550 Journal in the Sub-Himalaya. 



two, one of which some yards higher, throws out a branch, which 

 enters the other, forming an arch. There are several other branches, 

 eight or ten, shooting out horizontally a few feet, and then rising up 

 perpendicularly to the height of a moderate tree : near to this is 

 another tree of an enormous size, something like a chesnut, which 

 they call Hoondool. 



1 7 th. Wangtoo bridge, 5,200 feet. The made road ceases, and we 

 were soon made sensible of its loss : our path on leaving Soongra, 

 passing along the side of a mountain, and being in some places 

 nothing but holes for the feet for several paces, into a nearly perpen- 

 dicular rock. I found all my nerve and steadiness requisite to enable 

 me to preserve my footing. It was surprising to observe with what 

 ease and unconcern the hill men proceeded along, hopping from one 

 point to another, without employing their hands to assist them. 



The people here brought us the skins of three curious animals, 

 with a skin or membrane, covered with hair like the body, extending 

 along the leg to 'the foot, and uniting the hind and four legs. Two 

 of them were about eighteen inches in length, with a bushy tail, 

 nearly a foot long. The head sharp, and the hair a soft fur ; greyish- 

 brown on the back, and light under the belly. The feet black and 

 small, and furnished with claws. 



The third was of the same description, but of a grey colour, and not 

 half the size, with a thin tail. The villagers told us that these ani- 

 mals fly, or rather float, through the air from tree to tree, with the 

 help of the membrane by their sides, to the distance of nearly a 

 hundred yards. They call them Ain, and say they live on the 

 leaves and fruit of the trees, appearing only at night. One of the 

 villagers had a young Moonal, it was of a dark brown-grey. We pro- 

 cured here some of the best walnuts I ever tasted. Thermometer 

 at 9 a.m. 56°. A considerable descent brought us to our tents which 

 we found pitched in a grassy spot, surrounded by huge crags, close to 

 the bridge. This bridge which is of wood, and called by the natives 

 a Sangool, crosses the Sutledge, at a point where it runs through a 

 bed of rocks, being about thirty yards across. There is a buttress 

 or pier-head on each bank, from which project three rows of large 

 trees, each a few feet farther than the other, and sloping upwards to 

 the distance of about thirteen feet. On the ends of these, which are 



