In The Middle Of The Valley Is A Great Lake
300 Li (60 Miles) From East To West, And 500 Li From North To South.
This Stands In The Centre Of Jambudwipa (The Buddhist [Greek:
Oikoumenae])
on a plateau of prodigious elevation.
An endless variety of creatures
peoples its waters. When you hear the murmur and clash of its waves you
think you are listening to the noisy hum of a great market in which vast
crowds of people are mingling in excitement.... The lake discharges to the
west, and a river runs out of it in that direction and joins the Potsu
(Oxus).... The lake likewise discharges to the east, and a great river
runs out, which flows eastward to the western frontier of Kiesha
(Kashgar), where it joins the River Sita, and runs eastward with it into
the sea." The story of an eastern outflow from the lake is, no doubt,
legend, connected with an ancient Hindu belief (see Cathay, p. 347), but
Burnes in modern times heard much the same story. And the Mirza, in 1868,
took up the same impression regarding the smaller lake called Pamir Kul,
in which the southern branch of the Panja originates.
"After quitting the (frozen) surface of the river," says Wood, "we ...
ascended a low hill, which apparently bounded the valley to the eastward.
On surmounting this, at 3 P.M. of the 19th February, 1838, we stood, to
use a native expression, upon the Bam-i-Duniah, or 'Roof of the World,'
while before us lay stretched a noble but frozen sheet of water, from
whose western end issued the infant river of the Oxus.
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