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



two ranges are one and the same member of the great Himalayan system, 

 — a signification which the word ' true' ought to convey ; indeed, it is the 

 only sense in which the word ' true' can here be made use of ; for, as I 

 have said, the mere fact of orography cannot be questioned. The whole 

 question gives an apt illustration of how distinct are the views of the 

 geologist and the physical geographer, or even of how incongruous the 

 latter may be among themselves. Each of these writers is correct upon 

 the bond fide basis which he adopts. From the geological point of view 

 it may be doubted whether the question of identity can be entertained at 

 all : the transverse ridges, such as that of Simla, are eliminated as being- 

 superficial only, and among the true ranges each may either be an in- 

 dependent member of the general system, or, relations of homology 

 may be established between them. The complete change that takes 

 place in the configuration of the mountain region suggests some radical 

 difference of conditions. This contrast could not escape the notice of so 

 acute an observer as Colonel Cunningham. Notwithstanding his iden- 

 tification of the two snowy ranges, he says, in the work already referred to, 

 "there is one marked difference between the Eastern and Western 

 ranges which can scarcely fail to strike the most casual observer. The 

 inferior mountains of the Eastern chain generally run at right angles to 

 its axis, whereas those of the Western range are mostly disposed in 

 subordinate parallel ranges." The same facts may be illustrated by 

 saying that the hills of Chamba exhibit in a marked manner orographical 

 features depending on the symmetry of elevatory action, while in the hills 

 lying to the south of the Eastern Himalaya there is seen an equally 

 close approximation to that type of hill outline which results from denu- 

 dation alone. No doubt, the actual contours in both cases are the 

 immediate results of denudation, this result in each case having been 

 influenced, or even predetermined, by the succession of previous 

 subterranean phenomena. In the Lower Himalaya the ultimate or 

 present configuration has been the result of denuding forces alone, in 



