156 ' STATISTICAL SKETCH 



latter are thick, it remains many months. It may, in most years, be found on 

 the summit of the Ghagar range, between Almora and the plains, so late as 

 the middle of May. 



:: No month in the year is without rain : the periodical season for 

 its fall is from the middle of September, and there usually occur five 

 or six days of continued rain in the end of February,^ or beginning of 

 March. During the remainder of the year, it is partial and uncertain. In 

 April and May, the rain is usually attended with violent storms of thunder 

 and of hail. From the result of observations made with a pluviameter at 

 Haml Bagh, it may be assumed that, one year with another, the average quan- 

 tity of rain in the twelve months, is between forty and fifty inches. Thunder 

 is frequent and always loud j buildings are often struck, and lives occasion- 

 ally destroyed by lightning. 



The soil on the ridges and sides of the mountains is generally poor and 

 stony, while the depth of earth is seldom great, and rock is commonly to be 

 met with at a few feet from the surface : in such situations, therefore, the aid 

 of frequent supplies of manure is required to renew the fertility of the land. 



In the valleys, which consist almost wholly of alluvial soil, deposited by the 

 rivers, or washed down from the mountains by the rains, the land is tolerably 

 productive, though not to be compared with that in the Tarai or the plains. 



Among the trees, the most numerous are the pines, affording eight varie« 

 ties, some of them remarkable for their size and qualities. The oak also 

 offers six or seven species, all differing from the Europe oak, with the excep- 

 tion'of the ilex, which is similar. To these may be added therhododendron, 

 two sorts, white and red, horse chesnut, toon, &c., an endless variety, some 

 common to the plains, and others peculiar to the hills. The fruit trees include 



