INTRODUCTION, 9 



intermingle in one continuous flat, and with no hilly ridge 

 intervening ; and they stretch united across the continent 

 through the i^lains of Hurrianah and the sandy desert beyond. 



From the mouths of the Ganges up to the northern 

 extremity of the Doab,' the Gangetic valley gradually rises, 

 till at Suharunpoor it attains the height of 1,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea, after a stretch of about 1,200 miles. The 

 gulf of Scinde is about equi-distant from the same point, and 

 the slope of the plains in that direction across the continent 

 may be considered the same. In the north-western exten- 

 sion of the plains which form the basin of the Indus there 

 appears to be no considerable elevation above the northern 

 limit of the Gangetic valley, as without any mountain barrier 

 to alter their direction the rivers converge to the west to flow 

 into the Gulf of Cutch; and when they are conterminous, 

 the Soamb, a branch of the Indus system, crosses the line of 

 a canal, one branch of which runs towards the Indus and the 

 other to the Bay of Bengal. 



Himalayah Chain. — The Himalayah mountains bound the 

 whole extent of this immense plain on its north-eastern side. 

 This mighty chain, in all its features, is the grandest accu- 

 mulation of mountain masses on the surface of the globe. 

 Its lofty pinnacles, so long the subject of controversy, not 

 only surpass all others in individual peaks, but maintain 

 their overtowering elevation along lines of hundreds of miles. 

 They are covered with vegetation where analogy would 

 mantle them with snow. They embosom within their belt 

 extensive plateaux or valleys abounding in numerous races, 

 and covered with the works of man, as high as the loftiest 

 peaks of Alps. Their rivers water the most fertile regions 

 of the earth ; their accumulated debris has formed a conti- 

 nent which supports a population equal to half of that of 

 Europe. They separate two of the most densely peopled and 

 distinct sections^ of the human race, each of -which claims 

 for itself and the mountains above them a remoteness of 

 antiquity reckoned only by millions of years; and so effec- 

 tual a barrier do they oppose, that these races biit a hundred 

 miles apart are less known to each other than they are to 

 the nations of Europe, divided from thence by thousands of 

 miles of ocean. 



Explored portion. — What of them is at all well known 

 is but a limited tract included between the rivers Sutlej and 

 Gogra, a line of about 270 miles ; and here the scientific 

 labours of Hodgson, Herbert, Webb, and the Gerards, have 

 been so successful that the physical outlines of the mountains 



' Mesopotamia of HinJostan. ' The Mongolian and Caucasian races. 



