1837,] 



The Valley of Nepauh 



447 



holy emblems are of divine origin, not having been made by human 

 hands; 



Viewing the valley from its centre, and contrasting its surface with 

 the masses of mountain which surround it, it has the appearance of a 

 plain gradually rising on all sides to the bases of the mountains, but a 

 more careful examination points out a division of its surface into two 

 separate elevations. These I shall call the higher and lower Izvels of 

 the valley when describing the agricultural occupations of different 

 seasons, as the general system and routine of husbandry varies on each. 

 In the above division of the valley's surface, the hill sides under rough 

 cultivation are not included. The lower level through which the two 

 principal rivers (Bishomutti and Bagmutti) and their feeders run, is for 

 the most part, nearly flat, having a very gradual descent from either 

 side of the valley towards the main streams, its soil is less clayey in 

 general than that of the upper level, and from the greater facility of 

 irrigation and certainty of flooding during the rains, its crops of rice 

 are more productive, and its value for purchase and rent higher. The 

 upper level, has for the most part, an elevation of from 30 to 80 feet 

 above the lower. In some places the one gradually runs into the 

 other, the transition being unaccompanied by any sudden or defined 

 line, terraces of cultivation extending from the top of the upper level, 

 down to the river edges. In other places the one is defined by per- 

 pendicular descents of 50 or more feet, along the basis of which the 

 rivers sometimes have their course, while in a third place these preci- 

 pitous banks point out the different levels far removed from the streams* 

 The extreme height of the upper level is no where more than 100 feet 

 above the lower ; for the hill of Simbhunath although, at first sight 

 belonging to this division, is really a spur from the neighbouring hill 

 of Ek Changu. The hill near the temple of Pusputnath is elevated 

 more than 100 feet above the Bagmutti, as this stream winds its course 

 round three sides of it; but this hill may also with propriety be ex- 

 cluded from the valley levels and looked upon as a portion of a low 

 range of hills stretching from north to south, and crossing the course 

 of the Bagmutti. The Gankurun hill, which is a spur from Sheo- 

 pooree, forms the northerly extremity of this partially defiued range ; 

 on the south it vanishes gradually into the ordinary higher level of 

 the valley lands. 



To recapitulate summarily, we have in the valley of Nepaul, 

 an area of 325 square miles of arable land, forming a basin of 

 uneven surface surrounded by a circular chain of mountains, vary- 

 ing in height from 500 to 2,000 feet above the plain, watered 



