"Just at the end of the bridge, there is an overhanging rock, under which worship is performed to Bhyram. A black stone, painted red, is the image of the god ; and here, not only worship was performed, but every one was obliged to bathe and eat bread baked by the Brahmins, as preparatory to the great and effectual ablutions at Gungotree. From hence, we ascended the rock by a path more curious, dangerous, and difficult, than any we had yet passed. As the rock is too steep to afford a natural path, the chief part is constructed of large beams of wood, driven into the fissures, on which other beams and large stones are placed; thus forming a hanging flight of steps over the fearful gulf below. Sometimes, it is even requisite to make a leap to reach the next sure footing; and at others, with merely the support afforded by a slight projecting ledge, and the help of a bamboo hung from some rock above, to cling to the rock and make a hazardous passage. By this unpleasant path, we reached a step or level spot on the first stage of the mountain, where, in a thick grove of fir-trees, is placed a small temple to Bhyram; built by order of Ummur Singh Thappa, who gave a sum of money to repair the road and erect places of worship here and at Gungotree. We proceeded along the side of the hill on the north bank of the river, gradually ascending by a path equally difficult and dangerous as the first part, but more fearful, as the precipice increases in height, and exceedingly toilsome from the nature of the ground. Three coss of such road brought us opposite to a considerable stream, which tumbles down a deep ravine, called Mianee-ke-Gadh, and through which opening is seen the snowy range of Mianee, with the extensive bosom of snow that feeds the stream. From a point just below this, we had a * Bhyram, or Bhairo Lal, is esteemed the janitor of Gangautri, view of the most singular and lofty peak of Roodroo Himala. "The path increases in difficulty from the very irregular nature of the ground. Shapeless blocks of rock obstruct the way, and for hundreds of yards, at times, the passenger must clamber over these masses, which, huge as they are, shake and move under a man's weight. A gun-shot below Gungotree, the Kedar Gunga,* a rapid and considerable stream, debouches into the Bhagiruttee, at a place called Gouree-counda : this is a holy place where a second ablution is usu ally performed. Below this place, the river falls over a rock of considerable height in its bed, and continues tumbling over a succession of petty cascades and rapids nearly the whole way to Mianee-ke-Gadh. Above the debouche of the Kedar Gunga, the bed widens into a small shingly space, in which the river rapidly rolls, changing its course as the floods direct it. Just at the gorge of this opening, a bridge has been thrown across, resting on a large rock in the centre; and just above the bridge, in a bay formed by the river in this shingly space, fifteen feet above the stream, is situated the small temple or mut dedicated to the goddess Gunga or Bhagiruttee. The scene is worthy of the mysterious sanctity attached to it. On all sides is the prospect closed, except in front to the eastward, where, from behind a mass of bare spires, four huge, lofty, snowy peaks arise, the peaks of Roodroo Himala: there could be no finer finishing, no grander close to such a scene."+ * Captain Hodgson says, that it has no claim to the title of a river, being a mere torrent from the snow, wide and shallow, and its course cannot be longer than three or four miles. Fraser, pp. 463-470. To add to the sublimity of the scene, when Captain Hodgson visited it, two years after, he was awakened from rest by the rocking of the ground, and witnessed, by the There, as at Jumnotri, you are told, that no mortal has gone, or can go further towards the origin of the river, than this spot. Mr. Fraser advanced with difficulty a few hundred yards, but was forced to turn back. Captain Hodgson, however, in 1817, advanced from Gungotri, sometimes ascending a succession of snow-beds, which covered the river, (in one place it flowed beneath an avalanche 500 feet thick,) or climbing over rocky fragments, at other times proceeding along the rocky bed of the river, till, at length, on the third day of this daring and perilous adventure, he reached "The Cow's Mouth." "A most wonderful scene. The Bhagirathi issues from under a very low arch at the foot of the grand snow-bed. The river is here bounded, to the right and left, by high snow and rocks; but, in front over the debouche, the mass of snow is perfectly perpendicular, and from the bed of the stream to the summit, we estimate the thickness at little less than 300 feet of solid frozen snow, probably the accumulation of ages it is in layers of some feet thick, each seemingly the remains of a fall of a separate year. From the brow of this curious wall of snow, and immediately above the outlet of the stream, large and hoary icicles depend: they are formed by the freezing of the melted snow water of the top of the bed, for, in the middle of the day, the sun is powerful, and the water produced by its action, falls over this place in cascade, but is frozen at night.* I cannot think of any place to bright moonlight, the terrific operations of an earthquake: rocks were hurled in every direction, with hideous noise, from the peaks around to the bed of the river. Gangautri is in lat. 30° 59′ 30. * The Gangautri Brahmin who accompanied the Author, an illiterate Brahmin, observed, that he thought these icicles must be Mahadeva's hair, whence, as he understood, it is written in the Shastra, the Ganges flows, which they might more aptly give the name of a cow's mouth, than to this extraordinary debouche. The height of the arch is only sufficient to let the stream flow under it. The mean breadth was twenty-seven feet, and the greatest depth at that place, eighteen inches. The dazzling brilliancy of the snow was rendered more striking by its contrast with the dark blue colour of the sky, which is caused by the thinness of the air; and at night, the stars shone with a lustre which they have not in a denser atmosphere. It was curious, too, to see them, when rising, appear like one sudden flash, as they emerged from behind the bright snowy summits close to us; and their disappearance, when setting behind the peaks, was as sudden as we generally observed it to be in their occultations by the moon. We were surrounded by gigantic peaks entirely cased in snow, and almost beyond the regions of animal and vegetable life ;* and an awful silence prevailed, except when broken by the thundering peals of falling avalanches. Nothing met our eyes, resembling the scenery in the haunts of men. By moonlight, all appeared cold, wild, and stupendous; and a pagan might aptly imagine the place a fit abode for demons. We did not see even bears, or musk-deer, or eagles, or any living creature, except some small birds."+ This adventurous Traveller ascended an inclined bed of snow, full of dangerous hollows, rifts, and *The elevation of this station was 13,800 feet above the sea. The highest point reached by the Writer in this direction, was 800 feet above (14,600); lat. 30° 54′ 54", long. 79° 4. The confluence of the Bhagirathi and Jahnevi, is in lat. 31° 1′ 39′′, long. 78° 51' 4"; 8511 feet above the sea, and 7487 above the plain at Hurdwar. The distance from Gangoutri to the Cow's Mouth, Capt. H. computed at 22,620 paces or about eleven miles. Asiat. Res., vol. xiv. pp. 115-118. Ꮓ chasms, for about a mile and a half further; but was then obliged to return. He conceives it to be ascertained, however, that there can be no practicable pass this way to the Tatarian districts, and that the most remote rill which contributes, under the snow, to the first formation of the Ganges, cannot be more distant than the ridge; so that such formation must be on the hither side, and not at any lake or more distant place beyond it. This remark applies only to the Bhagirathi head, which, though esteemed "the holy and celebrated Ganges," is not the largest or most distant source. The Jahnevi river, according to information received by Mr. Fraser, originates in a very lofty mountain called Ree kee-sóor-stan, in the Chinese territory, fifteen days journey N. E. of Gungotri ; and Capt. Hodgson learned from a Brahmin officiating at the latter place, that, by the course of this river, there is a pass to Thibet, which, though steep and difficult, is practicable at the latter end of the rains. At the frontier village of Neilang, distant four days from the confluence, the river is but little diminished in size; and there is a sanga over it. The true Ganges, therefore, if that name be given to the most remote source, has its origin on the northern side of the great snowy range.* 1 * Frazer, p. 464. As. Res. vol. xiv. p. 90. The Editor had not had an opportunity of consulting this last authority, when the account of the Ganges given in the first volume (pp. 20-22), was drawn up. For a highly interesting account of the journey of Capt. Webb, Hearsay, and Raper to the sources of the Alaknunda and to Buddrinauth, our already exhausted limits compel us to refer the reader to the eleventh volume of Asiatic Researches, Art. X. Kedarnauth, situated at the source of the Kaligunga, had never been visited by any European in 1826. These, as being more accessible than Gungotri, are much more frequented by pilgrims, and the ecclesiastical establishments there are consequently far more wealthy and imposing. The number of pilgrims who visited |