Himalayan Journals — Complete: Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.Hooker, Joseph Dalton
History
Himalayan Journals — Complete: Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.
Hooker, Joseph Dalton
Himalaya Mountains -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Himalaya Mountains
To the north-west towards Nepal, the snowy peaks of Kubra and Junnoo
(respectively 24,005 feet and 25,312 feet) rise over the shoulder of
Singalelah; whilst eastward the snowy mountains appear to form an
unbroken range, trending north-east to the great mass of Donkia (23,176
feet) and thence south-east by the fingered peaks of Tunkola and the
silver cone of Chola, (17,320 feet) gradually sinking into the Bhotan
mountains at Gipmoochi (14,509 feet). The most eloquent descriptions I
have read fail to convey to my mind’s eye the forms and colours of
snowy mountains, or to my imagination the sensations and impressions
that rivet my attention to these sublime phenomena when they are
present in reality; and I shall not therefore obtrude any attempt of
the kind upon my reader. The latter has probably seen the Swiss Alps,
which, though barely possessing half the sublimity, extent, or height
of the Himalaya, are yet far more beautiful. In either case he is
struck with the precision and sharpness of their outlines, and still
more with the wonderful play of colours on their snowy flanks, from the
glowing hues reflected in orange, gold and ruby, from clouds illumined
by the sinking or rising sun, to the ghastly pallor that succeeds with
twilight, when the red seems to give place to its complementary colour
green. Such dissolving-views elude all attempts at description, they
are far too aerial to be chained to the memory, and fade from it so
fast as to be gazed upon day after day, with undiminished admiration
and pleasure, long after the mountains themselves have lost their
sublimity and apparent height.
The actual extent of the snowy range seen from Mr. Hodgson’s windows is
comprised within an arc of 80° (from north 30° west to north 50° east),
or nearly a quarter of the horizon, along which the perpetual snow
forms an unbroken girdle or crest of frosted silver; and in winter,
when the mountains are covered down to 8000 feet, this white ridge
stretches uninterruptedly for more than 160°. No known view is to be
compared with this in extent, when the proximity and height of the
mountains are considered; for within the 80° above mentioned more than
twelve peaks rise above 20,000 feet, and there are none below 15,000
feet, while Kinchin is 28,178, and seven others above 22,000. The
nearest perpetual snow is on Nursing, a beautifully sharp conical peak
19,139 feet high, and thirty-two miles distant; the most remote
mountain seen is Donkia, 23,176 feet high, and seventy-three miles
distant; whilst Kinchin, which forms the principal mass both for height
and bulk, is exactly forty-five miles distant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account