316 Languages of the various tribes inhabiting the [April, 



snow in this portion of the Himalaya, is at an elevation of 15,500 feet, 

 while on the northern edge it reaches 18,500 ft. ; and that on the 

 mountains to the north of the Sutlej, or still farther, recedes even beyond 

 19,000 feet. The greater elevation which the snow-line attains on the 

 northern edge of the belt of perpetual snow, is a phaenomenon not 

 confined to the Tibetan declivity alone, but extending far into the inte_ 

 rior of the chain ; and it appears to be chiefly caused by the quantity 

 of snow that falls on the northern portion of the mountains, being 

 much less than that which falls further to the south, along the line 

 where the peaks covered with perpetual snow first rise above the less 

 elevated ranges of the Himalaya. 



Notes on the Languages spoken by the various tribes inhabiting the 

 valley of As am and its mountain confines. By William Robinson, 

 Inspector of Government Schools in Asam. 



(Concluded from page 237.) 



PART II. 



Our subsequent remarks, according to previous division, will have 

 reference to the second great class or group of languages. These are 

 spoken on the southern confines of the valley, and appear, more inti- 

 mately than any of those already examined, to be connected with the 

 great Chinese Stock. 



A striking peculiarity in them all is, the absence of inflections, which 

 to the classic reader appear almost essential to the existence of human 

 speech. That this deficiency is opposed to the formation of long and 

 sonorous words, is certain, for it is chiefly to the numerous and varied 

 inflections employed by the Greeks, for instance, we are to attribute 

 their ability to produce that full and majestic volume of sound which 

 so peculiarly distinguishes their language. Rut among rude and semi- 

 barbarous tribes remarkable for their comparative taciturnity and pre- 

 ference of plain sense over the flowers of oratory, such deficiencies it 

 may be supposed are unimportant ; especially when we consider that 

 among the languages of the Western nations our own comes nearest to 

 the Chinese stock in this respect ; the utmost number of variations 

 which an English verb undergoes never exceeding seven. 



