[Sidenote: SANDSTONE RANGES. _May, 1848._]
On the 18th, I crossed a sandstone range, in which the strata exhibited an anticlinal axis, dipping towards the plain on both sides. The ascent was easy, and the summit was not above the limit of tropical vegetation, as a banyan-tree grew on the top. The descent was much steeper and considerably longer, the valley to the south being a good deal lower. The road was good, being in the steeper parts paved with large flat stones, while in the more rocky parts the sandstone was cut into steps. A flat and well cultivated valley lay to the south of this range, in the centre of which flowed a river, in a wide channel several hundred feet below the level of the plain: it was very shallow, and was crossed by stepping-stones. Another hilly tract followed, covered with straggling bush jungle, and on the upper part with pine-forest: this was also of sandstone, very soft, and excavated by the various little streams which traversed it, into narrow and deep ravines. Even foot-paths, by constant use, were sunk four or five feet deep in the soft rock. The dip of this range was gentle, towards the plains of India.
I encamped on the 18th at Seda, under the shade of a superb banyan-tree, in a hollow in this sandstone range, and next day continued my journey to Jamu. Emerging from the hills after a mile or two, I entered a third valley, and followed the course of the little stream by which it was watered, to its junction with the Tawi, along which I travelled about four miles; to the town of Jamu, which is built on the outermost range of hills, at the point where the river Tawi finally quits the mountains. These hills rise very gently from the plains, their southern slope forming a long inclined plane, densely covered with a jungle of low thorny trees. The same sort of jungle usually skirts their base to a distance of two or three miles, or as far as the alluvial soil of the level country which lies beyond is covered with stones and shingle. It is principally composed of _Acacia modesta_ and _Catechu_, and of two species of _Zizyphus_. The northern or inner face of this range of hills is very steep, often quite precipitous; and where they overhang the Tawi, they terminate abruptly in a line of cliffs facing the river. A similar range, but a good deal lower, descends from the eastward towards Jamu, and, like the other, presents a series of vertical cliffs covered with brushwood towards the river. The town occupies the gentle slope which faces the plains; it is a straggling and dirty place, but with some very good houses. The principal building is the residence of Maharaja Gulab Sing; at the time of my visit occupied by his eldest son. It is situated on the edge of the cliff, overhanging the river, and commands a fine view of the open valley of the Tawi below, and of the mountain ranges to the north and east, the more distant of which were still tipped with snow.