nearly perpendicular; and it presented a superb geological
section. This cliff is of black stratified rocks,
permeated from top to bottom by veins of white granite,
disposed in zigzag lines, which give it a marbled
appearance. The summit of Pundim itself is all of
white rock, rounded in shape, and forming a cap to the
gneiss, which weathers into precipices.
A succession of ridges, 14,000 to 18,000 feet high,
presented a line of precipices running south from
Pundim for several miles: immense granite veins are
exposed on their surfaces, and they are capped by
stratified rocks, which, being black, contrast strongly
with the white granite beneath them : these ridges,
instead of being round-topped, are broken into splintered
crags; and behind them rises the beautiful
conical peak of Nursing, 19,139 feet above the sea,
and eight miles distant.
At the foot of these precipices was a very conspicuous
series of lofty moraines, round whose bases the
Eatong wound; these appeared to be nearly uniform
in height, rising several hundred feet above the valley:
they were comparatively level-topped, and had steep
shelving rounded sides.
I have been thus particular in describing the upper
Eatong valley, because it drains the south face of the
loftiest mountain on the globe; and I have been precise
in my details, because the vagueness with which terms
are usually applied to the apparent altitude and steepness
of mountains, is apt to give false impressions. I t
is essential to attend to such points where scenery of
real interest and importance is to be described. I t is
customary to speak of peaks as towering in the air,
which yet subtend an angle of very few degrees; of
almost precipitous ascents, which, when measured, are
found to be slopes of 18° or 20°; and of cliffs as steep
and stupendous, which are inclined at a very moderate
angle.
The effect of perspective is as often to deceive in
details as to give truth to general impressions ; and
those accessories are sometimes wanting in nature,
which, when supplied by art, give truth to the landt
scape. Thus, a streak of clouds adds height to a peak
which should appear lofty, but which scarcely rises
above the true horizon; and a belt of mist will sunder
two snowy mountains which, though at very different
distances, for want of a play of light and shade on their
dazzling , surfaces, and from the extreme transparency
of the air in lofty regions, appear to be at the same distance
from the observer.
The view to the southward from Mon Lepcha is very
grand, and neither wanting in variety nor in beauty.
From the deep valleys choked with tropical luxuriance
to the scanty yak pasturage on the heights above,
seems but a step at the first coup-d’ceil, but on a closer
inspection resolves itself into five belts : 1, palm and
plantain; 2, oak and laurel; 3, fir; 4, rhododendron
and grass; 5, rock and snow. From the bed of the
Eatong, in which grow palms with screw-pine and plantain,
it is only seven miles in a direct line to the
perpetual ice. From the plains of India, or outer
Himalaya, one may behold snowy peaks rise in the
distance behind a foreground of tropical forest; here,