Himalayan Journals — Volume 1: Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.Hooker, Joseph Dalton
History
Himalayan Journals — Volume 1: 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
Beyond Junnoo,
one of the western peaks of Kinchinjunga, there was no continuous
snowy chain; the Himalaya seemed suddenly to decline into black and
rugged peaks, till in the far north-west it rose again in a white
mountain mass of stupendous elevation at 80 miles distance, called,
by my Nepal people, "Tsungau."* [This is probably the easternmost and
loftiest peak seen from Katmandoo, distant 78 miles, and estimated
elevation 20,117 feet by Col. Crawford's observations. See
"Hamilton's Nepal," p. 346, and plate 1.] From the bearings I took of
it from several positions, it is in about lat. 27 degrees 49 minutes
and long. 86 degrees 24 minutes, and is probably on the west flank of
the Arun valley and river, which latter, in its course from Tibet to
the plains of India, receives the waters from the west flank of
Kinchinjunga, and from the east flank of the mountain in question.
It is perhaps one which has been seen and measured from the Tirhoot
district by some of Colonel Waugh's party, and which has been
reported to be upwards of 28,000 feet in elevation; and it is the
only mountain of the first class in magnitude between Gosainthan
(north-east of Katmandoo) and Kinchinjunga.
To the west, the black ridge of Sakkiazung, bristling with pines,
(_Abies Webbiana_) cut off the view of Nepal; but south-west, the
Myong valley could be traced to its junction with the Tambur about
thirty miles off: beyond which to the south-west and south, low
hills belonging to the outer ranges of Nepal rose on the distant
horizon, seventy or eighty miles off; and of these the most
conspicuous were the Mahavarati which skirt the Nepal Terai. South
and south-east, Sinchul and the Goong range of Sikkim intercepted the
view of the plains of India, of which I had a distant peep to the
south-west only.
The west top of Tonglo is very open and grassy, with occasional
masses of gneiss of enormous size, but probably not in situ.
The whole of this flank, and for 1000 feet down the spur to the
south-west, had been cleared by fire for pasturage, and flocks of
black-faced sheep were grazing. During my stay on the mountain,
except in the early morning, the weather was bleak, gloomy, and very
cold, with a high south-west wind. The mean temperature was 41
degrees, extremes 53.2/26 degrees: the nights were very clear, with
sharp hoar-frost; the radiating thermometer sank to 21 degrees, the
temperature at 3.5 feet depth was 51.5 degrees.
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