936 Journal of a trip through Kunawur. [Nov. 



quantity of the snow which had fallen, it could not be open before the 

 middle of August. Hearing that the ibex was found at Koopa and at 

 Poo,ee, in the neighbourhood of Soongnum, I again distributed powder 

 and balls, and sent people to hunt them, telling them to have some 

 ready by the time of my return. I made also some inquiries regard- 

 ing the " excellent limestone" which Gerard says he discovered in this 

 neighbourhood, and which the natives told him they should henceforth 

 use in the construction of their buildings. 



Puttee Ram said he recollected the circumstance I alluded to, but 

 added that Gerard had failed in his attempts to convert the stone into 

 lime. He had brought some fragments of it from the Hungrung pass 

 behind Soongnum, and having made a small kiln, he burned the 

 stone, but instead of producing lime it melted down into a hard slag. 

 The experiment failed, and it has never been attempted since. At 

 Soongnum during the winter months, the weather is sometimes very 

 severe, the whole of the surrounding hills being enveloped in one 

 white sheet of snow, often to the depth of several feet. The town, 

 standing at an elevation of 9,350 feet, is completely buried during 

 heavy falls. At such times the inhabitants assist each other in clear- 

 ing their roofs from the weight of snow, which not unfrequently yield 

 to the pressure, and are converted into a heap of ruins. To guard 

 against the rigours of such a climate, is therefore the business of the 

 summer months, at which season, accordingly, houses are stored with 

 fuel and grass, and the leaves of trees are accumulated for the sheep 

 and cattle, which are safely housed till the severity of the winter has 

 passed away. At this season there is little, often no, communication 

 between village and village, the inhabitants contenting themselves 

 with clearing a track from house to house in their own villages, but 

 not venturing beyond. This does not last, however, throughout the 

 winter, but frequent thaws take place, succeeded by fresh falls of 

 snow. 



This description is generally applicable to all places in Kunawur, 

 and the Churriah who accompanied me said he recollected three differ- 

 ent years in which the snow had fallen ten feet deep, even so low 

 down as Tranda and Nachar. At Simla, in the winter of 1835-36, the 

 snow is said to have been upwards of five feet, and I myself saw on 

 the 10th May, 1836, some of it still lying on the northern side of 

 Jacko, on which Simla is built. 



On the 9th of June I left Soongnum, and proceeded towards the first 

 Tartar village of Hungo, by the Hungrung pass, which rises up be- 

 hind Soongnum to the height of 1 4,837 feet above the sea. The road 



