SDIIA HILL STATES
387
extrernities respectively. In middle Kanawar the cultivated spots have
an average elevation of 7,000 feet. The climate is genial, being beyond
the influence of the periodical rains of India; and the winters are com-
paratively mild. Upper Kanawar more resembles the alpine region of
Tibet. Grain and fuel are produced abundantly; the poppy also
flourishes. The Kanawaris are probably of Indian race, though in
manners and religion they partially assimilate to the Tibetans. The
people of the north are active traders, proceeding to Leh for charas,
and to Gardokh for shawl-wool, giving in exchange money, clothes,
and spices. The mountain paths are scarcely practicable for laden mules,
and merchandise is carried chiefly on the backs of sheep and goats.'
The principal rivers by which the drainage of these hills is effected
are the Sutlej, the Mar, the Giri or Giri Ganga, the Gambhar, and the
Sirsa. The Sutlej enters Bashahr State from Chinese territory by a pass
between two peaks, the northern of which is z z, 183 feet above sea-level,
and flows south-west through Bashahr, receiving the drainage from the
Central Himalayas on the one side and from the Spiti hills on the
other, till it reaches the border of Kula, a few miles above the town of
Rampur. From this point it forms the boundary of the Simla States,
until, shortly before reaching the border of Kangra proper, it turns
southwards, and passes through the State of Bilaspur, which it divides
into two nearly equal portions. It is crossed by bridges at Wangtu, and
at Lauri below Kotgarh. In Bilaspur small boats are employed on the
river; elsewhere inflated skins are used to effect a passage. The Sutlej
is not fordable at any point. Its principal feeders in Bashahr are the
Baspa from the south, and the Spiti from the north. The Pabar, which
is one of the principal feeders of the Tons, and therefore of the Jumna,
rises in the State of Bashahr, having feeders on the southern slopes of
both the Central Himalayas and the transverse Simla range. It flows
southwards into Garhwal. The Giri, or Giri Ganga, rises in the hills
north of the Chaur, and, collecting the drainage of the whole tract
between that mountain and the Simla range, flows south-west until,
meeting the line of the Outer Himalayas, it turns sharply to the south-
east, and enters the State of Sirmur. Its principal feeder is the Ashmi,
or Assan river, which rises near Mahasu, in the Simla range, and, after
receiving a considerable contribution from the eastern face of the hill
upon which Simla station stands, joins the Giri just at the point where
that river turns south-east. The Gambhar rises in the Dagshai hill,
and, running north-west past Sabathu, receives the Blaini and several
other streams which rise in the hills to the south of Simla station, and,
still continuing its course north-west, empties itself into the Sutlej about
8 miles below the town of Bilaspur. The Sirsa collects the drainage of
the Dun of Nalagarh. Of these streams, the Pabar and Giri Gang are
of considerable volume. Except the Sirsa, all are perennial, retaining
a small supply of water even in the winter months, and swelling to
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