to freeze readily. In crossing to the left bank I made
use of a raft of skins, which consisted of a light framework
of willow rods, six feet square, resting on about a
dozen inflated sheep or goat skins. This flimsy contrivance
just floated on the water when loaded with three or
four people.
At Tolti and at Karmang are the only rope-bridges
which I saw on the Indus, above Iskardo. The cables
used in their construction are here made of willow twigs,
twisted into a thick rope. Seven such ropes on each
side are combined to form the parallel lateral cables,
about a yard apart, from which the road way of the bridge
is suspended. These bridges are perfectly safe, though,
from their open structure, rather formidable to those
who are not accustomed to use them. The principle on
which they are made is the same as one which is in use
in all the hill provinces of India, from the Khasya mountains
and Butan, as far west as the Indus 2 but the material
differs with each particular locality, cane being used
in the most eastern parts, rope (often of grass or Erio-
phorum) in the Western Himalaya; and in Tibet, where
even that material is not available, willow twigs are employed
as a substitute.
In many parts of the Indus valley, even in the most
rugged and desolate spots, I noticed, occasionally, trees
of the Eleeagnus and of apricot, growing in rocky places
along the river, where it was very evident that they had
never been planted. The Eleeagnus is always conspicuous,
even in mid-winter, in consequence of the withered
leaves remaining attached to the tree instead of falling
at the end of autumn. Occasionally, no doubt, the occurrence
of these trees was due to the former existence
of villages in the vicinity of the places in which they were
observed, but they also seemed sometimes to occur in
places where no cultivation could ever have existed. Their
occurrence, however, must, I think, be considered purely
accidental: they were too few in number to be regarded
as really indigenous; nor is it surprising that
these trees, which are so extensively cultivated round all
the villages of Baltistan, and so universally used as food
by the inhabitants, should occasionally vegetate at a great
distance from their usual place of growth.
I reached Iskardo on the evening of the 25th of December,
and succeeded, without difficulty, in hiring a
house sufficiently large to accommodate all my party.
As I remained stationary at this place for two months, I
was able to make some observations of the thermometer,
and to watch the state of the weather during the whole
of that period. The elevation of Iskardo above the level
of the sea is about 7200 feet. Winter may be said to
have commenced on the 28th of November, on which
day the first snow fell. Erom that date, falls of snow
recurred constantly at intervals, which varied from two
or three days to a week. The earlier falls were very
slight, not more than an inch or two in depth, but the
quantity gradually increased, until each fall was'from
four to six inches. The entire depth of the snow in
the middle of February, beyond which time the fresh
falls were insignificant, was from fifteen to eighteen
inches.
After each fall of snow, the weather usually became
bright and calm, with a serene cloudless sky. The sun
r 2