1842.] to Shipke, in Chinese Tartary. 385 



indifferent, ascending and descending alternately, and passing the 

 village of Chegaon or Cholang, pleasantly situate near a stream five 

 miles from Meeroo ; half a mile on this side of it the road led through 

 an arch formed of two stupendous rocks of granite, which meet at an 

 angle. 



1st November. — Marched to Nachar eight miles. The way was 

 rough for four miles to the Wangpo, a large mountain torrent that 

 rushes down a steep declivity, forming a succession of waterfalls in its 

 course, and dashes against the huge masses of rock in its bed with 

 a noise like thunder, throwing up the spray to an amazing height ; 

 we crossed it by a good sango, and proceeded half a mile upon level 

 ground to Wangtoo Jhoola, a rope bridge over the Sutlej ; it consists of 

 five or six cables close together, upon which is laid half a hollow fir 

 tree, about two feet long, with pegs driven through it to prevent its 

 coming off; from this hangs a loop of three or four ropes in which the 

 passenger takes his seat, it is pulled across by two pieces of rotten 

 twine, that from constantly breaking occasion this to be a tedious mode 

 of transporting baggage. The conveyance is a pretty safe one, but 

 greatly alarming to a novice, for the Jhoola is elevated twenty feet 

 above the stream, which runs with great rapidity and a deafening noise. 

 Near this are the remains of a wooden bridge, such as described in 

 Captain Turner's Narrative, that was destroyed on the Goorkha invasion 

 of Busahir. We found the breadth of the Sutlej at the bridge eighty- 

 eight feet, and the height of its bed 5,200 feet, in some parts it is 

 scarcely fifty feet broad, and it was in attempting to swim over at a 

 narrow place that one of my servants was drowned here last year. 



After much delay, we got every thing across without an accident, and 

 ascended for three and a half miles to Nachar, where there are a few 

 grapes which seldom ripen ; the degree of cold does not depend nearly 

 so much upon the absolute height of the place, as its elevation above 

 the bed of a river, for vines come to maturity upon the banks of large 

 streams, 9,500 feet from the level of the sea, and Nachar does not ex- 

 ceed 7,000 feet in height. 



2nd November. — Proceeded eight miles to Turanda in Utharabeesht, 

 and three miles from the western limit of Koonawur. This day's march 

 was beautiful, for the first three and a half miles upon soil and through 

 shady groves of lofty pines, from twenty to twenty-seven feet in circum- 



