IMPORTANCE OF BEAUTY 235 



of the Survey of India read to the Royal Geogra- 

 phical Society a paper entitled " Our Present 

 Knowledge of the Himalaya." In that paper he 

 gave an account of the height of the peaks, the 

 trend of the mountain ranges, the course of the 

 rivers, and a deal of other very valuable geographical 

 information. But in only one single line did he 

 make any remark about the natural beauty of that 

 wonderful region. Yet this omission was not due 

 to any lack of appreciation by Colonel Tanner of 

 Himalayan beauty, for he himself had painted the 

 finest pictures of the Himalaya which have yet been 

 produced. He made no mention of it because he 

 thought that to describe the natural beauty of the 

 Himalaya was to stray beyond the bounds of 

 Geography. 



Such a grievous misconception of the true scope 

 of Geography will, I trust, be removed in future. 

 And when it no longer exists Geography will re- 

 quire for its pursuit the exercise of the finest facul- 

 ties of the soul as well as the strictest qualities of the 

 intellect. It will call forth capacity for the closest 

 and most accurate observation and the highest 

 powers of description. To us adventure-loving and 

 Nature-loving Englishmen it should of all subjects 

 be the most popular. 



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