Chapter 17 Chapter 1 Our "Summer Rehabilitation Station"
"Nature's incomparable masterpiece!" The mineralogist Harui used this phrase to summarize the Andes in South America. Isn't it more appropriate to describe the Himalayas whose height cannot be accurately measured by humans?
That's how I felt when I first saw the place where Mount Hiroshi was, where Colonel Moreau, Captain Ord, Bonkers and I were going to be staying for a few weeks.
"These mountains are not only unfathomably high, but also difficult to access, because the altitude is too high, the air at the top is thin, it is difficult to meet the needs of breathing, and the human body cannot function." The engineer told us.
This is an ancient natural moat composed of granite, gneiss, and mica schist. It spans 2,500 kilometers and spans from 72 degrees east longitude to 95 degrees east longitude. It covers the two British provinces of Agra and Calcutta, as well as the two provinces of Bhutan and Nepal. A Kingdom - This is a mountain range with an average height exceeding 1/3 of Mont Blanc. It is divided into three sections with different characteristics from bottom to top: one is about 5,000 feet above sea level, and the climate is mild in the lower plains. It is rich in wheat and rich in rice in summer; the second is about 5,000 to 9,000 feet high, and the ice and snow can melt in spring; There is nothing to do with the ice here—a colossal swell of the earth pierced by eleven mountain passes, some of them as high as 20,000 feet, often blocked by avalanches and flash floods. Blocked or invaded by glaciers, it must pay a very difficult price to pass through Tibet from the Indian side. ——This is the continuous peaks of the "Table Mountain" that sometimes arches into a huge dome and sometimes flattens like the Cape of Good Hope. Among the seven or eight peaks, several of them are active volcanoes, forming the Kogola, Jim That, the source of hot springs such as Gangre, the two peaks of Dujiya and Jinshan Junga are above 7,000 meters, and the peaks of Diodunga, Dawagalili and Zhamlali are respectively 8,000 meters , 8,500 meters, 8,700 meters, and Everest Peak is as high as 9,000 meters. If people climb to this top, they will see the entire area of France. —Finally, a mass of mountains as majestic as the height of the ground by the superposition of the two Alps, or of the Pyrenees and the Andes.In short, it is this terrain uplift that the most fearless mountaineers may never be able to conquer, it is called "Himalaya" by people!
The bottom steps of this magnificent temple are covered with dense forest.Members of the vast family of palms can be seen, and higher up they give way to expanses of oak, cypress, and pines, or to lush bamboo and other herbaceous vegetation.
In addition to these details, Bonkers also told us: Although the lowest limit of ice and snow on the Indian side of the mountain is about 4,000 meters, the snow line on the northern slope of Tibet is as high as 6,000 meters.This is because the water vapor carried by the south wind is blocked by the huge barrier of the Himalayas.Thus the opposite slopes are populated with villages up to an altitude of 15,000 feet, full of barley fields and good pastures.And those pastures, according to the locals, can be covered with grass overnight.
In the middle part of the mountain, the representative birds are peacock, partridge, pheasant, great bustard, quail and so on.In addition, goats and sheep are abundant.There are only wild boars, antelopes, wild cats and other animals in the high part. Because the plants on the ground are scarce, they are limited to a few insignificant species in the polar flora. The eagle is the only bird that soars in the air here.
But it wasn't these things that Captain Ord intended to kill.If it is only to continue hunting common animals, why does this person have to come to the Himalayas?Most fortunately for him, there will be no shortage of big carnivores here, worthy of his own Anfield gun.
Sure enough, there is a lowland stretching out at the foot of the mountain, and the local Indians call it the "Taliani Belt".This is a sloping narrow plain with a width of seven to eight kilometers. The climate is humid and hot, the vegetation is dark in color, and the dense forests all over the place provide a good habitat for wild beasts. It can be used as a "Garden of Eden" for those hunters who like intense stimulation. up.Our camp is 1,500 meters above it, so it is very convenient to descend to this "promised land" dedicated to hunting that no one cares about.
Because of this, Captain Ord is likely to be more willing to investigate the steps at the bottom of the Himalayas than the high areas of the Himalayas.However, it is precisely at the height of the mountain that many important geographical phenomena have yet to be discovered, even the most optimistic traveler Victor Jackmond thinks so.
"So the knowledge of this huge mountain range is still very incomplete?" I asked Bonkers.
"Very incomplete," replied the engineer. "The Himalayas are like an asteroid attached to the earth, and its secrets are far from being revealed."
"But man has traveled all over it and studied it to the best of his ability!" I said again.
"Yes! The Himalayas have never been short of explorers!" Bonkers replied. "Brothers Gérard de Webbe; Colpatrick, Fraser, Ogderson, Herbert, Lloyd, Hooker, Gunencombe, Stubbing, Swanel , Johnson, Mollcroft, Thomson Griffith, Vinier, Ugerai and other officers; the two missionaries Yuck and Gabet, and the recent brothers Shrakantwitt, Colonel Wanger , Ruyer, and Lieutenant Montgomery have done a lot of exploration work, and have revealed to the world the internal mountain annals layout of this geological uplift to a large extent. However, my friends, there are still many gaps to be filled. For example, The exact heights of those main peaks have been changed numerous times. Previously, Devaragiri was considered the highest peak in the range; The laurels now seem to have been taken away again by Mount Everest, which hitherto stands at the top of the group. But, according to the Chinese, Kunlun Mountain—indeed, the European geometer’s Accurate methods have not been applied to measure the height of this mountain—it is a little higher than Everest Peak, and if so, one cannot expect to find the highest point of the earth in the Himalayas. But in fact, these measurements are all It cannot be regarded as infallible unless one day the mountain's barometric altitude can be measured directly and rigorously. But if you don't take the barometer to these almost inaccessible mountain tops, how can you measure the barometric altitude? Humans have not yet been able to do it to this point."
"It will be done," interjected Captain Ord, "as the expeditions to the Antarctic and the North Pole will come true sooner or later."
"Obviously so!"
"There is also the adventure of going to the deepest part of the sea!"
"There is no doubt!"
"A Journey to the Center of the Earth!"
"Excellent, Odd!"
"There is nothing impossible!" I added.
"It's even possible to visit the various planets in the solar system!" Captain Ord eloquently said.
"No, Captain," I retorted. "Man is but an ordinary inhabitant of the earth, and cannot cross its borders! But though bound to the surface, he can see all the secrets of the landscape."
"He can and should!" Bonkers echoed. "Everything should be done as long as it is possible, and it will definitely succeed in the end. Finally, when human beings know everything about the planet they live in..."
"He disappeared with the spheroid, which has no more secrets!" interposed Captain Ord.
"No!" Bonkers protested. "He becomes master of the earth, and will make better use of it. But, Odd, since we are in the Himalayas at the moment, I'm going to tell you to try to find a curious thing that will surely interest you .”
"What is it, Bonkers?"
"The Yuke missionary once talked about a strange tree in his travel notes. People in Tibet called it the 'Wanhua Tree'. According to Indian legends, Tong Kaba, the reformer of Buddhism, was turned into a big tree. The same thing happened to him thousands of years ago, Philemon, Bosis, and Daphne, who became the strange plants of the same name in the mythological flora. Ton Kaba's hair turned into the green leaves of the sacred tree , on these leaves, Missionary Yuk was sure that he did see——saw—with his own eyes—some Tibetan characters, made up of the veins of the leaves, clearly legible.”
"A tree with leaves printed all over it!" I cried out aloud.
"It's all written with the simplest meaning of aphorisms," continued the engineer.
"It's worth checking." I smiled.
"Let's do the research, friends," Bonkers replied. "If this kind of tree is distributed in southern Tibet, then there should also be the upper part of the southern slope of the Himalayas. When you go hunting, you should also look for this kind of... how should I put it?... this kind of 'motto tree'... "
"I'm not doing it!" interrupted Captain Ord. "I came here to hunt, not to win in the mountain climbing business."
"Hello, Old Man!" said Bonkers again. "Surely a brave mountaineer like you will climb a mountain once?"
"Never!" shouted the captain.
"why?"
"I've given up the mountaineering habit."
"when?……"
"That's the day: After countless life-threatening situations, I finally climbed to the top of Virger Mountain in the Kingdom of Bhutan. It was rumored that no one had ever set foot on this mountain before! I was so proud !Finally, what did I see when I finally climbed to the top of the mountain after overcoming all kinds of difficulties?——A rock was engraved with such words: 'Durand, Dentist, 14 rue Cormartin, Paris!' From then on, I never Climb the mountain!"
Straightforward Captain!While describing to us this dismay, Ord made another grimace, which, it must be admitted, was so comical that it was impossible not to laugh.
I have spoken several times of the "summer stations" on the peninsula.These stations are all in the mountains, and they are often visited by high-ranking Indian officials, large wholesalers, and usurers in summer, because the scorching heat of the dog days on the plain makes them unbearable.
The first-class health resort is Shimla, which is located at the intersection of 31 degrees north latitude and 75 degrees east longitude west.The rapids, streams and mountain chalets elegantly nestled in pine forests at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level form a picturesque corner of Switzerland.
After Shimla is Dorjilan. The white structure of this station is backed by Kantanga Mountain. It is located about 500 kilometers north of Kolkata, at an altitude of 2300 meters, near the intersection of 86 degrees east longitude and 27 degrees north latitude - the world An enchanting location in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
Other sanatoriums are also built in the Himalayas.
Now, to these clean and hygienic health resorts, which the Indian heat has made indispensable, should be added our "steam rooms".But it only belongs to us. The "steam room" offers all the comforts of the most luxurious mansion on the peninsula.And, in addition to meeting the demands of modern life, it also allows us to find a tranquility in a pleasant place that cannot be found in the Anglo-Indian towns of Shimla and Dholgilan .
The campsite we chose was reasonable.The main road leading to the foot of the mountain forks here, connecting several scattered small towns from west to east.The nearest village, five miles away from the "steam house," lived a group of hospitable mountain people who tended goats and sheep and cultivated fertile fields of wheat and wheat.
By the unanimous cooperation of all, under the command of Bonkers, the camp was set up in a few hours, and we were to live in it for six or seven weeks.
There is a branch, separated from the mountain beams supporting the huge skeleton of the Himalayas, and "dedicated" to us a high platform with gentle undulations, about a mile long and half a mile wide.A green carpet is spread on the stage, the grass is not high but dense, fluffy, occasionally dotted with blooming violets.There are more than a hundred clusters of rhododendron bushes as high as small oak trees and naturally formed camellia baskets on the green grass, which is really charming.Nature does not need artisans from Isfahan or Smyrna to weave this fine botanical wool rug.Thousands of seeds, a little water, and a little sunshine blown by the south wind to this fertile field are enough to complete this soft and durable textile.
There are more than a dozen towering trees growing on the high platform.It seems to be an irregular army.They break away from the sides of the ridge and extend to the vast forest 600 meters above the adjacent hill.Cedars, oaks, longleafs, beeches, maples, etc. intermingle with bananas, bamboos, magnolias, carobs, and Japanese figs.There are several large trees whose branches reach more than 100 feet above the ground.They seem to have been placed here to provide shade for some wood dwelling. The timely arrival of the "steam house" makes the scenery more perfect.Its two rounded tower tops are in perfect harmony with this variety of branches and leaves—the branches are thick or flexible, the leaves are small and delicate like the wings of a butterfly moth, or hard, large, flat and long like Polynesian oars. .The train has been integrated into the green trees and flowers.There is no trace of the former "mobile house", and now there is only a fixed residence, which is rooted in the ground and looks like it will never move again.
There is a turbulent stream behind the house, hanging like a silver ribbon on the right side of the whole picture, rushing down from the height of thousands of feet on the mountain ridge, and finally pouring into a natural deep pool shaded by trees.
The overflowing pond water merged into a stream again, passed through the green grassland, and finally fell into the bottomless cliff, forming a roaring waterfall.
This is how the "steam room" is set up to meet the highest comfort standards of everyday life while being as pleasing to the eye as possible.
If you walk to the front of the high platform, you will overlook some other shorter mountains on the base of the Himalayas. They are like huge stairs, extending to the plains step by step.Standing in this position, it is enough to see their overall appearance.
On the right, the first room of the "Steam House" is placed at an angle so that the southern horizon can be seen equally clearly from the balcony on the veranda, by the side window in the living room, to the dining room and the small rooms on the left .Tall cedars tower over the roof, silhouetted against the background of the perennial snow-capped mountains in the distance.
To the left, the second house leans against a massive wall of granite, painted gold by the sun.The rock, both in its strange shape and in its warm hue, recalls the gigantic stone "raisin puddings" mentioned by Mr. Lucele Giroud in his travel notes of his travels to South India .From this residence specially prepared for Mark Nayer and his companions, only stone walls can be seen.It was about twenty paces from the main residence, and seemed to serve as an outbuilding to some more important pagoda.At the far end of the roof, a wisp of blue smoke curls from Mr. Palazard's "cooking laboratory".Further to the left, there is a clump of large trees on the edge of the forest, distributed along the western shoulder of the valley, forming the side view of this landscape painting.
In the middle of the two rooms, a huge monster stood in the depths.This is our "steel behemoth".The tree forms a green corridor on top of it.The giant beast raised its nose high, as if it was going to eat the high branches and leaves.In fact it stands still.It was resting, obviously out of necessity.Now, as the unshakable guardian of the "steam house", it is like an ancient monster, occupying the entrance of the road that it once pulled the entire "mobile village".
Yet, despite its size, our elephant appears to have nothing to do with the artificial colossus that Bonkers' dexterous hand has endowed with the spirituality of Indian animals—unless it is conceived to stand on a high platform Above 6,000 meters the mountain system separates.
"A fly stuck to the cathedral facade!" said Captain Ord, somewhat despondently.
Indeed.A thousand elephants of the same stature as the "steel behemoth" can be easily chiseled from the large granite rock at the back, and this huge rock is just an ordinary step in the mountain system, and there are hundreds of elephants similar to it. The stone steps together form a ladder leading to the ridge, and the towering Dawa Galili peak overlooks the mountains on the ladder.
Sometimes, the sky in the painting is lowered in the eyes of the observer, not only the high peaks, but even the ridges in the middle of the mountains will disappear for a while.It turned out that there was thick water vapor staying in the middle of the Himalayas, which made the upper part of the mountain foggy.The frame is zoomed out so that a visual effect restores the houses, trees, neighboring knolls, and the "steel leviathan" to their original size.
Occasionally, there will be clouds pushed by the moist south wind, which are lower than the fog and shrouded under the plateau.You can only see a sea of clouds rolling with white waves, and the sunlight betting on the sea surface produces a magical light and shadow effect.At this moment, the sky above and the earth below disappear together, and we seem to be carried somewhere in space, outside the boundaries of the earth.
However, the direction of the wind changes eventually. A gust of light wind from the north suddenly came across the gaps in the mountain system, clearing away the white mist, and the sea of clouds almost condensed to one place immediately, so we could see the plain extending to the horizon in the south again. , and the majestic projection of the Himalayas reappears against a backdrop of clear skies.The frame of the landscape painting returned to normal scale, and the human line of sight was no longer restricted, and could encompass every detail of the panorama within a range of 60 miles.
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