Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/750

 732 HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS though this feature on the S. side of the In- dian mountains may be obscured by the effect of rapid and excessive drainage. The state- ments as to the relative amount and duration of the snow upon the N. and S. slopes of the chain have led to much controversy. The au- thorities generally concur in representing that milder temperatures prevail upon the N. side than at corresponding heights on the opposite side. The two Gerards place the line of per- petual snow on the S. side at 12,981 ft., and on the N. at 16,620. Lieut. Strachey, extend- ing his observations over a district between Ion. 77 and 81, where heights covered with perpetual snow are found over a belt of 35 m. in width between lat. 30 and 32, concluded that the snow line on the Thibetan side is 18,- 500 ft. above the sea, and on the Indian side 15,500. On the S. slope grain is cultivated with difficulty at 10,000 ft., while on the other side good crops are raised at 16,000 ft. It grows even at 18,544 ft., as seen by Oapt. Ge- rard. This is more than 1,200 ft. higher than the snow line in the equatorial Andes. The belt constituting the watershed is described as excessively cold, bleak, and dreary, but in great part free from snow. This is no doubt owing to the rain clouds being deprived of their moisture as they are swept from the bay of Bengal over the secondary ridges, upon which it is in part precipitated in rain and the remainder in snow upon the higher peaks. But the cause of the milder temperature is not so obvious. The highest peaks are not found along the line of highest mean elevation, but for the most part they are S. of it, rising in scattered groups from the secondary ridges. Of several of these groups E. of Sikkim little is known, except that as seen from a distance they appear to reach heights of 23,000 to 25,- 000 ft., or perhaps more. North of Sikkim is a noted group of immense peaks, among which stands preeminent Kintchinjunga, 28,156 ft. (Petermann), or 28,178 ft. (Hooker), in lat. 27 42', Ion. 88 11'; and one degree further east Chumulari, 23,946 ft. (P.), or 23,929 ft. (H.). Upon the same parallel, in Ion. 85 58', stands Mt. Everest, believed to be the highest summit on the globe, having, according to the survey of Col. Andrew Waugh, an altitude of 29,002 ft. Its English appellation is derived from the name of a distinguished officer of the Indian survey. In the Nepaulese its name is Gauri- sankar; by the people of Thibet it is called Chingofanmari. Mr. Hodgson had incorrectly given to it the name Deodnnga or Deodhunga, which was that of a peak near by of compara- tively small elevation. Dhawalagiri, in lat. 28 42', Ion. 83 32', formerly estimated at 28,000 ft, is rated by Col. Waugh at 26,826. From the W. extremity of Nepaul to the pas- sage of the Indus through the chain, no fewer than 50 peaks are enumerated, the heights of which range between 19,500 and 25,749 ft, which latter is the height of Nanda Devi in Kumaon, drawn by Heber as a snowy spire, its sides sloping at an angle of 70 with the horizon, and rising far above the similarly snow-clad summits around. Every 12th year the natives make a pilgrimage to this moun- tain, and the few who succeed in reaching the spot hold a religious festival at a point below the inaccessible summit. The mean height of the central portion along the western Hima- laya is estimated at 20,000 ft. ; and the passes sometimes cross at heights of 18,000 to 19,000 ft. The lakes occurring in the Himalaya are few in number, and not of very great extent; the only important ones are on the N. side of the axis, and are the sources of the branches of the Indus, Sutlej, and Sanpo. Some of these are salt. The largest are from 20 to 30 m. in length. The Wullur lake in Cashmere, 5,000 ft. above the sea, is a sheet of water 21 in. long E. and W., and 9 m. broad, formed by the spreading out of the river Jhylum, the only instance on the whole range of a river thus expanding into a lake. The rivers are fed during the summer by copious rains brought up by the S. E. monsoons, which sweep over the bay of Bengal, and, reaching the eastern Himalaya in April, gradually progress west- ward. The whole S. side of the chain by midsummer is enveloped in clouds and mists. In September they begin to clear off in the western divisions, but in the eastern the rains are not over till October or November. In the winter an upper current of S. W. winds brings new supplies of moisture, which falls in snow upon the higher mountains, and there is in the more humid provinces a short rainy season about the close of the year. The outer ranges receive the most of the rain. Dr. Hooker estimates the fall in Sikkim to amount to 120 in. in the year at 7,000 ft. elevation, and to gradually decrease to 10 in. at 19,000 ft. The river courses to the S. are thus much larger and more numerous than those upon the N. side of the chain. In their upper por- tions their descent is comparatively gentle, but further down they run with great rapidity, and generally in deep and almost inaccessible ravines ; yet they rarely form cascades of any grandeur. Fish of the carp kind abound in them from the plains to 15,000 ft. elevation, except at heights between 5,000 and 10,000 ft. Those of eastern Thibet especially swarm with fish at elevations from 10,000 to 14,000 ft. Glaciers are numerous in the more ele- vated portions of the mountains, but are wasted away before they reach the lower val- leys. Deposits of bowlders and extensive mo- raines, found in all the valleys at heights ex- ceeding 8,000 or 9,000 ft, indicate that the glaciers formerly reached 6,000 ft. below their present limits. Volcanoes are entirely want- ing throughout the range, and there are no evidences of extinct ones. Hot springs are frequently met with at heights from 10,000 to 18,000 ft., their temperature ranging from 100 to 130 F. The geological formations through the most elevated portions of the range are