330 Lieutenant E,. Strachey on the 



peaks Nos. 11 and 12 in a south-westerly direction. The dip 

 of the strata being to the north-east, the faces exposed to 

 view from the south are for the most part very abrupt, and 

 snow never accumulates on them to any great extent. This 

 in some measure will account for the height to which the 

 snow is seen to have receded on the eastern exposures, that 

 is, upwards of 17,000 feet. On the western exposures, the 

 ground is less steep, and the snow is seen to have been ob- 

 served at a considei'able less elevation; but it was in very 

 small quantities, and had probably fallen lately, so that I 

 am inclined to think that its height, viz., about 15,000 feet, 

 rather indicates the elevation below which the light autum- 

 nal falls of snow were incapable of lying, than that of the 

 inferior edge of the perpetual snow. It is further to be un- 

 derstood, that below this level of 15,000 feet, the moun- 

 tains were absolutely without snow, excepting those small iso- 

 lated patches that are seen in ravines, or at the head of gla- 

 ciers, which, of course, do not affect such calculations as 

 these. On the whole, therefore, I consider that the height 

 of the snow-line on the more prominent points of the south- 

 ern edge of the belt, may be fairly reckoned at 16,000 feet 

 at the very least. 



The point No. 4 was selected as being in a much more 

 retired position than the others. It is situate not far from 

 the head of the Pindur river, and lies between the peaks 

 Nos. 14 and 15. It was quite free from snow at 15,300 feet, 

 and I shall therefore consider 15,000 feet as the elevation of 

 the snow-line in the re-entering angles of the chain. 



I conclude, then, that 15,500 feet, the mean of the heights 

 at the most and least prominent points, should be assigned 

 as the mean elevation of the snow-line at the southern limit 

 of the belt of perpetual snow in Kumaon ; and I conceive 

 that whatever error there may be in this estimate, will be 

 found to lie on the side of diminution rather than of exagge- 

 ration. 



This result appears to accord well with what has been 

 observed in the Bissehir range. The account given by Dr 

 Gerard of his visit to the Shitul Pass, on this range, which he 

 undertook expressly for the purpose of determining the height 



