12 REPORT AND OBSERVATIONS ON 



Chester with water from the hills beyond Stalybridge and 

 Mottram— lying at a distance of from ten to twenty miles 

 east of Manchester. 



In the highest part of this range of hills, known by the 

 name of the Penine Chain, the river Etherow and its 

 various mountain tributaries take their rise. Some of these 

 uniting near Woodhead, form there a deep romantic valley 



account for the very great excess of rain in this valley over all others in 

 the Lake districts. As the gauge on SeatoUar is two or three miles dis- 

 tant in a direct line from the others, the near approach of its receipts to 

 those of the Stye-Head gauge, both about the same elevation, is rather 

 remarkable. lu 1846 the Seatollar exceeded the Stye gauge in quantity, 

 which it should do if the assumed height be correct. 



" By referring to the table for the summer months, we find that be- 

 tween the 1st of May and the 31st of October, the gauge at 1290 feet 

 has obtained nearly twelve per cent, more rain than the valley ; at 1334 

 feet, nine and a half per cent, more ; at 1900 feet, twenty-nine per cent, 

 more ; at 2928 feet, seven and a half per cent, less ; and at 3100 feet, 

 thirteen and a half per cent, less than the valley. In the winter months 

 (November to April inclusive) the gauge at 1290 feet has received four and 

 a half per cent, more than the valley ; at 1334 feet, the same quantity as 

 the valley ; at 1900 feet, eleven and a quarter per cent, more ; at 2928 

 feet, thirty-eight and a half per cent, less, and at 3100 feet, forty-two and 

 a half per cent, less than the valley. 



" The difference in the proportion to the valley between the winter and 

 summer half-year, as shown by the tables, is rather startling. 



" When much snow falls, no doubt a considerable portion is lost to the 

 gauge, either by its being blown out of the funnel, or by tlie aperture 

 getting choked up. But I do not think that this cause alone is at all 

 adequate to account for the great comparative deficiency in the winter 

 season ; for there was very little snow on the mountain tops during the 

 winter 1846-7, less, I am told by one of the oldest inhabitants of the Fell 

 dales, than he almost ever remembers. At "WTiitehaven, we had no snow 

 worth naming, except on the night of the 23rd of December, where 

 it lay to the depth of nearly an inch on the ground, but disappeared in 

 course of the ensuing morning. 



" The late Mr. Crosthwaite of Keswick, by means of marks on the side 

 of Skiddaw, and with the assistance of a telescope at his residence, made 

 two or three daily observations on the heights of clouds for several years ; 

 and it is clearly shown by his tables, that the clouds are lowest in the 



