348 SIKKIM HIMALAYA. Chap. XV. 



which, when measured, are found to be slopes of 18° or 

 20°; and of cliffs as steep and stupendous, which are 

 inclined at a very moderate angle. 



The effect of perspective is as often to deceive in details as 

 to give truth to general impressions ; and those accessories 

 are sometimes wanting in nature, which, when supplied by 

 art, give truth to the landscape. Thus, a streak of clouds 

 adds height to a peak which should appear lofty, but 

 which scarcely rises above the true horizon ; and a belt of 

 mist will sunder two snowy mountains which, though at 

 very different distances, for want of a play of light and 

 shade on their dazzling surfaces, and from the extreme 

 transparency of the air in lofty regions, appear to be at the 

 same distance from the observer. 



The view to the southward from Mon Lepcha, including the 

 country between the sea-like plains of India and the loftiest 

 mountain on the globe, is very grand, and neither wanting 

 in variety nor in beauty. From the deep valleys choked 

 with tropical luxuriance to the scanty yak pasturage on the 

 heights above, seems but a step at the first coup-d 'ceil, 

 but resolves itself on a closer inspection into five belts : 

 1, palm and plantain; 2, oak and laurel; 3, pine; 

 4, rhododendron and grass ; and 5, rock and snow. 

 From the bed of the Ratong, in which grow palms with 

 screw-pine and plantain, it is only seven miles in a direct 

 line to the perpetual ice. From the plains of India, or 

 outer Himalaya, one may behold snowy peaks rise in the 

 distance behind a foreground of tropical forest; here, 

 on the contrary, all the intermediate phases of vegetation 

 are seen at a glance. Except in the Himalaya this is no 

 common phenomenon, and is owing to the very remark- 

 able depth of the river-beds. That part of the valley of 

 the Ratong where tropical vegetation ceases, is but 4000 



