CHAPTER XV.

General description of Tibet -- Systems of mountains --

Trans-Sutlej Himalaya -- Cis-Sutlej Himalaya -- Kouenlun -- Four

Passes across Kouenlun -- Boundaries of Western Tibet -- Height

of its mountain ranges and passes -- Climate of Tibet -- Clouds

-- Winds -- Snow-fall -- Glaciers -- Their former greater

extension -- Elevation to which they descend -- Snow-level --

Geology -- Lacustrine clay and alluvium.

The elevated country of Central Asia, situated to the north of the

lofty snowy mountains which encircle India from Kashmir to Assam, is

familiarly known to Europeans by the name of Thibet or Tubet,--most

properly, I believe, Tibet. This name is also commonly employed by the

Mohammedan nations to the north and west to designate the same

country, but is not, so far as I am aware, known in the language of

the Tibetans themselves, among whom different portions of the country

are usually known by different names.

[Sidenote: BOUNDARIES OF TIBET.]

The whole of Tibet (as far as our present very limited knowledge of

the south-east portion enables an opinion to be formed) appears to be

characterized by great uniformity of climate and productions, and

perhaps also of natural features, on which account it appears

convenient to retain the name for the whole country, although, as has

already been pointed out by Baron Humboldt[28], it is naturally

separable into two grand divisions. One of these, the waters of which

collect to join the Sanpu, which in India becomes the Brahmaputra, is

still scarcely known; the other, drained principally by the Indus and

its tributaries, has been repeatedly visited by European travellers.

The line of separation between these two portions lies a little to the

east of the great lakes[29], from the neighbourhood of which the

country must gradually slope in both directions towards the sea.

If the whole of western Tibet formed (as it does, according to the

popular opinion on the subject of the countries to the north of the

Himalaya) an extensive plain bounded on the south by the great chain

of the Himalaya, and on the north by the lofty mountains of Kouenlun,

it would be an easy task to define its limits. This is, however, so

far from being the case, that the greater part of the surface of the

country is traversed in all directions by ranges of mountains in every

respect similar to the Himalaya, of which in fact those south of the

Indus are ramifications, while those on the north are branches of the

snowy chain of Kouenlun.

If, again, the Himalaya formed an uninterrupted chain along the

southern border of Tibet, broken only by the passage of the Indus at

one extremity and by that of the Brahmaputra at the other, the

mountainous nature of the interior would be no obstacle to the

existence of a clear and distinct boundary. Unfortunately, however,

for simplicity of definition, no such chain exists. A line of high

snowy peaks may doubtless be traced in a direction nearly parallel to

the plains of India, but these are separated from one another by deep

ravines, along which flow large and rapid rivers, and therefore afford

no tangible line of demarcation between the two countries.

[Sidenote: TRANS-SUTLEJ HIMALAYA.]

Between the river Indus and the plains of north-west India is

interposed a mountain tract which has a breadth of about 150 miles in

linear distance. This tract is everywhere (with one exception)

extremely rugged and mountainous, nor is it at all an easy task to

convey an idea of the extreme complication of the ramifications of the

numerous ranges of which it consists. No wide plain (Kashmir alone

excepted) is interposed between these ranges, so that the only

feasible mode of division which appears to be applicable to them is

afforded by the course of the different rivers which traverse them in

various directions. If these be taken as a guide, the mountains will

be found to resolve themselves into two great systems connected to the

eastward, but otherwise independent of, though nearly parallel to, one

another.

From the sources of the west branch of the Chenab or Chandrabhaga

river, a range of very great elevation runs in a north-west direction

as far as Kashmir, and, after reaching the north-east corner of that

valley, assumes a more westerly direction so as to encircle the whole

of its north side, bending at the same time gradually towards the

south. This chain forms the line of separation between the waters of

the Indus and those of the Chenab and Jelam. To the eastward of the

Baralacha Pass it ramifies to a considerable extent, its different

branches including between them several depressions quite unconnected

with the general drainage of the country, and surrounded on all sides

by ranges of hills which prevent any exit of their waters. The

principal of these depressions is that of lake Chumoreri; another is

occupied by the little salt lake first visited by Trebeck, and called

by him Thogji[30].

[Sidenote: SALT LAKES.]

All these depressions, though at present unconnected with any of the

river systems, have evidently at some former period been so.

Chumoreri, as I am informed by Major Cunningham, is even now very

slightly saline, though scarcely perceptibly so to the taste. It has

evidently had an outlet at its southern extremity, where it is only

separated from the valley of the Parang river by a very low range of

hills which was crossed in 1846 by Mr. Agnew, and more recently by

Captain H. Strachey. The outlet of the little salt lake of Thogji has

evidently been near its north end, and its waters, previous to the

change in the state of the country which interrupted their exit, in

all probability flowed into that tributary of the Zanskar river which

runs to the eastward of the Lachalang pass, and which is marked in the

map accompanying Moorcroft's Travels as the Sumghiel. Major

Cunningham, who travelled in 1846 by the same route as that previously

followed by Moorcroft, informs me that no obstacle intervenes to

prevent the waters of the lake taking that direction in case of their

being raised in the lake itself to a height of two or three hundred

feet above their present level.

If we consider the basins of these two lakes to be referable to the

systems of drainage to which they appear to have formerly belonged,

though now separated from them by accidental alterations of level, the

course of the mountain chain which I am endeavouring to trace must be

considered to run between the two. This is in fact the position of the

loftiest part of the chain, which, skirting the north and east sides

of Chumoreri, is thence continued in a south-east direction, forming

that lofty but little-known range which separates the valley of the

Sutlej from that of the Indus. This chain was crossed by Moorcroft on

his visit to Garu, and appears to extend uninterruptedly as far as

Kailas to the north of lake Manasarawar.

The mountain chain which lies to the south of the river Sutlej may

also be considered to have its origin in the lofty country adjoining

the lakes, but a little to the south and east of them. This chain,

which separates the valley of the Sutlej from that of the Ganges and

its tributaries (including the Jumna), sinks at last into the plains

of India a little to the south of the town of Nahan.

[Sidenote: CIS-SUTLEJ HIMALAYA.]

The course of this chain has been admirably described by Captain

Herbert in his Geological Report of the Himalaya[31], a paper which

contains exceedingly accurate general views of the mountains between

the Sutlej and Jumna. He was quite unacquainted with the details of

the mountains north of the former river, and therefore could not form

any idea of their arrangement. Captain Herbert calls the chain south

of the Sutlej the Indo-Gangetic chain, a very inappropriate name, for

which, however, it is difficult to substitute a better. Perhaps the

name of Cis-Sutlej Himalaya, though not exactly classical, is the best

that can be devised, and if so, the chain which, commencing in Kailas,

separates the waters of the Sutlej from those of the Indus, may not

improperly be designated the Trans-Sutlej Himalaya[32].

To these two great chains the whole of the mountains between the Indus

and the plains may be referred. Both are of very great elevation, in

the eastern half of their course more especially, but that north of

the Sutlej is much less covered with snow than the other. This is

owing to the moisture-bringing winds, which are entirely derived from

the Indian side, being stopped by the chain to the south; and in fact,

as soon as the elevation of the latter is so far diminished that it

ceases to be covered with perpetual snow, the more northerly chain,

without any increase of elevation, becomes much more snowy, so as to

merit the appellation of great snowy range, a term which, more to the

eastward, is applied to the mountains south of the Sutlej. As several

of the principal ramifications of the northern chain attain an

elevation not at all inferior to that of the axis from which they are

derived, they produce a similar effect upon the climate of the ranges

to the north of them, being themselves covered with vast masses of

snow, while the mountains which they shelter are in a great measure

bare.

[Sidenote: KOUENLUN.]

The northern boundary of Tibet is formed by the great chain north of

the Indus, to which Humboldt, following Chinese geographers, has given

the name of Kouenlun. Our knowledge of the appearance and course of

this chain of mountains, by which Tibet is separated from Yarkand and

Khoten, is so extremely limited that, except as to its general

direction, very little can be said regarding it. The only conclusion

which can be drawn from the scanty notices of it by travellers is,

that it must be of extreme height and covered with perpetual snow.

Many of the principal ramifications which it sends down towards the

Indus are very elevated, and immense glaciers descend in their

valleys, so that, except in a very few places, the main chain cannot

be seen from the valley of the Shayuk, the mountains in the immediate

vicinity of that river in general obstructing the view.

[Sidenote: PASSES ACROSS KOUENLUN.]

I am not aware of more than four places in which passes exist across

the Kouenlun. The most westerly of these, called in Balti the pass of

the Muztagh, lies at the source of the right branch of the Shigar

river, a stream which joins the Indus opposite the town of Iskardo.

The road over this pass to Yarkand was formerly frequented by

merchants, but has for many years been disused, the reason assigned

being the danger of plunder by the hordes of robbers beyond. As

described to me by persons who had crossed it, the snow is reached

after ten days' journey from Iskardo, and continues during three

marches. It is said to be quite impracticable for horses, from which

it may, I think, be inferred that there are numerous glaciers.

The second pass is that marked in Vigne's map as the Alibransa pass,

at the head of a considerable tributary which joins the Shayuk river

opposite Khapalu. The enormous glacier over which this road runs, by

which, in conjunction with the lateness of the season, Mr. Vigne's

attempts to cross the pass were frustrated, has been well described by

that traveller[33]. I did not, while in Tibet, meet with any one who

had crossed it, and I was assured by the inhabitants of Nubra that

they were not acquainted with any road from the upper part of their

valley, either towards Khapalu or towards Yarkand.

The third pass, and the only one now frequented, is that of the

Karakoram, an extremely easy though very elevated one. The most

easterly pass of which I find any notice occurs on the road between

Ruduk and Khoten; it is mentioned by Moorcroft[34], but without any

account of the nature of the road, or the elevation of the mountains.

To the westward of Karakoram, the direction of the Kouenlun is

seemingly as nearly as possible parallel to the Indus, but to the east

of that pass nothing certain is known regarding it. In Humboldt's map

it is laid down as running nearly from west to east, on the authority

of Chinese geographical works. Its course is unquestionably to the

north of the Pangong lake, but till it has been explored by European

travellers its direction must, I think, be regarded as involved in

much doubt. Another lofty range, however, unquestionably runs parallel

to the Indus from south-east to north-west. This range, which is

continuous with that by which the Indus and Shayuk rivers are

separated, terminates (or more properly originates) in the still

almost unknown mass of mountains which lies to the north of lake

Manasarawar. Between this chain and the Kouenlun is situated a tract

of country of unknown extent, which seems to be made up of a number of

isolated lake-basins quite unconnected, not only with one another, but

with the general drainage of the country by which they are surrounded.

[Sidenote: PANGONG LAKE.]

If we except the basin of the Pangong lake, into which Moorcroft and

Trebeck descended after crossing the range of mountains parallel to

the Indus, every part of this country must be viewed as a _terra

incognita_. It cannot, I think, be doubted, from the description of

the Pangong lake given by Moorcroft and Trebeck, that the basin in

which it rests had originally an outlet at its north-west extremity,

discharging itself along the valley of Tanktse into the Shayuk. The

country to the eastward is so totally unknown, that it is impossible

to conjecture whether the little lake-basins of which it is said to

consist, discharge themselves towards the Pangong lake, or southward

into the Indus.

[Sidenote: BOUNDARIES OF TIBET.]

Western Tibet, then, is a highly mountainous country, lying on both

sides of the river Indus, with its longer axis directed like that

river from south-east to north-west. It is bounded on the north-east

by the Kouenlun chain of mountains, by which it is separated from the

basin of Yarkand. On the south-east its boundary is formed by the

ridge which separates the waters of the Indus from those of the Sanpu.

To the north-west and south-west its boundaries are somewhat

arbitrary, unless the political division of the country be had

recourse to, which, depending on accidental circumstances entirely

unconnected with physical geography or natural productions, is so

liable to change, that its adoption would be extremely inconvenient.

The best mode of drawing a line of separation between India and Tibet,

in those parts where mountain chains are not available for the

purpose, appears to consist in regarding the latter to commence only

at the point where the aridity of the climate is too great to support

forests of trees, or any coniferous tree except juniper.

As limited by these boundaries, West Tibet includes the whole of the

valley of the Indus and its tributaries, down to about 6000 feet above

the level of the sea, a considerable portion of the upper course of

the Sutlej down to between 9000 and 10,000 feet, and small portions of

the upper course of the Chenab, of the Ganges (Jahnavi), and of the

Gogra.

[Sidenote: MOUNTAIN RANGES.]

Every part of Tibet is traversed by ranges of mountains which have

their origin either in the Kouenlun on the north, or in the

trans-Sutlej Himalaya on the south. These mountain ranges are

generally extremely rocky and rugged, but as a general rule it may be

said that they are less so in the upper part of the course of the

different rivers, than in their lower parts. This rule applies not

only to the Indus and to the Sutlej, but with scarcely an exception to

all the tributaries of these rivers. There are no extensive open

plains in any part of the country, the only level portions being in

the valleys of the rivers, the width of which is usually not more than

one or two miles, and very seldom exceeds five miles.

To this general description of the surface of the country I have met

with no exception in those parts of Tibet which I have had an

opportunity of examining. I have not, however, had an opportunity of

seeing the extreme south-west portion, my knowledge of the course of

the Indus not extending further up than Hanle[35].

The height of the mountain ranges which traverse West Tibet is in all

parts pretty much the same, and, as a consequence, the depth of the

valleys in the lower portion of the course of the Indus and of all its

tributaries is very much greater than near the sources of these

rivers. In the higher valleys therefore the mountains are apparently

much less lofty; they are also frequently rounded and sloping, or at

all events less rocky and precipitous than lower down, though to this

there are many exceptions.

[Sidenote: ELEVATION OF PASSES.]

The elevation of the passes in a mountainous region represents in

general the height of the lowest part of the chain. In the mountain

ranges of Tibet the average height of the ridges does not exceed from

1000 to 2000 feet above the passes, many of which indeed are scarcely

at all lower than the highest crest of the ridge in which they are

situated. I believe that in estimating the principal ranges of

mountains at 19,000 feet, and the minor ranges at from 17,000 to

18,000 feet, I approximate very closely to the truth. This estimate

applies to all parts of the country, the height of the ranges being

remarkably uniform; but peaks occur at intervals in every one of the

principal mountain ranges, which considerably exceed the elevation

just stated, rising very generally (so far as can be judged by the eye

from known heights of 17,000 and 18,000 feet) to twenty-one or

twenty-two thousand feet; some peaks appearing to exceed even this.

It is generally supposed that the great peaks of the Himalaya on the

southern border of Tibet are much more lofty than the mountains of the

interior of that country. I do not think, however, that the facts of

the case are such as to warrant this assumption. West of the Sutlej,

in which district only the mountains of Tibet may be said to be at all

known, many peaks of the interior of that country are probably much

more lofty than any of those near the plains of India, and if

inaccessibility is to be any criterion, the chain of the Kouenlun is

beyond a doubt a much more elevated mass than any part of the Western

Himalaya. Of Tibet east of the Sutlej little is known, except that

between Ruduk and Lassa no road into the interior of Asia appears to

exist.

[Sidenote: CLIMATE.]

The climate of Tibet is in every part extremely arid, because it is

surrounded almost entirely by ranges of mountains so elevated that the

rarefied air which passes over them can contain only a very small

proportion of aqueous vapour. Along the Indus, indeed, no mountain

chains are interposed to obstruct the passage of moist air, but the

lower course of that river lies entirely in a comparatively dry

climate, so that the winds which blow over the plains of Sind and the

lower mountains of Eastern Affghanistan cannot convey any excess of

moisture to lower Tibet. In the few Tibetan valleys which, like that

of the Sutlej, are traversed by rivers debouching on the plains of

India in a rainy climate, the quantity of moist air which they can

receive being limited to that which proceeds directly up the valley,

the upward current, even when saturated with moisture at the

commencement, being gradually rarefied by the increasing elevation of

the river-bed, and meeting with descending currents of cold air in its

course, it very early deposits its moisture, first in the form of

light showers, afterwards of fog and mist, and in its further progress

is just as dry as the air in the more interior parts of the country.

[Sidenote: RAIN-FALL.]

It will probably be long before lengthened registers of meteorological

phenomena will be obtained from all the different stages between India

and the central parts of Tibet, so as satisfactorily to establish the

gradual transition of climate. Till such shall be the case, the best

evidence from which to deduce the fact of the alteration of climate,

is afforded by the gradual change in the vegetation of the country as

one advances towards the interior. Direct observation will probably at

some future period fix the point in the outer Himalaya, at which the

quantity of rain--always greater, _cæteris paribus_, among mountains

than in level countries--is a maximum. I believe that in the Western

Himalaya the greatest quantity of rain will be found to fall on

mountains elevated from seven to nine thousand feet. Ranges of

mountains which attain an elevation of from ten to eleven thousand

feet have already (in the Western Himalaya) a very sensible effect in

diminishing the quantity of moisture, as indicated by the vegetation;

and when the mountain chains became sufficiently elevated to be capped

by perpetual snow, they condense a very great proportion of the

moisture of the air-currents which pass over them.

To a traveller who penetrates directly to the Tibetan interior from

the plains of India, the change of climate is perceptible to the

senses; most markedly so of course if his journey occurs during the

Indian rainy season. Even during the rains, however, the

irregularities which everywhere occur in the fall of rain prevent the

gradations of climate from being ascertained during a journey with the

precision which a lengthened series of observations would permit; but

the phenomena of vegetable life, which are dependent on the average

seasons, are not affected by accidental irregularities, and therefore

form an unerring guide.

[Sidenote: CLOUDS.]

Though the climate of the whole of Western Tibet may, in general, be

characterized as extremely dry, it is by no means cloudless. The

winter months in particular are often very cloudy, and a good deal of

snow falls. During the summer the sky is either bright and clear, or

overcast with very light clouds. These clouds, usually cirrhi, are in

general elevated and extremely thin. The cirrhus, when it remains for

any length of time, changes or increases into a uniform hazy stratum,

which covers the whole sky; more rarely, and perhaps only by an

optical deception, it is seen under the form of stratus. Cumuli are

very uncommon. After several dull days the clouds generally

accumulate, descend lower in the atmosphere, and rest on the mountain;

as a few drops of rain fall in the valleys, the clouds disappear, and

the highest peaks are seen to have received a slight sprinkling of

snow, which is soon melted by the rays of the sun. It is only very

rarely that the quantity of rain exceeds a few drops, or merits the

appellation of a shower. The few occasions on which I have observed

any fall of rain, at all deserving of being called by that name, have

mostly been in early spring or in the latter part of autumn.

[Sidenote: TEMPERATURE.]

When the sky is clear, the sun, in all parts of Tibet, even at great

elevations, but especially in the valleys at and below ten and eleven

thousand feet, is extremely powerful. The shade temperature depends,

of course, in a great measure on the elevation above the level of the

sea, but also on the situation, exposure, and many other accidental

circumstances. In the lower part of the Indus valley, at elevations of

seven and eight thousand feet, it is said to be frequently very

high[36], the clear dry atmosphere allowing the full influence of the

sun to be exerted on the bare, often black rocks. Even as far up as

11,000 feet, in narrow valleys, the heat is often great in the middle

of the day, but the more open plains are generally very temperate in

the shade, and the nights and mornings are always cool.

On the tops of the lower passes, and in the alpine valleys, the

temperature of the nights and mornings is, in clear weather, very much

depressed by radiation, so that the mornings, except when the sky is

overcast, are intensely frosty, at elevations of 15,000 and 16,000

feet, or far below the level of perpetual snow. This is the case even

in the month of August, which is the hottest of the year. The shade

temperature at these high elevations rarely rises very high, even when

the heat of the sun is oppressive, as it is moderated by the action of

the violent winds which so generally prevail.

The periods of cloudy sky, which now and then alternate with the

bright sunshine, which is the prevailing weather, are in the alpine

regions extremely cold. The stratum of cloud, at first high in the

atmosphere, gradually lowers itself, and the traveller is enveloped in

a frozen mist, followed most commonly during the night by a fall of

snow. The quantity of snow which falls is very small, seldom, so far

as I have seen, more than an inch or two in depth, and it speedily

disappears as soon as the clouds have been dissipated and the sky

resumes its usual serenity.

[Sidenote: WINDS.]

The whole of Western Tibet is subject to extremely violent winds, the

course and direction of which could only be satisfactorily studied by

a resident. From the great depth of the valleys, the wind in general

follows their course, blowing at one time up them, at other times

down. In unsettled weather the direction is extremely variable, often

changing repeatedly in the course of the day, but in clear settled

weather the direction of the wind is, during the day at least, more

frequently up the valleys than in the contrary direction. I have not

observed any constancy in the course of the wind on the passes, on

which it would be principally important to be acquainted with it, but

it probably varies in direction according to the period of the day, so

that a traveller, whose time does not permit him to delay to register

the changes as they occur, is not likely to be able to discover any

general law.

The Tibetan wind, in the ordinary state of the atmosphere, commences

after the sun has nearly attained the meridian, the mornings being in

general quite calm. It increases in violence during the afternoon,

sometimes till after sunset, ceasing to blow after dark, or at all

events before midnight. This wind seems to be pretty constant over the

whole country, from the upper Sutlej as far west as Rondu; and as a

very similar wind blows in the valleys of Affghanistan, which have an

identical summer climate in respect of moisture, it must, I presume,

be caused by the influence of the sun, in heating the barren rocky

plains and hills.

During periods of cloud, and throughout the winter, the wind is much

less regular in its direction, as well as in the periods during which

it blows. It frequently changes its direction very abruptly. About the

equinoxes, or at the commencement and end of winter, at which times

there seems to be generally a good deal of unsettled weather, it blows

for some days with extreme violence. In March, 1848, at Iskardo, for

several nights the wind almost amounted to a hurricane; its direction

was from the south, or directly across the mountains. This was very

commonly the case at Iskardo, in unsettled weather, during the winter,

but never when the days were bright and cloudless.

[Sidenote: SNOW-FALL.]

The amount of snow-fall varies much, diminishing as we advance into

the interior of the country, but being always much greater on the

mountains than in the valleys at their feet. In the outer Himalaya,

the amount at equal distances from the plains diminishes as we advance

westward, but in the Kouenlun, where the source of moisture lies to

the westward, the snow-fall diminishes rapidly from west to east. The

same is the case in the valley of the Indus, where the amount of

winter's snow, except in the most westerly parts, is quite

insignificant.

It is probably owing to the absence of cumular clouds, and to the

general uniform expansion of the condensed vapours over the whole sky,

that the outward manifestations of electricity--thunderstorms--are of

very rare occurrence in Tibet. I find only one instance of a

thunderstorm recorded as having been observed while I was in a Tibetan

climate. This was at Le, in September, 1848, at which time there was a

good deal of cloudy weather for several days. From the extreme dryness

of the air, electricity is evolved with great facility by friction:

all articles of woollen clothing, blankets, and even the hair, emit

sparks when rubbed in the dark. I have even observed this to be the

case at the elevation of 15,500 feet, in cloudy weather, when snow was

falling.

[Sidenote: GLACIERS.]

In every part of the Himalaya, and of Western Tibet, wherever the

mountains attain a sufficient elevation to be covered with perpetual

snow, glaciers are to be found. The occurrence of glacial ice is a

sufficient indication of the existence of snow of more than one year's

duration, and (setting aside trifling cases of masses of ice in deep

and sunless ravines, which, indeed, are not an exception, as they have

no motion,) it may be laid down as a general law, that every glacier

has its origin in perpetual snow.

The converse of this proposition does not seem to be so universal. We

have the high authority of Humboldt for the fact, that no glaciers

occur in the Andes of tropical America, from the equator to 19° north

latitude. Nor is it, I think, possible that the existence of glaciers

should have escaped his notice, did they occur of such dimensions as

would be indicated by the solitary and doubtful instance mentioned by

M. Boussingault, to which Humboldt refers[37], which is stated to have

been seen at the same elevation as the town of Quito, or more than

5500 feet below the level of perpetual snow in that region of the

Andes. The cause of the non-existence of masses of moving ice, in

connection with the perpetual snow of the American tropics, must

apparently be sought in the extreme uniformity of the seasons, and in

the small quantity of snow which falls at any time of the year.

In every region of the earth, so far as is known to me, where the mean

temperatures of summer and winter are very different, or where the

climate is what is called excessive, perpetual snow produces glaciers.

These rivers of ice, as they have most appropriately been called, vary

very much in size and appearance. In the lofty chains of the cis- and

trans-Sutlej Himalaya, and of the Kouenlun, whose peaks rise to a very

great height, and collect in winter enormous depths of snow, they are

of great length. In the central parts of Tibet, which are often lower,

and even in their loftiest parts are less snowy than the bounding

chains, the glaciers are of inferior dimensions, often of that kind

which I have called incipient, where the snow-bed is at once cut off

abruptly in an ice cliff, which can hardly be said to be in motion, or

rather whose motion must be almost entirely from above downwards.

The general appearance of an Indian glacier seems in every respect to

accord with those of Switzerland and of other parts of the temperate

zone. It is only of late years, indeed, that they have been generally

recognized in the Himalaya; but it must not be forgotten that it is

only recently that the researches of modern investigators, and in

particular the delightful work of Forbes, have familiarized the

untravelled world with their appearance, and more especially with the

fact and cause of their motion. It has also, singularly enough, long

been the custom to look upon the Himalaya as a tropical range of

mountains, in which it was, as a matter of course, regarded as

impossible that glaciers could exist[38].

The upper end or origin of a glacier seems commonly to be in an

enormous snow-bed, occupying the whole space included by an

amphitheatre of snowy peaks. The snow-slips and accumulations by which

the snow-bed is added to during winter, must to a great extent remain

concealed from human eyes; and in summer, when these icy fields are

accessible, they are generally, I believe I may say always, covered by

a thick layer of snow, which assists at the same time that it conceals

the process by which the snow is converted into ice.

I have never measured the dimensions of any of the great glaciers of

the Himalaya, nor is it easy to ascertain the length of any of them

even approximately, as they are seldom traversed by roads, and are

usually bent so that only a small part of their course can be seen.

Many of them must considerably exceed ten miles in length; I have seen

several which were more than half a mile broad; and the depth of the

icy mass frequently amounts to hundreds of feet.

The appearance of the surface of a glacier seems to depend almost

entirely on the inclination of its bed. Where the slope is gentle the

surface is nearly uniformly smooth, or at most only slightly fissured.

I have not had occasion to observe any fissures of more than a foot

or two in width, so that, though often very deep, they are crossed

without difficulty. In describing the icy surface as smooth, it is

necessary to mention that such is only the case in the upper part of

the glacier, where the moraines are small or only lateral. Whenever

the surface supports rocky fragments in great quantity, it is

extremely unequal till such time as the whole superficies becomes

covered with stones, when the melting being uniform, the surface again

becomes tolerably even.

On steeply inclined planes the glacier is traversed in every direction

by enormous fissures, between which the surface is very irregular,

rising into sharp icy pinnacles of the most fantastic shape and

appearance. More than once I have seen extremely steeply sloping

glaciers, which were terminated abruptly by a lofty precipice, at the

bottom of which huge piles of boulders and occasional icy fragments

sufficiently indicated the forward motion of the ice; at other times,

the slope of the valley in which the glacier lies again becoming

gentle, the ice ceases to be fissured and rugged, and is capable of

being walked on without difficulty.

Moraines, which, on the larger glaciers and among mountains of easily

decaying rocks, are of astonishing dimensions, form the margins of

each glacier, and also occur longitudinally on different parts of

their surface, increasing in number as the glacier advances, till at

last the different series whose origin can long be traced to the

different ramifications of the glacier, become blended into one. The

nature, origin, and aspect of the moraines, the mode of melting of the

ice beneath them, and the isolated pinnacles of ice which support

large solitary boulders, agree so entirely with descriptions of

glaciers in other parts of the world, that it is unnecessary to dwell

upon them. The large glaciers are often a good deal lower in their

central parts than where they are covered by a bulky moraine; and a

curious ravine-like hollow, between the moraine and the bare ice,

which makes the former appear as if entirely disconnected from the

glacier, is of very common occurrence. There is, however, also very

often an ancient moraine, not now resting on ice, which runs parallel

to the glacier, and seems to indicate its former greater extent.

[Sidenote: FORMER GREATER

EXTENSION OF GLACIERS.]

In every part of the Tibetan mountains, and in very many parts of the

Indian Himalaya, I have thought that I could recognize unmistakeable

proofs of all the valleys having been formerly occupied by glaciers at

much lower levels than at present. At first sight it seems rather

improbable, that in sub-tropical latitudes the present extension of

perpetual snow should at any former period have been exceeded; but it

would not be difficult to show that the mean temperature, and

particularly the mean summer temperature, is very much higher in the

Western Himalaya and Tibet than it might fairly be expected to be in

such a latitude. In fact, in the more humid climate of Eastern Bengal,

though at least four degrees nearer to the equator, the mean summer

temperature at equal elevations in the mountains is probably

considerably lower than in the mountains of North-west India, and the

snow-level is certainly lower. It is fair, therefore, to conclude,

looking back to a period when the sea washed the base of the Himalaya

in the upper part of the Punjab, that at that period a very different

state of atmospheric circumstances prevailed from that which we find

at the present time.

Wherever I have seen glaciers in Tibet or the mountains of India, I

have been able to trace their moraines to a level very considerably

lower than their present termination; and when I find in those ranges

of the Himalaya which do not at present attain a sufficient elevation

to be covered with perpetual snow, series of angular blocks, evidently

transported, because different from the rocks which occur _in situ_,

and, so far as I can judge, exactly analogous in position to the

moraines of present glaciers, I feel myself warranted in concluding

that they are of glacial origin, and find it necessary to look about

for causes which should render it probable that the snow-level should

have formerly been lower than it is at present. In the rainy districts

of the Himalaya, where forest covers the slopes of the hills, it is

difficult to fix the lowest limits at which evident moraines occur,

but in many places I have seen them at least three thousand feet lower

than the terminations of the present glaciers. In the valley of the

Indus, accumulations of boulders, which I believe to be moraines,

occur in Rondu as low as 6000 feet.

Glaciers, as is well known, terminate inferiorly at the point where

the waste by melting in any given time begins to exceed in amount the

mass of solid ice which is in the same space of time pushed forward by

the _vis à tergo_. In the mountains of Tibet the elevation of this

point is very different in different places. It seems to depend

principally on the mass of the glacier, as large glaciers invariably

descend much lower than those of smaller size; the inclination of the

bed has perhaps also some influence in determining the matter.

In comparing the glaciers of the Tibetan Himalaya with those on the

Indian face of the same mountains, it will be found that, _cæteris

paribus_, glaciers descend much lower on the Indian side, or in a

moist climate, than in the dry and arid Tibetan climate. It is indeed

impossible to ascertain with certainty that any two glaciers are of

equal size, but it appears to me sufficiently accurate to compare the

main glaciers on the opposite sides of the same pass. In the Umasi

pass, which is situated in the main chain of the trans-Sutlej

Himalaya, all the circumstances seem favourable for comparison. On the

south side of this pass the principal glacier terminates at about

11,500 feet, while on the north side a much more massive glacier comes

to an end abruptly at 14,000 feet. The difference then, on opposite

sides of the same pass, where the pass coincides with the line of

transition of climate, amounts to 2500 feet.

That I am justified in ascribing the cause of this difference to the

change of climate appears from the fact, that in the interior of

Tibet, where no such change is observed in crossing even very lofty

passes, there is frequently a glacier on the north declivity when none

exists on the south. This is the case, for instance, on the Parang

pass, and on the pass immediately north of Le. It may therefore be

inferred, that when glaciers occur on both sides of a pass, that on

the northern exposure will, unless there be a marked alteration of

climate, invariably descend lower than that on the south side. I have

not had an opportunity of seeing glaciers on both sides of any pass

in the most external ranges of the Himalaya, but I have been informed

that in the range south of the Chenab river, glaciers frequently occur

on the north sides of the passes, while none exist towards the south.

If this were to be found universally the case, it would be an

additional proof that the lower descent of glaciers on the south or

Indian side of the mountain chain is an exceptional occurrence.

[Sidenote: GLACIERS OF KOUENLUN.]

The glaciers of the southern slope of the Kouenlun appear, from the

descriptions of travellers, to be on a still more gigantic scale than

those of the Himalaya. Five mountain ranges of great height, separated

from one another by rivers of great size, descend from the axis of

that chain towards the Indus and Shayuk, and attain so great an

elevation, that, with scarcely an exception, there is no passage from

one of these lateral valleys to another. All these ranges rise far

above the line of perpetual snow, and in their valleys enormous

glaciers descend to a level which is gradually lower as we advance

westward in the direction of the source of the rain- and snow-fall.

The range east of the Shayuk has comparatively few and small glaciers,

but to the west of that river the glaciers of Sassar terminate at

about 15,000 feet. A little further west, a glacier, overhanging the

valley of Nubra, terminates at 14,700 feet, and the great glacier of

Nubra was found, by Captain Strachey, to terminate at 13,000 feet. In

the range between Nubra and the Machulu again there are vast glaciers,

but their height has not been determined, nor do we know precisely to

what level those of the Shigar valley descend; though it is evident,

from their proximity to the main valley, and their small distance

from Shigar, which is not more than 7200 feet above the level of the

sea, that they must descend very low, perhaps to 10,000 feet. In the

valley of Gilgit, I am informed by Mr. Winterbottom, the glaciers

descend as low as 8000 feet.

[Sidenote: LEVEL OF

PERPETUAL SNOW.]

In the mountains further east than the Shayuk it would appear that the

snow-fall is so very small that the level of perpetual snow recedes to

an enormous height. This has been found to be the case on the passes

north of the Pangong lake, many of which were crossed by Captain H.

Strachey. The great height of the mountains without snow, east of the

Karakoram pass, confirms the fact; and it is probable, so rapidly does

the snow-level rise in advancing eastward, that if we could penetrate

a very short distance beyond the eastern extremity of the Pangong

lake, an absolutely dry country might be reached, in which rain or

snow never falls.

So much error has unfortunately taken place regarding the height above

which the mountains of North-west India are covered with perpetual

snow, that it appears necessary that travellers should put upon record

the results of their observations, however limited. It is for this

reason, and not because I expect to throw much additional light on the

subject, that the following remarks are hazarded. The recent paper of

Captain R. Strachey[39] has furnished facts which had hitherto been

wanting, while the theoretical considerations which have been laid

down by Humboldt are so accurate and comprehensive, that the

undoubted mistake into which he has fallen is the more to be

regretted.

The Indian and Tibetan Himalaya, west of Nipal, lies entirely within

the temperate zone, and from that circumstance has its year divided

into summer and winter. The periodical rains, which it is well known

are principally confined to the outermost parts of the mountains,

being derived from the Bay of Bengal, are excessive in the easternmost

part of the chain, and gradually diminish as we advance westward;

there is no reason, however, to believe that the winter monsoon, which

is particularly dwelt upon by Captain Strachey in the valuable paper

to which I have had occasion to refer, is so. Probably indeed it is

the reverse, though I have no detailed observations to refer to in

corroboration of this opinion; I may however recall to mind, that the

winter is the season of heavy snow, and the spring of heavy rain,

throughout the north of Affghanistan, and that in the Punjab frequent

cloudy weather and rain occurs during the cold season, while in the

plains of India the weather seems to become at that period less

unsettled as we advance eastward.

The quantity of rain which falls during the summer in the outer

Himalaya has necessarily a very material influence on the sun's action

during the time in which he has most power, and therefore on the mean

temperature of the summer months, which at corresponding elevations,

notwithstanding the northing of the chain as we advance from east to

west, must be higher to the westward. In the interior or Tibetan

portion of the Himalaya, this difference is not observed, the climate

being the same, or nearly so, from east to west of the region under

consideration.

[Sidenote: WINTER, THE SEASON OF SNOW.]

In the most western part of the Himalaya, in Kashmir and Balti, the

winter's fall of snow commences about the beginning of December, and

continues on the highest ranges nearly to the beginning of May. The

supply of moisture from which the snow is condensed is evidently

derived from the Indian seas, and I suppose principally from the

south-west, that being the general direction from which I observed

snow-storms to arrive at Iskardo. The fall of snow must therefore,

equally with that of rain in the rainy season, be greatest in the

outermost (snowy) ranges, and very much less in all those in the

interior. In the lower parts of Tibet on the Indus the snow-fall

during winter is very considerable, though during summer the climate

is as dry as elsewhere in Tibet. This difference seems to be explained

by the westerly point from which the winter's wind blows, and by the

much greater moisture of the atmosphere at that season over

Affghanistan and Sind, so that the south-west wind advances loaded

with vapour up the valley of the Indus. The increase of elevation in

the bed of that river of course causes all the excess of moisture to

be deposited without penetrating to any great distance, so that the

more eastern parts of the country are not affected by this cause.

The snowy season in the highest mountains is probably in every part of

the range very much the same. On the low outer ranges, which do not

attain the height of perpetual snow, it is gradually lessened in

duration as the elevation diminishes, ceasing entirely, in average

years, at about 4000 feet. When the winter is at an end, the

influence of a powerful sun and gradually increasing temperature is at

once brought to bear on the mass of snow which has fallen; on the

inner ranges where the summer is dry, this action proceeds

uninterruptedly till the commencement of the next winter, but on the

outermost snowy ranges it is modified by the access of the rainy

season.

[Sidenote: MELTING OF SNOW IN SUMMER.]

On the outer ranges of the Himalaya, the crests of which rise to

between five and ten thousand feet, the powerful sun soon dissipates

all snow. It is in the inner ranges, which rise nearly to the height

of perpetual snow, and where the river-beds are from six to eight

thousand feet above the level of the sea, that the snow remains for a

great length of time. When the valleys are open, the plain on the

banks of the stream becomes first of all bare of snow, then the banks

which face the south, and lastly the northern slopes. It is not so,

however, in the deep narrow valleys and ravines through which the

Himalayan rivers generally flow. In these the bottom of the glen is so

much sheltered from the sun that a dense mass of snow, the result of

accumulation from the avalanches of the winter, remains for a very

long time after both slopes are quite bare of snow. These _snow-beds_

have nothing of the nature of a glacier in them, but are simply firm,

hard snow. I have, in the month of June, descended along one of them

from 13,000 feet (above which height there was perhaps a glacier

beneath), to 8500 feet, a distance of seven miles without a break. It

was entirely confined to the bottom of the ravine, both banks being

throughout all that distance free of snow, and often covered with a

most luxuriant herbage.

[Sidenote: SNOW-BEDS IN RAVINES.]

Similar snow-beds are to be seen in every ravine which is not too wide

to be choked up by snow in winter. Their occurrence so universally is

probably in a great measure the reason why glaciers were not

recognized in our Indian mountains till so recent a period. These beds

being so clearly transitory in existence, it was assumed that all

masses of snow and ice were equally so. A visit to one of the great

glaciers at the end of autumn would of course at once have indicated

the dissimilarity.

In many narrow ravines remains of these snow-beds may be seen at

surprisingly low elevations throughout the year, their permanence

depending much more on the amount of the winter's fall of snow, and of

the accumulation in that particular locality, than upon the mean or

summer temperature of the place. At Baltal, in the upper part of the

Sind valley in Kashmir, the little stream which descends from the Zoji

pass was still arched over by a bed of snow several feet thick, in the

end of September, at an elevation of not more than 9500 feet. This was

not, as might have been expected, in a very shady spot, but fully

exposed to the action of the sun; it was, however, in a place where

the fall of snow during winter is very great.

The causes which are enumerated by Baron Humboldt as affecting the

snow-level are numerous, but several are of only local effect. Two in

addition to the latitude seem more important than the others, namely,

the amount of fall during winter, and the amount of solar heat during

summer. Captain R. Strachey regards the diminished amount of the

winter's fall of snow as the main cause of the greater height of the

snow-line in the interior of the Himalaya, but I feel disposed to

believe that both causes co-operate equally to produce the effect.

[Sidenote: LEVEL OF PERPETUAL SNOW.]

Captain R. Strachey has estimated (from the mean of several

observations) the snow-level on the southern slope of the cis-Sutlej

Himalaya at 15,500 feet. This elevation is, no doubt, as near as

possible correct. Captain Herbert, in his geological report, had fixed

upon 15,000 feet, which is a little too low even in the district of

Basehir, to which his estimate, I believe, refers. In the trans-Sutlej

Himalaya, from the diminished amount of summer cloudy weather, the

snow-level is probably a little higher, but we are not yet in

possession of any accurate determinations of heights in that range in

those parts which are in close contact with the plains of India. Two

of its ramifications are extremely well adapted for determining the

height of perpetual snow. First, the Chumba range, which, as has been

pointed out to me by Major Cunningham, is barely snow-tipped

throughout the year; and second, the Pir Panjal range south of

Kashmir, the northern slopes of which have perpetual snow and

glaciers, while on the south side the snow has entirely melted before

the end of summer. The elevation of the Pir Panjal has not been

determined with accuracy, the heights given by Baron Hügel and by Mr.

Vigne being estimated from their measurement of the pass over which

they crossed[40].

[Sidenote: SNOW-LEVEL IN TIBET.]

In the interior of north-west Tibet every principal range attains the

elevation of perpetual snow, but only a few peaks rise much above it.

There is therefore no very great mass of snow during the summer months

to lower the temperature of the air, and consequently circumstances

are the most favourable possible for the elevation of the snow-line to

an extreme degree; a dry, stony, desert, treeless country, violent

winds, clear sky, and powerful sun, being all combined. In the most

central part of the country, the Lanak pass, near Hanle, and the Sabu

pass, near Le, both elevated as nearly as possible 18,000 feet, are

without perpetual snow, but the Parang pass, between 18,400 and 18,600

feet, has a glacier on its north face, and therefore exceeds in

elevation the snow-line. The snow-level in central Tibet must

therefore be sought between these heights, but nearer that of the

Parang pass, which has no perpetual snow towards the south: it is,

therefore, certainly not below 18,000 feet.

In the Kouenlun, on the northern border of Tibet, where the mountains

are again much more elevated, the snow-level descends no lower. Even

on the 19th and 20th of August, the mass of snow, which was on the

northern face of its highest peaks continuous down from 20,000 feet

and upwards, did not descend below 17,500 feet, and the open level

plain of the upper Shayuk had at that height only trifling patches of

snow. On the Karakoram pass (18,200 feet) there were only large

patches of snow, the south face of the ridge being quite bare for some

distance in both directions.

[Sidenote: LEVEL ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF PASSES.]

The _vexata quæstio_ of the difference of the level at which snow lies

on the north and south slopes of the Himalaya, affords a singular

instance of misconception. Enunciated originally in an obscure and

somewhat incorrect form, when little was known of the structure of the

inner part of the chain, the fact has been repeatedly contradicted by

those who thought they found it contrary to their experience. Both

parties were to a certain extent right. On each individual range the

snow-level will at all times be found lower on the north face than on

the south, except when the range which we are crossing happens to

coincide with a very marked and abrupt change of climate, which will

only be the case when it is extremely elevated. When this is the case,

the proposition, otherwise true of the mountains _en masse_, or the

inner ranges compared with the outer, becomes applicable to a

particular range. This is probably the case in the very pass in Kamaon

(I know not which it was) from which the law was first inferred. It is

certainly so in the great passes north of the Chenab, where, on the

Indian face, I found in June snow at 11,500 feet, while on the north

side, only twenty miles distant, it had already receded beyond 15,000

feet.

From the rapid nature of my journey, and the great number of objects

to which I was obliged to devote my attention, the geological

observations which I was enabled to make were much more imperfect than

I could have wished. It appeared, however, desirable, hurried as they

were, to enumerate them, for the purpose of drawing the attention of

future travellers to the subject; and for the same reason I shall here

recapitulate the general conclusions which appear to result from the

facts observed.

[Sidenote: GEOLOGY OF TIBET.]

The greater part of Tibet consists of plutonic and metamorphic rocks;

and from the gigantic scale on which the sections are exposed, and the

general bareness of the mountains, which enables their structure to be

seen, that country probably presents the finest field in which these

classes of rocks could be studied. Granite occurs in great abundance,

sending immense veins in all directions into the metamorphic rocks,

which are seen to be everywhere upheaved and dislocated by the

injected mass. In the immediate vicinity of the plutonic masses, all

traces of the direction of the strata of the superposed rocks are

lost; but elsewhere, with every variety of dip, it is very generally

found that the stratified rocks strike in a direction which varies

between north-west and south-east, and north-north-west and

south-south-east. As all my observations were made roughly and

unconnectedly, and without my discovering this identity till after my

return to India, the strike is probably very uniform throughout a

great extent of country.

It is not a little remarkable that a belt twenty miles wide, in the

direction of this line of strike, drawn from Iskardo to the Niti pass,

would cover every place south of the Indus in which limestone has been

observed in Tibet. It would pass through Molbil on the Pashkyum river,

the limestone districts of Zanskar, and the Lachalang pass, where

limestone was found by Gerard. It would also cover Piti, Hangarang,

and Bekhar, all well-known limestone tracts. Of course the limestones

of Nubra and the Karakoram on the one hand, and of Kashmir on the

other, cannot in any way be connected with this line.

The sandstones, slates, and conglomerates, which so closely resemble

in appearance those rocks which in Europe are chiefly members of the

old red sandstone and greywacke series, appear to assume also the same

direction. I bring forward these coincidences of direction only as a

remarkable fact, worthy of investigation, without attaching any great

weight to them, as more careful observation may show that they are

merely accidental, and that rocks of very different ages exist among

the limestones and associated rocks of the northern Himalaya.

[Sidenote: ALLUVIAL AND LACUSTRINE DEPOSIT.]

The great extent and development of a very modern alluvium-like

formation, composed of great masses of clay with boulders, and

occasionally of very fine laminated clay, constitutes one of the most

remarkable and striking features of Western Tibet. In every part

through which I have travelled, and at all elevations, except on the

highest passes, I have found these deposits in greater or less

quantity. In their most common state they consist of loose earthy or

clayey unstratified masses, containing boulders either angular or

rounded. Very fine clay, distinctly and horizontally stratified, is

also common; sandstone and hardened conglomerate are more rare, but

also occur occasionally.

That some of these beds are of lacustrine origin, the occurrence of

fresh-water shells appears to prove very clearly; and though here and

there small portions may be terrestrial and of glacial origin, it

cannot, I think, be doubted that the great mass of the boulder clay

was deposited under water.

In the structure of Scotland at the present day we have a state of

circumstances which appears to me capable of throwing much light on

the nature of these deposits. We find there a series of narrow arms of

the sea, stretching far into the land, and separated by rugged and

generally steep ranges of metamorphic or plutonic rocks. They are all

more or less silted up by sedimentary matter, and near their mouths,

especially where, as is often the case, they are much contracted, we

generally find a bar, shallower than the remainder. At various

elevations above the sea-level again there is a series of fresh-water

lakes, differing little in aspect from the arms of the sea. We find

also in many parts of the Highlands of Scotland long valleys, nearly

level, which are filled with incoherent sedimentary deposits, and

bounded like the lochs by steep mountains. If these were formerly arms

of the sea, which by the elevation of the land have been converted

into dry land, then the fresh-water lakes probably occupy those parts

of the narrow channels which were originally deepest, or which, being

wider than the rest, have remained unoccupied by sedimentary matter at

the time of the elevation. In conformity with this view we find that

at the lower end of these lakes the mountains generally approach very

close to one another.

If we were to suppose the gradual elevation of Scotland to continue

till the mountains attained an elevation equal to that of the

Himalaya, it is evident that a continued series of marine sedimentary

deposits would extend from the summit to the sea-level, unless removed

by the action of streams or other ordinary causes. Some of the

valleys would be of considerable width, and would contain marine

fossils in great abundance; but in the narrower mountain valleys the

gravel and boulders would be quite destitute of fossils. Here and

there fresh-water formations of partial extent would occur, but they

would be separated from one another by large tracts filled with marine

beds. The gradual elevation of the land would bring to bear upon these

incoherent strata the powerful action of running water, which would

remove portion after portion, till at last deep valleys would be

excavated, and small patches only of the gravel and clay would remain

where the action of the streams was least powerful. Such I conceive to

be the present state of Tibet, but a much more detailed investigation

of that remarkable country would be necessary, before this view can be

regarded in any other light than an hypothesis.

The causes by which the metamorphic rocks, which must have been

brought into their present remarkable state at a great depth in the

interior of the globe, acquired their present configuration of

mountain and valley, form a question on which I am not now prepared to

enter. One continued process of elevation seems inadequate to produce

the observed effects; but however numerous the alternations of

elevation and depression may have been, it is evident that the

alluvial deposits at present existing must all be referable to the

last period of elevation, as such incoherent strata could not

withstand the continued action of the sea.

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Asie Centrale, vol. i. p. 14.

[29] Manasarawar and Rawan Rhad.

[30] Moorcroft's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 47-50.

[31] Journal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, 1842, No. 126.

Captain Herbert, who had travelled a great deal in the Himalaya, was

the first to point out the impropriety of regarding these mountains as

a single chain parallel to the plains of India. Jacquemont also

arrived at the same conclusion, as will be seen from the following

extract from his journal:--"Le langage de la géographie descriptive

est théorique; c'est une grande faute si les théories qu'il rappelle

sans cesse sont dénuées de fondement. Ainsi l'on dit que le Setludje

_coupe_ la chaîne centrale de l'Himalaya, que sa vallée est creusée au

travers, etc., etc., et l'on donne à penser par là que cette chaîne

auparavant etait continue et que c'est par un effort des eaux que s'y

est faite cette large trouée, comme si les montagnes avaient dû se

former primitivement avec une continuité non interrompue" (vol. ii. p.

201); and again (at p. 269), "Le Setludje coule donc non au nord de

l'Himalaya, mais entre deux chaînes à peu près également élevées."

[32] Captain R. Strachey, in his paper on the snow-level, proposes to

call the more western part of the Cis-Sutlej Himalaya the Busehir

range, a name which, though exceedingly appropriate to the portion to

which he applies it, is not adapted for extension to the more eastern

part.

[33] Travels in Kashmir, etc., vol. ii. p. 382.

[34] Travels, vol. i. p. 361.

[35] That Tibet is not an extensive plain, according to the usual

idea, has already been pointed out by Humboldt (Asie Centrale, vol. i.

p. 12). Chinese geographers, according to him, describe all parts of

Tibet as more or less mountainous; the eastern portion of West Tibet

(Gnari) as least so. Captain H. Strachey, in his account of his visit

to lake Manasarawar, says expressly that "the surface of Gnari is for

the most part extremely mountainous." In the lower Tibetan course of

the Sutlej, the recent discoveries of Captain Strachey show that an

alluvial table-land of considerable extent exists, intersected by deep

ravines.

[36] See some observations of the thermometer recorded by Mr. Vigne,

at Iskardo, Khapalu, etc.

[37] Asie Centrale, vol. iii. p. 22.

[38] In the Map No. 65 of the Survey of the Western Himalaya, by

Captains Hodgson and Herbert, the glacier of Gangutri is marked "Great

snow-bed _or glacier_;" but whether this indication of a knowledge of

the true nature of the mass is due to the surveyors or to the maker of

the map in England, I have no means at present of ascertaining.

[39] On the Snow-level in the Himalaya, in the Journal of the Asiatic

Society of Calcutta.

[40] The thermometric results obtained by these two travellers do not

agree with one another. M. Hügel's thermometer indicated 6300 feet for

the elevation of Kashmir, a result which is known from the barometric

observations of Jacquemont to be 1000 feet in excess. Mr. Vigne's

thermometer, when tested by Moorcroft's barometric results at Le, errs

considerably in the opposite direction. In neither case do I know the

mode of calculation employed, the results only being given.

INDEX.

Abadan, 209.

Adenocaulon Himalaicum, 47.

Agricultural processes at Iskardo, 259.

" " Le, 443.

Alibransa pass, 463.

Alluvial deposits of Chango, 112.

" " Chorbat, 206.

" " Dankar, 125.

" " Dras valley, 448.

" " Indus below Le, 391.

" " Karakoram, 433, 438.

" " Kardong, 398.

" " Kyuri, 117.

" " Landar valley, 309.

" " Lio, 107.

" " Molbil, 446.

" " Nubra, 196.

" " Phatu pass, 445.

" " Phutaksha, 382.

" " Piti valley, 122.

" " Rondu, 254.

" " Shayuk valley, 190.

" " Shigar valley, 262.

" " Sungnam, 97.

" " Tibet, 491.

" " Tolti, 232.

" " Zanskar, 369.

Alsine, tufted, 426.

Asdhari, 347.

Avalanches in Dras, 265.

" " Kashmir, 271.

" " Rondu, 253.

Badarwar, 329.

Balanophora, 47.

Ballota, 306.

Baltal, 269, 452.

Banahal pass, 297.

" valley, 299.

Bardar pass, 355.

Basehir, 51.

Baspa river, 75.

Berberry of Tibet, 211.

Bijbehara, 294.

Bilergu, 265.

Boghdan, 204.

Borax plain of Pugha, 166.

Borendo pass, 75.

Braghar, 213.

Buddhist edifices at Le, 183.

" temple at Nako, 109.

Buju, 334.

Burang pass, 75.

Butna river, 348.

Caper, wild, of Sutlej valley, 88.

Caragana versicolor, 99, 156.

Cedrus Deodara, 19.

Celtis, 282.

Chakor, or painted partridge, 261.

Chamba, 335.

Changlung, 409.

Changar, 113.

Chango, 112.

Changrang pass, 113.

Changrezing, 113.

Chashut, 181.

Chatargarh, 348.

" district, 346.

Chegaon, 69.

Chenab valley, 301, 345.

Chinese frontier, direction of, 143.

" " stoppage on, 116.

Chini, 78.

Chirasa, 196.

Chishot, 349.

Chloris, species of, in Nubra, 402.

Chorbat, 204.

Christolea, 114, 144.

Chulungka, 207.

Chumoreri, 140, 459.

Cicer microphyllum, 371.

Climate of Dras, 450.

" Chatargarh, 345.

" Iskardo in winter, 243.

" Kashmir, 282.

" Kunawar, 71.

" Le in September, 443.

" Pashkyum, 446.

" Piti, 128.

" Simla, 21.

" Tibet, 468.

" Zanskar, 363.

Confervæ in Pugha hot-springs, 164.

Crambe, 103.

Cupressus torulosa, 31.

Currant, black, 115.

" Tibetan, 104.

Cyanite, 84, 111.

Cyclas, fossil, 172.

Cyperus, a species, in Nubra, 402.

Cyrena, 292.

Dadu, 324.

Dama, 99.

Dankar, 125.

Datisca, 58.

Deghi, 334.

Deodar, 19.

Dewar, 335.

Digar, 189.

Diskit, 401.

Doda, 324.

Dodonæa, 318.

Dras valley, 234, 264, 449.

" village and fort, 238, 267.

Elæagnus, 195, 242.

Elm of Nubra, 406.

Ephedra, 94.

Eremurus, 343.

Euphorbia pentagona, 6.

Fagu, 35.

Fish in Hanle lake, 152.

" Pugha stream, 164.

Floods of Shayuk, 200.

Fothergilla involucrata, 274.

Gagangir, 272.

Gagar river, 2.

Gambar river, 11, 12.

Ganderbal, 275.

Gangan, 274.

Gaora, 58.

Garta, 321.

Garys pass, 278.

Gentiana Moorcroftiana, 126.

Geology of Tibet, 490.

Gerard's pine, 70, 73, 74.

Giah, 176.

Giri river, 36.

Giu river, 118.

Glacier of Butna valley, 352.

" Nubra mountains, 413.

" Parang pass, 136.

" pass north of Le, 397.

" Sassar, 438.

" Sassar pass, 417.

" Umasi pass, north face, 357.

" " south face, 354.

" Zoji pass, 451.

Glaciers of Himalaya, 474.

" Kouenlun, 481.

Gol, 224.

Gold-washing in Khapalu, 212.

Gond, 273.

Granite in Chorbat, 207.

Greenstone near Hanle, 149.

Hangarang district, 96.

" pass, 100.

Hango, 102.

Hanle, 152.

Hanle river, 155.

Hanu pass, 208.

Hanupata, 384.

Hardas, 237, 265.

Haripur, 12.

Harvest at Le, 443.

Hattu, ascent of, 41.

Hemp in Kashmir, 455.

Himalaya, appearance of, from plains, 2.

" arrangement of ranges of, 458.

" Cis-Sutlej, 459.

" Trans-Sutlej, 458.

Himor, 349.

Hippophaë conferta, 59.

" forest of Nubra, 195.

" of Tibet, 212.

Hordeum Ægiceras, 102.

Hot-springs of Panamik, 407.

" Pugha, 164.

Huling, 119.

Hundar, 199.

Hydrangea, scandent, 47.

Hyoscyamus niger, 77.

Indus river, at Iskardo, 217.

" at Upshi, 178.

" frozen over, 241.

" junction with Shayuk, 214.

" north of Hanle, 158.

Iron-mine in Zanskar, 379.

Iskardo, 216.

" winter at, 243.

Islamabad, 294.

Jako, 17.

" view from, 23.

Jamu, 313.

Junipers of Kunawar, 83.

Juniperus excelsa, 254.

Kalatze, 388.

Kalka, 4.

Kamar, 250.

Kanam, 94.

Kanji river, 445.

Karakoram pass, 433.

" plain, 428, 436.

Karbu, in Dras, 238, 266.

" in Pashkyum, 445.

Kardong, 398.

Kargil, 448.

Karsar, 399.

Karsha, 368.

Kartash, 231.

Kartse river, 448.

Kashbir, 79.

Kashmir, 277, 454.

Katti, 308.

Kepu, 50.

Khapalu, 211.

" plain of, 209.

Khoten, road to, from Karakoram, 430.

Khundan Chu, 442.

Ki, 131.

Kiang or wild horse, 141.

Kibar, 131.

Kiris, 213.

Kirmichi, 310.

Koardu, 249.

Kotgarh, 48.

Kouenlun, 436, 462.

Kulzum pass, 127.

Kunawar, 62.

Kunes, 213.

Kuru, in Balti, 213.

" in Nubra, 201.

Kussowlee, 5.

Kyuri, 117.

Lacustrine clay of Avantipura, 290.

" " Chango, 111.

" " Gol, 225.

" " Iskardo, 220, 223.

" " Kamar, 250.

" " Karsar, 400.

" " Kashmir, 279.

" " Kiris, 214.

" " Kuru, in Nubra, 201.

" " Kyuri, 117.

" " Lipa, 88.

" " lower Dras, 236.

" " lower Nubra, 198.

" " Phutaksha, 382.

" " Thogji lake, 170.

" " Zanskar, 367.

Ladhe ke Dhar, 307.

Lake of Kashmir, 281.

" salt, of Thogji, 170.

Lakes, glacial, of Sassar pass, 417.

Lamayuru, 387, 444.

Lanak pass, 146.

Landar, 309.

Langera, 333.

Lara, 127.

Lari, 119.

Lazgung pass, 188.

Le, 182, 393, 443.

Lecanora miniata, 136.

Limestone of Hangarang, 100.

" Karakoram, 427.

" " pass, 435.

" Murgai, 425.

" Piti, 124.

" Shahabad, 297.

" Zanskar, 371.

Lio, 105.

Lipa, 87.

Liundi, 348.

Lyakjung, 197, 404.

Lycium, 211.

Lymnæa, fossil, at Iskardo, 220.

" " at Thogji lake, 170.

" " in Nubra, 198.

" " in Piti, 117.

Machulu river, 209.

Mahasu ridge, 31.

Markanda river, 2.

Markim, 361.

Marsilang, 181.

Maten, 267, 450.

Mattiana, 36.

Melia Azedarach, 59.

Mir, 309.

Miru, in Kunawar, 70.

" Tibet, 178.

Molbil, 445.

Murgai, 422.

" river, ascent of, 423.

Muztagh pass, 462.

Myricaria trees, 162.

Nachar, 64.

Nagkanda, 41.

Nako, 108.

Namika pass, 445.

Nar, 215.

Nasmon, 304.

Natural bridge in Piti, 116.

Natural tunnel, 385.

Nettle, alpine, 414.

Nimo, 392.

Nira, 377.

Nirt, 51.

Nostoc, 145.

Nubra, 192, 404.

" Chu, 442.

" lower, 198.

Nurla, 390.

Oak, evergreen, 73.

Olive, wild, 306.

Orchideæ of Nubra, 400.

Oxybaphus Himalayanus, 60.

Oxytropis chiliophylla, 369.

Padri pass, 330.

Padum, 363.

Pain Dras, 267.

Pampur, 288.

Panamik, 407.

" hot-springs, 407.

Pangi, 79.

Pangong lake, 464.

Paralysis, curious cases of, 391.

Parang pass, 135.

" river, lower course of, 113.

" " upper course of, 138.

Pargwal, 345.

Parkuta, 229.

Partridge, painted, 261.

Pashkyum, 446.

Pass above Changlung in Nubra, 410.

" Dadu, 327.

" Mir, 309.

" Nasmon, 302.

" Pata, 323.

Pass north of Le, 395, 443.

" " Ruduk, 463.

Passes across Kouenlun, 462.

" of Tibet, elevation of, 467.

Pata, 322.

Peganum Harmala, 212.

Perowskia, 178.

Perpetual snow, 482.

" in outer Himalaya, 487.

" in Tibet, 488.

" on opposite sides of passes, 489.

Phatu pass, 444.

Phutaksha, 382.

Picea Webbiana, 86.

Pin river, 126.

Pindrow, 86.

Pinus excelsa in Rondu, 257.

" Gerardiana, 70, 73, 74.

" longifolia, 18.

Pitak, 394.

Piti, 128.

" river, 106.

Planorbis, fossil, 117, 170, 198, 220.

Pok, 124.

Poplars of Indus valley, 180.

Populus alba, 95, 207.

" balsamifera, 177.

" Euphratica, 191.

Porgyul, 101, 110.

Potato cultivation, 34.

Potentilla discolor, 412.

Prangos, 240, 266.

Pranu, 207.

Pugha, borax plain, 166.

" hot springs, 164.

" ravine, 162.

" sulphur-mine, 168.

Pulokanka pass, 170.

Quercus Ilex, 73, 347.

Quinoa, 49.

Raldang, 80.

Ramnagar, 320.

Rampur, 54.

Rangrig, 127.

Ribes glandulosum, 104.

Rocks of Banahal pass, 298.

" Butna valley, 361.

" Chorbat, 207.

" Dadu, 324.

" Giah ravine, 179.

" Hangarang, 100.

" Karakoram pass, 435.

" " plain, 427.

" Kargil, 448.

" Kashmir, 280, 297.

" Kunawar, 81.

" lower Shayuk, 214.

" Murgai valley, 425.

" Nubra, 407.

" Pashkyum, 447.

" Pugha, 165.

" Rondu, 257.

" Simla, 27.

" Singhi pass, 381.

" Sungnam, 99.

" Tawi valley, 311.

" Umasi pass, 361.

" Wandla ravine, 388.

" Waris ravine, 203.

" Zanskar, 361, 371.

Rogi, 73.

Rondu, 248.

Rope-bridge of Kartash, 242.

" Nasmon, 305.

" Padum, 367.

" Rampur, 54.

" Rondu, 255.

Rosa Webbiana, 386.

Rose, yellow, 385.

Rukchin valley, 172.

Runang pass, 92.

Ruskalan river, 94.

Sabathu, 11.

Sabu, 188.

Sach pass, 338.

Saffron cultivation, 288, 455.

Sairi, 16.

Salt lake of Thogji, 170.

Sandstone, modern, of Iskardo, 221.

" " Karsar, 400.

" " Tarkata, 234.

" of Pashkyum, 447.

" tertiary of Jamu hills, 311, 312.

Saspola, 391.

Sassar, 420.

Sassar pass, 417.

Seda, 312.

Serahan, 60.

Shahabad, 296.

Shali, 31, 32.

Shalimar, 286.

Shayuk river, in Chorbat, 205.

" " Karakoram, 431.

" " Khapalu, 209.

" " Nubra, 193, 403.

" " Sassar, 419.

" " its junction with Indus, 214.

Shialkar, 112.

Shigar valley, 262.

Shol, 347.

Siksa, 204.

Sildang river, 64.

Simla, 16.

Sind river, 270.

Singhi pass, 379.

Sirohi Sar, 316.

Snow-fall in Tibet, 473.

Soda, efflorescence, in Nubra, 195.

" " Piti, 128.

Sonamarg, 271.

Statice, prickly, 204.

Suliman range, 3.

Sulphur-mine of Pugha, 168.

Sungnam, 94.

Surmu, 210.

Suru, 448.

Sutlej river at Rampur, 51.

" " Wangtu, 66.

" " its diurnal fluctuations, 54.

Taksha, 408.

Takti pass, 375.

Tarkata, 233.

Tawi river, 313.

Temple buried in lacustrine clay, 292.

Tertse, 197.

Thalaura, 318.

Thawar, 254.

Theog, 37.

Thogji lake, 170, 459.

Tibet, general description of, 456.

Tirit, 197.

Tolti, 230.

Tongde, 368.

Tranda, 61.

Trikota Debi, 310.

Tsatti, 192.

Tunglung pass, 175.

Turgu, 223.

Turtuk, 207.

Tussilago Farfara, 263.

Ulding Thung, 236.

Umasi pass, 355.

Unmaru, 197.

Upshi, 179.

Urdi, 229.

Vegetation of Badarwar, 329.

" Baltal, 453.

" Banahal, 301.

" Chatargarh, 348.

" Chenab valley, 304, 342.

" Dadu, 324.

" Dras, 449.

" Gambar valley, 13.

" Hangarang pass, 101.

" Hattu, 43.

" Indus valley below Le, 390.

" Jamu hills, 317.

" Kalka, 4.

" Karakoram, 435.

" Karsar in Nubra, 400.

" Kashmir, 283, 296, 454.

" Kotgarh, 47, 50.

" Kunawar, 72, 76.

" Kussowlee, 6, 7.

" Le, 395.

" Mahasu, 31.

" Nubra, 406.

" Pashkyum, 446.

" Phatu pass, 445.

" Ramnagar valley, 320.

" Rondu, 258.

" Runang pass, 92.

" Sassar, 420.

" Sassar pass, 416.

" Simla, 18.

" Sind valley, 272.

" Sutlej valley at Rampur, 53.

" " " Wangtu, 67.

" Werang pass, 85.

" Zanskar, alpine, 359.

" " northern passes, 375, 377, 380.

" " valley, 365, 371.

" Zoji pass, 451.

Vernag, 296.

Vines of Parkuta, 229.

" Turtuk, 207.

" wild, of Butna valley, 348.

Vineyards of Kunawar, 78.

" Sungnam, 94.

Wandla, 386.

Wangtu Bridge, 66.

Waris, 202.

Wasterwan, 288.

Waterfall at Wangtu, 68.

" frozen, in Dras, 241.

Werang pass, 84.

Willows of Tibet, 180.

Winds of Tibet, 472.

Winter at Iskardo, 243.

Wulur lake, 282.

Yarkand merchants, 410.

" road to, from Iskardo, 263.

Yulchung, 379.

Zangla, 369.

Zannichellia, 164.

Zanskar, 358, 363.

Zobo, 91.

Zoji pass, 267, 451.

Zungsam river, 113.

JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, PRINTER,

LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.

THE

RHODODENDRONS

OF

SIKKIM-HIMALAYA;

Being an Account, Botanical and Geographical, of the _Rhododendrons_

recently discovered in the Province of Sikkim, on the Eastern

Himalaya Mountains.

BY

JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S., F.L.S.

EDITED BY SIR W. J. HOOKER, K.H., D.C.L., F.R.S.A.

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our readers when they know that it was only last January twelvemonths

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Himalaya, discovered a number of plants, and that they should be

published in England in an almost UNEQUALLED STYLE OF MAGNIFICENT

ILLUSTRATION, in less than eighteen months, is one of the marvels of

our time."--_Athenæum._

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the letter-press furnished by the talented author possesses very high

interest. Of the species of _Rhododendron_ which he has found in his

adventurous journey, some are quite unrivalled in magnificence of

appearance. We recommend the district to the nurseryman. Whoever could

bring home plenty of seeds of these plants would require no better

foundation for a little fortune."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

_Also, by the same Author_,

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NEREIS AUSTRALIS; or, Illustrations of the Algæ of the Southern

Ocean. By Professor HARVEY, M.D., M.R.I.A. To be completed in

Four Parts, each containing twenty-five coloured plates, imp.

8vo. Price 1_l._ 1_s._ Parts I. and II. recently published.

"Of this most important contribution to our knowledge of exotic

Algæ, we know not if we can pay it a higher compliment than by

saying it is worthy of the author. It should be observed that

the work is not a selection of certain species, but an arranged

system of all that is known of Australian Algæ, accompanied by

figures of the new and rare ones, especially of those most

remarkable for beauty of form and colour."--_London Journal of

Botany._

CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE (commenced in 1786); Continued by

Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, K.H., D.C.L., &c., Director of the

Royal Gardens of Kew.

*** Published in monthly numbers, each containing six plates,

price 3_s._ 6_d._ coloured; and in annual volumes, price 42_s._

HOOKER'S JOURNAL OF BOTANY and KEW GARDENS MISCELLANY. Edited

by Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER.

This Botanical Journal, in addition to original papers by

Eminent Botanists, contains the Botanical News of the month,

Communications from Botanical Travellers, Notices of New Books,

&c.

*** In monthly numbers, with a plate, price 2_s._

ICONES PLANTARUM; or, Figures, with brief descriptive

characters and remarks, of new and rare Plants. Published

monthly, with eight plates. Price 2_s._ 6_d._

(_Under the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the

Admiralty._)

FLORA ANTARCTICA; or, Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M.

Discovery Ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_, during the years

1839-1843, under the command of Capt. Sir James Clark Ross,

R.N., F.R.S. By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S., &c.,

Botanist to the Expedition. In two vols. royal 4to, cloth,

containing 200 plates. Price 10_l._ 15_s._ coloured; 7_l._

10_s._ plain.

"The descriptions of the plants in this work are carefully

drawn up, and much interesting matter, critical, explanatory,

and historical, is added in the form of notes. The drawings of

the plants are admirably executed by Mr. Fitch; and we know of

no productions from his pencil, or, in fact, any botanical

illustrations at all, that are superior in faithful

representation and botanical correctness."--_Athenæum._

CRYPTOGAMIA ANTARCTICA; or, Cryptogamic Botany of the Antarctic

Voyage of H. M. Ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_. By JOSEPH DALTON

HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S., &c. Royal 4to, cloth, containing 74

plates. Price 4_l._ 4_s._ coloured; 2_l._ 17_s._ plain.

THE ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND; a treatise on their History,

Uses, Structure, Nutritious Properties, Mode of Cooking,

Preserving, &c. By the Rev. Dr. BADHAM. Super-royal 8vo, cloth,

coloured plates. 21_s._

"The English are not a fungus-eating nation; and though we do

not eat frogs like our neighbours, we are rather celebrated for

our love of another of the reptilian family--turtle. There is

no reason why we should eschew frogs and relish turtle; still

less is there for our eating one or two of the numerous edible

funguses which our island produces, and condemning all the

rest. To draw attention to this fact, and to supply an accurate

account, with a correct delineation, of the esculent species of

this family in Great Britain, are the objects of the book

before us. Such a work was a desideratum in this country, and

it has been well supplied by Dr. Badham; with his beautiful

drawings of the various edible fungi in his hand the collector

can scarcely make a mistake. The majority of those which grow

in our meadows, and in the decaying wood of our orchards and

forests, are unfit for food; and the value of Dr. Badham's book

consists in the fact, that it enables us to distinguish from

these such as may be eaten with impunity."--_Athenæum._

ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; containing Figures and

Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous

to Britain. _First Series._ By Mrs. HUSSEY. 4to, cloth gilt,

with ninety beautifully coloured drawings. Price 7_l._ 12_s._

6_d._

"This talented lady and her sister were in the first instance

induced to draw some of the more striking Fungi, merely as

picturesque objects. Their collection of drawings at length

became important from their number and accuracy, and a long

continued study of the nutritive properties of Fungi has

induced the former to lay the results of her investigations

before the public, under the form of illustrations of the more

useful and interesting species. The figures are so faithful

that there can be no difficulty in at once determining with

certainty the objects they are intended to represent; and the

observations will be found of much interest to the general

reader."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

"This is an elegant and interesting book: it would be an

ornament to the drawing-room table; but it must not, therefore,

be supposed that the value of the work is not intrinsic, for a

great deal of new and valuable matter accompanies the plates,

which are not fancy sketches, but so individualized and

life-like, that to mistake any species seems impossible. The

accessories of each are significant of site, soil, and season

of growth, so that the botanist may study with advantage what

the artist may inspect with admiration."--_Morning Post._

ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; containing Figures and

Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous

to Britain. _Second Series._ By Mrs. HUSSEY. Publishing in

Monthly Parts, coloured drawings, price 5_s._

VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS; or, History of Forest Trees,

Lichens, Mosses, and Ferns. By MARY ROBERTS. Elegantly bound.

With twenty coloured Plates of Forest Scenery, by FITCH. Royal

16mo. 10_s._ 6_d._

"This work includes a wide range of genera, from the lichen to

the oak, and by way of giving variety to a subject so

commonplace, the several plants are supposed to tell their own

stories, and describe their own family

peculiarities."--_Atlas._

"The fair authoress of this pretty volume has shown more than

the usual good taste of her sex in the selection of her mode of

conveying to the young interesting instruction upon pleasing

topics. She bids them join in a ramble through the sylvan

wilds, and at her command the fragile lichen, the gnarled oak,

the towering beech, the graceful chestnut, and the waving

poplar discourse eloquently, and tell their respective

histories and uses."--_Britannia._

POPULAR FIELD BOTANY; containing a familiar and technical

description of the plants most common to the British Isles,

adapted to the study of either the Artificial or Natural

Systems. By AGNES CATLOW. _Second Edition._ Arranged in twelve

chapters, each being the Botanical lesson for the month.

Containing twenty coloured plates of figures. Royal 16mo.

10_s._ 6_d._

"The design of this work is to furnish young persons with a

Self-instructor in Botany, enabling them with little difficulty

to discover the scientific names of the common plants they may

find in their country rambles, to which are appended a few

facts respecting their uses, habits, &c. The plants are classed

in months, the illustrations are nicely coloured, and the book

is altogether an elegant, as well as useful

present."--_Illustrated London News._

THE TOURIST'S FLORA. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Flowering

Plants and Ferns of the British Islands, France, Germany,

Switzerland, and Italy. By JOSEPH WOODS, F.A.S, F.L.S, F.G.S.

8vo. 18_s._

"The appearance of this book has been long expected by us; and

we can justly state that it has quite fulfilled all our

expectations, and will support the high reputation of its

author. Mr. Woods is known to have spent many years in

collecting and arranging the materials for the present work,

with a view to which he has, we believe, visited all the most

interesting localities mentioned in it. This amount of labour,

combined with extensive botanical knowledge, has enabled him to

produce a volume such as few, if any other, botanists were

capable of writing."--_Annals of Natural History._

ZOOLOGY.

(_Under the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty._)

ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. SAMARANG. Edited by ARTHUR

ADAMS, F.L.S, Assistant-Surgeon, R.N, attached to the

Expedition.

VERTEBRATA. By _John Edward Gray_, F.R.S., Keeper of the

Zoological Department of the British Museum.

FISHES. By Sir JOHN RICHARDSON, M.D., F.R.S.

MOLLUSCA. By the EDITOR and LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. Including the

anatomy of the _Spirula_, by Prof. OWEN, F.R.S.

CRUSTACEA. By the EDITOR and ADAM WHITE, F.L.S.

*** Complete in one handsome royal 4to volume,

containing 55 plates. Price, strongly bound in cloth, 3_l._

10_s._

THE BIRDS OF IRELAND. By WILLIAM THOMPSON, Esq., President of

the Natural History and Philosophical Society of Belfast. Vol.

I., price 16_s._ cloth. Vol. II, price 12_s._ Vol. III., price

16_s._, 8vo, cloth.

"Our readers, if once they get hold of this work, will not

readily lay it down; for while habits are dwelt upon in a

manner so amusing that we have known extracts to be read aloud

to a delighted circle of children, it contains the precise

information which the ornithologist demands, and brings forward

topics both of popular and scientific interest, such as the

geographical distribution of species, the causes which seem to

operate on their increase and decrease, their migrations, their

uses to man, the occasional injuries they inflict, and the

important benefits they confer. It is a STANDARD WORK, and will

rank with those of our first ornithologists."--_Dublin

Quarterly Journal of Medical Science._

CONTRIBUTIONS TO ORNITHOLOGY. By SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, Bart.,

F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &c.

The "CONTRIBUTIONS" are devoted to the various departments of

Ornithology. They are published at intervals in Parts, and form

an annual Volume, illustrated by numerous coloured and

uncoloured Plates, Woodcuts, &c.

The Series for 1848, containing ten Plates, price 9_s._

The Series for 1849, containing twenty-four Plates, price 21_s._

The Series for 1850, containing twenty-one Plates, Vignettes, and

Woodcuts, price 21_s._

The Series for 1851, containing fourteen Plates, price 18_s._

THE DODO AND ITS KINDRED; or, the History, Affinities, and

Osteology of the DODO, SOLITAIRE, and other extinct birds of

the islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. By H. E.

STRICKLAND, Esq., M.A., F.R.G.S., F.G.S., President of the

Ashmolean Society, and A. G. MELVILLE, M.D., M.R.C.S. Royal

quarto, with eighteen plates and numerous wood-illustrations.

Price 21_s._

"The labour expended on this book, and the beautiful manner in

which it is got up, render it a work of great interest to the

naturalist. * * It is a model of how such subjects should be

treated. We know of few more elaborate and careful pieces of

comparative anatomy than is given of the head and foot by Dr.

Melville. The dissection is accompanied by lithographic plates,

creditable alike to the Artist and the Printer."--_Athenæum._

POPULAR BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY; comprising a familiar and

technical description of the Birds of the British Isles. By P.

H. Gosse, Author of 'The Ocean,' 'The Birds of Jamaica,' &c. In

twelve chapters, each being the Ornithological lesson for the

month. In one vol. royal 16mo, with twenty plates of figures.

Price 10_s._ 6_d._ coloured.

"To render the subject of ornithology clear, and its study

attractive, has been the great aim of the author of this

beautiful little volume.... It is embellished by upwards of 70

figures of British birds beautifully coloured."--_Morning

Herald._

"This was a book much wanted, and will prove a boon of no

common value, containing, as it does, the names, descriptions,

and habits of all the British birds. It is handsomely got

up."--_Mirror._

CONCHOLOGIA ICONICA; or, Figures and Descriptions of the Shells

of Molluscous Animals, with critical remarks on their synonyms,

affinities, and circumstances of habitation. By LOVELL REEVE,

F.L.S.

*** Demy 4to. Published monthly, in Parts, each containing

eight plates. Price 10_s._

SOLD ALSO IN MONOGRAPHS:

£ _s._ _d._

Achatina 1 9 0

Achatinella 0 8 0

Arca 1 1 6

Artemis 0 13 0

Buccinum 0 18 0

Bulimus 5 12 0

Bullia 0 5 6

Cardita 0 11 6

Cardium 1 8 0

Cassidaria 0 1 6

Cassis 0 15 6

Chama 0 11 6

Chiton 2 2 0

Chitonellus 0 1 6

Conus 3 0 0

Corbula 0 6 6

Crassatella 0 4 0

Cypræa 1 14 0

Cypricardia 0 3 0

Delphinula 0 6 6

Dolium 0 10 6

Eburna 0 1 6

Fasciolaria 0 9 0

Ficula 0 1 6

Fissurella 1 0 6

Fusus 1 6 6

Glauconome 0 1 6

Haliotis 1 1 0

Harpa 0 5 6

Hemipecten 0 1 6

Ianthina 0 3 0

Isocardia 0 1 6

Lucina 0 14 0

Mangelia 0 10 6

Mesalia}

Eglisia} 0 1 6

Mitra 2 10 0

Monoceros 0 5 6

Murex 2 5 6

Myadora 0 1 6

Oliva 1 18 0

Oniscia 0 1 6

Paludomus 0 4 0

Partula 0 5 6

Pectunculus 0 11 6

Phorus 0 4 0

Pleurotoma 2 10 6

Pterocera 0 8 0

Purpura 0 17 0

Pyrula 0 11 6

Ranella 0 10 6

Ricinula 0 8 0

Rostellaria 0 4 6

Strombus 1 4 6

Struthiolaria 0 1 6

Turbinella 0 17 0

Triton 1 5 6

Turbo 0 17 0

Turritella 0 14 6

Voluta 1 8 0

_The genus_ HELIX _is in course of publication._

SOLD ALSO IN VOLUMES:

VOL. I. CONUS

PLEUROTOMA

CRASSATELLA

PHORUS

PECTUNCULUS

CARDITA

DELPHINULA

CYPRICARDIA

HARPA

[_122 Plates, price 7l. 16s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. II. CORBULA

ARCA

TRITON

GLAUCONOME

MYADORA

RANELLA

MITRA

CARDIUM

ISOCARDIA

[_114 Plates, price 7l. 6s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. III. MUREX

CYPRÆA

HALIOTIS

MANGELIA

PURPURA

RICINULA

MONOCEROS

BULLIA

BUCCINUM

[_129 Plates, price 8l. 5s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. IV. CHAMA

CHITON

CHITONELLUS

FICULA

PYRULA

TURBINELLA

FASCIOLARIA

FUSUS

PALUDOMUS

TURBO

[_110 Plates, price 7l. 1s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. V. BULIMUS

ACHATINA

DOLIUM

CASSIS

TURRITELLA

MESALIA

EGLISIA

ONISCIA

CASSIDARIA

EBURNA

[_147 Plates, price 9l. 7s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. VI. VOLUTA

FISSURELLA

PARTULA

ACHATINELLA

ARTEMIS

LUCINA

HEMIPECTEN

OLIVA

STROMBUS

PTEROCERA

ROSTELLARIA

STRUTHIOLARIA

[_129 Plates, price 8l. 5s. 6d. half-bound._]

The figures are drawn and lithographed by Mr. G. B. SOWERBY,

Junr., of the _natural size_, from specimens chiefly in the

collection of Mr. Cuming.

"This great work is intended to embrace a complete description

and illustration of the shells of molluscous animals, and, so

far as we have seen, it is not such as to disappoint the large

expectations that have been formed respecting it. The figures

of the shells are all of full size; in the descriptions a

careful analysis is given of the labours of others; and the

author has apparently spared no pains to make the work a

standard authority on the subject of which it

treats."--_Athenæum._

CONCHOLOGIA SYSTEMATICA; or, Complete System of Conchology,

illustrated with 300 plates of upwards of 1500 figures of

Shells. By LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S.

"The text is both interesting and instructive; many of the

plates have appeared before in Mr. Sowerby's works, but from

the great expense of collecting them, and the miscellaneous

manner of their publication, many persons will no doubt gladly

avail themselves of this select and classified portion, which

also contains many original figures."--_Athenæum._

*** In two quarto volumes, cloth. Price 10_l._ coloured; 6_l._

plain.

ELEMENTS OF CONCHOLOGY; or, Introduction to the Natural History

of Shells and their animals. By LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. Parts I.

to X., price 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

"The work before us is designed to promote a more philosophical

spirit of inquiry into the nature and origin of

Shells."--_Ecclesiastical Review._

CONCHOLOGIST'S NOMENCLATOR; or, Catalogue of recent species of

Shells, with their authorities, synonyms, and references to

works where figured or described. By AGNES CATLOW, assisted by

LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S.

*** In sheets for labels, 20_s._ Cloth, 21_s._ Half-bound,

interleaved, 25_s._

CONCHYLIA DITHYRA INSULARUM BRITANNICARUM. The Bivalve Shells

of the British Isles, systematically arranged. By WILLIAM

TURTON, M.D. Reprinted verbatim from the original edition. The

illustrations, printed from the original copper-plates, are

distinguished for their accurate detail. Twenty coloured

plates. Price 2_l._ 10_s._

POPULAR HISTORY OF MOLLUSCA; or, Shells and their Animal

Inhabitants. By MARY ROBERTS. Royal 16mo, with twenty coloured

plates by Wing. Price 10_s._ 6_d._

"This little volume forms another of the excellent series of

illustrated works on various departments of Natural History,

for which the public is indebted to Mr. Reeve.... When we add,

that the plates contain no fewer than ninety figures of shells,

with their animal inhabitants, all of them well, and several

admirably, executed, and that the text is written throughout in

a readable and even elegant style, with such digression in

poetry and prose as serve to relieve its scientific details, we

think that we have said enough to justify the favourable

opinion we have expressed."--_British and Foreign

Medico-Chirurgical Review._

CURTIS'S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY, being Illustrations and

Descriptions of the Genera of Insects found in Great Britain

and Ireland, comprising coloured figures, from nature, of the

most rare and beautiful species, and, in many instances, of the

plants upon which they are found. By JOHN CURTIS, F.L.S.

The 'British Entomology' was originally brought out in Monthly

Numbers, size royal 8vo, at 4_s._ 6_d._, each containing four

coloured plates with text. It was commenced in 1824, and

completed in 1840, in 193 Numbers, forming 16 volumes, price

£43 16_s._

The work is now offered new, and in the best condition:--

Price to Subscribers for complete copies in sixteen volumes £21.

Price of the new issue, and of odd Numbers 3_s._ 6_d._ per No.

*** Vols. I. and II. of the New Issue are now ready for

delivery.

INSECTA BRITANNICA. DIPTERA. By F. WALKER, Esq. F.L.S. Vol. I.

Illustrated with plates. Price 25_s._

EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE. Three vols., crown 8vo, with 108

illustrations. Price 2_l._ 8_s._, elegantly bound in fancy

cloth. Coloured and bound extra, gilt back, sides, and edges,

3_l._ 3_s._

*** Each volume, containing thirty-six illustrations, is

complete in itself, and sold separately. Price 16_s._ plain,

21_s._ coloured.

"The book includes solid instruction as well as genial and

captivating mirth. The scientific knowledge of the writer is

thoroughly reliable."--_Examiner._

"The letterpress is interspersed with vignettes clearly and

cleverly engraved on stone: and the whole pile of Natural

History--fable, poetry, theory, and fact--is stuck over with

quaint apophthegms and shrewd maxims, deduced for the benefit

of man from the contemplation of such tiny monitors as gnats

and moths. Altogether the book is a curious and interesting

one--quaint and clever, genial and well-informed."--_Morning

Chronicle._

POPULAR BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY, comprising a familiar and technical

description of the Insects most common to the British Isles. By

MARIA E. CATLOW. In twelve chapters, each being the

Entomological lesson for the month. In one vol. royal 16mo,

with sixteen coloured plates of figures. Price 10_s._ 6_d._

"Judiciously executed, with excellent figures of the commoner

species, for the use of young beginners."--_Annual Address of

the President of the Entomological Society._

"Miss Catlow's 'Popular British Entomology' contains an

introductory chapter or two on classification, which are

followed by brief generic and specific descriptions in English

of above 200 of the commoner British species, together with

accurate figures of about 70 of those described; and will be

quite a treasure to anyone just commencing the study of this

fascinating science."--_Westminster and Foreign Quarterly

Review._

POPULAR HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. By ADAM WHITE, F.L.S., Assistant

in the Zoological Department of the British Museum. With

sixteen coloured Plates of Quadrupeds, &c. by B. WATERHOUSE

HAWKINS, F.L.S. Royal 16mo. 10_s._ 6_d._

"The present increase of our stores of anecdotal matter

respecting every kind of animal has been used with much tact by

Mr. White, who has a terse chatty way of putting down his

reflections, mingled with that easy familiarity which every one

accustomed daily to zoological pursuits is sure to attain. The

book is profusely illustrated."--_Atlas._

THE BRITISH PALÆOZOIC FOSSILS, added by Professor Sedgwick to

the Woodwardian Museum. By Professor M'COY. In royal 4to, with

numerous Plates.

Part I., containing the Radiata and Articulata, is now ready. 16_s._

Part II., containing the Lower Palæozoic Mollusca, is in the press.

THOUGHTS ON A PEBBLE; or, a First Lesson in Geology. By Dr.

MANTELL, F.R.S. _Eighth Edition_, considerably enlarged. With

four coloured plates, twenty-seven woodcuts, and a Portrait of

the Author. Square 12mo. 5_s._

"I have just procured a little work for my young pupils, a most

delightful introduction, entitled 'Thoughts on a Pebble, or a

First Lesson in Geology,' by Dr. Mantell, and I must request

you to read it; for although it does not consist of more than

thirty pages [increased in the present edition to upwards of a

hundred] it will expand to your view a new world that will

astonish and delight you."--_Philosophy in Sport._

MISCELLANEOUS.

ELEMENTARY PHYSICS; an Introduction to the Study of Natural

Philosophy. By ROBERT HUNT, Professor of Mechanical Science at

the Government School of Mines, Author of 'Poetry of Science,'

'Researches on Light,' and 'Handbook to the Great Exhibition.'

Illustrated with a coloured frontispiece, and 217 vignettes and

wood engravings. Fcap. 8vo, cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._

CONTENTS.

Chapter I. General Properties of Ponderable Matter.

" II. General Laws of Motion.

" III. Laws of Slightly Elastic Fluids.

" IV. Laws of Elastic Fluids.

Chapter V. Sonorous Movement of Bodies.

" VI. Primary Phenomena of Electricity.

" VII. Heat, or Caloric.

" VIII. Light and Actinism.

"As a really elementary treatise on the whole work of Physical

Science, we know none to compare with it, and it is, therefore,

admirably adapted for the wants of the student; whilst, on the

other hand, it may be read and looked through with profit and

interest by those who have long mastered the general truths it

embodies, and for the many novel illustrations and applications

of these which it contains."--_British and Foreign

Medico-Chirurgical Review._

POPULAR MINERALOGY; a Familiar account of Minerals and their

Uses. By HENRY SOWERBY. Royal 16mo, with plates of figures.

10_s._ 6_d._

"Mr. Sowerby has endeavoured to throw around his subject every

attraction. His work is fully and carefully illustrated with

coloured plates."--_Spectator._

PANTHEA, THE SPIRIT OF NATURE. By ROBERT HUNT, Author of 'The

Poetry of Science.' One vol. 8vo, cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._

"A work of very peculiar character, in which Philosophy and

Poetry are finely blended, and where great truths and noble

sentiments are expressed in language full of beauty and

eloquence."--_North British Review._

"Ample opportunities are afforded for conveying scientific

information in a popular form, and these have been liberally

and well embraced by the author."--_Athenæum._

"There is, throughout, the closeness of matter and eloquence of

style which distinguished the 'Poetry of

Science.'"--_Spectator._

THE POETRY OF SCIENCE; or, Studies of the Physical Phenomena of

Nature. By ROBERT HUNT, Author of 'Panthea,' and 'Researches on

Light.' _Second Edition._ Revised. With an Index. One vol. 8vo,

cloth. 12_s._

"A truly scientific work, which has the character of poetry

only in so far as truth is poetical, and may be regarded as a

popular treatise on Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and Geology,

similar in its nature and object to the 'Kosmos' of

Humboldt."--_North British Review._

ILLUSTRATIONS of the WISDOM and BENEVOLENCE of the DEITY, as

manifested in Nature. By H. EDWARDS, LL.D. Cloth, 2_s._ 6_d._

"A little excursion in the track of Paley and the broad road of

the Bridgewater Treatises. Animals, Atmosphere, Organic Matter,

Light, and Electricity are the natural elements out of which

the author deduces his pious lessons, leading to a First Cause

in wonder, admiration, and worship."--_Literary Gazette._

DROPS OF WATER; their marvellous and beautiful Inhabitants

displayed by the Microscope. By AGNES CATLOW. Square 12mo, with

coloured plates. 7_s._ 6_d._

"In this little book, illustrated with plates scarcely inferior

to those of the well-known Ehrenberg, we have the wonders of

the microscope revealed in the history of a drop of water. Miss

Catlow's pleasing works on botany, &c., are all well known, and

we can assure our readers that in this little history of

infusorial animals and plants of a drop of water she has added

much to her well-deserved reputation. The style in which it is

got up renders it worthy of companionship with the choicest

ornaments of the library table."--_Liverpool Standard._

"A pleasant introduction to microscopic studies, having

reference in particular to the animalcules or infusoria, as

they are now more commonly called, which inhabit water and

other liquids. The little volume before us contains a goodly

body of information touching the infusorial world, with some

clearly and sensibly written information as to the species of

water, and the seasons, in which certain varieties are to be

found."--_Atlas._

"'Drops of Water' is an introduction to one of Nature's

inexhaustible sources of wonder and delight, performed in a

very efficient and satisfactory manner.... As a specimen of

typography, it is of a superior character; and the plates are

indicative of no small degree of artistic skill as well as

science."--_Observer._

"An elegant little book, both in the getting up and its

literature.... The text is accompanied by coloured plates, that

exhibit the most remarkable creatures of the watery

world."--_Spectator._

"Of the manner in which this work is executed, we can say that,

like Miss Catlow's previous productions on Natural History, it

displays an accurate acquaintance with the subject, and a keen

delight in the contemplation of the objects to which it is

devoted. As far as the living beings which inhabit 'Drops of

Water' are concerned, we know of no better introduction to the

use of the microscope than the present volume."--_Athenæum._

INSTINCT AND REASON. By ALFRED SMEE, F.R.S., Author of

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for his powers of patient observation, and ingeniously devised

experiment."--_Athenæum._

"Mr. Smee has done good service to the cause of rational

philosophy."--_Lancet._

(_Under the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty._)

NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. SAMARANG, during the years

1843-46. By Capt. Sir EDWARD BELCHER, C.B, F.R.A.S. and G.S,

Commander of the Expedition, With a Popular Summary of the

Natural History of the islands visited, by ARTHUR ADAMS, F.L.S.

In two vols. 8vo, with thirty-five charts, coloured plates, and

etchings. Price 36_s._ cloth.

"These volumes give the official and authorized account of the

surveying voyage of the Samarang in the Eastern Archipelago and

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practical information, Capt. Belcher's Narrative contains a

close and mature view of the ministers and monarchs of those

distant regions. Quelpart and the Korean Archipelago are new

ground."--_Examiner._

TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF BRAZIL; principally through the

Northern Provinces and the Gold and Diamond Districts, during

the years 1836-41. By the late GEORGE GARDNER, M.D, F.L.S,

Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Ceylon. _Second

and cheaper Edition._ With a Map of the Author's Route and View

of the Organ Mountains. Price 12_s._ cloth; 18_s._ bound.

"When camping out on the mountain-top or in the wilderness;

roughing it in his long journeys through the interior;

observing the very singular mode of life there presented to his

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and the natural productions of the country--these Travels are

full of attraction. The book, like the country it describes, is

full of new matter."--_Spectator._

The narrative of his varied adventures forms not only to the

enthusiastic botanist, but to the general reader, an

exceedingly entertaining and also instructive book, from the

new view which it gives of the society of Brazil--particularly

in its less known provinces."--_Tait's Edinburgh Magazine._

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his observations derive value from the novelty of the matter to

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NEW WORKS

TO BE

PUBLISHED IN MAY AND JUNE.

1. PARKS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS; or, Practical Notes on Country

Residences, Villas, Public Parks, and Gardens. By CHARLES J. H.

SMITH, Landscape Gardener.

2. TALPA; or, THE CHRONICLE OF A CLAY FARM: an Agricultural

Fragment. By C. W. H. With Illustrations by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

3. POPULAR HISTORY OF BRITISH ZOOPHYTES. By the Rev. Dr.

LANDSBOROUGH. With Coloured Plates.

4. POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY; or, History of the Animals mentioned

in the Bible. By MARIA CATLOW. With Coloured Plates.

5. WESTERN HIMALAYA AND TIBET; the Narrative of a Journey through

the Mountains of Northern India, during the Years 1847-8. By

THOMAS THOMSON, M.D.

6. FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. By Dr. J. D. HOOKER, F.R.S. With Coloured

Plates.

7. FLORA OF WESTERN ESKIMAUX-LAND, including the Sound to Point

Barrow, and the adjacent Islands. By BERTHOLD SEEMANN. With

Plates.

[_Now ready, price 10s._]

Printed by J. E. Taylor, Little Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields.

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have

been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

On page 30, text appears to be missing from the phrase: "the ridge

continues in a * direction".

On page 342, 12th of May is probably a typo for 12th of June.

On page 393, the phrase "was finely seen" should perhaps be "was

finally seen".