'Bm SURVEY OF THE GANGES. 



The town of Mdnah forms the boundary of the Snnagar possessions 

 In tbis;quarter. It Wongs to Bkadri-Ndt'k, and is under the jurisdictioa 

 'Q^ the RauJiil or high priest, on which account the inhabitants are ex- 

 *€mpted from , the duties , and exactions to which the ;people of lay ¥illages 

 are subjected, , It carries .on a considerable trade with Butdn .; and 

 through it, many productions of that .country are forv/arded to the Jnte- 

 terior of GerwdL Towards the latter end of July, when the snow has 

 melted, and opened a passage over the mountains^, .these .people set off, in 

 parties of a hundred or ah und red. and fifty together^ with .merchandize, 

 but principally grain, Jaden .upon fsheep and goats. In exchange, they 

 briog hack the produce of Butdm^io^mhich. the annual pilgrimage ensures 

 them a certain and advantageous sale, Ju this traffic, many of them ac- 

 quire very large, for times ; and there was then present a young man, who 

 was offering a few articles of small value for sale, whose grand-father, 

 as we were informed, had, on one occasion, come forward with a loan of 

 two lakhs of rupees, to assist the Raja of Srinagar m t\\Q first Giirc'hdli'm* 

 .¥asion:* —-■'■■''''■■ ■ ■'■"■ - ^ ^ ^> ; . ^ • 



The principal articles Imported from Butdn are salt, saffron, borax, 

 JVirbisi, (Zedoary) dried grapes, gold dust in small bags called p'hutac, 

 c€owtails,muskin pods, Panc'his or blankets, Gazgdes which are cowtails 

 of an inferior quality, divided into strands and prolonged with extraneous 

 hair to the length of eight or ten feet: they are used by the natives as 

 traj)pings or horse furniture ; Zehrmohreh (Bezoar,) a soft stone, of a pale 

 green -colour, .considered an antidote for the bite of a snake., and a cooling 



* The expedition to Butdn takes about one month in going and Teturningi twenty days 

 are passed on the road, and the remainder is devoted to business.^ During the absence of the 

 men, tlie women are employed in agricuUural.pursnits at home; indeed, the labours of the 

 ■fiekl appear to be entirely under their province, for the few people, whom we saw engaged 

 ,m that occupation, were pfthef female sex. 



