A BOTANICAL TOUR IN KASHMIR. 77 



every nullah which opens into these hot, dry and comparatively low valleys 

 afford views of forests and green pastures extending up to the snow line. 



Beyond Daskin the road still ascending passes through the lower portion of 

 one of these forests, which extend more or less all along the high-level ridges 

 from Astor to Doian. This proved to be one of the most interesting bits of 

 botanical ground met with during the whole of my tour. The principal trees 

 are Pinus excelsa, Pinus gerardiana, and the Pencil cedar. Streams of clear 

 water cross the road at intervals, and many rare plants may here be found. 

 After passing through this forest the road again enters the arid waterless tract, 

 until Doian is reached, close to which place the same kind of forest extends. 



There is a small bungalow at Doian belonging to Messrs, Spedding & Co., 

 the road contractors. As rain came on in the afternoon, I was glad to avail 

 myself of it, and so saved my tents from getting wet. There is a splendid view 

 from here in clear weather, looking down into the Indus Valley and across to 

 some very high snowy peaks beyond. 



It rained steadily all night and the next morning, and remained cloudy 

 during the rest of the day. This was an advantage, as the next march down 

 to Ramghat is a very hot and trying one on a sunny day. The old route over 

 the Hattu Pir must however have been very much worse. 



At Eamghat there is abridge over the A stor River, which rushes through 

 the gorge here at a furious pace. This spot is known locally by the name 

 Shaitan Nara. The camping-ground is about a mile beyond this, on the left 

 bank of the Dachkat or Misikin Stream. This torrent, like many other glacier 

 streams, rises and falls at different times of the day, and during the summer 

 months it is quite unfordable towards evening, 



From this place there is a good road mostly over a stony plateau to Bunji, 

 the elevation of which is under 5,000 feet. This used to be a much more 

 important place until the great flood of 1841 destroyed it and laid waste a 

 large extent of cultivated land. There is a very good bungalow here and a 

 garden of fruit-trees, in which I pitched my camp. 



Captain Yielding, D.S.O., arrived here that evening from Srinagar, and I had 

 the pleasure of his company as far as G-ilgit, The distance is nearly 40 miles 

 by the new road. It is certainly a journey to be undertaken as quickly as 

 possible, for the whole valley is extremely hot during the day-time, there 

 being no shade whatever until you reach the village of Minawar, about 8 miles 

 from G-ilgit. Finding that my coolies were a long way behind, I was 

 obliged to halt about 6 miles short of this place on a gravelly plain 

 near the river. As some portions of the new road between this place 

 and Minawar were not then open for traffic, we had some difficulty with 

 the loads, especially at certain spots where the debris from the new road was 

 being shot down on to the only other possible track. I found Captain Yielding 

 at Minawar early the next morning, and we rode on from that to G-ilgit. 



The views of the snowy peaks towards the north-east were wonderfully fine, 



