deep valleys. Starting through rice-fields, and passing
at the upper limit of cultivation a few fields of barley
and rape, I soon entered brushwood, the same as on the
hills above Yernag. In the ravines on the left hand,
snow descended below 7000 feet. Ascending rapidly
on a ridge, the brushwood gave place to a fine wood of
maple, horse-chesnut, cherry, hazel, and elm, all just
bursting into leaf. The dip of the limestone rocks was
exceedingly variable, at one time southerly, at another
northerly, hut the strike was, I believe, the same as the
day before. The ascent continuing rapid, the shady side
of the ridge was soon covered with snow; but the road
kept on the southern exposure, which was sometimes bare
of forest. Birch at last appeared among the other trees,
and, as the elevation increased, it began to predominate.
About the same time, the limestone gave place to a
slaty rock, which was almost immediately followed by
an amygdaloid, which continued to the summit. Both
the slate and the limestone appeared to have been up-
heaved by the igneous rock, and I thought the slate
seemed inferior to the limestone.
On the upper part of the ascent the birch gradually
became more and more stunted; it was here almost the
only tree, with the exception of a few specimens of
Picea Webhiana, at the limit of forest a little below the
summit. Here the hills were bare and rocky; but the
forest did not cease on account of elevation, because on
the opposite hill, which had a northern exposure, a shady
wood, chiefly consisting of pines, rose to a level considerably
higher than that of the pass, which was a depression
in the ridge, considerably overtopped by the hills
on both sides. The crest of the pass was undulating,
and covered with green-sward, among which a few spring
plants were in flower; these were a Corydalis, an Anemone,
and Primula denticulata. A large patch of snow
occupied the northern slope, just below the top.
The view from the summit would have been magnificent
had the day been more favourable; but a thick haze
rested over the more distant parts of the valley of Kashmir,
as well as over the southern mountains in the direction
of the plains of India. The southern slope of the range
on which I stood was bare, scarcely even a bush being
visible; and the Banahal valley, nearly four thousand
feet below, appeared as a perfectly level plain, covered
with rice-fields and scattered villages, marked by groves
of trees. On the descent I followed a very steep rocky
ridge. About half-way down, the amygdaloid was replaced
by metamorphic slate, and for the remainder of
the descent the rocks were alternations of slate, very hard
conglomerate, and quartz rock. The dip of these strata
was very variable, and on the face of several spurs, at a
little distance, sections were exposed, exhibiting enormous
flexures. I saw no limestone on the southern face
of the pass, except in the valley of Banahal, where there
was a good deal of a horizontally stratified limestone,
very different in appearance from that on the other side,
which, as it was confined to the bottom of the valley,
and was there very local, appeared to be of much more
recent origin.
After joining the Banahal river, the descent became
more gradual. At first, the valley was almost level and
quite covered with rice-fields, all under water. The vil