1866.] Tableau of High Asia. 69 
the worse upon the feelings. As this was a phenomenon we had not 
hitherto found mentioned by former observers, we directed our parti- 
cular attention to it, and remarked instances where fatigue had abso- 
lutely nothing to do with it. In the plateaux of the Karakorim, it 
was a common occurrence, even for the sleepers in the tents, where 
they might be considered as somewhat protected, to be waked up in 
the night with a heavy feeling of oppression, the entire disturbance 
being traceable to a breeze, which had sprung up during the hours of 
rest. 
The effects of diminished atmospheric pressure are considerably 
aggravated by fatigue. It is surprising to what a degree it is possi- 
ble for exhaustion to supervene; even the act of speaking is felt to be 
a labour, and one gets as careless of comfort as of danger. 
VI. lLamits oF VEGETATION AND ANIMAL LIFR, 
1. Vegetation. 
In India, the vegetation is not limited by climate in the elevations 
existing ; the highest peaks, as the Dodabétta (8,640 ft.), in the Nil- 
giris, the most elevated plateaux are covered with trees, shrubs, and 
in fact a luxurious vegetation, not only along their slopes, but even 
on their top. 
In the Himdlaya, trees grow very generally up to heights of 11,800 
ft., and in most parts there are extensive forests covering the sides of 
the mountains at but a little distance below this limit. Those forests 
ave especially beautiful in the higher valleys of Kaméon and Garhval, 
in the Bhagirathi valley. 
In Western Tibet, though we did traverse it in various directions, 
none of us found anything at all corresponding to a forest. Apricot 
trees, willows, and poplars are frequently cultivated on a large scale: 
poplars, indeed, are found at Mangnang, in Gnéri Khorsum, still at 
a height of 13,457 ft.; but they are the objects of the greatest care 
and attention to the Lamas. 
Th the Kimliin, we found the trees on its northern side not to grow 
above 9,100 ft. On the northern side, we saw no trees at all; here 
the considerable height of the valleys we passed excluded them. 
In the Andes, trees end at about 12,130 ft.; in the Alps on an aver- 
age at 6,400 ft., isolated specimens occurring, however, above 7,000 ft- 
