Mr. H. T. Colebrooke' s Remarks on the Setlej River. 37 1 



" After quitting the great snow-bed, the road became extremely rough 

 and difficult, leading over the scattered wrecks of the cliffs and patches of 

 melting snow, and along the edge of a stream in a channel of solid ice. 



" The adjacent ridges are wholly limestone, without a vestige of vegeta- 

 tion ; they are even deserted by the snow, and exhibit an enormous extent 

 of pure rock, and slioot into slender summits of a great variety of forms. 



" We encamped at tlie foot of the slope that stretches from the pass, 

 where the glen takes a regular shape ; the stream spreads out and ripples 

 upon sand and pebbles ; the mountains slant away, and some stunted vege- 

 tation appears at their bases. 



" The elevation of the camp was 15,200 feet above the sea. 



" At sunrise of the following day the thermometer was at 31°; but the 

 night must have been colder, for the dew which fell upon our bed clothes 

 (we had no tent), was so completely frozen, that in the morning our 

 blankets were as tough as the hardest leather. 



" We proceeded towards Manes (distant six miles and a quarter) through 

 the dell that leads to Mdnerang pass, along the bank of a rivulet which 

 has its source amongst the snow-beds in that direction. There is a good 

 deal of soil and bushes, and we passed fine crops of wild leeks at the height 

 of 15,000 feet. 



" Three miles and a half from camp we came to an open valley, being 

 an expanse of sand and pebbles. We followed the stream till it entered a 

 lake upwards of a mile wide ; and here, leaving it to the right, we pro- 

 ceeded to Manes, winding through low gravelly hills covered with tdmd 

 bushes. 



" Manes is a large village (of about fifty houses) in two divisions, sepa- 

 rated by a stream. It is elevated 1 1,900 feet above the level of the sea, and 

 lies on the right bank of the Spit'i river, 400 or 500 feet above its bed. 



" Around the village is some level soil, bearing crops of wheat and 

 barley, and (awd) Siberian barley, which do not extend higher than 12,000 

 feet above the sea. The grains were almost ripe, and there were a kw 

 poplars in the vicinity." 



After a halt of a day at Manes, where the temperature varied (1st Sep- 

 tember) from 52° at sunrise to 81° at the hottest time of the day, Messrs. 

 Gerard proceeded to Tengdi, a small village in the district of Pimi, com- 

 prised in the province of Spiti. They kept along the right bank of the 

 river, a little above the stream, and then descended into the bed of the 



3 C 



