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



rock here is a silvery grey mica slate, containing a very large proportion 

 of quartz. There is also a blue clayslate, with which the houses are 

 roofed in the concave style. 



September 29M. — To Shyl or Hurrela, ten miles, in six hours ; we 

 had considerable difficulty in getting coolees ; Kushain brought up its 

 quota punctually, but on applying to Thana, we found that the 

 Mookheea, having forgotten or disregarded, if he had ever heard, the 

 precept of the Temperance Societies — 



"There's not a joy this world can give like that it takes away, 

 When the glow of slight excitement yields to drunkenness the sway," 



lay gloriously or hopelessly drunk — * o'er all the ills of life victorious ;' — 

 so that we were compelled to assume his official functions, and use a 

 little gentle coercion. The route lies up the mountain a little to the left 

 of Tikhur, and on reaching the crest of the Chumbee range, continues 

 along it to the right, gradually ascending. The mountain, hitherto 

 smooth and grassy, with a mica slate basis here changes to gneiss, 

 which occurs in a labyrinth of great blocks and crags, with a coppice of 

 Kurshoo oak, Viburnum nervosum, cotoneaster, &c. The more common 

 plants are Nepeta govaniana, Impatiens (glandulosa?), Potentilla atro- 

 sanguinea, Polygonum molle, Delphinium vestitum, several umbelliferse, 

 and the Anemone discolor, " Kukra," which in May covers the moun- 

 tains with its white and blue. The acrid leaves are used by the moun- 

 taineers to raise blisters ; but they are said to produce bad sores, leaving 

 a permanent scar. The " Chitra" or Drosera muscipula — " Sundew" — 

 a curious little plant which abounds between Kotgurh and Simla is 

 applied in the same way. The elevation of the Suraroo Pass is 9,875 

 feet, commanding a glorious and extensive view, which includes the 

 Koopur and Kunchooa ranges, the Moral and Changsheel up to the 

 snows, with a long segment of the great range itself, in which the posi- 

 tions of the Shatool and Boorun Passes are well fixed by their pyramids. 

 On the other side the huge wooded and grassy range of Huttoo is the 

 most prominent object, its base watered by the Chugountee Nuddee, the 

 opposite or western bank of which presents one of the most beautiful and 

 extensive sheets of cultivation in these mountains. Chumba, Chumbee, or 

 Chamee is a term very generally used in the Himalaya to express a moun. 

 tain range. The road to the summit of this Chumbee is good, and we 

 reached it in three hours very quiet walking ; but the descent to Shyl is the 



