40 METEOROLOGY OF MOUNT KOSCIUSCO, 



itself there is an abundance of beautiful clear rivulets, eacli strong 

 enough to turn a mill. Most of these arise from the bogs in the 

 valleys, some originate in lakes. There are no springs. The 

 amount of water which comes from the melting of the snow-fields 

 during the dry season is very small. 



The extensive melting of the snow in spring makes the rivers 

 rise at that time of the year. 



All these facts show plainly that there must be a very great 

 amount of aquaeous precipitation there during the year, and I do 

 not think that I am far out in estimating it at 100 inches to 120 

 inches per annum. 



All this water water comes down in three different shapes : — 

 1 as rain ; 2 as snow or hail, and 3 as dew. 



The rain is not always a pi'onounced downpour, but often nothing 

 else than a precipitation of mist. The amount of water precipitated 

 from mist without the formation of regular rain in the mountains 

 is much greater than one generally assumes. I have frequently 

 seen in Europe the water run down the roofs of the Chateaux de 

 Chasse or the shepherd's huts in the mountains in a fog without 

 rain, just as rapidly as if it were actually raining. As the Sur- 

 veyor-General informs me, there is a similar kind of precipitation 

 sometimes met with also on the Kosciusco plateau. From this wet 

 fog to actual rain there is every transition form of precipitation, 

 depsnding entirely on the height of the clouds. If the clouds hang 

 on the mountain, then there is no rain, if they are high the rain is 

 pronounced. 



I have made extensive inquiries as to the amount of rain of the 

 old residents in the district, and found that they all agree in 

 saying, when it rains below it invariably rains or snows above ; 

 and that it also rains or snows above however, often when it is fine 

 below. 



The snow falls all the year round in heights above 5,500 feet on 

 the Kosciusco plateau. For eight months in the year it probably 

 never rains on the highest elevations. In midsummer, however, 

 there is rain also there in the warm weather. The snow lies on 

 the greater part of the plateau from 5 to 8 months in the year 



