We report the fourth observation of Hb Sallanches [alpha104(G11)Cys-->Tyr, TGC-->TAC (alpha2)], an unstable alpha chain variant of intermediate severity in the homozygous state. Heterozygosity occasionally produces mild hypochromia and microcytosis in some patients. A balanced beta/alpha ratio, found in previously reported cases, points to unstable alphabeta dimers formed as a result of the Cys-->Tyr substitution at the alpha1beta1 contact site in this hemoglobin (Hb) variant. Our patient, and the previous two of the three cases reported in patients of Pakistani origin, points to a common population stock, separated by the mass population migration which occurred during the partition of Pakistan and India in 1947.