chap, v.] THE HIMALAYAS IN MINIATURE. 113 



ducing in miniature all the features of a great mountain 

 region, has an important bearing on the modern theory, 

 that the form of the ground is mainly due to atmospheric 

 rather than to subterranean action. "When we have a 

 number of branching valleys and ravines running in many 

 different directions within a square mile, it seems hardly 

 possible to impute their formation, or even their origina- 

 tion, to rents and fissures produced by earthquakes. On the 

 other hand, the nature of the rock, so easily decomposed* 

 and removed by water, and the known action of the 

 abundant tropical rains, are in this case, at least, quite 

 sufficient causes for the production of such valleys. But 

 the resemblance between their forms and outlines, their 

 mode of divergence, and the slopes and ridges that divide 

 them, and those of the grand mountain scenery of the 

 Himalayas, is so remarkable, that we are forcibly led to 

 the conclusion that the forces at work in the two cases 

 have been the same, differing only in the time they have 

 been in action, and the nature of the material they have 

 had to work upon. 



About noon we reached the village of Menyerry, beau- 

 tifully situated on a spur of the mountain about 600 feet 

 above the valley, and affording a delightful view of the 

 mountains of this part of Borneo. I here got a sight of 

 Penrissen Mountain, at the head of the Sarawak Biver, 

 and one of the highest in the district, rising to about 



VOL. I. i 



