114 Mr. Verchere on the Geology of Kashmir, [No. 2, 



edge of the Woolar Lake, the Maims Bal and the Dal and to the 

 lacustrine plains of Pampur, Avantipoor, Bij-Behara and Islamabad. 

 These spurs are the extreme south-western ends of a labyrinth of 

 mountains which forms a barrier, nearly forty miles across as the crow 

 flies, between the flat plain of the Kashmir valley and the chain of 

 mountains which separates Kashmir proper from Drass, Sooroo and 

 Ladak. If we consider the Himalaya as a series of parallel chains 

 and valleys, we should have the Pir Punjal chain as one of the 

 parallels ; traversing the valley of Kashmir and the labyrinth of moun- 

 tains to the north-east of it, we meet another great parallel chain, 

 which has unfortunately no general name. It has been called by 

 Col. Cunningham the Western Himalaya, but the name is evidently 

 objectionable, as we want the term " Western," to designate the 

 whole of the Himalaya between the longitudes east 73° and 79°, or 

 between the Indus and the Sutlej. It has also been called the Central 

 chain of the Himalaya by several authors, but the great quantity 

 of snow which covers its peaks is merely the result of its being so 

 placed, that it collects and condenses nearly all the remaining mois- 

 ture contained in the south-western winds, and sends these winds 

 perfectly dry to the Kailas and Karakoram ranges. The beautiful 

 series of snowy summits presented by this chain is therefore no claim 

 to its being the central chain of the Himalaya. I am afraid no other 

 rule, but that of the division of drainage, can be considered safe in 

 estimating which of the many parallel chains of a same system of moun- 

 tains is the central one ; and if we conform to this rule, the Kara- 

 koram range is to be regarded as the central chain of the Himalaya. 

 It is therefore preferable to name the chain under consideration by 

 the name of one of its great peaks, and as the Kun Nun or Ser and 

 Mer Peaks (23,407 feet) are well known and very conspicuous 

 in the western portion of the Himalaya, I shall make use of the 

 term " Ser and Mer chain" to designate the great parallel range 

 which separates the basin of the River Jheelum from that of the 

 Indus. 



Between the Pir Punjal and the Ser and Mer chains, we have not 

 only the valley of Kashmir, but a number of independent and, as it 

 were, isolated centres of mountains which, as I have said before, form 

 a complicated labyrinth of hills and valleys to the north and north- 



