of tropical plants. The southern exposure, the intense force of the sun's rays during the hot season, and the tropical rains falling in undiminished abundance, enable these to be brought to almost equal maturity with those in the upper part of the central plain.

In Nepaul, and other favourable situations, rice as a summer, and wheat as a winter crop, form the regular course of cultivation. But some of the more delicate plants are unable to bear exposure to the keen atmosphere and the nightly breezes ; among which are the choicest of fruits, the mango and the pine-apple. At the same time, in the colder season, on elevated peaks, the plants of Europe and other temperate climates are seen springing side by side with those of the tropic. Snow is scarcely ever observed on this lower stage of the mountain territory.

The second belt is considered as reaching to the height of 9000 feet. Snow here falls constantly in winter, often to a great depth, but melts in early spring. Although the vegetation becomes more and more that of the temperate zone, yet the causes already stated enable tropical plants to climb beyond their natural height, and to mingle with those of a very different clime. In sheltered, well-watered valleys, crops of rice are still successfully raised, while wheat grows on the heights above. But though the herbaceous plants are able to mount thus high, it is otherwise with trees, exposed to every vicissitude of the seasons. The palms and other Indian species are seen no longer, and the foliage appears exclusively European.

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The third and most elevated belt reaches from

the border of the latter to the summit of the Hima

layah. The climate here is that of the more northern part of Europe and America, terminating in the perpetual snows of the arctic world. These, even in the lower districts, do not melt till May or June, when the extreme cold of winter is suddenly succeeded by the most intense heat. The rays of the sun, indeed, beat fiercely and painfully, even when the atmosphere is so little affected by them that the thermometer stands many degrees below the freezing point! and hence the traveller is scorched amidst almost unbearable cold-extremes which always prove distressing, and sometimes fatal. The territory called Bhotan, constituting the most elevated portion, has the severity of the climate aggravated by its rocky surface, so that not above one-sixteenth part of it is fit for cultivation; yet even here, under circumstances not at all favourable, vegetation displays a luxuriance which could little be expected at so great a height. Buckwheat and barley are generally raised with success. At 12,000 feet, Captain Webb saw the finest grain; and at 11,680, he observed forests of oak, and beds of strawberries and currants in full blossom!

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The pasturage, in consequence probably of copious moisture, combined with the power of the sun's rays, grows with a luxuriance almost unequalled. A productive field, however, is occasionally ruined by the descent of glaciers, or beds of snow, which do not melt for several years.

Notwithstanding the shattered and rocky aspect of those precipices, they are covered with vast

masses of hanging wood. Amidst the wilds, tall and majestic forests of pine, larch, spruce, and silver fir, sometimes even of cypress and cedar, grow, flourish, and decay; for there are no means of conveying the timber to any spot where it might be subservient to human use or ornament.

With these trees are intermingled numerous bushes loaded with the fruits which form the luxury of the northern regions of Europe; gooseberry, raspberry, strawberry-all unknown to the plains below. In sheltered spots, the wild rose, the lily of the valley, cowslip, dandelion, and various other flowers, are seen bursting through the green carpet. The trees and rocks in the higher districts are richly clothed with moss and lichen- -the vegetation of the countries bordering on the arctic circle.

1 Cham'paign, open; level. [Fr. from October to March. The rain of champ, Lat. campus, a plain.]

2 Pestilen'tial vapours. -vapours causing pestilence and disease; noxious gases.

3 Tropical rains. In tropical countries the annual rain-fall is three times greater than in the temperate zones. This is due to the fact that evaporation, which causes rain, increases with the temperature. Over the greater part of India, the year consists of three seasons: the hot season, from March to June; the rainy season, from June to October; and the temperate season,

the second season is brought to India by the south-west monsoon, which blows from Africa to Asia (owing to the greater heat of the latter) from April to October.

QUESTIONS.-What is the height of the continuous line of the Himalayah? To what height above that do some of the peaks rise? What is the Tarryai? What are its dangers? What is the nature of the country immediately above that? To what is the bolder scenery still higher up compared? Into how many zones, as to vegetation, has the Himalayah been divided? What are their limits? What is remarkable in the vegetation of the first zone? What is the character of that of the second zone? How are tropical plants able to grow in those elevated regions? To what extremes is the traveller often exposed in the third zone? Why is the pasturage so luxuriant there? What European fruits and flowers are found there?

THE HIMALAYAH.

PART II.

THE animal world in this higher region undergoes a change equally striking with the vegetable. The elephant and the tiger, kings of the forests beneath, disappear, or are very seldom seen. Depredations are chiefly committed by the wild cat, the bear, and the hog. The chamois bounds from rock to rock, and the forests are filled with deer of various species;

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of which the most rare and precious is that producing the musk. It is found only in the loftiest heights, amid rocks which the human foot scarcely dares to tread. The most intense cold is so essential to its

life, that the young, on being brought down to a warm situation, usually perish in a few days.

The forests, at all the more moderate elevations, are filled with flocks of such fowls as are elsewhere domesticated, here running about wild, tempting the pursuit of the sportsman; but, as they very seldom take wing, they are with difficulty reached by the gun. The peacock displays his glittering plumage only on the lower hills. The sovereign eagle is seldom descried amid the cliffs, which are inhabited by kites, hawks, and others of the minor predatory birds.

Partridges and pheasants are numerous, and of various species; the latter are even even seen flying amid the snows at a great elevation.

The domestic animals, fed by the natives on their