4 SUB-HIMALAYAN ROCKS OF N. W. INDIA. [CHAP. I. 



series on the north-east ; and also on the extension of all these rocks 

 towards the south-east to Naini Tal, near the frontier of Nepal, and 

 towards the north-west to Murree, near the extreme frontier of British 

 India. On account of the advantages offered to health -seekers, as well 

 as on account of the physical peculiarities of these hills, they have always 

 attracted crowds of visitors.' The oldest and the most fashionable of our 

 Indian hill-stations, or sanitaria, are in the region I have indicated. Simla 

 occupies a nearly central position between the Ganges and the Ravee ; 

 between Simla and the plains are the military depots of Subathu, 

 Kasaoli, and Dugshai ; Masuri lies more to the south-east, near the 

 Ganges ; and to the north-west there are Dhurmsala, and the now rapid- 

 ly increasing station of Dalhousie. Besides, some of the most accessible 

 routes to the Tibetan regions, beyond the snowy passes, lie through these 

 hills, and from numerous descriptions that have been given of this coun- 

 try from time to time by tourists, it has become almost as well known as 

 many familiar regions in Europe. 



On every physical map of India will be found the remarkably regular 



Eastern and Western line wMch mdica *es the north boundary of the 

 Himalaya. plains of Northern Hindustan. From the dead 



level of these plains the Himalayan region rises as from an ocean. The 

 effect of this contrast is, I think, rather heightened than diminished by 

 the great distance of the culminating points of the range ; the extent of 

 panorama visible at a short distance from the base of the range is thereby 

 greatly increased, and the imagination seldom fails to allow for the great 

 distance of the principal objects of the landscape. The extreme regularity 

 of the outer boundary of the mountain region is maintained from the 

 Brahmaputra to the Jhelum, but we do not find a corresponding uniformi- 

 ty in the features within, or to the north of this boundary. At about the 

 middle of the distance just indicated, and which also happens to be the 

 middle of the district under description, there is an entire change in 

 the characters of the hills and in the distribution of the rocks. The 



