  We report on the observation of novel features in the minor hysteresis loops
in a clean crystal of NbSe_2 which displays a peak effect. The observed
behavior can be explained in terms of a supercooling of the disordered vortex
phase while cooling the superconductor in a field. Also, the extent of spatial
order in a flux line lattice formed in ascending fields is different from (and
larger than) that in the descending fields below the peak position of the peak
effect; this is attributed to unequal degree of annealing of the state induced
by a change of field in the two cases.
