Snofv-Lme in the Himalaya. 345 



on the noi'thern slope exposed to the radiation, while none 

 whatever remains on the southern slope, which is quite pro- 

 tected from it, exactly as is the case with every mountain 

 anywhere. 



It may therefore be concluded that some other influence 

 must be in operation, the effects of which are genei*ally felt 

 over the whole of the more northern parts of the Himalaya, 

 and such an influence is, 1 conceive, readily to be found in the 

 diminished quantity of snow that falls on the northern, as 

 compared to the southern part of the chain. 



The comparative dryness of the climate to the north of 

 the first great mass of snowy mountains is not now no- 

 ticed for the first time ; it is indeed notorious to the in- 

 habitants of Simla, and travellers often go into Kunawar with 

 the express object of avoiding the rains. Captain Gerard 

 thus describes the climate of the western part of the Hima- 

 laya : — " In the interior ( i. e. of Kunawar), at 9000 and 

 10,000 feet, snow is scarcely ever above a foot in depth, and 

 at 12,000 it is very rarely two feet, although nearer the outer 

 range four or five feet are usual at heights of 7000 or 8000 

 feet. In these last places there is rain in July, August, and 

 September, but it is not near so heavy in the lower hills. 

 When Hindustan is deluged for three months, the upper 

 parts of Kunawar are refreshed by partial showers ; and, with 

 the exception of the valley of the Buspa, the periodical rains 

 do not extend further to the eastward than long. 77^."* — {Ac- 

 count of Kunawar, p. 61.) He again says, relative to the most 

 northern parts of Kunawar and the neighbouring portion of 

 Thibet, " With the exception of March and April, in which 

 months there are a few showers, the uniform reports of the 

 inhabitants represent the rest of the year to be almost per- 

 petual sunshine, the few clouds hang about the highest 

 mountains, and a heavy fall of snow or rain is almost un- 

 known." — {Ibid., p. 95.) 



* That the fall of snow at 7000 feet is ever five feet in any part of these hills 

 may, I think, be doubted. The Buspa is the river that runs immediately at 

 the foot of the north declivity of the Bissehir range ; and I suppose that Cap- 

 tain Gerard means, that the rains do not extend up the Sutlej beyond the 

 point where the Buspa falls into it. 



