It
is very desirable that the 'mean' elevation of the Thibetian plateau, which
I have estimated at only about 8200 feet between the Himalaya and the
Kuen-lun, and the difference in the height of the line of perpetual snow on
the southern and on the northern slopes of the Himalaya, should be again
investigated by travelers who are accustomed to judge of the general
conformation of the land. Hitherto simple calculations have too often been
confounded with actual measurements, and the elevations of isolated summits
with that of the surrounding plateau. (Compare Carl Zimmerman's excellent
Hypsometrical Remarks in his 'Geographischen Analyse der Karte von Inner
Asien', 1841, s. 98.) Lord draws attention to the difference presented by
the two faces of the Himalaya and those of the Alpine chain of Hindoo-Coosh,
with respect to the limits of the snow-line. "The latter chain," he says,
"has the table-land to the south, in consequence of which the snow-line is
higher on the southern side, contrary to what we find to be the case with
respect to the Himalaya, which is bounded on the south by sheltered plains,
as Hindoo-Coosh is on the north." It must, however, be admitted that the
hypsometrical data on which these statements are based require a critical
revision with regard to several of their details; but still they suffice to
establish the main fact, that the remarkable configuration of the land in
Central Asia affords man all that is essential to the maintenance of life,
as habitation, food, and fuel, at an elevation above the level of the sea
which in almost all other parts of the globe is covered with perpetual ice.
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