A GREAT HIMALAYAN PANORAMA. 415 



enormous depth the ravine is here said to be in fact 

 nearly 7000 feet deep * through which the " Great 

 Ranjit " and " Teesta " rivers make their way down 

 to the Indian plains; when it is still weather, and the 

 set of the wind is favourable, the traveller's ear can at 

 times detect from many points among these hills the 

 dull roar of the torrent dashing along its rocky bed. 

 Often very impressive indeed is the sound of its muffled 

 thunder, heard echoing among these mighty solitudes. 

 As the traveller rides along the mountain paths places 

 are also frequently come upon, where the eye (provided 

 the view is not interrupted by mist) can travel down 

 to apparently fathomless depths, and see the torrent 

 white with foam and just distinguishable in the gloom 

 threading the tropical forest with a silver line. Looking 

 down from Senchal toward the south, the view extends 

 along the valley to a vast distance in the direction 

 of the Indian plains, until at length the vista loses 

 itself in the mist. It is by this valley that the present 

 narrow gauge railway ascends to Darjeeling from 

 Silliguri, a station situated near the outer edge of 

 the Terai, fifty-one miles from Darjeeling. 



The position of Senchal was therefore in every way 

 most commanding and beautiful; a well-constructed 

 road gave easy access to the cantonment, and led 

 through what was then a magnificent forest of oak 

 magnolia, and rhododendron, and though the heavy 

 timber has since been cut, the whole place still abounds 

 with rare and beautiful plants of many descriptions. 

 When these were in flower in the months of April 

 and May, Sir Joseph Hooker in his Himalayan Jour- 



* Himalayan Journals, by Sir Joseph D. Hooker, edition of 1854, 

 Vol. i., p. 122. 



