CHtfMBA STATE AND BETTISH LAHOTJL. 371 



British LaJioul. — The inhabitants are Mongolians and Budd- 

 hists. At Tandi the Chundra and the Baga join. The former 

 rising to the south-west of the Bura-Lucha Pass, and describing 

 an arc of a circle by south-east to north-west, washes the moun- 

 tains of Spiti and drains the northern slopes of the Botang Pass ; 

 the Baga, rising almost at the same point, describes also an arc 

 of a circle, passing south-east and south to join the Chundra. 

 At Keylang, on the Baga, I found the good Moravian Missionaries 

 not only able to assist me, but ready and willing to permit me 

 to inspect their interesting collection of Lahoul plants. I shall 

 be pardoned for acknowledging here the great help I received 

 from my kind friends in Keylang, the Bev. Mr. Heyde and the 

 Eev. Mr. Eedslob. 



III. Thihd Bange. — The ascent may be made from Keylang 

 to the Bura-Lucha Pass (17,000 feet), where the Chundra-Baga 

 valley terminates. Prom the Bura-Lucha Pass the road leads 

 through Zanskar to the capital of Ladak on the northern bank of 

 the Indus. 



Climate and Vegetation. 



The following remarks on the climate and vegetation should be 

 understood as applying to the route taken by me, rather than to 

 the country generally, thougb many of them are of general 

 application. 



Not only do the three Banges described divide the Punjab 

 Himalayas into distinct drainage-areas, but they separate three 

 regions with widely different climatic conditions. The First or 

 southern region extends from the Punjab plains to the summits 

 of the First Bange. This may be described as very rainy, although 

 it must be remembered that the annual rainfall occurs during part 

 of four months only, and that during the rest of the year this 

 region is dry, hot, and altogether below the line of pepretual 

 snow. The Second region extends from the summit of the First 

 to the summit of the Second Bange. This may be characterized 

 as a fairly rainy basin, corresponding to the Bavee, Bias, and the 

 greater part of Kashmir : while the total rainfall is less, the annual 

 and average humidity is greater and, like the temperature, more 

 equable ; so that the vegetation of the region is much richer than 

 in the preceding, and contains a much larger proportion of tem- 

 perate types. The snow-line descends to about 15,000 feet; but 

 during winter months the snow lies as low down in the Bavee 



