CHAPTER XV.

General description of Tibet -- Systems of mountains -- Trans-Sutlej Himalaya -- Cis-Sutlej Himalaya -- Kouenlun -- Four Passes across Kouenlun -- Boundaries of Western Tibet -- Height of its mountain ranges and passes -- 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 Assam, 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 principally 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 passage 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, assumes 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 Pass 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 principal 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 pass, 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 substitute a better. Perhaps the name of Cis-Sutlej Himalaya, though not exactly classical, 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 principal 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 masses 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 principal 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.

[Sidenote: PASSES ACROSS KOUENLUN.]

I am not aware of more than four places in which passes exist across the Kouenlun. The most westerly of these, called in Balti the pass of the Muztagh, lies at the source of the right branch of the Shigar river, a stream which joins the Indus opposite the town of Iskardo. The road over this pass to Yarkand was formerly frequented by merchants, but has for many years been disused, the reason assigned being the danger of plunder by the hordes of robbers beyond. As described to me by persons who had crossed it, the snow is reached after ten days' journey from Iskardo, and continues during three marches. It is said to be quite impracticable for horses, from which it may, I think, be inferred that there are numerous glaciers.

The second pass is that marked in Vigne's map as the Alibransa pass, at the head of a considerable tributary which joins the Shayuk river opposite Khapalu. The enormous glacier over which this road runs, by which, in conjunction with the lateness of the season, Mr. Vigne's attempts to cross the pass were frustrated, has been well described by that traveller[33]. I did not, while in Tibet, meet with any one who had crossed it, and I was assured by the inhabitants of Nubra that they were not acquainted with any road from the upper part of their valley, either towards Khapalu or towards Yarkand.

The third pass, and the only one now frequented, is that of the Karakoram, an extremely easy though very elevated one. The most easterly pass of which I find any notice occurs on the road between Ruduk and Khoten; it is mentioned by Moorcroft[34], but without any account of the nature of the road, or the elevation of the mountains.

To the westward of Karakoram, the direction of the Kouenlun is seemingly as nearly as possible parallel to the Indus, but to the east of that pass nothing certain is known regarding it. In Humboldt's map it is laid down as running nearly from west to east, on the authority of Chinese geographical works. Its course is unquestionably to the north of the Pangong lake, but till it has been explored by European travellers its direction must, I think, be regarded as involved in much doubt. Another lofty range, however, unquestionably runs parallel to the Indus from south-east to north-west. This range, which is continuous with that by which the Indus and Shayuk rivers are separated, terminates (or more properly originates) in the still almost unknown mass of mountains which lies to the north of lake Manasarawar. Between this chain and the Kouenlun is situated a tract of country of unknown extent, which seems to be made up of a number of isolated lake-basins quite unconnected, not only with one another, but with the general drainage of the country by which they are surrounded.

[Sidenote: PANGONG LAKE.]

If we except the basin of the Pangong lake, into which Moorcroft and Trebeck descended after crossing the range of mountains parallel to the Indus, every part of this country must be viewed as a _terra incognita_. It cannot, I think, be doubted, from the description of the Pangong lake given by Moorcroft and Trebeck, that the basin in which it rests had originally an outlet at its north-west extremity, discharging itself along the valley of Tanktse into the Shayuk. The country to the eastward is so totally unknown, that it is impossible to conjecture whether the little lake-basins of which it is said to consist, discharge themselves towards the Pangong lake, or southward into the Indus.

[Sidenote: BOUNDARIES OF TIBET.]

Western Tibet, then, is a highly mountainous country, lying on both sides of the river Indus, with its longer axis directed like that river from south-east to north-west. It is bounded on the north-east by the Kouenlun chain of mountains, by which it is separated from the basin of Yarkand. On the south-east its boundary is formed by the ridge which separates the waters of the Indus from those of the Sanpu. To the north-west and south-west its boundaries are somewhat arbitrary, unless the political division of the country be had recourse to, which, depending on accidental circumstances entirely unconnected with physical geography or natural productions, is so liable to change, that its adoption would be extremely inconvenient. The best mode of drawing a line of separation between India and Tibet, in those parts where mountain chains are not available for the purpose, appears to consist in regarding the latter to commence only at the point where the aridity of the climate is too great to support forests of trees, or any coniferous tree except juniper.

As limited by these boundaries, West Tibet includes the whole of the valley of the Indus and its tributaries, down to about 6000 feet above the level of the sea, a considerable portion of the upper course of the Sutlej down to between 9000 and 10,000 feet, and small portions of the upper course of the Chenab, of the Ganges (Jahnavi), and of the Gogra.

[Sidenote: MOUNTAIN RANGES.]

Every part of Tibet is traversed by ranges of mountains which have their origin either in the Kouenlun on the north, or in the trans-Sutlej Himalaya on the south. These mountain ranges are generally extremely rocky and rugged, but as a general rule it may be said that they are less so in the upper part of the course of the different rivers, than in their lower parts. This rule applies not only to the Indus and to the Sutlej, but with scarcely an exception to all the tributaries of these rivers. There are no extensive open plains in any part of the country, the only level portions being in the valleys of the rivers, the width of which is usually not more than one or two miles, and very seldom exceeds five miles.

To this general description of the surface of the country I have met with no exception in those parts of Tibet which I have had an opportunity of examining. I have not, however, had an opportunity of seeing the extreme south-west portion, my knowledge of the course of the Indus not extending further up than Hanle[35].

The height of the mountain ranges which traverse West Tibet is in all parts pretty much the same, and, as a consequence, the depth of the valleys in the lower portion of the course of the Indus and of all its tributaries is very much greater than near the sources of these rivers. In the higher valleys therefore the mountains are apparently much less lofty; they are also frequently rounded and sloping, or at all events less rocky and precipitous than lower down, though to this there are many exceptions.

[Sidenote: ELEVATION OF PASSES.]

The elevation of the passes in a mountainous region represents in general the height of the lowest part of the chain. In the mountain ranges of Tibet the average height of the ridges does not exceed from 1000 to 2000 feet above the passes, many of which indeed are scarcely at all lower than the highest crest of the ridge in which they are situated. I believe that in estimating the principal ranges of mountains at 19,000 feet, and the minor ranges at from 17,000 to 18,000 feet, I approximate very closely to the truth. This estimate applies to all parts of the country, the height of the ranges being remarkably uniform; but peaks occur at intervals in every one of the principal mountain ranges, which considerably exceed the elevation just stated, rising very generally (so far as can be judged by the eye from known heights of 17,000 and 18,000 feet) to twenty-one or twenty-two thousand feet; some peaks appearing to exceed even this.

It is generally supposed that the great peaks of the Himalaya on the southern border of Tibet are much more lofty than the mountains of the interior of that country. I do not think, however, that the facts of the case are such as to warrant this assumption. West of the Sutlej, in which district only the mountains of Tibet may be said to be at all known, many peaks of the interior of that country are probably much more lofty than any of those near the plains of India, and if inaccessibility is to be any criterion, the chain of the Kouenlun is beyond a doubt a much more elevated mass than any part of the Western Himalaya. Of Tibet east of the Sutlej little is known, except that between Ruduk and Lassa no road into the interior of Asia appears to exist.

[Sidenote: CLIMATE.]

The climate of Tibet is in every part extremely arid, because it is surrounded almost entirely by ranges of mountains so elevated that the rarefied air which passes over them can contain only a very small proportion of aqueous vapour. Along the Indus, indeed, no mountain chains are interposed to obstruct the passage of moist air, but the lower course of that river lies entirely in a comparatively dry climate, so that the winds which blow over the plains of Sind and the lower mountains of Eastern Affghanistan cannot convey any excess of moisture to lower Tibet. In the few Tibetan valleys which, like that of the Sutlej, are traversed by rivers debouching on the plains of India in a rainy climate, the quantity of moist air which they can receive being limited to that which proceeds directly up the valley, the upward current, even when saturated with moisture at the commencement, being gradually rarefied by the increasing elevation of the river-bed, and meeting with descending currents of cold air in its course, it very early deposits its moisture, first in the form of light showers, afterwards of fog and mist, and in its further progress is just as dry as the air in the more interior parts of the country.

[Sidenote: RAIN-FALL.]

It will probably be long before lengthened registers of meteorological phenomena will be obtained from all the different stages between India and the central parts of Tibet, so as satisfactorily to establish the gradual transition of climate. Till such shall be the case, the best evidence from which to deduce the fact of the alteration of climate, is afforded by the gradual change in the vegetation of the country as one advances towards the interior. Direct observation will probably at some future period fix the point in the outer Himalaya, at which the quantity of rain--always greater, _cæteris paribus_, among mountains than in level countries--is a maximum. I believe that in the Western Himalaya the greatest quantity of rain will be found to fall on mountains elevated from seven to nine thousand feet. Ranges of mountains which attain an elevation of from ten to eleven thousand feet have already (in the Western Himalaya) a very sensible effect in diminishing the quantity of moisture, as indicated by the vegetation; and when the mountain chains became sufficiently elevated to be capped by perpetual snow, they condense a very great proportion of the moisture of the air-currents which pass over them.

To a traveller who penetrates directly to the Tibetan interior from the plains of India, the change of climate is perceptible to the senses; most markedly so of course if his journey occurs during the Indian rainy season. Even during the rains, however, the irregularities which everywhere occur in the fall of rain prevent the gradations of climate from being ascertained during a journey with the precision which a lengthened series of observations would permit; but the phenomena of vegetable life, which are dependent on the average seasons, are not affected by accidental irregularities, and therefore form an unerring guide.

[Sidenote: CLOUDS.]

Though the climate of the whole of Western Tibet may, in general, be characterized as extremely dry, it is by no means cloudless. The winter months in particular are often very cloudy, and a good deal of snow falls. During the summer the sky is either bright and clear, or overcast with very light clouds. These clouds, usually cirrhi, are in general elevated and extremely thin. The cirrhus, when it remains for any length of time, changes or increases into a uniform hazy stratum, which covers the whole sky; more rarely, and perhaps only by an optical deception, it is seen under the form of stratus. Cumuli are very uncommon. After several dull days the clouds generally accumulate, descend lower in the atmosphere, and rest on the mountain; as a few drops of rain fall in the valleys, the clouds disappear, and the highest peaks are seen to have received a slight sprinkling of snow, which is soon melted by the rays of the sun. It is only very rarely that the quantity of rain exceeds a few drops, or merits the appellation of a shower. The few occasions on which I have observed any fall of rain, at all deserving of being called by that name, have mostly been in early spring or in the latter part of autumn.

[Sidenote: TEMPERATURE.]

When the sky is clear, the sun, in all parts of Tibet, even at great elevations, but especially in the valleys at and below ten and eleven thousand feet, is extremely powerful. The shade temperature depends, of course, in a great measure on the elevation above the level of the sea, but also on the situation, exposure, and many other accidental circumstances. In the lower part of the Indus valley, at elevations of seven and eight thousand feet, it is said to be frequently very high[36], the clear dry atmosphere allowing the full influence of the sun to be exerted on the bare, often black rocks. Even as far up as 11,000 feet, in narrow valleys, the heat is often great in the middle of the day, but the more open plains are generally very temperate in the shade, and the nights and mornings are always cool.

On the tops of the lower passes, and in the alpine valleys, the temperature of the nights and mornings is, in clear weather, very much depressed by radiation, so that the mornings, except when the sky is overcast, are intensely frosty, at elevations of 15,000 and 16,000 feet, or far below the level of perpetual snow. This is the case even in the month of August, which is the hottest of the year. The shade temperature at these high elevations rarely rises very high, even when the heat of the sun is oppressive, as it is moderated by the action of the violent winds which so generally prevail.

The periods of cloudy sky, which now and then alternate with the bright sunshine, which is the prevailing weather, are in the alpine regions extremely cold. The stratum of cloud, at first high in the atmosphere, gradually lowers itself, and the traveller is enveloped in a frozen mist, followed most commonly during the night by a fall of snow. The quantity of snow which falls is very small, seldom, so far as I have seen, more than an inch or two in depth, and it speedily disappears as soon as the clouds have been dissipated and the sky resumes its usual serenity.

[Sidenote: WINDS.]

The whole of Western Tibet is subject to extremely violent winds, the course and direction of which could only be satisfactorily studied by a resident. From the great depth of the valleys, the wind in general follows their course, blowing at one time up them, at other times down. In unsettled weather the direction is extremely variable, often changing repeatedly in the course of the day, but in clear settled weather the direction of the wind is, during the day at least, more frequently up the valleys than in the contrary direction. I have not observed any constancy in the course of the wind on the passes, on which it would be principally important to be acquainted with it, but it probably varies in direction according to the period of the day, so that a traveller, whose time does not permit him to delay to register the changes as they occur, is not likely to be able to discover any general law.

The Tibetan wind, in the ordinary state of the atmosphere, commences after the sun has nearly attained the meridian, the mornings being in general quite calm. It increases in violence during the afternoon, sometimes till after sunset, ceasing to blow after dark, or at all events before midnight. This wind seems to be pretty constant over the whole country, from the upper Sutlej as far west as Rondu; and as a very similar wind blows in the valleys of Affghanistan, which have an identical summer climate in respect of moisture, it must, I presume, be caused by the influence of the sun, in heating the barren rocky plains and hills.

During periods of cloud, and throughout the winter, the wind is much less regular in its direction, as well as in the periods during which it blows. It frequently changes its direction very abruptly. About the equinoxes, or at the commencement and end of winter, at which times there seems to be generally a good deal of unsettled weather, it blows for some days with extreme violence. In March, 1848, at Iskardo, for several nights the wind almost amounted to a hurricane; its direction was from the south, or directly across the mountains. This was very commonly the case at Iskardo, in unsettled weather, during the winter, but never when the days were bright and cloudless.

[Sidenote: SNOW-FALL.]

The amount of snow-fall varies much, diminishing as we advance into the interior of the country, but being always much greater on the mountains than in the valleys at their feet. In the outer Himalaya, the amount at equal distances from the plains diminishes as we advance westward, but in the Kouenlun, where the source of moisture lies to the westward, the snow-fall diminishes rapidly from west to east. The same is the case in the valley of the Indus, where the amount of winter's snow, except in the most westerly parts, is quite insignificant.

It is probably owing to the absence of cumular clouds, and to the general uniform expansion of the condensed vapours over the whole sky, that the outward manifestations of electricity--thunderstorms--are of very rare occurrence in Tibet. I find only one instance of a thunderstorm recorded as having been observed while I was in a Tibetan climate. This was at Le, in September, 1848, at which time there was a good deal of cloudy weather for several days. From the extreme dryness of the air, electricity is evolved with great facility by friction: all articles of woollen clothing, blankets, and even the hair, emit sparks when rubbed in the dark. I have even observed this to be the case at the elevation of 15,500 feet, in cloudy weather, when snow was falling.

[Sidenote: GLACIERS.]

In every part of the Himalaya, and of Western Tibet, wherever the mountains attain a sufficient elevation to be covered with perpetual snow, glaciers are to be found. The occurrence of glacial ice is a sufficient indication of the existence of snow of more than one year's duration, and (setting aside trifling cases of masses of ice in deep and sunless ravines, which, indeed, are not an exception, as they have no motion,) it may be laid down as a general law, that every glacier has its origin in perpetual snow.

The converse of this proposition does not seem to be so universal. We have the high authority of Humboldt for the fact, that no glaciers occur in the Andes of tropical America, from the equator to 19° north latitude. Nor is it, I think, possible that the existence of glaciers should have escaped his notice, did they occur of such dimensions as would be indicated by the solitary and doubtful instance mentioned by M. Boussingault, to which Humboldt refers[37], which is stated to have been seen at the same elevation as the town of Quito, or more than 5500 feet below the level of perpetual snow in that region of the Andes. The cause of the non-existence of masses of moving ice, in connection with the perpetual snow of the American tropics, must apparently be sought in the extreme uniformity of the seasons, and in the small quantity of snow which falls at any time of the year.

In every region of the earth, so far as is known to me, where the mean temperatures of summer and winter are very different, or where the climate is what is called excessive, perpetual snow produces glaciers. These rivers of ice, as they have most appropriately been called, vary very much in size and appearance. In the lofty chains of the cis- and trans-Sutlej Himalaya, and of the Kouenlun, whose peaks rise to a very great height, and collect in winter enormous depths of snow, they are of great length. In the central parts of Tibet, which are often lower, and even in their loftiest parts are less snowy than the bounding chains, the glaciers are of inferior dimensions, often of that kind which I have called incipient, where the snow-bed is at once cut off abruptly in an ice cliff, which can hardly be said to be in motion, or rather whose motion must be almost entirely from above downwards.

The general appearance of an Indian glacier seems in every respect to accord with those of Switzerland and of other parts of the temperate zone. It is only of late years, indeed, that they have been generally recognized in the Himalaya; but it must not be forgotten that it is only recently that the researches of modern investigators, and in particular the delightful work of Forbes, have familiarized the untravelled world with their appearance, and more especially with the fact and cause of their motion. It has also, singularly enough, long been the custom to look upon the Himalaya as a tropical range of mountains, in which it was, as a matter of course, regarded as impossible that glaciers could exist[38].

The upper end or origin of a glacier seems commonly to be in an enormous snow-bed, occupying the whole space included by an amphitheatre of snowy peaks. The snow-slips and accumulations by which the snow-bed is added to during winter, must to a great extent remain concealed from human eyes; and in summer, when these icy fields are accessible, they are generally, I believe I may say always, covered by a thick layer of snow, which assists at the same time that it conceals the process by which the snow is converted into ice.

I have never measured the dimensions of any of the great glaciers of the Himalaya, nor is it easy to ascertain the length of any of them even approximately, as they are seldom traversed by roads, and are usually bent so that only a small part of their course can be seen. Many of them must considerably exceed ten miles in length; I have seen several which were more than half a mile broad; and the depth of the icy mass frequently amounts to hundreds of feet.

The appearance of the surface of a glacier seems to depend almost entirely on the inclination of its bed. Where the slope is gentle the surface is nearly uniformly smooth, or at most only slightly fissured. I have not had occasion to observe any fissures of more than a foot or two in width, so that, though often very deep, they are crossed without difficulty. In describing the icy surface as smooth, it is necessary to mention that such is only the case in the upper part of the glacier, where the moraines are small or only lateral. Whenever the surface supports rocky fragments in great quantity, it is extremely unequal till such time as the whole superficies becomes covered with stones, when the melting being uniform, the surface again becomes tolerably even.

On steeply inclined planes the glacier is traversed in every direction by enormous fissures, between which the surface is very irregular, rising into sharp icy pinnacles of the most fantastic shape and appearance. More than once I have seen extremely steeply sloping glaciers, which were terminated abruptly by a lofty precipice, at the bottom of which huge piles of boulders and occasional icy fragments sufficiently indicated the forward motion of the ice; at other times, the slope of the valley in which the glacier lies again becoming gentle, the ice ceases to be fissured and rugged, and is capable of being walked on without difficulty.

Moraines, which, on the larger glaciers and among mountains of easily decaying rocks, are of astonishing dimensions, form the margins of each glacier, and also occur longitudinally on different parts of their surface, increasing in number as the glacier advances, till at last the different series whose origin can long be traced to the different ramifications of the glacier, become blended into one. The nature, origin, and aspect of the moraines, the mode of melting of the ice beneath them, and the isolated pinnacles of ice which support large solitary boulders, agree so entirely with descriptions of glaciers in other parts of the world, that it is unnecessary to dwell upon them. The large glaciers are often a good deal lower in their central parts than where they are covered by a bulky moraine; and a curious ravine-like hollow, between the moraine and the bare ice, which makes the former appear as if entirely disconnected from the glacier, is of very common occurrence. There is, however, also very often an ancient moraine, not now resting on ice, which runs parallel to the glacier, and seems to indicate its former greater extent.

[Sidenote: FORMER GREATER EXTENSION OF GLACIERS.]

In every part of the Tibetan mountains, and in very many parts of the Indian Himalaya, I have thought that I could recognize unmistakeable proofs of all the valleys having been formerly occupied by glaciers at much lower levels than at present. At first sight it seems rather improbable, that in sub-tropical latitudes the present extension of perpetual snow should at any former period have been exceeded; but it would not be difficult to show that the mean temperature, and particularly the mean summer temperature, is very much higher in the Western Himalaya and Tibet than it might fairly be expected to be in such a latitude. In fact, in the more humid climate of Eastern Bengal, though at least four degrees nearer to the equator, the mean summer temperature at equal elevations in the mountains is probably considerably lower than in the mountains of North-west India, and the snow-level is certainly lower. It is fair, therefore, to conclude, looking back to a period when the sea washed the base of the Himalaya in the upper part of the Punjab, that at that period a very different state of atmospheric circumstances prevailed from that which we find at the present time.

Wherever I have seen glaciers in Tibet or the mountains of India, I have been able to trace their moraines to a level very considerably lower than their present termination; and when I find in those ranges of the Himalaya which do not at present attain a sufficient elevation to be covered with perpetual snow, series of angular blocks, evidently transported, because different from the rocks which occur _in situ_, and, so far as I can judge, exactly analogous in position to the moraines of present glaciers, I feel myself warranted in concluding that they are of glacial origin, and find it necessary to look about for causes which should render it probable that the snow-level should have formerly been lower than it is at present. In the rainy districts of the Himalaya, where forest covers the slopes of the hills, it is difficult to fix the lowest limits at which evident moraines occur, but in many places I have seen them at least three thousand feet lower than the terminations of the present glaciers. In the valley of the Indus, accumulations of boulders, which I believe to be moraines, occur in Rondu as low as 6000 feet.

Glaciers, as is well known, terminate inferiorly at the point where the waste by melting in any given time begins to exceed in amount the mass of solid ice which is in the same space of time pushed forward by the _vis à tergo_. In the mountains of Tibet the elevation of this point is very different in different places. It seems to depend principally on the mass of the glacier, as large glaciers invariably descend much lower than those of smaller size; the inclination of the bed has perhaps also some influence in determining the matter.

In comparing the glaciers of the Tibetan Himalaya with those on the Indian face of the same mountains, it will be found that, _cæteris paribus_, glaciers descend much lower on the Indian side, or in a moist climate, than in the dry and arid Tibetan climate. It is indeed impossible to ascertain with certainty that any two glaciers are of equal size, but it appears to me sufficiently accurate to compare the main glaciers on the opposite sides of the same pass. In the Umasi pass, which is situated in the main chain of the trans-Sutlej Himalaya, all the circumstances seem favourable for comparison. On the south side of this pass the principal glacier terminates at about 11,500 feet, while on the north side a much more massive glacier comes to an end abruptly at 14,000 feet. The difference then, on opposite sides of the same pass, where the pass coincides with the line of transition of climate, amounts to 2500 feet.

That I am justified in ascribing the cause of this difference to the change of climate appears from the fact, that in the interior of Tibet, where no such change is observed in crossing even very lofty passes, there is frequently a glacier on the north declivity when none exists on the south. This is the case, for instance, on the Parang pass, and on the pass immediately north of Le. It may therefore be inferred, that when glaciers occur on both sides of a pass, that on the northern exposure will, unless there be a marked alteration of climate, invariably descend lower than that on the south side. I have not had an opportunity of seeing glaciers on both sides of any pass in the most external ranges of the Himalaya, but I have been informed that in the range south of the Chenab river, glaciers frequently occur on the north sides of the passes, while none exist towards the south. If this were to be found universally the case, it would be an additional proof that the lower descent of glaciers on the south or Indian side of the mountain chain is an exceptional occurrence.

[Sidenote: GLACIERS OF KOUENLUN.]

The glaciers of the southern slope of the Kouenlun appear, from the descriptions of travellers, to be on a still more gigantic scale than those of the Himalaya. Five mountain ranges of great height, separated from one another by rivers of great size, descend from the axis of that chain towards the Indus and Shayuk, and attain so great an elevation, that, with scarcely an exception, there is no passage from one of these lateral valleys to another. All these ranges rise far above the line of perpetual snow, and in their valleys enormous glaciers descend to a level which is gradually lower as we advance westward in the direction of the source of the rain- and snow-fall. The range east of the Shayuk has comparatively few and small glaciers, but to the west of that river the glaciers of Sassar terminate at about 15,000 feet. A little further west, a glacier, overhanging the valley of Nubra, terminates at 14,700 feet, and the great glacier of Nubra was found, by Captain Strachey, to terminate at 13,000 feet. In the range between Nubra and the Machulu again there are vast glaciers, but their height has not been determined, nor do we know precisely to what level those of the Shigar valley descend; though it is evident, from their proximity to the main valley, and their small distance from Shigar, which is not more than 7200 feet above the level of the sea, that they must descend very low, perhaps to 10,000 feet. In the valley of Gilgit, I am informed by Mr. Winterbottom, the glaciers descend as low as 8000 feet.

[Sidenote: LEVEL OF PERPETUAL SNOW.]

In the mountains further east than the Shayuk it would appear that the snow-fall is so very small that the level of perpetual snow recedes to an enormous height. This has been found to be the case on the passes north of the Pangong lake, many of which were crossed by Captain H. Strachey. The great height of the mountains without snow, east of the Karakoram pass, confirms the fact; and it is probable, so rapidly does the snow-level rise in advancing eastward, that if we could penetrate a very short distance beyond the eastern extremity of the Pangong lake, an absolutely dry country might be reached, in which rain or snow never falls.

So much error has unfortunately taken place regarding the height above which the mountains of North-west India are covered with perpetual snow, that it appears necessary that travellers should put upon record the results of their observations, however limited. It is for this reason, and not because I expect to throw much additional light on the subject, that the following remarks are hazarded. The recent paper of Captain R. Strachey[39] has furnished facts which had hitherto been wanting, while the theoretical considerations which have been laid down by Humboldt are so accurate and comprehensive, that the undoubted mistake into which he has fallen is the more to be regretted.

The Indian and Tibetan Himalaya, west of Nipal, lies entirely within the temperate zone, and from that circumstance has its year divided into summer and winter. The periodical rains, which it is well known are principally confined to the outermost parts of the mountains, being derived from the Bay of Bengal, are excessive in the easternmost part of the chain, and gradually diminish as we advance westward; there is no reason, however, to believe that the winter monsoon, which is particularly dwelt upon by Captain Strachey in the valuable paper to which I have had occasion to refer, is so. Probably indeed it is the reverse, though I have no detailed observations to refer to in corroboration of this opinion; I may however recall to mind, that the winter is the season of heavy snow, and the spring of heavy rain, throughout the north of Affghanistan, and that in the Punjab frequent cloudy weather and rain occurs during the cold season, while in the plains of India the weather seems to become at that period less unsettled as we advance eastward.

The quantity of rain which falls during the summer in the outer Himalaya has necessarily a very material influence on the sun's action during the time in which he has most power, and therefore on the mean temperature of the summer months, which at corresponding elevations, notwithstanding the northing of the chain as we advance from east to west, must be higher to the westward. In the interior or Tibetan portion of the Himalaya, this difference is not observed, the climate being the same, or nearly so, from east to west of the region under consideration.

[Sidenote: WINTER, THE SEASON OF SNOW.]

In the most western part of the Himalaya, in Kashmir and Balti, the winter's fall of snow commences about the beginning of December, and continues on the highest ranges nearly to the beginning of May. The supply of moisture from which the snow is condensed is evidently derived from the Indian seas, and I suppose principally from the south-west, that being the general direction from which I observed snow-storms to arrive at Iskardo. The fall of snow must therefore, equally with that of rain in the rainy season, be greatest in the outermost (snowy) ranges, and very much less in all those in the interior. In the lower parts of Tibet on the Indus the snow-fall during winter is very considerable, though during summer the climate is as dry as elsewhere in Tibet. This difference seems to be explained by the westerly point from which the winter's wind blows, and by the much greater moisture of the atmosphere at that season over Affghanistan and Sind, so that the south-west wind advances loaded with vapour up the valley of the Indus. The increase of elevation in the bed of that river of course causes all the excess of moisture to be deposited without penetrating to any great distance, so that the more eastern parts of the country are not affected by this cause.

The snowy season in the highest mountains is probably in every part of the range very much the same. On the low outer ranges, which do not attain the height of perpetual snow, it is gradually lessened in duration as the elevation diminishes, ceasing entirely, in average years, at about 4000 feet. When the winter is at an end, the influence of a powerful sun and gradually increasing temperature is at once brought to bear on the mass of snow which has fallen; on the inner ranges where the summer is dry, this action proceeds uninterruptedly till the commencement of the next winter, but on the outermost snowy ranges it is modified by the access of the rainy season.

[Sidenote: MELTING OF SNOW IN SUMMER.]

On the outer ranges of the Himalaya, the crests of which rise to between five and ten thousand feet, the powerful sun soon dissipates all snow. It is in the inner ranges, which rise nearly to the height of perpetual snow, and where the river-beds are from six to eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, that the snow remains for a great length of time. When the valleys are open, the plain on the banks of the stream becomes first of all bare of snow, then the banks which face the south, and lastly the northern slopes. It is not so, however, in the deep narrow valleys and ravines through which the Himalayan rivers generally flow. In these the bottom of the glen is so much sheltered from the sun that a dense mass of snow, the result of accumulation from the avalanches of the winter, remains for a very long time after both slopes are quite bare of snow. These _snow-beds_ have nothing of the nature of a glacier in them, but are simply firm, hard snow. I have, in the month of June, descended along one of them from 13,000 feet (above which height there was perhaps a glacier beneath), to 8500 feet, a distance of seven miles without a break. It was entirely confined to the bottom of the ravine, both banks being throughout all that distance free of snow, and often covered with a most luxuriant herbage.

[Sidenote: SNOW-BEDS IN RAVINES.]

Similar snow-beds are to be seen in every ravine which is not too wide to be choked up by snow in winter. Their occurrence so universally is probably in a great measure the reason why glaciers were not recognized in our Indian mountains till so recent a period. These beds being so clearly transitory in existence, it was assumed that all masses of snow and ice were equally so. A visit to one of the great glaciers at the end of autumn would of course at once have indicated the dissimilarity.

In many narrow ravines remains of these snow-beds may be seen at surprisingly low elevations throughout the year, their permanence depending much more on the amount of the winter's fall of snow, and of the accumulation in that particular locality, than upon the mean or summer temperature of the place. At Baltal, in the upper part of the Sind valley in Kashmir, the little stream which descends from the Zoji pass was still arched over by a bed of snow several feet thick, in the end of September, at an elevation of not more than 9500 feet. This was not, as might have been expected, in a very shady spot, but fully exposed to the action of the sun; it was, however, in a place where the fall of snow during winter is very great.

The causes which are enumerated by Baron Humboldt as affecting the snow-level are numerous, but several are of only local effect. Two in addition to the latitude seem more important than the others, namely, the amount of fall during winter, and the amount of solar heat during summer. Captain R. Strachey regards the diminished amount of the winter's fall of snow as the main cause of the greater height of the snow-line in the interior of the Himalaya, but I feel disposed to believe that both causes co-operate equally to produce the effect.

[Sidenote: LEVEL OF PERPETUAL SNOW.]

Captain R. Strachey has estimated (from the mean of several observations) the snow-level on the southern slope of the cis-Sutlej Himalaya at 15,500 feet. This elevation is, no doubt, as near as possible correct. Captain Herbert, in his geological report, had fixed upon 15,000 feet, which is a little too low even in the district of Basehir, to which his estimate, I believe, refers. In the trans-Sutlej Himalaya, from the diminished amount of summer cloudy weather, the snow-level is probably a little higher, but we are not yet in possession of any accurate determinations of heights in that range in those parts which are in close contact with the plains of India. Two of its ramifications are extremely well adapted for determining the height of perpetual snow. First, the Chumba range, which, as has been pointed out to me by Major Cunningham, is barely snow-tipped throughout the year; and second, the Pir Panjal range south of Kashmir, the northern slopes of which have perpetual snow and glaciers, while on the south side the snow has entirely melted before the end of summer. The elevation of the Pir Panjal has not been determined with accuracy, the heights given by Baron Hügel and by Mr. Vigne being estimated from their measurement of the pass over which they crossed[40].

[Sidenote: SNOW-LEVEL IN TIBET.]

In the interior of north-west Tibet every principal range attains the elevation of perpetual snow, but only a few peaks rise much above it. There is therefore no very great mass of snow during the summer months to lower the temperature of the air, and consequently circumstances are the most favourable possible for the elevation of the snow-line to an extreme degree; a dry, stony, desert, treeless country, violent winds, clear sky, and powerful sun, being all combined. In the most central part of the country, the Lanak pass, near Hanle, and the Sabu pass, near Le, both elevated as nearly as possible 18,000 feet, are without perpetual snow, but the Parang pass, between 18,400 and 18,600 feet, has a glacier on its north face, and therefore exceeds in elevation the snow-line. The snow-level in central Tibet must therefore be sought between these heights, but nearer that of the Parang pass, which has no perpetual snow towards the south: it is, therefore, certainly not below 18,000 feet.

In the Kouenlun, on the northern border of Tibet, where the mountains are again much more elevated, the snow-level descends no lower. Even on the 19th and 20th of August, the mass of snow, which was on the northern face of its highest peaks continuous down from 20,000 feet and upwards, did not descend below 17,500 feet, and the open level plain of the upper Shayuk had at that height only trifling patches of snow. On the Karakoram pass (18,200 feet) there were only large patches of snow, the south face of the ridge being quite bare for some distance in both directions.

[Sidenote: LEVEL ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF PASSES.]

The _vexata quæstio_ of the difference of the level at which snow lies on the north and south slopes of the Himalaya, affords a singular instance of misconception. Enunciated originally in an obscure and somewhat incorrect form, when little was known of the structure of the inner part of the chain, the fact has been repeatedly contradicted by those who thought they found it contrary to their experience. Both parties were to a certain extent right. On each individual range the snow-level will at all times be found lower on the north face than on the south, except when the range which we are crossing happens to coincide with a very marked and abrupt change of climate, which will only be the case when it is extremely elevated. When this is the case, the proposition, otherwise true of the mountains _en masse_, or the inner ranges compared with the outer, becomes applicable to a particular range. This is probably the case in the very pass in Kamaon (I know not which it was) from which the law was first inferred. It is certainly so in the great passes north of the Chenab, where, on the Indian face, I found in June snow at 11,500 feet, while on the north side, only twenty miles distant, it had already receded beyond 15,000 feet.

From the rapid nature of my journey, and the great number of objects to which I was obliged to devote my attention, the geological observations which I was enabled to make were much more imperfect than I could have wished. It appeared, however, desirable, hurried as they were, to enumerate them, for the purpose of drawing the attention of future travellers to the subject; and for the same reason I shall here recapitulate the general conclusions which appear to result from the facts observed.

[Sidenote: GEOLOGY OF TIBET.]

The greater part of Tibet consists of plutonic and metamorphic rocks; and from the gigantic scale on which the sections are exposed, and the general bareness of the mountains, which enables their structure to be seen, that country probably presents the finest field in which these classes of rocks could be studied. Granite occurs in great abundance, sending immense veins in all directions into the metamorphic rocks, which are seen to be everywhere upheaved and dislocated by the injected mass. In the immediate vicinity of the plutonic masses, all traces of the direction of the strata of the superposed rocks are lost; but elsewhere, with every variety of dip, it is very generally found that the stratified rocks strike in a direction which varies between north-west and south-east, and north-north-west and south-south-east. As all my observations were made roughly and unconnectedly, and without my discovering this identity till after my return to India, the strike is probably very uniform throughout a great extent of country.

It is not a little remarkable that a belt twenty miles wide, in the direction of this line of strike, drawn from Iskardo to the Niti pass, would cover every place south of the Indus in which limestone has been observed in Tibet. It would pass through Molbil on the Pashkyum river, the limestone districts of Zanskar, and the Lachalang pass, where limestone was found by Gerard. It would also cover Piti, Hangarang, and Bekhar, all well-known limestone tracts. Of course the limestones of Nubra and the Karakoram on the one hand, and of Kashmir on the other, cannot in any way be connected with this line.

The sandstones, slates, and conglomerates, which so closely resemble in appearance those rocks which in Europe are chiefly members of the old red sandstone and greywacke series, appear to assume also the same direction. I bring forward these coincidences of direction only as a remarkable fact, worthy of investigation, without attaching any great weight to them, as more careful observation may show that they are merely accidental, and that rocks of very different ages exist among the limestones and associated rocks of the northern Himalaya.

[Sidenote: ALLUVIAL AND LACUSTRINE DEPOSIT.]

The great extent and development of a very modern alluvium-like formation, composed of great masses of clay with boulders, and occasionally of very fine laminated clay, constitutes one of the most remarkable and striking features of Western Tibet. In every part through which I have travelled, and at all elevations, except on the highest passes, I have found these deposits in greater or less quantity. In their most common state they consist of loose earthy or clayey unstratified masses, containing boulders either angular or rounded. Very fine clay, distinctly and horizontally stratified, is also common; sandstone and hardened conglomerate are more rare, but also occur occasionally.

That some of these beds are of lacustrine origin, the occurrence of fresh-water shells appears to prove very clearly; and though here and there small portions may be terrestrial and of glacial origin, it cannot, I think, be doubted that the great mass of the boulder clay was deposited under water.

In the structure of Scotland at the present day we have a state of circumstances which appears to me capable of throwing much light on the nature of these deposits. We find there a series of narrow arms of the sea, stretching far into the land, and separated by rugged and generally steep ranges of metamorphic or plutonic rocks. They are all more or less silted up by sedimentary matter, and near their mouths, especially where, as is often the case, they are much contracted, we generally find a bar, shallower than the remainder. At various elevations above the sea-level again there is a series of fresh-water lakes, differing little in aspect from the arms of the sea. We find also in many parts of the Highlands of Scotland long valleys, nearly level, which are filled with incoherent sedimentary deposits, and bounded like the lochs by steep mountains. If these were formerly arms of the sea, which by the elevation of the land have been converted into dry land, then the fresh-water lakes probably occupy those parts of the narrow channels which were originally deepest, or which, being wider than the rest, have remained unoccupied by sedimentary matter at the time of the elevation. In conformity with this view we find that at the lower end of these lakes the mountains generally approach very close to one another.

If we were to suppose the gradual elevation of Scotland to continue till the mountains attained an elevation equal to that of the Himalaya, it is evident that a continued series of marine sedimentary deposits would extend from the summit to the sea-level, unless removed by the action of streams or other ordinary causes. Some of the valleys would be of considerable width, and would contain marine fossils in great abundance; but in the narrower mountain valleys the gravel and boulders would be quite destitute of fossils. Here and there fresh-water formations of partial extent would occur, but they would be separated from one another by large tracts filled with marine beds. The gradual elevation of the land would bring to bear upon these incoherent strata the powerful action of running water, which would remove portion after portion, till at last deep valleys would be excavated, and small patches only of the gravel and clay would remain where the action of the streams was least powerful. Such I conceive to be the present state of Tibet, but a much more detailed investigation of that remarkable country would be necessary, before this view can be regarded in any other light than an hypothesis.

The causes by which the metamorphic rocks, which must have been brought into their present remarkable state at a great depth in the interior of the globe, acquired their present configuration of mountain and valley, form a question on which I am not now prepared to enter. One continued process of elevation seems inadequate to produce the observed effects; but however numerous the alternations of elevation and depression may have been, it is evident that the alluvial deposits at present existing must all be referable to the last period of elevation, as such incoherent strata could not withstand the continued action of the sea.

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Asie Centrale, vol. i. p. 14.

[29] Manasarawar and Rawan Rhad.

[30] Moorcroft's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 47-50.

[31] Journal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, 1842, No. 126. Captain Herbert, who had travelled a great deal in the Himalaya, was the first to point out the impropriety of regarding these mountains as a single chain parallel to the plains of India. Jacquemont also arrived at the same conclusion, as will be seen from the following extract from his journal:--"Le langage de la géographie descriptive est théorique; c'est une grande faute si les théories qu'il rappelle sans cesse sont dénuées de fondement. Ainsi l'on dit que le Setludje _coupe_ la chaîne centrale de l'Himalaya, que sa vallée est creusée au travers, etc., etc., et l'on donne à penser par là que cette chaîne auparavant etait continue et que c'est par un effort des eaux que s'y est faite cette large trouée, comme si les montagnes avaient dû se former primitivement avec une continuité non interrompue" (vol. ii. p. 201); and again (at p. 269), "Le Setludje coule donc non au nord de l'Himalaya, mais entre deux chaînes à peu près également élevées."

[32] Captain R. Strachey, in his paper on the snow-level, proposes to call the more western part of the Cis-Sutlej Himalaya the Busehir range, a name which, though exceedingly appropriate to the portion to which he applies it, is not adapted for extension to the more eastern part.

[33] Travels in Kashmir, etc., vol. ii. p. 382.

[34] Travels, vol. i. p. 361.

[35] That Tibet is not an extensive plain, according to the usual idea, has already been pointed out by Humboldt (Asie Centrale, vol. i. p. 12). Chinese geographers, according to him, describe all parts of Tibet as more or less mountainous; the eastern portion of West Tibet (Gnari) as least so. Captain H. Strachey, in his account of his visit to lake Manasarawar, says expressly that "the surface of Gnari is for the most part extremely mountainous." In the lower Tibetan course of the Sutlej, the recent discoveries of Captain Strachey show that an alluvial table-land of considerable extent exists, intersected by deep ravines.

[36] See some observations of the thermometer recorded by Mr. Vigne, at Iskardo, Khapalu, etc.

[37] Asie Centrale, vol. iii. p. 22.

[38] In the Map No. 65 of the Survey of the Western Himalaya, by Captains Hodgson and Herbert, the glacier of Gangutri is marked "Great snow-bed _or glacier_;" but whether this indication of a knowledge of the true nature of the mass is due to the surveyors or to the maker of the map in England, I have no means at present of ascertaining.

[39] On the Snow-level in the Himalaya, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta.

[40] The thermometric results obtained by these two travellers do not agree with one another. M. Hügel's thermometer indicated 6300 feet for the elevation of Kashmir, a result which is known from the barometric observations of Jacquemont to be 1000 feet in excess. Mr. Vigne's thermometer, when tested by Moorcroft's barometric results at Le, errs considerably in the opposite direction. In neither case do I know the mode of calculation employed, the results only being given.

INDEX.

Abadan, 209.

Adenocaulon Himalaicum, 47.

Agricultural processes at Iskardo, 259.

" " Le, 443.

Alibransa pass, 463.

Alluvial deposits of Chango, 112.

" " Chorbat, 206.

" " Dankar, 125.

" " Dras valley, 448.

" " Indus below Le, 391.

" " Karakoram, 433, 438.

" " Kardong, 398.

" " Kyuri, 117.

" " Landar valley, 309.

" " Lio, 107.

" " Molbil, 446.

" " Nubra, 196.

" " Phatu pass, 445.

" " Phutaksha, 382.

" " Piti valley, 122.

" " Rondu, 254.

" " Shayuk valley, 190.

" " Shigar valley, 262.

" " Sungnam, 97.

" " Tibet, 491.

" " Tolti, 232.

" " Zanskar, 369.

Alsine, tufted, 426.

Asdhari, 347.

Avalanches in Dras, 265.

" " Kashmir, 271.

" " Rondu, 253.

Badarwar, 329.

Balanophora, 47.

Ballota, 306.

Baltal, 269, 452.

Banahal pass, 297.

" valley, 299.

Bardar pass, 355.

Basehir, 51.

Baspa river, 75.

Berberry of Tibet, 211.

Bijbehara, 294.

Bilergu, 265.

Boghdan, 204.

Borax plain of Pugha, 166.

Borendo pass, 75.

Braghar, 213.

Buddhist edifices at Le, 183.

" temple at Nako, 109.

Buju, 334.

Burang pass, 75.

Butna river, 348.

Caper, wild, of Sutlej valley, 88.

Caragana versicolor, 99, 156.

Cedrus Deodara, 19.

Celtis, 282.

Chakor, or painted partridge, 261.

Chamba, 335.

Changlung, 409.

Changar, 113.

Chango, 112.

Changrang pass, 113.

Changrezing, 113.

Chashut, 181.

Chatargarh, 348.

" district, 346.

Chegaon, 69.

Chenab valley, 301, 345.

Chinese frontier, direction of, 143.

" " stoppage on, 116.

Chini, 78.

Chirasa, 196.

Chishot, 349.

Chloris, species of, in Nubra, 402.

Chorbat, 204.

Christolea, 114, 144.

Chulungka, 207.

Chumoreri, 140, 459.

Cicer microphyllum, 371.

Climate of Dras, 450.

" Chatargarh, 345.

" Iskardo in winter, 243.

" Kashmir, 282.

" Kunawar, 71.

" Le in September, 443.

" Pashkyum, 446.

" Piti, 128.

" Simla, 21.

" Tibet, 468.

" Zanskar, 363.

Confervæ in Pugha hot-springs, 164.

Crambe, 103.

Cupressus torulosa, 31.

Currant, black, 115.

" Tibetan, 104.

Cyanite, 84, 111.

Cyclas, fossil, 172.

Cyperus, a species, in Nubra, 402.

Cyrena, 292.

Dadu, 324.

Dama, 99.

Dankar, 125.

Datisca, 58.

Deghi, 334.

Deodar, 19.

Dewar, 335.

Digar, 189.

Diskit, 401.

Doda, 324.

Dodonæa, 318.

Dras valley, 234, 264, 449.

" village and fort, 238, 267.

Elæagnus, 195, 242.

Elm of Nubra, 406.

Ephedra, 94.

Eremurus, 343.

Euphorbia pentagona, 6.

Fagu, 35.

Fish in Hanle lake, 152.

" Pugha stream, 164.

Floods of Shayuk, 200.

Fothergilla involucrata, 274.

Gagangir, 272.

Gagar river, 2.

Gambar river, 11, 12.

Ganderbal, 275.

Gangan, 274.

Gaora, 58.

Garta, 321.

Garys pass, 278.

Gentiana Moorcroftiana, 126.

Geology of Tibet, 490.

Gerard's pine, 70, 73, 74.

Giah, 176.

Giri river, 36.

Giu river, 118.

Glacier of Butna valley, 352.

" Nubra mountains, 413.

" Parang pass, 136.

" pass north of Le, 397.

" Sassar, 438.

" Sassar pass, 417.

" Umasi pass, north face, 357.

" " south face, 354.

" Zoji pass, 451.

Glaciers of Himalaya, 474.

" Kouenlun, 481.

Gol, 224.

Gold-washing in Khapalu, 212.

Gond, 273.

Granite in Chorbat, 207.

Greenstone near Hanle, 149.

Hangarang district, 96.

" pass, 100.

Hango, 102.

Hanle, 152.

Hanle river, 155.

Hanu pass, 208.

Hanupata, 384.

Hardas, 237, 265.

Haripur, 12.

Harvest at Le, 443.

Hattu, ascent of, 41.

Hemp in Kashmir, 455.

Himalaya, appearance of, from plains, 2.

" arrangement of ranges of, 458.

" Cis-Sutlej, 459.

" Trans-Sutlej, 458.

Himor, 349.

Hippophaë conferta, 59.

" forest of Nubra, 195.

" of Tibet, 212.

Hordeum Ægiceras, 102.

Hot-springs of Panamik, 407.

" Pugha, 164.

Huling, 119.

Hundar, 199.

Hydrangea, scandent, 47.

Hyoscyamus niger, 77.

Indus river, at Iskardo, 217.

" at Upshi, 178.

" frozen over, 241.

" junction with Shayuk, 214.

" north of Hanle, 158.

Iron-mine in Zanskar, 379.

Iskardo, 216.

" winter at, 243.

Islamabad, 294.

Jako, 17.

" view from, 23.

Jamu, 313.

Junipers of Kunawar, 83.

Juniperus excelsa, 254.

Kalatze, 388.

Kalka, 4.

Kamar, 250.

Kanam, 94.

Kanji river, 445.

Karakoram pass, 433.

" plain, 428, 436.

Karbu, in Dras, 238, 266.

" in Pashkyum, 445.

Kardong, 398.

Kargil, 448.

Karsar, 399.

Karsha, 368.

Kartash, 231.

Kartse river, 448.

Kashbir, 79.

Kashmir, 277, 454.

Katti, 308.

Kepu, 50.

Khapalu, 211.

" plain of, 209.

Khoten, road to, from Karakoram, 430.

Khundan Chu, 442.

Ki, 131.

Kiang or wild horse, 141.

Kibar, 131.

Kiris, 213.

Kirmichi, 310.

Koardu, 249.

Kotgarh, 48.

Kouenlun, 436, 462.

Kulzum pass, 127.

Kunawar, 62.

Kunes, 213.

Kuru, in Balti, 213.

" in Nubra, 201.

Kussowlee, 5.

Kyuri, 117.

Lacustrine clay of Avantipura, 290.

" " Chango, 111.

" " Gol, 225.

" " Iskardo, 220, 223.

" " Kamar, 250.

" " Karsar, 400.

" " Kashmir, 279.

" " Kiris, 214.

" " Kuru, in Nubra, 201.

" " Kyuri, 117.

" " Lipa, 88.

" " lower Dras, 236.

" " lower Nubra, 198.

" " Phutaksha, 382.

" " Thogji lake, 170.

" " Zanskar, 367.

Ladhe ke Dhar, 307.

Lake of Kashmir, 281.

" salt, of Thogji, 170.

Lakes, glacial, of Sassar pass, 417.

Lamayuru, 387, 444.

Lanak pass, 146.

Landar, 309.

Langera, 333.

Lara, 127.

Lari, 119.

Lazgung pass, 188.

Le, 182, 393, 443.

Lecanora miniata, 136.

Limestone of Hangarang, 100.

" Karakoram, 427.

" " pass, 435.

" Murgai, 425.

" Piti, 124.

" Shahabad, 297.

" Zanskar, 371.

Lio, 105.

Lipa, 87.

Liundi, 348.

Lyakjung, 197, 404.

Lycium, 211.

Lymnæa, fossil, at Iskardo, 220.

" " at Thogji lake, 170.

" " in Nubra, 198.

" " in Piti, 117.

Machulu river, 209.

Mahasu ridge, 31.

Markanda river, 2.

Markim, 361.

Marsilang, 181.

Maten, 267, 450.

Mattiana, 36.

Melia Azedarach, 59.

Mir, 309.

Miru, in Kunawar, 70.

" Tibet, 178.

Molbil, 445.

Murgai, 422.

" river, ascent of, 423.

Muztagh pass, 462.

Myricaria trees, 162.

Nachar, 64.

Nagkanda, 41.

Nako, 108.

Namika pass, 445.

Nar, 215.

Nasmon, 304.

Natural bridge in Piti, 116.

Natural tunnel, 385.

Nettle, alpine, 414.

Nimo, 392.

Nira, 377.

Nirt, 51.

Nostoc, 145.

Nubra, 192, 404.

" Chu, 442.

" lower, 198.

Nurla, 390.

Oak, evergreen, 73.

Olive, wild, 306.

Orchideæ of Nubra, 400.

Oxybaphus Himalayanus, 60.

Oxytropis chiliophylla, 369.

Padri pass, 330.

Padum, 363.

Pain Dras, 267.

Pampur, 288.

Panamik, 407.

" hot-springs, 407.

Pangi, 79.

Pangong lake, 464.

Paralysis, curious cases of, 391.

Parang pass, 135.

" river, lower course of, 113.

" " upper course of, 138.

Pargwal, 345.

Parkuta, 229.

Partridge, painted, 261.

Pashkyum, 446.

Pass above Changlung in Nubra, 410.

" Dadu, 327.

" Mir, 309.

" Nasmon, 302.

" Pata, 323.

Pass north of Le, 395, 443.

" " Ruduk, 463.

Passes across Kouenlun, 462.

" of Tibet, elevation of, 467.

Pata, 322.

Peganum Harmala, 212.

Perowskia, 178.

Perpetual snow, 482.

" in outer Himalaya, 487.

" in Tibet, 488.

" on opposite sides of passes, 489.

Phatu pass, 444.

Phutaksha, 382.

Picea Webbiana, 86.

Pin river, 126.

Pindrow, 86.

Pinus excelsa in Rondu, 257.

" Gerardiana, 70, 73, 74.

" longifolia, 18.

Pitak, 394.

Piti, 128.

" river, 106.

Planorbis, fossil, 117, 170, 198, 220.

Pok, 124.

Poplars of Indus valley, 180.

Populus alba, 95, 207.

" balsamifera, 177.

" Euphratica, 191.

Porgyul, 101, 110.

Potato cultivation, 34.

Potentilla discolor, 412.

Prangos, 240, 266.

Pranu, 207.

Pugha, borax plain, 166.

" hot springs, 164.

" ravine, 162.

" sulphur-mine, 168.

Pulokanka pass, 170.

Quercus Ilex, 73, 347.

Quinoa, 49.

Raldang, 80.

Ramnagar, 320.

Rampur, 54.

Rangrig, 127.

Ribes glandulosum, 104.

Rocks of Banahal pass, 298.

" Butna valley, 361.

" Chorbat, 207.

" Dadu, 324.

" Giah ravine, 179.

" Hangarang, 100.

" Karakoram pass, 435.

" " plain, 427.

" Kargil, 448.

" Kashmir, 280, 297.

" Kunawar, 81.

" lower Shayuk, 214.

" Murgai valley, 425.

" Nubra, 407.

" Pashkyum, 447.

" Pugha, 165.

" Rondu, 257.

" Simla, 27.

" Singhi pass, 381.

" Sungnam, 99.

" Tawi valley, 311.

" Umasi pass, 361.

" Wandla ravine, 388.

" Waris ravine, 203.

" Zanskar, 361, 371.

Rogi, 73.

Rondu, 248.

Rope-bridge of Kartash, 242.

" Nasmon, 305.

" Padum, 367.

" Rampur, 54.

" Rondu, 255.

Rosa Webbiana, 386.

Rose, yellow, 385.

Rukchin valley, 172.

Runang pass, 92.

Ruskalan river, 94.

Sabathu, 11.

Sabu, 188.

Sach pass, 338.

Saffron cultivation, 288, 455.

Sairi, 16.

Salt lake of Thogji, 170.

Sandstone, modern, of Iskardo, 221.

" " Karsar, 400.

" " Tarkata, 234.

" of Pashkyum, 447.

" tertiary of Jamu hills, 311, 312.

Saspola, 391.

Sassar, 420.

Sassar pass, 417.

Seda, 312.

Serahan, 60.

Shahabad, 296.

Shali, 31, 32.

Shalimar, 286.

Shayuk river, in Chorbat, 205.

" " Karakoram, 431.

" " Khapalu, 209.

" " Nubra, 193, 403.

" " Sassar, 419.

" " its junction with Indus, 214.

Shialkar, 112.

Shigar valley, 262.

Shol, 347.

Siksa, 204.

Sildang river, 64.

Simla, 16.

Sind river, 270.

Singhi pass, 379.

Sirohi Sar, 316.

Snow-fall in Tibet, 473.

Soda, efflorescence, in Nubra, 195.

" " Piti, 128.

Sonamarg, 271.

Statice, prickly, 204.

Suliman range, 3.

Sulphur-mine of Pugha, 168.

Sungnam, 94.

Surmu, 210.

Suru, 448.

Sutlej river at Rampur, 51.

" " Wangtu, 66.

" " its diurnal fluctuations, 54.

Taksha, 408.

Takti pass, 375.

Tarkata, 233.

Tawi river, 313.

Temple buried in lacustrine clay, 292.

Tertse, 197.

Thalaura, 318.

Thawar, 254.

Theog, 37.

Thogji lake, 170, 459.

Tibet, general description of, 456.

Tirit, 197.

Tolti, 230.

Tongde, 368.

Tranda, 61.

Trikota Debi, 310.

Tsatti, 192.

Tunglung pass, 175.

Turgu, 223.

Turtuk, 207.

Tussilago Farfara, 263.

Ulding Thung, 236.

Umasi pass, 355.

Unmaru, 197.

Upshi, 179.

Urdi, 229.

Vegetation of Badarwar, 329.

" Baltal, 453.

" Banahal, 301.

" Chatargarh, 348.

" Chenab valley, 304, 342.

" Dadu, 324.

" Dras, 449.

" Gambar valley, 13.

" Hangarang pass, 101.

" Hattu, 43.

" Indus valley below Le, 390.

" Jamu hills, 317.

" Kalka, 4.

" Karakoram, 435.

" Karsar in Nubra, 400.

" Kashmir, 283, 296, 454.

" Kotgarh, 47, 50.

" Kunawar, 72, 76.

" Kussowlee, 6, 7.

" Le, 395.

" Mahasu, 31.

" Nubra, 406.

" Pashkyum, 446.

" Phatu pass, 445.

" Ramnagar valley, 320.

" Rondu, 258.

" Runang pass, 92.

" Sassar, 420.

" Sassar pass, 416.

" Simla, 18.

" Sind valley, 272.

" Sutlej valley at Rampur, 53.

" " " Wangtu, 67.

" Werang pass, 85.

" Zanskar, alpine, 359.

" " northern passes, 375, 377, 380.

" " valley, 365, 371.

" Zoji pass, 451.

Vernag, 296.

Vines of Parkuta, 229.

" Turtuk, 207.

" wild, of Butna valley, 348.

Vineyards of Kunawar, 78.

" Sungnam, 94.

Wandla, 386.

Wangtu Bridge, 66.

Waris, 202.

Wasterwan, 288.

Waterfall at Wangtu, 68.

" frozen, in Dras, 241.

Werang pass, 84.

Willows of Tibet, 180.

Winds of Tibet, 472.

Winter at Iskardo, 243.

Wulur lake, 282.

Yarkand merchants, 410.

" road to, from Iskardo, 263.

Yulchung, 379.

Zangla, 369.

Zannichellia, 164.

Zanskar, 358, 363.

Zobo, 91.

Zoji pass, 267, 451.

Zungsam river, 113.

JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, PRINTER, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.

THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA;

Being an Account, Botanical and Geographical, of the _Rhododendrons_ recently discovered in the Province of Sikkim, on the Eastern Himalaya Mountains.

BY JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S., F.L.S. EDITED BY SIR W. J. HOOKER, K.H., D.C.L., F.R.S.A.

Imp. folio. Thirty Plates. £3 16_s._ coloured.

"In this work we have the first results of Dr. Hooker's botanical mission to India. The announcement is calculated to startle some of our readers when they know that it was only last January twelvemonths that the Doctor arrived in Calcutta. That he should have ascended the Himalaya, discovered a number of plants, and that they should be published in England in an almost UNEQUALLED STYLE OF MAGNIFICENT ILLUSTRATION, in less than eighteen months, is one of the marvels of our time."--_Athenæum._

"A most beautiful example of fine drawing and skilful colouring, while the letter-press furnished by the talented author possesses very high interest. Of the species of _Rhododendron_ which he has found in his adventurous journey, some are quite unrivalled in magnificence of appearance. We recommend the district to the nurseryman. Whoever could bring home plenty of seeds of these plants would require no better foundation for a little fortune."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

_Also, by the same Author_,

1. FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND.

Parts I., II., and III. Twenty Plates. Price 21_s._ plain; £1 11_s._ 6_d._ coloured. To be completed in Five Parts.

2. THE BOTANY OF THE ANTARCTIC VOYAGE.

Two Hundred Plates. 2 vols, royal 4to, cloth. £7 10_s._ plain; £10 15_s._ coloured.

LONDON:

REEVE AND CO., HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

LIST OF WORKS PRINCIPALLY ON NATURAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE, PUBLISHED BY REEVE AND CO., 5, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

BOTANY.

THE VICTORIA REGIA. By Sir W. J. HOOKER, F.R.S. In elephant folio. Illustrated on a large scale by W. Fitch. 31_s._ 6_d._

The work on the Royal Water Lily contains four plates of very large size, expensively coloured, illustrative of the different stages of flowering and fruiting, with analyses of structure, as follows:--

1. A view of the entire plant, flower, fruit, and leaves, on the water.

2. A flower _of the natural size_ in progress of expanding, together with as much of the enormous foliage as the broad dimensions of the paper will admit.

3. A fully expanded flower _of the natural size_, with foliage, &c.

4. A vertical section of the fully developed flower, with various dissections and analyses.

"Although many works have been devoted to the illustration and description of the _Victoria regia_, it seemed still to want one which, whilst it gave an accurate botanical description of the plant, should at the same time show the natural size of its gigantic flowers. This object has been aimed at by the combined labours of Sir W. Hooker and Mr. Fitch, and with distinguished success. The illustrations are everything that could be desired in the shape of botanical drawings. They are accurate, and they are beautiful."--_Athenæum._

THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA. With drawings and descriptions made on the spot. By J. D. HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S. Edited by Sir W. J. HOOKER, D.C.L., F.R.S. In handsome imperial folio, with thirty coloured plates. Price 3_l._ 11_s._

"In this work we have the first results of Dr. Hooker's botanical mission to India. The announcement is calculated to startle some of our readers when they know that it was only last January twelvemonths that the Doctor arrived in Calcutta. That he should have ascended the Himalaya, discovered a number of plants, and that they should be published in England in an almost UNEQUALLED STYLE OF MAGNIFICENT ILLUSTRATION, in less than eighteen months--is one of the marvels of our time."--_Athenæum._

"A most beautiful example of fine drawing and skilful colouring, while the letter-press furnished by the talented author possesses very high interest. Of the species of Rhododendron which he has found in his adventurous journey, some are quite unrivalled in magnificence of appearance."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

SANDERS'S PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTURE OF THE VINE. With plates. 8vo. 5_s._

"Mr. Assheton Smith's place at Tedworth has long possessed a great English reputation for the excellence of its fruit and vegetables: one is continually hearing in society of the extraordinary abundance and perfection of its produce at seasons when common gardens are empty, and the great world seems to have arrived at the conclusion that the kitchen gardening and forcing there are nowhere excelled. We have, therefore, examined with no common interest the work before us, for it will be strange indeed, if a man who can act so skilfully as Mr. Sanders should be unable to offer advice of corresponding value. We have not been disappointed. Mr. Sanders's directions are as plain as words can make them; and, we will add, as judicious as his long experience had led us to expect. After a careful perusal of his little treatise, we find nothing to object to, and much to praise."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

"A clever, well-written, and nicely illustrated horticultural pamphlet, telling us all we want to know on the subject."--_Guardian._

PHYCOLOGIA BRITANNICA; or, History of the British Sea-weeds; containing coloured figures, and descriptions, of all the species of Algæ inhabiting the shores of the British Islands. By WILLIAM HENRY HARVEY, M.D., M.R.I.A., Keeper of the Herbarium of the University of Dublin, and Professor of Botany to the Dublin Society. The price of the work, complete, strongly bound in cloth, is as follows:-

In three vols, royal 8vo, arranged in the } £7 12 6 order of publication }

In four vols, royal 8vo, arranged systematically} £7 17 6 according to the Synopsis }

_A few Copies have been printed on large paper._

"The 'History of British Sea-weeds' we can most faithfully recommend for its scientific, its pictorial, and its popular value; the professed botanist will find it a work of the highest character, whilst those who desire merely to know the names and history of the lovely plants which they gather on the sea-shore, will find in it the faithful portraiture of every one of them."--_Annals and Magazine of Natural History._

"The drawings are beautifully executed by the author himself on stone, the dissections carefully prepared, and the whole account of the species drawn up in such a way as cannot fail to be instructive, even to those who are well acquainted with the subject. The greater part of our more common Algæ have never been illustrated in a manner agreeable to the present state of Algology."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

POPULAR HISTORY OF BRITISH SEA-WEEDS, comprising all the Marine Plants. By the Rev. DAVID LANDSBOROUGH, A.L.S., Member of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh. With twenty coloured plates by Fitch. _Second Edition._ Royal 16mo. 10_s._ 6_d._

"The book is as well executed as it is well timed. The descriptions are scientific as well as popular, and the plates are clear and explicit. Not only the forms, but the uses of Algæ, are minutely described. It is a worthy SEA-SIDE COMPANION--a handbook for every occasional or permanent resident on the sea-shore."--_Economist._

"Those who wish to make themselves acquainted with British Sea-weeds, cannot do better than begin with this elegantly illustrated manual."--_Globe._

"This elegant work, though intended for beginners, is well worthy the perusal of those advanced in the science."--_Morning Herald._

A CENTURY OF ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS, selected from those most worthy of cultivation figured in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, with coloured figures and dissections, chiefly executed by Mr. FITCH; the descriptions (entirely re-written) by Sir WILLIAM J. HOOKER, F.R.S. With an introduction on the culture of Orchidaceæ generally, and on the treatment of each genus; by JOHN C. LYONS, Esq. Royal 4to, containing one hundred coloured plates. Price _Five Guineas_.

"In the exquisite illustrations to this splendid volume full justice has been rendered to the oddly formed and often brilliantly coloured flowers of this curious and interesting tribe of plants."--_Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review._

"A very acceptable addition to our knowledge of the Orchis tribe. The plates are beautifully executed, and have been selected with great care. Each species has a brief character attached, and to each genus botanical and practical observations, from the pen of Sir William Hooker, are prefixed. The work is enriched with a prefatory memoir by Mr. Lyons, full of sound judgment and experience, on the most approved method of growing Orchids."--_Literary Gazette._

POPULAR HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS, comprising all the Species. By THOMAS MOORE. With twenty coloured plates by Fitch. Royal 16mo, cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._

"Mr. Moore's 'Popular History of British Ferns' forms one of the numerous elegant and instructive books by which Messrs. Reeve and Co. have endeavoured to popularize the study of Natural History. In the volume before us, Mr. Moore gives a clear account of the British Ferns, with directions for their cultivation; accompanied by numerous coloured plates neatly illustrated, and preceded by a general introduction on the natural character of this graceful class of plants."--_Spectator._

"We have rarely, if ever, seen a publication relating to plants where the object aimed at is more fully accomplished than in this elegant volume."--_Hooker's Journal._

"A prettily got-up book, and fit for a drawing-room table."--_The Friend._

THE BRITISH DESMIDIEÆ; or, Fresh-Water Algæ. By JOHN RALFS, M.R.C.S., Honorary Member of the Penzance Nat. Hist. Society. The Drawings by EDWARD JENNER, A.L.S. Royal 8vo, thirty-five coloured plates. Price 36_s._ cloth.

NEREIS AUSTRALIS; or, Illustrations of the Algæ of the Southern Ocean. By Professor HARVEY, M.D., M.R.I.A. To be completed in Four Parts, each containing twenty-five coloured plates, imp. 8vo. Price 1_l._ 1_s._ Parts I. and II. recently published.

"Of this most important contribution to our knowledge of exotic Algæ, we know not if we can pay it a higher compliment than by saying it is worthy of the author. It should be observed that the work is not a selection of certain species, but an arranged system of all that is known of Australian Algæ, accompanied by figures of the new and rare ones, especially of those most remarkable for beauty of form and colour."--_London Journal of Botany._

CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE (commenced in 1786); Continued by Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, K.H., D.C.L., &c., Director of the Royal Gardens of Kew.

*** Published in monthly numbers, each containing six plates, price 3_s._ 6_d._ coloured; and in annual volumes, price 42_s._

HOOKER'S JOURNAL OF BOTANY and KEW GARDENS MISCELLANY. Edited by Sir WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER.

This Botanical Journal, in addition to original papers by Eminent Botanists, contains the Botanical News of the month, Communications from Botanical Travellers, Notices of New Books, &c.

*** In monthly numbers, with a plate, price 2_s._

ICONES PLANTARUM; or, Figures, with brief descriptive characters and remarks, of new and rare Plants. Published monthly, with eight plates. Price 2_s._ 6_d._

(_Under the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty._)

FLORA ANTARCTICA; or, Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_, during the years 1839-1843, under the command of Capt. Sir James Clark Ross, R.N., F.R.S. By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., R.N., F.R.S., &c., Botanist to the Expedition. In two vols. royal 4to, cloth, containing 200 plates. Price 10_l._ 15_s._ coloured; 7_l._ 10_s._ plain.

"The descriptions of the plants in this work are carefully drawn up, and much interesting matter, critical, explanatory, and historical, is added in the form of notes. The drawings of the plants are admirably executed by Mr. Fitch; and we know of no productions from his pencil, or, in fact, any botanical illustrations at all, that are superior in faithful representation and botanical correctness."--_Athenæum._

CRYPTOGAMIA ANTARCTICA; or, Cryptogamic Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H. M. Ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_. By JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, M.D., F.R.S., &c. Royal 4to, cloth, containing 74 plates. Price 4_l._ 4_s._ coloured; 2_l._ 17_s._ plain.

THE ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND; a treatise on their History, Uses, Structure, Nutritious Properties, Mode of Cooking, Preserving, &c. By the Rev. Dr. BADHAM. Super-royal 8vo, cloth, coloured plates. 21_s._

"The English are not a fungus-eating nation; and though we do not eat frogs like our neighbours, we are rather celebrated for our love of another of the reptilian family--turtle. There is no reason why we should eschew frogs and relish turtle; still less is there for our eating one or two of the numerous edible funguses which our island produces, and condemning all the rest. To draw attention to this fact, and to supply an accurate account, with a correct delineation, of the esculent species of this family in Great Britain, are the objects of the book before us. Such a work was a desideratum in this country, and it has been well supplied by Dr. Badham; with his beautiful drawings of the various edible fungi in his hand the collector can scarcely make a mistake. The majority of those which grow in our meadows, and in the decaying wood of our orchards and forests, are unfit for food; and the value of Dr. Badham's book consists in the fact, that it enables us to distinguish from these such as may be eaten with impunity."--_Athenæum._

ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; containing Figures and Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to Britain. _First Series._ By Mrs. HUSSEY. 4to, cloth gilt, with ninety beautifully coloured drawings. Price 7_l._ 12_s._ 6_d._

"This talented lady and her sister were in the first instance induced to draw some of the more striking Fungi, merely as picturesque objects. Their collection of drawings at length became important from their number and accuracy, and a long continued study of the nutritive properties of Fungi has induced the former to lay the results of her investigations before the public, under the form of illustrations of the more useful and interesting species. The figures are so faithful that there can be no difficulty in at once determining with certainty the objects they are intended to represent; and the observations will be found of much interest to the general reader."--_Gardeners' Chronicle._

"This is an elegant and interesting book: it would be an ornament to the drawing-room table; but it must not, therefore, be supposed that the value of the work is not intrinsic, for a great deal of new and valuable matter accompanies the plates, which are not fancy sketches, but so individualized and life-like, that to mistake any species seems impossible. The accessories of each are significant of site, soil, and season of growth, so that the botanist may study with advantage what the artist may inspect with admiration."--_Morning Post._

ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH MYCOLOGY; containing Figures and Descriptions of the Funguses of interest and novelty indigenous to Britain. _Second Series._ By Mrs. HUSSEY. Publishing in Monthly Parts, coloured drawings, price 5_s._

VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS; or, History of Forest Trees, Lichens, Mosses, and Ferns. By MARY ROBERTS. Elegantly bound. With twenty coloured Plates of Forest Scenery, by FITCH. Royal 16mo. 10_s._ 6_d._

"This work includes a wide range of genera, from the lichen to the oak, and by way of giving variety to a subject so commonplace, the several plants are supposed to tell their own stories, and describe their own family peculiarities."--_Atlas._

"The fair authoress of this pretty volume has shown more than the usual good taste of her sex in the selection of her mode of conveying to the young interesting instruction upon pleasing topics. She bids them join in a ramble through the sylvan wilds, and at her command the fragile lichen, the gnarled oak, the towering beech, the graceful chestnut, and the waving poplar discourse eloquently, and tell their respective histories and uses."--_Britannia._

POPULAR FIELD BOTANY; containing a familiar and technical description of the plants most common to the British Isles, adapted to the study of either the Artificial or Natural Systems. By AGNES CATLOW. _Second Edition._ Arranged in twelve chapters, each being the Botanical lesson for the month. Containing twenty coloured plates of figures. Royal 16mo. 10_s._ 6_d._

"The design of this work is to furnish young persons with a Self-instructor in Botany, enabling them with little difficulty to discover the scientific names of the common plants they may find in their country rambles, to which are appended a few facts respecting their uses, habits, &c. The plants are classed in months, the illustrations are nicely coloured, and the book is altogether an elegant, as well as useful present."--_Illustrated London News._

THE TOURIST'S FLORA. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of the British Islands, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. By JOSEPH WOODS, F.A.S, F.L.S, F.G.S. 8vo. 18_s._

"The appearance of this book has been long expected by us; and we can justly state that it has quite fulfilled all our expectations, and will support the high reputation of its author. Mr. Woods is known to have spent many years in collecting and arranging the materials for the present work, with a view to which he has, we believe, visited all the most interesting localities mentioned in it. This amount of labour, combined with extensive botanical knowledge, has enabled him to produce a volume such as few, if any other, botanists were capable of writing."--_Annals of Natural History._

ZOOLOGY.

(_Under the Authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty._)

ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. SAMARANG. Edited by ARTHUR ADAMS, F.L.S, Assistant-Surgeon, R.N, attached to the Expedition.

VERTEBRATA. By _John Edward Gray_, F.R.S., Keeper of the Zoological Department of the British Museum.

FISHES. By Sir JOHN RICHARDSON, M.D., F.R.S.

MOLLUSCA. By the EDITOR and LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. Including the anatomy of the _Spirula_, by Prof. OWEN, F.R.S.

CRUSTACEA. By the EDITOR and ADAM WHITE, F.L.S.

*** Complete in one handsome royal 4to volume, containing 55 plates. Price, strongly bound in cloth, 3_l._ 10_s._

THE BIRDS OF IRELAND. By WILLIAM THOMPSON, Esq., President of the Natural History and Philosophical Society of Belfast. Vol. I., price 16_s._ cloth. Vol. II, price 12_s._ Vol. III., price 16_s._, 8vo, cloth.

"Our readers, if once they get hold of this work, will not readily lay it down; for while habits are dwelt upon in a manner so amusing that we have known extracts to be read aloud to a delighted circle of children, it contains the precise information which the ornithologist demands, and brings forward topics both of popular and scientific interest, such as the geographical distribution of species, the causes which seem to operate on their increase and decrease, their migrations, their uses to man, the occasional injuries they inflict, and the important benefits they confer. It is a STANDARD WORK, and will rank with those of our first ornithologists."--_Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science._

CONTRIBUTIONS TO ORNITHOLOGY. By SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, Bart., F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &c.

The "CONTRIBUTIONS" are devoted to the various departments of Ornithology. They are published at intervals in Parts, and form an annual Volume, illustrated by numerous coloured and uncoloured Plates, Woodcuts, &c.

The Series for 1848, containing ten Plates, price 9_s._

The Series for 1849, containing twenty-four Plates, price 21_s._

The Series for 1850, containing twenty-one Plates, Vignettes, and Woodcuts, price 21_s._

The Series for 1851, containing fourteen Plates, price 18_s._

THE DODO AND ITS KINDRED; or, the History, Affinities, and Osteology of the DODO, SOLITAIRE, and other extinct birds of the islands Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Bourbon. By H. E. STRICKLAND, Esq., M.A., F.R.G.S., F.G.S., President of the Ashmolean Society, and A. G. MELVILLE, M.D., M.R.C.S. Royal quarto, with eighteen plates and numerous wood-illustrations. Price 21_s._

"The labour expended on this book, and the beautiful manner in which it is got up, render it a work of great interest to the naturalist. * * It is a model of how such subjects should be treated. We know of few more elaborate and careful pieces of comparative anatomy than is given of the head and foot by Dr. Melville. The dissection is accompanied by lithographic plates, creditable alike to the Artist and the Printer."--_Athenæum._

POPULAR BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY; comprising a familiar and technical description of the Birds of the British Isles. By P. H. Gosse, Author of 'The Ocean,' 'The Birds of Jamaica,' &c. In twelve chapters, each being the Ornithological lesson for the month. In one vol. royal 16mo, with twenty plates of figures. Price 10_s._ 6_d._ coloured.

"To render the subject of ornithology clear, and its study attractive, has been the great aim of the author of this beautiful little volume.... It is embellished by upwards of 70 figures of British birds beautifully coloured."--_Morning Herald._

"This was a book much wanted, and will prove a boon of no common value, containing, as it does, the names, descriptions, and habits of all the British birds. It is handsomely got up."--_Mirror._

CONCHOLOGIA ICONICA; or, Figures and Descriptions of the Shells of Molluscous Animals, with critical remarks on their synonyms, affinities, and circumstances of habitation. By LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S.

*** Demy 4to. Published monthly, in Parts, each containing eight plates. Price 10_s._

SOLD ALSO IN MONOGRAPHS:

£ _s._ _d._ Achatina 1 9 0 Achatinella 0 8 0 Arca 1 1 6 Artemis 0 13 0 Buccinum 0 18 0 Bulimus 5 12 0 Bullia 0 5 6 Cardita 0 11 6 Cardium 1 8 0 Cassidaria 0 1 6 Cassis 0 15 6 Chama 0 11 6 Chiton 2 2 0 Chitonellus 0 1 6 Conus 3 0 0 Corbula 0 6 6 Crassatella 0 4 0 Cypræa 1 14 0 Cypricardia 0 3 0 Delphinula 0 6 6 Dolium 0 10 6 Eburna 0 1 6 Fasciolaria 0 9 0 Ficula 0 1 6 Fissurella 1 0 6 Fusus 1 6 6 Glauconome 0 1 6 Haliotis 1 1 0 Harpa 0 5 6 Hemipecten 0 1 6 Ianthina 0 3 0 Isocardia 0 1 6 Lucina 0 14 0 Mangelia 0 10 6 Mesalia} Eglisia} 0 1 6 Mitra 2 10 0 Monoceros 0 5 6 Murex 2 5 6 Myadora 0 1 6 Oliva 1 18 0 Oniscia 0 1 6 Paludomus 0 4 0 Partula 0 5 6 Pectunculus 0 11 6 Phorus 0 4 0 Pleurotoma 2 10 6 Pterocera 0 8 0 Purpura 0 17 0 Pyrula 0 11 6 Ranella 0 10 6 Ricinula 0 8 0 Rostellaria 0 4 6 Strombus 1 4 6 Struthiolaria 0 1 6 Turbinella 0 17 0 Triton 1 5 6 Turbo 0 17 0 Turritella 0 14 6 Voluta 1 8 0

_The genus_ HELIX _is in course of publication._

SOLD ALSO IN VOLUMES:

VOL. I. CONUS PLEUROTOMA CRASSATELLA PHORUS PECTUNCULUS CARDITA DELPHINULA CYPRICARDIA HARPA

[_122 Plates, price 7l. 16s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. II. CORBULA ARCA TRITON GLAUCONOME MYADORA RANELLA MITRA CARDIUM ISOCARDIA

[_114 Plates, price 7l. 6s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. III. MUREX CYPRÆA HALIOTIS MANGELIA PURPURA RICINULA MONOCEROS BULLIA BUCCINUM

[_129 Plates, price 8l. 5s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. IV. CHAMA CHITON CHITONELLUS FICULA PYRULA TURBINELLA FASCIOLARIA FUSUS PALUDOMUS TURBO

[_110 Plates, price 7l. 1s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. V. BULIMUS ACHATINA DOLIUM CASSIS TURRITELLA MESALIA EGLISIA ONISCIA CASSIDARIA EBURNA

[_147 Plates, price 9l. 7s. 6d. half-bound._]

VOL. VI. VOLUTA FISSURELLA PARTULA ACHATINELLA ARTEMIS LUCINA HEMIPECTEN OLIVA STROMBUS PTEROCERA ROSTELLARIA STRUTHIOLARIA

[_129 Plates, price 8l. 5s. 6d. half-bound._]

The figures are drawn and lithographed by Mr. G. B. SOWERBY, Junr., of the _natural size_, from specimens chiefly in the collection of Mr. Cuming.

"This great work is intended to embrace a complete description and illustration of the shells of molluscous animals, and, so far as we have seen, it is not such as to disappoint the large expectations that have been formed respecting it. The figures of the shells are all of full size; in the descriptions a careful analysis is given of the labours of others; and the author has apparently spared no pains to make the work a standard authority on the subject of which it treats."--_Athenæum._

CONCHOLOGIA SYSTEMATICA; or, Complete System of Conchology, illustrated with 300 plates of upwards of 1500 figures of Shells. By LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S.

"The text is both interesting and instructive; many of the plates have appeared before in Mr. Sowerby's works, but from the great expense of collecting them, and the miscellaneous manner of their publication, many persons will no doubt gladly avail themselves of this select and classified portion, which also contains many original figures."--_Athenæum._

*** In two quarto volumes, cloth. Price 10_l._ coloured; 6_l._ plain.

ELEMENTS OF CONCHOLOGY; or, Introduction to the Natural History of Shells and their animals. By LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S. Parts I. to X., price 3_s._ 6_d._ each.

"The work before us is designed to promote a more philosophical spirit of inquiry into the nature and origin of Shells."--_Ecclesiastical Review._

CONCHOLOGIST'S NOMENCLATOR; or, Catalogue of recent species of Shells, with their authorities, synonyms, and references to works where figured or described. By AGNES CATLOW, assisted by LOVELL REEVE, F.L.S.

*** In sheets for labels, 20_s._ Cloth, 21_s._ Half-bound, interleaved, 25_s._

CONCHYLIA DITHYRA INSULARUM BRITANNICARUM. The Bivalve Shells of the British Isles, systematically arranged. By WILLIAM TURTON, M.D. Reprinted verbatim from the original edition. The illustrations, printed from the original copper-plates, are distinguished for their accurate detail. Twenty coloured plates. Price 2_l._ 10_s._

POPULAR HISTORY OF MOLLUSCA; or, Shells and their Animal Inhabitants. By MARY ROBERTS. Royal 16mo, with twenty coloured plates by Wing. Price 10_s._ 6_d._

"This little volume forms another of the excellent series of illustrated works on various departments of Natural History, for which the public is indebted to Mr. Reeve.... When we add, that the plates contain no fewer than ninety figures of shells, with their animal inhabitants, all of them well, and several admirably, executed, and that the text is written throughout in a readable and even elegant style, with such digression in poetry and prose as serve to relieve its scientific details, we think that we have said enough to justify the favourable opinion we have expressed."--_British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review._

CURTIS'S BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY, being Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of Insects found in Great Britain and Ireland, comprising coloured figures, from nature, of the most rare and beautiful species, and, in many instances, of the plants upon which they are found. By JOHN CURTIS, F.L.S.

The 'British Entomology' was originally brought out in Monthly Numbers, size royal 8vo, at 4_s._ 6_d._, each containing four coloured plates with text. It was commenced in 1824, and completed in 1840, in 193 Numbers, forming 16 volumes, price £43 16_s._

The work is now offered new, and in the best condition:--

Price to Subscribers for complete copies in sixteen volumes £21. Price of the new issue, and of odd Numbers 3_s._ 6_d._ per No.

*** Vols. I. and II. of the New Issue are now ready for delivery.

INSECTA BRITANNICA. DIPTERA. By F. WALKER, Esq. F.L.S. Vol. I. Illustrated with plates. Price 25_s._

EPISODES OF INSECT LIFE. Three vols., crown 8vo, with 108 illustrations. Price 2_l._ 8_s._, elegantly bound in fancy cloth. Coloured and bound extra, gilt back, sides, and edges, 3_l._ 3_s._

*** Each volume, containing thirty-six illustrations, is complete in itself, and sold separately. Price 16_s._ plain, 21_s._ coloured.

"The book includes solid instruction as well as genial and captivating mirth. The scientific knowledge of the writer is thoroughly reliable."--_Examiner._

"The letterpress is interspersed with vignettes clearly and cleverly engraved on stone: and the whole pile of Natural History--fable, poetry, theory, and fact--is stuck over with quaint apophthegms and shrewd maxims, deduced for the benefit of man from the contemplation of such tiny monitors as gnats and moths. Altogether the book is a curious and interesting one--quaint and clever, genial and well-informed."--_Morning Chronicle._

POPULAR BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY, comprising a familiar and technical description of the Insects most common to the British Isles. By MARIA E. CATLOW. In twelve chapters, each being the Entomological lesson for the month. In one vol. royal 16mo, with sixteen coloured plates of figures. Price 10_s._ 6_d._

"Judiciously executed, with excellent figures of the commoner species, for the use of young beginners."--_Annual Address of the President of the Entomological Society._

"Miss Catlow's 'Popular British Entomology' contains an introductory chapter or two on classification, which are followed by brief generic and specific descriptions in English of above 200 of the commoner British species, together with accurate figures of about 70 of those described; and will be quite a treasure to anyone just commencing the study of this fascinating science."--_Westminster and Foreign Quarterly Review._

POPULAR HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. By ADAM WHITE, F.L.S., Assistant in the Zoological Department of the British Museum. With sixteen coloured Plates of Quadrupeds, &c. by B. WATERHOUSE HAWKINS, F.L.S. Royal 16mo. 10_s._ 6_d._

"The present increase of our stores of anecdotal matter respecting every kind of animal has been used with much tact by Mr. White, who has a terse chatty way of putting down his reflections, mingled with that easy familiarity which every one accustomed daily to zoological pursuits is sure to attain. The book is profusely illustrated."--_Atlas._

THE BRITISH PALÆOZOIC FOSSILS, added by Professor Sedgwick to the Woodwardian Museum. By Professor M'COY. In royal 4to, with numerous Plates.