232 Notes of an Excursion to the Pindree Glacier. [March, 



Costus speciosus, Zingiber capitatum, Curcuma angustifolia, and most 

 abundant in the meadows the " beautifully blue" Exacum tetragonum, 

 " Teeta-khana." 



We found the heat in the valley oppressive, and were enjoying the 

 idea of shelter in one of the deserted houses of Bagesur, now at hand, 

 when to our dismay, we reached the right bank of the Gaomutee 

 Gunga, which here joins the Surjoo from Bvjnath, and was so swollen 

 and rapid from late heavy rains as to be perfectly unfordable. While 

 crouching under some thickets to avoid the sun, and most sincerely de- 

 siring that the original Pontifices maximi, Sin and Death, who built the 

 first bridge, according to Milton, had exercised their "Art pontifical 1 ' 

 at Bagesur, we perceived certain naked savages appear on the opposite 

 bank, armed with a multitude of gourds, (toombas,) which they forth- 

 with commenced fastening in rows about their waists, and then com- 

 mitted themselves to the deep, as buoyant as so many corks. A suffi- 

 cient number being attached to our charpaees, we were ferried over in 

 security, but not very pleasantly ; our very unsailor-like rafts sink so 

 deep that it became necessary to strip. The process of crossing is a 

 simple, but very tedious one, and above two hours elapsed before our 

 scanty baggage was passed over. We afterwards saw the men plunge 

 with perfect indifference into the "angry flood" of the Surjoo itself, 

 and " stemming it aside with hearts of controversy," reach the 

 opposite shore with ease, but with great loss of distance. They even 

 promised to convey us over, an offer which was declined. Falstaff justly 

 abhorred a watery death, even in the placid Thames. The town of 

 Bagesur stands immediately beyond the Gaomutee, on the right bank of 

 the Surjoo, in a very confined spot, being closely backed by a precipit- 

 ous hill. It consists of two or three irregular lines of houses, one of 

 them now washed by the river, and about 200 yards in length, some of 

 the houses are very respectable, adorned with tastefully carved wood 

 work ; but the place is a mere depot, where in the cold season the 

 Almorah merchants, who chiefly own the houses, resort to traffic with 

 the Bhoteeahs, who meet them for this purpose. This, rather than 

 any particular insalubrity, seems the cause of the town being desert- 

 ed at other seasons ; it has no other resources. True, we Europeans 

 found the temperature disagreeably warm, but the site did not seem 

 malarious, and there was little fever amongst the few inhabitants. The 



