32 
REPORT ON A BOTANICAL TOUR IN KASHMIR, 1893. 
the valley towards Tilail, is very fine, with Nanga Parbat in the 
distance. On the pass itself there was very little snow, and the turf 
was studded with brilliantly-coloured alpine flowers. 
A short distance below the pass, on the Tilail side, is a small 
lake about 300 yards long and loo yards wide. Some very interest- 
ing specimens were collected round the shores of this lake, and on 
the debris-covered slopes on either side. The stream which issues 
from this lake is one of the sources of the Kishenganga river. 
My intention was to have marched on this day as far as Abdulan, 
which is the highest village on the side of the pass ; but, owing to the 
swollen state of the stream, I had to halt for that night at a place about 
two or three miles above the village. The next day, after crossing the 
stream to the left bank, we had to ascend along the side of the valley 
for several hundred feet, as the snow bridges over the river had given 
way. This part of the road is a very difficult one for laden ponies. 
Abdulan is a small village, consisting of twelve houses. The ele- 
vation above the sea is about 10,500 feet. There is a good deal of 
cultivation around the village, consisting chiefly of barley and buck- 
wheat. The former was then being harvested, and the buckwheat 
was looking very promising. A few miles below Abdulan is another 
village, called Gujeru, where the path crosses the river by a bridge. 
The road now keeps along the right bank all the way down the 
valley, which for several miles extends almost due west. The two 
sides of the valley are remarkably different in regard to the character 
of the vegetation. The hill sides exposed to the north are thickly 
clothed with forest, whilst the opposite sides are almost bare ofirees, 
with the exception of occasional stunted specimens of pencil cedar, 
and the vegetation resembles that of Baltistdn. 
The valley becomes very much wider beljow the village of Gujeru, 
and there is a large extent of cultivated ground on either side of the 
river, with numerous small villages scattered here and there, I 
managed to get as far as Baridb on this day (31st August). This 
village is prettily situated near the junction of a tributary stream 
from the north. On the opposite side of the main valley is the. 
Rdman Sind ndla. 
I left on the following morning for Baragdm, a village aoout 
500 feet lower down the valley. Some portions of the road are 
decidedly dangerous for ponies, and the loads had frequently to be 
taken off and carried by coolies. The erection, of a few bridges 
across the river would obviate all such difficulties. 
1 was much struck with the large amount of land cultivated 
and available for cultivation in this portion of the valley, as well 
