1240 On the Aborigines of the sub-Himalayas. [Dec* 



regard to the other branches of the Allophylian tree,* though among 

 the Cis or Trans-Himalayans there is never seen any greater advance 

 towards the Teutonic blond complexion than such as consists in occa- 

 sional ruddy moustaches and grey eyes among the men, and a good 

 deal of occasional bloom upon the cheeks of the children and women. 

 A pure white skin is unknown, and the tint is not much less decided 

 than in the high caste Hindus ; but all are of this pale brown or 

 isabelline hue in Tibet and the sub -Himalayas, whilst the many in the 

 plains of India are much darker. 



Before concluding this notice of the Alpine Indian Aborigines, it 

 may be as well to define summarily the limits and physical characters 

 of their original and adopted abodes, or Tibet and the sub-Himalayas. 

 Tibet is a truncated triangular plateau, stretching obliquely from south- 

 east to north-west, between 28° and 36° of north latitude, and 72° 

 and 102° of east longitude. It is cold and dry in the extreme, owing 

 to its enormous elevation, averaging 10,000 feet above the sea, to the 

 still vaster height of those snowy barriers which surround it on every 

 side and which on the south reach 26,000 feet,f to an uncommon 

 absence of rain and cloud, to the extreme rarification of its atmosphere, 

 to its saline and sandy soil, and as a consequence of all these and a 

 reciprocating cause too, to the excessive scantiness of its vegetation. 

 It is bounded on the south by the Hemachal, on the north by the 

 Kuenlun, on the west by the Belur, and on the east by the Peling — 

 all for the most part perpetually snow-clad, and of which the very 

 passes average 15,000 feet of elevation. Tibet is, for the most part, 

 a plain and a single plain, but one extremely cut up by ravines, varied 

 much by low bare hills, and partially divided in its length by several 

 parallel ranges approaching the elevation of its barriers, and between 

 the 3rd and 4 th of which ranges stand its capitals of Lassa and Digar- 

 chi. These capitals are both in the central province of the Utsang ; 



• See Prichard, Vol. IV. pp. 323, 344, 356, and Humboldt's Asic Centrale 2. 62 and 

 133. Who could suppose the following description referred to a Scythic race? "Gens 

 albo colore est atque pulchritudine et forma insigne." 



+ The five giants of the Himalaya all approach to, and none surpass, this stupendous 

 loftiness, for Chumalari does not exceed 26,000. The others are Kanchan, Gosainthan, 

 Dhawalagiri, and Juhar or Jowahir. Capt. Waugh has just determined Kanchan and 

 Chumalari. 



