Western Himalaya and Tibet / A Narrative of a Journey Through the Mountains of Northern India During the Years 1847-8

by Thomas Thomson

The herbaceous vegetation, being principally of annual growth, approaches still more closely to the plains types. At the season of my journey in May, the extreme drought had dried up almost all the smaller plants, but during, and immediately after the rainy season the herbage is very luxuriant. The steep slopes are then covered with a uniform herbage of tall grasses, which is in many places cut and preserved for hay, by the inhabitants of the scattered villages in the valleys. The most prevailing grasses are a tall sweet-scented Cymbopogon and Heteropogon contortus. A species of Kalanchoë, a large and conspicuous plant, with thick fleshy leaves, is very common, and the superb Gloriosa or Methonica is by no means rare.

On the highest ridges in the valley, at elevations of 5000 feet and upwards, there are frequent approaches to the temperate flora, the shady slopes on northern exposures being frequently covered with small patches of brushwood, containing species of Berberis, Rubus, Spiræa, etc., and numerous herbaceous species, of forms common at Simla. These, however, are quite exceptional, though no doubt with a very little more humidity the shrubby vegetation would rapidly extend, and under its shelter many small plants would be able to grow, which are now, when they attempt to vegetate, destroyed by the scorching heat of the sun.

It must also not be forgotten, that notwithstanding the general tendency to a tropical flora, the natural result of the low elevation and great aridity of these hills, a portion of the vegetation even at the lowest levels consists of plants of European forms, such as characterize the temperate vegetation of the Himalaya. I do not here refer to what may be called the cold-weather vegetation of the plains of north-western India, at which season, the temperature of the air approaching to that of the summer of the temperate zone, a considerable number of European plants make their appearance in corn-fields and along the banks of water-courses; as, for example, Veronica Anagallis and agrestis, Anagallis, Medicago, Melilotus, Potentilla supina, Juncus bufonius, Arenaria serpyllifolia, Heliotropium Europæum, and many others. These naturally occur at the same season, in the low valleys among the hills, in similar situations. The circumstance to which I desire to advert, is the occurrence at very low levels among the mountains, during the hot and rainy seasons, of species belonging to genera characteristic of temperate climates, and which therefore are the prevailing forms at considerable elevations on the Himalaya. As instances, I may adduce the occurrence in the valley of the Gambar, at elevations not exceeding 3000 feet, of species of Thalictrum, Fragaria, Rosa, Rubus, Berberis, &c., &c. This remarkable fact has been ascribed by Jacquemont[1] to the obscure influence of the mountains; and as the genera just enumerated never occur in the plains of Upper India, it appears evident that the mountainous nature of the country must be viewed as an essential element in the reasons for their descent. These, with some others which also occur at low levels in the Himalaya, appear to be in all parts of the continent of India those genera of temperate climates, which descend to the lowest altitudes. Some of them were found by Dr. Hooker on Parasnâth, a hill in upper Behar, the elevation of which does not exceed 4000 feet; and they are all natives of moderate elevations on the Nilgherries and in Ceylon, as well as on the Khasya mountains in eastern Bengal.

ASCENT TO SIMLA.
May, 1847.

SIMLA.
May, 1847.

The ridge which runs from Haripur to Sairi, parallel to the river Gambar, is a branch from the Jutog spur, nearly north of Simla, a ridge which is given off by the main South Sutlej chain in Simla itself, and which runs directly north to the Sutlej river. The road, after following this ridge till within a few miles of Simla, leaves it on the left hand, to descend into a small stony ravine; after crossing which it mounts abruptly a very steep spur, ascending at least 1500 feet to gain the crest of the ridge, and enter Simla at its north-western extremity.

The hill station of Simla, which was originally selected as a sanatarium, or suitable residence for the servants of Government, or other Europeans, whose health had been impaired by disease, or by too long residence in a tropical climate, has of late years, in consequence of the political state of north-western India, and of the increasing number of retired officers, and of gentlemen unconnected with the public service, who have made it their residence, become a place of great importance. Besides an extensive bazaar or collection of shops, which may now almost be designated a small native town, Simla contains nearly 400 houses, scattered along the crest of different mountain ranges. Its situation is a most favourable one, on the main range of mountains south of the Sutlej river, at a point where a massive peak rises to a height of 8100 feet, and on the nearest part of the ridge to the plains of India, which is sufficiently elevated, well wooded, and situated favourably with regard to water. The greater part of the station is built on the main range, partly surrounding the peak of Jako, and partly on the ridge running north from it, at an elevation of about 7000 feet, as far as a smaller culminating point of the range, which is by the inhabitants named Prospect Point. At this point the main range turns sharply to the west, and the station is continued for nearly a mile on a spur which runs towards the north, passing through the station of Jutog. From the scattered position of the houses, the extent of Simla is much more considerable than the bare statement of the number of houses might lead one to suppose. The northern ridge extends almost four miles, and the circuit of Jako, by the principal road, which is from 500 to 1000 feet below the summit, measures five miles.

In consequence of the sudden elevation of the mountain range at the place where Simla has been built, there is a most complete and surprising change in the vegetation and general appearance of the scenery. During the last ascent on the road from the plains this is sufficiently perceptible, although from the great ravages which the proximity of so large a population has made in the oak woods, only a few stunted bushes are now left on the southern exposure. Between the plains and Simla the hills are totally devoid of trees, but immediately on gaining the top of the ridge on which the station is built, we enter a fine forest, which covers all the broader parts of the range, especially the slopes which have a northern aspect, stretching down on these in many places to the bottom of the valleys, fully 2000 feet.

OAK FOREST.
May, 1847.

PINES OF SIMLA.
May, 1847.