The province or country of Kashmir consists of an extensive plain, surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains. It is the valley of the river Behat, or Jelam, which is separated from that of the Chenab on the south, by rugged and often snowy ranges, and from the basin of the Indus on the north, by the main axis of the Western Himalaya, which, originating in the peaks of Kailas, separates the basins of the Sutlej and the Chenab from that of the Indus. The mountains which surround the plain of Kashmir are very lofty. Those on the north are for the most part bare and rugged on their southern face, while those which lie to the south appear from the plain to be magnificently wooded with forests of pines and deciduous-leaved trees, descending almost to their base. On both sides of the valley the mountains rise above the level of perpetual snow, but those on the north side are considerably more lofty than the others. Numerous transverse valleys penetrate into these mountains, which are well cultivated in their lower parts, and, higher up, present superb mountain scenery. On the south side of the valley, many passes, varying in elevation from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, lead across the main chain to the Chenab valley and the plains of India. To the north there are only two frequented routes, that by the Garys pass towards Hasora and Deotsu, and that by the valley of the Sind river towards Dras. At the eastern end of the valley a high pass leads across the mountains to the valley of Wardwan, from which travellers can reach Kargil and the Indus on the left, and Kishtwar in the valley of the Chenab on the right.
The flat country or alluvial plain of Kashmir, which is 5300 feet above the sea, is about fifty miles in length, and not more than ten or twelve miles wide. It commences close to Islamabad, where the last spurs of the mountains at the east end of the valley disappear; and terminates at Baramula, where the ranges, branches of the opposite mountain chains, again advance close to the bank of the river. It is traversed in its whole length by the river Jelam, which rises at the east end of the valley, and winds from one side of the plain to the other, at one time washing the base of the northern hills, at another receding to a considerable distance from them. The Jelam flows with a tranquil stream, and, being navigable throughout the whole of the level country as far up as Islamabad, for boats of considerable burden, is the great highway for the traffic of the country, in which, notwithstanding its being perfectly level, wheel-carriages are unknown. At Islamabad it is a very small stream, but it gradually enlarges, by additions from both sides, as it descends. Near the town of Kashmir it is from fifty to a hundred yards wide, often very deep, and in few places fordable, even at the driest season.
LACUSTRINE STRATA.
April, 1848.
The plain of Kashmir has evidently at one time been the bed of a lake, a deposit of fine clayey and sandy strata, more rarely partially indurated into a soft sandstone rock, occupying a great part of the surface. Soft pebbly conglomerate is also occasionally met with, and an indurated conglomerate, containing water-worn pebbles, occurs in many places in the lower course of the Sind river. This lacustrine formation forms elevated platforms, which are from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet or more above the level of the river. In many places, both on the Jelam and along the lateral streams which descend from the mountains to join it, the beds of clay have been removed by aqueous action. In such places the plain has a lower level, often very little above the surface of the river, and is covered with rice-fields or with marshy lands, undrained and not under cultivation.
LAKE OF KASHMIR.
April, 1848.
The platforms of lacustrine clay are called, in Kashmir, "karewah." They are often quite dry, and generally uncultivated, but where water is procurable they are highly cultivated, yielding luxuriant crops of wheat and barley. A proper application of artificial irrigation would, I believe, make the whole of these more elevated parts of the plain fertile, as the soil is everywhere well adapted for the growth of corn. These karewahs generally run parallel to the lateral streams which join the Jelam, and extend from the base of the mountains till they are cut off by the river. There are, however, in the upper part of the valley, several isolated patches, all horizontally stratified, from which I infer that they had originally been continuous. One of these, near Bijbeara, forms a table-topped hill of considerable extent, surrounded on all sides by low land. Several low hills near Islamabad, also, are evidently outlying patches of the same formation. The sands and sandy clays of these platforms are usually quite non-fossiliferous; but I determined the lacustrine nature of the strata by finding, on the flanks of Takht-i-Suleiman, a hill near the town of Kashmir, and close to the city lake, but at least thirty feet above its level, a bed of clay, which contained, abundantly, shells of the genera Lymnæa and Paludina.
The main chain of the Himalaya, north of Kashmir, consists, where I crossed it, by the Zoji pass north of Baltal, of metamorphic schist; and all its branches, which descend towards the plain of Kashmir, seem to be formed of the same rock. Along the north side of the valley, however, a series of hills of trap rise, almost isolated, out of the plain. Ahathung, near the Wulur lake, is, I believe, the most westerly of these, but I did not visit it, and only infer its structure from its conical shape and from its similarity in appearance to those further east. Near the town of Kashmir there are two of these isolated hills, composed of an amygdaloidal trap: these are Hari-Parbat, which is fortified, and Takht-i-Suleiman, which rises about eight hundred feet above the plain. The former lies to the north-west, and the latter on the north-east side of the town.
The lake or Dal of Kashmir lies to the north of the town, stretching from the base of these two hills to the more lofty mountain range which bounds the valley on the north. It is nearly circular and four or five miles in diameter, but is only open in its northern half, the end nearest the town being occupied by large islands, with narrow channels between them, in some of which there is a good deal of current. Its waters are discharged into the Jelam by a considerable stream, which, flowing from its south-east corner, runs to the westward in a course nearly parallel to the southern margin of the lake for nearly a mile, when it turns abruptly south to enter the Jelam in the middle of the town of Kashmir. This stream is evidently an artificial canal, and the embankment by which it is separated from the lake appears to have been constructed in order to keep the surface of the latter higher than it would naturally be. The stream at its point of exit from the lake flows through a narrow canal of masonry, and has, when the Jelam is low, a fall of several feet. A pair of flood-gates prevent the return of the stream in times of flood, when the waters of the river are higher than those of the lake.
The Wulur lake, below the junction of the Sind river with the Jelam, appears to be similar in appearance to that close to the town, and, like it, to owe its extent in part to artificial means. Its dimensions are, however, much greater. There are several large marshy tracts in different parts of the plain, which, by a little engineering, might also be converted into lakes: one in particular, near Avantipura, is quite under water in spring, though in summer and autumn it is only a swamp.
CLIMATE OF KASHMIR.
April, 1848.