Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/751

 HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS principally metamorphic slates alternating with granitic belts. They form the loftiest peaks; and against them rest strata of the Silurian period. The formations range with the chain, and are seen usually dipping toward its axis. In Kurnaon rocks of the oolitic for- mtion succeed to the Silurian, and in some of the larger river valleys, at elevations of 15,000 ft., are found tertiary beds with fossils refer- ring them to the miocene period. Among them are specimens of extinct species of the horse, rhinoceros, elephant, hippopotamus, . Strata containing marine shells occur at elevation of 16,000 ft. Fresh-water pleis- tocene deposits have been found by Dr. Thom- >n in the extreme western Himalaya of Thibet, on the flanks of mountains far above ~ie present level of the rivers and lakes. The mineral productions are of little impor- ice. Gold is found in eastern Thibet, but 3 Chinese government prevents its being rprked to much extent. In Koonawur, a dis- ict at the passage of the Sutlej through the lain, are mines of specular iron ore, which ive been long worked by horizontal excava- tions, extending sometimes half a mile into the lountains. The ore is converted into wrought iron by the natives, who make of it sabres, knives, and hatchets, the best metal being known as that of the locality called Sheel. Cop- per ores too are found here, and also in Nepaul and Sikkim ; but they are not worked. The vegetable productions in the lower portions of the mountains are those of the tropics. They reach up to the height of 6,000 or 7,000 ft. in the humid central portions of the range, and in the extreme western to 3,000 or 4,000 ft. In the deep gorges of the rivers are plantains, palms, and fig trees ; above are magnolias and laurels ; to these succeed oaks, chestnuts, birch- es, &c. ; still higher are pine forests, then rho- dodendra and the scanty alpine growth. All these products of the colder portions are recog- nized as European forms. These indeed begin to appear as the tropical plants give way to those of temperate climes ; and at heights from 6,000 to 12,000 ft. are seen species of oak, ma- ple, ash, cherry, poplar, hornbeam, juniper, willow, pine, and many other of familiar names, some of which are identical with the species of Europe and America. The grains, garden fruits, and vegetables cultivated in the upper portions of the mountains are very sim- ilar to those of northern Europe. In the state of Bussaher, of which Koonawur is a province, grapes are extensively cultivated, and tea is produced as an article of commerce. The dis- tribution of the fauna is similar to that of the flora : tropical forms in the lower regions, among which are found tigers, leopards, buffa- loes, the rhinoceros, elephants, &c. ; in the upper districts European types predominate, mixed with Chinese and Japanese forms to the eastward, and partaking in the alpine districts of the Siberian character. The inhabitants constitute many tribes and nations, of Hindoo HIMERA 733 or Mongolian race. Those of all the valleys above 8,000 ft. elevation are Thibetans, in whom the Aryan is more or less intermixed with the Mongolian. The English have established many stations at points situated from 6,000 to 8,000 ft. above the sea, where they find a healthy atmosphere and a climate like that of England ; and they anticipate the time when the habi- table portions of the Himalaya will be peopled by their own colonists and their descendants. Dr. Hooker names the following as the most important of these hill sanataria, as he calls them : Darjeeling, elevation 7,000 to 8,000 ft., in Sikkim ; Nyni Tal, 6,000 to 7,000 ft., and Almora, 5,000 to 6,000 ft., in Kumaon ; Ma- suri, 6,000 to 7,000 ft, in Gurwhal ; Kangra, 7,000 to 8,000 ft., in the Beas valley ; Murree, 7,000 to 8,000 ft., between the Indus and Jhy- lum; and Simla, 7,000 to 8,000 ft., in the Pun- jaub, near the Sutlej river, a favorite resort for Europeans, being usually the residence of the governor general during a portion of the hotter months. Among the more distin- guished explorers of the Himalaya mountains are Adolf Schlagintweit, who was murdered in August, 1857, while engaged in his inves- tigations, and his brothers Hermann and Rob- ert. They demonstrated the correctness of Humboldt's view that there was not the least connection between the Kuenlun and Kara- korum ranges and the Himalaya range, each of them being in fact an independent chain. The following are some of the many important works relating to this chain : the " Himalayan Journals" of Dr. J. D. Hooker; numerous papers in the "Asiatic Researches" and the journal of the Asiatic society of Calcutta; Humboldt's Asie Centrale ; Bishop Heber's "Journal;" "Western Thibet," by Capt. H. Strachey; Thomson's "Western Himalaya;" Eeisen in Hochasien, by H. Schlagintweit; and the publications of the trigonometrical survey of India. HIMERA, an ancient Greek city of northern Sicily, at the mouth of the river Himera, be- tween Panormus and Cephaloadium. It is said to have been founded about the middle of the 7th century B. C. by a colony from Zancle (the later Messana). It was once subject to the ty- rant Phalaris, and at another time was a city of refuge for the Zanclaean tyrant Scythes. Sub- sequently, however, it came to have a despot of its own, named Terillus, who, being ex- pelled, applied to the Carthaginians for assist- ance, which was the immediate occasion of the first great expedition of that people to Sicily, which took place in 480 B. C. The army of the Carthaginians, said to have been 300,000 strong, commanded by Hamilcar, was defeated at Himera with great slaughter by Gelon of Syracuse. This victory did not how- ever restore liberty to the Himerasans, but merely transferred them from the tyranny of Terillus to that of Thrasydaeus, the son of Theron of Agrigentmn, under whom such numbers of the citizens were executed or ban-