importance. Around it, there is a good deal of cultivation and a tolerably populous country. It is situated on the Gudhala ridge, which is a projection from a greater one connecting Choor with a large mountain called Urrukta.

In proceeding from Choupal to Deyrah, the route, after crossing the bed of the Cotha nullah, flowing from the Poonur valley,* ascends to the crest of this principal ridge, and thence winds round the right hand slope of the northern peak of the mountain. Like Choor, the Urrukta is covered, towards the top, with deep and venerable forests, particularly on the northern side. Pines of all species, and in every stage of growth, hollies and oaks of enormous size, sycamore and yew of the most varied forms, and a birch-tree precisely similar to that of Scotland, unite in producing a splendid effect. Sweet-briar was found in great abundance. The soil covering the rock is a rich black vegetable mould, affording a luxuriant carpet, composed of all sorts of strawberries, columbines, lilies of the valley, buttercups, yellow, blue, and white cowslips, a small and very beautiful flower, purple and blue, partaking of the auricula and cowslip, a superb blackish purple lupine, and a species of larkspur of a lovely blue. "Such was the slope," continues Mr. Fraser, "but steep and interrupted with rocks and fallen trees, over which we reached the pass between the two peaks of the Urrukta; whence, looking northward, the whole stupendous range of the Himala burst upon our view, now no longer fading into distance, but clear and well defined. Bright with snow, and rising far above all

This valley forms a pergunnah which is occupied by a singularly bold and savage clan, very distinct in their character from the other natives of Joobul; treacherous, cruel, and untameably wild, "terrible marauders," and maintaining a fierce independence.-Fraser, p. 153,

intervening obstacles, they stretched, bounding our view, from far beyond the Sutlej, till our sight was interrupted where, in all probability, the hills of Gungotri and Buddrinauth arose. The very lofty, and shaggy ranges which are thrown from their feet up towards that on which we stood, shrunk into petty hills at their presence. The view which we enjoyed

from the edge of the ridge we descended (in a westerly direction), was exceedingly diversified and fine. On either hand, a deep glen sloped gradually down to the river Pabur, very richly cultivated, and studded with villages and groves: the heights beyond were crested with forts. On the banks of a stream in the valley of Deyrah, the Rana's house was conspicuous. Beyond, were the wild craggy roots of the snowy mountains; and above them towered their peaks in calm and awful stillness, lighted up by the declining sun. In front a deep glen, formed by a recess in these mountains, shewed the course of the Pabur. A black, rough ridge, which approached from these on the left, runs between it and the Sutlej. To the left, the valley of the Tonse appeared at no great distance; and beyond its eastern boundary, we could trace that formed by the Jumna." *

The valley of the Pabur is tolerably broad and level, the soil rich, and well cultivated with rice, it being lower than most of the circumjacent country, and the heat is considerable. The fortress of Raeengurh is built on a small insulated rock, from 300 to 400 feet in height, which rises from the northern side of the river. It is inaccessible in most parts, and where it was possible even to stand, the Ghoorkalese had strongly stockaded it. The ridge which shuts in the Deyrah doon on the north, (called the Deyrah or Fraser, pp. 159, 160.

Deohra dhar,) divides Joobul from Bischur. On its northern side, is the valley of Nawur, which is particularly rich and well cultivated. Above this valley rises an eminence called Chumbee-ke-Teeba, which connects with the Noaghur and Whartoo range,—a very strong and lofty tract, along the heights of which the Ghoorkalese had formed a chain of fortified redoubts and stockades. From the fort of Whartoo, (seated on "probably the highest peak between the Sutlej and the Jumna, except the great mountains of Urrukta and Choor,"*) the whole of this range and its various branches may be traced, stretching on one side to the Girree, and on the other to the Sutlej,all studded with stockades and forts. Not only the hills beyond the Sutlej, towards the Beyah and the Rauvee, but the valleys of those rivers may be distinguished.+

The valley of the Sutlej (which, till within a few years, was supposed to have its origin in the Himalaya range, but is now known to rise in Chinese Tatary) has recently been explored to a considerable extent. In October 1819, Lieutenant Herbert, in the prosecution of his survey, traced the Tonse river to its source in the snowy range, very near that of the Jumna, and issuing from the northern face of the same cluster of peaks. The river, at its escape from the snow bed, is 31 feet wide and knee-deep. From

* Whartu fort is at an elevation of 10,673 feet; in lat. 31° 14′25′′, long. 77° 29′ 19′′.-As. Res. vol. xiv. p. 323.

+ Had Ummur Singh retired to these fastnesses, Mr. Fraser thinks, that it would have been found almost impracticable to invest him, or to give him much annoyance in a place so remote, without roads that admit of the conveyance of artillery. The excessive cold of winter, however, renders Whartoo quite untenable at that season. Raeengurgh has been made a military post.-See vol. ii. p. 333.

Lat. 31° 2′ 48′′, long. 78° 28' 50'; elevation, 12,784 feet.As. Res. vol. xiv. p. 328,

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this point, he crossed the southern ridge of the Himalaya by the Gunas pass, elevated 15,459 feet above the sea; * and descending thence, came upon the valley of the river Baspa, a principal feeder of the Sutlej, originating in that cluster of high peaks which are situated in a re-entering angle of the range above Jumnotri, and from which, in another direction, are derived the more eastern rivers." From its confluence with the Sutlej near Sangla, he followed the course of the latter river upward to Shipkee, a frontier village of the Chinese territories, situated in lat. 31° 48′ 40′′, long. 78° 44′ 31", at an elevation above the sea, of 10,454 feet, and 1187 above the bed of the river, which is still here, even in the dry season, a considerable stream. There could scarcely be a better defined frontier. "In front, the face of the country is entirely changed: eastward, as far as the eye can see, gravelly mountains of a very gentle slope succeed one another. No rugged cliffs rise to view, but a bare expanse of elevated land, without snow, and in appearance like a Scotch heath. Just beyond the Sutlej, the mighty Pargeúl, an immense mass, rises to 13,500 above the bed of the river; more than 21,000 above the sea. To the east of it, in the same granitic ranges, are several sharp pinnacles, nearly as high, being more than 20,000 feet above the sea. On the S.W., at the back of the town of Shipkee, is an enormous mass, 20,150 feet high, crowned with perpetual snow."+

*This pass (lat. 31° 21', long. 78° 8') leads from the valley of the Rupin into that of the Baspa. The road for six miles lay over snow from three to six feet deep. At the summit, it was more than nine feet. The thermometer, at sunset, stood at 330.-As. Res. vol. xiv. p. 329. Capt. Gerard makes its elevation 16,026 feet, + Trans. Roy. As. Soc. vol. i. pp. 361, 2.

A hundred and ten miles below Shikpee, the Sutlej (there called by the Bhoteas the Sang-jing kanpa) receives another stream, nearly equal in size, called the Spiti-maksang.* From this confluence (in lat. 31° 48′ 20′′; long. 78° 37′ 45′′; elevation, 8038 feet), Lieut. Herbert ascended the Spiti to Lari, a frontier village of Ladak, in lat. 32° 4′ 32"; long. 78° 23′ 40′′, The bed of the river is here, 2544 feet above the confluence. In this part of the route, the mountains appeared to be entirely a clay slate, bare of vegetation, with little snow, and evidently of inferior elevation ; from all which it may be inferred, that he was then on the northern face of the great range. The climate is there so dry, that the houses are built of sun-dried brick. The breed of shawl-goats is found in the vicinity. Having no particular motive for penetrating further in this direction, and the season being advanced, Lieut. Herbert returned from this place; although he had little doubt of being able to penetrate even to Leh, the capital of Ladak. The road was described as good, and the people as by no means manifesting the same jealousy as those subject to the Chinese authority.†

In the year 1821, Captain A. Gerard, accompanied by his brother, having already surveyed the middle valley of the Sutlej for scientific purposes, undertook an exploratory journey into the recesses of the great Indian chain. Their previous survey had terminated

The Sutlej is called by the lower mountaineers Satudra, Sutroodra, Soottrooz, Sootlooj, and Sutlej. Its proper name, Mr. Fraser says, is Sut Roodra, "which it derives from Roodra, one of the appellations of Mahadeo, for it is a sacred stream." By the people of Kanaur, Lieut. Herbert says, it is called Zagti; and by the Tatars, Sang-jing (or Lang-jing) kanpa. Kanpa, as well as sanpu and maksang, signifies a river.

† Asiat. Res. xiv. pp. 199, 200, 329.