The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-02-09 00:00:00

but the deep pain and fulness abnnt my temples became
more violent, with a tightness across my eyes.; and a
reclining posture seemed to add to it. Towards mid-
night the pain grew insupportable, and occasioned load
sighs and groans. I can compare it to nothing less
than what mould arise from an iron hoop screwed to its
last hold. It was a sensation unlike to any thing I ever
before experienced. There was no atfertiunot the breath-
ing. At day light the acuteness of the pain passed into
a-confused nautbnesa, and all the next day uv head was
like a hurdles of lead. lin vain tried to trace it to the
punch we had drank; I recollected Alr. 3luorcroft's simi-
lar situation, and that I hail felt It myself in A ',MAI degree
at our preceding encampment at at elevation of 12,000
feet. I was aware of the rarefaction of the atmosphere,
and of the poisonons plants said (but I believe errone-
ously) to be the cans, of the tenuity of the sir. Was this
the sole cause, we sl Id expect to find the effect more
regularly present ; the Goorkalies an,l arreaPts suffered
slightly, the (miner were aware of the eirennistance, but
ascribed it to the influence of *plant that flourishes be-
neath the snow.

The temperature at sun-rise ranged from n. to fP,
by 3 r. sr. the thermometer had ',mooted to 49 and 13.,
and by evening it had fallen to 33% The sun did not
appear in us till S t. as, and the temperature had not
then risen above one degree.
Nor expecting our route to lie out of the valley
of the Sutluj, anti in the hopes of expanding the
view south, we re.olved to climb up the slope of the
western peak, which seemed to favour the attempt. Com-
mencing with rock and soil mixed, the latter soon dis-
appeared, and left unsupportel the jutting trays rent to
their centre; blocks of quartz, anti gneiss veined with
quartz, lay loose. Passing these, we came to shelves of
black horizontally disposed strata now leaning on each
other fur support. A dyke of these appeared so threat-
ening, as to destroy my resolution of proceeding; but
the boorkali mounted, and we followed, not, however,
without reflection that we had no business there.

After ascending what appeared the t fonlmitlable
bar to our advance, we held on, now meeting with the
*sow which lay in patches, and yielded at first slightly
to the foot ; for a while we followed as much as possible
the line of it, hoping in this niamorr to reach the har-
dened slope of the summit ; hnt this deepening with the
increasing altitude, we tried the nature of the tract be-
neath. We still kept en, sinking as we rose ; all before
us was jumble of points of rock, the space between
being filled up with snow, which latterly became a
treacherous guide, giving way to our knees, and ap-
palled ns from prozeeding. Yet I think the passage to
the frozen moo iiiii it might be effected with caution, and
the prospect enlarged. A series of bearings taken from
either of the necks would be of vast importance to-
wards fixing the relative positions oof many principal
points. We had risen about four hundred feet, and
seemed level with the western wall of the pass, and had
the rainy season terminated ten days earlier, we might
have sneceeoleil.

On the third der of our halt we resolved to see the
saurce of the Pubbur, and with a barometer of unex-
ceptionable accuracy. and a good thermometer, we de-
scended to the emanating plain, crossed the streams
that flowed from the pass in many rills, prior to their
union with the Pubhur, and asrending steep slopes
wonnsl along a grassy hank studded with rocks, and at
last getting upon the ridge which encompassed the
col-
lected fountains of the ricer, were brought into the view
of a beautiful lake encircled with rock, sheeted with snow
and ice, the effect produced was inexpressibly grand; it
was a surface of ice coated with snow of a foot in depth,
and contained the springs of the river, which emerged
front beneath an arched canopy of solid ice. The cir-
cumference exceeded a mile, and upon its southern and
eastern sides, was bounded by rocks. In the centre of
the lake was a chasm of perhaps twenty feet in depth.
I looked down the gap of solid ice, and 'saw the springs
uf the streams whir(red the Pubhur dripping from the
mass I stood upon. Ipared along the base of the rocks,
which rise with an abrupt face, cad show a strangely
packed mass, not of shattered, but of wrinkled aspect,
and resisting from their peculiar structure the decay of
time and weather. The strata seemed vertical, and their li
wall-sided form is continuous with the chain that limits
the southern side of the Talley of the Pubhur, and which
is here united with the parent range, at the bend of
the lake, running down parallel with the stream pre-
serves an elevation of between fifteen and sixteen thou-'
sand feet to near Junglegh ; the nature of the ruck ap-
pears to bevels*, granite, and quarts, and it ha. a mast
curious rusty aspect.
Above the nviral portion, width is of considerable
height, the rocks slant towards the summit, and upon
the slope lie banks of congealed snow and ice, having a
perpendicular brow of packed appearance, so notch re-
ambling blocks of marble and quarts that I doubted for
some time of their reality. No fragments of rock lay
upon the ice, or within the circle, which argues that
this structure crumbles at its surface, and is not frac-
tured or split into shelves. Upon the expanse of it were
ridges of pebbles and sand mixed, shaped into the figure
of graves. The pebbles were of all varieties, not so
much worn as those found upon a sea-shore, but singu-
larly smooth; by what action is difficult to say, for no
river falls over them. The sand was exactly the same as
sea sand. Upon the ice grew a solitary violet surround-
ed by a tuft of earth, far (ruin either bank ; how it came
there, and by what means it flourished, it would he dif- !
ficult to say. It was the only living thing upon the ice,
and truly might he said to .be among the Bowers that
the Port describes as
" -born to blush unseen,
" And waste Its sweetness on the desert alr."

At the exit of the stream, the barometer showed
15-200. Iherworneter it, temperature of the water 36%
depth about four inches, breadth three feet, the arch
very low, but affording room for the eye to trace the
current to its inaccessible source. The under surface of
the sheet of ice was thawing in the form of a shower of
rain, and afforded, from its extent, the greater mass of
the water. Above this there was about a hundred feet
of vertical side, which barred all access. A second ha-
i son seemed to receive its waters from the frozen banks
of snow, and sent down a stream which entered at the
margin of the lake, ur union of the rock, so ilea the
original springs of the Pubbur and all the great rivers
that flow from the snow may not inaptly be said to be
on the highest peaks of the Himalaya.
The open or western edge of the lake is supported by
a steep face of rock, seven or eight hundred fret, rising
from the valley, which it closes; and almost i tttttt tely
after the escape of the stream from its icy source, it is
tumbled over the precipice. The cleft passsage for its
transit, is the work of the current. 'I he Pubitur falls
over a vertical wall of rock from hence, and meeting
with sharp points and angles in its way, it is precipi-
tated in a showery cascade to the valley, and after quit-
ting the rock of its source for a sandy bed, receives the
stream of the pass, and glides in anion with it along the
dell, in tortuous silver brilliancy.
The rorihern bank of the lake is coated with soil, and
was overspread aid, many Alpine plants, some in Hower,
others running to seed ; they enlivened the gloom of
perpetual winter that hung over ns, yet exhibited how
transient was the season of summer at this altitude.
Time route of our return was sot without considerable
diffieulty ad danger, treittently trotting the paths of
avalanches, and of loose masses of rock. Seine of the
passages were extremely hazardous to get over, and time
delay and caution necessary fur oar security brought to
nearer view the eßect of those ponderosa mesas mgers

THE SI

iof destruction. Notwithstanding we took wbat we con-
eeived to be a road that would land us high upon the
slope of the pass, we were brought to the grassy plain,
land finding a flock of birds of novel appearance, we
loitered amongst them, till sunset, without having a sin-
gle shot.
In ascending to the tent, which we did not reach till
i dark, although the perpendicular height could not have
' exceed..l 1,500 feet, I was quite exhausted. The oppres-
isinn u liich interrupted respiration and affected me with
giddiness, together with a general lassitude and slug-
gishness, obliged we to rest about twenty times. ..1
slight bead-ache and throbbing in the temples was also
occasioned. These, and oilier symptoms far more deci-
sive, strengthen the supposition that the subtilty of the
atmosphere at these altitudes is the direct cause which
arts in different degrees on the human constitution, pro-
portiou illy to the susceptibility of the individual sub-
jected to it.
•••=ll

INTERESTING NARRATIVE
OF TYR WHNUERPIA MAIM Or AN OPIICZII LOST IN THE

WILDS OF CAFFRARIA.

Extract of a Letter front an Officer serving. with
the army in CalTraria, just received in London:—
" I have now been three months under canvas, exposed
to most inclement weather, cut off for a long time from
communication with the Colony, from the rivers being
Iswollen, and deprived of the comforts of life, and al-
most its necessaries. On my first entering this country,
I wrote a long letter, describing the alarming state of
I the settlement, from the dreadful depredations and ex-
cesses committed by the Caffres, in a series of incursions,
acrompaoieil with a general attack by their concentrated
fairer. of 10,000 men, upon the military depot of tira-
ham's Town, on the • • • of the Colony. The small
military force of Europeans opposed to the Ceres, not
exceedng 2M) men, rendered the event at first extremely
dubious. The Caffres made a tremendous charge from
an elevated height with a hideous yell, and had they not
suddenly stopped on approaching us, must, in spite of
every effort on our part, have overwhelmed and destroyed
every viol. Divine Providence, ever watchful, interposes'
at this critical juncture. The Fatties stood motionless,
allowing our troops to mow them down by hundreds,
till, panic-struck with viewing the dreadful effects of
musketry, and field ordnance, they retired in a body,
after three hours and a half conflict, leaving about .(NI
killed on the field, and as many snore wounded. The
charge of the Caffres was firm, regularly conducted, and
with a rapidity of toot almost incredible. Their ins-
=ruse force and warlike appearance was calculated to
create apprehension in the must undaunted mini, and the
idea of neither giving quarter to man, woman, or child,
or taking it themselves, rendered the affair one of the
utmost desperation, revolting in the extreme to a civil-
ised and enlightened mind. Fur myself, I viewed the
misguided savages with an rye of comtniseration• • • 6.
The predictions of their Chiefs that we were to fall into
their power by a miracle, led them to the act which
they have since been feeling the ill effects of having
engaged in. Works were thrown up for the pro-
tection of Graham's Town, and the different posts.
prior to entering Caffravia with a hostile force of
two thousand men, and which took place in the month
of .duly last; since that period we have continued Ira-
! vetoing the country in all directions, driving the savages
before us, but never bringing them to an engagement.
The Calfres have every where deserted their homes,
leaving their women and children to their fate, and whs.,
in many instances, have lost their lives from our not
being able to distinguish them from men, the costume of
dress being so much the same. 31y employment who
such as obliged me to be detached with a few followers I
continually, and often alone, and in one instance, early
In the :th of August, 1 rode out by myself to dies- i
cover the course of a river. In my anxiety for the ob-
ject in pursuit, I lost sight of the closing of the day.
My compass failed in Firing me information of my di-
rection : I sought in vain for the track I hail taken, be-
came benighted, lost my way, and found myself destitute
in as enemy's country, without a chance of discovering
a road to any spot, and surrounded by elephants, lions,
tigers, wolves, and savages. Picture to yourself my
situation ; hot attend, and it will become still more de-
plorable. Finding myself benighted, I got off my horse,
took the bridle and saddle, laid it by my side, and con-
cealed tarwlf ender a thick hush, securing my horse to
a tree at band. As night spread her sable mantle
around, the roaring of lions, and cry of elephants
alarmed im.. I haul but a brace of pistols to defend
myself with. After remaining in the bush for two
boors, a herd of a dosen elephants approached,
frightened my horse, who broke loose, ran away, and
same immediately to the spot where I was for safety. I
climbed the highest tree around me, but could not ascend i
beyond the reach of these monstrous beasts, who ar-
ranged themselves around me in procession. By the
union, which had just risen, I discovered their move-
ments to Is; playful, which gave sue confillen..e, and after
looking at me with the insignificance I deserved, they
retired in tlisgnst, to my great joy. In vain, however,
did I look for my horse; be I gone never to return.
The apprehension of a second visit from wild beasts
obliged Me to keep my station in the tree for snore time,
till fancying I heard the sound of bugles from the camp,
I descended, took my pistols and saddle with me, and
proceeded in the direction I ple' d the sound came from.
Hope. ever flattering, led me fir t i i one direction then
in another, during the whole night, till despair at last
took possession of ruy breast ; I fired both my pistols at
two o'clock in the morning for signals, but without ef-
fect. Exhausted with fatigue I threw down my saddle,
and again took shelter under a thicket. In this ililemieia.
I fervently invoked the Almighty for protection, for I',
felt that without his aid I must inevitably perish. At
day-break a gleam of hope dawned on me, and eagerly
did I seek to discover in the features of the country
some point to which I might direct my steps. Fruitless
as my endeavours were the preceding night, so were
they on the succeeding morning. I rose from env
concealment in the utmost anguish of min I: ere I had
paced a doxen yards a tremendous large lion present-
ed himself to my view, conchant, under a hush ; I
passed within a yard of his tail, so immediately did I
row upon him; bat he stirred not, and, if he saw tee,
lie was rezarilless of Isis prey. Never rose the sun more
majestically grand than on this eventful day. 0 Gal!
it was then I artcnowledged thy power snprenie ! Placing
myself under the Almighty protection, 1 beat my steps,
as it were by instinct, in a direction which brought me
to a river. Here I paused on the banks to reflect on nsv
condition. The alternative presented was, either to foi.
low its course, which might bring me to a known point,
whence I might enter the colony, or else to remain
where I was, with expectation of 'being picked up by a
party sent from the camp in search of me. The former
offered so many obstacles that I gave up the idea as to-
tally impracticable in such a countrw, and without food:
the latter I embraced, though, had I possessed my pistol-
loaded at the time, my state of mini' was such that its
distraetion might have driven me to the rhshest and
basest of a,ts. Four hours elapsed iii this state. I saw
Cat yes i n
front their view- I became faint for want of food, which
had not entered my lips for thirty-six hours, and was at
lacerated by thorns, bcc. that I began to think of a fu-
ture state as near at hand. Towards mid-day, howe'rer.
,I was roused b 1 the soared of bugles; I lispned, and
foamd it was not imaginary, as before, hat at a great-

Ih-