1850.] Notes about Winds, Storms fyc. in Thibet. 4b7 



Answers to Mr. Piddington' s Query about Winds, Storms fyc. in 



Thibet, by A. Campbell. Esq. M. B., Superintendent of Darjeeling. 



To the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta. 



Darjeeling, Oct. 1st, 1850. 



Dear Sir, — In the third number of the Journal for 1850, there is 

 a Memorandum, by Mr. Piddington, on the storms of wind experienced 

 in Tartary, with a series of questions regarding them, to which he 

 wished to have had replies from the late Thibet Mission. 



The replies, if procured by the mission, have not been published. 

 The mission however made its observations in Western Thibet only, 

 having been foiled in its Eastern progress. It will therefore be the 

 less necessary to apologize for intruding on the Society with a few 

 imperfect replies to those questions, having reference to Eastern Thibet, 

 the Southern out-skirt of which I visited last October, in company 

 with my friend Dr. Hooker. The following replies are a running 

 answer in regular sequence to as many of the 37 questions of Mr. 

 Piddington as I have notes or other means of dealing with. The 

 person alluded to as my informant, and who experienced a severe storm 

 in Thibet, is a Bhotia friend of mine, who accompanied Dr. Hooker and 

 myself on our journey, and is a very credible person. It was at 

 Dochen, 32 miles from Phari*, that he encountered the gale, and the 

 date of its commencement was the 7th of Magh, Samvat, 1903. Janu- 

 ary 19th, A. D. 1847. 



The portion of Thibet to which the replies refer, is composed of two 

 extensive provinces and the trans-Himalayan tract of Dingcham ; viz. 

 "U" or "Oo," and " Chang," in some maps put down unitedly as 

 U-Chang, in others as Utsang. "Oo" is the Eastern Province, with 

 Lassa as its principal city. " Chang" the Northern and Western one, 

 with Digarchi and Giangtchi as its principal towns. The mean eleva- 

 tion of these provinces is unknown. The cultivated portions may be 

 14,000 feet, for at 16,000 feet in Dingcham, wheat does not ripen. 

 The district or tract named Dingcham lies along the Northern aspect 

 of the Himalaya, extending from Tawang on the East, to the Meridian 

 of Jumla on the West, an extent of 360 miles or thereabouts. It 

 comprises Phari, Dochen, the Ramchu Lakes from which the Painom 

 river rises, Bumtso, Gerre, Kambajong, Dobta, Sareh, and the Tingri 

 * For these places see Route to Lassa, J. A. S. for 1848. 



