82 MUSSOORIE. 



that it will not be long ere a regular survey settles 

 this matter. Little also is as yet known of the north- 

 eastern face of the Himalaya or of the river system 

 flowing into the Sanpo, and its onward course to the 

 Bay of Bengal, which has long occupied geographers. 

 Nain Singh, the pundit, when at Lhassa, in 1874, was 

 told that the Sanpo was the Brahmaputra, whilst Mr. 

 B. Gordon, C.E., in a report, issued in 1879, endeavours 

 to prove, by hydrological researches principally, that 

 the Irawadi in reality receives the waters of the great 

 Tibetan river ; however, this latter view meets with few 

 supporters now. The same uncertainty so far exists as 

 regards the mineral products of this region. Of gems 

 there appears to be an almost total absence ; — but I 

 must now return to Mussoorie, 



There is something grim, and at the same time 

 fascinating, in this wild northern aspect, whilst the 

 scenery in the opposite direction appears tame by com- 

 parison. On this, the southern side, the mountain, 

 covered with pine forests, amongst which the far-famed 

 Deodar {Cedrus deodai'a), descends more or less 

 suddenly, though seldom in precipices, and covered with 

 vegetation. The Mall, about a coss in length, some- 

 thing like the Scotch mile and a bittock, during the 

 season crowded with ladies and gentlemen in jampauns 

 (mountain sedan chairs) or on horseback, was now 



