After attaining the crest of the ridge, and passing
through the village of Haripur, the road follows the ridge
parallel to the river Gambar, nearly all the way to Simla,
not always on the very crest or top, which would entail
a great many unnecessary ascents and descents, but
generally a little on one side or other of the hill, as
circumstances may render most convenient; at one time
ascending rather steeply, but more generally rather gently
as far as Sairi, the last stage on the way to Simla, beyond
which the road is pretty level, nearly to the bottom of the
mountain on which Simla stands.
The valley of the river Gambar may be regarded as an
excellent specimen of a smaller Himalayan river, draining
a large extent of country, and discharging its waters
independently into the plains, though not, like the first-
class rivers, deriving its origin from the snowy mountains.
The southern border of the basin of the Gambar, is of
course the main chain of the South Sutlej Himalaya; and
the whole of the country between the Jutog spur, which
leaves that chain at Simla, and the Kussowlee ridge, the
origin of which I have already detailed, is drained by the
Gambar and its tributaries. This includes an extent
of country of not less than 1000 square miles, the
bounding ranges of which have, throughout the greater
part of their extent, an elevation varying from 8000
to about 6000 feet. Both the Kussowlee and Jutog
ranges dip at last rather abruptly, so that it is only
during a very short distance that they are below the
last-mentioned elevation. This elevation, which is quite
temperate, is however by no means that of the whole
superficies of the basin, the bed of the river having,
at its debouchure into the Sutlej, an elevation of not
more than 2000 feet, and rising very gently till near
its source immediately below Simla. The lateral ridges,
which traverse the basin in every direction, are in general
less elevated; not exceeding 5000 feet in their upper
part, and sinking to 3000 or even lower, so that the
mean elevation of the whole basin cannot be estimated,
I should think, higher than 3500 feet.
Such being the case, it is not surprising that the
general appearance of the vegetation should be tropical,
and closely approximate to that of the low hills on the
very exterior of the Himalaya. This is in general the
case. The hills, which are generally grassy, and, though
steep and frequently stony, rarely rocky or precipitous,
are quite devoid of forest, or even brushwood, except
in 'a few shady nooks with a northern exposure, and favourably
situated with respect to moisture jf the shrubby
vegetation being thin and scattered. This total want of
forest, is unquestionably caused by the dryness of the
climate during the greater part of the year, which is to
a certain degree increased beyond what it would otherwise
be, by the proximity of the surrounding mountain
ranges, to which a large proportion of the rain-clouds are
no doubt attracted.
In the shady ravines north of Kussowlee, where there
is the greatest approach to forest, a species of laurel is
the most conspicuous tree. On the more exposed hills,
Falconeria insigms and Euphorbia pentagona occur, scattered
as small trees, and one small wood of JEgle mar-
melos is passed close to the village of Haripur. The
most common shrubs are Adhatoda Vasica, Carissa,