rocky, and difficult. The rock was still clay-slate, with
granite veins. The granite in general very much exceeded
in quantity the rock into which it had been
injected, as was well seen on several precipitous cliffs
along the course of the stream, in which the stratification
of the slaty rock and the ramifications of the granite
could be examined in detail. The banks of the river
were adorned with a species of Myricaria, a small tree,
with very delicate graceful foliage and beautiful rose-
coloured flowers.
On reaching the small streamlet which forms the frontier
of the Chinese dominions, we found, as indeed we
expected, that there was no intention of permitting us to
proceed by the direct road to Hanle; and all arguments
to induce a compliance with our wish proving ineffectual,
we agreed to take the route up the Piti river by Dankar,
and were then permitted to proceed about a mile, to the
village of Kyuri, where we encamped for the day. I
have now no doubt that if we had resolutely advanced,
no serious opposition to our progress would have been
made | but our instructions were so precise that we should
not have been justified in using the smallest degree of
force, or incurring any risk of a collision.
To reach Kyuri*, we crossed the Zungsam river by a
very remarkable natural bridge, composed of an enormous
block of granite, which has in some way been placed
across the stream, at a spot where it is much contracted
in width, flowing in a deep rocky fissure from fifteen to
twenty-five feet in width, evidently of great depth. At
* Jacquemont writes this name Khiri. I follow the orthography
which I find in my notes made at the time.
this point a considerable number of boulders of large
size are piled on both banks, of which the one that spans
the channel is eighty-five feet in length and probably
not less than forty in width and twenty in depth; it is
placed obliquely across the stream, its left or southern
extremity being lower, and inclined at so considerable
an angle that the passage is one of some difficulty for
horses and loaded cattle, though for men, with ordinary
care, it is quite easy. The higher end is so much
elevated above the surface on which it rests, that a
rudely constructed stair of stones is necessary to enable
travellers to descend.
Our encamping ground at Kyuri was on a gently
sloping barren plain, seven or eight hundred feet above
the valley of the Zungsam, and was reached by a short
steep ascent from the bridge. There was no cultivation;
but about a mile to the east, a long sloping tract of alluvium
interposed between the mountains and the river
was covered with green fields, though it had only two
houses and not a single tree. Alluvium abounded in
every direction, forming steep sloping banks, often much
worn away by running water, and occasionally from two
to three hundred feet in thickness. The plain on which
we were encamped was also of recent origin; it consisted
of a fine clay, curiously worn into cliffs and narrow
ridges. A few layers of fine sand were included in the
clay, and by a careful search I found three or four small
fresh-water shells in the clay, belonging to at least two
species—one a Lymncea, the other a Planorbis. The
shells were, however, very scarce, and all found near
one spot, nor did any other portion of the deposit seem