“It was now the end of September, and the climate was highly agreeable, the grapes being already ripe. Here, at an elevation of nine thousand feet, the vine finds a temperature congenial to its perfect maturity; but it is to the summer heat of those spots that its successful culture is indebted, since in winter reigns a keen and protracted frost, and the snow falls from four to five feet deep, lying in the fields till April. The vines are left unprotected, and remain buried under their congealed clothing. Fruits of various kinds, as apples, apricots, and nectarines, come to high perfection in a climate free from periodical rains and exposed to intense solar radiation. Thus a region which produces the finest grapes if in insolated exposure, or lying on the Indian aspect of Himalaya, will hardly yield a crop of grain, owing to the want of a stronger ephemeral heat. For the same reason grain succeeds in the valley of the Sutlej, and in spots within the Chinese dominions, at elevations which, on the southern side of the Himalayas, are loaded with ice; but the winters of the interior, on the other hand, teem with rigours which we can form but little idea of. It is true, the sky is mostly clear, and the sun’s rays at the loftiest spots are sufficient to keep the people, or rather one side of them, warm in the dead of winter. During my stay at Kanum the extremes of the thermometer were 33° to 77°; but when I returned, only one month later, I found them 30° and 52°, and snow had fallen. So sudden is the vicissitude in an atmosphere deriving its heat from solar radiation. I left a thermometer with Mr. Csoma, being desirous of ascertaining the winter climate of the spot which rears the vine so abundantly. But Mr. Csoma has little or no interest in anything beyond his literary studies, and I was often provoked at his indifference to objects calculated to illustrate the physical character of the countries he resides in and add to the value of his own pursuits. “He has promised to keep a register of the temperature for me. “On the 30th of September I took leave of the Hungarian and his intelligent companion the Lama.” Csoma’s aversion to occupy himself with anything outside the range of his studies has been noticed already; but to please his friend Dr. Gerard he was induced to make meteorological observations, and did furnish valuable records from Kanum, extending over a period of two years. These came ultimately into General Cunningham’s hands, and were embodied by him into his own work on “Ladak,” at page 184. CHAPTER VII. Csoma completes his Tibetan studies at Kanum; Correspondence with Dr. Wilson, Captain Kennedy, and Mr. B. H. Hodgson.