LA DAK. 
39 
again seen until after crossing the Stinju Pass, near 
the plains of Yarkand. I got one solitary fish near 
the top of the pass ; but this — with all my fish,reptiles, 
&c. — was preserved in spirit, and the continual jolting 
destroyed the labels, so that I could not tell with 
any certainty, on my return to the Punjab, where 
each specimen had been obtained. I ought to have 
had small labels of lead with numbers stamped on 
them, and fastened to the specimens by copper wire. 
The Zoji-la Pass is the most difficult part of the 
road between Kashmir and Le, and with the exception 
of the Sanju Pass is the only one, along the route we 
followed to Yarkand, which is ever rendered abso- 
lutely impassable by snow for any length of time. It 
usually remains closed to ordinary traffic from Decem- 
ber to May ; but I am told that a party of about 
twenty men force their way across, with letters, once a 
month during winter, and thus keep up the Ma- 
harajah's communication with his Tibetan possessions 
throughout the year. It is usual for traders, when 
crossing, to offer one or more goats as a sacrifice, in the 
event of all the loads getting over in safety. On 
the Tibetan side of the pass there is almost no jungle, 
with the exception of a few clumps of dwarf willows 
and birches fringing the Dras river at sheltered spots ; 
all the hills within sight are covered with green grass 
up to 11,000 or 12,000 feet, except where they are 
rocky and precipitous. 
On June 22nd we marched about eighteen miles 
along the left bank of the Dras river to Drds. About 
half way we passed the village of Pandrds, where 
there is a little cultivation. Below Pandras the Fran- 
cos pahularia, which is called " prangos " in Tibetan, 
