254 THE BASPA VALLEY 



a-cake journey — a very expressive term. The Sangia people 

 buy rice from the Garhwal traders, and, loading it up on 

 their sheep in small bags, take it to Tibet, where they 

 barter it for wool and salt : the former article, they said, 

 was now very dear. A very curious reason was given in 

 explanation of the fact that Tibetans do not come to trade 

 in this direction : their sheep, it was said, cannot cross 

 passes, filing along narrow mountain tracks, one after the 

 other. This is because they are plains sheep, accustomed 

 to wander in " open order " on the flat table-lands of their 

 mountain home ! If they were driven along a narrow 

 track, they would huddle over each other and would come 

 to grief. 



I did a good trade here, and was now not at all anxious 

 about running short of supplies during my stay in the 

 upper valley. 



There are two, if not three, level stretches of land at 

 the bottom of the valley, like steps descending from the 

 country above. The river runs broad and smooth along 

 the level, and then cuts its way by a narrow channel 

 through the steep slope down to the next plain. To me it 

 appeared that these steps were at one time a succession of 

 lakes, connected by a streamlet, and that their waters were 

 gathered eventually in the largest and lowest, above the 

 present site of the bridge. When the opening to the 

 Sutlej was formed, all these mountain lakelets were sucked 

 dry by the big river, and in the course of ages the Baspa 

 cut through the soil and formed its present deep channel. 

 The hill slopes are well wooded, and small forests of pines 

 and other trees are frequent in the valley, but I saw none 

 of large girth. Approaching Eakcham, the path changes 

 to every variety common to mountain tracks — over slippery 

 granite rocks, then along several log bridges, across chasms 

 between huge boulders ; and at two places, notched logs, 



