The Probert Encyclopaedia of Places of the World

HIMALAYAS

The Himalayas (meaning abode of snow), are a chain of snowy mountains in Asia, the most elevated on the earth, which separate the Indian Peninsula from the plateau of Tibet, between the 72nd and 96th degrees of east longitude, or between the Indus on the west and the Brahmaputra on the east. They stretch for a length of about 1500 miles, with an average breadth of about 180 miles.

The direction of the Himalaya range from the Indus is for great part of its length from north-west to south-east, after which it curves gradually to the east, or slightly to the north-east. The great plain of India, south of the Himalaya, has a general elevation of 1000 feet above the sea. The transition from this plain to the ascent of the range is marked in the north-west by a belt of dry porous ground broken up into numerous ravines. East of this the Tarai, a belt of sloping marsh land, occupies the same position. The Tarai is covered with forest and jungle, is crowded with wild animals, and is very malarious. Beyond this lies the Bhabar, a belt of a gravelly and sandy nature covered with forests of valuable timber-trees.

The duns, maris, or dwars, longitudinal valleys partly cultivated and partly yielding forest growth, occupy the space between the Bhabar and the slope of the Himalayas themselves. The general height of the Himalayas is double that of the Alps; the passes over the former ordinarily exceed, often by half a mile, the elevation of Mont Blanc. The Ibi-Gamin Pass in Garhwal, the highest of all, is 20,457 feet, the Mustagh 19,019 feet, the Parangia 18,500 feet, the Kronbrung 18,313 feet, and the Dura Ghat 17,750 feet high.

There are several summits in the Himalayas which approach closely to double the absolute elevation of the highest of the Alps, and 120 of them are above 20,000 feet, the earth's highest mountain Everest, is to be found in the range.

The rivers of the Punjab spring from a portion of the great chain which may be considered a distinct group under the title of the North-western Himalayas.
Research Himalayas