who has examined the whole group, which I have had no opportunity of doing. I may be permitted just to remark, that the character" antennæ setacea," admitted into the definition of the genus by Müller, Latreille, and Lamarck, seems to me altogether inapplicable to the species before us. The antennæ are situate at the extremities of the anterior portion of the clypeus, which bears the eyes, and which might properly be termed the frontlet. They are very short, round, somewhat thickened outwards, and their parts furnished with two (Dr Leach says one) unequal setæ, and a few very minute hairs. The margins of the clypeus are not ciliated, as Müller says those of his C, curtus are, but surrounded completely by a very delicate transparent membrane. The celliform bodies on the dorsum of the clypeus, whatever opinion may be formed concerning their nature or use, afford surely a character of too great importance to be overlooked; and yet they are omitted by all the authors above cited, and even in the figures of Leach. Nor have the membranaceous lamellæ, fringed by large pectenated setæ, similar to those of the six pair of legs, (see Leach's figure), and placed beneath at the inferior angle of the clypeus, been observed by any but by Dr Leach, who, however, says there is one only, while in all our specimens, male and female, there are two on each side. It is not a little singular, too, that neither Müller nor Leach should have met with specimens bearing ovaries. Risso had observed them on the C. productus; but, as far as I know, none but myself has seen them in any other species. Müller believed that the eggs were produced in the jointed processes, and hence named them "filamenta ovipara;” and though this opinion is now proved incorrect, yet, since they are peculiar to the female, one cannot but conjecture that their function has some relation to the production or aerifaction of them. Dr Leach's figures of the legs in the Supp. Encycl. Brit. Pl. xx., are very accurate. I am, Sir, your most obedient ser. vant,

GEORGE JOHNSTON.

ART. XVII.-Account of part of a Journey through the Himalaya Mountains. By Messrs A. and P. GERARD*. Communicated by Colonel GERARD.

FROM Soobathoo, in Lat. 30° 58′, and Long. 77° 2′, situated

about 20 miles from the plains, and 4200 feet above the level of the sea, I marched to Numbeg, 9 miles. 3 miles from Soobathoo I crossed the Gumbur, an inconsiderable stream, but it had swollen so much from late rains, that its passage was effected with great difficulty. The road was a descent to the Gumbur, from which it slightly ascended.

22d September.-Marched to Semta, 13 miles. The road for the first 8 miles was almost plain, then there was a steep ascent of 11⁄2 miles, and the last 3 were excellent, winding near the top of a range 7000 feet high, and lying through a noble wood of many varieties of oak and pine.

23d September.-Marched to Bunee, 11 miles. The road was plain, leading amongst deep forests of pine, at the height of 8000 and 9000 feet above the sea. Thus far the path, which is practicable upon horseback, has been made by a company of pioneers, for the facility of communication with the cantonment of Katgoor, 34 miles farther to the NE.

24th September.-Marched to Pulana, 10 miles. Left the made road 6 miles from last camp, and descended by an indifferent footpath to the village which belongs to the Rana of Theog.

25th September.-Marched to Kotkhaee, 11 miles. The road lay along the banks of the Giree, one of the branches of the Jumna, and was often rocky and dangerous, the footpath being frequently overgrown with grass, and seldom half a foot in breadth.

This curious and interesting article, was read at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on the 17th February 1824. The Barometrical and Trigonometrical Observations which it contains may be considered as removing all doubt respecting the heights of the Himalaya Mountains.-D. B.

Kotkhaee is the residence of the Kotgoon Rana, a hill chief, under the protection of the British Government. It is situated on a most romantic spot, on a point below which two streams unite to form the Giree: on one side, the rock is 182 feet perpendicular, and on the other there is a long flight of stone steps; neither of the streams, which are only 20 feet broad, are fordable, so that, by destroying the bridges, the place might be well defended against musketry. The Rana's residence is 3 storeys high, and has a most imposing appearance; each storey projects beyond the one beneath it, and the top is crowned by a couple of handsome chinese turrets, beautifully adorned with finely carved wooden work.

26th September.-Marched to Gujyndee, 8 miles. The road at first lay up the rocky bed of one of the branches of the Giree, and then came a very steep and tiresome ascent to Dervisee Pass, from whence there was a descent to camp. Gujyndee is in Nawar, a small district of Buschur, famed for its numerous iron mines; there are few spots here fit for cultivating, and the inhabitants, who are all miners, live by their trade in iron. They work the mines only about three months in the year; and commence digging them in March, after the snow has sufficiently melted; at other times they say the earth falls in, and it is unsafe to work.

27th September.-Proceeded to Rooroo, a fatiguing march of 13 miles, crossing a high range of mountains. Here we first came upon the Pubur, one of the feeders of the Icus, which falls into the Jumna, and a stream of considerable size. Barometrical observations gave the extreme height of its bed 5100 feet.

Rooroo is situated in Choara, one of the large divisions of Buschur, and the most populous and best cultivated spot I have seen in the hills: the dell is broad, and the ground is well adapted for rice fields, being watered by many cuts from the river, which winds through it. Two marches more, or 26 miles, brought me to Jangleeg, the last and highest village in the valley of the Pubur, elevated 9200 feet above the sea. The road latterly was extremely rugged and dangerous; at one time many hundred feet above the river, with a horrid precipice on the right, and, at another, dipping down to the stream, which rushes with

violence over the rocks interspersed in its channel. As you advance, the dell in which the Pubur flows becomes gradually more contracted, the mountains assume a more naked and abrupt appearance, and the rapidity and turbulence of the river in

crease.

From Jangleeg I proceeded 10 miles to a halting place, called Moondar, within 2 miles of the Brooang Pass over the great snowy range: the road was good, and lay in a broad grassy glen, between two spurs of the Himalayas, with the Pubur running through it. The soil of this valley is composed of black vege table mould, which produces endless varieties of alpine plants to the height of 13,000 feet. Belts of birch and pine reach almost the same elevation; beyond which scarcely any thing is seen but patches of brown grass.

The height of my camp, which was pitched beneath an immense projecting granite rock, was 12,800 feet. We left the last cluster of birch trees 3 miles behind us, so that we had to send back all that distance for firewood. The thermometer was 38 at night, and water froze hard.

Next day, 2d October.-We pitched our tent on the crest of the pass, 15,095 feet above the level of the sea. The road was of the worst description, crossing the Pubur, which has its source near this, by an arch of snow of some extent, and then leading over huge detached masses of granite hurled from the peaks above, and piled upon one another in dreadful confusion, with here and there some snow. The ascent was steep the whole way, and almost the only vegetation we noticed was grass in small tufts, which grew more scanty as we advanced to the pass, where it almost disappeared: It was still seen above, thinly scattered and intermixed with a few mosses. Here I met my brother, who had left Soobathoo some time before me, and travelled by a much more circuitous route.

We sent most of our servants down about 5 miles to a more congenial climate, where wood could be procured. The peaks immediately on either side of us were not more than 1000 feet above us, but there are several not very far distant which we could not now see, 18,000 feet high. We were lucky in getting the altitudes and bearings of the principal mountains across the

Sutluj, which rear their white heads to the height of 20,000 feet and upwards.

The thermometer in a tent got up so high during the day as 50°, but at 4 p. m. it fell to the freezing point, and at 7 was 8o below it. We sat We sat up till past 10, for the purpose of making as tronomical observations, which was cold work, and amused ourselves in smoking dried tobacco, which we found far from unpleasant. Our situation was not the most agreeable, for we had but a small supply of firewood, which was kindled in the middle of the tent, and we were involved in a cloud of smoke, and surrounded by servants, whilst every now and then we were alarmed by the crash of rocks, split by the frost.

We had all severe headaches during the night, owing probably to the rarefaction of the air, but attributed by the natives to a poisonous plant, said to grow most abundantly at the greatest elevations.

This pass separates Choara from Koonawur, another of the grand divisions of the Buschur, which lies on both banks of the Sutluj, extending from Lat. 31° 30' to 32°, and Long. 78° 10/ to 78° 45'. It is a secluded, rugged and barren country, seldom exceeding 8 miles in breadth. It is terminated on the N. and NW. by a lofty chain of mountains, covered with perpetual snow, upwards of 20,000 feet high, which separates it from Ludak: a similar range of the Himalayas, equal in height, bounds it to the southward: on the east, a pass almost 14,000 feet high divides it from the Chinese dominions; and on the west lies another of the principal divisions of Buschur.

The villages, which are elevated from 8000 to 12,000 feet above the sea, are very thinly scattered; not more than two or three occur in a stage, and sometimes none at all for several days. In the summer season, from the reverberation of the solar rays, the heat in the bed of the Sutluj, and other large streams, is oppressive, and quite sufficient to bring to maturity grapes of a delicious flavour, of which raisins, and a spiritous liquor called Rakh, are made.

The inhabitants wear a frock of white blanket, often twofold, reaching down to the knees, and having sleeves, a pair of trowsers, and girdle of the same, a cap of black blanket like a bonnet, and shoes, of which the upper part is woollen, and the sole