SPITI VALLEY, &c. 245 



early part of October, at permanently inhabited spots, the thermometer 

 usually pointed between 14° and 16°, once 12", in a hollow surrounded 

 by dead sand hills, and five thousand feet below the level of the eternal 

 snow ; thus giving- a frightful presage of their winter, against which 

 the people are, however, well provided through the Sun's unintercepted 

 rays and their comfortable houses, their clothing, and even their food ; but 

 fuel is so sparingly procured, that during the day a fire is rarely to be 

 seen, though always at command amongst people who, enslaved to tobacco- 

 smoking, are individually accoutred with flint and steel, and the furse so 

 dry and brittle as to ignite even when growing. 



Animals of every description derive a woolly covering from the 

 effects of their arid climate. The yak, the dog, and even the horse, 

 all partake of this provision of nature, but the human race in this 

 respect is more defenceless than in other Asiatic countries, being denied 

 all beard, while their black bushy heads seem to be insensible to the 

 Thermal changes. The Liimds or Priesthood are, by their creed, always 

 uncovered, and their black hair being thick set and closely cropped, 

 give them a frightful appearance, like Banditti. There is a characteristic 

 aspect here in every thing, which betrays a foreign influence. From 

 the soil to the skies the whole is new to the eye and strange to the 

 feelings. In animal life, this is peculiarly displayed in the shawl goat, 

 the yak, and a species of sheep ; and to the dryness of the climate more 

 than to its rigors is owing the singular physiognomy of the landscape. 

 The^silky softness of the goat's fleece, and even its existence, depends upon 

 the arid air and vegetation ; all attempts to naturalize it even in adja- 

 cent tracts, however cold, have t'aiKnl, and must continue to fail even upon 

 a more precise principle lhaii lliai which rc'j;iilates the luiuralioii of j)lants, 

 for it is not heat but moisture that i> here ininiical, and both are coiubincd 

 immediately on passim;- tlu^ snowy crest towards India. In tli( ir own 

 country, their only pasturage is tufts ol' spiked ^lauuna, so brown as to 



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