PLAINS OF GYANIMA 135 



valleys, resembling the upper valleys of the Alps, such as 

 the vall^ of the St. Gothard and Brenner or the Val 

 d'Alzaska, seem less subject to rain ; and, indeed, the 

 climate was delightful and warm after Tibet. There 

 were forests of Pinus excelsa and birch, and a profusion 

 of wild flowers covered the ground — white anemones, 

 potentillas, strawberries, wild gooseberries, and rhubarb, 

 and a thousand gay flowering plants. Here was the home 

 of many marmots and choughs. The valleys contained 

 glaciers, with great moraine beds twisting down the sides, 

 the black ice breaking off in masses. Above were the 

 snow-white summits of many peaks. 



The Bhotias of Kuti supplied yak drivers, one for each 

 pair of yaks, and saddles made of wood, to which the 

 loads and provisions for one month were securely attached 

 by ropes made of yak's hair, very light and strong. 

 Colonel Smyth had a tent of the smallest dimensions, 

 lined with woollen stuff, just large enough for him to lie 

 down, with a division in the centre making a second 

 chamber at the other end for his servant, who was a very 

 useful Kumaoni. Thus equipped, with the smallest 

 amount of kit possible, they had crossed nearly every 

 high pass in Kumaon, and done as much mountaineering 

 as could be got in during years spent in visiting all the 

 villages in a province as large as France, and instituting 

 and inspecting schools everywhere. I had the pleasure 

 of being present at several of his inspections here and in 

 the Milam valley, where prizes were given to the best 

 scholars. These Bhotia people are very intelligent and 

 well-to-do, as all the trade in borax, salt, and flour, and 

 goods of many kinds from India, passes through their 

 hands. They are a fine, athletic mountain race very Hke 

 the Gurkhas, not at all dark-skinned, and with features 

 between the Aryan and the Tartar. Their women are 



