326 The Rev. R. Everest on the power of enduring Cold 



residence in the Himalaya as a means of enabling me to de- 

 termine the extremes of cold which the principal Mammalia 

 of a hot country were capable of enduring. 



I dwelt in a lonely house in the middle of the oak-forests 

 which overlooked the broad valley of the Dehra Dhoon, about 

 4000 feet perpendicular below. It had been the head-quarters 

 of the Surveyor General, and its height above the sea had 

 been most unexceptionably determined trigonometrically and 

 barometrically at about 6800 feet. The N. lat. was 30° 26'. 

 The mean temperature in the month of December obsei'ved at 

 sunrise was 37*7? and at half-past two for the same period, 45. 

 For the month of January for the same times it was 35*9 

 and 42*5, making the general mean for the two months 40'3 

 Fahr. 



Snow generally falls there late in November or early in De- 

 cember; but the season I was there Ave had none till Christmas, 

 after which we had several falls, and on the northern slopes 

 the ground remained covered with it until I left, early in Fe- 

 bruary. 



Flocks of the large Monkey of the plains (the Hunaman of 

 the Hindoos, and the Semnopithecus Entellus of naturalists) 

 inhabited the oak-woods around, feeding upon the acorns, 

 of which they appeared very fond. In the severest weather 

 they seemed quite as much, at their ease as at other times, and 

 made no effort to descend to the warm valley of the Dhoon 

 beneath, though such a change would have cost them but little 

 exertion. I left this spot for the interior of the Himalaya 

 early in February, and, late in that month, near the sources 

 of the Touse, met with a large flock of these animals. It was 

 on the northern slope of the valley. The cold was very severe, 

 and full three foot of snow upon the ground. They were in 

 a forest of Deodar and Morinda, busily feeding on the seeds 

 of the fir-cones. The height above the sea could not have 

 been less than from 8000 to 9000 feet. 



The common Leopard* of the plains [Felis Pardus anti- 

 quorimi) was also numerous in the oak-foi'ests during Decem- 

 ber and January. I caught one in a trap, and saw the tracks 

 of them constantly on the snow following those of the Ghooral. 

 While near the sources of the Touse in February and March, 

 I also observed their tracks at great heights, indeed above 

 the limit of forest, i. e. near 12,000 feet above the sea, follow- 

 ing those of the Wild Goat or Taare {Capra Jemlica). 



The Tiger is very scarce in the Himalaya, even in summer- 



* Mr. Everest has very kindly presented the specimens mentioned to the 

 British Museum collection. — J. E. Gkav. 



