2 10 Journal of a trip through Kulu and Ldhul, fy-c. [March, 



course of time, as the gneiss rocks were either gradually worn down, or 

 suddenly rent asunder, and swept away by the Byas river, the hot 

 springs of Vashishta Muni were brought to light, or to use the language 

 of the legends " the bonds of Vashishta Muni were burst" by the 

 waters of the river, which was afterwards called Fi-pdsa, or "the bond- 

 less." 



The Mahabharat further relates that the sage Vashishta, being deter- 

 mined on suicide flung himself afterwards into the Satadree or Sutlej ; 

 but the pious waters of the river divided themselves into a hundred 

 shallow channels and left the disappointed sage on dry land : from 

 which the river was ever afterwards called Satadree, " the hundred- 

 channelled," from Sata, a hundred, and dree, to flow. 



Friday 2 1 st August. Marched in the afternoon to Boorwa, distance 

 five miles. We were detained at Monali making arrangements about 

 provisions, which we are obliged to carry with us, as Lahul and the 

 countries beyond produce little or no wheat. The road from Monali to 

 Boorwa was good ; the latter part much blocked up by numerous gneiss 

 boulders, with which the whole of the Boorwa plain is thickly strown 

 over. The cultivation about Boorwa was principally buckwheat. 



Height of Boorwa above the sea, 7500 feet. 



Saturday 22d August. Marched to the Les-dhar Dhurmsala — 8 

 miles. Just beyond Boorwa we crossed the Sarahi nullah, an un- 

 fordable torrent, by a spar bridge. From this point the road was a 

 gentle ascent at first, then rather steep by steps built in the rock where 

 the Byas is confined between precipitous cliffs. Just beyond Ralha, a 

 halting place 5 miles from Boorwa, there is a picturesque fall of 20 feet, 

 in the Byas, where the bed of the river is contracted to 8 feet in width. 

 The same tree is lying across the stream, just overhanging the fall, 

 which I observed in 1839, but it is now much decayed. Beyond Ralha, 

 the ascent is by a flight of stone steps, generally very steep, to the Les- 

 dhar Dhurmsala. The ascent was extremely fatiguing, and rain having 

 fallen during our journey, we found the wind piercingly cold even in the 

 Dhurmsala, which being built of dry stones without any cement admits 

 the air through a thousand crevices. The height of Les-dhar above the 

 sea is 10,500 feet. There are two buildings, about 20 by 10 feet, 

 which were erected by Lena Singh Majithia since 1839, when I formerly 

 travelled this road. 



