Western Himalaya and Tibet Part 29

[Sidenote: ALLUVIUM OF DRAS.

_September, 1848._]

The great extent and remarkable forms of alluvium which I had seen in the district through which I had travelled, between Kalatze and Dras, induced me to note with care the position and composition of the alluvial beds of the Dras valley. The known low elevation of the Zoji pa.s.s, between Dras and Kashmir, which is only 11,300 feet above the sea, made the great extent and continuity of these deposits very remarkable, and with difficulty explicable, unless on the supposition of the existence of a series of lakes separated from one another by extensive acc.u.mulations of alluvium, now to a great extent removed by denudation. The lacustrine clays of lower Dras, about Ulding, appear continuous with those of the Indus valley about Tarkata, but the clays of Pashkyum, which are separated from them by a very thick ma.s.s of alluvium, which occupies that part of the Dras and Pashkyum rivers immediately above the junction of the two, may have been deposited in an isolated lake. Further east again, at Lamayuru, there are beds of pure clay as high as the summit of the Zoji pa.s.s, so that the alluvial beds of the upper part of the Phatu ridge must have separated the lake in which these were deposited from the more western waters, which (it may be conjectured) at the same time covered the whole of the valley of Molbil and Pashkyum.

The vegetation of Dras was still very Tibetan, but transitional forms were becoming frequent. The _Chenopodiaceae_ (except _Eurotia_) had all disappeared, but _Artemisiae_ and _Umbelliferae_ were very abundant. The new forms were all Kashmirian, and indicated a considerable increase of humidity: a small white-flowered balsam was observed not far from Hardas, and _Prunella_, _Thymus Serpyllum_, an _Achillea_, _Senecio_, _Galium_, and _Silene inflata_ were all seen below the fort of Dras.

At that place the harvest was but just over; indeed, a field or two of wheat were still uncut.

[Sidenote: MATEN.

_September, 1848._]

On the 26th of September, I marched to Maten, along a road which, in April, had been entirely covered with deep snow. Part of the road was rocky, but in general the valley was open. During this day's journey, a very great change took place in the vegetation. Hitherto, Kashmirian plants had been the exception, the greater part of the species being Tibetan; to-day the reverse was the case, most of the plants seen being those common in the comparatively moist climate of Kunawar, or species new to me, but belonging to families or genera which inhabit a more humid climate than Tibet. Groves of dwarf willows lined the banks of the stream, and nearly sixty species of plants not observed in Tibet were collected during the day. _Vitis_, _Aconitum_, _Hyperic.u.m_, _Vernonia_, a p.r.i.c.kly juniper, _Convallaria_, and _Tulipa_, may be selected as ill.u.s.trative of the greatness of the change, which was particularly interesting from its suddenness. Numerous Tibetan forms no doubt still lingered, but princ.i.p.ally such as extend into Kashmir.

At Maten the barley was still uncut, notwithstanding that it is upwards of a thousand feet lower than Le, at which place harvest was nearly over at the time of my departure.

[Sidenote: ZOJI Pa.s.s.

_September, 1848._]

There can be no doubt that the sudden alteration in the character of the vegetation is due to the great depression in the chain separating Tibet from Kashmir, at the Zoji pa.s.s, which is far below the usual level of the lowest parts of these mountains. The access of a great amount of humidity, which would have been condensed if the moisture-bringing winds had been obliged to pa.s.s over a lofty chain, makes the autumn partially rainy, and frequently cloudy, thereby diminis.h.i.+ng the action of the sun's rays, and lowering the mean temperature of the summer.

On the 27th of September, I crossed the pa.s.s of Zoji La, which had now a very different aspect from that which it had presented in April.

From Maten the road lay up a wide open valley with a scarcely perceptible ascent, generally along the edge of a small stream, but occasionally on the slope of the hill-sides. The valley was flat and often swampy; but the mountains on both sides, more particularly on the left, were high and abrupt, not unfrequently precipitous. On that side there were in most of the ravines large patches of snow, and in one there was a fine glacier, which stopped abruptly within a hundred yards of the main valley. Latterly a few patches of snow lay even in the open valley. The vegetation was almost entirely Kashmirian, not more than six or seven out of about 110 species being otherwise; the hill-sides were covered with brushwood, at first of willow and p.r.i.c.kly juniper, but latterly princ.i.p.ally of birch.

Five or six miles from Maten, the main branch of the stream was found to descend from a narrow ravine on the left, at the head of which there was perhaps a glacier. In the valley along which the road lay, there was scarcely any water in the bed of the stream, and about a mile further on, without any increase in the inclination, I came to a large patch of dirty snow, beyond which there was a very evident slope to the southward. The boiling-point of water here indicated an elevation of 11,300 feet. A few hundred yards further, I arrived at a large pond (it could hardly be called a lake), into which a very small rill of water was trickling from the north, while from the opposite end a stream ran towards the south. This little lake was not, as I had expected, on the crest of the pa.s.s, but undoubtedly on the Kashmirian side of it.

[Sidenote: BALTAL.

_September, 1848._]

Beyond the lake, the descent became steep, and the valley contracted into a rocky ravine, full of snow, under which the little stream disappeared. The road was at first on the left side of the valley, but crossed on the snow at the commencement of the contracted part, and ascended rather abruptly a steep hill on the right through a very pretty grove of birch. The top of this steep ascent is usually considered by travellers as the pa.s.s, and is the place to which the name Zoji La properly belongs. The point of separation of the waters must of course, for geographical purposes, be considered as the actual pa.s.s, but this ridge, which, if not actually higher, is at all events on a level with it, and has in addition a steep ascent on both sides, has not unnaturally had that honour a.s.signed to it. On reaching the shoulder of the ridge, the valley of Baltal came in sight, presenting, in the words of Moorcroft, "as if by magic, a striking contrast in its brown mountains and dark forests of tall pines to the bare rocks and few stunted willows to which we had so long been accustomed." The sight of a forest is certainly a great source of gratification to a traveller who has been long in Tibet; but the pleasing effect of the view from the Zoji pa.s.s is not owing merely to contrast; as the traveller looks down upon the bed of Sind river, more than 2000 feet below, and the forest in the valley is not too dense, but interspersed with open glades, while beyond rise high mountains tipped with snow. I do not think that I have anywhere in the Himalaya seen a more beautiful scene than that which then lay before me; but the effect was enhanced by the recollection of the appearance of the same spot in April, when the whole landscape was covered with snow, and I descended from the summit of the pa.s.s on a snow-bank which filled up the now inaccessible ravine, on account of which I was obliged to make a long detour. The descent was extremely abrupt, through a pretty wood, down to a log hut built for the accommodation of travellers a few hundred yards from the river, at an elevation of 9,200 feet.

The flora of the Sind valley at Baltal was very rich: the forest consisted chiefly of pine, poplar (_P. ciliata_), birch, and sycamore, intermixed with underwood of _Ribes_, _Berberis_, _Viburnum_, _Lonicera_, and _Salix_. The herbaceous vegetation had all that excessive luxuriance which characterizes the subalpine forests of the Himalaya at the end of the rainy season. Gigantic _Compositae_, _l.a.b.i.atae_, _Ranunculaceae_, and _Umbelliferae_ were the prevailing forms. There were several large patches of snow in the bed of the lateral torrent which descended from Zoji La, as low down as the log hut; and it was not a little curious to observe, that in spots from which the snow had only recently melted, the willows were just beginning to expand their buds, and the cherry, rhubarb, _Thalictrum_, _Anemone_, _Fragaria_, and other plants of early spring, were in full flower.

[Sidenote: KASHMIR.

_October, 1848._]

In descending the Sind valley towards Kashmir, my route was the same by which I had travelled in April. The mountains on the left were extremely precipitous and heavily snowed, and in a ravine a little below Sonamarg a glacier descended almost to 9000 feet. The lower part of the valley was one sheet of cultivation, chiefly of rice, which was almost ripe. In the neighbourhood of Kashmir, where I arrived on the 5th of October, the season of vegetation was almost at an end; species of _Nepeta_, _Eryngium_, _Daucus_, _Centaurea_, _Carpesium_, and several _Artemisiae_ being the most remarkable of the herbaceous plants remaining. In the lake there were vast groves of _Nelumbium_ leaves, but the flowers and fruit were both past; _Salvinia_ was everywhere floating in great abundance; while the other aquatic plants were species of _Bidens_, _Stachys_, _Mentha_, _Scutellaria_, _Hippuris_, and _Typha_, all European or closely resembling European forms.

Besides rice, which const.i.tutes the staple crop of the valley, the princ.i.p.al grains cultivated in autumn appeared to be different kinds of millet, and a good deal of maize; Indian species of _Phaseolus_ also were common, now nearly ripe. The wheat and barley, which are much earlier, were already above ground. I saw a few fields of _Sesamum_ (the _Til_ of India), and in drier spots a good deal of cotton, which was being picked by hand, but appeared a poor stunted crop, much neglected.

On the high platforms between Pampur and Avantipura the saffron was in flower, and its young leaves were just shooting up. This crop seems a very remunerative one to the Raja, who retains the monopoly in his own hands, compelling the cultivators to sell the produce to him at a fixed price. The bulbs are allowed to remain in the ground throughout the year, and continue in vigour for eight or ten years, after which the produce diminishes so much in quant.i.ty that the beds are broken up, and the bulbs separated and replanted. The flowers are picked towards the end of October, and carried into the town of Kashmir, where the stigmas are extracted.

Another very important product of Kashmir is hemp, which grows spontaneously along the banks of the river, forming dense thickets often twelve and fifteen feet in height, and almost impenetrable. It is only used in the manufacture of an intoxicating drink, and for smoking; and the plant is preserved entire, in store-houses, in the town of Kashmir, till required for consumption.

From Kashmir I proceeded towards the plains of the Punjab by the same route by which I had travelled in May. During my absence in Tibet, the second Sikh war had broken out, and as it was then at its height, it was not easy to reach the British territories. I was therefore detained a good while, first in Kashmir, and afterwards at Jamu, and did not reach Lah.o.r.e till the 16th of December.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Two months later, Captain Strachey ascended the Nubra valley till stopped by this glacier, which appears to be on a still more gigantic scale than those of the Shayuk to the eastward.

[25] Excellent specimens of this singular alpine plant, each tuft of which must, I think, represent the growth of centuries, may be seen in the Museum of the Royal Gardens at Kew, collected by Dr. Hooker in Eastern Tibet.

[26] I have no conjecture to offer regarding the age or nature of this very remarkable rock.

[27] The itinerary of Mir Izzet Ullah shows that at the time of his journey from Le to Yarkand the direct road up the Shayuk was still open.

CHAPTER XV.

General description of Tibet -- Systems of mountains -- Trans-Sutlej Himalaya -- Cis-Sutlej Himalaya -- Kouenlun -- Four Pa.s.ses across Kouenlun -- Boundaries of Western Tibet -- Height of its mountain ranges and pa.s.ses -- Climate of Tibet -- Clouds -- Winds -- Snow-fall -- Glaciers -- Their former greater extension -- Elevation to which they descend -- Snow-level -- Geology -- Lacustrine clay and alluvium.

The elevated country of Central Asia, situated to the north of the lofty snowy mountains which encircle India from Kashmir to a.s.sam, is familiarly known to Europeans by the name of Thibet or Tubet,--most properly, I believe, Tibet. This name is also commonly employed by the Mohammedan nations to the north and west to designate the same country, but is not, so far as I am aware, known in the language of the Tibetans themselves, among whom different portions of the country are usually known by different names.

[Sidenote: BOUNDARIES OF TIBET.]

The whole of Tibet (as far as our present very limited knowledge of the south-east portion enables an opinion to be formed) appears to be characterized by great uniformity of climate and productions, and perhaps also of natural features, on which account it appears convenient to retain the name for the whole country, although, as has already been pointed out by Baron Humboldt[28], it is naturally separable into two grand divisions. One of these, the waters of which collect to join the Sanpu, which in India becomes the Brahmaputra, is still scarcely known; the other, drained princ.i.p.ally by the Indus and its tributaries, has been repeatedly visited by European travellers.

The line of separation between these two portions lies a little to the east of the great lakes[29], from the neighbourhood of which the country must gradually slope in both directions towards the sea.

If the whole of western Tibet formed (as it does, according to the popular opinion on the subject of the countries to the north of the Himalaya) an extensive plain bounded on the south by the great chain of the Himalaya, and on the north by the lofty mountains of Kouenlun, it would be an easy task to define its limits. This is, however, so far from being the case, that the greater part of the surface of the country is traversed in all directions by ranges of mountains in every respect similar to the Himalaya, of which in fact those south of the Indus are ramifications, while those on the north are branches of the snowy chain of Kouenlun.

If, again, the Himalaya formed an uninterrupted chain along the southern border of Tibet, broken only by the pa.s.sage of the Indus at one extremity and by that of the Brahmaputra at the other, the mountainous nature of the interior would be no obstacle to the existence of a clear and distinct boundary. Unfortunately, however, for simplicity of definition, no such chain exists. A line of high snowy peaks may doubtless be traced in a direction nearly parallel to the plains of India, but these are separated from one another by deep ravines, along which flow large and rapid rivers, and therefore afford no tangible line of demarcation between the two countries.

[Sidenote: TRANS-SUTLEJ HIMALAYA.]

Between the river Indus and the plains of north-west India is interposed a mountain tract which has a breadth of about 150 miles in linear distance. This tract is everywhere (with one exception) extremely rugged and mountainous, nor is it at all an easy task to convey an idea of the extreme complication of the ramifications of the numerous ranges of which it consists. No wide plain (Kashmir alone excepted) is interposed between these ranges, so that the only feasible mode of division which appears to be applicable to them is afforded by the course of the different rivers which traverse them in various directions. If these be taken as a guide, the mountains will be found to resolve themselves into two great systems connected to the eastward, but otherwise independent of, though nearly parallel to, one another.

From the sources of the west branch of the Chenab or Chandrabhaga river, a range of very great elevation runs in a north-west direction as far as Kashmir, and, after reaching the north-east corner of that valley, a.s.sumes a more westerly direction so as to encircle the whole of its north side, bending at the same time gradually towards the south. This chain forms the line of separation between the waters of the Indus and those of the Chenab and Jelam. To the eastward of the Baralacha Pa.s.s it ramifies to a considerable extent, its different branches including between them several depressions quite unconnected with the general drainage of the country, and surrounded on all sides by ranges of hills which prevent any exit of their waters. The princ.i.p.al of these depressions is that of lake Chumoreri; another is occupied by the little salt lake first visited by Trebeck, and called by him Thogji[30].

[Sidenote: SALT LAKES.]

All these depressions, though at present unconnected with any of the river systems, have evidently at some former period been so.

Chumoreri, as I am informed by Major Cunningham, is even now very slightly saline, though scarcely perceptibly so to the taste. It has evidently had an outlet at its southern extremity, where it is only separated from the valley of the Parang river by a very low range of hills which was crossed in 1846 by Mr. Agnew, and more recently by Captain H. Strachey. The outlet of the little salt lake of Thogji has evidently been near its north end, and its waters, previous to the change in the state of the country which interrupted their exit, in all probability flowed into that tributary of the Zanskar river which runs to the eastward of the Lachalang pa.s.s, and which is marked in the map accompanying Moorcroft's Travels as the Sumghiel. Major Cunningham, who travelled in 1846 by the same route as that previously followed by Moorcroft, informs me that no obstacle intervenes to prevent the waters of the lake taking that direction in case of their being raised in the lake itself to a height of two or three hundred feet above their present level.

If we consider the basins of these two lakes to be referable to the systems of drainage to which they appear to have formerly belonged, though now separated from them by accidental alterations of level, the course of the mountain chain which I am endeavouring to trace must be considered to run between the two. This is in fact the position of the loftiest part of the chain, which, skirting the north and east sides of Chumoreri, is thence continued in a south-east direction, forming that lofty but little-known range which separates the valley of the Sutlej from that of the Indus. This chain was crossed by Moorcroft on his visit to Garu, and appears to extend uninterruptedly as far as Kailas to the north of lake Manasarawar.

The mountain chain which lies to the south of the river Sutlej may also be considered to have its origin in the lofty country adjoining the lakes, but a little to the south and east of them. This chain, which separates the valley of the Sutlej from that of the Ganges and its tributaries (including the Jumna), sinks at last into the plains of India a little to the south of the town of Nahan.

[Sidenote: CIS-SUTLEJ HIMALAYA.]

The course of this chain has been admirably described by Captain Herbert in his Geological Report of the Himalaya[31], a paper which contains exceedingly accurate general views of the mountains between the Sutlej and Jumna. He was quite unacquainted with the details of the mountains north of the former river, and therefore could not form any idea of their arrangement. Captain Herbert calls the chain south of the Sutlej the Indo-Gangetic chain, a very inappropriate name, for which, however, it is difficult to subst.i.tute a better. Perhaps the name of Cis-Sutlej Himalaya, though not exactly cla.s.sical, is the best that can be devised, and if so, the chain which, commencing in Kailas, separates the waters of the Sutlej from those of the Indus, may not improperly be designated the Trans-Sutlej Himalaya[32].

To these two great chains the whole of the mountains between the Indus and the plains may be referred. Both are of very great elevation, in the eastern half of their course more especially, but that north of the Sutlej is much less covered with snow than the other. This is owing to the moisture-bringing winds, which are entirely derived from the Indian side, being stopped by the chain to the south; and in fact, as soon as the elevation of the latter is so far diminished that it ceases to be covered with perpetual snow, the more northerly chain, without any increase of elevation, becomes much more snowy, so as to merit the appellation of great snowy range, a term which, more to the eastward, is applied to the mountains south of the Sutlej. As several of the princ.i.p.al ramifications of the northern chain attain an elevation not at all inferior to that of the axis from which they are derived, they produce a similar effect upon the climate of the ranges to the north of them, being themselves covered with vast ma.s.ses of snow, while the mountains which they shelter are in a great measure bare.

[Sidenote: KOUENLUN.]

The northern boundary of Tibet is formed by the great chain north of the Indus, to which Humboldt, following Chinese geographers, has given the name of Kouenlun. Our knowledge of the appearance and course of this chain of mountains, by which Tibet is separated from Yarkand and Khoten, is so extremely limited that, except as to its general direction, very little can be said regarding it. The only conclusion which can be drawn from the scanty notices of it by travellers is, that it must be of extreme height and covered with perpetual snow.

Many of the princ.i.p.al ramifications which it sends down towards the Indus are very elevated, and immense glaciers descend in their valleys, so that, except in a very few places, the main chain cannot be seen from the valley of the Shayuk, the mountains in the immediate vicinity of that river in general obstructing the view.