XIV GORGE OF THE GYA RIVER 237 



delightful. That pretty but insignificant stream flows 

 in a narrow defile, except at Miru, where the gorge 

 widens sufficiently to allow of some cultivation and the 

 establishment of a village. The rocks at each side are 

 all shades of brown, terra-cotta, purple, mauve and brick 

 red, without a particle of vegetation except near the 

 river in sheltered corners, the colours standing out 

 brilliantly in the wonderfully clear air. The patches of 

 vegetation were generally marked by a few rose-bushes, 

 so covered with flowers that the leaves were hardly seen, 

 and each tree looked like a mass of pinky red standing 

 often 6 or 8 feet high. 



We changed our baggage ponies for yaks at Gya, 

 these latter animals being the kind used for transport 

 purposes by the Champa^ nomads of the Rupshu district, 

 where we were now going. Gya was the last settled 

 village we were likely to see for many a day, — that is, 

 the last village with houses and cultivation. It boasts a 

 single tree, and we did not see one again till we reached 

 Shushal on the 15th of August. 



A misprint in our copy of Ince's Guide to Kashmir 

 resulted on the i6th in very unpleasant consequences. 

 That generally accurate work gives the distance from 

 Gya to Debring as 12 miles, and we started gaily about 

 half-past six in the morning, thinking we had a very easy 

 journey before us. Our route lay up the Gya river, and 

 it became evident, after a while, that there was an error 

 somewhere, for we continued rising gently for over four 



^ The Champas of Rupshu are a pecuHar race. They consider that Leh, which 

 is 11,000 feet above the sea, lies too malariously low to be visited with impunity, 

 except in winter. The elevation of their own valleys is about 14,000 to 16,000 feet. 



