller took the latitude of Gangotri, I did not venture to alter the parallel in which he has placed it, 33° but contented myself with correcting the bearing 12 degrees; thereby fhortening the distance, which was originally 240 miles, to 227. If the latitude was not taken, by cœleftial

2

obferva

obfervation, but the distance calculated on the scale of 37 coffes to a degree, the Gangotri will still be placed too far to the north.

To fum up the whole information, collected from the different accounts of the upper part of the courfe of the Ganges, it appears that the two branches of it, which fpring from the western fide of Mount Kentaiffe, take their courfe weftward, inclining confiderably to the north, for a courfe of about 300 miles, in direct distance; when meeting the great chain or ridge of Mount Himmaleh, which extends from Cabul along the north of Hindooftan, and through Thibet, the rivers are compelled to turn to the fouth; in which course they unite their waters, and form what is properly termed the river Ganges. This great body of water now forces a paffage through the ridge of Mount Himmaleh, at the distance, poffibly, of 100 miles below the place of its first approach to it, and fapping its very foundations, rushes through a cavern, and precipitates itself into a vast bafon which it has worn in the rock, at the hither foot of the mountains. The Ganges thus appears, to incurious fpectators, to derive its original fprings from this chain of mountains : and the mind of fuperftition has given to the mouth of the cavern, the form of the head of a cow; an animal held by the Hindoos,. in a degree of veneration, almost equal to that, in which the Egyptians of old, held their god Apis.

From this fecond fource (as it may be termed) of the Ganges, its course becomes more eaftwardly than before, through the rugged. country of Sirinagur; until, at Hurdwar, it finally escapes from the mountainous tract, in which it has wandered for about 800 B.. miles. At Hurdwar, it opens itself a paffage through Mount Sewalick; which is the chain of mountains that borders on the level country, on the north of the province of Delhi. Even Sewalick. would be deemed a lofty ridge, but for the prefence of Mount: Himmaleh, or Imaus; which rifes behind it, when viewed from: the plains of Hindooftan.

It may truly be faid that the knowledge of the origin of the Ganges was referved for the prefent age: for it was as late as the year 1717, that the Emperor CAMHI, fent perfons to explore it, and to bring fome of its water back with them to Pekin, a journey of about 2500 B. miles from the head of the Ganges. Until the refult of this expedition was known in Europe, it was believed, on the faith of the Hindoos, that the fprings of the Ganges, were at the foot of Mount Himmaleh.

A circumstance attending the courfes of the Ganges and Burrampooter rivers, in refpect to each other, is remarkably fingular. Iffuing from oppofite fides of the fame ridge of mountains, they direct their courfes towards oppofite quarters, till they are more than 1200 miles afunder; and afterwards meet in one point near the fea, after each has performed a winding courfe of more than 2000 miles. Our ignorance of this circumftanc, till fo very lately, is a strong prefumptive proof, that there yet remains a vast field for improvement, in the geography of the eastern part of Afia.

SECTION

T

SECTION VII.

TABLES of DISTANCES in HINDOOSTAN.

HE following Tables, will, it is hoped, be particularly acceptable, not only to thofe, who for useful purposes may be defirous of calculating the time required for a courier or mefsenger to travel from one place to another, but also to those, who on the score of curiofity, or for the illustration of history, may wish to be informed of the distances between the principal towns in Hindoostan. This information cannot be obtained merely by the application of the compaffes to the map, because the windings and inflections of the roads are not there taken into the account: but an approximation towards it, may be obtained, by the double operation of measuring the distance on the map, and then applying to it, the rule given in page 7 of this Memoir.

To accomplish the talk above propofed, I first felected the names of fuch cities and other places as appeared likely to become objects of enquiry in future; and in fo extensive a country, no less than 168 such places occurred. To have given the distance between every two of these places refpectively, would not only have extended the tables to an immoderate length (upwards of 14,000 distances occurring on the above number) but would have burthened the purchafer with much ufelefs matter. For instance, although Jionpour has a political connexion with Lucknow, and Tanjore with Madras; and it may be neceffary that the distance of each of these subordinate places from its fuperior, should be given : Hh 2

yet,