1849.] excursion from Darjiling to TongU, 429 



well in March to April and May, if they are only carefully coaxed 

 through the previous hot and damp season, which is, in respect to the 

 functions of flowering and fruiting, their winter. 



Hence it appears that, though some English fruits will turn the 

 winter solstice of India (November to May) into summer, and then 

 flower and fruit ; neither these nor others will accept the summer of 

 7000 feet on the Himalaya, though its temperature so nearly ap- 

 proaches that of England, as a compensation for the accumulated evils 

 of its excessive rains and fogs. Further, they are often exposed to a 

 winter's cold no less rigorous than the average of that of London, the 

 snow lying for a week on the ground, and the thermometer descending 

 to 25°. It is true that in no case is the extreme of cold so great here 

 as in England, but it is sufficient to check vegetation, and to prevent 

 fruit trees flowering till they are fruiting, in the plains. There is a great 

 difference herein between the climate of the central, and eastern and 

 western Himalaya, at equal elevations. There the winters are colder 

 and more comfortless than in Sikkim. The summer warmer and less 

 humid. The rainy season is shorter and the sun shines so much more 

 frequently through the heavier showers, that the apple and other fruits 

 are brought to a much better state. It is true that the rain guage 

 shews a greater fall there, but this is no measure of the humidity of the 

 atmosphere, or still less of the amount of the sun's direct light and 

 heat intercepted by aqueous vapor. It takes no account of the quanti- 

 ty of moisture suspended in the air, nor of the depositions from fogs, 

 which are far more fatal to the perfecting of fruits, than the heaviest 

 brief showers. 



In the valley of Nepal, Mr. Hodgson informs me, that at 4000 

 feet the apple, though flavorless, ripens well and is a good fruit, as are 

 two varieties of the European fig, but these follow the seasons they do 

 in the plains, the winters being so mild that snow is hardly ever seen, 

 and never lies on the ground. There however the plantain and mango 

 do not ripen, nor the orange always. It is too warm for gooseberries, 

 currants and raspberries, and too rainy for the vine. Apricots may be 

 produced with care, but hardly peaches. 



The Indian solstices, which are marked by one season of excessive 

 drought, and the other of excessive humidity, can never be favorable 

 to a copious fruit market. The obstacles to the produce of good Euro- 



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