Grand moving diorama of Hindostan : $b displaying the scenery of the Hoogly, the Bhagirathi, and the Ganges, from Fort William, Bengal, to Gangoutri, in the HimalayaParlby, Fanny Parkes
History
Grand moving diorama of Hindostan : $b displaying the scenery of the Hoogly, the Bhagirathi, and the Ganges, from Fort William, Bengal, to Gangoutri, in the Himalaya
Parlby, Fanny Parkes
India -- Description and travel; Panoramas -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century
As the chosen retreat of Governors-General and Commanders-in-Chief, from
the burning plains of India, the place has enjoyed for some years past
many considerable advantages. A great number of residences have been
built on the hills; the roads are good; there is a church, a school, an
observatory, an amateur theatre, &c. You have a glimpse of the snowy
ranges in the distance. The conical hill is crowned by Stirling Castle;
and the house below it was then inhabited by Colonel Birch, the Judge
Advocate General. The flag-staff points out the residence of his
Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, and the houses below, on the left,
are those occupied by the Aid-de-camps. Two hill men are in the
foreground, with the baskets in which they carry provisions on their
backs.
SIMLA.
The view is a continuation of Simla; and one of the residences now
before you is that of Mr. Gubbins, of the Bengal Civil Service.
The hills are covered with the finest vegetation, and the views are
beautiful. The evergreen oak flourishes in magnificence, the deodar fir
rises to enormous height, and the bright crimson-flowered rhododendron
is a _forest tree_, not a shrub, as you have it in England. Violets are
under every rock, the wild notes of the hill birds are heard in every
direction, and health, strength, and spirits are imparted by the pure,
delicious, and bracing mountain air.
FAGOO.
On the Hill of Fagoo, here represented, is a Traveller’s Bungalow,
constructed of wood. A group of _Paharīs_, or hill men, are on the
right, and in the distance are the snowy ranges of the Himalaya. Water
is procured from the _khuds_, as the deep narrow valleys between the
hills are called, where it is found in little rills.
THE GANGES.
This mountainous and picturesque scene represents the force with which
the holy river rushes downwards from the deep recesses in the mountains,
until it passes the last barrier of rocks, and emerges on the plains
near Hurdwar.
The _dēodar_, Pinus dēodara, rises to a magnificent height in these
regions, sometimes measuring 100 feet: its oil, called _dēodar_, is used
by the natives as a powerful remedy in rheumatic attacks. Leopards and
bears inhabit the forests, and the musk deer is sometimes, though but
rarely found. The black and the golden eagles of the Himalaya swoop over
the precipices, and a great variety of remarkably beautiful pheasants
are found here. Specimens of all these birds may be seen in the Museum.
THE SNOWY REGIONS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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