112 Diary of an Excursion to the Shatool [No. 170. 



about 13,000 feet right above the spectator. Seen laterally from Cheenee 

 at only seven miles distance, the Ruldung presents the additional 

 feature of dark and extensive forests, and the sharp needles are there 

 mingled with long dome- shaped ridges, all invested in perpetual snow, 

 from which, in June and July, is heard the frequent crash of the ava- 

 lanche. " Ruldung" is the Kunawuree name for Muhadeo, who resides 

 here, as Jove 



4 On the snowy top 

 Of cold Olympus ruled the middle air, 

 His highest heaven.' 



The legend is, that Ruldung is a chip of the true Rylas near Mansoro- 

 wur, brought here at the desire of an ancient king and penitent : and 

 it is considered meritorious to perambulate the mountain, keeping it 

 always to the right hand, exactly as the cairns, &c., are circled in Scot- 

 land and Ireland, and for the same reason, i. e. because the sun goes 

 round the earth in this direction.* Amidst all this superstition, the 

 sublimity and immaculate purity of the Ch'hota Kylas render it no 

 mean emblem of " the high and holy one that inhabiteth eternity ;" and 

 we may quote with admiration, if we do not adopt with conviction, the 

 lines of the poet, written under the inspiration of similar scenery — 



1 Mighty Mont Blanc ! thou wert to me 

 That moment with thy brow in heaven, 

 As sure a sign of Deity 

 As ere to mortal gaze was given, &c.' 



There does, indeed, appear to be both benevolence and design in the 

 existence of these great mountain chains, and we may consider the 

 Himalaya as nature's vast reservoir for the irrigation of empires ; opened 

 every spring by Phoebus Apollo, when like Amram's son, he ascends from 

 the south and causes the waters to gush from the flinty rock. It is 

 probable, that a portion of the Hindoo veneration for the range is owing 

 to its containing the springs of so many of the rivers which fertilize their 

 country. 



When at Sungla, the traveller should not fail to ascend the Harung 

 Ghatee, over a brown sterile spur of the Ruldung, on the route to Me- 



* 1 have seen a Sikh soldier go through exactly the same ceremony at a shrine near 

 Makhowal Anundpoor. From how much superstition would a knowledge of the solar 

 system have rescued the world ! 





