Although the term Himalaya is applied by the natives of India only to the ranges which they see covered with perpetual snow, it has been long used by European geographers to designate the whole mountain region for which the Indian has no other name than pähär, i.e., “the mountains,” of which the snowy ranges constitute but a small portion. The first mere cursory examination of these mountains by the older geographers rightly convinced them of the general physical unity of the mountainous region to the north of India, which in length extends from about 72° to 95° E. long., that is, between the rivers Indus and Brahmaputra, and in breadth includes the ranges between the plains of Hindustan and the upper parts of the main branches of these two great rivers. To these ranges the designation of Himalaya has by degrees been specially attached; and there is a certain convenience in still restricting the name to that part of the mountains which is accessible from British India, for this is the practical signification of it now commonly accepted.

Though it is to the area thus limited that the present article is mainly designed to refer, it will be necessary, for the correct apprehension of some of its main characteristics, to understand aright the relation which the Himalaya bears to the great mountain region beyond it, and a general description of that region thus becomes requisite.

Scientific investigation has clearly shown that, so far as the main characteristics of the mountains are concerned, the natural boundaries of the Himalayan system must be carried much farther than had at first been recognized. Considerable obscurity still involves the eastern portion of these mountains, and there is great want of precise knowledge as to their connexion with the ranges of western China, from which are thrown off the great rivers of China, Siam, and Burmah. On the west, however, it has been completely established that a continuous chain extends beyond the Indus along the north of the Oxus, and ends in that quarter about 68° E. long. In like manner it is found that no separation can be established, except a purely arbitrary one, between the Himalaya as commonly defined and the greatly elevated and rugged table-land of Tibet; nor between this last and the mountain ranges which form its northern border along the low-lying desert regions of Central Asia.

It thus appears that the Himalaya, with its prolongation west of the Indus, constitutes in reality the broad mountainous slope which descends from the southern border of the great Tibetan table-land to the lower levels of Hindustan and the plains of the Caspian; and that a somewhat similar mountain face, descending from the northern edge of the table-land, leads to another great plain on the north, extending far to the eastward, to the northern borders of China. Towards its north-west extremity this great system is connected with other mountains,—on the south, with those of Afghanistan, of which the Hindu-Kush is the crest, occupying a breadth of about 250 miles between Peshawur and Kùndûz; and on the north, with the mountains that flank the Jaxartes or Sir on the north, and the Thian-shan or Celestial Mountains. The eastern margin of Tibet descends to western China, and the south-eastern termination of the Himalaya is fused into the ranges which run north and south between the 95th and 100th meridians, and separate the rivers of Burmah, Siam, and western China.

Nor can any of the numerous mountain ranges which constitute this great elevated region be properly regarded as having special, definite, or separate existence apart from the general mass of which they are the component parts; and Tibet cannot be rightly described, as it has been, as lying in the interval between the two so-called chains of the Himalaya and the Kouenlun or Kara Koram. It is in truth the summit of a great protuberance above the general level of the earth’s surface, of which these alleged chains are nothing more than the south and north borders, while the other ranges which traverse it are but corrugations of the mass more or less strongly marked and locally developed.

The average level of the Tibetan table-land may be taken at about 15,000 feet above the sea. The loftiest points known on the earth’s surface are to be found along its southern or Himalayan boundary; one of them falls very little short of 30,000 feet in elevation, and peaks of 20,000 feet abound along the entire chain. The plains of India which skirt the Himalayan face of the table-land, for a length of rather more than 1500 miles, along the northern border of British India, nowhere rise so much as 1000 feet above the sea, the average being much less. The low lands on the north, about Kashgar and Yarkend, have an elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet, and no part of the Central Asiatic desert seems to fall below 2000 feet, the lake of Lob-nor being somewhat above that level. The greatest dimension of the Tibetan mountain area from east to west may be about 2000 miles, while its average breadth somewhat exceeds 500 miles; about 100 miles on either side constitute the sloping faces, the central table-land having a width of about 200 miles on the west and probably 500 miles at its eastern border.

The southern portion of the Tibetan table-land throws off its waters to the north-west and south-east from a central line almost on 82° E. long., the Indus flowing in the former direction, and the Brahmaputra in the latter. These two rivers maintain their courses for a great distance in opposite ways, longitudinally, along the summit of the table-land; they receive as they proceed the drainage of a large portion of its surface; and their accumulated waters are at length discharged by two openings in the Himalayan slope across the plains of Hindustan into the Indian Ocean. With the one exception of the basin of the Sutlej, the Tibetan area that discharges itself southward at points intermediate between the debouchure of the Indus and that of the Brahmaputra is comparatively insignificant. No important part of the drainage of the table-land, so far as is yet known, passes in the opposite direction through the northern slope to join the rivers which flow from that slope to the Central-Asiatic plain. The waters of the southern slope, together with the drainage of the exceptional Tibetan area above referred to, traverse the Himalaya more or less directly, and constitute the main tributaries of the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra.

Thus the northern border of the table-land, or the summit of its northern slope, so far as it is known, seems to form the real watershed between the rivers that flow to the Indian Ocean and those that lose themselves in the plains of Turkistan and Mongolia. The summit of the Himalayan slope forms a subordinate watershed, separating the rivers that fall into the Indian Ocean into two classes, those that pass directly through the Himalaya to the plains of India, and those that are collected on the summit of the table-land and discharged, also through the Himalaya, but by two concentrated streams at distant points towards the opposite ends of the chain. It has been proposed to call these dividing lines, respectively, the Turkish and the Indian watershed.

The waters that issue from the Himalaya to the west of the 77th meridian combine to form the Indus. Between the 77th and 88th meridians all the streams fall into the Ganges, and eastward of the 88th meridian into the Brahmaputra. Of the continuity of the Brahmaputra, beyond the point up to which it has been explored from Assam, with the Tibetan river called on the maps Sanpoo, Yarou-dzangbo-tchou, and so forth, there is no room for doubt. The correct Tibetan name for the river is Tachok-tsangpo, ie., “Horse-river,” or simply “Tsangpo,” i.e., “Great river”,—the word “tsangpo” being applied exactly like the corresponding Indian term “ganga,” or the Chinese “kyang,” as a generic affix to the name of any large river. In the mountains on the border of Assam the river is called “Dihong,” but on entering the plain it receives the waters of the sacred stream locally called “Loh it,” which is also believed to have a Tibetan source; and this name the united river retains throughout the greater part of its course in Assam, Brahmaputra being a classical Sanskrit name not commonly used. In its course through Bengal local names are given to the various branches into which it there divides; and this is also the case with the Ganges, which unites with the Brahmaputra about 100 miles from the sea. That part of Tibet which lies north of the 30th parallel of latitude and between the 82d and 92d meridians east is believed to have no escape open for its waters, which are consequently collected in lakes occupying depressions on its surface. The region east of the 92d meridian, excluding the comparatively small tract which drains into the Brahmaputra, feeds the great rivers of western China, Siam, and Burmah.

At the western extremity of the Tibetan table-land two transverse watershed lines are established in connexion with it, by mountain ranges nearly at right angles to what may be regarded as its general direction in this region,—first, on the south by the mountains which under the name of Hindu-Kush form the north-east angle of the high land of Afghanistan, and from the north-west of which the waters flow into the Oxus (the true Turki name of which is “Amu ”), and thence to the Aral Sea, while those from its south-eastern face join the Indus through the Cabul river; and second, on the north by the Terek-tagh, which unites the Tibetan system with the mountains of northern Turkistan, and separates the Jaxartes (in Turki “Sir”) from the basin of Yarkend. The Oxus and Jaxartes flow off to the Aral Sea in a north-westerly direction, having between them a range which probably represents the extremity of either the Tibetan or the Thian-shan mountains, and which falls away into hills of minor importance beyond the 70th meridian.

Some further particulars of the relations of the Tibeto·Himalayan region with the contiguous mountain systems, and of its influence both physical and political on the Asiatic continent in the heart of which it is situated, are contained in the article Asia, to which reference may be made. A more detailed account of Tibet will be given under that heading, and the remainder of this notice will be confined to the description of the restricted Himalayan area, as already defined.

The northern provinces of British India occupy the great plain which flanks the Himalaya on the south, along its whole extent from the issue of the Brahmaputra on the east to the ranges that lie along the Indus. The whole tract, excepting Assam, 7.e., the valley of the Brahmaputra, is highly cultivated and populous; and with the same exception the population throughout is of the race known as Aryan, being almost exclusively Hindu in religion on the east, but passing into Mahometan on the west.

The most eastern portion of the Himalayan mountain slope, as far as the 92d meridian, is occupied by wild tribes of which, or of the country they occupy, little is known. They are in small communities under petty chiefs, and their languages, which vary considerably in detail, are to some extent allied to Tibetan and monosyllabic. Between the 92d and 89th meridians is the small state of Bhotân, the local name of which is “Lhopato.” It approximates in language, customs, and religion to Tibet proper, and its government is carried on by two separate chiefs, temporal and spiritual. Its northern border, where it is met by Tibet, lies along the 28th degree of north latitude. The small British district of Sikim succeeds, occupying the lower part of the basin of the Tista river, and having Darjeling as its chief settlement. The native state of Sikim, in Tibetan called “Demojong,” extends north of British Sikim to Tibet; it is almost as Tibetan as Bhot<4n, and still less important. Its western border falls nearly on the 88th meridian.

From the 88th nearly to the 80th meridian the whole southern slope is occupied by the kingdom of Nepâl, which since the wars with the British in 1814-16 has retained complete independence. The jealousy with which its government has excluded Europeans from most parts of the country leaves us with little precise knowledge of any part of it except its eastern border and the neighbourhood of the capital, Kâthmândû. The people pass from the Tibetan and Buddhist type, which prevails on the east, into almost pure Hindus, speaking a Hindi dialect, on the west. The rivers Kosi, Gandak, Râpti, and Karnâli are the principal streams that issue from this "part of the mountains. The northern border of Nepâl follows the main watershed, and its western angle reaches the 30th parallel of north latitude in the vicinity of the well-known Tibetan lakes Râkas-tâl and Mânasarowar, where the general direction of the mountains has, from east and west, become nearly south-east and north-west.

, The Kâli or Sârda river forms the boundary between > Nepal and the British provinces of Kumaon and Garhwâl, the chief town in which is Almora, and which occupy the entire mountain face, from the watershed to the plains, as far as the main stream of the Ganges, for a distance from east to west of about 100 miles. Thence, an equal distance brings us to the Sutlej, the intermediate tract being occupied by many small principalities, independent in their civil government, but entirely under the political control of the British. In this region is situated Simla, the summer capital of the government of British India, on one of the outer ranges overlooking the Sutlej. Other small districts and principalities, partly British, occupy the Himalayan slope as far as the 76th meridian, beyond which we reach the territories of Jamu and Kashmir, which extend to within 50 miles of the Indus, a narrow band bordering on which river is mainly in the possession of Afghan tribes but partly under British rule. From the portion of the mountains west of the 79th meridian issue the rivers Ganges and Jumna; also the five rivers of the Punjâb,— the Sutlej, the Râvi, the Chenâb, the Jhelum, and the Indus, besides the Byâs which unites with the Sutlej. The valley of Kashmir is the upper part of the basin of the Jhelum.

The population of the whole of the mountain districts west of Nepâl maintains to a great extent its Hindu type, though the Mahometan religion gradually becomes more prevalent as we approach the Indus, where it is found to have superseded Hinduism. In the more remote and elevated valleys an infusion of Tibetan race, religion, and language is found, diminishing as we pass to the west; but otherwise the dialects spoken are everywhere Prakritic, and closely allied to Hindi. As a rule the people are short in stature, muscular, as is common among mountaineers, fairer than the inhabitants of the plains, and in the western regions, where the Hindu or Aryan stock prevails, women of remarkable beauty are often seen. At the lower altitudes cotton clothing is usual, at tire greater elevations hempen and woollen materials prevail, but an utter disregard of personal cleanliness is universal. Goitre is frequent in both sexes, and cretinism seems to occur much in the European form.

The eastern ranges are wetter, the climate generally warmer and more equable, and the vegetation more rank and of a more tropical character; the mountains are more copiously covered with forest, and the extent of cultivation is less, and the population probably less also. To the west, with a drier atmosphere and greater variations of temperature, the climate above 5000 or 6000 feet becomes more like that of southern Europe, and the main features of the scenery become more conspicuously similar to those of i. European mountains. On the east the customs of the people differ little from those of the neighbouring Tibetan or semi-Tibetan provinces. On the west there is no great distinction between the people of the hills and of the plains in their customs, agriculture, or other occupations.

The summit of the table-land from the borders of China to the 75th meridian, where the Indus suddenly turns off to the south, is comprised in Tibet, or as it is called in the language of its inhabitants “Bod” or “Bodyul,” the latter word being equivalent to “Bod-land.” Of the eastern half of Tibet very little is known, and that little chiefly relates to the most southern portion which borders on the Himalaya, and the most eastern which abuts on China. The tableland here has its greatest development, and is perhaps as much as 500 miles from north to south. At its northwestern end its breadth is reduced to something under 200 miles. The physical features of Tibet, from its great elevation, are so peculiar, and it is so cut off by nature from communication with its neighbours, that it is not surprising to find in it a distinct race with a language of their own, and habits widely different from the surrounding nations. The extreme cold and drought make Tibet essentially poor; and the character of its inhabitants approaches that of the denizens of the Arctic regions, who live under somewhat similar physical conditions. The people are broadly built, with a strongly marked Mongolian physiognomy, dark hair, little or no beard, oblique eyes, and prominent cheek bones. In the warmer valleys they are mainly agricultural, and live in houses; in the higher regions they are shepherds, living in tents, thinly scattered over a large area. They are clothed in woollens or sheep skins. The practice of polyandry prevails, a woman marrying a whole family of brothers. The government at Lhassa is nominally administered by the Tibetans themselves, but in reality is altogether under the control of a Chinese resident. The authority of the Lhassan Government extends to about 78° E. long.; west of this as far as the Indus, the country was conquered some forty years ago by the sovereign of Kashmir and remains under him. In the most western province of Tibet, called “Balti,” the Buddhist religion ceases to prevail; the population is exclusively Mahometan, and that religion only is known beyond the Indus.

To the west of Tibet the mountains are prolonged to the 70th meridian at an elevation not greatly less than that which prevails eastward, and the table-land there ends in the region known as Pamir, which has all the characteristics of the higher parts of Tibet. Beyond this we pass into Turkistan and reach the limits by which the scope of the present article is restricted.

The difficulty of accomplishing with any approach to success such a task as that of giving a sufficient account of the chief physical and other characteristics of mountains like the Himalaya is much diminished by the remarkable uniformity in many points of structure and other important peculiarities, which prevails along the whole length of the chain. The perception of such general characteristics among mountains so vast is, indeed, too often overshadowed and obscured by the magnitude of their parts, the multitude of their details, and the variety of their forms; yet when tire idea of the subordination of all these elements to common laws has once been duly conceived, it obtains constantly growing confirmation from what at first only produced impressions of hopeless confusion.

The great plain of northern India stretches with an almost unbroken surface along the foot of the Himalaya from the upper Indus to the head of the delta of the Ganges, and thence has a narrow prolongation along the Brahmaputra up the valley of Assam. Including its extensions to the sea, along the Indus on the west, and along the Ganges on the east, its area is about 500,000 square miles. It nowhere rises to more than 1000 feet above the sea-level, and to the unassisted eye it appears a perfectly dead flat. That part of...