1846.] and Boorun Passes over the Himalaya. 125 



disagreeably warm, till the sunny forenoon was succeeded by a cool 

 cloudy day. On the 27th we walked to Rooroo Kothee in two and a 

 half hours. 



September 28th. — To Thana Kushain, ten and a half miles, in four 

 hours and forty minutes : the road is good, chiefly through cultivation ; 

 quits the valley of the Pabur about three miles below Rooroo, and in 

 two more, by an ascent of 1,000 feet, reaches Krassa, an exceedingly 

 well-built and comfortable looking village ; the Kunaits, or descendants 

 of the Rajpoots and aborigines occupying one department, and the 

 Kholees, or Helots, a separate one. These poor outcasts are held in 

 great contempt, and are never allowed to mix in society with their liege 

 lords, the Kunaits. In a pine-wood here, the downward traveller should 

 breakfast and pass the heat of the day. Hence the road undulates up 

 the left bank of the alder-fringed Pursrar or Dogra Nuddee, formed 

 by two branches which unite below Kuskain. We ascended the fork 

 for 600 or 800 feet, and encamped a little above the village in a very 

 airy spot, shaded by some fine cedars, with the twin-village Thana 

 a little below to the west. The elevation is probably 7,000 or 7,200 

 feet, which ensures a delicious climate after Rooroo. About 500 feet 

 higher, and a mile distant on the ridge above to NW., is the small but 

 rather inaccessible fort of Tikhur, formed by two square-roofed bas- 

 tions, connected by curtains, all of good masonry, and held by a garrison 

 of one man, who refused to surrender till my companion climbed over 

 the wall and opened the gate. The walls command an interesting 

 view of spacious and well-cultured mountain slopes, with several large 

 villages, above which the koil pine abounds, crowned by the lofty 

 Chumba ridge and Suraroo Pass. This is the Nawur District, rich in 

 iron ore, which is found disseminated in grains like iron-filings in a 

 grey, friable micaceous sandstone, which is quarried from mines a little 

 below the village, pulverized, and then washed in running water, which 

 carries off the earthy matter ; the ore is then smelted, and as much as 

 a thousand maunds are said to be made in favourable years : most of 

 which is carried on mules to Simla and the plains. The shafts or mines 

 dip at all angles, and are very like the dens of wild beasts ; they are 

 more or less inundated during the rains, and the work can consequently 

 only be carried on during the cold and dry seasons. Some of the ore 

 is sent to Shyl to be smelted, probably to economize wood. The usual 



