S0EVEY OF THE^GfilSrCJl^J^. Ml' 



by which they are rendered perfedl to appear in th^' pfieseriiGe of the . 

 deity. Ojnted'ay suffices for ihe observance of these rites ; and very few 

 peopkrematiii her©, afed^-a couple of days, but endeavour to make their 

 retreat from the hills, before the commencement of the periodical rains. 

 The great crowd had quitted. it. before our arrival; and the number who 

 now come in daily, ^oes not; .prgrbably exceed forty or fifty. By^the; 

 middle of June, the lovv^ ,limders will have taken their departure, leaving, 

 the place to its mountaineer inhabitants, and- a few stragglers from the 

 sputhward. 



June ist- Therm. 47^ We commenced our return, with the inten- 

 tion of proceeding, by the way of Almora, to Barc'li ; and encamped 

 ©ti our formei" ground at Panc'hcser. - ! ^ 



fid. Therm. 61". Marched to Jdsi-mat'h. Soon after our arrival at 

 this place, the Harcdrak, who had overtaken us at J^dndapraydga, again 

 made his appearance, with a letter from Shista Tapah, addressed to 

 Har-balam, anintelhgent Brahmen, a native of Camdon, who had accom- 

 panied us from Haridwdr, and had been of great service to us, in our 

 trip. The purport was, to state, that the orders of the government of 

 J^apdl were merely to facilitate our visit to Gangdtri ; but that no in- 

 structions had been received for our going to Bhadri-JVdt'h ;. that we 

 had undertaken that journey hy the Brahmen s instigation, and that he 

 must become responsible for any accidents which we might meet with 

 on the road. It concluded with directions, that at whatever place he 

 might receive the letter, he should conduct us from' thence, by the way 

 <oiAl7hora, towards the Company's provinces. This was the result of a 

 political jealousy,; which -the Chiefs had conceived, of the purpose of our: 

 journey ; which they began to suspect to be of a political as well as a . 



O 6 



