TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. Vd 



called Dun along its nortliern slope, were described. Immediately above these rise 

 the first ranges of the great mountain region that extends to the north over a breadth 

 of upwards of 200 miles. The loftiest peaks, some of which exceed 28,000 feet in 

 height, are usually found along a line 80 or 90 miles from the southern edge of the 

 chain, which in Kumaon neither is coincident with the water-shed, nor forms a con- 

 tinuous ridge, but is broken up into groups separated by deep gorges, and connected 

 by transverse spurs with the water-shed range that runs 20 or 30 miles further to the 

 north. On crossing this water-shed, which forms the boundary between Tibet and 

 our provinces, the traveller finds himself, not without astonishment, on a plane 

 150 miles in length, and 36 or 40 in breadth, the elevation of which varies from 

 16,000 feet along its southern edge, to 14,500 feet in its more central parts, where 

 it is cut througii by the river Sutlej. It is everywhere intersected by stupendous 

 ravines, that of the Sutlej being nearly 3000 feet deep, which are furrowed out of 

 the alluvial matter of which the plain is composed. The mountains that bound this 

 plain to the north hardly enter the region of perpetual snow, the famous peak of 

 Kailds, which is nearly 22,000 feet in altitude, being the highest point. 



Capt. Strachey then gave a brief account of his first journey into this country, in 

 which, in company with Mr. J. E. Winterbottom, he reached the lakes of Rakas, 

 Tal and Mdnasaroiuar, which are found towards the eastern extremity of the plain 

 at an elevation of 15,200 feet. 



A general view of the geology of these regions followed, from which it appeared 

 that from the Siwalik range, which was before known to be of tertiary age, the moun- 

 tains are formed of metamorphic recks, until we pass the line of greatest elevation. 

 We then again find fossiliferous rocks which form a regular sequence from the lower 

 Silurian to the tertiary formations. Fossils from all of these beds have been col- 

 lected and brought to this country by Captain Strachey. It is of the tertiary beds 

 that is composed the great plain already described, and in them have been found fos- 

 silized remains of elephants and rhinoceros at an elevation of between 14,000 and 

 15,000 feet above the sea. 



From a general consideration of these circumstances, it was inferred that the pre- 

 sent wonderful development of the Himalaya and of the elevated regions of Tibet 

 dates no further back than the tertiary period, being in fact one of the most recent 

 changes that the surface of the earth has undergone. 



Proceeding from the solid crust of the earth to its aerial covering, an account was 

 next given of the chief meteorological phaenomena, among which it will be sufficient 

 to specify two of the most remarkable, namely, the glaciers and perpetual snow. 

 Glaciers were shown to abound in all parts of the mountains covered with perpetual 

 snow, descending as low as 11,500 feet. 



The snow-line, the height of which has given rise to much discussion, was stated 

 to descend to about 15,50O feet on the southern face of the Himalaya, while it was 

 pointed out, that as we advance to the north of the great peaks and stand on the 

 mountains bordering the Tibetan plain, the snow-line has receded to 19,000 or 20,000 

 feet. This phenomenon was shown to depend chiefly on the fact, that the quantity 

 of snow that falls to the north of the great Himalayan peaks, is far less than that 

 which falls on their southern slopes. 



Capt. Strachey then passed to the description of the vegetation of these moun- 

 tains. Its character was shown to be truly tropical up to elevations of about 4000 

 feet, though even from 3000 feet some of the forms of temperate climates begin to 

 appear. The remarkable admixture of these temperate forms with those of the torrid 

 zone, that is met with in the valleys of the larger rivers that penetrate at a very low 

 level far into the interior of the mountains, was also noticed. Above 4000 feet, oaks, 

 rhododendrons and andromeda, form a very great proportion of the forest up to 7000 

 feet; although in many places the Pinus longifolia clothes the slopes of the hills to 

 the exclusion of everything else, nearly within the same limits of from 3000 to 6000 

 feet. 



As we ascend species of the deciduous trees of colder climates are introduced, and 

 they, with the addition of other pines, prevail in the upper parts of the forest, from 

 8000 to 11,500 feet, where arboreous vegetation is usually found to terminate rather 

 suddenly. Above this a more open tract succeeds in which the vegetation is for the 

 most part herbaceous, few shrubs ascending so high as 14,000 feet. 



