1847-] Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. 229 



few cedars overshadow the temples, which are not remarkable. Water 

 boils at 208°, or with correction of thermometer, at 207|°, giving about 

 4700 feet as the elevation. The pretty white Barleria dichotoma, the 

 Photinia dubia ; a shrub which I took for Ligustrum Nepalense ; and 

 Kadsura propinqua, " Sindrain," are common on the banks of the 

 Takoola. 



The mountain of Gunnanath, near this, is said to be very beautiful ; 

 the Ghoorkas had a stockade there ; and on the advance of our troops 

 toward Almorah in 1815, they were attacked from this point by a 

 body of men under the command of Hustee Dhul ; he was killed by a 

 random shot, his men retreated, and the fate of Kumaoon was decided. 

 This chief was uncle to the rajah of Nepal, and had been employed in the 

 unsuccessful attempt on Kot Kangra. The contrast of our speedy 

 capture of that celebrated fortress, is to this moment very unpalatable in 

 Nepal : and the story goes that fakeers and other travellers are warned 

 under penalty of a severe beating, to conceal or deny the fact of Lahore 

 being now a British Garrison ! 



Along the borders of the fields here, as at Almorah, the Perilla 

 ocimoides — " Bhungera," is extensively cultivated for the sake of the 

 oil expressed from the seeds : it is now in flower, and will be ripe in 

 October and November. 



September Wth. — To Bagesur, 12 miles ; at one and half miles, up a 

 pretty valley, by an easy ascent, but over a rocky road, we reached the 

 crest of a ridge, called the Kurngal ka Cheena, which separates the afflu- 

 ents of the Kosilla from those of the Surjoo. It may be about 5,500 feet 

 high, and like all the hills in the neighbourhood, is well clothed with 

 Pines, (Pinus longifolia,) as the north side is with Rhododendron, Cor- 

 nus, &c. — The Quercus annulata, " Funiyat," (the " Banee" of Simlah,) 

 is a common tree on the ascent, and is large and abundant on the Surjoo 

 above Bagesur, mixed with trees which one scarce expects to find 

 with an oak. From the Kurngal Pass, a steep descent through shady 

 woods, brought us to the beautiful valley of Chonna Biloree, watered 

 by a large brook, the Jynghun, which flows round the north side of 

 Binsur to the Surjoo. Biloree, a pretty hamlet, with a small temple 

 amidst a clump of firs, on a conical knoll, much resembling an Irish 

 Rath, lies to the right of the road, and a short distance above, to the 

 left, is Chouna, another village, near which is a group of the Cheoorra 



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