2 6 NEPJL
Tibet, where Chinese and Nepalese frontier-posts and custom-houses
are established.
Orographically the country can best be described as consisting of
four zones, running successively upwards from east to west. (r) The
Tarai, the lowland at the foot of the hills, is a narrow
Physical
aspects belt which varies in width from io to 30 miles.
.
(2) The Sandstone range, with its dams or valleys,
rises some 6oo to 8oo feet above the Tarai, and is a continuation
of the range known as the SIWALIKS. It runs in practical continuity
along the whole length of Nepal, the only breaks in the chain
being caused by rivers forcing an outlet. The range is covered with
thick jungle, as are the valleys lying behind it. These are at an
elevation of about 2,500 feet, and connect the Sandstone range with
the Himalayas. (3) From the northern extremity of the duns the
main range of the Himalayas rises to the north, hill succeeding hill and
peak rising above peak, until they culminate in the vast snowy range
which runs in majestic grandeur along the northern frontier of Nepal.
This hill region, up to an elevation of 1o,ooo feet, may be taken as the
third zone, the fourth being formed by the mountain region above that
altitude. The hill country, composed of a series of ranges varying
from 5,000 to 10,000 feet, necessarily encloses many valleys. These
lie mostly at an elevation of 4,000 feet, and, with the exception of the
valley of Katmandu, or, as it is more frequently called, the Valley of
Nepal, are of small size. Being well watered they are highly cultivated,
and many of them are thickly populated. (4) Of the mountain region
but little is known. The lower slopes are cultivated ; but above these
the region presents a rugged broken wall of rock, leading up to the
magnificent chain of perpetual snow-clad peaks which culminate in
MOUNT EVEREST (29,002 feet), and others of slightly less altitude.
The territory of Nepal within the hills is divided into three large
natural divisions by lofty ridges which take off from the high peaks
of Nanda Devi (25,700 feet), Dhaulagiri (26,826), Gosainthan (26,305),
and KINCHINJUNGA (28,146). These ridges stand out at right angles
from the central axis of the Himalayas, and run, parallel to each other,
nearly due south towards the plains. Each of the three divisions
receives its name from the river by which it is drained: namely, the
western division, or mountain basin of the KAURIALA (Karnali) or
GOGRA; the central division, or mountain basin of the GANDAl{; and
the eastern division, or mountain basin of the Kosi.
The western division is divided into two unequal parts by the Kali
or SARDA river, which forms the boundary between Nepal and Kumaun.
The territory on the left bank is Nepalese. The most important
tributaries of the Kauriala river are the Kali, Babai, and Rapti. They
all break through the Sandstone range by different passes, and do not
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