river-bank became so rugged and difficult, that the road
left it, to ascend a long ridge, descending from the
mountain range to the south. The early part of the
road, from the many views of the river rushing over its
rocky bed, often among immense boulders, and from the
general boldness of the mountain scenery, was, though
bare of forest, very striking. Frequently the road overhung
the river, which ran through a narrow rocky ravine
many hundred feet below. At other times, it lay over
the surface of the flat platforms which occupied the valley,
and in several places curious excavations were noticed
on the rocky surface, as if the river had formerly
flowed over higher levels. One of these ancient channels
was so very remarkable, that it could not be
overlooked. The rocky banks on either side were at
least a hundred feet apart, and the large water-worn
boulders, with occasional rugged pointed rocks which
filled the bed, conveyed unmistakeably the conviction
that we were walking over an ancient river-bed, though
the elevation could not be less than 150 feet above the
present level of the river.
Three miles from Rampur the road began to ascend
a long spur in a south-east direction. After we had
ascended a few hundred feet, the course of the river
could be seen on the left among precipitous rocks, quite
impracticable. The ascent was through a well-cultivated
tract, the base of the hill and lower slopes being covered
with fields of rice, still only a few inches high. The
road ascended rapidly, through villages with numerous
fruit-trees. At first, the vegetation continued the same
as in the valley, and the hills were bare, except close to
the village. Within a thousand feet of the base, the
cultivation ceased, and the road entered a wood of scattered
firs, mixed after a little with the common oak (Q.
incana). At about 5000 feet the steep lateral spur
joined the ridge, and the road turned to the eastward,
and continued along the steep sides of the ridge, which
overhang the valley of the river 2000 feet below. The
Sutlej was well seen, running among bare rocky hills,
the pine-wood being confined to the upper parts of the
steep slopes.
Had we continued our course along this ridge, it
would in time have conducted us to the crest of the main
range south of the Sutlej, the same which we had left at
Nagkanda to descend into the Sutlej valley. It would
have been necessary for this purpose to ascend to a height
of between 12,000 and 18,000 feet, and to proceed to a
considerable distance south; our object, however, being to
keep along the river as nearly as possible, it would not have
suited our purpose to ascend so far, and the road only
left the banks of the Sutlej on account of the difficult
nature of the ground in the bottom of the valley. We
found, therefore, after continuing a mile or two on the
steep slope of the ridge, that the road again began to
descend, not exactly towards the Sutlej, but to the bottom
of the ravine or dell, by which the spur on which
we had ascended was separated from that next in succession
to it.
As far as the beginning of the descent the hill-side had
been bare, or only clothed with scattered pine-wood, but
as soon as the eastern slope was gained, and the descent
commenced, the slopes became well wooded with Rhodo