238 Notes on Moorcroft's Travels in Ladakh, [No. 148. 



The winter (in Kunawar) is often rigorous. The winds blow 

 with the greatest violence in October, and later in the year. Their 

 direction is of- course influenced by the valleys, but on peaks upwards 

 of 20,000, and at heights of 16,000, the winds were always W. or S. 

 W.**— Gerard, p. 62. 



In the Hungrung, district (of Kunawar,) with the exception of 

 March and April, in which months there are a few showers, the uni- 

 form report of the inhabitants represents the rest of the year to be al- 

 most perpetual sunshine, the few clouds hang about the highest moun- 

 tains, and a heavy fall of snow or rain is almost unknown. The depth 

 of snow is usually a foot, and two are very rare. — Gerard, p. 95. 



At Changgo in Hangrang, about 10,000 feet above the sea, the ther- 

 mometer at day-break on the 15th December J 841, was 6° below 

 zero. At Churet on the Para, 16 miles above Changgo, and above 

 12,000 feet above the sea, the thermometer was 13° below zero on the 

 17th December at day-break, and it never fell lower during my resi- 

 dence there, that is, until the 11th February 1842. It was, however, 

 very often below zero, as for instance, at day-break, on December 25th 

 1841, it was minus 12°, and on February 6th 1842, it was minus 6°. 

 At Churet during January, the thermometer, so suspended that the 

 sun's rays played freely on the bulb, varied from 50' to 58° when 

 highest. Churet is at the bottom of a deep and narrow valley. 



In the Hangrang and surrounding districts, in 1841, snow com- 

 menced regularly on the 27th November. From that date until the 

 end of February 1842, it snowed more or less heavily, and nearly all 

 day and night, for 39 days ; it was cloudy or hazy, and snowing on the 

 heights for 34 days, leaving 21 fine clear days only out of 94. The 

 days of heavy snow were days of comparative warmth, the thermome- 

 ter being 20° or 25° at day-break. The snow where not drifted, did 

 not any where exceed 2^ feet. 



At Shalkan on the Pitti river, about 10,500 feet above the sea, the 

 thermometer in June, July, and August 1842, may be said to have 

 ranged at sun-rise from 45° to 55°, and at sun-set from 60° to 70°. 

 The temperature of the air when warmest was in the shade about 

 85°. On two or three occasions particular circumstances raised the 

 mercury above, or depressed it below, the mean figures I have 

 given. 



