392 ON THE FORMATION OF CLOUDS. 



a splendid bank of clouds rising from behind 

 Casterton Fell, and extending both northwards 

 and southwards, for several miles, along the 

 eastern side of the mountain chain. The wind 

 was easterly and pretty brisk, but still the clouds 

 made no progress towards the place of observation. 

 On looking about, I observed that the sky on the 

 western side of Kirkby Lonsdale, and for a long 

 track along the western side of the river, was 

 completely covered with a dense rain-cloud ; but 

 the space between this cloud and that bank of 

 clouds which surmounted the fells, was perfectly 

 clear : but the most curious part of the phenomena 

 consisted in the stationary positions that both 

 groups of cloud continued to appear in, when the 

 wind was so high ; and not the trace of a cloud 

 between them. 



On my return to Biggins I had another look 

 out, and still found the two groups of cloud nearly 

 as before. I soon discovered the cause of their 

 keeping their stationary positions in a high wind ; 

 which was simply this. — The western border of 

 the eastern clouds dissolved and disappeared as 

 soon as it passed the summit of the mountains, 

 whilst the western cloud, which hung over Biggins, 



