The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-12-28
SNOW TWO HUNDRED FEET DEEP.
Tho Extraordinary Snowfall in Cashmere
Two Winters Ago.

| Tho following aikahe account from
| Tho London THPa. of cnOrmOiIa snOw- falls In
| Northeastern Indn shows what u world oI
| Vhpoi Is carried inland on tho monanOnR from
| the Indian ocean to sttlk0 against tho IOft les,
mountain chain IN tho world and bo prscpi-
| thtNd IN such SHOWS Hnd rims MS occur on the
| middle slopes md foothills Of the Himn-
| IayRs. About tho sources Of some of tho great
| rivers oi India occur tho heaviest rains over
| known, AMI farther cast. in Cashmere II
| seems the SHOWS are sometimes terrific 1he
| London Iilnt.t says:
| Some interesting "details OF tho cxtraordl-
| nary snowfall In Cashmere in tSI7-7s are
given In n pnprr In tha lust issued nurnbar Of
| Tia" Journal OF tho AsiaIic Society OF Bengal.
| by Mr., Lyalckker. Eariy in tho month Of De-
| tohot, lHf1, snow commenced to fall In tho
| valley md mountains OF Cashmere. and from
| that time up to May. 1873, thnr0 seems TO have
| llnan an almost incrsghnG snowfall In thu
higher mountairE and vaIIeyg, indeed, In
pln 3es II frequently showed without inter-
mission Tor upwards III ten days ut n time
At Draa. which haB M olevatipnof n. 900 feet
MI. L}d@hiur estimated the snowfall, from
tan mi Two account, MS having been from thir-
~ to forty feet thick Tho effects of this
enormous snowfall were u he Feen through
out tho country, At DfnH, tho weIl-buiIL
Travellers bungalow, which has stood some
thirty yoar9. Wha entirely crushed down by
tine weight OF snow which fell upon It.. In
almost every vlInRn of the neighhor-
Ing mountains moro or less Gf the log
houses had fallen. while nj IiumRrg
aud Sononarg, whore no attempt was made
to r"tn"ve the snow, almost all tho huts ot
tho European vi4tora were utterly broken
down by 1t. In the higher mountains whole
hltlsi'lc have been doHudeei of vegetation
A'h soil by tho rnormoaR RyalhnChes which
AWept down them. leaving vast gaps In tho
primeyGi forests, and closing the valleys he
low with tho debris Of rocks and trees. AZ an
Instances Ut the amount Of snow which must
haVo fmlcn In tho higher levels, Mr.. Lydek-
ker mentions the Iogi Pass. leading from
Cashmere To Draa. which haH an elevation Of
j | 300 EeGt. llG crossed this early In August
lust year. and then found thaL tho whole Of
the ravino loadinG up to tho pngs from tho
tAitmnfa sid" was still filled with snow,
which no estimated In places to be nj lenst
ono hundred and fifty fe0t thick In orIi-
nary HraSons this road In tho Iogi Pass In
c,cnr from snow some time during the month
Of june As another instance of the great
snowfall Mr.. iIyd"kker takes tho valley
lcatling from the town IF Dras up to tho paes
that place from tho valley Of tho
ktRhengunga river About tho middle or
August almost tho whole Of the first
valley, Mt mn elevation Of twelve
thousand feet was comp!etely Choked with
slleW which IN places WAS ut least two hum
dred feet deep. In the Same district oil passes
over thirteen thousand feet we're gtill deep In
snow at the game season Of the year Mr.
Iydeklter gives other instances Of snow lying
In places III SApternbrr, where no snow had
over before been observed after June. AS to
the destruction Of animal life In the upper
WardWat valley, large numbers Of ibex were
5een Embedded in snow In one place upward |
~ sixty head were counted, and In another
not lnS5 than ono hundred. the most con |
vincihg proofs, however, Of the havoc caused |
among tho Wild animals by the great snowfall |
is tho fact that scarcely any bex were seen
turing lust summer In those portions OF tho |
Wardwan and lilail valleys which arc ortlI- |
lafily considered us sure finds. So, also, tho |
rcd bear and this Iuarmot were far less rti- |
neron4 than usual. Mr. Lydekker estimates
hat tho destruction 10 animal life cnused by |
snow has far exceeded any slaughter which |
'ould he inflicted by sportsfnen during @ pc
.iod Of Ut leaBt tive or six years.