River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-01-15
SNOW TWO HUNDRED FEET DEEP.
TIE Extraordinary Snowfall Ia Cash.
mere Two Winters Ago.

The following remarkable account,
from the London Times, of enormous
snow falls in northwestern India, show
what a world of vapor is carried inland
on the monsoons from the India ocean,
to strike against the Hottest mountain
chain in the world and be precipitated
in such SHOWS and rains as occur in the
middle slopes and foothills of the Him.
alayas. About the sources of some of
the great rivers of India occur the
heaviest rains ever known; and farther
east, in Cashmere, it seems the SHOWS
are sometimes terrific. The London
Times says:
Some interesting details Of the extra
ordinary snowfall in Cashmere in 1877
rs, are given in paper in the just is
sued member of the Journal of the Ash
attic Society of Bengal, By Mr.. Lydek-
ker. Early in the month of October,
1877, snow commenced to fall in the
valley and mountains of Cashmere, and
from that time up to May, 1878. there
seems to have been an almost incessant
snowfall in the higher mountains and
valleys; indeed, IN places ii frequently
showed without inlermission for up
wards of ten days at time. At Dras,
which has an elevation of ten thousand
feet, Mr.. Lydekker estimated the snow
fall from the native account, as having
been from thirty to forty feet thick.
The effects of this enormous snowfall
were to be seen throughout the country.
At Dras, the well-built travellers bunga.
low, which has stood some thirty years,
was entirely crushed in by the weight
of snow which fell upon it. In almost
every village of the neighboring noun
tains more or less of the log houses had
fallen, while at Culinary and Sonomarg,
where no attempt was made to remove
the snow, almost all the huts OF the Eu-
ropean visitors were utterly broken
down by it. In the higher mountains
whole hillsides have been denuded of
vegetation and soil by the enormous
avalanches which swept down them,
leaving vast gaps in the primeval for
ests, and closing the valleys below with
the debris of rocks and trees. AS an
instance of the amount of snow which
must have fallen i'll the higher levels,
Mr.. Lydekker mentions the Zogi Pass,
leading from Cashmere to Dras, which
has an elevation of 1900 feet. He
crossed this early in August last year,
and then found that the whole of the
ravine leading up to the pass from the
Cashmere side, was still filled with snow,
which he estimated in places to be at
least one hundred and fifty feet thick.
Ia ordinary seasons this road in the
Zogi Pass is clear from snow some time
in the month of June. AS another in
stance of the great snowfall, Mr. Lydek-
ker takes the valley leading from the
town of Dras up to the pass separating
that place from the valley of Kishen-
gunga river. About the middle of Au-
gust almost the whole of the first men
toned valley, at an elevation of 10000
feet, was completely choked with snow,
which III places was at least 200 feet
deep. In the same district all passes
over thirteen thousand feet were still
deep in snow at the same season of the
year. Mr.. Lydekker gives other in
stances of snow lying in places in Sep
TENDER, where no snow had ever before
been observed after June. AS TO the
destruction of animal life in the upper
Wardwan valley, large numbers OF ibex
were seen imbedded in snow; in one
place upward of sixty heads were count
ed, and in another not less than one
hundred. The most convincing proc s,
however, of the havoc caused ameng
the wild animals by the great snowfall,
is the fact that scarcely any ibex were
seen during last summer in those por-
tons of the Wardwan and Tilail val
legs which are ordinarily considered as
sure finds. So, also, the red bear and
the marmot were far less numerous
than usual. Mr.. Lydekker estimates
that the destruction to animal life
caused by snow has far exceeded any
slaughter which could be inflicted by
sportsmen during a period of at least
five or six years.