Dec. 1848. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES. 283 



spurs project, the flanks of the valley are very steep, the 

 mountains rising to 7000 or 8000 feet. 



Looking from any spur, up or down the valley, five or 

 six others might be seen on each side of the river, at very 

 nearly the same average level, all presenting great uniformity 

 of contour, namely, a gentle slope towards the centre of 

 the valley, and then an abrupt descent to the river. They 

 were about a quarter of a mile broad at the widest, and 

 often narrower, and a mile or so long } some parts of their 

 surfaces and sides were quite flat, and occasionally occupied 

 by marshes or ponds. Cultivation is almost confined to 

 these spurs, and is carried on both on their summits and 

 steep flanks ; between every two is a very steep gulley 

 and water-course. The timber has long since been either 

 wholly or partially cleared from the tops, but, to a great 

 extent, still clothes their flanks and the intervening gorges. 

 I have been particular in describing these spurs, because 

 it is impossible to survey them without ascribing their com- 

 parative uniformity of level to the action of water. Similar 

 ones are characteristic features of the valleys of Sikkim 

 between 2000 and 8000 feet, and are rendered conspicuous 

 by being always sites for villages and cultivation : the soil 

 is a vegetable mould, over a deep stratum of red clay. 



I am far from supposing that any geologically recent 

 action of the sea has levelled these spurs ; but as the great 

 chain of the Himalaya has risen from the ocean, and as 

 every part of it has been subjected to sea-action, it is quite 

 conceivable that intervals of rest during the periods of 

 elevation or submergence would effect their levelling. In 

 a mountain mass so tumbled as is that of Sikkim, any level 

 surface, or approach to it, demands study ; and when, as 

 in the Kulhait valley, we find several similar spurs with 

 comparatively flat tops, to occupy about the same level, it 



