was observed near a spring, and a few hundred feet
higher the road gained the ridge, and continued for a
mile and a half of very gentle ascent, on a broad, nearly
level mountain-side, to Serahan, through beautiful forest
of oak and pine. Serahan, the summer residence of the
Basehir Rajah, is pleasantly situated at an elevation of
7000 feet above the level of the sea, on the northern
slope of the mountain range, surrounded on all sides by
pine-forest. The village is small, and occupies the lower
margin of an open glade of considerable extent, on which
there is a good deal of cultivation, of the same plants as
I have noted at Kotgarh. The latter part of our march
had been through heavy rain, which continued all the
evening, and the greater part of the night, but we were
fortunate enough to find an empty house, capable of sheltering
our servants and baggage, as well as ourselves.
Besides the Hippophae, which I noted on the ascent
from Manglad, several plants appeared on this day’s journey,
which served to chronicle a gradual alteration in the
flora, notwithstanding that the forest-trees and general
character continued generally the same. Of these, the
most interesting, by far, was a plant discovered by Mr.
Edgeworth, in the same tract of country, and by him
described as OxybapJms Himalayanus, a species of a
genus otherwise entirely South American. It is a rank-
growing, coarse, herbaceous plant, with tumid joints, and
a straggling dichotomous habit, and has small pink or
rose-coloured flowers, covered with a viscid exudation.
It grows in open pastures and in waste places near villages,
and is an abundant species throughout the Kuna-
war valley. ■
On the morning of the 12th of August we marched
to Tranda, along the mountain-side, winding a little with
its sinuations, and occasionally descending to cross the
little streamlets which furrow its side, and separate the
lateral ridges from one another. The road lay through
beautiful forest, and as the day was fine we obtained
at intervals a succession of superb views, of the deep
and well-wooded valleys below, and the rugged mountains
north of the Sutlej. The forest-trees were still the
hoary and holly-leaved oak, with deodar and spruce,
though in the more shady woods along the streams, the
horse-chesnut, and a fine glaucous-leaved laurel, were
common. The shrubby and herbaceous vegetation was
in general character the same as in the denser woods of
Simla, the new species being still quite exceptional.
It soon became necessary to descend, in order to gain
a place on the next range in succession to the eastward,
so as not to leave the river at too great a distance. Eorest
continued to the bottom of the descent, which showed
no signs of tropical vegetation, and was therefore not to
so low a level as those of previous days. The remainder
of the day’s journey consisted of a succession of ascents
and descents, mostly long and fatiguing, with occasionally
half a mile nearly level. Many of the steeper parts
were very rocky and rugged, so difficult that artificial
steps were required to make them practicable, and
even with their aid a horse could scarcely pass. The
greater part of the road lay through forest, and two
considerable streams were crossed besides the one on
the early part of the march. Erom the last of these a
long and very laborious ascent led to the crest of the