1848.] Journal of a trip through Kulu and Ldhul, fyc. 219 



river, which comes from the E. S. E. about 25 miles. It is a large 

 stream, apparently of as great a volume as the united Yunam and Lingti 

 rivers. 



We halted at this junction after a march of only 6^ miles ; height 

 above the sea 14,210 feet, which shows a fall of 401 feet, or about 65 

 feet per mile in a straight course. 



On the left bank of the Yunam, below the junction of the Lingti, the 

 ferruginous strata of sandstone are contorted in the most confused 

 manner. There are caves high up in the rock, but apparently of no 

 great extent. In the beds of the Ser and the Cherpa rivers, the banks 

 are formed of a coarse sandstone grit dipping towards the north at an 

 angle of about 30° . The water of the Yunam river is a clear green, 

 most probably from having been filtered through the Yunam lake ; that 

 of the Cherpa is grey, a hue derived from the melting of dirty snow. 



As there was a well trodden footpath up the left bank of the Cherpa, 

 and as the Lahulis, who were with us, stoutly denied all knowledge of 

 it, it seemed certain that this must be one of the principal routes used 

 by the smugglers of shawl wool between Rodok and Lahul. As we 

 could obtain no information regarding this route, we determined to dis- 

 patch a trustworthy party up the Cherpa, who should rejoin us at the 

 Chumureri lake ; as we had little doubt that this route would lead 

 upon the southern end of the lake. On their rjeturn the party reported 

 that they had found a bridge 5 miles above the junction, and that 

 the pathway was perfectly practicable even for laden animals, with 

 the exception of an extensive landslip near the head of the Cherpa 

 river. Several traders' or shepherds' encampments were noticed on 

 this route, where both grass and fuel were procurable in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the river. They described the Pass at the head of the 

 Cherpa river as being so easy that with a little labour it might be 

 readily made into a very good one. From thence after a short 

 descent the route ran over stony alluvial flats along one of the feed- 

 ers of the Para river, and over a low Pass to the southern end of 

 Chumureri lake, as we had anticipated. The object of the smugglers 

 would appear to have been to reach the Lahul boundary as near the 

 Phalang-danda (or boundary stone) as possible, by some unfrequented 

 Toute. A glance at the map will show at once that this route leads 

 directly from the shawl countries of Rodok and Gardok via Hanli and 



2 F 



