tember Lord Elgin left Simla _en route_ for Sealkote,
where he was to rejoin his camp and proceed with it to Peshawur, the most
distant station on the North-West frontier, before making his way to the
great _rendezvous_ at Lahore. On the way to Sealkote he was to traverse the
upper valleys of the Beas, the Ravee, and the Chenab, and the mountains
that divide them; his main object being to inspect the great tea
plantations, public and private, recently set on foot in those parts, and
to ascertain for himself what facilities or possibilities the country
afforded for commercial intercourse with Ladak and China.

For the first week his route lay nearly northwards, through scenes very
similar to those which he had left at Simla. 'We are going through a
beautiful country,' he wrote on the 4th of October, 'and the people seem
cheerful and well-to-do.' Shortly afterwards, having passed over the Sutlej
at Komharsen, he crossed a considerable range of mountains by the Jalouri
Pass, and found himself in the fertile basin of the Beas. Directing his
course still northwards, he followed this river up to its source among the
hills; and thence crossed by the steep and high Rotung Pass from the valley
of the Beas into that of the Chenab--from the rich and smiling country of
Kuloo into a rugged and inhospitable tract called Lahoul. He did not,
however, remain long in these desolate regions; but, after crossing the
Twig Bridge across the Chandra, an affluent of the Chenab, and inspecting a
wooden bridge which had just been constructed to take its place, he
retraced his steps southwards to Sultanpore, on the Beas river. From
thence, on the 18th of October, he wrote as follows to Sir Charles Wood:--

[Sidenote: Kuloo.]
[Sidenote: Rotung Pass.]
[Sidenote: Twig Bridge.]

Thus far our expedition through the mountains has been very pleasant
and interesting. The scenery has been magnificent and the climate
enjoyable, though the changes of temperature have been considerable.
We are now at Sultanpore, in Kuloo, at an elevation of about 4,000
feet above the sea. But a few days ago we (the men of the party)
scaled the Rotung Pass, which divides Kuloo from Lahoul, and attained
in so doing a height of 13,000 feet, with a temperature low in
proportion. This pass is on the road from these provinces to Ladak and
China, and I visited, on the other side of it, a new bridge over the
Chandra, which will be a great co