S44 Bourse and levels 



then a level path along the river edge, to the foot of the Tank 61 defile, a 

 very difficult and steep ascent to the village, by what might be called a na- 

 tural flight of steps. The village is not large, a d the inhabitants appear- 

 ed ill looking and dirty. They have little cultivation, and depend chiefly 

 on what they earn as the medium of intercourse between the people of 

 Kanauwer and Chuara, in the exchange which is continually made of their 

 respective commodities. The filbert was met with in great abundance to-day. 



Beyond Jako, we were informed, no villages would be met with, till we 

 should reach the inhabited country on the other side of the snowy range* 

 It was therefore desirable to cross the pass if practicable in this day's 

 march. But it was found that the difficulties of the road, and the delay oc- 

 casioned by the construction of a sanga, on which we crossed the Rupin, 

 for the third time, did not permit such quick progress. The evening was 

 far advanced before we had reached the river head, and as we had now 

 attained an elevation at which fire- wood ceases to be procurable, it became, 

 necessary to halt at this place, which had also the advantage of affording % 

 degree of shelter to our followers in some caves and overhanging rocks. 



The first three miles being a descent to the river bed, was an extremely 

 bad path with a good deal of difficult descent. Here we were delayed by 

 the construction of the sanga. The river was rapid and wide, and though; 

 fordable, yet it was with difficulty, and only by the united efforts of three 

 or four men in a knot, that the current could be stemmed. The tempe- 

 rature of the water was so low as 43° and this added to the difficulty : 

 after a delay of nearly three hours, we were enabled to proceed. The path 

 continues rugged. An ascent arduous at first, afterwards easier, leads 

 along the river bank, while the bed or valley opens a little. At the Sanga, 

 the mountains approach each other so as to form a gorge, in which the ex- 

 treme narrowness of the opening and the gigantic loftiness of the sides are 

 very striking. Some idea. of the place may be formed from the elevation 

 of the almost overhanging crag, taken from the bed of the river, and foun<| 



