VIEW OF THE HIMALAYAS.
Up and up they went, and steeper and steeper grew the road. Simla was reached in due time, and proved to be a pleasant town in the mountains at an elevation of about 7000 feet above the level of the sea. It stands on a long ridge that affords a fine view of the Himalayas, though not of the highest peaks. It was bought, with the section of country around it, in the year 1822, from the native state of Keonthal, and has since been occupied as a sanitarium by the Government. In 1866 Simla was made the seat of the Government of India during the summer months: from April to October the viceroy lives there, and the Government orders and official documents are dated at Simla instead of Calcutta. The movement of the Court brings a large number of Europeans to the little town in the mountains, and for half the year it is crowded to its utmost capacity, while during the other half it is almost deserted.
There are several of these summer resorts in the Himalayas, and the most of them are under Government patronage. Mussoorie, Landour, Nynee Thal, and Darjeeling are among the most noted, and there are others of smaller celebrity. For a long time Darjeeling was the most important, as it was the nearest to Calcutta; but the construction of the railway has brought the others into notice.
Darjeeling is about 300 miles from the capital, and can be easily reached at present, as a railway was opened in 1878 to within twenty miles of its doors. It is about the elevation of Simla, but has the advantage over the latter that the summits of some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas are plainly visible, and in clear weather they appear only a few miles away. The highest peak of all is Mount Everest, 29,000 feet above the sea-level, and claimed as the loftiest mountain in the world; it is not visible from the town itself, owing to an intervening ridge; but can be seen from several points in the neighborhood. The great mountains visible from Darjeeling are Kunchinginga, second to Mount Everest, and then Junnoo and Kubra, each more than 23,000 feet high. Altogether there are twelve peaks, each more than 20,000 feet high, to be seen at a single glance from the public square of Darjeeling, besides many other little fellows of 10,000 or 12,000 feet. There is no town on the globe with such a magnificent mountain view as this.
GATHERING TEA-LEAVES IN INDIA.
The foot-hills of the Himalayas are admirably adapted to the cultivation of tea, and a great many tea plantations have been established there. On the road from Calcutta to Darjeeling many plantations are passed, and the business of tea culture is increasing every year. The forests of the lower slopes of the mountains are fast disappearing, to make way for the less picturesque tea-plant, and the export of the product amounts to many ship-loads annually. The system of cultivation was introduced from China by the East India Company. The tea-leaves are gathered by women, and it is not unusual to see a woman at work in the field with her baby near her, in a basket, shaded by a friendly bush.
Our friends found a comfortable hotel at Simla, and proceeded at once to learn all they could of the Himalayas. Their new acquaintance, Captain Whitney, was at the same hotel, and proved a most admirable companion and entertainer, as he was able to enlighten the boys on many topics of interest. For a whole day they were kept in doors by a sudden and violent storm, and even on the second day the wind and snow had not subsided sufficiently to enable them to stir out to any advantage. The captain was an excellent talker, and the Doctor and the boys were equally good listeners; with this combination of qualifications the quartette was satisfactorily composed, and got along finely.