32 
NARRATIVE. 
never to ripen its seed, and to be always multiplied by- 
cuttings. In the course of the day we were joined by 
a party of travellers, also bound for the Sind Yalley, 
and we heard that several other friends had preceded 
us. Again the weather was unpropitious, for rain came 
on in the afternoon and continued all night. 
Next day, June 15th, we marched up the Sind 
Valley to the village of Kangan, twelve miles distant, 
crossing the Sind river by a wooden bridge within 
three miles of the new camp. At Kangan, the Mir 
Sahib joined us, and brought word that the Yarkand 
envoy was close behind ; so we resolved to halt on the 
16th in hopes of his joining us. On the 17th June, 
we marched to Kulan, fourteen miles. On this march 
and the preceding we passed through some of the 
finest scenery in Kashmir ; the path is close to the 
Sind river the whole way, and through groves of 
Walnut, Elm, and Horse-chestnut. Near Kangan I 
measured some fine Elm-trees, and found the three 
largest twenty-nine feet in girth, at four feet from the 
ground. Hawthorn, identical with the English species, 
but with larger fruit, was common. We passed many 
small Swiss-looking villages, half hidden by orchards 
of apple, pear, and apricot trees ; the mountains on 
either side of the valley, particularly on their northern 
and western aspects, are clothed with dense pine 
forests ; and above these, in the upper part of the 
valley, snowy peaks and glaciers complete the picture. 
On the first two marches above Ganderbal, there was 
a good deal of cultivation, chiefly rice ; but on the 
next two — viz., to Sonamarg and Bdltal, twelve 
miles each — cultivation almost ceases, with the excep- 
tion of an occasional field of buckwheat ; the scenery, 
