OF KAMAON. ^ ■ 147 



The number of inhabitants will hereafter be detailed under the head of 

 population. 



The Kacheri and other cfvil buildings are at Almora, but the houses of 

 the civilians are at Hawelbagh, ^ which is considered as the civil station, 

 and at which the provincial battalion is cantoned : this place is five miles 

 north of Almora. The town of Almora, from having become the station for 

 the regular troops and the civil establishments, has, during the last six years, 

 much increased in the number of its inhabitants, and many new houses have 

 been erected during this period. Under the Gorkha government, the town 

 was fast hastening to decay. 



Srinagar, the antient capital of Gerlwml, is situated in lat. 30° 14/, long. 

 78° 37', and is built in a valley on the bank of the Alakananda, the principal 

 branch of the Ganges. It owes its origin to an ancestor of the present Raja of 

 Gerhwal, who, about three centuries past, having established the monarchy of 

 Gerlirval, founded the town of Sri?iagar, and established it as the capital. 



As the whole trade of Gerhwal soon centered there, it would appear at 

 one period to have attained a very flourishing condition, and far exceeded 

 Almo7~a in extent and population 5 but during the last twenty years, this 

 town has suffered most severely from the successive calamities of earth- 

 quake, flood, and invasion, and to these must now be added the decrease of 

 trade : by the recent partition of Gerhwal, it has lost all share in the trade 

 of that portion of the country made over to the Raja, while the greater part 

 of the traffic from the eastern district, which formerly centered in Srinagar, 

 now flows direct through the more convenient passes of Kamaon. From 

 these causes, the merchants are daily deserting to Almora 01 Tiri, (the 

 capital of the Raja) and the few who remain are retained there principally 

 by the influx of pilgrims, who annually pass through the town in their route 



