Hindoo Koosh; range so called.
When the great range of the Himalaya, which forms the northern boundary of Hindoostan, crosses the Indus, it loses the designation by which it has been familiarly known from the frontiers of China. It also changes its course, and, running west, expends its greatest height in the lofty peak of Hindoo Koosh, from which it dwindles into comparative insignificance. The elevation of the peak appropriately affixes the name of Hindoo Koosh to this portion of the range; but this general term is unknown to the people. A road which leads across the shoulder of this mountain is also called the “pass of Hindoo Koosh.” The part which I am now about to describe lies between Cabool and Balkh, and is that which we traversed in our journey to Bokhara. In the plains of the Punjab we had had a magnificent view of the stupendous mountains which separate Cashmere from the plains; and it is to them that the natives affix the name of Himalaya, without confining it to the mountains beyond that celebrated valley. On crossing the Indus, we found ourselves much nearer this great range, now termed Hindoo Koosh, than is represented in our maps. Errors regarding it. In the valley of the Cabool River, it seemed to overhang the road which we passed; an error which originates from the city of Cabool being placed in too low a parallel of latitude by fifteen minutes: nor was I prepared to find from these same maps that we had surmounted “the everlasting snows” of Hindoo Koosh before reaching Bameean, since, by every delineation, they were yet half a degree beyond us. Such, however, was the fact, since the rivulet of Bameean is a tributary of the Oxus, and the country there slopes towards the north. There are certainly mountains beyond Bameean; but we have no longer the towering tops of the Himalaya. One broad depressed belt extends to Balkh; and it is this belt that the Arabian geographers denominated the “Stony Girdle” of the earth. The only part of these mountains covered with perpetual snow, is the Koh-i-Baba, that lies between Cabool and Bameean; the range is afterwards lost in a maze of lower hills, towards Herat.
Height of the Hindoo Koosh.
We crossed this stupendous chain of mountains by six successive passes; and, after a journey of about 260 miles, and thirteen days, debouched, on the valley of the Oxus, at Khoolloom, which is forty miles eastward of the ancient city of Balkh. The three first passes lie between Cabool and Bameean, and two of them were so deeply covered with snow in the end of May, that we could only travel in the morning, when it was frozen, and would bear our horses. The three remaining passes north of Bameean were of lesser altitude, and free from snow. We commenced our journey at an elevation of 6600 feet[27], which is the height of the city of Cabool from the sea. We then followed the river of Cabool, which falls at the rate of fifty feet a mile, and reached its source at an elevation of 8600 feet; where the snow was first encountered in the valley. We attained our greatest height at the passes called Hajeeguk and Kaloo, which were respectively 12,400 and 13,000 feet high, and covered with snow. None of the other passes exceed an altitude of 9000; and from the last of them, called Kara Koottul, we descended the bed of a river, at the rate of sixty feet a mile, till we reached the plains of Toorkistan, where, in Balkh, we had yet an elevation of 2000 feet above the level of the sea. As we issued from the mountains, we left them rising from the plain in a bold and precipitous line, about 2500 feet high. Their sides, which were bare, black, and polished, had a most imposing appearance, though they had lost much of their sublimity and grandeur. They sank beneath the horizon long before we reached the banks of the Oxus. I am assured that the whole of these passes of Hindoo Koosh are free from snow before the end of June; and in our progress across them we had not, therefore, attained the height of perpetual congelation. I am aware of the interest which is attached to this point, and it is something towards a conclusion, that here, at least, it lies beyond an elevation of 13,000 feet. The peaks of Koh-i-Baba are covered with eternal snow for a considerable distance beneath their summits: nor can I estimate any of these (for it is only an estimate) at a greater altitude than 18,000 feet, judging from the height at which we viewed them. The climate of this elevated zone is variable: the thermometer in May stood below the freezing point at sunrise; while, at mid-day, the heat and reflection from the snow were insufferable. It is said that, at a certain degree of elevation, and in a low latitude, we may find the climate of more temperate countries: nor can the fact be for a moment doubted; still, in that elevation the rays of the sun are most powerful. At the height of 10,000 feet we found the inhabitants ploughing the ground as the snow left the face of the mountains; so rapid is vegetation, from the scorching heat, that they would reap in the beginning of October that which they sowed in the close of May.
General features of Hindoo Koosh.
This portion of Hindoo Koosh is entirely destitute of wood, and, in many places, of verdure; the range of Koh-i-Baba rises in peaks, but in all other places they present the appearance of rounded and naked mountains. In the defiles the road frequently passes at the base of a mural precipice, rising in a perpendicular height of 2000 and 3000 feet, and exhibits monuments of solemn grandeur, which it is difficult to describe. About seven years since, near Sarbagh, the shock of an earthquake precipitated a huge mass of rock into the valley, which blocked up the river for four days, and rendered the road for a long time impassable. The watercourses appear to have excavated for themselves a channel in the lapse of ages; and, to judge from the stratification of the rocks on either side, these have, at one time, formed the banks, from the top downwards, of rivulets now depressed some thousand feet. These walls have a resemblance to cut stone or brick, rising in horizontal layers above one another. So tortuous is the defile we traversed, that it forms, as it were, in every half mile, distinct enclosures, which appear like so many fortified positions, the view being bounded on every side. One part of the valley, to which this remark more particularly applies, has the name of the “Dura-i-zundan,” or the Valley of the Dungeon; and in many parts the height was such as to exclude the sun at mid-day. I was unable to take an altitude of the pole star from Bameean to within thirty miles of the plains of Toorkistan.
Productions of Hindoo Koosh.
There are no cedars or pines to adorn Hindoo Koosh, and the only fuel of the inhabitants is a dry stunted furze, which tenaciously clings to the soil. Its thorns are disposed like the quills of a hedge-hog, and it is familiarly known to the people by the name of the Koollah-i-Huzara, or the Huzara Cap. At an elevation of 7000 feet we found the asafœtida plant flourishing in great luxuriance. It is an annual, and grows to the height of eight or ten feet, when it withers and decays. The milk which exudes is first white, and then turns yellow, and hardens; in which state it is put in hair bags, and exported. In the fresh state it has the same abominable smell; yet our fellow-travellers greedily devoured it. If the odour of the asafœtida be offensive, the inhabitants are amply compensated by the variety of aromatic plants which grow in these hills, and scent the air. The rocks are very bare, but the few plants which protrude from between the stones are mostly fragrant. The pasture is peculiarly favourable to sheep from its aromatic qualities. We saw these animals browsing on the tender plants of asafœtida, which is believed to be highly nutritious. They rear a barley in this elevated country, which has no husk, and grows like wheat, but it is barley. The valleys in Hindoo Koosh are more favoured by nature, and stored with the finest fruit-trees. We sometimes passed for miles among orchards of apricots, a fruit which grows on the most elevated regions, and attains the highest perfection. On descending to Khooloom, we had the cherry, peach, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, pear, quince, and apple,—all of them on the brink of the rivulet; for the breadth of the defile never exceeded 200 yards, and was generally narrower. On the verge of this watercourse I frequently observed the blackberry bush, the sweet-briar, and the hawthorn. Grass is most abundant, and I could discover the peppermint and the hemlock among many other weeds.
Formation of Hindoo Koosh.
I shall endeavour to convey some notions of the formation of these vast mountains. The nature of the valleys is highly favourable to the researches of the geologist; but I have to claim much indulgence in treating on a subject of such interest, but (to me, at least) of considerable difficulty. I cannot introduce it to the notice of the reader better than in a detailed account of the defile under the pass of Kaloo, by which we descended to Bameean. It lies between the two great snowy passes that I have noted, and it is to be observed, runs at an elevation of 8000 feet. The section which was here laid open extended for about twenty miles, during which we descended 3000 feet. The highest hills between Cabool and Hajeeguk appeared to be gneiss, or granite; and, after we had wound over that pass, they became deeply impregnated with iron, even to their summits. These were succeeded by blue slate and quartz. The sides of the defile rose up in steep slanting precipices of this micaceous schist; but the summit presented a rugged outline of nodules. From the higher parts of these, huge blocks of green granite and other stones, said to be shivered by the cold and frost, had been hurled into the valley. Descending further, we came to conglomerate limestone, in which were mixed up a variety of other stones, not unlike gravel or shingle. About eight or ten springs of water, of the colour of deep rust, were exuding from various parts of this rock, and tinged its sides as they trickled down. The waters have a purgative effect, and a metallic taste, and run, I presume, over a deposit of iron. There is a large spring of the same kind in the valley, leading to the pass of Hajeeguk. Then followed huge cliffs of clay of a reddish and purple colour, which were succeeded by ridges of indurated clay, mixed with harder stones, till we reached Bameean. It is in this ridge that the great idols and caves are excavated, for it is easily worked. The vicinity of Bameean is exceedingly rich in the mineral kingdom. At Fouladut, gold is found; also lapis lazuli; and in the hills of Istalif, north of Cabool. There are ten or twelve mines of lead in a defile close to Bameean, which are at present worked. There are also ores of copper, tin, and antimony; sulphate of copper (neeltota, moordarsung), and sulphur. Asbestos (sung i poom bu, or cotton stone,) is found at Judraun, north-east of Cabool; and iron exists in Bajour, north of Peshawur. Travelling north of Bameean, the same appearances continued till we descended from the first pass, where cliffs of granite, blackened by the elements, rose up in dusky, but majestic columns, not unlike basalt. The specimens which had fallen down proved them to be of the formation which I have named. The two last passes of Hindoo Koosh presented an entirely different appearance from what has been yet described: they consisted of a light brown limestone, I presume, of primary formation, and of great hardness, exhibiting, when fractured, the sharpest angles. This stone is so slippery, from the polish which it takes on, that one of the passes of which it is composed is called the “Tooth-breaker[28],” from this circumstance. It was in this formation that we met with those steep and lofty precipices which overhung the valley on our descent; but before we had reached the plains, they were succeeded by rocks of sandstone. In one of these, near Heibuk, I observed round and separate stones of pure flint, imbedded at regular intervals, and running in as distinct a line as if they had been fixed by art. The flint is extracted for military purposes. There is also an extensive deposit of sulphur between these last passes and Hindoo Koosh.