Perpetual Snow in the Himalayas. 245 
east and west in the neighbourhood of Cashmir.. Towards 
the plains of India, the limit of snow on the southern sides 
of the extreme hills will be found at about 15,000 feet above 
the sea, as Lieutenant Strachey shews, and on the northern 
face of the same hill, at about 12,000 feet, a figure, however, 
which I have assumed for the sake of illustration, as I know 
of no observations directly bearing on the subject. On the 
Tibetan side of the chain, the heights will be found to be 
about 20,000 feet on the south, and 18,000 or 18,500 on the 
north face of the same hill. These latter estimates are Lieu- 
tenant Strachey’s, and they are, I think, correct, while the 
southern height of 20,000 feet is an approximation only. 
I have taken the height of the Manasarawar Lake, viz., 
15,000 feet, in making this sketch, but even Humboldt’s mean 
elevation of Tibet, viz., 11,500 feet (Cosmos, i., 330), will 
not affect the argument, that the distance between the planes 
of the mountain bases and of the snow-limits goes on de- 
creasing as the former ascend. 
Quantity of snow falling in Tibet, and the permanency or re- 
newal of snow generally. W ith regard to the quantity of snow 
which falls to the northward of the main peaks of the Hima- 
layas, I may refer to my statement at p. 238 of the 148th No. 
of the Journal, where I say that it did not appear to exceed 
two feet and a half in depth, where not drifted. This refers 
to the tract around the junction of the Sutlej and Spiti rivers. 
In addition to the details there given, I may also mention, 
that the larger streams began (in 1842) to swell after the 
middle of February. This was due, I would say, to the radia- 
tion from the mountain masses causing the lower surface of 
the snow to melt, the recently accumulated snow itself form- 
ing a protection against the chilling winds, and so allowing 
the earth to part with its heat. At this period, the tempera- 
ture of ordinary springs was about 42°, while the air at sun- 
rise was sometimes below zero, and the mercury would not 
rise above 60°, when exposed to the sun’s rays in the early 
part of the afternoon. I state these particulars partly in 
Support of what I consider to be Captain Hutton’s meaning 
with regard to snow not being perpetual; an opinion to 
