84 Diary of an Excursion to the Shatool [No. 170. 



the Latin nations from the Hindoos took place after the establishment 

 of the latter in India j the peepul not being known in the high countries 

 to the north, whence the Hindoos are supposed to have emigrated. 

 The converse may indeed be true, that the northern tree is the original 

 peepul. On the grassy summit of the Pass, the Morina longifolia, the 

 Sibbaldia procumbens, &c. are in abundance. From this point the 

 source of the Girree may be seen to the right, at about 10,000 feet 

 elevation on the Koopur mountain, below which the stream penetrates 

 by a deep rocky and wooded chasm, a spur from Koopur which would 

 otherwise turn it down by Deorah to the Pabur. The locality is well 

 worth a visit, especially following the Chumba range from Bulsun 

 and Puthernulla. A little beyond Koopur, and connected with it by 

 the Puthernullah Pass of the map, is the still loftier three-peaked range 

 in the Tiroch territory, called Kunchooa ; the Urrukta ridge of Royle 

 and Fraser, an appellation apparently taken from a fort now dismantled, 

 and scarcely known to the present inhabitants. From the presence of 

 birch, silver-fir, Anagyris barbata, &c. the Kunchooa summits are pro- 

 bably little under 12,000 feet elevation ; there is a difficult route over 

 them from Deorah to Choupahl vid the Puthernullah Pass of the map. 

 The view is fine from the Shunkun Pass, including the Jumnootree 

 peaks to the east, the Choor, Shallee, Huttoo, Fagoo, &c. The Koopur 

 mountain is composed of gneiss rock, like Huttoo ; but the Shunkun 

 Pass is of a decomposing micaceous shale, down which the road, some 

 times steep and rocky, proceeds for four or five miles to Deorah, which 

 is seen directly beneath. Deorah, often called simply Durbar, is the resi- 

 dence of the Rana of Joobul. The last Chief, Poorun Chund, was drug- 

 ged to imbecility by his Wuzeers, in order to ensure the management 

 of the country remaining in their own hands ; this policy failed, as our 

 Government assumed and still retains the management; but the legiti- 

 mate claimant, an intelligent boy of eight or ten, is promised the restoration 

 of the Raj when he attains his majority. His palace is an extensive 

 and lofty square pile, surmounted by turrets, slated in the concave 

 Chinese style, not uncommon in the Himalaya ; it is picturesque and has 

 often furnished a subject for the tourist's sketch book ; the best view 

 is from the Saree road. It stands from 6,000 to 6,400 feet above the 

 sea, the thermometer boiling at 201^°, and being surrounded by high 

 mountains, is rather a warm spot. But the traveller has the advantage 



