considered as the bounding limit, and that every point within this line was entitled to the above appellation. 7. Captain Webb, amongst others, appears to have fallen into this mistake in assigning the bed of the Sutlej (14,000 feet) as the lowest level of the plateau, whereas the bed of the Sutlej belongs to the Sinditic Basin, (so in MSS. qu: Inditic ?) and is consequently part of the barrier zone which surrounds the central tract. In like manner, the country visited by Captain Turner, and commonly known as Thibet, the description of which is generally adopted as that applicable to the interior, must be considered also as part of the mountain barrier, since it is watered by the streams or feeders of the Sanpo; which if it be not the Burampooter, must be either the Kiendun, or the Irrawaddy. be 8. Considered [as a question] of Physical Geography, [the true] line of boundary is undoubtedly the chain of water-heads, and this is by no means synonimous with the line of greatest elevation.1 It may that the central tract is not of such great elevation as has too hastily been presumed. It may be that this presumption is correct; the mountain barrier which surrounds it serving, as in the [case] of the Ghats of Malwa, to [support] a high table land of tolerably even surface. But however this be, it is not the less necessary to avoid confounding the boundary tract of mountain land with the central included area. 9. Of other particulars we are equally ignorant; what its rivers are, if any; and whither they flow; some we do know [contribute to] certain 2 The Quarterly Review in reporting this fact, has not noticed the error. But this work has never been celebrated for its disquisitions on physical or mathematical subjects. In this particular article, and the abusive one on the same subject which called for it, they are particularly open to censure. The two productions form an amusing contrast. 3 The latter is D'Anville's opinion, the former Rennel's. The great mistake into which this acute geographer fell regarding the course of the Sutlej and Ganges, naturally makes one distrustful of his authority on this point. The little light which the employment of our troops to the Eastward has thrown on the subject, tends to add strength to these doubts. 4 This remark is not unnecessary, for it is a mistake made by many, who conceive that because the source of a river must of necessity be higher than any part of its bed, therefore all the elevations in its immediate neighbourhood must be higher than those situated near a more advanced part of its course. 5. There is not however the analogy of geological structure to make this conclusion probable. Malwa is of the trap or overlying formation one which has derived its name from this peculiarity of structure, whereas all the evidence we have on the subject tends to support the opinion of this great circular barrier being composed by primary rocks. lakes; and some [we presume] are lost in the sands of the Great Desert. But to obtain any thing like detail, on these and many other points, is in the present obscurity of the subject impossible. Of its geological structure, we have not an idea that is not purely hypothetical. And yet, it may be averred, that the geology of Asia can never be rendered fully intelligible, or even the science itself be placed on a firm basis, till the whole of this tract be fully explored, and the rich mine of illustrations, which it doubtless contains, be fully laid open. 10. Considered in its various relations to Asia, I might even say to the Old World, it is undoubtedly the most interesting spot on the surface of the globe, and it is certain that the traveller who shall first succeed in developing these relations in all their bearings, will establish for himself no inconsiderable name. Unfortunately for science, this task is not likely to be soon effected. The jealousy of the Chinese government, to which the greater part of it belongs, opposing insurmountable obstacles. to the progress of investigation and discovery.? SECTION II. 11. It appears [certain that] this central area-whether we call it a plateau, a basin, or series of basins-is surrounded on all sides by a broad zone of mountain land in which originate the great rivers of Asia. The [tract] of which I am now to give a description, and which comprises all the British possessions within the mountains, forms but an inconsiderable portion either in length or breadth of this great Alpine belt. In interest of description, however, it does not yield to any part of it. For within its boundaries rise some of the most remarkable peaks of the Himmalaya summits, not more celebrated in the annals of superstition than in those of science, and from its area spring the sources which unite to form the Ganges. The sacred River! the fertiliser of pro 6 That is of the interior. 7 The extraordinary perseverance and intrepidity which distinguished the late Mr. Moorcroft, bade fair to give us some knowledge of part of this country, certainly of a great portion of the surrounding mountain tract, had his life been spared. Few men have possessed in an equal degree the qualifications necessary to ensure a traveller's progress through those countries, and it is not likely that an enquiring spirit like his would have rosted while any thing remained to be learned, or any quarter open to research presented itself. His premature death, while on the point of returning to his countrymen, is much to be deplored. It is hoped that the materials collected may yet be made available to the increase of our knowledge of those countries. vinces the waters of which bear health and plenty through a course of 1,200 miles! 12. The boundaries of this tract are to the S. E. and N. W.; the rivers Kalee and Sutlej; to the N. E. a line drawn from the Kalapance fountain, (one of the sources of the Kalee,) to the confluence of the Tedong river with the Sutlej; and on the S. W. by a line drawn from the Kalee, in latitude 29°, longitude 80° 8', to Ropur, on the Sutlej. These boundaries form a right-angled trapezium, the two parallel and longest sides being directed about N. 60 W., the rectangular side being to the Eastward, and the oblique side to the N. W., forming angles of 50° and 130° with the parallels. The only exceptions to the regularity of these boundaries are: 1. A narrow strip comprehending part of the vallies of the Sutlej and Speetee rivers, which runs up as high as latitude 32°, and which is within the British limits. 2. The valley of the Jahnuvi river, or right bank of the Bhageerettee, which though included by the above boundary, is considered to be part of Thibet.8 13. The length of the several bounding lines are as follows :- : 272 miles. 192 ditto. 96 ditto. 120 ditto. and the superficial extent in round numbers may be taken at 23,000 square miles. If we include the slip of plain country along the S. W. boundary, and which is geologically connected with it, the extent will be about equal to that of England Proper. 14. The tract limited by the boundaries just particularised, may be described as altogether mountainous. A few inconsiderable and level spots, hardly to be called vallies, are found, but neither is their number or extent such as to render any qualification of this description necessary. 8 The only village, called Choongsa or Neelung, owes also a nominal subjection to the Rajahs of Gurhwal and Bissahir, whose countries are conterminous with this district. The villagers are of the Thibetan race. Their village consists of about sixty houses, which are but little raised above the ground and flat roofed, on account of the extreme violence of the winds which prevail in that quarter. It is situated on the right bank of the Jahnuvi, in latitude 31° 8', longitude 79° 5′, and has an elevation of about 10,000 feet. The river is about 100 feet broad, and from four to six feet deep. In ruggedness of feature, it does not yield probably to any country in the world, and such is the irregular and confused appearance, which the endless ramification of its mountain ranges presents, that it is with difficulty the unpractised observer can persuade himself that any thing like order or regularity can be deduced out of such a seeming chaos.9 15. No continuous chain of elevations can be distinguished on a first and cursory view; no great vallies, no table lands, nothing in fact to lend a clue to the development of the mountain masses. The aspect, from whatever height the country be viewed, is that of an assemblage of elevated peaks, irregularly and confusedly heaped together. Even the snowy chain, though defined to a certain degree by a phenomenon so singular on a first view to the inhabitant of the plain country, loses on a nearer approach all character of continuity and regularity, and appears under the same confused and irregular aspect which the lower elevations are observed to bear. 16. It is only by tracing the courses of the rivers and their tributary streams, that a clue can be found to lead the observer out of this labyrinth. By connecting their sources, and by following out the devious windings of the several feeders, an idea is obtained of the extent, the direction, and the connection of the several ranges. Such an analysis, (vide sketch of the great river basins,) will be found to modify considerably the notions which the first view of this mountain tract from the plains is calculated to give. 17. Instead of a succession of parallel and continuous ranges running S. E. to N. W., and rising one behind another in regular array and increasing elevation, till the series is closed in the farthest distance by the line of snow-clad peaks, 10 we see only one continuous range of any extent forming an irregularly curved line, which bends round the tract commencing on the N. E. angle, with a North-westerly direction, 9 This is also the arrangement, or rather apparent want of arrangement observed by Saussure in the Albs, who says, "When we contemplate the range of which Mount Blanc forms a part, from less considerable elevations, it appears as if these colossal mountains were situated in a line, and formed a chain, but this appearance vanishes entirely from the bird's-eye view here presented. They are distributed in great masses or groups of various strange forms," &c. &c. 10 The deception is so strong in viewing these mountains from the plains, that most people continue, even after having visited the interior, to speak of the 1st, 2d, 3d, and snowy ranges. which it gradually alters to a South-easterly one on the S. W. angle, and latterly due South, just before it is lost in the plain country. 18. This range forms one of the boundaries of the basin of the Sutlej which bends round the convex side, while within its concavity, are contained the numerous sources of the Ganges, the several feeders of which are separated by a most intricate ramification. On this account, (as it will be necessary often to refer to it,) and as there is no native name for it, it may be termed the Indo-Gangetic chain. 19. We see then, that with the exception of a narrow strip belonging to the Sutlej, all this tract is occupied by the sources of the three principal branches of the Ganges; viz. the Jumna, the Ganges Proper, and the Kalee.11 A line drawn through the points where they severally enter the plains, represents pretty exactly the common boundary of plain and mountain land. It is the S. W. boundary mentioned in Art. 12, and its length from Ropur, the debouché of the Sutlej, to Brihon Deo, that of the Kalee is 272 miles. 20. The great disproportion of drainage effected by the Sutlej, which is one of the boundaries, and by the other or Gangetic system, is very striking. Not less so is the difference of their courses as to direction, the one running nearly due West, the other South; and as to length, the former having a course from its origin in Lake Monsuror to its debouché at Ropur of 550 miles, whereas the longest branch of the latter has only a course of 292 miles. It is this want of analogy in the character of these two great river systems that forbid our speculating on the arrangement of surface which may obtain beyond them. 21. In the case of two rivers of such magnitude as the Indus and Ganges, which direct their waters to the opposite seas of India, we naturally expect to trace some indications, however obscure, of a separating elevated tract, something farther than the point where the Indo-Gangetic chain ceases. No such indications are however found, for the intermidiate tract is much at the same level as the interior of the river districts which it separates. 12 Physical Geography is full of these disappointments, 11 In terming the Kalee one of the sources of the Ganges, I mean of course the Ganges of Bengal; the Kalee is the principal branch of the Dewah or Gogra river, which falls into the former near Chuprah. 12 This fact is very important, and points out the facility of establishing a system of irrigation all over the Dooab and Rohilkund. I ascertained that the bed of the Jumua at Raj Ghat, on the road between Chilkana and Boorea, is but five feet |