228 Memoranda on the Peshawur Valley. [| No. 3, 
I have noted upwards of 40° F. of range in one day (March, 1857,) 
near Peshawur. For Umballa, in January, Edgeworth gives the 
diurnal mean variation as 24° 29 FE’. and the extreme diurnal range 
as 35° F. 
At Peshawur, spring commences early in February, when the 
willow begins to bud, and in March most of the trees are again in 
full leaf. After this the temperature rises rapidly, and the summer 
heat, especially in July, is most oppressive and sultry, though tew- 
pered in that month by frequent dust-storms, often followed by 
showers. Mirage is in the hot season, a not uncommon phenomenon, 
and I have repeatedly seen it simulate lakes, trees and houses, where 
in reality there only existed a parched, baked soil, with here and there 
a straggling bush, and a bit of mud wall, or a few stones. 
In August, autumn fairly sets in, the leaves of the trees getting 
brown and beginning to fall; in that month most of the willows, &c. 
become bare; and during September, when the marsh at Peshawur 
is probably at ebb, many of the aquatic plants common in it 
(Nelumbium, Typha, Sagittaria, Alisma, and many Cyperacez) have 
fruited and dried up. 
After September the temperature rapidly diminishes for three 
months, and slight earthquakes are occasionally felt up to April. 
Although I have never seen snow fall im the valley during a residence 
there of the greater part of five winters, yet I think that slight falls 
of snow on the plain, are authenticated on at least two different occa- 
sions within the last few years, when, however, it remained unmelted 
for only a very short time. In each winter there are generally 
repeated falls of snow on those hills surrounding the valley, which 
reach to more than 3000 feet above the sea; and on the higher hills 
towards the north-west (Tartarra, over the Khaiber Pass, within 25 
miles of Peshawur, is 7000 feet) snow is frequently seen for many 
days together ; while on the still loftier inner ranges visible, it lies for 
many weeks at various times from the middle of November till the 
middle of May. 
Barometer.—The following table shews the average barometrical 
variations calculated from four daily observations for most of the 
months of 1859-60, and the whole of 1861. 
