1848.] 



deputed to the Tibetan Frontier. 



119 



Date. 



23rd Oct. 



24th 



25th 



Halting 

 place. 



No. of 



miles. 



NearKherbu 



Jas-gund. 



Dras. 



HI 



121 



n 



Remarks. 



river. The latter is a considerable 

 stream about four times -as large as 

 the Waka-chu. A road leads up its 

 bed to Kishtwar. It was by this 

 route that Zorawar Singh first invaded 

 Ladak. 



At £ mile crossed the Suru river by 

 two small bridges and one large one. 

 Just above the bridges, on the left bank 

 of the stream, is a small loop-holed 

 fort, 50 or 60 yards square, with round 

 towers at the corners. It is well sup- 

 plied with water. Below the bridge 

 the Purik and Suru rivers unite. The 

 road then continued for 2\ miles to the 

 junction of the Suru and Dras rivers. 

 From this point it turned to the west- 

 ward up the right bank of the Dras 

 river, along which it continued for 9 

 miles to the encamping ground, a short 

 distance beyond the junction of the 

 Shingo and Dras rivers. 



Road for 7 miles continued along the 

 right bank of the Dras river passing 

 the villages of Kherbu and Shimsha. 

 It then crossed the river by 2 bridges, 

 one of 20 feet span over a rocky chan- 

 nel, and the other of 50 feet span over 

 the main stream. Thence for 5f miles 

 up the left bank of the river passing 

 Chibr and Taskyum. Snow fell during 

 the afternoon. 



Road nearly due west the whole way 

 to the fort of Dras, chiefly over allu- 

 vial soil, the deposit of former lakes. 

 On a small piece of ground just after 

 passing the hamlet of Styalbo, and 

 within half a mile of the fort there are 

 three upright stone pillars on the side 

 of the road. The smallest of the three 

 is undoubtedly a modern Sati stone 

 with a modern inscription (in the Hill 

 character) of which I have copies. The 



