Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-08-12
UP THE HIMALAYA.
eHAsrs OF THE Wild AND VARIED
PAsTikR
ousriss over the Mountains Where Bird
aud Besst Never Were--host
Curious OF Townh

Eastern Himalaya: Sunrise over the
Himalaya. a spectacle which no words
can describe. Tho valleys still lie hid
In floating shadow, and between the
huge wooded ridges that form the lower
steps OF the great mountain stair and
The mighty outline OF the "Snow
Range far beyond them hoyers band
OF soft gray mist, Us il TO separate the
riant mountains from the lower earth
with which they appear 20 bsye nothing
in common. Far above the cncircliug
clouds, those glorious peaks, 10
which the highest SUBMITS OF the Andes
are as nothing, tower up against the
clear bright sky. secluded isom The little
world OF men with all it's petty cares,
and midway toward that Heaven towhich
they seem TO belong. Tho mightiest Of
nil these great kings Of naturc-whcse
native name Of Gods Throne was far
better suited 80 him than the unmeaning
fitle Of - Mount Everest" with which
some civilized barbarian has replaced
it's still unseen behind the cur
tains Of his cloud palace; but the
army OF giants aTount him stand forth
in all their dazzling glory To' the lett
glitter in midair the thrae great peaks,
In single nook OF whose mighty shadow
lie the spacious provinces of Sikkim and
Bhootan. 10 the riehttho shining tower
of Cbimilari sees far below II the grim
snow clad gorge itself higher than nat.
BIanc), winch forms the gateway OF tho
unknown solitudcs OF gloomy and mys-
terious Thibei. And III the centre OF all,
night in front Of the hilltop where we
stand. tho great, the white cathedral OF
Kanchinjings. rising more than hye
miles Ia perpendicular height against
fhe marvellous transparent clenrness Of
The Asiatic sky. looks down upon the
passing travellers and soldiers OF the
nineteenth century, ms 1t looked dO|n
ayes ago upon the first races OF man
hind spreading themselves over a newly
created world-the same yesterday, to-
day. and forever.
Strange indeed it is TO think, rs we
staud aud watch the marble whiteness OF
fho giant mountains kindle into living
fire beneath the Frightening sunshine,
that no human foot has ever trodden
these SUBMITS Of Y HIGH we can see every
Iidge and hollow as plainly asin photo
praph. and that no soul that lives or has
ever lived can tell what lies beyond this
great yell Of spotless white which over
casts whole kingdoms with Is shadow.
Amid the lonely splendor of those
untrodden SHOWS not an insect
creeps, not bird hutieTs, not thing
that has life moves or hrcathcs. IT might
well seem as # God had set apart Tor
Himself this one spot on the face of the
earth which he created and had placed 1t
beyond the reach of mans restless annbl-
tion for ever and ever. Standing face 10
face with such o pauoraha, the most I'M
imaginative man might be pardoned Tor
feeling some tiuge Of that wondering
awe with which toe FIST Europeans who
beheld tho Himalaya whisp rel 10 each
other that this must be i'm very decd that
great white throne whcreon the Lord of
all men should slt al the last day to Judge
both the quick and TIE dead
Tie town Of Darieehug itself. despite
ell that It's unsiehty roofs Of corrugated
jrou can DO 90 spOIllt. undcnlaOly shares
fbe picturcsQueuess OF It's surroundings,
although 1T Is perhaps hardly worthy OF
the implied compliment paid to 1t by
n,oly-made bridegroom, who, passing
through it or hs honeymoon trip, mad
vert,utlv addressed ms bride rs My
own DaTiecnue.' instead Of "darling.
All ALONG the hcher slopes of mighty
Jldge, upon which al the houses IN New
York aud Brooklyn nigh stand with
ont croWding each other, ITS trim
lttjo Whito villas lie scattered like
suowiiakes. contrasting very stuklngly
with the dark green OF the rbOdodon-
den thickets ana ciumps OF fern or mag
Io.ia, which, ia their turn, make very
effective foil TO the sulicn gray Of the
mighty rocks above or the broad scars OF
yellow clay or sand laid bare by tho
earth-shdes below. In fact, the best way
f. form On idea OF this extraordinary
place is to imagine q stormy ocean with
waves several Thousand feet high, hurl-
jng a spray Of houses hithcr ami thithcr,
flinging NJ one on the crest Of monster
billoV while sucking down another INTO
the depth,.
But this peculiar coDfguration, while
adding vastly to the artistic beauty OF
The town, certainly detracts immeasu-
rably from its convenience. Dareeling,
ike life. is all ups and downs. On the
marrow zCzag lodges, which are called
by courtesy "streets," thire is barely
room for the passers-by and the houses,
which ought TO stand along either
eide. are pasted like pOstage-stamps
on the face Of the preclpice above or
hung like bird-csges upon tue project
ing points of the precipice below. You
step off one mans dooratep down an
other mans chimney aud roll down into
the next province by making one false
step on the hillside. Between No. l and
No. of any street may yawn gully
600 feet deep and a quarter of mile
broad. peach-stOne flung away care
lessy on one of the hill paths may com
nit a murder before it reaches the
valley, and any man whose roof IS not
particularly strong may lind a friend |
+" dropping in upon him III the most
literal sense from the ridge overhead.
The people themselves are ss extraor-
binary as the place which they inhabit. !
Up here. 1000 feet above the sea. close
10 the border of Nepaul on one side and !
Ehootan OH the other, upon the great /
highway that leads up iutO the land of |
Inystery, Thibet, there Is never any lack |
OF strange end striking objects. Every !
successive shelf of the Himalaya, in fact, |
is perfect museum OF chronological curl /
osities. and even this the lowest shelf !
OF al, is gate ~ we'll filled as any of |
them. ,For the Himalaya, like the eau
casus, is kind OF Noah's Ark, in which |
n few specimens OF every race from the
plains below have sought refuge from
successive floods of conquest. The |
small, sharp features and slender limbs |
OF the Hindu. the squeezed-up yisage /
aud hinge batiike ears of the Yarkandi /
from beyond the great mountains, the /
dwarfish figure, wide mouth, and fierce |
black eyes Of the Goorka mountaineer |
from Nepaul, the heavy frame, narrow,
Dubuque eve. coarse, struggling hair, and |
queer, rcddish-yelIow complexion Of the /
.Bhootanese. the flat, noseless face of the /
Mongo docking just like mask that
has been sat upon are all there.
But there is plenty Of employment for