Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/109

 looks a sweet haven of rest bathed in warm sunlight, in comparison with the rugged rock-strewn jungle through which the track drags its painful way. Nature, in her crudest form, is utilized not a little as engineer-in-chief in the construction of this part of the "Road,"—dried-up mountain torrents being once more the main feature of its alignment. This view is, however, only a preliminary to the still more glorious one which will reveal itself when the actual saddle of the pass is scaled, and a few yards of the descent on the other side are accomplished. Then suddenly, at a turn in the steep track, the foliage seems to part before the vision, and there, 2000 feet directly below, like a dream-picture lies the Valley of Nepal.

The constantly changing panorama spread out beneath is a magnificent one, a noble introduction to the land which has cost us so much labour to reach. Practically the whole of the accessible portion of Nepal is visible from here, and as the last monsoon clouds are wafted to and fro, great sections of "the infinite ramification of stream and valley"