Journal of a Tour Through Part of the Snowy Range of the Himālā Mountains: And to the Sources of the Rivers Jumna and Ganges

James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856) was a Scot who in 1813 went to Kolkata (Calcutta) to join the family firm of Becher and Fraser. He remained there until 1820. In 1815, he accompanied his brother William, who was taking part in the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16, on an expedition into the Garwhal Hills to find the sources of the Jumna and Ganges rivers. James and William Fraser were the first Europeans to reach many of the places they visited, which James vividly described in this account of the journey. He characterized the Gurkha soldiers whom the British were fighting as "stout, thick, well built men, in general; very active and strong for their size. They understand the use of the 'tulwār,' or saber, and prefer close fighting, giving an onset with a loud shout...." British officers were so impressed by the martial qualities of the Gurkhas that in 1817 the British East India Company began to employ Gurkha regiments in its forces.