268 Capt. Cautley on the Sevdlik Hills. 



those points only where the stream^ in its meandering course, strikes the oppo- 

 site side of the channel. The intermediate roads, or ghats, follow the rivers 

 or hill-streams ; for in such an utter confusion of mountains, any other pas- 

 sage is impossible. A few of these roads are passable for wheeled carriages, 

 but the generality are bad footpaths. Between the Jumna and the Sutluj 

 are two other valleys, the Kearda and the Pinjore, separated from each other 

 by one of those complex masses of mountains which connect the lower with 

 the upper Himalaya range. The hills are generally less precipitous in this 

 neighbourhood ; and the higher points and ridges are separated by valleys, af- 

 fording a drainage to the country, and displaying on each side high and beau- 

 tiful sections of the stratification. These valleys, or plateaux — for, with 

 reference to the rivers running below them, they may be considered as such — 

 vary in width, but extend along the whole course of the mountain-streams. 



As much confusion may be avoided, in the absence of a native name for 

 the whole range of these mountains between the Sutluj and the Burhampootur, 

 by establishing one, which may be considered legitimate, I wish to propose 

 that of Sevalik*, formerly applied to the portion between the Ganges and the 

 Jumna; a name which appears to me better than that of the " Lower Hills" 

 or the " Sub-Himalayan," terms, equally applicable to the subordinate ranges 

 northwards of the Himalayas. 



These preliminary observations, with the appended sketch of the countryf, 

 will make the reader acquainted with the field of our fossil discoveries ; and 

 I proceed to the description of the geological features of the tract. The for- 



* In Smith's Exotic Botany, vol. i. p. 9., is the description of the Rhododendron arboreum : he 

 refers it " to the mountainous tract called the Sevvalic chain, which separates the plains of Hin- 

 dostan, between 73° and 85° E. long, from the Himalaya mountains. I make the quotation for 

 the value of the name, though the statement is evidently wrong ; the rhododendron in question 

 growing in the Himalayas themselves at a high elevation, and in company with oaks. The chain 

 separating the plains of Hindostan from the Himalayas, which is the one now under review, is 

 subject to a mean temperature perfectly inimical to oaks and the Rhododendron arboreum. The 

 name is quoted also in Dow's History, and in some traditional writings in the possession of the high 

 priest or Mahant residing at Deyra. The derivation supplied by the high priest is as follows : — 



" Sewalik, a corruption of Shibrvalla, a name given to the tract of mountains between the 

 Jumna and the Ganges, from having been the residence of Ayshoor Shib, a name of Mahadeo 

 and his son Gun, who, under the form of an elephant, had charge of the westerly portion, from 

 the village of Doodhli to the Jumna ; which portion is also called Gungujur (gujur, elephant) : 

 the portion eastward from Doodhli, or between that village and Hurdwar, is called Deodhar, from 

 its being the especial residence of Deota, or Ayshoor Shib. The whole tract, however, between 

 the Jumna and the Ganges, is called Shibwalla, or the habitation of Shib." 



t Plate XIX. Map. 



