236 Account of Captain Hodgson’s Journey to the 
dreadful situation on which we were pitched, in the midst of 
masses of rock, some of them more than 100 feet in diameter, 
and which had fallen from the cliffs above us, probably brought 
down bv some former earthquake. % 
“ The scene around us, shewn in all its dangers by the 
bright moonlight, was indeed very awful. On the second shock, 
rocks were hurled in every direction, from the peaks around to 
the bed of the river, with a hideous noise not to be described, 
and never to be forgotten. After the crash caused by the falls 
near us had ceased, we could still hear the terrible sounds of 
heavy falls in the more distant recesses of the mountains. 
u We looked up with dismay at the cliffs over head, expect- 
ing that the next shock would detach some ruins from them : 
had they fallen we could not have escaped, as the fragments 
from the summit would have tumbled over our heads, and we 
should have been buried by those from the middle. 
“ Providentially there were no more shocks that night. This 
earthquake was smartly felt in all parts of the mountains, as 
well as in the plains of the NW. provinces of Hindustan. 
“ In the morning we removed to the left bank of the river, 
where there is a bed of sand of about 150 yards wide ; then comes 
a flat of soil, with trees of about twenty yards wide, and imme- 
diately above it are precipices with snow on them. Here we 
were much more secure : in the afternoon, indeed, the effects of 
the snow melting often caused pieces of rock to fall from above to 
near our station ; but we could avoid them by running over the 
sand to the river side, which could not be done on the right bank ; 
besides only comparatively small pieces fell there, and in day- 
light ; so that this is much the best side to encamp on. We 
had the curiosity to measure trigonometrically the height of the 
cliff at the foot of which we were during the shock, and found 
it to be 2745 feet. 
6C This day (the 27th), as also on the 28th, we had a slight 
shock of an earthquake. 
“ The mean breadth of the Ganges at Gangotri was (mea- 
sured by the chain) 43 feet, depth 18 inches, and nearly the 
same depth at the sides as in the middle : the current very 
swift, and over large rounded stones. This was on the 26th 
May. The stream was then in one channel, but the effect of 
