are dells from 1500 to 2000 feet deep, filled with forests of the finest cedars, oaks, and other trees. Many of the cedars are from thirteen to fifteen feet in circumference, and from 120 to 140 feet high. Their tents were pitched upon a fine green sward, enamelled with beautiful flowers, and having the appearance of a large, costly Persian carpet.

'But that which engrosses our attention most, is the far-stretching snowy range which, through the summits of Wartoo, the Choor Pahar, and Sirgool are all hooded in snow, and appear on a level with us, nevertheless fascinates our eyes. We are now completely bosomed in the mountain region which extends from these peaks of everlasting snow, to the fevered plains of Sirhund, which we see from this lofty station, and whilst enjoying the refreshing breeze, pity those whom their heat enfeebles by its intensity. But let us turn to the Himala. The three mighty peaks of Junonotree, bearing S. 88° E., shoot up from the snowy chain to an immense altitude. Two of them are connected by a ridge, the third is at some distance, isolated and black, contrasting singularly with the hoary desert around it. elevation respectively is 21,155 feet, 20,122 feet, and 20,916 feet. Other peaks which we presumed to be above the source of the Ganges, are still further east, and on that side close the view. The Shahool, Yoosoo, and Boorendo Passes, though actually more than fortyfive miles distant, appear close to us, such is the delicate purity of the atmosphere. Beyond this first barrier we see the sacred summit of Kailas or Raldung, a precipitous, black, triangular pyramid, scantly streaked with snow. Its height is 21,411 feet.'

-pp. 151, 152.

At Sooraan they found hot springs near the bed of the Sutluj. They issue from the side of a dell through which rolls an impetuous stream. This torrent forms a fine cascade, bounding over a narrow rent in a mass of grass, and falls about forty feet, There are five springs, with fifteen paces. The principal one gushes from a projecting rock close to the waterfall, and runs into a small artificial well of mica-slate, made for pilgrims to bathe in. The water is clear, hot, smoking, and has a saline taste, but no smell. The pebbles over which it passes are coated with ferruginous matter, and the spot whence it issues is thickly incrusted with a white salt. The hot vapour has decomposed the rock above, depositing particles of a yellow substance, like sulphur, but emitting no sulphureous smell. The quantity must be great, as a brass vessel whose contents were equal to 2lbs. was filled from the principal rill in seven seconds.

The deepest interest of the work commences at the fifth chapter, where the preparations are begun at Koteghur for the journey to the Boorendo Pass; when the party were about to travel through wildness and desolation, and along the most dangerous paths. They, that is, Captain A. Gerard and P. Gerard, Major Close,

Lieut. Osborne, and Major Sir W. Lloyd, set off on the 5th of June from Sheyl, which is situated at an elevation of 8000 feet. Their track lay through a magnificent forest of cedars and pines; and during their march they saw the Himmalayan peaks towering up from both banks of the Sutluj like freshly riven masses of alabaster. We can easily imagine, as it is stated, that nothing less than seeing them in their native, pure atmosphere, can give a conception of their exceeding brightness. In the woods they found the wild red rose. The prevailing rock was mica-slate. Therm. 59° Fahr. at Koteghur; highest 74° at Sheyl, lowest 60°. From the Punnuoul Pass they descended 2840 feet, sometimes gradually, sometimes abruptly to Rooroo, passing through much cultivation, and remarking several villages in the midst of corn fields. At this place the valley of the Pubbur is about a mile in width. Looking towards the Himmalaya, the mountains sweep down to the river, with their terraced bases girded with yellow crops, in which are numerous hamlets; dark pines patch the slopes; the ravines are filled with bushy woods or covered with exquisite green sward, and through the midst the Pubbur rolls. along with a sound that harmonizes with the scene. Above this rise mountain ranges of a deep purple, and capped with snow.

We

We find the valley of the Pubbur decrease very perceptibly in width as we advance, Our road, which was as usual a mere footpath, followed the river closely the whole way, nor had we ascents or descents that were at all considerable to encounter; but when opposite to Buthoolee, the crags descended abruptly into the current. stopped in surprise; the guide, however, picked his way along their precipitous sides, and we followed with great caution. A little further, the rock overhung the river, which tore its way through the glen with a thundering noise, and bedazzled with spray; here the path was lost. Looking anxiously at the bare block, we perceived little notches, large enough for our toes to rest upon. Pulling off our shoes and jackets, we embraced the smooth mass as widely as we could, stretched out our legs to secure the precarious footing, and thus passed this dangerous spot with the utmost ease. One of the camp-followers, we learned afterwards, was not so fortunate. He fell into the fearful chasm, and was drowned. Peace be with him! for I have travelled sufficiently to feel, that of what creed soever we may be the followers, we are not the less brethren. When safely over, the guide pointed out another path, which led along the cliffs, 800 feet above us. It was by this that most of our party and the baggage came.'-pp. 223, 224.

Although we have marked several other passages for quotation, we must suppress them, and introduce our readers at once to the chief object of curiosity. They will doubtless thank us for a pretty long extract.

13th June. Camp at the Leetee Torrent, 4 m. 4 f.

Early this

morning the weather became clear, and I left my fellow-travellers in the tent, and determined to climb to the summit of the western peak, above the Pass. I experienced much labor in this attempt, as the fragments over which I clambered were but moderately firm. However I persevered, and at length stood on the top. Thy sky was intensely blue, and of a receding vastness. The air was stirless, cold, and oppressively pure. From here I saw the snow-clad ranges of the further Himmalaya, running from N. W. to E., an assemblage, as it were, of all the mountains of the world. To the N. E. the twin peaks of the Purgkeeool, in Chinese Tartary, rose to the skiey elevation of 22,488 feet. It was distant fifty miles. Further to the east, and about ten miles from hence, I recognized Raaldung, one of the pinnacles of the Kaailas, whose height is 21,103 feet, while two others, from the same mass of splintered and bare pinnacles, were 19,990 feet and 18,068 feet. The Kaailas group is above a hamlet called Rispee. Seven thousand feet below me was the glen of the Sutlug, filled with a glowing blue etherial mist, and N. Ñ. E., at the confluence of the Buspa with this river, distant nine miles, was the village of Broang. The descent to it from the Boorendo is by a gloomy ravine, the upper part filled with snow, the lower crowded with woods. But the object that rivetted my thoughts was an immense pyramidical peak almost north, on the stupendous barrier of eternal snow beyond the Sutlug near the Manerung Pass. It stood erect and alone in hoary majesty, like one of the superior powers of the host of white-robed pinnacles around it. The spot I was upon was a heap of decaying rocks, bound together slightly by a withered mossy soil, and a few abortive lichens. The gneiss blocks of which it was composed, were very large. These masses are, as I have already mentioned, constantly breaking away from the firmer crags, and tumbling thundering into the abyss beneath. The snowy peak, to the west of the one I was upon, was separated by a frightful chasm. It is a ghastly dislocation.

The eastern summit, above the Pass, is higher than the western, more precipitous and compact, but crumbling away, nevertheless, by the ceaseless gnawing of the frosts. The Pass itself is about fifty paces wide, strewn with the shattered rocks which have scaled from its sides. The descent from it to the Sutlug, is so steep, that we did not choose to venture upon the snow-bed, which fills a part of the ravine, lest we should have had an unnecessary slide of three or four hundred yards, with the toil of re-ascending. Looking, but it was not pleasing to do so, to the south, I saw the mountains near the Choor Pahar, and had it not been for the haze in that direction, I should have seen the distant plains.

'I sat down on the summit of the peak. I was alone, and how elevated! The prospect on all sides so vast, that it seemed boundless. Here, indeed, desolation, veiled in mystery, and surrounded by invisible but dreadful ministers, reigned supreme, throned on the sepulchre of countless snow-storms. Above me was the deep splendor of the heavens, around me the winning beauty of serenitude, beneath me the

all-gorgeous magnificence of the world! I felt that I was among the lowest under the glowing sapphire footstool of the Beneficent. How

VOL. VIII.

H

The mind infinite for it

infinite the mind! how finite the frame. embraced easily the vision of the earth; the frame finite, for what was I, compared with that which I beheld above, around, and beneath! The pride of human nature broke, and the heavenliness of humility was felt. Alas! why cannot all men smile when they pray; rejoice, when they meet; and for the briefness of this existence, enjoy the gladness of this creation? All that can make us happy has been bestowed on us, without scant or tithe, and the waters of life flow now from the cleared source. Even eternal life has been revealed from His hallowed lips! Away with the craft of worldly consecration ! Let man bow his stately form in humility to his Creator, and, in the stedfastness of confidence, trust to His paternal mercy, and rejoice in vitality!

'After these reflections, I arose, and bidding farewell to that distant realm of mountains, which I should never see again, descended, slowly, to my companions.

Although the Pass is within the limit of perpetual snow on this face of the Himala, we saw several small birds about it, one of which resembled that universal favorite, the robin-redbreast.

I trust it was an excusable vanity, but I was very much pleased that I had been the first European who had ever stood on the summit of the western peak of the Boorendo, as well as at having attained a greater elevation than Mont Blanc, besides having had a glimpse of the scarce known countries of the Norther Himala.'-pp. 245-249.

We cannot, however, allow this passage to go without remark. Having ourselves visited some of the splendid scenery and prodigious elevations of our globe, we can fully sympathize with the enthusiastic expressions which naturally issue forth amidst the overwhelming magnificence of nature; yet we must not sacrifice or seem by silence to sacrifice the interests of truth. The hea venliness of a real humility is, after all, not to be learned on the mountain top, but at the foot of the cross; nor should persons be led by such representations to imagine that a sense of insignificance, and a moral feeling of unworthiness before God which enters into the essence of the Christian grace, are identical in principle and spirit. How many are humbled under a

6

sense of their littleness who never bowed under a conviction of their guilt? A strange confusion of ideas surely must have suggested the question, Why cannot all men smile when they pray?' To us the inquiry is hardly intelligible. Prayer is the expression of ardent desire for forgiveness and salvation, intermingled with profound adoration at the footstool of the Eternal. That a believer in the Son of God may be supposed to smile or cherish the cheerfulness of hope when he prays is doubtless theologically true; but that is not the allusion here. It has in fact little or no meaning, and is probably introduced for the sake of the antithesis; but we remark upon it because mere travellers and men of the world must not be allowed to insinuate

error or utter as religion that which is but a vague and unmeaning generalization. The same objection applies with even increased force to the concluding sentences of the aforesaid paragraph. The infinite Being, it is true, in one sense, dwelleth not in temples made with hands,' like a local divinity, as if he could be restricted by space or limited by time; but from the days when he consecrated by his presence and blessing the Bethel stones and altars of the patriarchs to those of the Mosaic tabernacle and temple; and from Solomon to the period of unfolding the incarnate mystery, when with two or three gathered together in his name the Saviour promised to dwell, the sanctuaries of religious worship have been erected by his authority and pervaded by his glory. We can accompany the traveller, and worship with him in the great temple of nature, and amidst its inexpressible splendors: but we must ask him, instead of disparaging a higher devotion by a false estimate or a self-flattering sentimentalism, to accompany us into the superior and more spiritual temple of truth and religion. Both, indeed, are the workmanship; both the dwelling-place of Deity. These observations have been made, and we may even say extorted from us, for the sake of guarding our young friends especially, against being misdirected by the mere sentimentalism into which travellers are frequently betrayed; and whose valuable communications we wish to see freed from those blemishes which prevent our otherwise almost unqualified approval. If we should be asked, is a book of travels, then, to be like a book of piety? We answer, yes-in this respect, that the principles of religion are to be upheld when referred to, and nothing that is sound in doctrine must be even indirectly impugned. We verily believe that historians like Gibbon, and travellers like Volney (but in the class of the latter we by no means include our author) have done as much or more injury to the truth than many of the most vehement and open patrons of infidelity or persecution. It may be thought that we have read a long lesson on a brief point. Be it so; for we wish it to be lasting, and not to require repetition.

The second volume of this work differs considerably in character from the first; being less occupied in search for the picturesque than in pursuit of science. It is not, however, without its distinct references to the grand and romantic in nature; but is written in a less ambitious style, and more definitely for higher objects than those of adventure. The author is Captain Alexander Gerard; to whose narrative, as the title states, is appended a letter from the late J. G. Gerard, Esq., detailing a visit to the Shatool and Boorendo Passes. We have a valuable series of barometrical measurements of the mountain heights, together with botanical and geological references. Human nature also has its share in the narrative. We must introduce a short passage occurring in a note on