[Sidenote: VEGETATION. _September, 1847._]
Notwithstanding the considerable elevation, I noticed but little in the vegetation different from that common in Piti. The forms were by no means so alpine as on the passes between Kunawar and Hangarang, though the elevation was greater than on any of these. It was probably owing to the aridity of the climate that the flora, at elevations of 15,000 feet, instead of being composed of delicate alpine plants, was much the same as it had been 4000 feet lower. The rose, the common _Rhamnus_ of Piti, a little shrubby _Potentilla_, a spinous _Astragalus_, and several _Artemisiæ_, were the common shrubs, and two species of rhubarb grew abundantly on the dry hills above Kibar. The _Dama_, which shuns the level country, the _Allium_ first observed the day before, and _Lamium rhomboideum_ of the Hangarang pass, were almost the only striking plants observed; all the others were those of the ordinary flora of the dry hills and gravelly plains of the Piti valley. It is necessary, of course, in comparing this vegetation with that of the passes, to recollect that we were here in a valley, on slopes surrounded on all sides by lofty ridges, not on the summit of a range overlooking everything around, or only surpassed a very little by the continuation of the same ridge; so that the temperature of the summer months must be considerably higher than on the more exposed though less elevated passes.
[Sidenote: ROCKY GORGE. _September, 1847._]
Further on, the road descended rapidly to the stream, which flowed in a rocky gorge, through which we held our course for three miles. A few willows, and stunted shrubs of _Myricaria_, occurred on the descent, and the willow was found occasionally on the banks of the stream in the gorge, which was enclosed by high and steep limestone rocks on both sides. These gradually contracted as we advanced, but again expanded at the point where we encamped, which was close to the bank of the stream. The ravine being now more open, we could see the hills to better advantage, and were struck with astonishment at the desolation by which we were surrounded. We were, in truth, in a wilderness of rocks, which to the south closed together, so as to shut in the ravine by which we had ascended. High walls of cliffs rose on either hand to an elevation of at least 1500 feet, displaying a natural section of a multitude of strata, which seemed to be repeated again and again in a succession of beds of limestone and slate. The elevation of our encampment was 14,800 feet.