1884.] Himalaya Snowfall with Drought in India. 1 1 



tried by the rough test of contrasting the winter rainfall on the hills 

 with the summer rainfall on the plains) affords some of the most 

 striking evidence in support of the hypothesis that the snows favour 

 the production of dry land winds on the plains, and is eminently one 

 of those exceptions that tend to prove the rule. 



Negative Evidence of the Years 1881 and 1882. I may pass rapidly 

 over the years 1881 and 1882, which presented no feature of striking 

 importance. The winter of 1880-81 was one of light snowfall. 

 There was a moderate fall in March, 1881, and the succeeding April 

 and May were dry and seasonable, characterised chiefly in Rajputana 

 and Central India by hot land winds of somewhat more than usual 

 steadiness.* The rains set in and came to an end somewhat earlier 

 than usual, but the rainfall, with merely local exceptions, was well up 

 to the average, and in some parts of Northern India somewhat 

 above it. 



The winter of 1881-82 also was on the whole dry and mild. In 

 Kumaon, Sir H. Ramsay reported it as " unusually mild ; " and 

 Mr. Ney Elias, writing from Leh, on the 5th April, stated that, " the 

 snow has been extraordinarily light this year in Ladak, and the 

 winter altogether unusually mild .... Even high altitudes 

 are much less covered than usual." But he adds, " I hear from Dias 

 that the snow on the outer range (at and near the Yogi pass) is as 

 heavy as ever. In fact, the snowfall is very partial and irregular in 

 these mountains." The rains set in early and copiously on the Bombay 

 side ; and up to the end of July, in Western and North-Western 

 India, were even excessive ; but a change took place in August, and 

 though there was no period of actual drought, the fall during a part 

 of August was light throughout the north-west of India, and not- 

 withstanding the recurrence of heavy rain in the latter part of the 

 month, the total fall of the season was somewhat below the average 

 in the North-Western Provinces, and more so in the eastern than in 

 the western districts. 



The Year 1883. Forecast of Drought and the Result. In previous 

 years, the available information respecting the snowfall had been 

 meagre, and had had reference to only one or two districts in the 

 Himalaya. But having now been convinced of the high importance 

 of the subject, I took steps, by private correspondence, and officially 

 with the aid of the local governments, to obtain more numerous and 

 detailed reports. In December, 1882, and the early part of January, 

 1883, the season was fine and warm ; but on the 10th the ordinary 

 cold weather rains set in in the upper provinces, and snow fell at 

 Taini-Tel and some other stations. During the remainder of the 

 month the falls were frequently repeated on all parts of the North- 

 Western Himalaya, and from the night of the 24th to that of the 



* Keport on the Meteorology of India in 1831, pp. 85, 86, 111, 171, 175, &c. 



