Snow-Line in the Himalaya. 327 



If we now follow two travellers into Thibet, one from Ku- 

 maon or Garhwal, and the other from Simla, or the western 

 hills, we shall be prepared to find that the circumstances 

 under which they will cross the snowy mountains will be 

 very different. The former will proceed up the course of one 

 of the great rivers before alluded to, and ascending the gorge, 

 by which it breaks through the line of the great peaks, will 

 pass unobserved the true southern limit of the perpetual 

 snow ; he will leave the great peaks themselves far behind him, 

 and will finally reach the water-shed of the chain, where he 

 may, possibly for the first time, find glaciers and snow. He 

 will here cross straight into Thibet, from what will appear 

 to him the southern, to what he will call the northern decli- 

 vity of the Himalaya.* 



The western traveller, on the other hand, will find, almost 

 at his first step, a snowy barrier drawn across his path, and 

 he will naturally suppose that he crosses from the southern 

 to the northern face of the snowy range, when he descends 

 from the Shatul, or some neighbouring pass, into the valley 

 of Kunawar ; and in this idea he will probably be confirmed, 

 by the total change of the climate which he will perceive, 

 and by his being able to penetrate to Shipke,the frontier vil- 

 lage of Thibet in this quarter, without meeting any further 

 obstacle on his road at all comparable to that he has passed, 

 or perhaps even without again crossing snow-t 



Without waiting to inquire whether either of our travel- 

 lers has in fact come to a just conclusion, it will be sufficient 

 for my purpose to point out that they mean totally different 

 things by their north and south declivities ; and it will be in- 

 deed surprising if they agree as to the position of the snow- 

 line. It is manifest, therefore, that, before we can expect to 

 arrive at any correct results, we must get rid of the confu- 

 sion caused by the ambiguity of the terms north and south 

 declivity ; terms which, at the best, are very ill adapted to 



* This does not exactly apply to the passes usually crossed between Juhar 

 and Thibet, which will be mentioned more particularly hereafter. There is a 

 pass, however, the " Lashar," though from its badness it is not used, which 

 affords a dirc<;t communication. 



t The ordinary route lios up the bank of the Sutlej. 



