DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY 131 



and Dras valleys. These are the north-eastern spurs of 

 the great Himalayan buttress facing the Indian plains. 



Let the traveller or sportsman take his stand at Leh, 

 the capital of the province, and the only town within its 

 borders, and face north. Before him, across the high 

 ridges of the Ivailas that overtop his standpoint, is the 

 district of Nubra ; to the north-east is the Chang-chen-mo 

 valley ; and beyond them, again, the elevated and dreary 

 Lingzi thang, or Lingzi plains ; to the west he has the 

 great Pangong lake — the longest stretch of still water in 

 Tibet ; south-east flows the Indus ; directly south are the 

 high plateaux of Paipshii — the highest inhabited portion 

 of the globe; north-west is rugged Zanskar — the exact 

 antithesis of its neighbour Paipshii ; west are the valleys of 

 Sorii and Dras. The circle is complete : Leh is, as nearly 

 as possible, in the centre, with a radius of one hundred 

 miles all round. 



This condensed description of the country I was about 

 to visit, and in whose eastern extremity I intended to 

 shoot, will give a sufficiently detailed view of the outlying 

 province of Kashmir. Pieference can be made to standard 

 authors for further details. 



The first stage of my present journey is so well known 

 and is so frequented a route, that the sooner we get over 

 it the better. I went from Lahore to Pathankot by rail ; 

 thence it is twelve marches to Sultanpiir, the headquarters 

 of the Kulii subdivision of the Kangra district. There is 

 a cart-road as far as Palampiir (six marches), and a good 

 riding-road for the remaining six. A tonga dak runs as 

 far as the latter place, and there are staging bungalows 

 along the whole route, some pleasant and comfortable, 

 others just the reverse. The pleasantest is the Jhatingri 

 bungalow (ninth stage), and the worst Karaun (beyond the 

 Babbi'i Pass). This pass is 10,000 feet above sea level. 



