A BOTANICAL TOUR IN KASHMIR, 73 



along a very rocky valley almost bare of vegetation for the first few miles. 

 At 12,000 feet the botany becomes more interesting. The white variety of the 

 marsh marigold fringes the sides of the stream ; a brilliantly yellow-flowered 

 Draba was conspicuous, growing in masses near the top of a pass ; and mixed 

 with it was a rare Anemone {A. albana). The tents were pitched at a place 

 called Pattarkhan Brangsa, between 12,000 and 13,000 feet. There is an 

 enormous rock here which affords good shelter for coolies. 



I went over the Marpu Pass on the following day. It is over 15,000 feet, 

 and forms a portion of the watershed between the Dras and the Shingo rivers, 

 both of which flow into the Indus. It is quite an easy pass, but the path is a 

 very stony one, and on this account a little more snow would have been an 

 advantage. 



The next camping-ground is at Pattar Dokas, about 2,000 feet below the 

 pass. The stream of this nullah flows into the Shingo River, a few miles below 

 the village of Golteri, which was my next halting stage. This village is on the 

 right bank of the river, and is situated on a plateau of moraine debris. The 

 elevation is about 11,000 feet. I stayed here for one day as the botany was 

 interesting, and I had to make arrangements for another set of coolies. The 

 pencil cedar {Juniperus excelsa) is plentiful in this valley, but the trees are 

 stunted. The Shingo River rises near the Burzil Pass and flows into the 

 Shigar, one of the tributaries of the Indus. 



I left Golteri on the 7th of July, and went down the valley on the left bank 

 to a place called Chamlong. The river is crossed by a small rope bridge just 

 below Golteri ; close by here and alongside the river is the village polo-ground. 

 The path keeps near the river all the way, and is very rocky in places. One 

 great feature of this valley is the abundance of a very floriferous sweet- 

 scented rose (R. Weliana). The flowers vary from deep pink to white. The 

 people here call it sermang. Many other interesting botanical specimens were 

 gathered. A wild-looking valley, called the Shwaran nullah, has to be crossed 

 by a rope bridge before reaching Chamlong. 



On the following day we continued down the river to the village of Fransart 

 by an extremely rocky and rather difficult track, and some parts of it must be 

 quite impassable when the river is at all high. There is an alternative and 

 longer route at a much higher level. The elevation of Fransart is about 

 10,000 feet. There is a large extent of cultivated ground in this part of the 

 valley, including many fields of barley. After changing coolies we had before 

 us a steep ascent up to 12,000 feet in order to cross over into the Shigar 

 Valley. The small village of Shigar is prettily situated at some distance above 

 the river. The valley just here is rather wide, and some side valleys open into 

 it on the opposite side where the mountain scenery is very grand. Their 

 lower slopes are clothed with forest, consisting chiefly of Pinus excelsa and 

 Juniperus excelsa. Mosquitoes are very troublesome here at about sunset, and 

 at higher elevations up to 14,000 feet they are even worse. It must, of course, 



10 



