Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877Kennedy, James
History
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877
Kennedy, James
India -- Description and travel; India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947 -- Biography; Missionaries; Missions -- India
The country is well watered. It has innumerable streams, varying from
tiny rills to large rivers. In travelling, we have been for days within
the constant sound of running water. It has a few lakelets, but it has
no large bodies of water, like the lakes which contribute so largely to
the beauty and picturesqueness of Switzerland and Scotland. It looks as
if the deep hollows, of which so many are to be seen, had been unable to
retain the water poured into them, and had let it all flow away. A large
part of the province is so steep and rocky that it cannot be turned to
any agricultural purpose; and even for grazing purposes a large portion
is of little use, as the grass is coarse and poor. There is a great
extent of forest and brushwood. As the land slopes towards the Bhabhur,
the forest is very dense and varied. The timber is of considerable
value, but as there is neither road nor water carriage it must be
carried on men's shoulders, and this involves an expense more than it
can bear.
From what I have said about the peculiarities of Kumaon scenery, its
mountains, valleys, and ravines, my readers are prepared to hear it has
a great variety of climate and produce. Of hills, of which there are
many from 5000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea, the climate is
delightful--warm, but not oppressively warm, a little warmer than it is
in our country in summer; and cold, though not so severely cold as it is
with us in winter. The rains are very heavy, but to compensate for this
there is, during the greater part of the year, a steadiness of climate
which forms a striking contrast to the fickle climate of England. Down
in the valleys the heat is very great. Even in winter the sun is
unpleasantly strong, and in summer in the deep ravines the temperature
is almost as trying as in the plains. When the season has been somewhat
advanced, I have been very thankful to escape from the heat of these low
places to the bracing air of the hills. The English Sanatoria are of
course on elevated sites.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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