148 Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan, fyc. [Aug. 



of ridges and ravines which tended northward into the head valley 

 of the Karnali, and among which lie the ultimate sources of that 

 river ; and to the eastward I could see the Byans Himalaya receding 

 some way south-eastward, and close opposite to it a parallel snowy 

 range of equal height terminating in the great peak of Momonangli, 

 which seemed to be the loftiest of any in sight. The bed of the Kar- 

 nali that lies in the deep valley between these two ranges was conceal- 

 ed by deep shadows and obtruding shoulders of mountain. On the 

 extreme west I noticed some distant and very lofty looking peaks and 

 ridges of snow, but I attempted in vain to identify these and others in 

 eastern Byans with any of the known points of the snowy range as 

 seen from the southward, nor could my companions help me. The 

 northern face of the Himalaya thus seen from a commanding station, 

 though still much broken into ravines, peaks and ridges, exhibits a 

 much more gradual and flatter general declivity, with smoother and 

 rounder slopes than the vast rocky walls of the southern face, and a 

 much greater expanse of snow, which extends down to the limit of con- 

 gelation in a regular line, scarcely broken here and there by a few more 

 rocky prominences. The snow line was now, I suppose, between fif- 

 teen and sixteen thousand feet, much about the same as on the south 

 side ; a zone of one thousand feet or so must be allowed for the vari- 

 ation of the line according to the nature of the subordinate slopes, 

 their individual exposures, and degree of proximity to the open country 

 northward, in which direction the snow line appeared to me to be some- 

 what higher, as I before noticed at Bhawiti. The termination of the 

 Himalaya in the table-land is generally abrupt, and well defined, and 

 the transition to a new climate seems to be similarly well marked and 

 sudden. The great bulk and height of the mountainous range appears 

 to arrest the progress of the Indian rainy season, and to the northward 

 consequently, there is so little free moisture in the upper air, that snow 

 does not fall in sufficient quantities to withstand the heat of the sun 

 for many days together, at very considerable elevations : hence the line 

 of snow on the mountains that rise from the northern table-land is on 

 an average perhaps two or three thousand feet higher than on the 

 Indian Himalaya, though the atmospheric temperature on the former 

 may possibly be colder at equal heights. The lower plains of the table- 

 land which enjoy a good deal of bright sunshine are thus exempt from 



