370 DE. G. WATT ON THE VEGETATION OF 



is here called. The basin of the Chundra-Baga extends from 

 Kistawar in the north-west to the western high mountains of 

 Spiti. It is divided into three portions — namely, Pangi or 

 Chumba, Lower Lahoul, and Upper or British Lahoul. 



Pangi. — Inhabited by an Aryan race of people, quite different 

 in their social habits (being polyandrists), speaking a different 

 language and professing a different religion, and altogether iso- 

 lated from the other hill-tribes of this region. Their summer is 

 short, compelling them to hibernate for nearly half the year, a 

 peculiarity shared in by many of the animal and vegetable inha- 

 bitants of the valley. Immediately on the melting of the snow 

 in May nature bursts into life ; and the hibernating inhabitants 

 escape from their close dingy houses. Like their goats, they 

 take to eating mauy of the fresh green leaves. I noticed that 

 my coolies had not got over their greed for green leaves in the 

 latter half of May. While resting on the road they ate the young 

 leaves of one or two umbelliferous plants raw, and also bruised, 

 and baked them in their thick cakes of coarse bread. I was sur- 

 prised at their refusing to eat Nasturtium officinale^ preferring 

 the umbelliferous leaves to any thing else. It is noteworthy that 

 the domesticated fowl, however well cared for, cannot survive the 

 winter in Pangi. The atmosphere is dry in summer, infinitely 

 drier than in the Ravee basin ; and a comparison of the plants 

 confined to Pangi, or not found in the Eavee basin, will show how 

 visibly this change in the degree of humidity is attended with a 

 change in the vegetation. An equally well-marked boundary-line 

 was observed in the distribution of both birds and butterflies ; 

 and it is a singular fact that while several Batrachians are common 

 in the Kavee basin, not one is known to inhabit Pangi or Lahoul. 

 The valley of Pangi is nowhere more than a quarter of a mile 

 in breadth, with snow-capped ridges bounding it on both sides. , 



Lower Lahoul. — The wildest and most sterile portion of the 

 basin, where the traveller must be constantly on the alert to 

 avoid accidents. For miles the road is utterly impassable to any 

 beast of burden ; and even man must be possessed of consi- 

 derable nerve and agility to accomplish a good day's march in. 

 Lower Lahoul. At many points the road is limited to a plank 

 laid across iron crowbars driven into the face of a mural precipico 

 rising 2000 or 3000 feet overhead, with the roaring Chundra-Baga 

 several hundred feet below. At Triloknath the valley widens 

 and becomes more interesting. 



