uncoined gold or silver in the mass. The precious metals are so called either when smelted and not perfectly refined, or when refined and melted down in bars or ingots, or in any form uncoined, as in plate.

BULTI or BULISTAN (called also Little Thibet), a small state of Central Asia, north of Kashmir, lying between Lat. 34° 40' and 35° 30', N., and Long. 74° 40' and 76° 20', E., having an area of about 12,000 square miles, and an estimated population of 75,000. It is bounded on the north by Chinese Tartary, east by Ladakh or Middle Thibet, south by Deotsah and other elevated desert tracts, and on the west by Astor and other small independent states. It consists chiefly of a valley having an average elevation of 6000 or 7000 feet above the sea, and through which flows the Indus in a north-westerly direction. It is surrounded by bare, rugged, and nearly inaccessible mountains, rising to the height of 6000 or 8000 feet. In winter the cold in the higher parts is intense. The soil is not fertile, but is carefully cultivated, and produces wheat, barley, millet, buckwheat, turnips, fruits, and some rice. The capital is Iskardoh. (See Thornton's Gazetteer.)