April, 1848. VIEW OF SNOWY MOUNTAINS. 123 



To the north-west towards Nepal, the snowy peaks of 

 Kubra and Junnoo (respectively 24,005 feet and 25,312 

 feet) rise over the shoulder of Singalelah ; whilst eastward 

 the snowy mountains appear to form an unbroken range, 

 trending north-east to the great mass of Donkia (23,176 

 feet) and thence south-east by the fingered peaks of 

 Tunkola and the silver cone of Chola, (17,320 feet) 

 gradually sinking into the Bhotan mountains at Gipmoochi 

 (14,509 feet). 



The most eloquent descriptions I have read fail to 

 convey to my mind's eye the forms and colours of snowy 

 mountains, or to my imagination the sensations and im- 

 pressions that rivet my attention to these sublime pheno- 

 mena when they are present in reality ; and I shall not 

 therefore obtrude any attempt of the kind upon my reader. 

 The latter has probably seen the Swiss Alps, which, though 

 barely possessing half the sublimity, extent, or height of 

 the Himalaya, are yet far more beautiful. In either case 

 he is struck with the precision and sharpness of their 

 outlines, and still more with the wonderful play of colours 

 on their snowy flanks, from the glowing hues reflected in 

 orange, gold and ruby, from clouds illumined by the sinking 

 or rising sun, to the ghastly pallor that succeeds with 

 twilight, when the red seems to give place to its comple- 

 mentary colour green. Such dissolving-views elude all 

 attempts at description, they are far too aerial to be chained 

 to the memory, and fade from it so fast as to be gazed 

 upon day after day, with undiminished admiration and 

 pleasure, long after the mountains themselves have lost 

 their sublimity and apparent height. 



The actual extent of the snowy range seen from Mr. 

 Hodgson's windows is comprised within an arc of 80° 

 (from north 30° west to north 50° east), or nearly a quarter 



