Outside The Town We Passed A Mound Of The Inscribed Stones, Which Must Have Been Nearly A Quarter Of A Mile In Length, And Probably Contained As Many As 30,000.

The left bank of the river, which thus formed our path, was a continuation of detached huts, forming no regular villages, and affording very little shade or apparent prospect of shelter for man or beast.

The right bank, however, was studded with picturesque-looking little villages, built generally on rocky summits, and surrounded by tombs and Mani panees, to an extent almost to rival the towns themselves in size and importance. About nine miles on the road we halted for breakfast, on the confines of a desert of smooth stones, from which the heat ascended like vapour, and made our eye-balls ache again. There was no shade in sight, however, and milk was here forthcoming, so we made the best of a bad situation, and, after our repast, lost no time in getting again under weigh. After a hot tramp over a perfect desert, we reached the wooded little village of Chunga, where, as it was getting late, we called a halt and pitched our camp. All hands being tired by their march, we got our dinner at nine o'clock.

AUGUST 17. - Started early for Hemis. From the formation of the mountains in which it is situated, the entrance to the village opens upon the traveller suddenly and as if by magic; and as we tramped this morning along the parched and sandy desert, welcome indeed was the unexpected vision of trees and rushing water which the sharp turn presented to our astonished gaze.

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