whatever their age, are evidently highly metamorphosed.
The tertiary formations, so well illustrated by Falconer
and Cautley, extend all along the base of the mountains,
and penetrate in some places far into the valleys, for certain
rocks in the neighbourhood of Sabathu have been
indicated by Major Vicary, which appear to be of the
same age, or perhaps of a still older tertiary epoch.
CHAPTER II.
Leave Simla—Mahasu Ridge— Pine Forest— Summit of Mahasu—
Vegetation of Northern Slope—Fagu— Theog—Mattiana— Cultivated
Valley—Nagkanda—Ascent of Hattu— Forest of Pine and
Oak—Vegetation of Summit—View from top of Mountain—Plain-
ward slopes bare of forest, while those facing the interior are well
wooded—Cultivation at 9500 feet—Descent from Nagkanda towards
Sutlej—Damp shady Ravine densely wooded—Kotgarh—Cultivation
—Rapid Descent—Change of Climate—Tropical Vegetation—Ram-
pur—Swing-bridge—Diurnal fluctuations in level of River—Gaora
—Serahan—Tranda—Western boundary of Kunawar.
O n the 2nd of August, 1847, every necessary preparation
having been completed, and the officers of the mission
having received the instructions of the Governor-
General to proceed to Ladakh, and thence to take
severally such direction as they should consider most
conducive to the increase of our knowledge of these countries,
Major Cunningham, Captain Strachey, and myself
left Simla.
The route selected as most eligible, in order to reach
Hangarang and Piti, to which we had been instructed in
the first place to proceed, lay up the course of the Sutlej
river, through Kunawar. The advanced period of the
season; at which almost constant rain might be expected,