villages several stand at a height
of from 13,000 to 14,000 feet. The route to Piti from Kulu passes over
the Hamtu Pass (14,200 feet) and the great Shigri glacier. The people
are Buddhists. They are governed by their hereditary ruler or Nono
assisted by five elders, the Assistant Commissioner exercising a general
supervision. Indian laws do not apply to the sparse population of this
remote canton, which has a special regulation of its own. Lahul lies to
the west of Piti, from which it is separated by a lofty range. It is
entered from Kulu by the Rotang Pass (13,000 feet) and the road from it
to Ladakh passes over the Baralacha (16,350 feet). The whole country is
under snow from December to April, but there is very little rain. The
two streams, the Chandra and Bhaga, which unite to form the Chenab, flow
through Lahul and the few villages are situated at a height of 10,000
feet in their elevated valleys. The people are Buddhists. In summer the
population is increased by "Gaddi" shepherds from Kangra, who drive lean
flocks in the beginning of June over the Rotang and take them back from
the Alpine pastures in the middle of September fat and well liking.

[Illustration: Fig. 91. Bias at Manali.]

~Kulu and Saraj.~--The Kulu Valley, set in a mountain frame and with the
Bias, here a highland stream, running through the heart of it, is one of
the fairest parts of the Panjab Himalaya. Manali, at the top of the
Valley on the road to the Rotang, is a very beautiful spot. Kulu is
connected with Kangra through Mandi by the Babbu and Dulchi passes. The
latter is generally open the whole year round. The headquarters are at
Sultanpur, but the Assistant Commissioner lives at Nagar. In Kulu the
cultivation is often valuable and the people are well off. The climate
is good and excellent apples and pears are grown by European settlers.
Inner and outer Saraj are connected by the Jalaori Pass on the watershed
of the Sutlej and Bias. Saraj is a much rougher and poorer country than
Kulu. There are good _deodar_ forests in the Kulu subdivision. In 1911
the population of Kulu, Saraj, Lahul, and Piti, numbered 124,803. The
Kulu people are a simple folk in whose primitive religion local godlings
of brass each with his little strip of territory take the place of the
Brahmanic gods. It is a quaint sight to see their ministers carrying
them on litters to the fair at Sultanpur, where they all pay their
respects to a little silver god known as Raghu