1848.] Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan, fyc. 171 



below Baldak, the narrowing of the Pruang valley brought our road 

 within a mile and a half of the Karnali. On the top of the opposite 

 bank stood a small village, Dunsala, on a ledge of flat ground under 

 the Byans mountains ; the depth of the channel concealed the river 

 and two other villages on its left bank, Dumar and Harkang, through 

 the former of which passes the road from Taklakhar to Kardam, &c. 

 Three miles further down we entered a ravine with a small stream fall- 

 ing into the Karnali not a mile below. The river here seemed to take 

 a turn to the south-eastward after receiving a western branch through 

 a deep ravine from the Byans Himalaya. We were still close under 

 the base of the huge Momonangli, the snowy top of which was almost 

 hidden by the lower outworks that rise in steep earthy mounds with 

 little precipitous rock, which is very much the character of all the 

 mountains hereabouts on the north side of the Himalaya. Pruang has 

 got a reputation, amongst our Bhotias, for great fertility ; and with 

 diligent cultivation it doubtless may produce some scanty crops of bar- 

 ley and peas, but its advantages in this way can only be by comparison 

 with other places still more sterile than itself, for I can assert that the 

 upper part of the valley, at least thus far, is barren in the extreme ; 

 indeed it seemed more destitute of vegetation than any of the low 

 ground I had yet passed over, and the " Dama," goat-thorn, still the 

 sole shrub, was certainly much scarcer, though perhaps from the con- 

 sumption of it for fuel by a dense population. At the best however, 

 upper Pruang cannot compare in natural fertility with the most sterile of 

 the inhabited parts of our Cis-Himalayan Alpine valleys, such as the 

 vicinity of Kunti in western Byans, or of Milam in upper Jwar. 



We now halted at 1p.m. and encamped for the rest of the day, 

 having approached as near as was safe (or according to the Bhotias, 

 much nearer) to the large village of Toiyon. The road to Lipu-Lekh, 

 the eastern Byans pass, lay through the very middle of this, and other 

 thickly inhabited ground beyond under Taklakhar, which we thought 

 it adviseable to pass by night. 



In the course of this morning's march we had passed some native 

 travellers on pilgrimages from Kajarh, with whom we exchanged salu- 

 tations, and shepherds grazing their flocks in the hollows along our 

 road. Our present encampment too was close below a Bung in the 

 eame ravine ; but we were not troubled with particular notice from any 

 of these quarters. 



