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



The tree constantly prefers the steepest acclivities, a peculiarity which 

 must be respected by those now trying to naturalize it at home : it 

 will infallibly perish if planted in any ground approaching a swamp, a 

 condition unknown to the Himalaya. Near the foot of this ascent there 

 is a dogra or hamlet, belonging to Chansoo, with orchards of apricot, 

 walnut, and peach trees, of which last the very abundant fruit was 

 sweet and juicy. The people and the bears divide the prize ; the former 

 securing their share by day, which is dried in the sun for winter con- 

 sumption. The bears, who are said to be very numerous, devour their 

 portion by night. Chansoo is 9,174 feet above the sea, and is a most 

 lovely and picturesque spot ; the continuation of the cliffs before men- 

 tioned, extending behind it in a lofty amphitheatre, the brow of which 

 is clothed with birch, now falling into the sere and yellow leaf of winter. 

 The fields of Chansoo are shaded by very large walnut and cedar trees : 

 we measured an elm twenty- nine feet round, at five from the ground. 

 From Chansoo there is a route via Soangor Sheong, (9,000 feet), over 

 the Sheoo Ghatee, (13,350 feet), to Paneemor and the Boorun Ghatee. 

 It is very interesting from its carrying the traveller amongst the most 

 splendid cliff-scenery : and from the summit of the Sheoo Ghatee seve- 

 ral shadowy ranges, covered with snow, are seen to occupy the horizon 

 from north to north-east — the far away mountains of Ladakh and Thibet. 

 Our descent towards Sungla was amongst huge detached masses of 

 gneiss, and at about one-third the height ascended, we again reached the 

 Buspa, no longer roving like a maniac in a strait waistcoat, but flowing 

 rapidly, and frequently in three or four streams, along the open valley 

 of Sungla : Kumroo, the old capital of Busehur, is seen across the river, 

 and elevated several hundred feet above it : it is about a mile from 

 Sungla ; the intervening tract being a high plateau, a forest of fruit 

 trees. The rajas found themselves Tartar up here, and determining to 

 become Hindoo, removed to Rampoor, as — parvis componere magnis — 

 Peter the Great left Asia and Moscow for Europe and Petersburg. 

 The banks of the Buspa are here fringed with the willow and " Soorch," 

 (Hippophse salicifolia) ; and in three or four miles from Chansoo, we 

 crossed to the right bank by a good Sanga, immediately under the 

 village of Sungla, close to which we encamped, by a temple adorned as 

 usual in these parts, with many heads and horns of wild sheep, deer, &c. 

 Some of them belonging to an animal called kin, skin, or sikeeng, are of 



