AVALANt 



AVATARA. 



in the canton of YalaU In the same country, the village of 

 almost entirely covered by an avalanche in 1827. 



Many thousand* of strong tree* are destroyed by these avalanches, 

 either by being broken off near the ground, or by being rooted up, 

 shivered to pieces, and thu* precipitated into the valley. Where the 

 avalanches are of common occurrence, the inhabitant* of the valley* 

 know the places where they com* down, and by observing the change* 

 of the weather, they are able to foretell the time of their descent 

 They also endeavour to protect themselves by preserving the forests in 

 the paths of the avalanche*, and by erecting massive edifice* of a 

 particular construction, placed against projecting rocks. 



The sliding avalanche* (ruUch Uuinen, alao called suoggi (pron. 

 'men in Switzerland) originate on the lower and less steep 

 when, after a long thaw in spring, those layer* of the 

 snowy covering which are nearest the ground are dissolved into water, 

 and thus the bond i* loosened which unites the mass to it* base. The 

 whole snowy covering of a declivity then begins to move slowly dawn 

 the slippery slope, and to carry before it everything which 1* too weak 

 to withstand it* pressure. When an object doe* not directly give way 

 to the mass, it i* either borne down by the mow accumulating behind 

 it, or the whole man divide*, and proceed* in it* course on each side 

 of it 



The ice or glacier avalanche* are nothing but piece* of ice which 

 formerly constituted a part of a glacier, but, loosened by the summer 

 beat, are detached from the principal man, and precipitated down with 

 a noise like thunder. They are commonly broken into small piece* by 

 the rocks which they meet in their progress. When seen from a 

 distance, they resemble the cataracts of a powerful stream. In the 

 valley of Qrindelwald, in the canton of Berne, they may be often seen; 

 and at the base of the Jungfrau, the noise which accompanies their 

 fall i* almost continually heard. They are less destructive than the 

 other avalanche*, because they descend only upon places which are 

 not inhabited. 



Occasionally the avalanches change their character in their progress. 

 When the declivity is not too great, and the ground under it not too 

 slippery, the mas* of snow begins to slide; but arriving at a precipitous 

 descent, it* velocity and it* mas* are greatly increased, and it begin* to 

 roll. If, at this stage of its course, it meets a strong, craggy rock, the 

 mas* i* instantly divided into innumerable small pieces, and thus it 

 appears at the end of its progress like a drift avalanche. 



In the spring season, travellers in the Alps take every precaution 

 to avoid being overwhelmed by these falls of masses of snow. The 

 guides urge them to refrain from causing noise, lest the agitation of 

 the air should occasion an avalanche. In Switzerland, for the same 

 reason, the mule-bells are made silent, and in dangerous localities, 

 before descending into the valleys, it is usual, by the discharge of fire- 

 arms, to determine the fall of the mow which a concussion of the 

 atmosphere may bring down. 



Avalanche* is the common French expression for these natural 

 phenomena; but in those districts of France which are situated 

 between the range* of the Alps, they have other names : as avalanges, 

 lavanches, lavanges, lavanzes, lids, lit*, lyd U. The drift avalanches are 

 also termed lauvines venteuses, and the rolling, lauvine* joncieres. In 

 Italian they are called lavina, lavine, labine, and valanca ; and in the 

 Rhetic dialect of the Orisons, lavina and lavigna. Among the German 

 inhabitant* of Switzerland, they are named Uuinen, lauwinen, lauwen, 

 leuen, lowen, and lahnen. In the Pyrenees they are sometimes called 

 eougeie* ; and in Norway, snee-shred. and snee-fond. (Kasthofer's 

 ' Observation* on a Journey through the Alps,' 4c.) 



The avalanche* or snow-slips of northern India have been noticed by 

 Dr. Thomas Thomson, F.R.S., in hi* ' Western Himalaya and Thibet.' 

 In Rondu, on the Indus, in February 1848, the progress of the thaw, 

 he states, occasioned constant avalanches, the mow slipping from the 

 steep sides of the ravines, and when once in motion, advancing with 

 constantly increasing momentum, till it reached the lowest level. 

 " All day long," he relates, " the mountains echoed with the sound of 

 falling mow ; the avalanches were not often visible, as they took place 

 in the ravines, but now and then (where the ravines terminated in 

 precipices) they were seen pouring in cataracts of mow over the face of 

 the cliff*. In each large ravine which joined the Indus I found one of 

 these gigantic avalanche*, and was enabled to see that they were com- 

 posed of a congeries of ball* of scow, varying in diameter from one to 

 six feet, and often containing fragments of rock in their centre. Many 

 of these snow-streams were not lea* than forty or fifty feet thick. At 

 the level of the Indus they were now very soft, and evidently thawing 



At Kharbu, in the Dras valley, early in April, the fallen avalanches, 

 universal in the ravines, were cut off abruptly by the river (a tributary 

 of the Indus), forming clifls of snow fifteen or twenty feet high, in 

 which the structure and development of the mass by successive slips, 

 alternating with falls of mow, could be dirtinctly made out. One or 

 two of them still crossed the river, which flowed below the bridge of 

 See thu* formed. In the northernmost valley of Cashmere, that of the 

 river Bind, another affluent of the Indus, in one of the ravine* which 

 furrow the mountain slope*, Dr. Thomson witnessed the descent of one 

 of these avalanches, having been warned by the sound that it was 

 approaching, and had time to attain a place of safety before it came 

 When it cam* into sight, the ravine, which was narrow and 



deep, was completely filled by ball* of snow of various dimensions, 

 which continued to flow past for several minute*. The mow-lip 

 terminated in the river, which was speedily blocked up for two-thirds 

 of it* width with an immense accumulation of snow. The narrow 

 rocky gorge of the river, further to the south, after the 16th of April, 

 was In many place* still blocked up with mow, which had descemli .1 in 

 avalanche* down the ravines, and had accumulated in the bed of the 

 stream ; the travellers having three times to cross the river on those 

 snow beds. 



In tli.- Himalaya, therefore, as in Europe, the agency of the process 

 of regulation i* evident ; the partially melted snow, from the time of its 

 beginning to slip, gradually resuming its frozen condition, as it accu- 

 mulates into ball*, and finally into mnnsrai 



AVANTURINE GLASS. [GLASS MAXOTAOTURB.] 



AVATA'RA i* a Sanskrit word, which properly signifies " a descent, 

 or the act of descending'' for example, from a boat or other vehicle, 

 but is particularly applied to the incarnations of the Hindoo deities, or 

 their appearance in some manifest shape upon earth. Our information 

 regarding the successive development of religious and mythological 

 idea* among the Hindoo*, i* not yet perfect It appears, however, that 

 the doctrine of the Avataras belongs to a comparatively recent | 

 and are chronicled with considerable variations in different Puranas. 

 Those portion* of the Veda* or sacred writings of the Hindoos to which, 

 from the style and structure of their language, the highest antiquity 

 may with safety be attributed, inculcate the worship of elements and 

 deified natural powers, but do not allude to those apparently more 

 spiritualised deities that require to be invested with a bodily frame to 

 operate in the material world. 



The number of the Avataras mentioned in the Puranas, or legendary 

 poems of the Hindoos, i* very great. Those of Vishnu alone, who is 

 distinguished by the character of ' Preserver ' in the Trimurti, or triad 

 of the principal Hindoo deities, are stated to be endless. They are 

 variously enumerated ; but all accounts seem to agree in selecting the 

 following ten as the most conspicuous : 



1. Matrya, the Fish, under which form Vishnu preserved Manu, the 

 ancestor of the present human race, during a universal deluge. 



2. JTdrmo, the Tortoise, which incarnation Vishnu underwent in 

 order to support the entire earth, when the celestial gods and their 

 opponents the Asuras, or Daityas, were churning the sea (using Mount 

 Mandara as a churnstaff) for the beverage of immortality (amrita). 



3. Yar&ha, the Boar. Vishnu, with the head of a monstrous boar, is 

 represented as slaying Hiranyak&ha, the chief of the Asuras, who had 

 taken possession of the celestial regions, and as uplifting the earth, 

 which had been sunk to the bottom of the sea. 



4. In his incarnation as Nartainha, a being half man and half lion, 

 Vishnu killed Hiranyakasipu, the brother of Hiranyakaha. 



6. The form of V&mana, the Dwarf, was assumed by Vishnu to 

 humble the pride of King Bali. He went to a sacrifice which the king 

 was performing, and supplicated for as much ground as he BOOM 

 measure with three steps, which request being granted, the dwarf 

 suddenly grew to an immense size, and with his steps comprised earth, 

 mid-air, and heaven. 



6. Vishnu appeared in a human form, as Paraiurdma, the son of 

 Jamadagni and Renuka, in order to preserve mankind, and especially 

 the Brahmans, from the tyranny of the military tribe of the 

 Kshatriyas. 



7. Vishnu was bom as the four sons of King Dasaratha, and, under 

 the names of Jidma, Lalahmana, Bharata, and Saints/ma, in order to 

 destroy Havana, the Daitya sovereign of Ceylon, and other demon* 

 who were then infesting the earth. The actions of Roma, who was the 

 chief hero, form the subject of a celebrated epic poem in Sanskrit, 

 called the RAmayana, and attributed to the ancient sage Valmiki. One 

 of the most remarkable of his exploit* is, that he is said to have 

 " humbled the pride of Parasur&ma," who, as just mentioned, was an 

 incarnation of Vishnu also ; and the cause of the humbling is stated to 

 have been the slaughter of the Kshatriyas. 



8. The most celebrated of the Avataras of Vishnu is his appearance 

 in the human form of Krithna, in which he is supposed to have been 

 wholly and completely incarnate, whereas the other Avataras arc only 

 considered as emanations from his being. Krishna assisted the family 

 of the Panda vas in their war with the Kurus, and through them 

 relieved the earth from the Daityas and the wicked men who 

 oppressed it The history of this conflict is told at length in the 

 Mahabharata, another great epic poem in Sanskrit He also slew* 

 Kansa, the king of Mathura, after a number of adventure*. 



9. Buddha is, by the followers of the Brahmaiiical religion, con- 

 sidered as a delusive incarnation of Vishnu, assumed by him in onler 

 to induce the Asuras to abandon the sacred ordinance* of the Veda*, 

 by which they lost their strength and supremacy. 



10. Kalki is the name of an AvatAra in which Vishnu will appear at 

 the end of the Kaliynga, or present age of the world, to destroy all vice 

 and wickedness, and to restore the world to virtue and purity. 



We cannot enumerate the AvatAras of the inferior deities, in which 

 the mythology of the Hindoos abounds. There is no mention of 

 any Avatar of Brahma and of Siva, the two supreme deities who, 

 with Vishnu, constitute the Trimurti ; they are only repeated births, 

 always in the form of a youth, but of various colours. In the seventh 

 .volume of the ' Asiatic Researches ' (Calcutta, 1801) may be seen an 



