1841.] Sources of the Punjab Rivers. Ill 



of thick white woollen; the women wear the same cloak, only black, 

 with a white rope round the waist ; and a small scull cap on the head 

 • — the men's dress is a very picturesque one. 



From theRajah's Pundit I obtained a long list of the Rajahs of Chumba, 

 beginning with Brahma of course, and descending through the Surajvansa 

 to Sumitra, after whom the list appears to be less apocryphal. The earlier 

 Rajahs are said to have resided in Burmawar. 



On the 11th of August I quitted Chumba, crossing the Ravee immedi- 

 ately above the town by a birchen rope suspension bridge, of 187 feet 

 span; and with much difficulty made my way to the village of Kuredh. 

 One of my porters in crossing the small stream, now swollen by rain, lost 

 his footing and was drowned. On the 13th 1 reached the summit of the 

 pass of Chuarhoo, 8,041 feet high, from which I saw the plains of the Pun- 

 jab indistinctly through the clouds. In the evening I reached the large 

 Village of Chuarhee, where I halted. On the following day I made a 

 fatiguing march of 4| miles to Jajeree, on the bank of the Chukkee River, 

 over several high ridges of stiff gravelly conglomerate, alternating in 

 strata with sandstone. The next day I crossed the Chukkee River with 

 some difficulty, by swimming. It was 200 feet across and about 5 feet 

 deep in the middle, and the rounded boulders at the bottom afforded ro 

 footing whatever ; after a little ascent and descent I came upon a large 

 open plain, which I crossed to Noorpoor. 



Noorpoor is a fine flourishing city, 1.924 feet in height, built upon a 

 narrow ridge of a sandstone rock, curving to the North ; the houses are 

 chiefly of squared stone ; and the main street runs over the solid rock. 

 The city was founded upwards of two hundred years ago by the celebrated 

 NoorJehan, the beautiful empress, who established a number of Kash- 

 merians in it. In 1839 there were said to be 7.000 Kashmerians in Noor- 

 poor, who were chiefly employed in the manufacture of Shawls. I saw 

 many of the Shawls, which were decidedly inferior to the real Kashme- 

 rian Shawls, this was attributed to the difficulty of getting the finest wool. 

 The Noorpoor shawls are however of very fair workmanship, and they are 

 brought in great numbers to Simla, Delhi, Lucknow, Benares, and Cal- 

 cutta. 



On the 18th of August I left Noorpoor, and crossing the Chukkee 

 River, I reached Puthankot in the plains of the Punjab at an elevation of 

 1,205 feet above the sea. From thence I passed through Shujanpoor, a 

 good sized straggling town, and crossing the Umritsir and Lahore Canal 

 near its head, I reached the bank of the Ravee, which was nearly a mile 

 in width. The passage was made in about an hour by boat, and I halted 



