in the end of June, and the next three months
are "the Rains." Usually it does not rain either all day or every day;
but sometimes for weeks together Simla is smothered in a blanket of grey
mist. Normally the rain comes in bursts with longer or shorter breaks
between. About the third week of September the rains often cease quite
suddenly, the end being usually proclaimed by a thunderstorm. Next
morning one wakes to a new heaven and a new earth, a perfectly cloudless
sky, and clean, crisp, cool air. This ideal weather lasts for the next
three months. Even in December the days are made pleasant by bright
sunshine, and the range of temperature is much less than in the plains.
In the end of December or beginning of January the night thermometer
often falls lower at Ambala and Rawalpindi than at Simla and Murree.
After Christmas the weather becomes broken, and in January and February
falls of snow occur. It is a disagreeable time, and English residents
are glad to descend to the plains. In March also the weather is often
unsettled. The really heavy falls of snow occur at levels much higher
than Simla. These remarks apply _mutatis mutandis_ to Dharmsala,
Dalhousie, and Murree. Owing to its position right under a lofty
mountain wall Dharmsala is a far wetter place than Simla. Murree gets
its monsoon later, and the summer rainfall is a good deal lighter. In
winter it has more snow, being nearer the source of origin of the
storms. Himalayan valleys at an elevation of 5000 feet, such as the Vale
of Kashmir, have a pleasant climate. The mean temperature of Srinagar
(5255 feet) varies from 33 deg. in January to 75 deg. in July, when it is
unpleasantly hot, and Europeans often move to Gulmarg. Kashmir has a
heavy snowfall even in the Jhelam valley. Below 4000 feet, especially in
confined river valleys the Himalayan climate is often disagreeably hot
and stuffy.

~Climate of the Plains.~--The course of the seasons is the same in the
plains. The jaded resident finds relief when the rains cease in the end
of September. The days are still warm, but the skies are clear, the air
dry, and the nights cool. November is rainless and in every way a
pleasant month. The clouds begin to gather before Christmas, but rain
often holds off till January. Pleasant though the early months of the
cold weather are, they lay traps for the unwary. In October and November
the daily range of temperature is very large, exceeding 30 deg., and the
fall at sunset