country of Central India; (4) the Deccan; and (5) the Southern Region. Each region has its own peculiar characteristic. The most strongly-marked of these is the Himalayan Region, embracing as it does a mountain system, unparalleled in its extent and sublimity by any other range of the Old World, and unequalled in many respects -as, for instance, in the loftiness of its peaks—by the gigantic systems of the New. For the space of 1000 miles, there may be traced a continuous line 21,000 feet above the sea, from which, as a base, detached peaks ascend to the additional height of 5000 or 6000 feet, and in all probability 9000. The inhabitants of the Bengal plain must contemplate, with no little wonder, this long array of white pinnacles forming the boundary of the distant horizon. The range in question passes along the northern portion of the country from west to east, a distance of some 1500 miles, its breadth varying from 80 to 120 miles; while its mass embraces an area of something like 15,000 superficial miles, or nearly twice that of Great Britain. For the sake of convenience, the range may be divided into three portions-the Western, Central, and Eastern. The western portion may be said to commence with the Gusie Mountains, a snow-capped ridge which, protruding into the great south bend of the Indus, runs in a parallel direction to its upper course. The Sutlej and other tributaries of the Indus take their rise in this part of the range; and here the ridge is crossed by many and important passes. These media of communication between Hindustan and the highlands of Thibet are, owing to the structure of the mountains, perilous in the highest degree; the roads, which in some places are carried over the tops of the hills 20,000 feet above the sea-level, skirt the brink of awful precipices, pass in dangerous proximity to seething torrents, or thread a tortuous course through gloomy ravines, bordered by eminences which seem to reach the very skies. Connected with this portion of the range, and enclosed by its ridges, is the Vale of Cashmere, so long and universally celebrated as a terrestrial paradise. It was in this delightful region, upon the shore of a lake formed by the waters brought down by the numerous mountain rills, that the Mogul sovereigns built a city of palaces; and hither they were wont to withdraw to enjoy what leisure they could snatch from the turmoils of government. Poets have never wearied of singing the delights of this region, of extolling the verdure of its hill sides, and praising the roses of its vales; while Cashmerean beauty has become a proverb. The fairy-like descriptions of this land have received considerable modification from the reports of modern travellers; still it would be difficult to find a spot which nature has more richly endowed with her gifts than this Himalayan vale. The central portion of the Himalayas extends from the Sutlej valley, eastward, to Bootan. It is in the western part of this district that the sublimity of the range culminates; for, along the heads of the Jumna, Ganges, and Gogra, are massed some of the highest pinnacles in the universe. Nearly thirty peaks exceed the altitude of Chimborazo, and some attain the unparalleled height of nearly 30,000 feet, or about 5 miles. Among these may be mentioned Dhawalagiri and Ghora Cotee. Here, too, the ridge is exceedingly broad, being composed of enor mous masses protruding as spurs from the main chain. These offsets branch in every direction, and are separated from each other. by long narrow valleys, or ravines. They are clothed in summer with luxuriant vegetation, but during the greater part of the winter they are buried in deep snow. The aspect of the higher portion of the range has been thus described: "Generally speaking, the character of this mountain chain is rugged and stern; its ridges rise behind each other in awful array; but they enclose no rural scenes, nor present any gentle undulations. Their steep sides, sometimes wooded, sometimes presenting vast faces of naked rock, dip down abruptly, forming dark chasms and ravines, at the bottom of which there is only room for the torrent to force its way through rude fragments fallen from the cliffs above." By far the greatest span of this central region is composed of the British province of Kumaon and the dominions of the rajah of Nepaul. The eastern stretch of the Himalayas extends from the western frontier of Bootan to the Brahmapootra. The slopes of this portion of the range, which form a descent from the table-land of Thibet, are occupied by the province of Bootan. Upon the northern frontier of Bootan, where it abuts on the dominion of Sikkim, the highest summit of the Kunchinjunga Mountains about here, comprises the loftiest pinnacle of the world; while Chumilari, scarcely less lofty, attains the sublime altitude of some 28,000 feet. The pass of Soomoonang connected with this district, about 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, is one of the loftiest highways of the Himalayas. Descending the slopes of this enormous mountain range we come upon our second territorial division, namely, the Plain Country of the Ganges and Indus. "The Himaleh range, where it touches on the champaign country, is almost everywhere girt with a peculiar belt or border called the Tarryani. This term is applied to a plain about 20 miles broad, upon which the waters from the higher regions are poured down in such profusion, that the river beds are unable to contain them. They accordingly overflow, and convert the ground into a species of swamp, which, acted on by the burning rays of a tropical sun, throws up an excessively rank vegetation, whereby the earth is choked rather than covered. The soil is concealed beneath a mass of dark and dismal foliage; while long grass and prickly shrubs shoot up so densely and so close, as to form an almost impenetrable barrier. It is still more awfully guarded by the pestilential vapours exhaling from those dark recesses, which make it at certain seasons a region of death.” The Gangetic plain may be considered the most important portion of the country, inasmuch as it is the most thoroughly cultivated, the most industrious, and by far the most thickly peopled. Sweeping the entire breadth of the country from west to east, it constitutes a territory some 1500 miles in length, with a breadth varying from 300 to 400 miles. Its vast importance arises from its extreme fertility. Watered by the copious streams which have their birth in the Himalayas, and enriched by their deposits, it possesses a soil which, in its productiveness, is scarcely equalled by any other region of the known. world. The easternmost portion of this plain, which is occupied by the old province of Bengal, exhibits a tract of country whose monotonous level is scarcely interrupted by a single hillock. Connected with this portion of the plain are the celebrated Sunderbunds-an uncultivated belt of salt marsh lying between the outlets of the Ganges and Brahmapootra. Some excellent timber, however, is found in places; and the rhinoceros, the tiger, and other denizens of the forest find shelter in the woods, or lurk among the tall rank grass, which supplies the place of useful vegetation in this swampy tract. To the north of the Sunderbunds lies a district marvellously enriched by the periodical inundations to which it is subject; and here rice is produced in great abundance. This is especially the case with the trans-Gangetic region of Tirhoot. To the west lies a drier country, in which grain, cotton, and indigo are extensively cultivated. Westward of Bengal, in the province of Bahar, the country is somewhat more diversified; but the same unbroken level presents itself in the adjoining province of Allahabad. The monotony of the plain throughout is, however, well relieved by the matchless mantle of vegetation wherewith it is clothed. To the north of the river lie the provinces of Oude and Rohilcund; and here the country slopes gently upwards towards the great mountain chain, the intense heat which characterises the low regions just described gradually relaxes to the temperature of an European spring, and the vegetation is consequently of a most varied character. Between the Ganges and Jumna lies the district known as the Doab, which possesses |