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



meadows, the route enters and ascends steeply through a forest of 

 Abies smithiana, Pinus excelsa, Picea pindrow and P. webbiana, Quercus 

 semicarpifolia, Taxus baccata, Ribes acuminatum (red currant) the 

 lemon-scented Laurustinus (Viburnum nervosa,) Rosa sericea, &c, none 

 of the trees remarkable for size. The Picea pindrow and P. webbiana are 

 here and at Jaka, confounded under the name of Kulrai, perhaps the 

 Chilrow of Royle, and these unconscious disciples of Lamark insist, that 

 the difference in the size and colour of their leaves is solely owing to the 

 inclemency of the wind and weather, on the exposed sites where the 

 Webbian species is found. We emerged from the forest at a spot called 

 Bhoojkal, 1 1 ,700 feet above the sea, and about three miles from Moojwar ; 

 the rest of the day's journey lies along the east or SE. exposure of the 

 mountains, destitute of trees, but covered with a new and rich series 

 of Alpine plants. A little beyond Bhoojkal and on the same level, 

 Reoonee, sometimes used as a halting place but a very bad one, occurs ; 

 and hereabouts much ground is lost by several steep descents to torrents 

 by rather dangerous paths. Above, to the left, the mountains exhibit 

 bare, but not precipitous shelves of gneiss rock, inclined from the route ; 

 to the right are deep glens, woods, torrents, and a few beds of snow, 

 all wild, lonely, and sublime. Kala Koondar is an open but steep spot in 

 a grassy, flowery glen, facing south, about 300 feet above the forest, and 

 12,000 above the sea, on a level with the Choor summit, which is 

 visible to SSW. We encamped amidst heavy rain and hail from the 

 north, which rendered the grass very cold and wet for our people and 

 ourselves too, having been compelled for want of hands, to leave our 

 charpaees on the road to-day. In these difficult tracts a good tarpaulin 

 under one's bedding is much more conveniently carried than a bed-stead, 

 and excludes the damp almost equally well; where both are absent, 

 a very excellent substitute is a thick layer of pine or yew branches. 



The creeping juniper, here called Theloo but in Upper Kunawur 

 Pama (Juniperus squamosa), commences from 800 to 1,000 feet below 

 Kala Koondar. The open pastures are covered with a profusion of 

 alpine flowers among which are the Cyananthus lobata (called Kheeree), 

 the Dolomicea macrocephala (Dhoop or Googul), Saxifraga parnassiae- 

 folia (or a species very like it, also found on the Choor), and (on rocks) 

 Saxifraga mucronulata, Sieversia elata, Swertia ccerulea and several 

 other species, (one, a large plant with pale blue blossoms is probably 



