A GLIMPSE OF GLA.CIER-LAND. 159 



its colossal proportions, was the mighty Soomeroo 

 Purbut, or Rudru Himaleh, with its five majestic 

 peaks towering high against the deep cerulean 

 firmament. They rise in a semicircle facing the 

 south-west, and from where we stood appeared to 

 form an immense amphitheatre filled with eternal 

 snow, in which the Ganges has its primary source. 

 Here the Brahmins say Mahadeo sits enthroned in 

 supreme majesty, clouds, mists, and impassable 

 wastes of eternal snow forming a barrier inaccessible 

 to aught of mortal birth. They believed that the 

 God formed the Himalaya for his habitation, and 

 Soomeroo Purbut for his retreat, after he was 

 obliged to quit Lunka, or Ceylon, on account of 

 the rebellion of his son Rawen. The five peaks are 

 Rudroo Himaleh (21,009 feet), to the east ; Soorga 

 Roomee (21,493 feet), to the west; and Burrum- 

 pooree, Bissenpooree, and Ood-gurree-kanta, whose 

 altitudes are not yet measured, in the background. 

 The glacier, which was said to be only six miles 

 distant, was hidden from our sight by a projecting 

 spur from the adjacent hill. The other peaks that 

 chiefly attracted our attention, as much by their 



