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THE TSAXGBO, OR BRAHMAPUTRA. 85
reports, no doubt, speak of rapids and cataracts through which the Tibetan waters
reach the lowlands ; but it is uncertain what streams these reports refer to. Besides,
the exact measurements recently taken of the discharge of the Brahmaputra and
its affluents do not seem favourable to Rennell's hypothesis. The flow of the
Subansiri, Dibong, and Upper Brahmaputra
Fig. 15. CoUESE OF THE TsANOBO.
According to Gordon. Scale 1 : 11,000,000.
shows that these rivers are all far
. 300 Miles.
inferior in volume to the Tsangbo at Chetang, and consequently still smaller than
the same stream IMO miles lower down. 'I'iie volume of the Dihong, as measured
by Wbodtfaorpe, is ."> l.ouo eubie feet per second in the snowy season, when the
water begins to ri.se ; and judging from the extent of land covered during the
floods, the discharge would then seem to vary from 350,000 to 420,000 cubic feet.
But this is precisely the amount we might expect to be scut down by the river