At the :end of the next day’s journey, we.came, tódtfae source :of a
riVer, which ran towards the north, near, which-we travelled; att the way
to'its iconfluerieerwith the Berhampooter,. a little beyondTeshoo Loom-
boo." The Berhampootenthere flows in a very widely extended.bed, and
phssés ony shaping its course to the south of Lassa; it afterwards takes
a'vast circuit through the mountains on the borders', of Tibet y before
it enters the kingdom of Assam, and finally joins thé Ganges, in Bengal.
These great1 rivers, when united, take together the name of Megnav
ahd flow but a short ^distance, before they^dhfüe^Jnto hsaftmendijte
streams, that intersect the territory, which, is called the Sunderbünds,
in a most intricateJabyrinth, and then finally mix their waterswith the’
sea. The prodigious difference of climate affords, also’f strong testitnflny
to the. truth of my assertion, respecting the- height of this part mm
Tibet. Perpetual winter may be said to reign at Phari; Chumularee
is for ever clothed with snow; and this mountain, from*its remarkable
form, leaves - no room to doubt its being the same, which: I havé
heard described as occasionally visible from Purnea and Rajemahl;
and which I once saw, before I set out from Rungpore upon my present
journey. I had not the means to ascertain its elevation; but some infe^
rence may, perhaps, be drawn from analogy. We hear, that on Mount
Lebanon in Syria, snow does not remain through the whole year, except
in the highest cavities. Now it is well known that snow, under these
circumstances, in that latitude (34° 30' north), requires -an elevation of
1500 or.160 0 fathoms above, the level of-the sea. The loftiest of the
Alps, which is Mount Blanc, is estimated at 2,400; the Peak of Ossian,
in the Pyrenees, is said to be 1900 fathoms above the level of the sea ;
Vesuvius^ ^Gerd(ing,,tQ M. deyS%ussP|e;v'39J!0O'„1feet’; Etna,- i0'i0j}i&i
feet.;,(Monte■ Velinqf one^bldibe Apptnmnes,, tU97? fue,t* In (iwh> heoj
fedtode i t(a,.*20-°i.TOftrth’l tfrqj summit:.ofithe.’hi^hesMmountain>
'Mouna Kaah, in March was roustantfydjuried in snow.. The altitude
of ffref, Gordeliers,( according tosM. dei<3jbnd(amine,‘'or tropic alts lines of
sggjy.i is computed, at. 16.02,€l:fgfttf ■ the Pe.ak 'of .Teneriff^, ot ,1’ifco ,'dc.
Tey.de, according,to Dr. Heb^t^emJS'j^^M^^fheinni^tajfluiGemmi,)
in. the,cantprito£BefnejjlO,MO.fe^t; Ghimbu i//o ihd.nuosthdev itedf,
point, of the j'jgp^O ^et.j Thei]inc;oji.6^g^lsbii;<;)f (-ihimlie-i
razyn, or. that partjof the.mouptaji^which i,Sfc<^eiqj^pcipitii;i'lfy wiihi
snqw, is no- less -than 24Qj>, feetTrom its symrnifr t
,(^eaE(pur. encampment .at Teuna; which vy;asadistafrfca fuff foutteen.
mifesrftpm,PhatL was a small inclos prefofgreen wheats whidfry^ad .just
strength enough,,tp gijve outfits ear, but m hiohjl 4w as^tofc. woufiiquo-..
ceed^&rther; for that.the-cold is tpo^inteps^bothdi|^,an4 ai ||p |iy
tp admit its.ti'pegpag-;. and that it is,.cultiya|e^,m< lely as %agcsJor,
cattle, ,w hen the pldin.s’btcomt hare of grass,* and tin. v,d^q\hindticdi
from going abroad, durqjg;the.dCptfh'of^the viritci., , I lna,pqH£)di1cd]j
rains give bfrt-h to a little.herbage, whose .growth stepsvimmedjat.^v as
they cease; from the.extreme drypess of,the air, ^ y H p i^ h u i begins,
to wither^ and at this time it .may be crumbled between the fingers infoj
dust: yet l3rge.dr.qves of cattle areafed in, this.’^^ighbiidtf'^dd,; for.
though the pasture, he, shqfct „ and,, dry, it is esteemed, singularly •>w=dt<
and nutritive, Animals ranging ip,a state of natuie .ajejouiid to m^‘le®
it, .to the more, e^uberanGarbage»of naildpLclimates.
' These plains,^as, well $s fhe;adj4cenLjp,oUp}aip^,|dKe, ff.fequ^nt^d bys