From Dalhousie into Chamba 89 



khuds literally steamed ; the pine-needles and that 

 never-to-be-forgotten scent of the hills filled the damp 

 air. " The sound of an infinite number of rivers came 

 up from all round. After this deluge of rain the 

 springs of the mountains were broken up ; every 

 glen gushed water like a cistern ; every stream was 

 in high spate and had filled and overflowed its 

 channel. It was solemn to hear the voice of them 

 in the valleys below, now booming like thunder, now 

 with an angry cry/* 



It is the greatest rainfall in the world which pours 

 down in torrents upon the southern sides of the 

 Himalayas. At Cherra Punji five hundred and 

 twenty-three inches of rain fall annually, while in 

 an exceptional year eight hundred and five inches were 

 reported. The yearly rainfall in London is about 

 two feet ; at Cherra Punji it is forty feet, or enough 

 to float the largest man-of-war ; while in one year 

 sixty-seven feet of water once fell from the sky, or 

 sufficient to drown a high three- storied house. Just 

 imagine more than three feet of water falling in 

 June alone, when in a whole year here at home only 

 two feet fall ! 



When the rains began to set in we had thunder- 

 storms on a large scale. We, in the innocence of the 

 uninitiated, began by trying to time a peal of thunder, 

 but when it had lasted over half an hour, gave it up. 

 Storms were on all sides, one long, rolling peal crash- 

 ing and vibrating among the distant mountains for 

 hours. At night the lightning was extraordinary, 



