Himalayan Journals — Volume 1: Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.Hooker, Joseph Dalton
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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
I have described meeting with ancient moraines in every Himalayan
valley I ascended, at or about 7000 or 8000 feet elevation, proving,
that at one period, the glaciers descended fully so much below the
position they now occupy: this can only be explained by a change of
climate,* [Such a change of temperature, without any depression or
elevation of the mountains, has been thought by Capt. R. Strachey
("Journal of Geological Society"), an able Himalayan observer, to be
the necessary consequence of an ocean at the foot of these mountains;
for the amount of perpetual snow, and consequent descent of the
glaciers, increasing indirectly in proportion to the humidity of the
climate, and the snow-fall, he conjectured that the proximity of the
ocean would prodigiously increase such a deposition of snow.--To me,
this argument appears inconclusive; for the first effect of such a
vast body of water would be to raise the temperature of winter; and
as it is the rain, rather than the sun of summer, which removes the
Sikkim snow, so would an increase of this rain elevate, rather than
depress, the level of perpetual snow.] or by a depression of the
mountain mass equal to 8000 feet, since the formation of these
moraines.
The country about Titalya looks desert, from that want of trees and
cultivation, so characteristic of the upper level throughout this
part of the plains, which is covered with short, poor pasture-grass.
The bungalow stands close to the Mahanuddy, on a low hill, cut into
an escarpment twenty feet high, which exposes a section of river-laid
sand and gravel, alternating with thick beds of rounded pebbles.
Shortly after Dr. Campbell's arrival, the meadows about the bungalow
presented a singular appearance, being dotted over with elephants,
brought for purchase by Government. It was curious to watch the
arrival of these enormous animals, which were visible nearly two
miles across the flat plains; nor less interesting was it to observe
the wonderful docility of these giants of the animal kingdom, often
only guided by naked boys, perched on their necks, scolding,
swearing, and enforcing their orders with the iron goad.
There appeared as many tricks in elephant-dealers as in
horse-jockeys, and of many animals brought, but few were purchased.
Government limits the price to about 75 pounds, and the height to the
shoulder must not be under seven feet, which, incredible as it
appears, may be estimated within a fraction as being three times the
circumference of the forefoot. The pedigree is closely inquired into,
the hoofs are examined for cracks, the teeth for age, and many other
points attended to.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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