vapour. The vegetation was less different from that below,
than I had expected, and much more luxuriant than
I could have supposed, with nothing of an alpine character.
Many of the species were identical with those
of Nagkanda and the crest of Hattu; but there was no
bamboo, nor any of the Acanthacece, so common in the
more shady and humid forest farther east. Balsams,
however, were abundant and large, Potentillce, Salvia
nubicola, and Nepetce, Polygona, Achittece, Gnaphalia, and
several species of Pedicularis and Ophelia, formed a thick
and rank growth. The most remarkable forms observed
were AstragaJine, of which several species, one a spinous
Caragana, were abundant. A pretty little Veronica and
Bupleurum, and several new Cichoracece, were also collected,
as well as an Orobanche, parasitical upon the roots
of the common thyme (Thymus Serpyllum).
From the crest, the remainder of the road consists
of a succession of short ascents and descents, along
the face of a very rocky hill, till within a mile of Rogi,
when it descends very abruptly down the side of a
rugged ravine to that village, which, though elevated
9000 feet, lies low down on the mountain-side, and has
the appearance of being in a hollow. At Rogi we
found the grapes quite ripe, and extremely abundant, but
all from vineyards at lower levels. The commonest
grape is globular, and of a deep, nearly black colour;
but many varieties are cultivated. The apricots were
also ripe, and had been gathered from the trees. The
flat tops of the houses were now covered with them,
drying in the sun. They are split up the middle and
dried, the stones being taken out. In this state they
keep well, and form a considerable article of export to
India. Peach and walnut trees are also common at
Rogi, and I saw a few apple-trees. A species of willow,
which, in shape of leaf and general appearance, closely
resembles a common English willow (Salix ailba), is commonly
planted along with a glabrous poplar, a small,
rather spreading tree, which is frequent throughout Tibet,
and seems to be the balsam poplar of Siberia and North
America. The English henbane {Hyoscyanms niger)
abounds in waste places. This also is a common Tibetan
plant, and extends into the drier valleys of the Himalaya,
such as Kunawar and Kashmir, but not into the outer
mountains, where the periodical rains are heavy.
On the 17th of August we proceeded to Pangi, nine
miles farther, passing on the road the village of Chini,
the largest inhabited place and most fertile tract of Kunawar,
of which it may therefore be considered the
capital. Erom Rogi we had to make a considerable
ascent to regain the road, that village lying lower than
the direct route from Miru. The ascent lay first through
the cultivated lands of the village, and afterwards through
open wood. After regaining the road, the ascent continued
through a gloomy forest of large deodar-trees for
about a mile, terminating at about 10,000 feet of elevation,
at which height, turning round a corner on the crest
of the ridge, we found ourselves on the upper part of a
precipitous cliff, which descends sheer down to the Sutlej.
Unfortunately the morning was very misty, a dense fog,
condensed from the steadily blowing west wind, enveloping
everything, till after ten o’clock, by which time we
had long passed the precipitous part of the road. We