JUMNA AND BH A WRArni'' RIVERS. 221 



topped with lofty peaks of fnow, are difccrned {hutting up the prof- 

 pe6l in either of the three ravines, when the clouds for a moment pero 

 mit them to appear* Juft at the bottom of the defcent, and imme« 

 diately above the jundiion of the two torrents, an old and crazy- 

 wooden bridge is thrown acrofs the Bhdgirat'hiy from one rock to the 

 other many feet above its flreaiUj and it is not till this point is reachedg 

 that the extraordinary nature of the placc^ and particularly of the ri- 

 vers bed, is folly comprehended, and then is feen the ftream in. a (late 

 of dirty foato twilling violently, and with a mighty noife through the 

 flrangely hollowed trough of folid granite, cutting it into shapes of 

 every fort and leaping in fearfull waves over every obilacle, 



The bed of the J'ahnevi is at leaft equally picturefqae and fully a§ 

 lavage, but we had not equal opportunities for feeing it ; the perpen« 

 dicularity and heighth of the rocky fides is perhaps greater than that 

 of the others i this river is faid to have its rife in a very lofty moun- 

 tain, caUed Rakefilr Sinn, Htuated. in the dominions of China, and 

 which is 15 day's journey from hence in a diredion nearly that of its 

 apparent courfe from hence, viz. north cast by east, I am inclined to 

 think it is ilill more eailerly, and by no means fo diflant, 



TusT at the wooden bridge abovcmentioned, there is an overhanf?- 

 ing rock, under which worfhip is p&iformed to Bhairamji, and a black 

 ftone partly painted red, is the image of the God, and here not only 

 were prayers faid and worfhip performed, but every one was obliged 

 to bathe and eat bread baked by the brahmins, as preparatory to the 

 great and effeflual abiutiom at the holy Gangotri, 



From this place we afccndcd the rock between the flreams, by a 

 path more curious and dangerous than any wc have met with. The 



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