1878.] R. Lydekker— Great Snow-fall in Kashmir. 177 



XIV. — Great Snow-fall in Kashmir. — By E. Lydekkeb, B. A. 



Among the inhabitants of the Kashmir Himalaya, the winter and 

 spring of 1877-78 will long be memorable on account of the enormous 

 quantity of snow which then fell on their mountains and valleys, and still 

 more on account of the grievous famine which followed this excessive snow- 

 fall. So excessive indeed was this snow-fall, that no tradition or record 

 exists even among the oldest inhabitants of anything approaching to such 

 a fall. I have therefore thought that a short account of this abnormal 

 snow-fall, and of the destruction inflicted by it on the indigenous animal 

 life, might be thought not unworthy of a place in the records of the Asiatic 

 Society, and have accordingly put together the following notes : 



Early in the month of October 1877, snow commenced to fall in the 

 valley and mountains of Kashmir, and from that time up to May 1878, 

 there seems to have been an almost incessant snow-fall on the higher moun- 

 tains and valleys ; the inhabitants have indeed informed me that in places it 

 frequently snowed without intermission for upwards of ten days at a time. 

 It is extremely difficult to obtain from the natives any correct estimate as 

 to the amount of snow which fell in any place ; but at Dras, which has an 

 elevation of about 10,000 feet, I estimated the snow-fall from the native 

 account as having been from 30 to 40 feet thick on the level. 



The effects of this enormous snow-fall are to be seen throughout the 

 country. At Dras, the well-built travellers' bungalow, which had stood, 

 I believe, some thirty years, was entirely crushed down by the weight of the 

 snow which fell on it. In almost every village in the neighbouring moun- 

 tains more or less of the log-houses have likewise fallen ; while at Gulmarg 

 and Sonamarg, where no attempt was made to remove the snow, almost all 

 of the huts of the European visitors have been utterly broken down by the 

 snow. 



In the higher mountains, whole hill-sides have been denuded of vege- 

 tation and soil by the enormous avalanches which have swept down them, 

 leaving vast gaps in the primaeval forests and choking the valleys below with 

 the debris of rocks and trees. 



As an instance of the amount of snow which must have fallen on the 

 higher levels, we will take the Zogi-pass, leading from Kashmir to Dras, 

 which has an elevation of 11,300 feet. I crossed this pass early in August 

 last, and I then found that the whole of the ravine leading up to the pass 

 from the Kashmir side was still filled with snow, which I estimated in places 

 to be at least 150 feet thick. The road at that time was carried over the 

 snow up the middle of the ravine ; the true road which runs along one 

 bank of the ravine being still entirely concealed by snow. It seemed to me 



