1866.] Tableau of High Asia. 57 



In Western Tibet \ where rains in the higher parts are rare, and 

 where the dryness in summer is so excessive that even the formation 

 of dew is scarcely perceptible, cold springs are comparatively rare. 

 In Turkistan, in Balti, and Hasora, we find a greater number of 

 springs, a fact intimately connected with the general meteorological 

 conditions of these provinces. 



With reference to the limit, at which springs are to be found still 

 in High Asia, I give the following data, derived from our own obser- 

 vations. The greatest height, at which we found a spring in the 

 Himalaya, was 15,920 ft. ; this spring was situated on the slopes of 

 the Kyungar pass. In Tibet, we discovered a real spring on the 

 slopes of the Ibi Gamin peak still at a height of 17,650 ft. ; this 

 spring is probably the highest spring hitherto found. 



As the highest spring in the Andes, Humboldt names the one 

 called "Ladera de Cadlud," at a height of 15,526 ft. above the level 

 of the sea ; in the Alps, Adolphe and Hermann have found the high- 

 est cold spring at 10,440 ft. 



Hot springs occur in High Asia in a surprisingly great number,* 

 from the sea-level up to heights of more than 16,000 ft. The highest 

 hot springs of High Asia are at Murgai, (16,382 ft.), in Niibia, at 

 Momai (about 16,000 ft.), in Sikkim, at Puga (15,264 ft.), in Ladak, 

 near the lake Aiukkio (15,010 ft.), in Turkistan, and at Chagrar 

 (about 15,000 ft.), in Pangkong. As a curious and remarkable fact I 

 may add, that the highest hot spring in India, at Hazaribagh, in 

 Bengal, is only 1,750 ft. above the level of the sea. 



The hottest spring of High Asia is at Manikarn (temp. 202° Faht.) 

 in Kulu (this is the hottest spring as yet found all over Asia), at 

 Jamnotri (temp. 193° Faht.) in Garhval, and at Chorkonda (temp. 

 190° Faht.) in Balti. The hottest springs of the world (if we 

 exclude those, which rise in the immediate neighbourhood of volca- 

 noes) are to be found in the Andes. There " Aguas de Comangillas," 

 near Chichemequillo and Quanaxuato, at a height of about 6,200 ft., 

 in latitude north 21°, show a temperature of 205°.3 Faht. ;f and the 

 springs " Las Trincheras" between Porto Cabello and Valencias, in 



* See the " Enumeration of the hot springs of India and High Asia, given 

 by me in As. Soc. Journal, 1864, No, I., p. 49. 



t Humboldt's " Essai pratique sur la Nouvelle Espagne." 2nd Ed., Vol. III. 

 (1827), p. 190. 



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