The vegetation of the valley of Badarwar was hardly at all different from that of the one which I had just left, and the few new forms which occurred were for the most part Kashmir species. _Quercus lanata_, and the trees usually associated with it, did not occur; but _Fothergilla_ was plentiful in the woods on the hill-sides, and in open exposed sunny places a Kashmir _Daphne_ and _Zizyphus_ were common: both of these species, however, are natives of the Sutlej valley. In the shady ravines a species of _Philadelphus_, and the _Nima_ of Hamilton, were met with. Vines were cultivated near the town, as well as a few trees of _Populus nigra_, and a rough small-leaved elm, which grew to a gigantic size.
From Badarwar two roads were open to me, by either of which I could reach Chatargarh on the Chenab, from which place there is a road into Zanskar. One of these follows the course of the Badarwar valley to its junction with the Chenab, and ascends that river by Kishtwar; the other crosses the mountains to the eastward, so as to get into the valley of the Ravi, and to join the road which leads from Chamba to Zanskar. Of these I selected the latter, which appeared to present the advantages of being less known, of leading through a more elevated country, and also (as I was led to believe) of saving several days.
I started from Badarwar on the morning of the 3rd of June, and proceeded up the valley in a south-easterly direction, towards the Padri pass, a depression in the range which separates the districts drained by the Chenab from those whose waters run towards the Ravi. At first the road lay through cultivation. The fields of barley were ripe, those of wheat still green, and considerably more backward than at the same height in valleys more distant from the snow. The elevation of the valley increased gently but steadily, and its breadth gradually diminished as I advanced, the fields becoming reduced to a narrow strip along the bank of the stream, and then ceasing altogether. The road lay on the right bank, and was generally open, but the opposite slopes and ravines were often prettily wooded. After three miles the road began to ascend the hill-sides on the north of the valley, for about a mile gently, but afterwards more steeply. The hill-sides were bare, but on the opposite side of the valley there was a fine forest; and as soon as the road had attained the crest of the ridge or spur, the same dense forest was observed to cover the whole of its steep northern face, stopping abruptly at the top. As the elevation increased, the trees and herbaceous vegetation exhibited the same gradual change which I had noted on the ascent two days before, and I met with very few species which I had not collected at that time. In the shady woods on the northern slope of the ridge, I found the little Kashmir _Hepatica_, another instance of the extension to the eastward of plants characteristic of that valley. Near the top _Thermopsis barbata_ was plentiful, in full flower, on open stony banks. The ascent continued steep to the top of the pass, the height of which was 10,000 feet. The top was nearly level for some distance, and was covered with large patches of snow. The continuation of the range to the north was undulating and grassy, and the hills of very moderate elevation above the level of the pass. To the southward they rose abruptly to a considerable height, and the ravines were filled with forest. I encamped on a grassy plain close to the top. The morning had been cloudy, and after eleven A.M. it rained smartly till evening; the temperature at sunset was 47½°.