TIBET. 
207 
Vesuvius, according to M. de Saussure, 3900 feet; Etna, 10,036 
feet; Monte Velino, one of the Appennines, 8397 feet. In Owhyhee, 
(latitude 18° 54' to 20° north) the summit of the highest mountain, 
Mouna Kaah, in March was constantly buried in snow. The altitude 
of the Cordeliers, according to M. de Condamine, or tropical line of 
snow, is computed at 16,020 feet; the* Peak of Teneriffe, or Pico de 
Teyde, according to Dr. Heberden, 15,396 feet; the mountain Gemmi, • 
in the canton of Berne, 10,110 feet; Chimberazzo, the most elevated 
point of the Andes, 20,280 feet. The line of congelation of Chimbe¬ 
razzo, or that part of the mountain which is covered perpetually with 
snow, is no less than 2400 feet from its summit. 
Near our encampment at Teuna, which was distant full fourteen 
miles from Phari, was a small inclosure of green wheat, which had just 
strength enough to give out its ear, but which I was told would pro¬ 
ceed no further; for that the cold is too intense, both here and at Phari, 
to admit its ripening; and that it is cultivated merely as forage for 
cattle, when the plains become bare of grass, and they are hindered 
from going abroad, during the depth of the winter. The periodical 
rains give birth to a little herbage, whose growth stops immediately as 
they cease; from the extreme dryness of the air, the grass then begins 
to wither, and at this time it may be' crumbled between the fingers into 
dust: yet large droves of cattle are fed in this neighbourhood ; for 
though the pasture be short and dry, it is esteemed singularly sweet 
and nutritive. Animals ranging in a state of nature, are found to prefer 
it, to the more exuberant herbage of milder climates. 
These plains, as well as the adjacent mountains, are frequented by 
