1842.] of the Himmalaya Mountains, xxi 



series of groups, 17 but rather of transverse ridges (at least within the 

 basin of the Ganges,) which ramify from the Indo-Gangetic chain, over 

 which they yet tower several thousand feet. 



30. A line or plane connecting their summits will represent that 

 of greatest elevation. It is evident from Art. 17, that it must cross the 

 Indo-Gangetic chain. It is nearly certain, that in like manner the highest 

 summits of the next portion of the great circular barrier are to be found 

 within the basin of the Indus, and the line continued still farther would 

 doubtless cross the separating chain of the Oxus. 18 Whether this ar- 

 rangement holds all round, or how far; what is the elevation of this line in 

 every part of its course ; of these points, and of many others equally 

 interesting, we are entirely ignorant. 19 



31. But we do know, that from the Hindoo Koh, or Snowy Mountains 

 of Cabul, to the peaks visible from Patna, this line or plane never sinks 

 for any distance below 21,000 feet. Lieutenant Macartney measured 

 one of the former, and found the height 20,493 feet ; 20 and in 1815, when 

 with my corps on the Goruckpore and Betwah frontiers, I determined 



17 On design communement toutes les elevations de terrain, pour peu qu'ils se 

 prolongent, sous le nom general de chaines. Mais il est certain que les montagnes 

 forment plus sou vent des groupes que des chaines. Mais les chaines les plus appa- 

 rentes ne sont souvent que de Lignes de groupes " Malte Brunn Precis de la Geo- 

 graphie," torn. 1, p. 160. 



18 It has been thought otherwise : the Himmalaya have been supposed to find their 

 continuation through Persia, and the chains of Taurus and Caucasus as far as the 

 Caspian Sea. The point may, however, easily be settled, for it appears from Captain 

 Christie's Journal, that there is no snow on the mountains in the neighbourhood of 

 Herat, and it is known from the Ayeen Akberry, that the journey from Bokhara is 

 unattended with difficulty. It is therefore evident, that the Himmalaya, as such, 

 have no continuation in this quarter. But it may be said, and with truth, that the 

 phenomenon of snow is no test of the identity of a chain or ridge of mountains. The 

 Himmalaya, however, is no chain, as I have already shewn, and when we speak of 

 these peaks as constituting a series, it is either as snow-clad summits, or as the high- 

 est in their immediate neighbourhood. Considered in either of these lights, their con- 

 tinuation must be sought in the Beloor Tag, and that these are situated within the 

 basin of the Oxus, admits of little doubt. Lieutenant Macartney appears to have been 

 puzzled with regard to this point, but this was owing to the mistake he fell into re- 

 garding the course of the Indus. He at once decides against the common opinion. 

 Vide also Rees' Cyclopaedia. Art. Altai Belur. 



19 The papers of Mr. Moorcroft and Mr. Trebeck, should they ever be recovered, 

 will doubtless supply many interesting particulars on this subject, and it would be 

 extremely curious to compare their results with what is here hypothetically stated. 



20 So in the account of Cabul, but from the data given, allowing one-tenth for 

 refraction, 1 find 19,470; doubtless the place of observation is elevated 1,000 feet or 

 more above the sea. 



