SO Captain Gerard's AccoutU of a Survey 



i 

 the river, are the summer residence of the hunters of Hango, 

 who roam among the rocks in quest of deer. 



Khab, a village of but two houses, a mile from Namgta, is 

 immediately opposite the junction of the IA or Spiti river, one 

 of the largest tributaries of the Setlej, having its source in 

 Ladak. The cheeks of the gulf (solid granite) seem perfectly 

 mural for many hundred feet ; one of the arms of the Pargeul 

 mountain limits the left side of the channel of the Spiti. The 

 contrast between the two streams is striking : the Spiti issues 

 from its almost subterraneous concealment in a calm blue deep 

 body, to meet the Setlej, which is an absolute torrent, thun- 

 dering over the stones in deafening clamour. 



Namgta, containing eight houses, is the last or most eastern 

 village in Basehar : the houses are built of granite, but their 

 structure ill accords with the durability of the materials. The 

 want of forests, to supply the timber necessary to give union 

 to the walls, is the source of the bad workmanship : the gra- 

 nite blocks resist the mountaineer's rude implements. 



The mountains on every hand are of stupendous height. 

 Those immediately at the back of the village exclude the sun 

 till eight o'clock ; and the consequent deficiency of solar heat 

 retards the ripening of the crops. They were here very back- 

 ward : harvest was yet a month distant. 



It had been determined to renew an attempt of penetrating 

 eastward, beyond the boundary of British influence, into the 

 upper valley of the Setlej. Accordingly they marched to 

 ShipJci, in Chinese Tartary, by the Piming pass (13,518 feet,) 

 the boundary between Basehar and Chinese Tartary. There 

 could scarcely be a better defined limit : 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 ex- 

 panse of elevated land, without snow, and in appearance like 

 a Scotch heath. Just beyond the Setlej, the mighty Pargeul, 

 an immense mass, rises to 13,500 feet above the bed of the 

 river, more than 21,000 above the sea. To the east of it, in 

 the same granitic range, are several sharp pinnacles, nearly as 

 high, being more than 20,000 feet above the sea : on the 

 S. W M at the back of the town of Shipki, is an enormous mass 



