Western Himalaya and Tibet Part 8

Nearly opposite this village, the bank of the river becoming steep and precipitous, we ascended about a thousand feet, and continued at that elevation till the difficulty was pa.s.sed, after which we returned to the river-side. At this elevation two or three springs broke out on the steep face of the hill, and, trickling down among the rocks below, promoted the growth of a few willows and rose-bushes, and a small thicket of _Hippophae_. Round the springs the ground was covered with a slight saline exudation.

[Sidenote: LARI.

_August, 1847._]

The village of Lari, at which we encamped, is elevated 11,200 feet. It occupies a large extent of alluvial surface, sloping at a very small angle from the base of the mountains to the river, at a place where a stream issued from among the mountains. The cultivated lands are extensive, but very bare of trees when compared with the villages in Kunawar, or even in Hangarang. One apricot-tree only could be seen in the village lands, but there were still a few willows and poplars. The flora of the cultivated tracts had not altered. The little _Iris_, first seen at Chango, was very common, and the gentians, _Potentillae_, _Astragali_, and other small plants, were the same as had been common since crossing the Hangarang pa.s.s; the season, however, was so far advanced, that much of the luxuriant vegetation had withered away. The crops of wheat and barley were quite ripe, and had been partly cut; but a few fields of millet were still green.

[Sidenote: MOUNTAINS OF PITI.

_August, 1847._]

In the neighbourhood of Lari, the Piti valley is considerably more open than lower down. It had, indeed, been gradually expanding since we joined it at Lio. The mountains now recede considerably from the river, a long sloping surface of alluvium being interposed, which is at one time largely developed on the north side of the river, in which case the southern spur generally projects. A little further on, the northern mountains send down a projecting spur, and an open tract is seen to the south. The mountains behind the alluvial platforms rise very abruptly, and present towards the plain, steep, almost perpendicular slopes, which, from the peculiar nature of the rock, a very fragile slate, are covered by a steeply-sloping ma.s.s of _debris_ almost to the top. This talus, indeed, on some of the cliffs behind Lari, seems to rise to the very summit of the ridges.

It is not easy to convey an idea in words of the mode in which these mountains are arranged, unless it is recollected that it is an universal rule that all mountains are ramifications of an axis, giving off branches on both sides, and that each branch is again divided in a similar manner, till the ultimate divisions are arrived at. All mountainous districts are in this respect similar to one another, and differ princ.i.p.ally in the proportion borne by the alt.i.tude to the superficial extent of the ranges of which they are composed. An examination of the map will show that the axis of the range which lies north of the Piti valley, pa.s.ses through the Parang pa.s.s, and in fact occupies the midway between the Piti and Parang rivers, terminating in the great bend of the latter, to the east of its junction with the Piti. The whole of this range is of great alt.i.tude, and it seems to rise in elevation to the eastward, no pa.s.sage being known further east than the Parang pa.s.s. The primary branches of this chain, descending towards the Piti valley, are separated by considerable tributaries which discharge themselves into that river. In general, these lateral streams have, in the lower part of their course, very rugged rocky channels, but they rise rapidly, and, at a distance of a few miles from the main river, their ravines expand into open valleys, three or four thousand feet above its level. The ramifications of the primary branches are, as might be expected, in their upper part concealed among the mountains, but those near their termination abut upon the main valley, in a series of ridges separated by little streamlets. We have, therefore, as we ascend the Piti river, not a wall of mountain, parallel to its course, but a succession of ridges, more or less perpendicular to it, all descending from a great elevation, and rapidly diminishing in height. The result is necessarily a great degree of irregularity, the width of the alluvial belt varying much, while the direction of the ridges, and of the cliffs by which they are bounded, is constantly changing.

[Sidenote: ALLUVIAL PLATFORMS.

_September, 1847._]

Leaving Lari on the 1st of September, we continued our journey up the Piti valley. The road lay partly on the platforms of alluvial conglomerate, and partly over the steep shingly talus which rested on the hills where they were not separated by alluvium from the river.

One alluvial plain, about two miles from Lari, was well cultivated with the usual crops, the barley being quite ripe, the wheat very nearly so, the oil-seed and buckwheat out of flower, and the millet, of which there were only a few fields, still green. The platforms of alluvium have, in general, an irregularly triangular form, the base resting on the river, the apex at the termination of a mountain ravine, down which a stream runs. This stream, instead of bisecting the platform, usually runs in a hollow channel on one side or other between the mountains and the alluvium, and is, where practicable, carried off in small artificial conduits for the purposes of irrigation. The platforms always slope gently from their apex to the river, and they are generally cut off in a cliff at the lower end.

These cliffs always show marks of stratification, sensibly parallel to the river, and the pebbles which the alluvium contains, are (and have been for the last two days) usually rounded.

I ought not to omit to mention, that I use the word _alluvium_ merely as a convenient mode of expression, without meaning to convey an idea of the mode in which these beds originate. No equally suitable word suggests itself, and the phenomena occur so frequently, that it is necessary to have some short expression by which to describe them. The origin of these alluvia is certainly very puzzling. At first sight, in any particular spot, the most natural suggestion is, that they have been deposited under water, and probably therefore in a lake. Their occurrence day after day, notwithstanding the greatest changes of alt.i.tude, their enormous thickness in many places, and the peculiar position in which they occur, soon dispel this idea, and throw the observer into a maze of doubt and difficulty, at last leading him to the conclusion, that no one cause is sufficient to explain the highly variable phenomena which he observes, and that a lengthened series of patient observations will be necessary before the subject can be understood. These observations have yet to be supplied, but I believe I shall best serve future observers, by detailing as fully as possible the points which attracted my attention, without attempting for the present to speculate upon the causes of the phenomena. The suggestions which I have to offer to the reader, will be best understood when I have detailed all the facts upon which they are founded.

It is especially necessary to distinguish between three forms of alluvium, all of which have already occurred in Piti. These are, first, the fine clay; secondly, the platforms, such as I have described in the last paragraph; and thirdly, the enormous ma.s.ses, which are without any definite limits, and do not seem referable to any present valley system.

[Sidenote: POK.

_September, 1847._]

We encamped at Pok, a large village nearly nine miles from Lari. Here we found again an extensive alluvial platform, covered with much cultivation; and on the mountain ravine above the village there was a considerable grove of young juniper-trees. A week or two before, I should have considered them as scattered trees; now they had quite the appearance of a forest, so bare had the country been since crossing Hangarang.

West of Pok, our journey of the 2nd of September was over the alluvial platform, which continued for two miles beyond the cultivation of the village, gradually contracting in width by the encroachment of successive spurs, which at last advanced close to the river. The road now ascended by a short steep path on the mountain-side, to a higher level. At the base of this ascent there were a great many angular ma.s.ses of limestone, evidently transported from the valleys behind.

These fragments were very numerous, and many of them of great size.

They continued abundant during a great part of the day, but no limestone was seen _in situ_. I have not preserved any record of the exact position of these angular fragments with regard to the valleys behind, but I have little doubt that they will be found to be of glacial origin, such being certainly the case in many other similar instances. The limestone was very compact, of a blue or grey colour, and many of the fragments were almost full of coralline remains. I collected many fossiliferous specimens, which were afterwards despatched from Hanle to Simla by a messenger, on whom we thought we could rely, but they never reached their destination[10].

[Sidenote: DANKAR.

_September, 1847._]

We encamped at Dankar, after travelling ten miles. This place is the princ.i.p.al village of the Piti valley, and is 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. The valley of the Piti is here very wide, and divided into numerous channels, which are separated by low gravelly islands, the whole width of the river being not less than half a mile.

Here the alluvium is very highly developed, lying in patches on the face of the steep hills. The village of Dankar, though 1000 feet above the river, occupies both sides of a steep ridge entirely composed of alluvium. Nor is this its utmost limit; for several hundred feet above the houses, similar alluvial ma.s.ses occur. These beds are not, however, continuous from these great elevations, down to the level of the river: they rest, on the contrary, on the ancient rocks, which are here very steep, and the clay may be seen in isolated projecting ma.s.ses, capping the most prominent ridges[11].

[Sidenote: RANGRIG.

_September, 1847._]

The village of Dankar is built on arid barren soil, but the cultivated lands stretch from about the level of the village almost to the river, on a very steep slope. Thickets of _Hippophae_ were scattered among the cultivation, where the ground was swampy; and notwithstanding the great alt.i.tude, the exposure being favourable, the crops seemed good, and the wild plants were more luxuriant than usual. One of the new species observed was a pretty gentian (_G. Moorcroftiana_, Wall.), interesting as having been one of the few plants sent from the Tibetan country by the unfortunate traveller whose name it bears. It is also a common species in the valley of Dras, in which, perhaps, Mr.

Moorcroft's specimens were collected, unless, indeed, they were obtained in Piti by Mr. Trebeck, during his journey to that valley from Ladak.

Leaving Dankar on the morning of the 3rd of September, we ascended the heights behind the village to the side of the main ridge behind, along which we proceeded without change of level. The mountain was almost precipitous, and extremely barren, but commanded a fine view of the open flat plain of the Piti river, descending from the north-west; and of the course of the Pin, a large tributary which descends from the south-west, at the source of which there is a pa.s.s, by which it is possible to descend upon the Sutlej at w.a.n.gtu. The mountain range interposed between the Sutlej and Piti valleys was, from the elevation at which we now stood, seen to great advantage. These mountains are, indeed, in the terse words of Jacquemont, "d'une affreuse sterilite;"

yet, in their varied outline, ma.s.sive forms, and snow-sprinkled summits, there is no doubt a degree of grandeur, which produces a powerful impression.

At about a mile and a half from Dankar, during which we had, with the ridge, gradually approached the river, the road began to descend, and we at last reached the bank of the river, close to which, and sometimes even on its gravelly bed, we continued for several miles.

Where the banks were lowest, and the gravel was moist, there were thickets of low shrubs, _Hippophae_, _Myricaria_, _Ribes_, and willow; elsewhere, the gravel was barren and unproductive. We encamped at Lara, a village nine miles from Dankar, at which there were only two poplar trees, and a very small extent of arable ground. The wheat was ripe and very luxuriant, the ears being large and well filled.

On the 4th of September, we continued our progress up the Piti valley, which had quite the same aspect as on the day before, encamping on the left bank of the river, opposite to the village of Rangrig, on a desert spot among limestone rocks, at an elevation of 12,300 feet.

Here we had attained our furthest limit in a north-westerly direction, our road now turning to the right, and ascending a considerable valley towards the Parang pa.s.s, in a direction which promised much novelty and interest, as it had only been traversed by one traveller, the unfortunate Trebeck, who, in the year 1822, travelled from Le to Dankar by this route. The further course of the Piti river, which, as we learn from Moorcroft's travels, was visited in 1822 by Captain Mercer, was afterwards surveyed by Captain Broome. It communicates with Lahul, which is the upper part of the valley of the Chandrabhaga or Chenab river, by the Kulzum pa.s.s, a depression in that great branch of the trans-Sutlej Himalaya, by which the waters of the Sutlej and its tributaries on the east, are separated from those of the Chenab and Beas.

During our journey through the district of Piti, the weather had been almost uniformly dry and serene, though we were now in the very height of the Indian rainy season. The only exception occurred while we were encamped at Changar, on the lower part of the Parang river, about the 29th of August, when the sky was for two days very cloudy, and on one night it rained gently for nearly half an hour. The clouds were, however, high, and never dense, and the unsettled state of the atmosphere was of very short continuance. While it lasted, it was accompanied by violent wind, very irregular in direction.

[Sidenote: SALINE INCRUSTATIONS.

_September, 1847._]

In every part of Piti we found the margins of springs, and the gra.s.sy turf which grew on low swampy spots along the river, covered with a saline incrustation, in the form of a dry efflorescence, which encrusted the blades of gra.s.s. It appeared to be confined to the vicinity of water, the barren rocky tracts being dest.i.tute of it. This saline matter, as elsewhere in Tibet, consists of sesquicarbonate of soda, and, as a consequence of the abundance of that alkali, soda-producing plants were common, especially _Chenopodiaceae_, among which the common _Salsola Kali_ was very abundant.

[Sidenote: PITI.

_September, 1847._]

The district of Piti, which was formerly almost independent, but paid tribute to, or exchanged presents with, all the Tibetan countries in its neighbourhood, namely, with Garu, Ladak, and Lahul, as well as with Kunawar, followed in 1846 the fortunes of Lahul in being transferred to British rule. It is a very thinly populated valley, the villages being small and distant, and the arable tracts of no great extent. The mountains on its southern border, by which it is separated from Kunawar, are so very elevated that they entirely intercept all access of humidity from the districts to the northward of them, and render the climate entirely rainless. The houses are in consequence very generally built of unburnt bricks, made of the fine lacustrine clay so common in the valleys, and their flat roofs are thickly covered with a layer of the same material.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] The distant snowy mountains seen from the top of the Hangarang pa.s.s are probably those due north of Zungsam and east of the Parang pa.s.s, which Major Cunningham, from some angles obtained on our journey, estimated (I believe, but quote from memory) at nearly 24,000 feet.

[8] La, in Western Tibet, seems to mean always a _pa.s.s_. To the eastward it is often translated _mountain_.

[9] Jacquemont writes this name _Khiri_. I follow the orthography which I find in my notes made at the time.

[10] This limestone will, I believe, turn out to be the counterpart of the limestones of Silurian age, which form one of the most interesting results of the labours of Captain R. Strachey, in k.u.maon and Garhwal.

[11] A very excellent sketch of the fort and village of Dankar, by Mr.

Trebeck, is given in Moorcroft's Travels, in which the appearance and position of the alluvial ma.s.ses is well represented.

CHAPTER V.

Leave Valley of Piti river -- Kibar -- Cultivation above 14,000 feet -- Vegetation of mountains -- Rocky gorge -- Encampment at 17,000 feet -- Parang Pa.s.s -- Snow-bed and glacier -- First plants at 16,500 feet -- Parang valley -- Gorge leading to Chumoreri Lake -- Kiang, or wild horse -- Chumurti -- Remarkable gra.s.sy plain -- Lanak Pa.s.s -- Granite boulders -- Plants above 18,000 feet -- Undulating hilly country -- Hanle plain -- Vegetation -- Monastery of Hanle.

Our last occupation in the valley of the Piti river was to make the necessary arrangements for the transport of our baggage through the deserts which were to be traversed before we should again arrive at inhabited tracts. The princ.i.p.al part of our effects were carried by men, but our party was so large that it was not easy to provide porters for the necessary amount of food during a journey of a week in an uninhabited country. A motley group of ponies, a.s.ses, and yaks therefore formed part of the train which accompanied us into the desert country between Piti and the Indus.

Three miles north-west of our encamping ground opposite Rangrig, we left the Piti river on the morning of the 5th of September, turning up the valley of a considerable stream which here joined the main river.

The platform of alluvium on which we had been travelling continued for about half a mile up the lateral valley, and was covered with large boulders of angular fragments. The rock was limestone, the same as had occurred everywhere since leaving Lara. A little village called Ki, and a large monastery, situated on a curious, seemingly isolated, conical hill above the village, were pa.s.sed on the right hand. Soon after, the ascent became rapid on a steep ridge to the east of the stream, and the Piti valley was completely shut out from view as we got in among the mountains. The ridge by which we ascended was barren and stony, and produced little vegetation. A curious broad-leaved _Allium_ was the only novelty. We continued to ascend along the stream till we reached the village of Kibar, at which we encamped, at an elevation of 13,800 feet, in a narrow valley surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains.

[Sidenote: KIBAR.

_September, 1847._]

Kibar is rather a pleasing-looking village, remarkable for its houses being all built of stone, instead of the mud or unburnt brick so commonly used in the valley of Piti. It is situated on the summit of a limestone rock, on the right bank of the stream. Our tents were on a patch of green-sward on the opposite bank, separated from the village by a deep ravine. Crossing this on the morning of the 6th, we ascended the slope of the hill above the village, among cultivation which rose on the hill-side fully 300 feet higher. Except one field of oil-seed, the crops were all barley, which was ripe, and partly cut: it was apparently very poor, being thin and deficient in ear. After leaving the cultivation, we continued to ascend on the ridge, till we attained an elevation of nearly 15,000 feet, at which height the road wound round the sides of hills, without any considerable change of level, for two or three miles. It was still early morning, and the air was very frosty. Every little rill was covered with a thick coating of ice, and some small swamps which we pa.s.sed were crisp with frost.

[Sidenote: VEGETATION.

_September, 1847._]