A BOTANICAL TOUR IN KASHMIR. 75 



The path down this valley is very steep and very stony. My intention was 

 to have gone on to Skardu from here, but finding the botany so interesting, 

 I decided to halt half way near the village of Satpur. Several bushes of a 

 handsome Spiraea {S. hypericifolid) were met with on the way down. This 

 species is not included in the « Flora of British India." My friend Captain 

 Hunter Weston, E.E., brought me flowering specimens of this shrub discovered 

 by him in Baltistan three years ago. The plant, however, is well known to 

 the natives, who call it " Saber." The wood is hard, and the bark is of a red- 

 dish-brown colour and smooth. Native shikaris from Kashmir nearly always 

 take back with them a bundle of sticks cut from this shrub. Many other rare 

 plants were also collected. 



There is a good deal of cultivation in the neighbourhood of Satpur. The 

 fields which have been skilfully terraced contained fine crops, especially of 

 wheat and barley, nearly ready for the harvest. Other crops are peas, called 

 here TcuTcan beans or bahla, the Balti name of which is bararah, and turnips 

 (gonglu) ; wheat is called JcanaJc, and barley is nas. The general name for all 

 kinds of grasses is hash. Several kinds of fruit-trees are also grown here, such 

 as walnuts, mulberries, and apricots. 



After leaving Satpur the road follows the bed of the river and then over 

 grassy and more or less marshy land until the lake is reached. The path then 

 ascends and is carried along the east side of the valley at some distance above 

 the lake. The lake occupies the whole width of the valley, which is about a 

 mile across, and its length is nearly two miles. It contains fish. "We passed a 

 curious old wall which extends down the side of the mountain and ends in a 

 fort overlooking the lake. After passing the lake the path (a very bad one) 

 keeps more or less by the river until it suddenly emerges into the Indus Yalley 

 immediately opposite Skardu. I halted two days here, and my time was fully 

 occupied replying to the numerous letters which had been awaiting my arrival 

 for many days, and attending to the large collection of specimens recently 

 collected. 



Captain Townsend, of the Central India Horse, was here in command of 

 some Kashmir Imperial Service Troops, and was the only Englishman in this 

 place when I arrived. I am much indebted to him for his kind assistance in 

 various ways, as well as for his hospitality. The Tehsildar, who is practically 

 the governor of Skardu, was also most obliging. A great deal might be written 

 regarding the history of this interesting place, also of the scenery, which is 

 very striking. All cultivation is carried on by means of irrigation, the 

 channels for which extend for miles from the sources of supply. The numer- 

 ous villages which are scattered throughout the valley are conspicuous by 

 their settings of vivid green patches in the midst of a sandy desert. A very 

 superior kind of apricot is to be obtained from some of the gardens. When 

 ripe it is extremely juicy, more like a plum in this respect, and the flavour ia 

 delicious. It is called chilu, but is very different from the ordinary hill apricot 



