JAMU.
May, 1848.
I encamped on the 18th at Seda, under the shade of a superb banyan-tree, in a hollow in this sandstone range, and next day continued my journey to Jamu. Emerging from the hills after a mile or two, I entered a third valley, and followed the course of the little stream by which it was watered, to its junction with the Tawi, along which I travelled about four miles; to the town of Jamu, which is built on the outermost range of hills, at the point where the river Tawi finally quits the mountains. These hills rise very gently from the plains, their southern slope forming a long inclined plane, densely covered with a jungle of low thorny trees. The same sort of jungle usually skirts their base to a distance of two or three miles, or as far as the alluvial soil of the level country which lies beyond is covered with stones and shingle. It is principally composed of Acacia modesta and Catechu, and of two species of Zizyphus. The northern or inner face of this range of hills is very steep, often quite precipitous; and where they overhang the Tawi, they terminate abruptly in a line of cliffs facing the river. A similar range, but a good deal lower, descends from the eastward towards Jamu, and, like the other, presents a series of vertical cliffs covered with brushwood towards the river. The town occupies the gentle slope which faces the plains; it is a straggling and dirty place, but with some very good houses. The principal building is the residence of Maharaja Gulab Sing; at the time of my visit occupied by his eldest son. It is situated on the edge of the cliff, overhanging the river, and commands a fine view of the open valley of the Tawi below, and of the mountain ranges to the north and east, the more distant of which were still tipped with snow.
The outermost range of hills, which does not rise to any great elevation, consists entirely of loose conglomerate coarsely stratified, the beds dipping very gently towards the plains. The boulders of which it is composed are waterworn, and very various in composition, but all referable to the interior ranges; a few thin beds of sand and of a clay resembling pipe-clay, are interposed between the strata of conglomerate.
The very curious country through which I had been travelling since the 16th, had so much the appearance of a succession of valleys parallel to the plains, and separated by long ranges of hills, that it was difficult to avoid taking up that impression, which, notwithstanding, I believe to be an erroneous one. The gentle slope of the different tributaries which join the Tawi from the right and left, tends to keep out of sight the longitudinal ranges parallel to that river, from which the lateral ramifications proceed. When we obtain a detailed survey of the district, it will be found that the lateral valleys on each side of the Tawi do not correspond in direction, and are not quite opposite to one another, and that the apparent uniformity is caused by the great width of their valleys, when compared with the elevation of the bounding ranges. The Sewalik sandstone here attains a width of at least thirty miles, which is very much more than is found further west.
CHAPTER XI.
Leave Jamu to return to Tibet—Lake of Sirohi Sar—Vegetation of lower hills—Dodonæa—Ramnagar—Garta—Dadu, on a tributary of the Chenab—Camp at 10,000 feet—Badarwar—Padri pass—Descend a tributary of the Ravi—and ascend another towards the north—Sach Joth, or pass—Snow-beds—Camp in Chenab valley.
On my arrival in Kashmir, I had forwarded an application to the Indian Government, requesting permission to return to Tibet, for the purpose of visiting the mountains north of Nubra, which, from the advanced state of the season, I had been unable to do the previous year. Soon after reaching Jamu, I received intimation that the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, had been pleased to accede to my request. I had already determined, if permitted to return to Le, to take the route by Zanskar, which, though much frequented by the natives of the country, was quite unknown to European travellers; but as the season was far advanced, I chose a road through the higher hills, instead of taking that leading directly to Chamba, which would have obliged me to travel for at least a week through the hot valleys of the outer ranges.
LAKE OF SIROHI SAR.
May, 1848.
I left Jamu on the morning of the 23rd of May. After crossing the Tawi by a ferry immediately below the town, my road lay for three miles up the left bank of that river, along an open sandy plain, only very partially cultivated. I then turned to the right, and entered the low hills which skirted the plain on that side. The road generally followed the course of the ravines, which have been excavated out of the soft sandstone by the numerous tributaries which descend to join the Tawi. These streams are all of small size, with gravelly or sandy beds, and are separated by low ridges of some breadth, faced generally by perpendicular cliffs. An undulating country of this nature occupies the whole of the space which intervenes between the outer range of hills and that next to it, a distance, by the road along which I travelled, of about twelve miles. This second range is a branch given off by an axis, whose direction is nearly east and west. The road ascended to it by a very steep rocky path, after surmounting which I found myself on a considerable tract of nearly level ground, partly occupied by a pretty little lake, with grassy banks. On the banks of this lake, which is called Sirohi Sar, and is rather less than half a mile in length, I encamped on the 24th of May, in a grove of very fine mango-trees. The depth of the lake did not appear great, its margins being for a considerable distance very shallow, and producing an abundance of reeds and water-plants, among which the sacred Nelumbium, with its gay flowers, was conspicuous. The elevation of the lake, as deduced from the boiling-point of water, I found to be 2200 feet. It occupies a depression in the top of the ridge, being surmounted on both sides by low ranges of hills, rising only to the height of a few hundred feet. At the east end, a low flat plain, interrupted only by a few regular rocky knolls, seemed to indicate that the size of the lake had formerly been more considerable than at present.
VEGETATION OF SANDSTONE HILLS.
May, 1848.