16 
NARRATIVE. 
thirds of the way was up a steep hill, and the 
remaining third nearly level. I had now reached the 
region of Oaks, of which two species were noticed. 
It is remarkable that although Oaks are very common 
south of the Kashmir Valley, they do not extend into 
Kashmir ; the same is the case with the Ehododen- 
drons, which latter however are very rare here. 
Most of the trees now had a Lombardy poplar 
look, owing to the smaller branches being lopped for 
fodder in winter ; throughout Kashmir and Tibet 
most of the trees are lopped in this way, and some- 
times they are completely pollarded. 
On the 16th May, at Mir, 6 p.m., my mercurial 
barometer stood at 25*1, the attached thermometer 
83° F., and water boiled at 203-1° F. ; the altitude is 
therefore about 5000 feet ; notwithstanding the 
elevation, however, the sun during the day was still 
very unpleasantly hot. 
We halted at Mir on the 17th May, and next day 
marched twelve miles to Landre, halting during the 
heat of the day at a place called Jaliin, under some shady 
trees at the bottom of a ravine. As far as Jaliin the 
road descends, it then ascends through a grove of Oak 
and Olive trees, and a few Pine trees {Pinus longifolid) 
now begin to appear. On this march I first noticed 
the Lammergeyer (Gypcetus barbatus) which was seen 
almost every day after this, up to 15,000 feet, until 
we emerged from the hills on to the plains of Yar- 
kand. At Ldndre, whilst the horses were being taken 
to water, a valuable animal belonging to one of our 
followers fell over a precipice and was killed. 
On the 19th May we started at early dawn for Luru 
Ldri, which is on the top of a Pine-clad ridge ; the 
