Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/369



NORTHITESTER V PROIZNCES AND OUDII. 357 Continued from p. 355.] The extreme north-western or Himalayan tract comprises the Native State of Terri or INDEPENDENT GARHWAL, together with the British Districts of DEHRA DUN, GARWAL, and KUMAUN. These mountainous regions include some of the wildest and most magnificent country in the whole range of the Himalayas, and among their snoirclad peaks the sacred streams of the Ganges and the Jumna take their risc. Many famous temples and places of pilgrimage line the upper banks of the Ganges, and thousands of Hindus annually repair to the holy source from all parts of India. Several of the higher peaks attain a height exceeding 20,000 feet; while Nandí Deví, on the borders of British Garhwal and Kumáun, rises to 25,661 feet above sea-level. Beautiful and romantic scenery abounds, especially near the lake and sanitarium of Naini Tál, and in the valley of Dehra Dún. The economic value of the mountains is almost entirely confined to the growth of tea in Kumáun, and the export of forest produce to the plains. A sparse Hindu population lies scattered among the mountain valleys; and in the extreme northern passes into Chinese Tartary the people belong to the Tibetan race. The Himalayan tracts under the Government of these Provinces form in themselves only a small portion of the immense geological region to which they belong, but they include part of one of the best and most widely - known of Indian rock formations (the gneissic). The exterior ranges rise sometimes abruptly and sometimes gradually to a height of 7000 or 8000 feet. After passing a second range, the elevation increases, till 10,000 and 11,000 feet are attained. We then meet the peaks of the Trisúl or trident mountain (23,382 feet), Nandi Deví (25,661 feet), and Nandí Kot (22,538 feet). These are all situated to the south of the great central axis of the Himalayas, which has a mean height of from 18,000 to 20,000 feet. The rocks of the higher hills to the north, below the snowy range, have as yet received only cursory attention, being chiefly non-fossiliferous slates and crystalline schists. Of the formations in the snowy range, and beyond it in Chinese territory, we have little real knowledge. South of the Himalayas and the bhábar and tarsi tracts, the SIWALIK range, a mass of detritus from the greater chain, slopes downward to the plain of the DoAB. It runs parallel to, and is separated from, the Himálayas by the valleys known as the eastern and western dúns (DEHRA DUN District), which, taken together, have a length of about 45 miles, and an average breadth of about ii miles. Under the name of Doáb (Two Waters') is included the whole wedge of land enclosed between the confluent streams of the Ganges and the Jumna, comprising the Districts of SAHARANPUR, MUZAFFARNAGAR, MEERUT (Merath), BULANDSHAHR, ALIGARH, part of MUTTRA (Mathura), and