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



mountain system ; I will here only call attention to the fact — as 

 indicated on the map by the features of elevation and of drainage — of 

 how strongly the denudation type of hill-contour is stamped upon the 

 Lower Himalaya region, — a type characterized by the close recurrence of 

 irregular ridges and equally irregular river courses, transverse to the 

 general direction of the mountain region. They are watershed-ridges 

 only. As a rule, I fail to trace even the ' guiding influence of simple 

 fissures, in any definite system, in pre-determining the lines of drainage. 



The scenery of these hills presents, generally, great sameness, — a mono- 

 tony of steep slopes, and ridges of almost uniform height, and with little 

 variety of outline, only occasionally relieved by a bold cliff or a rocky 

 gorge. Not unfrequently also forests of magnificent trees are met with, 

 no longer of those tropical forms which are associated with the intense 

 heat of the lower country, but with all the aspect familiar to travellers 

 in the more temperate regions of Europe. These forests stand almost 

 invariably on the northern slopes of the ridges, — a peculiarity of posi- 

 tion which is no doubt principally due to the greater moisture of 

 the sunless aspect favouring such a vegetation ; the southern slopes, 

 however, have no doubt been extensively cleared artificially for the 

 purposes of cultivation, and for village sites. 



The outer limit of the Lower Himalaya is generally a very marked 

 feature. Along it the change is a rapid one to hills of much less 

 elevation, and of different aspect. As a general rule, the hills of this 

 zone attain only very moderate elevations, but they exhibit a striking 

 uniformity of arrangement ; they are true hill-ranges, — members proper, 

 though very subordinate, of the great Himalayan system. Their regula- 

 rity in this respect forms a strong contrast with the arrangement of the 

 Lower Himalaya ridges. The ridges of the Sub-Himalayan zone are 

 approximately coincident with lines of disturbance, being usually formed 

 by anticlinals, or on the upthrow side of faults ; the intervening depres- 

 sions, forming the longitudinal valleys, are locally known as duns. The 



