on these little divinities, we obtained the first panoramic
view we had yet had of the valley and city of Katmandu.

The valley is of an oval shape; its circumference is nearly 50 miles, and
the hills by which it is enclosed vary from one to two thousand feet in
height. Sheopoorie, the most lofty of these, is clothed to the summit
with evergreen jungle, and rises abruptly behind the town. Behind it the
fantastically shaped Jib Jibia shows its craggy summit thickly powdered
with snow, while the still loftier Gosain-Than, at a distance of about 30
miles, rears its ever white and glittering peak to a height of 25,000
feet, and seems majestically to preside over this glorious scene.

The town of Katmandu, situated at the junction of the Bhagmutty and
Bishmutty, and containing a population of 50,000 inhabitants, lay spread
at our feet, and we could discern the passengers on the narrow fragile-
looking bridges which span the two rivers, at this time containing
scarcely any water. Innumerable temples, Bhuddist and Hindoo, and
mixtures of both, occupied hillocks, or were situated near the sacred
fonts or groves with which the valley abounds, and which adds much to the
beauty of its appearance. The number of the edifices affords strong
proof of the superstition of the people, and warrants the remark of
Colonel Kirkpatrick, who says that there seem to be in Nepaul as many
shrines as houses, and as many idols as inhabitants.

A tradition is current in Nepaul that the valley of Katmandu was at some
former period a lake, and it is difficult to say in which character it
would have appeared the most beautiful. The knolls, wooded or terraced,
with romantic old Newar towns crowning their summits,--the five rivers of
the valley winding amongst verdant meadows,--the banks here and there
precipitous, where the soft clayey soil had yielded to the action of the
torrent in the rains,--the glittering city itself,--the narrow paved ways
leading between high hedges of prickly pear,--the pagodas and temples
studded in all directions, presented a scene as picturesque and perhaps
more interesting than would have been afforded by the still lake embedded
in wild mountains, and frowned upon by snow-capped peaks; while the
richly cultivated knolls in the valley formed fertile islands, the
luxuriant vegetation of which would have softened the scene into one of
exquisite beauty.

Whether the rich and wonderfully prolific soil of the valley is the