296 THE JUSWUNT RANGE. 



from the decomposition of the older rocks on which it is found to 

 rest. Here and there, masses of sandstone, much harder than 

 the surrounding sand and conglomerate, stand out in bold relief, 

 forming various grotesque appearances. On crossing the range, we 

 enter the Juswunt valley, through which a small fordable stream 

 runs ; in this valley there is some good cultivation. In breadth it is 

 about two to five miles, and forty miles in length. Following the 

 road to Kangra, the encamping ground is at Amb, a native 

 garden, now a jungle ; in it there are some noble Cypress 

 (Cupressus sempervirens), and Plane (Platanus orientalis) trees ; 

 shortly after Amb, and proceeding northward, we reach the 

 Juswunt range, a range of hills seldom rising higher than 1200 

 feet ; it forms the northern boundary of the Juswunt valley, and 

 is much more covered with vegetation than the Pamrai range ; 

 Cheers, Sauls (Shorea robusta), and Toons, being abundant, and 

 brushwood, consisting of a species of Dodonsea, Karounda (Carissa 

 villosa), and Justicia adhatoda. The road through this range runs 

 in the course of a stream, rendering it difficult to traverse during 

 the rains. After proceeding some six miles by a winding road 

 through small hills of sand and sandstone, with red and green 

 marls, we ascend a ghaut ; the road then crowns the hills, present- 

 ing a very barren and dry appearance, cultivation, from want of 

 water, being rare and scanty in the extreme. Descending from 

 the Chumba Ghaut, which may be considered as a portion of this 

 range, we reach the Beyas river, which here is about eighty yards 

 broad, and in depth from eight to twelve feet, with water of a fine 

 clear green colour. The ferry is crossed by a large flat-bottomed 

 boat. The sand-stone strata are well exposed on the banks of the 

 river, dipping to the west and south, under an angle of 45°. 

 The Ghaut is about eighty feet above the bed of the river, and 

 covered with boulders, which are highly rounded and polished, 

 showing that the river formerly flowed there. These boulders are 

 found embedded in cla} 7 , which rests unconformably on the sand- 

 stones and marls. On crossing the river, we enter another valley, 

 styled the Jowala Mookee valley, so named from the famed temple 

 here situated. This valley is in many places covered with innu- 

 merable boulders of quartz rock, particularly near the banks of 

 the river, but at an elevation of eighty and one hundred feet above 

 the present level, showing how much its course had been altered. 

 The Jowala Mookee valley is a fine open undulating plain, varying 

 in breadth from eight to ten miles, and in length about fifty miles. 

 To the north it has at its boundary the Jowala range of mountains, 



