OBSERVATIONS ON HIMALAYAN CONIFERS. 



243 



grasses and herbaceous plants prefer it ; and where the general 

 surface of a mountain is destitute of forest, we may perceive the 

 trees stealing a considerable way up the ravines, where they are 

 sheltered from sun and wind. On our own S.W. coasts trees 

 cannot be reared unless protected from the frequent S.W. gales 

 by a wall or fence ; and no sooner is this overtopped than their 

 heads are cut back obliquely, as smoothly and regularly as if 

 clipped with shears. 



Dr. Griffith repeatedly observed the nakedness of southern and 

 the woodiness of northern aspects in Bhotan and Afghanistan. 

 He says {Journals of Travels, p. 292) — " This is contrary to 

 what usually happens ; the south face of mountains being sup- 

 posed to be better wooded than the others ; but in Bhotan the 

 difference would seem to be due to the piercing winds blowing 

 from south or up the ravine of the Teemboo," and again, " the 

 most marked peculiarity is the comparative absence of Abies 

 densa ( Webbiand) on the east side of the mountain, and its ex- 

 cessive abundance on the west," an observation equally true of 

 the whole British Himalaya. However, in Afghanistan he found 

 the phenomena to be exactly similar ; " the opposite side of the 

 Tezeen valley is seen, and the summit of the Sufed Koh : here, 

 wonderful to relate, are abundance of firs, extending down and 

 along the ridge to some distance, but not forming forests." From 

 Soorkhab, looking south, " a fine view of Sufed Koh is obtained, 

 the lower ranges in some places being black with firs," pp. 411, 

 414, which from 457, 464, &c, appear to consist of P. longifolia 

 and Gerardiana, with Cedrus Deodara. Finally, at Pushut, 

 " the mountains to the south are well wooded, the woods occur- 

 ring here and there in forests," p. 436. Sir Alexander Burnes 

 and other travellers have remarked the aridity of the Himalayan 

 ranges as seen from Kabul, &c. ; but had they been viewed from 

 the north instead of the south, the impression would perhaps have 

 been much modified. ColonelJack (JDarjeeling Guide for 1845, 

 p. 170) concludes that- — " forest grows more profusely on north- 

 ern aspects, owing to the fact that the moisture on northern 

 aspects is protected from evaporation in a greater degree than 

 on the southern." We may recollect also, that the axis of the 

 Himalaya having a N.W. and S.E. direction, the great spurs are 

 thrown off to S.W., with their eastern faces fronting S.E., and 

 therefore more exposed to the sun's rays than the opposite ones. 

 Long, too, before the sun has attained the meridian, so as to 

 shine on the latter, the diurnal breeze sets in, and prevents their 

 surfaces from becoming equally heated with the S.E. exposures. 

 Dr. Hooker also remarks to me, that the S.E. is a very strong 

 and drying wind ; and writes of the Sikhim Himalaya, — " the 

 western faces I found much more snowed than the eastern at 



