Note 285 — Chapter XXIV

Digarchi, Jigatzi, or Shigatzi jong (the fort of Shigatzi) is the capital of the “Tsang” province, and Teshoo Loombo is the neighbouring city of temples and monasteries, the ecclesiastical capital of Tibet, and the abode of the grand (Teshoo) Lama, or ever-living Boodh. Whether we estimate this man by the number of his devotees, or the perfect sincerity of their worship, he is without exception one of the most honoured beings living in the world. I have assumed the elevation of Jigatzi to be 13–14,000 feet, using as data Turner’s October mean temperature of Teshoo Loombo, and the decrement for elevation of 400 feet to 1° Fahr.; which my own observations indicate as an approximation to the truth. Humboldt (“Asie Centrale,” iii., p. 223) uses a much smaller multiplier, and infers the elevation of Teshoo Loombo to be between 9,500 and 10,000 feet. Our data are far too imperfect to warrant any satisfactory conclusions on this interesting subject; but the accounts I have received of the vegetation of the Yaru valley at Jigatzi seem to indicate an elevation of at least 13,000 feet for the bed of that river. Of the elevation of Lhassa itself we have no idea: if MM. Huc and Gabet’s statement of the rivers not being frozen there in March be correct, the climate must be very different from what we suppose.