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



l'horreur trouble les sens, la tete tourne, les yeux s'egarent. II faut 

 marcher : on voudrait retourner en arriere ; plus de moyens : tout 

 est tombe, tout est eVanoui, tout est echappe !" and it was our fate to 

 escape these very literal precipices by an abrupt descent to Panwee, all 

 through a dense and lofty forest, excepting the last 500 feet, which 

 lead to the village through terraced cultivation. The forest trees occur in 

 the following descending order — Picea webbiana, first alone, and then 

 mixed with P. pindrow and Quercus semicarpifolia ; then Abies smithiana 

 and Pinus excelsa, many of the latter fully 150 feet high. Lastly, the 

 cedar feathers all the bold crags about the village, which across the 

 Skooling torrent to the east rise precipitously into a lofty peak, arguing 

 no easy marches ahead. 



We encamped by a temple where our people found excellent shelter 

 from the brisk showers which fell in the afternoon. A thick bush of 

 sacred juniper grows in the enclosure, and the vicinity is well shaded 

 by horse chestnut (Pavia indica), elm, peach, apricot, walnut, and mul- 

 berry trees. Panwee is a middling- sized village, above the left bank of 

 the Skooling river, two or three miles from Wangtoo bridge, and from 

 1,300 to 1,500 feet above it. From several points above the village, the 

 Sutluj, with the road to Chegaon, is visible ; as well as the wild glen of 

 the Wungur, which joins at the bridge in one succession of cataracts. 

 By visiting Panwee, we have enjoyed some of the sublimest scenery in 

 the world, at the expense of a stage on our way to Sungla, for the 

 direct route follows the Shatool stream to Melum, but our guides were, 

 or pretended to be, unacquainted with it, and on enquiry here, we 

 found that it is really impracticable to men with loads ; and have every 

 reason to believe it must be extremely difficult without that encum- 

 brance. 



September \5th. — To Melum or Ramne* (the Melung of the map), 

 about ten miles in seven hours, by a difficult route, the path being for 

 the most part as rocky, and in some places as dangerous as any we 

 have traversed. At one almost impassable ledge, one of our dogs fell 

 and had a narrow escape. (By the bye, dogs should not be brought 

 into these parts — being perpetually in the way, to the risk of their own 

 and their master's necks.) In several places jutting crags are only passed 

 by the aid of the ladders, scaffoldings, and steps, so familiar to the tra- 

 veller in Kunawur. On leaving Panwee, there is a steep declivity to 





