Part 6 (2/2)
On the 22nd of August, our party left Sungnam to ascend towards the Hangarang pa.s.s, encamping, as on the two previous occasions, on the upper part of the ascent, so as to get to the summit of the pa.s.s at an early hour next day. Our road lay up a narrow ravine, through which a small stream descended from the vicinity of the Hangarang pa.s.s, to join the Ruskalan immediately below Sungnam. We followed for a long time the course of this rivulet, so that the ascent was by no means fatiguing. A very few stunted deodars, and a single tree of _Pinus Gerardiana_, were the only trees met with. A little shrubby vegetation was now and then seen, consisting of an ash, rose, _Colutea_, _Lonicera_, and _Spiraea_. The banks of the ravine were everywhere composed of a conglomerate of angular stones, in general imbedded in soft clay, though the matrix was not unfrequently calcareous, and in several places even composed of crystalline carbonate of lime.
[Sidenote: BEDS OF CONGLOMERATE.
_August, 1847._]
The hard calcareous conglomerates are, I think, of different origin from the clayey ones. Indeed, I was induced to believe from what I saw in the neighbourhood of Sungnam, and occasionally in other districts (as I shall have again occasion to notice), that the calcareous conglomerates, which only occur in the neighbourhood of the limestone formation, and therefore where calcareous springs are common, are formed by the infiltration of water containing lime among beds of loose s.h.i.+ngle which have acc.u.mulated along the base of the steep hills. These calcareous conglomerates are quite local, never very extensive, and are often covered with an incrustation of lime, showing the continued existence of the calcareous springs, by the action of which I suppose them to have been formed.
[Sidenote: ALLUVIAL CONGLOMERATE.
_August, 1847._]
The clay beds, on the other hand, are continuous and uniform in appearance. They vary much in thickness, but are on the whole much thicker and more remarkable in the upper part of the ravine, where (on the east side) a ma.s.s of clay, not less than five or six hundred feet in thickness, has acc.u.mulated, forming steep sloping or quite perpendicular banks, which at the top are worn away into pinnacles, and excavated into deep grooves and hollows, I presume by the action of melting snow. The fragments of rock which it contained were all angular, or at most a very little worn at the edges.
Five or six miles from Sungnam, the road left the course of the ravine, and began rapidly to ascend the steep spur which bounded it on the left. At first we followed a fissure in the clay conglomerate, which still had a thickness of nearly two hundred feet. Above, the ridge was rocky and very steep. When we had attained a sufficient height to overlook the valley by which we had ascended from Sungnam, I was able to estimate better than while in the ravine, the extent of the clay deposit. It was now seen to occupy both sides of the valley, and to be pretty equally diffused throughout, but certainly thicker on the left or eastern side,--in the upper part at least, for low down, just behind Sungnam, it capped a round sloping hill of considerable elevation to the right of the little streamlet and of the road. The valley did not narrow at the lower extremity, where it debouched into that of the Ruskalan, so much as to give any reason for supposing that it could have been closed by a barrier, so as to form a lake. Indeed, the absolute elevation of the conglomerate was so great at the upper end of the valley, that it would be necessary to suppose a barrier several thousand feet above the bed of the Ruskalan to produce such an effect. The greater thickness of the conglomerate in the upper part of the ravine, and the almost complete angularity of the fragments, were equally opposed to such a view. Nor was I able to form any probable conjecture as to the mode in which these acc.u.mulations had been formed.
[Sidenote: ROCKS OF HANGARANG.
_August, 1847._]
In the earlier part of the day's journey, the rock, where exposed, was invariably clay-slate, not different in appearance from that which, commencing at Lipa, had been observed on every part of the Runang ridge. It dipped generally at a high angle, but was often much contorted. In the upper part of the ravine, thick beds of a hard cherty quartz rock alternated with the slate; and in the course of the last steep ascent, at an elevation of about 13,500 feet, the first limestone was observed. It was of a dark blue colour, very hard, coa.r.s.ely stratified, and much veined with white calcareous spar. It seemed to dip at a high angle towards the north-east.
The ridge by which we ascended was quite bare of trees and exceedingly barren, producing very little vegetation of any sort, and no novelty, till we had almost attained an elevation of 14,000 feet. We then observed bushes of a species of _Caragana_ (_C. versicolor_), the _Dama_ of the Tibetans, a very curious stunted shrub, which is very extensively distributed at elevations which no other woody plants attain, and which, therefore, is much prized and extensively used as fuel. I had not met with it before, nor does it appear to extend at all into the wooded region of the Himalaya. We encamped on a flat piece of ground at 14,000 feet. Notwithstanding the elevation, the heat of the sun was very great during the day, but the evening and night were extremely cold.
[Sidenote: HANGARANG Pa.s.s.
_August, 1847._]
Early next morning a short steep ascent of about 800 feet brought us to the top of the pa.s.s, which has an elevation of 14,800 feet above the sea. The _Dama_, in green patches from two to four feet in diameter, was abundant till near the summit. The pa.s.s occupies a hollow in the ridge, which rises considerably on both sides. To the north-west, on the northern exposure, there was at a short distance one small patch of snow, from which the pa.s.s and surrounding mountains were otherwise quite free. No remarkable difficulty of breathing was experienced by any of the party, except immediately after any exertion. The ascent was latterly so steep, that it was necessary to stop frequently to take breath, and the pulse was found to be very considerably accelerated when counted immediately after walking. There was, however, a great difference according to the individual; in one case it rose as high as 136; but a few minutes' rest restored it nearly to the usual standard.
At the crest of the pa.s.s, the rock was a hard bluish-grey limestone, traversed in every direction by numerous crystalline veins. I ascended the hill to the south-east, to an elevation of nearly 16,000 feet, which was within a few hundred feet of the summit. At that height it was composed of a ma.s.s of loose fragments of black slate, perfectly moveable, and so steep, that it was difficult to progress in an upward direction. Vegetation had almost disappeared; more, however, from the moveable s.h.i.+ngly soil than from the elevation attained, for wherever a solid rock peeped out, straggling plants still lingered; the rhubarb, _Biebersteinia_, a minute saxifrage, and a yellow lichen, were the species which attained the greatest alt.i.tude.
The view from the summit of the pa.s.s, and the steep hill above it, was extensive, but very desolate. In the direction of our previous journey, the rounded outline of the Runang range bounded the view, but in front a much wider and more diversified extent of country was embraced. To the eastward, the lofty mountain of Porgyul was seen almost to its base; its upper part a magnificent ma.s.s of snow, the summit being upwards of 22,000 feet in height. To the north of Porgyul, where the valley of the Piti river allowed the distant mountains to be seen, a succession of ranges rose one beyond another, the furthest evidently at a great distance, and covered with heavy snow[7].
The vegetation at the summit of the ridge was even more scanty than on the Runang pa.s.s. There was, however, more novelty in species than I had met with there. A gra.s.s, several saxifrages, _Potentillae_ and _Seda_, a little _Thermopsis_, an _Anemone_, and a beautiful _Delphinium_ (_D. Brunonianum_, Royle), were the new species observed; and these, I believe, (as was indeed to be expected from the minuteness with which the country had been investigated by Dr.
Royle's collectors,) were all previously described species.
[Sidenote: HANGO.
_August, 1847._]
From the pa.s.s the descent was pretty steep all the way to Hango, a small village, elevated 11,500 feet. The road lay on the side of a ravine, keeping the hills on the left hand, and the channel of the stream on the right. The _Dama_, which had disappeared at the summit, was again plentiful on the northern slope; and a shrubby species of _Potentilla_, quite new to me, was exceedingly common. Otherwise, little change was visible. The road was good, but the hills were dry and stony.
The village of Hango, notwithstanding its great elevation, has a considerable extent of cultivation, though I think the corn was less luxuriant than at lower levels. The wheat was still green, and rather scanty, a good deal of a wild oat (perhaps _Avena fatua_) being mixed with it; but the barley was stronger and more productive. There was also a number of fields of _Hordeum aegiceras_, that curious awnless monstrous barley, which seems peculiar to the higher regions of Tibet, where it is very frequently cultivated. This grain was much further advanced than the wheat, being nearly ripe. The arable lands of Hango are nearly dest.i.tute of trees, a few willows being the only arboreous vegetation. They are abundantly supplied with water, circulating in copious rills among the different fields, which are disposed in terraces one above another, faced by walls about three feet in height.
On the margins of the cultivation, stimulated by the moisture derived from the irrigation, there was a very abundant growth of shrubs, and of luxuriant herbaceous plants. The gooseberry, _Hippophae_, and rose, were the shrubs, and several large _Umbelliferae_, one of which was closely allied to the _a.s.safoetida_, a tall _Thalictrum_, a yellow-flowered _Medicago_, _Verbasc.u.m Thapsus_, two species of thistle, the common henbane, dock, mint, _Plantago_, and various species of _Artemisia_, were the most common herbaceous plants.
[Sidenote: HANGO VALLEY.
_August, 1847._]
On the 24th of August we proceeded to Lio, a village on the right or west bank of the Piti river. The road crosses the small stream which runs past Hango, a little below the village, and gradually ascends the slope of the hill on its left bank. Close to the stream there is a bank of clayey alluvium, with stones, and traces of it may be seen at intervals for some distance down the valley, but it is nowhere of any great thickness. The hill along which the road lay was composed of a cherty sandstone of a light-blue colour, often nearly white; in fragments, and especially when pulverized, it was quite so; and being extremely brittle, the slopes were covered with fine white dust, the glare of which, in the bright suns.h.i.+ne, was very unpleasant. On this gravelly ascent the vegetation was equally scanty, and much the same in character as at moderate elevations on the two previous days; a large thistle, species of _Artemisia_, _Chenopodiaceae_, and a spinous _Astragalus_, being the most abundant plants.
The road continued to ascend gently for about half a mile, rapidly increasing its height above the stream, which had a considerable slope. The next two miles were tolerably level, over a good but stony road, at an elevation a little under 12,000 feet. A species of _Crambe_, with a long fusiform root, smelling somewhat like a turnip, was common along this part of the road. The young leaves of this plant are used by the Tibetans as a pot-herb, and are said to be well-flavoured. A species of currant (_R. glandulosum_), with viscid, glandular, very aromatic-smelling leaves, was also met with; its fruit, now ripe, had a sweetish taste, but no flavour. It is a common Tibetan species, extending on the Indus as low down as 6500 feet.
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