6 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



roofed villages, all facing southward, stand scattered 

 through the valleys ; others for protection form a 

 stronghold on the summit of a low hill or on the ridge 

 of a rocky buttress extending outward from the 

 mountain side. The tiers of fertile terraces that climb 

 the flanks of the hills indicate the industry of the 

 people. Not content with the alluvial plains, they 

 have followed the narrow streams up the mountain 

 sides and forced the cultivation into every nook and 

 cranny on their margins. They have employed much 

 labour in this work. The terraces are irrigated by an 

 ingenious system of stony channels that convey the 

 water from a mountain stream. Their isolated houses 

 of mud nestle in sheltered glens or hide in forest 

 clearings, or stand perched on mountain spurs at 

 almost inaccessible heights. 



In the bed of every valley is the river, seen from 

 the mountain summit like a winding silver thread. 

 They glisten in their slow sinuous course as they 

 wind through the fertile land or with almost torrential 

 force rush over their stony beds. All are tributaries 

 of the Indus that, far away to the west, like a narrow 

 glistening streak, hides beneath the rugged mountains 

 and separates this country from that of the wild tribes 

 beyond. 



I made many short journeys into the surrounding 

 mountains, climbed the hills, explored the rivers, the 

 forest and the glens, but could never tire of standing 

 on a wooded peak and gazing on the massive ranges 

 to the north, contemplating the endless southerly plains 

 or wondering at the stupendous scale on which Nature 

 has built this rugged land and the beauty with which 

 she has clothed it. 



