In Western Tibet and in the Karakorum the general elevation of the country is so great even in its lowest regions, that no part lies below the limit of hibernal snowfall.
In the Konen Lun, even on its southern slope, a greater amount of snow is precipitated than on the northern side of the Karakorum, while its Turkestan (northern) slopes differ still more from the Kora-korum in this respect.
The values obtained for the height of the snow line on the three mountain chains of High Asia are— In the Himalaya the truly temperate vegetation supersedes the subtropical above 4600 feet, and the elevation at which this change takes place corresponds roughly with that at •hich the winter is marked by an annual fall of snow. This phenomenon varies extremely with the latitude, longitude, humidity, and many local circumstances. In Ceylon and the Madras Penin sula, whose mountains attain 8000 feet, and where considerable tracts are elevated above 6000 to 8000 feet, snow has never been known to fall. On the Khassya mountain, which attains 7000 feet, and where a great extent of surface is above 5000 feet, snow seems to be unknown. In Sikkim snow annually falls at about 6000 feet elevation ; in Nepal at 5000 feet, in Kamaon and Garhwal at 4000, and in the extreme West Himalaya lower still. In the mountains of Ceylon, on the Neil glierries, and on the Khassya hills, the temperate forms of plants are more numerous than upon the Himalaya. Violent winds sweep over the broad grassy undulating tops of the Khassya Hills, and hundreds of species common to the Sikkim Him alaya and to the Khassya ascend higher in the warm, forest-clad, and sheltered Himalayan valleys at 5700 feet in Sikkim, than they do in the Khassya Hills.
Heights.—The following heights of well-known places may be interesting In the Himalaya, the number of inhabited places is comparatively insignificant ; while the population reaches its maximum in the rich belt of life rising from 3000 to 8000 feet, the traces of man .and his dwelling-place begin rapidly to disappear at 11,000 feet, and even before.
In some provinces, especially in Nepal, Kamaon, and Garhwal, many villages are deserted in winter, though, as far as regards their elevation and the solid construction of the houses, they might very well be inhabited throughout the year. The natives, however, prefer removing to villages less elevated, where they spend the colder months. Gimlets (Alpenhutten) are as little used in the Himalaya as tents in the .Alps. The pasture grounds, Karik, for sheep and bovine cattle are for the most part in low elevations, and at no great distance from the village. In the frontier country bordering Tibet, herds of sheep and goats are used for the transport of merchandise. They are driven over the passes to Tibet, laden with grain (a full-grown sheep carrying about seven pounds), and return at the end of the summer with salt and borax.
Of the sanatoria, Simla is 7156 feet, Darjiliug 6905, Mussoori 6849 feet, etc. They are at present confined to the outer ranges, at a distance of 40 or 50 miles from the foot of the mountains.
Chini, a most salubrious place in Kanawar (9096 feet). Srinuggur, the capital of the valley of Kashmir (5146 feet).
Tigers ascend to 11,000 feet in the Himalaya ; they are not, however, seen in Western Tibet, or the Konen Lun. Leopards may be met with in the Himalaya and in Western Tibet even at 13,000 or 14,000 feet ; on the Kedar-kanta (12,430 feet). The domestic cat is common in Tibet. Domestic animals, such as sheep, goats, tame yaks, horses, and dogs, follow man across the highest passes (18,000 feet), between Turkes tan and Tibet the two-humped Bactrian camel even being used as a beast of burden. When without a load, no difficulty is experienced in bringing these camels even over the steeper passes of the Himalaya.
Jackals are found in the Karakorum, between 16,000 and 17,000 feet. Hodgson mentions two species of foxes in Eastern Tibet. Wolves are not known to frequent the Himalaya proper, but they are found in Western Tibet, and close to the Karakorum pass (18,345.feet). • The wild yak and the kiang, several species of wild sheep and goats, bares and mice,.are found as high as 16,000 to 17,000 feet. The number of species of snakes and frogs rapidly decrease with height, but lizards remain nearly the same between 1000 to 15,000 feet.
Butterflies are found in the Himalaya to 13,000 ' feet, in Western Tibet and Turkestan even 16,000 feet, as localities of permanent habitation. The upper limit of mosquitoes is at about 8500 feet, and with the peepsa make -themselves very troublesome in the Eastern Himalaya during the rainy season as high as 13,000 feet. As in the Alps, the new fields of the glaciers are often covered with the remains'of insects carried up by the ascending current to 18,000 and even 19,000 feet. — Mountains are famed in the mythologies of many races. Mount Olympus was the fabled seat of the epic deities of Greece and Rome. Mount Sinai was the mountain of legislation for the Hebrews. Govardhan is. the mountain where the scenes of Krishna's reforming efforts are painted. The Bedouin Arabs take off their shoes when they enter the stone circle on the heights of Serbals, and the adjacent Jabal Munadshat is called by the Arabs the Hill of the Dialogue, viz. of Moses and Jehovah. Mount Meru, a fabulous Himalayan mountain, is supposed by Hindus to be the centre of the earth and the heaven of their Vedic god Indra. Mount Kailasa, or Gana Parvata, in the Himalaya, north of Lake Manasa, is the paradise of Siva and the abode of Kuvera. Vaikuntha or Vaibhra is the paradise of Vishnu, and is sometimes supposed to be on Mount Meru.
Five mountains are considered sacred by the Jains, viz. Girnar, Palitana, and Talijah in Saur ashtra, near Deesa, and Sakar, about whose locality there exists much doubt ; the Jains themselves speak of it as to the westward.— Trelawney Saunders in Geog. Mag., July 1877; also Mountains and Ricer Basins, Beng. As. Soc. Journ. See Passes.