The outermost range of hills, which does not rise to any great elevation, consists entirely of loose conglomerate coarsely stratified, the beds dipping very gently towards the plains. The boulders of which it is composed are waterworn, and very various in composition, but all referable to the interior ranges; a few thin beds of sand and of a clay resembling pipe-clay, are interposed between the strata of conglomerate.
The very curious country through which I had been travelling since the 16th, had so much the appearance of a succession of valleys parallel to the plains, and separated by long ranges of hills, that it was difficult to avoid taking up that impression, which, notwithstanding, I believe to be an erroneous one. The gentle slope of the different tributaries which join the Tawi from the right and left, tends to keep out of sight the longitudinal ranges parallel to that river, from which the lateral ramifications proceed. When we obtain a detailed survey of the district, it will be found that the lateral valleys on each side of the Tawi do not correspond in direction, and are not quite opposite to one another, and that the apparent uniformity is caused by the great width of their valleys, when compared with the elevation of the bounding ranges. The Sewalik sandstone here attains a width of at least thirty miles, which is very much more than is found further west.
Leave Jamu to return to Tibet -- Lake of Sirohi Sar -- Vegetation of lower hills -- _Dodonæa_ -- Ramnagar -- Garta -- Dadu, on a tributary of the Chenab -- Camp at 10,000 feet -- Badarwar -- Padri pass -- Descend a tributary of the Ravi -- and ascend another towards the north -- Sach _Joth_, or pass -- Snow-beds -- Camp in Chenab valley.
On my arrival in Kashmir, I had forwarded an application to the Indian Government, requesting permission to return to Tibet, for the purpose of visiting the mountains north of Nubra, which, from the advanced state of the season, I had been unable to do the previous year. Soon after reaching Jamu, I received intimation that the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, had been pleased to accede to my request. I had already determined, if permitted to return to Le, to take the route by Zanskar, which, though much frequented by the natives of the country, was quite unknown to European travellers; but as the season was far advanced, I chose a road through the higher hills, instead of taking that leading directly to Chamba, which would have obliged me to travel for at least a week through the hot valleys of the outer ranges.