1 MOUHTAINS OF AVOIlAUNISTAUN.
2 95
3 ont by the lulli'tliioiigli trliich ire tnrdkd*. In appt«Mice»' hami
4 ever, -they were very near. The ridges and hollows of their sides
5 were dewly diMemable ; and, this distinctness, jmned to the softneat
6 tad transparency which their distance gave them, piodnoed a siiiga>
7 -lar, and very pleasing effect.
8 The snowy raiif^e is bv no means of equni elcvnfion, bf iri^ in some
9 places, surmounted by peaks of jxreat height and magnitude, which do
10 not taper to a poiiu, but rise at once &om their bases^ with amaaing
11 boWnrss and andeiir.
12 . Tlie stupendous height of these mountains ; the magnificence and
13 variety of their lottv summits ; tlie various nations bv whom thov are
14 seen, and wdo seem to be brought together by this common object ;
15 and the awtiil and iindistiubed solitude, which reigns amidst their
16 eternal snows; fill the mind with admiraiion and astonishment, that
17 no language can express. The height of one of these peaks was
18 taken by Lieutenant Macartney, and appeared to be 20,493 feet. If
19 this measurement be correct, the peaks of Hindoo Coosh are higher
20 than those of the Andes, f The meajsuienifliit made by lieotenint
21 Webbf in the eteventfa Volume of the Asiatic Reieaiehes, givte a.atill
22 perter.'hei^it to thete.af Hemalleh. The' height of Hindoo Coo^
23 is mdoubtedly very great; .imee we oonULpereeivci no dinunution in
24 * • • * «
25 ' - *. I liftfe aen ibe ridge of Imtos (or Sfenalldt)^ at « dbtMneeof 150 mSicB t
26 Uare, they were to be seen at 950.
27 f (The followin<fiN Lieutenant Macartney's account of the opcrntion, which he givef
28 wUh consulerable dit»iru8t). " I txMik the distance of tome of the most remarkable peaks, in
29 **die ridge, by cron bearings, with die dieodolitei and fimtid, at tfaedistanoeof onehniidTed
30 "jsiloii the apparent altitude of some was i"" 30', which gives a perpenAndar hnifiltt't£
31 ** 20,493 feet But, of course, this could not l>e jiositively depciuiwl on for so smnll an angle^
32 <• and so great a distance. The most triiiiug eiTor, which might not appear in the corrco-
33 "tion of tiieliutnuiMn^ iiwld here make a great dil^^ It wai, bowncr, lo correct,
34 *' that I have taken the sun's altitude, and the latitude came out within two of the latitude
35 *' taken mth the sextant ; and, thr distunoe may be dopapded on» for I hada baiwlinei mfn*
36 " surcd of forty-hve miles, which gave a good angk/' ^ • ,
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