3 Q GIUI VALLEY. [August,
rainy season. The confusion among our baggage, however,
was so great, from its arriving irregularly and bemg
set down hurriedly by the drenched porters, anxious to
escape as soon as possible to shelter, that it was not
without difficulty I procured the necessary change of I
clothing.
The morning of the 3rd of August was densely foggy,
but without rain, and it was unanimously decided that it
would be advisable to push on to the next stage, Mat-
tiana, a distance of fifteen miles. Our anticipations of
fair weather were unfortunately disappointed, for it began
to rain heavily before ten o’clock, and continued to do
so with little intermission till nearly two, when it cleared,
and the remainder of the day was fine.
The whole day’s journey lay along the ridge, which
scarcely fell below 7500 feet, and nowhere rose above
9000 feet. Fagu is situated immediately above the
valley of the river Giri, a large mountain stream, the
most western tributary of the Jumna. A road across
the Jumnetic valleys to Massuri descends abruptly towards
that river, descending more than 5000 feet m
little more than five miles, and crossing the river by a
bridge at an elevation of 3000 feet. The mountains to
the right, which dip into the valley of the Giri, are bare
of forest, with a good deal of cultivation in small terraced
fields on the steep sunny slopes, while scattered houses,
scarcely collected into villages, are seen here and there
among the fields. On the left hand, again, the deep valley
which runs towards the Sutlej is full of forest, not
rising however to the ridge, which is bare, or lined only
with scattered jungle of Indigofera, Besmodium, Spircea,
roses, and brambles. It seems to be a constant rule
that the depressions of the ridges are bare and open,
while the more elevated portions are covered with forest,
j Probably the cause of this is the greater humidity of the
: higher slopes, which attract the rain-clouds, while the
^ lower ranges are dry. The currents of air which sweep
■ up the valleys may also in part be the cause of the bare-
I ness of the ridges opposite their summits.
At Theog, nearly eight miles from Fagu, there is a fort
I belonging to a Rana, or hill chieftain, and a small village,
I with a good many fields. The cultivation at this great
I elevation, for the fields reach to at least 8000 feet, is
| principally of barley, which is sown in early spring, and
■ reaped in the beginning or middle of June, according to
I the season. Beyond Theog the road rises a little, and is
■covered with brushwood on the left hand, but bare on the
■right. The highest part of the road is about two miles
■beyond Theog, and has an elevation of about 9000 feet.
■The northern face of this hill is prettily wooded with the
■holly-leaved oak, and covered with numerous large an-
■bular boulders, whose origin is rather difficult to explain,
■^fter passing this little hill the ridge sweeps round to the
■ e ft in a semicircle, ascending very gradually and gently
■to a low ridge, from the crest of which the bungalow of
■Rattiana comes into sight, at a distance of nearly two
■miles, the whole of which is a gentle descent. The latter
■part of the road has a direction nearly due north, and
■ h e bungalow is situated in a very commanding posi-
■ion on the top of a little eminence, a quarter of a mile
■from the village, which occupies the slope of the hill
■facing the south-east, at a considerably lower level.