1866.] Tableau of High Asia. 63 
ted plains of India are converted, wherever they touch the southern 
foot of the Himalaya, into swampy and marshy lands, called the Tarai, 
which in some parts form but a narrow strip or belt, whilst in others, 
as in Nepal, they attain a breadth of thirty to forty miles. The Tarai 
abounds with large and lofty forest trees. Owing to the swampy and 
malarious character of the Tarai, which skirts the extremities of the 
valleys, the neighbourhood is rendered as uninhabitable to the tribes 
of the Central Himalaya as to the highly susceptible and less seasoned 
visitor from European climes. Consequently (from all these reasons 
stated), in the inferior stratum of heights, ranging between 2,000 and 
3,000 ft., the number of places inhabited by the natives is compara- 
tively insignificant; while population reaches its maximum in the 
rich belt of life rising from 5,000 to 8,000 ft., the traces of man and 
his dwelling-place begin rapidly to disappear at 11,000 ft., and 
even before. 
The highest limits of habitation, however, very often present them- 
selves under a form which almost excludes the possibility of strictly 
comparing them as dependent upon climate. It is a remarkable fact, 
that in some provinces of the Himalaya, especially in Nepal, Kamaon, 
and Garhval, many villages are deserted in winter, though as far as 
regards their elevation and the solid construction of the houses, they 
might very well be inhabited throughout the year. The natives, how- 
ever, prefer removing to villages less elevated, where they spend the 
colder months. In the Himalaya west of Garlival, such modifications 
do not occur; at least we are not aware of the existence of villages in 
Simla, Kulu, Kishtvaér &c., where the inhabitants follow regularly 
the nomadic example furnished in other parts of the hill country. 
The Alps of Europe also present instances of this kind in Findelen 
(7,192 ft.), Bresily (6,594 ft.), and many other summer villages of 
greater or less elevation on the French side of the Alps. 
Western Tibet is a country of such general elevation, that only in 
the province of Balti villages are to be found below a height of 6,000 
dt. Some of the chief towns are built at considerable elevations ; 
Leh, the capital of Ladak, lies 11,527 ft. above the level of the sea. 
The highest permanently inhabited places are, however, Buddhist 
monasteries, the most elevated being probably that of Hanle, (15,117 
ft.), in Ladak. I state it positively as my conviction, that nowhere in 
