Western Himalaya and Tibet Part 20

On the 5th of May I continued my journey to Islamabad, which is about eleven miles from Avantipura. The peak of Wasterwan is the termination of a long mountain ridge, which separates two large valleys from one another. Immediately to the eastward, therefore, the mountains recede from the river, and the road traverses a marshy tract, a great part of which, from the late heavy rains, was still under water, while the remainder was laid out in fields, prepared for the cultivation of rice. Further on, cliffs of lacustrine clay again rose perpendicularly from the river. Several streams joined the Jelam from both sides, some of them deep and sluggish, with straight banks like ca.n.a.ls, while others were almost as large as the main stream, and broad and shallow, with a sandy bed and gently flowing current. Near Bijbehara, a considerable village, with many timber-built houses and a substantial bridge of deodar, the banks are beautifully wooded with shady trees.

Above this village the Jelam is much smaller, often shallow, and the banks lower, though still eight or ten feet above the water, and not swampy, but either fringed with willow and mulberry trees, or bare and covered with fields of green corn, or of rape now in full flower. The bridge of Islamabad, which is the limit of navigation, is nearly a mile from the town, which is a considerable place, the next in importance to the capital, though very much smaller. It lies on low ground close by the river, but immediately behind it a long promontory of the lacustrine formation stretches back for several miles, rising abruptly out of the finely cultivated and well-wooded valley on the left, in steep, rugged cliffs, which are worn into irregular ravines by the action of rain. These formations attain here a thickness of at least 150 feet, and well deserve the particular attention of the geologist. The ancient temple of Martand, the most perfect of its cla.s.s of ruins in the valley, is built on the upper and back part of this platform.

Leaving Islamabad, I crossed immediately one branch of the Jelam, which descends from the west. It had already lost the tranquil character of the stream lower down. There were pebbles in its bed, and it had a more rapid current. After crossing this stream, the country was for some distance quite flat, and entirely covered with rice-fields, now bare; some of them had been ploughed, but most were still just as they had been left after harvest. They were traversed by numerous ditches or ca.n.a.ls for irrigation, in all of which a proportion of fresh-water sh.e.l.ls, chiefly _Lymnaeae_, were seen. Further on, the appearance of the country began to change: there were still plenty of rice-fields, but they rose in steps one above another, and the water in the irrigation ca.n.a.ls flowed rapidly over pebbly beds.

Crossing another branch of the Jelam, which had a broad channel full of large boulders, but shallow and easily fordable, the road began gradually to ascend a low range of hills covered with gra.s.s and bushes where it was dry, but still laid out in rice-fields wherever water was procurable. These hills, which are the termination of a long range which descends from the snow-clad mountains at the east end of the valley, are composed of a very hard limestone, the strata of which are much bent, sinuated, and fractured. On the south side of this ridge is the valley of Shahabad, which is watered by the princ.i.p.al branch of the Jelam. It contains numerous villages, surrounded with fine orchards, and its rice-fields are arranged in terraces. Water being plentiful, the whole valley is cultivated with rice, and the district appears to be one of the richest in Kashmir.

[Sidenote: SHAHABAD.

_May, 1848._]

The general character of the vegetation continues the same as further west, and the more advanced season enabled me to recognize a few common Himalayan plants. The scandent white rose (_R. Brunonis_) was one of these, also _Lonicera diversifolia_ and a shrubby _Indigofera_.

I also observed _Viola serpens_, _Thymus Serpyllum_, _Lactuca dissecta_, and _Fragaria Indica_. Among the rice-fields several plains plants occurred, such as _Potentilla supina_, _Convolvulus arvensis_, _Mazus rugosus_, _Salvia plebeia_, and _Marsilea quadrifolia_. Nor were the plants of a Tibetan climate altogether wanting, for _Rosa Webbiana_ was everywhere common, and a species of _Myricaria_ grew plentifully among the boulders on the banks of all the streams.

[Sidenote: FOUNTAIN OF VERNAG.

_May, 1848._]

From Shahabad I made, on the 7th, a short march to Vernag, a celebrated fountain near the bottom of the Banahal pa.s.s. Crossing the river, the road lay up the open valley of the Jelam, still among rice-fields, rising step by step behind one another, as the valley sloped upwards. Vernag lies close to the mouth of a little lateral valley, up which our further course lay. The fountain, which is built of marble, is large, contains many fish, and supplies a considerable stream. It is the reputed source of the Behat or Jelam, but the main branch of that river descends from the mountains a good way further to the south-west. The hills on both sides of the Shahabad valley are of limestone, the strike of which seemed to be west-south-west, or nearly in the direction of the valley. It is very much indurated, and its colour is bluish-grey; it has all the appearance of having been much altered by heat. The dip appeared different on the opposite sides of the valley: on the north it was east of north, on the other side southerly; the inclination of the beds varied much, and they were often very much distorted. I did not see any eruption of igneous rock on any part of the day's journey.

On the hills above Vernag there was a good deal of brushwood, consisting chiefly of _Fothergilla involucrata_, two species of _Viburnum_, _Cotoneaster_, _Lonicera_, and a few trees of _Pinus excelsa_, yew, and deodar. The opposite hills were bare and gra.s.sy. In the forests of Kashmir (as was first pointed out by Dr. Falconer) we do not find the oak, _Andromeda_, and _Rhododendron_, which are so abundant at similar elevations in the outer Himalaya. The appearance of the woods is, therefore, remarkably different, as these trees, which, in the temperate zone of the mountains near the plains, const.i.tute almost all the forest, give the woods there a peculiar character.

[Sidenote: BANAHAL Pa.s.s.

_May, 1848._]

On the 8th of May I pa.s.sed from the valley of Kashmir into the basin of the Chenab, crossing the Banahal pa.s.s, the summit of which is not more than 10,000 feet above the sea: it is a very narrow ridge, separating two deep valleys. Starting through rice-fields, and pa.s.sing at the upper limit of cultivation a few fields of barley and rape, I soon entered brushwood, the same as on the hills above Vernag.

In the ravines on the left hand, snow descended below 7000 feet.

Ascending rapidly on a ridge, the brushwood gave place to a fine wood of maple, horse-chesnut, cherry, hazel, and elm, all just bursting into leaf. The dip of the limestone rocks was exceedingly variable, at one time southerly, at another northerly, but the strike was, I believe, the same as the day before. The ascent continuing rapid, the shady side of the ridge was soon covered with snow; but the road kept on the southern exposure, which was sometimes bare of forest. Birch at last appeared among the other trees, and, as the elevation increased, it began to predominate. About the same time, the limestone gave place to a slaty rock, which was almost immediately followed by an amygdaloid, which continued to the summit. Both the slate and the limestone appeared to have been upheaved by the igneous rock, and I thought the slate seemed inferior to the limestone.

On the upper part of the ascent the birch gradually became more and more stunted; it was here almost the only tree, with the exception of a few specimens of _Picea Webbiana_, at the limit of forest a little below the summit. Here the hills were bare and rocky; but the forest did not cease on account of elevation, because on the opposite hill, which had a northern exposure, a shady wood, chiefly consisting of pines, rose to a level considerably higher than that of the pa.s.s, which was a depression in the ridge, considerably overtopped by the hills on both sides. The crest of the pa.s.s was undulating, and covered with green-sward, among which a few spring plants were in flower; these were a _Corydalis_, an _Anemone_, and _Primula denticulata_. A large patch of snow occupied the northern slope, just below the top.

The view from the summit would have been magnificent had the day been more favourable; but a thick haze rested over the more distant parts of the valley of Kashmir, as well as over the southern mountains in the direction of the plains of India. The southern slope of the range on which I stood was bare, scarcely even a bush being visible; and the Banahal valley, nearly four thousand feet below, appeared as a perfectly level plain, covered with rice-fields and scattered villages, marked by groves of trees. On the descent I followed a very steep rocky ridge. About half-way down, the amygdaloid was replaced by metamorphic slate, and for the remainder of the descent the rocks were alternations of slate, very hard conglomerate, and quartz rock. The dip of these strata was very variable, and on the face of several spurs, at a little distance, sections were exposed, exhibiting enormous flexures. I saw no limestone on the southern face of the pa.s.s, except in the valley of Banahal, where there was a good deal of a horizontally stratified limestone, very different in appearance from that on the other side, which, as it was confined to the bottom of the valley, and was there very local, appeared to be of much more recent origin.

[Sidenote: BANAHAL VALLEY.

_May, 1848._]

After joining the Banahal river, the descent became more gradual. At first, the valley was almost level and quite covered with rice-fields, all under water. The villagers were busy ploughing, both bullocks and men knee-deep in soft mud. Further on, the valley contracted, and cultivation only occurred at intervals. In the narrower parts, the stream was fringed with trees, but the hill-sides were still quite bare. Round the villages there were very fine trees, chiefly walnut, horse-chesnut, and elms, with the ordinary fruit-trees; but the plane and black poplar do not occur, nor are any vines cultivated in the valley. The winter is said to be quite as severe as in Kashmir; and the elevation, so far as I could determine it by the boiling-point of water, is a little greater, the lower villages (in one of which I encamped) being about 5500 feet, while the highest fields are about 6000 feet. In the woods, _Fothergilla_, cherry, sycamore, and horse-chesnut were common, just as in Kashmir. The season was much further advanced than on the north side of the pa.s.s, all these trees being fully in leaf, and the horse-chesnut in flower. The greater part of the vegetation was identical with that of Kashmir, but I saw many more species, probably only from the more advanced state of the season. The _Zizyphus_ and rose (_R. Webbiana_) of Kashmir were still common, and the white poplar was wild along the banks of the stream. I did not, however, see _Daphne_ or _Myricaria_. In shady lateral ravines an oak was frequent, the more interesting as I had seen none in Kashmir; it was _Q. floribunda_, a species of the middle zone of the outer Himalaya, which usually occurs at higher levels than _Q.

incana_, and lower than _Q. semecarpifolia_.

Though the river of Banahal is a tributary of the Chenab, yet the district has always been considered as a dependency of Kashmir, from which it is only a short day's journey distant, while for several days in descending towards the Chenab, the country is almost uninhabited. Halting one day at Banahal to change my porters, I made three marches to Nasmon, on the right bank of the Chenab, following the course of the Banahal river during the first and part of the second march, but afterwards leaving it, on account of its increasing ruggedness, to cross the range on the left hand by a pa.s.s about 8000 feet above the sea, which overhangs the valley of the Chenab. The bounding spurs which hem in the Banahal valley descend almost perpendicularly upon the Chenab, and dip at last very abruptly to that river. At first, large ma.s.ses of snow were visible at the sources of all the lateral valleys, but lower down the elevation was not sufficient, and the hills were bare. After leaving the last village of Banahal, the bottom of the valley was for some time level and covered with fine forest, consisting chiefly of magnificent trees of _Celtis_, elm, and alder; the others were two species of Acer, _Fraxinus_, _Morus_, _Populus ciliata_, and a willow. _Fothergilla_ now grew to a small tree, and _Marlea_ made its appearance, the first indication of an approach to a hot climate. Soon, the banks of the river became rocky, and left no pa.s.sage, so that the road ascended on the right bank, and lay at a considerable elevation on the hill-sides, looking down upon a richly wooded and often rocky glen. The hills were steep and generally bare, but the ravines were often well wooded. _Pinus excelsa_ occurred occasionally; _Quercus floribunda_ was common, and _Q. lanata_ made its appearance.

Before leaving the Banahal river, I had got down to about 4000 feet, meeting latterly with some familiar plants of the warmer zone: _Pinus longifolia_ formed dry woods, _Cedrela Toona_, a fig, _Albizzia mollis_, and last of all, _Dalbergia Sissoo_. Still, most of the plants of the upper part of the valley accompanied me throughout; even the h.o.a.ry oak had not disappeared, and the general appearance of the vegetation was very different from what it would have been at the same elevation further east, the plants of a hot climate being chiefly such as delight in a dry heat, and are capable of enduring a considerable amount of winter cold, provided the summer temperature be sufficiently elevated. It was evident that the temperature was considerably lower than it would have been at the same height in the Sutlej valley, and I drew the same inference with regard to the humidity, from the appearance of a number of dry-climate plants; for instance, a yellow spinous _Astragalus_, a _Dianthus_, and _Eremurus_, an Asphodeleous genus common in Kunawar, and other dry valleys of the Himalaya.

[Sidenote: Pa.s.s ABOVE NASMON.

_May, 1848._]

In the ascent of the lateral ravine, towards the pa.s.s above Nasmon, I encountered, for the first time, _Rhododendron arboreum_ and _Andromeda ovalifolia_, the two trees which, with the h.o.a.ry oak, form the ma.s.s of the Simla woods. The forest was now very fine, as I was on the northern slope of the range. On the upper part of the ridge by which I ascended, there was a grove of fine deodar-trees, and in the bottom of the dell a shady wood of horse-chesnut and sycamore. I had now entered a zone in which the flora was quite similar to that of Simla; _Fothergilla_ being the only tree I observed, which is not common in that district. And it was curious that it was on the northern and most shady, as well as most humid exposure, that this ident.i.ty of flora became first remarkable, and that the same trees which at Simla form the forests of the drier slopes and more exposed situations, grew in this valley low down on the hill-sides, in the most sheltered spots.

[Sidenote: VEGETATION.

_May, 1848._]

The ascent towards the ridge was latterly steep, with a good deal of silver fir and deodar. The trees rose to the very top of the northern slope, but, as usual, the summit was bare and gra.s.sy, though the tops of the trees were actually higher than the crest of the ridge, and obscured the view to the north. As the elevation was only 8000 feet, there was no peculiarity of vegetation, all the plants being those of the middle zone, except the silver fir, which descended to a lower level than it usually does in the Simla hills. There was some cultivation of wheat and barley within a very short distance of the summit, which overlooked the valley of the Chenab; and as the day was fortunately clear, there was a very fine view. The ravine through which the river flowed appeared everywhere rugged, more especially towards the plains, where a succession of steep rocky hills were seen, the nearest of which surrounded the mouth of the Banahal river. Across the Chenab, a high range, beautifully wooded, ran parallel to the river, rising into a snowy peak nearly opposite to me. This peak, which concealed all view of the plains beyond, lay on my road to Jamu, and was about 9000 feet in height.

[Sidenote: BRIDGE OVER THE CHENAB.

_May, 1848._]

The descent to Nasmon, which is only 2700 feet above the level of the sea, was very steep. At first it led along the face of a bare hill, but soon entered a shady ravine, filled with alder, oak, walnut, and _Celtis_, but without any of the superb horse-chesnuts which had been so abundant in the humid valleys on the northern face of the range; nor was there any _Rhododendron_. Crossing a considerable stream, the road ascended through fine forest to the crest of a ridge, beyond which there was a long and steep descent of at least 1500 feet, to the village of Nasmon, on which tropical vegetation made its appearance very abruptly. _Pinus longifolia_ grew scattered along the sides of this hill, and _Daphne_, pomegranate, the olive of the Sutlej valley, _Vitex Negundo_, _Colebrookea_, _Rottlera_, _Sissoo_, _Adhatoda Vasica_, a th.o.r.n.y _Celastrus_, _Acacia modesta_ and _Lebbek_, and _Bauhinia variegata_, made their appearance in succession, in the order in which I have named them. Most of these are the same as the shrubby forms common in the Sutlej valley at Rampur; but the _Celastrus_ and _Acacia modesta_ are plants of the plains of the western Punjab, and do not extend so far west as that river. The range parallel to the Chenab on the north, which I had just crossed, has probably a granitic axis, for boulders of granite were common on the upper part of the ascent on both sides of the pa.s.s, though I did not anywhere see that rock _in situ_. On both sides the first rock exposed was a fine-grained gneiss, with large crystals of felspar. Lower down, on the north face, I observed mica-slate, with garnets; and in the bed of the Banahal river ordinary clay-slate occurred.

[Sidenote: NASMON.

_May, 1848._]

Nasmon is a very large but scattered village, with much cultivation.

It lies on a high platform of alluvium, considerably above the bed of the river. Plane, orange, apricot, and pear trees grew in the gardens, with _Melia Azedarach_, and a few trees of the European cypress (_C. sempervirens_), bearing apparently ripe fruit. The day was oppressively warm, the thermometer rising above 85 in the shade.

On the 13th of May, I crossed the Chenab by a bridge about a mile above Nasmon. The descent to the bank of the river was gradual, and very bare. Rocks of a black clay-slate and of conglomerate, in nearly vertical strata, formed the bed of the river, which was as large as the Sutlej at Rampur, and very much swollen and muddy. The bridge is the simplest form of _jhula_, a single set of ropes, from which a wooden seat is suspended, which is pulled from side to side by means of a rope, worked from the rocks on either side of the river. The banks of the river were adorned with a profusion of bushes of _Nerium odorum_, in full flower, and highly ornamental. The vegetation along the river exhibited the same curious contrast of tropical and temperate forms, which I have already described as characteristic of the dry valleys of the interior of the Himalaya, at elevations between two and four thousand feet; and the tropical plants were so similar to those which I observed on the Sutlej, that I need not particularize them. There was no forest in any part of the valley near the river, but a few trees of _Pinus longifolia_ grew scattered on the bank; and on the stony ground which skirted the stream, there was a low jungle of the same tropical shrubs as had occurred on the lower part of the descent the day before. I saw also _Zizyphus nummularia_, a shrub which is eminently characteristic of a dry climate, being common in the most desert and rainless districts of the Punjab. The shrubby temperate forms were not numerous, being chiefly _Rosa Brunonis_, and the Himalayan pear, _Lonicera diversifolia_, _Myrsine bifaria_, and _Jasminum revolutum_, all plants which have a very wide range in the Himalaya.

[Sidenote: WILD OLIVES AND POMEGRANATES.

_May, 1848._]

Pa.s.sing through the bush jungle which skirted the river, I entered a large tract of almost level cultivated land, covered with fields of barley, ripe and partly cut. One or two plantain-trees, and some buffaloes, were signs that we were still in a very hot region.

Crossing a considerable stream, the road began to ascend rapidly on a narrow ridge. Pa.s.sing some farm-houses, surrounded by fields, I entered a scattered wood of wild olive-trees (_Olea cuspidata_), mixed with _Zizyphus_ and wild pomegranate. The young shoots and panicles of the olive were abundantly covered with a white floccose glutinous matter, the source of which I could not exactly determine; but I could see no trace of any insects by which it could have been formed, so that it was perhaps a natural exudation from the tree. Small woods of _Pinus longifolia_ occurred at intervals, almost alone, for few plants seem to thrive under its shade. At 4000 feet, while the olive and pomegranate were still abundant, _Quercus lanata_ appeared. At 4500 feet, which was about the upper limit of the olive, I re-entered a cultivated district, disposed in terraces on the slopes of the hills.

The barley was quite ripe, and being cut, but the wheat, though in full ear, was still green. There were also a few fields of the opium poppy in full flower, and of safflower (_Carthamus tinctorius_), which was not nearly so far advanced.

I encamped at the village of Balota, elevated 5000 feet. Round the village were some very fine table-topped deodars, perhaps the relics of a former forest, though more likely planted by the villagers. The hills on all sides were richly cultivated, as far up as 6000 feet, above which elevation fine forest commenced; and the snowy top of the mountain behind, which I had seen from the pa.s.s of the 12th, was visible rising behind the forest. During the whole of the ascent from the Chenab, the rock was a coa.r.s.e-grained sandstone, in highly inclined strata, generally of a reddish-brown colour, the surface of which rapidly pa.s.ses into a state of decay.

[Sidenote: LADHE KE DHAR.

_May, 1848._]

The range of mountains to the south of the Chenab, by which that river is separated from the basin of the Tawi or river of Jamu, still lay between me and the plains of India. On the 14th of May, I crossed a spur from this range, descending into a valley watered by a tributary of the Chenab. This ridge, which is called Ladhe ke Dhar, rises a little above 9000 feet, that being the elevation at which the road crosses it. After leaving the cultivated lands of Balota, the ascent, which was steady, lay through fine brushwood and stunted oaks. On the banks of the stream, which occupied the centre of the valley by which I ascended, sycamore, horse-chesnut, and cherry, were abundant. On the slopes there were a few trees of _Pinus excelsa_ and _Picea_, but the forest was not dense. About 7000 feet, on the north-western face of a spur, there was much cultivation of wheat and barley, hardly yet in ear. Here there was a fine view in the direction of the upper valley of the Chenab, of rugged mountains, scarcely wooded on the slope exposed to view, rising behind one another, the more distant still heavily snowed. Higher up, the forest was chiefly formed of the holly-leaved oak, but the latter part of the ascent was through a dark forest of silver fir, intermixed with a few fine yews. The underwood here was chiefly _Viburnum nervosum_, still in flower, though its leaves were almost fully developed. On emerging from this gloomy forest, in the upper part of which there was a thin sprinkling of snow, I found myself on the crest of the range, which was bare and rounded. Snow lay in large patches, and had evidently been till very recently continuous over the whole top, as vegetation was just commencing, and few plants were in flower. _Primula denticulata_ was common, as well as a little gentian, which extended on both sides at least 2000 feet lower; the only alpine plant was the little _Callianthemum_ which I had found some days before on the summit of Wasterwan in Kashmir. The distant view was unfortunately quite obscured by haze, so that I could not see, as I had expected, the plains of India.

[Sidenote: KATTI.

_May, 1848._]

In descending the southern face of this mountain, the road at once entered a forest of silver fir, in the upper part of which I saw one tree of _Quercus semecarpifolia_, a species which I had not met with on the Kashmir pa.s.ses, or anywhere since leaving the Sutlej. About 8000 feet, the pines were replaced by the holly-leaved oak, forming open woods, in the glades of which patches of cultivation soon occurred; I encamped at about 7000 feet, at the village of Katti.

During the day the sandstone rock occurred uninterruptedly, partly, as the day before, of a reddish-brown colour, partly grey, or nearly white. On the descent large angular fragments of this rock were everywhere scattered over the surface, almost always more or less imbedded in the soil: these had somewhat the appearance of a former moraine, but the surface was so much covered with wood, and the boulders were so much buried, that I could not trace their arrangement in a satisfactory manner.

[Sidenote: LANDAR.

_May, 1848._]

Next morning I continued the descent, which was rapid, so that I soon arrived at tropical vegetation. There was but little forest, except in ravines, and the heat soon became very great. About three miles from Katti I pa.s.sed the fort of Landar, built on an almost isolated cliff, overhanging the ravine; and a little further on I descended abruptly to a small stream, running towards the Chenab, the elevation of whose bed was about 3000 feet. The descent, which was almost precipitous, led down the face of a ma.s.s of clay, in some respects like the alluvial deposits so common in Tibet. Similar ma.s.ses of alluvium, all table-topped, and very steep, and much worn by ravines, had occurred throughout the whole of the descent from Katti. A few pines grew on this steep bank, and all the shrubs which I had found on the banks of the Chenab at Nasmon were again met with. After crossing this stream, the bed of which was filled with large water-worn boulders, I again ascended to about 5000 feet, chiefly among cultivation, and encamped at _Mir_, a small village close to the crest of the main range south of the Chenab, the elevation of which was now very inconsiderable.

[Sidenote: OPEN VALLEYS OF THE OUTER HIMALAYA.

_May, 1848._]

Next day, a gentle ascent of half an hour brought me to the crest of this range. The mountain slopes were bare and gra.s.sy, but in the ravines there was now and then some brushwood. _Andromeda ovalifolia_ and _Rhododendron arboreum_ were both noticed; and, much to my surprise, I observed at intervals a few trees of _Fothergilla_, for I had not expected to find this Kashmir tree so close to the plains, and in a district the flora of which was so completely that of the Simla hills. On the summit of the pa.s.s, which was not more than 6000 feet, I found a beautiful gentian (_G. Kurroo_ of Royle) and a yellow spinous _Astragalus_, seemingly the same species which I had found at Nasmon, on the Chenab. It was curious to find a representative of the spiny-petioled group of this genus in so hot a climate and so near the plains; for in the rainy parts of the mountains, and in the more humid parts of the Indian plain, the genus is almost wanting, and this particular section entirely so.

From the summit I descended at once through a pine-wood to the bottom of a valley, the course of which I followed throughout the day in a southerly direction. It gradually widened as I advanced; villages became frequent, and were surrounded by extensive cultivation, and all temperate vegetation disappeared. I encamped at the village of Kirmichi, where the valley which I was following appeared to expand into an open plain of some width. Here oranges and mulberries were cultivated in gardens, and the toon and mango, pipal and banyan (_Ficus religiosa_ and _Indica_) were planted in groves round the houses.

On the 17th of May, I continued my journey towards the plains of the Punjab. An open, somewhat undulating valley lay before me, appearing to stretch from east to west, and to be bounded by two ranges of hills which had the same direction. Trikota Debi, a curious three-peaked hill, the last culminating point of the range separating the Chenab from the Tawi, rose some miles to the westward. To the eastward the valley of the Tawi was open as far as Ramnagar, which was distant about twenty miles. In crossing this open plain, or _dhun_, I nearly followed the course of a little stream which had excavated for itself a deep channel in the soft sandstone of which the plain was composed. This rock was very different in appearance from the red or grey sandstone which had accompanied us from Balota; it was pure white, and almost horizontally stratified, while that was always highly inclined. During the latter part of my journey of the 10th I nowhere saw rock _in situ_, so that I had no opportunity of ascertaining the contact of these two formations, which are probably of very different epochs, the sandstone of the open plain being certainly the Sewalik tertiary formation, while the red sandstone of the higher mountains, which in the total absence of all organic remains is as yet of uncertain age, is perhaps the same as the gypsiferous and saliferous sandstones which skirt a great part of the western Himalaya.

One or two pine-trees, and some bushes of _Euphorbia pentagona_, were almost the only features in the vegetation which distinguished this open valley from the plains of India. On shady rocks along the stream three or four ferns were common; the oleander also grew near water; a dwarf date-palm occupied drier spots; and I saw a few trees of _Ca.s.sia fistula_. Crossing a broad shallow river which flowed to the eastward at the southern boundary of this _dhun_, in a depression faced by cliffs of sandstone, I entered among low hills covered with scattered trees of _Pinus longifolia_. This plant appears to grow luxuriantly on hot dry hills; the trees did not attain a great size, but appeared vigorous and healthy, with thick trunks and gnarled branches, exactly like the Scotch fir, except in the great length of the leaves, which are pendulous from the ends of the branches.

[Sidenote: SANDSTONE RANGES.