Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/305

 thundering peals of falling avalanches. Nothing met our eyes resembling the scenery in the haunts of men; by moonlight all appeared cold, wild, and stupendous, and a Pagan might aptly imagine the place a fit abode for demons. We did not even see bears, or musk deer, or eagles, or any living creature, except small birds. The dazzling brilliancy of the snow was rendered more striking by its contrast with the dark blue colour of the sky, which is caused by the thinness of the air; and at night the stars shone with a lustre which they have not in a denser atmosphere." "It falls to the lot of few to contemplate so magnificent an object as a snow-clad peak rising to the height of upwards of a mile and a half, at the horizontal distance of only two and a half miles."

"She is called Ganga on account of her flowing through Gang, the earth: she is called Jahnavi, from a choleric Hindū saint: she is called Bhagirathi, from the royal devotee Bhagiratha, who, by the intensity and austerity of his devotions, brought her from heaven to earth, whence she proceeded to the infernal regions, to reanimate the ashes of his ancestors: and lastly, she is called Triputhaga, on account of her proceeding forward in three different directions, watering the three worlds—heaven, earth, and the infernal regions,—and filling the ocean, which, according to the Brahmanical mythology, although excavated before her appearance, was destitute of water."

Hurdwar, at which place the Ganges issues on the plains, is put down on the map.

The impracticable deserts of snow and rocks in these lofty regions alone prevent the pilgrim from going directly from one place to another. Thus, eleven days' journey are spun out from Gangoutrī to Kedarnāth; while seven or eight days are expended in reaching Bhadrināth from the latter place.

On the map a beautiful range of mountains now appear, crowned with the Jaunti Peak, 21,940 feet; next is Sir Kanta, and then the pass of Bamsera.

JUMNOTRĪ.

Bandarponch is 23,916 feet above the sea, and the Peaks of