NOTES ON THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS
The great flood of the Indus in 1841 seems to have been one of the most tremendous cataclysms recorded as having occurred on the continent of India. The exact reason of it was for many years unknown. Major Cunningham suggested that it was due to the bursting of an ice-dammed lake on the Shayok river. Major Becher seems, however, to have been the first who expressed a belief that it was caused by a landslip blocking the Indus near Gor. In a letter (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxviii. p. 219) he writes that a mountain called Ultoo Kunn, near Gor, owing to an earthquake, subsided into the valley of the main Indus. Drew, in his book on Kashmir (p. 415), gives the following description: 'The flood of 1841 was in this wise. It occurred, as near as I can make out, in the beginning of June of that year. At Atak, a place twelve or fifteen miles below where the latitude-parallel of 34° crosses the Indus, the river had been observed during several months, indeed from December of the previous year onwards, to be unusually low; in the spring it had risen a little from the snow melting, but only a little, so that at the end of May (when in ordinary years the volume has greatly increased) it was still extraordinarily low. This in itself should have been enough to warn the people who dwelt by its banks, but so little was it thought of that a portion of the Sikh army was encamped on the low plain of Chach which bordered the river. One day in the beginning of June, at two in the afternoon, the waters were seen by those who were there encamped to be coming upon them, down the various channels, and to be swelling out of these to overspread the plain in a dark, muddy mass, which swept everything before it. The camp was completely overwhelmed; five hundred soldiers at once perished; only those who were within near reach of the hill-sides could hope for safety. Neither trees nor houses could avail to keep those surprised in the plain out of the power of the flood, for trees and houses themselves were swept away; every trace of cultivation was effaced; and the tents, the baggage, and the artillery, all were involved in the ruin. The result was graphically described by a native eye-witness, whose words were, "As a woman with a wet towel sweeps away a legion of ants, so the river blotted out the army of the Raja."' Drew was probably the first to actually visit the place where the block occurred. And a villager from Gor pointed out to him the exact spot where the debris of the landslip blocked the river. These floods seem to be of somewhat frequent occurrence. In 1844 one came from the Tshkoman valley above Gilgit. In 1858 another did great damage at Naushahra. The Indus at Attock (Atak) on 10th August was very low. In the early morning it rose ten feet in two hours, and five hours later it had risen no less that fifty feet, and continued rising till it stood no less than ninety feet higher than in the morning. It is probable that this flood came from the Hunza valley.
Smaller floods in the narrow Himalayan valleys are of frequent occurrence. For instance at Tashing, in 1850, a large lake was formed in the Rupal nullah by the snout of the Tashing glacier crossing the valley till it was jammed against the rock wall on the opposite side, thus blocking the Rupal torrent. Probably this will again happen, for when we were there in 1895 the Tashing glacier had once more blocked the valley to the depth of at least 200 feet, the Rupal stream finding its way underneath the ice; should this passage become in any way stopped, a huge lake must at once form behind the glacier.
The extreme narrowness, and often the great depth, of many of these Himalayan valleys will always be favourable to the production of these floods. Should a landslip occur, or should a glacier, such as the Tashing glacier, block the valley, a flood must be the inevitable result. On the Indus there are many places where a dam might easily be formed. In the bend underneath Haramosh, at Lechre under Nanga Parbat, or further down below Chilas in that unknown country where the Indus begins to flow in a southerly direction. For there on the map the Indus is made to flow between two peaks, not three miles apart: one is marked 16,942 feet, and the other 15,250 feet, thus making the depth of this ravine over 12,000 feet.
LIST OF SOME OF THE MOUNTAINS IN THE
HIMALAYA THAT ARE OVER 24,000 FEET IN HEIGHT
The following list of mountains that are more than 24,000 feet has been taken from various maps. It gives most of the peaks that have been trigonometrically measured, but probably there are at least as many more in those great mountain ranges, the Hindu Kush, the Mustagh, the Kuen Lun, and the Himalaya, that are over 24,000 feet high.
The next highest peak in the world outside Asia is Aconcagua, 23,393 feet high.
LITERATURE DEALING WITH THE HIMALAYA
Bogle, G., Account of Tibet. Philosophical Transactions, No. 67,
part 2, and Annual Register, 1778.
Turner, Capt. S., Account of an Embassy to the Court of the
Teshoo Lama, in Tibet, 1 vol., 1806.
Webb and Raper, Journey to explore the sources of the Ganges.
Asiatic Researches, vol. x.
Colebrooke, H., On the height of the Himala Mountains. Asiatic
Researches, vol. xi.
Moorcroft, W., Journey to the Lake Mánasarówara. Asiatic
Researches, vol. xii.
Kirkpatrick, Col. W., An Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul,
1 vol., 1811.
Hamilton, Francis, M.D., An Account of the Kingdom of
Nepal, 1 vol., 1819.
Fraser, J. B., Tour through part of the Snowy Range of the
Himālā Mountains, 1 vol., 1820.
Hodgson, B. H., Essays on Nepál and Tibet, etc., 2 vols., 1874;
also no less than 170 papers to various periodicals, chiefly
the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Cp. Report
on the Mineralogical Survey of the Himala Mountains.
J. A. S. B. xi., part 1, p. x.
Vigne, G. T., Travels in Cashmir, Ladak, etc., 2 vols., 1835.
Thomson, T., M.D., Western Himalaya and Tibet, 1 vol., 1852.
Moorcroft, W. and G. Trebeck, Travels in the Himalayan
Provinces, etc., 2 vols., 1841.
Gerard, Capt. A., Account of Koonawur, in the Himalaya, 1 vol.,
1841.
Gerard and Lloyd, Tours in the Himalaya, 2 vols., 1840.
Cunningham, Sir A., Ladák, Physical, Statistical, and Historical,
1 vol., 1854.
Strachey, R., Physical Geography of Kumaon and Gurhwal and
the adjoining parts of Tibet. R. G. S. Journal, xxi., p. 57.
Strachey, Capt. H., Physical Geography of Western Tibet.
R. G. S. Journal, xxiii., p. 2, published separately, 1 vol.,
1854; also Journey to Lake Mánasarówar, 1 vol., 1848.
'Mountaineer' (Wilson), A Summer Ramble in the Himalayas
and Cashmere, 1 vol., 1860.
Hooker, Sir J. D., Himalayan Journals, 2 vols., 1854.
Saunders, Trelawny W., Sketch of the Mountains and River
Basins of India, in two maps, with explanatory memoirs.
Geographical Department, India Office, 1870.
Gordon, Lieut.-Col. T. E., The Roof of the World, 1 vol., 1876.
Wilson, Andrew, The Abode of Snow, 1 vol., 1875.
Indian Alps and How we Crossed Them. By a Lady Pioneer,
1 vol., 1876.
Markham, Clements R., A Memoir on the Indian Surveys, 1
vol., 1871; 2nd ed., 1878.
Montgomerie, Major T. G., Reports on the Trans-Himalayan
Explorations, 1865-1867, 1869, and 1871 (Indian Survey).
Shaw, R., Visits to High Tartary, Yârkand, and Kâshgar,
1 vol., 1871.
Torrens, Lieut.-Col. H. D., Travels in Ladak, Tartary, and
Kashmir, 1 vol., 1862.
Bellew, Dr. H. W., Kashmir and Kashgar, 1 vol., 1875.
Drew, F., Jummoo and Kashmir Territories, 1 vol., 1875.
Bogle, G., and T. Manning, Narratives of their Journeys to
Tibet and Lhasa, edited by Clements R. Markham, 1 vol.,
1876.
Godwin-Austen, Col. H. H., Royal Geographical Society Journal,
vol. xxxiv., p. 19.
Knight, Capt., Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Tibet,
1 vol., 1863.
Schlagintweit, H. and B., The Last Journeys and Death of
Adolph Schlagintweit, 1854.
Conway, Sir W. M., Climbing in the Karakoram Himalayas,
1 vol., 1894.
Knight, E. F., Where Three Empires Meet, 1 vol., 1893.
MacCormick, A. D., An Artist in the Himalayas, 1 vol., 1895.
Waddell, L. A., Among the Himalayas, 1 vol., 1899.
Younghusband, F. E., The Heart of a Continent, 1 vol., 1896.
Boeck, K., Indische Gletcherfahrten, 1900.
Deasy, H. H. P., In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan, 1 vol., 1901.
Durand, A., Making of a Frontier, 1 vol., 1900.
Holdich, Col. Sir T. H., Indian Borderland, 1 vol., 1901.
Bose, P. N., Glaciers of Kabru, 1 vol., 1901.
Workman, Mrs. F. B. and Dr. W. H., In the Ice-World of
Himalaya, 1 vol., 1900.
INDEX
A
A21. See Mount Monal.
A22, [17,18].
Achill Island, cliffs of, [233].
A Chuilionn, [211]. See Coolin Hills.
Alberta, Mount, [149].
Alps, The, mountaineering in, [165 et seq.]
Assiniboine group of mountains, [143], [145].
Astor, [43], [123], [126].
Astor valley, road down, [126].
Athabasca pass, [144].
Avalanche of stones, [72].
B
Bagrot nullah explored, [20].
Baker, Mount, [140].
Balfour group of mountains, [144], [146].
Ball group of mountains, [143], [145].
Baltoro glacier ascended, [15], [21], [22].
—— —— survey of the, [15].
Bandipur, [32].
Baramula, [28].
Bear, red, [45], [62].
Been Keragh, [237], [240].
Ben Eighe, climb on, [274 et seq.]
Ben Nevis, ascent of Tower Ridge of, [288 et seq.];
observatory on summit of, [296].
Biafo glacier, [21], [24].
Blanc, Mont, ascent of, by Brenva route, [175].
Bogle, G., Mission to Tibet, [8].
Boss, Emil, [17].
Bow range, [143].
Brandon, [237], [240].
Brown, Mount, [149].
Bruce, Major C. G., [20-23];
ascents near Chitral, [23];
do. near Hunza, [23];
do. near Nagyr, [23];
do. of Ragee-Bogee peaks, [23];
meets us at Tashing, [68];
returns to Abbottabad, [81];
climbing in the Alps by, [178].
Buldar nullah, [123].
Bullock-Workman, Mount, ascent of, [24].
———— Dr. and Mrs., climbing in Ladak and Suru by, [24].
Butesharon glacier, [80]; pass, [81].
Bunar Post, [132].
Burzil or Dorikoon pass, [34].
Bush peak, [147].
C
Caher, [237], [240].
Camping, [154], [182].
Canada, size of, [136].
Carran Tuohill, [237], [239].
Chiche peak, [42]; glacier, ascent of, [49].
Chilas, [26]; road to, [127].
—— tribesmen, raids by, [40].
Chongra peaks, [43], [119], [123].
Choonjerma pass, [11].
Chorit, [36].
Collier, J., [253], [259].
Columbia group of mountains, [144], [148].
—— Mount, [148].
—— river, [141].
Connemara, the twelve Bens of, [236].
Conway, Sir W. Martin, mountain exploration by, [20-23].
Coolin Hills, appearance and description of, [217 et seq.], [234].
Coomacarrea, [241].
Coomacullen, Lough, [241].
Croaghann, [233].
Crystal peak ascended, [21].
D
Daranshi Saddle climbed, [21].
Dashkin, [123].
Dasskaram needle ascended, [21].
Devadhunga, [9], [11], [12], [20], [24].
Dhaltar peaks, ascent of, [23].
Diama glacier, [116]; pass, [116], [120].
Diamirai glacier explored, [62], [82].
—— nullah, [59]; camp in, [61]; return to, [81];
storm in, [111]; upper camp in, [83], [109], [113];
leave, [116]; last visit to, [133].
—— pass crossed, [64].
—— peak, [88]; view from slopes of, [91];
summit of, [97]; south-west arête of, [100].
Dichil peak, [72], [123].
Divide, Great, [140], [142].
Doian, [126].
Dome peak, [148].
Donegal, [227].
Donkia pass, [12], [16].
Drew, [14].
Dunagiri, [16]; attempted ascent of, [17].
E
Elias, Mount St., [136].
Everest. See Devadhunga.
F
Forbes Group of Mountains, [144], [147].
Forsyth, [213].
Fortress Lake pass, [144].
Fraser river, [140]; canyon, [141].
Freshfield, D., Tour of Kanchenjunga, [24].
—— Mount, [147].
G
Ganalo nullah crossed, [118]; glacier, [119]; camp in,[119].
—— peak, [82], [116], [124].
Garhwal, [9].
Garwood, E., [24].
Gerard, Captain, ascents by, [11].
Gjeitgaljar, [192]; ascent of, [204].
Glaciers, effect of, [190].
Godwin, Austen H. H., survey of mountains by, [15].
Golden Throne, [22].
Goman Singh, [69];
takes servants, etc., over Mazeno La, [73], [117], [124].
—— —— pass, [89], [118].
Gonar peak, [118].
Goodsir group of mountains, [143], [145].
Gor, inhabitants of, [122].
Graham, W. W., ascents by, [16].
Guicho La, [17], [19].
Gurais, [34].
Gurdon, Capt. B. E. M., ascent near Nagyr, [23].
Gusherbrum, [15].
H
Haramosh, [127].
Haramukh, [29].
Harkabir Thapa, [23], [178].
Harman, Capt., visits Donkia pass, [16].
Hart, H. C., [226], [230].
Haskett-Smith, W. P., [247].
Hastings, G., [27]; arrives at Chiche glacier camp, [56];
returns to Rupal nullah and Astor, [87];
crosses Mazeno La, [90]; returns to Diamirai nullah to search for Mummery,
[122], [125], [175], [191], [247], [256].
—— Warren, frontier policy, [8].
Hatu Pir, view from, [127], [129].
Higraf Tind, [192]; ascent of, [197].
Himalaya, peaks over 24,000 feet, [6], [307].
—— exclusion from, [7].
—— Mountaineering Club, [14].
Hindu Kush range, [26].
Hispar pass crossed, [21], [24].
Hooker, Sir Joseph, Sikkim Journeys, [11].
—— group of mountains, [144].
—— Mount, [149].
Howse pass, [144].
I
Ibi-Gamin. See Kamet.
Imboden, Joseph, [16].
Indus valley, [127]; heat in, [130].
J
Johnson, Dr., [50], [211]; description of Skye by, [212].
—— W. H., ascents by, [13].
Jonsong La crossed, [24].
Jubonu, [18]; ascent of, [19].
K
K2, [15], [21-22]; seen from slopes of Nanga Parbat, [71].
Kabru, [16], [18]; ascent of, [19];
objections to claimed ascent of, [19].
Kamet, attempted ascents of, [13], [16].
Kamri pass crossed, [34].
Kanchenjunga, [12], [16-18], [24].
Kang La, ascent of peak near, [19].
Karakoram range. See Mustagh range.
—— pass, [13].
Kashmir, journey from Rawul Pindi to, [28]; valley of, [29].
Kauffmann, Ulrich, [17].
Kerry Hills, [237 et seq.]
Khaghan, [23].
Kicking Horse pass, [143].
Kishnganga valley, description of, [33].
Kongra-Lama pass, [12].
Koser Gunge, ascent of, [24].
Kulu, [9].
Kumaon, [9].
L
Lake Louise, [145].
Langstrandtinder, ascent of, [195].
Laurence, W. R., description of valley of Kashmir, [30].
Lechre, landslip blocks Indus at [26], [129].
Leo Porgyul, [11].
Liskom pass, [123].
Lofoten Islands, [185]; fish trade of, [203]; rain in the, [201];
visits to the, [207]; climate of, [187]; scenery of, [189].
Logan, Mount, [136].
Lor Khan, [83], [89]; accident to, [96]; [109].
Lubar nullah, camp in, [79].
—— glacier, [59].
—— torrent, [107].
Lyell, Mount, [147].
M
Macgillicuddy's Reeks. See Kerry Hills,[237].
Maelström, description of, [185].
Manning, T., Mission to Tibet, [8].
Markhor, [60].
Masherbrum, [15].
Mazeno La, [42]; cross the, [57]; cross second time, [66];
cross third time, [77]; Bruce crosses the, [81]; Hastings crosses, [90].
—— peaks, [42].
M'Kinley, Mount, [136].
Monal, Mount, [16]; ascent of, [17-18].
Montgomerie, Capt. T. G., survey of mountains by, [15].
Mösadlen, [192].
Moss ghyll, climb up, [256].
Mountains, description of
Himalayan, [50];
Canadian Rocky, [143].
Lofoten [191];
Scotch, [220];
Irish, [226].
Mummery, A. F., [27];
explores western face of Nanga Parbat, [82];
ascends Diamirai peak, [97];
starts for Bunar, [105];
takes provisions up rocks of Nanga Parbat, [83], [109];
spends night on rocks of Nanga Parbat, [110], [114];
starts for ascent of Nanga Parbat, [113];
starts for Diama pass, [116];
probable fate of, [124];
climbing in Alps, [174];
climbing near Wastdale Head, [246].
Murree, [28].
Mustagh range, view of, [91], [128].
—— pass, [22].
—— tower, description of, [21].
N
Nanda Devi, [12], [16-18].
Nanga Parbat, [26];
view of from Kamri pass, [34];
glacier, [45];
south face, view of, [47];
western face, view of, [61];
Mummery explores western face, [82];
provisions left on, [83];
climbing on, [83];
avalanches on, [83], [111], [114], [124], [133];
attempted ascent of, [114];
northern face of, [120].
Nepaul, enormous peaks north of, [12], [16].
Nicholson, A., derivation of the name of the Coolin, [235].
Night out at 19,000 ft., [75].
Nun Kun peaks, [24], [29].
Nushik La crossed, [21].
O
Ottertail Range, [143].
P
Pennant, [213].
Phillip, Colin B., [233], [270], [273].
Pillar rock, climbing on, [251].
Pioneer peak, [20], [23].
Prairie, description of, [138].
Priestman, H., [191].
Pundim, [17], [19].
Punmah glacier, [15].
R
Ragee-Bogee Peaks ascended, [23].
Ragobir Thapa, [69], [82], [89], [113], [117], [124].
Rakiot nullah, [116];
arrive in, [120];
explore, [121].
Rakiot glacier, [120].
—— peak, [42].
Rakipushi, [127].
Ramghat, [127].
Rattu, [35].
Red pass, [118].
Robinson, J. W., [247], [255], [260].
Robson, description of Grampians by, [214].
Rocky Mountains, Canadian, [135];
future of, [137];
approach to, [138], [140];
travelling in, [150];
dense forests on west side of, [156].
Rosamir, head coolie, [116].
Rulten, [192]; attempted ascent of, [201].
Rupal nullah, arrival in, [38];
description of, [41];
journey up, [44].
—— peak, [42]; glacier, [42].
S
Samayar Glacier, [21].
Schlagentweit, Adolf and Robert, exploration of Himalaya, [12].
Screes, climb up the great gully of the, [254].
Selkirk mountains, [142].
Sella, Signor V., [24].
Sgurr a'Ghreadaidh, climb on, [219].
Shallihuru glacier, [21].
Shandur pass, [35].
Sheep, price of, [59].
Shikara pass, [23].
Shikari, robbed by, [106].
Sickness, mountain, [11], [58], [98].
Siegfried Horn, ascent of, [24].
Simpson pass, [143].
Slieve League, climbing on, [230]; sea caves near, [231].
Slingsby, C., [247].
Solly, G., [252].
Spiti, [9].
Stewart, Capt., [125].
—— Lieut. C. G., Chitral Relief Expedition, [35].
Swat country, peaks in, [60], [81].
T
Tashing, [36], [40].
—— river crossed, [36].
—— glacier ascended, [70];
descended, [72].
Temple group mountains, [143], [145].
Thompson pass, [144].
Thosho pass, [39]; peak, [42].
Tirich Mir, [26];
seen from slopes of Nanga Parbat, [81].
Tragbal or Raj Diangan pass, [33].
Travers, M. W., [271].
Trisuli peaks, [17].
Trold Fjord, [199], [205].
Troldfjordvatn, [199], [205].
Tunkra pass, [12].
V
Vaage Kallen, [192].
Vermilion pass, [143].
W
Wapta Range, [144], [146].
Wastdale Head, climbing near, [245 et seq.]
Wicklow Mountains, [229], [242].
Woolar lake, description of, [31]; storm on, [32].
Woolley, H., [191].
Y
Younghusband, Captain F., climb with Major Bruce, [23].
Z
Zaipur, [36].
Zurbriggen, M., [20], [24].
Edinburgh: Printed by T. and A. Constable
Now Ready.
In One Volume, Royal 8vo, with Illustrations, price 36s. net.
THE ALPS IN 1864
A PRIVATE JOURNAL
By A. W. MOORE
Edited By ALEX. B. W. KENNEDY, LL.D., F.R.S.
MEMBER OF THE ALPINE CLUB
Moore's privately printed Journal of 1864 has long been one of the rarest and most coveted books of Alpine adventure. The Author was a climber of marvellous energy, and climbed, for the pure pleasure of climbing, in days when the Alps were not 'hung in chains,' and when virgin peaks and passes still remained in comparative plenty. Few of his contemporaries had so wide a knowledge of the mountains as he had, and few were able to make so many first ascents; while few, it may be said without offence, spoke and wrote of their doings in so simple, genial, and unaffected a fashion.
'The writer succeeds in bringing the actual conditions of the climb home to the reader in a manner calculated at times almost to take his breath away. He makes one believe that it would be possible to go and repeat the exact route merely from his description. As we follow him over the ice-wall and along the arêtes of the Ecrins, through the hurricanes on the Dom, across the awful barrier of the Moming Pass, and up the hanging glaciers of the Brenva, we feel as if we were ourselves standing amid the snows and rocks of the Alpine giants as we sit in our arm-chair waiting till the return of a summer holiday sends us once again to the happy hunting ground.'—Spectator.
'The work will prove not only a monument to the memory of a man of rare culture, of great public capacity, and of unusual mountaineering experience, but also a notable addition to permanent Alpine literature.'—Birmingham Post.
'The keynote of the whole book is its frank, hearty, straightforward naturalness. It breathes the very air of the mountains, and is instinct in every page with the spirit of the true mountaineer.'—Birmingham Gazette.
'Contains a better collection of Alpine plates than we have ever before seen brought together in a book. The volume would be worth buying for the plates alone. '—Times.
'One of the most vivid and fascinating books of Alpine travel which has ever been written.'—Alpine Journal.
'Moore's book will be classed with the very best in its department of literature with the works of Mummery and Mr. Whymper and Mr. Leslie Stephen.' —Glasgow Herald.
'Mr. Moore was an ardent and successful mountain climber,' with a remarkable topographical faculty and a retentive and accurate memory. He wrote in an easy style with much descriptive power and quiet humour.'—Standard.
In Preparation, One Volume, with Illustrations
A Book on Climbing in Norway
with chapters on the physical features, etc., of the country.
By WM. CECIL SLINGSBY.
EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS, 10 CASTLE STREET.