ment of the rainy season rendered travelling difficult, and
even out-of-door exercise unpleasant. I have already attempted
to convey an idea of the general physical aspect
of the scenery, which, after a short residence has made
one familiar with the structure of the ridges, appears very
simple. Situated on the dividing range, by which the
waters of the Giri, a tributary of the Jumna, on the left, are
separated from those of the tributaries of the Sutlej on the
right, the spectator looks into two of the immense basins
into which the Himalaya is divided by transverse ranges
running parallel to the great rivers; and after a short
time he finds that the chaos of mountains, which at first
perplexed the eye and confused the mind, gradually
resolves itself into a definite shape, each ridge being
capable of being referred to its parent, and that in its
turn to a branch of the main chain. From *his commanding
position he can also see that the main range is
generally more elevated than its branches, and that each
chain, by a succession of sudden sinkings, diminishes in
elevation, each peak being lower than its predecessor.
Nowhere in the wide tract of country visible is there
the least approach to a system of parallel ridges, such as
is indicated by the distant view of these mountains. On
the contrary, it is seen that the great ranges are, though
very irregularly, perpendicular to the general direction of
the mountain mass, and that it is only the shorter spurs
which have a general uniformity of direction.
Nor could I find in the structure of the mountains
around Simla any confirmation of the view entertained
by Humboldt of the sudden elevation of the Himalaya
out of a vast fissure in the external crust of the earth.
However plausible such a view might appear when the
Himalaya is contemplated as a whole (on a map), without
any portion of its extent being under the eye, I found
it, on the spot, quite impossible to conceive in what way,
after such a sudden elevation, any power in the least
analogous to existing forces could have excavated out
of the solid rock those numerous valleys, so various in
direction, so rugged in outline, and so vast in dimensions,
which now furrow the mountain mass.
On the contrary, the conclusion has been forced upon
me that these mountains have emerged extremely gradually
from an ocean, of the existence of which, at
very various levels, the most evident traces are, I think,
discoverable. The present configuration of the surface
must, I do not doubt, have been given to it during
periods of rest, or of very slow elevation, the action of
the sea upon submerged rocks being so very superficial
that no denudation takes place at any great depth.
During the period of emergence of the Himalaya, from
the great length of the present valleys, which extend
between parallel ranges far into the interior, the coast
must have borne a strong resemblance to that of Norway
at the present day, numerous promontories projecting far
into the sea, and separated from one another by narrow
and deep bays.
The geological structure of the Himalaya between
Simla and the plains is not easily discovered by the cursory
observer. The general basis of the mountains is clay-
slate, occasionally very micaceous, passing into a coarse
sandstone, but here and there limestone occurs interstratified.
The dip is extremely variable, and the rocks,