57 
as the Kargeh pass, . The view looking down the valley towards Tilail, 
is very fine, with inde ow Parbat in the distance. On the pass itself 
there was very little snow, and the turf was studded with brilliantly- 
coloured alpine flowers." (pp. 31 and 32. 
“ At es lower and western end of the Gurais valley, where the river 
begins to turn southwards in the direction of Kanzalwán, is a remark- 
able feck ébisiosod chiefly of the white poplar (Populus alba) ; aud 
the river (the left bank), there is a similar piece of forest... The tree 
are growing close together, and when viewed from the steep hill above, 
their tops present a level mass of compact foliage, a few individual trees 
large size of the trees, their average height be ver fee r 
hell, who happened to be at Gurais at the time, kindly assisted. me 
in making s measurements. : The | specimen we could find 
gives the maximum size of Populus aiba in India as 40 feet in height 
wad 8 feet in girth. 
“The undergrowth « this forest i a param chiefly of a tall hand- 
some Senecio (S. chenopodifolius) and a low-growing kind of bramble. 
A few isolated nitet a of pine, e and silver fir are met with ; 
also Populus ciliata, two species of willow, Crategus Oxyacantha, 
Viburnum fætens, and Hippophae rhamnoides ; this latter forms large 
thickets a littie higher up the valley." ) 
The furthest point reached into the Deosai edm was ee mountain 
lake of Shersan, very deep, and said to contain š weather was 
abnormally warm for the elevation, and the visión was dried u 
“I returned to Chilam- the next morning, and.on the following day 
(17th) crossed the Dorikun pass in a storm of wind and m and 
reached Minimarg the same Mei I halted here for a day to d 
ground on the further side “of the strea The most € 
discovery here was that of Pyrola eiiie, a species whic 
been recorded for India previous to my finding it in the Astor mialy 
this 
in 1892. 'The undergrowth in forest is composed chiefly of a 
variety of Rubus niveus, with T it tasting exactly like that of 
ihe raspberry, and of blick ira bushes with their branches bent 
down with the weight of the frui other kind of bramble (2. 
saxatilis), with scarlet fruit, is also abundant here. The natives 
call i sims n number of ARDES p mosses were collected 
here." (p. 36. 
Among i the notes on some of the economic plants met with in Kashmir 
&hd in the districts of Baltistan and Gilgit Mr. Duthie mentions the 
following :— 
“ Ferula jaeschkeana, Vatke; vern. mee coat (Sind valley), 
hangwa (Pir Panjál).—A tall, handsome, umbelliferous plant, w 
yellow flowers, abinde in most of the em in Hanian This at 
was at one time supposed to be a source of ‘asafetida.’ It resembles 
F. Narthex, Boiss., but has much larger Pe he plant is said to be 
eaten by sheep and goats 
“ Ferula Narthex, Boiss. (Narthex Asafetida, Falc. )—Abundant 
in the Astor valley below Doian. I remember when on my way to Gi 
noticing this plant, only the dry bleached stems being then visible. 
"There is a specimen in the Saharanpur herbarium collected by Dr, Giles 
