INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 209 



hul is probably very scanty, and nearly Tibetan in character,- 

 but pines occur even up to 11,000, and it is far more fertile 

 than any Tibetan province. The bed of the Chenab is pro- 

 bably nowhere below 8500 feet elevation, and the plants must 

 therefore be all temperate and alpine. A wild yellow Persian 

 rose, a variety of R. eglanteria, here finds its eastern limit. 



10. KiSHTWAR. 



Kishtwar includes the middle course of the Chenab valley 

 between Lahul and Jamu. It is separated on the north from 

 the Tibetan valleys of Zanskar and Dras by the axis of the 

 Himalaya, which is crossed by the Umasi Pass into Zanskar, 

 elevated 18,000 feet; and by other passes, from Wardwan 

 into Dras, at scarcely less elevations. The district of Ward- 

 wan to the west occupies the eastern slopes of the range 

 which separates Kishtwar from Kashmir, and is crossed by 

 thcNabagnai Pass, of undetermined elevation, and probably by 

 several others. To the south, Kishtwar is separated from the 

 Chamba province by a range of 10-14,000 feet elevation, al- 

 luded to under that province. The boundary between Kisht- 

 war and Jamu to the south-west is not defined. 



The climate and vegetation of Kishtwar, like those of Ku- 

 nawar, with which they are identical, are in all respects inter- 

 mediate in general features between those of the plainward 

 Himalayan provinces and of Tibet; and in more local ones 

 between those of the provinces occupying the lower and upper 

 course of the Chenab (Jamu and Lahul) on the one hand, and 

 between Kashmir and these on the other. The elevation of 

 the Chenab at about the middle of the province is from 6000 

 to 7000 feet, and there is hence scarcely any type of tropical 

 vegetation, except Paliurus, Desmodium, and Pomegranates. 



In entering Kishtwar by the Chamba province a marked 

 change occurs in the vegetation, from the prevalence of a 

 mixture of Kashmir and Kunawar plants which are rare or 

 not found in the provinces skirting the plains, as a tall pani- 

 culate Rheum, many Umbelliferae, Silene infiata, Geranium, and 



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