Page:Littell's Living Age - Volume 125.djvu/192

 178 THE ABODE OF SNOW. Passing then over the five hundred miles of Nepal, and casting one longing look in the direction of Gaurisankar, we come to Naini Tal or Nyni Tal, which is the sanitarium of the North-West Provinces, as Dárjiling is of Bengal, and is visited every year by their lieutenant-governor, and a large portion of Allahabad society. It is a charming spot, with a beautiful little lake surrounded by wooded mountains; but it is not in proximity to any high peaks, nor does it command views of the snowy ranges. It does not afford easy access to any of the points of special interest in the higher mountains, and we do not recommend the Himáliyan tourist to pay it a visit, for the time which it would occupy might be much better bestowed in other directions; but it has the advantage of having two outposts of civilization between it and the snowy mountains, — namely, Almora, from which a long route by the base of Nanda Kut (22,536 feet high), will take up to another door into Chinese Tartary — and Ránikhet, to which the late Lord Mayo had some thought of removing the summer seat of the supreme government from Simla, because it has abundance of wood and water, and is one of the very few places in the Himáliya where there is a little level ground.

The next sanitarium is Masúri, or Mussooree, which can be reached, through the Sewalik range and the beautiful valley of the Dehra Doon, in a long day from Saharunpore on the railway. It is not visited by any government in particular; there is nobody to look after people's morals in that aerial retreat; and the result is that though Masúri has much quiet family life, and is not much given to balls or large gay parties, it yet has the character of being the fastest of all the hill-stations, and the one where grass widows combine to allow themselves the greatest liberty. This is scandal, however — not exact science; and as I have something special to say about both Masúri and Simla, I shall only remark here that they present by far the best points of departure for a tour in the interior Himáliya; but it should be noted that it is almost impossible to cross the outer snowy range from the former station during July, August, and September, when the monsoon is piling snow upon it, and beneath the snow-line the rivers are flooded.

The younger hill-stations of Dharamsala and Dalhousie are a long way to the north-west of Simla, and are so far from the line of railway to Lahore and from any carriage-roads, that they are not likely to be sought, in the first instance, by any tourist, however enterprising. But it may be remarked that they are convenient depots of the products of civilization; that Dalhousie is a good starting-point for Kashmir, and that Dharamsala, where the houses stand at elevations of from about four thousand to seven thousand feet high, rises out of the Kangra valley, which Lord Canning held to be the most beautiful district in India, with the exception of Kashmir, and which combines the advantages of tropical with Alpine climate and vegetation. Very far beyond these, at a height of about seven thousand feet, we have Mari (Muree) which is the hill-station for the Panjab and its lieutenant-governor, and the great point of departure for Kashmir. It is only forty miles distant from the Grand Trunk Road at Ráwal Pindi, and can be reached in hill-carts, so that it is really more accessible to the English tourist than some of the hill-stations which geographically may appear much nearer; but it is not in immediate proximity to any very high ranges, though sometimes a glimpse can be got from its neighbourhood of the wonderful peak of Nangha Purbat, which is 26,629 feet high. Close to the Indus, where the Himáliya have changed into the Hindú Kúsh, there is Abbotabad, which, though a military station and little over four thousand feet, is one of the points which command Kashmir; and it has beside it the sanitarium of Tandali, or Tundiani, which presents more extensive views from the height of nine thousand feet. And here our line of sanitariums comes to an end; for though the plain of our trans-Indus possession is bounded by the most tempting mountains, the lower ranges of the Hindú Kúsh, yet if the tourist makes even the slightest attempt to scale these, he will find that, between the Akoond of Swat, the Amir of Kaubul, and the officers of the British government, he will have an uncommonly bad time of it, and may consider himself fortunate if he is only brought back neck and crop to Pesháwur (Peshawur) and put under surveillance or ordered out of the district.

Simla, as I have indicated, is the beslt starting-point for the inner Himáliya, besides being an interesting place in itself as usually the summer residence of the viceroy and the other chiefs of the suppreme government of India, though this