Western Himalaya and Tibet Part 21

_May, 1848._]

On the 18th, I crossed a sandstone range, in which the strata exhibited an anticlinal axis, dipping towards the plain on both sides.

The ascent was easy, and the summit was not above the limit of tropical vegetation, as a banyan-tree grew on the top. The descent was much steeper and considerably longer, the valley to the south being a good deal lower. The road was good, being in the steeper parts paved with large flat stones, while in the more rocky parts the sandstone was cut into steps. A flat and well cultivated valley lay to the south of this range, in the centre of which flowed a river, in a wide channel several hundred feet below the level of the plain: it was very shallow, and was crossed by stepping-stones. Another hilly tract followed, covered with straggling bush jungle, and on the upper part with pine-forest: this was also of sandstone, very soft, and excavated by the various little streams which traversed it, into narrow and deep ravines. Even foot-paths, by constant use, were sunk four or five feet deep in the soft rock. The dip of this range was gentle, towards the plains of India.

[Sidenote: JAMU.

_May, 1848._]

I encamped on the 18th at Seda, under the shade of a superb banyan-tree, in a hollow in this sandstone range, and next day continued my journey to Jamu. Emerging from the hills after a mile or two, I entered a third valley, and followed the course of the little stream by which it was watered, to its junction with the Tawi, along which I travelled about four miles; to the town of Jamu, which is built on the outermost range of hills, at the point where the river Tawi finally quits the mountains. These hills rise very gently from the plains, their southern slope forming a long inclined plane, densely covered with a jungle of low th.o.r.n.y trees. The same sort of jungle usually skirts their base to a distance of two or three miles, or as far as the alluvial soil of the level country which lies beyond is covered with stones and shingle. It is princ.i.p.ally composed of _Acacia modesta_ and _Catechu_, and of two species of _Zizyphus_. The northern or inner face of this range of hills is very steep, often quite precipitous; and where they overhang the Tawi, they terminate abruptly in a line of cliffs facing the river. A similar range, but a good deal lower, descends from the eastward towards Jamu, and, like the other, presents a series of vertical cliffs covered with brushwood towards the river. The town occupies the gentle slope which faces the plains; it is a straggling and dirty place, but with some very good houses. The princ.i.p.al building is the residence of Maharaja Gulab Sing; at the time of my visit occupied by his eldest son. It is situated on the edge of the cliff, overhanging the river, and commands a fine view of the open valley of the Tawi below, and of the mountain ranges to the north and east, the more distant of which were still tipped with snow.

The outermost range of hills, which does not rise to any great elevation, consists entirely of loose conglomerate coa.r.s.ely stratified, the beds dipping very gently towards the plains. The boulders of which it is composed are waterworn, and very various in composition, but all referable to the interior ranges; a few thin beds of sand and of a clay resembling pipe-clay, are interposed between the strata of conglomerate.

The very curious country through which I had been travelling since the 16th, had so much the appearance of a succession of valleys parallel to the plains, and separated by long ranges of hills, that it was difficult to avoid taking up that impression, which, notwithstanding, I believe to be an erroneous one. The gentle slope of the different tributaries which join the Tawi from the right and left, tends to keep out of sight the longitudinal ranges parallel to that river, from which the lateral ramifications proceed. When we obtain a detailed survey of the district, it will be found that the lateral valleys on each side of the Tawi do not correspond in direction, and are not quite opposite to one another, and that the apparent uniformity is caused by the great width of their valleys, when compared with the elevation of the bounding ranges. The Sewalik sandstone here attains a width of at least thirty miles, which is very much more than is found further west.

CHAPTER XI.

Leave Jamu to return to Tibet -- Lake of Sirohi Sar -- Vegetation of lower hills -- _Dodonaea_ -- Ramnagar -- Garta -- Dadu, on a tributary of the Chenab -- Camp at 10,000 feet -- Badarwar -- Padri pa.s.s -- Descend a tributary of the Ravi -- and ascend another towards the north -- Sach _Joth_, or pa.s.s -- Snow-beds -- Camp in Chenab valley.

On my arrival in Kashmir, I had forwarded an application to the Indian Government, requesting permission to return to Tibet, for the purpose of visiting the mountains north of Nubra, which, from the advanced state of the season, I had been unable to do the previous year. Soon after reaching Jamu, I received intimation that the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, had been pleased to accede to my request. I had already determined, if permitted to return to Le, to take the route by Zanskar, which, though much frequented by the natives of the country, was quite unknown to European travellers; but as the season was far advanced, I chose a road through the higher hills, instead of taking that leading directly to Chamba, which would have obliged me to travel for at least a week through the hot valleys of the outer ranges.

[Sidenote: LAKE OF SIROHI SAR.

_May, 1848._]

I left Jamu on the morning of the 23rd of May. After crossing the Tawi by a ferry immediately below the town, my road lay for three miles up the left bank of that river, along an open sandy plain, only very partially cultivated. I then turned to the right, and entered the low hills which skirted the plain on that side. The road generally followed the course of the ravines, which have been excavated out of the soft sandstone by the numerous tributaries which descend to join the Tawi. These streams are all of small size, with gravelly or sandy beds, and are separated by low ridges of some breadth, faced generally by perpendicular cliffs. An undulating country of this nature occupies the whole of the s.p.a.ce which intervenes between the outer range of hills and that next to it, a distance, by the road along which I travelled, of about twelve miles. This second range is a branch given off by an axis, whose direction is nearly east and west. The road ascended to it by a very steep rocky path, after surmounting which I found myself on a considerable tract of nearly level ground, partly occupied by a pretty little lake, with gra.s.sy banks. On the banks of this lake, which is called Sirohi Sar, and is rather less than half a mile in length, I encamped on the 24th of May, in a grove of very fine mango-trees. The depth of the lake did not appear great, its margins being for a considerable distance very shallow, and producing an abundance of reeds and water-plants, among which the sacred _Nelumbium_, with its gay flowers, was conspicuous. The elevation of the lake, as deduced from the boiling-point of water, I found to be 2200 feet. It occupies a depression in the top of the ridge, being surmounted on both sides by low ranges of hills, rising only to the height of a few hundred feet. At the east end, a low flat plain, interrupted only by a few regular rocky knolls, seemed to indicate that the size of the lake had formerly been more considerable than at present.

[Sidenote: VEGETATION OF SANDSTONE HILLS.

_May, 1848._]

The vegetation of the country between Jamu and Sirohi Sar was entirely of a tropical character. The rocky hills were in many places covered with thinly scattered pines, all of small size, and generally with much-contorted trunks, but apparently healthy and vigorous. In the cultivated grounds the plants were identical with those of the plains, but, as is usual in all hilly countries, the barren tracts produced a flora of a different character. _Nerium odorum_ was abundant on the banks of streams, and I met with _Ca.s.sia fistula_, _Punica_, species of _Rhus_ and _Casearia_, as well as the curious _Euphorbia pentagona_, and now and then the beautiful _Bauhinia Vahlii_. _Acacia modesta_ and a _Zizyphus_ were the most common trees. The lake produced a great variety of water-plants, but except an _Alisma_ and _Dysophylla_, both of which were new to me, the species seemed all natives of the plains.

On the 25th of May, I proceeded along the side of the ridge in an easterly direction, pa.s.sing several small flat-bottomed depressions, apparently the sites at a former period of small lakes, similar to that from which I had commenced my march. The road was rocky and rugged, and gradually rose several hundred feet to the crest of the ridge. Pine-trees were generally plentiful. On reaching the top, shortly after daybreak, a fine wide undulating valley was seen below, bounded on the north at the distance of about ten miles by a third range of mountains, and traversed by several streams, which had excavated for themselves deep perpendicular-sided ravines in the sandstone strata. All these streams had a westerly course to join the Tawi, which, issuing from a deep valley behind the third range, crossed the open plain in a south-west direction.

[Sidenote: SANDSTONE RANGES.

_May, 1848._]

Leaving the ridge, the road descended gradually to the plain, and after crossing a deep ravine, with precipitous walls, continued through a fine level country to the village of Thalaura, about a mile from the third range of hills. The sandstone frequently contained a few waterworn pebbles scattered through it; and a bed of coa.r.s.e conglomerate, with an indurated matrix, capped the cliff above this ravine. Some strata of indurated clay and soft slate also alternated, but rarely, with the sandstone. The plain was well cultivated, being chiefly laid out in rice-fields; and the people were all busy ploughing, sowing rice, and harrowing with a log of wood, drawn by bullocks and kept down by the weight of a man.

On the earlier rocky part of the road, the vegetation was much the same as the day before. _Dodonaea_ was common, as it is in most parts of this hilly tract, never, however, rising out of the tropical belt.

I do not know how far to the eastward of Jamu this plant extends; but as it does not seem to occur to the east of the Sutlej, and probably stops much sooner[18], it appears to prefer a rather dry climate, and will, I think, be found limited to the drier portion of the Peninsula, from which it probably extends through Central India, and along the hilly country west of Sind. On the open plain the pines entirely disappeared, and the aspect of the vegetation was entirely that of the plains of India.

From Thalaura I marched, on the 26th of May, to Ramnagar, crossing the third range of hills, the ascent of which was at first very steep and rocky, over a made road, paved with large stones, in many places much out of repair. This range was also sandstone, dipping to the north at a gentle angle; some strata of indurated clay occurred between the beds of sandstone. These hills were precipitous to the south, and sloped gently towards the north, in the direction of the dip. The tree _Euphorbia_, which, with its stiff fleshy branches springing in verticils of five from the stem, forms a striking feature in the vegetation of the lower hills, was common on the ascent, and the yellow spinous _Astragalus_, which I had observed between the Chenab and Jamu a fortnight before, was frequent on both sides of this ridge; but even at the top, except one species of _Indigofera_, no plants indicating elevation were met with: on this account I omitted to determine the height of the range by the boiling-point of water, but comparing its elevation with that of Ramnagar, which was in sight, I estimated that it might be about 3600 feet. To the north lay another valley, considerably more rugged than that crossed the day before, and evidently much more highly inclined, as its eastern termination was not far distant. This valley was traversed by the princ.i.p.al branch of the Tawi, the source of which is in the mountains east of Ramnagar.

[Sidenote: RAMNAGAR.

_May, 1848._]

The descent from this range was very gradual, the road running obliquely to the eastward, among scattered pine-trees, over bare sandstone rocks, till it reached the bank of a small stream separated from the Tawi by a low range of hills. During the descent, a number of plants of Himalayan forms made their appearance, which had not occurred before: these were a berberry, _Rubus flavus_, and _Myrsine bifaria_. _Olea cuspidata_ was seen lower down, and a species of alder grew in shady ravines along the edge of the stream. In the bottom of the valley, the mixture of the forms of the middle and lower zones was curious and interesting. _Pinus longifolia_ occurred with _Phoenix sylvestris_, alder with _Rondeletia_ and _Rottlera_, pear with _Sissoo_, and _Fragaria Indica_ and _Micromeria_ with _Trichodesma_ and _Solanum Jacquini_. At the same time, it was evident that in this dry stony valley the tropical species, which formed the majority, were more at home than the stragglers which had descended from above.

After ascending for a short distance along the banks of the little stream, the road crossed it, and after a short steep ascent from the right bank, the remainder of the day's journey was nearly level, along the sides of hills, or over a high table-land to Ramnagar, a small town and fort, formerly the residence of Rajah Suchet Sing, since whose death the place has been rapidly falling to decay, most of the shops of its well-built bazaar being now empty. There were in the neighbourhood one or two large gardens, in which the trees and plants were nearly all Indian, _Sissoo_ and _Melia Azedarach_ being the most common. A single plane-tree was scarcely an exception; for though undoubtedly more at home at greater elevations, the plane (like the poplar and many of the fruit-trees of temperate climes) does not refuse to grow even in the plains, as is proved by the occurrence of a number of trees of it of considerable size and apparently healthy in gardens at Lah.o.r.e.

[Sidenote: GARTA.

_May, 1848._]

Leaving Ramnagar on the morning of the 27th, I continued to ascend the valley of the Tawi for about three miles, the road running along the sides of the hills among rich cultivation at a considerable height above the stream. It then descended somewhat abruptly to the river, and soon crossed to the right bank, from which a steep ascent commenced at once, and continued, with one or two interruptions of level cultivated ground, to the end of the day's journey. The ascent had throughout a southern exposure, and was in consequence generally bare of trees, and dry and gra.s.sy. Much cultivated land was met with, wherever the ground was sufficiently level to admit of it. I encamped at a small village, or rather cl.u.s.ter of farmhouses, called Garta, at a height of about 5800 feet. From the bare gra.s.sy nature of the ascent and its hot sunny exposure, the number of species of plants which occurred was very limited, and the change of vegetation much less marked than in better-wooded regions of these mountains. A few oaks (_Q. lanata_) made their appearance about half-way up, or perhaps at 4500 feet.

During this day's journey, I believe that I pa.s.sed the point of contact of the tertiary sandstone with the more ancient rock, for on the ascent after crossing the river, the strata were very highly inclined, and often bent into large curves. The rock was also more indurated, and different in colour and appearance from that of the outer hills. I did not, however, observe the place where the change took place.

[Sidenote: PATA.

_May, 1848._]

Next day, the ascent continued equally steep and bare as the day before, and there was still much cultivation, wherever the surface was sufficiently level for the purpose, or could be made so by means of terracing. During the preceding day's march, the fields of wheat and barley had been for some time cut, but here, though generally ripe, they were still standing. On attaining an elevation of about 7000 feet, the steep spur which I had been ascending joined the main ridge, and the road, turning to the east, entered a thick forest of small oak-trees (_Q. lanata_) through which it continued, alternately descending and ascending a little, as it entered the recesses or advanced along the projecting ridges. The greatest height attained may have been about 8000 feet, and the summit of the range, which was frequently visible, did not seem to be above 1000 feet higher. After about three miles of forest, the hills again became bare, and continued so till the end of the march, which terminated by an abrupt descent of 600 or 700 feet to a ravine, and an equally steep ascent to the village of Pata, which was elevated about 7500 feet. Throughout the day, the vegetation, both in the forest and on the open tracts, was identical with that of the Simla hills. The forest consisted of oak, _Rhododendron_, and _Andromeda_. Pines were visible at the very top of the ridge, but did not cross to the southern exposure: they appeared to be _Picea Webbiana_ (_Pindrow_). The village at which I encamped was of considerable size, with extensive wheat cultivation, very luxuriant and in full ear, but still quite green. Many trees of the glabrous holly-leaved oak were scattered among the fields, which, from the lateral branches having been lopped off by the villagers, rose to a great height with an erect poplar-like trunk, bearing only a small tuft of branches at the top, in a manner very foreign to the usual habit of the tree.

On the 29th of May I crossed the range along which I had travelled the previous day, and descended into a valley watered by a tributary of the Chenab, running towards the north-west. The ascent, which was bare and gra.s.sy, amounted only to about 1000 feet in perpendicular height.

Close to the top, a few trees of _Picea_ made their appearance, while I was still on the south face of the ridge, and on gaining the crest of the pa.s.s, I found that the northern slope was occupied by a fine forest of the same tree. As the range was not sufficiently elevated to produce any really alpine plants, the vegetation presented little worthy of note. _Viburnum nervosum_ was the commonest shrub, and an _Anemone_, a _Ranunculus_, the common _Gypsophila_ and _Trifolium repens_ were the herbs which predominated at the top.

[Sidenote: VALLEY OF DADU.

_May, 1848._]

The road descended rapidly through fine forest. The sombre silver fir was, after a short descent, mixed with plenty of horse-chesnut and sycamore, and of the glabrous-leaved oak. Lower down, deodar and _Abies Smithiana_ also appeared, and on arriving in the valley, the forest gave place to cultivated fields, with only a few oak-trees scattered among them. The road now ascended the valley, which was tolerably open and well cultivated. The stream ran through a deep ravine, with steep, well-wooded, often rocky banks, far below the level of the cultivation. I encamped at an elevation of about 6800 feet, at a village called Dadu, or Doda, situated on the edge of a small open plain, covered with luxuriant crops of wheat.

Near the village, and along the edges of the cultivation, were numerous apricot-trees of large size; and a willow, apparently the same which occurs in Kashmir (_S. alba_) was commonly planted. The general appearance of the place was very much that of the villages in lower Kunawar; and I was much interested to find that although the greater part of the vegetation was the same as is common in the outer ranges of the mountains, a few plants indicative of a drier climate were to be seen. I was particularly surprised to find that _Quercus lanata_, _Rhododendron arboreum_, and _Andromeda ovalifolia_, three trees which are everywhere most abundant in the outer ranges of the Himalaya in the temperate zone, had entirely disappeared. The Kashmir _Fothergilla_ was not uncommon, and I noted at least four or five herbaceous plants, which I had first met with in that valley or in Kunawar.

On the northern face of this range, between Pata and Dadu, the sandstone, which had continued since I left the valley of the Tawi, was replaced by a succession of metamorphic slates, sometimes very micaceous. In the valley of Dadu, boulders of gneiss, with crystals of felspar from one to three inches in length, were common, but the rock did not occur _in situ_.

The range of mountains bounding the valley on the south, did not appear to rise anywhere to a greater height than between 9000 and 10,000 feet, and where I crossed it, was not, I should think, higher than 8500. Immediately to the east of this low pa.s.s, however, it began to rise rapidly, and at the head of the valley lay a high snowy mountain, evidently a projecting peak of a long range descending from the north-east, and forming the boundary between the basins of the Chenab and the Ravi. This range, which in most places must be upwards of 11,000 feet, and which in some probably rises to 14,000, must, I think, to some extent check the progress of the ma.s.ses of clouds during the monsoon, and therefore tend to diminish the quant.i.ty of rain, particularly as the rain-clouds come from the eastward, on which account the lower alt.i.tude of the ridge to the south-west is of less importance.

Halting at Dadu on the 30th of May, my road on the 31st lay up the valley towards the snowy range to the eastward. Cultivation did not continue beyond the village; and after a steep, somewhat rocky ascent and descent over a bare spur, I followed the course of the stream as nearly as the precipitous nature of its banks would permit, through a forest of sycamore, walnut, alder, horse-chesnut, and holly-leaved oak. Pines also were abundant, of the four common species: namely, deodar, spruce, silver fir, and _Pinus excelsa_. After following the course of the river for about a mile, the road crossed a large lateral tributary descending from the right, and ascended a steep bare spur between it and the main stream for perhaps 500 feet, after which it ran for some distance through fields of wheat still green, at first at a considerable distance above the stream, the bed of which, however, rose so rapidly that a very short descent brought me again to its banks. I then re-entered a beautiful forest, princ.i.p.ally pine, in which the _Pindrow_ was now the most common tree, bearing in abundance its erect purple cones. As the road rose rapidly, the vegetation soon began to change: _Syringa Emodi_, a currant, and other plants of the sub-alpine zone, making their appearance. The most common shrubby plants were _Viburnum nervosum_ and _Spiraea Lindleyana_, both of which occurred in vast quant.i.ty. For perhaps a mile and a half, the valley was extremely beautiful; the torrent being rocky and rapid, and the forest very fine. The road then crossed the stream by a good wooden bridge, and a steep ascent commenced. As the forest was confined to the bottom of the valley, I soon emerged on dry gra.s.sy slopes. The precipitous nature of the banks rendered it necessary to ascend nearly 1000 feet, after which the road was again level along the dry mountain slope facing the south. The bed of the stream rose very rapidly, so that the road soon re-approached it; and when nearly on a level with it, I again entered forest, in which _Quercus semecarpifolia_, the alpine oak of Himalaya, was the prevailing tree. After about a mile, having attained an elevation of 10,000 feet, I encamped on an open gra.s.sy spot in the forest. The ravines facing the north had for some time been full of snow, but I had got close to camp before any appeared in those on the right bank, along which the road lay. A snowy peak, the upper part of which was high above the level of trees, lay to the south-east.

[Sidenote: ASCENT TOWARDS Pa.s.s.

_May, 1848._]

In the lower part of the ascent, the rock was clay-slate; but near my camp it was succeeded by the same gneiss, with large crystals of felspar, which I had found (in boulders) around Dadu. In general appearance, this gneiss was very similar to that observed on the mountains north of Nasmon, on the Chenab; and as these two places have nearly the same relative position as the usual line of strike in the north-western Himalaya, it is very probable that the rock is the same in both.

On the morning of the 1st of June, I continued to follow the course of the stream, ascending now very gently. The valley was open, and the road lay over undulating gra.s.sy ground, the forest having receded to some distance on both sides. Round my camp I had noticed very little in the vegetation different from what was common one or two thousand feet lower; but almost immediately after starting, I found myself among numerous bushes of _Rhododendron campanulatum_ in full flower, and many other alpine plants appeared very shortly afterwards: of these, perhaps the most lovely was the elegant _Primula rosea_, which was extremely plentiful in hollow marshy spots from which snow had recently melted.

[Sidenote: Pa.s.s SOUTH OF BADARWAR _June, 1848._]

The ascent continued exceedingly gentle till close to the end, when, turning suddenly to the left into a pine-clad ravine, a few steps brought me to the crest of the ridge over which my road ran,--a lateral spur from the great snowy ma.s.s, which (as is often the case) was a good deal lower where it branched off than at a greater distance from the main range. After gaining the crest of the ridge, I followed it for a few hundred yards previous to commencing the descent. I had unfortunately somewhat rashly concluded, the day before, that the ascent during the day would be very trifling, and therefore did not carry with me the means of ascertaining the elevation of the pa.s.s; I believe, however, that it a little exceeded 11,000 feet. It was still in the forest zone. The trees were mostly the alpine oak, with a few scattered individuals of _Pinus excelsa_.

At a short distance, on the more shady slope, and still higher than the pa.s.s, _Picea_ was plentiful. The highest level of trees only rose a few hundred feet above me, and the lofty snowy peak which lay to the southward, attaining a height of probably little under 14,000 feet, was quite bare.

[Sidenote: BADARWAR.

_June, 1848._]

I reached the summit of the ridge between nine and ten A.M., at which time a dense ma.s.s of heavy clouds filled the whole of the valley below, while the sky above was perfectly clear. Vivid flashes of lightning were seen, accompanied by loud thunder, and the clouds were in violent commotion, being driven about by violent gusts of wind; but in less than half an hour they had entirely disappeared, disclosing a most magnificent view, bounded only by the grand snowy range beyond the Chenab, stretching in both directions as far as the eye could reach. Much nearer lay a second range of snowy mountains, evidently that which runs parallel to the Chenab on the south. Still nearer were other ranges of mountains, which, from the elevation at which I stood, looked like gently undulating hills. Immediately below, lay the rich and fertile valley of Badarwar, to which the descent was extremely rapid, down the face of a projecting spur, densely covered for the upper half of the way with forest. At the top of the pa.s.s, there were here and there, on slopes facing the north, large patches of snow, especially under the shade of trees, but on the descent it appeared only in the most shady ravines. As the elevation diminished, the same change in the forest was observed as during the ascent. The alpine oak and spruce gave place to horse-chesnut, sycamore, and holly-leaved oak, with deodar and spruce. Lower down, cultivation appeared, and the road, lying on the southern slope of the spin, was generally bare and gra.s.sy, with only a few scattered deodar-trees of small size. At the base of the descent, clay-slate rocks replaced the gneiss.

The town of Badarwar is of considerable size, containing, I should think, not less than from three to four hundred houses, all, however, small and without any indication of wealth. It lies at the elevation of 5800 feet, in the upper part of a valley watered by a tributary of the Chenab, from which it is distant, according to Vigne, twelve or fourteen miles. Round the town the valley is two or three miles in width, and completely covered with fields, rising in terraces one above another. Some rice is cultivated, but millet and Indian corn, neither of which were yet sown, are, I was informed, the princ.i.p.al produce.