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{{short description|1913 expedition that discovered route of Tsangpo River through Himalaya}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
The '''Bailey&ndash;Morshead exploration of the Tsangpo Gorge''' was an unauthorised expedition by [[Frederick Marshman Bailey|Frederick Bailey]] and [[Henry Morshead]] in 1913 which for the first time established the definite route by which the [[Tsangpo River]] reaches the sea from north of [[Himalaya]], through the [[Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon|Tsangpo Gorge]].

==Background==
[[File:Kinthup.jpg|thumb|Kinthup, photographed in 1914]]
[[File:Rivers with sources in Tibet.svg|thumb|Sketch of rivers arising on Tibetan plateau]]
North of Himalaya, the [[Yarlung Tsangpo River]] flows east through the [[Tibetan Plateau]] and then turns south into a series of massive gorges in Himalayan mountains. Until the 1880s it was unknown by which route it eventually reached the sea.<ref name=bose />
It could have been any of the [[Yangtze]], [[Mekong]], [[Salween River|Salween]], [[Irawaddy River|Irrawaddy]] or [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]] rivers all of which have headwaters this region.{{refn|group=note|It is thought that, before the uplift of the Himalayas, the Tsangpo flowed into the [[Red River (Asia)|Red River]] which flows to [[Gulf of Tonkin]], near [[Hanoi]]. During the [[Himalayan orogeny]] the Brahmaputra captured the Red River's headwaters.<ref name=geology>{{cite web|last1=Winn|first1=Pete|title=Geology and Geography of Tibet and Western China|url=http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/wchinageo/wchinageo.html|website=Exploring the Rivers of Western China|publisher=Earth Science Expeditions|accessdate=17 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228171420/http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/wchinageo/wchinageo.html|archive-date=28 December 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}} [[Kinthup]], a [[Lepcha people|Lepcha]] man from [[Sikkim]] employed as a [[pundit (explorer)|pundit]], had provided some evidence that the Tsangpo flowed into the [[Dihang]] (which is a tributary of the Brahmaputra) but he was not widely believed.<ref name=bose>{{cite journal|last1=Bose|first1=SK|title=Tsangpo, The River of Mystery|journal=Journal of the United Service Institution of India|date=2010|volume=CXL|issue=581|url=http://www.usiofindia.org/Article/?pub=Journal&pubno=581&ano=765|accessdate=12 August 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814020117/http://www.usiofindia.org/Article/?pub=Journal&pubno=581&ano=765|archive-date=14 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>{{sfnp|Morshead|1982}} By 1911 the connection was widely accepted.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=22}} Another mystery remained: the river dropped from {{convert|9000|ft}} to {{convert|1000|ft}} in a distance of perhaps {{convert|100|mi}} which is extremely steep for a river of this size.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=22}} It seemed there must be a massive waterfall and, indeed, Kinthup had reported one {{convert|150|ft}} high.<ref name=bose />

==Abor Expedition==
In 1911–12 as part of the [[Abor Hills|Abor]] Expedition, the Survey of India conducted widespread surveying of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|pp=15–22}} Morshead was in a team surveying the [[Dibang River]] while [[Frederick Marshman Bailey|Frederick Bailey]] was surveying the [[Dihang]].{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=22}}<ref group=note>The [[Dibang River|Dibang]] and [[Dihang]] rivers are different tributaries of the Brahmaputra. Because it is now known the Tsangpo flows into the Dihang, the latter is now often regarded as a different name for the Brahmaputra in this region.</ref> Oakes and Field of the Dihang team were first to measure the height of the {{convert|25445|ft|adj=on}} [[Namcha Barwa]] and, from Dibang, Morshead confirmed the height – the separate measurements were able to provide a very accurate location.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=31}}

==1913 expedition==
[[File:1914 Northeastern Frontier and Tibet by Morshead and Bailey.jpg|thumb|Bailey and Morshead's map of the route of the expedition]]
In 1913 Bailey, an intelligence officer with the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], invited Morshead to be the surveyor in an expedition to explore the [[Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon]] (Tsangpo Gorge), now known to be the world's deepest gorge.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|loc=22,32–33}}{{refn|group=note|{{convert|16650|ft}} deep. The [[Colorado River]]'s [[Grand Canyon]] is {{convert|6998|ft}}.<ref name=bose />}}
Bailey and Morshead explored from the south with Morshead surveying the entire route and calculating the results as they went so as not to delay progress. By ascending the Dibang river and crossing the [[Yonggyap Pass]] ({{coord|29|13|00|N|95|35|00|E}}<ref name=yonggyap>{{cite web|title=Yonggyap Pass: India|url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-2935683&fid=2717&c=india|website=Geographical Names|publisher=geographic.org|accessdate=12 August 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813223802/http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-2935683&fid=2717&c=india|archive-date=13 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>) and the Himalayan watershed into Tibet, they reached the Dihang and started up the Gorge.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|pp=32–36}}

When they were at Lagung, just east of Namcha Barwa, they were arrested by the Nyerpa of Pome who took them to Showa on the Po Tsangpo river. After they had been imprisoned for several days they were released. By following this river downstream to the west and then north they reached the Rong Chu valley where Bailey discovered a tall blue poppy &ndash; now known as [[Meconopsis baileyi]] &ndash; at a forest edge. They headed south to reach the Dihang river again, this time upstream of the Gorge and just south of [[Gyala Peri]]. Hence they penetrated the massive sweep of the Tsangpo Gorge, north east of Namcha Barwa. They were able to go downstream as far as [[Pemako|Pemakoi-chen]] where they found the immense Tsangpo Gorge impassible. They were only about {{convert|45|mi}} upstream of Lagung but they had to turn to the north to follow the Tsangpo upstream to [[Tsetang]] where they left the river and headed south through eastern [[Bhutan]] to [[Trashigang]], eventually to arrive at [[Rangiya]] back in India.<ref name=mason>{{cite journal|last1=Mason|first1=Kenneth|title={{sic|In Memo|rium|hide=y|expected=In Memoriam}}: Henry Treise Morshead|journal=Himalayan Journal|date=1932|volume=4|url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/04/17/in-memorium/|accessdate=12 August 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814003240/https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/04/17/in-memorium/|archive-date=14 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|pp=36–49}} The expedition covered {{convert|1680|mi}} on foot and lasted from 16 May to 14 November 1913.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|p=210}}{{sfnp|Bailey|1914|pp=84–89}}

==Discoveries and outcome==
In doing this they proved that the Dibang tributary of the Brahmaputra flows around rather than through the Himalayan mountains and does not connect with the Tsangpo.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|p=209}} They also proved conclusively that the Tsangpo–Dihang–Brahmaputra was a single river and for the first time established its accurate course along what became known as the [[Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon]].{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=49}} The highest waterfall they found was {{convert|30|ft}} and they considered there was unlikely to be a higher fall – this came as a disappointment even to the professionals.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=40}}{{refn|group=note|It later transpired there had been a mistranslation of Kinthup's report – the 150 feet related to a waterfall in a side stream.{{sfnp|Morshead|1982|p=47}} A 1924 expedition found a 70-foot fall two miles further downstream and in 1998 a 108-foot fall was discovered.<ref name=bose />}} For his work Morshead was awarded the [[Charles MacGregor|Macgregor]] Medal by the [[United Service Institution of India]]. At the time the expedition was regarded as a great feat of exploration and it drew international acclaim.<ref name=mason />

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist|2}}

===Works cited===
*{{cite book|last1=Bailey|first1=F. T.|title=Report on an Expedition on the North East Frontier, 1913|date=1914|publisher=Government Monotype Press|location=Simla|url=https://archive.org/details/ExplorationOnTheNorthEastFrontier1913|accessdate=13 August 2014}}
*{{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Wade|authorlink=Wade Davis (anthropologist)|title=Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest|date=2012|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0099563839|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MsWN1v8V8UMC|accessdate=14 June 2014}}
*{{cite book|last1=Morshead|first1=Ian|title=The life and murder of Henry Morshead: a true story from the days of the Raj|date=1982|publisher=Oleander Press.|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780900891762|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/lifemurderofhe00mors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey-Morshead exploration of Tsangpo Gorge}}
[[Category:1913 in India]]
[[Category:1913 in Tibet]]
[[Category:Expeditions from India]]
[[Category:Exploration of South Asia]]