INDIA
and are expected in essential matters to follow the advice of a resident British
official. . The chief States are Kashmir, Haidarakad, Mysore, Baluchistan, Rajpu-
tana, and Central India, of which the two last comprise many minor States,
(3) The independent States of Nepal and Bhutan.
THE NORTHERN RANGES.
“Ridge behind ridge, higher and higher, tier above tier, with ribs of rock and
crests of snow and deep-Iying valleys of ice-bound splendour.' —Sır MARTIN
Conwar.
‘ Thickets of bamboo, with graceful light-green foliage, beautify the lower valleys.
Higher up the grey ilex, mountain oaks, cedars, drooping silver firs, pines, ches ‘nust,
walnuts, and maples, not to mention a hundred trees of lower growth hung with
bridal veils of clematis in spring, and festooned with erimson Virginia creepers in
autumn, form, with patches of white medlar blossom, a brilliant contrast to masses
of scarlet and pink rhododendron.’—Sır W. HUNTER. . N
The plateaux which flank India on the north and north-west end in 2
series of lofty ranges descending with steep slopes to the plains of the
Indus and Ganges. On the east these turn southwards and traverse the
Indo-China peninsula.
The chief ranges which appear to radiate from the Pamirs in
the north are: (1) The Hindu Kush, which is separated from the
Koh-i-Baba Range in Afghanistan by the Bamian_ Pass, leading from
the Kabul Valley to that of the Upper Amu. South of the Kabul Valley
is the noted Khaibar Pass defile over thirty miles long, through
which a road has been constructed ; but the railway has not advanced
much beyond the military station of Peshawar, which guards this
route. (2) The Sulaiman Range, which lies between the Khaibar Pass
and a westward bend in the plateau of Baluchistan, forming a natural
route followed by the railway from the Indus Valley to Quetta. (3) The
Hala Mountains, which extend as an unbrokenr wall nearly to the coast.
(4) The Karakorum Range forms the northern boundary of the Upper
Indus Valley, and can only be crossed by very difficult, high passes—the
chief being the Karakorum Pass, on the route northwards from Leh to
the Tarim basin. "This pass is over 18,000 feet high—4.e., about three and
a half miles. (5) The Himalayas are a series of parallel ranges,
extending for a distance of about 1,500 miles between the southward
bends of the Indus and Brahmaputra Rivers, Their average height is
over three miles, while some of the peaks are over five. Mount Everest