THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT. Ill 



the least, 180-18 inches, in 1838 ; and nearly the whole of this enormous quantity 

 falls in the four months of June, July, August, and September, during the pre- 

 valence of the South-west monsoon. The greatest daily fall was 13-06 inches ; 

 and the greatest monthly fall, 134-42 inches, in July, 1840.] 



" Mr Miller, in his ' Meteorology of the English Lake District,' has adduced 

 sufficient evidence to prove that the same law, if it be a law, obtains in England 

 in mountainous districts, but Mr Miller's elevation of maximum fall is about 

 2000 feet instead of 4500, as in India. The difference no doubt results from the 

 differences of latitude and consequent mean temperature, and would indicate that 

 the stratum of vapour supplying the maximum quantity of rain floats at a less 

 height beyond the tropics than within them." 



In commenting upon the difference in the receipts of two Pluviometers — one 

 placed near the ground, and the other above the dome of the Observatory at 

 Bombay — Colonel Sykes further remarks : — 



" These results therefore are in accordance with Professor Phillips's and Mr 

 Miller's observations, taken at limited heights, but entirely antagonistic to Mr 

 Miller's own observations and those I have supplied in this paper from India, 

 for heights exceeding a few hundred feet. The supposed law may hold good for 

 small differences in elevation on the plains, but that law is reversed in mountain- 

 ous districts." 



On comparing the above Tables with those for the English Lake District, it 

 will be perceived that the downfall of rain at Seathwaite and its adjacent moun- 

 tain stations* exceeds the annual receipts at most of the stations in the peninsula 

 of India, both in the plain, and at moderate and extreme elevations on the 

 mountain ranges, the excess in the tropical region being chiefly at Mahabulesh- 

 wur, Mercara, and Uttray Mullay, which, although differing greatly in lati- 

 tude, lie nearly on the same meridian, and are all the same elevation of 4500 

 feet above the sea. 



In the mountain valleys of our Lake District, the greatest deposit of rain is 

 always found at the head or Eastern extremity of the dale, because the vapour 

 on arriving there is further obstructed and confined by the high mountains sur- 

 rounding it, and, being dashed against their cold rocky sides, increased decompo- 

 sition ensues ; and, as the remaining vapour can only escape by slowly climbing 

 over the tops, ere the transition or deportation is effected, fresh vapour rushes 

 in to supply the vacuum produced by condensation ; and the precipitation is not 

 only rapid but continuous, so long as the warm saturated current continues to 

 flow up or into the valley from the Western Ocean.f In like manner, more rain is 



* The average fall of rain at Seathwaite for 9 years, is 144 inches, and on the Stye or Sprink- 

 ling Fell for 4 years, 159 inches. 



\ Seathwaite, from its position at the head or terminus of the Southern fork of Borrowdale, 

 which is environed by the lofty mountains, Great Gabel, Grlaramara, and Sprinkling Fell, is very 

 favourably situated for the retention and exhaustion of the Rain-cloud. But, it is probably to the 



