The descent of the Mamloo spur is by steps, alternating with pebbly flats, for 1500 feet, to a saddle which connects the Churra hills with those of Lisouplang to the westward. The rise is along a very steep narrow ridge to a broad long gra.s.sy hill, 3,500 feet high, whence an extremely steep descent leads to the valley of the Boga-panee, and the great mart of Chela, which is at the embouchure of that river. The transverse valley thus formed by the Mamloo spur, is full of orange groves, whose brilliant green is particularly conspicuous from above. At the saddle below Mamloo are some jasper rocks, which are the sandstone altered by basalt. Fossil sh.e.l.ls are recorded to have been found by Dr. M"Lelland* [See a paper on the geology of the Khasia mountains by Dr. M"Lelland in the "Bengal Asiatic Society"s Journal."] on some of the flats, which he considers to be raised beaches: but we sought in vain for any evidence of this theory beyond the pebbles, whose rounding we attributed to the action of superficial streams.
It is extremely difficult to give within the limits of this narrative any idea of the Khasia flora, which is, in extent and number of fine plants, the richest in India, and probably in all Asia. We collected upwards of 2000 flowering plants within ten miles of the station of Churra, besides 150 ferns, and a profusion of mosses, lichens, and fungi. This extraordinary exuberance of species is not so much attributable to the elevation, for the whole Sikkim Himalaya (three times more elevated) does not contain 500 more flowering plants, and far fewer ferns, etc.; but to the variety of exposures; namely, 1. the Jheels, 2. the tropical jungles, both in deep, hot, and wet valleys, and on drier slopes; 3. the rocks; 4. the bleak table-lands and stony soils; 5. the moor-like uplands, naked and exposed, where many species and genera appear at 5000 to 6000 feet, which are not found on the outer ranges of Sikkim under 10,000.* [As _Thalictrum, Anemone,_ primrose, cowslip, _Tofieldia,_ Yew, Pine, Saxifrage, _Delphinium, Pedicularis._] In fact, strange as it may appear, owing to this last cause, the temperate flora descends fully 4000 feet lower in the lat.i.tude of Khasia (25 degrees N.) than in that of Sikkim (27 degrees N.), though the former is two degrees nearer the equator.
The _Panda.n.u.s_ alone forms a conspicuous feature in the immediate vicinity of Churra; while the small woods about Mamloo, Moosmai, and the coal-pits, are composed of _Symplocos,_ laurels, brambles, and jasmines, mixed with small oaks and _Photinia,_ and many tropical genera of trees and shrubs.
_Orchideae_ are, perhaps, the largest natural order in the Khasia, where fully 250 kinds grow, chiefly on trees and rocks, but many are terrestrial, inhabiting damp woods and gra.s.sy slopes. I doubt whether in any other part of the globe the species of orchids outnumber those of any other natural order, or form so large a proportion of the flora. Balsams are next in relative abundance (about twenty-five), both tropical and temperate kinds, of great beauty and variety in colour, form, and size of blossom. Palms amount to fourteen, of which the _Chamaerops_ and _Arenga_ are the only genera not found in Sikkim. Of bamboos there are also fifteen, and of other gra.s.ses 150, which is an immense proportion, considering that the Indian flora (including those of Ceylon, Kashmir, and all the Himalaya), hardly contains 400. _Scitamineae_ also are abundant, and extremely beautiful; we collected thirty-seven kinds.
No rhododendron grows at Churra, but several species occur a little further north: there is but one pine (_P. Khasiana_) besides the yew, (and two _Podocarpi_), and that is only found in the drier interior regions. Singular to say, it is a species not seen in the Himalaya or elsewhere, but very nearly allied to _Pinua longifolia,_*
[Cone-bearing pines with long leaves, like the common Scotch fir, are found in Asia, and as far south as the Equator (in Borneo) and also inhabit Arracan, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and South China. It is a very remarkable fact that no Gymnospermous tree inhabits the Peninsula of India; not even the genus _Podocarpus,_ which includes most of the tropical Gymnosperms, and is technically coniferous, and has glandular woody fibre; though like the yew it bears berries.
Two species of this genus are found in the Khasia, and one advances as far west as Nepal. The absence of oaks and of the above genera (_Podocarpus_ and _Pinus_) is one of the most characteristic differences between the botany of the east and west sh.o.r.es of the Bay of Bengal.] though more closely resembling the Scotch fir than that tree does.
The natural orders whose rarity is most noticeable, are _Cruciferae,_ represented by only three kinds, and _Caryophylleae._ Of _Ranunculaceae,_ there are six or seven species of _Clematis,_ two of _Anemone,_ one _Delphinium,_ three of _Thalictrum,_ and two _Ranunculi._ _Compsitae_ and _Leguminosae_ are far more numerous than in Sikkim.
The climate of Khasia is remarkable for the excessive rain-fall.
Attention was first drawn to this by Mr. Yule, who stated, that in the month of August, 1841, 264 inches fell, or twenty-two feet; and that during five successive days, thirty inches fell in every twenty-four hours! Dr. Thomson and I also recorded thirty inches in one day and night, and during the seven months of our stay, upwards of 500 inches fell, so that the total annual fall perhaps greatly exceeded 600 inches, or fifty feet, which has been registered in succeeding years! From April, 1849, to April, 1850, 502 inches (forty-two feet) fell. This unparalleled amount is attributable to the abruptness of the mountains which face the Bay of Bengal, from which they are separated by 200 miles of Jheels and Sunderbunds.
This fall is very local: at Silhet, not thirty miles further south, it is under 100 inches; at Gowahatty, north of the Khasia in a.s.sam, it is about 80; and even on the hills, twenty miles inland from Churra itself, the fall is reduced to 200. At the Churra station, the distribution of the rain is very local; my gauges, though registering the same amount when placed beside a good one in the station; when removed half a mile, received a widely different quant.i.ty, though the different gauges gave nearly the same mean amount at the end of each whole month.
The direct effect of this deluge is to raise the little streams about Churra fourteen feet in as many hours, and to inundate the whole flat; from which, however, the natural drainage is so complete, as to render a tract, which in such a climate and lat.i.tude should be clothed with exuberant forest, so sterile, that no tree finds support, and there is no soil for cultivation of any kind whatsoever, not even of rice. Owing, however, to the hardness of the horizontally stratified sandstone, the streams have not cut deep channels, nor have the cataracts worked far back into the cliffs. The limestone alone seems to suffer, and the turbid streams from it prove how rapidly it is becoming denuded. The great mounds of angular gravel on the Churra flat, are perhaps the remains of an extensive deposit, fifty feet thick, elsewhere washed away by these rains; and I have remarked traces of the same over many slopes of the hills around.
The mean temperature of Churra (elev. 4000 feet) is about 66 degrees, or 16 degrees below that of Calcutta; which, allowing for 22 degrees of northing, gives 1 degree of temperature to every 290 to 300 feet of ascent. In summer the thermometer often rises to 88 degrees and 90 degrees; and in the winter, owing to the intense radiation, h.o.a.r-frost is frequent. Such a climate is no less inimical to the cultivation of plants, than is the wretched soil: of this we saw marked instances in the gardens of two of the resident officers, Lieutenants Raban and Cave, to whom we were indebted for the greatest kindness and hospitality. These gentlemen are indefatigable horticulturists, and took a zealous interest in our pursuits, accompanying us in our excursions, enriching our collections in many ways, and keeping an eye to them and to our plant-driers during our absence from the station. In their gardens the soil had to be brought from a considerable distance, and dressed copiously with vegetable matter. Bamboo clumps were planted for shelter within walls, and native shrubs, rhododendrons, etc., introduced. Many _Orchideae_ throve well on the branches of the stunted trees which they had planted, and some superb kinds of _Hedychium_ in the ground; but a very few English garden plants throve in the flower-beds. Even in pots and frames, geraniums, etc., would rot, from the rarity of sunshine, which is as prejudicial as the damp and exposure.
Still many wild shrubs of great interest and beauty flourished, and some European ones succeeded with skill and management; as geraniums, _Salvia, Petunia,_ nasturtium, chrysanthemum, _Kennedya rubicunda, Maurandya,_ and Fuchsia. The daisy seed sent from England as double, came up very poor and single. Dahlias do not thrive, nor double balsams. Now they have erected small but airy green-houses, and sunlight is the only desideratum.
At the end of June, we started for the northern or a.s.sam face of the mountains. The road runs between the extensive and populous native village, or poonji, on the left, and a deep valley on the right, and commands a beautiful view of more waterfalls. Beyond this it ascends steeply, and the sandstone on the road itself is curiously divided into parallelograms, like hollow bricks,* [I have seen similar bricks in the sandstones of the coal-districts of Yorkshire; they are very puzzling, and are probably due to some very obscure crystalline action a.n.a.logous to jointing and cleavage.] enclosing irregularly shaped nodules, while in other places it looks as if it had been run or fused: spherical concretions of sand, coloured concentrically by infiltration, are common in it, which have been regarded as seeds, sh.e.l.ls, etc.; it also contained spheres of iron pyrites. The general appearance of much of this rock is as if it had been bored by _Teredines_ (ship worms), but I never detected any trace of fossils.
It is often beautifully ripple-marked, and in some places much honeycombed, and full of shales and narrow seams of coal, resting on a white under-clay full of root-fibres, like those of _Stigmaria._
At about 5000 feet the country is very open and bare, the ridges being so uniform and flat-topped, that the broad valleys they divide are hidden till their precipitous edges are reached; and the eye wanders far east and west over a desolate level gra.s.sy country, unbroken, save by the curious flat-topped hills I have described as belonging to the limestone formation, which lie to the south-west.
These features continue for eight miles, when a sudden descent of 600 or 700 feet, leads into the valley of the Kala-panee (Black water) river, where there is a very dark and damp bungalow, which proved a very great accommodation to us.* [It may be of use to the future botanist in this country to mention a small wood on the right of this road, near the village of Surureem, as an excellent botanical station: the trees are chiefly _Rhododendron arboreum,_ figs, oaks, laurels, magnolias, and chestnuts, on whose limbs are a profusion of _Orchideae,_ and amongst which a Rattan palm occurs.
Lailang-kot is another village full of iron forges, from a height near which a splendid view is obtained over the Churra flat. A few old and very stunted shrubs of laurel and _Symplocos_ grow on its bleak surface, and these are often sunk from one to three feet in a well in the horizontally stratified sandstone. I could only account for this by supposing it to arise from the drip from the trees, and if so, it is a wonderful instance of the wearing effects of water, and of the great age which small bushes sometimes attain.
The vegetation is more alpine at Kala-panee (elevation, 5,300 feet); _Benthamia, Kadsura, Stauntonia, Illicium, Actinidia, Helwingia, Corylopsis,_ and berberry--all j.a.pan and Chinese, and most of them Dorjiling genera--appear here, with the English yew, two rhododendrons, and _Bucklandia._ There are no large trees, but a bright green jungle of small ones and bushes, many of which are very rare and curious. _Luculia Pinceana_ makes a gorgeous show here in October.
The sandstone to the east of Kala-panee is capped by some beds, forty feet thick, of conglomerate worn into cliffs; these are the remains of a very extensive horizontally stratified formation, now all but entirely denuded. In the valley itself, the sandstone alternates with alum shales, which rest on a bed of quartz conglomerate, and the latter on black greenstone. In the bed of the river, whose waters are beautifully clear, are hornstone rocks, dipping north-east, and striking north-west. Beyond the Kalapanee the road ascends about 600 feet, and is well quarried in hard greenstone; and pa.s.sing through a narrow gap of conglomerate rock,* [Formed of rolled ma.s.ses of greenstone and sandstone, united by a white and yellow cement.]
enters a shallow, wild, and beautiful valley, through which it runs for several miles. The hills on either side are of greenstone capped by tabular sandstone, immense ma.s.ses of which have been precipitated on the floor of the valley, producing a singularly wild and picturesque scene. In the gloom of the evening it is not difficult for a fertile imagination to fancy castles and cities cresting the heights above.* [_Hydrangea_ grows here, with ivy, _Mussoenda, Pyrua,_ willow, _Viburnum, Parna.s.sia, Anemone, Leycesteria formosa, Neillia, Rubus, Astilbe,_ rose, _Panax,_ apple, _Bucklandia, Daphne,_ pepper, _Scindapsus, Pierix,_ holly, _Lilium giganteum_ ("Kalang tatti," Khas.), _Camellia, Elaeocarpus, Buddleia,_ etc. Large bees"
nests hang from the rocks.]
There is some cultivation here of potatoes, and of _Rhysicosia vest.i.ta_ a beautiful purple-flowered leguminous plant, with small tuberous roots. Beyond this, a high ridge is gained above the valley of the Boga-panee, the largest river in the Khasia; from this the Bhotan Himalaya may be seen in clear weather, at the astonishing distance of from 160 to 200 miles! The vegetation here suddenly a.s.sumes a different aspect, from the quant.i.ty of stunted fir-trees clothing the north side of the valley, which rises very steeply 1000 feet above the river: quite unaccountably, however, not one grows on the south face. A new oak also appears abundantly; it has leaves like the English, whose gnarled habit it also a.s.sumes.
The descent is very steep, and carried down a slope of greenstone;*
[This greenstone decomposes into a thick bed of red clay; it is much intersected by fissures or cleavage planes at all angles, whose surfaces are covered with a shining polished superficial layer; like the fissures in the cleavage planes of the gneiss granite of Kinchinjhow, whose adjacent surfaces are coated with a gla.s.sy waved layer of hornblende. This polishing of the surfaces is generally attributed to their having been in contact and rubbed together, an explanation which is wholly unsatisfactory to me; no such motion could take place in cleavage planes which often intersect, and were it to occur, it would not produce two polished surfaces of an interposed layer of a softer mineral. It is more probably due to metamorphic action.] the road then follows a clear affluent of the Boga-panee, and afterwards winds along the margin of that river, which is a rapid turbulent stream, very muddy, and hence contrasting remarkably with the Kala-panee. It derives its mud from the decomposition of granite, which is washed by the natives for iron, and in which rock it rises to the eastward. Thick beds of slate crop out by the roadside (strike north-east and dip north-west), and are continued along the bed of the river, pa.s.sing into conglomerates, chert, purple slates, and crystalline sandstones, with pebbles, and angular ma.s.ses of schist. Many of these rocks are much crumpled, others quite flat, and they are overlaid by soft, variegated gneiss, which is continued alternately with the slates to the top of the hills on the opposite side.
Small trees of hornbeam grow near the river, with _Rhus, Xanthoxylon, Vaccinium, Gualtheria,_ and _Spiraea,_ while many beautiful ferns, mosses, and orchids cover the rocks. An elegant iron suspension- bridge is thrown across the stream, from a rock matted with tufts of little parasitic _Orchideae._ Crossing it, we came on many pine-trees; these had five-years" old cones on them, as well as those of all succeeding years; they bear male flowers in autumn, which impregnate the cones formed the previous year. Thus, the cones formed in the spring of 1850 are fertilised in the following autumn, and do not ripen their seeds till the second following autumn, that of 1852.
A very steep ascent leads to the bungalow of Moflong, on a broad, bleak hill-top, near the axis of the range (alt. 6,062 feet). Here there is a village, and some cultivation, surrounded by hedges of _Erythrina, Pieris, Viburnum,_ _Pyres, Colquhounia,_ and _Corylopsis,_ amongst which grew an autumn-flowering lark-spur, with most foetid flowers.* [There is a wood a mile to the west of the bungalow, worth visiting by the botanist: besides yew, oak, _Sabia_ and _Camellia,_ it contains _Olea, Euonymus,_ and _Sphaerocarya,_ a small tree that bears a green pear-shaped sweet fruit, with a large stone: it is pleasant, but leaves a disagreeable taste in the mouth.
On the gra.s.sy flats an _Astragalus_ occurs, and _Roscoea purpurea, Tofieldia,_ and various other fine plants are common.] The rocks are much contorted slates and gneiss (strike north-east and dip south-east). In a deep gulley to the northward, greenstone appears, with black basalt and jasper, the latter apparently altered gneiss: beyond this the rocks strike the opposite way, but are much disturbed.
We pa.s.sed the end of June here, and experienced the same violent weather, thunder, lightning, gales, and rain, which prevailed during every midsummer I spent in India. A great deal of _Coix_ (Job"s tears) is cultivated about Moflong: it is of a dull greenish purple, and though planted in drills, and carefully hoed and weeded, is a very ragged crop. The sh.e.l.l of the cultivated sort is soft, and the kernel is sweet; whereas the wild _Coix_ is so hard that it cannot be broken by the teeth. Each plant branches two or three times from the base, and from seven to nine plants grow in each square yard of soil: the produce is small, not above thirty or forty fold.
From a hill behind Moflong bungalow, on which are some stone altars, a most superb view is obtained of the Bhotan Himalaya to the northward, their snowy peaks stretching in a broken series from north 17 degrees east to north 35 degrees west; all are below the horizon of the spectator, though from 17,000 to 20,000 feet above his level.
The finest view in the Khasia mountains, and perhaps a more extensive one than has ever before been described, is that from Chillong hill, the culminant point of the range, about six miles north-east from Moflong bungalow. This hill, 6,660 feet above the sea, rises from an undulating gra.s.sy country, covered with scattered trees and occasional clumps of wood; the whole scenery about being park-like, and as little like that of India at so low an elevation as it is possible to be.
I visited Chillong in October with Lieutenant Cave; starting from Churra, and reaching the bungalow, two miles from its top, the same night, with two relays of ponies, which he had kindly provided.
We were unfortunate in not obtaining a brilliant view of the snowy mountains, their tops being partially clouded; but the _coup d"oeil_ was superb. Northward, beyond the rolling Khasia hills, lay the whole a.s.sam valley, seventy miles broad, with the Burrampooter winding through it, fifty miles distant, reduced to a thread. Beyond this, banks of hazy vapour obscured all but the dark range of the Lower Himalaya, crested by peaks of frosted silver, at the immense distance of from 100 to 220 miles from Chillong. All are below the horizon of the observer; yet so false is perspective, that they seem high in the air. The mountains occupy sixty degrees of the horizon, and stretch over upwards of 250 miles, comprising the greatest extent of snow visible from any point with which I am acquainted.
Westward from Chillong the most distant Garrow hills visible are about forty miles off; and eastward those of Cachar, which are loftier, are about seventy miles. To the south the view is limited by the Tipperah hills, which, where nearest, are 100 miles distant; while to the south-west lies the sea-like Gangetic delta, whose horizon, lifted by refraction, must be fully 120. The extent of this view is therefore upwards of 340 miles in one direction, and the visible horizon of the observer encircles an area of fully thirty thousand square miles, which is greater than that of Ireland!
Scarlet-flowered rhododendron bushes cover the north side of Chillong,* [These skirt a wood of p.r.i.c.kly bamboo, in which occur fig, laurel, _Aralia, Boemeria, Smilax, Toddalia,_ wild cinnamon, and three kinds of oak.] whilst the south is gra.s.sy and quite bare; and except some good _Orchideae_ on the trees, there is little to reward the botanist. The rocks appeared to be sandstone at the summit, but micaceous gneiss all around.
Continuing northward from Moflong, the road, after five miles, dips into a very broad and shallow flat-floored valley, fully a mile across, which resembles a lake-bed: it is bounded by low hills, and is called "Lanten-tannia," and is bare of aught but long gra.s.s and herbs; amongst these are the large groundsel (_Senecio_), _Dipsacus, Ophelia,_ and _Campanula._ On its south flank the micaceous slates strike north-east, and dip north-west, and on the top repose beds, a foot in thickness, of angular water-worn gravel, indicating an ancient water-level, 400 feet above the floor of the valley.
Other smaller lake-beds, in the lateral valleys, are equally evident.
A beautiful blue-flowered _c.l.i.toria_ creeps over the path, with the ground-raspberry of Dorjiling. From the top a sudden descent of 400 feet leads to another broad flat valley, called "Syong" (elevation, 5,725 feet), in which is a good bungalow, surrounded by hedges of _Prinsepia utilis,_ a common north-west Himalayan plant, only found at 8000 feet in Sikkim. The valley is gra.s.sy, but otherwise bare.
Beyond this the road pa.s.ses over low rocky hills, wooded on their north or sheltered flanks only, dividing flat-floored valleys: a red sandy gneiss is the prevalent rock, but boulders of syenite are scattered about. Extensive moors (elevation, 6000 feet) succeed, covered with stunted pines, brake, and tufts of harsh gra.s.ses.*
[These are princ.i.p.ally _Andropogon_ and _Brachypodium,_ amongst which grow yellow _Corydalis, Thalictrum, Anemone, Parna.s.sia, Prunella,_ strawberry, _Eupatorium, Hyperic.u.m,_ willow, a _Polygonum_ like _Bistorta, Osmunda regalis_ and another species _Lycopodium alpinum,_ a _Senecio_ like _Jacobaea,_ thistles, _Gnaphalium,_ Gentians, _Iris, Paris, Sanguisorba_ and _Agrimonia._]
Near the Dengship-oong (river), which flows in a narrow valley, is a low dome of gneiss altered by syenite. The prevalent dip is uniformly south-east, and the strike north-east; and detached boulders of syenite become more frequent, resting on a red gneiss, full of black garnets, till the descent to the valley of Myrung, one of the most beautiful spots in the Khasia, and a favourite resort, having an excellent bungalow which commands a superb view of the Himalaya: it is 5,650 feet above the sea, and is placed on the north flank of a very shallow marshy valley, two miles broad, and full of rice cultivation, as are the flat heads of all the little valleys that lead into it. There is a guard here of light infantry, and a little garden, boasting a gardener and some tea-plants, so that we had vegetables during our four visits to the place, on two of which occasions we stayed some days.
From Kala-panee to Myrung, a distance of thirty-two miles, the road does not vary 500 feet above or below the mean level of 5,700 feet, and the physical features are the same throughout, of broad flat-floored, steep-sided valleys, divided by bleak, gra.s.sy, tolerably level-topped bills. Beyond Myrung the Khasia mountains slope to the southward in rolling loosely-wooded hills, but the spurs do not dip suddenly till beyond Nunklow, eight miles further north.
On the south side of the Myrung valley is Nungbree wood, a dense jungle, occupying, like all the other woods, the steep north exposure of the hill; many good plants grow in it, including some gigantic _Balanophorae, Pyrola,_ and _Monotropa._ The bungalow stands on soft, contorted, decomposing gneiss, which is still the prevalent rock, striking north-east. On the hills to the east of it, enormous hard blocks lie fully exposed, and are piled on one another, as if so disposed by glacial action; and it is difficult to account for them by denudation, though their surface scales, and similar blocks are scattered around Myrung exactly similar to the syenite blocks of Nunklow, and the granite ones of Nonkreem, to be described hereafter, and which are undoubtedly due to the process of weathering. A great ma.s.s of flesh-coloured crystalline granite rises in the centre of the valley, to the east of the road: it is fissured in various directions, and the surface scales concentrically; it is obscurely stratified in some parts, and appears to be half granite and half gneiss in mineralogical character.
We twice visited a very remarkable hill, called Kollong, which rises as a dome of granite 5,400 feet high, ten or twelve miles south-west of Myrung, and conspicuous from all directions. The path to it turns off from that to Nunklow, and strikes westerly along the shallow valley of Monai, in which is a village, and much rice and other cultivation. Near this there is a large square stockade, formed of tall bamboos placed close together, very like a New Zealand "Pa;"
indeed, the whole country hereabouts much recalls the gra.s.sy clay hills, marshy valleys, and bushy ridges of the Bay of Islands.
The hills on either side are sometimes dotted with pinewoods, sometimes conical and bare, with small clumps of pines on the summit only; while in other places are broad tracts containing nothing but young trees, resembling plantations, but which, I am a.s.sured, are not planted; on the other hand, however, Mr. Yule states, that the natives do plant fir-trees, especially near the iron forges, which give employment to all the people of Monai.
All the streams rise in flat marshy depressions amongst the hills with which the whole country is covered; and both these features, together with the flat clay marshes into which the rivers expand, are very suggestive of tidal action. Rock is hardly anywhere seen, except in the immediate vicinity of Kollong, where are many scattered boulders of fine-grained gneiss, of which are made the broad stone slabs, placed as seats, and the other erections of this singular people. We repeatedly remarked cones of earth, clay, and pebbles, about twelve feet high, upon the hills, which appeared to be artificial, but of which the natives could give no explanation.
Wild apple and birch are common trees, but there is little jungle, except in the hollows, and on the north slopes of the higher hills.
Coa.r.s.e long gra.s.s, with bushes of l.a.b.i.ate and Composite plants, are the prevalent features.
Kollong rock is a steep dome of red granite,* [This granite is highly crystalline, and does not scale or flake, nor is its surface polished.] accessible from the north and east, but almost perpendicular to the southward, where the slope is 80 degrees for 600 feet. The elevation is 400 feet above the mean level of the surrounding ridges, and 700 above the bottom of the valleys.
The south or steepest side is enc.u.mbered with enormous detached blocks, while the north is clothed with a dense forest, containing red tree-rhododendrons and oaks; on its skirts grew a white bushy rhododendron, which we found nowhere else. The hard granite of the top was covered with matted mosses, lichens, Lycopodiums, and ferns, amongst which were many curious and beautiful airplants.* [_Eria, Coelogyne_ (_Wallichii, maculata,_ and _elata_), _Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Sunipia_ some of them flowering profusely; and though freely exposed to the sun and wind, dews and frosts, rain and droughts, they were all fresh, bright, green and strong, under very different treatment from that to which they are exposed in the damp, unhealthy, steamy orchid-houses of our English gardens. A wild onion was most abundant all over the top of the hill, with _Hymenopogon, Vaccinium, Ophiopogon, Anisadenia, Commelyna, Didymocarpus, Remusatia, Hedychium,_ gra.s.s and small bamboos, and a good many other plants. Many of the lichens were of European kinds; but the mosses (except _Bryum argenteum_) and ferns were different. A small _Staphylinus,_ which swarmed under the sods, was the only insect I remarked.]
Ill.u.s.tration--KOLLONG ROCK.
The view from the top is very extensive to the northward, but not elsewhere: it commands the a.s.sam valley and the Himalaya, and the billowy range of undulating gra.s.sy Khasia mountains. Few houses were visible, but the curling smoke from the valleys betrayed their lurking-places, whilst the tinkling sound of the hammers from the distant forges on all sides was singularly musical and pleasing; they fell on the ear like "bells upon the wind," each ring being exquisitely melodious, and chiming harmoniously with the others.
The solitude and beauty of the scenery, and the emotions excited by the music of chimes, tended to tranquillise our minds, wearied by the fatigues of travel, and the excitement of pursuits that required unremitting attention; and we rested for some time, our imaginations wandering to far-distant scenes, brought vividly to our minds by these familiar sounds.
CHAPTER XXIX.
View of Himalaya from the Khasia--Great ma.s.ses of snow--Chumulari --Donkia--Gra.s.ses--Nunklow--a.s.sam valley and Burrampooter-- Tropical forest--Borpanee--Rhododendrons--Wild elephants-- Blocks of Syenite--Return to Churra--Coal--August temperature --Leave for Chela--Jasper hill--Birds--_Arundina_--Habits of leaf-insects--Curious village--Houses--Canoes--Boga-panee river--Jheels--Chattuc--Churra--Leave for Jyntea hills-- Trading parties--Dried fish--Cherries--Cinnamon--Fraud-- Pea-violet--Nonkreem--Sandstone--Pines--Granite boulders-- Iron washing--Forges--Tanks--Siberian _Nymphaea_--Barren country--Pomrang--_Podostemon_--Patchouli plant--Mooshye-- Enormous stone slabs--Pitcher-plant--Joowye cultivation and vegetation--_Hydropeltis_--Sulky hostess--Nurtiung-- _Hamamelis chinensis_--Bor-panee river--Sacred grove and gigantic stone structures--Altars--Pyramids, etc.--Origin of names-- _Vanda coerulea_--Collections--November vegetation--Geology of Khasia--Sandstone--Coal--Lime--Gneiss--Greenstone--Tidal action--Strike of rocks--Comparison with Rajmahal hills and the Himalaya.
The snowy Himalaya was not visible during our first stay at Myrung, from the 5th to the 10th of July; but on three subsequent occasions, viz., 27th and 28th of July, 13th to 17th October, and 22nd to 25th October, we saw these magnificent mountains, and repeatedly took angular heights and bearings of the princ.i.p.al peaks. The range, as seen from the Khasia, does not form a continuous line of snowy mountains, but the loftiest eminences are conspicuously grouped into ma.s.ses, whose position is probably between the great rivers which rise far beyond them and flow through Bhotan. This arrangement indicates that relation of the rivers to the ma.s.ses of snow, which I have dwelt upon in the Appendix; and further tends to prove that the snowy mountains, seen from the southward, are not on the axis of a mountain chain, and do not even indicate its position; but that they are lofty meridional spurs which, projecting southward, catch the moist vapours, become more deeply snowed, and protect the dry loftier regions behind.
The most conspicuous group of snows seen from the Khasia bears N.N.E.
from Myrung, and consists of three beautiful mountains with wide-spreading snowy shoulders. These are distant (reckoning from west to east) respectively 164, 170, and 172 miles from Myrung, and subtend angles of + 0 degrees 4 minutes 0 seconds,-0 degrees 1 minute 30 seconds, and-0 degrees 2 minutes 28 seconds.* [These angles were taken both at sunrise and sunset, and with an excellent theodolite, and were repeated after two considerable intervals.