1848] Narrative of a Journey to Clio Lay an, fyc. 103 



feet above the sea, and the village of Bunbun a little above the Garh, 

 7500 feet. 



Thermometer 60° at sunset. Thick clouds and mist all day, rain 

 at night. 



\8th September. — Morning so rainy that my companions advise a 

 halt, to which I object ; leave Syankwang, and in three quarters of mi 

 hour reach the village or hamlet of Gala, 1^ miles distant, where, after 

 all we are stopped by the rain, which increases with promise of continu- 

 ance, and the Nirpania-Dhura ahead is said to be steep and very 

 troublesome in foul weather. 



Gala is a mere hamlet with two or three houses, at present uninhabi- 

 ted, and a few fields cultivated by the Zemindars of Rung, a neighbour- 

 ing village. The vacant cottages accom modate myself and party much 

 better than the cutcha hunting run up for me at Syankwang, which 

 would have been miserable quarters indeed in this weather. It is fortu- 

 nate that I would not take the advice of my friends to stay there this 

 morning. 



Thermometer outside at 4 p. m. 55°. I judge the elevation of this 

 place to be about the same as Bunbun, 7500 feet. 



The rain continues all day and all night without intermission. 

 19th September. — Still raining and the whole hillside completely 

 enveloped in cloud. 



Sumhyaki, son of Hirdu, the Tokdar, who has accompanied us from 

 Titila, with laden sheep, &e. for Pruang, objects to proceed in such 

 weather as this ; so do I. We heard the sound of a considerable 

 landslip somewhere in the vicinity this morning. In heavy rain the 

 passage of Nirpania-Dhura is rendered unsafe by showers of stone, 

 which it is difficult to see and avoid when the air is obscured by mist. 

 Patwari Durga, a well educated man in the Hindu fashion assures 

 me that Hiundes, the "snow country," is a mistake, originated if I 

 remember rightly, by Professor Wilson, and since currently adopted. 

 The true name is Hundes, ^K"^, from ^tjt, the " Hun," aboriginal 

 inhabitants of the country north of the Himalaya, and not derived in 

 any way from fViT, Him, snow. Mention of the country and people is 

 to be found in the Mahdbhdrat, Mdrkandia Purana, and other of the 

 Sanskrit books which treat of the mythological history of this part of 

 the world ; both Hun and Tatar appear as allies of the " Uakshasa" 



