changed situation has been accepted. Yet this population of brave mountaineers, small as it is, has to struggle harder than ever to maintain itself amidst these gorges bound by rock and ice, now that the days of raiding are gone.
From Nilth onwards the road leads over a succession of highly cultivated plateaus, separated by deep-cut glacier ravines. Everywhere there were little clumps of fruit trees, of which the mulberries were just ripening. The villages which I passed were distinctly picturesque, being all enclosed with walls of rough stone and square loopholed towers. Their position, which is usually on the very edge of the plateau, falling off in precipitous banks towards the river, also shows that safety was a consideration. Old are these sites in all probability, but the only remains of antiquity that I could see or hear of above ground are those of a small Buddhist Stupa or relic tower passed on the road close to the hamlet of Thol. Built of solid masonry, it rises on a base of ten feet square to a height of nearly twenty feet, and is remarkably well preserved. The only damage done is at the corner, where the masonry of the base has been knocked off to save the detour of a few feet to the road which passes by the side of the monument. It is evident that even at so remote a spot the " Public Works " of modern India involve the same danger to ancient monuments which they have unfortunately proved throughout the peninsula.
While the Nagir side of the valley shows a cheerful succession of villages, the opposite side, which belongs to Hunza, is here for the most part a rocky waste. The difference is easily accounted for by the increased supply of water which Rakiposhi provides. Among the people of Nagir no marked difference from the Dard type is noticeable. Shina, the language of Gilgit, seems to be spoken in most of the lower villages, though Burisheski, the language of Hunza, is also understood. The latter has no apparent connection with either the Indian or the Iranian family of languages, and
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