ed below by the side of the brawling stream, which was
crossed here and there by primitive bridges, consisting of a log or two
thrown from one heap of stones to another, with a few turfs laid upon
them.

I observed in the Nepaul valleys--what must be the case in every country
in which the hills are composed of a soft material--deltas formed by the
soil which is washed down by the mountain torrents. The mass of debris
in the valley often extends quite across it, and forces the stream
through a gorge, frequently of considerable grandeur in those places
where the power of the torrent during the rains is very great.

This circumstance adds greatly to the beauty of the scenery in the Tyrol,
where the limestone formation of the hills thus worked upon spreads a
soil in swelling knolls over the valley, on which the most luxuriant
vineyards are picturesquely terraced. The effect, however, is very
different in Nepaul, where the hills are composed chiefly of gravel and
conglomerate; the deltas, consequently, produce crops of stones more
frequently than of anything else. Notwithstanding the want of
cultivation in the valley on which we were now looking down, it was full
of a sublime beauty, the mountains at either end towering to a height of
three or four thousand feet, while the path we were to follow was to be
seen on the opposite side, winding over a formidable range, and always
appearing to mount the steepest hills and to go down unnecessarily into
innumerable valleys. It was with no little regret then that we made the
almost interminable descent, apparently for the mere purpose of starting
fair from the bottom of the valley, before we commenced the arduous climb
in store for us over a range still higher than the one we had just
traversed.

We crossed the stream at the bottom by a single-arched bridge of curious
mechanism and peculiar to the Himalayas, the chief advantage being the
large span, which admits of an immense body of water rushing through; a
necessary precaution in the case of a mountain torrent. We then toiled
up the hillside by a fearfully narrow path. At times my companion seemed
absolutely hanging over the precipice; and our path was not in some
places above twelve inches broad; had we slipped we must inevitably have
become food for the fishes in the Pomonia, which was gliding rapidly
along some hundreds of feet below, and which we were informed was a good
trouting stream.

At last we reached the summit