318 Dr T. Thomson on the Climate and 



From the station of Darjihng, the view in every direction over- 

 looks mountain ranges, covered with dense forest, except in a few 

 spots where partial clearances have been made for cultivation. No 

 bare or grassy mountains meet the eye, no rocks or precipices afford 

 any relief from the prevailing uniformity, which, but for the magni- 

 ficence of the snowy mountains behind, would be undoubtedly mono- 

 tonous and fatiguing. 



The ascent from the plains of north-west India to Simla, is 

 about the same length as that to Darjiling, but presents the most 

 marked contrast in vegetation, being throughout bare and grassy. 

 The road ascends at first in ten miles to an elevation of 6500 feet, 

 then descends to about 1000 feet, and ascends gradually to 5000. 

 The ascent commences from the Pinjore Dhun, a lateral valley which 

 runs at the foot of the mountains from the Sutlej to the Jumna 

 rivers. There is no forest in this valley, which is open, and to a 

 great extent cultivated. The lower hills are covered with a shrubby 

 vegetation characteristic of a dry climate. Species of Zizyphus, 

 Carissa, Butea, Adhatoda, Bergera, uEgle, Flacourtia, and other 

 common shrubs, with one species of bamboo, and only one fig. After 

 the ascent commences these bushes are only scattered at intervals 

 over the hills, the greater part of the surface being bare and grassy. 

 A similar open country extends all the way to Simla, except where 

 a few fir trees {Finus longifolia) crest the ridges, and in the more 

 shady ravines, which are lined with a few small trees. 



The transition from tropical to temperate vegetation begins, in so 

 far as it is indicated by the small amount of shrubby vegetation, at 

 about 5000 feet, but on the more exposed slopes, plants of warm 

 climates extend up 1000 feet higher, and the herbaceous vegetation, 

 principally grasses, is entirely composed of tropical forms. 



It is only on approaching Simla, and attaining a height of nearly 

 7000 feet, that forest vegetation commences ; at that elevation, open 

 forests of Oak, Rhododendron, and Andromeda, intermixed with 

 several species of pines, and a great number of temperate shrubs, of 

 such genera as Eosa, Bubus, Viburnum, Berberis, Spiraea, Lonicera, 

 Indigofera, Prinsepia, Salix, Daphne, and others. 



The view from Simla presents a very marked contrast with that 

 from Darjiling. The general outline of the mountains is very much 

 the same, but they are more rocky, and very generally bare ; the 

 forests, which to the north are dense and abundant, occupying chiefly 

 the north slopes of the mountains, so that in looking from the south 

 the crest of the ridges only are seen to be wooded. The scenery, 

 therefore, is more diversified than in the eastern Himalaya, and 

 abstracting the snowy mountains, more pleasing to the eye. 



Between the two extremes which I have described, every inter- 

 mediate form may of course be met with, the law of alternation being 

 apparently the following, that in advancing westward towards less 

 humid climates, the lower hills from about 6000 to 2000 feet be- 



