Mr. Fraser on the Himalay Mountains, 65 
and very destructible, the whole mountainside being covered with 
the pulverized and granulated ruins. Ascending the hill subse- 
quently, we found the top composed of chaotic masses of the same 
rock, from among which the earth seemed to have been washed 
away, but which still gave root to many luxuriant trees of various 
sorts. 
When we crossed the vein of limestone, the difference between 
the opposite exposures of the sides of the hills struck us forcibly. 
Each glen or slope with a southern or south-eastern exposure, was 
brown and arid in its aspect, the hills were round and lumpy, and 
though very rough, were yet more sloping than the others, while 
trees were rare, and vegetables of any sort very scantily spread over 
the thin rocky soil. The northern and north-western exposures on 
the contrary were invariably most abrupt, deep, and precipitous ; 
yet their rocky sides were cloathed with rich dark forests of infinite 
variety ; and the lower parts, though often steep, were covered with 
a rich plentiful mould which afforded the most extensive and the 
best cultivation ; the aspect was always green, rich, and various. 
The pointing of the naked peaks to the north and north-west, tower- 
ing above all, was too remarkable to pass unnoticed in any instance. 
This is a principle which may be traced through every range, to the 
Snowy hills themselves, which are remarkable instances of the general 
condition, as will be more particularly dwelt on below. 
As we approached the snowy mountains and got among their 
roots, although schist continued to predominate with its quartzose 
veins, still exceptions became more frequent ; rocks and whole 
precipices occurred, formed of a very white marble-like stone, which 
at first we were inclined to believe limestone, or a sort of marble, 
but we had no means of ascertaining the fact, and were afterwards 
led to doubt of the existence of calcareous matter in this rock, as we 
Vol, V. 
i 
