THE HIMALAYAS. 593 



In the Asiatic continent the grandest mountain-system is that of 

 the Himalayas (or "Snowy Mountains"), which limit the Thibetan 

 table-land on the south, and divide it from the hot plains of northern 

 India. They extend in an east and west direction for about 1500 

 miles, with a breadth of from 200 to 250 ; and consist of a number 

 of parallel ranges, divided by transverse valleys, and rising one above 

 another like a series of gigantic terraces. The slopes are clothed 

 with an exceedingly rich and beautiful flora, and far up to the very 

 snow-line extend magnificent breadths of forest foliage.* On the 

 southern slope this snow-line is about 15,000 feet high; on the 

 northern, 18,000 feet. The loftiest summit of the Himalayas, and 

 probably the very apex of our globe, is Mount Everest (latitude 27 

 59'), 29,002 feet in altitude. Kunchin-jinga is 28,156 feet; 

 Dhaiualgiri, 28,000 feet ; and Javaher, 25,746 feet above the ocean- 

 level. 



" As we ascend the exterior face of these mountains," ) says Cap- 

 tain Strachey, "tropical vegetation prevails to a height of about 

 4000 feet, though even from 3000 feet a few of the forms of colder 

 climates begin to appear ; the vegetation, however, is, on the whole, 

 scanty on this declivity. Far different is it when we follow the 

 same zone of elevation into the interior of the mountains, along the 

 courses of the larger rivers, which, owing to the great depths of their 

 valleys, carry a tropical flora into the very heart of the mountain 

 region. The sheltered and confined beds of these rivers, where the 

 two great requisites for tropical vegetation, heat and humidity, are at 

 their maximum, often afford the finest specimens of forest scenery, 

 varied by an admixture of the temperate forms of vegetable life, 

 which here descend to their lowest level. Thus the traveller's eye 

 may rest on palms and acacias intermingled with pines ; on oaks or 

 maples covered with epiphytal orchidese ; while pothos and clematis, 

 bamboos and ivy, fill up the strangely contrasted picture. 



"Above 4000 feet oaks and rhododendrons greatly increase in 



* Dr. J. Hooker, ' Himalayan Journals." 



f Captain Strachey, " Journal of Royal Geographical Society" (vol. xxi.) 

 38 



