93 
Visit to the Siccim Mountains. 
[March 
quite sandy. — Rassadhura is the name of a halting place here, on its hanks in 
the middle of the forest. This forest is, however, by no means thick, the elephant 
having found no difficulty in getting through it. At Ntinumatti, which is the last 
station in the plains, our conductor had intended us to halt, and had erected huts 
for our accommodation. But the place was dirty, dusty, dark and dismal, and the 
huts small and inconvenient. We therefore determined to proceed onward a little, 
and even take our chance in the river bed, though unprovided with tents, rather 
than be smothered "with dust at the miserable place they had fixed on. We could 
not help making the same remark which I have often made when employed in the 
northern mountains — viz. the total insensibility of the natives of the plains to the 
charms of rural scenery, they invariably choosing the most obiectionable spot to 
place a camp in, and passing by or stopping short of scenes of the greatest natural 
beauty. 
On proceeding a few hundred yards we emerged from the forest and entered the 
bed of the river, which had now become a mountain stream : its water clear as crys- 
tal, and its course obstructed by huge round stones. The elephant made its wav 
very slowly over these, and after proceeding with great difficulty about a mile and 
a half, we came to a place where the river, collecting itself in a deep pool, is surmount- 
ed on one side by a rocky ledge, over which the path lies. Here, therefore we 
were obliged to descend and send the elephant back. The small ones belonging to 
our conductor, however, passed over this rocky defile, with as much boldness and 
certainty as a goat would have done. This pool, or natural basin, being nearly thirty 
feet in diameter, and from five to eight feet deep, offered a fine opportunity for 
bathing, which as the (lay was warm, would have been a great refreshment But 
as the place had no very inviting features for passing the night in, and as Sin^a- 
nuiri, where it was known there was a comfortable house, was represented to*be 
at no great distance, we pushed on, and in about an hour and a half we reached it 
The baggage however did not come up till nightfall, and then only part of it • so 
that we had at one time the rather disagreeable prospect, after our day’s 
laths 1 * ° f S ° mg diimerless to bed ’ u P° n a hard Mooring, formed of bamboo 
The rock above the pool was the first we had seen, and I was curious, having found 
sandstone so far from the entrance of the hills, to examine it. Agreeably to expec- 
tation, it proved to belong to the second zone of rocks : that found succeeding the 
sandstone in the mountains to the north-west : being an argillaceous o-neiss exact- 
l^y snnilar to that constituting the upper ascent of the Ghagar on the road to Almi 
rah. In that mountain it however attains an elevation of 5 or 600 0 feet whereas 
here it was not above 1000. But it is worthy of notice, that the sandstonjt also 
deficient in elevation ; at least if we suppose the low hill at Nittntra tn hJ fii f 
indication of it in this quarter. Now that the latter formation had not 
from the effect of wasting is evident from the total 
or pebbly, the only trace of the latter being on the hill itself Miv wo , y 
to assume, that those rocks have not risen to the level they have* attain!* ? ' eD S? re 
ance to oveSe ^ ““ eta " U, « ^ W “ kss ^ «r had 
-icb we had 
in all mountain rivers at intervals, and is about 50 feet above ^^he^ri^r L f " 
valley is narrow, being m fact a mere gor^e • the brpadth Z+Z ■ beiL , rhe 
mountains on each side rise to a great height* beimr rnvprr 1 . n ' er and the 
pines were visible ; a singular difference from the ^thlr mmrtPr N ° 
the only tree seen on first entering the hills. There is nn vmll ’ wher ® the >’ are 
were no inhabitants. We therefore took possession of thJ . or . at * east there 
of bamboos and thatched, and which w/found a v.Jv™ P rmci P al house, built 
raised about 3 feet from the ground the V- y comfortable one. It was 
There were two rooms, the dimensions of w h ich Z . r e m nr h ° f SpHt bamboos * 
in the houses of the plains, and quite suffiripnt t ^ Ucb “ ore convenient than 
And what I “never saw in'any T Upri ^ ht P osture ' 
structed of split bamboos in one corner in -.nnti sl deboard or table was con- 
form intended for the bed. There were abundan^f Wa t, a ver J r fine raised plat- 
On the lGth we left Singamari at 9 o'clock l ^ s, naller huts for our people, 
(which we crossed several times) for a distanrp r>f < ? ceedln 8' i n the bed of the river 
and ascended by the bed of a steep torrent whirl 1 ° Ut * * me > turned to the left, 
ascent is latterly rather steep to i hc !V?i ns the BaMsan. The 
From this pass the Sinchal mountain is visiblt btbg n! 20 E? tZ 
