25th Stage to the English Chouki, N.E., 7 kós. Crossed the Siddhi stream, and proceeded one and a half kós of slight ascent and skirting the mountain bases to Thaplia. Thence half a kós of descent to the small streamlet of Séchideu. Thence a quarter kós over low hills to the Méchi River. The Méchi is the present boundary of Népál and Sikim. It is a small stream which rises in the Singalélah ridge, a spur of Karphók. Crossed it and ascended the hill of Nágri, by a very bad road and severe ascent of one and a quarter kós to the top. Thence a severe ascent of one kós to the smaller Rangbhang Khóla, a streamlet merely. Thence along the glen to the great Rangbhang, distant one kós. Thence a steep ascent of one kós to Nágri Kót, an old fort in ruins. Thence a painful descent of half a kós to the Balason River. It is a moderate-sized stream, larger than the Méchi. Thence half a kós of rather uneven travelling to the halting-place. 26th Stage to Darjeeling, North, 4 kós. A severe ascent of one kós, and then an easy half kós along a ridge, brought us to the Company's high-road, along which we travelled for two and a half kós to Jellapahár and Herbert Hill at Darjeeling. Total kós 109. At 2 miles per kós = 254 miles. NOTE.-The Népálese standard kós is equal to 2 English miles, and the travellers had this standard to refer to along a great part of their way, as being coincident generally with the measured military road several times adverted to on the route. Hence their distances from stage to stage may be perfectly relied on, though in the details of each stage the same accuracy cannot be expected. MEMORANDUM RELATIVE TO THE SEVEN COSIS OF NÉPÁL The enumeration of the seven Cósis by the Itinerists is doubtless the accredited one, and what I have myself often heard at Káthmándú. Nevertheless, names are not always applied in strict correspondence with things in geography. Witness the neglected Jáhnavi, the true and transnivean source of the Ganges! Now, if we are to estimate the seven chief feeders of the Great Cósi according to the length of their courses, or their effect on the physiognomy of the country, the enumerations ought seemingly to be as follows: Ist. The Milamchi Local series beginning from the West This list omits the Bárun of the usual enumeration, and substitutes the Bhótia Cósi for the Sún Cósi, and not without Népálese authority for both changes; for it is generally allowed that the Bárún hardly belongs to the sub-Himálayas, and that Sún Cósi is rather the name of the general receptacle of the Cósis till joined by the Arún, than that of a separate Cósi. The following remarks on each river will make this apparent :— 1st. The Milamchi rises above the Bhótia village of that name, and at or near to the eastern base of Gosain-thán, the great snowy peak overlooking the valley of Népál. From the snows, the Milamchi has a south-eastern course of probably sixty miles to Dallálghát. It is joined from the west by the Sindhu, the Tánd, and the Chák; and from the north and north-east by the Indravati, the Balamphi, and the Jhári. The three former are petty streams, but the three latter are considerable ones, one of them rising in the snowy region, and another having two subordinate affluents. The Indravati comes from the Hemáchal at Panchpokri, and flows nearly due south into the Milamchi below Hélmú. The Balamphi and Jhári have only sub-Himálayan sources, situated south-east of Panchpokri, but they have longer independent courses than the Indrávati before they unite, after which they presently join the Milamchi not far above the confluence of the Chák. The subordinate feeders of the Balamphi, above adverted to, are the Boksia and Lipsia. They have short parallel courses W.S.W. into their parent stream. Thus the Milamchi is a notable river, and it is the more so as forming very distinctly the western boundary of the basin of the great Cósi, of which the equally distinct eastern limit is the Tamór. 2d. The Bhótia Cósi has its sources at Deodhúnga, a vast Himálayan peak, situated some sixty or seventy miles east of Gosain-thán and a little north and east of the Kúti Pass, being probably the nameless peak which Colonel Waugh conjectures may rival Kángchánjúnga in height. The river flows from the base of Deodhúnga past the town of Kúti, and has a south-west direction from Kúti to Dallálghát, where it joins the Milamchi after a course about as long as the Milamchi's; the two rivers of nearly equal size forming a deltic basin. In about its midcourse, the Bhótia Cósi is joined by the Sún Cósi from Kálingchok. But Kálingchok is no part of the true Hemáchal, nor is the stream thence flowing equal to that coming from the snows at Deodhúnga. Consequently the name Bhótia Cósi should prevail over that of Sún Cósi as the designation of one of the separate seven Cósis, and the name Sún Cósi be reserved for the general receptacle, within the mountains as far east as Tirbéni. The Bhótia Cósi is joined at Listi by the Júm Khóla, whilst from the Mánga ridge another feeder is supplied to it, much lower down or below the confluence of the Sún Cósi from the east. But as the Milamchi, below the junction of the Balamphi and Jhári, is often called the Indrávati vel Indhani, so the Bhótia Cósi, below the junction of the Sún Cósi, is frequently styled by the latter name, which others again with more reason confine to the more general confluence below Dallalghát. There no doubt the name Sún Cósi begins to be well applied, it being universally the designation of the great receptacle of waters running west and east from Dúmja to Tirbéni. At Dúmjá, which is only a few miles south of Dallálghát, the Sún Cósi receives a considerable affluent from the west. This affluent is called the Rósi. It rises on the external skirts of the great valley under the names biyabar and Panouti, from the respective dales watered by the two streamlets. 3d. The Támba Cósi. It rises at Phallák in the snowy region, about two journeys east and a little north of Kálingchok, or the fount of the upper and pseido Sún Cósi. The Támba Cósi's course from Phallák to Sélaghát, where it falls into the receptacle, is nearly south, and, as far as I know, it has only one considerable affluent, which is the Khimti. The Khimti rises in the Jiri ridge, and flowing nearly south, parallel to the Támba Cósi, joins the latter in its mid-course at Chisapáni. 4th. The Likhú. This river is less than the Támba Cósi, and seems to rise somewhat beneath the snows, though its place of origin at Khali Mungali is said to be a ridge connected therewith. Its course is still more directly south than that of the Támba Cósi, to which, however, its general direction is very parallel. I know but one of its feeders, the Kháni, which comes from the Cháplú ridge on the east of the main river. 5th. The Dúd Cósi. It is a large stream, larger even than the Támba Cósi, though inferior to the Arún or Támor. It rises amid the perpetual snows, but at what exact spot I do not know, and it has a southern course to the Sún Cósi at Rasua. Its feeders are numerous, but I know only those near Rasua, which are the Thotia and the Sisnia on the west and the Rao on the east. 6th. The Arún or Arún Cósi. It is the largest by much of the whole, and consequently the main source of the Maha Cósi, having several feeders in Tibet, one from Darra on the north, another from Tíngri on the west, and the third from the east from a lake. The Arún is not only the greatest of the Cósis, but of all the sub-Himálayan rivers, if the Karnáli be not its equal. None other can compete with it. The Bárún, often reckoned a separate Cósi, is a mere feeder of the Arún, and joins it so high up that there is little propriety in admitting the Bárún as a member of the Sapt Cósi. The Bárún is lost in the Arún in the Alpine region at Hatia, the great. mart for the barter trade of the cis and transniveans by the very accessible pass of the Arún. Lower down the Arún receives many tributaries, from the west, the Salpa and Ikhua; from the east, the Sawai, the Hengwa, the Pilwa, the Ligua, and the Mámágá. Its course on this side the Himálaya is generally north and south; but in Tibet it spreads to the west and east also, covering and draining a deal of ground there. 7th. The Tamór Cósi. The Tamór, also, is a very fine river, inferior only to the Arún. It is alleged to have more than one Trans-Himalayan source. It passes the snows at Wallungchung, or rises there from the snows. Its course from Wallung to the general junction at Tirbéni is south-west, and it receives many affluents on the way, as the Wallung, the Chung, the Yángmá, the Mewa, the Kabaili, the Kháwa, the Nhabo, the Tankhua, the Telia, the Nava, the Chérwa, the Kokaya. VOL. II. |