Among the many advantages of situation by which Simla is characterized, one of the most fortunate is its position on a part of the mountain range which lies transversely to the ordinary direction of the chain, so that the view towards the plains of India, as well as up the Sutlej valley, is very much more extensive than would be obtained, had the station been situated in a less favourable position. This advantage is further enhanced by the sudden rise in elevation of the chain, which enables a resident at Simla to overlook in the direction of the plains the continuation of the range which would otherwise obstruct the view. Towards the interior of the mountains, this advantage is not possessed by Simla; for the ridge of Mahasu, which rises 1000 feet higher than the peak of Jako, obscures at least half of the snowy range, the view being limited in that direction to the course of the valley of the Sutlej, and to the mountains north of that river.
VIEW FROM THE PEAK OF JAKO.
July, 1847.
With all these advantages of situation, the view from the peak of Jako is one of the most agreeable and diversified, which occur in any part of the Himalaya; although, from the rather too level top of the mountain, and the intrusion of the forest almost to the very summit, the whole panorama cannot be embraced at once. Immediately under the eye are the numerous spurs and ridges covered with scattered houses, and the deep ravines which terminate the steep slopes below the station; towards the plains, the whole valley of the Gambar is seen, with the stations of Sabathu and Kussowlee, the church and esplanade of the former appearing low down almost within a stone's throw, while the brilliant white of the houses of Kussowlee, more nearly on a level with the eye, sparkle in the sunbeams. The ridge of Kussowlee in one place excludes the view of the plains, but to the right they may be seen stretching away in the distance, and only recognizable at last by the track of the Sutlej river, which, from the very remarkable curve close to its exit from the mountains, may be traced as far as vision can extend, a distance of 116 miles[2]. To the north a valley stretches from Simla as far as the Sutlej river, distant about fifteen miles, so direct that the greater part of it is seen, though the river itself is concealed. East of north a long partially wooded ridge, about four miles distant at its nearest point, running parallel to the valley just mentioned, excludes the view of the nearer part of the Sutlej valley; but the lofty ranges north of that river, covered with dense forest, and backed by masses of brilliant snow, close in the view in that direction. Due east lies the Mahasu ridge, covered on the Simla slopes with a dense forest of deodar; and to the south, across the valley of the Giri, towards which numerous rugged ridges run, is the mountain called the Chor, the highest peak of the range which separates the Giri from the Tons, the crest of which is upwards of 12,000 feet in height.
From the peak of Jako, the serpentine course of the range, which prevails universally throughout the Himalaya, may be well traced, as the eye of the spectator, following the direct course of the ridge, can observe numerous turns in its course, each of which, from the great foreshortening, appears much more abrupt than it really is. At each curve the range rises into a peak, while the intermediate portions are lower and excavated into "cols" or passes. In the concavity of each bend of the range is situated the head of a valley, numerous small spurs dividing the different ravines which unite to form it; while on the convex side, from the high portion of the ridge, is given off a branch of the range, forming a separation between two adjacent valleys, each of which occupies a concavity in the main range of mountain.
On my arrival at Simla on the 25th of May, I found that Major A. Cunningham, of the Bengal Engineers, and Captain Henry Strachey, of the 66th Regiment N.I., were to be my fellow-travellers, the former having been appointed the head of the mission. As Captain Strachey had to travel from Dinapore, it was evident that some time would elapse before he would arrive at Simla, nor was it till the beginning of August that the completion of the necessary preliminaries rendered it possible for us to commence our journey. I took advantage of this delay to make myself as far as possible acquainted with the physical features and vegetation of the surrounding country, though the necessary preparations for the approaching journey occupied a good deal of time, and the commencement of the rainy season rendered travelling difficult, and even out-of-door exercise unpleasant. I have already attempted to convey an idea of the general physical aspect of the scenery, which, after a short residence has made one familiar with the structure of the ridges, appears very simple. Situated on the dividing range, by which the waters of the Giri, a tributary of the Jumna, on the left, are separated from those of the tributaries of the Sutlej on the right, the spectator looks into two of the immense basins into which the Himalaya is divided by transverse ranges running parallel to the great rivers; and after a short time he finds that the chaos of mountains, which at first perplexed the eye and confused the mind, gradually resolves itself into a definite shape, each ridge being capable of being referred to its parent, and that in its turn to a branch of the main chain. From his commanding position he can also see that the main range is generally more elevated than its branches, and that each chain, by a succession of sudden sinkings, diminishes in elevation, each peak being lower than its predecessor. Nowhere in the wide tract of country visible is there the least approach to a system of parallel ridges, such as is indicated by the distant view of these mountains. On the contrary, it is seen that the great ranges are, though very irregularly, perpendicular to the general direction of the mountain mass, and that it is only the shorter spurs which have a general uniformity of direction.
STRUCTURE OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGES.
July, 1847.
Nor could I find in the structure of the mountains around Simla any confirmation of the view entertained by Humboldt of the sudden elevation of the Himalaya out of a vast fissure in the external crust of the earth. However plausible such a view might appear when the Himalaya is contemplated as a whole (on a map), without any portion of its extent being under the eye, I found it, on the spot, quite impossible to conceive in what way, after such a sudden elevation, any power in the least analogous to existing forces could have excavated out of the solid rock those numerous valleys, so various in direction, so rugged in outline, and so vast in dimensions, which now furrow the mountain mass.
On the contrary, the conclusion has been forced upon me that these mountains have emerged extremely gradually from an ocean, of the existence of which, at very various levels, the most evident traces are, I think, discoverable. The present configuration of the surface must, I do not doubt, have been given to it during periods of rest, or of very slow elevation, the action of the sea upon submerged rocks being so very superficial that no denudation takes place at any great depth. During the period of emergence of the Himalaya, from the great length of the present valleys, which extend between parallel ranges far into the interior, the coast must have borne a strong resemblance to that of Norway at the present day, numerous promontories projecting far into the sea, and separated from one another by narrow and deep bays.
GEOLOGY.
The geological structure of the Himalaya between Simla and the plains is not easily discovered by the cursory observer. The general basis of the mountains is clay-slate, occasionally very micaceous, passing into a coarse sandstone, but here and there limestone occurs interstratified. The dip is extremely variable, and the rocks, whatever their age, are evidently highly metamorphosed. The tertiary formations, so well illustrated by Falconer and Cautley, extend all along the base of the mountains, and penetrate in some places far into the valleys, for certain rocks in the neighbourhood of Sabathu have been indicated by Major Vicary, which appear to be of the same age, or perhaps of a still older tertiary epoch.