1849.] On the Snow -line in the Himalaya. 305 



above the Tartarian plateau. But- this, as may have been inferred from 

 what I have already said on the state of the three ranges that are cross- 

 ed in succession between Milam and Tibet, is quite a mistake ; the fact 

 being that the greater elevation is observed on the Tibetan face in 

 common with the whole oT the more northern part of the chain. From 

 the remarks before made on the state in which I found the Barj-kang 

 pass, it will be seen that even so near as it is to the southern limit of the 

 belt of perpetual snow, a perceptible increase of elevation had already 

 taken place. M. Jacquemont, as quoted by M. Humboldt, says, " Les 

 neiges perpetuelles descendent plus bas sur la pente meridionale de 

 P Himalaya, que sur les pentes septentrionales, et leur limite s'eleve 

 constamment a mesure que P on s'eloignevers le nord de la chaine qui 

 borde PInde." (Asie Centrale, T. 3. p. 303.) With the proviso that 

 the rise here spoken of is not regular, but more rapid as we cross the 

 first great masses of perpetual snow, I entirely concur in M. Jacque- 

 mont' s way of putting the case. 



That the radiation from the Plains of Tibet can have nothing to do 

 with the greater height to which the snow-line recedes generally in the 

 northern part of the Himalaya, is evident, for it must be all intercepted 

 by the outer face of the chain ; and that its effects even on this outer 

 face are of a secondary order, seems to me sufficiently proved by the 

 consideration, that on the Balch range, which rises immediately from 

 those plains, what little snow is to be seen is on the Northern slope 

 exposed to the radiation, while none whatever remains on the Southern 

 slope, which is quite protected from it, exactly as is the case with every 

 mountain anywhere. 



It may therefore be concluded that some other influence must be in 

 operation, the effects of which are generally felt over the whole of the 

 more northern parts of the Himalaya, and such an influence is I 

 conceive readily to be found, in the diminished quantity of snow that 

 falls on the northern, as compared to the southern part of the chain. 



The comparative dryness of the climate to the north of the first great 

 mass of snowy mountains, is not now noticed for the first time ; it is 

 indeed notorious to the inhabitants of Simla, and travellers often so 

 into Kunawar with the express object of avoiding the rains. Capt. 

 Gerard thus describes the climate of the western part of the Himalaya : 

 " In the interior (i. e. of Kunawar) at 9000 and 10,000 feet snow is 



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