Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 19.4.1

19.4.1

Having made these observations, it occurred to me that this pretended wonder might be accounted for by the heat of the sun, combined with the peculiar situation and internal disposition of the mountain. I supposed that the frozen waters, which during the winter, when the whole ground is covered with snow, had penetrated into the inner parts of that portion of the mountain exposed to the morning sun, became partially melted, that these waters running down, little by little, into certain beds of live rock, and being thence conveyed toward the spring, produced the flow at noon; that the sun quitting this part of the mountain (which then becomes cool) darts its vertical beams upon the summit, melting the congealed waters, which descend also by slow degrees, but through different channels, into the same beds of live rock, and are the cause of the flow at night; and finally, that the sun heating the western side of the mountain, similar effects are occasioned, and the morning flow is the consequence. That this last is slower than the others may be accounted for by the remoteness of the western side from the spring, by its being covered with wood, and therefore more sheltered from the sun, or simply by the coldness of the night.