48 APPENDICES. 



In December and January the thermometer falls a few degrees 

 below the freezing point, 25 5 / F., being the lowest temperature 

 I have recorded four feet above the ground, and 15 F. the 

 lowest on the grass. The air is cold and bracing, and though 

 the amount of solar radiation is high, no inconvenience is felt 

 from exposure to the sun. Rain and snow fell during these 

 months, the latter to a depth that varies directly with the height 

 above the sea. Towards the end of January, 1858, snow fell 

 to a depth of two and a half feet at 6,000 feet, and the ground 

 was whitened down to 3,000 feet; flakes having been seen at 

 Kangra and Noorpore respectively 2,500 and 2,000 feet. This, 

 however, was an unusually severe fall. In the winter of 

 1859-60, fifteen inches fell very early in December, and the 

 same quantity fell in January, 1860. Snow accumulates on the 

 high ranges during the winter, and is perpetual in its ravines, so 

 that the station and the neighbourhood have an unfailing supply 

 for cooling purposes throughout the year. When this is at its 

 lowest a man can bring down a load of twenty to twenty-five 

 seers by evening, if he starts at daybreak, and what falls as hail 

 and snow becomes compressed into nearly solid ice. Loads are 

 taken by dak runners as far as Jullundur or Amritsur. The 

 spring months are pleasant and healthy; the temperature is 

 reduced by snow storms on the high ranges, which give rise to 

 gales from the north-east, and are followed by cool or even cold 

 weather. The effects of these storms are felt at Hosheyarpore, 

 sixty miles off, and occasionally even at Lahore, 140 miles off. 

 The south-west wind of the plains blows regularly in the day, 

 during these months, but is cool and pleasant, although dry, and 

 in the night a fresh breeze descends from the mountains. June 

 is the only month that can ever be called hot, and in it the 

 thermometer rises above 90 F. in the shade, but never exceeds 

 a maximum of 80 to 85 F. in the house with all doors and 

 windows open. The heat, however, is very rarely oppressive ; 

 towards the end of June the monsoon sets in, and it rains very 

 frequently until about the middle of September. The total fall 

 is heavy, and averages from 130 to 150 inches in the year, a 

 large part of which occurs in July and August. During these 

 months the temperature is very equable, and is agreeable, although 

 somewhat close ; but the rain is often incessant, and the -station 

 frequently enveloped in dense rain clouds. About the middle 

 of September the weather becomes much clearer, and showers 

 only fall towards the end of the month. The autumn months 



