haps, be satisfactorily discussed by geologists. People constantly travel from the sources of the Indus and Burrampooter to Ludak and Teshoo Loomboo, but I have not seen any person who went farther beyond Kylas than merely making its circuit, so we shall probably remain long in the dark respecting the country that lies to the N.E. of Mansurowur. The general character of the mountains is very similar, the North-western face being invariably rugged, and commonly well clothed with wood, whilst the contrary one is more gently sloped, not so well supplied with timber, and affords rich pasturage: this is particularly the case in the lateral valleys that run from N.N.E. and N.E. to S.S.W. and S.W., and branch off from the Sutluj and Buspa rivers. They have all the same character, which is very strongly marked. The North-western* sides of the mountains are remarkably precipitous, and present bold cliffs of a thousand varied forms, and the opposite ones are gradual acclivities often covered with turf. In that part of the dell of the Sutluj which lies N. E. and S. W. this difference is not so perceptible as the strata are inclined to the E. and E.N.E., or nearly in the direction of the course of the river.

In the valleys that run N.W. and S. E. it is difficult at least for an inexperienced person to decide which face is most rugged, as they both seem equally precipitous, and in those glens the crags on either side often subtend an angle of 60 or 70 degrees.

• Mr. Frazer also remarks that the North-western faces of the mountains are more rugged than the opposite.

The composition of the mountains is chiefly granite, gniess and mica slate, with a few pieces of quartz and felspar, and now and then some crystallized quartz, or a crop of rock crystals; there are likewise many other varieties of stone with which I am unacquainted, and towards the confines of Ludak and Chinese Tartary the mountains are blue or marled limestone.

In the outer Himalayan range, which is formed mostly of gneiss and mica slate, and in some places of pure mica, the direction of the strata is most easily distinguished; it is about N. E. and S. W. and the inclination is to the S. E. or E.S. E. making an angle of 10 or 20 degrees with the horizon; here the dip seldom exceeds 30', and the summits form a series of inclined plains, but farther to the Northward, where the rocks are granite, the inclination, which is still to the Eastward, is from 60° to 70°, or even more, and the mountains end in acute points and have a bristled aspect; this is singularly exemplified in the alpine group of Ruldung, where there is one peak 21,000 feet surrounded by many others of inferior elevation, shooting into black slender spires or needles, uncommonly barren and nearly destitute of snow.

VALLEYS.

The largest valley is that of the Sutluj, through which the river of the same name flows; its length within Koonawur, following the sinuosities of the stream, is about 80 miles, and its general direction is N. E. and S. W. The level space in the bottom is inconsiderable, being usually not much broader

than is sufficient for the passage of the river, the elevation of the bed of which is from 4,400 to 2,600 feet. The right bank or that face of the range exposed to the S. E. is for the most part very abrupt for the first 2,000 or 3,000 feet, with here and there level spots laid out into vineyards; at the height of from 7,000 to 9,000 feet are the villages, and arable land which extends to 10,000 or 11,000 feet, and is in general scattered in narrow slips interspersed with gloomy woods of oaks and pines. From this elevation upwards, the ground is covered with green sward and countless varieties of the loveliest flowers, of which thyme of many kinds is most plentiful; there are clumps of forest and beds of juniper here and there, but the inclination is gentle, and rocks are not so frequent as below. This belt forms the pasture lands, and here in summer shepherds tend their flocks. These verdant meadows reach to about 14,000 feet, and are crowned by mountains covered with eternal snow, or sterile peaked masses of granite.

The left bank of the river, which has a Northwestern aspect, contains more plain land near the stream, and the villages are commonly situate only a few hundred feet above it; here are extensive vineyards and thriving crops, diversified with orchards of apricots and apples. These arable spaces that occur only in distances of 6 or 8 miles, vary from a hundred yards toor of a mile in breadth, after which the mountains rise rapidly at an angle of 30' or 35 ̊, and are extremely precipitous and sometimes thickly wooded with pines and birches. The forest belt on this side extends

fully 800 feet higher than on the other; but such is the crumbling nature of the granite in some parts, that prodigious masses every now and then give way with a horrid crash, overthrowing the trees and leaving nothing behind but a wreck of naked rocks, devoid of vegetation. The pasturage here is neither so abundant nor so luxuriant as on the right bank of the river. The limit of forest on this side is 12,500 or 13,000 feet, above which the gravelly granite soil seems unfavorable to the developement of plants or even grasses, which in small tufts reach to 1,000 feet higher. From 14,000 to 16,000 feet are barren crags terminated in tall steeple-formed points, too abrupt for snow to rest upon; and beyond these, tower the white summits of the stupendous Himalaya.

The scenery of this valley partakes more of magnificence than of beauty. Here every thing is on the grandest scale, fragments of fallen rocks of immense bulk, hurled from the peaks above, and vast impending cliffs fringed with dark forests, and topped with mountains of indestructible snow, appear on every side; a village perched amongst the crags without a single patch of verdure around, and now and then a more populous place environed by fields and orchards, or what is most common, a solitary house, with a small piece of cultivation or a few vineyards attached, but seldom attracts the eye of the observer. The character of the Sutluj is more of the nature of a torrent than that of a large river, for its fall in several places is 100 or 150 feet per mile, and it rushes over rocks with a clamorous noise, and exhibits heaps of white foam.

In some parts, however, the prospect is highly picturesque, for instance, in the vicinity of Reedung, where the ground for some miles is adorned with smiling fields and flourishing vineyards, and orchards of the finest apricots and apples. The bed of the Sutluj here is broad, variegated with islands of sand and pebbles, and divided into numerous serpentine channels. The height of Reedung is 8,000 feet, and in summer the temperature is so mild as not to indicate so great an altitude, and the traveller would never imagine he was so near the Himalaya, till when turning his eyes to the south, the illusion is at once dispelled, and he beholds the lofty Kylas or Ruldung peaks rising in a wild assemblage of pointed summits at an angle of 30°, presenting an immense surface of snow, and forming an extraordinary contrast with the verdant scenery around. The nearest peak is 12,000 feet higher than the town, and not more than five miles distant in a direct line.

In other places, where the mountains are more barren, the arable lands seem like oases in the midst of a desert. One spot of this kind should not be forgotten; that is, the village of Khab, which in a tract of more than usual sterility, bursts suddenly upon the view, and the effect is heightened by its being concealed by a small ridge until you come within 200 yards of it, when the traveller is amazed at finding himself transported, as it were by magic, from horrid desolation into shady groves of apricots, and beauteous vineyards watered by copious rills.

* These must not be confounded with the other Kylas near Mansurowur. The people say this last is by far the highest, and the Reedung Kylas is only a piece of it, which was removed by the gods to please a very pious devotee, who lived opposite to Reedung on the right bank of the Sulutj.