Snoiv-Line in the Himalaya. 333 



and the vast accumulations of snow from which they are sup- 

 plied, and these cannot always be readily distinguished from 

 snow in situ; but as far as I could judge, those places which 

 might be considered as offering a fair criterion, were frefe 

 from snow up to 15,000 or even 16,000 feet. 



Towards the end of August I crossed the Barjikang pass 

 between Rilam and Juhar, the elevation of which is about 

 15,300 feet.* There was here no vestige of snow on the 

 ascent to the pass from the south-east, and only a very 

 small patch remained on the north-western face. The view 

 of the continuation of the ridge in a southerly direction was 

 cut off by a prominent point, but no snow lay on that side 

 within 500 feet of the pass, while to the north T estimated 

 that there was no snow in considerable quantity within 1500 

 feet or more, that is, nearly up to 17,000 feet. The vegeta- 

 tion on the very summit of the pass was far from scanty, 

 though it had already begun to break up into tufts, and had 

 lost that character of continuity which it had maintained to 

 within a height of 500 or 600 feet. Species of Potentilla, 

 Sedum, Saxifraga, Corydalis, Aconitum, Delphinium, Tha- 

 lictrum, Ranunculus, Saussurea, Gentiana, Pedicularis, 

 Primula, Eheum, and Polygonum, all evidently flourishing 

 in a congenial climate, shewed that the limits of vegetation 

 and region of perpetual snow were still far distant. 



In addition to these facts it may not be out of place to 

 mention that there are two mountains visible from Almorah, 

 Rigoli-gudri in Garhwal between the Kailganga and Nand- 

 6,kni and Chipula in Kumaon, between the Gori and Dauli 

 (of Darma), both upwards of 13,000 feet in elevation, from 

 the summits of which the snow disappears long before the 

 end of the summer months, and which do not usually again 

 become covered for the winter till late in December. 



The authorities cited by M. Humboldt in his Asie Centrale 

 give the following heights to the snow-line on the southern 

 slope of the Himalaya. t 



* This pass is so far within the belt of perpetual snow that it cannot be held 

 to afford any just arguments as to the position of the snow-line on the extreme 

 Bouthern edge of the belt. 



t Atie Centrale, t. iii., p. 295. I take no account of the height assigned by 

 VOL. XLVII. NO. XCIV. — OCTOBER 1849. Z 



