490 
Notes of a trip from Simla to the Spiti Valley. [No. 5, 
menced a nest in the verandah, but did not appear to prey on the 
Hies which swarmed in the rooms, though it may have been timidity 
which prevented their entering. Along the road, one or two species of 
flower-eating beetles were common, and exhibited considerable agility 
and powers of perception, flying away readily on any attempt to capture 
them. Towards dusk, numbers of a beetle having the heavy flight of 
our English melolontha made their appearance, but it was too dark 
to capture many, though flying round the bungalow in considerable 
numbers. 
10 th, Matiima , 7700 ft. # —A rather pretty march, the road winding 
round the head of the deep valley beneath Theog. Pheasants are 
plentiful, and in the glens I heard the bark of the kakar (, styloceros ), 
but the vegetation was too thick to afford much chance of sport to a 
single gun. Musk deer are found near Matiana, and in winter time 
bears. 
11 th, Narkanda, 8796 ft. # —A longish march, but along a very pretty 
road : indeed no part of the hills I think prettier than the country 
round Narkanda. The bungalow is situated on the ridge separating 
the drainage of the Sutlej and Jumna, and close to the verge of a 
magnificent forest. From the verandah a fine view is obtained of the 
lower slopes of the hills, leading down to the Sutlej and the village 
of Kotgurh at which is a resident Missionary (recently deceased), 
who has a tolerably attended school near the dak bungalow. The 
mission house is a neat building with vines trained over the verandah 
and the native catechist is also provided with a very neat cottage 
close by. Narkanda being the last place at which potatoes are pro¬ 
curable, the traveller should lay in a supply there, as no sort of vege¬ 
table is procurable in the higher hills, except the green leaves of the 
batu which form tolerable spinage, and the young shoots of fern 
which are not unpalatable. About Narkanda many rous trees are 
found, which make capital walking sticks, the wood being hard and 
straight grained. Hazel trees are also plentiful, the nuts ripening 
about the end of August. 
V2th, Kotgurh. —After leaving Narkanda, the road winds through 
fine forest, many of the pines and cedars being truly magnificent 
trees. Kotgurh is situated on the old road at an elevation, I should 
think, of less than 6000 ft., and about four miles from the Sutlej. The 
first half of the march is along the new road to a spot where a small 
