SPITI is a subdivision of the Kangra district of the Panjab; area, 2100 square miles, consisting of an outlying Tibetan valley among the external ranges of the Himalaya, between lat. 31° 42' and 32° 58' N., and long. 77° 21' and 78°32' E. ; its apex lies at the point of convergence of the Kanzain ridge and the outer Himalayas, while the trans verse ridge of Manirang, dividing the Kangra district from Bashahr State, forms its base. The higher peaks of the main chain rise 20,000 to 23,000 feet above sea-level ; and even the villages stand at from 12,000 to 14,000 feet.
The population of Spiti in 1868 amounted to only 3024 persons, almost exclusively of Tibetan origin. The people belong to a kindred race with those of Lahoul. The language is almost ident ical, but the customs and religious institutions are not analogous. Spiti is approached from British territories and Kanawar by SIX different routes, and from Ladakh and Tartary by three routes, through the two chains of mountains. Many of the passes vary from 14,000 to 18,000 feet. The exports are wool, borax, salt, and blankets ; and the imports are articles from the plains, and a great deal of iron. The resources of the land are locked up for—more than six months in the rigorous winter. The inhabitants
are obliged to repair during this inclement season to the lower and more genial latitudes in the valley of the Sutlej. The produce of the land in 1,ahottl and Spiti does not suffice for the wants of the population. The people of Lahoul iinport grain from Kuhl, and tho valley of the Sutlej supplies the additional demands in Spiti. The larley of Spiti is hexagonal or six-sided, and the grain large and succulent. A liquor, called ailing, is distilled in Spiti from barley, and sold at 3U Furth for the rupee. A puttah is a liquid measure of 2 seers= of a pucka seer. They consume large quantities. Chang can be made front other grains besides barley ; that made from rice is superior. The wealthier classes in Spiti, etc., use a weak spirit, called arrack, which is distilled from rice. II heu a person dies, the body is buried or burnt, or thrown into the river,, or cut into small pieces and burnt; admonitions are made over the body to the departed spirit, such as, Do not trouble yourself, you cannot enter it (meaning the dead body); in summer it quickly becomes corrupt, in winter it freezes, and is too cold for you.—Powell's Ilandbook; Gerrard's Kanowor, p.112; Imp. Gaz.