114 Sources af the Punjab Rivers, [No. 110. 



all its bridges, so that I had some difficulty in making the numerous 

 crossings, which the road took. One of my goats was swept away by 

 the rapidity of the current. The ascent of the Peer Panjall was ex- 

 tremely steep, but the road was good and wide, having been repaired by 

 order of the Sikh Government. My thermometer gave 11,224 feet as the 

 height of the crest of Peer Punjall Pass. From thence the road was a 

 gradual descent for 2§ miles to the Serai Aliabad, built by AH Murdan 

 Khan ; height 9,812 feet. A little below Aliabad the road w T as narrow, 

 but quite safe, a parapet wall having been bui!t on its outer edge over- 

 hanging the torrent below. The place is called Lala Ghulam, after a 

 slave who superintended the work, and whom Ali Murdan is said to have 

 afterwards sacrificed and buried there. Beyond that, the road was good 

 and broad, occasionally ascending and descending to an open piece of 

 ground, called Doojan, below which I crossed the torrent and proceeded 

 along a level pathway to the Serai of Heerpoor. The next day I 

 passed through Shoopyen, and crossed the Shoopyen river, reached 

 Ramoo ke Serai, where I halted ; and the next day, 15th of September, 

 I entered Kashmere city, having been three months and two days from 

 Simla. 



The city of Kashmere is situated on both sides of the river Behut, at 

 an elevation of 5,046 feet above the sea. I am aware that Baron Hugel 

 made the height 6,300 feet, but Jacquemont calls it 5,246, and Moor- 

 croft says, that the general level of the valley is about 5,000 feet. It is 

 of an irregular shape, the greater part being on the right bank of the 

 river; about one fourth of the houses are deserted; but the city must 

 still contain about 80,000 inhabitants. 



The information which I have collected regarding Kashmere is not yet 

 completely arranged, so that I cannot give any general results. I may 

 state, however, that I have a list of all the villages in the valley ; a 

 minute account of all the passes, including those which are used only 

 for contraband trade ; the history of the Shawl Wool from its first start- 

 ing from Radakh and Khantan (or Changtang) to its arrival in Kash- 

 mere, where it is spun into thread, dyed, and woven into Shawls. I have 

 besides ten or twelve specimens of Kashmerian songs translated into 

 English verse; and a very good collection of the coins of the Hindoo 

 Rajahs of Kashmere preceding the Mussulman conquest. 



Additions made to the Geography. 

 1 will conclude with stating the additions, which the joint travels of 

 Lieutenant Broome and myself have made to the Geography of the 

 Alpine Punjab, 





