e 



32 COSMOS. 



those of a purely physical nature, since it exercises no incon- 

 siderable deo^ree of influence on the mode of life of numerous 

 tribes — the meteorological processes of the atmosphere being 

 the controlling causes on which depend the agricultural or 

 pastoral pursuits of the inhabitants of extensive tracts of con- 

 tinents. 



As the quantity of moisture in the atmosphere increases 

 with the temperature, this element, which is so important for 

 the whole organic creation, must vary with the hours of the 

 day, the seasons of the year, and the differences in latitude 

 and elevation. Our knowledge of the hygrometric relations 

 of the Earth's surface has been very materially augmented 

 of late years by the general application of August's psychrom- 

 eter, framed in accordance with the views of Dalton and 

 Daniell, for determining the relative quantity of vapor, or the 



and, moving eastward, the sources of the Kalee or Mundaknee branch 

 of the Ganges at KaJarnath ; of the Vishnoo Gunga, or Aluknunda, at 

 Euddrinath and Mana ; of the Pindur at the foot of the Great Peak 

 Nundidevi; of the Dhoulee branch of the Ganges, beyond Neetee, cross- 

 ing and recrossing the pass of that name into Tliibet; of the Goree or 

 great branch of the Sardah, or Kalee, nearOonta Dhoora, beyond Me- 

 lum. I have also, in my official capacity, made the settlement of the 

 P»hote Mehals of this province. My residence of more than six years 

 in the hills has thrown me constantly in the way of European and na- 

 tive travelers, nor have I neglected to acquire information from the re- 

 corded labors of others. Yet, with all this experience, I am prepared 

 to affirm that the perpetual snoic-line is at a higher elevation on the north- 

 ern slope of ' the Himalaya' than on the southern slope. 



" The facts mentioned by Captain Hutton appear to me only to refer 

 to the northern sides of all mountains in these regions, and not to afi'ect, 

 in any way, the reports of Captain Webb and others, on which Hum- 

 boldt formed his theory. Indeed, how can any facts of one observer in 

 one place falsify the facts of another observer in another place ? I will- 

 ingly allow that the nortli side of a hill retains the snow longer and 

 deeper than the south side, and this observation applies equally to 

 heights in Bhote ; but Humboldt's theoiy is on the question of the pp-r- 

 petual snow-line, and Captain Hutton's references to Simla and Mus- 

 sooree, and other mountain sites, are out of place in this question, or 

 else he fights against a shadow, or an objection of his own creation. 

 In no part of his paper does he quote accurately the dictum which he 

 wishes to oppose." 



If the mean altitude of the Thibetian highlands be 11,510 feet, they 

 admit of comparison with the lovely and fruitful plateau of Caxarnarca 

 in Peru. But at this estimate they would still be 1300 feet lower than 

 the plateau of Bolivia at the Lake of Titicaca, and the causeway of the 

 town of Potosi. Ladak, as appears from Vigne's measurement, by de- 

 termining the boiling-point, is 9994 feet high. This is probably also 

 the altitude of H'Lassa (Yul-sung), a monastic city, which Chinese 

 writers describe as the realm of pleasn-e, and which is surrounrVd h^ 

 vineyards. Must not these lie in deep \arioys? 



