periodically about mid-summer; that in the higher parts of the country heavy snow falls in winter, with intense frost; that the mean temperature of the summer is 83°, and that of winter, 39°.

It may now be worth considering the countries into which the tea plant has been introduced and failed.

At Penang, close to the line, with a mean annual heat of 80°, and equable climate the whole year round, and an excessive fall of rain, amounting to nearly 80 inches for the year; the climate is in every respect so much in contrast with that of China, that the tea could not be expected to be grown. The same is the case with St. Helena, where although the mean heat for the year is 73°, the thermometer does not fall in winter below 55°, and the climate is moist and cloudy. Of the causes of failure in Java I am less able to judge, but they are likely to be found in its low latitude, 6° 9', the excessive moistness of the climate, and the great fall of rain during the year. At Rio Janeiro, tea was tried under a colony of Chinese, and failed, perhaps from being within the tropic, and its too great heat, with a moist and generally equable climate. It has been twice attempted by the French in the Carribee Islands. The first occasion in Martinique was a failure. I do not know the result of the second, but a lat. any where between 11° and 19°, with the kind of climate consequently implied, gives little chance of success.

There is perhaps no part of the Company's territories in India which supplies all the conditions of the tea districts of China, in respect of climate. But there are situations which approach it so nearly, as strongly to bear out the conclusion, that tea may be so successfully produced in this country as to be an object of high commercial importance. It appears to me that this can be expected in no part of the plains of India. The mean annual heat of the climate from 30° N. down to the parallel of Calcutta, is much beyond that of the tea cultivation in China. We have in addition to an excessive summer heat, with either hot winds or a close scorching air during the day, a barely temperate winter cold, and heavy periodical rains. We certainly get some Chinese fruits, such as the lechee, the loquat, and the wampee to grow, but the tea plant appears to require a greater cold to thrive in. It has been seen that the annual heat of the southern limit of tea cultivation in China, assumed to extend to Canton, is 73°* Fahr. At Sehárunpur, which may be considered as at the northern limit nearly of the plains of Hindustan, 8° of lat. higher and 1000 ft. above the sea, the mean temperature of the year is 73° Fahr.; the temperature of June, is 90°, and of January, 52°.

*At the level of the sea.

As we go south towards Calcutta, the temperature increases, although not uniformly, as may be seen from the observed heat of

Futtygurh, Benares,

77°.5

77°.81

Ghazipur, and Calcutta.
77°.36

78°. 3

In the Himalaya mountains, the case is widely different: excepting periodical rains, all the conditions of a temperate climate are here found, and, here above all parts of India, we may look for the successful cultivation of tea. Our not possessing mountain territory below 29° may alone exclude the consideration of the fitness of the southern tracts. My personal knowledge of the hills is chiefly confined to the tract between the Ganges and Jumna. In consequence of being tied to Seháranpur, from having the medical duties of the station to attend to, in addition to the Botanic Garden, I have not been able hitherto to see much of the mountains: but, as the rock formations and the configuration of the hills are the same along an immense tract, the remarks which I have to make will apply very generally to the hills.

The Himalayas have a direction running from N. W. to S. E. They consist, on this side of the snowy range, chiefly of primary rocks, inclined at a considerable angle. The dip of the strata is to the E. of N. and their abutment to the W. of S. On the flank of the great range there is a line of low hills, the Sewálik, which commence at Roopur, on the Satlej, and run down a long way to the south, skirting the great chain. In some places they run up to, and rise upon, the Himálayas ; in others, as in this neighbourhood, they are separated by an intermediate valley. Between the Jumna and Ganges they attain their greatest height, which Captain HERBERT estimates at 2000 feet above the plains at their foot; or 3000 above the sea. Seháranpur is about 1000 feet above the sea. About 25 miles north are the Sewálik hills. They are here about six or seven miles wide. To the east of the Ganges and west of the Jumna, they gradually fall off. They have the same direction with the great chain, and agree generally in dip; their slope being towards the north and abutment to the south. They rise at once against the plains, with an abrupt mural front. They are serrated across their direction, forming a succession of scarcely parallel ridges, with a steep face on one side, and slope on the other. The strata are inclined at an angle of 25° to 30°. They are of recent tertiary or alluvial formation, and consist of friable sandstone or gravelly conglomerate, agglutinated by a calcareous cement, containing subordinate beds of clay the upper strata are entirely gravel. Beyond these hills lies the valley of Dehra, 1200 or 1400 feet above the sea, and then the great chain of the Himálayas. The following rude sketch will perhaps give you an idea of the whole better than description; the distances are not in proportion in the section.

:

(a) level of the sea at Calcutta ; (b) level of Seháranpur, 1000 feet above the sea; (cc) the Sewálik hills; (c'c') the strata of sandstone and conglomerate; (c"c") strata of gravel; (dd) the valley of Déhra; (ee) strata of the Sewálik hills, in some places rising on the Himálayas; (ƒƒ) outer ridges of the Himálayas ; (gg) primary strata; (h) the valleys or hollows between the ridges.

I regard these hills as an upheaved portion of the plains at the foot of the Himalayas, and that they are formed of the debris of the mountains washed down by streams, and other natural causes. They are covered with vast forests of saul, toon, and fir, and are uninhabited.

The soil of the Sewálik hills and of the valley of Dehra takes the character of the rocks. It is dry sandy or gravelly, with a considerable quantity of calcareous matter, and it appears to me to possess the character indicated for the tea districts in China.

The great chain of the Himálayas rises in a ridge with an abrupt steep face against the plains of about 6000 feet in height; there is then a slope from the crest of the ridge towards the north. This is the general character of the Himálayas: the mountains on the side of the snowy range consist of a series of nearly parallel ridges, with intermediate valleys or hollows. They throw off spurs in all directions into the hollows, forming subordinate valleys. There is nothing like tableland (perhaps in the whole of the mountains, with the exception of Nipal), and the valleys are rather broad, wedge-shaped chasms, contracted at the bottom to a mere water-course, than any thing else; in fact, the ridges and intermediate valleys, as a general law, form a series of salient and re-entrant angles, as seen in the sketch. In consequence the quantity of level or nearly level ground to be met with is most inconsiderable. From the dip or slope being towards the north, and the abutment to the south steep, the great mass of vegetation has a northern exposure, and the southern faces of the mountains are generally naked. The formations are primary; the first towards the plains consist of vast strata of limestone, lying on clay-slate, crowned by slate, greywacke, or sandstone. Beyond the limestone tract, gneiss, clay-slate, and other schistose rocks occur. Granite, so far as I know, is not found in the outer ridges. It occurs in the mountains nearer the snowy range. I have not gone that length, and have not yet seen granite in situ. The igneous rocks, which have been concerned in the upheavement of the outer tracts, are of the green-stone trap series, and are very generally met with in

dykes intersecting and rising through the regular strata. The formations have a remarkable feature :-the strata are in all directions fractured or comminuted: the slaty rocks are broken into small fragments, as if they had been crushed; and the limestone rocks are vesicular or cavernous, and broken up into masses.

The arrangement and nature of the soil take their character from the rocks. From the high angle at which the latter are inclined, and the northern direction of the slope, the soil is chiefly accumulated on the northern sides, where is also the vegetation. From the prevalence of schistose strata, and limestone, the soil under-lying the vegetable mould is clayey and calcareous, or limestone gravel. There is little sandy soil, or sandy gravel. From the extreme richness of the vegetation undisturbed for ages, and the moisture of the climate, there is usually a great accumulation, on the northern slopes, of vegetable mould; on the southern faces, the great steepness leaves little room for the accumulation of soil; where it occurs, it is in patches, and consists of clays or limestone gravel, mixed up with vegetable mould. There is here also little sandy soil. Towards the crest of the slopes, the soil is usually dry, from the moisture running speedily off; but lower down, and wherever the ground is tolerably level, the soil is quite damp, and perhaps it is rarely dry in the most parching seasons.

Cultivation is laborious and difficult. From the absence of table-land, and the angular and contracted shape of the bottom of the valleys, there is little or no level ground. The most favorable slope is taken, and besides the usual tilling of the ground, it has to be divided into patches, which are built up into inconsiderable terraces, rising the one above the other like the steps of a stair. These circumstances might make the cultivation of tea scattered, and prevent it from being produced in any great quantity on one spot.

The climate of the Himalayas is decidedly damp. The periodical rains commence about the middle of June, and continue till the end of September. They are greatly heavier than in the neighbouring plains, and continue at times for many days without intermission; occasional rains occur in most months during the year. The mean annual fall has been estimated by Mr. TRAILL, Commissioner of Kemaon, at Hewálbágh, near Almora, about 4000 feet above the sea, and lat. 29° 30', at from 40 to 50 inches. But this I imagine is too little. From the middle of November, till the end of February, occasional falls of heavy snow take place, down to the level of 6000 feet above the sea; on the outer ridge of the mountains, and lower down within the hills, perhaps to 3500 feet. It is a great cause of the richness of vegetation and dampness of soil. In the poorer tracts (such as the district of Jounsar) if snow does not fall during the winter, the subsequent crop invariably fails.

From the end of February till the middle of June, and from October till the middle of November, the sky is generally clear and unclouded. During these months, in consequence, very heavy dew is deposited during the night so that as a general fact, it may be stated, what with rain, snow, and dew, that moisture in one shape or other falls abundantly, every unclouded day during the year: and the cloudy days without rain do not amount to a month in the year.

In respect of heat the climate of the Himalayas, lat. 29° 30′, at an altitude of 4000 feet above the sea, is temperate; the hot winds cease, and the vegetation takes on a European character. In those parts of the mountains, such as Masúrí, where the outermost ridge rises at oncé from the plains to the height of 5000 or 6000 feet, the climate is perhaps equal to any thing known. About three hours after sun-rise, the heated air of the Dún or valley, particularly during the hot months, rises and establishes a current upwards. It gets rarefied, and consequently cooled, and causes a cool fresh breeze across the hills towards the interior, which diminishes the effects of intense solar radiation at this season. It is as regular as the sea-breeze of a tropical island. At Masúri, 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea, the mean annual heat is 57°; the hottest months June and July, have a mean temperature of 67°; the coldest months are December and January, the mean heat of January is 42°. At Hawulbagh, below Almora, nearly 4000 feet above the sea, the mean temperature for the year, deduced from Mr. T RAILL'S* register, is 60°; that of January is 41°, and of July, 70°, giving a range of 39° between the coldest and hottest months of the year. Between the temperature at 7 A. m. in January and 2 P. M. in July, there is a difference of 53°. On one occasion, the thermometer stood at 18°, shewing a range of not less than 60° between the greatest observed extremes of summer and winter.

In the valley of Dehra, according to the Honorable Mr. SHORE, the mean temperature of the year is about 70°. 5. The mean of the hottest month is 84°, and of the coldest 53°.2. The greatest observed heat was in June 101°, and the maximum cold was in January 37°. 7. The greatest range of temperature in a month was in April, the maximum being 93°, and the minimum 53°, a difference of 40°; the least range was in August, the maximum being 90° and the minimum 72°, a difference of 18°. The extreme difference for the year was 63°.2; shewing one of the most "excessive" climates known. Speaking generally, it may be stated of the Dún, that the cold weather commences earlier, and lasts longer than in the plains in the neighbourhood; and that the cold of winter is greater: that the hot winds of the plains are shut out by the Sewálik lower hills, on the S. W. of the valley. A partially hot wind is at times felt, but the European residents do not use tatties for * Transactions, Asiatic Society, vol. xvi.

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