78 CHINI. [August,
were told, however, that the cliff was absolutely impracticable
below, and, indeed, even where we passed, no little
engineering skill was displayed, as the road led along
the face of an absolute precipice, on ledges scarcely three
feet broad, or just as often over wooden planking, supported
at intervals by large upright pieces of timber,
whose resting-places were invisible in the dense mist by
which we were surrounded.
As soon as this rocky projection was passed, the road
descended rapidly, but over good level ground for half
a mile, through a forest of deodar, in which some of the
trees were of large size, one of them measuring nineteen
feet eight inches in circumference. At the bottom of
this descent, after passing a projecting rocky ridge, the
village of Chini came in sight, straggling along the side
of a sloping hill. Chini occupies the most level, and
therefore the most fertile, valley in Kunawar. The
village is prettily situated among deodar-trees, while below,
and on either side of it, the slopes are disposed in
a succession of terraces, some of them of considerable
extent, richly cultivated with wheat, barley, and buckwheat.
Through this fertile tract, the road was quite
level, winding among the stone enclosures of the fields,
and often bordered on both sides by grassy pastures, or
patches of beautiful green turf, where the little r ills ,
which served to irrigate the fields, had overflowed their
banks, and converted the flat land into swampy meadows.
Near Chini, we passed a single vineyard of small extent,
at an elevation of 7000 feet, the fruit still quite unripe,
though for several days we had been plentifully supplied
with ripe grapes from the lower vineyards. The vines
1847.] k a s h b i r . '9
are supported by erect poles, about four feet high, placed
about three feet apart, and connected by horizontal ones
laid across them, on which the vines twine.
A little further we passed the small village of Kashbir,
consisting of two or three houses only; beyond which a
pleasant forest of deodar and Gerard’s pine was entered,
quite dry, and almost devoid of undergrowth; a few
bushes of Daphne, occasionally a small ash-tree, two or
three stunted oaks, and quantities of withered grass
and dried-up Artemisia, being the only plants observed.
Everything looked arid, notwithstanding the eastern
exposure, and showed strikingly the rapid change of
climate which was taking place. Some of the trees of
Finns Gerardiana, which seemed to thrive more in this
arid wood than further west, were between fifty and
sixty feet in height, and one of the largest of them
which I noticed was nearly twelve feet in circumference.
Through this forest the road continued nearly level, till
it reached a ravine, on the opposite bank of which was
situated the village of Pangi. A very steep descent of
half a mile brought us to the stream; and an ascent of
more than a mile, in the course of which we rose about
1000 feet vertically, terminated the day’s journey. Pangi
is a large village, 9000 feet above the level of the sea,
with much cultivation and magnificent orchards of apricots,
peaches, and walnuts.
Prom Chegaon to Pangi we had passed through the
finest and most fertile part of Kunawar, which is, however,
by no means confined to the north bank of the
Sutlej; many large villages having been seen on the opposite
side of the valley, with almost as much cultivation