1842.] of the Himmalay a Mountains. lix 



that the summits of this range are composed of this rock. On the Pass, 

 micaceous schist is the rock ; but it approaches in character to gneiss, 

 containing I think felspar, though in small quantity. On the other side 

 of the Pass, however, just at the edge of the steep descent, gneiss occurs 

 in strata very nearly horizontal, the dip being if any thing North-west. 

 This place, which is at the head of the glen in which is situated the vil- 

 lage of Meemooa, presents some very romantic scenery. Immense preci- 

 pices are formed of the columnar masses of gneiss, which here and there 

 stand out from the general rock, and raise their gigantic heights far 

 above the green knolls and patches of debris, enamelled with a thousand 

 flowers that fill up the bottom of the glen. The crests of the surrounding 

 ridges in which the gneiss is gradually lost being concealed by the 

 luxuriant vegetation, are again crowned with noble forests, in which the 

 yew, the horse chesnut, the oak, pine, and sycamore are all conspicuous. 

 At every step the traveller disturbs the Moonal, (Phasianus Impejanus,) 

 which with its shrill disagreeable cry forms the only interruption 

 to the silence and solitude of the scene. It was a beautiful morning 

 in May when I ascended it. The thermometer was only 50°, while 

 in many of the secluded nooks, the springs were frozen. It is in 

 scenes like these, and in such temperatures, that the explorer finds 

 some recompense for the heat, and toil, and dust of less favored 

 situations. 



122. Descending into this glen, the gneiss is perceived to have con- 

 siderable extent, and the valley for a still further distance, is strewed 

 with huge blocks of this rock. At the precipices above described, a 

 brownish tender micaceous schist may be seen resting on it; lower 

 down in the bed of the nullah below the village of Mummora, the 

 gneiss is finally exchanged for that rock, which here again appears 

 to underlie it. It may be seen to form by the broken ends of the 

 strata, corresponding layers on each side of the narrow water-course 

 which it bounds, the two sides agreeing in mineralogical character, in 

 inclination and thickness of strata so closely, that it scarcely requires an 

 effort of imagination to fill up the very narrow chasms, or to join those 

 masses which have evidently been once continuous. The micaceous 

 schist continues in the high ridge on which the village of Pooree is 

 situated, and for a few miles beyond it, when it is finally lost through 

 the junction of the new rock, or is concealed by debris. 



