Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/865

Rh HIMALAYA 825 or 9000 feet above the sea. It is on them that sanitary stations have bsen established for the convenience of the European residents in the neighbouring provinces of India, as affording the nearest sites to the plains at which a temperate climate can be reached. These ranges cover a breadth of about 60 or 70 miles, within which the magnitude of the mountains does not very greatly vary, their crests rarely going above 10,000 feet or falling below 5000 feet. Beyond this again another great change is observed, and the mountains rise rapidly and attain those surpassing heights which place the snow-clad summits of ths Himalaya in the foremost rank of all the mountains of the earth.

A remarkable deviation from the normal character of this zone of the mountains is observed to the west of the Sutlej, where, combined with the exceptional extension of the sub-Himalayan ranges already noticed, is found what may perhaps be best described as an outlier of tin; great central axis of snowy mountains. With a marked change in respect to elevation, as well as in respect to its mineral constituents, the range locally known as the &quot; Dhaola-dhar,&quot; or White Mountain, rises directly from the dun of Kangra, the elevatioj of which is about 2500 feet, into the regions of perpetual snow, its highest points reaching an elevation of 16,000 to 17,000 feet. The same features are prolonged still further to the west beyond the Ravi, and this line of elevation forms the great snow-clad range that shuts in thb /alley of Kashmir on the south, there known as the Pir-panjal, the general elevation of which is from 14,000 to 15,000 feet, and ths passes over it not lower than 10,000 feet. With this exception the ranges covered with perpstual snow are first met with on the southern slope of the great In do-Tibetan table-land, along a line between 80 and 90 miles from the foot of the outer mountains, and 20 or 30 miles south of the Indian watershed, and from this line northward snowy peaks abound everywhere over the summit of the table-land. The highest yet measured are near the Indian watershed, but as it is only in this region of the western Himalaya, and in northern Ladak, that any com plete survey has been made, it is necessary to be cautious in making statements as to absolute maximum elevation, for the known in these mountains still bears far too small a proportion to the unknown to afford sufficient ground for safe speculation on such a subject. On the Himalayan slope the loftiest peaks are usually met on the first ranges that enter the limits of perpetual snow, advanced some 20 or 30 miles south of the Indian watershed, and not on a continuous ridge, but grouped in masses separated from one another by deep depressions, through which is discharged the drainage of the tract lying between them and the watershed. The highest known peak in the Himalaya, and indeed in the world, is that in Nepal known as Mount Everest, which rises to 29,002 feet. Kinchinjinga, in Sikim, on the east, reaches 28,156 feet, and another peak more recently measured, in the extreme west, reaches 28,278 feet. Dha- walagiri, in Nepal, is stated to be 26,820 feet, and Nanda- devi, in Kumaon, to be 25,700 feet above the sea. But many other points have been measured exceeding 25,000 feet in elevation, two of which are to the north of Kumaon ; and the enumeration of all known peaks over 20,000 feet would be wearisome. These statements have reference to the particular zone along the Indian watershed above described, beyond which, as waB before said, few measurements have been made (excepting in Ladak), but there is every reason to believe, from such scanty facts as are available for forming an opinion, that mountains rising considerably above 20,000 feet are of frequent occurrence throughout Tibet. To give a more precise idea of the character of the snowy Num- zone, it will be worth while to state somewhat in detail the *&amp;gt;ers of distribution of the great peaks which lie between the 78th ^^ and 81st meridians, in the provinces of Kumaon and Garhwal, which have been far better surveyed that any other part of the range. On a line of something less than 150 miles in length are found six great snowy groups, with five great rivers passing between them: (1) on the east is the cluster of Api in Nepal, with a peak of 22,700 feet ; (2) Yirnajang, between the Darma river and the Kali, rising to 21,300 feet; (3) the Panch-chuli group, between the Darma river and the Gori, with a maximum of 22,700 feet ; (4) the great compound mass which lies between the Gori and Ihe Dhaoli rivers, consisting of Nanda-devi, Nancla-kot, Dunagiri, and Trisiil, the first reaching 25,700 feet, the second 22,600 feet, the third 23,200 feet, and the last, having a bngth of more than 10 miles, no part of which is under 20,000 feet, its central point reaching 23,400 feet above the sea; (5) the peaks between the Dhaoli and Vishnu- ganga rivers, three of which lie between 22,300 and 22,600 feet ; (6) the great group of Badarinath, Kedarnath, and Gangotri, between the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi, the chief feeders -of the Ganges, the first mass rising to 22,400 feet and the second to 22,900 feet, while the third has five points varying in height between these. All these masses are connected with the main watershed by ridges more or less covered with perpetual snow, on which have been measured two other peaks rising above 25,000 feet, several others reaching 23,000 feet, and many more between 19,000 and 20,000 feet. There is no reason for thinking that this gives an exaggerated idea of the vast scale on which these mountains are developed. There can be liltle doubt that as precise knowledge is advanced the number of peaks between 25,000 and 30,000 feet will be found to be very much extended; nor will it be surprising if points are eventually discovered exceeding 30,000 feet in altitude. The average elevation of the crest of the Indian water- Eleva- shed, between the points where the Indus and Brahma- tion of putra cross it, a distance of some 1500 miles, most In&amp;lt; l ia &quot; wfttor- probably exceeds 18,000 feet. At a comparatively few slie( i points only its continuity is broken, and it allows the passage of rivers that rise on its northern flank ; but at all other parts its summit must be crossed to enter Tibet from the south. The passes over it, in ordinary use for men and animals, are frequently more than 18,000 feet above the sea, and except where it is broken through as just mentioned, one point only is believed to exist at which it can bs surmounted under 16,400 feet. This pass, which leads directly from Kashmir into the Tibetan district of Dras, is only 11,300 feet, and is quite anomalous; such n depression elsewhere would have been sufficiently deep to open a passage for the drainage of the table-land, but the great depth of the valley further north, in which the Indus flows, here gives the waters a more favourable escape in that direction. The valleys which traverse the mountains between the Valley, plains and the great watershed are for the most part little more than gigantic ravines, at the bottom of which flows the river each contains, in a very contracted bed which at rxre intervals opens out into a narrow alluvial flat capable of cultivation. The level of the river beds is necessarily very various. Valleys only 2000 or 3000 feet above the sea are often opened up into the very heart of the moun tains, and carry with them the heat and vegetation of the tropics among ranges the summits of which are capped with eternal snow. In tracing up the larger streams it is usually found that on arriving within 10 miles of the line of the great peaks the rivers are flowing at an elevation of little more than 4000 or 5000 feet, but on crossing that line the acclivity suddenly and rapidly increases, and the XL 104