Trans-Himalaya; discoveries and adventures in Tibet . ntity ofwater in winter and summer, but a little more after rainyseasons. Up on the slab of rock stand three tall cairnsand a small cubical Ihato containing votive pyramids of below the Ihato is a quadrangular mani, with hundredsof red flagstones, some covered with fine close inscriptions,some bearing a single character 20 inches high. On twothe wheel of life was incised, and on another a divineimage, which I carried off as a souvenir of the source ofthe Indus. Our guide said that the source Singi-kabab wasreverenced because of its
Trans-Himalaya; discoveries and adventures in Tibet . ntity ofwater in winter and summer, but a little more after rainyseasons. Up on the slab of rock stand three tall cairnsand a small cubical Ihato containing votive pyramids of below the Ihato is a quadrangular mani, with hundredsof red flagstones, some covered with fine close inscriptions,some bearing a single character 20 inches high. On twothe wheel of life was incised, and on another a divineimage, which I carried off as a souvenir of the source ofthe Indus. Our guide said that the source Singi-kabab wasreverenced because of its divine origin. When travellersreached this place or any other part of the upper Indus,they scooped up water with their hands, drank of it, andsprinkled their faces and heads with it. Through the investigations made by Montgomeriespundits in the year 1867 it was known that the easternarm of the Indus is the actual headwater, and I had after-wards an opportunity of proving by measurement that thewestern, Gartok, stream is considerably smaller. But no. THE SOURCE OF THE INDUS 213 pundit had succeeded in penetrating to the source, andthe one who had advanced nearest to it, namely, to a point30 miles from it, had been attacked by robbers andforced to turn back. Consequently, until our time theerroneous opinion prevailed that the Indus had its sourceon the north flank of Kailas, and, thanks to those admirablerobbers, the discovery of the Indus source was reservedfor me and my five Ladakis. We passed a memorable evening and a memorablenight at this important geographical spot, situated 16,946feet above sea-level. Here I stood and saw the Indusemerge from the lap of the earth. Here I stood and sawthis unpretentious brook wind down the valley, and Ithought of all the changes it must undergo before itpasses between rocky cliffs, singing its roaring song inever more powerful crescendo, down to the sea at Karachi,where steamers load and unload their cargoes. I thoughtof its restless cours
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