THOMSON'S TRAVELS IN THE WESTERN HIMALAYA.. VISIBLE nature is the
feature of these travels among the Western and Tibetan ranges of the Himalaya. Dr. Thomson was the medi- cal member of a mission sent to those regions in 1847 by Lord Horologe, apparently for geographical purposes : he was associated with two scientific companions; they were attended by trains of native porters ; and though population is scarce in those elevated regions, they mostly lodged in villages ; occasionally they reached towns or the monasteries of the Budhist priests, while Dr. Thom- son, after he had separated from his companions, was compelled to winter at Iskardo. Yet although he must have been brought into daily contact with men, and generally with strange men, the ac- count of his journies is most singularly bare of incident, or pie.; - turea of animated nature human or animal. Botany is his first subject, the plants observed during the day's march being fully enumerated ; his second is the general appearance of the country passed over; hia third is geology and meteorology, the glaciers and snow-beds of the higher mountains receiving a good deal of attention. Anything beyond these three topics is casual, and briefly dismissed. The two most striking general descriptions occur at Iskardo ; bearing testimony to the advantage of residence to a traveller. One relates to partridge sporting in the Himalaya. " I was invited by the Thannadar of Iskardo to be present at a hunting party, which he had arranged for the capture of the chakor or painted par- tridge, by surrounding a spot of ground, in which these birds are numerous, with a ring of men, who, approaching from all directions, gradually form a dense circle of perhaps a'hundred yards in diameter. When the partridges are disturbed by a horseman in this enclosure, they naturally fly towards the living wall by which they are surrounded. Loud shouts, and the beating of drums and waving of caps and cloaks, turn them back, and they are driven from side to side till at last, exhausted with fatigue, and stupid from tho noise and confusion, they sink to the ground, and allow themselves to be caught by hand. The scene was a very striking one. The spot selected was a deep dell, full of rocks, but without trees. The sport, however, did not seem so successful as usual, six or eight birds only being captured. The chakor is an extremely common bird in all parts of the valley of the Indus, and in- deed throughout Tibet. In winter, when the hills are covered with snow, they are to be found in great numbers close to the river, even in the im- mediate neighbourhood of the villages ; and in general, when approached, they lie very close among the crevices of the stones:"
This sketch of the agriculture is informing, and not without in- terest.
"The return of spring set the whole population of the district to work in their fields; and both in Rondu and in the neighbourhood of Iskardo, I had an opportunity of seeing the mode in which the processes of agriculture are car- ried on. As soon as the ground is clear of snow, the manure, which has been accumulated during. the preceding year, consisting of the contents of the cow- house and stable, mixed with every sort of refuse, is carried in small baskets to the fields, on which it is deposited in small heaps. It is then spread uni- formly over the surface by hand. Occasionally the field has had a previous ploughing, but it is more usually just in the state in which it had been left after the harvesting of the previous crop. "After the manure has been spread, it is ploughed into the land. The plough is usually drawn by a pair of bullocks, and is formed entirely of wood, the front part being blunted and hollow. The ploughshare, a sharp and hard piece of wood, is passed through the hollow, beyond which it projects several inches. This moveable piece of wood does the principal work, and is easily re- placed when it has sustained injury. After the ploughing, the seed is sown broadcast, and the field is then harrowed. The harrow is a framework of wood, weighted with stones, but without spikes ; or a heavy board, weighted ; or occasionally only a thorny bush, with several large stones laid upon it. It is generally drawn by one man, who assists its action by breaking with his feet the clods which would otherwise be too bulky to be crushed by it. The har- rowing is repeated till the soil is reduced to a sufficient fineness ; an operation which is much facilitated by the dryness of the atmosphere. The field is then laid out into small square beds, for convenience of irrigation, and water is supplied to it at intervals throughout the summer."
• Western Himalaya and Tibet ; a Narrative of a Journey through the Mountains of Northern India, during the years 1847-8. By Thomas Thomson, M.D., F.L.S., Assistant-Surgeon Bengal Army. Published by Reeves and Co.
The bareness of the narrative as regards those objects which are necessary to give variety and interest to long descriptions of
nature, is in a great measure owing to the fact that the volume
is as it were a recast blue book. Dr. Thomson originally proposed the publication of his official report, but he was advised to change that form for the present volume. We think, however, that his genius rather inclines to the matter-of-fact ; for the most singular or stupendous scenery fails to excite him beyond a description, perfectly accurate, but rather tame.
This peculiarity is of less consequence in Dr. Thomson's work than it would have been among more common landscapes, from the overpowering character of the scenery through which he travelled. His route lay chiefly among the upper vallies of the Sutlej, the Indus, and their tributaries. The height at which he found him- self above the sea, varied from several thousand to upwards of eighteen thousand feet. In the vallies there were scenes of cul- tivation if not of beauty, and on the slopes of the mountains forest and varied vegetation ; but stern and stupendous grandeur was the general characteristic, sometimes passing into overwhelming solitude and desolation. The impression of height and magnitude was in some degree the effect of knowledge or association; the high- est mountains springing from a range or table-land higher than any other place on the globe except the Andes. The concomitant grandeur of magnitude might be owing in some degree to a similar cause, since the absolute greatness of those mighty masses cannot be taken in by human eyes. A similar remark applies to that offi- eine flnvium : no one has yet traced, or possibly ever will trace, the glaciers that are shrouded in the recesses of Himalaya. But the desolation of their desert places, where man must subsist upon what he carries with him, and nothing of life is found save birds, or the travelling merchant greedy of gain, or the philosopher eager after knowledge, is absolute and overwhelming. This is an early picture ; the approach to the Parang pass, and the pass itself, in longitude 78° and latitude about 321°.
"A stony ravine, elevated about 17,000 feet, was the place selected for our encampment. A small stream, supplied by a patch of snow a little way above, trickled down under the angular gravel. The ascent had been extremely fatiguing, because almost without intermission ; and we were glad of rest on reaching that elevation. During the day, however, I ascended a ridge of rugged rocks, which rose above our tents to a height of more than 500 feet, being desirous of ascertaining to what elevation I should find vegetation. An Alsine was common among the gravel, with two small plants which were not in a determinable state ; and on the rocks, to the highest level to which I succeeded in ascending (probably 17,600 feet,) the little Allardia continued to occur occasionally. The range afforded a good view of the mountains round. The range to the North, which we had still to cross, lay in a semicir- cle behind ; to the East was the continuation of the ridge by which we as- cended; and a. deep hollow lay to the West. Bugged rock everywhere met the view. The slates which alternated with the limestone were so very brittle that they everywhere formed piles of angular fragments, which filled all the hollows, and formed a eloping talus against every precipice. The view was one not to be forgotten, its desolation far surpassing any conception of waste and utter barrenness which I could have formed.
"During the whole day I was never free from a dull headache, evidently caused by the great elevation. Rest relieved it, but the least exertion brought it back again. It continued all evening, as long as I was awake, and still remained in the morning of the 8th, when I rose soon after daybreak to pre- pare for thejourney. A few paces took us beyond the shingly ravine in which we had been encamped, and the remainder of the ascent was through- out over loose angular fragments, the d6bris of the cliffs on the right. Under the latter we passed, winding round the side of the semicircular bay, till we got to about its centre, when the ascent became excessively steep and toilsome. The exertion of raising the body was very fatiguing, and the last few hundred yards were only accomplished after many pauses. A few large patches of snow lay in hollows along the road ; but up to the very crest of the pass there was no trace of perpetual snow, nor even any continuous snow-bed.
"The summit of the Parang pass is a narrow ridge, covered with large blocks of stone. To the North lay a large field of snow, sloping downward at a very gentle angle. In this direction the view was 'limited within two miles by steep rugged mountains, which closed in on both sides. To the right and left also, the pass was overlooked by ridges close at hand. The only direction in which a distant view was obtained was South, where the moun- tains beyond the Piti river were beautifully seen : from the great elevation at which we stood, their summits wereeverywhere in view ; their elevation was surprisingly uniform, and the whole range was capped with snow. The moun- tains close at hand presented much the same appearance as I had seen from the rocks above our encampment the day before. "I reached the summit of the pass, which has an elevation of 18,500 feet, at a quarter before eight in the morning."
The most interesting passages in the book are those which relate to the glaciers, snow-beds, and their influence upon rivers. Dr. Thomson is here obliged to (attar into inure circumstantial particu- lars, and there is action in the evident movement and the visible dissolution of the miglitynntinft'.ThIS picture is from Sasser, lati- tude 35° longitude 771°...iii " When I had reached the surface of the glacier, the passage was not difficult. About a quarter of its width th each side was occupied by blocks of atone ; the centre was almost entirely ice, extremely irregular, and here and there a little fissured. The pathway, which was only marked by the footsteps of two men whom I had sent the day before to select a place for crossing, at one time ascended to the to of a ridge of ice, at another descended into a deep hollow. At the time I crossed (about eleven a. tn.) numerous streams of water had begun to flow in furrows on the surface of the ice. The whole width was close upon half a mile, and on the North side I ascended a steep moraine similar to that which I had previously descended. " From the top of the bank on which the moraine rested, a second glacier came in sight at the distance of a mile. My exploring party reported that they bad been unable to find a point at which this glacier could be crossed, and as from the appearance of the mountains behind I felt certain that after crossing it I should only arrive at a third, I did not long persevere in trying to find a passage, but descended to its extremity, in order to see whether or not I could walk round it, as it did not appear to enter the water. At the bottom of the valley it spread out in a fan-shaped manner to the width of at least a mile ; perhaps indeed much more, for as I failed in getting round it, was unable to ascertain precisely. At its South-east corner, where it was nearly a hundred yards from the river, a considerable stream, white with suspended mud, was rushing out from beneath an arched vault of ice, even before sunrise. To avoid fording this icy stream, the margins of which were thickly frozen, I crossed with a good deal of difficulty an angle of the end of the glacier. On its surface I found several small moraines, which had sunk down into grooves ten or fifteen feet deep, and had therefore been in- visible from outside. Further progress on the ice was stopped by cliffs which were not accessible without ladders, so that I had to descend to the bank of the Shayuk. I walked along between the ice and the river, till my ad- vance was stopped by the glacier fairly projecting into the water in such a manner that I could not see anything of what lay beyond. The icy wall being quite inaccessible, I could not get upon the surface of the glacier to attempt to advance in that way; nor could I ford the river, which was very deep.
" The terminal cliff of the glacier varied in height from fifteen to thirty feet, and a talus of large stones lay in front, evidently deposited by it. In- deed, while I was there I saw several small stones which projected from the face of the cliff, drop out by the melting of the ice in which they were im- bedded. Many cavities were seen in the ice, from which large stones must have dropped out no longer ago than the day before, and the stones which corresponded in size to them were seen lying close at hand. Before I left the front of the glacier, the heat of the sun having become considerable, rapid thaw had commenced ; rills of water trickled down its face in every direc- tion, and the sound of falling stones was to be heard on all sides. Now and then a report as loud as that of a cannon was heard, caused, as I supposed, by the fall of a very large boulder from one of the smaller glaciers, which stopped abruptly at the top of the high cliff of alluvium."
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