RIVERS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 389 



are altered. Before proceeding to apply to the rivers of New 

 South Wales the principles enunciated, it will not be out of place 

 to mention some prominent illustrations of these principles which 

 are furnished by rivers of other countries. 



One of the most striking instances of river erosion which I 

 have seen is that furnished by the River Jhelum in Kashmir. 

 Among the many interesting sights whicli meet the eye of the 

 visitor to Kashmir, ai'e the evidences that it was once a pictur- 

 esque mountain lake about eighty-four miles in length by from 

 twenty to twenty-tive in breadth. The horizontal terraces which 

 are to be seen stretcliing along the sides of the hills and jutting 

 out from the spurs are the evident marks of different heights at 

 which stood the surface of the lake. These terraces alone 

 furnish sufficient testimony to the changes which have taken place 

 in this respect ; but the evidence borne by the condition of the 

 river at the place where it leaves the Vale is no less conclusive. 

 There the Jhelum has cut out for itself a narrow channel through 

 a rocky defile, and the same process which brought the Vale to its 

 present state is still at work, the boulders which have fallen from 

 the steep hill sides being the tools which nature is using to lower 

 the channel still more and thereby di-ain the water from the com- 

 paratively small remnant of the ancient lake. For a student of 

 nature desirous of obtaining a comprehensive view of the results 

 of I'iver action, few places could be found more interesting and 

 probably none more picturesque than a hill called the Takht i 

 Suliman, situated near the centre of the Vale ot Kashmir. 

 Although this hill is more or less steep and rocky, the labour of 

 ascending about a thousand feet to the ancient temple which 

 crowns its summit is well repaid by the prospect afforded. It 

 requires little effort of the imagination to realize the natural 

 history of the Vale since the time when the waters with which it 

 was covered, washed the slopes of the hills at the level of the 

 highest terrace, and when the numerous torrents and streams 

 around it, which now flow into the Jhelum, discharged their silt- 

 laden waters into the Lake How great deposits of silt accumu- 

 lated in the Lake whilst its waters were being drained off by 

 degrees is easily understood. Looking towards the lower end of 

 the Vale we see broad sheets of shallow water, which, as already 

 described, are in process of being drained off. Following up the 

 course of the Jhelum it is observed that at Srinagar, the capital of 

 Kashmir, the progress of natural drainage is further advanced ; 

 but even here lakes of considerable extent are to be seen, while 

 the River Jhelum constitutes the main thoroughfare of the city, 

 and the other main streets are represented by canals. Above 

 Srinagar the drainage is practically complete, and tlie Jhelum pre- 

 sents the ordinary appearance of a river flowing through alluvial 

 ■deposits ; the only difference being that the curves and bends are 

 unusually abrupt, as may be understood from the generally 



