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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11873 ***
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR]
+
+
+
+
+A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil
+
+by T. R. Swinburne
+MAJOR (LATE) R.M.A.
+
+
+
+
+“_Over the great windy waters, and over the clear crested summits,
+Unto the sea and the sky, and unto the perfecter earth,
+Come, let us go_!”
+
+                                          CLOUGH
+
+
+WITH 24 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
+TO
+“JANE”
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+ PREFACE
+ CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY
+ CHAPTER II. THE VOYAGE OUT
+ CHAPTER III. KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+ CHAPTER IV. ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+ CHAPTER V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+ CHAPTER VI. OUR FIRST CAMP
+ CHAPTER VII. BACK TO SRINAGAR
+ CHAPTER VIII. THE LOLAB
+ CHAPTER IX. SRINAGAR AGAIN
+ CHAPTER X. THE LIDAR VALLEY
+ CHAPTER XI. GANGABAL
+ CHAPTER XII. GULMARG
+ CHAPTER XIII. THE FLOOD
+ CHAPTER XIV. THE MACHIPURA
+ CHAPTER XV. DELHI AND AGRA
+ CHAPTER XVI. UDAIPUR
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+I observe that it is customary to begin a book by an Introduction,
+Preface, or Foreword. In the good old days of the eighteenth century
+this generally took the form of a burst of grovelling adoration aimed
+at some most noble or otherwise highly important person. This fulsome
+fawning on the great was later changed into propitiation of the British
+public, and unknown authors revelled in excuses for publishing their
+earlier efforts.
+
+But now that every one has written a book, or is about to do so, I feel
+that my apologies are rather due to the public for not having rushed
+into print before. I have really spared it because I had nothing in
+particular to write about, and I confess I am somewhat doubtful as to
+whether I am even now justified in invoking the kind offices of a
+publisher with a view to bringing forth this literary mouse in due
+form!
+
+No admiring (if partial) relatives have hung upon my lips as I read
+them my journal, imploring me with tears in their eyes to waste not an
+instant, but give to a longing world this literary treasure. I have no
+illusions as regards my literary powers, and I do not imagine that I
+shall depose the gifted author of _Eöthen_ from his pride of place.
+
+I claim, however, the merit of truth. The journal was written day by
+day, and the sketches were all done on the spot; and if this
+account—bald and inadequate as I know it to be—of a very happy time
+spent in rambling among some of the finest scenery of this lovely
+earth, may induce any one to betake himself to Kashmir, he will achieve
+something worth living for, and I shall not have spilt ink in vain.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+ THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR (Frontispiece)
+ A SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY
+ A SRINAGAR BYE-WAY—EARLY SPRING
+ ON THE JHELUM—EARLY SPRING
+ THE BUND SRINAGAR—EARLY SPRING
+ THE DAL
+ IN THE NISHAT BAGH
+ THE PIR PANJAL FROM ALSU—MORNING
+ ON THE DAL—SUNSET
+ NATIVE BOATS
+ PANDRETTAN
+ KOLAHOI
+ LIDARWAT
+ THE RAMPARTS OF KASHMIR
+ GANGABAL
+ HARAMOK
+ A TARN ABOVE TRONKOL
+ ON THE CIRCULAR ROAD, GULMARG
+ IN SRINAGAR—TWILIGHT
+ SRINAGAR FLOODED
+ HARI PARBAT—EVENING
+ NANGA PARBAT FROM KITARDAJI
+ MIXED BATHING (UDAIPUR)
+ UDAIPUR
+ MAP OF KASHMIR
+
+
+
+
+A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+A journey to Kashmir now—in these days of cheap and rapid locomotion—is
+in nowise serious. It takes time, I grant you, but to any one with a
+few months to spare—and there are many in that happy position—there can
+be few pleasanter ways of spending a summer holiday.
+
+It would be as well to start from England not later than the middle of
+March, as the Red Sea and the Sind Desert begin to warm up
+uncomfortably in spring. Srinagar would then be reached fairly early in
+April, and the visitor should arrange, if possible, to remain in the
+country until the middle of October. We had to leave just as the
+gorgeous autumn colouring was beginning to blaze in the woods, and the
+first duck were wheeling over the Wular Lake.
+
+The climate of Kashmir is fairly similar to that of many parts of
+Southern Europe. There is a good deal of snow in the valley in winter.
+Spring is charming, the brilliant days only varied by frequent
+thunderstorms—which, however, are almost invariable in keeping their
+pyrotechnics till about five in the afternoon. July and August are hot
+and steamy in the valley, and it is necessary to seek one of the cool
+“Margs” which form ideal camping-grounds on all the lofty mountain
+slopes which surround the valley.
+
+Gulmarg is the most frequented and amusing resort in summer of the
+English colony and contingent from the broiling plains of the Punjab.
+Here the happy fugitive from the sweltering heat of the lower regions
+will find a climate as glorious as the scenery. He can enjoy the best
+of polo and golf, and, if he be not a misogynist, he will vary the
+‘daily round’ with picnics and scrambles on foot or on horseback, in
+exploring the endless beauty of the place, coming home to his hut or
+tent as the sun sinks behind the great pines that screen the Rampur
+Road, to wind up the happy day with a cheery dinner and game of bridge.
+But if Gulmarg does not appeal to him, let him go with his camping
+outfit to Sonamarg or Pahlgam—he will find neither polo nor golf nor
+the gay little society of Gulmarg, but he will find equally charming
+scenery and, perhaps, a drier climate—for it must in fairness be
+admitted that Gulmarg is a rainy place. Likewise his pocket will
+benefit, as his expenses will surely be less, and he will still find
+neighbours dotted about in white tents under the pine trees.
+
+Towards the middle of September the exodus from the high ‘Margs’ takes
+place—many returning sadly to Pindi and Sealkote—others merely to
+Srinagar, while those who yearn after Bara Singh and Bear, decamp
+quietly for their selected nullahs, to be in readiness for the opening
+of the autumn season.
+
+Thus, from April to October, a more or less perfect climate may be
+obtained by watching the mercury in the thermometer, and rising or
+descending the mountain slopes in direct ratio with it.
+
+It is quite unnecessary to take out a large and expensive wardrobe.
+Thin garments for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, such as one wears in a
+fine English summer, and for Kashmir the same sort of things that one
+would take up to Scotland. For men—knickerbockers and flannel
+shirts—and for ladies, short tweed skirts and some flannel blouses. The
+native tailors in Srinagar are clever and cheap, and will copy an
+English shooting suit in fairly good material for about eleven rupees,
+or 14s. 8d.! One pair of strong shooting boots (plentifully studded
+with aluminium nails) is enough. For all mountain work, the invaluable
+but uncomfortable grass shoes must be worn, and both my wife and I
+invariably wore the native chaplies for ordinary marching. Foot-gear
+for golf, tennis, and general service at Srinagar and Gulmarg must be
+laid in, according to the traveller’s fancy, in England.
+
+Underwear to suit both hot and cold weather should be purchased at
+home—not on any account omitting cholera belts.
+
+Shirts and collars should be taken freely, as it is well to remember
+that the native washerman—the well-abused “Dobie”—has a marvellous
+skill in producing a saw-like rim to the starched collar and cuff of
+the newest shirt; while the elegant and delicate lace and embroidery,
+with which the fair are wont to embellish their underwear, take strange
+and unforeseen patterns at the hands of the skilled workmen. It is
+surprising what an effect can be obtained by tying up the neck and
+sleeves of a garment, inserting a few smooth pebbles from the brook,
+and then banging the moist bundle on the bank!
+
+The arrangement of clothing for the voyage is rather complicated, as it
+will probably be necessary to wear warm things while crossing Europe,
+and possibly even until Egypt is reached. Then an assortment of summer
+flannels, sufficient to last as far as India, must be available. We
+were unable to get any washing done from the date we left London, on
+the 22nd of February, until we reached Rawal Pindi, on the 21st March.
+Capacious canvas kit-bags are excellent things for cramming with grist
+for the dobie’s mill.
+
+In arranging for luggage, it should be borne in mind that large trunks
+and dress boxes are inadmissible. From Pindi to Srinagar everything
+must be transported by wheeled conveyance, and, in Kashmir itself, all
+luggage must be selected with a view to its adaptability to the backs
+of coolies or ponies. In Srinagar one can buy native trunks—or
+yakdans—which are cheap, strong, and portable; and the covered creels
+or “kiltas” serve admirably for the stowage of kitchen utensils, food,
+and oddments.
+
+The following list may prove useful to any one who has not already been
+“east of Suez,” and who may therefore not be too proud to profit by
+another’s experience:—
+
+1. “Compactum” camp-bed with case, and fitted with sockets to take
+mosquito netting.
+
+2. Campaigning bedding-bag in Willesden canvas, with bedding complete.
+
+3. Waterproof sheet.
+
+4. Indiarubber bath.
+
+If shooting in the higher mountains is anticipated, a Wolseley
+sleeping-bag should be taken.
+
+5. Small stable-lantern.
+
+6. Rug or plaid—light and warm.
+
+7. Half-a-dozen towels.
+
+8. Deck chair (with name painted on it).
+
+We had also a couple of Roorkhee chairs, and found them most useful.
+
+9. A couple of compressed cane cabin trunks.
+
+9_a_. The “Ranelagh Pack” is a most useful form of “luggage.”
+
+10. Camp kit-bag.
+
+11. Soiled-linen bag, with square mouth, large size. This is an
+excellent “general service” bag, and invaluable for holding boots, &c.
+
+12. Large “brief-bag,” most useful for stowing guide-books, flasks,
+binoculars, biscuits, and such like, that one wants when travelling,
+and never knows where to put. Our “yellow bag” carried even tea things,
+and was greatly beloved. Like the leather bottèl in its later stage,
+“it served to put hinges and odd things in”!
+
+13. Luncheon basket, fitted according to the number of the party.
+
+The above articles can all be bought at the Army and Navy Stores.
+
+14. A light canvas box, fitted as a dressing-case.
+
+Ours were made, according to our own wishes and possessions, by
+Williams, of 41 Bond Street. The innumerable glass bottles, so highly
+prized by the makers of dressing-cases, should be strictly limited in
+number. They are exceedingly heavy, and, as the dressing-case should be
+carried by its owner, the less it weighs the more he (or she) will
+esteem it.
+
+15. A set of aluminium cooking-utensils is much to be recommended. They
+can easily be sold on leaving Kashmir for, at least, their cost price.
+
+16. Pocket flask. This may be of aluminium also, although personally I
+dislike a metal flask.
+
+17. Umbrella—strong, but cheap, as it is sure to be lost or stolen.
+There are few things your native loves more than a nice umbrella,
+unless it be
+
+18. A knife fitted with corkscrew and screwdriver; therefore take two,
+and try to keep one carefully locked up.
+
+19. Pair of good field-glasses.
+
+I took a stalking telescope, but it was useless to my shikari, who
+always borrowed my wife’s binoculars until she lost them—or he stole
+them!
+
+20. Hats. It is obviously a matter of taste what hats a man should
+take. The glossy silk may repose with the frock-coat till its owner
+returns to find it hopelessly out of date, its brim being a thought too
+curly, or its top impossibly wide; but the “bowler” or Homburg hat will
+serve his turn according to his fancy, until, at Aden, he invests in a
+hideous, but shady “topee,” for one-third of the price he would pay in
+London; and this will be his only wear, before sunset, until he again
+reaches a temperate climate. Ladies, who are rightly more particular as
+to the appearance of even so unlovely a thing as a sola topee, would do
+well, perhaps, to buy theirs before starting. Really becoming pith
+helmets seem very scarce in the East!
+
+After sunset, or under awnings, any sort of cap may be worn.
+
+21. Shirts and collars are obviously matters of taste. A good supply of
+white shirts and collars must be taken to cope with the destruction and
+loss which may be expected at the hands of the dobie. Flannel shirts
+can be made easily enough from English models in Srinagar.
+
+22. Under-garments should be of Indian gauze for hot weather, with a
+supply of thicker articles for camping in the hills.
+
+Cholera belts should on no account be omitted.
+
+23. Socks, according to taste—very few knickerbocker stockings need be
+taken, as putties are cheap and usual in Srinagar.
+
+24. Ties—the white ones of the cheap sort that can be thrown away after
+use, with a light heart. Handkerchiefs, and a few pairs of white
+gloves.
+
+25. Sleeping-suits, both thick for camp work and light for hot weather,
+should be taken.
+
+26. Dress suit and dinner-jacket.
+
+27. Knickerbocker or knee-breeches, which can be copied in Kashmir by
+the native tailor.
+
+Riding-breeches are not in the least necessary unless the traveller
+contemplates any special riding expedition. Ordinary shooting
+continuations do quite well for all the mounted work the tourist is
+likely to do. A pair of stohwasser gaiters may be taken, but even they
+are not necessary, neither is a saddle.
+
+A lady, however, should take out a short riding-skirt, or habit, and a
+side-saddle.
+
+28. A tweed suit of medium warmth for travelling, and a couple of
+flannel suits, will bring the wearer to Srinagar, where he can increase
+his stock at a ridiculously low price—about 22 rupees or £1, 9s. 4d.
+per suit.
+
+29. Boots. Here, again, the wayfarer is at full liberty to please
+himself. A pair of strong shooting-boots, with plenty of spare laces
+and, say, a hundred aluminium nails, is a _sine quâ non_. A pair of
+rubbers, or what are known as “gouties” in Swiss winter circles, are
+not to be despised. Otherwise, boots, shoes, slippers, and pumps,
+according to taste.
+
+30. A large “regulation” waterproof, a rain-coat or Burberry, and a
+warm greatcoat will all be required.
+
+It is hard to give definite advice to a lady as to the details of her
+outfit. Let her conform in a general way to the instructions given
+above, always remembering that both Srinagar and Gulmarg are gay and
+festive places, where she will dine and dance, and have ample
+opportunity for displaying a well-chosen wardrobe.
+
+Let her also take heed that she leaves the family diamonds at home. The
+gentle Kashmiri is an inveterate and skilful thief, and the less
+jewellery she can make up her mind to “do with,” the more at ease will
+her mind be. But if she must needs copy the lady of whom we read, that
+
+“Rich and rare were the gems she wore,”
+
+
+then why not line the jewel-case—or rather the secret bag, which she
+will sew into some mysterious garment—with the diamonds of Gophir and
+the pearls of Rome?
+
+If the intending visitor to Kashmir be a sportsman who has already had
+experience in big-game shooting, he will not need any advice from me
+(which, indeed, he would utterly disdain) as to the lethal weapons
+which should form his battery; but if the wayfarer be a humble
+performer who has never slain anything more formidable than a wary old
+stag, or more nerve-shattering than a meteoric cock pheasant rising
+clamorously from behind a turnip, he may not be too proud to learn that
+he will find an ordinary “fowling piece” the most useful weapon which
+he can take with him. If his gun is not choked, he should be provided
+with a dozen or more ball cartridge for bear.
+
+If the pursuit of markhor and ibex is contemplated, a small-bore rifle
+will be required, but a heavy express is wanted to stop a bear. I had a
+“Mannlicher” and an ordinary shot-gun, with a few ball cartridges for
+the latter.
+
+Duty has to be paid on taking firearms into India, and this may be
+refunded on leaving the country. This is not always done, however, as I
+found to my cost, my application for a refund being refused on the
+quibble that my guns were taken back to England by a friend, although I
+was able to prove their identity.
+
+ cartridges out, as it is exceedingly unlikely that the tyro will be
+ able to shoot all the beasts allowed him by his game licence.[1]
+ Smooth-bore cartridges of fair quality can be bought in Srinagar, and
+ I certainly do not consider it worth the trouble and expense to convey
+ them out from England.
+
+[1] See Appendix 1.
+
+
+To the amateur artist I would say: Be well supplied with brushes and
+paper—the latter sealed in tin for passage through the Red Sea and
+India. Colours, and indeed all materials can he got from Treacher &
+Co., Bombay, and also from the branch of the Army and Navy Stores
+there.
+
+Paper is, however, difficult to get in good condition, being frequently
+spoilt by mildew.
+
+It is almost impossible to get anything satisfactory in the way of
+painting materials in Kashmir itself; therefore I say: Be well supplied
+before leaving home.
+
+Finally, a small stock of medicines should certainly be taken, not
+omitting a copious supply of quinine (best in powder form for this
+purpose), and also of strong peppermint or something of the sort, to
+give to the native servants and others who are always falling sick of a
+fever or complaining of an internal pain, which is generally quite
+cured by a dose of peppermint.
+
+Neither Jane nor I love guide-books; we found however, in Kashmir, the
+little book written by Dr. Neve an invaluable companion;[2] while
+Murray’s _Guide to India_ afforded much useful information when
+wandering in that country.
+
+[2] _The Tourist’s Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo, &c._, edited by
+Arthur Neve, F.R.G.S.
+
+
+The best book on Kashmir that I know is Sir Walter Lawrence’s _Valley
+of Kashmir_.
+
+Any one going out as we did, absolutely ignorant of the language,
+should certainly take an elementary phrase-book or something of the
+sort to study on the voyage. We forgot to do this, and had infinite
+trouble afterwards in getting what we wanted, and lost much time in
+acquiring the rudimentary knowledge of Hindustani which enabled us to
+worry along with our native servants, &c. No mere “globe-trotter” need
+attempt to learn any Kashmiri, as Hindustani is “understanded of the
+people” as a rule, and the tradesmen in Srinagar know quite as much
+English as is good for them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+THE VOYAGE OUT
+
+
+It seems extraordinary to me that every day throughout the winter,
+crowds of people should throng the railway stations whence they can
+hurry south in search of warmth and sunshine, and yet London remains
+apparently as full as ever! We plunged into a seething mass of
+outward-bound humanity at Victoria Station on the 22nd of February,
+and, having wrestled our way into the Continental express, were whirled
+across the sad and sodden country to Dover amidst hundreds of our
+shivering fellow-countrymen.
+
+Truly we are beyond measure conservative in our railway discomforts.
+With a bitter easterly wind searching out the chinks of door and
+window, we sat shivering in our unwarmed compartment—unwarmed, I say,
+in spite of the clumsy tin of quickly-cooled hot water procured by
+favour—and a gratuity—from a porter!
+
+The Channel showed even more disagreeable than usual. A grey, cold sky,
+with swift-flying clouds from the east hung over a grey, cold sea, the
+waves showing their wicked white teeth under the lash of the strong
+wind. The patient lightship off the pier was swinging drearily as we
+throbbed past into the gust-swept open and set our bows for the unseen
+coast of France.
+
+The tumult of passengers was speedily reduced to a limp and inert swarm
+of cold, wet, and sea-sick humanity.
+
+The cold and miserable weather clung to us long. In Paris it snowed
+heavily, and I was constrained to betake myself in a cab—“chauffé,” it
+is needless to remark—to seek out a kindly dentist, the bitter east
+wind having sought out and found a weak spot wherein to implant an
+abscess.
+
+At Bâle it was freezing, but clear and bright, and a good breakfast and
+a breath of clean, fresh air was truly enjoyable after the overheated
+sleeping-car in which we had come from Paris.
+
+It may seem unreasonable to grumble at the overheating of the “Sleeper”
+after abusing the under-heating of our British railways. Surely,
+though, there is a golden mean? I wish neither to be frozen nor boiled,
+and there can be no doubt but that the heating of most Continental
+trains is excellent, the power of application being left to the
+traveller.
+
+The journey by the St. Gotthard was delightful, the day brilliant, and
+the frost keen, while we watched the fleeting panorama of icebound
+peaks and snow-powdered pines from the cushions of our comfortable
+carriage.
+
+The glory of winter left us as we left the Swiss mountains and dropped
+down into the fertile flats of Northern Italy, and at Milan all was raw
+chilliness and mud.
+
+Nothing can well be more depressing than wet and cheerless weather in a
+land obviously intended for sunshine.
+
+We slept at Milan, and the next day set forth in heavy rain towards
+Venice. The miserable ranks of distorted and pollarded trees stood
+sadly in pools of yellow-stained water, or stuck out of heaps of
+half-melted and uncleanly snow.
+
+No colour; no life anywhere, excepting an occasional peasant plodding
+along a muddy road, sheltering himself under the characteristic flat
+and bony umbrella of the country.
+
+At Peschiera we had promise of better things. The weather cleared
+somewhat, revealing ranges of white-clad hills around Garda…. But,
+alas! at Verona it rained as hard as ever, and we made our way from the
+railway station at Venice, cowering in the coffin-like cabin of a damp
+and extremely draughty gondola, while cold flurries of an Alpine-born
+wind swept across the Grand Canal.
+
+Sunshine is absolutely necessary to bring out the real beauty of Italy.
+This is particularly the case in Venice, where light and life are
+required to dispel the feeling of sadness so sure to creep over one
+amid the signs of long-past grandeur and decaying magnificence.
+
+On a grey and wintry day one is chiefly impressed by the dank
+chilliness of the palaces on the Grand Canal, whose feet lie lapped in
+slimy water; the lovely tracery of whose windows shows ragged and
+broken, whose stately guest-chambers are in the sordid occupation of
+the dealer in false antiques, and whose motto might be “Ichabod,” for
+their glory has departed.
+
+It is five-and-twenty years since I was last in Venice, and I can truly
+say that it has not improved in that long time. The loss of the great
+Campanile of St. Mark is not compensated for by the gain of the penny
+steamer which frets and fusses its prosaic way along the Grand Canal,
+or blurts its noisome smoke in the very face of the Palace of the
+Doges.
+
+Well! A steady downpour is dispiriting at any time, excepting when one
+is snugly at home with plenty to do, and it is particularly so to the
+unlucky traveller who has to live through half-a-dozen long hours
+intervening between arrival at and departure from Venice on a cold,
+dull, wintry afternoon.
+
+The sombre gondola writhed its sinuous course and deposited us all
+forlorn in the near neighbourhood of the Piazza San Marco. Splashing
+our way across, and pushing through the crowd of greedy fat pigeons, we
+entered the world-famous church. I know my Ruskin, and I feel that I
+should be lost in wonder and admiration—I am not.
+
+The gloom—rich golden gloom if you will—of the interior oppresses me;
+it is cavernous. A service is being held in one of the transepts, and
+the congregation seems noisier and less devout than I could have
+believed possible. My thoughts fly far to where, on its solitary hill,
+the noble pile of Chartres soars majestic, its heaven-piercing spires
+dominating the wide plain of La Beauce. In fancy I enter by the
+splendid north door and find myself in the pillared dimness softly
+lighted by the great window in the west. This seems to me to be the
+greatest achievement of the Christian architect, noble alike in
+conception and in execution.
+
+There is no means of procuring a cold more certain than lingering too
+long in a cold and vault-like church or picture gallery, so we
+adjourned to the Palazzo Daniele, now a mere hotel, where we browsed on
+the literature—chiefly cosmopolitan newspapers—until it was time to
+start for Trieste.
+
+The journey is not an attractive one, as we seemed to be perpetually
+worried by Custom-house authorities and inquisitive ticket-collectors!
+If possible, the wary traveller should so time his sojourn at Venice as
+to allow him to go to Trieste by steamer. The Hôtel de la Ville at
+Trieste is not quite excellent, but ’twill serve, and we were
+remarkably glad to reach it, somewhere about midnight, having left
+Milan soon after seven in the morning!
+
+Trieste itself is rather an engaging town; at least so it seemed to us
+when we awakened to a fresh, bright morning, a blue-and-white sky
+overhead, and a copious allowance of yellow mud under foot!
+
+There were various final purchases to be made. Our deck chairs were
+with the heavy luggage, which the passenger by Austrian Lloyd only gets
+at Port Saïd, as it is sent from London by sea; so a deck chair had to
+be got, also a stock of light literature wherewith to beguile the long
+sea hours.
+
+A visit to our ship—the _Marie Valerie_—showed her to be a
+comfortable-looking vessel of some 4500 tons. She was busily engaged in
+taking in a large cargo, principally for Japan, and she showed no signs
+of an early departure. Her nominal hour for starting was 4 P.M., but
+the captain told us that he should not sail until next morning. So we
+descended to examine our cabin, and found it to be large and airy, but
+totally deficient in the matter of drawers or lockers.
+
+Well! we shall have to keep everything in cabin trunks, and “live in
+our boxes” for the next three weeks.
+
+There was cabin accommodation for twenty passengers, but at dinner we
+mustered but nine. This is, of course, the season when all right-minded
+folks are coming home from India, and we never expected to find a
+crowd; still, nine individuals scattered abroad over the wide decks
+make but a poor show.
+
+The first meal on board a big steamer is always interesting. Every one
+is quietly “taking stock” of his, or her, neighbours, and forming
+estimates of their social value, which are generally entirely upset by
+after experience.
+
+Of our fellow-passengers there were only five whose presence affected
+us in any way. A young Austrian, Herr Otto Frantz, with his wife, going
+out as first secretary of legation to Tokio; Major Twining, R.E., and
+his wife; and Miss Lungley, a cosmopolitan lady, who makes Kashmir her
+headquarters and Rome her _annexe_.
+
+We became acquainted with each other sooner than might have been
+expected, by reason of an exploit of the stewardess—a gibbering idiot.
+The night was cold, so several of the ladies, following an evil custom,
+sent forth from their cabins those vile inventions called hot bottles.
+Only two came back…, and then the fun began. The stewardess, who speaks
+no known tongue, played “hunt the slipper” for the missing bottles
+through all the cabins, whence she was shot out by the enraged
+inhabitants until she was reduced to absolute imbecility, and the
+harassed stewards to gesticular despair.
+
+The missing articles were, I believe, finally discovered and routed out
+of an unoccupied bed, where they had been laid and forgotten by the
+addle-pated lady, and peace reigned.
+
+We sailed from Trieste early on the morning of the 28th of February,
+and steamed leisurely on our way. The Austrian Lloyd’s “unaccelerated”
+steamers are not too active in their movements, being wont to travel at
+purely “economical speed,” and so we were given an excellent view of
+some of the Ionian Islands, steaming through the Ithaca channel, with
+the snow-tipped peak of Cephalonia close on our starboard hand.
+
+Then, leaving the far white hills of the Albanian coast to fade into
+the blue mists, we sped
+
+“Over the sea past Crete,”
+
+
+until the tall lighthouse of Port Saïd rose on the horizon, followed by
+the spars of much shipping, and the roofs of the houses dotted
+apparently over the waters of the Mediterranean. At length the low
+mudbanks which represent the two continents of Africa and Asia spread
+their dull monotony on either hand, and the good ship sat quietly down
+for a happy day’s coaling.
+
+Port Saïd has grown out of all knowledge since I first made its
+acquaintance in 1877. It was then a cluster of evil-looking shanties,
+the abode of the scum of the Levant, who waxed fat by the profits of
+the gambling hells and the sale of pornographic photographs. It has now
+donned the outwardly respectable look of middle age; it has laid itself
+out in streets; the gambling dens have disappeared, and the robbers
+have betaken themselves to the sale of the worst class of Japanese and
+Indian “curios,” ostrich feathers from East Africa, and tobacco in all
+its forms.
+
+Port Saïd has undoubtedly improved, but still it is not a nice place,
+and we were unfeignedly glad to repair on board the _Marie Valerie_ as
+soon as we noted the cessation of the black coaly cloud, through the
+murkiness of which a chattering stream of gnome-like figures passed
+their burthens of “Cardiff” into the bowels of the ship.
+
+Port Saïd was cold, and Suez was cold, and we started down the Red Sea
+followed by a strong north wind, which kept us clad in greatcoats for a
+day or two, and, as we got down into wider waters, obliged us to keep
+our ports closed.
+
+An object-lesson on the subject of closed ports was given in our cabin,
+where the fair chatelaine was reclining in her berth reading, fanned by
+the genial air which floated in at the open port,—a truculent Red Sea
+billow, meeting a slight roll of the ship, entered the cabin in an
+unbroken fall on the lady’s head. A damp tigress flew out through the
+door, wildly demanding the steward, a set of dry bedding, and the
+instant execution of the captain, the officer of the watch, and the man
+at the wheel!
+
+How dull we should be without these little incidents!
+
+A hoopoe took deck, or rather rigging, passage for a while, and evoked
+the greatest interest. Stalking glasses and binoculars were levelled at
+the unconcerned fowl, who sat by the “cathead” with perfect composure,
+and preened himself after his long flight.
+
+The striking of “four bells” just under his beak unnerved him somewhat,
+and he departed in a great fuss and pother.
+
+Our roomy decks afford many quiet corners in which to read or doze, and
+now that the weather is rapidly warming up we spend many hours in these
+peaceful pastimes, varied by an occasional constitutional—none of your
+fisherman’s walks, “three steps and overboard”—but a good, clear tramp,
+unimpeded by the innumerable deck-chairs, protruding feet, and
+ubiquitous children which cover all free space on board a P. & O.
+
+Then comes dinner, followed by a rubber of bridge, and so to bed.
+
+On Saturday the 11th we passed the group of islands commonly known as
+the Twelve Apostles.
+
+First, a tiny rock, rising lonely from the blue—brilliantly blue—waves;
+then a yellow crag of sandstone, looking like a haystack; and then a
+whole group of wild and fantastic islands, evidently of volcanic
+origin, and varying in rough peaks and abrupt cliffs of the strangest
+colours—brick-red, purple-black, grey, and yellow—utterly bare and
+desolate:
+
+“Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,
+Nor aught of vegetative power,
+The weary eye may ken,”
+
+
+save only the white lighthouse, which, perched on its arid hill, serves
+to emphasise the desolation of earth and sky.
+
+The Red Sea is remarkably well supplied with lighthouses; and,
+considering the narrowness of the channel in parts, the strong and
+variable currents, and the innumerable islands and shoals, the supply
+does no more than equal the demand.
+
+I cannot imagine a more grievous death in life than the existence of a
+lighthouse-keeper in the Red Sea!
+
+_Sunday, 12th_.—We passed through the Gate of Tears this morning—the
+dismal, flat, and unprofitable island of Perim being scanned by me from
+the bathroom port, while exchanging an atmosphere of sticky salt air
+for an unrefreshing dip in sticky salt water.
+
+The hoopoe is again with us; in fact I do not think he really left the
+ship, but simply sought a secluded perch, secure from prying
+observation. He reappeared upon the port stay, and proceeded to preen
+himself and observe the ship’s course. He is evidently bound for Aden,
+casting glances of quiet unconcern on Perim and the coast of Araby the
+blest.
+
+Towards sunset we passed the fantastic peaks of little Aden, and,
+drawing up to Steamer Point, cast anchor under the “Barren Rocks of
+Aden.”
+
+_Monday, 13th_.—We had a shocking time last night. All ports closed for
+coaling left us gasping, whilst a fiendish din arose from the bowels of
+the ship, whence cargo was being extracted. The stifling air, reeking
+with damp, developed in the early morning a steady rain, which dripped
+mournfully on the grimy decks. Rain in Aden! We are told on the best
+authority that this is most unusual.
+
+Aden, to the passing stranger, shows few attractions. We went on shore
+when the rain showed signs of ceasing, and after buying a few odds and
+ends, such as a pith hat and some cigarettes, we betook ourselves to
+the principal hotel, where an excessively bad breakfast was served to
+us, after which we were not sorry to shake the mud of Aden off our
+feet, so we chartered a shore boat amid a fearful clamour for extra pay
+and backshish, and set forth to rejoin our ship, now swept and
+garnished, and showing little trace of the coal she had swallowed.
+
+_Monday, 20th_.—We reached Karachi yesterday morning after a quiet,
+calm, and utterly uneventful passage across the Indian Ocean.
+
+It was never hot—merely calm, grey, and even showery, our only
+excitements being an occasional school of porpoises or the sight of a
+passing tramp steamer.
+
+Some time before leaving England I had written to my old friend General
+Woon, commanding the troops at Abbotabad, asking him to provide me with
+a servant capable of dry-nursing a pair of Babes in the Wood throughout
+their sojourn in a strange land. The General promised to supply us with
+such an one, who, he said, would rob us to a certain extent himself,
+but would take good care that nobody else did so!
+
+Immediately, then, upon our arrival in Karachi roads, a dark and
+swarthy person, with a black beard and gleaming white teeth, appeared
+on board, and reported himself as Sabz Ali, our servant and our master!
+
+His knowledge of English “as she is spoke” was scanty and of strange
+quality, but his masterful methods of dealing with the boatmen and
+Custom-house subordinates inspired us with awe and a blind confidence
+that he could—and would—pull us through.
+
+There was no difficulty at the Custom-house until it transpired that I
+wanted to take three firearms into the country. This appeared to be a
+most unusual and reprehensible desire, and my statement that one weapon
+was a rifle which I was taking charge of for a friend did not improve
+the situation. It being Sunday, the principal authorities were sunning
+themselves in their back parlours, and the thing in charge (called a
+Baboo, I understand) became exceedingly fussy, and desired that the
+guns should be unpacked and exhibited lest they should be of service
+pattern. This was simple, as far as my battery was concerned, and I
+promptly laid bare the beauties of my Mannlicher and ancient 12-bore;
+but, alas! Mrs. Smithson’s rifle was soldered like a sardine into a
+strong tin case, and no cold-chisel or screwdriver was forthcoming.
+
+Messengers were sent forth to seek the needful instruments, while I
+proceeded to cut another Gordian knot…. An acquaintance of mine,
+hearing that I was coming to India, suggested that I should take charge
+of a parcel for a friend of hers, who wanted to send it to her fiancé
+in Bombay. As all the heavy baggage was sent from London to join us at
+Port Saïd, I had not seen the “parcel,” and, finding no case or box
+addressed to any one but myself, I had to select one that seemed most
+likely to be right, and forward that.
+
+At last the needful appliances were got and the rifle unpacked; but,
+although it proved to be (as I had said) a large-bore Express, the
+Baboo refused, like a very Pharaoh, to let it go, and I, after a
+two-hour vexatious delay, paid the duty on my own guns, and, leaving a
+note for the chief Customs official, explaining the case and begging
+him to send the rifle on forthwith, packed myself—hot, hungry, and
+angry—into a “gharri,” and set forth to the Devon Place Hotel, whither
+the rest of the party had preceded me.
+
+I have gone into this little episode somewhat at length in order to
+impress upon the voyager to India the necessity for limiting the number
+of firearms or getting a friend to father the extra ones through the
+Customs—a perfectly simple matter had one foreseen the difficulty. Also
+the danger of taking parcels for friends—of which more anon![1]
+
+[1] A big deal case which we unpacked at Srinagar proved to contain a
+“life-sized” work-table. The package holding our camp beds and bedding,
+having a humbler aspect, had been sent to Bombay and cost as a world of
+worry and expense to recover!
+
+
+The Devon Place Hotel may be the best in Karachi, but it is pretty
+bad…. I am told that all Indian hotels are bad—still, the breakfast was
+a considerable improvement on the _Marie Valerie_, and we sallied forth
+as giants refreshed to have a look at Karachi and do a little shopping.
+It being Sunday, the banks were closed, but a kindly shopman cashed me
+a cheque for twenty pounds in the most confiding manner, and enabled us
+to get the few odds and ends we wanted before going up country—among
+them a couple of “resais” or quilted cotton wraps and a sola topee for
+Jane.
+
+Karachi did not strike us as being a particularly interesting town, but
+that may be to a great extent because we did not see the best part of
+it. On landing at Kiamari we had only driven along a hot and glaring
+mole, bordered by swamps and slimy-looking flats for some two miles.
+Then, on reaching the city proper, a dusty road, bordered by somewhat
+suburban-looking houses, brought us to the Devon Place Hotel, near the
+Frere station. After breakfast we merely drove into the bazaars to shop
+before betaking ourselves to the station, in good time for the 6.30
+train.
+
+Passengers—at least first-class passengers—were not numerous, and Major
+Twining and I had no difficulty in securing two compartments—one for
+our wives and one for ourselves.
+
+An Indian first-class carriage is roomy, but bare, being arranged with
+a view to heat rather than cold Two long seats run “fore and aft” on
+either side, and upon them your servant makes your bed at night. Two
+upper berths can be let down in case of a crowd. At the end of each
+compartment is a small toilet-room.
+
+It was unexpectedly chilly at night, and Twining and I were glad to
+roll ourselves up in as many rugs and “resais” as we could persuade the
+ladies to leave to us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+
+
+This morning we awoke to find ourselves rattling and shaking our way
+through the Sind Desert—an interminable waste of sand, barren and
+thirsty-looking, covered with a patchy scrub of yellowish and
+grey-purple bushes.
+
+I can well imagine how hatefully hot it can be here, but to-day it has
+been merely pleasantly warm.
+
+Jane and I were deeply interested in the novel scenes we passed
+through, which, while new and strange to us, were yet made familiar by
+what we had read and heard. The quiet-eyed cattle, with their queer
+humps, were just what we expected to see in the dusty landscape. The
+chattering crowds in the wayside stations, their bright-coloured
+garments flaunting in the white sunlight—the fruit-sellers, the
+water-carriers, were all as though they had stepped out of the pages of
+_Kim_—that most excellent of Indian stories.
+
+And so all day we rattled and shook through the Sind Desert in the hot
+sunlight till the dust lay thick upon us, and our eyes grew tired of
+watching the flying landscape.
+
+In the afternoon we reached Samasata junction, where the Twinings
+parted company with us, being bound for Faridkot.
+
+Sorry were we to lose such charming companions, especially as now
+indeed we become as Babes in the Wood, knowing nothing of the land, its
+customs, or its language!
+
+Henceforward, Sabz Ali shall be our sheet-anchor, and I think he will
+not fail us. His English is truly remarkable, so much so that I regret
+to say I have more than once supposed him to be talking Hindustani when
+he was discoursing in my own mother-tongue. But he certainly is
+extraordinarily sharp in taking up what I and the “Mem-sahib” say.
+
+He presented to me to-day a remarkable letter, of which the following
+is an exact copy. I presume it is a sort of statement as to his general
+duties:—
+
+“_To the_ MAGER SAHIB.
+
+
+“Sir,—I beg to say that General ’Oon Sahib send me to you. He order me
+that the arrangement of Mager Sahib do.
+
+“To give pice to porter kuli this is my work. This is usefull to you.
+
+“You give him many pice.
+
+“Your work is order and to do it my work. You give me Rupee at once.
+Then I will write it on my book, from which you will see it is right or
+wrong. Now I am going to Cashmir with you and Cashmiree are thief.
+
+“If you will give me one man other it will usefull to you. I ask one
+cloth. All Sahib give cloth to Servant on going to Cashmir.
+
+“If will give cloth then all men say that this Sahib is good. I am fear
+from General ’Oon Sahib. It is order to give cloth.
+
+“I can do all work of cook and bearer. I wish that you will happy on
+me, also your lady, and say to General ’Oon Sahib that this man is good
+and honest man.
+
+“I have servant to many Sahib.
+
+“I have more certificate.
+
+“You are rich man and king. I am poor man. I will take two annas
+allowance per day in Cashmir, you will do who you wish.
+
+“I wish that you and lady will happy on me. This is begging you will.—I
+remain, Sir, your most obedient Servant,
+
+“SABAZ ALI, _Bearer_.”
+
+
+_Wednesday, March_ 22.—We slept again in the train on Monday night, and
+arrived in Lahore about 6 o’clock yesterday morning.
+
+We had been advised to tub and dress in the waiting-rooms at the
+station, as we had a break of some six hours before going on to Pindi;
+but, upon investigation, Jane found her waiting-room already fully
+occupied by an uninviting company of Chi-chis (Eurasians), and several
+men—their husbands and brothers presumably—were sleeping the sleep of
+the just in mine, so we left all our luggage stacked on the platform
+under the eye of Sabz Ali, and hurried off to Nedou’s Hotel. Ye gods!
+What a cold drive it was, and how bitterly we regretted that we had not
+brought our wraps from their bundle.
+
+I was fearfully afraid that Jane would get a chill—an evil always to be
+specially guarded against in a tropical climate, but a very hot tub and
+a good breakfast averted all calamity, and we set forth in a funny
+little trap to inspect Lahore.
+
+This is the first large and thoroughly Indian city that we have
+seen—Karachi being merely a thriving modern seaport and garrison
+town—and we set to work to see what we could in the limited time at our
+disposal. We whisked along a road—bumpy withal in parts, and somewhat
+dusty, but broad. On either hand rose substantial stone mansions, half
+hidden by trees and flowering shrubs. Many of these fine-looking
+buildings were shops. I was impressed by their importance, for they
+were quite what would be described by an auctioneer or agent as “most
+desirable family mansions, approached by a carriage drive … standing
+within their own beautifully wooded and secluded grounds in an
+excellent residential neighbourhood,” &c. &c.
+
+Anon we whirled round a corner, and plunged into the seething life of
+the native city. The road was crammed with an apparently impenetrable
+crowd of men and beasts, the latter—water-buffaloes, humpy cattle, and
+donkeys—strolling about and getting in everybody’s way with perfect
+nonchalance, while men in strange raiment of gaudy hue pursued their
+lawful occupations with much clamour. The variety of smells—all bad—was
+quite remarkable.
+
+We could only go at a walk, as the streets were very narrow and the
+inhabitants thereof—particularly the cows—seemed very deaf and
+difficult to arouse to a sense of the need for making room, though our
+good driver yelled himself hoarse and employed language which I feel
+sure was highly flavoured. Our progress was a succession of marvellous
+escapes for human toes and bovine shoulders, but our “helmsman steered
+us through,” and we emerged from the kaleidoscopic labyrinth into the
+open space before the Fort of Lahore, whose pinkish brick walls and
+ponderous bastions rose above us.
+
+The last thing I would desire would be to usurp in any way the
+functions of grave Mr. Murray or well-informed Herr Baedeker, but there
+are certain points to which I will draw attention, and which it seems
+to me very necessary to keep in mind.
+
+To the ordinary traveller in the Punjab and Northern India no buildings
+are more attractive, no ruins more interesting, than those of the Mogul
+dynasty, and the rule of the Mogul princes marks the high-water limit
+of Indian magnificence. It was but for a short time, too, that the
+highest level of grandeur was maintained.
+
+For generations the Moguls had poured in intermittent hordes into
+Northern India, but it was only in 1556 that Akbar, by defeating the
+Pathans at Panipat, laid India at his feet. Following up his success he
+overthrew the Rajputs, and extended his dominion from Afghanistan to
+Benares. Having conquered the country as a great warrior, he proceeded
+to rule it as a noble statesman, being “one of the few sovereigns
+entitled to the appellation both of Great and Good, and the only one of
+Mohammedan race whose mind appears to have arisen so far above all the
+illiberal prejudices of that fanatical religion in which he was
+educated, as to be capable of forming a plan worthy of a monarch who
+loved his people and was solicitous to render them happy.”[1] This
+“plan” was to study the religion, laws, and institutions of his Hindu
+subjects in order that he might govern as far as possible in conformity
+with Hindu usage. The Emperor Akbar was the first of the Mogul monarchs
+who was a great architect. The city of Fattepur Sikri being raised by
+him as a stately dwelling-place until want of water and the
+unhealthiness of the locality caused him to move into Agra, leaving the
+whole city of Fattepur Sikri to the owls and jackals, and later to the
+admiration of the Sahib logue.
+
+[1] Robertson’s _India_, Appendix.
+
+
+A palace in Lahore, the fort at Allahabad, and much lovely work in the
+city of Agra testify to the creative genius of that contemporary of our
+own Good Queen Bess, the first “Great” Mogul. Jehangir, his son and
+successor, has left few buildings of note, but his grandson, Shah
+Jehan, was undoubtedly the most splendid builder of the Mogul
+Mohammedan period. To him Delhi owes its stately palace and vast
+mosque—the Jama Masjid—and Agra would be famous for its wonderful
+palace of dark red stone and fretted marble, even without that
+masterpiece of Mohammedan inspiration, the world-famed Taj Mahal. The
+brief period of supreme magnificence came to an end with the last of
+the “Great” Moguls—Aurungzeb, died in 1707—having only blazed in
+fullest glory for some century and a half, but leaving behind it some
+of the noblest works of man.
+
+It seemed somehow very curious, as we drove up through the stately
+entrance of the Hathi Paon, or Elephant Gate of the fort, to be saluted
+with a “present arms” by British Tommies clad in unobtrusive khaki, and
+to reflect that we are the inheritors of the fallen grandeur of the
+Mogul Emperors; that we in our turn, on many a hard-fought field,
+asserted our power to conquer; and that since then we have (I trust) so
+far followed the sound principles of Akbar as to keep by justice and
+wise rule the broad lands with their teeming millions in a state of
+peace and security unknown before in India.
+
+Opposite the entrance rise the walls of the Palace of Akbar, curiously
+decorated with brilliant blue mosaics of animals and arabesques.
+
+We visited the armoury—a remarkably fine collection of weapons—not the
+least interesting being those taken from the Sikhs and French in the
+earlier part of the last century. Opposite the armoury, and across a
+small beautifully-paved court, were the private apartments of Shah
+Jehan. They reminded me very much of the Alhambra, only, instead of the
+honeycomb vaulted ceilings, and arches decorated in stucco by the
+Moors, the Eastern architect inlaid his ceilings with an extraordinary
+incrustation of glass, usually silvered on the back, but also
+frequently coloured, and giving a strange effect of mother-o’-pearl
+inlay, bordering on tawdriness when examined in detail.
+
+It is possible that this coloured glass actually had its intended
+effect of inlaid jewels, and that the gem-encrusted walls, so
+enthusiastically described by Tavernier and others, as almost matching
+the peacock throne itself, may have been but imitation.
+
+Many of the pilasters were, however, very beautiful—of white marble
+inlaid with flower patterns of coloured stones—while the arched window
+openings were filled in with creamy tracery of fair white marble.
+
+Leaving the fort after an all too short visit, we crossed to the great
+mosque built by Aurungzeb. Ascending—from a garden bright with flowers
+and blossoming trees—a flight of broad steps, we found ourselves at the
+end of a rectangular enclosure, at each corner of which stood a red
+column not altogether unlike a factory chimney. In the centre was a
+circular basin, very wide, and full of clear water, while in front,
+three white marble domes rose like great pearls gleaming against the
+cloudless blue. The mosque itself is built of red—dark red—sandstone,
+decorated with floral designs in white marble.
+
+We climbed one of the minarets, and had a view of the city at our feet,
+and the green and fertile plains stretching dim into the shimmering
+haze beyond the Ravee River.
+
+Then back to the hotel through the teeming alleys and down to the
+station—the road, that we had found so bitterly cold in the early
+morning, now a blaze of sunlight, where the dust stirred up by the
+shuffling feet of the wayfarers quivered in the heat, and the shadows
+of men and beasts lay short and black beneath them.
+
+We were not sorry to seek coolness in the bare railway carriage, and
+let the fresh wind fan us as we sat by the open window and watched the
+flat, monotonous landscape sliding past.
+
+The journey from Lahore to Rawal Pindi is not a very long one—only
+about 170 miles, or less than the distance from London to York; but an
+Indian train being more leisurely in its movement than the Great
+Northern Express, gave us ample time to contemplate the frequent little
+villages—all very much alike—all provided with a noisy population,
+among which dogs and children were extremely prevalent; the level
+plains, broken here and there by clumps of unfamiliar trees, and
+inhabited by scattered herds of water buffaloes, cattle, and
+under-sized sheep, all busily engaged in picking up a precarious
+livelihood, chiefly roast straw, as far as one could see!
+
+We had grown so accustomed to the monotony of the plains, that when we
+suddenly became aware of a faint blue line of mountains paling to snow,
+where they melted into the sky, the Himalayas came upon us almost with
+a shock of surprise.
+
+As we drew nearer, the rampart of mountains that guards India on the
+north, took form and substance, until at Jhelum we fairly left the
+plain and began to ascend the lower foothills.
+
+Between Jhelum and Rawal Pindi the line runs through a country that can
+best be described by that much abused word “weird.” Originally a
+succession of clayey plateaux, the erosion of water has worn and
+honeycombed a tortuous maze of abrupt clefts and ravines, leaving in
+many cases mere shafts and pinnacles, whose fantastic tops stand level
+with the surrounding country. The sun set while we were still winding
+through a labyrinth of peaks and pits, and the effect of the
+contrasting red gold lights and purple shadows in this strange confused
+landscape was a thing to be remembered.
+
+We rolled and bumped into Pindi at 8 P.M., having travelled nearly 1000
+miles during our two days and nights in the train.
+
+Our friends the Smithsons were on the platform waiting to receive us
+and welcome us as strangers and pilgrims in an unknown land. They have
+only remained here to meet us, and they proceed to Kashmir to-morrow,
+sleeping in a carriage in the quiet backwater of a siding, to save
+themselves the worry of a desperately early start to-morrow morning.
+
+The direct route into Kashmir by Murree is impassable, the snow being
+still deep owing to a very late spring following a severe winter. This
+will oblige us to go round by Abbotabad, so I wired to my friend
+General Woon to warn him that we propose to invade his peaceful home.
+
+_Sunday, March 26._—We stayed a couple of days at Pindi, in order to
+make arrangements for transporting ourselves and our luggage into
+Kashmir. The journey can be made _viâ_ Murree in about a couple of days
+by mail tonga, but it is a joyless and horribly wearing mode of travel.
+The tonga, a two-wheeled cart covered by an arched canvas hood and
+drawn by two half-broken horses, holds a couple of passengers
+comfortably, who sit behind and stare at the flying white ribbon of
+road for long, long hours, while the driver urges his wild career. The
+horses are changed every ten miles or so, and horrible and
+blood-curdling tales are extant of the villainy and wrong-headedness of
+some of these tonga ponies, how they jib for sheer pleasure, and leap
+over the low parapet that guards them from the precipice merely to vex
+the helpless traveller. When we suggested that to sit facing the past
+might be conducive to a sort of sea-sickness and certainly to headache,
+and that a total absence of view was to be deprecated, it was impressed
+upon us that if the horses darted over the “khud,” we could slip out
+suddenly and easily, leaving the driver and the ponies to be dashed to
+pieces by themselves! This appeared sound, but, upon inquiry I could
+not hear that any accident had ever happened to any traveller going
+into Kashmir by tonga.
+
+Besides the tonga, there are other modes of going into Kashmir. For
+instance, the sluggish bullock-cart—safe, deliberate, and affording
+ample leisure for admiring the scenery; the light native cart, or ekka,
+consisting of a somewhat small body screened by a wide white hood, and
+capable of holding far more luggage than would at first sight seem
+possible, and drawn by a scraggy-looking but much enduring little horse
+tied up by a wild and complicated system of harness (chiefly consisting
+of bits of old rope) between a pair of odd V-shaped shafts.
+
+Finally, there is the landau—a civilised and luxurious method of
+conveyance which greatly appealed to us. We decided upon chartering a
+landau for ourselves and servant, and two ekkas to carry the heavy
+baggage.
+
+Mr. de Mars, the landlord of the hotel, was most obliging in helping us
+to arrange for our journey, promising to provide us with carriage and
+ekkas for a sum which did not seem to me to be at all exorbitant.
+
+I soon found, however, that the worthy Sabz Ali did not at all approve
+of the arrangement. It was extremely hard to find out by means of his
+scant English what he proposed to do; but I decided that here was an
+excellent opportunity of finding out what he was good for, so we
+determined to give him his head, and let him make his own arrangements.
+
+A smile broke over his swarthy face for a moment, and he disappeared,
+coming back shortly afterwards just as the already ordered ekkas made
+their appearance.
+
+These he promptly dismissed—much to the vexation of Mr. de Mars; but I
+explained to him that I intended to see if my man was really to be
+depended upon as an organiser, and that I should allow him to work upon
+his own lines.
+
+We had arranged to sleep in a carriage drawn into a siding at the
+station, to avoid a very early start next morning. So after dinner we
+strolled down towards our bedroom to find our henchman on the platform,
+full of zeal and energy. I found out (with difficulty) that he proposed
+to go on to Hassan Abdal with the luggage that night by goods train;
+that we should find him there next morning, and that all would be
+right. So he departed, and we rolled ourselves up in our “resais,” and
+wondered how it would all turn out.
+
+On Friday morning we rattled out of Rawal Pindi about seven, and slowly
+wound through a rather stony and uninteresting country, until we
+arrived at the end of our railway journey about ten o’clock, and
+scrambled out at the little roadside station.
+
+Our excellent factotum, Sabz Ali, awaited us with a capacious landau,
+and informed us that the heavy baggage had gone on in the ekkas. So we
+set forth at once on our 42-mile drive to Abbotabad without “reposing
+for a time in the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a
+favourite resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to
+Cashmere” (_Lalla Rookh_).
+
+The landau, though roomy and comfortable, was, like Una’s lion, a “most
+unhasty beast,” and we rolled quite slowly and deliberately over a
+distinctly uninteresting plain for about twenty miles, until we came to
+Haripur, a pretty village enclosed in a perfect mass of fruit trees in
+full bloom.
+
+Here we changed horses, and lunched at the dâk bungalow—a first and
+favourable experience of that useful institution. The dâk bungalow
+generally consists of a simple wooden building containing a dining-room
+and several bedrooms opening on to a verandah, which usually runs round
+three sides of the house. The furniture is strong and simple,
+consisting of tables, bedsteads, and some long chairs. A khansamah or
+cook provides food and liquor at a fixed and reasonable rate.
+
+Travellers are only permitted to remain for twenty-four hours if the
+rooms are wanted, each person paying one rupee (1s. 4d.) for a night,
+or half that amount for a mere day halt.
+
+The khansamah would appear to be the only functionary in residence
+until the hour of departure draws near, when a whole party of
+underlings—chowkidars, bheesties, and sweepers—appear from nowhere in
+particular; and the lordly traveller, having presented them with about
+twopence apiece, rolls off along the dusty white road, leaving the
+khansamah and his myrmidons salaaming on the verandah.
+
+We made the mistake of over-tipping at first in India, not realising
+that a couple of annas out here go as far as a shilling at home; but it
+is a mistake which should be rectified as soon as possible, for you get
+no credit for lavishness, but are merely regarded as a first-class
+idiot. No sane man would ever expend two annas where one would do!
+
+On leaving Haripur the road began to ascend a little, and at the
+village of Sultanpur we entered a valley, through which a shrunken
+stream ran, and which we crossed more than once.
+
+Then a long ascent of about eleven miles brought us near our
+destination.
+
+It had been threatening rain all the afternoon, and now the weather
+made its threat good, and the rain fell in earnest. It grew dark, too;
+and, finally, not having had any reply to my telegram to General Woon,
+we did not know whether we were expected or not.
+
+Sabz Ali, however, had no doubts on the matter. We were approaching his
+own particular country, and whether “Gen’l ’Oon Sahib” was there to
+entertain us or not, _he_ was; and so it was “alright.”
+
+Our poor horses were done to a turn, a heavy landau with five people in
+it, as well as a fair amount of luggage, being no trifle to drag up so
+long and steep a hill. So we had to walk up the last rise to the
+General’s house in the dark and rain, mildly cheered, however, by
+finding the two ekkas just arrived with the baggage.
+
+A most hearty greeting from my old friend and his charming wife awaited
+us, and after a hasty toilet and an excellent dinner we felt at peace
+with all the world.
+
+Both yesterday (Saturday) and to-day it has been cold and disagreeable.
+The past winter, I am told, has been a very severe one, and the
+melancholy brown skeletons of all the eucalyptus trees in the place
+show the dismal results of the frost.
+
+This forenoon the day darkened, and a very severe thunderstorm broke.
+So dark was it at lunch that candles had to be lighted in haste, and
+even now (4 P.M.) I can barely see to write.
+
+_Thursday, March_ 30.—Monday was showery, and Tuesday decidedly wet;
+but, in spite of the hospitable blandishments of our kind hosts, we
+were most anxious to get on, as, having arranged with the Smithsons to
+go into the Astor district to shoot, it was most important to reach
+Srinagar before the first of April—the day upon which the shooting
+passes were to be issued to sportsmen in rotation of application.
+Knowing that only ten passes were to be given for Astor, and that
+several men were ahead of me, I felt that we were running it somewhat
+fine to leave only three days for the journey.
+
+General Woon, who knew Kashmir well, did his very best to dissuade us
+from attempting the passes into Astor, reading to us gloomy extracts
+from his journal, and pointing out that it was no fit country for a
+lady in early spring.
+
+He did much to shake our enthusiasm, but still I felt we must do our
+best to “keep tryst” with the Smithsons. So, on Tuesday, we sent on the
+heavy luggage in two ekkas which Sabz Ali had procured, the two others
+being only hired from Hassan Abdal to Abbotabad.
+
+Sabz Ali had pointed out that, although he himself was a wonderful man,
+and could do almost, if not quite, everything, a second servant would
+be greatly to our (and his) advantage. So, acting on my permission, he
+engaged one Ayata—a gentle person of a sheep-like disposition, who did
+everything he was told, and nothing that he was told not to, during our
+sojourn in Kashmir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+
+
+Dismal tidings came in of floods and storms on the Hassan Abdal road.
+The river had swollen, and both men and beasts had been swept away
+while trying to cross. Undeterred, however, by such news, even when
+backed by warnings and persuasions from our friends, we set forth in
+the rain yesterday morning. The prospect was not cheerful—a grey veil
+of cloud lay over all the surrounding hills, here and there deepening
+into dark and angry thunder-clouds. The road was desperately heavy, but
+the General had most kindly sent on a pair of mules ahead, and, with
+another pair in the shafts, our own nags took a holiday as far as
+Manserah.
+
+The weather grew worse. It rained very heavily and thundered with great
+vigour, and as we straggled up the deeply-muddied slope to the dâk
+bungalow at Manserah we felt somewhat low; but we did not in the least
+realise what was before us!
+
+Our road had lain through fairly level plains, with low cuttings here
+and there, where the saturated soil was already beginning to give way
+and fall upon the road in untidy heaps; but this did not foreshadow
+what might occur later.
+
+At Manserah we met Hill and Hunt, two young gunners, _en route_ for
+Astor. They left in a tonga soon after we arrived, and we did not
+expect to see their speedier outfit again.
+
+Being pressed for time, we only had a cup of cocoa, and then hastened
+on our dismal career.
+
+The road grew steeper, winding over some low hills, but we could not
+see very much, as the whirling cloud masses blotted out all the view.
+By-and-by it bent towards a pine-clad hill, and began to ascend
+steeply. By this time we were very wet, as we had to walk up the hills
+to ease the horses. The scene was extraordinary, as the great
+thunder-clouds boiled up and over us—tawny yellow, and even orange in
+the lights, and dull and solid lead colour in the depths. The distance
+was invisible, but gleams now and again revealed, through the drifts of
+rain, wide stretches of cultivated land lying below us, and a ragged
+forest of pines piercing the mist above.
+
+Dripping, we walked by our wet horses up to the top of the pass, hoping
+for a swift and easy descent on the farther side to Ghari Habibullah,
+where we intended to sleep, as we had given up all idea of being able
+to get on to Domel.
+
+Presently the horses were pulled up sharply as a ton or two of rock and
+earth came crashing upon the road in front of us.
+
+More fallen masses encumbering the way farther on made us feel rather
+anxious, until, on rounding a corner, we found the whole road barred by
+a huge mass of rock and soil.
+
+It was blowing hard, the stormy wind striking chill and bleak through
+the bending pines; it was raining in torrents; it was 5 P.M., and we
+were still some six miles from the haven where we would be; so, after a
+short and utterly ineffectual attempt to get the carriage past the
+obstacle, Jane and I set off to walk down the hill and seek help.
+
+It was exciting, as we had to dodge the rock-falls and run past the
+shaky-looking places! At a turn of the road we came upon the gunners’
+tonga, embedded in a mud-slide. The occupants had had an escape from
+total wreck, as one of the ponies had swerved over the khud, but the
+other saved the situation by lying down in the mud! Hunt had gone off
+into the landscape to try for a village and help, while Hill remained
+to wrestle with the tonga, which, however, remained obstinately
+immovable. We could do nothing to mend matters, so we fled on, meeting
+Hunt, with a few natives and a shovel, on his way back to the scene of
+action.
+
+After an hour and a half of very anxious work, we emerged at dusk from
+the wood, hoping our troubles were over. We could dimly see, and hear,
+through the mist a stream below us; but, alas! no bridge was visible. I
+commandeered a man from the first hut we came to, and tried by signs to
+make him understand that he was to carry the lady across the river;
+but, luckily, just as we reached the bank of what was a very
+nasty-looking stream in full spate, the liberated tonga overtook us,
+and Jane was bundled into it, while we three men waded. The stream was
+strong and up to our knees, and level with the tonga floor, and the
+horses getting frightened began to jib. Hill seized one by the head,
+and Jane was safely drawn to shore and sent on her way under guidance
+of the driver, while we tramped on in the dark until a second torrent
+barred our way. Here, in the gloom, we made out the tonga empty, and
+stuck fast against the far bank. It was all right though, for Jane had
+crawled out at the front and wandered on in search of the dâk bungalow,
+leaving the driver squatting helplessly beside the water.
+
+It was so dark that she missed the bungalow, which stands a little
+above the road, and struggled on till she came to a small cluster of
+native huts. One of the inhabitants, on being boldly accosted, was good
+enough to point out the way, and so the re-united party—tired, wet, and
+with no prospect of dry clothing—took possession of the
+cheerless-looking dâk bungalow. Things now began to improve. To our joy
+we found our ekkas with their contents drawn up in the yard. And while
+a fire was being encouraged into a blaze, and the lean fowl was being
+captured and slain on the back premises, we obtained dry garments—of
+sorts—from the baggage.
+
+Madame’s dinner costume consisted of a blue flannel garment—nocturnal
+by design—delicately covered by a quilted dressing-gown, and the rest
+of us were _en suite_, a great lack of detail as to collars and
+foot-wear being apparent! Nevertheless, the fire blazed royally, and we
+ate up all the old hen and called for more, and prepared to make a
+night of it until, about ten o’clock, our bearer Sabz Ali appeared,
+with a train of coolies carrying our bedding and the other contents of
+the derelict carriage.
+
+This morning the two young gunners departed on foot, leaving their
+tonga, as the road to Domel is reported to be quite impassable. They
+intend to walk by a short cut over the hills, and get on as best they
+may, the race for Astor being a keen one.
+
+We decided to remain here, the weather being still gloomy and
+unsettled, and the road being impossible for a lady.
+
+At noon the landau was brought in, minus a step and very dirty, but
+otherwise “unwounded from the dreadful close.”
+
+Ghari Habibullah is not at all a cheerful spot, as it appears, the
+centre of a grey haze, with dense mist low down on the surrounding
+mountains. Sabz Ali, too, complains of fever, which is not surprising
+after the wetting and exposure of yesterday; and when a native gets
+“fever” he curls up and is fit for nothing, and won’t try.
+
+The dâk bungalow stands on a little plateau overlooking the road and a
+swift river, whose tawny waves were loaded with mud washed from the
+hills by recent storms. On a slope opposite, the queer, flat-roofed
+native village perched, and above it swirled a misty pall which hid all
+but the bases of the hills. To this village we strolled, but it was not
+interesting; the inhabitants did not seem wildly friendly, and the mud
+and dirt and dogs were discouraging. So we roamed along the Domel road
+till we came to a high cliff of conglomerate, which had recently been
+shedding boulders over the track to an alarming extent; so, deciding
+that it would be merely silly to risk getting our heads cracked, we
+turned back, and, re-crossing the river, clambered up a steep path
+above the right bank. Here we soon found great rents and rifts where
+falling rocks had come bounding down the steeps from above, so once
+more we turned tail, and, giving up the idea of any more country walks
+in that region, betook ourselves to the gloomy and chilly bungalow. The
+only really delightful things we saw during our doleful excursion were
+a lovely clump of big, rose-coloured primula, drooping from the clefts
+of a steep rock, and a pair of large and handsome kingfishers,[1]
+pursuing their graceful avocations by a roadside pool—their white
+breasts, ruddy flanks, and gleaming blue backs giving a welcome note of
+colour to the sedate and misty grey of the landscape.
+
+[1] _N. Smyrnensis_ (?).
+
+
+_Tuesday, April_ 4.—Thirty-six hours of Ghari Habibullah give ample
+time for the loneliest recluse to pant for the bustle of a livelier
+world. We were so bored on Thursday that we determined to push on,
+_coûte que coûte_, on Friday morning, although a note sent back by one
+of the gunners from Domel, by a coolie, informed us that the road about
+a mile short of that place was completely blocked by a fallen mass of
+some hundreds of tons.
+
+Our henchman having somewhat recovered of his fever, thanks to a
+generous exhibition of quinine, we gave the order to pack and start,
+hoping to achieve the twelve miles which separated us from Domel, even
+though the last bit had to be done on foot. About two miles from Ghari
+Habibullah we came to the Kashmir custom-house, presided over by a
+polite gentleman, whose brilliant purple beard was a joy to look upon.
+
+Most of the elderly natives dye their beards with, I think, henna,
+producing a fine orange effect, but purple…!
+
+_Bottom_. What beard were I best to play it in?
+
+_Quince_. Why, what you will.
+
+_Bottom_. I will discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard, your
+orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your
+French-crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow
+
+_Midsummer Night’s Dream_,
+Act I. Sc. 2.
+
+
+“What _coloured beard_ comes next by the window?”
+
+“A black man’s, I think.”
+
+“I think a _red_: for that is most in fashion.”
+
+RAM ALLY.
+
+
+Truly, until I beheld that tax-gatherer of the Orient, I had no idea
+that the “purple-in-grain” beard existed outside a poet’s fancy!
+
+The road took us along the left bank of the river, whose soil-stained
+waters churned their way through a wild and rocky gorge. On our left
+the mountain rose bare and steep, fringed with a few straggling bushes,
+and here and there a clinging patch of rose-coloured primula. Part of
+the conglomerate cliff had come down and obliterated the road, but a
+party of coolies was busily at work, and, after about an hour’s delay,
+we triumphantly bumped our way past.
+
+The road now led steadily upward, leaving an ever-increasing slope (or
+khud) between it and the river, until it attained a height of over a
+thousand feet, when, turning to the left, it swung over the watershed,
+and began to descend into the valley of the Kishenganga. Through the
+haze we could make out Domel, our goal, lying far below, and then the
+old Sikh fort of Musafferabad.
+
+The road was so encumbered with rock-falls that we walked the greater
+part of it, until we came to the new bridge over the Kishenganga, whose
+dark red waters rush into the Jhelum about a mile below.
+
+Here was Musafferabad, the whole place a confused jumble of wheeled
+traffic caught up by the big landslip in front. Passing, amid the
+chatter and clamour of men and beasts, through the medley of
+bullock-carts and ekkas that crowded every available space, we hauled
+the carriage through the bed of a watercourse whose bridge was broken.
+Up over the prostrate trunk of a fallen tree we regained the road, to
+find ourselves in front of the big landslip of which we had been
+warned. It consisted of some thousands of tons of dark red mud and
+loose boulders, and it blocked the road for fully a couple of hundred
+yards.
+
+A large and energetic swarm of coolies was busily engaged in “tidying
+up.” This was apparently to be achieved by means of shovels, each
+little shovel worked by two men—one to shovel, and the other to assist
+in raising it when full by means of a little rope round the head. This
+labour had to be lubricated by much conversation.
+
+It seemed upon the whole unlikely that a path could be made for a
+considerable time, so we lunched peacefully in the carriage, a pair of
+extremely friendly crows assisting at the feast, and then, leaving our
+landau to follow as best it might, we walked into Domel, crossing the
+Jhelum by a fine bridge.
+
+The dâk bungalow, prettily placed in a clump of trees, seemed the abode
+of luxury to us after the discomfort of Ghari Habibullah, and we fondly
+hoped that, being now upon the main road which runs from Rawal Pindi to
+Srinagar, our troubles were over.
+
+Saturday was the 1st of April, the day upon which I should have applied
+for my pass for Astor. Wiring to Srinagar to explain that I was in
+Kashmir territory (which I subsequently found was enough to entitle me
+to a pass), and also to Smithson to say that we were making the best of
+our way to join him, we “took the road” after breakfast.
+
+The carriage and the two ekkas had come in early, having been unloaded
+and then carried bodily over the “slide.”
+
+A broad and smooth road, whose gentle gradient of ascent was merely
+sufficient to keep us level with the river bank, opened up an alluring
+prospect of ease and comfort. We lay back on our comfortable cushions
+and watched the clouds as they swept over the mountains, hiding all but
+occasional glimpses of snow-streaked slopes and steep and barren
+ridges.
+
+The valley of the Jhelum between Domel and Ghari is not
+beautiful—merely wide and desolate, with steep hills rising from the
+river, their lower slopes sparsely clad with leafless scrub, their
+shoulders merging into the dull mist which hangs around their invisible
+summits.
+
+Alas! it soon became apparent that our troubles were not over. The
+cliffs above us became steeper, and the familiar boulder reappeared
+upon the road. Small landslips gave us a good deal of trouble, although
+we had no serious difficulty before reaching Ghari. Here we were told
+that a complete “solution of continuity” in the road at Mile 46 would
+prevent our reaching Chakhoti, so we reluctantly decided to remain
+where we were for the night. Although a cold and dull spring afternoon
+is not exciting at Ghari, where distractions are decidedly scanty, we
+found interest in the discovery of the Smithsons’ heavy luggage, which
+had been sent on from Rawal Pindi ages ago. Here it lay in the peaceful
+backwater of a native caravansary, piled high on a bullock-cart, whose
+placid team lay near pensively chewing the “cud of sweet and bitter
+fancy,” and apparently quite innocent of any intention of moving for a
+week or two!
+
+We extracted the charioteers from a neighbouring hut, and gave them to
+understand, by means of Sabz Ali, that hanging was the least annoyance
+they would suffer if they didn’t get under way “ek dam” at once. They
+promptly promised that their oxen—like Pegasus—should fly on the wings
+of the wind, and, having seen us safely round a corner, departed
+peacefully to eat another lotus.
+
+The luggage arrived in Srinagar towards the end of the month.
+
+Sunday morning saw us again battling with a perfect coruscation of
+landslips; so “jumpy” was it in many places that we sat with the
+carriage doors ajar, in hopes that a timely dart out might enable us to
+evade a falling rock. At Mile 46 we were held up for an hour until a
+ramp was made over a bad slide, and the carriage and ekkas were
+unloaded and got across. The landau looked for all the world like a
+great dead beetle surrounded by ants, as, man-handled by a swarm of
+coolies, it was hauled, step by step, over the improvised track. A
+landau is not at all a suitable or convenient carriage for this sort of
+work, and had we guessed what was before us we should most certainly
+have employed the handier tonga.
+
+The road to-day, cut as it was out of the steep flank of the mountain,
+was magnificent, but, in its present condition, nerve-shattering.
+Fallen boulders and innumerable mud-slides constantly forced us to get
+out and walk, while the sturdy little horses tugged the carriage
+through places where the near wheels were frequently within a few
+inches of the broken edge of the road, while far below Jhelum roared
+hungrily as he foamed by the foot of a sheer precipice.
+
+Reaching Chakhoti about four o’clock, we decided to remain there for
+the night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and
+threatening. Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one
+miles, there was no suitable place for a night’s halt until Uri,
+distant some thirteen miles and all uphill.
+
+About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the
+Jhelum, and after tea we set forth to inspect it.
+
+The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I
+confess the means of crossing it, although practised with perfect
+confidence by the natives, did not appeal to me.
+
+From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong
+ropes were stretched—the upper two parallel, and the third, about four
+feet lower, was equidistant from each.
+
+These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
+stretchers—something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
+few yards—
+
+“And up and down the people go,”
+
+
+stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper
+ones with their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised
+European to be where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the
+traveller to within a painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry
+water, before he began to slither circumspectly up the farther slope!
+
+We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro,
+passing one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm,
+and carrying loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with
+the utmost unconcern.
+
+We left Chakhoti early this morning—Tuesday—with the intention of
+getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely
+bad, and the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags.
+Of course they have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have
+been limited to very short stages, and they are in excellent hard
+condition, so that we felt it no great hardship to ask them to do
+forty-two miles: albeit to drag a heavy landau containing five people
+and a good deal of luggage for that distance, with a rise of over 2000
+feet, is a heavy demand upon a single pair of horses!
+
+The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri
+stands on a plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir
+valley.
+
+The ruins of an ancient fort rose on the near edge of the little plain.
+The Jhelum tore through a rocky gorge far below, and a dark semi-circle
+of mountains stood steeply up, their cloud-hidden summits giving
+fleeting glimpses of snow and precipice and pine-clad corries as the
+sun now and again shot through the clinging vapours.
+
+The dâk bungalow of Uri, white and clean, was most attractive, and I
+should imagine the place to be charming in summer, but as yet the short
+crisp turf is still brown from recent snow, and although hot in the
+sun, which now began to shine steadily, it was extremely cold in the
+shade, while lunch (or should I say “tiffin”?) was being got ready. I
+strolled over to the post-office to find—as usual—another urgent wire
+from Smithson several days old, beseeching me to secure my pass for
+Astor at once. Directly after lunch we set forward, and as the road on
+leaving Uri takes a long bend of some miles to the right to a point
+where the Haji Pir River is crossed, and then sweeps back along its
+right hank to a spot almost opposite the dâk bungalow, we thought that
+a short cut down to the water, which from our height seemed quite
+insignificant, and thence up to the road on the other side, would be a
+desirable stroll. As we walked down the steep path into the nullah a
+brace of red-legged partridges (chikor) rose in a great fuss, and
+sailed gaily across the river, whose roaring gained ominously in volume
+as we drew near. It soon became plain to us that everything is on a
+very big scale in this country, and that the clearness of the
+atmosphere helps to delude the unwary stranger. The little stream that
+seemed to require but an occasional stepping-stone to enable us to pass
+over dry-shod, proved in the first place to be much farther off than we
+had supposed, and when, after a hot scramble, we found ourselves on the
+bank, the stepping-stones were no more, but only here and there we saw
+the shoulders of huge rocks which doggedly threw aside the flying foam
+of a fair-sized river. It was obviously impossible to cross except by
+deep wading, but, being unwilling to own defeat, I yelled to a brown
+native on the far bank, and made signs that he should come and do beast
+of burthen. He, however, stolidly shook his head, pointed to the water,
+and then to his chest, and finally we sadly and wrathfully toiled back
+to the road we had so lightly left, and expended all our energies on
+attracting the notice of the carriage, which, having crossed the
+bridge, was crawling along the opposite face of the nullah, and when,
+after a hot three miles, we once more embedded ourselves amongst the
+cushions with a sigh of relief, we swore off short cuts for the future.
+
+We had been warned at Uri that there was a “bad place” at Mile 73, and
+sure enough, on rounding a bend, we came upon the familiar mass of
+semi-liquid red earth and a pile of boulders heaped across the road,
+the khud side of which had entirely given way. The usual crowd of
+coolies was busily engaged in trying to clear the obstruction by means
+of toothpicks and teaspoons.
+
+We quitted the carriage with a celerity engendered of much practice,
+and, having crossed the obstacle on foot, sat down to await the coming
+of our conveyance.
+
+It seemed perfectly marvellous that the heavy vehicle could be safely
+got over a jagged avalanche of earth and rock piled some eight or ten
+feet above the roadway, and having an almost sheer drop to the river
+entirely unguarded for some hundred yards, where the retaining parapet
+and even some of the road itself had gone.
+
+Amid much apparent confusion and tremendous chattering, a sort of rough
+ramp was engineered up the slip, and presently the horseless landau
+appeared borne in triumph by a mob of coolies superintended by our
+priceless Sabz Ali.
+
+For a minute we held our breath as one of the near wheels lipped the
+edge of the chasm, but the thing was judged to an inch, and in due time
+the sturdy chestnuts, the two ekkas, and all the luggage were assembled
+on the right side of what proved to be the last of the really bad
+slips.
+
+The road engineer, who arrived in great state on a motor cycle while we
+were executing the portage, told us that there were no more
+difficulties, but an officer who was going out, and whose tonga was
+checked also at the big slip, informed us that about a mile farther
+were two great boulders on the road, lying so that although a short
+vehicle such as a tonga or motor cycle could wriggle round, yet a long
+four-wheeled landau could not possibly execute the serpentine curve
+required.
+
+We therefore requisitioned a few coolies with crowbars, and set forward
+to attack the boulders. Sure enough there were two beauties, placed so
+that we could not possibly get by, until a large slice was chipped from
+the inner side of each.
+
+This done, our most excellent and skilful driver piloted his ponies
+through the narrow strait, and we felt that, at last, our troubles were
+over, and that we could breathe freely and admire at leisure the snowy
+peaks of the Kaj-nag beyond the Jhelum, and the rough wooded heights
+that frowned upon our right.
+
+I confess the relief was great, as we had endured six days of incessant
+strain on our nerves, never knowing when a turn of the road might bring
+us to an impassable break, or when the conglomerate cliffs beetling
+above might shed a boulder or two upon us!
+
+Passing the somewhat uninviting little village of Rampur, we crossed a
+torrent pouring out of a dark pine-clad gorge, and halted for tea by
+the curious ruined temple of Bhanyar. The building consists of a
+rectangular wall, cloistered on two sides of the interior and
+surrounding a small temple approached by a dilapidated flight of stone
+steps. I regret to be obliged to own that I know but a mere smattering
+of architecture. I do not feel competent therefore to discuss this, the
+first Kashmiri temple I have seen, upon its architectural merits. I
+only know that it struck me as being extremely small, and principally
+interesting from its magnificent background of shaggy forest and
+snow-capped mountain.
+
+Tea on a short smooth sward, starred with yellow colchicum, while the
+carriage, travel-stained and with one step lacking, stood on the road
+hard by, and the horses nibbled invigorating lumps of “gram” and
+molasses. Then the etna was returned to the “allo bagh” (yellow bag)
+and the tea things to the tiffin basket, and away we went along the now
+smooth and level road with only fifteen easy miles between us and
+Baramula.
+
+The vegetation had gradually grown much richer. The sparse and
+storm-buffeted pines and the rough scrub merged into a tangled mass of
+undergrowth and forest, where silver firs and deodars rose conspicuous.
+The little streams that rushed down the hillsides were fringed with
+maidenhair fern, lighted up here and there with a bunch of pink primula
+or a tiny cluster of dog violets.
+
+Jhelum had ceased from roaring, pursuing his placid path unwitting of
+the rush and fury that would befall him lower down, and by-and-by we
+emerged from the dark and forest-covered gorge into a wide basin where
+the river, now smooth and oily, reflected tall poplars and the red
+shoots of young dogwood.
+
+Through a village, round a sweep to the left, over a tract said to be
+much frequented by serpents, and then in the deepening and chilly dusk
+we made out Baramula, lying engirdled by a belt of poplars about a mile
+away.
+
+Glad were we, and probably gladder still our weary horses, to draw up
+before the uninviting-looking dâk bungalow, knowing that only
+thirty-five miles of level and open road lay now between us and
+Srinagar.
+
+The dâk bungalow of Baramula is, upon the whole, the worst we have yet
+sampled. No fire seemed able to impart any cheerfulness to the gloomy
+den we were shown into, and the dinner finally produced by the
+khansamah-kitmaghar-chowkidar (for a single tawny-bearded ruffian
+represented all these functionaries when the morning tip fell due) was
+not of an exhilarating nature. Strolling out to have a look at the town
+of Baramula, I shivered to see a heap of snow piled up against the
+wall. It snowed here, heavily, three days ago, I am told.
+
+We have not been, so far, altogether lucky in the weather. Bitter cold
+in Europe, cold at Port Saïd and Suez, chilly in the Red Sea, and wet
+at Aden! Distinctly chilly in India, excepting during the day; we seem
+to have hit off the most backward spring known here for many years. The
+Murree route, which was closed to us by snow, should have been clear a
+month earlier, and spring here seems not yet to have begun.
+
+_April_ 5.—We crept shivering to our beds last night, to be awakened at
+6 A.M. by an earthquake!
+
+I had just realised what the untoward commotion meant when I heard Jane
+from under her “resai” ask, “What _is_ the matter—is it an earthquake?”
+Almost before I could reply, she was up and away, in a fearful hurry
+and very little else, towards the open country.
+
+I followed, but finding hoar-frost on the ground and a nipping
+eagerness in the air, I went back for a “resai.” The feeling was that
+of going into one’s cabin in a breeze of wind, and the door was
+flapping about. Seizing the wrap in some haste, as I was afraid of the
+door jamming, I rejoined Jane in the open, to watch the poplars swaying
+like drunken men and the solid earth bulging unpleasantly. The shock
+lasted for three minutes, and when it seemed quite over we retired to
+our beds to try to get warm again.
+
+The morning at breakfast-time was perfectly beautiful. Baramula lay
+serenely mirrored in the silver waters of the Jhelum, its picturesque
+brown wooden houses clustering on both banks, and joining hands by
+means of a long brown wooden bridge. No signs of any unusual
+disturbance could be seen among the chattering crews of the snaky
+little boats and deep-laden “doungas” that lined the banks or furrowed
+the waters of the shining river.
+
+We left Baramula in high spirits to accomplish the five-and-thirty
+miles which still stretched between us and Srinagar. The scenery was
+quite different from anything we had yet known, for now we were in the
+broad flat valley of Kashmir, which stretches for some eighty miles
+from beyond Islamabad, on the N.E., to Baramula, planted at the neck
+where the Jhelum River, after spreading itself abroad through the
+fertile plain, concentrates to pour its many waters through the
+mountain barrier until it joins the Indus far away in Sind.
+
+A broad and level road stretched straight and white between a double
+row of stark poplars, reminding one of the poplar-guarded ways of
+Picardy; also (as in France) not only were the miles marked, but also
+the thirty-two subdivisions thereof. On the right hand the ground
+sloped slowly up in a succession of wooded heights, the foothills of
+the Pir Panjal, whose snow-crowned peaks enclose the Kashmir valley on
+the south. Opposite, through a maze of leafless trees, one caught
+occasional gleams of water where the winding reaches of the river
+flowed gently from the turquoise haze where lay the Wular Lake, and
+beyond—clear and pale in the clear, crisp air—shone a glorious range of
+snow mountains, stretching away past where we knew Srinagar must lie,
+to be lost in the distant haze where sky and mountain merged in the
+north-east.
+
+By the roadside we passed many small lakes, or “jheels,” full of duck,
+but as there was never any cover by the sides I could not see how the
+duck were to be approached.
+
+We lunched at the fascinating little bungalow at Patan (pronounced
+“Puttun”), about half-way between Baramula and Srinagar. The Rest House
+stands back from an apparently extremely populous and thriving village,
+the inhabitants whereof were all engaged in conversation of a highly
+animated kind! In the compound stood a fine group of chenar trees
+(_Platanus orientalis_) whose noble trunks and graceful branches showed
+in striking contrast to the slender stems of the poplars. The
+guide-book informed us that an ancient temple lay in ruins near by, but
+we trusted to a later visit and determined to push on. By-and-by a
+fort-crowned hill rose above the tree-tops. This we took to be Hari
+Parbat, the ancient citadel of Srinagar, and presently, through the
+poplars and the willows queer wooden huts or châlets began to appear,
+and the increasing number of men and beasts upon the road showed the
+proximity of the city.
+
+Ekkas, white-hooded, with jingling bells hung round the scraggy necks
+of their lean ponies; brown men clad in sort of night-shirts composed
+of mud-coloured rags; brown dogs, humpy cattle, and children
+innumerable, swarmed upon the causeway in ever-increasing density until
+we drew up at the custom-house, and the usual jabber took place among
+Sabz Ali, the driver, and the officials.
+
+All appeared satisfactory, however, and we were presented with bits of
+brown paper scrawled over with hieroglyphics which we took to be
+passes, and drove on, leaving the native town apparently on our left
+and making a détour through level fields and between rows of poplars,
+until we swung round and crossed the river by a fine bridge. Here we
+first got some idea of the city of Srinagar, which lay spread around
+us, bisected by the broad, but apparently far from sluggish river,
+which seems here to be about the width of the Thames at Westminster at
+high water.
+
+Tier upon tier, the rickety wooden houses crowded either bank, the
+prevailing brown being oddly lighted up by the roofs, which were
+frequently covered with deep green turf. Here and there the steep and
+peculiar dome of a Hindu temple flashed like polished silver in the
+keen sunlight, while around and beyond all rose the ring of the
+everlasting hills, their peaks clear, yet soft, against a background of
+cloudless blue.
+
+Close below us stood a remarkably picturesque pile of buildings, of a
+mixed style of architecture, yet harmonising well enough as a whole
+with its surroundings. Over it flew a great “banner with a strange
+device,” and we assumed (and rightly) that we looked upon the palace of
+His Highness Sir Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir.
+
+Crossing the river, we dived into a bit of the native town, and were
+much struck by the want of colour as compared with an Indian street.
+Everything seemed steeped in the same neutral brown—houses, boats,
+people, and dogs! Emerging from the native street, with its open
+shop-fronts and teeming life, we drove for some little way along a
+straight level road, flanked, as usual, on either side by poplars of
+great size which ran through a brown, flat field, showing traces of
+recent snow, and finally finished our two-hundred-mile drive in front
+of the one and only hotel in all Kashmir.
+
+Our two little chestnuts, which had brought us right through from
+Chakhoti to Srinagar—a distance of about seventy-eight miles—in two
+days, were as lively and fit as possible, and playfully nibbled at each
+other’s noses as they were walked off to their well-earned rest.
+
+The ekka horses, too, had brought our heavy luggage all the way from
+Abbotabad over a shocking road in the most admirable manner, and we had
+every reason to congratulate ourselves on having entrusted the
+arrangement of the whole business—the “bandobast” in native parlance—to
+our henchman Sabz Ali, who had thus proved himself an energetic and
+trustworthy organiser, and saving financier to the extent of some
+twenty rupees.
+
+I may emphasise here the importance of keeping one’s heavy baggage in
+sight, herding on the ekkas in front, if possible, and keeping a wary
+eye and a firm hand on the drivers at all halts. The Smithsons, who had
+sent on their gear from Rawal Pindi some days before we got there, did
+not receive it in Srinagar until the 22nd of April. It took about five
+weeks to do the journey, and the rifle which I was obliged to leave in
+Karachi on the 19th of March finally turned up in Srinagar, after an
+infuriating and vain expenditure of telegrams, on the 1st of May!
+
+Of course, part of the delay was due, and all was attributed, to the
+unusually bad state of the roads. The heavy storms and floods which, by
+wrecking the road, had delayed us so much, naturally checked the heavy
+transport still more; and severe congestion of bullock-carts resulted
+at all the halting-places along the route. Still, the main cause of
+delay lies in the fact that the monopoly of transport has been granted
+by the Maharajah to one Danjibhoy, who charges what he pleases, and
+takes such time over his arrangements as suits his Oriental mind.
+
+The motto over the Transport Office door might well be “_Ohne Hast—mit
+Rast_!”
+
+The other (much-cherished) monopoly in this favoured land is that
+enjoyed by Mr. Nedou, the owner of THE HOTEL in Kashmir.
+
+We were advised when at Lahore to approach Mr. Nedou (who winters in
+his branch there) with many salaams and much “kow-towing,” in order to
+make a certainty of being received into his select circle in Kashmir.
+The great man was quite kind, and promised that he would do his best
+for us; and he was as good as his word, as we were immediately welcomed
+and permitted to add two to the four persons already inhabiting the
+hostelry. I confess that, even after a dâk bungalow of the most
+inferior quality—such as that at Ghari Habibullah or Baramula—Mr.
+Nedou’s hotel fails to impress one with an undue sense of luxury. In
+fact, it presented an even desolate and forlorn appearance with its
+gloomy and chilly passages and cheerless bed-vaults.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+
+
+We learnt that the earthquake of this morning was far more than the
+ordinary affair that we had taken it to be. The hotel showed signs of a
+struggle for existence. Large cracks in the plaster, spanned by strips
+of paper gummed across to show if they widened, and little heaps of
+crumbled mortar on the floors, betrayed that the grip of mother earth
+had been no feeble one.
+
+Telegrams from Lahore inquired if the rumour was true that Srinagar had
+been much damaged, and reported an awful destruction and loss of life
+at Dharmsala. I think if we had fully known what an earthquake really
+meant, we should not have so calmly gone back to bed again!
+
+The advent of Mrs. Smithson upon the scene relieved a certain anxiety
+which we had felt as to immediate plans. The idea of rushing into Astor
+had been given up, we found—not so much on account of our tardy
+arrival, permits being still obtainable, but on account of the
+impossibility—at any rate for ladies—of forcing the high passes which
+the late season has kept safely sealed.
+
+Walter, having pawed the ground in feverish impatience for some days,
+had gone off into a region said to be full of bara singh; so we decided
+to possess our souls in patience for a little time, and remain quietly
+in Srinagar. Accordingly, instead of unpacking our “detonating
+musquetoons,” we exhumed our evening clothes, and began life in
+Srinagar with a cheerful dinner at the Residency.
+
+_Friday, April 7th_.—We are evidently somewhat premature here as far as
+climate goes. The weather since our arrival has become cold and grey,
+and we have seemed on the verge of another snowfall. However, the clerk
+of the weather has refrained from such an insult, contenting himself
+with sending a breeze down upon us fresh from the “Roof of the World,”
+and laden with the chilly moisture of the snows. We have consumed great
+quantities of wood, vainly endeavouring to warm up the den which Mr.
+Nedou has let to us as a sitting-room. Fires are not the fashion in the
+public rooms—probably because the only “public” besides ourselves
+consist of one or two enterprising sportsmen, who doubtless are
+acclimatising themselves to camp life amid the snows, and have implored
+the proprietor to save his fuel and keep the outer doors open.
+
+Yesterday, we went on a shopping excursion down the river, our “hansom”
+being a long narrow sort of canoe, propelled and dexterously steered by
+four or five paddlers, whose mode of _digging_ along by means of their
+heart-shaped blades reminded me not a little of the Kroo boys paddling
+a fish-canoe off Elmina on the Gold Coast.
+
+We embarked close to the back of the hotel, at the Chenar Bagh, and
+went gaily enough down the strong current of what we took to be an
+affluent of the Jhelum. As a matter of fact, the European quarter forms
+an island, low and perfectly flat, the banks of which are heaped into a
+high dyke or “bund,” washed on one side (the south) by the main river,
+and on the other by the Sunt-i-kul Canal, down which we have been
+paddling.
+
+The river life was most fascinating—crowds of heavy doungas lay moored
+along the banks—their long, low bodies covered in by matting, and their
+extremities sloping up into long peaked platforms for the crew.
+These—many of them women and children—were all clothed in
+neutral-tinted gowns, the only bit of colour being an occasional note
+of red or white in the puggaree of the men or skull-cap of the
+children. The married women invariably wore whity-brown veils over the
+head. The wooden houses that lined the banks were all in the general
+low scheme of colour, but a peculiar charm was added by the roofs
+covered in thick, green turf.
+
+Srinagar has been called the “Venice of the East,” and, inasmuch as
+waterways form the main thoroughfares in both, there is a certain
+resemblance. Shikaras (the Kashmiri canoes) are first-cousins to
+gondolas—rather poor relations perhaps; both are dingy and clumsy in
+appearance, and both are managed with an extraordinary dexterity by
+their navigators.
+
+Both cities are “smelly,” though Venice, even at its worst, stands many
+degrees above the incredible filth of Srinagar.
+
+Finally—both cities are within sight of snowy ranges; although it seems
+hardly fair to place in comparison the majestic range that overhangs
+Srinagar and the somewhat distant and sketchy view of the Alps as seen
+from Venice.
+
+Here, I think, all resemblance ceases. The charm of Venice lies in its
+architecture, its art treasures, its historical memories, and its
+interesting people.
+
+Srinagar has no architecture in particular, being but a picturesque
+chaos of tumble-down wooden shanties. It has no history worth speaking
+of, and its inhabitants are—and apparently have always been—a poor lot.
+
+Shopping in Srinagar is not pure and unadulterated joy. Down the river,
+spanned by its seven bridges, amidst a network of foul-smelling alleys,
+you are dragged to the emporiums of the native merchants whose
+advertisements flare upon the river banks, and who, armed with cards,
+and possessed of a wonderful supply of the English language, swarm
+around the victim at every landing-place, and almost tear one another
+in pieces while striving to obtain your custom.
+
+Samad Shall, in a conspicuous hoarding, announces that he can—and
+will—supply you with anything you may desire, including money—for he
+proclaims himself to be a banker.
+
+Ganymede, in his own opinion, is the only wood-carver worth attention.
+
+Suffering Moses is the prince of workers in lacquer, according to his
+own showing.
+
+The nose of the boat grates up against the slimy step of the
+landing-place, and you plunge forthwith into Babel.
+
+“Will you come to my shop?”
+
+“No—you are going somewhere else.”
+
+“After?”
+
+“Perhaps!”
+
+“To-day, master?”
+
+“No—no time to-day.”
+
+“To-morrow, then—I got very naice kyriasity [curiosity]—to-morrow,
+master—what time?”
+
+“Oh! get out! and leave me alone.”
+
+“I send boat for you—ten o’clock to-morrow?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Twelve o’clock?” &c. &c.
+
+After a short experience of Kashmiri pertinacity and business methods,
+you cease from politeness and curtly threaten the river.
+
+Certainly the Kashmiri are exceedingly clever and excellent workers in
+many ways. Their modern embroideries (the old shawl manufacture is
+totally extinct) are beautiful and artistic. Their wood-carving, almost
+always executed in rich brown walnut, is excellent; and their _old_
+papier-mâché lacquer is very good. The tendency, however, is
+unfortunately to abandon their own admirable designs, and assimilate or
+copy Western ideas as conveyed in very doubtful taste by English
+visitors.
+
+The embroidery has perhaps kept its individuality the best, although
+the trail of the serpent as revealed in “quaint” Liberty or South
+Kensington designs is sometimes only too apparent. Certain
+plants—Lotus, Iris, Chenar leaf, and so-called Dal Lake leaves, as well
+as various designs taken from the old Kashmir shawls, give scope to the
+nimble brains and fingers of the embroiderers, who, by-the-bye, are all
+male.
+
+Their colours, almost invariably obtained from native dyes, are
+excellent, and they rarely make a mistake in taste.
+
+The coarser work in wool on cushions, curtains, and thick white numdahs
+is most effective and cheap.
+
+Curiously enough, the best of these numdahs (which make capital rugs or
+bath blankets) are made in Yarkand; and Stein, in his _Sand-Buried
+Cities of Kotan_, found in ancient documents, of the third century or
+so, “the earliest mention of the felt-rugs or ‘numdahs’ so familiar to
+Anglo-Indian use, which to this day form a special product of Kotan
+home industry, and of which large consignments are annually exported to
+Ladak and Kashmir.”
+
+The manufacture of carpets is receiving attention, and Messrs. Mitchell
+own a large carpet factory. Designs and colours are good, but the
+prices are not low enough to enable them to compete with the cheap
+Indian makes; nor, I make bold to say, is the quality such as to
+justify high prices. The shop of Mohamed Jan is well worth a visit, for
+three good reasons—first, because his Oriental carpets from Penjdeh and
+Khiva are of the best; second, because his house is one of the first
+specimens of a high-class native dwelling existing; and third, because
+he never worries his customers nor touts for orders—but, then, he is a
+Persian, and not a Kashmiri!
+
+The famous shawls which fetched such prices in England in early
+Victorian days are no longer valued, having suffered an eclipse similar
+to that undergone by the pictures of certain early Victorian Royal
+Academicians, and the loss of the shawl trade was a severe blow to
+Kashmir. With the exception of occasional specimens of these shawls,
+which, however, can be bought cheaper at sales in London, there are no
+_old_ embroideries to be got.
+
+The wood-carving industry, too, is quite modern; but, although of great
+excellence and ingenuity in manipulation, it does not appeal to me,
+being too florid and copious in its application of design. A restless
+confusion of dragons from Leh, lotus from the Dal Lake, and the
+ever-present chenar leaf, hobnob together with British—very
+British—crests and monograms on the tops of tables and the seats of
+chairs—portions of the furniture that should be left severely plain.
+
+British taste is usually bad, and to it, and not to Kashmiri
+initiative, must be ascribed the production of such exotic works as
+bellows embellished with chaste designs of lotus-buds, and afternoon
+tea-tables flaunting coats-of-arms (doubtless dating from the
+Conquest), beautifully carved in high relief just where the tray—the
+bottom of which is probably ornamented with a flowing design of raised
+flowers—should rest!
+
+The lacquered papier-maché work—often extremely pretty when left to its
+own proper Cabul pattern or other native design—aims too often at
+attracting the eye of the mighty hunter by introducing an inappropriate
+markhor’s head. The old lacquer-work is difficult to get, and, when
+obtained, is high in price; but comparison between the old and the new
+shows the gulf that lies between the loving and skilful labour of the
+artist and the stupid and generally “scamped” achievement of him who
+merely “knocks off” candlesticks and tobacco-boxes by the score, to
+sell to the English visitor—papier-maché being superseded by wood, and
+lacquer by paint.
+
+The workers in silver, copper, and brass are many, but their
+productions are usually rough and inartistic. Genuine old beaten
+metal-work is almost unobtainable, although occasionally desirable
+specimens from Leh do find their way into the Srinagar shops.
+
+Chinese porcelain is to be got, usually in the form of small bowls; but
+it is not of remarkably good quality, and the prices asked for it are
+higher than in London.
+
+The jewellers’ work is very far behind that of India. Amethysts of pale
+colour and yellow topaz are cheap. Fine turquoise do not come into
+Kashmir, but plenty of the rough stones (as well as imitations) are to
+be found, which, owing to a transitory fashion, are priced far above
+their intrinsic value. They come from Thibet.
+
+A great deal of a somewhat soft and ugly-coloured jade is sent from
+Yarkand, also agates and carnelian; beads of these are strung into
+rather uncouth necklets, which may be bought for half the sum first
+asked.
+
+Bargaining is an invariable necessity in all shopping in Kashmir, as
+everywhere else in the East, where the market value of an article is
+not what it costs to produce, but what can be squeezed for it out of
+the purse of the—usually—ignorant purchaser.
+
+Three things are essential to the successful prosecution of shopping in
+Srinagar:—
+
+(1) Unlimited time.
+
+(2) A command of emphatic language, sufficient to impress the native
+mind with the need for keeping to the point.
+
+(3) A liver in such thorough working order as to insure an
+extraordinary supply of good temper.
+
+Without all these attributes the acquisition of objects of “bigotry and
+vertue” in Srinagar is attended with pain and tribulation.
+
+The descent of the river is accomplished with ease and rapidity, but
+_revocare gradum_ involves much hard paddling, with many pants and
+grunts; and it was both cold and dark when we again lay alongside the
+bank of the Chenar Bagh, and scurried up the slippery bund to the
+hotel, with scarcely time to dress for dinner.
+
+_Sunday, 9th April_.—Friday was a horrible day—rainy, dull, and cold;
+but a thrill of excitement was sent through us by the news that Walter
+has shot two fine bara singh! Charlotte (who is nothing if not a keen
+sportswoman) was filled with zeal and the spirit of emulation, so we
+resolved to dash off down the river to Bandipur, join Walter—who has
+now presumably joined the ranks of the unemployed, being only permitted
+by the Game Laws to kill two stags—and take our pick of the remaining
+“Royals,” which, in our vivid imaginations, roamed in dense flocks
+through the nullahs beyond Bandipur!
+
+All Friday and yesterday, therefore, were devoted to preparation. I had
+already, through the kindness of Major Wigram, secured a shikari, who
+immediately demonstrated his zeal and efficiency by purchasing a couple
+of bloodthirsty knives and a huge bottle of Rangoon oil at my expense.
+I pointed out that one “skian-dhu” seemed to me sufficient for
+“gralloching” purposes, but he said two were better for bears. My
+acquaintance with bears being hitherto confined to Regent’s Park, I
+bowed to his superior knowledge and forethought.
+
+A visit to Cockburn’s agency resulted in the hire of the “boarded
+dounga” _Cruiser_, which the helpful Mr. Cockburn procured for us, in
+which to go down the river; also a couple of tents for ourselves with
+tent furniture, one for the servants, and a cooking tent.
+
+The local bootmaker or “chaplie-wallah” appeared, as by magic, on the
+scene, and chaplies were ordered. These consist of a sort of leather
+sandal strapped over soft leather boots or moccasins. They are
+extremely comfortable for walking on ordinary ground, but perfectly
+useless for hill work, even when the soles are studded with nails. The
+hideous but necessary grass shoe is then your only wear. The grass
+shoe, which is made as required by the native, is an intricate
+contrivance of rice straw, kept in position by a straw twist which is
+hauled taut between the big and next toe, and the end expended round
+some of the side webbing. The cleft sock and woollen boot worn
+underneath keep the feet warm, but do not always prevent discomfort and
+even much pain if the cords are not properly adjusted. However, the
+remedy is simple. Tear off the shoe, using such language as may seem
+appropriate to the occasion, throw it at the shikari’s head, and order
+another pair to be made “ek dam”! Jane and I each purchased a yakdan, a
+sort of roughly-made leather box or trunk, strong, and of suitable size
+for either pony or coolie transport. Our wardrobe was stowed in these
+and secured by padlocks, and the cooking gear, together with a certain
+amount of stores in the shape of grocery, bread, and a couple of
+bottles of whisky were safely housed in a pair of large covered creels
+or “kiltas.”
+
+Each of the party provided him or herself with a khudstick, consisting
+of a strong and tough shaft about five feet long, tapering slightly
+towards the base, where it is shod with a chisel-shaped iron end.
+
+Our staff of retainers had now been brought up to five—the shikari,
+Ahmed Bot, having procured a satellite, known as the chota shikari, a
+youth of not unprepossessing appearance, but whose necessity in our
+scheme of existence I had not quite determined. Ahmed Bot, however, was
+of opinion that all sahibs who wanted sport required two shikaris, so I
+imagined that while I was to be engaged with one in pursuit of bara
+singh, the other would employ himself in “rounding up” a few tigers for
+the next day’s sport in another direction. Ahmed Bot agreed with me in
+the main, but did not feel at all sure about the tigers—he proposed
+ibex.
+
+The fifth wheel to our coach was a strikingly ugly person, like a
+hippopotamus, whose plainness was not diminished by a pair of enormous
+goggles; this was the harmless necessary sweeper, that pariah among
+domestics, whose usefulness is undreamed of out of India.
+
+After dinner last night we left the hotel, truly thankful to shake the
+dust of its gloomy precincts from our feet, and sought our boats, which
+were moored in the Chenar Bagh. How snug and bright the “ship” seemed
+after the murky corridors of Nedou! And yet the _Cruiser_ was not much
+to boast of, really, in the way of luxury.
+
+Let me describe a typical boarded dounga. Upon a long, low,
+flat-bottomed hull, which tapered to a sharp point at bow and stern,
+was raised a light wooden superstructure with a flat roof, upon which
+the passengers could sit. The interior was divided off into some
+half-a-dozen compartments, a vestibule or outer cabin held boxes, &c.,
+and through it one passed into the dining or parlour cabin, which
+opened again to two little bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. There
+was no furniture to speak of, but we had hired from Cockburn all that
+we required for the trip.
+
+The servants, as well as the crew of the dounga, were all stowed in a
+“tender” known as the cook boat—no one, except for navigating duties,
+having any business on board the “flagship.”
+
+Charlotte Smithson had a smaller ship than ours—a light wooden frame,
+which supported movable matting screens or curtains, taking the place
+of our wooden cabins. The matted dounga looked as though it might be
+chilly, particularly if a strong wind came to play among the rather
+draughty-looking mats which were all that our poor friend had between
+her and a cold world!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+OUR FIRST CAMP
+
+
+The fleet, consisting of four sail (I use this word in its purely
+conventional sense, a dounga having no more sails than a battleship),
+got under way about 5 A.M., while it was yet but barely daylight, and
+so we were well clear of Srinagar when we emerged from our cosy cabins
+into a world of clean air and brilliant colour.
+
+The broad smooth current of the Jhelum flowed steadily and calmly
+through a level plain, bearing us along at a comfortable four miles an
+hour, the crew doing little more than keep steerage-way with pole and
+paddle.
+
+Beyond the green, tree-studded levels to the south, the range of the
+Pir Panjal spread wide its array of dazzling peaks, while on the right
+towered the mountains which enclose the Sind Valley, culminating in the
+square-headed mass of Haramok. In the clear air the snows seemed quite
+close, although we knew that the snow-line was really some three
+thousand feet above the level of the valley.
+
+A day like this, as we sit on the little roof of our floating home
+watching the silent river unfold its shining curves, goes far to
+obliterate the memory of the fuss and worry inseparable from the exodus
+from Srinagar. After lunch we tied up for a while, and I took my gun on
+shore to try and pick up a few of the duck that dotted the waters of
+the little lakes or jheels which lay flashing amid the hillocks beyond
+the river banks. The shores of these being perfectly bare and open, it
+was obviously impossible to escape the keenly observant eyes of the
+duck, which appeared, unlike all other birds in Kashmir, to retain
+their customary wariness.
+
+Crouching low amid the furrows of a newly-ploughed field, I sent the
+shikari with a knot of natives to the far side of the water, whence
+they advanced in open line, splashing and shouting.
+
+Presently, with much fuss and indignant quacking, a cloud of duck rose,
+and, circling after their fashion, as though reluctant to quit their
+resting-place, gave me several chances of a long shot before, working
+high into the air, they departed with loud expostulation to some
+quieter haunt.
+
+Later in the afternoon we tied up to the bank for the night near a
+large jheel, where we all landed, Charlotte to try a rifle which she
+had borrowed, and I, if possible, to slay a few more duck, while Jane
+sat peacefully on a bank and enjoyed the glorious sunset.
+
+The bag having been swelled by the addition of another dozen
+“specimens”—obtained by the same manoeuvres as before—we strolled back
+to our ships in the luminous dusk, visions of roast “canard” floating
+seductively before our mental vision.
+
+There proved to be several varieties of duck among the countless flocks
+which I saw, notably mallard, teal, pochard, and shoveller. Likewise
+there were many coots, while herons, disturbed in their meditations by
+the untoward racket, flapped heavily away with disgusted squawks.
+
+Jane is getting along remarkably well with her Hindustani. I have just
+found her diary, and hasten to give an extract:—
+
+“Woke up very early; much bitten by pice. Tom started off to try and
+shoot a burra sahib, as he hears and hopes they’ve not yet shed all
+their horns.”
+
+“He really looked very nice in his new Pushtoo suit, with putty on his
+legs and chaplains on his feet…. His chickory walked in front, carrying
+his bandobast.”
+
+“9 A.M.—Sat down to my solitary breakfast of poached ekkas and paysandu
+tonga, with excellent chuprassies (something like scones). After
+breakfast, tried on my new kilta, which I have had made quite short for
+walking. I generally prefer walking to being carried in a pagdandy.”
+
+“Then took another lesson in Hindustani from my murghi, though I really
+think I hardly require it! My attention a good deal distracted by the
+antics of a pair of bul-buls (not at all the same as our coo-coos) in
+the jungle overhead.”
+
+“7 P.M.—T. returned after what he called a blank blank day. He found
+some bheesties (one of them a chikor ram or wild ghât) chewing the khud
+on a precipitous dâk.”
+
+“They were rather far off, about a mile he thinks, but he couldn’t get
+any nearer owing to a frightful ghari-wallah with deep piasses which
+lay between, so he put up his ornithoptic sight for 2000 yards and
+‘pumped lead’ into the bheesties for half-an-hour.”
+
+“He says he _thinks_ he hit one, but they all went away—as his chickory
+remarked—‘ek dam,’ and Tom agreed with him.”
+
+“He fell into a budmash on his way home and was half-drowned, but the
+chickory, assisted by a friendly chota-hazri, managed to pull him out …
+quite an eventful day!”
+
+“10 P.M.—The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in. It looks
+as if it had been dead for weeks, but the doolie, who found it, says
+that in this climate a few hours is sufficient to obliterate a body….
+Anyhow the head and tail seem all right…. Tom says the proper thing to
+do is to measure something—he can’t quite remember whether it is the
+horns or the tail, but the latter seems the more remarkable, so we
+measured that, and found it to be 3 feet 4 inches.”
+
+“By a little judicious pulling, the chickory, who knows all about
+measuring things, elongated it to 4 feet 3 inches.”
+
+“This, he says, is a ‘_Record_’—how nice!”
+
+_Wednesday, April 12._—The place where we tied up was not far from the
+point where the Jhelum expands into the Wular Lake—a broad expanse of
+water, some seven or eight miles wide in places, which holds the proud
+record of being the largest lake in all India.
+
+The mountains rise steeply from its northern shores, and from their
+narrow glens, squalls swift and strong are said frequently to sweep
+over the open water, particularly in the afternoons. The bold sailormen
+of Kashmir are not conspicuous for nautical daring—in fact their
+flat-bottomed arks, top-heavy and unwieldy, destitute alike of anchor
+and rudder, are not fit to cope with either wind or wave; they
+therefore aim at punting hurriedly across the danger space as soon
+after dawn as may be—panting with exertion and terror, they hustle
+across the smooth and waveless water, invoking at every breath the
+protection of local saints.
+
+Long before we had left our beds, and blissfully unconscious of our
+awful danger, we were striking out for Bandipur, which haven we safely
+reached about 8 A.M. on a still and glorious morning.
+
+Then came the business of collecting coolies and ponies, and loading
+them up with the tents and lesser baggage under the direction of Sabz
+Ali and the shikari.
+
+By nine o’clock we were off. Charlotte and Jane, mounted astride a
+brace of native ponies, led the way, and, in ragged array, the rest of
+the procession followed. A quarter of a mile from the landing-place,
+clustered at the foot of a steep little hill—a spur from the higher
+ranges—lies the village of Bandipur, dirty and picturesque, with, its
+rickety-looking wooden houses, and its crowded little bazaar. It is a
+place of some importance in Kashmir, being the starting-point for the
+Astor country and Gilgit—and here the sahib on shikar bent, obtains
+coolies and ponies to take him over the Tragbal Pass into Gurais. A
+post and telegraph office stands proudly in the middle of the little
+village, and behind it lies a range of “godowns” filled with stores for
+the use of a flying column should the British Raj require to send
+troops quickly along the Gilgit road.
+
+Passing through into the open country, we found ourselves on a good
+road—good, that is to say, for riding or marching, as no roads in
+Kashmir are adapted for wheeled traffic excepting the main artery from
+Baramula to Srinagar, and the greater portion of the route from
+Srinagar to Gulmarg. This road we followed up a gradually narrowing
+valley, and over a brawling little river, until at Kralpura the Gilgit
+road begins the steep ascent to the Tragbal by a series of wide zigzags
+up the face of a mountain. The pass which we should have had to tackle,
+had we carried out our original intention of going into Astor for
+markhor and ibex, is nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, and is still
+securely and implacably closed to all but the hardiest sportsmen. A
+short cut, which we took up the hill face, led us through a rough scrub
+of berberis and wild daphne (the former just showing green and the
+latter in flower) until, somewhat scant of breath, we regained the
+road, and followed it to the left up a gorge. As the mountains closed
+in on either side, we began to look out for the camp, which we knew was
+not far up the nullah. Presently, turning off the Gilgit road, along a
+track to the left, we came upon Walter—bearded like the pard—a pard
+which had left off shaving for about a week. He was pensively sitting
+on a big sun-warmed boulder, beguiling the time while awaiting us by
+contemplating the antics of a large family of monkeys, which he pointed
+out to Jane, to her great joy.
+
+Tender inquiries as to camp and consequent lunch revealed the sad fact
+that some miles of exceedingly rough path yet lay betwixt us and the
+haven where we would be.
+
+So we pricked forward, along a sort of cattle track, across dirty
+snow-filled little gullies, and over rock-strewn slopes, until the
+white gleam of Walter’s tent showed clear on its perch atop of a
+flat-roofed native hut.
+
+Crossing the stream which tumbled down the valley, by a somewhat
+“wobbly” bridge, and picking our way through the mixen which forms the
+approach to every well-appointed hut, we arrived upon the roof which
+supported the tent. This we achieved without any undue trouble, the
+building, like most “gujar” homes, being constructed on the side of a
+hill sufficiently steep to obviate the necessity for any back wall—the
+rear of the roof springing directly from the hillside. A Gujar village,
+owing to this peculiarity of construction, always looks oddly like a
+deposit of great half-open oysters clinging to the face of the hill.
+
+After a welcome lunch, the ladies both pronounced decidedly against
+remaining in or near the highly-scented precincts of the village. The
+argument that there was no flat ground excepting roofs to be seen was
+overruled; so Walter and I climbed a neighbouring ridge, and selected a
+site on the crest.
+
+It was not, certainly, a very good site for a camp, as it was so narrow
+that the unwary might easily step over the edge on either side, and
+toboggan gracefully either back on top of the aforesaid roof, or
+forward into a very rocky-bedded stream which employed its superfluous
+energy in tossing some frayed and battered logs from boulder to
+boulder, and which would have rejoiced greatly in doing the same to a
+fallen nestling from the eyry above.
+
+Neither was the ridge level, and our tents were pitched at such an
+angle that the slumberer whose grasp of the bed-head relaxed
+
+“In the mist and shadow of sleep”
+
+
+was brought to wakefulness by finding his toes gently sliding out into
+the nipping and eager air of night.
+
+The holding-ground for the tent-pegs was not all that could be desired,
+and visions of our tents spreading their wings in the gale and
+vanishing into space haunted us.
+
+No—it was not an ideal camping-ground, and Jane, whose rosy dreams of
+camping in Kashmir had pictured her little white canvas home set up in
+a flowery mead by the side of a purling brook, gazed upon the rugged
+slopes which rose around—the cold snow gleaming through the shaggy
+pine-trees—with a shiver and a distinct air of disapproval.
+
+It grew more than chilly too, as the sun dipped early behind the ridge
+that rose jealous between us and the western light, and an icy breeze
+from the snow came stealing down the gorge and whispering among the
+taller tree-tops in the nullah at our feet.
+
+We were about 1500 feet above the Wular Lake, and snow lay in thick
+patches within a few yards of our tents, and had obviously only melted
+quite recently from the site of the camp, leaving more clammy mud about
+the place than we really required.
+
+As it is reasonable to suppose that the bilingual lady who composes the
+fashion columns of the _Daily Horror_ is most anxious to know how the
+fair sex was accoutred at our dinner party that night, I hasten to
+inform her that Charlotte was gowned in an elegant confection of Puttoo
+of a simply indescribable nuance of _crême de boue_—the train,
+extremely décolletée at the lower end, cunningly revealing at every
+turn glimpses of an enchanting pair of frou-frou putties.
+
+The neat bottines, _à la_ Diane Chasseresse, took a charming touch of
+lightness from the aluminium nails which decorated the “uppers” with a
+quaint and original Dravidian cornice.
+
+She carried a spring bouquet of wild onions _en branche_—ornaments (of
+course), diamonds.
+
+Every one remarked that Jane was simply too lovely for words, as, with
+the sweet simplicity of an _ingénue, en combinaison_ with the craft of
+a Machiavella (I beg to point out that I know my Italian genders), she
+draped her lissom form in the clinging folds of an enormous habit _de
+peau de brebis_—portions of ear and the tip of her nose tilted over the
+edge of the deep turned-up collar, which, on one side, supported the
+coquettish droop of the hairy “Tammy” that, dexterously pinned to the
+spikes of a diamond fender, gave a _clou_ to the entire “_sac
+d’artifice_.”
+
+Walter, having already shot two bara singh and a serow, came under the
+“statute of limitations” of the Kashmir Game Laws, and had to sound the
+“cease firing” as regards these animals; but Charlotte and I, having
+“khubbar” of game, started at 7 A.M. in pursuit. She, attended by
+Walter and in tow of Asna (the best shikari in all Kashmir), followed
+up the nullah which lay to our right, while I deflected to the north.
+Having donned grass shoes, I started off up a very steep slope which
+rose directly behind the camp. Reaching snow within a few minutes of
+leaving my tent, I was glad to find it hard and the going good, the
+early sun not yet having had time to soften and destroy the crisp
+surface.
+
+Up and up we toiled, I puffing like any grampus—partly by reason of not
+yet being in good condition, and partly on account of the height, which
+was probably nearly 9000 feet above sea level. As we rose to the
+shoulder of the hill the gradient became much easier, and I had leisure
+to admire the panorama that stretched around the snowy ridge, which
+fell away abruptly on either side through dense pine forests. The day
+was quite glorious…. The sun, blazing in a cloudless sky, cast sharp
+steel-blue shadows where rock or tree stood between the snow and his
+nobility. The white peaks that rose around in marvellous array seemed
+so near in the bright air that it seemed as though one could see the
+smallest creature moving on their distant slopes. But there was little
+life observable in this still and silent world—nothing but an
+occasional pair of crows flapping steadily over the woods, or a far
+vulture circling at a giddy height in the “blue dome of the air.”
+Silence everywhere, except for the distant and perpetual voice of many
+waters murmuring in the unseen depths below.
+
+To the south—showing clear above the serrated back of the ridge beyond
+the camp—stood the Pir Panjal; pale ivory in the pale horizon below the
+sun. At the foot of the valley up which we had come yesterday, and
+partly screened by the intruding buttresses of its enfolding hills, the
+Wular Lake lay a shimmering shield of molten silver.
+
+In front, the sheeted mountains which guard Gurais and flank the icy
+portals of the Tragbal stood, a series of glistening slopes and
+cold-crowned precipices, while to the east Haramok reared his 17,000
+feet into a threefold peak of snowy majesty.
+
+It was a sight to thank God for, and to remember with joy all the days
+of one’s life. Doubtless there are many views as wonderful in this
+lovely land, but this was the first, and therefore not to be effaced
+nor its memory dimmed by anything that may come after.
+
+The shikari had not climbed the mountain’s brow to waste time over
+scenery; so, having apparently gone as far as he wanted on the ridge,
+he plunged down among the silver firs to the right, and I, with my
+heart in my mouth, went after him. At first it seemed to the
+inexperienced that we were slithering down the most awful places, and
+that, should the snow give way, I should have to swiftly embrace the
+nearest tree to avoid being shot down, a human avalanche, farther than
+I cared to think. However, I soon found it was all right. A welcome
+halt for lunch brought the tiffin coolie to the front. A blanket spread
+upon the hard snow at the foot of a fir made an excellent seat, and a
+cold roast teal, an apple, and a small flask of whisky were soon
+exhumed from the basket. Water, or rather the want of it, was a
+difficulty, for I was uncommonly thirsty, and no sign of any water was
+to be seen. A judicious blending of the dry teal with bits of succulent
+apple overcame the drought, and the half-hour for refreshment passed
+all too quickly.
+
+The men considered it now time to get up some “shikar,” so they
+invented a bear. This was exciting! They had separated (there were four
+of them) in search of traces of bara singh, &c., and some one found the
+bear, or its den, or a lock of its wool—I really couldn’t quite
+ascertain which—but fearful excitement was the immediate result.
+
+A consultation took place in frenzied whispers. My rifle was peeled
+from its case, and we proceeded to scramble stealthily down a horribly
+steep face much broken by rocks. The shikari being in front with my
+rifle over his shoulder, I was favoured with frequent glimpses down its
+ugly black barrel as I, like Jill, “came tumbling after,” and I
+rejoiced that all the cartridges were safely stowed in my own pocket.
+Well! we searched like conspirators for that bear, peeped round rocks
+and peered into holes, and anxiously eyed all possible and impossible
+places where a bear might be supposed to reside, but there was no bear;
+and at length we arrived on the bank of the torrent which rioted
+noisily down the bottom of the nullah.
+
+I now began to realise that plunging about in snow, often over one’s
+knees, and scrambling among the fallen tree-trunks and great rocks
+selected by the torrent to make its bed, was distinctly tiring work!
+
+Presently we came to a bridge over the river. It consisted of a single
+log, and appeared extremely slender. The stream was not deep enough to
+drown a man, but, all the same, a slip, sending one into the foaming
+water among a particularly large and hard collection of boulders,
+seemed most undesirable, and I stepped across, like Agag, delicately,
+carefully balancing myself with a khudstick. The men came prancing over
+as if they were on a good high-road, the careless ease with which they
+made the passage bordering on impertinence! I reflected, however, that
+sheep, and such like beasts of humble brain, can stroll upon the brink
+of gruesome precipices without any fear of falling, and my self-respect
+returned.
+
+After another half-hour of stiff scrambling I sat down to rest awhile,
+leaving the men to spy the neighbourhood. Of course they had to find
+something, so this time they found a “serow”—a somewhat scarce beast. I
+awaited the coming of the serow at various coigns of vantage where they
+said it was bound to pass, while the four men surrounded it from
+different directions. Finally, like the Levite, it passed by on the
+other side—at least I never saw it. The shikari afterwards informed me,
+in confidence, that it was, like the inexcusable baby in _Peter
+Simple_, “a very little one.”
+
+We now made the best of our way down the nullah, and when an apology
+for a path became apparent I rejoiced greatly, and followed it along
+its corkscrew course until the camp came suddenly into view as we
+topped a spur, which gave the path a final excuse for dragging me up a
+stiff two hundred feet, and then sending me down a knee-shaking
+descent, for no apparent reason but pure “cussedness.”
+
+Charlotte had got home just before me, having seen nothing to shoot at.
+She, too, seemed anxious for tea!
+
+During the day Sabz Ali had been doing his level best to improve the
+position in our sleeping-tent. The camp-beds had stood at such an angle
+that it was almost impossible to avoid sliding gradually into the outer
+darkness, but S.A. had scraped out earth from the head, and filled up a
+terrace at the foot, in a way which gave us hope of sound sleep. Our
+things had been carefully stowed, too, and a sort of hole scooped for
+the bath. Luxury stared us in the face!
+
+The sunset certainly was a little dull last night, but we were quite
+unprepared for the dreary aspect of Dame Nature to which we awoke this
+morning. It was raining very heavily, and a dense pall of mist hung low
+among the pines, giving an impression of melancholy durability.
+
+There was obviously nothing to do but exist as cheerfully as might be
+until the weather improved. The wet had shrunk canvas and rope gear
+till the tent-guys were as taut as fiddle-strings; and as it did not
+seem to have occurred to any of the servants to attend to this, an
+immediate tour of the camp had to be undertaken, in “rubbers” and
+waterproofs, to slack off guys and inspect the drainage system, as we
+had no wish to have our earthen floor—already sufficiently cold and
+clammy—turned into an absolute swamp.
+
+These things done, we scuttled and slid down to the mess tent, and
+breakfasted as best we might; and the best was surprisingly good,
+considering the difficulties the wretched servants must have had in
+cooking anything in their wet lair, where the miserable fire of damp
+sticks produced apparently little but acrid smoke.
+
+We passed a dismal day, as, wrapped in our warmest clothes, we sat upon
+our beds watching the rain turn to snow, then to hail and sleet, and
+finally back to rain again; while the ever-changing wisps of grey mist
+gathered thick in the glens, or “put forth an arm and crept from pine
+to pine.”
+
+Towards evening the clouds broke a little, and the forest-clad steeps
+appeared through them, powdered thickly with new snow. Walter and I
+sallied forth from our sodden tents and held a council of war in the
+mud. It was decided to quit our somewhat unsatisfactory and precarious
+position early to-morrow, if fine, as the weather looked so nasty, and
+a squall of wind might have awkward consequences.
+
+_Friday, April_ 14.—A very fairly fine morning enabled us to strike
+camp yesterday, and get the baggage off in good time. The Smithsons
+decided to make for the jheels near the river, in order to give the
+duck a final worry round before the season closes on the 15th.
+
+My shikari having reported a good bara singh in a small nullah off the
+Erin, I arranged to go in search of him. The march down to Bandipur was
+a short and easy one, and we got comfortably settled on board our boats
+early in the afternoon. About sunset the clouds gathered thick over the
+hills which we had left, and a thunderstorm broke, its preliminary
+squall throwing the crews of our fleet into a fearful fuss, and sending
+them on to the bank with extra ropes and holdfasts to make all secure.
+An elderly lady, with a dirty red cap and very untidy ringlets,
+superintended the business with much clamour. We take her to be the
+wife or grandmother (not sure which) of the skipper.
+
+It was with an undoubted sense of solid comfort that we lay in our cosy
+beds under a wooden roof, whereon the fat rain-drops sputtered, while
+the thunder still crackled and banged in the distance!
+
+We shifted before dawn to a small village a couple of miles to the
+east, and at 6.30 Jane and I set out to attack the bara singh, of which
+the shikari held out high hope. My wife, mounted on a rough pony, was
+able to accomplish with great comfort the two miles of flat country
+which we had to traverse before turning off sharp to the right along a
+track which led steeply upwards through the scrub that clothed the
+lower part of the nullah.
+
+There is something unusually charming in the dawn here—the crisp,
+buoyant air, the silent hills, their lower slopes and corries still a
+purple mystery; on high, the silver peaks—looking ridiculously
+close—change swiftly from their cold pallor into rosy life at the first
+touch of the risen sun.
+
+The first part of our day’s work was easy enough. The sun was still
+hidden from us behind the mountain flange on our left; the snow patches
+on the sky-line ahead seemed comparatively near, and the diabolical
+swiftness of the shikari’s stealthy walk was yet to be fully realised.
+
+Up and up we went, first through a thick scrub or jungle of a highly
+prickly description, over a few small streams, then out upon a grassy
+ridge, up which we slowly panted. The gradient became sharper, and I
+began to feel a little anxious about Jane, as the short, brown grass
+was slippery with frost—a slip would be very easy, and the results
+unpleasant. However, with the able assistance of the shikari, she did
+very well, and, having crossed a shelving patch of snow by cutting
+steps with our khudstick, we found ourselves, after an hour and a
+half’s stiff climbing, on the sky-line of the ridge that had seemed but
+an easy stroll from below. The heights and distances are most
+deceptive, partly on account of the crystal clearness of the air, and
+partly because of the magnitude of everything in proportion. The
+mountains are not only high themselves, but their spurs and foothills
+would rank as able-bodied mountains were they not dwarfed by peaks
+which average 15,000 feet in height above the sea. The pines which
+clothe their sides, the chenars and poplars in the valley, are all
+enormous when compared with their European cousins.
+
+The view was most remarkable as we gained the crest of the ridge—a sea
+of white cloud came boiling up from the valley to the east, and,
+pouring over the saddle upon which we stood, gave only occasional
+glimpses of snow and pine and precipice above, or the glint of water in
+the rice-fields far below. Once, between the swirling cloud masses, the
+near hills lay clear in the sunshine for a few moments and revealed a
+party of five bara singh hinds, crossing the slope in front of us, and
+not more than 150 yards away. Alas! there was no stag.
+
+This was not satisfactory weather for stalking. However I was hopeful,
+as I have noticed that in the fine forenoons a thick white belt of
+cloud often forms about the snow level—roughly, some 8000 feet above
+the sea, or 3000 above the Wular Lake—and hangs there for an hour or
+two, to disappear entirely by midday. And so it came about to-day;
+after a halt for tiffin, I set forward in brilliant sunshine, while
+Jane remained quietly perched on the hillside, as the shikari said the
+road was not good for a lady. The shikari was right, as, within ten
+minutes of starting, we had to drop from the crest of the ridge to
+circumvent a big rock which barred our way, to find ourselves
+confronted by a very unpleasant-looking slope of short brown grass,
+which fell away at an angle of about 50° to what seemed an endless
+depth. This grass, having only just become emancipated from its winter
+snow, had all its hair—so to speak—brushed straight down, and there was
+mighty little stuff to hold on to! Carefully digging little holes with
+our khudsticks, and not disdaining the help of my shikari, I got
+across, and thankfully scrambled back to the safety of the ridge.
+
+Now we reached snow, and the going became easier, whereupon Ahmed Bot
+promptly set a pace which left me struggling far behind. As the sun
+grew stronger the surface-crust of the snow became soft, and at every
+few steps one went through to the knees, until both muscles and temper
+became sorely tried. For an hour or so we kept climbing up what was
+evidently one of the many steep and rugged ranges which, radiating from
+Haramok, on this side flank the Wular with their lofty bastions. Having
+apparently attained the height he deemed necessary, and got well above
+the part of the pine forest in which he expected to find game, Ahmed
+Bot turned to the left of the ridge, and we were immediately involved
+in the deep drifts which covered the pine-clad slope of the nullah.
+Over snow-covered trunks of prostrate trees, over hidden holes and
+broken rocks, we toiled and scrambled until, emerging breathless on a
+bare knoll—smooth and white as a great wedding-cake—we obtained a
+searching view into the neighbouring gullies. Still no sign or track of
+any “beast,” so we worked back until, tired and hot, I regained the
+place where Madame lay basking beneath her sunshade. The shikari and
+his myrmidons departed to “look” another bit of country, while I,
+nothing loth, remained to await events in the neighbourhood of the
+refreshment department.
+
+On the return of the men, who had of course seen nothing, we set off
+for home, climbing down the edge of the ridge where yellow colchicum
+starred the turf. It was steep—verging on the precipitous in places—and
+Jane frankly expressed her satisfaction when we accomplished the worst
+part and entered a dense jungle of scrubby bushes, all of which seemed
+to grow spines of sorts. A bear was said to have been seen here
+yesterday, so we kept our weather eyelids lifting, but were not
+favoured with a sight of him. We had almost gained the bottom of the
+hill, with but two short miles to dinner and a tub, when weird shrieks
+and whistles were exchanged between our people and an excited villager
+below. The shikari, his eyes gleaming with uncontrollable excitement,
+announced that the “big stag” was waiting for me at that very
+moment!—and therewith Ahmed Bot dashed off down the hill, leaving me to
+follow as best I might. Leaving my wife in charge of the tiffin coolie,
+I tumbled off after the shikari, whom I found gloating with the
+messenger over the inspiriting particulars of the monarch of the glen,
+which, I understood, crouched expectant some paltry 2000 feet above us,
+near the top of the nullah!
+
+It was past six o’clock, and the light already showing signs of waning,
+so we lost no time in attacking the hill again. I was pretty well
+“done,” and had to accept a tow from the shikari, and hand in hand we
+pressed up that accursed hill until, at seven o’clock, the sun set and
+it began to grow dusk. Lying down near the edge of the snow, to gain
+breath and let the shikari crawl round and “look” the face of the hill,
+I was soon moved to activity by the news that the stag was lying under
+a pine tree within a few hundred yards. A short “crawl” brought me
+within sight of the beast, who lay half-hidden by a rock. It was now so
+dark that even with my glasses I could only make sure that it was a
+“horn beast” and not a hind; there was no time to lose, so, putting up
+my sight for 150 yards, I let him have it, and was nearly as much
+surprised as gratified to see him roll out on the snow to the shot. My
+vexation and disgust may be imagined when I found the noble beast to be
+a miserable 8-pointer, which I would never have fired at if I could
+have seen its head properly. Heartily consigning the shikari, together
+with the mendacious villager and all his kind, to a hot place, I
+dolefully stumbled away downhill again in the gathering dark, and
+finally deposited my weary and dejected self on board the boat, after
+fourteen hours of the hardest walking I have ever done.
+
+There is a confused tale prevalent that the bear, taking a mean
+advantage of my absence, has been down to the village and eaten a few
+ponies, or frightened them—I can’t make out which.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+BACK TO SRINAGAR
+
+
+Easter Day, _April_ 23.—We left the Erin district early in the morning
+following the bara singh fiasco, and punted and poled up the river to
+join the Smithsons in a last attack upon the duck. We found the bold
+Colonel,
+
+“Rough with slaughter and red with fight,”
+
+
+enjoying himself hugely among the jheels, and we prepared to join in
+the fray; but our _chasse_ was put an end to by the discovery that the
+14th, and not the 15th, was the last legal day for shooting. So we
+packed away our guns and towed up to Srinagar, which we reached on
+Sunday afternoon.
+
+Our brief experience of camping and “shikar” had proved to my wife that
+she was not cast in the heroic mould of a female Nimrod. Not being a
+shot herself—as Charlotte is—she saw that, as far as she was concerned,
+a shooting expedition with the Smithsons would entail a great deal of
+solitary rumination in camp, while the rest of the party pursued the
+red bear to his den, or chased the nimble markhor up and down the
+precipices. The joys of reading, knitting, and washing the family
+clothes might—probably would—pall after a time; and the physical
+exertion of “walking with the guns” in Kashmir is decidedly more of an
+undertaking than over a Perthshire grouse moor! Our original
+arrangement, before coming out to join the Smithsons, was that the time
+should be spent in camping, boating, “loafing,” and shooting. Being
+perfectly ignorant of the conditions of life out here, we were unaware
+of the fact that it is practically impossible to combine serious
+shooting with any other form of amusement. In Scotland one may stalk
+one day, fish the next, and golf the third, but out here it is not so.
+The worshipper of Diana must be prepared to sacrifice everything else
+at her shrine; he must go far afield, and be prepared to live hard and
+work hard, and even then it may befall that his trophies of the chase
+are none too plentiful. That will depend a good deal on his shikari and
+his own knowledge, together with luck.
+
+Walter had the good fortune to come upon two fine stags not far from
+his camp almost as soon as he got there. He was within fifty yards of
+them as they were moving slowly in deep snow, and he killed them both;
+the best of these was a remarkably fine 10-pointer, length of horn 41
+inches and span 38-1/2 inches. His wife spent an equal time in the same
+neighbourhood and never saw anything.[1]
+
+[1] That lady subsequently killed a remarkably good 13-pointer bara
+singh and some bears in October.
+
+
+When we talked over plans with Colonel and Mrs. Smithson at Pindi, the
+general idea had crystallised into a scheme for going into Astor to
+shoot, immediately upon our arrival in Kashmir, and, in order to reach
+Srinagar before April 1st—the date of issue of shooting passes—we had
+struggled hard to make our way into the country before it was really
+attractive to the ordinary visitor.
+
+When we did reach Srinagar we found that our friends had abandoned all
+idea of an expedition to Astor, partly on account of expense, but
+principally on account of the backwardness of the season, which
+practically precluded ladies from crossing the Tragbal and Boorzil
+Passes for some time. The merits and demerits of the Tilail district
+and Baltistan came up for review, and then we almost decided to go to
+Leh until we reflected that the return journey over a bare and open
+country—arid and hot as an Egyptian desert—in the month of August might
+not be unmixed joy, and the Smithsons were assured that they would find
+no sport whatever _en route_, but would have to go several marches
+beyond Leh to obtain the chance of an Ovis Ammon or Thibetan antelope.
+
+The Leh scheme thus having come to naught, and our friends being still
+wholly intent on “shikar” to the exclusion of all other pursuits, we
+decided to be independent, so we hired a nice-looking boarded dounga,
+whose fresh and clean appearance pleased us, for a term of three
+months. Nedou’s Hotel offered so few attractions and so many drawbacks
+that we were prepared to do anything rather than return to it, and, as
+a matter of economy, we scored heavily, as, on working it out, we found
+that the boat, including the cook-boat, would cost 60 rupees per month.
+Our food and the wages of those servants whom we should not have
+required at the hotel came to approximately 80 rupees per month, making
+a total of 140 rupees, or £9, 6s. 8d.; whereas our hotel bill would
+have come to 12 rupees per day, without extras—or 360 rupees (£24) per
+month—a clear saving in money as well as in comfort.
+
+Our new habitation—the house dounga _Moon_—was owned and partly worked
+by Satarah, an astute old rascal, whose “tawny beard,” like Hudibras’—
+
+“Was the equal grace
+Both of his wisdom and his face;
+In cut and dye so like a tyle
+A sudden view it would beguile:
+The upper part whereof was whey,
+The nether orange mixt with grey.”
+
+
+His costume consisted of a curious sort of short nightgown worn over
+white and flappy trousers, below which were revealed a pair of big,
+flat naval feet. The first lieutenant, Sabhana—sleek and civil-spoken,
+but desperately afraid of work—was, we understand, son-in-law to the
+Admiral Satarah, having to wife the Lady Jiggry, eldest daughter of
+that worthy, who, with her younger sisters Nouri, Azizi, and “the
+Baba,” completed the ship’s company.
+
+The _Moon_ differed from an ordinary house-boat in being narrower, and
+possessing a long bow and stern which projected far enough from the
+body of the boat to enable men to pole or paddle with ease; a
+house-boat can only be towed. On embarking by means of a narrow
+gangway—a plank possessed of an uncontrollable desire to “tip-up” at
+unexpected and disconcerting moments—one entered first a small
+vestibule, or “ante-cabin,” which held our big boxes and opened into
+the drawing-room—quite a roomy apartment, about fifteen feet by ten
+feet, fitted with a fireplace, a rough writing-table, and overmantel,
+surmounted by a photograph—something faded—of Mrs. Langtry! A small
+table and a couple of deck chairs graced the floor, while upon the
+walls a heterogeneous collection of pictures, including a coloured
+lithograph of a cottage and a brook, a fearful and wonderful portrayal
+of an otter, and a very fancy stag of unlimited points dazzled the eye.
+The ceiling was decorated with an elaborate and most effective design
+in wood—a fashion very common in Srinagar, consisting of a sort of
+patchwork panelling of small pieces of wood, cut to length and shape,
+and tacked on to a backing in geometrical designs. At a little distance
+the effect is rich and excellent, but close inspection shows up the
+tintacks and the glue, and a prying finger penetrates the solid-looking
+panel with perfect ease.
+
+The drawing-room was separated from the dining “saloon” by a sliding
+door—which frequently refused to slide at all, or else perversely slid
+so suddenly as to endanger finger-tips and cause unseemly words to
+flow. This noble apartment of elegant dimensions (to borrow the
+undefiled English of the house-agent) could contain four feasters at a
+pinch. Sabz Ali having cooked the dinner, the cook-boat was laid
+alongside, and Sabz Ali, clambering in and out of the window, proceeded
+to serve the repast, a black paw, presumably belonging to Ayata, the
+kitchenmaid-man, appearing from time to time to retrieve the soiled
+plates or hand up the next course.
+
+A funny little sideboard and cupboard contained a slender stock of
+knives, forks, and glasses, and part of a broken-down dinner set, while
+the fireplace easily held three dozen of soda-water.
+
+Then came Jane’s bedroom, fitted with a cupboard and shelves, which
+were a constant source of covetousness to me, who had none. A small
+bathroom completed our suite of apartments, and, after the bare boards
+of the _Cruiser_, the _Moon_ seemed to overflow with luxury.
+
+We have been taking life easily here for the last week. The Smithsons
+intend going into Tilail as soon as the Tragbal becomes feasible; we
+propose to remain in Srinagar for a while. The weather has not been
+very fine—cold winds and a good deal of rain, varied by thunderstorms,
+being our daily experience. The spring is, I am told, exceptionally
+backward, and, although the almond is in full and lovely flower, the
+poplars and chenars are barely showing a sign of life.
+
+My wife having gone to lunch at the Residency this afternoon, I walked
+half-way up the Takht-i-Suleiman, whose sharp, rock-strewn pyramid
+rises a thousand feet above Srinagar.
+
+The view of the Kashmir plain, through which the river winds like a
+silver snake; the solemn ring of mountains, enclosing the valley with a
+rampart of rock and snow; the innumerable roofs of the city, glittering
+like burnished scales in the keen sunlight, densely clustered round the
+fort-crowned height of Hari Parbat, went to make up such a picture as
+Turner would have kneeled to.
+
+Of course it is simply futile to compare one magnificent view with
+another which differs entirely in kind. All that one can do is to lay
+by in the memory a mental picture-gallery of recollection; and as I sat
+in the shelter of a big rock, gazing out over the level plain
+stretching below, where the changing shadows as they swept by turned
+the amber masses of the trees to gold, I conjured up in my mind’s eye
+other scenes whose beauties will remain with me while life shall
+last:—The purple and gold of a glorious sunset over Etna, the Greek
+theatre of Taormina in front of me, with the sea below—a shimmering
+opal that melted away in the haze beyond Syracuse; the awful rapids
+raging furiously below Niagara, a very ocean tortured and maddened to
+blind fury, pouring its irresistible torrents through the chasm above
+the whirlpool; and again, a cloudless October morning, with just the
+keen zest of early autumn in the air, as I lay high up on a hillside in
+Ardgour watching for deer—with the hills of Lochaber and Ballachulish
+reflected in all their glory of purple and russet in the waters of Loch
+Linnhe, windless and still!
+
+Chills can be caught amidst the most glorious scenery—the little tufts
+of purple self-heal at my feet were shivering and shaking in a biting
+breeze that swept down from the snows to the north-east, and although I
+am an admirer of Kingsley, I do not hold with him in his wrong-headed
+admiration for a “nor’-easter”—so I quitted my perch in search of tea.
+
+_Easter Monday_.—The Smithsons scuttled away in a great hurry to-day,
+their shikari, Asna (the best shikari in Kashmir), having heard that,
+owing to the lateness of the season, the bara singh have not even yet
+all shed their horns—so Charlotte is filled with high hope. The bears,
+too, are said to be waking from their winter’s doze and poking around
+in warm and balmy corners.
+
+Armed to the teeth and thirsting for blood, the hunter and the huntress
+cast loose their matted dounga and paddled away merrily down the Jhelum
+to Bandipur, thence to pursue the royal bara singh, and later, if
+possible, scale the snow-barred slopes of the Tragbal and penetrate the
+lonely Tilail Valley to assail the red bear and the multitudinous ibex.
+
+Jane and I having decided that a purely shikar expedition into the more
+difficult parts of the country was not suited to our prosaic habits,
+remained to enjoy the effeminate pleasures of Srinagar till the weather
+should grow a few degrees warmer.
+
+As we are bidden to a sort of state luncheon to-morrow, given by the
+Maharajah, it appeared to me to be but right and seemly to go and
+inscribe my name in the visitors’ book of His Highness, and also to
+call upon his brother, the Rajah Sir Amar Singh. I went with the more
+alacrity as I thought it might prove interesting. Strolling across the
+big bridge above the Palace, I soon found myself in the purely native
+quarter, immersed in a seething crowd of men and beasts, from beneath
+whose passing feet a cloud of dust rose pungent. The water-sellers, the
+hawkers of vegetables and of sweets, the cattle, the loafers and the
+children got into the way and out of it in kaleidoscopic confusion. By
+the side of the street, money-changers, wrapped in silent
+consideration, bent over their trays of queer and outlandish coins.
+Bright cottons and silks flaunted pennons of gorgeous colours. Brass,
+glowing like gold, rose piled on low wide counters. In front stood the
+Palace, looking its best from this point, and showing huge beside the
+huddle of wooden and plaster huts which hem it in.
+
+General Raja Sir Amar Singh lives in a sort of glorified English villa.
+Were it not for the flowering oleanders and hibiscus in front and the
+silvery gleam of temple domes beyond, one might suppose oneself near
+the banks of Father Thames. And were it not for the group of stalwart
+retainers at the door, the illusion need not be lost on entering the
+house.
+
+The hall and staircase were decorated with a profusion of skins and
+horns, somewhat modern and brilliant rugs, and tall glasses full of
+flowers closely copied from Nature; while the drawing-room was of a
+type very frequently seen near London.
+
+Like so many British reception-rooms, it shone replete with _objets
+d’art_, rather inclining to Oriental luxury than Japanese restraint.
+
+My host, who came in almost immediately, was charming, speaking English
+with fluency, although he has never been in England.
+
+He is essentially a strong man, and remarkably well posted in
+everything, both political and social, that occurs in the state, mixing
+far more freely than his brother with the English, towards whom his
+courtesy is proverbial.
+
+His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many
+respects of a different type. Keeping more aloof from the English
+colony, he spends much of his time in devotion and the privacy of the
+inner Palace.
+
+On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the
+iron bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like
+precincts of the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage,
+and found ourselves at the “front door,” where, in the visitors’ book,
+by means of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and
+condition.
+
+_April_ 27.—His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a luncheon
+given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared
+to cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the
+present feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of
+the Moguls when Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair
+Nourmahal.
+
+“Th’ Imperial Selim held a feast
+In his magnificent Shalimar:—
+In whose saloons …
+The valleys’ loveliest all assembled.”
+
+
+Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the
+stern, where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an
+awning, was brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some
+seven or eight miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
+
+Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the
+Sunt-i-kul Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the
+Takht-i-Suleiman, the rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple,
+forms a constant background to Srinagar.
+
+The canal was closely lined with house-boats and their satellite
+cook-boats, clinging to the poplar-shaded banks. The golf-links lay on
+our left, and on a low spur to the right stood the hospital, which the
+energy and philanthropy of the Neves has gained for the remarkably
+ungrateful Kashmiri. It is told that a man, being exceedingly ill, was
+cared for and nursed during many weeks in the Mission Hospital, his
+whole family likewise living on the kindly sahibs. When he was cured
+and shown the door, he burst into tears because he was not paid wages
+for all the time he had spent in hospital!
+
+Just before entering the waterway of noble chenars, known as the Chenar
+Bagh (a camping-ground reserved for bachelors only), we ported our helm
+(or at least would have done so had there been any rudders in Kashmir),
+and pushed through the lock-gate, which gives entrance to the Dal Lake,
+against a brisk current.
+
+This gate, cunningly arranged upon the non-return-valve principle, is
+normally kept open by the current from the Dal; but if the Jhelum,
+rising in flood, threatens to pour back into the lake and swamp the low
+ground and floating gardens, it closes automatically, and so remains
+sealed until the outward flow regains the mastery.
+
+A sharp bout of paddling, puffing, and splashing shot us into the
+peaceful waters of the Dal Lake, over which every traveller has gushed
+and raved. It is difficult, indeed, not to do so, for it is truly a
+dream of beauty.
+
+A placid sheet of still water, its surface only broken here and there
+by the silvery trails of rippled wake left by the darting shikaras or
+slow-moving market boats, lay before us, shining in the crystal-clear
+atmosphere. On the right rose the Takht, his thousand feet of rocky
+stature dwarfed into insignificance by holy Mahadeo and his peers,
+whose shattered peaks ring round the lake to the north, their dark
+cliffs and shaggy steeps mirrored in its peaceful surface.
+
+On the lower slopes strong patches of yellow mustard and white masses
+of blossoming pear-trees rose behind the tender green fringe of the
+young willows.
+
+As we swept on, the lake widened. On the left a network of water lanes
+threaded the maze of low-growing brushwood and whispering reeds, and
+round us extended the half-submerged patches of soil which form the
+celebrated “floating gardens” of the lake. From any point of view
+except the utilitarian, these gardens are a fraud. A combination of
+matted and decaying water-plants, mud, and young cabbages kept in place
+by rows and thickets of willow scrub, is curious, but not lovely; and
+our eyes turned away to where Hari Parbat raised his crown of crumbling
+forts above the native city, or to the mysterious ruins of Peri Mahal,
+clinging like a swallow’s nest to the shelving slopes above Gupkar.
+
+“Still onward; and the clear canal
+Is rounded to as clear a lake;”
+
+
+and we emerged from the willow-fringed water lanes, and saw across the
+wider shield of glistering water the white cube of the Nishat Bagh
+Pavilion—the Garden of Joy, made for Jehangir the Mogul—standing by the
+water’s edge, and at its foot a great throng and clutter of boats,
+amidst whose snaky prows we pushed our way and landed, something stiff
+after sitting for two hours in a cramped shikara.
+
+Other guests—some thirty in all—were arriving, either like us by boat,
+or by carriage _viâ_ Gupkar, and we strolled in groups up the sloping
+gardens, which still show, in their wild and unrestrained beauty, the
+loving touch of the long-vanished hand of the Mogul.
+
+Down seven wide grassy terraces a series of fountains splashed and
+twinkled in the sun. Broad chenars, just beginning to break into leaf,
+gave promise of ample shade against the day when the blaze should
+become overpowering. So far so good, but the grass that bordered the
+path was not the sweet green turf of an English lawn, and the way was
+edged by big earthen pots, into which were hastily stuck wisps of iris
+blooms and Persian lilac. The topmost terrace widened out, enclosing a
+large basin of clear water, in the middle of which played a fountain.
+On one side was raised a marquee, revealing welcome preparations for
+lunch. On the opposite side of the fountain a profusion of chairs,
+shaded by a great awning, stood expectantly facing a bandstand. Here we
+were welcomed by His Highness, a somewhat small man with exceedingly
+neat legs and an enormous white pugaree, in his customary gracious
+manner.
+
+It was now half-past two, and we had breakfasted early, so that a move
+towards the luncheon tent was most welcome. Finding the fair lady whom
+I was detailed to personally conduct, and the ticketed place where I
+was to sit, I prepared to make a Gargantuan meal. Was it not almost on
+this very spot that
+
+“The board was spread with fruit and wine,
+With grapes of gold, like those that shine
+On Casbin’s hills;—pomegranates full
+    Of melting sweetness, and the pears
+And sunniest apples that Cabul
+    In all its thousand gardens bears.
+Plantains, the golden and the green,
+Malaya’s nectar’d mangusteen;
+Prunes of Bokara, and sweet nuts
+    From the far groves of Samarcand,
+And Basra dates, and apricots,
+    Seed of the sun, from Iran’s land;—
+With rich conserve of Visna cherries,
+Of orange flowers, and of those berries
+That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles
+Feed on in Erac’s rocky dells..
+Wines, too, of every clime and hue
+Around their liquid lustre threw;
+Amber Rosolli..
+And Shiraz wine, that richly ran..
+Melted within the goblets there!”
+
+
+This reckless, but unsubstantial and very unwholesome meal, was not for
+us, and while waiting patiently for the first course to appear, I
+glanced down the long table to admire the decorations. They were
+delightful, consisting of glass flower-vases spaced regularly along the
+festive board, and filled to overflowing with tufts and clumps of
+flowers. Innumerable plates filled with fruit and sweetmeats graced the
+feast, and a magnificent array of knives and forks gave promise of good
+things to come.
+
+Presently the expected dainties arrived, resembling but little the
+lately-described poetic feast; a strict attention to business enabled
+us to keep the wolf from the door, and a very cheerful party finally
+emerged from the big tent to stroll by the fountains that flashed under
+the chenars.
+
+The Maharajah, of course, did not lunch with us, but held aloof,
+peeping occasionally into the cook-house to satisfy himself that the
+lions were being fed properly, and in accordance with their unclean
+customs.
+
+Finally, he and his chief officers of state vanished into a secluded
+tent, where he probably took a little refreshment, having first
+carefully performed the ablutions necessary after the contamination of
+the unbeliever.
+
+His Highness reappeared from nowhere in particular as his guests
+strolled across the terrace, and, after a little polite conversation,
+we took our leave and set forth for Srinagar.
+
+It was a glorious afternoon, and we deeply regretted that time would
+not permit us to visit the neighbouring Shalimar Bagh, which lay hidden
+among the trees near by. The excursion must remain a “hope deferred”
+for the present, as we had again to thread the maze of half-submerged
+melon plots and miniature kitchen gardens which, even in the golden
+glow of a perfect evening, could not be made to fit in with our
+preconceived ideas of “floating gardens.” Jane was frankly
+disappointed, as she admitted to having pictured in her mind’s eye a
+series of peripatetic herbaceous borders in full flower, cruising about
+the lake at their own sweet will and tended by fair Kashmirian maidens.
+
+By-the-bye, here let me expose, once for all, the fallacy of Moore’s
+drivel about the lovely maids of fair “Cashmere.” _There are none!_
+This appears a startling statement and a sweeping; but, as a matter of
+fact, the Eastern girl is not left, like her Western sister, to flirt
+and frivol into middle age in single “cussedness,” but almost
+invariably becomes a respectable married lady at ten or twelve, and
+drapes her lovely, but not over clean, head in the mantle of old
+sacking, which it is _de rigueur_ for matrons to adopt.
+
+The good Tommy Moore did not know this, but, letting his warm Irish
+imagination run riot through a mixed bag of Eastern romancists and
+their works, he evolved, amid a _pôt pourri_ of impossibilities, an
+impossible damsel as unlike anything to be found in these parts as the
+celebrated elephant evolved from his inner consciousness by the German
+professor!
+
+As I traversed the main, or rolled by train,
+    From my Western habitation,
+I frequently thought—perhaps more than I ought—
+    Upon many a quiet occasion
+Of the elegant forms and manifold charms
+    Of the beautiful female Asian.
+
+For the good Tommy Moore, in his pages of yore,
+    Sang as though he could never be weary
+Of fair Nourmahal—an adorable “gal”—
+    And of Paradise and the Peri,
+Until, I declare, I was wild to be where
+    I might gaze on the lovely Kashmiri.
+
+Through the hot plains of Ind I fled like the wind,
+    Unenchanted by mistress or ayah,
+The dusky Hindu, I soon saw, wouldn’t do,
+    So I paused not, until in the sky——Ah!—
+Far upward arose the perpetual snows
+    And the peaks of the proud Himalaya.
+
+But in Kashmir, alas! I found not a lass
+    Who answered to Tommy’s description—
+For the make of such maid I am sadly afraid
+    The fond parents have lost the prescription,
+And I murmured; “No doubt, the old breed has died out,
+    At least such is my honest conviction.”
+
+In the horrible slums which form the foul homes
+    Of the rag-covered dames of the city,
+I saw wrinkled hags, all wrapped in old rags,
+    Whose appearance excited but pity.
+Beyond question the word which it would be absurd
+    To apply to these ladies is “pretty.”
+
+In the high Gujar huts were but brats and old sluts,
+    These last being the plainest of women;
+Then I sought on the waters the sisters and daughters
+    Of the Mangis—those “bold, able seamen”
+(I have often been told that the Mangi is bold,
+    And as brave as at least two or three men).
+
+One lady I saw—I am told her papa
+    In the market did forage and “gram” sell—
+Decked all over with rings, necklets, bangles and things,
+    She appeared a desirable damsel;
+And I cried “Oh, Eureka! I’ve found what I seek:
+    Tell me quick—Is she ‘madam’ or ‘ma’mselle’?”
+
+It was comical, but to this question I put—
+    A remarkably innocent query—
+I received but a sigh or evasive reply,
+    Or a blush from the modest Kashmiri;
+And I gathered at last that the lady was “fast,”
+    And her name should be Phryne, not Heré.
+
+Toddled up a small tot—her hair tied in a knot—
+    Who remarked, “I can hardly consider
+You’ve the ghost of a chance on this wild-goosie dance
+    Unless you should hap on a ‘widder!’
+For our maidens at ten—ay, and less now and then—
+    Are all booked to the wealthiest bidder.”
+
+“My dear man, it’s no use to indulge in abuse
+    Of our customs, so be not enraged, sir—
+No woman a maid is—we’re all married ladies.
+    Our charms very early are caged, sir—
+I’m eleven myself,” remarked the small elf,
+    “And a year ago I was engaged, sir!”
+
+
+Ah, well! The country is the loveliest I ever saw, and that goes far to
+make up for its disgusting population.
+
+Here, indeed, it is that
+
+“Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.”
+
+
+We stopped to look at the ruins of an ancient mosque, built in the days
+of Akbar by the Shiahs. Its remains may be deeply interesting to the
+archaeologist, but to me a neighbouring ziarat, wooden, with its grassy
+roof one blaze of scarlet tulips, was far more attractive. Moving
+homeward, we floated under a lovely old bridge, whose three rose-toned
+arches date from the sixteenth century—the age of the Great Moguls. The
+extreme solidity of its piers contrasts strongly with the exceedingly
+sketchy (and sketchable) bridges manufactured by the Kashmiri.
+
+In fairness, though, I must point out that, as the bridge in Kashmir
+usually spans a stream liable at almost any moment to overwhelming
+floods, it would appear to be a sound idea to build as flimsily as
+possible, with an eye to economical replacement.
+
+The Kashmiri carries this plan to its logical conclusion when he fells
+a tree across a raging torrent, and calls it a bridge, to the
+unutterable discomfiture of the Western wayfarer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+THE LOLAB
+
+
+_May_ 1.—The pear and cherry blossom has been so lovely in and around
+Srinagar that we determined to go to the Lolab Valley and see the apple
+blossom in full flower.
+
+We started in some trepidation, for the warm weather lately has melted
+much snow on the hills, and Jhelum is so full that we were told that
+our three-decker would be unable to pass under the city bridges—of
+which there are seven. We decided to see for ourselves, so set forth
+about eleven, and soon came to the first bridge, the Amira Kadal, which
+carries the main tonga road into Srinagar, tying up just above it, amid
+the clamour and jabber of an idle crowd.
+
+The Admiral solemnly measured the clear space between the top of the
+arch and the water with a long pole, consulted noisily with the crowd,
+yelled his ideas to the crew, and decided to attempt the passage.
+
+Hen-coops, chairs, half-a-dozen flower-pots containing sickly specimens
+of plants, and all other movables being cleared from the upper deck, we
+set sail, and shot the bridge very neatly, only having a few inches of
+daylight between the upper deck and the wooden beams upon which the
+roadway rests.
+
+_Ce nest que, le premier “pont” que coute_.
+
+The other bridges were all easier than the first, and we shot them
+gaily, spending the rest of the day in floating quietly down the river,
+and finally anchoring—or rather mooring, for anchors are, like
+boat-hooks, masts, sails, rudders, and rigging, alike unknown to the
+“jollye mariners” of the Jhelum—some two or three miles above the
+entrance to the dreaded Wular Lake.
+
+This awful stretch of water, so feared by the Kashmiri that his eyes
+goggle when he even thinks of it, is an innocent enough looking lake,
+generally occupied in reflectively reproducing its surroundings upside
+down, but occasionally its calm surface is ruffled by a little breeze,
+and it is reported that wild and horrible squalls sweep down the
+nullahs of Haramok at times, and destroy the unwary. These squalls are
+said to be most frequent in the afternoons, and are probably the
+accompaniments of the thunderstorms.
+
+It is only considered possible to cross the Wular between dawn and 10
+or 11 A.M., and no persuasion will prevail upon a native boatman to
+risk his life on the lake after lunch.
+
+Before turning in, I gave orders that a start should be made next
+morning at five o’clock, but a heavy squall of rain and thunder during
+the night had the effect of causing orders to be set at naught, and at
+breakfast-time there was no sign of “up anchor” nor even of “heaving
+short.” An interview with the Admiral showed me that the Wular, in his
+opinion, was too dangerous to cross to-day—in fact he wouldn’t dream of
+asking coolies to risk it. He was given to understand that we intended
+to cross, and that the sooner he started the safer it would be.
+
+No coolies being forthcoming, I inhumanly gave orders to get under
+way—the available crew consisting of the wicked Satarah, the first
+lieutenant, and the Lady Jiggry. Sulkily and slowly we wended our way
+past the wide flats which border the Wular, all blazing golden with
+mustard in full pungent flower.
+
+Before entering the lake the Admiral meekly requested to be allowed to
+try for coolies in a small village near by. He was allowed quarter of
+an hour for pressgang work, and sure enough he came back within a very
+reasonable time with a few spare hands, and then—paddling and poling
+for dear life—we glided swiftly through the tangled lily-pads and the
+green rosettes of the Singhara, and soon were _in medias res_ and
+fairly committed to the deep.
+
+The Wular lay like a burnished mirror, reflecting the buttresses of
+Haramok on our right, and the snowy ranges by the Tragbal ahead, its
+silvery surface lined here and there with the wavering tracks of other
+boats, or broken by bristling clumps of reeds and tall water-plants.
+Our transit was perfectly peaceful, and by lunch-time we were safely
+tied up to a bank, purple with irises, just below Bandipur.
+
+A visit to the post-office and a stroll up the rocky hill behind it,
+where we sat for some time and watched a pair of jackals sneaking
+about, completed a peaceful afternoon.
+
+_May_ 3.—We were up with the lark, and, having moved along the coast a
+few miles to the west of Bandipur, left the ship before six of the
+clock in pursuit of bear. I had “khubbar” of one in the Malingam
+Nullah, and, after a brisk walk over the lower slopes, we entered the
+nullah and clambered up about 1500 feet to a quiet and retired spot
+under a shady thorn-bush, where we breakfasted.
+
+We thereafter climbed a little higher, and then sat down while the
+shikaris departed to spy, their method of spying being, I believe,
+somewhat after this fashion:—Leaving the sahib with his
+belongings—notably the tiffin coolie—in a spot carefully selected for
+its seclusion, the miscreants depart hurriedly and rapidly up the
+nearest inaccessible crag; this is “business,” and throws dust, so to
+say, in the eyes of the sahib, by means of an exhibition of activity
+and zeal. Passing out of sight over the sky-line, the hunters pause,
+wink at one another, and, choosing a shady and convenient corner,
+proceed to squat, light their pipes, and discuss matters—chiefly
+financial—until they deem it time to return, scrambling and breathless
+with excitement, to relate all that they have seen and done.
+
+So, while the shikaris unceasingly spied for bear, for nine mortal
+hours Jane and I camped out on a remarkably hard and unyielding stone,
+varied by other seats equally tiresome.
+
+Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony
+by observing the habits of a pair of “kastooras,” a hawk, and a brace
+of chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.
+
+At four o’clock the sons of Nimrod returned, declaring that the bear
+had been seen, but that as we had on chaplies and not grass shoes, it
+would be impossible for us to pursue him. I asked the shikari why the
+—— goose he had let me come out in chaplies instead of grass shoes if
+the country was so rough? His reply was to the effect that whatever it
+pleased me to wear pleased him!
+
+_May_ 4.—Armed _cap-à-pie_ so to speak, with pith helmets and grass
+shoes, we again set forth at dawn of day to hunt the bear. Breakfast
+under the same tree, sitting on the same patch of rose-coloured
+flowers—a sort of fumitory (_Corydalus rutaefolia_)—followed by another
+nine-hour bivouac, brought us to 5 P.M. and the extreme limit of
+boredom, when lo! the shikaris burst upon us in a state of frenzied
+excitement to announce the bear! Off we went up a steep track for a
+quarter of an hour, until, at the foot of a rough snow slope, the
+shikari told the much disgusted Jane that she must wait there, the rest
+of the climb being too hard for her, and, in truth, it was pretty bad.
+Up a very steep gully filled with loose stones and rotten snow,
+scrambling, and often hauling ourselves up with our hands by means of
+roots and trailing branches, we slowly worked our way up a place I
+would never have even attempted in cold blood.
+
+Twenty minutes’ severe exertion brought us to a shelf, or rather slope,
+of rock on the right, sparsely covered with wiry brown grass from which
+the snow had but very recently gone, and crowned by a crest of stunted
+pines. Up this we wriggled, I being mainly towed up by my shikari’s
+cummerbund, and, lying under a pine, we peered over the top.
+
+A steep gully divided us from a rough ridge, upon a grassy ledge of
+which, about 200 yards off, a big black beast was grubbing and rooting
+about.
+
+The shikari, shaking with excitement, handed me the rifle, urging me to
+shoot. I did nothing of the sort, having no breath, and my hand being
+unsteady from a fast and stiff climb.
+
+I regret to be obliged to admit that, not realising that it would be
+little short of miraculous to kill a bear stone-dead at 200 yards with
+a Mannlicher, and being also, naturally, somewhat carried away by the
+sight of a real bear within possible distance, I waited until I was
+perfectly steady, and fired. The brute fell over, but immediately
+picked himself up again and made off. I saw I had broken his
+fore-shoulder and fired again as he disappeared over the far side of
+the ledge, but missed, and I saw that bear no more.
+
+We had the utmost difficulty in crossing the precipitous gully to a
+spot below the ledge upon which the beast had been feeding—the ledge
+itself we could not reach at all; and the lateness of the hour and the
+difficulty of the country in which we were, prevented us from trying to
+enter the next ravine and work up and back by the way the bear had
+gone. A neck-breaking crawl down a horrible grass slope brought us to
+better ground, and I sadly joined Jane to be well and deservedly
+scolded for firing a foolish shot. The lady was very much disgusted at
+having been defrauded of the sight of a bear “quite wild,” as she
+expressed it—a certain short-tempered animal which had eaten up her
+best umbrella in the Zoo at Dusseldorf not having fulfilled the
+necessary condition of wildness.
+
+Next day I sent out coolies to search for traces, promising lavish
+“backshish” in the event of success, but I got no trustworthy news,
+“and that was the end of that hunting.”
+
+_May_ 6.—Jane took a respite from the chase, and I sallied forth alone
+at dawn up a nullah from Alsu to look for a bear which was said to
+frequent those parts. A brisk walk of some four miles over the flat,
+followed by a climb up a track—steep as usual—to the left of the main
+track to the Lolab, brought us to a grassy ridge, where I sat down
+patiently to await the bear’s pleasure. I took my note-book with me,
+and whiled away some time in writing the following:—
+
+Let me jot down a sketch of my present position and surroundings; it
+will serve to bring the scene back to me, perhaps, when I am again
+sitting in my own particular armchair watching the fat thrushes hopping
+about the lawn.
+
+Well, I am perched in a little hollow under a big grey boulder, which
+serves to shelter me to a certain, but limited, extent from the brisk
+showers that come sweeping over from the Lolab Valley. The hollow is so
+small that it barely contains my tiffin basket, rifle, gun, and self—in
+fact, my grass-shod and puttied extremities dangle over the rim, whence
+a steep slope shelves down some 200 feet to a brawling burn, the hum of
+which, mingling with the fitful sighing of the pines as the breeze
+sweeps through their sounding boughs, is perpetually in my ears. Across
+the little torrent, and not more than a hundred yards away, rises a
+slope, covered with rough grass and scrub, similar to that in the face
+of which I am ensconced.
+
+Here the bear was seen at 7 A.M. by a Gujar, who gave the fullest
+particulars to Ahmed Bot (my shikari) in a series of yells from a
+hill-top as we came up the valley. We arrived on the scene about seven,
+just in time to be too late, apparently. It is now 3 P.M., and the bear
+is supposed to be asleep, and I am possessing my soul in patience until
+it shall be Bruin’s pleasure to awake and sally forth for his afternoon
+tea.
+
+There is certainly no bear now, so I pass the time in sleeping, eating,
+smoking, writing, and observing the manners and customs of a family of
+monkeys who are disporting themselves in a deep glen to the left.
+Beyond this ravine rises a high spur, beautifully wooded, the principal
+trees being deodar, blue pine (_Excelsa_) and yew. This is sloped at
+the invariable and disgusting angle of 45 degrees. Beyond it rise
+further wooded slopes, with snow gleaming through the deep green, and
+above all is the changing sky, where the clear blue gives way to a
+billowy expanse of white rolling clouds or dark rain-laden masses,
+which pour into the upper clefts of the ravine, and blot out the
+serried ranks of the pines, until a thorough drenching seems
+inevitable—when lo! a glint of blue through the gloomy background, and
+soon again,
+
+“With never a stain, the pavilion of Heaven is bare.”
+
+
+The immediate foreground, as I said before, slopes sharply from my very
+feet, where a clump of wild sage and jasmin (the leaves just breaking)
+grows over a charming little bunch of sweet violets. Lower down I can
+see the lilac flowers of a self-heal, and the bottom of the little
+gorge is clothed with a bush like a hazel, only with large, soft
+whitish flowers.
+
+My solitude has just been enlivened by the appearance of a cheerful
+party of lovely birds. They are very busy among the “hazels,” flying
+from bush to bush with restless activity, and wasting no time in
+idleness. They are about the size of large finches—slender in shape,
+with longish tails. They are divided into two perfectly distinct kinds,
+probably male and female. The former have the back, head, and wings
+black; the latter barred with scarlet, the breast and underparts also
+scarlet. The others—which I assume to be the females—replace the black
+with ashy olive, the wings being barred with yellow, the underparts
+yellowish. The very familiar note of the cuckoo, somewhere up in the
+jungle, reminds me of an English spring.
+
+4 P.M.—I knew it! I knew that if the wind held down the nullah I should
+be dragged up that horrible ridge opposite. Hardly had I written the
+above when I was hunted from my lair, and rushed down 200 steep feet,
+and then up some 500 or 600 on the other side of the stream, through an
+abattis of clinging undergrowth that made a severe toil of what could
+never have been a pleasure. There can be no doubt but that a pith
+helmet—a really shady, broad one—is a most infernal machine under which
+to force one’s way through brushwood.
+
+Well, all things come to an end—wind first, temper next, and finally
+the journey.
+
+My shikari is a fiend in human shape. He slinks along on the flat at
+what _looks_ like a mild three-miles-an-hour constitutional, but unless
+you are a _real_ four-mile man you will be left hopelessly astern; but
+when he gets upon his favourite “one in one” slope, then does he simply
+sail away, with the tiffin coolie carrying a fat basket and all your
+spare lumber in his wake, while you toil upward and ever
+upwards—gasping—until with your last available breath you murmur
+“Asti,” and sink upon the nearest stone a limp, perspiring worm!
+
+5.30 P.M.—That bear has taken a sleeping draught!
+
+I am now perched on a lonely rock, my hard taskmaster having routed me
+out of a very comfortable place under a blue pine, whose discarded
+needles afforded me a really agreeable resting-place, and dragged me
+away down again through the pine forest and jungle; hurried me across a
+roaring torrent on a fallen tree trunk; personally conducted me hastily
+up a place like the roof of a house; and finally, explaining that the
+bear, when disturbed, must inevitably come close past me, has departed
+with his staff (the chota shikari, the tiffin coolie, and a
+baboon-faced native) to wake up the bear and send him along.
+
+After the first flurry of feeling all alone in the world, with only a
+probable bear for society, and having loaded all my guns, clasped my
+visor on my head and my Bessemer hug-proof strait-waistcoat round my
+“tummy,” I felt calm enough to await events with equanimity.
+
+6.15 P.M.—A large and solemn monkey is sitting on the top of a thick
+and squat yew tree regarding me with unfeigned interest. The torrent is
+roaring away in the cleft below. Nothing else seems alive, and I am
+becoming bored——What? A bear? No! The shikari, thank goodness!
+
+“Well, shikari—Baloo dekho hai?” No, it is passing strange, but he has
+_not_ seen a bear. “All right! Pick up the blunderbuss, and let us make
+tracks for the ship.”
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 10.—Beguiled by legends of many bears, detailed to me
+with apparently heartfelt sincerity by Ahmed Bot, I have been pursuing
+these phantoms industriously.
+
+On Monday we quitted our boat, and started upon a trip into the Lolab
+Valley. The views, as the path wound up the green and flower-spangled
+slope, were very beautiful, and, when we had ascended about 1500 feet
+and were about opposite to the supposed haunt of Saturday’s bear, we
+determined to camp and enjoy the scenery, not omitting an evening
+expedition in search of our shy friend.
+
+Jane joining me, we had a most charming ramble down a narrow track to
+the bed of the stream which rushes down from the snow-covered ridge
+guarding the Lolab. Here we crossed into a splendid belt of gaunt
+silver firs, the first I have seen here; whitish yellow marsh-marigolds
+and a most vivid “smalt” blue forget-me-not with large flowers were
+abundant, also an oxalis very like our own wood-sorrel.
+
+Emerging from the pines, we crossed a grassy slope covered with tall
+primulas (P. _denticulata_) of varying shades of mauve and lilac, and
+sat down for a bit among the flowers while the shikaris looked for
+game. (I need hardly remark that the noble but elusive beast had
+appeared on the scene shortly after I left on Saturday; a Gujar told
+the shikari, and the shikari told me, so it must be true.) When we had
+gathered as many flowers as we could carry, we strolled back to the
+camp to watch the sunset transmute the snowy crest of Haramok to a
+golden rose.
+
+Yesterday, Tuesday, I left the camp at dawn, and went all over the same
+ground, but with no better success, only seeing a couple of bara singh,
+hornless now, and therefore comparatively uninteresting from a “shikar”
+point of view. After a delightful but bearless ramble I returned to
+breakfast, and then we struck camp, and completed the ascent of the
+pass over into the Lolab. Arrived at the top, we turned off the path to
+the right, and, climbing a short way, came out upon the lower part of
+the Nagmarg, a pretty, open clearing among the pines where the grass,
+dotted thickly with yellow colchicum, was only showing here and there
+through the melting snow. Choosing a snug and dry place on some
+sun-warmed rocks at the foot of a tree, we prepared to lunch and laze,
+and soon spread abroad the contents of the tiffin basket.
+
+There is something, nay much, of charm in the utter freedom and
+solitude of Kashmir camp life. There is no beaten track to be followed
+diligently by the tourist, German, American, or British, guide-book in
+hand and guide at elbow. No empty sardine-tins, nor untidy scraps of
+paper, mar the clean and lonely margs or village camping-grounds.
+
+The happy wanderer, selecting a grassy dell or convenient shady tree
+with a clear spring or dancing rivulet near by, invokes the tiffin
+coolie, and if a duly watchful eye has been kept upon that incorrigible
+sluggard, in short space the contents of the basket deck the sward.
+What have we here? Yes, of course, cold chicken—
+
+“For beef is rare within these oxless isles.”
+
+
+Bread! (how lucky we sent that coolie into Srinagar the other day).
+Butter, nicely stowed in its little white jar, cheese-cakes (one of the
+Sabz Ali’s masterpieces), and a few unconsidered trifles in the form of
+“jam pups” and a stick of chocolate.
+
+Whisky is there, if required, but really the cold spring water is
+“delicate to drink” without spirituous accompaniment.
+
+Hunger appeased, the beauty of the surrounding scenery becomes
+intensified when seen through the balmy veil of smoke caused by the
+consumption of a mild cheroot, and peace and contentment reign while we
+feed the sprightly crows with chicken bones and bits of cheese rind.
+
+Shall we ever forget—Jane and I—that simple feast on the Nagmarg?
+
+The sloping snow melting into little rills which trickled through the
+fresh-springing flower-strewn grass; the extraordinary blue of the
+hillsides overlooking the Lolab Valley seen through the sloping boughs
+of the pines; the crows hopping audaciously around or croaking on a
+dried branch just above our heads; and above all, the glorious sense of
+freedom, of aloofness from all disturbing elements, of utter and
+irresponsible independence in a lovely land unspoiled by hand of man?
+
+The afternoon sun smote us full in the face as we descended the bare
+and not too smooth path that led into the valley, and we were right
+glad to reach the shade of a grove of deodars that covered the lower
+slopes of the hill. The Lolab Valley, into which we had now penetrated,
+is a rich and picturesque expanse of level plain, some fifteen miles
+long by three or four broad, apparently completely surrounded by a
+densely-wooded curtain of mountains, rising to an elevation of some
+3000 feet above the valley on the south and west, but ranging on the
+other sides up into the lofty summits which bar the route into Gurais
+and the Tilail. The mountain chain is not really continuous, the river
+Pohru, which drains the valley, finding outlet to the west e’er it
+bends sharply to the south and enters the Wular near Sopor.
+
+Perhaps the most noticeable objects in the Lolab are the walnut trees;
+they are now just coming into full leaf, and their great trunks, hoary
+with age and softly velveted with dark green moss, form the noble
+columns of many a lovely camping-ground. We pitched our tents at
+Lalpura in a grove of giants, the majesty of which formed an exquisite
+contrast to the white foam of a cluster of apple trees in bloom.
+
+It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
+sketching, and enjoying the _dolce far niente_ of an idle life.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 14.—On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam, a
+short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest
+officer,[1] had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at
+our disposal; but, as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we
+are obliged to camp every night. We have been working along the north
+side of the Lolab, as the shikari is full of bear “khubbar,” and as
+long as the weather remains fair we really do not much care where we
+go! Skirting the foot of the wooded ridge on our right, and with the
+flat and populous levels of the valley on our left, we marched along a
+good path shaded in many places by the magnificent walnuts and snowy
+fruit-trees for which the Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the
+Pohru by a rickety bridge, and toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached
+Kulgam, nestling at the foot of the hills.
+
+[1] Commonly called the “Jungly-sahib.”
+
+
+After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the
+village to look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as
+usual, and the path none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb
+deserved to be rewarded by, at any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed
+Bot having sent a special message to the Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing
+him to keep the nullah quiet, we were justly incensed when, having
+toiled up some couple of thousand weary feet, we met a gay party of the
+_élite_ of Kulgam prancing down the hill with blankets stuffed with
+wild leeks, or some such delicacy.
+
+Ahmed Bot showed reckless courage. Having overwhelmed the enemy with a
+vituperative broadside, he fell upon them single-handed, tore from them
+their cherished blankets, and spilt the leeks to the four winds.
+
+I expected nothing less than to be promptly hurled down the khud, with
+Jill after me, by the six enraged burghers of Kulgam. But no. They
+simply sat down together on a rock, and blubbered loud and long; we sat
+down opposite them on another rock and laughed, and laughed—tableau!
+
+On Friday I went for a delightful walk through the pine and deodar
+forests, the ostensible objective being, of course, a bear. Putting
+aside all ideas of sport, I gave myself up to the simple joy of mere
+existence in such a land; noting a handsome iris with broad red lilac
+blooms, which I had not seen before; listening to the intermittent
+voice of the cuckoo, and pausing every here and there to gaze over the
+fair valley, backed by its encircling ranges of sunlit mountains.
+
+The chota shikari is a youth of great activity, both mental and
+physical. He almost wept with excitement on observing the mark of a
+bear’s paw on a dusty bit of path. He said it was a bear which had left
+that paw-mark, so I believed him. Late in the dusk of the afternoon he
+_saw_ a bear sitting looking out of a cave. I could only make out a
+black hole, but he saw its ears move. I regarded the spot with a
+powerful telescope, but only saw more hole; still, I cannot doubt the
+chota shikari. The burra shikari saw it too, but was of opinion that it
+was too late to go and bag it. I think he was right, so we went back to
+camp without further adventure.
+
+Yesterday we left Kulgam, and followed up a track to a small village
+which lies at the foot of the track leading over to Gurais and the
+Tilail country. Here we camped in a grove of walnuts, which stood by an
+icy spring. Jane and I went for a stroll, watched a couple of small
+woodpeckers hunting the trunk of a young fir within a few feet of us,
+but retreated hurriedly to camp on the approach of a heavy
+thunderstorm. This was but the prelude to a bad break in the weather;
+all to-day it has rained in torrents, and everything is sopping and
+soaked. The little stream which yesterday trickled by the camp is
+become a young river, and it is a perfect mystery how Sabz Ali manages
+to cook our food over a fire guarded from the full force of the rain by
+blankets propped up with sticks, and how, having cooked it, he can
+bring it, still hot, across the twenty yards of rain-swept space which
+intervenes between the cook-house and our tent.
+
+_Monday, May_ 15.—The deluge continued all night, and only at about ten
+o’clock this forenoon did the heavy curtain of rain break up into
+ragged swirls of cloud, which, torn by the serrated ridges of the
+gloomy pines, rolled dense and dark up the gorges, resonant now with
+the roar of full-fed torrents.
+
+The men are all beginning to complain of fever, and have eaten up a
+great quantity of quinine. Considering the dismal conditions under
+which they have been living for the last couple of days, this is not
+surprising; so, with the first promise of an improvement in the
+weather, we struck camp, determined to make for the forest bungalow at
+Doras and obtain the shelter of a solid roof. Many showers, but no
+serious downpour, enlivened our march, and we arrived at the snug
+little wooden house just in time to escape a particularly fine specimen
+of a thunderstorm. The Doras bungalow seemed a very palace of luxury,
+with its dry, airy rooms and wide verandah, all of sweet-smelling
+deodar wood. The men, too, were thankful to have a good roof over their
+heads, and we heard no more of fever.
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 17.—Yesterday it rained without ceasing, until the
+valley in front of us took the appearance of a lake—A party of terns,
+white above and with black breasts, skirled and wrangled over the
+“casual” water. It was still very wet this morning, but as it cleared
+somewhat after breakfast, we made up our minds to quit the Lolab and
+get back to our boat.
+
+Doras has sad memories for Jane, for here died the “chota murghi,” a
+black chicken endowed with the most affectionate disposition. It was
+permitted to sit on the lady’s knee, and scratch its yellow beak with
+its little yellow claw; but I never cared to let it remain long upon my
+shoulder—a perch it ardently affected. Well! it is dead, poor dear, and
+whether from shock (the pony which carried its basket having fallen
+down with it _en route_ from “Walnut Camp”), or from a surfeit of
+caterpillars which were washed in myriads off the trees there, we
+cannot tell. Sabz Ali brought the little corpse along, holding it by
+one pathetic leg to show the horrified Jane, before giving it to the
+kites and crows. He has many “murghis” left; baskets full, as he says,
+for they are cheap in the Lolab, but we shall never love another so
+dearly.
+
+We had a shocking time while climbing to the pass which leads over to
+Rampur, the road being deep in slimy mud, and so slippery that the
+unfortunate baggage ponies could hardly get along. Jane, who is in
+splendid condition now, toiled nobly up a track which would have been
+delightful had the weather been a little less hideous.
+
+Reaching the ridge which divides the Lolab from the Pohru Valley, we
+turned to the left, along the edge, instead of descending forthwith, as
+we had hoped and expected to do. It was raw and cold, with flying
+wreaths of damp mist shutting out the view, and we were glad of a
+comforting tiffin, swallowed somewhat hurriedly, under a forlorn and
+stunted specimen of a blue pine. Then on along a rough and slippery
+catwalk that made us wonder if the baggage ponies would achieve a safe
+arrival at Rampur.
+
+Crossing a steep, rock-strewn ridge, covered with crown imperial in
+full flower, we began a sharp descent through a wood of deodars; and
+now the thunder, which had been grumbling and rumbling in the distance,
+came upon us, and a deafening peal sent us scurrying down the hill at
+our best pace; the lightning-blasted trunks stretching skywards their
+blackened and tempest-torn limbs in ghastly witness of what had been
+and what might be again.
+
+At last we cleared the wood, and, plunging across a perfect slough of
+deep mud, crawled on to the verandah of the Rampur forest-house, where
+we sat anxiously watching the hillside until we saw our faithful ponies
+safely sliding down the hill.
+
+_Thursday, May_ 18.—The changes of weather in this country are sudden
+and surprising. This morning we woke to a perfect day—the sun bathing
+the warm hillsides, the picturesque brown village, and the brilliant
+masses of snowy blossoming fruit-trees with a radiant smile. And, but
+for the tell-tale riot of the streams and the sponginess of the
+compound, there was nothing to betray the past misdeeds of the clerk of
+the weather.
+
+At noon we set out to cover the short distance that lay between us and
+Kunis, where we had made tryst with Satarah. The country was like a
+series of English woodland glades—watered by many purling streams, and
+bright with masses of apple blossom; the turf around the trees all
+white and pink with petals torn from the branches by the recent storms.
+Clumps of fir clothed the hills with sombre green—a perfect background
+to a perfect picture.
+
+The flowers all along our path to-day were much in evidence after the
+rain. Little prickly rose-bushes (_R. Webbiana_) were covered with pink
+blossoms just bursting into full glory; bushes of white may, yellow
+berberis, Daphne (_Oleoides?_), and many another flowering shrub grew
+in tangled profusion, while pimpernel (red and blue), a small androsace
+(_rotundifolia_), hawks-bit, stork’s bill, wild geranium, a tiny
+mallow, eye-bright, forget-me-not, a little yellow oxalis, a speedwell,
+and many another, to me unknown, blossom starred the roadside. In the
+fields round Kunis the poppies flared, and the iris bordered the fields
+with a ribbon of royal purple.
+
+We reached Kunis at two o’clock, and found the village half submerged,
+the water being up and over the low shores from the recent rain. Our
+boats were moored in a clump of willows, whose feet stood so deeply in
+the water that we had to embark on pony-back! After lunch came the
+usual difference of opinion with the Admiral, who seems to have great
+difficulty in grasping the fact that our will is law as to times and
+seasons for sailing. He always assumes the rôle of passive resister,
+and is always defeated with ignominy. He insisted that it was too late
+to think of reaching Bandipur, but we maintained that we could get at
+any rate part of the way; so he cast off from his willow-tree, and
+sulkily poked and poled out into the Wular, taking uncommon good care
+to hug the shore with fervour.
+
+Here and there a group of willows standing far out into the lake, or a
+half-drowned village, drove us out into the open water, and once when,
+like a latter-day Vasco de Gama, the Admiral was striving to double the
+dreadful promontory of a water-logged fence, a puff of wind fell upon
+us, lashing the smooth water into ripples, whereupon the crew lost
+their wits with fright, and the lady mariners in the cook-boat set up a
+dismal howling; the ark, taking charge, crashed through the fence, her
+way carrying us to the very door of a frontier villa of an amphibious
+village. With amazing alacrity the crew tied us up to the door-post,
+and prepared to go into winter quarters.
+
+This did not suit us at all, and
+
+“The harmless storm being ended,”
+
+
+we ruthlessly broke away from our haven of refuge, and safely arrived
+at Alsu.
+
+_Friday, May_ 19.—An ominous stillness and repose at 3 o’clock this
+morning sent me forth to see why the windlass was not being manned. A
+thing like a big grey bat flapping about, proved, on inspection, to be
+that rascal the Lord High Admiral Satarah. He said he could not start,
+as the hired coolies from Kunis had been so terrified by the horrors of
+yesterday that they had departed in the night, sacrificing their pay
+rather than run any more risks with such daredevils as the mem-sahib
+and me. This was vexatious and entirely unexpected, as I had never
+before known a coolie to bolt before pay-day. Sabz Ali and Satarah were
+promptly despatched on a pressgang foray, while I put to sea with the
+first-lieutenant to show that I meant business. A crew was found in a
+surprisingly short time, and a frenzied dart was made for the mouth of
+the Jhelum.
+
+All day we poled round the shore of the lake, over flooded fields where
+the mustard had spread its cloth of gold a short week ago, over the
+very hedges we had scrambled through when duck-shooting in April, until
+in the evening we entered the river just below Sumbal.
+
+The towing-path was almost, in many places quite, under water, and the
+whole country looked most forlorn and melancholy as the sun went down—a
+pale yellow ball in a pale yellow haze.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 21.—All yesterday we towed up the river against a current
+which ran swift and strong.
+
+The passage of the bridge at Surahal gave us some trouble, as the
+flooded river brought our upper works within a narrow distance of the
+highest point of the span, but we finally scraped through with the loss
+of a portion of the railing which decorated our upper deck.
+
+The strain of towing was severe, so, when a brisk squall and
+threatening thunder-shower overtook us at the mouth of the Sind River,
+we decided to tie up there for the night.
+
+This morning we started at four o’clock, but only reached our berth at
+Srinagar at two, having spent no less than six hours in forcing the
+boats by pole and rope for the last three miles through the town! An
+incredible amount of panting, pushing, yelling, and hauling, with
+frantic invocations to “Jampaws” and other saints, was required to
+enable us to crawl inch by inch against the racing water which met us
+in the narrow canal below the Palace.
+
+All’s well that ends well, and here we are once more in Srinagar, after
+a trip which has been really delightful, albeit the weather latterly
+has not been by any means all that could have been desired, and we have
+slain no bears![2]
+
+[2] Can it be that Bernier was right? “Il ne s’y trouve ni serpens, ni
+tigres, ni ours, ni lions, si ce n’est très rarement.”—_Voyage de
+Kachemire_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+SRINAGAR AGAIN
+
+
+We have spent the last three weeks or so quietly in Srinagar, our boats
+forming links in the long chain that, during the “season,” extends for
+miles along both banks of the river. A large contingent of amphibians
+dwells in the canal leading to the Dal gates, and the Chenar Bagh,
+sacred to the bachelor, shows not a spare inch along its shady length.
+
+Not being either professional globe-trotters or Athenians, we have not
+felt obliged to be perpetually in high-strung pursuit of some new
+thing; and to the seeker after mild and modest enjoyment there is much
+to be said in favour of a sojourn at Srinagar.
+
+Polo, gymkhanas, lawn-tennis, picnics, and golf are everyday
+occurrences, followed by a rendezvous at the club, where every one
+congregates for a smoke and chat, until the sun goes down behind the
+poplars, and the swift shikaras come darting over the stream like
+water-beetles to carry off the sahibs to their boats, to dress, dine,
+and reassemble for “bridge,” or perhaps a dance at Nedou’s Hotel, or at
+that most hospitable hub of Srinagar, the Residency.
+
+Polo is, naturally, practically restricted to the man who brings up his
+ponies from the Punjab, but golf is for all, and the nine-hole course,
+although flat, is not stale, and need not be unprofitable, unless you
+are fallen upon—as I was—by two stalwart Sappers, sons of Canada and
+potent wielders of the cleek, who gave me enough to do to keep my
+rupees in my pocket and the honour of the mother country upheld!
+
+On May 26th we took shikara and paddled across the Dal Lake to see
+something of the Mohammedan festival, consisting in a pilgrimage to the
+Mosque of Hasrat Bal, where a hair of the prophet’s beard is the
+special object of adoration.
+
+As we neared the goal the plot thickened. Hundreds of boats—from
+enormous doungas containing the noisy inhabitants of, I should suppose,
+a whole village, down to the tiniest shikara, whose passenger was
+perched with careful balance to retain a margin of safety to his two
+inches of freeboard—converged upon the crowded bank, above which rose
+the mosque.
+
+How can I best attempt to describe the din, the crush, the light, the
+colour? Was it like Henley? Well, perhaps it might be considered as a
+mad, fantastic Henley. Replace the fair ladies and the startling
+“blazers” with veiled houris and their lords clad in all colours of the
+rainbow; for one immortal “Squash” put hundreds of “squashes,” all
+playing upon weird instruments, or singing in “a singular minor key”;
+let the smell of outlandish cookery be wafted to you from the “family”
+boats and from the bivouacs on the shore; let a constant uproar fall
+upon your ears as when the Hall defeats Third Trinity by half a length;
+and, finally, for the flat banks of Father Thames and the trim lawns of
+Phyllis Court, you must substitute the Nasim Bagh crowned with its huge
+chenars, and Mahadco looking down upon you from his thirteen thousand
+feet of precipice and snow.
+
+Half-an-hour of this kaleidoscopic whirl of gaiety satisfied us. The
+sun, in spite of an awning, was a little trying, so we sought the quiet
+and shade of the Nasim Bagh for lunch and repose.
+
+Returning towards Srinagar about sundown, we stopped to visit the
+ancient Mosque of Hassanabad, which stands on a narrow inlet or creek
+of the Dal Lake, shaded by chenars and willows in all their fresh
+spring green. A little lawn of softest turf slopes up gently to the
+ruined mosque, of which a portion of an apse and vaulted dome alone
+stand sentinel over its fallen greatness. Around lie the tombs of
+princes, whose bones have mouldered for eight hundred years under the
+irises, which wave their green sabres crowned with royal purple in the
+whispering twilight.
+
+Near by, the mud and timber walls of a ziarat stand, softly brown,
+supporting a deeply overhanging, grass-grown roof, blazing with scarlet
+tulips. Through its very centre, and as though supporting it, pierces
+the gnarled trunk of a walnut tree, reminding one of Ygdrasil, the
+Upholder of the Universe.
+
+_May_ 27.—What an improvement it would be if a house-dounga could be
+fitted with torpedo netting! Jane finds herself in the most
+embarrassing situations, while dressing in the morning, from the
+unwelcome pertinacity of the merchants who swarm up the river in the
+early hours from their lairs, and lay themselves alongside the helpless
+house-boats.
+
+By 10 A.M. we have to repel boarders in all directions. Mr. Sami Joo is
+endeavouring to sell boots from the bow, while Guffar Ali is pressing
+embroidery on our acceptance from the stern. Ali Jan is in a boat full
+of carved-wood rubbish on the starboard side, while Samad Shah,
+Sabhana, and half-a-dozen other robbers line the river bank opposite
+our port windows and clamour for custom. A powerful garden-hose of
+considerable calibre might be useful, but for the present I have given
+Sabz Ali orders to rig out long poles, which will prevent the enemy
+from so easily getting to close quarters.
+
+_June_ 17.—It is quite curious that it should be so difficult to find
+time to keep up this journal. Mark Twain, in that best of burlesques,
+_The Innocents Abroad_ affirms, if I remember rightly, that you could
+not condemn your worst enemy to greater suffering than to bind him down
+to keep an accurate diary for a year.
+
+It is the inexorable necessity for writing day by day one’s impressions
+that becomes so trying; and yet it must be done daily if it is to be
+done at all, for the only virtue I can attain to in writing is truth;
+and impressions from memory, like sketches from memory, are of no value
+from the hand of any but a master.
+
+The time set apart for diary-writing is the hour which properly
+intervenes between chota hasri and the announcement of my bath; but,
+somehow, there never seems to be very much time. Either the early tea
+is late or bath is early, or a shikar expedition, with a grass slipper
+in pursuit of flies, takes up the precious moments, and so the business
+of the day gets all behindhand.
+
+The fly question is becoming serious. Personally, I do not consider
+that fleas, mosquitoes, or any other recognised insect pests
+(excepting, perhaps, harvest bugs) are so utterly unendurable as the
+“little, busy, thirsty fly.” It seems odd, too, as he neither stings
+nor bites, that he should be so objectionable; but his tickly method of
+walking over your nose or down your neck, and the exasperating
+pertinacity with which he refuses to take “no” for an answer when you
+flick him delicately with a handkerchief, but “cuts” and comes again,
+maddens you until you rise, bloody-minded in your wrath, and, seizing
+the nearest sledgehammer, fall upon the brute as he sits twiddling his
+legs in a sunny patch on the table, then lo—
+
+“Unwounded from the dreadful close “—
+
+
+he frisks cheerfully away, leaving you to gather up cursefully the
+fragments of the china bowl your wife bought yesterday in the bazaar!
+
+How he manages to congregate in his legions in this ship is a mystery.
+Every window is guarded by “meat safe” blinds of wire gauze; the doors
+are, normally, kept shut; and yet, after one has swept round like an
+irate whirlwind with a grass slipper, and slain or desperately wounded
+every visible fly in the cabin, and at last sat down again to pant and
+paint, hoping for surcease from annoyance, not five minutes pass before
+one, two, nay, a round dozen of the miscreants are gaily licking the
+moisture off the cobalt (may they die in agony!), or trying to swim
+across the glass of water, or playing hop-scotch on the nape of my
+neck.
+
+From what mysterious lair or hidden orifice they come I know not, but
+here they are in profusion until another massacre of the innocents is
+decreed.
+
+It is a sound thing to go round one’s sleeping-cabin at night before
+“turning in,” and make a bag of all that can be found “dreaming the
+happy hours away” on the bulkheads and ceiling. It sends us to bed in
+the virtuous frame of mind of the Village Blacksmith—
+
+“Something attempted, something done,
+Has earned a night’s repose”
+
+
+There are other microbes besides flies in Kashmir which are
+exasperating—coolies, for instance.
+
+I had engaged men through Chattar Singh (the State Transport factotum
+at Srinagar) to take us up the river, and decreed that we should start
+at 4 A.M. yesterday.
+
+We had been to an _al fresco_ gathering at the Residency the night
+before, and so were rather sleepy in the early morning, and I did not
+wake at four o’clock. At six we had not got far on our way, and at ten
+we were but level with Pandrettan, barely three miles from Srinagar as
+the crow (that model of rectilinear volition) flies.
+
+I was busy painting all the forenoon, and failed to note the sluggish
+steps of our coolies, but in the afternoon it was borne in upon us that
+if we wanted to reach Avantipura that night, as we had arranged, a
+little acceleration was necessary.
+
+Then the trouble began. The coolies were bone-lazy, the admiral and
+first-lieutenant were sulky, and the weather was stuffy and threatened
+thunder—the conditions were altogether detrimental to placidity of
+temper.
+
+By sunset we had the shikari, the kitchen-maid, and the sweeper on the
+tow-rope, and even the great and good Sabz Ali was seen to bear a hand
+in poling. Much recrimination now ensued between Sabz Ali and the
+Admiral, and the whole crowd made the air resound with Kashmiri
+“language,” every one, apparently, abusing everybody else, and making
+very nasty remarks about their lady ancestors.
+
+At 10 P.M. I got four more coolies from a village, apparently chiefly
+inhabited by dogs, who deeply resented our proximity, and at 2 o’clock
+this morning we reached the haven where we would be—Avantipura.
+
+This morning I discharged the Srinagar coolies and took a fresh lot,
+who pull better and talk less.
+
+How differently things may be put and yet the truth retained. Yesterday
+we reclined at our ease in our cosy floating cottage, towed up the
+lovely river by a picturesque crew of bronze Kashmiris, the swish of
+the passing water only broken by their melodious voices. The brilliancy
+of the morning gave way in the afternoon to a soft haze which fell over
+the snowy ranges, mellowing their clear tones to a soft and pearly
+grey, while the reflections of the big chenars which graced the river
+bank deepened us the afternoon shadows lengthened and spread over the
+wide landscape. Towards evening we strolled along the river bank
+plucking the ripe mulberries, and idly watching the terns and
+kingfishers busily seeking their suppers over the glassy water; and at
+night we sat on deck while the moon rose higher in the quiet sky, and
+the dark river banks assumed a clearer ebony as she rose above the
+lofty fringe of trees, until the towing-path lay a track of pure silver
+reaching away to the dim belt of woodland which shrouded Avantipura.
+
+That is a perfectly accurate description of the day, and so is this:—
+
+It was very hot—and there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun on
+board a wooden house-dounga. The flies, too, were unusually malevolent,
+and I could scarcely paint, and my wife could hardly read by reason of
+their unwelcome attentions.
+
+The coolies were a poor lot and a slack, and as the day grew stuffier
+and sultrier so did their efforts on the tow-path become “small by
+degrees and beautifully less.”
+
+That irrepressible bird—the old cock—refused to consider himself as
+under arrest in his hen-coop, and insisted upon crowing about fifteen
+times a minute with that fidgeting irregularity which seems peculiar to
+certain unpleasant sounds, and which retains the ear fixed in nervous
+tension for the next explosion of defiance or pride, or whatever evil
+impulse it is which causes a cock to crow.
+
+Driven overboard by the cock, and a feeling that exercise would be
+beneficial, we landed in the afternoon, and plodded along the bank for
+some miles. The innumerable mulberry trees are loaded with ripe fruit,
+the ground below being literally black with fallen berries. We ate
+some, and pronounced them to be but mawkish things.
+
+After dinner we sat on deck, as the lamp smelt too strongly to let us
+enjoy ourselves in the cabin, and the coolies on the bank and the
+people in our boat and those in the cook-boat engaged in a triangular
+duel of words, until the last few grains of my patience ran through the
+glass, and I spake with _my_ tongue.
+
+There is certainly some curious quality in the air of this country
+which affects the nerves: maybe it is the elevation at which one
+lives—certain it is that many people complain of unwonted irritability
+and susceptibility to petty annoyances. And, while travelling in
+Kashmir is easy and comfortable enough along beaten tracks, yet the
+petty worries connected with all matters of transport and supply are
+incessant, and become much more serious if one cannot speak or
+understand Hindustani.
+
+It takes some little time for the Western mind to grasp the fact that
+the Kashmiri cannot and must not be treated on the “man and brothel”
+principle.
+
+He is by nature a slave, and his brain is in many respects the
+undeveloped brain of a child; in certain ways, however, his outward
+childishness conceals the subtlety of the Heathen Chinee.
+
+He has in no degree come to comprehend the dignity of labour any more
+than a Poplar pauper comprehends it, but fortunately his Guardians,
+while granting certain advantages in his tenure of land and payment of
+rent, have bound him, in return, to work for a fair payment, when
+required to do so by his Government, as exercised by the local
+Tehsildhar.
+
+The demand made upon a village for coolies is not, therefore, an
+arbitrary and high-handed system of bullying, but simply a call upon
+the villages to fulfil their obligation towards the State by doing a
+fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay of from four to six annas.
+
+I do not, of course, propose to entangle myself in the working of the
+Land Settlement, which is most fully and admirably explained in
+Lawrence’s _Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+The coolie, drawn from his native village reluctant, like a periwinkle
+from its shell, is never a good starter, and when he finds himself at
+the end of a tow-rope or bowed beneath half a hundredweight of the
+sahib’s trinkets, with a three-thousand-feet pass to attain in front of
+him, he is extremely apt to burst into tears—idle tears—or be overcome
+by a fit of that fell disease—“the lurgies.” Lest my reader should not
+be acquainted with this illness, at least under that name, here is the
+diagnosis of the lurgies as given by a very ordinary seaman to the
+ship’s doctor.
+
+“Well, sir, I eats well, and I sleeps well; but when I’ve got a job of
+work to do—Lor’ bless you, sir! I breaks out all over of a tremble!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+THE LIDAR VALLEY
+
+
+We were glad enough to leave Srinagar, as that place has been
+undoubtedly trying lately, being extremely hot and relaxing. The river,
+which had been up to the fourteen-foot level, as shown on the gate
+ports at the entrance to the Sunt-i-kul Canal, had fallen to 9-1/2
+feet, and the mud, exposed both on its banks and in the fields and
+flats which had been flooded, must have given out unwholesome
+exhalations, of which the riverine population, the dwellers in
+house-boats and doungas, got the full benefit.
+
+Jane has certainly been anything but well lately, and I confess to a
+certain feeling best described as “slack and livery.”
+
+We had not intended to remain nearly so long in Srinagar, but the
+continuity of the chain of entertainments proved too firm to break, and
+dances and dinners, bridge and golf, kept us bound from day to day,
+until the _fête_ at the Residency on the 15th practically brought the
+Srinagar season to a close, and broke up the line of house-boats that
+had been moored along both banks of the river.
+
+We had arranged to start with a party of three other boats up the
+river, visiting Atchibal with our friends, and then going up the Lidar
+Valley, while they retraced their way to Srinagar.
+
+The most popular bachelor in Kashmir was appointed commodore, and
+deputed to set the pace and arrange rendezvous. He began by sending on
+his big house-boat, dragged by many coolies, to Pampur, a distance of
+some ten miles by water, and, following himself on horseback by road,
+instituted a sort of “Devil take the hindmost” race, for which we were
+not prepared.
+
+On reaching Pampur we heard that the “Baltic Fleet” had sailed for
+Avantipura, so we followed on; but, alas! having made a forced march to
+this latter place, we found that Rodjestvenski Phelps had again escaped
+us and “gone before.”
+
+We consigned him and the elusive “chota resident,” who was in command
+of the rest of the party, to perdition, and decided to pursue the even
+tenor of our way to the Lidar Valley.
+
+The upper reaches of the Jhelum tire not wildly or excitingly lovely.
+The narrowed waters, like sweet Thames, run softly between quiet
+British banks, willow veiled. The wide level flats of the lower river
+give place to low sloping hills or “karewas,” which fall in terraced
+undulations from the foothills of the higher ranges which close in the
+eastern extremity of the Kashmir Valley.
+
+It was well into the evening, and the sun had just set, throwing a
+glorious rosy flush over the snows which surround the Lidar Valley,
+when we came to the picturesque bridge which crosses the stream at
+Bejbehara.
+
+The scene here was charming—a grand festa or religious tamasha being
+toward; the whole river was swarming with boats—great doungas, with
+their festive crews yelling a monotonous chant, paddled uproariously
+by. Light shikaras darted in and out, making up for want of volume in
+their song by the piercing shrillness of their utterances. The banks
+and bridge teemed with swarming life, and all Kashmir seemed to have
+contributed its noisiest members to the revel.
+
+Beyond the bridge we could see through the gathering dusk many
+house-boats of the sahibs clustering under a group of magnificent
+chenars, over whose dark masses the moon was just rising, full orbed.
+The piers of the bridge seemed to be set in foliage, large willows
+having grown up from their bases, giving a most curious effect. We
+marked with some apprehension the swiftness of the oily current which
+came swirling round the piers, and soon we found ourselves stuck fast
+about half-way under the bridge, apparently unable to force our boat
+another inch against the stream which boiled past. An appalling uproar
+was caused by the coolies and the unemployed upon the bridge, who all,
+as usual, gave unlimited advice to every one else as to the proper
+management of affairs under the existing circumstances, but did nothing
+whatever in support of their theories. The situation was becoming quite
+interesting, and the “mem-sahib” and I, sitting on the roof of our
+boat, were speculating as to what would happen next when the Gordian
+knot was cut by the unexpected energy and courage of the
+first-lieutenant, who boldly slapped an argumentative coolie in the
+face, while the admiral dashed promiscuously into the shikara,
+and—yelling “Hard-a-starboard!—Full speed ahead!—Sit on the
+safety—valve!”—boldly shot into an overhanging mulberry tree, wherein
+our tow-rope was much entangled. The rope was cleared, the crew poled
+like fury, the coolies hauled for all they were worth, every one yelled
+himself hoarse, and we forged ahead. We crashed under the mulberry
+tree, which swept us from stem to stern, nearly carrying the hen-coop
+overboard; while Jane and I lay flat under a perfect hail of squashy
+black fruit which covered the upper deck.
+
+We went on shore for a moonlight stroll after dinner. The place was
+like a glorified English park; chenars of the first magnitude, taking
+the place of oaks, rose from the short crisp turf, while a band of
+stately poplars stood sentry on the river bank. Through blackest shadow
+and over patches of moonlit sward we rambled till we came upon the
+ruins of a temple, of which little was left but a crumbled heap of
+masonry in the middle of a rectangular grassy hollow which had
+evidently been a tank, small detached mounds, showing where the piers
+of a little bridge had stood, giving access to the building from the
+bank. An avenue of chenars led straight to the bridge, showing either
+the antiquity of the trees or the comparatively modern date of the
+temple.
+
+_June 19_.—Yesterday afternoon we left Bejbehara, and went on to
+Kanbal, the port of Islamabad. A hot and sultry day, oppressive and
+enervating to all but the flies, which were remarkably energetic and
+lively. The river below Islamabad is quite narrow, and hemmed in
+between high mudbanks.
+
+Here we found the “Baltic Fleet,” but, knowing that our fugitive
+friends must have already reached Atchibal, we held to our intention of
+going up the Lidar.
+
+Having tied up to a remarkably smelly bank, which was just lofty enough
+to screen our heated brows from any wandering breeze, we landed to
+explore. A hot walk of a mile or so along a dusty, poplar-lined road
+brought us to the town of Islamabad, which, however, concealed its
+beauties most effectually in a mass of foliage. Although it ranks as
+the second town in Kashmir, it can hardly be said to be more than a big
+village, even allowing for its 9000 inhabitants, its picturesque
+springs, and its boast of having been once upon a time the capital of
+the valley. The first hundred yards of “city,” consisting of a
+highly-seasoned bazaar paved with the accumulated filth of ages, was
+enough to satisfy our thirst for sight-seeing, and after a visit to the
+post-office we trudged back through a most oppressive grey haze to the
+boat. Crowds of the _élite_ of the neighbourhood were hastening into
+Islamabad, where the “tamasha,” which we came upon at Bejbehara, is to
+be continued to-morrow.
+
+We had a good deal of difficulty in getting transport for our
+expedition, as the Assistant Resident and his party had, apparently,
+cleared the place of available ponies and coolies. An appeal to the
+Tehsildhar was no use, as that dignitary had gone to Atchibal in the
+Court train. However, a little pressure applied to Lassoo, the local
+livery stablekeeper, produced eight baggage ponies and a good-looking
+cream-coloured steed, with man’s saddle, for my wife.
+
+The syce, a jovial-looking little flat-faced fellow, was a native of
+Ladakh.
+
+We made a fairly early start, getting off about six, and, having
+skirted the town and passed the neat little Zenana Mission Hospital, we
+had a pretty but uneventful march of some six miles to Bawan, where,
+under a big chenar, we halted for the greater part of the day.
+
+Here let me point out that life is but a series of neglected
+opportunities. We were within a couple of miles of Martand, the
+principal temple in Kashmir, and we did not go to see it! I blush as I
+write this, knowing that hereafter no well-conducted globe-trotter will
+own to my acquaintance, and, indeed, the case requires explanation.
+Well, then, it was excessively hot; we were both in bad condition, and
+I had ten miles more to march, so we decided to visit Martand on our
+way down the valley. Alas! we came this way no more.
+
+Little knowing how much we were missing, we sat contented in the shade
+while the hot hours went by, merely strolling down to visit a sacred
+tank full of cool green water and swarming with holy carp, which
+scrambled in a solid mass for bits of the chupatty which Jane threw to
+them.
+
+A clear stream gushed out of a bank overhung by a tangle of wild
+plants. To the left was a weird figure of the presiding deity, painted
+red, and frankly hideous.
+
+We were truly sorry to feel obliged, at four o’clock, to leave Bawan
+with its massy trees and abundance of clear running water, and step out
+into the heat and glare of the afternoon.
+
+I found it a trying march. The road led along a fairly good track among
+rice-fields, whence the sloping sun glinted its maddening reflection,
+but here and there clumps of walnuts—the fruit just at the pickling
+stage—cast a broad cool shadow, in which one lingered to pant and mop a
+heated brow e’er plunging out again into the grievous white sunlight.
+
+The cavalcade was increased during the afternoon by the addition to our
+numbers of a dog—a distinctly ugly, red-haired native sort of dog,
+commonly called a pi-dog. He appeared, full of business—from nowhere in
+particular—and his business appeared to be to go to Eshmakam with us.
+
+As we neared that place the road began to rise through the loveliest
+woodland scenery—white roses everywhere in great bushes of foamy white,
+and in climbing wreaths that drooped from the higher trees, wild indigo
+in purple patches reminding one not a little of heather. Above the
+still unseen village a big ziarat or monastery shone yellow in the
+sinking sunlight, and overhead rose a rugged grey wall of strangely
+pinnacled crags, outliers of the Wardwan, showing dusky blue in the
+clear-cut shadows, and rose grey where the low sun caught with dying
+glory the projecting peaks and bastions.
+
+In a sort of orchard of walnut trees, on short, clean, green grass, we
+pitched our tents, and right glad was I to sit in a comfortable
+Roorkhee chair and admire the preparations for dinner after a stiff
+day, albeit we only “made good” some sixteen miles at most.
+
+_June_ 20.—A brilliant morning saw us off for Pahlgam, along a road
+which was simply a glorified garden. Roses white and roses pink in wild
+profusion, jasmin both white and yellow, wild indigo, a tall and very
+handsome spiraea, forget-me-not, a tiny sort of Michaelmas daisy, wild
+strawberry, and honeysuckle, among many a (to me unknown) blossom,
+clothed the hillside or drooped over the bank of the clear stream, by
+whose flower-spangled margin lay our path, where, as in Milton’s
+description of Eden,
+
+“Each beauteous flower,
+Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine
+Reared high their flourished heads.”
+
+
+Soon the valley narrowed, and closer on our left roared the Lidar,
+foaming over its boulders in wild haste to find peace and tranquil flow
+in the broad bosom of Jhelum.
+
+The road became somewhat hilly, and at one steep zigzag the nerves of
+Jane failed her slightly and she dismounted, rightly judging that a
+false step on the part of the cream-coloured courser would be followed
+by a hurried descent into the Lidar. I explained to her that I would
+certainly do what I could for her with a dredge in the Wular when I
+came down, but she preferred, she said, not to put me to any
+inconvenience in the matter. We were asked to subscribe, a few days
+later, at Pahlgam to provide the postman with a new pony, his late
+lamented “Tattoo” having been startled by a flash of lightning at that
+very spot, and having paid for the error with his life.
+
+A halt was called for lunch under a blue pine, where we quickly
+discovered how paltry its shade is in comparison with the generous
+screen cast by a chenar; scarcely has the heated traveller picked out a
+seemingly umbrageous spot to recline upon when, lo! a flickering shaft
+of sunlight, broken into an irritating dazzle by a quivering bunch of
+pine needles, strikes him in the eye, and he sets to work to crawl
+vainly around in search of a better screen.
+
+Nothing approaches the great circle of solid coolness thrown by a big
+chenar. The walnut does its best, and comes in a good second. Pines
+(especially blue ones) are, as I remarked before, unsatisfactory.
+
+But if the pine is not all that can be wished as a shade-producer, he
+is in all his varieties a beautiful object to look upon. First, I
+think, in point of magnificence towers the Himalayan spruce, rearing
+his gaunt shaft,
+
+“Like the mast of some tall ammiral,”
+
+
+from the shelving steeps that overhang the torrents, and piercing high
+into the blue. In living majesty he shares the honours with the deodar,
+but he is merely good to look upon; his timber is useless and in his
+decay his fallen and lightning-blasted remains lie rotting on these
+wild hills, while the precious trunks of the deodar and the excelsa are
+laboriously collected, and floated and dragged to the lower valleys,
+producing much good money to Sir Amar Singh and the best of building
+timber to the purchaser.
+
+The road towards Pahlgam is a charming woodland walk, where the wild
+strawberries, still hardly out of flower, grow thick amidst a tangle of
+chestnut, yew, wild cherry, and flowering shrubs. Overhead and to the
+right the rocky steeps rise abruptly until they culminate in the crags
+of Kohinar, and on the left the snow-fed Lidar roars “through the
+cloven ravine in cataract after cataract.”
+
+About four miles from Pahlgam, on turning a corner of the gorge, a
+splendid view bursts upon the wayfarer. The great twin brethren of
+Kolahoi come suddenly into sight, where they stand blocking the head of
+the valley, their double peaks shining with everlasting snow.
+
+It needed all the beauty of the scene to make me forget that the
+thirteen miles from Eshmakam were long and hot, and that I was woefully
+out of condition, and we rejoiced to see the gleam of tents amid the
+pine-wood which constitutes the camping-ground of Pahlgam.
+
+We sat peacefully on the thyme and clover-covered maiden, amongst a
+herd of happily browsing cattle, until our tents were up and the
+irritating but needful bustle of arrival was over, and the tea-table
+spread.
+
+Pahlgam stands some 2000 feet above Srinagar, and although it is not
+supposed to be bracing, yet to us, jaded votaries of fashion in stuffy
+Srinagar, the fresh, clear, pine-scented air was purely delightful, and
+a couple of days saw us “like kidlings blythe and merry”—that is to
+say, as much so as a couple of sedate middle-aged people could
+reasonably be expected to appear. The camping-ground is in a wood of
+blue pines, which, extending from the steeper uplands, covers much of
+the leveller valley, and abuts with woody promontories on the flowery
+strath which borders the river. Here some dozen or so of visitors had
+already selected little clearings, and the flicker of white tents, the
+squealing of ponies, and the jabber of native servants banished all
+ideas of loneliness.
+
+About half a mile below the camping-ground is the bungalow of Colonel
+Ward, clear of the wood and with Kolahoi just showing over the green
+shoulder which hides him from Pahlgam. I was fortunate enough to find
+the Colonel before he left for Datchgam to meet the Residency party,
+and to get, through his kindness, certain information which I wanted
+about the birds of Kashmir.
+
+An enthusiast in natural history, Colonel Ward has given himself with
+heart-whole devotion for many years to the study of the beasts and
+birds of Kashmir, and he is practically the one and only authority on
+the subject.
+
+We were very anxious to cross the high pass above Lidarwat over into
+the Sind Valley, having arranged to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal on
+their way back from Tilail. Knowing that Colonel Ward would be posted
+as to the state of the snow, I had written to him from Srinagar for
+information. His reply, which I got at Islamabad, was not encouraging,
+nor was his opinion altered now. The pass might be possible, but was
+certainly not advisable for ladies at present.
+
+_Friday, June 23_.—We were detained here at Pahlgam until about one
+o’clock to-day, as Colonel Ward, as well as two minor potentates, had
+marched yesterday, employing every available coolie. The fifteen whom I
+required were sent back to me by the Colonel, and turned up about noon,
+so, after lunch, we set forth.
+
+Camels are usually unwilling starters. I knew one who never could be
+induced to do his duty until a fire had been lit under him as a gentle
+stimulant. He lived in Suakin, and existence was one long grievance to
+him, but no other animal with which I am acquainted approaches a
+Pahlgam coolie in _vis inertiâ_.
+
+Whether a too copious lunch had rendered my men torpid, or whether the
+attractions of their happy homes drew them, I know not, but after the
+loads (and these not heavy) had been, after much wrangling, bound upon
+their backs, and they had limped along for a few hundred yards or so,
+one fell sick, or said he was sick, and, peacefully squatting on a
+convenient stone, refused to budge.
+
+We were still close to some of the scattered huts of Pahlgam, so an
+authority, in the shape of a lumbadhar or chowkidar, or some such, came
+to our help, and promptly collected for us an elderly gentleman who was
+tending his flocks and herds in the vicinity. Doubtless it was
+provoking, when he was looking forward to a comfortable afternoon tea
+in the bosom of his family, after a hard day’s work of doing nothing,
+to be called upon to carry a nasty angular yakdan for seven miles along
+a distinctly uneven road; but was he therefore justified in blubbering
+like a baby, and behaving like an ape being led to execution?
+
+The first half-mile was dreadful. At every couple of hundred yards the
+coolies would sit down in a bunch, groaning and crying, and nothing
+less than a push or a thump would induce them to move. We felt like
+slave-drivers, and indeed Sabz Ali and the shikari behaved as such,
+although their prods and objurgations were not so hurtful as they
+appeared, being somewhat after the fashion of the tale told by an
+idiot,
+
+“Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
+
+
+Presently we became so much irritated by the ceaseless row that we
+decided to sit down and read and sketch by the roadside, in order to
+let the whole mournful train pass out of sight and earshot.
+
+Now, I wish to maintain in all seriousness that I am not a Legree, and
+that, although I by no means hold the “man and brother” theory, yet I
+am perfectly prepared to respect the _droits de l’homme_.
+
+This may appear a statement inconsistent with my acknowledgment that I
+permitted coolies to be beaten—the beating being no more than a
+technical “assault,” and never a “thrashing!”—but my contention is that
+when you have to deal with people of so low an organisation that they
+can only be reached by elementary arguments, they must be treated
+absolutely as children, and judiciously whacked as such.
+
+No Kashmiri without the impulsion of _force majeure_ would ever do any
+work—no logical argument will enable him to see ultimate good in
+immediate irksomeness.
+
+It is very difficult for the Western mind to give the Kashmiri credit
+for any virtues, his failings being so conspicuous and repellent; for
+not only is he an outrageous coward, but he feels no shame in admitting
+his cowardice. He is a most accomplished thief, and the truth is not in
+him. He and his are much fouler than Neapolitan lazzaroni, and his
+morals—well, let us give the Kashmiri his due, and turn to his virtues.
+He is, on the whole, cheerful and lively, devoted to children, and kind
+to animals.[1]
+
+[1] This is incorrect, the European Residents having frequently
+attempted, but hitherto vainly, to induce the native authorities to
+curb Kashmiri cruelty.
+
+
+Here is a story which is fairly characteristic of the charming
+Kashmiri.
+
+During the floods which nearly ruined Kashmir in 1901, a village near a
+certain colonel’s bungalow was in danger of losing all its crops and
+half its houses, the neighbouring river being in spate. My friend, on
+going to see if anything could be done, found the water rising, and the
+adult male inhabitants of the village lying upon the ground, and
+beating their heads and hands upon it in woebegone impotence.
+
+He walked about upon their stomachs a little to invigorate them, and,
+sending forthwith for a gang of coolies from an adjacent village which
+lay a little higher, he set the whole crowd to work to divert part of
+the stream by means of driftwood and damming, and was, in the end, able
+to save the houses and a good part of the crops.
+
+When the hired coolies came to be paid for their labour, the villagers
+also put in a claim for wages, and were desperately vexed at my
+friend’s refusal to grant it, complaining bitterly of having had to
+work hard for nothing!
+
+You will find a good description of the Kashmiri in _All’s Well that
+Ends Well:_—
+
+_Parolles_. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister…. He professes
+not keeping of oaths, in breaking them, he is stronger than Hercules.
+He will lie, sir, with such volubility, that you would think truth were
+a fool: drunkenness is his best virtue; … he has everything that an
+honest man should not have; what an honest man should have, he has
+nothing.
+
+
+He excels his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed one of
+the best that is: in a retreat he outruns any lackey; marry, in coming
+on he has the cramp.
+
+
+We had not long sat sketching and basking in the genial glow of a
+summer afternoon among the mountains, when it began to be borne in upon
+us that the weather was going to change, and that the usual
+thunderstorm was meditating a descent upon us. Black clouds came
+boiling up over the mountain peaks, and the too familiar grumble of
+distant thunder sent us hurrying along the lovely ravine, through which
+the path leads to Aru. Only a seven miles’ journey, but ere we had gone
+half-way the storm broke, and a thick veil of sweeping rain fell
+between us and the surrounding mountains.
+
+Presently we found a serious solution of continuity in the track,
+which, after leading us along a precarious ledge by the side of the
+river, finished abruptly; sheared clean off by a recent landslip.
+
+We were very wet, but the river looked wetter still, and it boiled
+round the rocky point, where the road should have been but was not, in
+a distinctly disagreeable manner.
+
+However, Jane dismounting, I climbed upon the cream-coloured courser,
+and proceeded to ford the gap. The water swirled well above the syce’s
+knees, but the noble steed picked his way with the greatest
+circumspection over and among the submerged boulders, till, after
+splashing through some hundred yards of water, he deposited me, not
+much wetter than before, on the continuation of the high-road, whence I
+had the satisfaction of watching Jane go through the same performance.
+
+Hoping against hope that the coolies, by a little haste, might have got
+the tents pitched before the storm came on, we plodded on, until, wet
+to the very skin, we slopped into Aru, to behold a draggled party
+squatting round a central floppy heap in a wet field, which, as we
+gazed, slowly upreared itself into a drooping tent.
+
+In dear old England this sort of experience would have spelt shocking
+colds, and probably rheumatism for life, but here—well, we crawled into
+our tent and found it, thanks to a couple of waterproof sheets spread
+on the ground, surprisingly dry. A change of clothes, a good dinner,
+produced under the most unfavourable circumstances from a wretched
+little cooking-tent, and a fire burning goodness knows how, in the
+open, showed the world to be quite a nice place after all.
+
+After dinner a great camp-fire was lit in front of our tent, the rain
+cleared off, and I sat smoking with much content, while all our soaking
+garments were festooned on branches round the blaze, and Jane and I
+turned them like roasting joints, at intervals, until the steam rose
+like incense towards the stars.
+
+The coolies, too, had quite got over their homesickness, and were
+extraordinarily cheerful, their incessant jabber falling as a lullaby
+on our ears as we dropped off to sleep.
+
+_Saturday, June_ 24.—We got away in good time for our short eight-mile
+march to Lidarwat. The coolies went off gaily—the day was warm and
+brilliant, and the views down the valley towards Pahlgam superb.
+
+We had camped on the low ground at Aru, just across the bridge, but
+about half a mile on, and upon a grassy plateau there is an ideal
+camping-ground facing down the Lidar Valley, towards the peaks which
+rise behind Pahlgam. Want of water is the only drawback to this spot,
+but if mussiks are carried, water can easily be brought from a small
+nullah towards Lidarwat.
+
+Tearing ourselves away from this spot, and turning our backs upon one
+of the most gorgeous views in Kashmir, we plunged into a beautiful
+wood. Maidenhair and many another fern grew in masses among the great
+roots which twined like snakes over the rocky slopes. Far below, with
+muffled roar, the unseen river tore its downward way.
+
+By-and-by, the path emerging from the wood shelved along a green
+hillside, where bracken and golden spurge clothed the little hollows,
+while wild wall-flower, Jacob’s Ladder, and a large purple cranes-bill
+brightened the slopes where happy cattle, but lately released from
+their winter’s imprisonment, were feeding greedily on the young green
+grass.
+
+I fancy the cattle have a remarkably poor time here in winter. Hay is
+not made, and very little winter forage seems to be collected. As the
+snows fall lower on the hills, the flocks and herds are driven down to
+the low ground, where they drag through the dark days as best they can,
+on maize-stalks and such like.
+
+I noticed early in May the water buffaloes just turned out to graze in
+the Lolab, and more weakly, melancholy collections of skin—and—bone I
+have seldom seen.
+
+Now, however, up high in every sunny grassy valley, the Gujars may be
+found camping with their flocks—cattle, ponies, buffaloes, and goats,
+working upwards hard on the track of the receding snow, where the
+primula and the gentian star the spring turf.
+
+A series of grassy uplands brought us close to Lidarwat, when a sharp
+shower, arriving unexpectedly from nowhere in particular, sent us to
+eat our lunch under the shelter of some fairly waterproof trees in the
+company of a herd of water buffaloes of especially evil aspect.
+
+One hoary brute in particular, with enormous horns and pale blue eyes,
+made me think of the legend concerning the origin of the buffalo.
+
+When the Almighty was hard at work creating the animals, the devil came
+and looked on until he became filled with emulation, and begged the
+Deity to let him try his hand at creation. So the Almighty agreed,
+asking him what beast he would prefer to make, and he said, “A cow.” So
+he went away and created a water buffalo, which so disgusted the
+Creator that the devil was not permitted to make any more experiments.
+
+As soon as the rain held up and the thunder had rolled off up the
+valley, we packed the tiffin basket, had one more drink from an icy
+spring, and left the shelter of the friendly trees, followed by the
+glares of all the buffaloes, who appear to have a decided antipathy to
+the “sahib logue.”
+
+We soon came to Lidarwat, passing several tents there, pitched by the
+edge of a green lawn, and sheltered by a deep belt of trees. Crossing
+to the right bank of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we
+continued our way, as the farther up the glen we get to-night, the less
+shall we leave for to-morrow, when we intend to visit the Kolahoi
+Glacier.
+
+The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this
+point, owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in
+common with the buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her
+beloved parasol, he whisked round and let out at me, and I was only
+saved from a nasty kick by my closeness to the beast, whose hock made
+such an impression upon my thigh as to cause me to go a bit short for a
+while.
+
+We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to
+show signs of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the
+river.
+
+A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
+suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at
+night, as our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little
+breezes that came sighing through the pines were straight from the
+snow.
+
+_Sunday, June 25_.—A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
+expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were
+camped amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun
+had already caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and
+gilded their rugged sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth
+and light.
+
+A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right,
+and as fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time
+to admire it duly.
+
+The track now led out into a wide and treeless valley, flanked by
+snow-crowned mountains, and we pushed on merrily until we arrived at
+the brink of a rascally torrent, which gave us some trouble to ford,
+being both exceeding swift and fairly deep. Luckily, it was greedy,
+and, not content with one channel, had spread itself out into four or
+five branches, and thus so squandered itself that Jane on her pony and
+I on coolie-back accomplished the passage without mishap. For some
+miles we held on along an easy path which curved to the right along the
+right bank of the river, which was spanned in many places by great snow
+bridges, often hundreds of yards in width. We lunched sitting on the
+trunk of a dead birch which had been carried by the snow down from its
+eyrie, and then left, a melancholy skeleton, bleaching on the slowly
+melting avalanche. Some two miles farther on we could see the end of
+the Kolahoi Glacier, its grey and rock-strewn snout standing abrupt
+above the white slopes of snow.
+
+Behind rose the fine peak of Harbagwan, in as yet undisputed splendour,
+Kolahoi being still hidden behind the cliffs which towered on our
+right.
+
+Distances seem short in this brilliant air, but we walked for a long
+while over the short turf, flushing crimson with primulas and golden
+with small buttercups, and then over snowy hillocks, before we reached
+the solid ice of the great glacier.
+
+It was so completely covered with fragments of grey rock that Jane
+could hardly he persuaded that it really was an ice slope that we were
+scrambling up with such difficulty, until a peep into a cold mysterious
+cleft convinced her that she was really and truly standing upon 200
+feet of solid ice.
+
+The sight that now burst upon us was one to be remembered. Kolahoi
+towered ethereal—a sunlit wedge of sheer rock some six thousand feet
+above us—into the crystal air. From his feet the white frozen billows
+of the great glacier rolled, a glistering sea, to where we, atoms in
+the enormous loneliness, stood breathless in admiration. Around the
+head of the wide amphitheatre wherein we stood rose a circle of stately
+peaks, their bases flanged with rocky buttresses, dark amid the long
+sweeps of radiant snow, their shattered peaks reared high into the very
+heavens. A great silence reigned. There was no wind with us, and yet,
+even as we watched, a white cloud flitted past the virgin peak of
+Kolahoi—ghostly, intangible; and immediately, even as vultures assemble
+suddenly, no one knows whence, so did the clouds appear, surging over
+the gleaming shoulders of the mountain ridges, and up and round the
+grim precipices. We turned and hurried down the face of the glacier,
+and made for camp, as we knew from much experience that a thunderstorm
+was inevitable.
+
+Over the beds of dirty snow, down by the side of the new-born torrent,
+which leaped full-grown to life from the womb of a green cavern below
+the glacier; over patches of pulpy turf just freed from its wintry
+bondage, and already carpeted with masses of rose-coloured primulas, we
+hastened, keeping to the left bank of the stream, in order to avoid the
+torrent which had so troubled us in the morning, which we knew would be
+deeper in the afternoon owing to the melting of the snows in the
+sunshine.
+
+We had got but a bare half of our journey done when the storm burst,
+and in a very short time we were reduced to the recklessness which
+comes of being as wet as you can possibly be.
+
+    “The thunder bellows far from snow to snow
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie),
+    And loud and louder roars the flood below.
+Heigho! But soon in shelter we shall be
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie).”
+
+
+Crossing the river on a big snow-bridge below the point where our old
+enemy came thundering down the mountain-side, we tramped gaily through
+mud and mire and over slippery rocks until we were gladdened by the
+sight of our camp, dripping away peacefully in the midst of the weeping
+forest.
+
+The rain, as usual, ceased in the evening. A great camp-fire was lit,
+and the neighbouring buffaloes of Gujar-Kote having kindly supplied us
+with milk, we dined wisely and well and dropped off to sleep, lulled by
+the roaring of the Kolahoi River, which raced through the darkness
+close by.
+
+_Tuesday, June 27_.—Being still hopeful of achieving the pass over into
+the Sind, we struck camp early yesterday and marched down to Lidarwat,
+only to find that the party which we knew had camped there with a view
+to crossing, had given up the idea and retreated down the valley; so I
+sent a swift messenger to countermand the three days’ supply of
+“rassad” which I had ordered from Pahlgam for my men, and we marched on
+to Aru. Upon the spur which overlooks Aru we found Dr. Neve encamped,
+and proceeded to discuss the possibility of crossing into the Sind
+Valley _viâ_ Sekwas, Khem Sar, and Koolan. The Doctor, who is an
+enterprising mountaineer, was himself about to cross, but he did not
+encourage Jane to go and do likewise, as he said it would be very
+difficult owing to the late spring, and would probably entail a good
+deal of work with ropes and ice-axes.
+
+This absolutely decided us, our valour being greatly tempered by
+discretion, and we camped quietly at Aru, and came on into Pahlgam this
+forenoon. The river, for some reason best known to itself, was so low
+that we got dry-shod past the corner which had worried us so much on
+the way up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+GANGABAL
+
+
+Friday, _June_ 30.—The last few days have been somewhat uneventful. We
+left Pahlgam at early dawn on Wednesday, just as the first
+lemon-coloured light was spreading in the east over the pine-serrated
+heights above the camp.
+
+The rapids below Colonel Ward’s bungalow, which had been fierce and
+swollen as we passed them on our upward way, were now reduced to
+roaring after the subdued fashion of the sucking dove; so we hardly
+paused to contemplate either them or the big boulder, red-stained and
+holy, at Ganesbal, but hastened on to the point where, just before
+turning a high bluff which shuts him from sight for the last time, we
+got the view of Kolahoi, with the newly-risen sun glowing on his upper
+slopes. An hour flew by much too fast, and it was with great reluctance
+that we finally turned our back on the finest part of the Lidar Valley,
+and sadly resumed our march to Sellar, crossing the river and following
+a rather hot and dull road. Sellar itself is not nearly as pretty as
+Eshmakam, and we grew rather tired of it by evening, as we arrived soon
+after one o’clock, and found little to do or see.
+
+Yesterday we left Sellar and marched to Bejbehara, the hottest and
+dullest march I know of in Kashmir. A shadeless road slopes gently down
+across the plains to the river. All along this road we overtook parties
+of coolies laden with creels of silk cocoons, whose destination is the
+big silk factory at Srinagar, small clouds of hot red dust rising into
+the still air, knocked up by the shuffling tread of their grass-shod
+feet.
+
+In the fields, dry and burnt to our eyes after the green valleys,
+squatted the reapers, snipping the sparse ears, apparently one by one,
+with sickles like penknives. They seemed to get the work done somehow,
+as little sheafs laid in rows bore witness; but the patience of Job
+must have been upon them!
+
+The chenars of Bejbehara threw a most welcome shade from the noonday
+sun, which was striking down with evil force as we panted across the
+steamy rice-fields which surround them.
+
+Hither we came at noon, only to find that our boats were not awaiting
+us as we had directed. A messenger bearing bitter words was promptly
+despatched to root the lazy scoundrels out from Islamabad, while Jane
+and I camped out beneath a huge tree and lunched, worked, and sketched
+until four o’clock, when the Admiral brought the fleet in and fondly
+deemed his day’s work done.
+
+This was by no means our view of the case, and the usual trouble
+began—“No coolies”—“Very late”—“Plenty tired,” &c. &c.
+
+Of course Satarah was defeated, and was soon to be seen sulkily poling
+away in the stern-sheets, while his son-in-law still more sulkily
+paddled in the bow.
+
+We made about eight or ten miles, having a swift current under us,
+before a strong squall came up the valley, making the old ark slue
+about prodigiously, and inducing us to tie up for the night.
+
+This morning we slipped down stream to Srinagar, only halting for a
+short while to obtain some of the native bread for which Pampur is
+celebrated.
+
+The river seemed exceedingly hot and stuffy after the lovely air which
+we have been breathing lately, and we quite determined that the sooner
+we get out of the valley the better for our pleasure, if not for our
+health.
+
+We have been greatly exercised as to how best dispose of the time until
+September, for, during the months of July and August, the heat in the
+valley is very considerable, and every one seeks the higher summer
+retreats. The Smithsons suggested an expedition to Leh, which would,
+undoubtedly, have been a most interesting trip, but which would in no
+wise have spared us in the matter of heat. Had we started about this
+time for Leh we should have reached our destination towards the end of
+July, and would therefore have found ourselves setting out again across
+an arid and extremely hot country on the return journey somewhere about
+the middle of August.
+
+The game did not seem to be worth the candle, and the Smithsons
+themselves shied at the idea when it was borne in upon them that there
+would be little or no shooting to be done _en route_.
+
+The alternatives seemed to lie between Gulmarg, where most of the
+beauty and fashion of Kashmir disports itself during the hot weather,
+Sonamarg, and Pahlgam.
+
+Sonamarg, from description, seemed likely to be quiet, not to say dull,
+as a residence for two months. One cannot live by scenery alone, and
+even the loveliest may become _toujours pâté de l’anguille._
+
+Pahlgam suffered in our eyes from the same failing, and our thoughts
+turned to Gulmarg. Here, however, a difficulty arose. It is a
+notoriously wet place. We heard horrid tales of golf enthusiasts
+playing in waders, and of revellers half drowned while returning from
+dinners in neighbouring tents.
+
+We thought of rooms in Nedou’s Hotel, but our memories of this hostelry
+in Srinagar were not altogether sweet, and we did not in the least
+hanker after a second edition; moreover, every available room had been
+engaged long ago, and it was extremely doubtful, to say the least of
+it, if the good Mr. Nedou could do anything for us. The prospect of a
+two-month sojourn in a wet tent wherein no fire could ever be lighted,
+and in which Jane pictured her frocks and smart hats lying in their
+boxes all crumpled and shorn of their dainty freshness, was far from
+enticing!
+
+Tent existence, when one lives the simple life far from the madding
+crowd, clad in puttoo and shooting-boots, or grass shoes, is
+delightful; but tent life in the midst of a round of society
+functions—golf, polo, with their attendant teas and dinners—was not to
+be thought of without grave misgiving.
+
+Sorely perplexed, and almost at our wits’ end, the Gordian knot was cut
+by our being offered a small hut which had been occupied by a clerk in
+the State employ, now absent, and which the Resident most kindly placed
+at our disposal for a merely nominal rent. Needless to say we
+gratefully accepted the offer, in spite of the assurance that the hut
+was of very minute dimensions.
+
+_Sunday, July_ 2.—Yesterday we toiled hard in the heat to get
+everything in train for a move to Gulmarg. Subhana, that excellent
+tailor and embroiderer, arranged to have all our heavy luggage sent up
+to meet us on the 10th, and from him, too, we arranged for the hire of
+such furniture as we might require, for we knew that the hut was bare
+as the cupboard of nursery fame.
+
+This morning we set off down the river to keep tryst with the Smithsons
+at Gangabal, where we hope to meet them about the 5th on their way back
+from Tilail. The usual struggle with the crew resulted, also as usual,
+in our favour, and we got right through to Gunderbal at the mouth of
+the Sind River, where we now lie amid a flotilla of boats whose
+occupiers have fled away from the sultriness and smelliness of Srinagar
+in search of the cool currents, both of air and water, which are
+popularly supposed to flow down the Sind.
+
+As Jane and I returned from a visit to the post-office along a
+sweltering path among the rice-fields, from which warm waves of air
+rose steaming into the sunset, we failed to observe the celebrated and
+superior coolness of Gunderbal’
+
+_Thursday, July_ 6.—The lumbadhar of Gunderbal, in spite of his
+magnificent name, is a rascal of the deepest dye. He put much water in
+our milk, to the furious disgust of Sabz Ali, and he failed to provide
+the coolies I had ordered; I therefore reported him to Chattar Singh,
+and sent my messengers forth, like another Lars Porsena, to catch
+coolies.
+
+This was early on Tuesday morning, and a sufficient number of ponies
+and coolies having been got together by 5.30, we started.
+
+I may here note that, owing to a confusion between _Gunderbal_ (the
+port, so to speak, of the Sind Valley, and route to Leh and Thibet) and
+_Gangabal_, a lake lying some 12,000 feet above the sea behind Haramok,
+our arrangement to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal was altered by a
+letter from them announcing their imminent arrival at Gunderbal! This
+was perturbing, but as the mistake was not ours, we decided not to
+allow ourselves to be baulked of a trip for which we had surrendered an
+expedition to Shisha Nag, beyond Pahlgam.
+
+The lower part of the Sind Valley is in nowise interesting; the way was
+both tedious and hot, and we rejoiced greatly when, having crossed the
+Sind River, we found a lovely spring and halted for tiffin. After an
+hour’s rest we followed the main road a little farther, and then,
+passing the mouth of the Chittagul Nullah, turned up the Wangat Valley.
+The scenery became finer, and the last hour’s march along a steep
+mountain-side, with the Wangat River far below on our right, was a
+great improvement on what we had left behind us.
+
+The little village of Wangat, perched upon a steep spur above the
+river, was woefully deficient of anything like a good camping-ground.
+We finally selected a small bare rice patch, which, though extremely
+“knubbly,” had the merits of being almost level, moderately remote from
+the village and its smells, and quite close to a perfect spring.
+
+Yesterday we achieved a really early start, leaving Wangat at 4.15, the
+path being weirdly illuminated by extempore torches made of pine-wood
+which the shikari had prepared. A moderately level march of some three
+miles brought us to the ruined temples of Vernag and the beginning of
+our work, for here the path, turning sharply to the left, led us
+inexorably up the almost precipitous face of the mountain by means of
+short zigzags.
+
+It was a stiff pull. The sun was now peering triumphantly over the
+hills on the far side of the valley, and the path was (an extraordinary
+thing in Kashmir) excessively dusty. Up and on we panted, Jane partly
+supported by having the bight of the shikari’s puggaree round her waist
+while he towed her by the ends.
+
+There was no relaxation of the steep gradient, no water, and no shade,
+and the height to be surmounted was 4000 feet.
+
+If the longest lane has a turning, so the highest hill has a top, and
+we came at last to the blissful point where the path deigned to assume
+an approach to the horizontal, and led us to the most delightful spring
+in Kashmir! The water, ice-cold and clear, gushes out of a crevice in
+the rock, and with the joy of wandering Israelites we threw ourselves
+on the ground, basked in the glorious mountain air, and shouted for the
+tiffin basket.
+
+Only the faithful “Yellow Bag” was forthcoming, the tiffin coolie being
+still “hull down,” and from its varied contents we extracted the only
+edibles, apricots and rock cakes.
+
+Never have we enjoyed any meal more than that somewhat light breakfast,
+washed down by water which was a pure joy to drink.
+
+Alas! There were but two rock cakes apiece! Another half-hour’s
+clamber, along a pretty rough track, brought us to a point whence we
+looked down a long green slope to our destination, Tronkol—a few Gujar
+huts, indistinct amidst a clump of very ancient birch-trees, standing
+out as a sort of oasis among the bare and boulder-strewn slopes.
+
+The view was superb. To the right, the mountain-side fell steeply to
+where, in the depths of the Wangat Nullah, a tiny white thread marked
+the river foaming 4000 feet below, and beyond rose a jagged range of
+spires and pinnacles, snow lying white at the bases of the dark
+precipices. “These are the savage wilds” which bar the route from the
+Wangat into Tilail and the Upper Sind.
+
+Over Tronkol, bare uplands, rising wave above wave, shut out the view
+of Gangabal and the track over into the Erin Nullah and down to
+Bandipur.
+
+On our left towered the bastions of Haramok, his snow-crowned head
+rising grimly into the clear blue sky.
+
+We pitched our camp at Tronkol about two o’clock, on a green level some
+little way beyond the Gujar huts, and just above a stream which picked
+its riotous way along a bed of enormous boulders, sheltered to a
+certain extent by a fringe of hoary birches.
+
+We had never beheld such great birches as these, many of them, alas!
+mere skeletons of former grandeur, whose whitening limbs speak
+eloquently of a hundred years of ceaseless struggle with storm and
+tempest.
+
+I saw no young ones springing up to replace these dying warriors. The
+Gujars and their buffaloes probably prevent any youthful green thing
+from growing. It seems a pity.
+
+Towards evening we observed baggage ponies approaching, and at the
+sight we felt aggrieved; for, in our colossal selfishness, we fancied
+that Tronkol was ours, and ours alone. A small tent was pitched, and
+presently to our surly eyes appeared a lonely lady, who proceeded
+solemnly to play Patience in front of it while her dinner was being got
+ready.
+
+A visit of ceremony, and an invitation to share our “irishystoo” and
+camp-fire, brought Mrs. Locock across, and we made the acquaintance of
+a lady well known for her prowess as a shikari throughout Kashmir—
+
+“There hunted ‘she’ the walrus, the narwal, and the seal.
+    Ah! ’twas a noble game,
+    And, like the lightning’s flame;
+Flew our harpoons of steel”
+
+
+I cannot resist the quotation, but I do not really think Mrs. Locock
+hunts walruses in Kashmir, and I know she doesn’t use a harpoon. No
+matter, she proved a cheery and delightful companion, and we entirely
+forgave her for coming to Tronkol and poaching on our preserves.
+
+We were extremely amused at the surprise she expressed at Jane’s feat
+in climbing from Wangat. Evidently Jane’s reputation is not that of a
+bullock-workman in Srinagar!
+
+This morning we all three went to see Lake Gangabal. An easy path leads
+over some three or four miles of rolling down to our destination, which
+is one of a whole chain of lakes—or rather tarns—which lie under the
+northern slopes of Haramok.
+
+We came first upon a small piece of water, lying blue and still in the
+morning sun, and from which a noisy stream poured forth its glacier
+water. This we had a good deal of trouble in crossing, the ladies being
+borne on the broad backs of coolies, in attitudes more quaint than
+graceful. A second and deeper stream being safely forded, we climbed a
+low ridge to find Gangabad stretched before us—a smooth plane of
+turquoise blue and pale icy green, beneath the dark ramparts of
+Haramok, whose “eagle-baffling” crags and glittering glaciers rose six
+thousand sheer feet above. In the foreground the earth, still brown,
+and only just released from its long winter covering of snow, bore
+masses of small golden ranunculus and rose-hued primulas.
+
+An extraordinary sense of silence and solitude filled one—no birds or
+beasts were visible, and only the tinkle of tiny rills running down to
+the lake, and the distant clamour of the infant river, broke, or rather
+accentuated, the loneliness of the scene.
+
+We had brought breakfast with us, and after eating it we made haste to
+recross the two rivers, because, troublesome as they were to ford in
+the morning, they would certainly grow worse with every hour of
+ice-melting sunshine.
+
+Once more on the camp side, however, we strolled along in leisurely
+mood, staying to lunch on top of the ridge overlooking Tronkol. I left
+the ladies then to find their leisurely way back among the flowery
+hollows, and made for a peak overlooking the head of the Chittagul
+Nullah. A sharp climb up broken rocks and over snow slopes brought me
+to the top, a point some 13,500 feet above the sea. In front of me
+Haramok, seamed with snow-filled gullies, still towered far above;
+immediately below, the saddle—brown, bare earth, snow-streaked—divided
+the Chittagul Nullah from Tronkol. Far away down the valley the Sind
+River gleamed like a silver thread in the afternoon light, and beyond,
+the Wular lay a pale haze in the distance.
+
+To the northward rose the fantastic range of peaks that overhang the
+Wangat gorge, and almost below my feet, at a depth of some 1500 feet,
+lay a sombre lakelet, steely dark and still, in the shadow of the ridge
+upon which I sat.
+
+The sun was going down fast into a fleecy bed of clouds, amid which I
+knew that Nanga Parbat lay swathed from sight. To see that mountain
+monarch had been the chief object of my climb, so, recognising that the
+sight of him was a hope deferred, I made haste to scramble down to the
+tarn below, stopping here and there to fill my pith hat with wild
+rhubarb, and to pick or admire the new and always fascinating wild
+flowers as I passed. Large-flowered, white anemones; tiny gentian, with
+vivid small blue blossoms; loose-flowered, purple primulas, and many
+strange and novel blossoms starred the grassy patches, or filled the
+rocky crevices with abundant beauty.
+
+By the lake side the moisture-loving, rose-coloured primula reappeared
+in masses, and as I followed down its outgoing stream towards the camp,
+I waded through a tangle of columbine, white and blue; a great purple
+salvia, arnica, and a profusion of varied flowers in rampant bloom.
+
+_Saturday, July_ 8.—An early start homewards yesterday, in the cold
+dawn, rewarded us by the sight of the first beams of the rising sun
+lighting up the threefold head of Haramok with an unspeakable glory, as
+we crossed the open boulder-strewn uplands, before descending into the
+nullah, which lay below us still wrapped in a mysterious purple haze.
+The downward zigzags, with their uncompromising steepness, proved
+almost as tiring as the ascent had been, and we were more than ready
+for breakfast by the time we reached the ruined temples of Vernag.
+
+These temples, built probably about the beginning of the eighth
+century, are, like all the others which I have seen in Kashmir, small,
+and somewhat uninteresting, except to the archaeologist. They consist,
+invariably, of a “cella” containing the object of veneration, the
+lingam, surmounted by a high-pitched conical stone roof. In structure
+they show apparently signs of Greek influence in the doorways, and the
+triangular pediments above them. Phallic worship would seem to have
+been always confined to these temples, with ophiolatry—the nagas or
+water-snake deities being accommodated in sacred tanks, in the midst of
+which the early Kashmir temples were usually placed.
+
+Any one who wishes to study the temple architecture of Kashmir cannot
+do better than read Fergusson’s _Indian Architecture_, wherein he will
+find all the information he wants.
+
+To the ordinary “man in the street” the ancient buildings of Kashmir do
+not appeal, either by their aesthetic value or by the dignity of size.
+Martand, the greatest, and probably the finest, both in point of
+grandeur and of situation, I regret to say, I did not see; but the
+temples at Bhanyar, Pandrettan, and Wangat resemble one another closely
+in design and general insignificance. The position of the Wangat ruins,
+embosomed in the wild tangle
+
+“Of a steep wilderness, whose airy sides
+With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
+Access denied; and overhead up grew
+Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
+Cedar, and pine, and fir,”
+
+
+and seated at the base of a solemn circle of mountains, gives the group
+of tottering shrines a picturesqueness and importance which I cannot
+concede that they would otherwise have had.
+
+I do not remember ever to have seen it noted that all buildings which
+are impressive by the mere majesty of size are to be found in plains
+and not in mountainous countries. This is probably due to two causes.
+The one being the denser population of the fat plains, whereby a
+greater concourse of builders and of worshippers would be sustained,
+and the other being the—probably unconscious—instinct which debarred
+the architect from attempting to vie with nature in the mountains and
+impel him to work out his most majestic designs amid wide and level
+horizons.
+
+The fact remains, whatever may be the cause, that architecture has
+never been advanced much beyond the mere domestic in very mountainous
+regions, with the exception of the mediaeval strongholds, which formed
+the nucleus of every town or village, where a _point d’appui_ was
+required against invasion, for the protection of the community.
+
+Breakfast, followed by a prowl among the ruins and a short space for
+sketching, gave the sun time to pour his beams with quite unpleasant
+insistence into the confined fold in the hills, where we began to gasp
+until the ladies mounted their ponies, and we took our way down the
+valley, crossing the river below Wangat, and keeping along the left
+bank to Vernaboug, where we camped, the only incident of any importance
+being the sad loss of Jane’s field-glasses, which, carried by her syce
+in a boot-bag, were dropped in a stream by that idiot while crossing,
+he having lost his footing in a pool, and, clutching wildly at the
+pony’s reins, let go the precious binoculars.
+
+This morning we were up betimes, Mrs. Locock having ordained a bear
+“honk”! This was, to me, a new departure in shikar, and truly it was
+amusing to see the shikari, bursting with importance, mustering the
+forty half-naked coolies whom he had collected to beat. A couple of men
+with tom-toms slung round their necks completed the party, which
+marched in straggling procession out of the village at dawn.
+
+A mile of easy walking brought us to the rough jungly cliffs, seamed
+with transverse nullahs, narrow and steep, which bordered the river.
+Here we were placed in passes, with great caution and mystery, by the
+shikari and his chief-of-the-staff—the “oldest inhabitant” of
+Vernaboug; and here we sat in the morning stillness until a distant
+clamour and the faint beating of tom-toms afar off made us sit up more
+warily, and watch eagerly for the expected bear.
+
+The yells increase, and the tom-toms, vigorously banged, seem
+calculated to fuss any self-respecting bear into fits. We watch a
+narrow space between two bushes some dozen yards away, and see that the
+Mannlicher across our knees and the smooth-bore, ball loaded in the
+right and chokeless barrel, lie handy for instant use.
+
+Hidden in the dense jungle, some hundred yards below, sits Mrs. Locock
+on the matted top of a hazel, while Jane, chittering with suppressed
+excitement, crouches a few paces behind me.
+
+The beaters approach, and pandemonium reigns. A few scared birds dart
+past, but no bear comes; and when the first brown body shows among the
+brushwood we shout to stop the uproar, and all move on to another beat.
+
+Four “honks” produced nothing, so far as I was concerned; but a
+bear—according to her shikari—passed close by Mrs. Locock, so thickly
+screened by jungle that she couldn’t see it. This may be so, but
+Kashmir shikaris have remarkably vivid imaginations.
+
+After a delightful morning to all parties concerned—for we were much
+amused, the coolies were adequately paid, and the bear wasn’t
+worried—we returned to breakfast, and then marched fifteen hot miles
+into Gunderbal, where we found the Smithsons, with whom we dined. They
+have been in Gurais and the Tilail district ever since they left
+Srinagar on the 24th April, and have had an adventurous and difficult
+time, with plenty of snow and torrents and avalanches, but somewhat
+poor sport.
+
+This is not according to one’s preconceived ideas of shikar in Kashmir,
+as they went into a nullah which no sahib had penetrated for five
+years; they had the best shikari in Kashmir (he said it, and he ought
+to know); they worked very hard, and their bag consisted of one or two
+moderate ibex and a red bear.
+
+_Tuesday, July_ 11.—On Sunday morning the combined fleet sailed for
+Palhallan. The Smithsons had a “matted dounga,” and she “walked away”
+from our heavier ark down the winding Sind at a great pace. We reached
+Shadipur at 11 A.M., but the Smithsons had “gone before,” so, crossing
+the Jhelum, we made after them in hot pursuit, and reached them and
+Palhallan at sunset.
+
+A narrow canal, bordered by low swampy marshland, allowed us to get
+within a mile of the village and tie up among the shallows, whereupon
+the mosquitoes gathered from far and near, and fell upon us.
+
+The final packing, effected amid a hungry crowd of little piping
+fiends, was a veritable nightmare, and yesterday morning we rescued our
+mangled remains from the enemy, and, having paid off our boats,
+hurriedly clambered on to the ponies which had come—late, as usual—from
+Palhallan to convey what was left by the mosquitoes to Gulmarg.
+
+The unfortunate Jane—always a popular person—is especially so with
+insects; and if there is a flea or a mosquito anywhere within range it
+immediately rushes to her.
+
+She paid dearly for her fatal gift of attractiveness at Palhallan—her
+eyes, usually so keen, being what is vulgarly termed “bunged up,” and
+every vulnerable spot in like piteous plight!
+
+We quitted Palhallan as the Lot family quitted Sodom and Gomorrah, but
+with no lingering tendency to look backward; we cast our eyes unto the
+hills, and kicked the best pace we could out of our “tattoos,” halting
+for breakfast soon after crossing the hot, white road which runs from
+Baramula to Srinagar.
+
+As we left the steamy valley and wound up a rapidly ascending path
+among the lower fringes and outliers of the forest our spirits rose,
+and by the time we had clambered up the last stiff pull and emerged
+from the darkly-wooded track into the little clearing, where perches
+the village of Babamarishi, we were positively cheerful.
+
+Once more the air was fresh and buoyant, the spring water was cool and
+“delicate to drink,” and from our tents we could look out over the
+valley lying dim in a yellow heat-haze far below.
+
+Babamarishi is a picturesquely-grouped collection of the usual
+rickety-looking wooden huts, no dirtier, but perhaps noisier than
+usual, owing to the presence of a very holy ziarat much frequented by
+loudly conversational devotees. We spent the crisp, warm afternoon
+peacefully stretched on the sloping sward in front of our tents, and
+making the acquaintance of the only good thing that came out of
+Palhallan—a charming quartette of young geese which Sabz Ali had bought
+and brought.
+
+These delightful birds evinced the most perfect friendliness and
+confidence in us, and we became greatly attached to them. They and the
+fowls seemed excellent travellers, and after a long day’s march would
+come up smiling, like the jackdaw of Rheims, “not a penny the worse.”
+
+This morning we had but a short and easy march from Babamarishi to
+Gulmarg, along a good road, through a fine forest of silver fir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+GULMARG
+
+
+Somehow one’s preconceived ideas of a place are almost always quite
+wrong, and so Gulmarg seemed quite different from what I had expected.
+It seemed all twisted the wrong way, and was really quite unlike the
+place which my imagination had evolved.
+
+Turning through a narrow gap, we found ourselves facing a wide, green,
+undulating valley completely surrounded by dense fir forest. Beyond, to
+the left, rose the sloping bulk of Apharwat, one of the range of the
+Pir Panjal; while to the right low, wooded hillocks bounded the valley
+and fell, on their outward flanks, to the Kashmir plain.
+
+Immediately in front of us a small village or bazaar swarmed with
+native life, and sloped down to a stream which wound through the
+hollows.
+
+All round the edge of the forest a continuous ring of wooden huts and
+white tents showed that the “sahib” on holiday intent had marked
+Gulmarg for his own.
+
+As we rode through the bazaar the view expanded. Apharwat showed all
+his somewhat disappointing face; his upper slopes, streaked with dirty
+snow, looked remarkably dingy when contrasted with the dazzling white
+clouds which went sailing past his uninteresting summit. The absence of
+all variety in form or light and shade, and the dull lines of his
+foreshortened front, made it hard to realise that he stood some five
+thousand feet above us.
+
+Near the centre of the marg, on a small hill, was a large wooden
+building surrounded by many satellite huts and tents: this we rightly
+guessed to be Nedou’s Hotel. Below, on a spur, was the little church,
+and to the right, in the hollow, the club-house faced the level
+polo-ground.
+
+A winding stream, which we subsequently found to be perfectly
+ubiquitous, and an insatiable devourer of errant golf-balls, ran
+deviously through the valley, which seemed to be rather over a mile
+long, and almost equally wide.
+
+The Smithsons rode away vaguely in search of a camping-ground; while
+we, having found out where our hut was, turned back and climbed a knoll
+behind the bazaar, and found ourselves in front of our future home, a
+very plain and roughly-built rectangular wooden hut, containing a small
+square room opening upon a verandah, and having a bedroom and bathroom
+on each side.
+
+Such was our palace, and we were well satisfied with it.
+
+The cook-house and servants’ quarters were in a hut close by, and I
+could summon my retainers or chide them for undue chatter from my
+bedroom window—a serviceable short cut for the dinner, too, in wet and
+stormy weather!
+
+Life at Gulmarg is extremely apt to degenerate into the “trivial round”
+of the golf links varied by polo, or polo varied by golf, with
+occasional gymkhanas and picnics. There are, doubtless, many delightful
+excursions to be made, but upon the whole it seems difficult to break
+far beyond the “Circular Road,” a fairly level and well-kept
+bridle-path, which for eight beautiful miles winds through the pine
+forest, giving marvellous glimpses of snowy peaks and sunlit valleys.
+
+The “Circular Road” is always fine, whether seen after rain, when, far
+below in the Ferozepore Nullah, the
+
+“Swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,
+Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,”
+
+
+or when in the evening sunlight the whole broad Valley of Kashmir lies
+glowing at our feet, ringed afar by the ethereal mountains whose pale
+snows stand faint in the golden light, until beneath the yellowing sky
+the clouds turn rosy, and from their midst Haramok and Kolahoi raise
+their proud heads towards the earliest star.
+
+The expedition to the top of Apharwat is, in my opinion, hardly worth
+making, but then I was not very lucky in the weather. Major Cardew,
+R.F.A., and I arranged to do the climb together, and duly started one
+excessively damp and foggy morning towards the middle of July.
+
+Taking our ponies, we scrambled up a rough path through the forest to
+Killanmarg, a boulder-strewn slope, some half a mile wide, which lies
+between the upper edge of the forest and the final slopes of the
+mountain.
+
+Sending our ponies home, we set about the ascent of the 3500 feet that
+remained between us and our goal. The whole hillside was a perfect wild
+garden. Columbines, potentillas—yellow, bronze, and crimson—primulas,
+anemones, gentian, arnica, and quantities of unknown blossoms gave us
+ample excuse for lingering panting in the rarefied air, as we struggled
+through brushwood first, and then over loose rocks and finally slopes
+of shelving snow, before we found ourselves on the crest of the
+mountain, shivering slightly in the raw, foggy air.
+
+Our view was narrowed down to the bleak slopes of rock and snow that
+immediately surrounded us, for our hope that we should get above the
+cloud belt was not fulfilled, and beyond a dismal tarn, lying just
+below us, in whose black waters forlorn little bergs of rotten snow
+floated, and a very much circumscribed view of dull tops swathed in
+flying mist, we saw nothing.
+
+Had the sky been clear, I am told that the view would have been
+magnificent, but I should think probably no better than that from
+Killanmarg, as it is a mistake to suppose that a high, or at least too
+high, elevation “lends enchantment.” As a rule the view is finer when
+seen half-way up a lofty mountain than that obtained from the summit.
+
+We did not stay long upon the top of Apharwat discussing the best point
+of view, because Cardew sagaciously remarked that if it grew much
+thicker he wouldn’t be answerable for finding the way down, and as I
+have a holy horror of rambling about strange (and possibly precipitous)
+mountains in a fog, we set about retracing our own footsteps in the
+snow until we regained the ridge we had come up by.
+
+A remarkably wet couple we were when we presented ourselves at our
+respective front doors, just in time for a “rub down” before lunch!
+
+The golf at Gulmarg is very good, the 18-hole course being exceedingly
+sporting, and tricky enough to defeat the very elect. Jane and I had
+conveyed our clubs out to Kashmir, knowing that they were likely to
+prove useful. I had also taken the precaution to pack up a box or two
+of balls, but I found my labour all in vain, as “Haskells” and
+“Kemshall-Arlingtons” were supplied by the club at precisely the same
+price as in England—viz., 1 r. 8 an., or two shillings.
+
+New clubs are also cheap and in plenty, but repairs to old favourites
+are not always satisfactory. My pet driver, having been damaged, was
+very evilly treated by the native craftsman, who bound up its wounds
+with large screws!
+
+The mountains of Kashmir have been a constant joy to us. Varying with
+every change of light and shade, custom cannot stale their infinite
+variety; but as yet I had not seen the great monarch of Chilas, Nanga
+Parbat.
+
+In July and early August he is rarely visible from Gulmarg, owing to
+the haziness of the atmosphere. One clear morning, however, towards the
+end of July, after a night of rain and storm, I was strolling along the
+Circular Road when, lo! far away in the north-west, soaring ethereal
+above the blue ranges that overlook Gurais, above the cloud-banks
+floating beyond their summits, the great mountain, unapproachable in
+his glory, stood revealed.
+
+The early morning sun struck full on his untrodden snows, making it
+hard to realise that eighty-five miles of air separated me from that
+clear-cut peak. Soon, very soon, a light cloud clung to his eastern
+face, and within ten minutes the whole vision had faded into an
+up-piled tower of seething clouds.
+
+Later in the season, as the air grew clearer, Jane and I made almost
+daily pilgrimages to the point, only a few minutes’ walk from our hut,
+whence, framed by a foreground of columnar pines, Nanga Parbat could
+generally be seen for a time in the morning.
+
+_Tuesday, August_ 1.—Society in Gulmarg is particularly cheery, as
+indeed might be expected where two or three hundred English men and
+women are gathered together to amuse themselves and lay in a fresh
+store of health and energy before returning to the routine of duty in
+the plains.
+
+There have been many picnics lately, the little glades or margs, which
+are frequent in the forest slopes, being ideal places of rendezvous for
+merrymakers on horse or foot. Picnics of all sorts and sizes, from the
+little impromptu gatherings of half-a-dozen congenial young souls
+(always an even number, please), who ride off into the romantic shades
+to nibble biscuits and make tea, to the dainty repasts provided by a
+hospitable lady, whose official hut overlooks the Ferozepore Nullah,
+and who, in turn, overlooks her cook, to the great gratification of her
+guests.
+
+How small a thing will upset the best-laid plans of hospitality! It is
+said that a most carefully planned picnic, where all the little tables,
+set for two, were discreetly screened apart among the bushes, was
+entirely ruined by a piratical damsel undertaking a cutting-out
+expedition for the capture of the hostess’ best young man.
+
+Our evenings are by no means dull. On many a starlit night has Jane
+mounted the noble steed which, through the kindness of the Resident, we
+have hired from the “State,” and ridden across the marg attended by her
+slaves (her husband and the ancient shikari, to wit), to dine and play
+bridge in some hospitable hut, or dance or see theatricals at Nedou’s
+Hotel.
+
+Last week we tore ourselves away from our daily golf, and joined the
+Smithsons in a futile expedition to the foot of the Ferozepore Nullah
+for bear. Three days we spent in vain endeavour to find “baloo,” and on
+the fourth we wended our toilsome way up the hill again to Gulmarg.
+
+_Monday, August_ 27.—There are drawbacks as well as advantages in being
+perched, as it were, just above the bazaar. Its proximity enables our
+good Sabz Ali to sally forth each morning and secure the earliest
+consignment of “butter and eggs and a pound of cheese,” which has come
+up from Srinagar, and select the best of the fruit and vegetables. It
+affords also an interesting promenade for the geese, who solemnly march
+down the main street daily for recreation and such stray articles of
+food as may be found in the heterogeneous rubbish-heaps.
+
+It possesses, however, a superabundance of pi-dogs, who gather together
+on the slope in front of our hut in the watches of the night, and
+serenade us to a maddening extent.
+
+The natives, too, have a sinful habit of chattering and shouting at an
+hour when all well-conducted persons should be steeped in their beauty
+sleep.
+
+A few nights ago this culminated in what Keats would have called a
+“purple riot.” The sweeper and his friends were holding a meeting for
+the purpose of conversation and the consumption of apple brandy.
+
+Having fruitlessly sent the shikari to try and stop the insufferable
+noise, I was fain to sally forth myself to investigate matters.
+
+Then to a happy and light-hearted party seated chattering round a
+blazing fire there came suddenly the unwelcome apparition of an
+exceedingly irate sahib, in evening dress and pumps, brandishing a
+khudstick.
+
+A wild scurry, in which the bonfire was scattered, a few remarks in
+forcible English, a whack which just missed the hindmost reveller, and
+the place became a deserted village.
+
+Next morning Sabz Ali came to me in a towering rage to report that the
+sweeper—that unclean outcast—had dared to say most opprobrious things
+to him, being inspired thereto by the devil and apple brandy. Nothing
+less than the immediate execution of the culprit by hanging, drawing,
+and quartering would satisfy the outraged feelings of our henchman.
+
+I promised a yet severer punishment. I said I would “cut” the wretched
+minion’s pay that month to the amount of a rupee. Vengeance was
+satisfied, and the victim reduced to tears.
+
+It is good to hear Jane—who for many years has been accustomed to
+having her own way in all household matters—ordering breakfast.
+
+“Well, Sabz Ali—what shall we have for breakfast to-morrow?”
+
+“Jessa mem-sahib arder!”—with a friendly grin.
+
+“Then I shall have kidneys.”’
+
+“No kidney, mem-sahib! Kidney plenty money—two annas six pice ek. Oh,
+plenty dear!”
+
+“I’m tired of eggs. Is there any cold chicken you could grill?”
+
+“Chota murghi one egg lay, mem-sahib, anda poach. Sahib, chicken grill
+laike!”
+
+“Oh, all right! But I thought of a mutton-chop for the major sahib.”
+
+“Muttony stup” (mutton’s tough). “Sahib no laike!”
+
+“Very well, that will do—a poached egg for me and grilled chicken for
+the sahib.”
+
+“No, mem-sahib—no ’nuf. Sahib plenty ’ungry—chicken grill, peechy
+ramble-tamble egg!”
+
+“Have it your own way. I daresay the major sahib _would_ like scrambled
+eggs, and we’ll have coffee—not tea.”
+
+“No, mem-sahib. No coffee—coffee finish!”
+
+“Send the shikari down to the bazaar, then, for a tin of coffee from
+Nusserwanjee.”
+
+“Shikari saaf kuro lakri ke major sahib” (cleaning the golf-clubs).
+“Tea breakfast, coffee kal” (to-morrow).
+
+And, utterly routed on every point, Jane gives in gracefully, and makes
+an excellent breakfast as prearranged by Sabz Ali!
+
+The news is spread that there will be an exhibition of pictures held in
+Srinagar in September. Every second person is a—more or
+less—heaven-born artist out here, so there promises to be no lack of
+exhibits. I dreamed a dream last night, and in my dream I was walking
+along the bund and came upon an elderly gentleman laying Naples yellow
+on a canvas with a trowel. The river was smooth and golden, and
+reflected the sensuous golden tones of the sky. Trees arose from golden
+puddles, half screening a ziarat which, upon the glowing canvas,
+appeared remarkably like a village church. “How beautiful!” I cried,
+“how gloriously oleographic!” and the painter, removing a brush from
+his mouth, smiled, well pleased, and said, “I am a Leader among
+Victorian artists and the public adores me!” and I left him vigorously
+painting pot-boilers. Then in a damp dell among the willows of the Dal
+I found a foreigner in spectacles, and the light upon his pictures was
+the light that never was on sea or land; but through a silvery mist the
+willows showed ghostly grey, and a shadowy group of classic nymphs were
+ringed in the dance, and I cried “O Corot! lend me your spectacles. I
+fain, like you, would see crude nature dimmed to a silvery perpetual
+twilight.” And Corot replied: “Mon ami moi je ne vois jamais le soleil,
+je me plonge toujours, dans les ombres bleuâtres et les rayons pâles de
+l’aube.”
+
+Then upward I fared till, treading the clear heights, I found one
+frantically painting the peaks and pinnacles of the mountains in weird
+stipples of alternate red and blue.
+
+“Great heavens!” I exclaimed, “what disordered manner is this!”
+
+The artist glanced swiftly at me, and said disdainfully: “I am a modern
+of the moderns, and if you cannot see that mountains are like that, it
+is your fault—not mine. Go back, you stand too close.”
+
+And as I went back I looked over my shoulder, and, truly, the flaring
+rose-colour had blended amicably with the blue, and I admitted that
+perhaps Segantini was not so mad as he looked.
+
+A little lower down a stout Scotchman painted a flowery valley. The
+flowers were many and bright, but not so garish as they appeared to
+him, and I hinted as much; but he scorned my criticism.
+
+“Mon,” he shouted, “I painted the Three Graces, an’ they made me an
+Academeesian. I painted a flowery glen in the Tyrol (dearie me, but
+thae flowers cost me a fortune in blue paint), and it was coft for the
+Chantry Bequest, and hoo daur _you_ talk to me?”
+
+Then I departed hurriedly and came upon four men, two of them with long
+beards, and all with unkempt hair, laboriously depicting a blue pine,
+needle by needle, and every one in its proper place. I asked them if
+theirs was not a very troublesome way of painting.
+
+They looked at one another with earnest blue eyes, and remarked that
+here was evidently a Philistine who knew not Cimabue and cared not a
+jot for Giotto; and the first said: “Sir, methinks he who would climb
+the golden stairs should do so step by step;” and the second said,
+sadly: “We are but scapegoats, truly, being cast forth by the
+vindictive Victorians of our day.”
+
+The third murmured in somewhat broken English.
+
+“Victoria Victrix,
+Beata Beatrix,”
+
+
+whereby I recognised him to be a poet, if not a painter.
+
+But the fourth—an energetic-looking man with a somewhat arrogant
+manner—said briskly: “Perchance the ass is right; these pine needles
+are becoming monotonous, and I have seventeen million four hundred and
+sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven more to do. Beshrew me if I
+do not take to pot-boiling!”
+
+Down by the water-side a lady sat, sketching in water-colours for dear
+life; around her lay a litter of half-finished works, scattered like
+autumn leaves in Vallombrosa. I approached her, quite friendly, and
+offered to gather them up for her—at least some of them, saying
+soothingly, for I saw she was in a temper—
+
+“Dear, dear, Clara, why, what _is_ the matter?”
+
+“I am painting the Venice of the East,” she cried petulantly, “but for
+the life of me I can’t see a campanile, and how can I possibly paint a
+picture without a campanile?”
+
+I understood that, of course, she couldn’t, so I stole away softly on
+tip-toe, leaving her turning doungas into gondolas for all she was
+worth.
+
+A dark, dapper man, with an alert air and an eyeglass, sat near the
+seventh bridge, writing. Beside him stood an easel and other
+painting-gear. I asked him what he was doing, and he answered, with a
+fine smile, “I am gently making enemies;” so, to turn the subject, I
+picked up a large canvas, smeared over with invisible grey, like the
+broadside of a modern battleship, and sprinkled here and there with
+pale yellow blobs.
+
+“What have we here, James?” I inquired cheerfully, and he, staying his
+claw-like hand in mid-air, made reply—
+
+“A chromatic in tones of sad colour, with golden accidentals—Kashmir
+night-lights.”
+
+“Ah! quite so,” I exclaimed; “but have I got it right side up?”
+
+He looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then, pointing to a remarkable
+butterfly (_Vanessa Sifflerius_) depicted in the corner, cried: “It’s
+all right; you’ll never make a mistake if you keep this insect in the
+_right bottom corner_. It is put there on purpose.”
+
+Lastly, on an eminence I saw a man like an eagle, sitting facing full
+the sun, and upon his glowing canvas was portrayed the heavens above
+and the earth beneath and the waters under the earth, and behind him
+sat one who patted him upon the back, and looked at intervals over his
+shoulder at the glorious work, and then wrote in a book a eulogy
+thereof; and I, too, came and looked over the painter’s shoulder, and I
+muttered, with Oliver Wendell Holmes,
+
+“The foreground golden dirt,
+The sunshine painted with a squirt.”
+
+
+Then the man who patted the painter on the back turned upon me
+aggressively, and said: “This is the only painter who ever was, or will
+be, and if you don’t agree with me you are a fool.” The painter,
+smiling a sly Monna-Lisan smile of triumph, remarked: “Right you are,
+John. I rather think this _will_ knock that rascal Claude,” and I
+laughed so that I awoke; but the memory of the dream remained with me,
+and it seemed to me that, perhaps, we poor amateurs might not be any
+better able to compass aught but caricatures of this marvellous scenery
+than the ghostly limners of my dream!
+
+The hut just above ours was tenanted by a party of three young Lancers
+on leave from Rawal Pindi, a gramophone, and a few dogs.
+
+One of the soldiers was laid up with a bad ankle, and it soon became a
+daily custom for Jane or me to play a game of chess or piquet with the
+invalid.
+
+Later on, when leave had expired for the hale, when the dogs had
+departed, and the voice of the gramophone was no more heard in the
+land, we came to see a great deal of the wounded warrior, and finally
+arranged to personally conduct him off the premises, and return him, in
+time for medical survey, to Rawal Pindi.
+
+Many years ago I read a delightful poem called _The Paradise of
+Birds_—I believe it was by Mortimer Collins,[1] but I am not sure. Now
+the Poet (who, together with Windbag, sailed to this very paradise of
+birds) deemed that this happy asylum of the feathered fowls was
+somewhere at the back of the North Pole. He cannot have known of
+Kashmir, or he would assuredly have sent the persecuted birds thither,
+and placed the “Roc’s Egg” as janitor, somewhere by the portals of the
+Jhelum Valley. Kashmir is truly and indeed the paradise of birds, for
+there no man molests them, and no schoolboy collects eggs, and the
+result is a fascinating fearlessness, the result of perpetual peace and
+plenty.
+
+[1] It is by Courthope, not Collins.
+
+
+I regret exceedingly that my ornithological knowledge is extremely
+limited. I could find no books to help me,[2] and, as I did not care to
+kill any birds merely to enable me to identify their species, my notes
+were merely “popular” and not “scientific.”
+
+[2] See Appendix II.
+
+
+Shall I confess that I began an erudite work on the birds of Kashmir,
+but got no further than the Hoopoe? It began as follows:—
+
+THE HOOPOE
+
+_Early history of_.—Tereus, King of Thrace, annoyed his wife Procne so
+much by the very marked attention which he paid to her sister
+Philomela, that she lost her temper so far as to chop up her son
+Itylus, and present him to his papa in the form of a ragoût.
+
+This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he “fell upon” the
+ladies with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the
+heart, he was changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale,
+Procne into a swallow, while Itylus became a pheasant.
+
+“Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristæ
+Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;
+N epops volucri.”
+
+
+OVID, _Metam_. lib. vi.
+
+
+_His crest and patent of nobility_.—Once upon a time, King Solomon,
+while making a royal progress, was much, incommoded by the powerful
+rays of the sun, and as he had ascendency over the birds, and knew
+their language, he called upon the vultures to come and fly betwixt the
+sun and his nobility, but the vultures refused. Then the kindly Hoopoes
+assembled, and flew in close mass above his head, thus forming a shade
+under which he proceeded on his journey in ease and comfort.
+
+At sundown the monarch sent for the King of the Hoopoes, and desired
+him to name a reward for the service which he and his followers had
+rendered.
+
+Then the King of the Hoopoes answered that nothing could be more
+glorious than the golden crown of King Solomon; and so Solomon decreed
+that the Hoopoes should thenceforward wear golden crowns as a mark of
+his favour. But alas! when men found the Hoopoes all adorned with
+golden crowns, they pursued and slew them in great multitudes for greed
+of the precious metal, until the King of the Hoopoes, in heavy sorrow,
+hied hastily to King Solomon, and begged that the gift of the golden
+crowns might be rescinded, ere every Hoopoe was slain.
+
+Then Solomon, seeing the misery they had brought upon themselves by
+their presumption, transformed their crowns of gold to crowns of
+feathers, which no man coveted (for the Eastern ladies didn’t wear
+hats), and the Hoopoes wear them to this day as a mark of royal favour,
+but all the feathers fell off the necks of the disobliging vultures.
+
+_His amazing talent_.—In those dark ages … the Hoopoe was considered as
+prodigiously skilful in defeating the machinations of witches, wizards,
+and hobgoblins. The female, in consequence of this art, could preserve
+her offspring from these dreaded injuries.
+
+She knew all the plants which defeat fascinations, those which give
+sight to the blind; and, more wondrous still, those which open gates or
+doors, locked, bolted, or barred.
+
+Aelian relates that a man having three times successively closed the
+nest of a Hoopoe, and having remarked the herb with which the bird, as
+often, opened it, applied the same herb, and _with the same success_,
+to charm the locks off the strongest coffer.—_Naturalists’ Magazine_
+(about 1805).
+
+_His personal appearance_.—The beak is bent, convex and sub-compressed,
+and in some degree obtuse; the tongue is obtuse, triangular and very
+short, and the feet are ambulatory. As this bird has a great abundance
+of feathers, it appears considerably thicker than it is. It is, in
+fact, about the size of a mistletoe thrush, but looks, while in its
+feathers, to be as large as a common pigeon.—_Naturalists’ Magazine_.
+
+I had got _no_ further in my _magnum opus_, when I unfortunately showed
+my notes to Colonel—well, I will not mention his name, but he is the
+greatest authority on the birds and beasts of Kashmir. He besought me
+to spare him, pathetically remarking that I should cut the ground from
+under his feet, and take the bread out of his mouth, and the wind out
+of his sails, if I went any further with my monograph on the Hoopoe. He
+saw at a glance that I was conversant with authorities whom he had
+never consulted, and possessed a knowledge of my subject to which he
+could hardly aspire, so I gracefully agreed to leave the field to him,
+and relinquished my _magnum opus_ in its very inception.
+
+One of the chiefest charms of Kashmir, and one which is apt to be
+overlooked, is the entirely unspoilt freshness of its scenery. No
+locust horde of personally-conducted “trippers” pollutes its ways and
+byways, nor has the khansamah of the dâk bungalow as yet felt
+constrained to add sauerkraut and German sausage to his bill of
+fare—for which Allah be praised!
+
+The world is growing very small, and the globe-trotter rushes round it
+in eighty days. The trail of the cheap excursionist is all over Europe,
+from the North Cape to Tarifa, from the highest Alpine summit (which he
+attains in comfort by a funicular railway) to the deepest mines of
+Cornwall. Egypt has become his footstool, and the shores of the
+Mediterranean his wash-pot. Niagara is mapped and labelled for his
+benefit, and the Yosemite is his happy hunting-ground. He “does” the
+West Indies in “sixty days for sixty pounds,” and he is now arranging a
+special cheap excursion from the Cape to Cairo. “But,” it may be
+remarked, “what were Jane and I but globe-trotters’? and am I not
+trying to sing the praises of Kashmir with the avowed object of
+inducing people to go out and see it for themselves?”
+
+By all manner of means let us travel. Far be it from me to wish folks
+to stay dully at home, while the wonders and beauties of the wide world
+lie open for the admiration and education of its inhabitants.
+
+But there are globe-trotters and globe-trotters. My objection is only
+to those—alas! too numerous—vagrants who cannot go abroad without
+casting shame on the country which bred them; whose vulgarity causes
+offence in church and picture-gallery; who cannot see a monument or a
+statue without desiring to chip off a fragment, or at least scrawl
+their insignificant names upon it.
+
+From these, and such as these, Kashmir is as yet free; but some day, I
+suppose, it will be “opened up,” when the railway, which is already
+contemplated, is in going order between Pindi and Srinagar, and cheap
+excursion tickets are issued from Berlin and Birmingham.
+
+Here is a specimen page of the Guide Book (bound in red) for 19—(?):
+
+“Ascend Apharwat by the funicular railway. The neat little station,
+with its red corrugated-iron roof, makes a picturesque spot of colour
+near the Dobie’s Ghât. Fares, 4 an. 6 pi., all the way.”
+
+“A local guide should on no account be omitted (several are always to
+be found near the station leaning on their khudsticks, and discussing
+controversial theology in the sweet low tones so noticeable in the
+Kashmiri). See that he be provided with a horn, to the hooting of which
+the Echo Lake will be found responsive.”
+
+“From the balcony of the * Hôtel Baloo an unrivalled view of Nanga
+Parbat should be obtained. Glasses can be procured from the
+anna-in-the-slot machines which are dotted about.”
+
+“This veritable king of the Himal—” (here follows a pageful of
+regulation guide-book gush).
+
+“Good sport is to be obtained from the obliging and enterprising
+manager of the hotel, Herr Baer. A few rupees will purchase the
+privilege of shooting at that monarch of the mountains, the markhor.
+Start not, fair tourist, for no danger lurks in the sport. No icy
+precipices need be scaled, no giddy gulfs explored, and the only danger
+which menaces the bold hunter in the mimic stalk, is that which menaces
+his shins in the broken soda-water bottles and sharp-edged sardine tins
+with which the summit of Apharwat is strewn.”
+
+“As a matter of fact, the consumption of mutton is considerable in the
+Hôtel Baloo in the tourist season, and the worthy Baer conceived the
+brilliant and financially sound scheme of attaching some old ibex and
+markhor horns (bought cheap when the old library at Srinagar was swept
+away in the last flood) to his live stock, and turning his decorated
+flock loose on the mountain’s brow, where the sportsman saves him the
+trouble of slaughter while enjoying all the excitement and none of the
+difficulty of a veritable stalk.”
+
+“Another brilliant invention of the good Baer is his ‘sunset
+spectacles.’ These are made with the glasses in two halves—the upper
+part orange and the lower one purple. These are simply invaluable to
+those who have only a brief half-hour in which to ‘do’ Apharwat before
+darting down to catch the 3.15 express for Leh (_viâ_ the newly opened
+Zoji La tunnel), since for the modest sum of 8 a. a superb sunset can
+be enjoyed at any time of the day.”
+
+“Should, however, the leisured globe-trotter have unlimited time at his
+disposal, he would do well to lunch at the Hôtel Baloo, in order to
+taste the celebrated Kashmir sauerkraut (made of wild rhubarb) and
+Gujar pie (composed of the most tempting tit-bits of the water
+buffalo), before returning to the ‘Savoy’ at Srinagar by the turbine
+tram from Tangmarg, or by the pneumatic launch which leaves Palhallan
+Pier every ten minutes, weather permitting.”
+
+“Should the tourist be a naturalist he can hardly fail to observe, and
+be interested in, the mosquitoes of this charming and picturesque
+locality. He will note that they rival the song-thrush in magnitude and
+the Bengal tiger in ferocity. A coating of tar laid with a trowel over
+the exposed parts of the body will be found the best protection,
+especially as the new Armour Company’s patent hermetically sealed
+bear-proof visor will be found too hot for comfort in summer.”
+
+“The environs of Srinagar are charming. Notice the picturesque
+‘furnished apartments’ for paying guests all along the water-side, and
+the mixed bathing establishments, crowded daily by the Smart Set, whose
+jewelled pyjamas flash in rivalry of the heliographic oil-tins which
+deck the neighbouring temples.”
+
+“By a visit to the Museum, and an inspection by eye and nose of the
+quaint specimens of antique clothing exhibited there, the intelligent
+and imaginative traveller may conjure up a mental picture of the
+unpolished appearance of the old-time Mangi and his lady before he
+adopted the tall hat and frock coat of civilisation, or she had
+discovered the ‘swanbill’!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+THE FLOOD
+
+
+Tuesday, _September_ 12.—A second edition of the Noachian deluge is
+upon us! It began to rain on Saturday, at the close of a hot and stuffy
+week, and, having succeeded in thoroughly soaking the unfortunate
+ladies who were engaged in a golf competition that day, it proceeded to
+rain abundantly all through Sunday and Monday.
+
+The outlook from our hut is dispiriting; through a thick grey veil of
+vapour the gleam of water shines over the swamp that was the
+polo-ground. The little muddy stream in which so many erring golf-balls
+lie low is up and out for a ramble over its banks. The lower
+golf-greens resemble paddy-fields, and round the marg the spires of
+dull grey pines stand dripping in a steadfast shower-bath.
+
+Sometimes the heavy cloud folds everything in its leaden wing, blotting
+out even the streaming village at our feet, and reducing our view to
+the immediate slope below us where the wilted ragwort and rank weeds
+bend before the tiny torrents which trickle everywhere. Then comes a
+break, falsely suggestive of an improvement, and lo! soaring above the
+cloudy boil, the lofty shoulders of Apharwat sheeted in new-fallen
+snow!
+
+After the somewhat oppressive heat of last week, the sudden raw cold
+strikes home, and Jane and I take a great interest in the fire, the
+“Old Snake”[1] is an accomplished fire-master, and it is pleasant to
+watch him squatting like an ungainly frog in front of the hearth, and
+sagaciously feeding the flame with damp and spitting logs.
+
+[1] Our pet name for Shikari Mark II., who reigns in the stead of Ahmed
+Bot, sacked for expensive inefficiency.
+
+
+It is amazing what lavish expenditure of fuel one will indulge in when
+it costs nothing a ton!
+
+We are just beginning to find out the exact spots where chairs may be
+planted so as to avoid the searching draughts which go far to make our
+happy home like a very airy sort of bird-cage.
+
+Well! we might have been worrying through all this in a sodden tent,
+where even a boarded floor would barely have kept out rheumatism, and
+where one would have been liable to alarms and excursions at all sorts
+of untoward times when drains wanted deepening and guys slackening. The
+mere thought of such things sent us into a truly thankful state of
+mind, and we discussed from our cosy chairs the probable condition of
+the party from the Residency which set forth, full of high hope, on
+Saturday morning to attack the markhor of Poonch.
+
+Here it has rained with vehemence ever since they left; up in the high
+ground it has doubtless snowed; and although they were well armed with
+cards and whisky, yet it would appear but a poor business to play
+bridge all day in a snow-bound tent on the top of the Pir Panjal!
+Nothing short of a hundred aces every few minutes could make the game
+worth the candle!
+
+This spell of bad weather has greatly interfered with the movements of
+a large number of the folks who were to leave Gulmarg early this week.
+Many got away betimes on Saturday, and a few faced the elements on
+Sunday, and a painful experience they must have had.
+
+We had intended to leave next Thursday, and had ordered boats to meet
+us at Parana Chauni, but the road will be so bad that I wired this
+morning to put off our transport till further orders.
+
+The end of the season at Gulmarg sees the bazaar stock at low water.
+Eggs, fowls, cherry brandy, and spirits of wine are “off,” also butter,
+but the latter scarcity does not affect us, as we make our own in a
+pickle jar. The bazaar butter became very bad, probably because the
+large numbers of visitors to Gulmarg caused an additional supply to be
+got from uncleanly Gujars, so we, by the kindness of the Assistant
+Resident, had a special cow detailed to supply us daily with milk at
+our own door.
+
+That cow was very friendly; I first made its acquaintance one forenoon.
+While I was sitting below the verandah sketching, with a dozen lovely
+peaches spread by me on the hoards to obtain their final touch of
+perfection in the sun before lunch, the cow strolled up. I was much
+interested in the sketch, and believed that the cow was too; but when I
+looked up at last, expecting to see its eye fixed upon the work in
+silent approbation,
+
+“The ‘cow’ was still there, but the ‘peaches’ were gone.”
+
+
+In the afternoon the weather showed signs of a desire to amend its
+ways. The clouds broke here and there, and, though it still rained
+heavily, it became apparent that the clerk of the weather had done his
+worst, and the supply of rain was running short. Clad in aquascutic
+garments, and surmounted by an ungainly two-rupee bazaar umbrella (my
+dapper British one having been annexed by a covetous Mangi)—
+
+“Ombrifuge, Lord love you, case o’ rain,
+I flopped forth ’sbuddikins on my own ten toes.”
+
+
+The whole slope in front of the hut was a trickle of water, threading
+the dying stalks of dock and ragwort, and hurrying down to add its
+dirty pittance to the small yellow torrent rushing along the greasy
+strip of clay that in happier days was the path.
+
+The whole marg was become lake or stream—lake over the polo-ground and
+half the golf-links—fed by the weeping slopes on every side, whence
+innumerable rills rioted over the grass, emulating in ferocity and
+haste, if not in size, the tawny torrents which drained the sides of
+Apharwat.
+
+The road from the bazaar to the club was all but impassable, but as it
+had still a few inches of freeboard, I followed it to the foot of the
+church slope, and, skirting the hill, inspected the desolation which
+had been wrought at the Kotal hole, where the stream had torn through
+its banks and wrecked the green.
+
+During a visit of condolence to Mrs. Smithson, whose unfortunate
+husband is pursuing markhor in Poonch, the sky cleared—a splendid
+effort in the way of a “clearing shower” being followed by a decided
+break-up of the pall of wet cloud in which we have been too long
+immersed. Not without a severe struggle did Jupiter Pluvius consent to
+turn off the tap, but at length the sun broke through the hanging
+clouds and sent their sodden grey fragments swirling up the Ferozepore
+Nullah to break in foamy wreaths round the ragged cliffs of Kulan.
+
+Finding the road across to the post-office altogether under water for
+some distance—a lake extending from the twelfth hole for nearly a
+quarter of a mile to the main road—I wandered back towards the higher
+ground, joining a waterproof figure, a member of the Green Committee,
+who was sadly regarding the water-logged links with the disconsolate
+air of the raven let loose from the ark! We agreed that this was a
+remarkably good opportunity for observing the drainage system, and
+taking notes for future guidance, and in company we went over as much
+of the links as possible, finishing below the second hole, where the
+cross stream which comes down from the higher ground had torn away the
+bridge and cut off the huts beyond from civilisation.
+
+The homeward stroll at sunset was perfectly beautiful, and showed
+Gulmarg in an absolutely new guise. The lower part of the marg, being
+all lake, reflected the lustrous golden sky and rich dark pine-woods in
+a faithful mirror. Flying fragments of cloud, fleeces of gold and
+crimson, clung to the mountain-sides or sailed above the forests, while
+beyond Apharwat, coldly clad in a pure white mantle of snow, new
+fallen, rose silhouetted against the darkening sky.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 16.—After the Deluge came the Exodus, everybody
+trying to leave Gulmarg at once. We had always intended to go down to
+Srinagar about the 15th, but, finding that the Residency party meant to
+move on that day, we arranged to migrate a day earlier in order to
+avoid the pony and coolie famine which a Residential progress entails
+on the ordinary traveller.
+
+On Wednesday afternoon the ten ponies, carefully ordered a week before
+from the outlying villages, were congregated on the weedy slope which
+falls away from our verandah, picking up a scanty sustenance from
+decaying ragwort and such like.
+
+Secure in the possession of the necessary transport, Jane and I
+strolled forth for a last look at Nanga Parbat, should he haply deign
+to be on view. He did not deign, however, preferring to remain, like
+Achilles, when bereft of Briseis, sulking in his cloudy tent. So we
+consoled ourselves with an exceedingly fine view of the snow-crowned
+heights at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah. Upon returning to our
+beloved log cabin we were met by Sabz Ali—almost speechless with
+wrath—who broke to us the distressing news that six of our ten
+weight-carriers had departed from the compound. The entire staff, with
+the exception of our factotum, were away in pursuit, and there was
+nothing for it but to possess our souls in what patience we might until
+they returned.
+
+As we had arranged for a four o’clock start next morning, it was most
+disconcerting to have all our transport desert so late in the evening.
+An urgent note to the Assistant Resident, and some pressure on the
+Tehsildhar, produced promise of assistance.
+
+Early on Thursday morning came an indignant chit from an irate General,
+complaining that my servants were trying to seize his ponies, for which
+he had paid an advance of two rupees, and would I be good enough to
+investigate the affair. Here was the murder out. His chuprassie had
+obviously bribed my pony wallahs, and a letter, stating my case pretty
+clearly, produced the ponies and an apology.
+
+This delay kept us till after midday, when, stowing our invalid snugly
+in a dandy, we left Gulmarg and began the descent to Srinagar. I
+remained behind to see the hut clear and make a sketch, and then
+hurried down the direct path, which drops some 2000 feet to Tangmarg.
+Here I found Jane and the invalid comfortably disposed in a landau, but
+the baggage spread about anywhere, and the usual clamour of coolies
+uprising in the heated and dust-laden air.
+
+No ekka—the one which had been ordered with the landau having
+apparently got another job and departed. Presently a stray ekka, drawn
+by a sorely weary-looking mule, appeared on the scene, and we seized
+upon it instantly, loaded it up with most of the baggage, and
+despatched coolies with the rest.
+
+After the storm came a holy calm, and we settled down to a light but
+welcome lunch before starting down the long slope into the valley.
+
+We had heard most disquieting tales of floods; the water had burst the
+bund at Srinagar, and there was said to be ten feet over the
+polo-ground. The occupants of Nedou’s Hotel were going in and out by
+boat, and Srinagar itself was said to be quite cut off from all access
+by road.
+
+The Residency party have countermanded their intended move to-morrow.
+
+At the post-office I was told that only a small part of the mail had
+been brought into Srinagar, the road being “bund” between Baramula and
+that place, while an unusual number of landslips and bridges have come
+down in the Jhelum Valley.
+
+Nevertheless, we had made a push to get on; things in Kashmir are often
+less gloomy than their reports would make one believe, and so we bowled
+quite cheerfully down the road from Tangmarg, basking in the hot and
+sunny air, which seemed to us really delicious after the raw
+cheerlessness of the last few days at Gulmarg.
+
+From Tangmarg to the dâk bungalow at Margam, a steady descent is
+maintained by an excellent road over the sloping Karewa, for about ten
+miles, of which we had just about travelled half when a series of yells
+from the syce behind, a wild swerve, and a heavy plump brought us up
+just on the edge of the steep and rocky bank, which fell sharply from
+the roadside.
+
+Alas! the axle of the off hind wheel had snapped, and the wheel itself
+was hopelessly lying in the thick white dust, and our landau looked
+like an ancient three-decker in a squall.
+
+The horses being unharnessed, we sent the drivers with one of them
+forward to look for help, and Hesketh and Jane proceeded to make tea
+while I sat by the roadside and sketched.
+
+Presently an empty dandy came “dribbling by” on its return journey to
+Gulmarg, and it was immediately impressed for the benefit of the lame.
+Hardly had we packed him in, when a wandering tonga hove in sight, and,
+being promptly requisitioned, we rattled off the five miles which lay
+between us and Margam in no time.
+
+Here we found a large party assembled in the little rest-house. Colonel
+and Mrs. Maxwell (who had kindly sent us back the tonga on hearing of
+the breakdown); Mr. and Mrs. Allen Baines, whose dandy had been the
+means of bringing Hesketh along; and Sadleir-Jackson, and Edwards of
+the 9th Lancers.
+
+The bungalow was full, but I found out that one room was appropriated
+by a coming event, who had cast his shadow before him in the guise of a
+bearer. This being contrary to the etiquette as observed in dâk
+bungalows, I gently but firmly cleared out the neatly arranged toilet
+things and ready-made bed; while Hesketh was taken over, somewhat
+shattered by his tedious though exciting day, by his fellow Lancers.
+
+The resources of the little place were severely strained; dinner was a
+scanty meal, and soda-water gave out almost immediately: nevertheless,
+a cheroot and a rubber of bridge sent us contented to bed.
+
+Yesterday (Friday) the question of how to proceed arose. The road was
+reported to be impassable after about five miles, the remaining ten
+being under water.
+
+We set out after breakfast, Jane perched on a pony which Sabz Ali had
+raised or stolen, Hesketh in the dandy, and I on foot. After a warm
+five miles’ march we came upon signs of a block. Vehicles of many and
+strange sorts were drawn up in the shade of a chenar, under whose wide
+branches the Baines family was faring sumptuously on biscuits and
+brandy and water.
+
+Horses, goats, and cattle strayed around, and a chattering mob of
+natives, busily engaged, as usual, in doing nothing, completed the
+picture.
+
+Hesketh was reduced to despair; after two months in bed, this could not
+but be a trying journey under the most favourable circumstances, and
+the prospect as held out by his pessimistic bearer was pretty gloomy—no
+boats available, and no signs of our doungas.
+
+I pushed on to the break in search of my shikari, whom I had sent on by
+pony early in the morning, and soon found that estimable person, who is
+not really the blithering idiot he looks!
+
+In the first place, he had appropriated the only two shikaras he could
+find, and our baggage was already being stowed in them; secondly, he
+had discovered both Juma and Ismala, our Mangis, who reported the
+doungas moored below Parana Chaum, about four miles away over the
+flooded fields.
+
+This was good news, and we ate a cheerful lunch under a tree densely
+populated by jackdaws.
+
+The Maxwells got away somehow in search of their house-boat, which was
+supposed to have left Baramula some days ago. They started cheerfully,
+but vaguely, down the Spill Canal, and we trust they found their ark
+somewhere!
+
+Promising to send back a boat for the Baines, we paid and dismissed
+coolies and ponies, and paddled away over the flood water. The country
+was simply a vast lake, the main road merely marked by a dense row of
+poplars. Trees rose promiscuously out of the calm and sunlit water,
+wisps of maize and wreckage clinging to their lower boughs. Presently
+the road showed in patches, a broad waterfall breaking it every here
+and there as the imprisoned waters from above sought the slightly lower
+channel of the Jhelum.
+
+We passed a party of natives bivouacking near the roof and upper storey
+of their wooden hut, which, floating from above, was held up by the
+Baramula road. Sounding now and then with our khudsticks, we found no
+bottom over the submerged rice crops, though we could see plainly the
+laden ears waving dismally down below. This is nothing less than a
+great calamity for the owners, as the rice was just ready for
+gathering.
+
+Towards dusk we arrived at our ships, calmly lying moored to poplar
+trees by the roadside, and right gladly did we clamber on board, for
+our invalid was pretty well fagged out.
+
+This morning we cast loose from our poplars, and brought the fleet up
+to within half a mile of the seventh bridge, or, rather, of the spot
+where the seventh bridge used to be, for all but a fragment has been
+washed away! The strong current prevented us from getting any higher up
+the river in our doungas. Jane and I, however, were anxious to see what
+appearance Srinagar presented, so we manned the shikara with five
+able-bodied paddlers and pushed our way upwards. Turning into a side
+canal we passed a demolished bridge, and tried to force our way up a
+small but swift stream.
+
+Failing to make anything of it, we landed and had the boat carried over
+into a wider channel. Three times we were obliged to get out and leave
+our stalwart crew to force the boat on somehow, and they did it
+well—hauling, paddling, and shouting invocations to various saints,
+particularly the one whose name sounds like “jam paws!”
+
+The water had already fallen some four or five feet, but there was
+plenty left. A great break in the bund between Nusserwanjee’s shop and
+the Punjab Bank allowed us to paddle into the flooded European quarter,
+past the telegraph office, standing knee-deep in muddy water, up over
+the main road to Nedou’s Hotel, where boats lay moored outside the
+dining-room windows, then across the lagoon, lightly rippled by a tiny
+breeze, beneath which lay the polo-ground, to the Residency, where we
+landed to inspect damages.
+
+The water had been all over the lower storey, but a muddy deposit on
+the wooden floor, and a brown slimy high-water mark on the door jambs,
+alone remained to show what had happened. The piano had been hoisted
+upon a table, carpets and curtains bundled upstairs, and everything,
+apparently, saved. The poor garden, with its slime-daubed shrubs,
+broken palings and torn creepers, trailing wisps of draggled foliage in
+the oozy brown pools, was a sad and pitiful sight, especially when
+mentally contrasted with the glowing glory of asters and zinneas which
+it should have been.
+
+The flood has been nearly as bad as the great one of 1903. Fortunately
+the Spill Canal, cut above Srinagar to carry off the flood water, took
+off some of the pressure; the bund, also, is three feet higher than it
+was then, but it gave way in two places—one somewhere near the top, and
+the other just below the Bank, letting in the river to a depth of ten
+feet over the low-lying quarter. The stream is now falling fast, and,
+after doing a little shopping and visiting the post-office, which is
+temporarily established on the bund in the midst of an amazing litter
+of desks, boxes, and queer pigeon-holes admirably adapted to lose
+letters by the score, we spun swiftly down the rushing stream to tea
+and our cosy dounga.
+
+_Monday, September_ 18.—It was impossible to get our boats up the river
+yesterday, so I spent the day sketching amidst the most picturesque,
+but horribly smelly, part of the town; much quinine in the evening
+seemed desirable as a counterblast to possible malaria.
+
+The sunsets lately have been really magnificent; the poplars and
+chenars, darkly olive, reflected in the flooded fields against a red
+gold sky, in the foreground the black silhouettes of the armada.
+
+The days are almost too hot, but the nights are cool and delicious, and
+the mosquitoes are only noticeable for a brief period of sinful
+activity about sundown, after which the wicked cease from troubling and
+the weary are at rest.
+
+At half-past ten this morning we set sail; that is to say, we hired
+nine extra coolies and a second shikara to tow, and advanced on
+Srinagar. Hesketh’s boat, being the lighter, kept well ahead (here let
+me note that “bow” in that boat is quite the prettiest girl we have
+seen in Kashmir, and the minx knows it!), but we had good men, and
+worked along slowly and steadily up the main river, the side canals
+being all choked by broken bridges and such like. We crept past the
+Amira Kadal, or first bridge, about two o’clock, and tied up for lunch,
+revelling in the most perfect pears, peaches, and walnuts. As a rule
+the Kashmir fruit is disappointing; abundant and cheap certainly, but
+not by any means of first-rate quality.
+
+Strawberries, cherries, apricots, melons, and grapes might all be far
+better if properly cultivated, and scientifically improved from
+European stock.
+
+The pears alone defy criticism, and the apples, I am told, are
+excellent also.
+
+Vegetables are in great plenty, but, like the fruit, would be much
+improved by good cultivation.
+
+_Wednesday, September_ 25.—The abomination of desolation wrought by the
+flood is borne in upon one more and more as an inspection of the town
+reveals the damage done more fully—the houses standing empty, their
+lower storeys dank and slimy, the ruined gardens, and muddy, slippery
+roads. The wrecked garden of the Punjab Bank is one of the saddest
+sights, and must be a painful spectacle to Mr. Harrison, whose joy it
+was to spend time and money on importing exotic and improving
+indigenous plants.
+
+One cannot help reflecting how desperately depressed Noah, and the
+probably more impressionable Mrs. Noah, must have been when, discarding
+their aquascutums for the first time, they sallied forth, a primeval
+party, to observe the emerging country.
+
+Mrs. Noah, tucking up the curious straight garment that is a memory of
+our childhood, went ahead with feminine curiosity; Noah, bare-legged,
+slithering along in the rear and beseeching the ladies to note the
+slipperiness of the alluvial deposit, and for goodness’ sake not to
+make a glissade down the side of Ararat.
+
+I feel confident they must have taken great precautions, for Sabz Ali
+slipped up on the shelving bank of the Jhelum, and, had he not caught
+the gunwale of our dounga in his descent, would most certainly have had
+to swim for his life—which I doubt if he can do!
+
+Now, Shem and Co. were as valuable to Noah as Sabz Ali is to us, and I
+should not be surprised if he made them travel on all-fours in the
+risky places. Fathers were very dictatorial in those days, and there
+was nobody about to make them consider their dignity.
+
+One can imagine the scene. Ararat, a muddy pyramid dotted here and
+there with olive trees—curious, by the way, to find olives so high!—in
+the receding waters the vagrant raven cheerfully picking out the eye of
+a defunct pterodactyl. The heavy clouds rolling off the sodden
+world—they must have indeed been heavy clouds, nimbus of the first
+water—as they had raised the world’s water-level 250 feet per day
+during “the flood” … surely a record output!
+
+The primeval family party, sadly poking about along the expanding
+margin of the world, noting how Abel Brown’s tall chimney was beginning
+to show, and how Cain Jones’ wigwam was clean gone. Mrs. Shem said she
+knew it would, the mortar work had been so terribly scamped.
+
+And Naboth Robinson’s vineyard—well, _it_ was in a pretty mess, to be
+sure, and serve him right, for Mrs. Noah had frequently offered him two
+of her (second) best milch mammoths for it; yet he had held on to his
+nasty sour grapes, like the mean old curmudgeon that he was.
+
+And now Hammy must set to work and tidy it up; and oh! what lots of
+nice manure was floating about, all for nothing the cartload … And so
+the primeval family felt better, and went back to the ark to tea,
+feeling almost cheerful, but rather lonesome.
+
+Fortunately this great flood did little injury to life or limb. A
+certain amount of destruction of crops and other property was
+inevitable, but on the whole the loss was not so great as was at one
+time feared, and much was saved that at first seemed irreparable.
+
+A well-known lady artist came near to giving the note of tragedy to the
+British community, and losing the number of her mess (to use a
+nautical, and therefore appropriate expression) by reason of a big
+willow tree, beneath whose shady boughs she had moored her floating
+studio. This hapless tree, having all its sustenance swept from beneath
+by the greedy water, came down with a crash in the night upon the
+confiding house-boat, and all but swamped it.
+
+The cook-boat, occupied as usual by a pair of prolific Mangis and their
+large small family, was saved by the proverbial “acid drop”—the
+children crawling out somehow or anyhow from among the branches of the
+fallen tree.
+
+The fair artist, having with shrieks invoked the aid of a neighbour, he
+promptly descended from his roof or other temporary camp, and helped
+her with basins and chatties to bale out the half-swamped boat. The
+lady is now safely moored to the mudbank on the other side of the river
+where willow trees do not grow.
+
+The whole bund is in a very unsafe state: it was raised three feet
+after the last flood, but its width was not increased correspondingly.
+Now that the water has fallen, great fissures and subsidences have
+appeared, and in many places large portions of the bank have fallen
+away, carrying big trees with them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+THE MACHIPURA
+
+
+Wednesday, _September_ 27.—We left Srinagar yesterday, very sorry
+indeed to part from the many good friends we have made and left there.
+Truly Kashmir is a hospitable country, and we have met with more kind
+friendliness in the last six months than we could have believed
+possible, coming as we did, strangers and pilgrims into a strange land.
+Our consolation is that every one comes “Home” sooner or later, so that
+we can look forward to meeting most of our friends again ere very long,
+and recalling with them memories of this happy summer with those who
+have done so much to make it so.
+
+Farewell, Srinagar! Your foulness and inward evilness were lost in the
+background behind your picturesque and tumble-down houses as we floated
+for the last time down Jhelum’s olive waters, where the sharp-nosed
+boats lay moored along the margin or, poled by their sturdy Mangis and
+guided by the chappars of their wives and daughters, shot athwart the
+eddying flood, breaking the long reflections of the storeyed banks.
+
+Past the Palace of the Maharajah, its fantastic mixture of ancient
+fairness and modern ugliness blending into a homogeneous beauty as
+distance lent it enchantment.
+
+Past the temples, their tin-coated roofs refulgent in the brilliant
+sunlight; under the queer wooden bridges, their solid stone piers
+parting the suave flow of water into noisy swirl and gurgle.
+
+Past the familiar groups of grave, white-robed men solemnly washing
+themselves, then scooping up and drinking the noisome fluid; past their
+ladies squatting like frogs by the river-side, washing away at clothes
+which never seem a whit the cleanlier for all their talk and trouble.
+
+Past the children and fowls, and cows and crows, all hob-nobbing
+together as usual.
+
+Past all these sights—so strange to us at first and now so strangely
+familiar—we floated, till the broken remnant of the seventh bridge lay
+behind us, and the lofty poplars that hem in the Baramula road stood
+stark and solemn in their endless perspective.
+
+Here a jangling note, out of tune and harsh, was struck by the dobie,
+with whom we had a grave difference of opinion regarding the washing.
+
+That gentleman having “lost by neglect” certain articles of my kit—to
+wit sundry shirts and other garments—and having rendered others
+completely _hors de combat_ by reason of his sinful method of washing,
+I decided to “cut” three rupees off his remuneration.
+
+This decision seemed to have taken from him all that life held of
+worth, and he implored me to spare his wife, children, and home, all of
+whom would be broken up and ruined if I were cruel enough, to enforce
+my awful threat. Seeing that I was obdurate, being well backed by the
+infuriated Jane, whose underwear showed far more lace and open work
+than nature intended, the wretched dobie melted into loud and tearful
+lamentation, and perched himself howling in the prow. This soon became
+so boresome that I deported him to Hesketh’s boat, where he underwent
+another defeat at the hands of that irate Lancer, whose shirts and
+temper had suffered together; finally the woeful washerman, still
+howling lugubriously, was landed on the river bank, and we saw and
+heard him no more!
+
+Down the gentle river we swiftly glided all day, while the Takht and
+Hari Parbat grew smaller and bluer, and Srinagar lay below them
+invisible in its swathing greenery.
+
+Reaching Sumbal at sunset, we turned to the left down a narrow canal,
+and soon the Wular lay—a sheet of molten gold—upon our right; and by
+the time we had moored alongside a low strip of reedy bank, the
+glorious rosy lights had faded from the snows of the Pir Panjal, and
+their royal purple and gold had turned to soft ebony against the
+primrose of the sky.
+
+A few hungry mosquitoes worried us somewhat before sunset, promising
+worse to follow; but the sharp little breeze that came flickering over
+the Wular after dark seemed to upset their plans, and send them
+shivering and hungry to shelter among the reeds and rushes.
+
+This morning we crossed the Wular, starting as the first pale dawn
+showed over the eastern hills.
+
+Before the sun rose over Apharwat, his shafts struck the higher snows
+and turned them rosy; while the lower slopes, their distant pines
+suffused with strong purple, stood reflected in the placid mirror of
+the lake.
+
+“Full many a glorious morning have I seen
+Flatter the mountain tops with sovran eye,”
+
+
+but seldom a more lovely one than this—our last on the Wular Lake.
+
+The active figures of the propellent Mangis, and the quiet ones of
+their ladies at the helm, completed a picture to be recalled with a
+sigh when we are parted by thousands of miles from this entrancing
+valley.
+
+Sopor we had understood to be but an uninteresting place, but we were,
+perhaps, inclined to regard things Kashmirian through somewhat rosy
+spectacles. Anyhow, we rather liked Sopor. Mooring close alongside a
+remarkably picturesque building standing in the midst of a smooth green
+lawn, which was once, I believe, a dâk bungalow, we halted to make
+arrangements for the hire of coolies and ponies to take us inland, and
+I went off to the post-office for letters and to make inquiries as to
+the probable depth of water in the river Pohru.
+
+Our skipper, Juma, affirmed that there was no water to speak of; but
+Juma probably—nay, certainly—prefers the _otium_ of a sojourn at Sopor
+to the toil of punting up the Pohru.
+
+The postmaster declared that there was lots of water, but qualified his
+optimism by saying that it was falling fast. So we arranged for our
+land transport of ponies for ourselves, and a dandy for Hesketh, to
+meet us one march up the river at Nopura, while we ourselves set
+forward in our boats to Dubgam, three or four miles down the Jhelum,
+where the Pohru joins it. At the entrance are large stores of timber,
+principally deodar, which is floated down from the Lolab, stored at
+Dubgam, and sent thence down country and otherwhere for sale. The great
+boom across the river to catch the floating logs had been carried away
+in the flood, and merely showed a few melancholy and ineffectual spikes
+of wood sticking up above the now calm and sluggish river.
+
+We towed up easily enough, through a quiet and peaceful country, which
+only became gorgeous under the alchemy of sunset, reaching Nopura in
+good time to tie up before dinner.
+
+_Friday, September 29_.—On Thursday morning we started, as usual, at
+dawn, and proceeded to pole and haul our way up the devious channel of
+the Pohru. Some four or five miles we accomplished successfully,
+although there were ominous signs of a gradual lack of water, until we
+came upon a hopeless shallow, where the river, instead of concentrating
+its energies on one deep and narrow channel, had run to waste over a
+wide bed, where the wrinkling wavelets showed the golden brown of the
+gravel just below the surface. Our big dounga stuck hard and fast at
+once, and Captain Jurna promptly gave up all hope of getting farther.
+He was, in fact, greatly gratified to find his prophesies come true,
+and an insufferable air of “I told you so” overspread his face as he
+wagged his head with mock sorrow, and gently poked the bottom with his
+pole to show how firmly fixed we were.
+
+Having an invalid with us, however, it was important to gain every easy
+mile we could, and it was not until all the fleet in turn had attempted
+to cross the shallow, and failed, that we made up our minds to take to
+our land transport. It was uncommonly hot in the full glare of the sun
+as Hesketh in his dandy, Jane on her “tattoo,” and I on foot set
+forward for the forest house at Harwan, which lay some five miles away
+across the fields, where the rice is now being busily cut.
+
+At the foot of a very brown and parched-looking hill stood the little
+wooden hut, facing the valley of the Pohru and the Kaj-nag range. Hot
+and thirsty, we blessed the good Mr. Blunt, the kindly forest officer,
+who had so courteously given us permission to use the forest huts of
+the Lolab and the Machipura. Our blessings of Blunt turned swiftly to
+curses directed towards the chowkidar, who was not to be seen, and who
+had left the hut firmly fastened from within. An attempt to force the
+door brought upon us the resentment of a highly irritable swarm of big
+red wasps, who plainly regarded us as objectionable intruders; and Jane
+was really getting quite cross (she says—she always does—that it was I
+who lost my temper)—before the bold sweeper, prying round the back
+premises, found an unbarred window, and the joy bells rang once more.
+
+The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent
+in the rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I
+sallied forth to select a few chikor for the pot.
+
+The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary
+partridge, not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry,
+scrub-covered country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly
+when pursued. The chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the
+capacity of what fowl fanciers call “a table bird,” being, in fact,
+truly excellent eating.
+
+He is not an altogether easy bird to shoot, owing to his annoying
+predilection for the steepest and rockiest hillsides, and those most
+densely clothed in spiny jungle, wherein lurking, he chooses the
+inopportune moment when the sportsman is hopelessly entangled, like
+Isaac’s ram, to rise chuckling and flee away to another hiding-place.
+
+Without dogs, he would be often extremely hard to find; but unluckily
+for himself, being a true Kashmiri bird, he cannot help making a noise,
+and thereby betraying his presence. His corpse, when dead, is hard to
+find in the jungle, and a runner is, of course, hopeless without canine
+help. It is well, therefore, to kill him as dead as possible, and to
+that end I used No. 4 shot, with, I think, a certain advantage over
+Walter, who shot with No. 6, and who, in consequence, lost several
+birds.
+
+The friendliness and sociability of the beasts and birds of Kashmir has
+been a great joy to us. The thing can be overdone, though, and both the
+wasps and the rats of Harwan were inclined to overstep the bounds of
+decorum.
+
+The latter were obviously overjoyed to see visitors, and visions of
+unlimited plunder from our festive board would, of course, put them
+somewhat above themselves. Still, they should have refrained from
+rioting so openly around our beds as soon as the lights were out, and
+Jane was naturally indignant when a large one ran over her feet!
+
+On Friday morning we left Harwan, pretty early, as usual, for it is
+still somewhat too warm to travel comfortably in the middle of the day.
+The Colonel (always an early bird) got away first, followed by our
+invalid in his dandy, while Jane and I remained to hunt the loiterers
+out of camp. A glorious morning, and the cheering knowledge that
+breakfast was in front of us, sent us merrily along for a mile or two,
+until branching paths led us to inquire of an intelligent Kashmiri, who
+appeared to be busily engaged in reaping rice with a penknife, as to
+the road taken by our precursors, especially the tiffin coolie!
+
+The industrious one had seen no sahibs at all pass by. This was a blow,
+and Jane and I sat down to review the situation. We finally decided
+that the son of the soil was indulging in what the great and good
+Winston Churchill has called a “terminological inexactitude,” as the
+others must have gone by one of the two roads; so, putting our fortunes
+to the touch, we took the left-hand path, and were in due time rewarded
+by reaching Sogul, and there finding our pioneers peacefully seated
+under a tree, and breakfast ready.
+
+Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the
+right, and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned
+into a beautiful valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and
+insignificant stream.
+
+Drogmulla, our objective, lies about fourteen miles from Harwan, and
+the forest house is a full mile beyond the village, at the end of a
+somewhat steep and winding path.
+
+A welcome sight was the snug rest-house, perched upon a hillock above a
+fussy little stream and surrounded by a fine clump of deodars.
+
+A tiny lawn in front was decorated with an artificial tank full of
+water-plants, and through the opening, among the trees, we saw the
+snowy crest of Shambrywa and the Kaj-nag rising over the deeply-wooded
+foothills.
+
+Drogmulla was so fascinating a spot, and the weather was so remarkably
+fine, that we made up our minds to remain here for a few days. That old
+red-bearded snake, the shikari, has sent the Colonel into a seventh
+heaven of anticipation by pointing to the encircling forest with
+promise of “pul-lenty baloo, sahib, this pul-lace.” We straightway
+ordained a honk.
+
+Our sick soldier is so much better since leaving Gulmarg that he is
+able to hop “around” with considerable activity on his crutches.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 30, 4 P.M.—Walter and I have been bear-honking
+all day in a district reputed to be simply crawling with bears. I love
+bear-honking; it is such a peaceful occupation.
+
+After a stiff and very hot scramble up a rugged hillside covered with
+the infuriating scrub through which nothing but a reptile could crawl
+easily, the spot is reached within short range of which (in the opinion
+of the “oldest inhabitant,” backed up by the “Snake”) the bear _must_
+pass.
+
+Here the battery of rifles and guns is carefully arranged, and I
+proceed to wipe my heated brow and settle down to the calm enjoyment of
+the honk. Drawing forth my cigar-case, I am soon wreathed in the
+fragrant clouds engendered by the incineration of a halfpenny cheroot,
+and, with a sigh of satisfaction, I spread out my writing or sketching
+materials and proceed to scribble or paint, calm in the knowledge that
+nothing on earth is in the least likely to disturb the flow of ideas,
+or interrupt the laying on of a broad flat wash. Now and again, lazily,
+I lean back to watch the witless hoverings of a big butterfly, or
+sleepily listen to the increasing sound of the tom-toms and the yells
+of the beaters, whose voices, as those of demons of the pit, rend the
+peaceful air and add to my sense of Olympian aloofness!
+
+A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor,
+followed by a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched,
+clouds somewhat my active faculties, and the article—“A Bear Battue in
+the Himalayas”—which I am engaged in writing for the _Field_—seems to
+flag a little.
+
+Come, come! Begone dull sloth—let me continue—
+
+“As the sound of the beaters swells upon the ear, and the thunder of
+the tom-toms grows more insistent, the keen-eyed sportsman grasps more
+firmly the lever of his four-barrelled Nordenfeldt and prepares to play
+upon the bears his hail of stinging missiles. Hark! The plot is
+thickening, behind yon dense screen at the end of the cover the ph——
+bears are beginning to crowd, the pattering of their feet upon the dead
+leaves sends a thrill through the beating heart of the expectant
+sportsman. A few bears break back amid wild yells from the coolies. One
+or two odd ones dart out here and there at angles of the covert.
+Steady! Steady! Here they are, following the lead of yon fine old cock;
+with a whirr and a rush the bouquet is upon us. The shikari, mad with
+excitement, presses the second Gatling and the light Howitzer into our
+hands as he screams: ‘Bear to right, sahib!—Bear over!!—Bear behind!!!
+Bang—bang!’”
+
+“Eh? What? Oh, all right, shikari. Honk finished? Is it? Saw nothing?
+Dear me! how very odd. Very well, then gather up my guns and things,
+and we’ll go on to the next beat.”
+
+_Sunday, October 1_.—To-day being Sunday, we have been idle and
+happy—sketching, loafing, and enjoying the scenery and the glorious
+weather. Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the
+beaters, but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have
+found mushrooms growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are
+also satisfied. After lunch I mustered up energy sufficient to take me
+down to the village to sketch a native hut which, surrounded by a patch
+of flaming millet, had struck me on Friday as an extraordinary bit of
+colour. Jane and Walter, after many “prave ’orts” about climbing the
+ridge behind Drogmulla, contented themselves with a minor ascent of a
+knoll about fifty feet high, while the Lancer, reckless in his
+increasing activity, managed to trip over his crutches and give himself
+an extremely unfortunate fall.
+
+_Monday, October 2_.—There was a man who, during our bear-honk on
+Saturday, rendered himself conspicuous, partly by reason of his
+likeness to my shikari, and also because of his complete knowledge of
+the whereabouts of all bears for many miles around. He was quite glad
+to impart much information to us, and so won upon the sporting but too
+trustful heart of the brave Colonel, that he was retained by that
+officer in order that he might show sport to the Philistines, and annas
+and even rupees were bestowed upon him; and he and the old original
+“Snake” were sent forward on Saturday evening, as Joshua and Caleb, to
+spy out the promised land in the neighbourhood of Tregam.
+
+Lured by rumours of many bears, Walter and I set forth at daylight for
+Tregam, leaving Jane and the youthful Lancer (once more, alas! reduced
+to stiff bandages and a painful relapse) in possession of the hut. We
+“hadna gane a mile—a mile but barely twa,” when the old shikari met us
+with the painful intelligence that two sahibs were already at Tregam,
+and had killed many bears there, grievously wounding the rest; so we
+altered course eight points to port, crossed the Pohru, and made for
+Rainawari.
+
+A sharp climb over a wooded ridge (on the top of which we halted for
+breakfast), followed by a steep descent, brought us into a flat and
+well-cultivated plain, which sloped gently from the foothills of the
+Kaj-nag to the bed of the Pohru. Everywhere, in the glowing sunlight,
+the villagers were busily engaged in reaping the rice, which lay in
+ripe brown swathes along the little fields. The walnuts, of which there
+are a great plenty in this district, have been lately gathered, some
+few trees only still remaining, loaded with a heavy crop, but the main
+produce lay drying in heaps in the villages as we rode through.
+
+The road to Rainawari seemed curiously devious. A Kashmiri track seldom
+shies at a hill, but pursues its way, heedless of gradient, for its
+objective; but this path imitated a corkscrew in its windings, and
+reduced us to the utmost limit of our patience before, passing through
+a small village whose dull-coloured houses were enlivened with gorgeous
+festoons of scarlet chilies, we climbed a steep little hill and found
+ourselves upon a park-like lawn or clearing, and facing the cluster of
+rough wooden shanties which compose the Rainawari forest bungalow and
+its outhouses. Behind the huts the densely-wooded hill drops sharply to
+where a stream of good and pure water riots among the maidenhair and
+mosses.
+
+A large and inquisitive company of apes came up from the wood to take
+stock of us, and I sat for a long time watching them as they played
+about quite close to me, feeding, chattering, and quarrelling, entirely
+unconcerned by the presence of their human spectator.
+
+_Friday, October 6_.—All Tuesday was spent in honking bear in the lower
+woods which stretch far towards the Pohru. The high hills which rise
+above, covered with jungle, are said to be too large to work, and I can
+well believe it! For the first drive I was posted on a steep bank
+overlooking a most lovely little hollow, where the shafts of sunlight
+fell athwart the grey trunks and heavy green masses of the pines,
+lighting up the yellow leaves of the sumachs till they glowed like
+gold, and casting a flickering network of strong lights and shadows
+among the tangled mazes of undergrowth. A happy family of magpies,
+grey-blue above, with barred tails and yellow beaks, flitted about in
+restless quest, their constant cries being the only sound which broke
+the peaceful stillness, until the faint and distant sound of shouts and
+tom-toms showed that the first act of the farce had begun.
+
+Towards the end of the third beat, while I was drowsily digesting
+tiffin, and, truly, not far from napping, I was electrified by the
+report of a rifle, followed by yells and a second shot! The beaters
+redoubled their shouts, and the tom-tommers seemed like to burst their
+drums.
+
+My shikari, writhing with extreme excitement, hissed, “Baloo, sahib,
+baloo!” and began aimlessly running to and fro, apparently hoping to
+meet the bear somewhere. It was truly gay for a few minutes, but as
+nothing further occurred, and the beaters grew very hoarse with their
+prodigious efforts, I hurried on to Walter’s post to learn what had
+happened.
+
+A bear had suddenly come out of the cover some 40 yards off, and stood
+to look. The Colonel missed it, whereupon it dashed forward, passing
+within a few yards of him, and he missed it again. It departed at top
+speed across some open ground behind him, and gained the great woods
+which stretch away to the Kaj-nag, and never shall we see that bear
+again! The Colonel was much disgusted, and if language—hot, strong, and
+plenty of it—could have slain that bear, he would have dropped dead in
+his tracks.
+
+The beaters brought up a wonderful tale of how another bear, badly
+wounded in the leg, had charged through their lines and gone back. They
+stuck to their story, and either a second bear actually existed or they
+are colossal liars. I incline to the latter theory.
+
+We had wasted all our luck. No more bears came to look at us, and so,
+late in the afternoon, we sought the rest-house and consolation from
+Jane and Hesketh, who had arrived from Drogmulla.
+
+I had occasion to deplore the bad manners of the rats at Harwan, but
+their conduct was exemplary compared with that of the rats of
+Rainawari! I had been writing my journal, according to my custom,
+before going to sleep, and hardly had “lights out” been sounded than a
+rat went off with my candle, literally from below my very nose. Then,
+from the inadequately partitioned chamber where the invalid vainly
+sought repose, came sounds of strife—boots and curses flying—followed
+by an extraordinary scraping and scuffling. A large rat, having fallen
+into the big tin bath, was making bids for freedom by ineffectually
+leaping up the slippery sides. At last he contrived to get out, and
+peace reigned until we managed to get to sleep.
+
+Wednesday was spent honking in the forlorn hope of a bear, I have now
+spent more than fourteen days in pursuit of black bear, and I have only
+seen one. Every one said to me in spring, “Oh, go to the Lolab, it’s
+full of bear,” I went, and was informed that it was a late season and I
+was too early—the bears were not yet awake. I was consoled by learning
+that later on, when the mulberries were ripe, the berry-loving beasts
+jostled one another in the pursuit of the delicacy so much, that they
+were no sport I went down from Gulmarg for three days, honking among
+the mulberries, but saw none. Then I was told the maize season was
+undoubtedly the best. Now the maize is full ripe; the maize fields are
+tempting in their golden glory, and the only thing wanting to complete
+the picture is a big, black bear.
+
+Either my luck has been particularly bad (and I think it has, as the
+Colonel got a fine bear below Gulmarg, and had another chance at
+Rainawari), or else there are not so many bears in real life as exist
+in the imaginations of those who know. My own theory is, that, unless
+he has remarkable luck, a stranger, in the hands of an ignorant
+shikari, and knowing nothing of the language, has but a remote chance
+of sport. If the shikari does not happen to know the district
+thoroughly, he is necessarily in the hands of the villagers, and has to
+trust to them to arrange the beats and place the guns. The villagers
+want their four annas for a day’s shouting, but do not know or care if
+a bear is in the neighbourhood, so, having planted the gun (and shikari
+with him), they proceed to beat after their own fashion, in other words
+to stroll, in Indian file, like geese across a common, along the line
+of least resistance, instead of spreading out and searching all the
+thickest jungle.
+
+Much yelling serves both to cheer the sahib, and frighten away any bear
+which might otherwise haply frighten them.
+
+I cannot say I regret the time I have spent looking for bear. The
+scenery has always been fine—sometimes magnificent, and there has
+always been a certain cheering hope, which sustained me as I lay hour
+after hour in the Malingam Nullah, or sat expectant amid ever varying
+and always beautiful glades and passes, watching the bird life, and
+storing up scenes and memories which I know I shall never forget.
+
+Alas! we have but a very few days yet before us in Kashmir, and it is
+lamentable, for now the climate is simply perfect, the air clear and
+clean, and without the haze of summer; the first crispness of coming
+autumn making itself felt most distinctly in the early hours of morning
+ere
+
+“Nor dim nor red, like God’s own head,
+The glorious sun uprist;”
+
+
+and each dawn saw us up and out to watch these sunrises, whose
+splendour cannot be expressed on paper. This morning it was more than
+usually wonderful, the whole flank of Nanga Parbat and his lesser
+peaks, turning from clear lemon to softest rose, stood radiant above
+the purple shades of the great range which lies around Gurais. In the
+middle distance, rising above the level yellow of the plain, still dim
+and shadowy below the morning light, rolled wave upon wave of the blue
+hills which hold in their embrace the fruitful Lolab. At our feet the
+deodars, still dark with the shadow of night, crept up the dewy slope
+upon whose top we stood. Then suddenly
+
+“The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes,”
+
+
+flamed over the eastern ridges, and in a flood of glory the soft
+shadows and pallid lights of the dawn became merged in the brilliance
+of a Kashmir autumn day.
+
+Our march yesterday from Rainawari to Kitardaji was charming. I had no
+idea that this Machipura country, which is not much visited by summer
+sojourners in Kashmir, was so fine. The district lies along the lower
+shoulders and foothills of the Kaj-nag, and, while lacking the savage
+grandeur of the Lidar or Upper Sind, yet possesses the charm of
+infinite variety and, in this early autumn, a climate in which it is a
+pure joy to live. On leaving Rainawari we followed up a river valley
+for some distance, and then wound through richly cultivated hollows and
+past well-wooded hills, where the dark silver firs and the deodars were
+lit up by splashes of scarlet and orange, and the deciduous sumach and
+thorn-bushes hung out their autumn flags. Walnuts—the trees in many
+places turning yellow—were being gathered into heaps, and the apple
+trees, reddening in the autumn glow, hung heavy with abundant fruit.
+
+Turning into a narrow gorge, where the trees overhung the path and
+shaded the wanderer with many an interlaced bough; where ferns grew in
+great green clumps, and the friendly magpies chattered in the luminous
+shade, I hurried on, having stayed behind the others to sketch. Up and
+up, till only pines waved over me, and the track, leading along the
+edge of a deep khud, opened out at last upon a plateau, hot and sunlit;
+here an entrancing panorama of Nanga Parbat and the whole range of
+mountains round Haramok caused me to stop “at gaze” until a mundane
+desire for breakfast sent me scurrying down the dusty and slippery
+descent to Larch, where I found, as I had hoped, the rest of the party
+assembled expectant around the tiffin basket, while the necromancer,
+Sabz Ali, had just succeeded in producing the most delightful stew,
+omelette, and coffee from the usual native toy kitchen, made,
+apparently, in a few minutes with a couple of stones and a dab of mud!
+
+It has been an unfailing marvel to us how, in storm or calm, rain or
+fine, the native cook seems always able to produce a hot meal with such
+apparently inadequate materials as he has at his command. Give him a
+fire in the open, screened by stones and a mud wall, a _batterie de
+cuisine_ limited to one or two war-worn “degchies,” and let him have a
+village fowl and half-a-dozen tiny eggs, and he will in due time serve
+up, with modest pride, a most excellent repast.
+
+The remaining half of our twelve-mile march lay along a continually
+rising track, which finally brought us to Kitardaji, a cosy pine-built
+hut, perched upon a hill clothed with deodars, at the foot of which ran
+the inevitable stream.
+
+This, alas! is our last Kashmir camping-ground, and it is one of the
+most charming of all.
+
+At 8.15 this morning we bade farewell to Kitardaji. We had got up
+before dawn to see the sunrise, but afterwards took things leisurely,
+as the march is short to Baramula, and our boats were to be in waiting
+there, and we had made all arrangements for a landau and ekkas to be in
+readiness to take us down to Rawal Pindi, while the Colonel returned up
+the Jhelum for more shooting before rejoining his wife at Bandipur.
+
+The march of about thirteen miles from Kitardaji to Baramula is
+fine—the views of Nanga Parbat in the early hours, before the sun’s
+full strength cast a golden glow over the distance, were magnificent,
+and long we lingered upon the last ridge, gazing over the great valley,
+ringed with its guardian mountains, ere we sadly turned our backs for
+the last time on the scene, and wended our way downward to Baramula and
+our boats.
+
+Kashmir seems to be as difficult to get out of as to get into! What was
+our amazement and disgust to find neither landau nor ekkas, nor,
+apparently, any chance of getting them!
+
+Baramula was in a ferment, and wild confusion reigned because the
+Viceroy, having somewhat suddenly determined to come to Jammu, the
+Maharajah and all his suite, together with the Resident and his
+belongings, were to start down the road at once, and all transport was
+commandeered by the State. Here was a coil! Officers innumerable, who
+had stayed in Kashmir until the limit of their leave, were struggling
+vainly to get on, and had got to Baramula only to find all transport in
+the hands of the State officials. Some few had, by fair means or foul,
+got hold of an ekka or two and hidden them; others had seized ponies,
+but nothing to harness them to. A few of the younger men set forth on
+foot, and others had their servants out in ambush on the roads to try
+and collect transport.
+
+It was most important that we should get on, as Hesketh had to be in
+Pindi to go before a medical board on the 14th, in order to be
+invalided home to England; and as he was most anxious to catch a
+steamer sailing on the 25th, he had no time to spare.
+
+I telegraphed to Sir Amar Singh for authority to engage ekkas, and I
+sent for the Tehsildhar of Baramulla to complain of my ekkas being
+taken. He appeared in due course—a somewhat pert little person—who
+promised to do what he could, which I knew would be nothing. A farewell
+dinner on board Walter’s ship concluded a fairly busy day.
+
+_Saturday, October 7_.—A strenuous day, to say the least of it. Sir
+Amar Singh most courteously met my wishes, and himself directed the
+local authorities to assist me. Armed with this power, I again sent for
+the Tehsildhar, who promised many ekkas, but appeared to have some
+difficulty in fulfilling his promises. I spent the forenoon in hunting
+transport, sending out my servants also in pursuit. The Tehsildhar
+produced one ekka with great pomp, as earnest of what he could and
+would do later on.
+
+During the afternoon the landau turned up from Srinagar, and at 6 P.M.
+one of my myrmidons rushed in to say that two ekkas had arrived at the
+dâk bungalow.
+
+It was but a few yards away, and in a couple of minutes I was on the
+spot. The ekkas had come up from Pindi, and the sahib who had lured
+them to Baramula seemed astonished at my method of taking them over. In
+an uncommonly short while the ekkas were parked, with the landau, close
+to the boats and under strict watch, while all harness was brought on
+board my dounga, just in time, as native officials of some sort romped
+up and claimed the ekkas, and threatened to beat my servants. It was
+explained to them gently, but firmly, that if they touched my ekkas or
+landau they would taste the waters of the Jhelum. We were then left in
+peaceful possession.
+
+_Tuesday, October 10_.—On Sunday morning we really saw our way to
+making a start. We had three ekkas collected, and the Tehsildhar
+produced a fourth with a great flourish, as though in expectation of a
+heavy tip. The landau was being piled with odds and ends while the last
+bits of business were being got through. Juma and his crew were paid
+and tipped (grumbling, of course, for the Kashmiri is a lineal
+descendant of the horse-leech). The shikari went to Smithson, and the
+sweeper and permanent coolie were transferred to the assistant forest
+officer, while Ayata (in charge of Freddie, the blackbird) scrambled
+into the leading ekka.
+
+By noon all was ready, and amid the rattle and jingle of many harness
+bells and the salaams of the domestics, we bowled out of Baramula, and
+set forward down the valley of the Jhelum.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+DELHI AND AGRA
+
+
+The journey down was uneventful, and quite unlike the journey up, when
+we had been briskly occupied in dodging landslips for days. A good
+road, white and dry, and sloping steadily downward; a good pair of
+ponies, strong and willing; a roomy landau, wherein Hesketh—still
+suffering from his fall at Drogmulla—could stretch himself in
+comparative comfort, combined to bring us to Kohala this afternoon in a
+state of excellent preservation. Here we crossed the bridge, which
+brought us to the right bank of the river—from Kashmir to British
+territory.
+
+Kohala is the proud possessor of one of the very worst dâk bungalows
+yet discovered. This seems disappointing when stepping under the folds
+of the Union Jack full of high hope and confidence.
+
+Climbing up through a particularly noisome bazaar to the bungalow, I
+was met with the information that it was already full. I said that was
+a pity, but that room must be found for my party.
+
+Room was got somehow, a dâk bungalow being an extraordinarily elastic
+dwelling. Hesketh was stored in a little tent. I lodged in the
+dining-room, and Jane took up her quarters in a sort of dressing-room
+kindly given up by a lady, who bravely sought asylum with a
+sister-in-law and a remarkably strong-lunged baby. I believe more
+travellers arrived later, for—although, thanks to Sir Amax Singh and
+good luck, we gained a good start at Baramula—now the tongas are
+beginning to roll in and the plot to thicken.
+
+I cannot think where the last arrivals bestowed themselves—not on the
+roof, I trust, for a thunderstorm, accompanied by the usual vigorous
+squall of wind, fell upon us during the night, and raged so furiously
+that I was greatly relieved to see the Lancer’s little tent still
+braving the battle and the breeze in the morning.
+
+We had a long day before us, so started in good time to make the
+tedious ascent to Murree. It rained steadily, and a cold wind swept
+down the river valley as we began to make our slow way up the long,
+long hill.
+
+I never knew milestones so extraordinarily far apart as those which
+mark the distance between Kohala and Murree. There are twenty-five of
+them, distributed along a weary winding road which extends without an
+apparent variation of gradient from Kohala to the Murree cemetery. The
+rise from the river level to Murree is 5000 feet, and this, in a heavy
+landau over a road often deep in red mud, is a heavy strain on equine
+endurance and human patience.
+
+We had a fresh pair of horses waiting for us half-way up the hill, but
+they proved absolutely useless, being obviously already dead tired and
+quite unable to drag the carriage through any of the muddier places
+even with every one but the invalid on foot. So we apologetically put
+the gallant greys in again, poor beasties, and they took us up well.
+
+From the cemetery the road runs fairly level to where, upon rounding a
+sharp corner, the hill station of Murree comes into sight, clinging to
+its hill-tops and overlooking the far flat plains beyond Pindi.
+
+I cannot imagine how anybody would willingly abide in Murree who could
+go anywhere else for the hot weather. There being no level ground,
+there is no polo, no cricket, and no golf. There is no river to fish
+in, and I do not think that there is anything at all to shoot.
+Doubtless, however, it has its compensations. Probably it abounds in
+pretty mem-sahibs, who with bridge and Badminton combine to oil the
+wheels of life, and make it merry on the Murree hills.
+
+Leaving the station high on the left, we dipped in a most puzzling
+manner down a slope through a fine wood giving magnificent views
+towards the hills of our beloved Kashmir, and presently came to “Sunny
+Bank,” whence a steep road seemed to run sharply hack and up to Murree
+itself. It was late, and both we and our unfortunate horses were tired,
+but a hasty peep into the little inn showed it to be quite impossible
+as a lodging, and a biting wind sent us shivering down the hill as fast
+as might be to seek rest and warmth at Tret.
+
+The good greys took us down the eleven miles in a very short time, and
+we pulled up at the dâk bungalow at 7.30, having been just twelve hours
+doing the forty miles from Kohala.
+
+The dâk bungalow and all the compound in front was crowded, detachments
+_en route_, from Murree to Pindi having halted here for the night.
+Hesketh was lucky enough to share a room with a brother Lancer, and a
+mixed bag of Gunners and Hussars made up a cheery dinner-table.
+
+The only member of the party showing signs of collapse was the
+unfortunate Freddie, who, shaken up in his small cage for three days in
+an ekka, seemed in piteous plight, feathers (what there were of them)
+ruffled and unkempt, and eyes dim and half closed. Poor dear, it was
+only sleep he wanted, for next morning he showed up, as his fond owner
+remarked, “bright as a button!”
+
+_12th_.—The road from Tret to Pindi seemed tame to us, but probably
+charming to the horses, first down a few gently sloping hills, and then
+for the remainder of its six-and-twenty miles it wound its dull and
+dusty length along the level.
+
+We halted for our last picnic lunch in a roadside garden full of loquat
+trees and big purple hibiscus. The only curious thing here was a pi-dog
+which refused to eat cold duck! Certainly it was a _very_ tough duck,
+but still, I do not think a pi-dog should he so fastidious.
+
+A few more level dusty miles, and we rattled into Rawal Pindi, where,
+after depositing our sick man safely in his own mess precincts, we
+proceeded to ensconce ourselves in Flashman’s Hotel, which is certainly
+far better than the Lime Tree, where we stayed before. Indian hotels
+are about the worst in the world. We have sampled rough dens in Spain,
+in Tetuan, and in Corsica—especially in Corsica, but then they are
+unpretentious inns in unfrequented villages, whereas in India you find
+in world-famous cities such as Agra or Delhi the most comfortless dens
+calling themselves hotels—hotels where you hardly dare eat half the
+food for fear of typhoid, and will not eat the rest because it is so
+unsavoury!
+
+It may be argued that the hotels, if bad, are cheap, and that one
+cannot reasonably expect much in return for five or six rupees per day;
+it seems, however, that in a country where food and labour cost next to
+nothing, a good landlord should be able to “do” his customers well upon
+five rupees, and make a substantial profit into the bargain.
+
+Probably, as the facilities for travel are rapidly increasing, and
+India is now as easy to reach as Italy was in days not so long by, the
+hotels will soon improve. Hospitality, which is still to-day greater in
+the East than in our more selfish Western regions, and which has, until
+quite recently, obviated for strangers and pilgrims the necessity for
+hotels, is now unable to cope with the increasing flood of visitors and
+wanderers; as the need becomes more pressing, so will the supply,
+consequent upon the demand, improve both in quality and quantity; and
+we have already heard of the new Taj Mahal Hotel at Bombay, the fame of
+which has been trumpeted through India, and which is said to rival in
+luxury the palaces of Ritz!
+
+The real and serious difficulty, and one which at present seems
+insurmountable, is to secure cleanliness and safety in that Augean
+stable—the cook-house. Until the native can be brought to understand
+the inadvisability of using tainted water and unclean utensils, and of
+permitting the ubiquitous fly to pervade the larder—until, I say, that
+millennium can be attained, the danger of enteric and other ills will
+always be very great in Indian hotels.
+
+_Friday, October_ 13.—Lunch with Dr. Munro, who surprised us somewhat
+by having married a wife since we played golf and bridge together at
+Gulmarg only a few weeks ago. Tea, a farewell repast with our
+invalid—who goes before a medical board in a few days, and who will
+then be doubtless sent home on long sick leave—and the despatch of our
+heavy luggage direct to Bombay, occupied us pretty fully for the day;
+and in the evening, after dinner, we took up our residence in a
+carriage drawn up in a siding to be attached to the 6.30 mail in the
+morning. Our last recollection of Pindi was a vision of the faithful
+Ayata, paid, tipped, and provided with a flaming “chit,” flapping along
+the road in the bright moonlight, with all his worldly possessions, _en
+route_ for Abbotabad and home.
+
+_Saturday, October_ 14.—A prodigious amount of banging, whistling, and
+yelling seemed to be necessary before we could be coupled up to the
+early train, and sent flying towards Lahore. It was impossible to
+sleep, and I was peacefully watching the landscape as it slid past,
+first in the pink flush of early dawn, and gradually losing colour as
+the sun, gaining in strength, reduced everything to a white hot glow,
+when, scraping and bumping into a wayside station, we were suddenly
+informed that, owing to hot bearings or heated axles or something, we
+must quit our carriage at once, and so, half dressed and wholly
+wrathful, we were shot out on a hot and exceedingly gritty platform,
+with our hand luggage and bedding all of a heap, and with the whole
+length of the train to traverse to attain our new carriage. Sabz Ali
+being curled up asleep in an “intermediate,” was all unwitting of this
+upheaval. The officials were impatient, and so Jane and I were in a
+thoroughly unchristian frame of mind by the time we were stowed, hot
+and greatly fussed, into a stifling compartment, whose dust-begrimed
+windows long withstood all endeavours to open them.
+
+We reached Lahore about noon, and, having some six hours to dispose of
+there, we spent them in calm contemplation, sitting on the verandah of
+Nedou’s Hotel. It was really too hot to think of sight-seeing.
+
+_Thursday, October 19_.—Another night in the train brought us to Delhi
+at dawn, and we drove up to the execrable caravansary of Mr. Maiden. I
+do not propose to write much about Delhi. Every one who has been in
+India has visited the capital of the Moguls, whose wealth of splendid
+buildings would alone have rendered it a supreme attraction for the
+sight-seer, even had it not played the part it did in the Mutiny, and
+been memorable as the scene of the storming of the Kashmir Gate and the
+death of John Nicholson.
+
+We, personally, carried away from Delhi an uncomfortable sense of
+disappointment. It was very hot, and Jane fell a victim to the heat or
+something, and took to her bed in the comfortless hotel, while I
+prowled sadly about the baking streets, and tried to work up an
+enthusiasm which I did not feel.
+
+As soon as Jane was fit, we joined forces with a young
+fellow-countryman and his sister, who were the only other English
+people in the hotel, and drove out to see the Kutab Minar. On arrival
+we found a comfortable dâk bungalow, and, having made an excellent
+breakfast, sallied forth to view the Kutab. May I confess that I was
+again a little disappointed? I do not really know exactly why, but the
+great tower, whose fluted shaft, dark red in the sunglow, shoots up
+some 270 feet into the air, did not appeal to me. It is like no other
+column—it is unique, marvellous,—but it leaves me cold.
+
+The splendid arch of the screen of the old temple, and the lovely
+columns of the Jain temple opposite, attracted me far more than the
+Kutab Minar.
+
+Jane and young Buxton went off to see a native jump down a well fifty
+feet deep for four annas. The performance sounded curious, but
+unpleasant. The sightseers were much impressed! Meanwhile, Miss Buxton
+and I discovered a very modern and exceedingly hideous little Hindu
+temple, painted in the most appalling manner—altogether a gem of
+grotesqueness, and truly delightful and refreshing.
+
+Tea in front of the dâk bungalow, in a corner blazing with “gold
+mohurs” and rosy oleanders, while the driver and the syce harnessed the
+lean pair of horses, a final visit to the Kutab and the great arch, and
+we fared back over the eleven bumpy miles that lay between us and
+Delhi.
+
+A good deal of my spare time, while Jane was _hors de combat_, was
+spent in the jewellers’ shops of the Chandni chowk, the principal
+merchants’ quarter of Delhi. I do not think that anything very special
+in the way of a “bargain” is to be obtained by the amateur, although
+stones are undoubtedly cheaper than in London. I saw little really fine
+jewellery, probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer,
+but many good spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I
+wanted I failed to get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce
+and dear. The dealers generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink
+topaz. Peridot are cheaper, I think, at home, and certainly in Cairo,
+and the only amethysts worth looking at are sent out from Germany. The
+pale ones of the country come from Jaipur. By-the-bye, the
+best-coloured amethysts I ever remember seeing were in Clermont
+Ferrand.
+
+Delhi has always been connected with gems in my mind. I am not certain
+why. Partly, perhaps, because the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jehan
+stood in the Palace here. I cannot resist giving the description of it
+in the words of Tavernier, who saw it about 1655, and who describes it
+as follows:—
+
+“This is the largest throne; it is in form like one of our field-beds,
+six foot long and four broad. The cushion at the back is round like a
+bolster; the cushions on the sides are flat. I counted about a hundred
+and eight pale rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof
+weighed a hundred carats. Emeralds I counted about a hundred and
+forty.”
+
+“The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the top of the
+canopy, which is made like an arch with four paws, stands a peacock
+with his tail spread, consisting entirely of sapphires and other
+proper-coloured stones;[1] the body is of beaten gold enchased with
+several jewels; and a great RUBY upon his breast, to which hangs a
+pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each aide of the peacock stand two
+nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of various sorts of flowers,
+all of beaten gold enamelled.”
+
+[1] “Au dessus du ciel qui est faite en voûte à quatre pans on voit un
+Paon, qui a la queue relevée fait de Saphirs bleus et autres pierres de
+couleur.”—TAVERNIER, livre ii. chap. viii.
+
+
+“When the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent
+jewel, with a diamond appendant of eighty or ninety carats weight,
+encompassed with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his
+eye. The twelve pillars also, that uphold the canopy, are set with rows
+of fair pearl, round, and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to
+ten carats apiece.”
+
+“At the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed
+two umbrellas, the handles of which are about eight feet high, covered
+with diamonds, the umbrellas themselves being of crimson velvet,
+embroidered and fringed with pearl.”
+
+“This is the famous throne which Tamerlane began and Shah Jehan
+finished; and is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty
+millions and five hundred thousand livres of our money.”
+
+One can picture the enraptured diamond merchant examining this
+masterpiece of Oriental luxury with awe-struck eye, appraising the size
+and lustre of each gem, and taking the fullest notes with which to
+dazzle his countrymen on returning to the more prosaic Europe from what
+was then indeed the “Gorgeous East!” This world-famous throne was
+seized by Nadir Shah, when he sacked Delhi in 1739, and carried away
+(together with our Koh-i-noor diamond) into Persia. Dow, who saw the
+famous throne some twenty years before Tavernier, describes _two_
+peacocks standing behind it with their tails expanded, which were
+studded with jewels. Between the peacocks stood a parrot, life size,
+cut out of a single emerald!
+
+_Friday, October_ 20.—Yesterday at 6 A.M. we spurned the dust of Delhi,
+hot and blinding, from our feet and clambered into the train, which
+whirled us across the sun-baked plain to Agra.
+
+There has been a woeful shortage of rain in the Punjab and Rajputana,
+and a famine seems imminent—not a great and universal famine, as, the
+monsoon having been irregular, only some districts have suffered to a
+serious extent, and they can be supplied from elsewhere, whereas in the
+great famine of 1901 the drought parched the whole land, and no help
+could be given by one State to another, all lying equally under the
+sun’s curse. Not a great famine, perhaps; yet, to one accustomed to the
+genial juiciness of the West, the miles and miles of waterless hot
+plains, stretching away to where the horizon flickered in the glare,
+the brown and parched vegetation, the lean and hungry-looking cattle,
+tended by equally lean and famished herds, caused the monotonous view
+from the carriage windows to be strangely depressing.
+
+This is the very battle-ground of Nature and the British Raj. We have
+given peace and, to a certain extent, prosperity to the teeming
+millions of India, and they have increased and multiplied until the
+land is overburthened, and Nature, with relentless will, bids Famine
+and Pestilence lay waste the cities and the plains. Then Science, with
+irrigation works and improved hygiene, strives hard to gain a victory,
+but still the struggle rages doubtfully.
+
+Agra we liked as much as we disliked Delhi. To begin with creature
+comforts (and the well-being of the body produces a pair of _couleur de
+rose_ spectacles for the mental eye), Laurie’s Hotel at Agra is very
+much more comfortable than the den we abode in at Delhi, and after a
+good tiffin we set forth with light hearts to see the Fort.
+
+This, the accumulated achievement of the greatest of the Mogul
+Emperors, is a magnificent monument of their power and pride. The
+earliest part, built by Akbar, is all of rich red sandstone. The great
+hall of audience and other portions show his broad-minded tolerance and
+catholicity of taste in being almost pure Hindu in style and
+decoration. Later, with Jehangir and Shah Jehan, the high-water mark of
+sumptuousness was attained in the use of pure white marble, lavishly
+inlaid with coloured stones.
+
+As we wandered through halls and corridors of marble most richly
+wrought, while the sun-glare outside did but emphasise the cool shade
+within, or filter softly through the lace-like tracery of pierced
+white-marble screens, one longed to reclothe these glorious skeletons
+with all the pomp of their dead magnificence—for one magic moment
+replace the Great Mogul upon his peacock throne, surround him with a
+glittering crowd of courtiers and attendants, clothe the wide marble
+floors upon which they stand with richest carpets from the looms of
+Persia and the North, and drape the tall white columns with rustling
+canopies of silk.
+
+Before the great audience hall let the bare garden-court again glow
+with a million blooms; there let the peacocks sun themselves, their
+living jewels putting to shame the gems that burn back from aigrette
+and from sword-hilt; see and hear the cool waters sparkling once again
+from their long-dried founts, flashing in the white sunlight, and
+flowing over ducts cunningly inlaid with zigzag bands to imitate the
+ripple of the mountain stream.
+
+The dead frame alone is left of all this gorgeous picture. The
+imperishable marble glows white in the sunlight as it did in the days
+of Shah Jehan. The great red bastions of the Fort frown over the same
+placid Jumna, and watch each morning the pearly dome of the Taj Mahal
+rise like a moon in the dawn-glow, shimmer through the parching glare
+of an Indian day, and at eve sink, rosy, into the purple shadows of
+swiftly-falling night, as they did when Shah Jehan sat “in the
+sunset-lighted balcony with his eyes fixed on the snow-white pile at
+the bend of the river, and his heart full of consolation of having
+wrought for her he loved, through the span of twenty years, a work that
+she had surely accepted at the last.”[2]
+
+[2] _The Web of Indian Life_
+
+
+We spent a long afternoon in the Fort, and drove out finally through
+the monstrous gateway in a little Victoria, feeling all the time that
+none but elephants in all their glory of barbaric caparison could pass
+through such a portal worthily.
+
+The moon was full almost a week ago, unfortunately, so we determined
+that, failing moonlight, our first visit to the Taj should be at
+sunset.
+
+The two miles’ drive along an excellent road was delightful, and the
+approach to the Taj has been laid out with much skill as a beautiful
+bit of landscape garden. This care is due to Lord Curzon, who has taken
+Agra and its monuments into his especial keeping.
+
+A very small golf-course has been laid out, and the familiar form of
+the enthusiast could be seen, blind to everything but the flight of
+time and his Haskell, hurrying round to save the last of the daylight.
+
+Beneath a tree was laid out a tea equipage, and a few ladies indolently
+putting showed that, after all, the game was not taken too seriously.
+
+I have no intention of trying to describe the Taj Mahal. The attempt
+has already been made a thousand times. I may merely remark that the
+detestable Indian miniatures, and little ivory or marble models that
+are, alas! so common, are incapable of giving an idea, otherwise than
+misleading, of this wonderful building, which is not—as they would
+vainly show it—glaring, staring, and hard, nor does its formality seem
+other than just what it should be.
+
+As we saw it first—opalescent in the soft, clear light of sunset—the
+chief impression it made upon us was that of size; for this we were
+quite unprepared.
+
+As we approached it from the great red entrance arch, along a smooth
+path bordering the central stretch of still, translucent water, the
+lovely dome rose fairy-like from the masses of trees that, in their
+turn, formed a background of solemn green for gorgeous patches of
+colour, in bloom and leaf, which glowed on either side as we advanced.
+
+Ascending a flight of steps to the wide terrace, all of whitest marble,
+upon which the Taj is raised, we realised that the detail of carving
+and of inlay was as perfect as the general effect of the whole.
+
+High as my expectations had been raised, I was not disappointed in the
+Taj, and that is saying much, for one’s pre-formed ideas are apt to
+soar beyond bounds and to suffer the fate of Icarus. At the same time,
+I cannot agree with Fergusson that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful
+building in the world. I do not admit that it is possible to compare
+structures of such widely divergent types as the Parthenon, the
+Cathedral of Chartres, the Campanile of Giotto, and the Taj Mahal, and
+pronounce in favour of any one of them. It is as vain as to contend
+that the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a finer poem than Keats’ “Eve
+of St. Agnes,” or that the “Erl Konig” is better music than “The
+Moonlight Sonata.”
+
+Perhaps it is not too much to say that it is the loveliest tomb in the
+world, and the finest specimen of Mohammedan architecture in existence.
+If I dared to criticise what would appear to be faultless, I should
+humbly suggest that the four corner minarets are not worthy of the
+centre building, reminding one rather of lighthouses.
+
+We spent a second day in Agra, revisiting the Fort and the Taj rather
+than seeing anything new. We could have hired a motor and rushed out
+for a hurried visit to Fatehpur-Sighri, and there was temptation in the
+idea; but we decided to content ourselves with the abundant food for
+eye and mind which we had in these two wonderful buildings, and in the
+evening we took the train for Jaipur.
+
+_Saturday, October 21._—One is apt to be cross and fussed and generally
+upset on being landed on a strange platform in the dark at 5.30 A.M.,
+as we were at Jaipur, but much solace lay in the fact that a
+comfortable carriage stood waiting us and a most kind and genial host
+received us on the broad verandah of his bungalow, and the cheering
+fact was borne in upon us that we shall have henceforward but little to
+do with Indian hotels.
+
+How one appreciates a large, cool room, good servants, good food, and
+last, but not least, the society of one’s kind, after two or three
+weeks of racket and discomfort by road and rail.
+
+A restful morning enlivened us sufficiently to enjoy a garden party at
+the Residency in the afternoon, where not only the English society, but
+a large number of native gentlemen, were playing lawn-tennis with
+laudable energy.
+
+After Kashmir, where Sir Amar Singh is the only native who mixes at all
+with the English, it was interesting to see and meet on terms of
+good-fellowship these Rajput aristocrats.
+
+_Sunday, October_ 22.—The city of Jaipur is, I think, principally
+interesting as being modern and enlightened among those of the native
+states.
+
+When the ancient city of Ambér was abandoned, principally on account of
+its scanty water-supply, Jaipur was built upon a regular and
+prearranged plan, having a great wide street down the centre, crossed
+by two large thoroughfares at right angles, thus dividing the town into
+six rectangular blocks.
+
+We drove into the city in the afternoon, and were much impressed by its
+airiness and cleanliness. The houses are all coated with pink stucco,
+picked out with white, which, in the bright atmosphere, has, at a
+little distance, a charming effect. On closer inspection the real
+tawdriness and want of solidity of the work become painfully apparent,
+and the designs in white upon the pink, in which the wayward fancy of
+each householder runs riot, generally leave much to be desired, both in
+design and execution.
+
+The broad, clean main streets were a perfect kaleidoscope of colour and
+movement. Men in pink pugarees—in lemon-coloured—in emerald green;
+women in blood-red saris, bearing shining brass pots upon their heads,
+all talking, shouting, jostling—a large family of monkeys on a
+neighbouring roof added their quota of conversation—calm oxen, often
+with red-painted horns and pink-streaked bodies, camels, asses, horses,
+strolled about or pushed their way through the throng. No Hindu cow
+would ever dream of making way for anybody. Yes, though! Here comes an
+elephant rolling along, and the holy ones with humps discreetly retire
+aside, covering their retreat before a _force majeure_ by stepping up
+to the nearest greengrocer’s stall and abstracting a generous mouthful
+of the most succulent of his wares.
+
+Rising in the midst of a lovely garden, just outside the city, is the
+Albert Hall, a remarkably fine structure, built in accordance with the
+best traditions of Mohammedan architecture adapted to modern
+requirements by our host, the designer. It contains both a museum of
+the products of Rajputana, and also an instructive collection of
+objects of art and science, gathered together for the edification of
+the intelligent native.
+
+We would willingly have spent hours examining the pottery and brass
+work for which Jaipur is famous, or in making friends with the denizens
+of the great aviary in the garden, but time is short, and even the baby
+panther could only claim a few minutes of our devotion.
+
+The Palace of the Maharajah is neither particularly interesting nor
+beautiful, and we did not visit it further than to inspect the ancient
+observatory built by Jey Singh, with its huge sundial, whose gnomon
+stands 80 feet above the ground! What we are pleased to call a
+superstitious attention to times lucky or unlucky has given to
+astronomical observations in the East an unscientific importance which
+they have not had for centuries in Europe.[3] A slight attack of fever
+prevented me from going to Ambér; so I stayed at home, peacefully
+absorbing quinine, subsequently extracting the following from Jane’s
+diary:—
+
+[3] I fear this is somewhat misleading. Jey Singh was, _par
+excellence_, an astronomer, not an astrologer,—T. R. S.
+
+
+“‘Tea ready, mem-sahib.’ The familiar and somewhat plaintive sound of
+Sabz Ali’s voice roused me, as it so often has in tent, forest hut, or
+matted dounga;”
+
+but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find
+myself in a real comfortable spring bed, white-enamelled and
+mosquito-netted, while for roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky.
+Then it was I remembered that, at my host’s suggestion, my bed had been
+carried out into the shrubbery, and that I had fallen asleep, lulled by
+the howling of the jackals and the rustle of the flying squirrels in
+the gold mohur-tree overhead.
+
+“Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain
+as much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I
+was soon ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the
+garden among the parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little
+squirrels. We were ready for the road before seven, and were soon
+trotting along between dusty hedges of gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded
+here and there by neem trees and peepuls.”
+
+“Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton’s, and
+he had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort—a very
+thin young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat.”
+
+“Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our
+way—slowly, on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on
+the road, and the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let
+us pass.”
+
+“It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
+loose a bull _in memoriam_, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to
+live a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every
+green-grocer in it is only too much honoured if the fastidious animal
+will condescend to make free with his cabbages.”
+
+“Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six
+miles out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal
+stable to carry us to Ambér. We climbed upon her (it was a lady
+elephant) in a great hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we
+were told that an elephant, if ‘fresh,’ was apt to rise up suddenly, to
+the great detriment of the passenger who had ‘not arrived.’ She was a
+very friendly-looking creature though, and her little eyes twinkled
+most affably; her face was decorated in a scheme of red and green, and
+her saddle was a sort of big mattress surrounded by a railing.”
+
+“I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed
+uncommonly rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we
+reached a ridge and saw the dead city of Ambér before us, dominated by
+the white marble palace, standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in
+the water of the lake which laps its base.”
+
+“Up a steep and narrow path we mounted until we reached the courtyard
+of the ancient palace of the ruler of Ambér, and there we alighted from
+our steed, and set out to explore the ruins. First we came to a small
+temple, ugly enough, but interesting, for here a goat is sacrificed
+every morning to Kali—a particularly hideous goddess, if the frescoes
+on the walls and the golden image in the sanctuary are in any way
+truthful! Formerly a human sacrifice was customary, but the unfortunate
+goat is found to fulfil modern requirements, since goddesses are more
+easily pleased or less pampered than of yore.”
+
+“The Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is chiefly
+remarkable for its magnificent situation, and for its court and hall of
+audience of marble and red sandstone.”
+
+“This work was so fine as to excite the jealousy of the Mogul Emperor,
+so the Prince of Ambér had it promptly whitewashed—and whitewashed it
+remains to this day. Some of the brazen doors are remarkably fine, as
+also those of sandal-wood, inlaid with ivory, in the women’s quarters.”
+
+“We climbed to the marble court on the roof, where, canopied only by
+the sky and lighted by the moon, nocturnal durbars were held. Now, in
+the glare of the noonday sun, we fully appreciated the value of an
+evening sitting, for it was impossible to remain grilling there, even
+though the view of the silent city below, falling in tier after tier to
+the lake—the glare only broken here and there by patches of green
+garden—was superb. On either side rose the bare, rocky ridges,
+fort-crowned and looking formidable even in decay, while in front the
+dusty road stretched away into the haze of the dusty plains below. Of
+course, we should have visited the great Jain temples and other things
+worthy of note; but, alas! a green garden, whose palms overhung the
+lake, proved more attractive than even Jain temples, and a charming
+picnic on fruits and cool drinks strengthened us sufficiently to enable
+us to face the hot road home, buoyed up each mile by the nearer
+prospect of a tub.”
+
+Jaipur is celebrated for its enamelling on gold, so our host kindly
+sent for an eminent jeweller to come and show us some trifles.
+Expectant of a humble native carrying the usual bundle, we were much
+impressed when, in due time, a dignitary drove up in a remarkably well
+turned out carriage and pair. His servants were clad in a smart livery,
+and he himself was resplendent, with uncut emerald earrings, and the
+general appearance of a certain Savoy favourite as the “Rajah of Bong”!
+
+Our spirits sank as he spread himself and his goods out upon the
+drawing-room floor, which speedily became a glittering chaos of gold
+and jewelled cups, umbrella handles, boxes, scent-bottles, and
+necklaces. Jane divided her admiration between a rope of fat pearls and
+a necklace of uncut emeralds, either of which might have been hers at
+the trifling price of some 7000 rupees, but we finally restricted our
+acquisitions to very modest proportions, and the stout jeweller
+departed, apparently no whit less cheerful than when he came.
+
+The modern brass-work of Jaipur is somewhat attractive, and we bought
+various articles—a tall lamp-stand, an elephant bell, and a few
+ordinary bowls of excellent shape.
+
+I have remarked before on the extreme tameness of, and the confidence
+shown by, wild creatures out here. A titmouse came and perched on the
+arm of my chair while sitting reading on the verandah at Gulmarg.
+
+The rats and mice, who own the forest houses in the Machipura, have to
+be kicked off the beds at night. But the little grey squirrels in Sir
+Swinton Jacob’s garden are—_facile princeps_—the boldest wild-fowl we
+have yet encountered.
+
+Every afternoon about three, when tea was toward, the squirrels
+gathered on the gravel path, and prepared to receive bread and butter.
+
+After a few nervous darts and tail whiskings, a bold squirrel would
+skip up close, and, after eating a little ground bait, would boldly
+come up and nibble out of a motionless hand. In two minutes
+half-a-dozen pretty little creatures would be fidgeting round, eating
+bread and butter daintily, neatly holding the morsel in their little
+forepaws and nuzzling into one’s fingers for more.
+
+A handsome magpie, and, of course, a contingent of crows, made up the
+fascinating party; while in the background, among the neem trees and
+the flaming “gold mohurs,” the minahs and green parrots sustained an
+incessant and riotous conversation.
+
+_Wednesday, October 25_.—Gladly would we have accepted the Jacobs’
+invitation to stay longer at Jaipur. We would have liked nothing
+better, but time was flying, and the 5th November—our day of departure
+from Bombay—was drawing rapidly near. So yesterday evening we took the
+6.30 train for Ajmere, and, reaching there at 10.30, changed into the
+narrow-gauge railway for Chitor. We are becoming well accustomed to
+sleeping in an Indian train, and Sabz Ali had our beds unrolled and our
+innumerable hand luggage stowed away in no time, including four bottles
+of soda-water, which he has carefully garnered in the washstand, and
+which no hints, however broad, will induce him to relinquish.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+UDAIPUR
+
+
+We arrived, very sleepy and gritty, at Chitor at 5.30 A.M., to find an
+unprecedented mob of first-class passengers _en route_ for Udaipur, and
+only one very minute compartment in which to stow them.
+
+The station-master—a solemn Baboo, full of his own importance,
+becomingly clad in a waving white petticoat, with bare legs and
+elastic-sided boots, surmounted by a long cutaway frock-coat, topped by
+a black skull-cap, and finally decorated by a pen behind his ear—seemed
+totally unable to cope with the terrible problem he was set to solve.
+
+I suggested that another carriage should be put on, but he had none,
+nor any solution to offer; so we cleared a second-class compartment and
+divided the party out, and then, with five people in our tiny
+compartment, we set out on the fifty-mile run to Udaipur.
+
+Five people in a carriage in Europe is nowise unusual, but five people
+in an Indian one (and that a narrow, very narrow gauge), accompanied by
+rolls of bedding, tiffin-baskets, and all the quantity of personal
+luggage which is absolutely necessary, not to speak of a large-sized
+bird-cage (which cannot, strictly speaking, be classed as a necessary),
+requires the ingenuity of a professional packer of herrings or figs to
+adjust nicely!
+
+By cramming the toilet place with bedding, khudsticks, a five-foot
+brass lamp-stand, and the four soda-water bottles, we made shift to
+stow portmanteaux, bags, tiffin-baskets, &c., under the seats and
+ourselves upon them, and then arranged a sort of centre-piece of Jane’s
+big tin bonnet-box, surmounted by Freddy in his cage. The other
+passengers were very amiably disposed, and not fat, and they even went
+so far as to pretend to admire Freddy—a feat of some difficulty, as he
+is still very bald and of an altogether forbidding aspect. This
+admiration so won upon the heart of Jane, that in the fulness thereof
+she served out biscuits and a little tinned butter all round, while
+Freddy cheerfully spattered food and water upon all indiscriminately.
+
+About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here,
+in the stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a
+desperate deed.
+
+The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and
+retake Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any
+of those whose fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at
+Culloden. The Chondawats and the Saktawats both claimed the right of
+forming the vanguard, and the Rana, unable to pronounce in favour of
+either, subtly decided that the van should be given to the clan which
+should first enter Ontala.
+
+The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the
+fortress, and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place,
+but the walls were quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment,
+the leader of the Saktawats threw himself from his elephant, and,
+placing himself before the great spikes with which the gate was
+protected against the assault of the beast, ordered the mahout to
+charge; and so a crushed and mangled corpse was forced into the city on
+the brow of the living battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants
+rushed to battle.
+
+Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in
+Ontala. First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by
+the defenders ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell
+back among his dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling
+the body in his scarf, tied it upon his back, fought his way to the
+crest of the battlements, and hurled the gory body of his chieftain
+into the city, shouting, “The vanguard to the Chondawat!”
+
+It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note
+were engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of
+the defence, they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle.
+Suddenly the foe broke in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for
+leave to finish their interesting match. The request was granted by the
+courtly Rajputs, but upon its termination they were both put to death.
+
+Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid
+hills. After skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we
+bustled through a tunnel and drew up at a bright little station, draped
+with great blue and pink convolvulus. And this was Udaipur.
+
+We were picked out of the usual jabbering, jostling, gibbering crowd of
+natives by our host, who, looking most enviably cool and clean, took
+his heated, dishevelled, and unbarbered guests off to a comfortable
+carriage, and we were quickly sped towards tiffin and a bath.
+
+The station is a long way from the town, as the Maharana, a most
+staunch conservative of the old school, having the railway more or less
+forced upon him, drew the line at three miles from his capital, and
+fixed the terminus there. One cannot help being glad that the prosaic
+steam-engine, crowned with foul smoke and heralded by ear-piercing
+whistles, has not been allowed to trespass in Udaipur, wherein no
+discordant note is struck by train line or factory chimney, and where
+everything and every one is as when the city was newly built on the
+final abandonment of Chitor, the ancient capital of Mewar.
+
+Here in the heart of the most conservative of native States, whose
+ruler, the Maharana, Sir Fateh Singh, claims descent from that ancient
+luminary the Sun, we found novelty and interest in every yard of the
+three miles that stretch between the station and the capital. The
+scrub-covered desert has given place to a wooded and cultivated valley,
+ringed by a chain of hills, sterile and steep. The white ribbon of the
+road, through whose dust plough stolid buffaloes and strings of
+creaking bullock-carts, is bordered by tall cactus and yellow-flowered
+mimosa on either side. Among the trees rise countless half-ruined
+temples and chatries; on whose whitewashed walls are frequent frescoes
+of tigers or elephants rampant, and of wonderful Rajput heroes wearing
+the curious bell-shaped skirt, which was their distinctive dress.
+
+The people too, their descendants, who crowd the road to-day, are
+remarkable—the men fine-looking, with beards brushed ferociously
+upwards, and all but the mere peasants carrying swords; the women,
+dark-eyed, and singularly graceful in their red or orange saris, and
+very full bell-shaped petticoats. Upright as darts, they walk with
+slightly swaying gesture, a slender brown arm upraised to support the
+big brass chatties on their heads, revealing an incredible collection
+of bangles on arms and ankles. These women are the descendants of those
+who, in the stormy days of the sixteenth century, while the Rajput
+princes still struggled heroically with the all-powerful Mogul
+emperors, preferred death to shame, and, led by Kurnavati (mother of
+Oodi Singh, the founder of Udaipur), accepted the “Johur,” or death by
+fire and suffocation, to the number of 13,000, while their husbands and
+brothers threw open the city gates and went forth to fight and fall.
+
+As we drew near our destination the towers of the Maharana’s Palace
+rose up above the trees, gleaming snowy in the cloudless blue. The
+brown crenellated walls of the city appeared on our left, and, suddenly
+sweeping round a curve, we found ourselves by the border of a lovely
+lake, whose blue-rippled waters lapped the very walls of the town. In
+the foreground a glorious note of colour was struck by a group of
+“scarlet women” washing themselves and their clothes by the margin.
+
+Up a steep incline, and we found ourselves before a verandah, blazing
+overhead with bougainvillea, and our hostess waiting to receive us
+beneath its cool shade.
+
+In the afternoon, refreshed and rested, we went down to the shore,
+where our host had arranged for a state-owned boat and four rowers to
+be in waiting. Armed with rods and fishing tackle, we proceeded to see
+Udaipur from the lake which washes its northern side. First crossing a
+small landlocked bay bordered on the left by a long and picturesque
+crenellated wall, and passing through a narrow opening, we found
+ourselves in a second division of the water; on the left, still the
+wall, with a delightful-looking summer-house perched at a salient
+angle; on the right, small wooded islands, the haunt of innumerable
+cormorants, who, with snaky necks outstretched, watched us suspiciously
+from their eyrie.
+
+A curious white bridge, very high in the centre, barred the view of the
+main lake till, passing through the central arch, we found ourselves in
+a scene of perfect enchantment. Before us the level sheet of molten
+silver lay spread, reflecting the snowy palaces and summer-houses that
+stood amid the palms and greenery of many tiny islands. On the left the
+city rose from the water in a succession of temples and wide-terraced
+buildings, culminating in the lofty pile of the Palace of the Maharana.
+Here, on this enchanted lake, we rowed to and fro until the sun sank
+swiftly in the west and the red gold glowed on temple and turret.
+
+Then, with our catch, about 15 lbs. weight of most excellent fish, we
+rowed back past the white city to the landing-place, and, in the
+gathering dark, climbed the hillock upon which stood our host’s
+bungalow.
+
+We spent a week at Udaipur—a happy week, whose short days flew by far
+too quickly. The weather was splendid; hot in the middle of the day—for
+the season is late, and the monsoon has greatly failed in its cooling
+duty—but delightful in morning and evening.
+
+Rising one morning at early dawn, before the sun leaped above the
+eastern hills, we took boat and rowed to one of the island palaces,
+where, after fishing for mahseer, we breakfasted on a marble balcony
+overlooking the ripples of the Pichola Lake, which lapped the feet of a
+group of great marble elephants.
+
+Not the least interesting expedition was to the south end of the lake
+one afternoon to see the wild pigs fed. Traversing the whole length of
+the Pichola, past the marble ghâts where the crimson-clad women washed
+and chattered, while above them rose the roofs and temple domes of the
+fairy city culminating in the walls and pinnacles of the palace—past
+the fleet of queer green barges wherein the Maharana disports himself
+when aquatically inclined, we left the many islands marble-crowned on
+our right; and finally landed at a little jutting ledge of rock, whence
+a jungle track led us in a few minutes to a terrace overlooking a rocky
+and steep slope which fell away from the building near which we stood.
+The scene was surprising! Hundreds of swine of all sorts and sizes,
+from grim slab-sided, gaunt-headed old boars, whose ancient tusks
+showed menacing, to the liveliest and sprightliest of little pigs
+playing hide-and-seek among their staid relatives, were collected from
+the neighbouring jungle to scramble for the daily dole of grain spread
+for them by the Maharana.
+
+A cloud of dust rose thick in the air, stirred up by the busy feet and
+snouts of the multitude, and grunts and squeals were loud and frequent
+as a frisky party of younglings in their play would heedlessly bump up
+against some short-tempered old boar, who in his turn would angrily
+butt a too venturesome rival in the wind and send him, expostulating
+noisily, down the hill!
+
+Beyond the crowd of swine on the edge of the clearing, a few peacocks,
+attracted by the prospect of a meal, held themselves strictly aloof
+from the vulgar herd.
+
+The whole city of Udaipur is a paradise for the artist—not a corner,
+not a creature which does not seem to cry aloud to be painted. The only
+difficulty in such _embarras de richesses_ of subject and such
+scantiness of time, is to decide what not to do.
+
+Hardly has the enthusiastic amateur sat down to delineate the stately
+pile of the palace, soaring aloft amid its enveloping greenery, than he
+is attracted by a fascinating glimpse of the lake, where, perhaps, a
+royal elephant comes down to drink, or a crimson-clad bevy of Rajputni
+lasses stoop to fill their brazen chatties with much chatter and
+laughter.
+
+Bewildered by such wealth of subject, one is but too apt to sit at
+gaze, and finally go home with merely a dozen pages of scribbles added
+to the little canvas jotting-book!
+
+The Palace of the Maharana is a very splendid pile of buildings, as
+seen from some little distance crowning the ridge which rises to the
+south of the lake, but it loses much of its beauty when closely viewed.
+It is, of course, not to be compared architecturally with the
+master-works of Agra and Delhi, and the internal decorations are
+usually tawdry and uninteresting. The entrance is fine; the visitor
+ascends the steep street to the principal gate, a massive portal,
+strengthened against the battering of elephants by huge spikes, and
+decorated by a pair of these animals in fresco-rampant. Beyond the
+first gate rises a second or inner gate. On the right are huge stables
+where the royal elephants are kept, and on the left stand a row of
+curious arches, beneath one of which the Maharanas of old were wont to
+be weighed against bullion after a victory, the equivalent to the royal
+avoirdupois being distributed as largesse to his people!
+
+Within the gates, a long and wide terrace stretches along the entire
+front of the Palace, on the face of which is emblazoned the Sun of
+Mewar, the emblem of the Sesodias. This terrace was evidently the happy
+home of a great number of cows, peacocks, geese, and pigeons, which
+stalked calmly enough, among the motley crowd of natives, and gave one
+the impression of a glorified farmyard. The building itself, like most
+Indian palaces, is composed of a heterogeneous agglomeration in all
+sorts of sizes and styles. Each successive Maharana having apparently
+added a bit here and a bit there as his capricious fancy prompted.
+
+Jane visited the armoury to-day with the Resident, who went to choose a
+shield to be presented by the Maharana to the Victoria Museum at
+Calcutta. I chose to go sketching, and was derided by Jane for missing
+such a chance of seeing what is not shown to visitors as a rule. She
+whisked away in great pomp in the Residential chariot, preceded by two
+prancing sowars on horseback, and subsequently thus related her
+experiences:—
+
+
+“We really drove up far too fast to the Palace, I was so much
+interested in the delightful streets; and we just whizzed past the
+innumerable shrines and queer shops, and frescoed walls, where
+extraordinary lions and tigers, and Rajput warriors, riding in wide
+petticoats on prancing steeds, were depicted in flaming colours. I
+wanted, too, to gaze at the native women, in their accordion-pleated,
+dancing frocks of crimson or dark blue; but it seemed to be the correct
+thing for a ‘Personage’ to drive as fast as possible, and try to run
+over a few people just to show them what unconsidered trifles they
+were. Well, we were received at the entrance to the Palace by one of
+the Prime Ministers. There are two Prime Ministers—one to criticise and
+frustrate the schemes of the other; the result being, as the Resident
+remarked, that it is not easy to get any business done. Our Prime
+Minister was dressed in a coat of royal purple velvet, on his head was
+wound a big green turban, and round his neck hung a lovely necklet of
+pearls and emeralds, with a pendant of the same, he had also earrings
+to match. It was truly pitiful to see such ornaments wasted on a fat
+old man.”
+
+“Going up a narrow and rather steep staircase, we came to a small hall
+full of retainers of his Highness, waiting until it should please him
+to appear and breakfast with them, for it is the custom of the Maharana
+to make that meal a sort of public function. In the middle of the hall
+reposed a big bull, evidently very much at ease and quite at home!”
+
+“A few more steps brought us to the door of the armoury. This is small
+and badly arranged, which seems a pity, as there were some lovely
+things. Chain armour and inlaid suits lay about the floor in heaps; and
+we were shown the saddle used by Akbar during the last siege of Chitor.
+The most remarkable things, however, were the Rajput shields, of which
+there were some beautiful specimens. They are circular, not large, and
+made, some of tortoiseshell, some of polished hippo hide, &c. One was
+inlaid with great emeralds, a second had bosses of turquoise, and a
+really lovely one was inlaid with fine Jaipur enamel in blue and green.
+There were swords simply encrusted with jewels—one with a hilt of
+carved crystal; another was a curiously-modelled dog’s head in smooth
+silver, and I noticed a beauty in pale jade. Altogether it was a most
+fascinating collection, different from, but in its way quite as
+interesting, as the fine armoury at Madrid.”
+
+Thus did Jane triumph over me with her description of what she had seen
+and what I had missed; and I had been trying to delineate the Temple of
+Jagganath, and had been disastrously defeated, for it is indeed a
+complicated piece of drawing, and the children, both large and small,
+crowded round me to my great hindrance. Therefore, it was not until I
+had been soothed with an excellent lunch, and the contents of a very
+long tumbler, that I felt strong enough to take an intelligent interest
+in the contents of the Maharana’s curiosity-shop!
+
+_Monday, October_ 30.—The more we see of Udaipur the more we are
+charmed with it. The whole place is so absolutely unspoilt by
+modernism, is so purely Eastern—and ancient Eastern at that—that we
+feel as though we were in a little world far apart from the great one
+where steam and electricity shatter the nerves, and drive their victims
+through life at high pressure.
+
+Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered
+desert stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded
+in an oasis, whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the
+Maharana rules in feudal state, and, like Aytoun’s Scottish Cavalier,
+
+“A thousand vassals dwelt around—all of his kindred they,
+And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray
+For the royal race he loves so well.”
+
+
+For to his subjects the Maharana is little less than a divinity, for is
+he not a direct descendant of the Sun? Likewise is he not the chief of
+the only royal house of Rajputana, who disdained to purchase Mogul
+friendship at the price of giving a daughter in marriage to the
+Mohammedan?
+
+There are greater personages among the ruling Princes of India,
+according to British ruling—Hyderabad, for instance. And in the matter
+of precedence and the number of guns for ceremonial salutation, the
+Chief of Mewar—like other poor but proud nobles—is treated rather
+according to his actual power than the cloudless blue of his blood.
+Hence he is extremely unwilling to put himself in a position where he
+might fail to obtain the honour which he considers due to him. He was
+most averse from attending the Delhi Durbar, but such pressure was put
+upon him that he was induced to proceed thither in his special train
+running, as far as Chitorgarh, upon his own special railway. He reached
+Delhi, and his sponsors rejoiced that they had indeed got him to the
+water, although they had not exactly induced him to drink. As a matter
+of fact, the Maharana, having gone to Delhi to please the British
+authorities, promptly returned to Udaipur to please himself, alleging a
+terrific headache as reason for instant departure from the capital,
+without his having left his very own specially reserved first-class
+compartment!
+
+He may not be a willing guest, but he is evidently disposed to be an
+excellent host, for great preparations are toward for the reception of
+the Prince of Wales, who is expected in the course of a fortnight or
+so.
+
+The Residency, too, is being swept and garnished, the garden already
+looking like a miniature camp, with tents for the suite all among the
+flower-beds.
+
+_Tuesday, October_ 31.—A day or two ago we arose betimes, and before
+sunrise embarked in the State gig (which was always, apparently, placed
+at our host’s disposal on demand), and set forth to catch fish for our
+breakfast, and then proceed to eat the same on one of the island
+palaces on the lake. We did not catch many fish—the mahseer were shy
+that morning—but fortunately we did not entirely depend on the caprices
+of the mahseer for our sustenance, and a remarkably well-fed and
+contented quartette we were when we got into the gig while the day was
+yet young, and rowed home as quickly as might be in order to escape the
+heat which at noonday is still great.
+
+This afternoon we went for a (to us) novel tea picnic. A State elephant
+appeared by request, and we climbed upon him with ladders, and he
+proceeded to roll leisurely along at the rate of about two and a half
+miles an hour towards the foot of a hill, on the top of which stood a
+small summer palace.
+
+The afternoon was warm, and the rhythmic pace drowsy, but our steed was
+determined to amuse us and benefit himself. So he blew great blasts of
+spray at his own forelegs and chest to cool himself, and now and then
+made shocking bad shots at so large a target, and, getting a trifle too
+much elevation, nearly swept us from our lofty perch.
+
+Fortunately his stock of spray gave out ere long, or he found that the
+increasing gradient of the hill took all his breath, for we were left
+at leisure to admire the widening view until we reached the top.
+
+Here we had tea in one of the cool halls, and then sat watching the sun
+sink towards the hills that stretch to Mount Aboo.
+
+To the south-east lay Udaipur, milk-white along the margin of its
+“marléd” waters.
+
+On our way home we met with an adventure. While prattling to my
+hostess, I observed that our toes were rising unduly, the saddle or
+howdah being seated somewhat after the fashion of an outside car.
+Glancing over my shoulder I descried Jane and her partner far below
+their proper level. The howdah was coming round, and our steed was
+eleven feet high! Agonised yells to the gentleman who guided the
+deliberate steps of the pachyderm from a coign of vantage on the back
+of his neck, awoke him to an appreciation of the situation. The
+elephant was “hove to” with all possible despatch, and we crawled off
+his back with the greatest celerity. We then sat down by the roadside
+and superintended the righting of the saddle and the tautening of the
+girths by several natives, who “took in the slack” with an energy that
+must have made the poor elephant very “uncomfy” about the waist! I
+secretly hoped it was hurting him horribly, as I had not forgiven him
+for his practical jokes on the way up.
+
+We had no more thrills. Resuming our motor ’bus, in due course, we were
+landed opposite the top of our host’s verandah, whereupon the beast
+shut himself up like a three-foot rule, and we got to ground.
+
+The inexorable flight of time brought us all too soon to the limit of
+our stay at Udaipur. Early on Wednesday the 1st November, therefore, we
+bade adieu to the capital of the State of Mewar, and, accompanied by
+our kind host and hostess, set out to spend a day in exploring the
+ruined city of Chitor before taking train for Bombay.
+
+As we drove to the station, we passed the group of ancient “chatries”
+or tombs of dead and gone Ranas of Mewar, and halted for a short
+inspection, as, the train by which we were to travel to Chitorgarh
+being a “special,” we were not bound to a precise moment for our
+appearance on the platform.
+
+Jane, who is perfectly Athenian in her passion for novelty, decided to
+travel on the engine, and proceeded to do so; until, at the first
+halting-place, a grimy and somewhat dishevelled female climbed into our
+carriage, and the next half-hour was fully occupied in scooping smuts
+out of her eyes with teaspoons.
+
+It had been arranged that an elephant should await our arrival at
+Chitorgarh to take us up to the ancient city, but a careful search into
+every nook and cranny failed to reveal the missing animal.
+
+So my host and I set out on foot to cross a mile or so of plain which
+spread in deceptive smoothness between us and the ascent to the city.
+What seemed a serene and level track became quickly entangled in a maze
+of rough little knobs and nullahs, and we took a vast amount of
+exercise before arriving at the old bridge which spans the Gamberi
+River.
+
+Meanwhile, towering over the scrubby bushes and surrounded by a dusty
+halo, the dilatory pachyderm bore down upon us, and, after the mahout
+had been interviewed in unmeasured terms by my host, went rolling
+slowly to the station to pick up the ladies.
+
+The ancient city of Chitor lies crumbling and desolate on the back of a
+long, level-topped hill, which rises solitary to the height of some
+five hundred feet above the far-stretching plain. Kipling likens it to
+a great ship, up the sides of which the steep road slopes like a
+gangway. At the foot lies the modern village, squalid but picturesque.
+
+As we toil, perspiring, up the long ramp which for a weary mile slopes
+sidelong up the scarped flank of the mountain, and pass through the
+seven gates which guarded the way, and every one of which was the scene
+of many a grim and bloody struggle, I will try to sketch the outline of
+the history of the famous fort, for many centuries the headquarters of
+the royal race of Mewar.
+
+The Gehlotes, or (as they were afterwards styled) the Sesodias, claim
+descent from the Sun through Manu, Icshwaca, and Rama Chandra, as
+indeed do the other Rajput potentates of Jaipur, Marwar, and Bikanir,
+the Rana of Mewar, however, taking precedence owing to his descent from
+Lava, the eldest son of Rama.
+
+The ancient dynasty of Mewar has fallen from its high estate, but the
+history of its rise is lost in the mists of grey antiquity.
+
+“We can trace the losses of Mewar, but with difficulty her
+acquisitions…. She was an old-established dynasty when all the other
+States were in embryo.” Long before Richard of the Lion-heart fared to
+Palestine to wrest the Holy City from the infidel, “a hundred kings,
+its (Mewar’s) allies and dependants, had their thrones raised in
+Chitor,” to defend it against the sword of the Mohammedan; while
+overhead floated the banner displaying the golden sun of Mewar on a
+crimson field.
+
+Some centuries later the Crusaders brought to Europe from the plains of
+Palestine the novel device of armorial bearings.
+
+Chitor itself appears to have been in possession of the Mori princes
+until, in A.D. 728, it was taken by Bappa, who, though of royal race,
+was brought up in obscurity by the Bhils as an attendant on the sacred
+kine. This shepherd prince, ancestor of the present Rana of Mewar,
+became a national hero, and many legends are still current concerning
+him and his romantic deeds. The story of his “amazing marriage,” by
+which he succeeded in wedding six hundred damsels all at once, is one
+of the most curious. Bappa, while still a youth, was appealed to, one
+holiday, by the frolicsome maidens of a neighbouring village, who, led
+by the daughter of the Solankini chief of Nagda, in accordance with the
+custom upon this particular saint’s day, had come out to indulge in
+swinging, but who had forgotten to supply themselves with a
+swinging-rope. Bappa agreed to get them one if they would play his game
+first. This the young ladies readily agreed to do; whereupon, all
+joining hands, he danced with them a certain mystic number of times
+round a sacred tree.
+
+“Regardless of their doom, the little victims played,”
+
+
+and finally dispersed to their homes, entirely unconscious that they
+were all as securely married to Bappa as though they had visited Gretna
+Green with him.
+
+Some time afterwards, upon the engagement of the Solankini maiden to an
+eligible young man, the soothsayer, to whom application had been made
+with regard to fixing a favourable and auspicious wedding-day,
+discovered from certain lines in her hand that the girl was already
+married! Thus the whole story came out, and no less than six hundred
+brides assumed the title of Mrs. Bappa.
+
+He seems to have had a passion for matrimony, for when an old man he
+left his children and his country, and carried his arms west to
+Khorassan, where he wedded new wives and had a numerous offspring. He
+died at the age of a hundred!
+
+From the days of the very much married Bappa, until the time of
+Samarsi, who was Prince of Chitor in the thirteenth century, the city
+continued to flourish and increase in power and importance. Samarsi,
+having married Pirtha, sister of Prithi Raj, the lord of Delhi, joined
+his brother-in-law against Shabudin. For three days the battle raged,
+until the scale fell finally in favour of Shabudin, and the combined
+forces of Delhi and Chitor were almost annihilated. “Pirtha, on hearing
+of the loss of the battle, her husband slain, her brother captive, and
+all the heroes of Delhi and Cheetore ‘asleep on the banks of the Caggar
+in a wave of the steel,’ joined her lord through the flames.”
+
+From that time forward the history of Chitor is but a tale of sack and
+slaughter, relieved in its murkiest days by flashes of brilliant
+heroism and self-sacrificing devotion while the chivalrous Rajputs
+struggled vainly against the successive waves of the Mohammedan
+invasions, which in a fierce flood for centuries swept over India, and
+deluged it with blood.
+
+In the year 1275 Lakumsi became Rana of Chitor. His uncle Bheemsi had
+married Padmani, a fair daughter of Ceylon, and her beauty was such
+that the fame of it came to the ears of Alla-o-din, the Pathan Emperor.
+
+He promptly attacked the fortress, but without success for a long
+period, until he agreed to a compromise, declaring that if he could
+merely see the Lady Padmani in a mirror he would be contented and raise
+the siege.
+
+His request was granted, and, trusting to the honour of a Rajput, he
+entered the city unattended, and was rewarded by a sight of this
+Eastern Helen reflected in a mirror. Desirous of showing equal faith in
+a noble enemy, Bheemsi accompanied Alla back to his lines, but there he
+was captured and held to ransom, Padmani being the price.
+
+Word was now sent to the Emperor that Padmani would be delivered to
+him, and seven hundred covered litters were prepared to convey her and
+her ladies to Delhi, but each litter was borne by six armed bearers,
+and contained no “silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses,” but only
+steel-clad warriors, who, upon arrival in the Moslem camp, sprang from
+their concealment as surprisingly as Pallas from the head of Zeus.
+
+Alla-o-din was, however, not to be caught napping, and, being prepared
+for all contingencies, a fierce combat took place, and the warriors of
+Chitor were hard put to it to stand their ground until Bheemsi had
+escaped to the stronghold on a fleet horse. Then the devoted remnant
+retreated, pursued to the very gates by their foes. The flower of
+Chitor had perished, but they had achieved their object. This was
+called the “half sack” of Chitor.[1]
+
+[1] These notes on the history of Chitor are taken, it need hardly be
+said, from Tod’s _Rajast’han_, he being _the_ authority on Rajputana.
+An account of the above incident is given somewhat differently by
+Maurice in his _Modern History of Hindostan_ (1803), who also relates
+that Akbar used the same trick to enter Rhotas in Behar, after being
+long baffled by the apparent impregnability of that fortress.
+
+
+Fifteen years later, Alla-o-din once more attacked Chitor, and this
+time the assaults were so deadly that the garrison was decimated and
+utter annihilation stared the survivors in the face. Then to the Rana
+appeared the guardian goddess of the city, who warned him that “if
+twelve who wear the diadem bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass
+from the line.” Now the prince had twelve sons, and, in obedience to
+the goddess and in hope of eventually saving their dynasty, eleven of
+them cheerfully headed sorties on eleven following days, and were
+slain, until only Ajeysi, the youngest, was left alive. Then the Kana
+prepared for the end. He sent the boy Ajeysi with a small band by a
+secret way, and he escaped to Kailwarra, so that the royal race of
+Chitor should not become extinct. Then the women of the city, with the
+noble Padmani at their head, accepted the Johur; “the funeral pyre
+being lighted within the great subterranean retreat,” they steadfastly
+marched into the living grave rather than yield themselves to the will
+of the conqueror. All being now ready for the last act of the hideous
+drama, the Rana caused the gates to be opened, and with his valiant
+remnant of an army fell upon the foe only to perish to a man, and then,
+and not till then, did the victorious Alla set foot of a conqueror
+within Chitor, where now no living thing remained to stay him from
+razing her deserted temples to the ground. The palace of Padmani alone
+was spared in this, the first “saka” of Chitor.[2]
+
+[2] The Jain Tower of Fame was also left standing, it dates from about
+A.D. 900.
+
+
+The wrecked stronghold remained an appanage of the Mogul until Hamir,
+who, though not the direct heir of Ajeysi, had gained the chieftainship
+through his valour, and who, having married a ward of the Hindu
+governor of Chitor, by her help regained possession of the fortress.
+
+Defeating the Emperor Mahmoud, Hamir entered Chitor in triumph, and
+once again the standard of the Sun floated over its blood-stained
+rocks. The Emperor Mahmoud himself was led captive into Chitor, and
+kept prisoner there for three months until he regained his liberty by
+surrendering Ajmere, Rinthumbore, Nagore, and Sooe Sopoor, with fifty
+lacs of rupees and a hundred elephants. By this victory Hamir became
+the sole Hindu prince of power in India; and the ancestors of the
+present lords of Marwar and Jaipur brought their levies and paid
+homage, together with the chiefs of Boondi, Abu, and Gwalior.
+
+Then ensued for Chitor a period of splendid prosperity, during which
+rose many noble buildings, amongst the ruins of which the great Tower
+of Victory still soars supreme. This splendid monument[3] was raised to
+commemorate the victory gained by Koombho over Mahmoud, King of Malwa,
+and the Prince of Guzzerat, who in A.D. 1440 had formed a league
+against Chitor. The Rana met them at the head of 100,000 troops and
+1400 elephants, and overthrew them, and the commemorative tower was
+begun in 1451 and finished in ten years.
+
+[3] It is also attributed to Lakha Rana, A.D. 1373.
+
+
+The State of Mewar reached the zenith of her glory in 1509, when 80,000
+horse, seven rajas of the highest rank, nine raos, and 104 chiefs
+bearing titles of rawul or sawut, with 500 elephants, followed Rana
+Sanga of Chitor into the field.
+
+The Mogul Baber, who captured Delhi in 1527, was yet unwilling to face
+the ordeal of battle with the warlike Rajputs, but in the following
+year Sanga marched against him at the head of the princes of
+Rajast’han. A terrible battle ensued, which long inclined in favour of
+the Rajputs, until, through the treachery of a Tuar chief, they were
+defeated, and the star of Mewar began to decline, although so severe
+had been the struggle that Baber dared not follow up his victory.
+
+In 1533 Chitor suffered her second “saka” at the hands of Buhadoor or
+Bajazet, Sultan of Guzzerat, who, after a grim struggle, obtained a
+footing at the “Beeka” rock, and, springing a mine there, blew up 45
+cubits of rampart and killed the Prince of the Haras, with five hundred
+of his kin. Then the Queen-Mother, Jowahir Bae, clad in armour, headed
+a sally, and was slain before the eyes of all.
+
+The entrance to the city being forced, the heir of the Sesodias, the
+infant Oodi Singh, son of Sanga, was placed in safety, while Bagh-ji,
+Prince of Deola, assuming royalty, prepared to die, for Chitor could
+only be retained by the Rajput princes while guarded by royalty.
+
+The horrible Johur was decreed, and 13,000 women, headed by Kurnavati,
+the mother of Oodi Singh,[4] marched to death and honour through the
+“Gau Mukh,” or entrance to the subterranean tomb; while the city gates
+were thrown open, and the defenders sallied forth. “Every clan lost its
+chief,” and 32,000 Rajputs were slain during the siege and storm.
+
+[4] And sister of the Rahtore queen, Jowahir Bae.
+
+
+Now Kurnavati had bound Hamayoun, the son of Baber, to her cause by a
+curious ceremony: she having sent him the Rakhi (bracelet), and he
+having bestowed on her the Katchli (corselet), he was bound, in
+consequence of this bond, to assist the lady in any time of need. Too
+late to save Chitor, he retook it, and restored Bikramajit to the
+throne; but the guardian goddess had turned her face from the doomed
+city, and its final fall was at hand. The Emperor Akbar, having laid
+almost all India at his feet, determined to bring the proud princes of
+Rajputana into subjection. He attacked Chitor, but was foiled by the
+masculine courage of the Rana’s concubine queen.
+
+Again, in 1568, the Emperor Akbar attacked, and this time he found the
+fated city in evil case, for Oodi Singh,[5] the Rana, for whom in
+infancy his nurse had sacrificed her own child, was a degenerate son of
+his race. He left Chitor to be defended by his lieutenants Jeimul and
+Putta.
+
+[5] The infant Oodi Singh being threatened with death by conspirators,
+his Rajputni nurse hid him in a fruit-basket, and, covering it with
+leaves, had it conveyed out of the fort, substituting her own child
+just as Bimbir, the usurper, entered the room and asked for the prince.
+Her pallid lips refused to utter sound, but she pointed to the cradle
+and saw the swift steel plunged into the heart of her child.
+
+
+In the first “saka” by Alla, twelve crowned heads defended the “crimson
+banner” to the death. In the second, when conquest, at the hand of
+Bahadur, came from the south, the chieftain of Deola, a noble scion of
+Mewar, claimed the crown of glory and of martyrdom. But on this, the
+third and greatest struggle, no royal victim appeared to appease the
+Cybele of Chitor and win her to retain its battlements as her coronet.
+
+When Jeimul fell at the Gate of the Sun, the command devolved upon
+Putta of Kailwa, a lad of sixteen. His mother commanded him to don “the
+saffron robe,” then, with him and his young bride, she fell full armed
+upon the foe, and the heroic trio died before the eyes of the war-worn
+garrison.
+
+Once more was the Johur commanded, while 8000 Rajputs ate the last
+“beera” together, and put on their saffron robes. The gates were thrown
+open, “and few survived to stain the yellow mantle by inglorious
+surrender.”
+
+Thus in the blood-red cloud of battle sank for ever the Sun of Chitor;
+for from this, the third and last “saka,” the ruined city never rose.
+Her doom has been as the doom of Babylon, of which Isaiah declared: “It
+shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation
+to generation … but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and
+their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell
+there…. And the wild beasts … shall cry in their desolate houses, and …
+in their pleasant palaces:… Her days shall not be prolonged.”
+
+The top of the long ascent being reached, the last gate, the Hathi Pol,
+is passed, and the wayfarer finds himself in the midst of the great
+dead city, which lies in ruins for three miles along the bastioned brow
+of the mountain.
+
+Just beyond the first group of stately ruins, we came on the building
+which was probably the palace built by Lakha Rana in 1373. Here we sat
+and rested until the elephant, bearing the ladies and the lunch,
+stalked sedately round the jutting angle of a decayed fort, and then we
+wended our way along a road lined with many a half-fallen temple, until
+we reached the ancient palace where, six hundred years ago, dwelt the
+ill-starred Padmani, whose loveliness brought such woe upon Chitor.
+Here, in a cool chamber overlooking the tank, upon the brink of which
+the palace stands, we lunched; afterwards threading our way among the
+fallen fragments of many a stately shrine and palace towards the high
+point on which the great Jain Tower of Fame rears its deeply-sculptured
+shaft into the sky.
+
+For a thousand years the innumerable stone gods which encircle the
+tower in endless profusion have watched with sightless eyes over the
+city. Grey already with age were they when they saw, raised in pristine
+beauty, the shattered domes and broken columns which now lie prone in
+the brushwood far beneath their feet. What ghastly scenes those stony
+faces have surveyed, when, swept by the scathing steel, the city has
+run red with blood, and her defenders have fallen to the last man. One
+crowning horror, though, they have been always spared, for no maid or
+matron of Chitor ever deigned to bow her neck beneath the yoke of the
+Mogul, but rather dared to face a fiery death in the bowels of the
+great cavern beneath the city than yield her honour to the conqueror.
+
+The Tower of Fame is being repaired by the present Rana, under the
+superintendence of our host and a party of native workmen. Masons and
+most skilful carvers in stone were busily engaged in the restoration of
+parts that had fallen into dangerous decay—an extremely flimsy-looking
+scaffolding, made apparently of light bamboos, tied together in wisps,
+and forming a fragile-looking ramp, wound spirally up the outside of
+the tower. My host seemed to consider it a perfectly safe means of
+ascent, and as the workmen did not appear to slip off in any
+appreciable numbers I felt constrained to go up. I should like to have
+done it on all fours! The climb was well worth undertaking, as it
+enabled one to inspect the astonishing and finely-carved figures which
+encrust the whole exterior of the column.
+
+From the Tower of Fame we made our way to the other great landmark of
+Chitor—the Tower of Victory.
+
+Passing and examining _en route_ many elaborately-carved temples, whose
+domes rose amid the strangling masses of desert tree and shrub, we came
+to the base of the red tower, whose shaft, four-square and in perfect
+preservation, has, with its more venerable brother of Fame, watched for
+so many centuries over the fallen fortress of Chitor.
+
+Not far away, the rocky wall on which the city stands is shattered into
+a gloomy chasm, half-hidden in rank vegetation, which, clinging with
+knotted root to ledge and crevice, hangs darkly over a stagnant pool.
+Here was the awful portal, “the Gau Mukh,” or “cow’s mouth,” by which,
+when all was lost to Chitor save honour, her women entered the
+subterranean cavern while the fuel was heaped high, and an honourable
+death by suffocation awaited them.
+
+The burning Indian day was over, and the sun blazed red in the west, as
+we mounted our elephant and paced along the road towards the Hathi Pol.
+Darker grew the ghostly domes and shattered battlements against a
+golden sky, and the swift southern night fell, dark yet luminous, as we
+turned down the hill and left the dead city, splendid in its loneliness
+and isolation, asleep within its crumbling walls.
+
+Our dinner-table was set out on the platform of the station at
+Chitorgarh, and our bedrooms were close by, our host and hostess
+sleeping in the “special” by which they were to return to Udaipur in
+the morning, while we slept in a siding, ready to be coupled up to the
+early train from Bombay.
+
+Late into the warm and balmy night we paced the platform; for there
+seemed to be always something still to say, and we found it hard to
+part from our charming friends; realising, too, that this was the end
+of our holiday, and that before us lay merely the toil and bustle of a
+return to commonplace, everyday life. At last, though, the final
+fag-end of a cheroot was thrown away, the last hand-grips given, and
+the parting came.
+
+There is little more to say.
+
+All Thursday we rushed through the wide landscape; saw the parched
+plains stretch far into the dusty horizon; saw the lean men and leaner
+cattle, to whom the grim spectre of famine is already foreshadowed;
+flew past populous villages and creaking water-wheels, noting every
+phase of a scene now familiar, yet always delightful.
+
+Late in the evening we changed at Baroda, and dawn next morning saw us
+speeding across the swamps and inlets, which gave place ere long to the
+palm groves and clustering houses which marked the farther limits of
+the suburbs of Bombay.
+
+We found the heat—damp and oppressive—very trying after the drier air
+of Rajputana, and the Taj Mahal Hotel below our expectations in all
+respects save price. It is undoubtedly better than most Indian hotels,
+but yet it is not good!
+
+Bombay is chiefly connected in our minds with the inevitable fuss and
+worry of packing and departure.
+
+As we left the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a conveyance piled high with
+miscellaneous baggage, we saw the last of our faithful and
+indispensable Sabz Ali, as he hurriedly quitted the hostelry in our
+wake, fearful lest undue delay should jeopardise the possession of the
+spoils he was carrying off, wrapped in bulging bundles of goodly size.
+
+Jane and I were sorrier, I think, to part with him than he with us.
+After all, we were but troublesome charges, for whose well-being he had
+to answer to “General ’Oon Sahib,”—charges who had not been quite so
+lavish with their incalculable riches as they should have been, and who
+doled out rupees, and even annas, with a sorely grudging hand; still I
+think Sabz Ali, as he made his way to the station, with many rupees
+lining his inmost garments, and a flaming “chit” carefully stowed away,
+felt a certain regret at parting from the “sahibs,” who had really
+shown a very fine appreciation of his merit, and were sending him back
+with much honour to his own country.
+
+Late in the afternoon, as the spires and roofs of the city stood dark
+against the sky, and the many steamers and native dhows showed black
+upon a flood of liquid gold, the _Persia_ got under way, and we slowly
+left the anchorage, steaming out into the fading light.
+
+We stood long, leaning over the bulwarks and watching the lights of
+Bombay, at first so distinct, melt gradually into a line of tiny stars
+as the gulf widened that separated us from the land where we had spent
+so many happy days.
+
+I wonder if we shall ever revisit it? I trust so … and yet——
+
+“As a rule it is better to revisit only in imagination the places which
+have greatly charmed us … for it was not merely the sights that one
+beheld which were the cause of joy and peace. However lovely the spot,
+however gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed
+but for contributory movements of mind and heart and blood—the
+essentials of the man as then he was.”[6]
+
+[6] “Henry Ryecroft”
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I
+
+
+BIG GAME LICENSE No. I,
+Price Rs. 60 (sixty only).
+
+
+This license will remain in force from the 15th of March 190 to the
+15th November 190, and is subject to the Kashmir Stata Game Laws; it
+permits the Licensee to shoot the undermentioned game in the Districts
+and Nullahs open to sportsmen, and, subject to Rules 8 and 9 of these
+Laws, small game between the above dates.
+
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+                      | No. permitted | No. actually | Size of |District.
+  Name of Animal.     | to be         | shot.        | heads.  |
+                      | shot.         |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-             |         |
+Markhor of any variety|      2        |              |         |
+Ibex                  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon) |      1        |              |         |
+Ovis Vignei (Sharpu)  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Nahura (Burhal)  |      6        |              |         |
+Thibetan Antelope     |      6        |              |         |
+  Do. Gazelle         |      1        |              |         |
+Kashmir Stag          |      2        |              |         |
+Serow                 |      1        |              |         |
+Brown Bears           |      2        |              |         |
+Tehr                  |      6        |              |         |
+Goral                 |      6        |              |         |
+Pigs, Black Bears and |  No limit.    |              |         |
+  Leopards            |               |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+
+_Name of Licensee____________________________________________
+_Address_____________________________________________________
+_Signature of Licensee on returning License__________________
+
+N.B.—This portion of the License to be returned to the Secretary,
+Game Preservation Department.
+
+————————————————————————————————————-
+                      NAME OF SHIKARIES, &c., EMPLOYED
+———+———-+————+———-+————————————————————-
+      |Name of|        |Nature |    Place of Residence.    |
+Serial|Shikari|Father’s|  of   +————-+————+—————+ REMARKS.
+ No.  |  or   |  Name. |employ-| Village | Tehail | District |
+      |Coolie.|        | ment. |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+
+This License does not permit the Licensee to shoot in any of the closed
+tracts or preserves mentioned in Rules 2 and 10, Kashmir State Game
+Laws, nor in the Gilgit district, nor in the Astor or Kaj-nag
+districts, without the special permit laid down under Rule 2.
+
+_Dated_ ____ (Sd.) AMAR SINGH, GENERAL, RAJA, _The_ ______
+_Vice-President of Council, Jammu and Kashmir State_.
+
+I certify that a copy of Kashmir State Game Laws, 190, has been issued
+herewith,
+
+_Signature of Official granting License_ ___________________
+
+NOTE—This License will be shown on demand and is not transferable. A
+fee of Re. 1 will be charged for a duplicate copy.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II
+
+
+From the earliest times the Kashmiris have been objects of contempt and
+derision, whilst the women have been—perhaps unduly—lauded for their
+looks and general excellence.
+
+The Kashmiris themselves are of opinion that “once upon a time” they
+were an honourable and valiant folk, brought gradually to their present
+condition by foreign oppression.
+
+To a certain extent this is probably true, but, according to the
+_Rajatarangini Kulan_, they were noted for dishonesty and cunning long
+before the evil days of conquest and adversity. Bernier speaks well of
+the men, calling them witty and industrious. Doubtless the Kashmiri
+character, originally none too good, was ruined during the long years
+of cruelty and injustice to which he was subjected by the Tartars,
+Afghans, and Sikhs, who, from the day when Akbar put him into women’s
+clothes, treated him as something lower than a brute.
+
+Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as
+“endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain.” He speaks of
+the vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the
+Pathans, observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking
+them with a hatchet, but, he concludes, “I even judged them worthy of
+their adverse fortune.”
+
+Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that “the men are excessively addicted
+to pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and
+cunning;” and again, “The Cashmerians are of no account as soldiers.”
+
+“Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin
+it,” says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri
+character, and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for
+great artistic feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from
+crime against the person. He considers the last merit, though, to be
+due to cowardice and the state of espionage which exists in every
+village!
+
+I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who,
+during the great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his
+brother being swept down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly
+disintegrating roof. The following painful conversation ensued:—
+
+“Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine
+ancestral roof?”
+
+“Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!”
+
+“Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?”
+
+“All I have in the world, brother—two lovely rupees.”
+
+“Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth,
+for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life.”
+
+“Three, then, three, carissimo—’tis all I have—and make haste, for I
+feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim.”
+
+“Farewell, oh, dearest brother! I could not possibly think of taking so
+much trouble for three rupees, especially as, now I come to think of
+it, I can borrow a singhara pole, and, in due time, will prod for thy
+corpse in the Wular! Mind thou wrappest the lucre snugly in thy
+cummerbund, that it be not lost—farewell, little brother!”
+
+While the gentlemen of the Happy Valley have been lashed by the tongue
+and pen of every traveller, the ladies, on the contrary, have been
+rather overrated.
+
+In all communities where the men are invertebrate the women become the
+real heads of the family, doing not only most of the actual work, but
+also taking the dominant position in affairs generally. This I have
+observed strikingly in the case of the three “slackest” male races I
+know—the Fantis of the Gold Coast, the Kashmiri, and the crofters of
+the West Highlands.
+
+Opinion is divided on the question of female loveliness in Kashmir.
+
+Marco Polo (who probably only got his ideas of “Kesmur” from hearsay)
+echoed the prevalent opinion by saying, “The women although dark are
+very comely” (ch. xxvii.). Bernier is enthusiastic: “Les femmes surtout
+y sont très-belles,” and hints at their popularity among the Moguls.
+
+Moorcroft, Vigne, and others swelled the laudatory chorus until
+Forster, “having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms,
+suffered a sensible disappointment,” and even was so rude as to
+criticise the ladies’ legs, which he considered thick!
+
+Lawrence saw “thousands of women in the villages, and could not
+remember, save one or two exceptions, ever seeing a really beautiful
+face;” but the heaviest blow was dealt them by Jacquemont, who, as a
+gay Frenchman, should have been an excellent judge: “Je n’avais jamais
+vu auparavant d’aussi affreuses sorcières!”
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III
+
+
+I had hoped to have given, through the kindness of Colonel Ward, a full
+list of the birds of Kashmir. Up to the time of going to press,
+however, the complete list has not been made out. A very large
+proportion, however, has been published in the _Journal of the Bombay
+Nat. Hist. Society_. I would refer those desirous of a knowledge of the
+birds of Kashmir to the above Journal for 23rd April and 20th Sept.
+1906, and 15th Feb. 1907. Also to Hume and Henderson’s _Lahore to
+Yarkand_, and to Le Mesurier’s _Game, Shore, and Water Birds of India_,
+to which I am indebted for the following:—
+
+“In Kashmir, out of 116 genera of land birds, 34 have a wide range, 32
+are characteristic of the Palar Arctic, 29 of the Indian, and 21 of the
+Himalo-Chinese sub-region. Only one species is peculiar to Kashmir, a
+very normal bullfinch (pyrula).”
+
+The flora, which is most interesting, has yet (as far as I know) to be
+treated independently of the neighbouring regions. Royle is scientific
+but antiquated, and I know of no better list than that given by
+Lawrence in his _Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV
+
+
+It may interest any one intending a trip to Kashmir to see a note of
+reasonable expenses as incurred by two people during a nine-month
+absence from England. Therefore I append a précis of ours.
+
+It is to be remembered that a saving might be effected in many
+particulars by any one knowing something of the country. We had to buy
+our experience. Fully £10 or £12 could be saved in wages, as at first
+we had a fighting tail like “Ta Phairson” of “four-and-twenty men and
+five-and-thirty pipers”—and pipers have to be paid! We also hired tents
+when we did not really require them. Against these outgoings, however,
+it should be borne in mind that, thanks to the kindness of friends, we
+paid a merely nominal rent for a “State” hut at Gulmarg. At Abbotabad,
+Jaipur, and Udaipur, also, we had no hotel bills to meet.
+
+PRÉCIS OF EXPENSES—TWO PERSONS
+
+LONDON TO KARACHI (25 Days)
+
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+Half-Return fares, 1st class, London to Trieste,
+  and thence by Austrian Lloyd (unaccelerated)    60   0   0
+Hotels, sleeping-car, gratuities, wine bills, &c. 16  15   0
+Baggage expenses                                   8  15   7
+                                                       —————   85  10   7
+
+BOMBAY TO LONDON (25 Days)
+
+Share of fares                                    60   0   0
+Hotel expenses and sundries, as before            10   6   8
+Baggage expenses, dock dues, &c.                  17  11   4
+                                                       —————  87  18   0
+
+KARACHI TO SRINAGAR (16 Days)
+
+Rail and baggage expenses to Pindi                12   6   8
+Landau and two ekkas to Srinagar, inclusive of
+   gratuities, tolls, &c.                         10  10   8
+Hotels, Dàk bungalows, &c.                        13  18   9
+Duty on firearms (repayable on leaving)            1  16   8
+Resais, waterproof for luggage, kettles, &c.       1  19   3
+Servant’s fare to Karachi, wages, &c.              2  12   8
+                                                       —————  43   4   8
+                                                            ——————-
+                            Carry forward                  216  13   3
+
+EXPENSES IN KASHMIR (6 Months)
+
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+            Brought forward                                216  13   3
+
+Food, wine, washing, cigars, &c.                  72   7   3
+Wages, inclusive of various clothes               42   9   9
+Amusements, golf and tennis subscriptions, &c.    11   7   2
+Hire of boats, tents and equipment                17   6   5
+Transport coolies and ponies                      33  14  11
+Hire of hut at Gulmarg                             5   6   8
+Sundry furniture, cooking gear, yakdans, &c.       9   0   8
+                                                       —————- 191  12  10
+
+BARAMULA TO BOMBAY (1 Month)
+
+Landau and four ekkas, with gratuities and tolls. 13  14   0
+Dâk bungalows, hotels, &c.                        18   5   8
+Wages, inclusive of gratuities                     6  14   0
+Rail, Pindi to Bombay (viâ Udaipur)               16  17   0
+Baggage                                            5   2   8
+Hire of carriages, &c.                             1   4  11
+                                                  —————  61  18   3
+Loss by exchange on cheques.                                   5  19   7
+                                                            ——————
+                                      Total                  476   3  11
+                                                            ============
+
+
+
+
+INDEX AND NOTES
+
+
+ABBOTABAD, A frontier station garrisoned by a mobile force of Gurkhas
+and Royal Artillery, whence any descent from the Black Mountain or
+Chilas country can be checked. Named after Lieutenant Abbot, who
+reduced the neighbourhood to order in 1845-48.
+
+Aden, Occupying a warm corner just outside the straits of Babol-Mandeb;
+was the first addition made to the British dominions in the reign of
+Queen Victoria, having been taken from the Arabs in 1839.
+
+Agates,
+
+Agra, Rose to importance under the Moguls, becoming their seat of
+government after Akbar quitted the city he had built, Fatehpur-Sighri,
+until Aurungzeb removed the seat of government to Delhi.
+
+Akbar, The third, and in many ways the greatest, of the six “Great
+Mogul” Emperors of India. A warrior first, he consolidated his
+conquests with the genius of an enlightened statesman.
+
+Alsu, A small village on the north-west shore of the Wular Lake.
+
+Amar Singh (General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I.), Brother of His
+Highness Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; is
+Vice-President of the States Council and owner of much land in Kashmir,
+the prosperity of which he has done much to promote.
+
+Ambér, The ancient capital of Jaipur; was built in the eleventh
+century, its Rajput rulers being the powerful allies of Chitor during
+her struggles against the Mohammedan invasion. The Palace was built by
+Raja Maun, _circa_ 1600, in the days of Akbar, whose cousin he was by
+marriage ( _comp_. ). Ambér was deserted in 1728 by Jey Singh for his
+new city of Jaipur.
+
+Amethyst, This stone should be much worn in Scotland, particularly on
+New Year’s Day, it having been (according to the Greek derivation of
+the name) an antidote to drunkenness!
+
+Amira Kadal, The highest of the seven bridges at Srinagar; a fine
+modern structure, replacing that built by Amir Khan Jawan Sher, the
+Pathan, who also built Sher Garhi.
+
+Anda, Egg.
+
+Anna, the sixteenth part of a rupee, value one penny.
+
+Apharwat, One of the Pir Panjal range, which rises above Gulmarg,
+height 14,500 feet.
+
+Aru, A small village, beautifully situated about seven miles above
+Pahlgam.
+
+Asti, “Go slow.”
+
+Astor, A district on the main route from Kashmir to Gilgit, the village
+is about ninety-two miles from Bandipur. Two passes (the Rajdiangan, or
+Tragbal, 11,800 feet, and the Boorzil, 13,500 feet) have to be crossed.
+About ten passes are issued each season to sportsmen, markhor and ibex
+being the game.
+
+Atchibal, A village seven miles from Islamabad, where many springs
+burst out from the rocks. Atchibal was a favourite pleasure-garden of
+the Mogul Emperors, the remains of which still exist.
+
+Aurungzeb, The last of the six “Great Moguls”; deposed and imprisoned
+his predecessor Shah Jehan in 1658, and reigned until 1707. Bigoted and
+intolerant, he shares with Sikander the odium of having destroyed many
+of the ancient Hindu temples of Kashmir.
+
+Avantipura, The modern village is near the extensive ruins named after
+King Avanti Verma, which formed once the capital of Kashmir.
+
+Bahamarishi, (_Baba-pam-Rishi=_Father Smoothbeard.) A village some
+three miles below Gulmarg; the ziarat is named after a rishi, or
+ascetic, of the sixteenth century.
+
+Baloo, (Kashmiri, _Harpat_) “Rara avis in terras, nigroque similima
+cignis.” _Anglicè_, a bear.
+
+Bandipur, An important village on the north shore of the Wular Lake,
+the starting-point for Gilgit, &c. Oddly enough, Bandipur is not marked
+on the Ordnance Map.
+
+Bandobast, A bargain or arrangement.
+
+Bappa, An eighth-century Rajput hero, and ancestor of the present
+chiefs of Mewar; appears to have had strong Mormon proclivities.
+
+Baramula, The third town in Kashmir, having some 900 houses, is built
+on the Jhelum at its outflow from the Kashmir Valley: it is also built
+on the west focus of seismic disturbance in Kashmir, and was destroyed
+by an earthquake in 1885, when 3000 Baramulans were killed. We were
+unaware of these interesting facts on the morning of April 4! The
+“Palms of Baramoule,” which Moore sang of, are like snakes in
+Iceland—they do not exist.
+
+Bara singh, The Kashmir stag.
+
+Bawan,
+
+Beera,
+
+Bejbehara, The ancient Vijayasvara, a picturesque village and bridge
+about four miles below Islamabad.
+
+Bernier, F., a Frenchman attached to the court of Aurungzeb as medical
+adviser; wrote _Voyage à Kachemire_.
+
+Bhanyar,
+
+Bheostie, The Indian Aquarius—the water-bearer.
+
+Bhils,
+
+Birch, (Kashmiri, _Burza_) The bark used in making the paper for which
+Kashmir was noted, also for roofing, it being strong and impervious to
+water.
+
+Blue pine, _Pinus Excelsa_, (Kashmiri, _Yar_.)
+
+Bombay,
+
+Books on Kashmir:(1) Bernier, _Voyage à Kachemire_ (Utrecht, 1724); (2)
+Forster’s (G) _Journey from Bengal to England_ (London, 1798); (3)
+Moorcroft, _Travels in Kashmir, &c._ edited by Wilson, 1841; (4)
+Jacquomont (V), _Voyage dans l’Inde_ (Paris, 1841); (5) Vigne (G. T.),
+_Travels in Kashmir, &c._, 1844; (6) Hugel’s _Travels_, 1845; (7) Drew,
+_Jummoo and, Ktishmir Territories_; and (8) Lawrence’s _Valley of
+Kashmir_ 1895.
+
+Budmash, A scoundrel.
+
+Bund, An embankment or dyke to bank a river.
+
+Burra, Big, or great.
+
+Carnelian, “Flesh-stone”—for origin read Marryat’s _Pacha of Many
+Tales_
+
+Chakhoti,
+
+Chandni Chowk,
+
+Chaplies,
+
+Chappar, Paddle with heart-shaped blade.
+
+Chatris, The cenotaphs of the Maharanas of Mewar; they stand in a
+walled enclosure between Udaipur and the railway station.
+
+Chenar, _Plaianus Orientals_ or Oriental plane. This magnificent tree
+is supposed to have been introduced into Kashmir by the Mogul Emperors.
+It grows to a great size, one measured by Lawrence being sixty-three
+feet five inches in circumference at five feet above the ground! There
+is a very fair specimen in Kew Gardens, between the pond and the
+“herbaceous border.”
+
+Chilas,
+
+Chit, A note or letter, and also a character or recommendation, Every
+man collects something, from pictures to tram tickets—the native
+collects “chits.” Like other collectors he will beg, borrow, or steal
+to improve his store, and life is made a burden by the perpetual
+writing and reading of these mendacious documents.
+
+Chitor,
+
+Chittagul Nullah, The next nullah to the south-west of the Wangat. The
+village of Wangat is wrongly placed in it, according to the Ordnance
+Map.
+
+Chondawats, A Rajput clan.
+
+Chota, Little, _Chota Hazri = petit dejeúner_ or early breakfast.
+
+Chowkidar, A functionary whose principal duty seems to be to snore in
+the verandah at night and scare other robbers away.
+
+Chupatty, A flabby sort of scone.
+
+Chuprassie,
+
+Cockburn’s Agency, The nearest approach to “Whiteley’s” in Kashmir.
+
+Dâk, Post. _Dâk Bungalow_ = posting station.
+
+Dal Lake, _Dal_ means lake (in a plain), while _nag_ is a mountain
+tarn.
+
+Dandy, A sort of enclosed chair with four projecting arms, wherein
+pretty ladies are carried when it doesn’t suit them to walk.
+
+Degchies, Cooking utensils—best made of aluminium, owing to the unclean
+ways of native scullions.
+
+Dekho, See, look! Delhi, The capital of the Mogul Emperors, dating from
+1638, when Shah Jehan commenced to build the great fort. The ancient
+city lies some miles to the south. Delhi was taken by General Lake in
+1803.
+
+Deodar, (Kashmiri, _Diár.) Cedrus Lebani_, var. _Deodara_. The most
+valuable tree in Kashmir, where it was formerly abundant. It is now
+chiefly found in the north-west districts, and it is carefully
+cherished by the “Jungly Sahib” and his myrmidons.
+
+Dobie, The thing that ruins all your shirts and causes you to shatter
+the Third Commandment.
+
+Domel, Village with Dâk Bungalow, at the confluence of the Jhelum and
+the Kishenganga.
+
+Doolie,
+
+Doras,
+
+Dounga, “The boats of Kashmir are very long and narrow, and are rowed
+with paddles from the stern, which is a little elevated, to the centre;
+a tilt of mats is extended for the shelter of passengers or
+merchandize” (Forster); the mats are made of “pits” (reed mace), a
+swamp plant.
+
+Drogmulla,
+
+Dubgam, A village at junction of the Pohru with the Jhelum, about seven
+miles above Baramula.
+
+EARTHQUAKE, An upsetting event of too frequent occurrence in Kashmir.
+Particularly severe visitations occurred in 1827 and 1885 (_see_
+Baramula).
+
+Echo Lake, A small tarn on the top of Apharwat.
+
+Ek, One. (_Ek dam_=immediately.)
+
+Ekka,
+
+Embroidery,
+
+Erin Nullah,
+
+Eshmakam, =_Eysh Makám_(“the delightful halting-place”) Above the
+village stands the shrine of Zyn-u-din, one of the four disciples of
+the Kashmir patron saint, Shah Nur-u-din.
+
+FATERPUR-SIGHRI,
+
+Ferozepore Nullah,
+
+Floating Gardens,
+
+GANESBAL, The boulder, red-stained and extremely sacred, which lies in
+the middle of the Lidar; bears some fancied likeness to Ganésh (the
+elephant-headed god).
+
+Gangabal, A sacred lake, lying under the north glaciers of Haramok at
+the elevation of 12,000 feet. It is said to be a source of the
+Ganges(!) and is an object of pilgrimage.
+
+Ghari,
+
+Ghari Habibullah,
+
+Ghari Wallah, The Jehu of these parts.
+
+Ghât,
+
+Gold mohur,
+
+Golf,
+
+Gram,
+
+Grass shoes,
+
+Gujar, Is not a Kashmiri, being a member of the semi-nomad tribes which
+graze buffaloes and goats upon the hills. He speaks Parímu or Hindki.
+
+Gulmarg, (The Rose Marg.) The most frequented resort of the English in
+Kashmir during July and August; stands some 8500 feet above the sea,
+wherefore some people find the air too rarefied. Gulmarg was first
+mentioned by Yusaf Khan in 1580.
+
+Gunderbal, A village placed where the Sind River debouches into the
+plain. The starting-point for Leh and Thibet.
+
+Gupkar, Town of Gopaditya(?). A wine-manufacturing suburb of Srinagar,
+overlooking the Dal.
+
+Gurais, A large village on the Bandipur-Gilgit route, lying on the
+right bank of the Kishenganga, about forty-two miles from Bandipur.
+
+HARAMOK, The predominating mountain (16,903 feet) of the valley, from
+almost every part of which his square-headed bulk is visible; hence the
+name, which means “all faces” or “all mouths.” A legend holds that a
+vein of emerald lies near the summit, and that within view of this gem
+no snake can live
+
+Harbagwan,
+
+Hari Parbat, (“The Green Hill”) So named on account of the gardens and
+vineyards which clothed its sides. Became the residence of Akbar, who
+built the wall round foot of hill in 1597. The fort on top was the work
+of the Pathan, Atta Mohamad Khan.
+
+Haripur,
+
+Harwan,
+
+Hasrat Bal Mosque, (The Prophet’s Hair.) Various fairs and festivals
+are held here, the principal one being held upon the day that the
+Prophet rode up to Heaven on his mule Al Barak (the Thunderer). This
+mule, by-the-bye, is one of the five favoured beasts which the
+Mohammedans believe destined to immortality; the others are (1)
+Abraham’s Ram, (2) Balaam’s Ass, (3) the one upon which Christ rode on
+Palm Sunday, and (4) the dog which guarded the seven sleepers.
+
+Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed
+by the Sikhs.
+
+Hassan Abdal, (_Abdal=_fanatic).
+
+Hoopoe, Un-natural history of.
+
+INSECTS, Of benign insects such as butterflies there are singularly
+few. Both mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome during the hot
+weather in the valley. Visits to native huts will probably lead to an
+introduction to other insects. In India ants become a nuisance: I met
+with a foraging party of extremely large and well-nourished ones as I
+entered my bath place one morning. I recognised them for the
+descendants—decadent somewhat—of the famous fellows who played Alberich
+to the Gold of Hindostan and regarding which Herodotus (commonly known
+as the Father of History, or of Lies, I forget which) asserted that
+they were of the bigness of foxes and ran with incredible swiftness. He
+evidently got this yarn from Pliny—
+
+“Indicae Formicae. Aurum ex cavernus egerunt terrae Ipsis autem color
+Fehum magnitudo Aegypti Luporum” (Lib. xi. ch. 31)—
+
+and passed it on to Sir J. Maundevil, who swallowed it greedily.
+“Theise pissmyres ben grete as houndes; so that no man dar come to the
+hilles, for the pissmyres wolde assaylen hem and devouren hem” (ch.
+xxx) For the wily method of catching the ants napping, together with
+other _contes drolatiques_, read Maundevil’s _Travels_.
+
+Iris, (Kashmiri, _Krishm_) Succeeds the tulip and precedes the rose as
+typical of Kashmirian Flora, is used as fodder, and the fibre makes
+ropes, which are, however, not durable.
+
+Islamabad, (Or Anant Nag, the “Place of Countless Springs.”) Is the
+second city in Kashmir, having about 9000 inhabitants; stands at the
+head of the navigable Jhelum, fifty miles by water and thirty-two by
+land above Srinagar.
+
+Jade,
+
+Jagganath,
+
+Jain, A small sect founded by Mahavera, a contemporary of Gautama. The
+Jains were great temple-builders.
+
+Jehangir,
+
+Jeimal, With Putta, one of the national heroes of the Rajputs. They
+fell, while mere boys, in the heroic defence of Chitor against Akbar.
+
+Jey Singh, (Sowar Jey Singh.) Succeeded to the throne of Ambér in 1699,
+founded Jaipur in 1728. He wrote the following, which I had not read
+when I visited his observatory at Jaipur “Let us devote ourselves at
+the altar of the King of Kings, hallowed be his name! In the book of
+the register of whose power the lofty orbs of Heaven are but a few
+leaves, and the stars, and that heavenly courser the sun, small pieces
+of money in the treasury of the Most High.”
+
+Jheel, A small lake, or pond.
+
+Jhelum, (Kashmiri, _Veth_, Hindu, _Vetasta_, the ancient _Hydaspes_.)
+Rises at Vernag, becomes navigable at Kanbal, and is so for 120 miles,
+when it forms rapids below Baramula. Average breadth at Srinagar in
+December 210 feet, average depth 9 feet.
+
+Johur,
+
+Kaj-nag,
+
+Kali, (“The Terrible.”) Wife of Shiva or Mahadeva.
+
+Kanbal,
+
+Karachi,
+
+Karewas, “Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections,
+with flat, arid tops, and bare of trees, run out towards the valley”
+(Lawrence)
+
+Kashmir=Kashuf-mir (the country of Kashuf). Was ruled by Tartar princes
+from about 150-100 B.C. for several centuries; conquered after a year’s
+struggle by Mahmoud of Guznee (1014-1015 A.D.). Invaded by Baber and
+Humayun, and finally conquered by latter in 1543, and formally annexed
+by Akbar in 1588. After the fall of Delhi (Nadir Shah) in 1739, Kashmir
+fell into the hands of Amirs of Cabul in 1753. It was captured by the
+Sikhs under Ranjit Singh in 1819, and, after the defeat of the Sikhs at
+the hands of the British, was handed over to Gulab Singh of Jammu for
+twenty-five lacs of rupees “Kailasa is the best place in the three
+worlds, Himalaya the best part of Kailasa, and Kashmir the best place
+in Himalaya” _(Rajatarangini Kulan_).
+
+Kastoora, Merula Boulboul (the grey-winged ousel). Jane bought
+“Freddie” one day in Srinagar, and he has been our friend and companion
+ever since—being at this present (August 1907) in rude health.
+
+Khansamah, A Cook.
+
+Khubbar, News—usually untrustworthy.
+
+Khud, A steep slope or precipice.
+
+Khudstick, An alpenstock made of tough wood, usually of Cotoneaster
+baccillaris (lun); should be well tested before purchase, as life may
+depend on its strength.
+
+Killanmarg, A wide sloping marg above Gulmarg, just above the pine
+forest on the slopes of Apharwat.
+
+Kilta, Creel made of the pliant withes of the Wych Hazel, _Parrotia_
+_Jacquemontiana_ (Chob-i-poh).
+
+Kishenganga, A large affluent of the Jhelum which drains the Tilail
+Valley, passes Gurais, and joins the Jhelum below Muzafferabad.
+
+Kitardaji, Forest house in the Machipura.
+
+Kitmaghar, Bearer.
+
+Kobala,
+
+Kohinar,
+
+Kolahoi, or Gwash Brari, 17,800 ft. The loftiest peak in Kashmir
+proper. It has not yet been ascended.
+
+Koolan,
+
+Kralpura,
+
+Kulan, A peak of the Pir Panjal, at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah.
+
+Kulgam, or Kuligam.
+
+Kunis,
+
+Kurnavati,
+
+Kutab Minar,
+
+Lacquer,
+
+Lahore, Capital of the Punjab. An ancient and interesting city, which
+(like Agra and Delhi) only attained its zenith of prosperity in the
+days of Akbar.
+
+Lakri, A stick (at Gulmarg also a golf-club).
+
+Lalpura, A charming village in the Lolab.
+
+Larch,
+
+Lidar, Liddar, or Lambodri, Drains the Kolahoi district, and forms the
+first substantial affluent of the Jhelum, which it joins below
+Islamabad.
+
+Lidarwat, A small Grujar village fifteen miles above Pahlgam, on the
+left bank of the river, about 10,000 ft. above sea-level.
+
+Logue or Log, Folk.
+
+Lumbadhar, The headman of a village.
+
+Machipura, “The Place of Fish”—why, I cannot imagine! The district
+lying along the east foothills of the Kaj-nag.
+
+Mahadeo, (Mahadeva or Shiva) A sacred mountain and object of
+pilgrimage, north of Srinagar, 13,500 feet high.
+
+Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, H.H. Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I.,
+succeeded his father Ranbir Singh (who was third son of Gulah Singh) in
+1885. The family is of the Rajput Dogras. “His kindness to all classes
+has won him the affection of his people” (Lawrence).
+
+Maharana, H.H. the Maharana Dhiraj Sir Fateh Singh, G.C.S.I., of
+Udaipur, is head of the Rajput princes in point of blood, being
+descended from the Suryabansi, or Children of the Sun.
+
+Mahseer,
+
+Malingam,
+
+Manji or Hanji, A Kashmiri water-thief or boatman.
+
+Manserah,
+
+Mar (snake) Canal. A dirty but most picturesque waterway between the
+Dal and the Anchar Lakes.
+
+Marg,(Margh?) Persian for a garden abounding in plants.
+
+Margam,
+
+Martand, The principal temple in Kashmir—stands on a high karewa some
+few miles from Islamabad.
+
+Metal-work,
+
+Mewar,
+
+Mogul, The Moguls were a warlike people of Central Asia, who, under
+Timur (Tamerlane) their chief, sacked Delhi in 1398. At the great
+battle of Panipat, in 1524, Baber the Mogul (direct descendant of
+Timur) defeated the Sultans of Delhi. He was the first of the six
+“Great” Moguls (the others being Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan,
+and Aurungzeb), who ruled India with unparalleled magnificence for 150
+years.
+
+Mulberry, (_Morus sp_. Kashmiri _Tul_) A very precious tree in Kashmir,
+on account of the silk industry. It grows to a great size, attaining a
+girth of 25 feet.
+
+Murghi, A fowl.
+
+Murree, A hill station and sanatorium, 37 miles from Rawal Pindi, on a
+hill 7500 feet above the sea. Its importance dates from 1850. Forster
+speaks of it as a small village in 1786.
+
+Musafferabad, (“The Place of Victory”) Built by Masufer Khan, Rajah of
+Chikri.
+
+Mussick, Water-skin.
+
+NAG, A mountain lake or tarn.
+
+Nagas, Human-bodied, snake-tailed gods.
+
+Nagmarg,
+
+Nanga Parbat, A great mountain in the Chilas country, 26,620 feet high
+(the fourth in point of height in the world), Mommery and two guides
+were destroyed in 1895, probably by an avalanche, while attempting the
+ascent.
+
+Nassim Bagh, (“The Garden of Delicious Breezes”) A favourite spot in
+the days of the Mogul Emperors. Akbar planted 1200 chenars.
+
+Neem tree.
+
+Neve, Dr. A. He and his brother are surgeons to the Kashmir Medical
+Mission, where for many years they have carried on the somewhat
+thankless task of benefiting the natives.
+
+Nishat Bagh, (“The Garden of Drink”)
+
+Nopura, A village on the Pohru.
+
+Nourmahal, (“Light of the Palace”), or, more properly, Nur Jehan Begum
+(“Light of the World”), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated in
+Mooree’s _Lalla Rookh_. Her life story was very curious. See Forster’s
+_Journey from Bengal to England_, London, 1798.
+
+Nullah, A valley or ravine.
+
+Numdah,
+
+ONTALA,
+
+Oodi Singh,
+
+PADMANI, “The Lotus-lovely Lady.”
+
+Pagdandy, A short cut.
+
+Pahlgam, “The Shepherd’s Village,” A Kashmiri summer resort for those
+who like quiet. It is 27 miles from Islamabad up the Lidar Valley, and
+is somewhat over 7000 feet above the sea.
+
+Pampur, (Padma-pur, city of Vishnu, or Padmun-pur, “the place of
+beauty”), principally noted now for its Pampur roti or bread, a
+speciality of the place.
+
+Pandrettan, or Pandrenthan, =Puranadhisthana, “the old capital.” Was
+built in the time of Partha by his Prime Minister, Meru.
+
+Parana Chauni,
+
+Patan. “The City” or “Ferry,” the ancient Sankarapura, Sankaravarma
+having built two temples there at the end of the eighth century.
+
+Peechy, Afterwards, later, by-and-bye
+
+Peri Mahal, “The Abode of the Fairies.” Built on the hill above Gupkar
+by Prince Dara Shikoh, probably for astronomical purposes
+
+Piasse, The onion.
+
+Pice, See Rupee.
+
+Pichola Lake,
+
+Pir Panjab, Pir=Dogri for peak Pantzal, Kashmiri for ditto Pir also
+meant a saint, particularly one who lived in the pass in the days of
+Shah Jehan and Aurungzeb and who was interviewed by Bernier. The Pir
+Panjal was the route followed by the Moguls when coming to Kashmir,
+and, rough as it is, they sent elephants along it. The highest peak of
+the Pir Panjal is Tatakuti, 15,500 feet.
+
+Pohru,
+
+Poonch, A native state lying south-west of Kashmir, to which it is
+tributary. The Raja Buldeo Singh is cousin to the Maharajah of Kashmir.
+
+Poplar. There are two varieties of Poplar in Kashmir, the Italian or
+Black Poplar, and the White, the latter attains a great size, one near
+Gurais measuring 127 feet in height and 14-1/2 feet in girth.
+
+Porcelain,
+
+Port Saïd,
+
+Puttoo, Native cloth.
+
+RAINAWARI,
+
+Rajput, The brave and chivalrous inhabitants of Rajputana. Bernier,
+probably influenced by Mogul opinion, attributes much of their valour
+to opium, as the following curious extract shows “Ils sont grands
+preneurs d’opium, et je me suis quelque fois etonné de la quantité que
+je leur en voiois prendre; aussi ils s’y accoutûmerent dès la jeunesse;
+le jour d’une bataille ils ne s’oublient pas de doubler la dose; cette
+drogue les anime ou plutot les enyvre, et les rend insensibles an
+danger, de sorte quils se jettant dans le combat comma des bêtes
+furieuses, ne sachant ce que c’est de fuir … c’est un plaisir de les
+voir ainsi avec leur fumée d’opium dans la tête s’entre embrasser quand
+on est prêt de combattre et se dire adieu les uns aux autres, comme
+gens qui sont resolus de mourir.”—Vol. i. p. 54.
+
+Ramble-tamble egg, Scrambled eggs.
+
+Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (_Tetragallus Himalayensis_).
+
+Rampur. A small village in the Jhelum Valley, and a village on the way
+into the Lolab _viâ_ Kunis.
+
+Rawal Pindi,
+
+Rassad, “Field Allowance” or extra rations given to coolies when doing
+any mountain work or away from supplies.
+
+Resai,
+
+Roorkhee chair, An extremely comfortable and portable chair made by the
+R.E. at Roorkhee.
+
+Rope bridge,
+
+Rupee=one fifteenth of a sovereign, or 1s. and 4d. 12 pice (or pies)= 4
+paisa = 1 anna = 1 penny 16 annas = 1 rupee.
+
+SAAF kuro, “Make clean.”
+
+Saktawats, A Rapjut clan.
+
+Sari, A woman’s garment, usually brilliant in colour, blood-red and
+dark blue being favoured.
+
+Sekwas,
+
+Sellar,
+
+Serow, _Nemorhaidus bubalerius_.
+
+Sesodia, The ruling family of Udaipur, formerly known as Gehlote.
+
+Shadipur, “The Place of Marriage”—probably with reference to the
+junction of the Sind and Jhelum rivers.
+
+Shah Jehan, The greatest builder of the Mogul Emperors. Ruled from 1627
+to 1658, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Aurungzeb.
+
+Shalimar,
+
+Shalimar Bagh,
+
+Shambrywa, One of the peaks of the Kaj-nag.
+
+Shiah, A Mohammedan sect, usually much at variance with those of Sunni
+persuasion.
+
+Shikara, A light sort of canoe.
+
+Shikari, A necessary joint in the “fighting tail” of the sportive
+visitor to Kashmir. Usually a fraud, but, if not too proud, makes quite
+a good golf caddy.
+
+Shisha Nag, “The Glassy or Leaden Lake.”
+
+Silver fir, _Abies Webbiana_ (Kashmiri, _Sungal_). Grows to a great
+height, being known 110 feet high and 16 feet in girth.
+
+Sind Desert,
+
+Sind Valley,
+
+Singhara, Meaning “horned nut,” the water chestnut _(Trapa bispinosa_).
+An article of diet much prized by the Kashmiri.
+
+Sogul,
+
+Sonamarg, “The Golden Marg.” A summer station high up the Sind Valley
+on the route to Leh and Ladak.
+
+Sopor, =Sonapur, or the Golden City. A somewhat unclean little town of
+some 600 houses on the Jhelum, about eight miles by road and twelve by
+water above Baramula.
+
+Spill Canal, Cut in 1904, after the Great Flood of 1903, to carry some
+of the river clear of Srinagar and ease the pressure on the bund.
+
+Spruce, _Picca, Morunda_. (Kashmiri, _Kachal_.)
+
+Srinagar, _Surga Nagur_, City of the Sun. Has a population of 120,000.
+Became capital in 960 A.D., when the ancient city of Pandrettan was
+burnt in the reign of Abimanyu. The city was called Kashmir until
+recently, Martand being called Sringar by Jacquemont.
+
+Sultanpur,
+
+Sumbal, Said to be the site of the ancient city Jayapura.
+
+Sunt-i-kul = “Apple-tree Canal.”
+
+TAJ MAHAL, The magnificent tomb of Mumtez Mahal, favourite wife of Shah
+Jehan.
+
+Takht-i-Suleiman, A steep isolated hill rising nearly 1000 feet above
+Srinagar, crowned by a temple which is built on the ruins of a very
+ancient edifice. The Takht or Throne of Solomon is, according to the
+legend, the place which Solomon occupied during his mythical visit to
+Kashmir.
+
+Tangmarg, “The Open Marg”. Is the village about 1500 foot below
+Gulmarg, which is the nearest point to Gulmarg attainable by wheeled
+conveyance.
+
+Tattoo, A pony.
+
+Tehsildhar, The functionary who has jurisdiction over a tehsil.
+
+Temples, For full description read Lawrence _(Valley of Kashmir_, chap.
+vi.) Their ruined state is partly due to earthquakes, but probably
+still more to the iconoclastic activity of Sikandar (_d._ 1416) and
+Aurungzeb.
+
+Tilail,
+
+Tonga,
+
+Topaz, Name derived from the Greek “to conjecture”—because no one knew
+whence they came!
+
+Tower of Fame,
+
+Tower of Victory,
+
+Tragbal,
+
+Tragam, A large village south-west of the Lolab, whence a route leads
+to Musafferabad.
+
+Tret, A station at the foot of the Murree hills on the road to Rawal
+Pindi.
+
+Trieste,
+
+Tronkol,
+
+Turquoise,
+
+UDAIPUR, The capital of the ancient and powerful Rajput State of Mewar,
+founded by Oodi Singh after the fall of Chitor. Uri,
+
+VERNABOUG,
+
+Vernag,
+
+WALNUT, A valuable tree in Kashmir, where its fruit and timber are both
+greatly esteemed; grows to a very large size, one in the Lolab having a
+girth of 18 feet 10 inches.
+
+Wangat,
+
+Wardwan, The mountainous district on the east of Kashmir.
+
+Water buffalo, An ungainly and “sneevish” beast beloved of Gujars and
+nobody else.
+
+Weights 2 lbs. (English)=1 seer. 40 seers = 1 maund.
+
+Wood carving,
+
+Wular, Means “cave”. The largest lake in India, being 12-1/2 x 5 miles
+in average extent. In floods it covers much extra space.
+
+Wych hazel, _See_ Kilta.
+
+YAKDAN,
+
+ZIARAT, A Mohammedan shrine. Zoji La, The pass at the head of the Sind
+Valley which is crossed on going to Leh, height 11,300 feet.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11873 ***
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil, by T. R. Swinburne</title>
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+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11873 ***</div>
+
+<p>[ILLUSTRATION: THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR]</p>
+
+<h1>A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">by T. R. Swinburne</h2>
+
+<h5>MAJOR (LATE) R.M.A.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></h5>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;<i>Over the great windy waters, and over the clear crested summits,<br/>
+Unto the sea and the sky, and unto the perfecter earth,<br/>
+Come, let us go</i>!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+CLOUGH
+</p>
+
+<h5>WITH 24 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS</h5>
+
+<p class="center">
+1907
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="center">
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK<br/>
+<br/>
+TO<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;JANE&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap00">PREFACE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE VOYAGE OUT</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. OUR FIRST CAMP</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. BACK TO SRINAGAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. THE LOLAB</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. SRINAGAR AGAIN</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. THE LIDAR VALLEY</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. GANGABAL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. GULMARG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE FLOOD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE MACHIPURA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. DELHI AND AGRA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. UDAIPUR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap00"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>
+I observe that it is customary to begin a book by an Introduction, Preface, or
+Foreword. In the good old days of the eighteenth century this generally took
+the form of a burst of grovelling adoration aimed at some most noble or
+otherwise highly important person. This fulsome fawning on the great was later
+changed into propitiation of the British public, and unknown authors revelled
+in excuses for publishing their earlier efforts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But now that every one has written a book, or is about to do so, I feel that my
+apologies are rather due to the public for not having rushed into print before.
+I have really spared it because I had nothing in particular to write about, and
+I confess I am somewhat doubtful as to whether I am even now justified in
+invoking the kind offices of a publisher with a view to bringing forth this
+literary mouse in due form!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No admiring (if partial) relatives have hung upon my lips as I read them my
+journal, imploring me with tears in their eyes to waste not an instant, but
+give to a longing world this literary treasure. I have no illusions as regards
+my literary powers, and I do not imagine that I shall depose the gifted author
+of <i>Eöthen</i> from his pride of place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I claim, however, the merit of truth. The journal was written day by day, and
+the sketches were all done on the spot; and if this account&mdash;bald and
+inadequate as I know it to be&mdash;of a very happy time spent in rambling
+among some of the finest scenery of this lovely earth, may induce any one to
+betake himself to Kashmir, he will achieve something worth living for, and I
+shall not have spilt ink in vain.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR (Frontispiece)</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> A SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> A SRINAGAR BYE-WAY&mdash;EARLY SPRING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> ON THE JHELUM&mdash;EARLY SPRING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE BUND SRINAGAR&mdash;EARLY SPRING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE DAL</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> IN THE NISHAT BAGH</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE PIR PANJAL FROM ALSU&mdash;MORNING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> ON THE DAL&mdash;SUNSET</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> NATIVE BOATS</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> PANDRETTAN</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> KOLAHOI</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> LIDARWAT</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE RAMPARTS OF KASHMIR</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> GANGABAL</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> HARAMOK</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> A TARN ABOVE TRONKOL</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> ON THE CIRCULAR ROAD, GULMARG</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> IN SRINAGAR&mdash;TWILIGHT</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> SRINAGAR FLOODED</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> HARI PARBAT&mdash;EVENING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> NANGA PARBAT FROM KITARDAJI</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> MIXED BATHING (UDAIPUR)</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> UDAIPUR</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> MAP OF KASHMIR</td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY</h2>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/>
+INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+<p>
+A journey to Kashmir now&mdash;in these days of cheap and rapid
+locomotion&mdash;is in nowise serious. It takes time, I grant you, but to any
+one with a few months to spare&mdash;and there are many in that happy
+position&mdash;there can be few pleasanter ways of spending a summer holiday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would be as well to start from England not later than the middle of March,
+as the Red Sea and the Sind Desert begin to warm up uncomfortably in spring.
+Srinagar would then be reached fairly early in April, and the visitor should
+arrange, if possible, to remain in the country until the middle of October. We
+had to leave just as the gorgeous autumn colouring was beginning to blaze in
+the woods, and the first duck were wheeling over the Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The climate of Kashmir is fairly similar to that of many parts of Southern
+Europe. There is a good deal of snow in the valley in winter. Spring is
+charming, the brilliant days only varied by frequent thunderstorms&mdash;which,
+however, are almost invariable in keeping their pyrotechnics till about five in
+the afternoon. July and August are hot and steamy in the valley, and it is
+necessary to seek one of the cool &ldquo;Margs&rdquo; which form ideal
+camping-grounds on all the lofty mountain slopes which surround the valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gulmarg is the most frequented and amusing resort in summer of the English
+colony and contingent from the broiling plains of the Punjab. Here the happy
+fugitive from the sweltering heat of the lower regions will find a climate as
+glorious as the scenery. He can enjoy the best of polo and golf, and, if he be
+not a misogynist, he will vary the &lsquo;daily round&rsquo; with picnics and
+scrambles on foot or on horseback, in exploring the endless beauty of the
+place, coming home to his hut or tent as the sun sinks behind the great pines
+that screen the Rampur Road, to wind up the happy day with a cheery dinner and
+game of bridge. But if Gulmarg does not appeal to him, let him go with his
+camping outfit to Sonamarg or Pahlgam&mdash;he will find neither polo nor golf
+nor the gay little society of Gulmarg, but he will find equally charming
+scenery and, perhaps, a drier climate&mdash;for it must in fairness be admitted
+that Gulmarg is a rainy place. Likewise his pocket will benefit, as his
+expenses will surely be less, and he will still find neighbours dotted about in
+white tents under the pine trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards the middle of September the exodus from the high &lsquo;Margs&rsquo;
+takes place&mdash;many returning sadly to Pindi and Sealkote&mdash;others
+merely to Srinagar, while those who yearn after Bara Singh and Bear, decamp
+quietly for their selected nullahs, to be in readiness for the opening of the
+autumn season.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus, from April to October, a more or less perfect climate may be obtained by
+watching the mercury in the thermometer, and rising or descending the mountain
+slopes in direct ratio with it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It is quite unnecessary to take out a large and expensive wardrobe. Thin
+garments for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, such as one wears in a fine English
+summer, and for Kashmir the same sort of things that one would take up to
+Scotland. For men&mdash;knickerbockers and flannel shirts&mdash;and for ladies,
+short tweed skirts and some flannel blouses. The native tailors in Srinagar are
+clever and cheap, and will copy an English shooting suit in fairly good
+material for about eleven rupees, or 14s. 8d.! One pair of strong shooting
+boots (plentifully studded with aluminium nails) is enough. For all mountain
+work, the invaluable but uncomfortable grass shoes must be worn, and both my
+wife and I invariably wore the native chaplies for ordinary marching. Foot-gear
+for golf, tennis, and general service at Srinagar and Gulmarg must be laid in,
+according to the traveller&rsquo;s fancy, in England.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Underwear to suit both hot and cold weather should be purchased at
+home&mdash;not on any account omitting cholera belts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shirts and collars should be taken freely, as it is well to remember that the
+native washerman&mdash;the well-abused &ldquo;Dobie&rdquo;&mdash;has a
+marvellous skill in producing a saw-like rim to the starched collar and cuff of
+the newest shirt; while the elegant and delicate lace and embroidery, with
+which the fair are wont to embellish their underwear, take strange and
+unforeseen patterns at the hands of the skilled workmen. It is surprising what
+an effect can be obtained by tying up the neck and sleeves of a garment,
+inserting a few smooth pebbles from the brook, and then banging the moist
+bundle on the bank!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The arrangement of clothing for the voyage is rather complicated, as it will
+probably be necessary to wear warm things while crossing Europe, and possibly
+even until Egypt is reached. Then an assortment of summer flannels, sufficient
+to last as far as India, must be available. We were unable to get any washing
+done from the date we left London, on the 22nd of February, until we reached
+Rawal Pindi, on the 21st March. Capacious canvas kit-bags are excellent things
+for cramming with grist for the dobie&rsquo;s mill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In arranging for luggage, it should be borne in mind that large trunks and
+dress boxes are inadmissible. From Pindi to Srinagar everything must be
+transported by wheeled conveyance, and, in Kashmir itself, all luggage must be
+selected with a view to its adaptability to the backs of coolies or ponies. In
+Srinagar one can buy native trunks&mdash;or yakdans&mdash;which are cheap,
+strong, and portable; and the covered creels or &ldquo;kiltas&rdquo; serve
+admirably for the stowage of kitchen utensils, food, and oddments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following list may prove useful to any one who has not already been
+&ldquo;east of Suez,&rdquo; and who may therefore not be too proud to profit by
+another&rsquo;s experience:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+1. &ldquo;Compactum&rdquo; camp-bed with case, and fitted with sockets to take
+mosquito netting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+2. Campaigning bedding-bag in Willesden canvas, with bedding complete.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+3. Waterproof sheet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+4. Indiarubber bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If shooting in the higher mountains is anticipated, a Wolseley sleeping-bag
+should be taken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+5. Small stable-lantern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+6. Rug or plaid&mdash;light and warm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+7. Half-a-dozen towels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+8. Deck chair (with name painted on it).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had also a couple of Roorkhee chairs, and found them most useful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+9. A couple of compressed cane cabin trunks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+9_a_. The &ldquo;Ranelagh Pack&rdquo; is a most useful form of
+&ldquo;luggage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+10. Camp kit-bag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+11. Soiled-linen bag, with square mouth, large size. This is an excellent
+&ldquo;general service&rdquo; bag, and invaluable for holding boots, &amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+12. Large &ldquo;brief-bag,&rdquo; most useful for stowing guide-books, flasks,
+binoculars, biscuits, and such like, that one wants when travelling, and never
+knows where to put. Our &ldquo;yellow bag&rdquo; carried even tea things, and
+was greatly beloved. Like the leather bottèl in its later stage, &ldquo;it
+served to put hinges and odd things in&rdquo;!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+13. Luncheon basket, fitted according to the number of the party.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The above articles can all be bought at the Army and Navy Stores.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+14. A light canvas box, fitted as a dressing-case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ours were made, according to our own wishes and possessions, by Williams, of 41
+Bond Street. The innumerable glass bottles, so highly prized by the makers of
+dressing-cases, should be strictly limited in number. They are exceedingly
+heavy, and, as the dressing-case should be carried by its owner, the less it
+weighs the more he (or she) will esteem it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+15. A set of aluminium cooking-utensils is much to be recommended. They can
+easily be sold on leaving Kashmir for, at least, their cost price.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+16. Pocket flask. This may be of aluminium also, although personally I dislike
+a metal flask.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+17. Umbrella&mdash;strong, but cheap, as it is sure to be lost or stolen. There
+are few things your native loves more than a nice umbrella, unless it be
+</p>
+
+<p>
+18. A knife fitted with corkscrew and screwdriver; therefore take two, and try
+to keep one carefully locked up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+19. Pair of good field-glasses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took a stalking telescope, but it was useless to my shikari, who always
+borrowed my wife&rsquo;s binoculars until she lost them&mdash;or he stole them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+20. Hats. It is obviously a matter of taste what hats a man should take. The
+glossy silk may repose with the frock-coat till its owner returns to find it
+hopelessly out of date, its brim being a thought too curly, or its top
+impossibly wide; but the &ldquo;bowler&rdquo; or Homburg hat will serve his
+turn according to his fancy, until, at Aden, he invests in a hideous, but shady
+&ldquo;topee,&rdquo; for one-third of the price he would pay in London; and
+this will be his only wear, before sunset, until he again reaches a temperate
+climate. Ladies, who are rightly more particular as to the appearance of even
+so unlovely a thing as a sola topee, would do well, perhaps, to buy theirs
+before starting. Really becoming pith helmets seem very scarce in the East!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After sunset, or under awnings, any sort of cap may be worn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+21. Shirts and collars are obviously matters of taste. A good supply of white
+shirts and collars must be taken to cope with the destruction and loss which
+may be expected at the hands of the dobie. Flannel shirts can be made easily
+enough from English models in Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+22. Under-garments should be of Indian gauze for hot weather, with a supply of
+thicker articles for camping in the hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cholera belts should on no account be omitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+23. Socks, according to taste&mdash;very few knickerbocker stockings need be
+taken, as putties are cheap and usual in Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+24. Ties&mdash;the white ones of the cheap sort that can be thrown away after
+use, with a light heart. Handkerchiefs, and a few pairs of white gloves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+25. Sleeping-suits, both thick for camp work and light for hot weather, should
+be taken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+26. Dress suit and dinner-jacket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+27. Knickerbocker or knee-breeches, which can be copied in Kashmir by the
+native tailor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Riding-breeches are not in the least necessary unless the traveller
+contemplates any special riding expedition. Ordinary shooting continuations do
+quite well for all the mounted work the tourist is likely to do. A pair of
+stohwasser gaiters may be taken, but even they are not necessary, neither is a
+saddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A lady, however, should take out a short riding-skirt, or habit, and a
+side-saddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+28. A tweed suit of medium warmth for travelling, and a couple of flannel
+suits, will bring the wearer to Srinagar, where he can increase his stock at a
+ridiculously low price&mdash;about 22 rupees or £1, 9s. 4d. per suit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+29. Boots. Here, again, the wayfarer is at full liberty to please himself. A
+pair of strong shooting-boots, with plenty of spare laces and, say, a hundred
+aluminium nails, is a <i>sine quâ non</i>. A pair of rubbers, or what are known
+as &ldquo;gouties&rdquo; in Swiss winter circles, are not to be despised.
+Otherwise, boots, shoes, slippers, and pumps, according to taste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+30. A large &ldquo;regulation&rdquo; waterproof, a rain-coat or Burberry, and a
+warm greatcoat will all be required.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It is hard to give definite advice to a lady as to the details of her outfit.
+Let her conform in a general way to the instructions given above, always
+remembering that both Srinagar and Gulmarg are gay and festive places, where
+she will dine and dance, and have ample opportunity for displaying a
+well-chosen wardrobe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let her also take heed that she leaves the family diamonds at home. The gentle
+Kashmiri is an inveterate and skilful thief, and the less jewellery she can
+make up her mind to &ldquo;do with,&rdquo; the more at ease will her mind be.
+But if she must needs copy the lady of whom we read, that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Rich and rare were the gems she wore,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+then why not line the jewel-case&mdash;or rather the secret bag, which she will
+sew into some mysterious garment&mdash;with the diamonds of Gophir and the
+pearls of Rome?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the intending visitor to Kashmir be a sportsman who has already had
+experience in big-game shooting, he will not need any advice from me (which,
+indeed, he would utterly disdain) as to the lethal weapons which should form
+his battery; but if the wayfarer be a humble performer who has never slain
+anything more formidable than a wary old stag, or more nerve-shattering than a
+meteoric cock pheasant rising clamorously from behind a turnip, he may not be
+too proud to learn that he will find an ordinary &ldquo;fowling piece&rdquo;
+the most useful weapon which he can take with him. If his gun is not choked, he
+should be provided with a dozen or more ball cartridge for bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the pursuit of markhor and ibex is contemplated, a small-bore rifle will be
+required, but a heavy express is wanted to stop a bear. I had a
+&ldquo;Mannlicher&rdquo; and an ordinary shot-gun, with a few ball cartridges
+for the latter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Duty has to be paid on taking firearms into India, and this may be refunded on
+leaving the country. This is not always done, however, as I found to my cost,
+my application for a refund being refused on the quibble that my guns were
+taken back to England by a friend, although I was able to prove their identity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ cartridges out, as it is
+exceedingly unlikely that the tyro will be able to shoot all the beasts allowed
+him by his game licence.[1] Smooth-bore cartridges of fair quality can be
+bought in Srinagar, and I certainly do not consider it worth the trouble and
+expense to convey them out from England.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] See Appendix 1.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the amateur artist I would say: Be well supplied with brushes and
+paper&mdash;the latter sealed in tin for passage through the Red Sea and India.
+Colours, and indeed all materials can he got from Treacher &amp; Co., Bombay,
+and also from the branch of the Army and Navy Stores there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Paper is, however, difficult to get in good condition, being frequently spoilt
+by mildew.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is almost impossible to get anything satisfactory in the way of painting
+materials in Kashmir itself; therefore I say: Be well supplied before leaving
+home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, a small stock of medicines should certainly be taken, not omitting a
+copious supply of quinine (best in powder form for this purpose), and also of
+strong peppermint or something of the sort, to give to the native servants and
+others who are always falling sick of a fever or complaining of an internal
+pain, which is generally quite cured by a dose of peppermint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither Jane nor I love guide-books; we found however, in Kashmir, the little
+book written by Dr. Neve an invaluable companion;[2] while Murray&rsquo;s
+<i>Guide to India</i> afforded much useful information when wandering in that
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] <i>The Tourist&rsquo;s Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo, &amp;c.</i>,
+edited by Arthur Neve, F.R.G.S.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The best book on Kashmir that I know is Sir Walter Lawrence&rsquo;s <i>Valley
+of Kashmir</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Any one going out as we did, absolutely ignorant of the language, should
+certainly take an elementary phrase-book or something of the sort to study on
+the voyage. We forgot to do this, and had infinite trouble afterwards in
+getting what we wanted, and lost much time in acquiring the rudimentary
+knowledge of Hindustani which enabled us to worry along with our native
+servants, &amp;c. No mere &ldquo;globe-trotter&rdquo; need attempt to learn any
+Kashmiri, as Hindustani is &ldquo;understanded of the people&rdquo; as a rule,
+and the tradesmen in Srinagar know quite as much English as is good for them.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/>
+THE VOYAGE OUT</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seems extraordinary to me that every day throughout the winter, crowds of
+people should throng the railway stations whence they can hurry south in search
+of warmth and sunshine, and yet London remains apparently as full as ever! We
+plunged into a seething mass of outward-bound humanity at Victoria Station on
+the 22nd of February, and, having wrestled our way into the Continental
+express, were whirled across the sad and sodden country to Dover amidst
+hundreds of our shivering fellow-countrymen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly we are beyond measure conservative in our railway discomforts. With a
+bitter easterly wind searching out the chinks of door and window, we sat
+shivering in our unwarmed compartment&mdash;unwarmed, I say, in spite of the
+clumsy tin of quickly-cooled hot water procured by favour&mdash;and a
+gratuity&mdash;from a porter!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Channel showed even more disagreeable than usual. A grey, cold sky, with
+swift-flying clouds from the east hung over a grey, cold sea, the waves showing
+their wicked white teeth under the lash of the strong wind. The patient
+lightship off the pier was swinging drearily as we throbbed past into the
+gust-swept open and set our bows for the unseen coast of France.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The tumult of passengers was speedily reduced to a limp and inert swarm of
+cold, wet, and sea-sick humanity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cold and miserable weather clung to us long. In Paris it snowed heavily,
+and I was constrained to betake myself in a cab&mdash;&ldquo;chauffé,&rdquo; it
+is needless to remark&mdash;to seek out a kindly dentist, the bitter east wind
+having sought out and found a weak spot wherein to implant an abscess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Bâle it was freezing, but clear and bright, and a good breakfast and a
+breath of clean, fresh air was truly enjoyable after the overheated
+sleeping-car in which we had come from Paris.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It may seem unreasonable to grumble at the overheating of the
+&ldquo;Sleeper&rdquo; after abusing the under-heating of our British railways.
+Surely, though, there is a golden mean? I wish neither to be frozen nor boiled,
+and there can be no doubt but that the heating of most Continental trains is
+excellent, the power of application being left to the traveller.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journey by the St. Gotthard was delightful, the day brilliant, and the
+frost keen, while we watched the fleeting panorama of icebound peaks and
+snow-powdered pines from the cushions of our comfortable carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The glory of winter left us as we left the Swiss mountains and dropped down
+into the fertile flats of Northern Italy, and at Milan all was raw chilliness
+and mud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing can well be more depressing than wet and cheerless weather in a land
+obviously intended for sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We slept at Milan, and the next day set forth in heavy rain towards Venice. The
+miserable ranks of distorted and pollarded trees stood sadly in pools of
+yellow-stained water, or stuck out of heaps of half-melted and uncleanly snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No colour; no life anywhere, excepting an occasional peasant plodding along a
+muddy road, sheltering himself under the characteristic flat and bony umbrella
+of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Peschiera we had promise of better things. The weather cleared somewhat,
+revealing ranges of white-clad hills around Garda…. But, alas! at Verona it
+rained as hard as ever, and we made our way from the railway station at Venice,
+cowering in the coffin-like cabin of a damp and extremely draughty gondola,
+while cold flurries of an Alpine-born wind swept across the Grand Canal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sunshine is absolutely necessary to bring out the real beauty of Italy. This is
+particularly the case in Venice, where light and life are required to dispel
+the feeling of sadness so sure to creep over one amid the signs of long-past
+grandeur and decaying magnificence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On a grey and wintry day one is chiefly impressed by the dank chilliness of the
+palaces on the Grand Canal, whose feet lie lapped in slimy water; the lovely
+tracery of whose windows shows ragged and broken, whose stately guest-chambers
+are in the sordid occupation of the dealer in false antiques, and whose motto
+might be &ldquo;Ichabod,&rdquo; for their glory has departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is five-and-twenty years since I was last in Venice, and I can truly say
+that it has not improved in that long time. The loss of the great Campanile of
+St. Mark is not compensated for by the gain of the penny steamer which frets
+and fusses its prosaic way along the Grand Canal, or blurts its noisome smoke
+in the very face of the Palace of the Doges.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well! A steady downpour is dispiriting at any time, excepting when one is
+snugly at home with plenty to do, and it is particularly so to the unlucky
+traveller who has to live through half-a-dozen long hours intervening between
+arrival at and departure from Venice on a cold, dull, wintry afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sombre gondola writhed its sinuous course and deposited us all forlorn in
+the near neighbourhood of the Piazza San Marco. Splashing our way across, and
+pushing through the crowd of greedy fat pigeons, we entered the world-famous
+church. I know my Ruskin, and I feel that I should be lost in wonder and
+admiration&mdash;I am not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The gloom&mdash;rich golden gloom if you will&mdash;of the interior oppresses
+me; it is cavernous. A service is being held in one of the transepts, and the
+congregation seems noisier and less devout than I could have believed possible.
+My thoughts fly far to where, on its solitary hill, the noble pile of Chartres
+soars majestic, its heaven-piercing spires dominating the wide plain of La
+Beauce. In fancy I enter by the splendid north door and find myself in the
+pillared dimness softly lighted by the great window in the west. This seems to
+me to be the greatest achievement of the Christian architect, noble alike in
+conception and in execution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is no means of procuring a cold more certain than lingering too long in a
+cold and vault-like church or picture gallery, so we adjourned to the Palazzo
+Daniele, now a mere hotel, where we browsed on the literature&mdash;chiefly
+cosmopolitan newspapers&mdash;until it was time to start for Trieste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journey is not an attractive one, as we seemed to be perpetually worried by
+Custom-house authorities and inquisitive ticket-collectors! If possible, the
+wary traveller should so time his sojourn at Venice as to allow him to go to
+Trieste by steamer. The Hôtel de la Ville at Trieste is not quite excellent,
+but &rsquo;twill serve, and we were remarkably glad to reach it, somewhere
+about midnight, having left Milan soon after seven in the morning!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trieste itself is rather an engaging town; at least so it seemed to us when we
+awakened to a fresh, bright morning, a blue-and-white sky overhead, and a
+copious allowance of yellow mud under foot!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were various final purchases to be made. Our deck chairs were with the
+heavy luggage, which the passenger by Austrian Lloyd only gets at Port Saïd, as
+it is sent from London by sea; so a deck chair had to be got, also a stock of
+light literature wherewith to beguile the long sea hours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit to our ship&mdash;the <i>Marie Valerie</i>&mdash;showed her to be a
+comfortable-looking vessel of some 4500 tons. She was busily engaged in taking
+in a large cargo, principally for Japan, and she showed no signs of an early
+departure. Her nominal hour for starting was 4 P.M., but the captain told us
+that he should not sail until next morning. So we descended to examine our
+cabin, and found it to be large and airy, but totally deficient in the matter
+of drawers or lockers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well! we shall have to keep everything in cabin trunks, and &ldquo;live in our
+boxes&rdquo; for the next three weeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was cabin accommodation for twenty passengers, but at dinner we mustered
+but nine. This is, of course, the season when all right-minded folks are coming
+home from India, and we never expected to find a crowd; still, nine individuals
+scattered abroad over the wide decks make but a poor show.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first meal on board a big steamer is always interesting. Every one is
+quietly &ldquo;taking stock&rdquo; of his, or her, neighbours, and forming
+estimates of their social value, which are generally entirely upset by after
+experience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of our fellow-passengers there were only five whose presence affected us in any
+way. A young Austrian, Herr Otto Frantz, with his wife, going out as first
+secretary of legation to Tokio; Major Twining, R.E., and his wife; and Miss
+Lungley, a cosmopolitan lady, who makes Kashmir her headquarters and Rome her
+<i>annexe</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We became acquainted with each other sooner than might have been expected, by
+reason of an exploit of the stewardess&mdash;a gibbering idiot. The night was
+cold, so several of the ladies, following an evil custom, sent forth from their
+cabins those vile inventions called hot bottles. Only two came back…, and then
+the fun began. The stewardess, who speaks no known tongue, played &ldquo;hunt
+the slipper&rdquo; for the missing bottles through all the cabins, whence she
+was shot out by the enraged inhabitants until she was reduced to absolute
+imbecility, and the harassed stewards to gesticular despair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The missing articles were, I believe, finally discovered and routed out of an
+unoccupied bed, where they had been laid and forgotten by the addle-pated lady,
+and peace reigned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We sailed from Trieste early on the morning of the 28th of February, and
+steamed leisurely on our way. The Austrian Lloyd&rsquo;s
+&ldquo;unaccelerated&rdquo; steamers are not too active in their movements,
+being wont to travel at purely &ldquo;economical speed,&rdquo; and so we were
+given an excellent view of some of the Ionian Islands, steaming through the
+Ithaca channel, with the snow-tipped peak of Cephalonia close on our starboard
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, leaving the far white hills of the Albanian coast to fade into the blue
+mists, we sped
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Over the sea past Crete,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+until the tall lighthouse of Port Saïd rose on the horizon, followed by the
+spars of much shipping, and the roofs of the houses dotted apparently over the
+waters of the Mediterranean. At length the low mudbanks which represent the two
+continents of Africa and Asia spread their dull monotony on either hand, and
+the good ship sat quietly down for a happy day&rsquo;s coaling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd has grown out of all knowledge since I first made its acquaintance in
+1877. It was then a cluster of evil-looking shanties, the abode of the scum of
+the Levant, who waxed fat by the profits of the gambling hells and the sale of
+pornographic photographs. It has now donned the outwardly respectable look of
+middle age; it has laid itself out in streets; the gambling dens have
+disappeared, and the robbers have betaken themselves to the sale of the worst
+class of Japanese and Indian &ldquo;curios,&rdquo; ostrich feathers from East
+Africa, and tobacco in all its forms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd has undoubtedly improved, but still it is not a nice place, and we
+were unfeignedly glad to repair on board the <i>Marie Valerie</i> as soon as we
+noted the cessation of the black coaly cloud, through the murkiness of which a
+chattering stream of gnome-like figures passed their burthens of
+&ldquo;Cardiff&rdquo; into the bowels of the ship.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd was cold, and Suez was cold, and we started down the Red Sea followed
+by a strong north wind, which kept us clad in greatcoats for a day or two, and,
+as we got down into wider waters, obliged us to keep our ports closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An object-lesson on the subject of closed ports was given in our cabin, where
+the fair chatelaine was reclining in her berth reading, fanned by the genial
+air which floated in at the open port,&mdash;a truculent Red Sea billow,
+meeting a slight roll of the ship, entered the cabin in an unbroken fall on the
+lady&rsquo;s head. A damp tigress flew out through the door, wildly demanding
+the steward, a set of dry bedding, and the instant execution of the captain,
+the officer of the watch, and the man at the wheel!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How dull we should be without these little incidents!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A hoopoe took deck, or rather rigging, passage for a while, and evoked the
+greatest interest. Stalking glasses and binoculars were levelled at the
+unconcerned fowl, who sat by the &ldquo;cathead&rdquo; with perfect composure,
+and preened himself after his long flight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The striking of &ldquo;four bells&rdquo; just under his beak unnerved him
+somewhat, and he departed in a great fuss and pother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our roomy decks afford many quiet corners in which to read or doze, and now
+that the weather is rapidly warming up we spend many hours in these peaceful
+pastimes, varied by an occasional constitutional&mdash;none of your
+fisherman&rsquo;s walks, &ldquo;three steps and overboard&rdquo;&mdash;but a
+good, clear tramp, unimpeded by the innumerable deck-chairs, protruding feet,
+and ubiquitous children which cover all free space on board a P. &amp; O.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then comes dinner, followed by a rubber of bridge, and so to bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Saturday the 11th we passed the group of islands commonly known as the
+Twelve Apostles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+First, a tiny rock, rising lonely from the blue&mdash;brilliantly
+blue&mdash;waves; then a yellow crag of sandstone, looking like a haystack; and
+then a whole group of wild and fantastic islands, evidently of volcanic origin,
+and varying in rough peaks and abrupt cliffs of the strangest
+colours&mdash;brick-red, purple-black, grey, and yellow&mdash;utterly bare and
+desolate:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,<br/>
+Nor aught of vegetative power,<br/>
+The weary eye may ken,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+save only the white lighthouse, which, perched on its arid hill, serves to
+emphasise the desolation of earth and sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Red Sea is remarkably well supplied with lighthouses; and, considering the
+narrowness of the channel in parts, the strong and variable currents, and the
+innumerable islands and shoals, the supply does no more than equal the demand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot imagine a more grievous death in life than the existence of a
+lighthouse-keeper in the Red Sea!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, 12th</i>.&mdash;We passed through the Gate of Tears this
+morning&mdash;the dismal, flat, and unprofitable island of Perim being scanned
+by me from the bathroom port, while exchanging an atmosphere of sticky salt air
+for an unrefreshing dip in sticky salt water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hoopoe is again with us; in fact I do not think he really left the ship,
+but simply sought a secluded perch, secure from prying observation. He
+reappeared upon the port stay, and proceeded to preen himself and observe the
+ship&rsquo;s course. He is evidently bound for Aden, casting glances of quiet
+unconcern on Perim and the coast of Araby the blest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards sunset we passed the fantastic peaks of little Aden, and, drawing up to
+Steamer Point, cast anchor under the &ldquo;Barren Rocks of Aden.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, 13th</i>.&mdash;We had a shocking time last night. All ports closed
+for coaling left us gasping, whilst a fiendish din arose from the bowels of the
+ship, whence cargo was being extracted. The stifling air, reeking with damp,
+developed in the early morning a steady rain, which dripped mournfully on the
+grimy decks. Rain in Aden! We are told on the best authority that this is most
+unusual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aden, to the passing stranger, shows few attractions. We went on shore when the
+rain showed signs of ceasing, and after buying a few odds and ends, such as a
+pith hat and some cigarettes, we betook ourselves to the principal hotel, where
+an excessively bad breakfast was served to us, after which we were not sorry to
+shake the mud of Aden off our feet, so we chartered a shore boat amid a fearful
+clamour for extra pay and backshish, and set forth to rejoin our ship, now
+swept and garnished, and showing little trace of the coal she had swallowed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, 20th</i>.&mdash;We reached Karachi yesterday morning after a quiet,
+calm, and utterly uneventful passage across the Indian Ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was never hot&mdash;merely calm, grey, and even showery, our only
+excitements being an occasional school of porpoises or the sight of a passing
+tramp steamer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some time before leaving England I had written to my old friend General Woon,
+commanding the troops at Abbotabad, asking him to provide me with a servant
+capable of dry-nursing a pair of Babes in the Wood throughout their sojourn in
+a strange land. The General promised to supply us with such an one, who, he
+said, would rob us to a certain extent himself, but would take good care that
+nobody else did so!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately, then, upon our arrival in Karachi roads, a dark and swarthy
+person, with a black beard and gleaming white teeth, appeared on board, and
+reported himself as Sabz Ali, our servant and our master!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His knowledge of English &ldquo;as she is spoke&rdquo; was scanty and of
+strange quality, but his masterful methods of dealing with the boatmen and
+Custom-house subordinates inspired us with awe and a blind confidence that he
+could&mdash;and would&mdash;pull us through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no difficulty at the Custom-house until it transpired that I wanted
+to take three firearms into the country. This appeared to be a most unusual and
+reprehensible desire, and my statement that one weapon was a rifle which I was
+taking charge of for a friend did not improve the situation. It being Sunday,
+the principal authorities were sunning themselves in their back parlours, and
+the thing in charge (called a Baboo, I understand) became exceedingly fussy,
+and desired that the guns should be unpacked and exhibited lest they should be
+of service pattern. This was simple, as far as my battery was concerned, and I
+promptly laid bare the beauties of my Mannlicher and ancient 12-bore; but,
+alas! Mrs. Smithson&rsquo;s rifle was soldered like a sardine into a strong tin
+case, and no cold-chisel or screwdriver was forthcoming.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Messengers were sent forth to seek the needful instruments, while I proceeded
+to cut another Gordian knot…. An acquaintance of mine, hearing that I was
+coming to India, suggested that I should take charge of a parcel for a friend
+of hers, who wanted to send it to her fiancé in Bombay. As all the heavy
+baggage was sent from London to join us at Port Saïd, I had not seen the
+&ldquo;parcel,&rdquo; and, finding no case or box addressed to any one but
+myself, I had to select one that seemed most likely to be right, and forward
+that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last the needful appliances were got and the rifle unpacked; but, although
+it proved to be (as I had said) a large-bore Express, the Baboo refused, like a
+very Pharaoh, to let it go, and I, after a two-hour vexatious delay, paid the
+duty on my own guns, and, leaving a note for the chief Customs official,
+explaining the case and begging him to send the rifle on forthwith, packed
+myself&mdash;hot, hungry, and angry&mdash;into a &ldquo;gharri,&rdquo; and set
+forth to the Devon Place Hotel, whither the rest of the party had preceded me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have gone into this little episode somewhat at length in order to impress
+upon the voyager to India the necessity for limiting the number of firearms or
+getting a friend to father the extra ones through the Customs&mdash;a perfectly
+simple matter had one foreseen the difficulty. Also the danger of taking
+parcels for friends&mdash;of which more anon![1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] A big deal case which we unpacked at Srinagar proved to contain a
+&ldquo;life-sized&rdquo; work-table. The package holding our camp beds and
+bedding, having a humbler aspect, had been sent to Bombay and cost as a world
+of worry and expense to recover!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Devon Place Hotel may be the best in Karachi, but it is pretty bad…. I am
+told that all Indian hotels are bad&mdash;still, the breakfast was a
+considerable improvement on the <i>Marie Valerie</i>, and we sallied forth as
+giants refreshed to have a look at Karachi and do a little shopping. It being
+Sunday, the banks were closed, but a kindly shopman cashed me a cheque for
+twenty pounds in the most confiding manner, and enabled us to get the few odds
+and ends we wanted before going up country&mdash;among them a couple of
+&ldquo;resais&rdquo; or quilted cotton wraps and a sola topee for Jane.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Karachi did not strike us as being a particularly interesting town, but that
+may be to a great extent because we did not see the best part of it. On landing
+at Kiamari we had only driven along a hot and glaring mole, bordered by swamps
+and slimy-looking flats for some two miles. Then, on reaching the city proper,
+a dusty road, bordered by somewhat suburban-looking houses, brought us to the
+Devon Place Hotel, near the Frere station. After breakfast we merely drove into
+the bazaars to shop before betaking ourselves to the station, in good time for
+the 6.30 train.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passengers&mdash;at least first-class passengers&mdash;were not numerous, and
+Major Twining and I had no difficulty in securing two compartments&mdash;one
+for our wives and one for ourselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An Indian first-class carriage is roomy, but bare, being arranged with a view
+to heat rather than cold Two long seats run &ldquo;fore and aft&rdquo; on
+either side, and upon them your servant makes your bed at night. Two upper
+berths can be let down in case of a crowd. At the end of each compartment is a
+small toilet-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was unexpectedly chilly at night, and Twining and I were glad to roll
+ourselves up in as many rugs and &ldquo;resais&rdquo; as we could persuade the
+ladies to leave to us.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/>
+KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD</h2>
+
+<p>
+This morning we awoke to find ourselves rattling and shaking our way through
+the Sind Desert&mdash;an interminable waste of sand, barren and
+thirsty-looking, covered with a patchy scrub of yellowish and grey-purple
+bushes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can well imagine how hatefully hot it can be here, but to-day it has been
+merely pleasantly warm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and I were deeply interested in the novel scenes we passed through, which,
+while new and strange to us, were yet made familiar by what we had read and
+heard. The quiet-eyed cattle, with their queer humps, were just what we
+expected to see in the dusty landscape. The chattering crowds in the wayside
+stations, their bright-coloured garments flaunting in the white
+sunlight&mdash;the fruit-sellers, the water-carriers, were all as though they
+had stepped out of the pages of <i>Kim</i>&mdash;that most excellent of Indian
+stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so all day we rattled and shook through the Sind Desert in the hot sunlight
+till the dust lay thick upon us, and our eyes grew tired of watching the flying
+landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon we reached Samasata junction, where the Twinings parted
+company with us, being bound for Faridkot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sorry were we to lose such charming companions, especially as now indeed we
+become as Babes in the Wood, knowing nothing of the land, its customs, or its
+language!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henceforward, Sabz Ali shall be our sheet-anchor, and I think he will not fail
+us. His English is truly remarkable, so much so that I regret to say I have
+more than once supposed him to be talking Hindustani when he was discoursing in
+my own mother-tongue. But he certainly is extraordinarily sharp in taking up
+what I and the &ldquo;Mem-sahib&rdquo; say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He presented to me to-day a remarkable letter, of which the following is an
+exact copy. I presume it is a sort of statement as to his general
+duties:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;<i>To the</i> M<small>AGER</small> S<small>AHIB</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir,&mdash;I beg to say that General &rsquo;Oon Sahib send me to you. He
+order me that the arrangement of Mager Sahib do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To give pice to porter kuli this is my work. This is usefull to you.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You give him many pice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your work is order and to do it my work. You give me Rupee at once. Then
+I will write it on my book, from which you will see it is right or wrong. Now I
+am going to Cashmir with you and Cashmiree are thief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you will give me one man other it will usefull to you. I ask one
+cloth. All Sahib give cloth to Servant on going to Cashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If will give cloth then all men say that this Sahib is good. I am fear
+from General &rsquo;Oon Sahib. It is order to give cloth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can do all work of cook and bearer. I wish that you will happy on me,
+also your lady, and say to General &rsquo;Oon Sahib that this man is good and
+honest man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have servant to many Sahib.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have more certificate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are rich man and king. I am poor man. I will take two annas
+allowance per day in Cashmir, you will do who you wish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish that you and lady will happy on me. This is begging you
+will.&mdash;I remain, Sir, your most obedient Servant,
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+&ldquo;S<small>ABAZ</small> A<small>LI</small>, <i>Bearer</i>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, March</i> 22.&mdash;We slept again in the train on Monday night,
+and arrived in Lahore about 6 o&rsquo;clock yesterday morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been advised to tub and dress in the waiting-rooms at the station, as we
+had a break of some six hours before going on to Pindi; but, upon
+investigation, Jane found her waiting-room already fully occupied by an
+uninviting company of Chi-chis (Eurasians), and several men&mdash;their
+husbands and brothers presumably&mdash;were sleeping the sleep of the just in
+mine, so we left all our luggage stacked on the platform under the eye of Sabz
+Ali, and hurried off to Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel. Ye gods! What a cold drive it was,
+and how bitterly we regretted that we had not brought our wraps from their
+bundle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was fearfully afraid that Jane would get a chill&mdash;an evil always to be
+specially guarded against in a tropical climate, but a very hot tub and a good
+breakfast averted all calamity, and we set forth in a funny little trap to
+inspect Lahore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is the first large and thoroughly Indian city that we have
+seen&mdash;Karachi being merely a thriving modern seaport and garrison
+town&mdash;and we set to work to see what we could in the limited time at our
+disposal. We whisked along a road&mdash;bumpy withal in parts, and somewhat
+dusty, but broad. On either hand rose substantial stone mansions, half hidden
+by trees and flowering shrubs. Many of these fine-looking buildings were shops.
+I was impressed by their importance, for they were quite what would be
+described by an auctioneer or agent as &ldquo;most desirable family mansions,
+approached by a carriage drive … standing within their own beautifully wooded
+and secluded grounds in an excellent residential neighbourhood,&rdquo; &amp;c.
+&amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anon we whirled round a corner, and plunged into the seething life of the
+native city. The road was crammed with an apparently impenetrable crowd of men
+and beasts, the latter&mdash;water-buffaloes, humpy cattle, and
+donkeys&mdash;strolling about and getting in everybody&rsquo;s way with perfect
+nonchalance, while men in strange raiment of gaudy hue pursued their lawful
+occupations with much clamour. The variety of smells&mdash;all bad&mdash;was
+quite remarkable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We could only go at a walk, as the streets were very narrow and the inhabitants
+thereof&mdash;particularly the cows&mdash;seemed very deaf and difficult to
+arouse to a sense of the need for making room, though our good driver yelled
+himself hoarse and employed language which I feel sure was highly flavoured.
+Our progress was a succession of marvellous escapes for human toes and bovine
+shoulders, but our &ldquo;helmsman steered us through,&rdquo; and we emerged
+from the kaleidoscopic labyrinth into the open space before the Fort of Lahore,
+whose pinkish brick walls and ponderous bastions rose above us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The last thing I would desire would be to usurp in any way the functions of
+grave Mr. Murray or well-informed Herr Baedeker, but there are certain points
+to which I will draw attention, and which it seems to me very necessary to keep
+in mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the ordinary traveller in the Punjab and Northern India no buildings are
+more attractive, no ruins more interesting, than those of the Mogul dynasty,
+and the rule of the Mogul princes marks the high-water limit of Indian
+magnificence. It was but for a short time, too, that the highest level of
+grandeur was maintained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For generations the Moguls had poured in intermittent hordes into Northern
+India, but it was only in 1556 that Akbar, by defeating the Pathans at Panipat,
+laid India at his feet. Following up his success he overthrew the Rajputs, and
+extended his dominion from Afghanistan to Benares. Having conquered the country
+as a great warrior, he proceeded to rule it as a noble statesman, being
+&ldquo;one of the few sovereigns entitled to the appellation both of Great and
+Good, and the only one of Mohammedan race whose mind appears to have arisen so
+far above all the illiberal prejudices of that fanatical religion in which he
+was educated, as to be capable of forming a plan worthy of a monarch who loved
+his people and was solicitous to render them happy.&rdquo;[1] This
+&ldquo;plan&rdquo; was to study the religion, laws, and institutions of his
+Hindu subjects in order that he might govern as far as possible in conformity
+with Hindu usage. The Emperor Akbar was the first of the Mogul monarchs who was
+a great architect. The city of Fattepur Sikri being raised by him as a stately
+dwelling-place until want of water and the unhealthiness of the locality caused
+him to move into Agra, leaving the whole city of Fattepur Sikri to the owls and
+jackals, and later to the admiration of the Sahib logue.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] Robertson&rsquo;s <i>India</i>, Appendix.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A palace in Lahore, the fort at Allahabad, and much lovely work in the city of
+Agra testify to the creative genius of that contemporary of our own Good Queen
+Bess, the first &ldquo;Great&rdquo; Mogul. Jehangir, his son and successor, has
+left few buildings of note, but his grandson, Shah Jehan, was undoubtedly the
+most splendid builder of the Mogul Mohammedan period. To him Delhi owes its
+stately palace and vast mosque&mdash;the Jama Masjid&mdash;and Agra would be
+famous for its wonderful palace of dark red stone and fretted marble, even
+without that masterpiece of Mohammedan inspiration, the world-famed Taj Mahal.
+The brief period of supreme magnificence came to an end with the last of the
+&ldquo;Great&rdquo; Moguls&mdash;Aurungzeb, died in 1707&mdash;having only
+blazed in fullest glory for some century and a half, but leaving behind it some
+of the noblest works of man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed somehow very curious, as we drove up through the stately entrance of
+the Hathi Paon, or Elephant Gate of the fort, to be saluted with a
+&ldquo;present arms&rdquo; by British Tommies clad in unobtrusive khaki, and to
+reflect that we are the inheritors of the fallen grandeur of the Mogul
+Emperors; that we in our turn, on many a hard-fought field, asserted our power
+to conquer; and that since then we have (I trust) so far followed the sound
+principles of Akbar as to keep by justice and wise rule the broad lands with
+their teeming millions in a state of peace and security unknown before in
+India.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Opposite the entrance rise the walls of the Palace of Akbar, curiously
+decorated with brilliant blue mosaics of animals and arabesques.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We visited the armoury&mdash;a remarkably fine collection of weapons&mdash;not
+the least interesting being those taken from the Sikhs and French in the
+earlier part of the last century. Opposite the armoury, and across a small
+beautifully-paved court, were the private apartments of Shah Jehan. They
+reminded me very much of the Alhambra, only, instead of the honeycomb vaulted
+ceilings, and arches decorated in stucco by the Moors, the Eastern architect
+inlaid his ceilings with an extraordinary incrustation of glass, usually
+silvered on the back, but also frequently coloured, and giving a strange effect
+of mother-o&rsquo;-pearl inlay, bordering on tawdriness when examined in
+detail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is possible that this coloured glass actually had its intended effect of
+inlaid jewels, and that the gem-encrusted walls, so enthusiastically described
+by Tavernier and others, as almost matching the peacock throne itself, may have
+been but imitation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many of the pilasters were, however, very beautiful&mdash;of white marble
+inlaid with flower patterns of coloured stones&mdash;while the arched window
+openings were filled in with creamy tracery of fair white marble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the fort after an all too short visit, we crossed to the great mosque
+built by Aurungzeb. Ascending&mdash;from a garden bright with flowers and
+blossoming trees&mdash;a flight of broad steps, we found ourselves at the end
+of a rectangular enclosure, at each corner of which stood a red column not
+altogether unlike a factory chimney. In the centre was a circular basin, very
+wide, and full of clear water, while in front, three white marble domes rose
+like great pearls gleaming against the cloudless blue. The mosque itself is
+built of red&mdash;dark red&mdash;sandstone, decorated with floral designs in
+white marble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We climbed one of the minarets, and had a view of the city at our feet, and the
+green and fertile plains stretching dim into the shimmering haze beyond the
+Ravee River.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then back to the hotel through the teeming alleys and down to the
+station&mdash;the road, that we had found so bitterly cold in the early
+morning, now a blaze of sunlight, where the dust stirred up by the shuffling
+feet of the wayfarers quivered in the heat, and the shadows of men and beasts
+lay short and black beneath them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were not sorry to seek coolness in the bare railway carriage, and let the
+fresh wind fan us as we sat by the open window and watched the flat, monotonous
+landscape sliding past.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journey from Lahore to Rawal Pindi is not a very long one&mdash;only about
+170 miles, or less than the distance from London to York; but an Indian train
+being more leisurely in its movement than the Great Northern Express, gave us
+ample time to contemplate the frequent little villages&mdash;all very much
+alike&mdash;all provided with a noisy population, among which dogs and children
+were extremely prevalent; the level plains, broken here and there by clumps of
+unfamiliar trees, and inhabited by scattered herds of water buffaloes, cattle,
+and under-sized sheep, all busily engaged in picking up a precarious
+livelihood, chiefly roast straw, as far as one could see!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had grown so accustomed to the monotony of the plains, that when we suddenly
+became aware of a faint blue line of mountains paling to snow, where they
+melted into the sky, the Himalayas came upon us almost with a shock of
+surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we drew nearer, the rampart of mountains that guards India on the north,
+took form and substance, until at Jhelum we fairly left the plain and began to
+ascend the lower foothills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Between Jhelum and Rawal Pindi the line runs through a country that can best be
+described by that much abused word &ldquo;weird.&rdquo; Originally a succession
+of clayey plateaux, the erosion of water has worn and honeycombed a tortuous
+maze of abrupt clefts and ravines, leaving in many cases mere shafts and
+pinnacles, whose fantastic tops stand level with the surrounding country. The
+sun set while we were still winding through a labyrinth of peaks and pits, and
+the effect of the contrasting red gold lights and purple shadows in this
+strange confused landscape was a thing to be remembered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We rolled and bumped into Pindi at 8 P.M., having travelled nearly 1000 miles
+during our two days and nights in the train.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our friends the Smithsons were on the platform waiting to receive us and
+welcome us as strangers and pilgrims in an unknown land. They have only
+remained here to meet us, and they proceed to Kashmir to-morrow, sleeping in a
+carriage in the quiet backwater of a siding, to save themselves the worry of a
+desperately early start to-morrow morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The direct route into Kashmir by Murree is impassable, the snow being still
+deep owing to a very late spring following a severe winter. This will oblige us
+to go round by Abbotabad, so I wired to my friend General Woon to warn him that
+we propose to invade his peaceful home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, March 26.</i>&mdash;We stayed a couple of days at Pindi, in order to
+make arrangements for transporting ourselves and our luggage into Kashmir. The
+journey can be made <i>viâ</i> Murree in about a couple of days by mail tonga,
+but it is a joyless and horribly wearing mode of travel. The tonga, a
+two-wheeled cart covered by an arched canvas hood and drawn by two half-broken
+horses, holds a couple of passengers comfortably, who sit behind and stare at
+the flying white ribbon of road for long, long hours, while the driver urges
+his wild career. The horses are changed every ten miles or so, and horrible and
+blood-curdling tales are extant of the villainy and wrong-headedness of some of
+these tonga ponies, how they jib for sheer pleasure, and leap over the low
+parapet that guards them from the precipice merely to vex the helpless
+traveller. When we suggested that to sit facing the past might be conducive to
+a sort of sea-sickness and certainly to headache, and that a total absence of
+view was to be deprecated, it was impressed upon us that if the horses darted
+over the &ldquo;khud,&rdquo; we could slip out suddenly and easily, leaving the
+driver and the ponies to be dashed to pieces by themselves! This appeared
+sound, but, upon inquiry I could not hear that any accident had ever happened
+to any traveller going into Kashmir by tonga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Besides the tonga, there are other modes of going into Kashmir. For instance,
+the sluggish bullock-cart&mdash;safe, deliberate, and affording ample leisure
+for admiring the scenery; the light native cart, or ekka, consisting of a
+somewhat small body screened by a wide white hood, and capable of holding far
+more luggage than would at first sight seem possible, and drawn by a
+scraggy-looking but much enduring little horse tied up by a wild and
+complicated system of harness (chiefly consisting of bits of old rope) between
+a pair of odd V-shaped shafts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, there is the landau&mdash;a civilised and luxurious method of
+conveyance which greatly appealed to us. We decided upon chartering a landau
+for ourselves and servant, and two ekkas to carry the heavy baggage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. de Mars, the landlord of the hotel, was most obliging in helping us to
+arrange for our journey, promising to provide us with carriage and ekkas for a
+sum which did not seem to me to be at all exorbitant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I soon found, however, that the worthy Sabz Ali did not at all approve of the
+arrangement. It was extremely hard to find out by means of his scant English
+what he proposed to do; but I decided that here was an excellent opportunity of
+finding out what he was good for, so we determined to give him his head, and
+let him make his own arrangements.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A smile broke over his swarthy face for a moment, and he disappeared, coming
+back shortly afterwards just as the already ordered ekkas made their
+appearance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These he promptly dismissed&mdash;much to the vexation of Mr. de Mars; but I
+explained to him that I intended to see if my man was really to be depended
+upon as an organiser, and that I should allow him to work upon his own lines.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had arranged to sleep in a carriage drawn into a siding at the station, to
+avoid a very early start next morning. So after dinner we strolled down towards
+our bedroom to find our henchman on the platform, full of zeal and energy. I
+found out (with difficulty) that he proposed to go on to Hassan Abdal with the
+luggage that night by goods train; that we should find him there next morning,
+and that all would be right. So he departed, and we rolled ourselves up in our
+&ldquo;resais,&rdquo; and wondered how it would all turn out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Friday morning we rattled out of Rawal Pindi about seven, and slowly wound
+through a rather stony and uninteresting country, until we arrived at the end
+of our railway journey about ten o&rsquo;clock, and scrambled out at the little
+roadside station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our excellent factotum, Sabz Ali, awaited us with a capacious landau, and
+informed us that the heavy baggage had gone on in the ekkas. So we set forth at
+once on our 42-mile drive to Abbotabad without &ldquo;reposing for a time in
+the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a favourite
+resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to Cashmere&rdquo;
+(<i>Lalla Rookh</i>).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The landau, though roomy and comfortable, was, like Una&rsquo;s lion, a
+&ldquo;most unhasty beast,&rdquo; and we rolled quite slowly and deliberately
+over a distinctly uninteresting plain for about twenty miles, until we came to
+Haripur, a pretty village enclosed in a perfect mass of fruit trees in full
+bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we changed horses, and lunched at the dâk bungalow&mdash;a first and
+favourable experience of that useful institution. The dâk bungalow generally
+consists of a simple wooden building containing a dining-room and several
+bedrooms opening on to a verandah, which usually runs round three sides of the
+house. The furniture is strong and simple, consisting of tables, bedsteads, and
+some long chairs. A khansamah or cook provides food and liquor at a fixed and
+reasonable rate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Travellers are only permitted to remain for twenty-four hours if the rooms are
+wanted, each person paying one rupee (1s. 4d.) for a night, or half that amount
+for a mere day halt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The khansamah would appear to be the only functionary in residence until the
+hour of departure draws near, when a whole party of
+underlings&mdash;chowkidars, bheesties, and sweepers&mdash;appear from nowhere
+in particular; and the lordly traveller, having presented them with about
+twopence apiece, rolls off along the dusty white road, leaving the khansamah
+and his myrmidons salaaming on the verandah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made the mistake of over-tipping at first in India, not realising that a
+couple of annas out here go as far as a shilling at home; but it is a mistake
+which should be rectified as soon as possible, for you get no credit for
+lavishness, but are merely regarded as a first-class idiot. No sane man would
+ever expend two annas where one would do!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving Haripur the road began to ascend a little, and at the village of
+Sultanpur we entered a valley, through which a shrunken stream ran, and which
+we crossed more than once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then a long ascent of about eleven miles brought us near our destination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had been threatening rain all the afternoon, and now the weather made its
+threat good, and the rain fell in earnest. It grew dark, too; and, finally, not
+having had any reply to my telegram to General Woon, we did not know whether we
+were expected or not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sabz Ali, however, had no doubts on the matter. We were approaching his own
+particular country, and whether &ldquo;Gen&rsquo;l &rsquo;Oon Sahib&rdquo; was
+there to entertain us or not, <i>he</i> was; and so it was
+&ldquo;alright.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our poor horses were done to a turn, a heavy landau with five people in it, as
+well as a fair amount of luggage, being no trifle to drag up so long and steep
+a hill. So we had to walk up the last rise to the General&rsquo;s house in the
+dark and rain, mildly cheered, however, by finding the two ekkas just arrived
+with the baggage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A most hearty greeting from my old friend and his charming wife awaited us, and
+after a hasty toilet and an excellent dinner we felt at peace with all the
+world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both yesterday (Saturday) and to-day it has been cold and disagreeable. The
+past winter, I am told, has been a very severe one, and the melancholy brown
+skeletons of all the eucalyptus trees in the place show the dismal results of
+the frost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This forenoon the day darkened, and a very severe thunderstorm broke. So dark
+was it at lunch that candles had to be lighted in haste, and even now (4 P.M.)
+I can barely see to write.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, March</i> 30.&mdash;Monday was showery, and Tuesday decidedly wet;
+but, in spite of the hospitable blandishments of our kind hosts, we were most
+anxious to get on, as, having arranged with the Smithsons to go into the Astor
+district to shoot, it was most important to reach Srinagar before the first of
+April&mdash;the day upon which the shooting passes were to be issued to
+sportsmen in rotation of application. Knowing that only ten passes were to be
+given for Astor, and that several men were ahead of me, I felt that we were
+running it somewhat fine to leave only three days for the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+General Woon, who knew Kashmir well, did his very best to dissuade us from
+attempting the passes into Astor, reading to us gloomy extracts from his
+journal, and pointing out that it was no fit country for a lady in early
+spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did much to shake our enthusiasm, but still I felt we must do our best to
+&ldquo;keep tryst&rdquo; with the Smithsons. So, on Tuesday, we sent on the
+heavy luggage in two ekkas which Sabz Ali had procured, the two others being
+only hired from Hassan Abdal to Abbotabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sabz Ali had pointed out that, although he himself was a wonderful man, and
+could do almost, if not quite, everything, a second servant would be greatly to
+our (and his) advantage. So, acting on my permission, he engaged one
+Ayata&mdash;a gentle person of a sheep-like disposition, who did everything he
+was told, and nothing that he was told not to, during our sojourn in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/>
+ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+Dismal tidings came in of floods and storms on the Hassan Abdal road. The river
+had swollen, and both men and beasts had been swept away while trying to cross.
+Undeterred, however, by such news, even when backed by warnings and persuasions
+from our friends, we set forth in the rain yesterday morning. The prospect was
+not cheerful&mdash;a grey veil of cloud lay over all the surrounding hills,
+here and there deepening into dark and angry thunder-clouds. The road was
+desperately heavy, but the General had most kindly sent on a pair of mules
+ahead, and, with another pair in the shafts, our own nags took a holiday as far
+as Manserah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The weather grew worse. It rained very heavily and thundered with great vigour,
+and as we straggled up the deeply-muddied slope to the dâk bungalow at Manserah
+we felt somewhat low; but we did not in the least realise what was before us!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our road had lain through fairly level plains, with low cuttings here and
+there, where the saturated soil was already beginning to give way and fall upon
+the road in untidy heaps; but this did not foreshadow what might occur later.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Manserah we met Hill and Hunt, two young gunners, <i>en route</i> for Astor.
+They left in a tonga soon after we arrived, and we did not expect to see their
+speedier outfit again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being pressed for time, we only had a cup of cocoa, and then hastened on our
+dismal career.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road grew steeper, winding over some low hills, but we could not see very
+much, as the whirling cloud masses blotted out all the view. By-and-by it bent
+towards a pine-clad hill, and began to ascend steeply. By this time we were
+very wet, as we had to walk up the hills to ease the horses. The scene was
+extraordinary, as the great thunder-clouds boiled up and over us&mdash;tawny
+yellow, and even orange in the lights, and dull and solid lead colour in the
+depths. The distance was invisible, but gleams now and again revealed, through
+the drifts of rain, wide stretches of cultivated land lying below us, and a
+ragged forest of pines piercing the mist above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dripping, we walked by our wet horses up to the top of the pass, hoping for a
+swift and easy descent on the farther side to Ghari Habibullah, where we
+intended to sleep, as we had given up all idea of being able to get on to
+Domel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the horses were pulled up sharply as a ton or two of rock and earth
+came crashing upon the road in front of us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More fallen masses encumbering the way farther on made us feel rather anxious,
+until, on rounding a corner, we found the whole road barred by a huge mass of
+rock and soil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was blowing hard, the stormy wind striking chill and bleak through the
+bending pines; it was raining in torrents; it was 5 P.M., and we were still
+some six miles from the haven where we would be; so, after a short and utterly
+ineffectual attempt to get the carriage past the obstacle, Jane and I set off
+to walk down the hill and seek help.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was exciting, as we had to dodge the rock-falls and run past the
+shaky-looking places! At a turn of the road we came upon the gunners&rsquo;
+tonga, embedded in a mud-slide. The occupants had had an escape from total
+wreck, as one of the ponies had swerved over the khud, but the other saved the
+situation by lying down in the mud! Hunt had gone off into the landscape to try
+for a village and help, while Hill remained to wrestle with the tonga, which,
+however, remained obstinately immovable. We could do nothing to mend matters,
+so we fled on, meeting Hunt, with a few natives and a shovel, on his way back
+to the scene of action.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After an hour and a half of very anxious work, we emerged at dusk from the
+wood, hoping our troubles were over. We could dimly see, and hear, through the
+mist a stream below us; but, alas! no bridge was visible. I commandeered a man
+from the first hut we came to, and tried by signs to make him understand that
+he was to carry the lady across the river; but, luckily, just as we reached the
+bank of what was a very nasty-looking stream in full spate, the liberated tonga
+overtook us, and Jane was bundled into it, while we three men waded. The stream
+was strong and up to our knees, and level with the tonga floor, and the horses
+getting frightened began to jib. Hill seized one by the head, and Jane was
+safely drawn to shore and sent on her way under guidance of the driver, while
+we tramped on in the dark until a second torrent barred our way. Here, in the
+gloom, we made out the tonga empty, and stuck fast against the far bank. It was
+all right though, for Jane had crawled out at the front and wandered on in
+search of the dâk bungalow, leaving the driver squatting helplessly beside the
+water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was so dark that she missed the bungalow, which stands a little above the
+road, and struggled on till she came to a small cluster of native huts. One of
+the inhabitants, on being boldly accosted, was good enough to point out the
+way, and so the re-united party&mdash;tired, wet, and with no prospect of dry
+clothing&mdash;took possession of the cheerless-looking dâk bungalow. Things
+now began to improve. To our joy we found our ekkas with their contents drawn
+up in the yard. And while a fire was being encouraged into a blaze, and the
+lean fowl was being captured and slain on the back premises, we obtained dry
+garments&mdash;of sorts&mdash;from the baggage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Madame&rsquo;s dinner costume consisted of a blue flannel
+garment&mdash;nocturnal by design&mdash;delicately covered by a quilted
+dressing-gown, and the rest of us were <i>en suite</i>, a great lack of detail
+as to collars and foot-wear being apparent! Nevertheless, the fire blazed
+royally, and we ate up all the old hen and called for more, and prepared to
+make a night of it until, about ten o&rsquo;clock, our bearer Sabz Ali
+appeared, with a train of coolies carrying our bedding and the other contents
+of the derelict carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning the two young gunners departed on foot, leaving their tonga, as
+the road to Domel is reported to be quite impassable. They intend to walk by a
+short cut over the hills, and get on as best they may, the race for Astor being
+a keen one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We decided to remain here, the weather being still gloomy and unsettled, and
+the road being impossible for a lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At noon the landau was brought in, minus a step and very dirty, but otherwise
+&ldquo;unwounded from the dreadful close.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari Habibullah is not at all a cheerful spot, as it appears, the centre of a
+grey haze, with dense mist low down on the surrounding mountains. Sabz Ali,
+too, complains of fever, which is not surprising after the wetting and exposure
+of yesterday; and when a native gets &ldquo;fever&rdquo; he curls up and is fit
+for nothing, and won&rsquo;t try.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow stands on a little plateau overlooking the road and a swift
+river, whose tawny waves were loaded with mud washed from the hills by recent
+storms. On a slope opposite, the queer, flat-roofed native village perched, and
+above it swirled a misty pall which hid all but the bases of the hills. To this
+village we strolled, but it was not interesting; the inhabitants did not seem
+wildly friendly, and the mud and dirt and dogs were discouraging. So we roamed
+along the Domel road till we came to a high cliff of conglomerate, which had
+recently been shedding boulders over the track to an alarming extent; so,
+deciding that it would be merely silly to risk getting our heads cracked, we
+turned back, and, re-crossing the river, clambered up a steep path above the
+right bank. Here we soon found great rents and rifts where falling rocks had
+come bounding down the steeps from above, so once more we turned tail, and,
+giving up the idea of any more country walks in that region, betook ourselves
+to the gloomy and chilly bungalow. The only really delightful things we saw
+during our doleful excursion were a lovely clump of big, rose-coloured primula,
+drooping from the clefts of a steep rock, and a pair of large and handsome
+kingfishers,[1] pursuing their graceful avocations by a roadside
+pool&mdash;their white breasts, ruddy flanks, and gleaming blue backs giving a
+welcome note of colour to the sedate and misty grey of the landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] <i>N. Smyrnensis</i> (?).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, April</i> 4.&mdash;Thirty-six hours of Ghari Habibullah give ample
+time for the loneliest recluse to pant for the bustle of a livelier world. We
+were so bored on Thursday that we determined to push on, <i>coûte que
+coûte</i>, on Friday morning, although a note sent back by one of the gunners
+from Domel, by a coolie, informed us that the road about a mile short of that
+place was completely blocked by a fallen mass of some hundreds of tons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our henchman having somewhat recovered of his fever, thanks to a generous
+exhibition of quinine, we gave the order to pack and start, hoping to achieve
+the twelve miles which separated us from Domel, even though the last bit had to
+be done on foot. About two miles from Ghari Habibullah we came to the Kashmir
+custom-house, presided over by a polite gentleman, whose brilliant purple beard
+was a joy to look upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Most of the elderly natives dye their beards with, I think, henna, producing a
+fine orange effect, but purple…!
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+<i>Bottom</i>. What beard were I best to play it in?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Quince</i>. Why, what you will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Bottom</i>. I will discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard, your
+orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your French-crown-colour
+beard, your perfect yellow
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<i>Midsummer Night&rsquo;s Dream</i>,<br/>
+Act I. Sc. 2.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What <i>coloured beard</i> comes next by the window?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A black man&rsquo;s, I think.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think a <i>red</i>: for that is most in fashion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+R<small>AM</small> A<small>LLY</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly, until I beheld that tax-gatherer of the Orient, I had no idea that the
+&ldquo;purple-in-grain&rdquo; beard existed outside a poet&rsquo;s fancy!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road took us along the left bank of the river, whose soil-stained waters
+churned their way through a wild and rocky gorge. On our left the mountain rose
+bare and steep, fringed with a few straggling bushes, and here and there a
+clinging patch of rose-coloured primula. Part of the conglomerate cliff had
+come down and obliterated the road, but a party of coolies was busily at work,
+and, after about an hour&rsquo;s delay, we triumphantly bumped our way past.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road now led steadily upward, leaving an ever-increasing slope (or khud)
+between it and the river, until it attained a height of over a thousand feet,
+when, turning to the left, it swung over the watershed, and began to descend
+into the valley of the Kishenganga. Through the haze we could make out Domel,
+our goal, lying far below, and then the old Sikh fort of Musafferabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road was so encumbered with rock-falls that we walked the greater part of
+it, until we came to the new bridge over the Kishenganga, whose dark red waters
+rush into the Jhelum about a mile below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here was Musafferabad, the whole place a confused jumble of wheeled traffic
+caught up by the big landslip in front. Passing, amid the chatter and clamour
+of men and beasts, through the medley of bullock-carts and ekkas that crowded
+every available space, we hauled the carriage through the bed of a watercourse
+whose bridge was broken. Up over the prostrate trunk of a fallen tree we
+regained the road, to find ourselves in front of the big landslip of which we
+had been warned. It consisted of some thousands of tons of dark red mud and
+loose boulders, and it blocked the road for fully a couple of hundred yards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A large and energetic swarm of coolies was busily engaged in &ldquo;tidying
+up.&rdquo; This was apparently to be achieved by means of shovels, each little
+shovel worked by two men&mdash;one to shovel, and the other to assist in
+raising it when full by means of a little rope round the head. This labour had
+to be lubricated by much conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed upon the whole unlikely that a path could be made for a considerable
+time, so we lunched peacefully in the carriage, a pair of extremely friendly
+crows assisting at the feast, and then, leaving our landau to follow as best it
+might, we walked into Domel, crossing the Jhelum by a fine bridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow, prettily placed in a clump of trees, seemed the abode of
+luxury to us after the discomfort of Ghari Habibullah, and we fondly hoped
+that, being now upon the main road which runs from Rawal Pindi to Srinagar, our
+troubles were over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Saturday was the 1st of April, the day upon which I should have applied for my
+pass for Astor. Wiring to Srinagar to explain that I was in Kashmir territory
+(which I subsequently found was enough to entitle me to a pass), and also to
+Smithson to say that we were making the best of our way to join him, we
+&ldquo;took the road&rdquo; after breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The carriage and the two ekkas had come in early, having been unloaded and then
+carried bodily over the &ldquo;slide.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A broad and smooth road, whose gentle gradient of ascent was merely sufficient
+to keep us level with the river bank, opened up an alluring prospect of ease
+and comfort. We lay back on our comfortable cushions and watched the clouds as
+they swept over the mountains, hiding all but occasional glimpses of
+snow-streaked slopes and steep and barren ridges.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The valley of the Jhelum between Domel and Ghari is not beautiful&mdash;merely
+wide and desolate, with steep hills rising from the river, their lower slopes
+sparsely clad with leafless scrub, their shoulders merging into the dull mist
+which hangs around their invisible summits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! it soon became apparent that our troubles were not over. The cliffs above
+us became steeper, and the familiar boulder reappeared upon the road. Small
+landslips gave us a good deal of trouble, although we had no serious difficulty
+before reaching Ghari. Here we were told that a complete &ldquo;solution of
+continuity&rdquo; in the road at Mile 46 would prevent our reaching Chakhoti,
+so we reluctantly decided to remain where we were for the night. Although a
+cold and dull spring afternoon is not exciting at Ghari, where distractions are
+decidedly scanty, we found interest in the discovery of the Smithsons&rsquo;
+heavy luggage, which had been sent on from Rawal Pindi ages ago. Here it lay in
+the peaceful backwater of a native caravansary, piled high on a bullock-cart,
+whose placid team lay near pensively chewing the &ldquo;cud of sweet and bitter
+fancy,&rdquo; and apparently quite innocent of any intention of moving for a
+week or two!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We extracted the charioteers from a neighbouring hut, and gave them to
+understand, by means of Sabz Ali, that hanging was the least annoyance they
+would suffer if they didn&rsquo;t get under way &ldquo;ek dam&rdquo; at once.
+They promptly promised that their oxen&mdash;like Pegasus&mdash;should fly on
+the wings of the wind, and, having seen us safely round a corner, departed
+peacefully to eat another lotus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The luggage arrived in Srinagar towards the end of the month.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sunday morning saw us again battling with a perfect coruscation of landslips;
+so &ldquo;jumpy&rdquo; was it in many places that we sat with the carriage
+doors ajar, in hopes that a timely dart out might enable us to evade a falling
+rock. At Mile 46 we were held up for an hour until a ramp was made over a bad
+slide, and the carriage and ekkas were unloaded and got across. The landau
+looked for all the world like a great dead beetle surrounded by ants, as,
+man-handled by a swarm of coolies, it was hauled, step by step, over the
+improvised track. A landau is not at all a suitable or convenient carriage for
+this sort of work, and had we guessed what was before us we should most
+certainly have employed the handier tonga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road to-day, cut as it was out of the steep flank of the mountain, was
+magnificent, but, in its present condition, nerve-shattering. Fallen boulders
+and innumerable mud-slides constantly forced us to get out and walk, while the
+sturdy little horses tugged the carriage through places where the near wheels
+were frequently within a few inches of the broken edge of the road, while far
+below Jhelum roared hungrily as he foamed by the foot of a sheer precipice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching Chakhoti about four o&rsquo;clock, we decided to remain there for the
+night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and threatening.
+Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one miles, there was no
+suitable place for a night&rsquo;s halt until Uri, distant some thirteen miles
+and all uphill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the Jhelum, and
+after tea we set forth to inspect it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I confess the
+means of crossing it, although practised with perfect confidence by the
+natives, did not appeal to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong ropes were
+stretched&mdash;the upper two parallel, and the third, about four feet lower,
+was equidistant from each.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
+stretchers&mdash;something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
+few yards&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;And up and down the people go,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper ones with
+their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised European to be
+where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the traveller to within a
+painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry water, before he began to
+slither circumspectly up the farther slope!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro, passing
+one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm, and carrying
+loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with the utmost
+unconcern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We left Chakhoti early this morning&mdash;Tuesday&mdash;with the intention of
+getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely bad, and
+the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags. Of course they
+have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have been limited to very
+short stages, and they are in excellent hard condition, so that we felt it no
+great hardship to ask them to do forty-two miles: albeit to drag a heavy landau
+containing five people and a good deal of luggage for that distance, with a
+rise of over 2000 feet, is a heavy demand upon a single pair of horses!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri stands on a
+plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ruins of an ancient fort rose on the near edge of the little plain. The
+Jhelum tore through a rocky gorge far below, and a dark semi-circle of
+mountains stood steeply up, their cloud-hidden summits giving fleeting glimpses
+of snow and precipice and pine-clad corries as the sun now and again shot
+through the clinging vapours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow of Uri, white and clean, was most attractive, and I should
+imagine the place to be charming in summer, but as yet the short crisp turf is
+still brown from recent snow, and although hot in the sun, which now began to
+shine steadily, it was extremely cold in the shade, while lunch (or should I
+say &ldquo;tiffin&rdquo;?) was being got ready. I strolled over to the
+post-office to find&mdash;as usual&mdash;another urgent wire from Smithson
+several days old, beseeching me to secure my pass for Astor at once. Directly
+after lunch we set forward, and as the road on leaving Uri takes a long bend of
+some miles to the right to a point where the Haji Pir River is crossed, and
+then sweeps back along its right hank to a spot almost opposite the dâk
+bungalow, we thought that a short cut down to the water, which from our height
+seemed quite insignificant, and thence up to the road on the other side, would
+be a desirable stroll. As we walked down the steep path into the nullah a brace
+of red-legged partridges (chikor) rose in a great fuss, and sailed gaily across
+the river, whose roaring gained ominously in volume as we drew near. It soon
+became plain to us that everything is on a very big scale in this country, and
+that the clearness of the atmosphere helps to delude the unwary stranger. The
+little stream that seemed to require but an occasional stepping-stone to enable
+us to pass over dry-shod, proved in the first place to be much farther off than
+we had supposed, and when, after a hot scramble, we found ourselves on the
+bank, the stepping-stones were no more, but only here and there we saw the
+shoulders of huge rocks which doggedly threw aside the flying foam of a
+fair-sized river. It was obviously impossible to cross except by deep wading,
+but, being unwilling to own defeat, I yelled to a brown native on the far bank,
+and made signs that he should come and do beast of burthen. He, however,
+stolidly shook his head, pointed to the water, and then to his chest, and
+finally we sadly and wrathfully toiled back to the road we had so lightly left,
+and expended all our energies on attracting the notice of the carriage, which,
+having crossed the bridge, was crawling along the opposite face of the nullah,
+and when, after a hot three miles, we once more embedded ourselves amongst the
+cushions with a sigh of relief, we swore off short cuts for the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been warned at Uri that there was a &ldquo;bad place&rdquo; at Mile 73,
+and sure enough, on rounding a bend, we came upon the familiar mass of
+semi-liquid red earth and a pile of boulders heaped across the road, the khud
+side of which had entirely given way. The usual crowd of coolies was busily
+engaged in trying to clear the obstruction by means of toothpicks and
+teaspoons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We quitted the carriage with a celerity engendered of much practice, and,
+having crossed the obstacle on foot, sat down to await the coming of our
+conveyance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed perfectly marvellous that the heavy vehicle could be safely got over
+a jagged avalanche of earth and rock piled some eight or ten feet above the
+roadway, and having an almost sheer drop to the river entirely unguarded for
+some hundred yards, where the retaining parapet and even some of the road
+itself had gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amid much apparent confusion and tremendous chattering, a sort of rough ramp
+was engineered up the slip, and presently the horseless landau appeared borne
+in triumph by a mob of coolies superintended by our priceless Sabz Ali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a minute we held our breath as one of the near wheels lipped the edge of
+the chasm, but the thing was judged to an inch, and in due time the sturdy
+chestnuts, the two ekkas, and all the luggage were assembled on the right side
+of what proved to be the last of the really bad slips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road engineer, who arrived in great state on a motor cycle while we were
+executing the portage, told us that there were no more difficulties, but an
+officer who was going out, and whose tonga was checked also at the big slip,
+informed us that about a mile farther were two great boulders on the road,
+lying so that although a short vehicle such as a tonga or motor cycle could
+wriggle round, yet a long four-wheeled landau could not possibly execute the
+serpentine curve required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We therefore requisitioned a few coolies with crowbars, and set forward to
+attack the boulders. Sure enough there were two beauties, placed so that we
+could not possibly get by, until a large slice was chipped from the inner side
+of each.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This done, our most excellent and skilful driver piloted his ponies through the
+narrow strait, and we felt that, at last, our troubles were over, and that we
+could breathe freely and admire at leisure the snowy peaks of the Kaj-nag
+beyond the Jhelum, and the rough wooded heights that frowned upon our right.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I confess the relief was great, as we had endured six days of incessant strain
+on our nerves, never knowing when a turn of the road might bring us to an
+impassable break, or when the conglomerate cliffs beetling above might shed a
+boulder or two upon us!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing the somewhat uninviting little village of Rampur, we crossed a torrent
+pouring out of a dark pine-clad gorge, and halted for tea by the curious ruined
+temple of Bhanyar. The building consists of a rectangular wall, cloistered on
+two sides of the interior and surrounding a small temple approached by a
+dilapidated flight of stone steps. I regret to be obliged to own that I know
+but a mere smattering of architecture. I do not feel competent therefore to
+discuss this, the first Kashmiri temple I have seen, upon its architectural
+merits. I only know that it struck me as being extremely small, and principally
+interesting from its magnificent background of shaggy forest and snow-capped
+mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tea on a short smooth sward, starred with yellow colchicum, while the carriage,
+travel-stained and with one step lacking, stood on the road hard by, and the
+horses nibbled invigorating lumps of &ldquo;gram&rdquo; and molasses. Then the
+etna was returned to the &ldquo;allo bagh&rdquo; (yellow bag) and the tea
+things to the tiffin basket, and away we went along the now smooth and level
+road with only fifteen easy miles between us and Baramula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The vegetation had gradually grown much richer. The sparse and storm-buffeted
+pines and the rough scrub merged into a tangled mass of undergrowth and forest,
+where silver firs and deodars rose conspicuous. The little streams that rushed
+down the hillsides were fringed with maidenhair fern, lighted up here and there
+with a bunch of pink primula or a tiny cluster of dog violets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jhelum had ceased from roaring, pursuing his placid path unwitting of the rush
+and fury that would befall him lower down, and by-and-by we emerged from the
+dark and forest-covered gorge into a wide basin where the river, now smooth and
+oily, reflected tall poplars and the red shoots of young dogwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Through a village, round a sweep to the left, over a tract said to be much
+frequented by serpents, and then in the deepening and chilly dusk we made out
+Baramula, lying engirdled by a belt of poplars about a mile away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Glad were we, and probably gladder still our weary horses, to draw up before
+the uninviting-looking dâk bungalow, knowing that only thirty-five miles of
+level and open road lay now between us and Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow of Baramula is, upon the whole, the worst we have yet sampled.
+No fire seemed able to impart any cheerfulness to the gloomy den we were shown
+into, and the dinner finally produced by the khansamah-kitmaghar-chowkidar (for
+a single tawny-bearded ruffian represented all these functionaries when the
+morning tip fell due) was not of an exhilarating nature. Strolling out to have
+a look at the town of Baramula, I shivered to see a heap of snow piled up
+against the wall. It snowed here, heavily, three days ago, I am told.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We have not been, so far, altogether lucky in the weather. Bitter cold in
+Europe, cold at Port Saïd and Suez, chilly in the Red Sea, and wet at Aden!
+Distinctly chilly in India, excepting during the day; we seem to have hit off
+the most backward spring known here for many years. The Murree route, which was
+closed to us by snow, should have been clear a month earlier, and spring here
+seems not yet to have begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>April</i> 5.&mdash;We crept shivering to our beds last night, to be awakened
+at 6 A.M. by an earthquake!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had just realised what the untoward commotion meant when I heard Jane from
+under her &ldquo;resai&rdquo; ask, &ldquo;What <i>is</i> the matter&mdash;is it
+an earthquake?&rdquo; Almost before I could reply, she was up and away, in a
+fearful hurry and very little else, towards the open country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I followed, but finding hoar-frost on the ground and a nipping eagerness in the
+air, I went back for a &ldquo;resai.&rdquo; The feeling was that of going into
+one&rsquo;s cabin in a breeze of wind, and the door was flapping about. Seizing
+the wrap in some haste, as I was afraid of the door jamming, I rejoined Jane in
+the open, to watch the poplars swaying like drunken men and the solid earth
+bulging unpleasantly. The shock lasted for three minutes, and when it seemed
+quite over we retired to our beds to try to get warm again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The morning at breakfast-time was perfectly beautiful. Baramula lay serenely
+mirrored in the silver waters of the Jhelum, its picturesque brown wooden
+houses clustering on both banks, and joining hands by means of a long brown
+wooden bridge. No signs of any unusual disturbance could be seen among the
+chattering crews of the snaky little boats and deep-laden &ldquo;doungas&rdquo;
+that lined the banks or furrowed the waters of the shining river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We left Baramula in high spirits to accomplish the five-and-thirty miles which
+still stretched between us and Srinagar. The scenery was quite different from
+anything we had yet known, for now we were in the broad flat valley of Kashmir,
+which stretches for some eighty miles from beyond Islamabad, on the N.E., to
+Baramula, planted at the neck where the Jhelum River, after spreading itself
+abroad through the fertile plain, concentrates to pour its many waters through
+the mountain barrier until it joins the Indus far away in Sind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A broad and level road stretched straight and white between a double row of
+stark poplars, reminding one of the poplar-guarded ways of Picardy; also (as in
+France) not only were the miles marked, but also the thirty-two subdivisions
+thereof. On the right hand the ground sloped slowly up in a succession of
+wooded heights, the foothills of the Pir Panjal, whose snow-crowned peaks
+enclose the Kashmir valley on the south. Opposite, through a maze of leafless
+trees, one caught occasional gleams of water where the winding reaches of the
+river flowed gently from the turquoise haze where lay the Wular Lake, and
+beyond&mdash;clear and pale in the clear, crisp air&mdash;shone a glorious
+range of snow mountains, stretching away past where we knew Srinagar must lie,
+to be lost in the distant haze where sky and mountain merged in the north-east.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the roadside we passed many small lakes, or &ldquo;jheels,&rdquo; full of
+duck, but as there was never any cover by the sides I could not see how the
+duck were to be approached.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We lunched at the fascinating little bungalow at Patan (pronounced
+&ldquo;Puttun&rdquo;), about half-way between Baramula and Srinagar. The Rest
+House stands back from an apparently extremely populous and thriving village,
+the inhabitants whereof were all engaged in conversation of a highly animated
+kind! In the compound stood a fine group of chenar trees (<i>Platanus
+orientalis</i>) whose noble trunks and graceful branches showed in striking
+contrast to the slender stems of the poplars. The guide-book informed us that
+an ancient temple lay in ruins near by, but we trusted to a later visit and
+determined to push on. By-and-by a fort-crowned hill rose above the tree-tops.
+This we took to be Hari Parbat, the ancient citadel of Srinagar, and presently,
+through the poplars and the willows queer wooden huts or châlets began to
+appear, and the increasing number of men and beasts upon the road showed the
+proximity of the city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ekkas, white-hooded, with jingling bells hung round the scraggy necks of their
+lean ponies; brown men clad in sort of night-shirts composed of mud-coloured
+rags; brown dogs, humpy cattle, and children innumerable, swarmed upon the
+causeway in ever-increasing density until we drew up at the custom-house, and
+the usual jabber took place among Sabz Ali, the driver, and the officials.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All appeared satisfactory, however, and we were presented with bits of brown
+paper scrawled over with hieroglyphics which we took to be passes, and drove
+on, leaving the native town apparently on our left and making a détour through
+level fields and between rows of poplars, until we swung round and crossed the
+river by a fine bridge. Here we first got some idea of the city of Srinagar,
+which lay spread around us, bisected by the broad, but apparently far from
+sluggish river, which seems here to be about the width of the Thames at
+Westminster at high water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tier upon tier, the rickety wooden houses crowded either bank, the prevailing
+brown being oddly lighted up by the roofs, which were frequently covered with
+deep green turf. Here and there the steep and peculiar dome of a Hindu temple
+flashed like polished silver in the keen sunlight, while around and beyond all
+rose the ring of the everlasting hills, their peaks clear, yet soft, against a
+background of cloudless blue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Close below us stood a remarkably picturesque pile of buildings, of a mixed
+style of architecture, yet harmonising well enough as a whole with its
+surroundings. Over it flew a great &ldquo;banner with a strange device,&rdquo;
+and we assumed (and rightly) that we looked upon the palace of His Highness Sir
+Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing the river, we dived into a bit of the native town, and were much
+struck by the want of colour as compared with an Indian street. Everything
+seemed steeped in the same neutral brown&mdash;houses, boats, people, and dogs!
+Emerging from the native street, with its open shop-fronts and teeming life, we
+drove for some little way along a straight level road, flanked, as usual, on
+either side by poplars of great size which ran through a brown, flat field,
+showing traces of recent snow, and finally finished our two-hundred-mile drive
+in front of the one and only hotel in all Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our two little chestnuts, which had brought us right through from Chakhoti to
+Srinagar&mdash;a distance of about seventy-eight miles&mdash;in two days, were
+as lively and fit as possible, and playfully nibbled at each other&rsquo;s
+noses as they were walked off to their well-earned rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ekka horses, too, had brought our heavy luggage all the way from Abbotabad
+over a shocking road in the most admirable manner, and we had every reason to
+congratulate ourselves on having entrusted the arrangement of the whole
+business&mdash;the &ldquo;bandobast&rdquo; in native parlance&mdash;to our
+henchman Sabz Ali, who had thus proved himself an energetic and trustworthy
+organiser, and saving financier to the extent of some twenty rupees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I may emphasise here the importance of keeping one&rsquo;s heavy baggage in
+sight, herding on the ekkas in front, if possible, and keeping a wary eye and a
+firm hand on the drivers at all halts. The Smithsons, who had sent on their
+gear from Rawal Pindi some days before we got there, did not receive it in
+Srinagar until the 22nd of April. It took about five weeks to do the journey,
+and the rifle which I was obliged to leave in Karachi on the 19th of March
+finally turned up in Srinagar, after an infuriating and vain expenditure of
+telegrams, on the 1st of May!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course, part of the delay was due, and all was attributed, to the unusually
+bad state of the roads. The heavy storms and floods which, by wrecking the
+road, had delayed us so much, naturally checked the heavy transport still more;
+and severe congestion of bullock-carts resulted at all the halting-places along
+the route. Still, the main cause of delay lies in the fact that the monopoly of
+transport has been granted by the Maharajah to one Danjibhoy, who charges what
+he pleases, and takes such time over his arrangements as suits his Oriental
+mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The motto over the Transport Office door might well be &ldquo;<i>Ohne
+Hast&mdash;mit Rast</i>!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other (much-cherished) monopoly in this favoured land is that enjoyed by
+Mr. Nedou, the owner of THE HOTEL in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were advised when at Lahore to approach Mr. Nedou (who winters in his branch
+there) with many salaams and much &ldquo;kow-towing,&rdquo; in order to make a
+certainty of being received into his select circle in Kashmir. The great man
+was quite kind, and promised that he would do his best for us; and he was as
+good as his word, as we were immediately welcomed and permitted to add two to
+the four persons already inhabiting the hostelry. I confess that, even after a
+dâk bungalow of the most inferior quality&mdash;such as that at Ghari
+Habibullah or Baramula&mdash;Mr. Nedou&rsquo;s hotel fails to impress one with
+an undue sense of luxury. In fact, it presented an even desolate and forlorn
+appearance with its gloomy and chilly passages and cheerless bed-vaults.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/>
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+We learnt that the earthquake of this morning was far more than the ordinary
+affair that we had taken it to be. The hotel showed signs of a struggle for
+existence. Large cracks in the plaster, spanned by strips of paper gummed
+across to show if they widened, and little heaps of crumbled mortar on the
+floors, betrayed that the grip of mother earth had been no feeble one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Telegrams from Lahore inquired if the rumour was true that Srinagar had been
+much damaged, and reported an awful destruction and loss of life at Dharmsala.
+I think if we had fully known what an earthquake really meant, we should not
+have so calmly gone back to bed again!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The advent of Mrs. Smithson upon the scene relieved a certain anxiety which we
+had felt as to immediate plans. The idea of rushing into Astor had been given
+up, we found&mdash;not so much on account of our tardy arrival, permits being
+still obtainable, but on account of the impossibility&mdash;at any rate for
+ladies&mdash;of forcing the high passes which the late season has kept safely
+sealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Walter, having pawed the ground in feverish impatience for some days, had gone
+off into a region said to be full of bara singh; so we decided to possess our
+souls in patience for a little time, and remain quietly in Srinagar.
+Accordingly, instead of unpacking our &ldquo;detonating musquetoons,&rdquo; we
+exhumed our evening clothes, and began life in Srinagar with a cheerful dinner
+at the Residency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, April 7th</i>.&mdash;We are evidently somewhat premature here as far
+as climate goes. The weather since our arrival has become cold and grey, and we
+have seemed on the verge of another snowfall. However, the clerk of the weather
+has refrained from such an insult, contenting himself with sending a breeze
+down upon us fresh from the &ldquo;Roof of the World,&rdquo; and laden with the
+chilly moisture of the snows. We have consumed great quantities of wood, vainly
+endeavouring to warm up the den which Mr. Nedou has let to us as a
+sitting-room. Fires are not the fashion in the public rooms&mdash;probably
+because the only &ldquo;public&rdquo; besides ourselves consist of one or two
+enterprising sportsmen, who doubtless are acclimatising themselves to camp life
+amid the snows, and have implored the proprietor to save his fuel and keep the
+outer doors open.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday, we went on a shopping excursion down the river, our
+&ldquo;hansom&rdquo; being a long narrow sort of canoe, propelled and
+dexterously steered by four or five paddlers, whose mode of <i>digging</i>
+along by means of their heart-shaped blades reminded me not a little of the
+Kroo boys paddling a fish-canoe off Elmina on the Gold Coast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We embarked close to the back of the hotel, at the Chenar Bagh, and went gaily
+enough down the strong current of what we took to be an affluent of the Jhelum.
+As a matter of fact, the European quarter forms an island, low and perfectly
+flat, the banks of which are heaped into a high dyke or &ldquo;bund,&rdquo;
+washed on one side (the south) by the main river, and on the other by the
+Sunt-i-kul Canal, down which we have been paddling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river life was most fascinating&mdash;crowds of heavy doungas lay moored
+along the banks&mdash;their long, low bodies covered in by matting, and their
+extremities sloping up into long peaked platforms for the crew.
+These&mdash;many of them women and children&mdash;were all clothed in
+neutral-tinted gowns, the only bit of colour being an occasional note of red or
+white in the puggaree of the men or skull-cap of the children. The married
+women invariably wore whity-brown veils over the head. The wooden houses that
+lined the banks were all in the general low scheme of colour, but a peculiar
+charm was added by the roofs covered in thick, green turf.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Srinagar has been called the &ldquo;Venice of the East,&rdquo; and, inasmuch as
+waterways form the main thoroughfares in both, there is a certain resemblance.
+Shikaras (the Kashmiri canoes) are first-cousins to gondolas&mdash;rather poor
+relations perhaps; both are dingy and clumsy in appearance, and both are
+managed with an extraordinary dexterity by their navigators.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both cities are &ldquo;smelly,&rdquo; though Venice, even at its worst, stands
+many degrees above the incredible filth of Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally&mdash;both cities are within sight of snowy ranges; although it seems
+hardly fair to place in comparison the majestic range that overhangs Srinagar
+and the somewhat distant and sketchy view of the Alps as seen from Venice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, I think, all resemblance ceases. The charm of Venice lies in its
+architecture, its art treasures, its historical memories, and its interesting
+people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Srinagar has no architecture in particular, being but a picturesque chaos of
+tumble-down wooden shanties. It has no history worth speaking of, and its
+inhabitants are&mdash;and apparently have always been&mdash;a poor lot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shopping in Srinagar is not pure and unadulterated joy. Down the river, spanned
+by its seven bridges, amidst a network of foul-smelling alleys, you are dragged
+to the emporiums of the native merchants whose advertisements flare upon the
+river banks, and who, armed with cards, and possessed of a wonderful supply of
+the English language, swarm around the victim at every landing-place, and
+almost tear one another in pieces while striving to obtain your custom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Samad Shall, in a conspicuous hoarding, announces that he can&mdash;and
+will&mdash;supply you with anything you may desire, including money&mdash;for
+he proclaims himself to be a banker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ganymede, in his own opinion, is the only wood-carver worth attention.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suffering Moses is the prince of workers in lacquer, according to his own
+showing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The nose of the boat grates up against the slimy step of the landing-place, and
+you plunge forthwith into Babel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you come to my shop?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No&mdash;you are going somewhere else.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-day, master?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No&mdash;no time to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow, then&mdash;I got very naice kyriasity
+[curiosity]&mdash;to-morrow, master&mdash;what time?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! get out! and leave me alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I send boat for you&mdash;ten o&rsquo;clock to-morrow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twelve o&rsquo;clock?&rdquo; &amp;c. &amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a short experience of Kashmiri pertinacity and business methods, you
+cease from politeness and curtly threaten the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certainly the Kashmiri are exceedingly clever and excellent workers in many
+ways. Their modern embroideries (the old shawl manufacture is totally extinct)
+are beautiful and artistic. Their wood-carving, almost always executed in rich
+brown walnut, is excellent; and their <i>old</i> papier-mâché lacquer is very
+good. The tendency, however, is unfortunately to abandon their own admirable
+designs, and assimilate or copy Western ideas as conveyed in very doubtful
+taste by English visitors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The embroidery has perhaps kept its individuality the best, although the trail
+of the serpent as revealed in &ldquo;quaint&rdquo; Liberty or South Kensington
+designs is sometimes only too apparent. Certain plants&mdash;Lotus, Iris,
+Chenar leaf, and so-called Dal Lake leaves, as well as various designs taken
+from the old Kashmir shawls, give scope to the nimble brains and fingers of the
+embroiderers, who, by-the-bye, are all male.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their colours, almost invariably obtained from native dyes, are excellent, and
+they rarely make a mistake in taste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coarser work in wool on cushions, curtains, and thick white numdahs is most
+effective and cheap.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Curiously enough, the best of these numdahs (which make capital rugs or bath
+blankets) are made in Yarkand; and Stein, in his <i>Sand-Buried Cities of
+Kotan</i>, found in ancient documents, of the third century or so, &ldquo;the
+earliest mention of the felt-rugs or &lsquo;numdahs&rsquo; so familiar to
+Anglo-Indian use, which to this day form a special product of Kotan home
+industry, and of which large consignments are annually exported to Ladak and
+Kashmir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The manufacture of carpets is receiving attention, and Messrs. Mitchell own a
+large carpet factory. Designs and colours are good, but the prices are not low
+enough to enable them to compete with the cheap Indian makes; nor, I make bold
+to say, is the quality such as to justify high prices. The shop of Mohamed Jan
+is well worth a visit, for three good reasons&mdash;first, because his Oriental
+carpets from Penjdeh and Khiva are of the best; second, because his house is
+one of the first specimens of a high-class native dwelling existing; and third,
+because he never worries his customers nor touts for orders&mdash;but, then, he
+is a Persian, and not a Kashmiri!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The famous shawls which fetched such prices in England in early Victorian days
+are no longer valued, having suffered an eclipse similar to that undergone by
+the pictures of certain early Victorian Royal Academicians, and the loss of the
+shawl trade was a severe blow to Kashmir. With the exception of occasional
+specimens of these shawls, which, however, can be bought cheaper at sales in
+London, there are no <i>old</i> embroideries to be got.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wood-carving industry, too, is quite modern; but, although of great
+excellence and ingenuity in manipulation, it does not appeal to me, being too
+florid and copious in its application of design. A restless confusion of
+dragons from Leh, lotus from the Dal Lake, and the ever-present chenar leaf,
+hobnob together with British&mdash;very British&mdash;crests and monograms on
+the tops of tables and the seats of chairs&mdash;portions of the furniture that
+should be left severely plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+British taste is usually bad, and to it, and not to Kashmiri initiative, must
+be ascribed the production of such exotic works as bellows embellished with
+chaste designs of lotus-buds, and afternoon tea-tables flaunting coats-of-arms
+(doubtless dating from the Conquest), beautifully carved in high relief just
+where the tray&mdash;the bottom of which is probably ornamented with a flowing
+design of raised flowers&mdash;should rest!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lacquered papier-maché work&mdash;often extremely pretty when left to its
+own proper Cabul pattern or other native design&mdash;aims too often at
+attracting the eye of the mighty hunter by introducing an inappropriate
+markhor&rsquo;s head. The old lacquer-work is difficult to get, and, when
+obtained, is high in price; but comparison between the old and the new shows
+the gulf that lies between the loving and skilful labour of the artist and the
+stupid and generally &ldquo;scamped&rdquo; achievement of him who merely
+&ldquo;knocks off&rdquo; candlesticks and tobacco-boxes by the score, to sell
+to the English visitor&mdash;papier-maché being superseded by wood, and lacquer
+by paint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The workers in silver, copper, and brass are many, but their productions are
+usually rough and inartistic. Genuine old beaten metal-work is almost
+unobtainable, although occasionally desirable specimens from Leh do find their
+way into the Srinagar shops.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chinese porcelain is to be got, usually in the form of small bowls; but it is
+not of remarkably good quality, and the prices asked for it are higher than in
+London.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The jewellers&rsquo; work is very far behind that of India. Amethysts of pale
+colour and yellow topaz are cheap. Fine turquoise do not come into Kashmir, but
+plenty of the rough stones (as well as imitations) are to be found, which,
+owing to a transitory fashion, are priced far above their intrinsic value. They
+come from Thibet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A great deal of a somewhat soft and ugly-coloured jade is sent from Yarkand,
+also agates and carnelian; beads of these are strung into rather uncouth
+necklets, which may be bought for half the sum first asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bargaining is an invariable necessity in all shopping in Kashmir, as everywhere
+else in the East, where the market value of an article is not what it costs to
+produce, but what can be squeezed for it out of the purse of
+the&mdash;usually&mdash;ignorant purchaser.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three things are essential to the successful prosecution of shopping in
+Srinagar:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+(1) Unlimited time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+(2) A command of emphatic language, sufficient to impress the native mind with
+the need for keeping to the point.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+(3) A liver in such thorough working order as to insure an extraordinary supply
+of good temper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without all these attributes the acquisition of objects of &ldquo;bigotry and
+vertue&rdquo; in Srinagar is attended with pain and tribulation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The descent of the river is accomplished with ease and rapidity, but
+<i>revocare gradum</i> involves much hard paddling, with many pants and grunts;
+and it was both cold and dark when we again lay alongside the bank of the
+Chenar Bagh, and scurried up the slippery bund to the hotel, with scarcely time
+to dress for dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, 9th April</i>.&mdash;Friday was a horrible day&mdash;rainy, dull,
+and cold; but a thrill of excitement was sent through us by the news that
+Walter has shot two fine bara singh! Charlotte (who is nothing if not a keen
+sportswoman) was filled with zeal and the spirit of emulation, so we resolved
+to dash off down the river to Bandipur, join Walter&mdash;who has now
+presumably joined the ranks of the unemployed, being only permitted by the Game
+Laws to kill two stags&mdash;and take our pick of the remaining
+&ldquo;Royals,&rdquo; which, in our vivid imaginations, roamed in dense flocks
+through the nullahs beyond Bandipur!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All Friday and yesterday, therefore, were devoted to preparation. I had
+already, through the kindness of Major Wigram, secured a shikari, who
+immediately demonstrated his zeal and efficiency by purchasing a couple of
+bloodthirsty knives and a huge bottle of Rangoon oil at my expense. I pointed
+out that one &ldquo;skian-dhu&rdquo; seemed to me sufficient for
+&ldquo;gralloching&rdquo; purposes, but he said two were better for bears. My
+acquaintance with bears being hitherto confined to Regent&rsquo;s Park, I bowed
+to his superior knowledge and forethought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit to Cockburn&rsquo;s agency resulted in the hire of the &ldquo;boarded
+dounga&rdquo; <i>Cruiser</i>, which the helpful Mr. Cockburn procured for us,
+in which to go down the river; also a couple of tents for ourselves with tent
+furniture, one for the servants, and a cooking tent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The local bootmaker or &ldquo;chaplie-wallah&rdquo; appeared, as by magic, on
+the scene, and chaplies were ordered. These consist of a sort of leather sandal
+strapped over soft leather boots or moccasins. They are extremely comfortable
+for walking on ordinary ground, but perfectly useless for hill work, even when
+the soles are studded with nails. The hideous but necessary grass shoe is then
+your only wear. The grass shoe, which is made as required by the native, is an
+intricate contrivance of rice straw, kept in position by a straw twist which is
+hauled taut between the big and next toe, and the end expended round some of
+the side webbing. The cleft sock and woollen boot worn underneath keep the feet
+warm, but do not always prevent discomfort and even much pain if the cords are
+not properly adjusted. However, the remedy is simple. Tear off the shoe, using
+such language as may seem appropriate to the occasion, throw it at the
+shikari&rsquo;s head, and order another pair to be made &ldquo;ek dam&rdquo;!
+Jane and I each purchased a yakdan, a sort of roughly-made leather box or
+trunk, strong, and of suitable size for either pony or coolie transport. Our
+wardrobe was stowed in these and secured by padlocks, and the cooking gear,
+together with a certain amount of stores in the shape of grocery, bread, and a
+couple of bottles of whisky were safely housed in a pair of large covered
+creels or &ldquo;kiltas.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each of the party provided him or herself with a khudstick, consisting of a
+strong and tough shaft about five feet long, tapering slightly towards the
+base, where it is shod with a chisel-shaped iron end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our staff of retainers had now been brought up to five&mdash;the shikari, Ahmed
+Bot, having procured a satellite, known as the chota shikari, a youth of not
+unprepossessing appearance, but whose necessity in our scheme of existence I
+had not quite determined. Ahmed Bot, however, was of opinion that all sahibs
+who wanted sport required two shikaris, so I imagined that while I was to be
+engaged with one in pursuit of bara singh, the other would employ himself in
+&ldquo;rounding up&rdquo; a few tigers for the next day&rsquo;s sport in
+another direction. Ahmed Bot agreed with me in the main, but did not feel at
+all sure about the tigers&mdash;he proposed ibex.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fifth wheel to our coach was a strikingly ugly person, like a hippopotamus,
+whose plainness was not diminished by a pair of enormous goggles; this was the
+harmless necessary sweeper, that pariah among domestics, whose usefulness is
+undreamed of out of India.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner last night we left the hotel, truly thankful to shake the dust of
+its gloomy precincts from our feet, and sought our boats, which were moored in
+the Chenar Bagh. How snug and bright the &ldquo;ship&rdquo; seemed after the
+murky corridors of Nedou! And yet the <i>Cruiser</i> was not much to boast of,
+really, in the way of luxury.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let me describe a typical boarded dounga. Upon a long, low, flat-bottomed hull,
+which tapered to a sharp point at bow and stern, was raised a light wooden
+superstructure with a flat roof, upon which the passengers could sit. The
+interior was divided off into some half-a-dozen compartments, a vestibule or
+outer cabin held boxes, &amp;c., and through it one passed into the dining or
+parlour cabin, which opened again to two little bedrooms and a couple of
+bathrooms. There was no furniture to speak of, but we had hired from Cockburn
+all that we required for the trip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The servants, as well as the crew of the dounga, were all stowed in a
+&ldquo;tender&rdquo; known as the cook boat&mdash;no one, except for navigating
+duties, having any business on board the &ldquo;flagship.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Charlotte Smithson had a smaller ship than ours&mdash;a light wooden frame,
+which supported movable matting screens or curtains, taking the place of our
+wooden cabins. The matted dounga looked as though it might be chilly,
+particularly if a strong wind came to play among the rather draughty-looking
+mats which were all that our poor friend had between her and a cold world!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/>
+OUR FIRST CAMP</h2>
+
+<p>
+The fleet, consisting of four sail (I use this word in its purely conventional
+sense, a dounga having no more sails than a battleship), got under way about 5
+A.M., while it was yet but barely daylight, and so we were well clear of
+Srinagar when we emerged from our cosy cabins into a world of clean air and
+brilliant colour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The broad smooth current of the Jhelum flowed steadily and calmly through a
+level plain, bearing us along at a comfortable four miles an hour, the crew
+doing little more than keep steerage-way with pole and paddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the green, tree-studded levels to the south, the range of the Pir Panjal
+spread wide its array of dazzling peaks, while on the right towered the
+mountains which enclose the Sind Valley, culminating in the square-headed mass
+of Haramok. In the clear air the snows seemed quite close, although we knew
+that the snow-line was really some three thousand feet above the level of the
+valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A day like this, as we sit on the little roof of our floating home watching the
+silent river unfold its shining curves, goes far to obliterate the memory of
+the fuss and worry inseparable from the exodus from Srinagar. After lunch we
+tied up for a while, and I took my gun on shore to try and pick up a few of the
+duck that dotted the waters of the little lakes or jheels which lay flashing
+amid the hillocks beyond the river banks. The shores of these being perfectly
+bare and open, it was obviously impossible to escape the keenly observant eyes
+of the duck, which appeared, unlike all other birds in Kashmir, to retain their
+customary wariness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crouching low amid the furrows of a newly-ploughed field, I sent the shikari
+with a knot of natives to the far side of the water, whence they advanced in
+open line, splashing and shouting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently, with much fuss and indignant quacking, a cloud of duck rose, and,
+circling after their fashion, as though reluctant to quit their resting-place,
+gave me several chances of a long shot before, working high into the air, they
+departed with loud expostulation to some quieter haunt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the afternoon we tied up to the bank for the night near a large jheel,
+where we all landed, Charlotte to try a rifle which she had borrowed, and I, if
+possible, to slay a few more duck, while Jane sat peacefully on a bank and
+enjoyed the glorious sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bag having been swelled by the addition of another dozen
+&ldquo;specimens&rdquo;&mdash;obtained by the same manoeuvres as
+before&mdash;we strolled back to our ships in the luminous dusk, visions of
+roast &ldquo;canard&rdquo; floating seductively before our mental vision.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There proved to be several varieties of duck among the countless flocks which I
+saw, notably mallard, teal, pochard, and shoveller. Likewise there were many
+coots, while herons, disturbed in their meditations by the untoward racket,
+flapped heavily away with disgusted squawks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane is getting along remarkably well with her Hindustani. I have just found
+her diary, and hasten to give an extract:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;Woke up very early; much bitten by pice. Tom started off to try and
+shoot a burra sahib, as he hears and hopes they&rsquo;ve not yet shed all their
+horns.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He really looked very nice in his new Pushtoo suit, with putty on his
+legs and chaplains on his feet…. His chickory walked in front, carrying his
+bandobast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;9 A.M.&mdash;Sat down to my solitary breakfast of poached ekkas and
+paysandu tonga, with excellent chuprassies (something like scones). After
+breakfast, tried on my new kilta, which I have had made quite short for
+walking. I generally prefer walking to being carried in a pagdandy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then took another lesson in Hindustani from my murghi, though I really
+think I hardly require it! My attention a good deal distracted by the antics of
+a pair of bul-buls (not at all the same as our coo-coos) in the jungle
+overhead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;7 P.M.&mdash;T. returned after what he called a blank blank day. He
+found some bheesties (one of them a chikor ram or wild ghât) chewing the khud
+on a precipitous dâk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They were rather far off, about a mile he thinks, but he couldn&rsquo;t
+get any nearer owing to a frightful ghari-wallah with deep piasses which lay
+between, so he put up his ornithoptic sight for 2000 yards and &lsquo;pumped
+lead&rsquo; into the bheesties for half-an-hour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He says he <i>thinks</i> he hit one, but they all went away&mdash;as his
+chickory remarked&mdash;&lsquo;ek dam,&rsquo; and Tom agreed with him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He fell into a budmash on his way home and was half-drowned, but the
+chickory, assisted by a friendly chota-hazri, managed to pull him out … quite
+an eventful day!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;10 P.M.&mdash;The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in. It
+looks as if it had been dead for weeks, but the doolie, who found it, says that
+in this climate a few hours is sufficient to obliterate a body…. Anyhow the
+head and tail seem all right…. Tom says the proper thing to do is to measure
+something&mdash;he can&rsquo;t quite remember whether it is the horns or the
+tail, but the latter seems the more remarkable, so we measured that, and found
+it to be 3 feet 4 inches.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By a little judicious pulling, the chickory, who knows all about
+measuring things, elongated it to 4 feet 3 inches.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This, he says, is a &lsquo;<i>Record</i>&rsquo;&mdash;how nice!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+<i>Wednesday, April 12.</i>&mdash;The place where we tied up was not far from
+the point where the Jhelum expands into the Wular Lake&mdash;a broad expanse of
+water, some seven or eight miles wide in places, which holds the proud record
+of being the largest lake in all India.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mountains rise steeply from its northern shores, and from their narrow
+glens, squalls swift and strong are said frequently to sweep over the open
+water, particularly in the afternoons. The bold sailormen of Kashmir are not
+conspicuous for nautical daring&mdash;in fact their flat-bottomed arks,
+top-heavy and unwieldy, destitute alike of anchor and rudder, are not fit to
+cope with either wind or wave; they therefore aim at punting hurriedly across
+the danger space as soon after dawn as may be&mdash;panting with exertion and
+terror, they hustle across the smooth and waveless water, invoking at every
+breath the protection of local saints.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Long before we had left our beds, and blissfully unconscious of our awful
+danger, we were striking out for Bandipur, which haven we safely reached about
+8 A.M. on a still and glorious morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came the business of collecting coolies and ponies, and loading them up
+with the tents and lesser baggage under the direction of Sabz Ali and the
+shikari.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By nine o&rsquo;clock we were off. Charlotte and Jane, mounted astride a brace
+of native ponies, led the way, and, in ragged array, the rest of the procession
+followed. A quarter of a mile from the landing-place, clustered at the foot of
+a steep little hill&mdash;a spur from the higher ranges&mdash;lies the village
+of Bandipur, dirty and picturesque, with, its rickety-looking wooden houses,
+and its crowded little bazaar. It is a place of some importance in Kashmir,
+being the starting-point for the Astor country and Gilgit&mdash;and here the
+sahib on shikar bent, obtains coolies and ponies to take him over the Tragbal
+Pass into Gurais. A post and telegraph office stands proudly in the middle of
+the little village, and behind it lies a range of &ldquo;godowns&rdquo; filled
+with stores for the use of a flying column should the British Raj require to
+send troops quickly along the Gilgit road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing through into the open country, we found ourselves on a good
+road&mdash;good, that is to say, for riding or marching, as no roads in Kashmir
+are adapted for wheeled traffic excepting the main artery from Baramula to
+Srinagar, and the greater portion of the route from Srinagar to Gulmarg. This
+road we followed up a gradually narrowing valley, and over a brawling little
+river, until at Kralpura the Gilgit road begins the steep ascent to the Tragbal
+by a series of wide zigzags up the face of a mountain. The pass which we should
+have had to tackle, had we carried out our original intention of going into
+Astor for markhor and ibex, is nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, and is still
+securely and implacably closed to all but the hardiest sportsmen. A short cut,
+which we took up the hill face, led us through a rough scrub of berberis and
+wild daphne (the former just showing green and the latter in flower) until,
+somewhat scant of breath, we regained the road, and followed it to the left up
+a gorge. As the mountains closed in on either side, we began to look out for
+the camp, which we knew was not far up the nullah. Presently, turning off the
+Gilgit road, along a track to the left, we came upon Walter&mdash;bearded like
+the pard&mdash;a pard which had left off shaving for about a week. He was
+pensively sitting on a big sun-warmed boulder, beguiling the time while
+awaiting us by contemplating the antics of a large family of monkeys, which he
+pointed out to Jane, to her great joy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tender inquiries as to camp and consequent lunch revealed the sad fact that
+some miles of exceedingly rough path yet lay betwixt us and the haven where we
+would be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we pricked forward, along a sort of cattle track, across dirty snow-filled
+little gullies, and over rock-strewn slopes, until the white gleam of
+Walter&rsquo;s tent showed clear on its perch atop of a flat-roofed native hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing the stream which tumbled down the valley, by a somewhat
+&ldquo;wobbly&rdquo; bridge, and picking our way through the mixen which forms
+the approach to every well-appointed hut, we arrived upon the roof which
+supported the tent. This we achieved without any undue trouble, the building,
+like most &ldquo;gujar&rdquo; homes, being constructed on the side of a hill
+sufficiently steep to obviate the necessity for any back wall&mdash;the rear of
+the roof springing directly from the hillside. A Gujar village, owing to this
+peculiarity of construction, always looks oddly like a deposit of great
+half-open oysters clinging to the face of the hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a welcome lunch, the ladies both pronounced decidedly against remaining
+in or near the highly-scented precincts of the village. The argument that there
+was no flat ground excepting roofs to be seen was overruled; so Walter and I
+climbed a neighbouring ridge, and selected a site on the crest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not, certainly, a very good site for a camp, as it was so narrow that
+the unwary might easily step over the edge on either side, and toboggan
+gracefully either back on top of the aforesaid roof, or forward into a very
+rocky-bedded stream which employed its superfluous energy in tossing some
+frayed and battered logs from boulder to boulder, and which would have rejoiced
+greatly in doing the same to a fallen nestling from the eyry above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither was the ridge level, and our tents were pitched at such an angle that
+the slumberer whose grasp of the bed-head relaxed
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;In the mist and shadow of sleep&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+was brought to wakefulness by finding his toes gently sliding out into the
+nipping and eager air of night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The holding-ground for the tent-pegs was not all that could be desired, and
+visions of our tents spreading their wings in the gale and vanishing into space
+haunted us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No&mdash;it was not an ideal camping-ground, and Jane, whose rosy dreams of
+camping in Kashmir had pictured her little white canvas home set up in a
+flowery mead by the side of a purling brook, gazed upon the rugged slopes which
+rose around&mdash;the cold snow gleaming through the shaggy
+pine-trees&mdash;with a shiver and a distinct air of disapproval.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It grew more than chilly too, as the sun dipped early behind the ridge that
+rose jealous between us and the western light, and an icy breeze from the snow
+came stealing down the gorge and whispering among the taller tree-tops in the
+nullah at our feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were about 1500 feet above the Wular Lake, and snow lay in thick patches
+within a few yards of our tents, and had obviously only melted quite recently
+from the site of the camp, leaving more clammy mud about the place than we
+really required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it is reasonable to suppose that the bilingual lady who composes the fashion
+columns of the <i>Daily Horror</i> is most anxious to know how the fair sex was
+accoutred at our dinner party that night, I hasten to inform her that Charlotte
+was gowned in an elegant confection of Puttoo of a simply indescribable nuance
+of <i>crême de boue</i>&mdash;the train, extremely décolletée at the lower end,
+cunningly revealing at every turn glimpses of an enchanting pair of frou-frou
+putties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The neat bottines, <i>à la</i> Diane Chasseresse, took a charming touch of
+lightness from the aluminium nails which decorated the &ldquo;uppers&rdquo;
+with a quaint and original Dravidian cornice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She carried a spring bouquet of wild onions <i>en branche</i>&mdash;ornaments
+(of course), diamonds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every one remarked that Jane was simply too lovely for words, as, with the
+sweet simplicity of an <i>ingénue, en combinaison</i> with the craft of a
+Machiavella (I beg to point out that I know my Italian genders), she draped her
+lissom form in the clinging folds of an enormous habit <i>de peau de
+brebis</i>&mdash;portions of ear and the tip of her nose tilted over the edge
+of the deep turned-up collar, which, on one side, supported the coquettish
+droop of the hairy &ldquo;Tammy&rdquo; that, dexterously pinned to the spikes
+of a diamond fender, gave a <i>clou</i> to the entire &ldquo;<i>sac
+d&rsquo;artifice</i>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Walter, having already shot two bara singh and a serow, came under the
+&ldquo;statute of limitations&rdquo; of the Kashmir Game Laws, and had to sound
+the &ldquo;cease firing&rdquo; as regards these animals; but Charlotte and I,
+having &ldquo;khubbar&rdquo; of game, started at 7 A.M. in pursuit. She,
+attended by Walter and in tow of Asna (the best shikari in all Kashmir),
+followed up the nullah which lay to our right, while I deflected to the north.
+Having donned grass shoes, I started off up a very steep slope which rose
+directly behind the camp. Reaching snow within a few minutes of leaving my
+tent, I was glad to find it hard and the going good, the early sun not yet
+having had time to soften and destroy the crisp surface.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up and up we toiled, I puffing like any grampus&mdash;partly by reason of not
+yet being in good condition, and partly on account of the height, which was
+probably nearly 9000 feet above sea level. As we rose to the shoulder of the
+hill the gradient became much easier, and I had leisure to admire the panorama
+that stretched around the snowy ridge, which fell away abruptly on either side
+through dense pine forests. The day was quite glorious…. The sun, blazing in a
+cloudless sky, cast sharp steel-blue shadows where rock or tree stood between
+the snow and his nobility. The white peaks that rose around in marvellous array
+seemed so near in the bright air that it seemed as though one could see the
+smallest creature moving on their distant slopes. But there was little life
+observable in this still and silent world&mdash;nothing but an occasional pair
+of crows flapping steadily over the woods, or a far vulture circling at a giddy
+height in the &ldquo;blue dome of the air.&rdquo; Silence everywhere, except
+for the distant and perpetual voice of many waters murmuring in the unseen
+depths below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the south&mdash;showing clear above the serrated back of the ridge beyond
+the camp&mdash;stood the Pir Panjal; pale ivory in the pale horizon below the
+sun. At the foot of the valley up which we had come yesterday, and partly
+screened by the intruding buttresses of its enfolding hills, the Wular Lake lay
+a shimmering shield of molten silver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In front, the sheeted mountains which guard Gurais and flank the icy portals of
+the Tragbal stood, a series of glistening slopes and cold-crowned precipices,
+while to the east Haramok reared his 17,000 feet into a threefold peak of snowy
+majesty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a sight to thank God for, and to remember with joy all the days of
+one&rsquo;s life. Doubtless there are many views as wonderful in this lovely
+land, but this was the first, and therefore not to be effaced nor its memory
+dimmed by anything that may come after.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shikari had not climbed the mountain&rsquo;s brow to waste time over
+scenery; so, having apparently gone as far as he wanted on the ridge, he
+plunged down among the silver firs to the right, and I, with my heart in my
+mouth, went after him. At first it seemed to the inexperienced that we were
+slithering down the most awful places, and that, should the snow give way, I
+should have to swiftly embrace the nearest tree to avoid being shot down, a
+human avalanche, farther than I cared to think. However, I soon found it was
+all right. A welcome halt for lunch brought the tiffin coolie to the front. A
+blanket spread upon the hard snow at the foot of a fir made an excellent seat,
+and a cold roast teal, an apple, and a small flask of whisky were soon exhumed
+from the basket. Water, or rather the want of it, was a difficulty, for I was
+uncommonly thirsty, and no sign of any water was to be seen. A judicious
+blending of the dry teal with bits of succulent apple overcame the drought, and
+the half-hour for refreshment passed all too quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men considered it now time to get up some &ldquo;shikar,&rdquo; so they
+invented a bear. This was exciting! They had separated (there were four of
+them) in search of traces of bara singh, &amp;c., and some one found the bear,
+or its den, or a lock of its wool&mdash;I really couldn&rsquo;t quite ascertain
+which&mdash;but fearful excitement was the immediate result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A consultation took place in frenzied whispers. My rifle was peeled from its
+case, and we proceeded to scramble stealthily down a horribly steep face much
+broken by rocks. The shikari being in front with my rifle over his shoulder, I
+was favoured with frequent glimpses down its ugly black barrel as I, like Jill,
+&ldquo;came tumbling after,&rdquo; and I rejoiced that all the cartridges were
+safely stowed in my own pocket. Well! we searched like conspirators for that
+bear, peeped round rocks and peered into holes, and anxiously eyed all possible
+and impossible places where a bear might be supposed to reside, but there was
+no bear; and at length we arrived on the bank of the torrent which rioted
+noisily down the bottom of the nullah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I now began to realise that plunging about in snow, often over one&rsquo;s
+knees, and scrambling among the fallen tree-trunks and great rocks selected by
+the torrent to make its bed, was distinctly tiring work!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we came to a bridge over the river. It consisted of a single log, and
+appeared extremely slender. The stream was not deep enough to drown a man, but,
+all the same, a slip, sending one into the foaming water among a particularly
+large and hard collection of boulders, seemed most undesirable, and I stepped
+across, like Agag, delicately, carefully balancing myself with a khudstick. The
+men came prancing over as if they were on a good high-road, the careless ease
+with which they made the passage bordering on impertinence! I reflected,
+however, that sheep, and such like beasts of humble brain, can stroll upon the
+brink of gruesome precipices without any fear of falling, and my self-respect
+returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After another half-hour of stiff scrambling I sat down to rest awhile, leaving
+the men to spy the neighbourhood. Of course they had to find something, so this
+time they found a &ldquo;serow&rdquo;&mdash;a somewhat scarce beast. I awaited
+the coming of the serow at various coigns of vantage where they said it was
+bound to pass, while the four men surrounded it from different directions.
+Finally, like the Levite, it passed by on the other side&mdash;at least I never
+saw it. The shikari afterwards informed me, in confidence, that it was, like
+the inexcusable baby in <i>Peter Simple</i>, &ldquo;a very little one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We now made the best of our way down the nullah, and when an apology for a path
+became apparent I rejoiced greatly, and followed it along its corkscrew course
+until the camp came suddenly into view as we topped a spur, which gave the path
+a final excuse for dragging me up a stiff two hundred feet, and then sending me
+down a knee-shaking descent, for no apparent reason but pure
+&ldquo;cussedness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Charlotte had got home just before me, having seen nothing to shoot at. She,
+too, seemed anxious for tea!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the day Sabz Ali had been doing his level best to improve the position
+in our sleeping-tent. The camp-beds had stood at such an angle that it was
+almost impossible to avoid sliding gradually into the outer darkness, but S.A.
+had scraped out earth from the head, and filled up a terrace at the foot, in a
+way which gave us hope of sound sleep. Our things had been carefully stowed,
+too, and a sort of hole scooped for the bath. Luxury stared us in the face!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sunset certainly was a little dull last night, but we were quite unprepared
+for the dreary aspect of Dame Nature to which we awoke this morning. It was
+raining very heavily, and a dense pall of mist hung low among the pines, giving
+an impression of melancholy durability.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was obviously nothing to do but exist as cheerfully as might be until the
+weather improved. The wet had shrunk canvas and rope gear till the tent-guys
+were as taut as fiddle-strings; and as it did not seem to have occurred to any
+of the servants to attend to this, an immediate tour of the camp had to be
+undertaken, in &ldquo;rubbers&rdquo; and waterproofs, to slack off guys and
+inspect the drainage system, as we had no wish to have our earthen
+floor&mdash;already sufficiently cold and clammy&mdash;turned into an absolute
+swamp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These things done, we scuttled and slid down to the mess tent, and breakfasted
+as best we might; and the best was surprisingly good, considering the
+difficulties the wretched servants must have had in cooking anything in their
+wet lair, where the miserable fire of damp sticks produced apparently little
+but acrid smoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed a dismal day, as, wrapped in our warmest clothes, we sat upon our
+beds watching the rain turn to snow, then to hail and sleet, and finally back
+to rain again; while the ever-changing wisps of grey mist gathered thick in the
+glens, or &ldquo;put forth an arm and crept from pine to pine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards evening the clouds broke a little, and the forest-clad steeps appeared
+through them, powdered thickly with new snow. Walter and I sallied forth from
+our sodden tents and held a council of war in the mud. It was decided to quit
+our somewhat unsatisfactory and precarious position early to-morrow, if fine,
+as the weather looked so nasty, and a squall of wind might have awkward
+consequences.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, April</i> 14.&mdash;A very fairly fine morning enabled us to strike
+camp yesterday, and get the baggage off in good time. The Smithsons decided to
+make for the jheels near the river, in order to give the duck a final worry
+round before the season closes on the 15th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My shikari having reported a good bara singh in a small nullah off the Erin, I
+arranged to go in search of him. The march down to Bandipur was a short and
+easy one, and we got comfortably settled on board our boats early in the
+afternoon. About sunset the clouds gathered thick over the hills which we had
+left, and a thunderstorm broke, its preliminary squall throwing the crews of
+our fleet into a fearful fuss, and sending them on to the bank with extra ropes
+and holdfasts to make all secure. An elderly lady, with a dirty red cap and
+very untidy ringlets, superintended the business with much clamour. We take her
+to be the wife or grandmother (not sure which) of the skipper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with an undoubted sense of solid comfort that we lay in our cosy beds
+under a wooden roof, whereon the fat rain-drops sputtered, while the thunder
+still crackled and banged in the distance!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We shifted before dawn to a small village a couple of miles to the east, and at
+6.30 Jane and I set out to attack the bara singh, of which the shikari held out
+high hope. My wife, mounted on a rough pony, was able to accomplish with great
+comfort the two miles of flat country which we had to traverse before turning
+off sharp to the right along a track which led steeply upwards through the
+scrub that clothed the lower part of the nullah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is something unusually charming in the dawn here&mdash;the crisp, buoyant
+air, the silent hills, their lower slopes and corries still a purple mystery;
+on high, the silver peaks&mdash;looking ridiculously close&mdash;change swiftly
+from their cold pallor into rosy life at the first touch of the risen sun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first part of our day&rsquo;s work was easy enough. The sun was still
+hidden from us behind the mountain flange on our left; the snow patches on the
+sky-line ahead seemed comparatively near, and the diabolical swiftness of the
+shikari&rsquo;s stealthy walk was yet to be fully realised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up and up we went, first through a thick scrub or jungle of a highly prickly
+description, over a few small streams, then out upon a grassy ridge, up which
+we slowly panted. The gradient became sharper, and I began to feel a little
+anxious about Jane, as the short, brown grass was slippery with frost&mdash;a
+slip would be very easy, and the results unpleasant. However, with the able
+assistance of the shikari, she did very well, and, having crossed a shelving
+patch of snow by cutting steps with our khudstick, we found ourselves, after an
+hour and a half&rsquo;s stiff climbing, on the sky-line of the ridge that had
+seemed but an easy stroll from below. The heights and distances are most
+deceptive, partly on account of the crystal clearness of the air, and partly
+because of the magnitude of everything in proportion. The mountains are not
+only high themselves, but their spurs and foothills would rank as able-bodied
+mountains were they not dwarfed by peaks which average 15,000 feet in height
+above the sea. The pines which clothe their sides, the chenars and poplars in
+the valley, are all enormous when compared with their European cousins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The view was most remarkable as we gained the crest of the ridge&mdash;a sea of
+white cloud came boiling up from the valley to the east, and, pouring over the
+saddle upon which we stood, gave only occasional glimpses of snow and pine and
+precipice above, or the glint of water in the rice-fields far below. Once,
+between the swirling cloud masses, the near hills lay clear in the sunshine for
+a few moments and revealed a party of five bara singh hinds, crossing the slope
+in front of us, and not more than 150 yards away. Alas! there was no stag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was not satisfactory weather for stalking. However I was hopeful, as I
+have noticed that in the fine forenoons a thick white belt of cloud often forms
+about the snow level&mdash;roughly, some 8000 feet above the sea, or 3000 above
+the Wular Lake&mdash;and hangs there for an hour or two, to disappear entirely
+by midday. And so it came about to-day; after a halt for tiffin, I set forward
+in brilliant sunshine, while Jane remained quietly perched on the hillside, as
+the shikari said the road was not good for a lady. The shikari was right, as,
+within ten minutes of starting, we had to drop from the crest of the ridge to
+circumvent a big rock which barred our way, to find ourselves confronted by a
+very unpleasant-looking slope of short brown grass, which fell away at an angle
+of about 50° to what seemed an endless depth. This grass, having only just
+become emancipated from its winter snow, had all its hair&mdash;so to
+speak&mdash;brushed straight down, and there was mighty little stuff to hold on
+to! Carefully digging little holes with our khudsticks, and not disdaining the
+help of my shikari, I got across, and thankfully scrambled back to the safety
+of the ridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now we reached snow, and the going became easier, whereupon Ahmed Bot promptly
+set a pace which left me struggling far behind. As the sun grew stronger the
+surface-crust of the snow became soft, and at every few steps one went through
+to the knees, until both muscles and temper became sorely tried. For an hour or
+so we kept climbing up what was evidently one of the many steep and rugged
+ranges which, radiating from Haramok, on this side flank the Wular with their
+lofty bastions. Having apparently attained the height he deemed necessary, and
+got well above the part of the pine forest in which he expected to find game,
+Ahmed Bot turned to the left of the ridge, and we were immediately involved in
+the deep drifts which covered the pine-clad slope of the nullah. Over
+snow-covered trunks of prostrate trees, over hidden holes and broken rocks, we
+toiled and scrambled until, emerging breathless on a bare knoll&mdash;smooth
+and white as a great wedding-cake&mdash;we obtained a searching view into the
+neighbouring gullies. Still no sign or track of any &ldquo;beast,&rdquo; so we
+worked back until, tired and hot, I regained the place where Madame lay basking
+beneath her sunshade. The shikari and his myrmidons departed to
+&ldquo;look&rdquo; another bit of country, while I, nothing loth, remained to
+await events in the neighbourhood of the refreshment department.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the return of the men, who had of course seen nothing, we set off for home,
+climbing down the edge of the ridge where yellow colchicum starred the turf. It
+was steep&mdash;verging on the precipitous in places&mdash;and Jane frankly
+expressed her satisfaction when we accomplished the worst part and entered a
+dense jungle of scrubby bushes, all of which seemed to grow spines of sorts. A
+bear was said to have been seen here yesterday, so we kept our weather eyelids
+lifting, but were not favoured with a sight of him. We had almost gained the
+bottom of the hill, with but two short miles to dinner and a tub, when weird
+shrieks and whistles were exchanged between our people and an excited villager
+below. The shikari, his eyes gleaming with uncontrollable excitement, announced
+that the &ldquo;big stag&rdquo; was waiting for me at that very
+moment!&mdash;and therewith Ahmed Bot dashed off down the hill, leaving me to
+follow as best I might. Leaving my wife in charge of the tiffin coolie, I
+tumbled off after the shikari, whom I found gloating with the messenger over
+the inspiriting particulars of the monarch of the glen, which, I understood,
+crouched expectant some paltry 2000 feet above us, near the top of the nullah!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was past six o&rsquo;clock, and the light already showing signs of waning,
+so we lost no time in attacking the hill again. I was pretty well
+&ldquo;done,&rdquo; and had to accept a tow from the shikari, and hand in hand
+we pressed up that accursed hill until, at seven o&rsquo;clock, the sun set and
+it began to grow dusk. Lying down near the edge of the snow, to gain breath and
+let the shikari crawl round and &ldquo;look&rdquo; the face of the hill, I was
+soon moved to activity by the news that the stag was lying under a pine tree
+within a few hundred yards. A short &ldquo;crawl&rdquo; brought me within sight
+of the beast, who lay half-hidden by a rock. It was now so dark that even with
+my glasses I could only make sure that it was a &ldquo;horn beast&rdquo; and
+not a hind; there was no time to lose, so, putting up my sight for 150 yards, I
+let him have it, and was nearly as much surprised as gratified to see him roll
+out on the snow to the shot. My vexation and disgust may be imagined when I
+found the noble beast to be a miserable 8-pointer, which I would never have
+fired at if I could have seen its head properly. Heartily consigning the
+shikari, together with the mendacious villager and all his kind, to a hot
+place, I dolefully stumbled away downhill again in the gathering dark, and
+finally deposited my weary and dejected self on board the boat, after fourteen
+hours of the hardest walking I have ever done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a confused tale prevalent that the bear, taking a mean advantage of my
+absence, has been down to the village and eaten a few ponies, or frightened
+them&mdash;I can&rsquo;t make out which.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/>
+BACK TO SRINAGAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+Easter Day, <i>April</i> 23.&mdash;We left the Erin district early in the
+morning following the bara singh fiasco, and punted and poled up the river to
+join the Smithsons in a last attack upon the duck. We found the bold Colonel,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Rough with slaughter and red with fight,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+enjoying himself hugely among the jheels, and we prepared to join in the fray;
+but our <i>chasse</i> was put an end to by the discovery that the 14th, and not
+the 15th, was the last legal day for shooting. So we packed away our guns and
+towed up to Srinagar, which we reached on Sunday afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our brief experience of camping and &ldquo;shikar&rdquo; had proved to my wife
+that she was not cast in the heroic mould of a female Nimrod. Not being a shot
+herself&mdash;as Charlotte is&mdash;she saw that, as far as she was concerned,
+a shooting expedition with the Smithsons would entail a great deal of solitary
+rumination in camp, while the rest of the party pursued the red bear to his
+den, or chased the nimble markhor up and down the precipices. The joys of
+reading, knitting, and washing the family clothes might&mdash;probably
+would&mdash;pall after a time; and the physical exertion of &ldquo;walking with
+the guns&rdquo; in Kashmir is decidedly more of an undertaking than over a
+Perthshire grouse moor! Our original arrangement, before coming out to join the
+Smithsons, was that the time should be spent in camping, boating,
+&ldquo;loafing,&rdquo; and shooting. Being perfectly ignorant of the conditions
+of life out here, we were unaware of the fact that it is practically impossible
+to combine serious shooting with any other form of amusement. In Scotland one
+may stalk one day, fish the next, and golf the third, but out here it is not
+so. The worshipper of Diana must be prepared to sacrifice everything else at
+her shrine; he must go far afield, and be prepared to live hard and work hard,
+and even then it may befall that his trophies of the chase are none too
+plentiful. That will depend a good deal on his shikari and his own knowledge,
+together with luck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Walter had the good fortune to come upon two fine stags not far from his camp
+almost as soon as he got there. He was within fifty yards of them as they were
+moving slowly in deep snow, and he killed them both; the best of these was a
+remarkably fine 10-pointer, length of horn 41 inches and span 38-1/2 inches.
+His wife spent an equal time in the same neighbourhood and never saw
+anything.[1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] That lady subsequently killed a remarkably good 13-pointer bara singh and
+some bears in October.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we talked over plans with Colonel and Mrs. Smithson at Pindi, the general
+idea had crystallised into a scheme for going into Astor to shoot, immediately
+upon our arrival in Kashmir, and, in order to reach Srinagar before April
+1st&mdash;the date of issue of shooting passes&mdash;we had struggled hard to
+make our way into the country before it was really attractive to the ordinary
+visitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we did reach Srinagar we found that our friends had abandoned all idea of
+an expedition to Astor, partly on account of expense, but principally on
+account of the backwardness of the season, which practically precluded ladies
+from crossing the Tragbal and Boorzil Passes for some time. The merits and
+demerits of the Tilail district and Baltistan came up for review, and then we
+almost decided to go to Leh until we reflected that the return journey over a
+bare and open country&mdash;arid and hot as an Egyptian desert&mdash;in the
+month of August might not be unmixed joy, and the Smithsons were assured that
+they would find no sport whatever <i>en route</i>, but would have to go several
+marches beyond Leh to obtain the chance of an Ovis Ammon or Thibetan antelope.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Leh scheme thus having come to naught, and our friends being still wholly
+intent on &ldquo;shikar&rdquo; to the exclusion of all other pursuits, we
+decided to be independent, so we hired a nice-looking boarded dounga, whose
+fresh and clean appearance pleased us, for a term of three months.
+Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel offered so few attractions and so many drawbacks that we
+were prepared to do anything rather than return to it, and, as a matter of
+economy, we scored heavily, as, on working it out, we found that the boat,
+including the cook-boat, would cost 60 rupees per month. Our food and the wages
+of those servants whom we should not have required at the hotel came to
+approximately 80 rupees per month, making a total of 140 rupees, or £9, 6s.
+8d.; whereas our hotel bill would have come to 12 rupees per day, without
+extras&mdash;or 360 rupees (£24) per month&mdash;a clear saving in money as
+well as in comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our new habitation&mdash;the house dounga <i>Moon</i>&mdash;was owned and
+partly worked by Satarah, an astute old rascal, whose &ldquo;tawny
+beard,&rdquo; like Hudibras&rsquo;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Was the equal grace<br/>
+Both of his wisdom and his face;<br/>
+In cut and dye so like a tyle<br/>
+A sudden view it would beguile:<br/>
+The upper part whereof was whey,<br/>
+The nether orange mixt with grey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His costume consisted of a curious sort of short nightgown worn over white and
+flappy trousers, below which were revealed a pair of big, flat naval feet. The
+first lieutenant, Sabhana&mdash;sleek and civil-spoken, but desperately afraid
+of work&mdash;was, we understand, son-in-law to the Admiral Satarah, having to
+wife the Lady Jiggry, eldest daughter of that worthy, who, with her younger
+sisters Nouri, Azizi, and &ldquo;the Baba,&rdquo; completed the ship&rsquo;s
+company.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <i>Moon</i> differed from an ordinary house-boat in being narrower, and
+possessing a long bow and stern which projected far enough from the body of the
+boat to enable men to pole or paddle with ease; a house-boat can only be towed.
+On embarking by means of a narrow gangway&mdash;a plank possessed of an
+uncontrollable desire to &ldquo;tip-up&rdquo; at unexpected and disconcerting
+moments&mdash;one entered first a small vestibule, or &ldquo;ante-cabin,&rdquo;
+which held our big boxes and opened into the drawing-room&mdash;quite a roomy
+apartment, about fifteen feet by ten feet, fitted with a fireplace, a rough
+writing-table, and overmantel, surmounted by a photograph&mdash;something
+faded&mdash;of Mrs. Langtry! A small table and a couple of deck chairs graced
+the floor, while upon the walls a heterogeneous collection of pictures,
+including a coloured lithograph of a cottage and a brook, a fearful and
+wonderful portrayal of an otter, and a very fancy stag of unlimited points
+dazzled the eye. The ceiling was decorated with an elaborate and most effective
+design in wood&mdash;a fashion very common in Srinagar, consisting of a sort of
+patchwork panelling of small pieces of wood, cut to length and shape, and
+tacked on to a backing in geometrical designs. At a little distance the effect
+is rich and excellent, but close inspection shows up the tintacks and the glue,
+and a prying finger penetrates the solid-looking panel with perfect ease.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The drawing-room was separated from the dining &ldquo;saloon&rdquo; by a
+sliding door&mdash;which frequently refused to slide at all, or else perversely
+slid so suddenly as to endanger finger-tips and cause unseemly words to flow.
+This noble apartment of elegant dimensions (to borrow the undefiled English of
+the house-agent) could contain four feasters at a pinch. Sabz Ali having cooked
+the dinner, the cook-boat was laid alongside, and Sabz Ali, clambering in and
+out of the window, proceeded to serve the repast, a black paw, presumably
+belonging to Ayata, the kitchenmaid-man, appearing from time to time to
+retrieve the soiled plates or hand up the next course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A funny little sideboard and cupboard contained a slender stock of knives,
+forks, and glasses, and part of a broken-down dinner set, while the fireplace
+easily held three dozen of soda-water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came Jane&rsquo;s bedroom, fitted with a cupboard and shelves, which were
+a constant source of covetousness to me, who had none. A small bathroom
+completed our suite of apartments, and, after the bare boards of the
+<i>Cruiser</i>, the <i>Moon</i> seemed to overflow with luxury.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We have been taking life easily here for the last week. The Smithsons intend
+going into Tilail as soon as the Tragbal becomes feasible; we propose to remain
+in Srinagar for a while. The weather has not been very fine&mdash;cold winds
+and a good deal of rain, varied by thunderstorms, being our daily experience.
+The spring is, I am told, exceptionally backward, and, although the almond is
+in full and lovely flower, the poplars and chenars are barely showing a sign of
+life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My wife having gone to lunch at the Residency this afternoon, I walked half-way
+up the Takht-i-Suleiman, whose sharp, rock-strewn pyramid rises a thousand feet
+above Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The view of the Kashmir plain, through which the river winds like a silver
+snake; the solemn ring of mountains, enclosing the valley with a rampart of
+rock and snow; the innumerable roofs of the city, glittering like burnished
+scales in the keen sunlight, densely clustered round the fort-crowned height of
+Hari Parbat, went to make up such a picture as Turner would have kneeled to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course it is simply futile to compare one magnificent view with another
+which differs entirely in kind. All that one can do is to lay by in the memory
+a mental picture-gallery of recollection; and as I sat in the shelter of a big
+rock, gazing out over the level plain stretching below, where the changing
+shadows as they swept by turned the amber masses of the trees to gold, I
+conjured up in my mind&rsquo;s eye other scenes whose beauties will remain with
+me while life shall last:&mdash;The purple and gold of a glorious sunset over
+Etna, the Greek theatre of Taormina in front of me, with the sea below&mdash;a
+shimmering opal that melted away in the haze beyond Syracuse; the awful rapids
+raging furiously below Niagara, a very ocean tortured and maddened to blind
+fury, pouring its irresistible torrents through the chasm above the whirlpool;
+and again, a cloudless October morning, with just the keen zest of early autumn
+in the air, as I lay high up on a hillside in Ardgour watching for
+deer&mdash;with the hills of Lochaber and Ballachulish reflected in all their
+glory of purple and russet in the waters of Loch Linnhe, windless and still!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chills can be caught amidst the most glorious scenery&mdash;the little tufts of
+purple self-heal at my feet were shivering and shaking in a biting breeze that
+swept down from the snows to the north-east, and although I am an admirer of
+Kingsley, I do not hold with him in his wrong-headed admiration for a
+&ldquo;nor&rsquo;-easter&rdquo;&mdash;so I quitted my perch in search of tea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Easter Monday</i>.&mdash;The Smithsons scuttled away in a great hurry
+to-day, their shikari, Asna (the best shikari in Kashmir), having heard that,
+owing to the lateness of the season, the bara singh have not even yet all shed
+their horns&mdash;so Charlotte is filled with high hope. The bears, too, are
+said to be waking from their winter&rsquo;s doze and poking around in warm and
+balmy corners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Armed to the teeth and thirsting for blood, the hunter and the huntress cast
+loose their matted dounga and paddled away merrily down the Jhelum to Bandipur,
+thence to pursue the royal bara singh, and later, if possible, scale the
+snow-barred slopes of the Tragbal and penetrate the lonely Tilail Valley to
+assail the red bear and the multitudinous ibex.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and I having decided that a purely shikar expedition into the more
+difficult parts of the country was not suited to our prosaic habits, remained
+to enjoy the effeminate pleasures of Srinagar till the weather should grow a
+few degrees warmer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we are bidden to a sort of state luncheon to-morrow, given by the Maharajah,
+it appeared to me to be but right and seemly to go and inscribe my name in the
+visitors&rsquo; book of His Highness, and also to call upon his brother, the
+Rajah Sir Amar Singh. I went with the more alacrity as I thought it might prove
+interesting. Strolling across the big bridge above the Palace, I soon found
+myself in the purely native quarter, immersed in a seething crowd of men and
+beasts, from beneath whose passing feet a cloud of dust rose pungent. The
+water-sellers, the hawkers of vegetables and of sweets, the cattle, the loafers
+and the children got into the way and out of it in kaleidoscopic confusion. By
+the side of the street, money-changers, wrapped in silent consideration, bent
+over their trays of queer and outlandish coins. Bright cottons and silks
+flaunted pennons of gorgeous colours. Brass, glowing like gold, rose piled on
+low wide counters. In front stood the Palace, looking its best from this point,
+and showing huge beside the huddle of wooden and plaster huts which hem it in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+General Raja Sir Amar Singh lives in a sort of glorified English villa. Were it
+not for the flowering oleanders and hibiscus in front and the silvery gleam of
+temple domes beyond, one might suppose oneself near the banks of Father Thames.
+And were it not for the group of stalwart retainers at the door, the illusion
+need not be lost on entering the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hall and staircase were decorated with a profusion of skins and horns,
+somewhat modern and brilliant rugs, and tall glasses full of flowers closely
+copied from Nature; while the drawing-room was of a type very frequently seen
+near London.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Like so many British reception-rooms, it shone replete with <i>objets
+d&rsquo;art</i>, rather inclining to Oriental luxury than Japanese restraint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My host, who came in almost immediately, was charming, speaking English with
+fluency, although he has never been in England.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He is essentially a strong man, and remarkably well posted in everything, both
+political and social, that occurs in the state, mixing far more freely than his
+brother with the English, towards whom his courtesy is proverbial.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many respects of a
+different type. Keeping more aloof from the English colony, he spends much of
+his time in devotion and the privacy of the inner Palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the iron
+bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like precincts of
+the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage, and found ourselves
+at the &ldquo;front door,&rdquo; where, in the visitors&rsquo; book, by means
+of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>April</i> 27.&mdash;His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a
+luncheon given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared
+to cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the present
+feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of the Moguls when
+Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair Nourmahal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Th&rsquo; Imperial Selim held a feast<br/>
+In his magnificent Shalimar:&mdash;<br/>
+In whose saloons …<br/>
+The valleys&rsquo; loveliest all assembled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the stern,
+where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an awning, was
+brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some seven or eight
+miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the Sunt-i-kul
+Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the Takht-i-Suleiman, the
+rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple, forms a constant background to
+Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The canal was closely lined with house-boats and their satellite cook-boats,
+clinging to the poplar-shaded banks. The golf-links lay on our left, and on a
+low spur to the right stood the hospital, which the energy and philanthropy of
+the Neves has gained for the remarkably ungrateful Kashmiri. It is told that a
+man, being exceedingly ill, was cared for and nursed during many weeks in the
+Mission Hospital, his whole family likewise living on the kindly sahibs. When
+he was cured and shown the door, he burst into tears because he was not paid
+wages for all the time he had spent in hospital!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just before entering the waterway of noble chenars, known as the Chenar Bagh (a
+camping-ground reserved for bachelors only), we ported our helm (or at least
+would have done so had there been any rudders in Kashmir), and pushed through
+the lock-gate, which gives entrance to the Dal Lake, against a brisk current.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This gate, cunningly arranged upon the non-return-valve principle, is normally
+kept open by the current from the Dal; but if the Jhelum, rising in flood,
+threatens to pour back into the lake and swamp the low ground and floating
+gardens, it closes automatically, and so remains sealed until the outward flow
+regains the mastery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A sharp bout of paddling, puffing, and splashing shot us into the peaceful
+waters of the Dal Lake, over which every traveller has gushed and raved. It is
+difficult, indeed, not to do so, for it is truly a dream of beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A placid sheet of still water, its surface only broken here and there by the
+silvery trails of rippled wake left by the darting shikaras or slow-moving
+market boats, lay before us, shining in the crystal-clear atmosphere. On the
+right rose the Takht, his thousand feet of rocky stature dwarfed into
+insignificance by holy Mahadeo and his peers, whose shattered peaks ring round
+the lake to the north, their dark cliffs and shaggy steeps mirrored in its
+peaceful surface.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the lower slopes strong patches of yellow mustard and white masses of
+blossoming pear-trees rose behind the tender green fringe of the young willows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we swept on, the lake widened. On the left a network of water lanes threaded
+the maze of low-growing brushwood and whispering reeds, and round us extended
+the half-submerged patches of soil which form the celebrated &ldquo;floating
+gardens&rdquo; of the lake. From any point of view except the utilitarian,
+these gardens are a fraud. A combination of matted and decaying water-plants,
+mud, and young cabbages kept in place by rows and thickets of willow scrub, is
+curious, but not lovely; and our eyes turned away to where Hari Parbat raised
+his crown of crumbling forts above the native city, or to the mysterious ruins
+of Peri Mahal, clinging like a swallow&rsquo;s nest to the shelving slopes
+above Gupkar.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Still onward; and the clear canal<br/>
+Is rounded to as clear a lake;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and we emerged from the willow-fringed water lanes, and saw across the wider
+shield of glistering water the white cube of the Nishat Bagh Pavilion&mdash;the
+Garden of Joy, made for Jehangir the Mogul&mdash;standing by the water&rsquo;s
+edge, and at its foot a great throng and clutter of boats, amidst whose snaky
+prows we pushed our way and landed, something stiff after sitting for two hours
+in a cramped shikara.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Other guests&mdash;some thirty in all&mdash;were arriving, either like us by
+boat, or by carriage <i>viâ</i> Gupkar, and we strolled in groups up the
+sloping gardens, which still show, in their wild and unrestrained beauty, the
+loving touch of the long-vanished hand of the Mogul.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down seven wide grassy terraces a series of fountains splashed and twinkled in
+the sun. Broad chenars, just beginning to break into leaf, gave promise of
+ample shade against the day when the blaze should become overpowering. So far
+so good, but the grass that bordered the path was not the sweet green turf of
+an English lawn, and the way was edged by big earthen pots, into which were
+hastily stuck wisps of iris blooms and Persian lilac. The topmost terrace
+widened out, enclosing a large basin of clear water, in the middle of which
+played a fountain. On one side was raised a marquee, revealing welcome
+preparations for lunch. On the opposite side of the fountain a profusion of
+chairs, shaded by a great awning, stood expectantly facing a bandstand. Here we
+were welcomed by His Highness, a somewhat small man with exceedingly neat legs
+and an enormous white pugaree, in his customary gracious manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was now half-past two, and we had breakfasted early, so that a move towards
+the luncheon tent was most welcome. Finding the fair lady whom I was detailed
+to personally conduct, and the ticketed place where I was to sit, I prepared to
+make a Gargantuan meal. Was it not almost on this very spot that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The board was spread with fruit and wine,<br/>
+With grapes of gold, like those that shine<br/>
+On Casbin&rsquo;s hills;&mdash;pomegranates full<br/>
+    Of melting sweetness, and the pears<br/>
+And sunniest apples that Cabul<br/>
+    In all its thousand gardens bears.<br/>
+Plantains, the golden and the green,<br/>
+Malaya&rsquo;s nectar&rsquo;d mangusteen;<br/>
+Prunes of Bokara, and sweet nuts<br/>
+    From the far groves of Samarcand,<br/>
+And Basra dates, and apricots,<br/>
+    Seed of the sun, from Iran&rsquo;s land;&mdash;<br/>
+With rich conserve of Visna cherries,<br/>
+Of orange flowers, and of those berries<br/>
+That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles<br/>
+Feed on in Erac&rsquo;s rocky dells..<br/>
+Wines, too, of every clime and hue<br/>
+Around their liquid lustre threw;<br/>
+Amber Rosolli..<br/>
+And Shiraz wine, that richly ran..<br/>
+Melted within the goblets there!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+This reckless, but unsubstantial and very unwholesome meal, was not for us, and
+while waiting patiently for the first course to appear, I glanced down the long
+table to admire the decorations. They were delightful, consisting of glass
+flower-vases spaced regularly along the festive board, and filled to
+overflowing with tufts and clumps of flowers. Innumerable plates filled with
+fruit and sweetmeats graced the feast, and a magnificent array of knives and
+forks gave promise of good things to come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the expected dainties arrived, resembling but little the
+lately-described poetic feast; a strict attention to business enabled us to
+keep the wolf from the door, and a very cheerful party finally emerged from the
+big tent to stroll by the fountains that flashed under the chenars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Maharajah, of course, did not lunch with us, but held aloof, peeping
+occasionally into the cook-house to satisfy himself that the lions were being
+fed properly, and in accordance with their unclean customs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, he and his chief officers of state vanished into a secluded tent,
+where he probably took a little refreshment, having first carefully performed
+the ablutions necessary after the contamination of the unbeliever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His Highness reappeared from nowhere in particular as his guests strolled
+across the terrace, and, after a little polite conversation, we took our leave
+and set forth for Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a glorious afternoon, and we deeply regretted that time would not permit
+us to visit the neighbouring Shalimar Bagh, which lay hidden among the trees
+near by. The excursion must remain a &ldquo;hope deferred&rdquo; for the
+present, as we had again to thread the maze of half-submerged melon plots and
+miniature kitchen gardens which, even in the golden glow of a perfect evening,
+could not be made to fit in with our preconceived ideas of &ldquo;floating
+gardens.&rdquo; Jane was frankly disappointed, as she admitted to having
+pictured in her mind&rsquo;s eye a series of peripatetic herbaceous borders in
+full flower, cruising about the lake at their own sweet will and tended by fair
+Kashmirian maidens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By-the-bye, here let me expose, once for all, the fallacy of Moore&rsquo;s
+drivel about the lovely maids of fair &ldquo;Cashmere.&rdquo; <i>There are
+none!</i> This appears a startling statement and a sweeping; but, as a matter
+of fact, the Eastern girl is not left, like her Western sister, to flirt and
+frivol into middle age in single &ldquo;cussedness,&rdquo; but almost
+invariably becomes a respectable married lady at ten or twelve, and drapes her
+lovely, but not over clean, head in the mantle of old sacking, which it is
+<i>de rigueur</i> for matrons to adopt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The good Tommy Moore did not know this, but, letting his warm Irish imagination
+run riot through a mixed bag of Eastern romancists and their works, he evolved,
+amid a <i>pôt pourri</i> of impossibilities, an impossible damsel as unlike
+anything to be found in these parts as the celebrated elephant evolved from his
+inner consciousness by the German professor!
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+As I traversed the main, or rolled by train,<br/>
+    From my Western habitation,<br/>
+I frequently thought&mdash;perhaps more than I ought&mdash;<br/>
+    Upon many a quiet occasion<br/>
+Of the elegant forms and manifold charms<br/>
+    Of the beautiful female Asian.<br/>
+<br/>
+For the good Tommy Moore, in his pages of yore,<br/>
+    Sang as though he could never be weary<br/>
+Of fair Nourmahal&mdash;an adorable &ldquo;gal&rdquo;&mdash;<br/>
+    And of Paradise and the Peri,<br/>
+Until, I declare, I was wild to be where<br/>
+    I might gaze on the lovely Kashmiri.<br/>
+<br/>
+Through the hot plains of Ind I fled like the wind,<br/>
+    Unenchanted by mistress or ayah,<br/>
+The dusky Hindu, I soon saw, wouldn&rsquo;t do,<br/>
+    So I paused not, until in the sky&mdash;&mdash;Ah!&mdash;<br/>
+Far upward arose the perpetual snows<br/>
+    And the peaks of the proud Himalaya.<br/>
+<br/>
+But in Kashmir, alas! I found not a lass<br/>
+    Who answered to Tommy&rsquo;s description&mdash;<br/>
+For the make of such maid I am sadly afraid<br/>
+    The fond parents have lost the prescription,<br/>
+And I murmured; &ldquo;No doubt, the old breed has died out,<br/>
+    At least such is my honest conviction.&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+In the horrible slums which form the foul homes<br/>
+    Of the rag-covered dames of the city,<br/>
+I saw wrinkled hags, all wrapped in old rags,<br/>
+    Whose appearance excited but pity.<br/>
+Beyond question the word which it would be absurd<br/>
+    To apply to these ladies is &ldquo;pretty.&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+In the high Gujar huts were but brats and old sluts,<br/>
+    These last being the plainest of women;<br/>
+Then I sought on the waters the sisters and daughters<br/>
+    Of the Mangis&mdash;those &ldquo;bold, able seamen&rdquo;<br/>
+(I have often been told that the Mangi is bold,<br/>
+    And as brave as at least two or three men).<br/>
+<br/>
+One lady I saw&mdash;I am told her papa<br/>
+    In the market did forage and &ldquo;gram&rdquo; sell&mdash;<br/>
+Decked all over with rings, necklets, bangles and things,<br/>
+    She appeared a desirable damsel;<br/>
+And I cried &ldquo;Oh, Eureka! I&rsquo;ve found what I seek:<br/>
+    Tell me quick&mdash;Is she &lsquo;madam&rsquo; or
+&lsquo;ma&rsquo;mselle&rsquo;?&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+It was comical, but to this question I put&mdash;<br/>
+    A remarkably innocent query&mdash;<br/>
+I received but a sigh or evasive reply,<br/>
+    Or a blush from the modest Kashmiri;<br/>
+And I gathered at last that the lady was &ldquo;fast,&rdquo;<br/>
+    And her name should be Phryne, not Heré.<br/>
+<br/>
+Toddled up a small tot&mdash;her hair tied in a knot&mdash;<br/>
+    Who remarked, &ldquo;I can hardly consider<br/>
+You&rsquo;ve the ghost of a chance on this wild-goosie dance<br/>
+    Unless you should hap on a &lsquo;widder!&rsquo;<br/>
+For our maidens at ten&mdash;ay, and less now and then&mdash;<br/>
+    Are all booked to the wealthiest bidder.&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;My dear man, it&rsquo;s no use to indulge in abuse<br/>
+    Of our customs, so be not enraged, sir&mdash;<br/>
+No woman a maid is&mdash;we&rsquo;re all married ladies.<br/>
+    Our charms very early are caged, sir&mdash;<br/>
+I&rsquo;m eleven myself,&rdquo; remarked the small elf,<br/>
+    &ldquo;And a year ago I was engaged, sir!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ah, well! The country is the loveliest I ever saw, and that goes far to make up
+for its disgusting population.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, indeed, it is that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stopped to look at the ruins of an ancient mosque, built in the days of
+Akbar by the Shiahs. Its remains may be deeply interesting to the
+archaeologist, but to me a neighbouring ziarat, wooden, with its grassy roof
+one blaze of scarlet tulips, was far more attractive. Moving homeward, we
+floated under a lovely old bridge, whose three rose-toned arches date from the
+sixteenth century&mdash;the age of the Great Moguls. The extreme solidity of
+its piers contrasts strongly with the exceedingly sketchy (and sketchable)
+bridges manufactured by the Kashmiri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In fairness, though, I must point out that, as the bridge in Kashmir usually
+spans a stream liable at almost any moment to overwhelming floods, it would
+appear to be a sound idea to build as flimsily as possible, with an eye to
+economical replacement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Kashmiri carries this plan to its logical conclusion when he fells a tree
+across a raging torrent, and calls it a bridge, to the unutterable discomfiture
+of the Western wayfarer.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/>
+THE LOLAB</h2>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 1.&mdash;The pear and cherry blossom has been so lovely in and
+around Srinagar that we determined to go to the Lolab Valley and see the apple
+blossom in full flower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We started in some trepidation, for the warm weather lately has melted much
+snow on the hills, and Jhelum is so full that we were told that our
+three-decker would be unable to pass under the city bridges&mdash;of which
+there are seven. We decided to see for ourselves, so set forth about eleven,
+and soon came to the first bridge, the Amira Kadal, which carries the main
+tonga road into Srinagar, tying up just above it, amid the clamour and jabber
+of an idle crowd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Admiral solemnly measured the clear space between the top of the arch and
+the water with a long pole, consulted noisily with the crowd, yelled his ideas
+to the crew, and decided to attempt the passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hen-coops, chairs, half-a-dozen flower-pots containing sickly specimens of
+plants, and all other movables being cleared from the upper deck, we set sail,
+and shot the bridge very neatly, only having a few inches of daylight between
+the upper deck and the wooden beams upon which the roadway rests.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Ce nest que, le premier &ldquo;pont&rdquo; que coute</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other bridges were all easier than the first, and we shot them gaily,
+spending the rest of the day in floating quietly down the river, and finally
+anchoring&mdash;or rather mooring, for anchors are, like boat-hooks, masts,
+sails, rudders, and rigging, alike unknown to the &ldquo;jollye mariners&rdquo;
+of the Jhelum&mdash;some two or three miles above the entrance to the dreaded
+Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This awful stretch of water, so feared by the Kashmiri that his eyes goggle
+when he even thinks of it, is an innocent enough looking lake, generally
+occupied in reflectively reproducing its surroundings upside down, but
+occasionally its calm surface is ruffled by a little breeze, and it is reported
+that wild and horrible squalls sweep down the nullahs of Haramok at times, and
+destroy the unwary. These squalls are said to be most frequent in the
+afternoons, and are probably the accompaniments of the thunderstorms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is only considered possible to cross the Wular between dawn and 10 or 11
+A.M., and no persuasion will prevail upon a native boatman to risk his life on
+the lake after lunch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before turning in, I gave orders that a start should be made next morning at
+five o&rsquo;clock, but a heavy squall of rain and thunder during the night had
+the effect of causing orders to be set at naught, and at breakfast-time there
+was no sign of &ldquo;up anchor&rdquo; nor even of &ldquo;heaving short.&rdquo;
+An interview with the Admiral showed me that the Wular, in his opinion, was too
+dangerous to cross to-day&mdash;in fact he wouldn&rsquo;t dream of asking
+coolies to risk it. He was given to understand that we intended to cross, and
+that the sooner he started the safer it would be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No coolies being forthcoming, I inhumanly gave orders to get under
+way&mdash;the available crew consisting of the wicked Satarah, the first
+lieutenant, and the Lady Jiggry. Sulkily and slowly we wended our way past the
+wide flats which border the Wular, all blazing golden with mustard in full
+pungent flower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before entering the lake the Admiral meekly requested to be allowed to try for
+coolies in a small village near by. He was allowed quarter of an hour for
+pressgang work, and sure enough he came back within a very reasonable time with
+a few spare hands, and then&mdash;paddling and poling for dear life&mdash;we
+glided swiftly through the tangled lily-pads and the green rosettes of the
+Singhara, and soon were <i>in medias res</i> and fairly committed to the deep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Wular lay like a burnished mirror, reflecting the buttresses of Haramok on
+our right, and the snowy ranges by the Tragbal ahead, its silvery surface lined
+here and there with the wavering tracks of other boats, or broken by bristling
+clumps of reeds and tall water-plants. Our transit was perfectly peaceful, and
+by lunch-time we were safely tied up to a bank, purple with irises, just below
+Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit to the post-office and a stroll up the rocky hill behind it, where we
+sat for some time and watched a pair of jackals sneaking about, completed a
+peaceful afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 3.&mdash;We were up with the lark, and, having moved along the coast
+a few miles to the west of Bandipur, left the ship before six of the clock in
+pursuit of bear. I had &ldquo;khubbar&rdquo; of one in the Malingam Nullah,
+and, after a brisk walk over the lower slopes, we entered the nullah and
+clambered up about 1500 feet to a quiet and retired spot under a shady
+thorn-bush, where we breakfasted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We thereafter climbed a little higher, and then sat down while the shikaris
+departed to spy, their method of spying being, I believe, somewhat after this
+fashion:&mdash;Leaving the sahib with his belongings&mdash;notably the tiffin
+coolie&mdash;in a spot carefully selected for its seclusion, the miscreants
+depart hurriedly and rapidly up the nearest inaccessible crag; this is
+&ldquo;business,&rdquo; and throws dust, so to say, in the eyes of the sahib,
+by means of an exhibition of activity and zeal. Passing out of sight over the
+sky-line, the hunters pause, wink at one another, and, choosing a shady and
+convenient corner, proceed to squat, light their pipes, and discuss
+matters&mdash;chiefly financial&mdash;until they deem it time to return,
+scrambling and breathless with excitement, to relate all that they have seen
+and done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, while the shikaris unceasingly spied for bear, for nine mortal hours Jane
+and I camped out on a remarkably hard and unyielding stone, varied by other
+seats equally tiresome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony by
+observing the habits of a pair of &ldquo;kastooras,&rdquo; a hawk, and a brace
+of chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At four o&rsquo;clock the sons of Nimrod returned, declaring that the bear had
+been seen, but that as we had on chaplies and not grass shoes, it would be
+impossible for us to pursue him. I asked the shikari why the &mdash;&mdash;
+goose he had let me come out in chaplies instead of grass shoes if the country
+was so rough? His reply was to the effect that whatever it pleased me to wear
+pleased him!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 4.&mdash;Armed <i>cap-à-pie</i> so to speak, with pith helmets and
+grass shoes, we again set forth at dawn of day to hunt the bear. Breakfast
+under the same tree, sitting on the same patch of rose-coloured flowers&mdash;a
+sort of fumitory (<i>Corydalus rutaefolia</i>)&mdash;followed by another
+nine-hour bivouac, brought us to 5 P.M. and the extreme limit of boredom, when
+lo! the shikaris burst upon us in a state of frenzied excitement to announce
+the bear! Off we went up a steep track for a quarter of an hour, until, at the
+foot of a rough snow slope, the shikari told the much disgusted Jane that she
+must wait there, the rest of the climb being too hard for her, and, in truth,
+it was pretty bad. Up a very steep gully filled with loose stones and rotten
+snow, scrambling, and often hauling ourselves up with our hands by means of
+roots and trailing branches, we slowly worked our way up a place I would never
+have even attempted in cold blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Twenty minutes&rsquo; severe exertion brought us to a shelf, or rather slope,
+of rock on the right, sparsely covered with wiry brown grass from which the
+snow had but very recently gone, and crowned by a crest of stunted pines. Up
+this we wriggled, I being mainly towed up by my shikari&rsquo;s cummerbund,
+and, lying under a pine, we peered over the top.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A steep gully divided us from a rough ridge, upon a grassy ledge of which,
+about 200 yards off, a big black beast was grubbing and rooting about.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shikari, shaking with excitement, handed me the rifle, urging me to shoot.
+I did nothing of the sort, having no breath, and my hand being unsteady from a
+fast and stiff climb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I regret to be obliged to admit that, not realising that it would be little
+short of miraculous to kill a bear stone-dead at 200 yards with a Mannlicher,
+and being also, naturally, somewhat carried away by the sight of a real bear
+within possible distance, I waited until I was perfectly steady, and fired. The
+brute fell over, but immediately picked himself up again and made off. I saw I
+had broken his fore-shoulder and fired again as he disappeared over the far
+side of the ledge, but missed, and I saw that bear no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had the utmost difficulty in crossing the precipitous gully to a spot below
+the ledge upon which the beast had been feeding&mdash;the ledge itself we could
+not reach at all; and the lateness of the hour and the difficulty of the
+country in which we were, prevented us from trying to enter the next ravine and
+work up and back by the way the bear had gone. A neck-breaking crawl down a
+horrible grass slope brought us to better ground, and I sadly joined Jane to be
+well and deservedly scolded for firing a foolish shot. The lady was very much
+disgusted at having been defrauded of the sight of a bear &ldquo;quite
+wild,&rdquo; as she expressed it&mdash;a certain short-tempered animal which
+had eaten up her best umbrella in the Zoo at Dusseldorf not having fulfilled
+the necessary condition of wildness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next day I sent out coolies to search for traces, promising lavish
+&ldquo;backshish&rdquo; in the event of success, but I got no trustworthy news,
+&ldquo;and that was the end of that hunting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 6.&mdash;Jane took a respite from the chase, and I sallied forth
+alone at dawn up a nullah from Alsu to look for a bear which was said to
+frequent those parts. A brisk walk of some four miles over the flat, followed
+by a climb up a track&mdash;steep as usual&mdash;to the left of the main track
+to the Lolab, brought us to a grassy ridge, where I sat down patiently to await
+the bear&rsquo;s pleasure. I took my note-book with me, and whiled away some
+time in writing the following:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let me jot down a sketch of my present position and surroundings; it will serve
+to bring the scene back to me, perhaps, when I am again sitting in my own
+particular armchair watching the fat thrushes hopping about the lawn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I am perched in a little hollow under a big grey boulder, which serves to
+shelter me to a certain, but limited, extent from the brisk showers that come
+sweeping over from the Lolab Valley. The hollow is so small that it barely
+contains my tiffin basket, rifle, gun, and self&mdash;in fact, my grass-shod
+and puttied extremities dangle over the rim, whence a steep slope shelves down
+some 200 feet to a brawling burn, the hum of which, mingling with the fitful
+sighing of the pines as the breeze sweeps through their sounding boughs, is
+perpetually in my ears. Across the little torrent, and not more than a hundred
+yards away, rises a slope, covered with rough grass and scrub, similar to that
+in the face of which I am ensconced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the bear was seen at 7 A.M. by a Gujar, who gave the fullest particulars
+to Ahmed Bot (my shikari) in a series of yells from a hill-top as we came up
+the valley. We arrived on the scene about seven, just in time to be too late,
+apparently. It is now 3 P.M., and the bear is supposed to be asleep, and I am
+possessing my soul in patience until it shall be Bruin&rsquo;s pleasure to
+awake and sally forth for his afternoon tea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is certainly no bear now, so I pass the time in sleeping, eating,
+smoking, writing, and observing the manners and customs of a family of monkeys
+who are disporting themselves in a deep glen to the left. Beyond this ravine
+rises a high spur, beautifully wooded, the principal trees being deodar, blue
+pine (<i>Excelsa</i>) and yew. This is sloped at the invariable and disgusting
+angle of 45 degrees. Beyond it rise further wooded slopes, with snow gleaming
+through the deep green, and above all is the changing sky, where the clear blue
+gives way to a billowy expanse of white rolling clouds or dark rain-laden
+masses, which pour into the upper clefts of the ravine, and blot out the
+serried ranks of the pines, until a thorough drenching seems
+inevitable&mdash;when lo! a glint of blue through the gloomy background, and
+soon again,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;With never a stain, the pavilion of Heaven is bare.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The immediate foreground, as I said before, slopes sharply from my very feet,
+where a clump of wild sage and jasmin (the leaves just breaking) grows over a
+charming little bunch of sweet violets. Lower down I can see the lilac flowers
+of a self-heal, and the bottom of the little gorge is clothed with a bush like
+a hazel, only with large, soft whitish flowers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My solitude has just been enlivened by the appearance of a cheerful party of
+lovely birds. They are very busy among the &ldquo;hazels,&rdquo; flying from
+bush to bush with restless activity, and wasting no time in idleness. They are
+about the size of large finches&mdash;slender in shape, with longish tails.
+They are divided into two perfectly distinct kinds, probably male and female.
+The former have the back, head, and wings black; the latter barred with
+scarlet, the breast and underparts also scarlet. The others&mdash;which I
+assume to be the females&mdash;replace the black with ashy olive, the wings
+being barred with yellow, the underparts yellowish. The very familiar note of
+the cuckoo, somewhere up in the jungle, reminds me of an English spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+4 P.M.&mdash;I knew it! I knew that if the wind held down the nullah I should
+be dragged up that horrible ridge opposite. Hardly had I written the above when
+I was hunted from my lair, and rushed down 200 steep feet, and then up some 500
+or 600 on the other side of the stream, through an abattis of clinging
+undergrowth that made a severe toil of what could never have been a pleasure.
+There can be no doubt but that a pith helmet&mdash;a really shady, broad
+one&mdash;is a most infernal machine under which to force one&rsquo;s way
+through brushwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, all things come to an end&mdash;wind first, temper next, and finally the
+journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My shikari is a fiend in human shape. He slinks along on the flat at what
+<i>looks</i> like a mild three-miles-an-hour constitutional, but unless you are
+a <i>real</i> four-mile man you will be left hopelessly astern; but when he
+gets upon his favourite &ldquo;one in one&rdquo; slope, then does he simply
+sail away, with the tiffin coolie carrying a fat basket and all your spare
+lumber in his wake, while you toil upward and ever
+upwards&mdash;gasping&mdash;until with your last available breath you murmur
+&ldquo;Asti,&rdquo; and sink upon the nearest stone a limp, perspiring worm!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+5.30 P.M.&mdash;That bear has taken a sleeping draught!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am now perched on a lonely rock, my hard taskmaster having routed me out of a
+very comfortable place under a blue pine, whose discarded needles afforded me a
+really agreeable resting-place, and dragged me away down again through the pine
+forest and jungle; hurried me across a roaring torrent on a fallen tree trunk;
+personally conducted me hastily up a place like the roof of a house; and
+finally, explaining that the bear, when disturbed, must inevitably come close
+past me, has departed with his staff (the chota shikari, the tiffin coolie, and
+a baboon-faced native) to wake up the bear and send him along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the first flurry of feeling all alone in the world, with only a probable
+bear for society, and having loaded all my guns, clasped my visor on my head
+and my Bessemer hug-proof strait-waistcoat round my &ldquo;tummy,&rdquo; I felt
+calm enough to await events with equanimity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+6.15 P.M.&mdash;A large and solemn monkey is sitting on the top of a thick and
+squat yew tree regarding me with unfeigned interest. The torrent is roaring
+away in the cleft below. Nothing else seems alive, and I am becoming
+bored&mdash;&mdash;What? A bear? No! The shikari, thank goodness!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, shikari&mdash;Baloo dekho hai?&rdquo; No, it is passing strange,
+but he has <i>not</i> seen a bear. &ldquo;All right! Pick up the blunderbuss,
+and let us make tracks for the ship.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, May</i> 10.&mdash;Beguiled by legends of many bears, detailed to
+me with apparently heartfelt sincerity by Ahmed Bot, I have been pursuing these
+phantoms industriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Monday we quitted our boat, and started upon a trip into the Lolab Valley.
+The views, as the path wound up the green and flower-spangled slope, were very
+beautiful, and, when we had ascended about 1500 feet and were about opposite to
+the supposed haunt of Saturday&rsquo;s bear, we determined to camp and enjoy
+the scenery, not omitting an evening expedition in search of our shy friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane joining me, we had a most charming ramble down a narrow track to the bed
+of the stream which rushes down from the snow-covered ridge guarding the Lolab.
+Here we crossed into a splendid belt of gaunt silver firs, the first I have
+seen here; whitish yellow marsh-marigolds and a most vivid &ldquo;smalt&rdquo;
+blue forget-me-not with large flowers were abundant, also an oxalis very like
+our own wood-sorrel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Emerging from the pines, we crossed a grassy slope covered with tall primulas
+(P. <i>denticulata</i>) of varying shades of mauve and lilac, and sat down for
+a bit among the flowers while the shikaris looked for game. (I need hardly
+remark that the noble but elusive beast had appeared on the scene shortly after
+I left on Saturday; a Gujar told the shikari, and the shikari told me, so it
+must be true.) When we had gathered as many flowers as we could carry, we
+strolled back to the camp to watch the sunset transmute the snowy crest of
+Haramok to a golden rose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday, Tuesday, I left the camp at dawn, and went all over the same ground,
+but with no better success, only seeing a couple of bara singh, hornless now,
+and therefore comparatively uninteresting from a &ldquo;shikar&rdquo; point of
+view. After a delightful but bearless ramble I returned to breakfast, and then
+we struck camp, and completed the ascent of the pass over into the Lolab.
+Arrived at the top, we turned off the path to the right, and, climbing a short
+way, came out upon the lower part of the Nagmarg, a pretty, open clearing among
+the pines where the grass, dotted thickly with yellow colchicum, was only
+showing here and there through the melting snow. Choosing a snug and dry place
+on some sun-warmed rocks at the foot of a tree, we prepared to lunch and laze,
+and soon spread abroad the contents of the tiffin basket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is something, nay much, of charm in the utter freedom and solitude of
+Kashmir camp life. There is no beaten track to be followed diligently by the
+tourist, German, American, or British, guide-book in hand and guide at elbow.
+No empty sardine-tins, nor untidy scraps of paper, mar the clean and lonely
+margs or village camping-grounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The happy wanderer, selecting a grassy dell or convenient shady tree with a
+clear spring or dancing rivulet near by, invokes the tiffin coolie, and if a
+duly watchful eye has been kept upon that incorrigible sluggard, in short space
+the contents of the basket deck the sward. What have we here? Yes, of course,
+cold chicken&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;For beef is rare within these oxless isles.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+Bread! (how lucky we sent that coolie into Srinagar the other day). Butter,
+nicely stowed in its little white jar, cheese-cakes (one of the Sabz
+Ali&rsquo;s masterpieces), and a few unconsidered trifles in the form of
+&ldquo;jam pups&rdquo; and a stick of chocolate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whisky is there, if required, but really the cold spring water is
+&ldquo;delicate to drink&rdquo; without spirituous accompaniment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hunger appeased, the beauty of the surrounding scenery becomes intensified when
+seen through the balmy veil of smoke caused by the consumption of a mild
+cheroot, and peace and contentment reign while we feed the sprightly crows with
+chicken bones and bits of cheese rind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shall we ever forget&mdash;Jane and I&mdash;that simple feast on the Nagmarg?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sloping snow melting into little rills which trickled through the
+fresh-springing flower-strewn grass; the extraordinary blue of the hillsides
+overlooking the Lolab Valley seen through the sloping boughs of the pines; the
+crows hopping audaciously around or croaking on a dried branch just above our
+heads; and above all, the glorious sense of freedom, of aloofness from all
+disturbing elements, of utter and irresponsible independence in a lovely land
+unspoiled by hand of man?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The afternoon sun smote us full in the face as we descended the bare and not
+too smooth path that led into the valley, and we were right glad to reach the
+shade of a grove of deodars that covered the lower slopes of the hill. The
+Lolab Valley, into which we had now penetrated, is a rich and picturesque
+expanse of level plain, some fifteen miles long by three or four broad,
+apparently completely surrounded by a densely-wooded curtain of mountains,
+rising to an elevation of some 3000 feet above the valley on the south and
+west, but ranging on the other sides up into the lofty summits which bar the
+route into Gurais and the Tilail. The mountain chain is not really continuous,
+the river Pohru, which drains the valley, finding outlet to the west e&rsquo;er
+it bends sharply to the south and enters the Wular near Sopor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps the most noticeable objects in the Lolab are the walnut trees; they are
+now just coming into full leaf, and their great trunks, hoary with age and
+softly velveted with dark green moss, form the noble columns of many a lovely
+camping-ground. We pitched our tents at Lalpura in a grove of giants, the
+majesty of which formed an exquisite contrast to the white foam of a cluster of
+apple trees in bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
+sketching, and enjoying the <i>dolce far niente</i> of an idle life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, May</i> 14.&mdash;On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam,
+a short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest officer,[1]
+had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at our disposal; but,
+as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we are obliged to camp every
+night. We have been working along the north side of the Lolab, as the shikari
+is full of bear &ldquo;khubbar,&rdquo; and as long as the weather remains fair
+we really do not much care where we go! Skirting the foot of the wooded ridge
+on our right, and with the flat and populous levels of the valley on our left,
+we marched along a good path shaded in many places by the magnificent walnuts
+and snowy fruit-trees for which the Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the
+Pohru by a rickety bridge, and toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached Kulgam,
+nestling at the foot of the hills.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] Commonly called the &ldquo;Jungly-sahib.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the village to
+look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as usual, and the path
+none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb deserved to be rewarded by, at
+any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed Bot having sent a special message to the
+Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing him to keep the nullah quiet, we were justly
+incensed when, having toiled up some couple of thousand weary feet, we met a
+gay party of the <i>élite</i> of Kulgam prancing down the hill with blankets
+stuffed with wild leeks, or some such delicacy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ahmed Bot showed reckless courage. Having overwhelmed the enemy with a
+vituperative broadside, he fell upon them single-handed, tore from them their
+cherished blankets, and spilt the leeks to the four winds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I expected nothing less than to be promptly hurled down the khud, with Jill
+after me, by the six enraged burghers of Kulgam. But no. They simply sat down
+together on a rock, and blubbered loud and long; we sat down opposite them on
+another rock and laughed, and laughed&mdash;tableau!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Friday I went for a delightful walk through the pine and deodar forests, the
+ostensible objective being, of course, a bear. Putting aside all ideas of
+sport, I gave myself up to the simple joy of mere existence in such a land;
+noting a handsome iris with broad red lilac blooms, which I had not seen
+before; listening to the intermittent voice of the cuckoo, and pausing every
+here and there to gaze over the fair valley, backed by its encircling ranges of
+sunlit mountains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chota shikari is a youth of great activity, both mental and physical. He
+almost wept with excitement on observing the mark of a bear&rsquo;s paw on a
+dusty bit of path. He said it was a bear which had left that paw-mark, so I
+believed him. Late in the dusk of the afternoon he <i>saw</i> a bear sitting
+looking out of a cave. I could only make out a black hole, but he saw its ears
+move. I regarded the spot with a powerful telescope, but only saw more hole;
+still, I cannot doubt the chota shikari. The burra shikari saw it too, but was
+of opinion that it was too late to go and bag it. I think he was right, so we
+went back to camp without further adventure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday we left Kulgam, and followed up a track to a small village which lies
+at the foot of the track leading over to Gurais and the Tilail country. Here we
+camped in a grove of walnuts, which stood by an icy spring. Jane and I went for
+a stroll, watched a couple of small woodpeckers hunting the trunk of a young
+fir within a few feet of us, but retreated hurriedly to camp on the approach of
+a heavy thunderstorm. This was but the prelude to a bad break in the weather;
+all to-day it has rained in torrents, and everything is sopping and soaked. The
+little stream which yesterday trickled by the camp is become a young river, and
+it is a perfect mystery how Sabz Ali manages to cook our food over a fire
+guarded from the full force of the rain by blankets propped up with sticks, and
+how, having cooked it, he can bring it, still hot, across the twenty yards of
+rain-swept space which intervenes between the cook-house and our tent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, May</i> 15.&mdash;The deluge continued all night, and only at about
+ten o&rsquo;clock this forenoon did the heavy curtain of rain break up into
+ragged swirls of cloud, which, torn by the serrated ridges of the gloomy pines,
+rolled dense and dark up the gorges, resonant now with the roar of full-fed
+torrents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men are all beginning to complain of fever, and have eaten up a great
+quantity of quinine. Considering the dismal conditions under which they have
+been living for the last couple of days, this is not surprising; so, with the
+first promise of an improvement in the weather, we struck camp, determined to
+make for the forest bungalow at Doras and obtain the shelter of a solid roof.
+Many showers, but no serious downpour, enlivened our march, and we arrived at
+the snug little wooden house just in time to escape a particularly fine
+specimen of a thunderstorm. The Doras bungalow seemed a very palace of luxury,
+with its dry, airy rooms and wide verandah, all of sweet-smelling deodar wood.
+The men, too, were thankful to have a good roof over their heads, and we heard
+no more of fever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, May</i> 17.&mdash;Yesterday it rained without ceasing, until the
+valley in front of us took the appearance of a lake&mdash;A party of terns,
+white above and with black breasts, skirled and wrangled over the
+&ldquo;casual&rdquo; water. It was still very wet this morning, but as it
+cleared somewhat after breakfast, we made up our minds to quit the Lolab and
+get back to our boat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Doras has sad memories for Jane, for here died the &ldquo;chota murghi,&rdquo;
+a black chicken endowed with the most affectionate disposition. It was
+permitted to sit on the lady&rsquo;s knee, and scratch its yellow beak with its
+little yellow claw; but I never cared to let it remain long upon my
+shoulder&mdash;a perch it ardently affected. Well! it is dead, poor dear, and
+whether from shock (the pony which carried its basket having fallen down with
+it <i>en route</i> from &ldquo;Walnut Camp&rdquo;), or from a surfeit of
+caterpillars which were washed in myriads off the trees there, we cannot tell.
+Sabz Ali brought the little corpse along, holding it by one pathetic leg to
+show the horrified Jane, before giving it to the kites and crows. He has many
+&ldquo;murghis&rdquo; left; baskets full, as he says, for they are cheap in the
+Lolab, but we shall never love another so dearly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a shocking time while climbing to the pass which leads over to Rampur,
+the road being deep in slimy mud, and so slippery that the unfortunate baggage
+ponies could hardly get along. Jane, who is in splendid condition now, toiled
+nobly up a track which would have been delightful had the weather been a little
+less hideous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching the ridge which divides the Lolab from the Pohru Valley, we turned to
+the left, along the edge, instead of descending forthwith, as we had hoped and
+expected to do. It was raw and cold, with flying wreaths of damp mist shutting
+out the view, and we were glad of a comforting tiffin, swallowed somewhat
+hurriedly, under a forlorn and stunted specimen of a blue pine. Then on along a
+rough and slippery catwalk that made us wonder if the baggage ponies would
+achieve a safe arrival at Rampur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing a steep, rock-strewn ridge, covered with crown imperial in full
+flower, we began a sharp descent through a wood of deodars; and now the
+thunder, which had been grumbling and rumbling in the distance, came upon us,
+and a deafening peal sent us scurrying down the hill at our best pace; the
+lightning-blasted trunks stretching skywards their blackened and tempest-torn
+limbs in ghastly witness of what had been and what might be again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last we cleared the wood, and, plunging across a perfect slough of deep mud,
+crawled on to the verandah of the Rampur forest-house, where we sat anxiously
+watching the hillside until we saw our faithful ponies safely sliding down the
+hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, May</i> 18.&mdash;The changes of weather in this country are
+sudden and surprising. This morning we woke to a perfect day&mdash;the sun
+bathing the warm hillsides, the picturesque brown village, and the brilliant
+masses of snowy blossoming fruit-trees with a radiant smile. And, but for the
+tell-tale riot of the streams and the sponginess of the compound, there was
+nothing to betray the past misdeeds of the clerk of the weather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At noon we set out to cover the short distance that lay between us and Kunis,
+where we had made tryst with Satarah. The country was like a series of English
+woodland glades&mdash;watered by many purling streams, and bright with masses
+of apple blossom; the turf around the trees all white and pink with petals torn
+from the branches by the recent storms. Clumps of fir clothed the hills with
+sombre green&mdash;a perfect background to a perfect picture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The flowers all along our path to-day were much in evidence after the rain.
+Little prickly rose-bushes (<i>R. Webbiana</i>) were covered with pink blossoms
+just bursting into full glory; bushes of white may, yellow berberis, Daphne
+(<i>Oleoides?</i>), and many another flowering shrub grew in tangled profusion,
+while pimpernel (red and blue), a small androsace (<i>rotundifolia</i>),
+hawks-bit, stork&rsquo;s bill, wild geranium, a tiny mallow, eye-bright,
+forget-me-not, a little yellow oxalis, a speedwell, and many another, to me
+unknown, blossom starred the roadside. In the fields round Kunis the poppies
+flared, and the iris bordered the fields with a ribbon of royal purple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Kunis at two o&rsquo;clock, and found the village half submerged,
+the water being up and over the low shores from the recent rain. Our boats were
+moored in a clump of willows, whose feet stood so deeply in the water that we
+had to embark on pony-back! After lunch came the usual difference of opinion
+with the Admiral, who seems to have great difficulty in grasping the fact that
+our will is law as to times and seasons for sailing. He always assumes the rôle
+of passive resister, and is always defeated with ignominy. He insisted that it
+was too late to think of reaching Bandipur, but we maintained that we could get
+at any rate part of the way; so he cast off from his willow-tree, and sulkily
+poked and poled out into the Wular, taking uncommon good care to hug the shore
+with fervour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here and there a group of willows standing far out into the lake, or a
+half-drowned village, drove us out into the open water, and once when, like a
+latter-day Vasco de Gama, the Admiral was striving to double the dreadful
+promontory of a water-logged fence, a puff of wind fell upon us, lashing the
+smooth water into ripples, whereupon the crew lost their wits with fright, and
+the lady mariners in the cook-boat set up a dismal howling; the ark, taking
+charge, crashed through the fence, her way carrying us to the very door of a
+frontier villa of an amphibious village. With amazing alacrity the crew tied us
+up to the door-post, and prepared to go into winter quarters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This did not suit us at all, and
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The harmless storm being ended,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+we ruthlessly broke away from our haven of refuge, and safely arrived at Alsu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, May</i> 19.&mdash;An ominous stillness and repose at 3 o&rsquo;clock
+this morning sent me forth to see why the windlass was not being manned. A
+thing like a big grey bat flapping about, proved, on inspection, to be that
+rascal the Lord High Admiral Satarah. He said he could not start, as the hired
+coolies from Kunis had been so terrified by the horrors of yesterday that they
+had departed in the night, sacrificing their pay rather than run any more risks
+with such daredevils as the mem-sahib and me. This was vexatious and entirely
+unexpected, as I had never before known a coolie to bolt before pay-day. Sabz
+Ali and Satarah were promptly despatched on a pressgang foray, while I put to
+sea with the first-lieutenant to show that I meant business. A crew was found
+in a surprisingly short time, and a frenzied dart was made for the mouth of the
+Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All day we poled round the shore of the lake, over flooded fields where the
+mustard had spread its cloth of gold a short week ago, over the very hedges we
+had scrambled through when duck-shooting in April, until in the evening we
+entered the river just below Sumbal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The towing-path was almost, in many places quite, under water, and the whole
+country looked most forlorn and melancholy as the sun went down&mdash;a pale
+yellow ball in a pale yellow haze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, May</i> 21.&mdash;All yesterday we towed up the river against a
+current which ran swift and strong.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The passage of the bridge at Surahal gave us some trouble, as the flooded river
+brought our upper works within a narrow distance of the highest point of the
+span, but we finally scraped through with the loss of a portion of the railing
+which decorated our upper deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The strain of towing was severe, so, when a brisk squall and threatening
+thunder-shower overtook us at the mouth of the Sind River, we decided to tie up
+there for the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we started at four o&rsquo;clock, but only reached our berth at
+Srinagar at two, having spent no less than six hours in forcing the boats by
+pole and rope for the last three miles through the town! An incredible amount
+of panting, pushing, yelling, and hauling, with frantic invocations to
+&ldquo;Jampaws&rdquo; and other saints, was required to enable us to crawl inch
+by inch against the racing water which met us in the narrow canal below the
+Palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All&rsquo;s well that ends well, and here we are once more in Srinagar, after a
+trip which has been really delightful, albeit the weather latterly has not been
+by any means all that could have been desired, and we have slain no bears![2]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] Can it be that Bernier was right? &ldquo;Il ne s&rsquo;y trouve ni serpens,
+ni tigres, ni ours, ni lions, si ce n&rsquo;est très
+rarement.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Voyage de Kachemire</i>.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/>
+SRINAGAR AGAIN</h2>
+
+<p>
+We have spent the last three weeks or so quietly in Srinagar, our boats forming
+links in the long chain that, during the &ldquo;season,&rdquo; extends for
+miles along both banks of the river. A large contingent of amphibians dwells in
+the canal leading to the Dal gates, and the Chenar Bagh, sacred to the
+bachelor, shows not a spare inch along its shady length.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not being either professional globe-trotters or Athenians, we have not felt
+obliged to be perpetually in high-strung pursuit of some new thing; and to the
+seeker after mild and modest enjoyment there is much to be said in favour of a
+sojourn at Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Polo, gymkhanas, lawn-tennis, picnics, and golf are everyday occurrences,
+followed by a rendezvous at the club, where every one congregates for a smoke
+and chat, until the sun goes down behind the poplars, and the swift shikaras
+come darting over the stream like water-beetles to carry off the sahibs to
+their boats, to dress, dine, and reassemble for &ldquo;bridge,&rdquo; or
+perhaps a dance at Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel, or at that most hospitable hub of
+Srinagar, the Residency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Polo is, naturally, practically restricted to the man who brings up his ponies
+from the Punjab, but golf is for all, and the nine-hole course, although flat,
+is not stale, and need not be unprofitable, unless you are fallen upon&mdash;as
+I was&mdash;by two stalwart Sappers, sons of Canada and potent wielders of the
+cleek, who gave me enough to do to keep my rupees in my pocket and the honour
+of the mother country upheld!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On May 26th we took shikara and paddled across the Dal Lake to see something of
+the Mohammedan festival, consisting in a pilgrimage to the Mosque of Hasrat
+Bal, where a hair of the prophet&rsquo;s beard is the special object of
+adoration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we neared the goal the plot thickened. Hundreds of boats&mdash;from enormous
+doungas containing the noisy inhabitants of, I should suppose, a whole village,
+down to the tiniest shikara, whose passenger was perched with careful balance
+to retain a margin of safety to his two inches of freeboard&mdash;converged
+upon the crowded bank, above which rose the mosque.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How can I best attempt to describe the din, the crush, the light, the colour?
+Was it like Henley? Well, perhaps it might be considered as a mad, fantastic
+Henley. Replace the fair ladies and the startling &ldquo;blazers&rdquo; with
+veiled houris and their lords clad in all colours of the rainbow; for one
+immortal &ldquo;Squash&rdquo; put hundreds of &ldquo;squashes,&rdquo; all
+playing upon weird instruments, or singing in &ldquo;a singular minor
+key&rdquo;; let the smell of outlandish cookery be wafted to you from the
+&ldquo;family&rdquo; boats and from the bivouacs on the shore; let a constant
+uproar fall upon your ears as when the Hall defeats Third Trinity by half a
+length; and, finally, for the flat banks of Father Thames and the trim lawns of
+Phyllis Court, you must substitute the Nasim Bagh crowned with its huge
+chenars, and Mahadco looking down upon you from his thirteen thousand feet of
+precipice and snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Half-an-hour of this kaleidoscopic whirl of gaiety satisfied us. The sun, in
+spite of an awning, was a little trying, so we sought the quiet and shade of
+the Nasim Bagh for lunch and repose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Returning towards Srinagar about sundown, we stopped to visit the ancient
+Mosque of Hassanabad, which stands on a narrow inlet or creek of the Dal Lake,
+shaded by chenars and willows in all their fresh spring green. A little lawn of
+softest turf slopes up gently to the ruined mosque, of which a portion of an
+apse and vaulted dome alone stand sentinel over its fallen greatness. Around
+lie the tombs of princes, whose bones have mouldered for eight hundred years
+under the irises, which wave their green sabres crowned with royal purple in
+the whispering twilight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near by, the mud and timber walls of a ziarat stand, softly brown, supporting a
+deeply overhanging, grass-grown roof, blazing with scarlet tulips. Through its
+very centre, and as though supporting it, pierces the gnarled trunk of a walnut
+tree, reminding one of Ygdrasil, the Upholder of the Universe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 27.&mdash;What an improvement it would be if a house-dounga could be
+fitted with torpedo netting! Jane finds herself in the most embarrassing
+situations, while dressing in the morning, from the unwelcome pertinacity of
+the merchants who swarm up the river in the early hours from their lairs, and
+lay themselves alongside the helpless house-boats.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By 10 A.M. we have to repel boarders in all directions. Mr. Sami Joo is
+endeavouring to sell boots from the bow, while Guffar Ali is pressing
+embroidery on our acceptance from the stern. Ali Jan is in a boat full of
+carved-wood rubbish on the starboard side, while Samad Shah, Sabhana, and
+half-a-dozen other robbers line the river bank opposite our port windows and
+clamour for custom. A powerful garden-hose of considerable calibre might be
+useful, but for the present I have given Sabz Ali orders to rig out long poles,
+which will prevent the enemy from so easily getting to close quarters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June</i> 17.&mdash;It is quite curious that it should be so difficult to
+find time to keep up this journal. Mark Twain, in that best of burlesques,
+<i>The Innocents Abroad</i> affirms, if I remember rightly, that you could not
+condemn your worst enemy to greater suffering than to bind him down to keep an
+accurate diary for a year.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is the inexorable necessity for writing day by day one&rsquo;s impressions
+that becomes so trying; and yet it must be done daily if it is to be done at
+all, for the only virtue I can attain to in writing is truth; and impressions
+from memory, like sketches from memory, are of no value from the hand of any
+but a master.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The time set apart for diary-writing is the hour which properly intervenes
+between chota hasri and the announcement of my bath; but, somehow, there never
+seems to be very much time. Either the early tea is late or bath is early, or a
+shikar expedition, with a grass slipper in pursuit of flies, takes up the
+precious moments, and so the business of the day gets all behindhand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fly question is becoming serious. Personally, I do not consider that fleas,
+mosquitoes, or any other recognised insect pests (excepting, perhaps, harvest
+bugs) are so utterly unendurable as the &ldquo;little, busy, thirsty
+fly.&rdquo; It seems odd, too, as he neither stings nor bites, that he should
+be so objectionable; but his tickly method of walking over your nose or down
+your neck, and the exasperating pertinacity with which he refuses to take
+&ldquo;no&rdquo; for an answer when you flick him delicately with a
+handkerchief, but &ldquo;cuts&rdquo; and comes again, maddens you until you
+rise, bloody-minded in your wrath, and, seizing the nearest sledgehammer, fall
+upon the brute as he sits twiddling his legs in a sunny patch on the table,
+then lo&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Unwounded from the dreadful close &ldquo;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+he frisks cheerfully away, leaving you to gather up cursefully the fragments of
+the china bowl your wife bought yesterday in the bazaar!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How he manages to congregate in his legions in this ship is a mystery. Every
+window is guarded by &ldquo;meat safe&rdquo; blinds of wire gauze; the doors
+are, normally, kept shut; and yet, after one has swept round like an irate
+whirlwind with a grass slipper, and slain or desperately wounded every visible
+fly in the cabin, and at last sat down again to pant and paint, hoping for
+surcease from annoyance, not five minutes pass before one, two, nay, a round
+dozen of the miscreants are gaily licking the moisture off the cobalt (may they
+die in agony!), or trying to swim across the glass of water, or playing
+hop-scotch on the nape of my neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From what mysterious lair or hidden orifice they come I know not, but here they
+are in profusion until another massacre of the innocents is decreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a sound thing to go round one&rsquo;s sleeping-cabin at night before
+&ldquo;turning in,&rdquo; and make a bag of all that can be found
+&ldquo;dreaming the happy hours away&rdquo; on the bulkheads and ceiling. It
+sends us to bed in the virtuous frame of mind of the Village Blacksmith&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Something attempted, something done,<br/>
+Has earned a night&rsquo;s repose&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are other microbes besides flies in Kashmir which are
+exasperating&mdash;coolies, for instance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had engaged men through Chattar Singh (the State Transport factotum at
+Srinagar) to take us up the river, and decreed that we should start at 4 A.M.
+yesterday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been to an <i>al fresco</i> gathering at the Residency the night before,
+and so were rather sleepy in the early morning, and I did not wake at four
+o&rsquo;clock. At six we had not got far on our way, and at ten we were but
+level with Pandrettan, barely three miles from Srinagar as the crow (that model
+of rectilinear volition) flies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was busy painting all the forenoon, and failed to note the sluggish steps of
+our coolies, but in the afternoon it was borne in upon us that if we wanted to
+reach Avantipura that night, as we had arranged, a little acceleration was
+necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the trouble began. The coolies were bone-lazy, the admiral and
+first-lieutenant were sulky, and the weather was stuffy and threatened
+thunder&mdash;the conditions were altogether detrimental to placidity of
+temper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By sunset we had the shikari, the kitchen-maid, and the sweeper on the
+tow-rope, and even the great and good Sabz Ali was seen to bear a hand in
+poling. Much recrimination now ensued between Sabz Ali and the Admiral, and the
+whole crowd made the air resound with Kashmiri &ldquo;language,&rdquo; every
+one, apparently, abusing everybody else, and making very nasty remarks about
+their lady ancestors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At 10 P.M. I got four more coolies from a village, apparently chiefly inhabited
+by dogs, who deeply resented our proximity, and at 2 o&rsquo;clock this morning
+we reached the haven where we would be&mdash;Avantipura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning I discharged the Srinagar coolies and took a fresh lot, who pull
+better and talk less.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How differently things may be put and yet the truth retained. Yesterday we
+reclined at our ease in our cosy floating cottage, towed up the lovely river by
+a picturesque crew of bronze Kashmiris, the swish of the passing water only
+broken by their melodious voices. The brilliancy of the morning gave way in the
+afternoon to a soft haze which fell over the snowy ranges, mellowing their
+clear tones to a soft and pearly grey, while the reflections of the big chenars
+which graced the river bank deepened us the afternoon shadows lengthened and
+spread over the wide landscape. Towards evening we strolled along the river
+bank plucking the ripe mulberries, and idly watching the terns and kingfishers
+busily seeking their suppers over the glassy water; and at night we sat on deck
+while the moon rose higher in the quiet sky, and the dark river banks assumed a
+clearer ebony as she rose above the lofty fringe of trees, until the
+towing-path lay a track of pure silver reaching away to the dim belt of
+woodland which shrouded Avantipura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That is a perfectly accurate description of the day, and so is this:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was very hot&mdash;and there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun on
+board a wooden house-dounga. The flies, too, were unusually malevolent, and I
+could scarcely paint, and my wife could hardly read by reason of their
+unwelcome attentions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coolies were a poor lot and a slack, and as the day grew stuffier and
+sultrier so did their efforts on the tow-path become &ldquo;small by degrees
+and beautifully less.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That irrepressible bird&mdash;the old cock&mdash;refused to consider himself as
+under arrest in his hen-coop, and insisted upon crowing about fifteen times a
+minute with that fidgeting irregularity which seems peculiar to certain
+unpleasant sounds, and which retains the ear fixed in nervous tension for the
+next explosion of defiance or pride, or whatever evil impulse it is which
+causes a cock to crow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Driven overboard by the cock, and a feeling that exercise would be beneficial,
+we landed in the afternoon, and plodded along the bank for some miles. The
+innumerable mulberry trees are loaded with ripe fruit, the ground below being
+literally black with fallen berries. We ate some, and pronounced them to be but
+mawkish things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner we sat on deck, as the lamp smelt too strongly to let us enjoy
+ourselves in the cabin, and the coolies on the bank and the people in our boat
+and those in the cook-boat engaged in a triangular duel of words, until the
+last few grains of my patience ran through the glass, and I spake with
+<i>my</i> tongue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is certainly some curious quality in the air of this country which
+affects the nerves: maybe it is the elevation at which one lives&mdash;certain
+it is that many people complain of unwonted irritability and susceptibility to
+petty annoyances. And, while travelling in Kashmir is easy and comfortable
+enough along beaten tracks, yet the petty worries connected with all matters of
+transport and supply are incessant, and become much more serious if one cannot
+speak or understand Hindustani.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It takes some little time for the Western mind to grasp the fact that the
+Kashmiri cannot and must not be treated on the &ldquo;man and brothel&rdquo;
+principle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He is by nature a slave, and his brain is in many respects the undeveloped
+brain of a child; in certain ways, however, his outward childishness conceals
+the subtlety of the Heathen Chinee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He has in no degree come to comprehend the dignity of labour any more than a
+Poplar pauper comprehends it, but fortunately his Guardians, while granting
+certain advantages in his tenure of land and payment of rent, have bound him,
+in return, to work for a fair payment, when required to do so by his
+Government, as exercised by the local Tehsildhar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The demand made upon a village for coolies is not, therefore, an arbitrary and
+high-handed system of bullying, but simply a call upon the villages to fulfil
+their obligation towards the State by doing a fair day&rsquo;s work for a fair
+day&rsquo;s pay of from four to six annas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not, of course, propose to entangle myself in the working of the Land
+Settlement, which is most fully and admirably explained in Lawrence&rsquo;s
+<i>Valley of Kashmir</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coolie, drawn from his native village reluctant, like a periwinkle from its
+shell, is never a good starter, and when he finds himself at the end of a
+tow-rope or bowed beneath half a hundredweight of the sahib&rsquo;s trinkets,
+with a three-thousand-feet pass to attain in front of him, he is extremely apt
+to burst into tears&mdash;idle tears&mdash;or be overcome by a fit of that fell
+disease&mdash;&ldquo;the lurgies.&rdquo; Lest my reader should not be
+acquainted with this illness, at least under that name, here is the diagnosis
+of the lurgies as given by a very ordinary seaman to the ship&rsquo;s doctor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, sir, I eats well, and I sleeps well; but when I&rsquo;ve got a job
+of work to do&mdash;Lor&rsquo; bless you, sir! I breaks out all over of a
+tremble!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/>
+THE LIDAR VALLEY</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were glad enough to leave Srinagar, as that place has been undoubtedly
+trying lately, being extremely hot and relaxing. The river, which had been up
+to the fourteen-foot level, as shown on the gate ports at the entrance to the
+Sunt-i-kul Canal, had fallen to 9-1/2 feet, and the mud, exposed both on its
+banks and in the fields and flats which had been flooded, must have given out
+unwholesome exhalations, of which the riverine population, the dwellers in
+house-boats and doungas, got the full benefit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane has certainly been anything but well lately, and I confess to a certain
+feeling best described as &ldquo;slack and livery.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not intended to remain nearly so long in Srinagar, but the continuity of
+the chain of entertainments proved too firm to break, and dances and dinners,
+bridge and golf, kept us bound from day to day, until the <i>fête</i> at the
+Residency on the 15th practically brought the Srinagar season to a close, and
+broke up the line of house-boats that had been moored along both banks of the
+river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had arranged to start with a party of three other boats up the river,
+visiting Atchibal with our friends, and then going up the Lidar Valley, while
+they retraced their way to Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most popular bachelor in Kashmir was appointed commodore, and deputed to
+set the pace and arrange rendezvous. He began by sending on his big house-boat,
+dragged by many coolies, to Pampur, a distance of some ten miles by water, and,
+following himself on horseback by road, instituted a sort of &ldquo;Devil take
+the hindmost&rdquo; race, for which we were not prepared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On reaching Pampur we heard that the &ldquo;Baltic Fleet&rdquo; had sailed for
+Avantipura, so we followed on; but, alas! having made a forced march to this
+latter place, we found that Rodjestvenski Phelps had again escaped us and
+&ldquo;gone before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We consigned him and the elusive &ldquo;chota resident,&rdquo; who was in
+command of the rest of the party, to perdition, and decided to pursue the even
+tenor of our way to the Lidar Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The upper reaches of the Jhelum tire not wildly or excitingly lovely. The
+narrowed waters, like sweet Thames, run softly between quiet British banks,
+willow veiled. The wide level flats of the lower river give place to low
+sloping hills or &ldquo;karewas,&rdquo; which fall in terraced undulations from
+the foothills of the higher ranges which close in the eastern extremity of the
+Kashmir Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was well into the evening, and the sun had just set, throwing a glorious
+rosy flush over the snows which surround the Lidar Valley, when we came to the
+picturesque bridge which crosses the stream at Bejbehara.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scene here was charming&mdash;a grand festa or religious tamasha being
+toward; the whole river was swarming with boats&mdash;great doungas, with their
+festive crews yelling a monotonous chant, paddled uproariously by. Light
+shikaras darted in and out, making up for want of volume in their song by the
+piercing shrillness of their utterances. The banks and bridge teemed with
+swarming life, and all Kashmir seemed to have contributed its noisiest members
+to the revel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the bridge we could see through the gathering dusk many house-boats of
+the sahibs clustering under a group of magnificent chenars, over whose dark
+masses the moon was just rising, full orbed. The piers of the bridge seemed to
+be set in foliage, large willows having grown up from their bases, giving a
+most curious effect. We marked with some apprehension the swiftness of the oily
+current which came swirling round the piers, and soon we found ourselves stuck
+fast about half-way under the bridge, apparently unable to force our boat
+another inch against the stream which boiled past. An appalling uproar was
+caused by the coolies and the unemployed upon the bridge, who all, as usual,
+gave unlimited advice to every one else as to the proper management of affairs
+under the existing circumstances, but did nothing whatever in support of their
+theories. The situation was becoming quite interesting, and the
+&ldquo;mem-sahib&rdquo; and I, sitting on the roof of our boat, were
+speculating as to what would happen next when the Gordian knot was cut by the
+unexpected energy and courage of the first-lieutenant, who boldly slapped an
+argumentative coolie in the face, while the admiral dashed promiscuously into
+the shikara, and&mdash;yelling &ldquo;Hard-a-starboard!&mdash;Full speed
+ahead!&mdash;Sit on the safety&mdash;valve!&rdquo;&mdash;boldly shot into an
+overhanging mulberry tree, wherein our tow-rope was much entangled. The rope
+was cleared, the crew poled like fury, the coolies hauled for all they were
+worth, every one yelled himself hoarse, and we forged ahead. We crashed under
+the mulberry tree, which swept us from stem to stern, nearly carrying the
+hen-coop overboard; while Jane and I lay flat under a perfect hail of squashy
+black fruit which covered the upper deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We went on shore for a moonlight stroll after dinner. The place was like a
+glorified English park; chenars of the first magnitude, taking the place of
+oaks, rose from the short crisp turf, while a band of stately poplars stood
+sentry on the river bank. Through blackest shadow and over patches of moonlit
+sward we rambled till we came upon the ruins of a temple, of which little was
+left but a crumbled heap of masonry in the middle of a rectangular grassy
+hollow which had evidently been a tank, small detached mounds, showing where
+the piers of a little bridge had stood, giving access to the building from the
+bank. An avenue of chenars led straight to the bridge, showing either the
+antiquity of the trees or the comparatively modern date of the temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June 19</i>.&mdash;Yesterday afternoon we left Bejbehara, and went on to
+Kanbal, the port of Islamabad. A hot and sultry day, oppressive and enervating
+to all but the flies, which were remarkably energetic and lively. The river
+below Islamabad is quite narrow, and hemmed in between high mudbanks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we found the &ldquo;Baltic Fleet,&rdquo; but, knowing that our fugitive
+friends must have already reached Atchibal, we held to our intention of going
+up the Lidar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having tied up to a remarkably smelly bank, which was just lofty enough to
+screen our heated brows from any wandering breeze, we landed to explore. A hot
+walk of a mile or so along a dusty, poplar-lined road brought us to the town of
+Islamabad, which, however, concealed its beauties most effectually in a mass of
+foliage. Although it ranks as the second town in Kashmir, it can hardly be said
+to be more than a big village, even allowing for its 9000 inhabitants, its
+picturesque springs, and its boast of having been once upon a time the capital
+of the valley. The first hundred yards of &ldquo;city,&rdquo; consisting of a
+highly-seasoned bazaar paved with the accumulated filth of ages, was enough to
+satisfy our thirst for sight-seeing, and after a visit to the post-office we
+trudged back through a most oppressive grey haze to the boat. Crowds of the
+<i>élite</i> of the neighbourhood were hastening into Islamabad, where the
+&ldquo;tamasha,&rdquo; which we came upon at Bejbehara, is to be continued
+to-morrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a good deal of difficulty in getting transport for our expedition, as
+the Assistant Resident and his party had, apparently, cleared the place of
+available ponies and coolies. An appeal to the Tehsildhar was no use, as that
+dignitary had gone to Atchibal in the Court train. However, a little pressure
+applied to Lassoo, the local livery stablekeeper, produced eight baggage ponies
+and a good-looking cream-coloured steed, with man&rsquo;s saddle, for my wife.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The syce, a jovial-looking little flat-faced fellow, was a native of Ladakh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made a fairly early start, getting off about six, and, having skirted the
+town and passed the neat little Zenana Mission Hospital, we had a pretty but
+uneventful march of some six miles to Bawan, where, under a big chenar, we
+halted for the greater part of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here let me point out that life is but a series of neglected opportunities. We
+were within a couple of miles of Martand, the principal temple in Kashmir, and
+we did not go to see it! I blush as I write this, knowing that hereafter no
+well-conducted globe-trotter will own to my acquaintance, and, indeed, the case
+requires explanation. Well, then, it was excessively hot; we were both in bad
+condition, and I had ten miles more to march, so we decided to visit Martand on
+our way down the valley. Alas! we came this way no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Little knowing how much we were missing, we sat contented in the shade while
+the hot hours went by, merely strolling down to visit a sacred tank full of
+cool green water and swarming with holy carp, which scrambled in a solid mass
+for bits of the chupatty which Jane threw to them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A clear stream gushed out of a bank overhung by a tangle of wild plants. To the
+left was a weird figure of the presiding deity, painted red, and frankly
+hideous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were truly sorry to feel obliged, at four o&rsquo;clock, to leave Bawan with
+its massy trees and abundance of clear running water, and step out into the
+heat and glare of the afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I found it a trying march. The road led along a fairly good track among
+rice-fields, whence the sloping sun glinted its maddening reflection, but here
+and there clumps of walnuts&mdash;the fruit just at the pickling
+stage&mdash;cast a broad cool shadow, in which one lingered to pant and mop a
+heated brow e&rsquo;er plunging out again into the grievous white sunlight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cavalcade was increased during the afternoon by the addition to our numbers
+of a dog&mdash;a distinctly ugly, red-haired native sort of dog, commonly
+called a pi-dog. He appeared, full of business&mdash;from nowhere in
+particular&mdash;and his business appeared to be to go to Eshmakam with us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we neared that place the road began to rise through the loveliest woodland
+scenery&mdash;white roses everywhere in great bushes of foamy white, and in
+climbing wreaths that drooped from the higher trees, wild indigo in purple
+patches reminding one not a little of heather. Above the still unseen village a
+big ziarat or monastery shone yellow in the sinking sunlight, and overhead rose
+a rugged grey wall of strangely pinnacled crags, outliers of the Wardwan,
+showing dusky blue in the clear-cut shadows, and rose grey where the low sun
+caught with dying glory the projecting peaks and bastions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a sort of orchard of walnut trees, on short, clean, green grass, we pitched
+our tents, and right glad was I to sit in a comfortable Roorkhee chair and
+admire the preparations for dinner after a stiff day, albeit we only
+&ldquo;made good&rdquo; some sixteen miles at most.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June</i> 20.&mdash;A brilliant morning saw us off for Pahlgam, along a road
+which was simply a glorified garden. Roses white and roses pink in wild
+profusion, jasmin both white and yellow, wild indigo, a tall and very handsome
+spiraea, forget-me-not, a tiny sort of Michaelmas daisy, wild strawberry, and
+honeysuckle, among many a (to me unknown) blossom, clothed the hillside or
+drooped over the bank of the clear stream, by whose flower-spangled margin lay
+our path, where, as in Milton&rsquo;s description of Eden,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Each beauteous flower,<br/>
+Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine<br/>
+Reared high their flourished heads.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon the valley narrowed, and closer on our left roared the Lidar, foaming over
+its boulders in wild haste to find peace and tranquil flow in the broad bosom
+of Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road became somewhat hilly, and at one steep zigzag the nerves of Jane
+failed her slightly and she dismounted, rightly judging that a false step on
+the part of the cream-coloured courser would be followed by a hurried descent
+into the Lidar. I explained to her that I would certainly do what I could for
+her with a dredge in the Wular when I came down, but she preferred, she said,
+not to put me to any inconvenience in the matter. We were asked to subscribe, a
+few days later, at Pahlgam to provide the postman with a new pony, his late
+lamented &ldquo;Tattoo&rdquo; having been startled by a flash of lightning at
+that very spot, and having paid for the error with his life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A halt was called for lunch under a blue pine, where we quickly discovered how
+paltry its shade is in comparison with the generous screen cast by a chenar;
+scarcely has the heated traveller picked out a seemingly umbrageous spot to
+recline upon when, lo! a flickering shaft of sunlight, broken into an
+irritating dazzle by a quivering bunch of pine needles, strikes him in the eye,
+and he sets to work to crawl vainly around in search of a better screen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing approaches the great circle of solid coolness thrown by a big chenar.
+The walnut does its best, and comes in a good second. Pines (especially blue
+ones) are, as I remarked before, unsatisfactory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But if the pine is not all that can be wished as a shade-producer, he is in all
+his varieties a beautiful object to look upon. First, I think, in point of
+magnificence towers the Himalayan spruce, rearing his gaunt shaft,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Like the mast of some tall ammiral,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+from the shelving steeps that overhang the torrents, and piercing high into the
+blue. In living majesty he shares the honours with the deodar, but he is merely
+good to look upon; his timber is useless and in his decay his fallen and
+lightning-blasted remains lie rotting on these wild hills, while the precious
+trunks of the deodar and the excelsa are laboriously collected, and floated and
+dragged to the lower valleys, producing much good money to Sir Amar Singh and
+the best of building timber to the purchaser.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road towards Pahlgam is a charming woodland walk, where the wild
+strawberries, still hardly out of flower, grow thick amidst a tangle of
+chestnut, yew, wild cherry, and flowering shrubs. Overhead and to the right the
+rocky steeps rise abruptly until they culminate in the crags of Kohinar, and on
+the left the snow-fed Lidar roars &ldquo;through the cloven ravine in cataract
+after cataract.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About four miles from Pahlgam, on turning a corner of the gorge, a splendid
+view bursts upon the wayfarer. The great twin brethren of Kolahoi come suddenly
+into sight, where they stand blocking the head of the valley, their double
+peaks shining with everlasting snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It needed all the beauty of the scene to make me forget that the thirteen miles
+from Eshmakam were long and hot, and that I was woefully out of condition, and
+we rejoiced to see the gleam of tents amid the pine-wood which constitutes the
+camping-ground of Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We sat peacefully on the thyme and clover-covered maiden, amongst a herd of
+happily browsing cattle, until our tents were up and the irritating but needful
+bustle of arrival was over, and the tea-table spread.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pahlgam stands some 2000 feet above Srinagar, and although it is not supposed
+to be bracing, yet to us, jaded votaries of fashion in stuffy Srinagar, the
+fresh, clear, pine-scented air was purely delightful, and a couple of days saw
+us &ldquo;like kidlings blythe and merry&rdquo;&mdash;that is to say, as much
+so as a couple of sedate middle-aged people could reasonably be expected to
+appear. The camping-ground is in a wood of blue pines, which, extending from
+the steeper uplands, covers much of the leveller valley, and abuts with woody
+promontories on the flowery strath which borders the river. Here some dozen or
+so of visitors had already selected little clearings, and the flicker of white
+tents, the squealing of ponies, and the jabber of native servants banished all
+ideas of loneliness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About half a mile below the camping-ground is the bungalow of Colonel Ward,
+clear of the wood and with Kolahoi just showing over the green shoulder which
+hides him from Pahlgam. I was fortunate enough to find the Colonel before he
+left for Datchgam to meet the Residency party, and to get, through his
+kindness, certain information which I wanted about the birds of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An enthusiast in natural history, Colonel Ward has given himself with
+heart-whole devotion for many years to the study of the beasts and birds of
+Kashmir, and he is practically the one and only authority on the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were very anxious to cross the high pass above Lidarwat over into the Sind
+Valley, having arranged to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal on their way back
+from Tilail. Knowing that Colonel Ward would be posted as to the state of the
+snow, I had written to him from Srinagar for information. His reply, which I
+got at Islamabad, was not encouraging, nor was his opinion altered now. The
+pass might be possible, but was certainly not advisable for ladies at present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, June 23</i>.&mdash;We were detained here at Pahlgam until about one
+o&rsquo;clock to-day, as Colonel Ward, as well as two minor potentates, had
+marched yesterday, employing every available coolie. The fifteen whom I
+required were sent back to me by the Colonel, and turned up about noon, so,
+after lunch, we set forth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Camels are usually unwilling starters. I knew one who never could be induced to
+do his duty until a fire had been lit under him as a gentle stimulant. He lived
+in Suakin, and existence was one long grievance to him, but no other animal
+with which I am acquainted approaches a Pahlgam coolie in <i>vis inertiâ</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether a too copious lunch had rendered my men torpid, or whether the
+attractions of their happy homes drew them, I know not, but after the loads
+(and these not heavy) had been, after much wrangling, bound upon their backs,
+and they had limped along for a few hundred yards or so, one fell sick, or said
+he was sick, and, peacefully squatting on a convenient stone, refused to budge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were still close to some of the scattered huts of Pahlgam, so an authority,
+in the shape of a lumbadhar or chowkidar, or some such, came to our help, and
+promptly collected for us an elderly gentleman who was tending his flocks and
+herds in the vicinity. Doubtless it was provoking, when he was looking forward
+to a comfortable afternoon tea in the bosom of his family, after a hard
+day&rsquo;s work of doing nothing, to be called upon to carry a nasty angular
+yakdan for seven miles along a distinctly uneven road; but was he therefore
+justified in blubbering like a baby, and behaving like an ape being led to
+execution?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first half-mile was dreadful. At every couple of hundred yards the coolies
+would sit down in a bunch, groaning and crying, and nothing less than a push or
+a thump would induce them to move. We felt like slave-drivers, and indeed Sabz
+Ali and the shikari behaved as such, although their prods and objurgations were
+not so hurtful as they appeared, being somewhat after the fashion of the tale
+told by an idiot,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we became so much irritated by the ceaseless row that we decided to
+sit down and read and sketch by the roadside, in order to let the whole
+mournful train pass out of sight and earshot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, I wish to maintain in all seriousness that I am not a Legree, and that,
+although I by no means hold the &ldquo;man and brother&rdquo; theory, yet I am
+perfectly prepared to respect the <i>droits de l&rsquo;homme</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This may appear a statement inconsistent with my acknowledgment that I
+permitted coolies to be beaten&mdash;the beating being no more than a technical
+&ldquo;assault,&rdquo; and never a &ldquo;thrashing!&rdquo;&mdash;but my
+contention is that when you have to deal with people of so low an organisation
+that they can only be reached by elementary arguments, they must be treated
+absolutely as children, and judiciously whacked as such.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No Kashmiri without the impulsion of <i>force majeure</i> would ever do any
+work&mdash;no logical argument will enable him to see ultimate good in
+immediate irksomeness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is very difficult for the Western mind to give the Kashmiri credit for any
+virtues, his failings being so conspicuous and repellent; for not only is he an
+outrageous coward, but he feels no shame in admitting his cowardice. He is a
+most accomplished thief, and the truth is not in him. He and his are much
+fouler than Neapolitan lazzaroni, and his morals&mdash;well, let us give the
+Kashmiri his due, and turn to his virtues. He is, on the whole, cheerful and
+lively, devoted to children, and kind to animals.[1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] This is incorrect, the European Residents having frequently attempted, but
+hitherto vainly, to induce the native authorities to curb Kashmiri cruelty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here is a story which is fairly characteristic of the charming Kashmiri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the floods which nearly ruined Kashmir in 1901, a village near a certain
+colonel&rsquo;s bungalow was in danger of losing all its crops and half its
+houses, the neighbouring river being in spate. My friend, on going to see if
+anything could be done, found the water rising, and the adult male inhabitants
+of the village lying upon the ground, and beating their heads and hands upon it
+in woebegone impotence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked about upon their stomachs a little to invigorate them, and, sending
+forthwith for a gang of coolies from an adjacent village which lay a little
+higher, he set the whole crowd to work to divert part of the stream by means of
+driftwood and damming, and was, in the end, able to save the houses and a good
+part of the crops.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the hired coolies came to be paid for their labour, the villagers also put
+in a claim for wages, and were desperately vexed at my friend&rsquo;s refusal
+to grant it, complaining bitterly of having had to work hard for nothing!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You will find a good description of the Kashmiri in <i>All&rsquo;s Well that
+Ends Well:</i>&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>Parolles</i>. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister…. He professes
+not keeping of oaths, in breaking them, he is stronger than Hercules. He will
+lie, sir, with such volubility, that you would think truth were a fool:
+drunkenness is his best virtue; … he has everything that an honest man should
+not have; what an honest man should have, he has nothing.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="letter">
+He excels his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed one of the best
+that is: in a retreat he outruns any lackey; marry, in coming on he has the
+cramp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not long sat sketching and basking in the genial glow of a summer
+afternoon among the mountains, when it began to be borne in upon us that the
+weather was going to change, and that the usual thunderstorm was meditating a
+descent upon us. Black clouds came boiling up over the mountain peaks, and the
+too familiar grumble of distant thunder sent us hurrying along the lovely
+ravine, through which the path leads to Aru. Only a seven miles&rsquo; journey,
+but ere we had gone half-way the storm broke, and a thick veil of sweeping rain
+fell between us and the surrounding mountains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we found a serious solution of continuity in the track, which, after
+leading us along a precarious ledge by the side of the river, finished
+abruptly; sheared clean off by a recent landslip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were very wet, but the river looked wetter still, and it boiled round the
+rocky point, where the road should have been but was not, in a distinctly
+disagreeable manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, Jane dismounting, I climbed upon the cream-coloured courser, and
+proceeded to ford the gap. The water swirled well above the syce&rsquo;s knees,
+but the noble steed picked his way with the greatest circumspection over and
+among the submerged boulders, till, after splashing through some hundred yards
+of water, he deposited me, not much wetter than before, on the continuation of
+the high-road, whence I had the satisfaction of watching Jane go through the
+same performance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hoping against hope that the coolies, by a little haste, might have got the
+tents pitched before the storm came on, we plodded on, until, wet to the very
+skin, we slopped into Aru, to behold a draggled party squatting round a central
+floppy heap in a wet field, which, as we gazed, slowly upreared itself into a
+drooping tent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In dear old England this sort of experience would have spelt shocking colds,
+and probably rheumatism for life, but here&mdash;well, we crawled into our tent
+and found it, thanks to a couple of waterproof sheets spread on the ground,
+surprisingly dry. A change of clothes, a good dinner, produced under the most
+unfavourable circumstances from a wretched little cooking-tent, and a fire
+burning goodness knows how, in the open, showed the world to be quite a nice
+place after all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner a great camp-fire was lit in front of our tent, the rain cleared
+off, and I sat smoking with much content, while all our soaking garments were
+festooned on branches round the blaze, and Jane and I turned them like roasting
+joints, at intervals, until the steam rose like incense towards the stars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coolies, too, had quite got over their homesickness, and were
+extraordinarily cheerful, their incessant jabber falling as a lullaby on our
+ears as we dropped off to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, June</i> 24.&mdash;We got away in good time for our short
+eight-mile march to Lidarwat. The coolies went off gaily&mdash;the day was warm
+and brilliant, and the views down the valley towards Pahlgam superb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had camped on the low ground at Aru, just across the bridge, but about half
+a mile on, and upon a grassy plateau there is an ideal camping-ground facing
+down the Lidar Valley, towards the peaks which rise behind Pahlgam. Want of
+water is the only drawback to this spot, but if mussiks are carried, water can
+easily be brought from a small nullah towards Lidarwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tearing ourselves away from this spot, and turning our backs upon one of the
+most gorgeous views in Kashmir, we plunged into a beautiful wood. Maidenhair
+and many another fern grew in masses among the great roots which twined like
+snakes over the rocky slopes. Far below, with muffled roar, the unseen river
+tore its downward way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By-and-by, the path emerging from the wood shelved along a green hillside,
+where bracken and golden spurge clothed the little hollows, while wild
+wall-flower, Jacob&rsquo;s Ladder, and a large purple cranes-bill brightened
+the slopes where happy cattle, but lately released from their winter&rsquo;s
+imprisonment, were feeding greedily on the young green grass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I fancy the cattle have a remarkably poor time here in winter. Hay is not made,
+and very little winter forage seems to be collected. As the snows fall lower on
+the hills, the flocks and herds are driven down to the low ground, where they
+drag through the dark days as best they can, on maize-stalks and such like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I noticed early in May the water buffaloes just turned out to graze in the
+Lolab, and more weakly, melancholy collections of skin&mdash;and&mdash;bone I
+have seldom seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, however, up high in every sunny grassy valley, the Gujars may be found
+camping with their flocks&mdash;cattle, ponies, buffaloes, and goats, working
+upwards hard on the track of the receding snow, where the primula and the
+gentian star the spring turf.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A series of grassy uplands brought us close to Lidarwat, when a sharp shower,
+arriving unexpectedly from nowhere in particular, sent us to eat our lunch
+under the shelter of some fairly waterproof trees in the company of a herd of
+water buffaloes of especially evil aspect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One hoary brute in particular, with enormous horns and pale blue eyes, made me
+think of the legend concerning the origin of the buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the Almighty was hard at work creating the animals, the devil came and
+looked on until he became filled with emulation, and begged the Deity to let
+him try his hand at creation. So the Almighty agreed, asking him what beast he
+would prefer to make, and he said, &ldquo;A cow.&rdquo; So he went away and
+created a water buffalo, which so disgusted the Creator that the devil was not
+permitted to make any more experiments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As soon as the rain held up and the thunder had rolled off up the valley, we
+packed the tiffin basket, had one more drink from an icy spring, and left the
+shelter of the friendly trees, followed by the glares of all the buffaloes, who
+appear to have a decided antipathy to the &ldquo;sahib logue.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We soon came to Lidarwat, passing several tents there, pitched by the edge of a
+green lawn, and sheltered by a deep belt of trees. Crossing to the right bank
+of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we continued our way, as the farther
+up the glen we get to-night, the less shall we leave for to-morrow, when we
+intend to visit the Kolahoi Glacier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this point,
+owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in common with the
+buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her beloved parasol, he whisked
+round and let out at me, and I was only saved from a nasty kick by my closeness
+to the beast, whose hock made such an impression upon my thigh as to cause me
+to go a bit short for a while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to show signs
+of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
+suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at night, as
+our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little breezes that came
+sighing through the pines were straight from the snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, June 25</i>.&mdash;A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
+expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were camped
+amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun had already
+caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and gilded their rugged
+sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth and light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right, and as
+fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time to admire it
+duly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The track now led out into a wide and treeless valley, flanked by snow-crowned
+mountains, and we pushed on merrily until we arrived at the brink of a rascally
+torrent, which gave us some trouble to ford, being both exceeding swift and
+fairly deep. Luckily, it was greedy, and, not content with one channel, had
+spread itself out into four or five branches, and thus so squandered itself
+that Jane on her pony and I on coolie-back accomplished the passage without
+mishap. For some miles we held on along an easy path which curved to the right
+along the right bank of the river, which was spanned in many places by great
+snow bridges, often hundreds of yards in width. We lunched sitting on the trunk
+of a dead birch which had been carried by the snow down from its eyrie, and
+then left, a melancholy skeleton, bleaching on the slowly melting avalanche.
+Some two miles farther on we could see the end of the Kolahoi Glacier, its grey
+and rock-strewn snout standing abrupt above the white slopes of snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Behind rose the fine peak of Harbagwan, in as yet undisputed splendour, Kolahoi
+being still hidden behind the cliffs which towered on our right.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Distances seem short in this brilliant air, but we walked for a long while over
+the short turf, flushing crimson with primulas and golden with small
+buttercups, and then over snowy hillocks, before we reached the solid ice of
+the great glacier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was so completely covered with fragments of grey rock that Jane could hardly
+he persuaded that it really was an ice slope that we were scrambling up with
+such difficulty, until a peep into a cold mysterious cleft convinced her that
+she was really and truly standing upon 200 feet of solid ice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sight that now burst upon us was one to be remembered. Kolahoi towered
+ethereal&mdash;a sunlit wedge of sheer rock some six thousand feet above
+us&mdash;into the crystal air. From his feet the white frozen billows of the
+great glacier rolled, a glistering sea, to where we, atoms in the enormous
+loneliness, stood breathless in admiration. Around the head of the wide
+amphitheatre wherein we stood rose a circle of stately peaks, their bases
+flanged with rocky buttresses, dark amid the long sweeps of radiant snow, their
+shattered peaks reared high into the very heavens. A great silence reigned.
+There was no wind with us, and yet, even as we watched, a white cloud flitted
+past the virgin peak of Kolahoi&mdash;ghostly, intangible; and immediately,
+even as vultures assemble suddenly, no one knows whence, so did the clouds
+appear, surging over the gleaming shoulders of the mountain ridges, and up and
+round the grim precipices. We turned and hurried down the face of the glacier,
+and made for camp, as we knew from much experience that a thunderstorm was
+inevitable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Over the beds of dirty snow, down by the side of the new-born torrent, which
+leaped full-grown to life from the womb of a green cavern below the glacier;
+over patches of pulpy turf just freed from its wintry bondage, and already
+carpeted with masses of rose-coloured primulas, we hastened, keeping to the
+left bank of the stream, in order to avoid the torrent which had so troubled us
+in the morning, which we knew would be deeper in the afternoon owing to the
+melting of the snows in the sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had got but a bare half of our journey done when the storm burst, and in a
+very short time we were reduced to the recklessness which comes of being as wet
+as you can possibly be.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+    &ldquo;The thunder bellows far from snow to snow<br/>
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie),<br/>
+    And loud and louder roars the flood below.<br/>
+Heigho! But soon in shelter we shall be<br/>
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie).&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+Crossing the river on a big snow-bridge below the point where our old enemy
+came thundering down the mountain-side, we tramped gaily through mud and mire
+and over slippery rocks until we were gladdened by the sight of our camp,
+dripping away peacefully in the midst of the weeping forest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rain, as usual, ceased in the evening. A great camp-fire was lit, and the
+neighbouring buffaloes of Gujar-Kote having kindly supplied us with milk, we
+dined wisely and well and dropped off to sleep, lulled by the roaring of the
+Kolahoi River, which raced through the darkness close by.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, June 27</i>.&mdash;Being still hopeful of achieving the pass over
+into the Sind, we struck camp early yesterday and marched down to Lidarwat,
+only to find that the party which we knew had camped there with a view to
+crossing, had given up the idea and retreated down the valley; so I sent a
+swift messenger to countermand the three days&rsquo; supply of
+&ldquo;rassad&rdquo; which I had ordered from Pahlgam for my men, and we
+marched on to Aru. Upon the spur which overlooks Aru we found Dr. Neve
+encamped, and proceeded to discuss the possibility of crossing into the Sind
+Valley <i>viâ</i> Sekwas, Khem Sar, and Koolan. The Doctor, who is an
+enterprising mountaineer, was himself about to cross, but he did not encourage
+Jane to go and do likewise, as he said it would be very difficult owing to the
+late spring, and would probably entail a good deal of work with ropes and
+ice-axes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This absolutely decided us, our valour being greatly tempered by discretion,
+and we camped quietly at Aru, and came on into Pahlgam this forenoon. The
+river, for some reason best known to itself, was so low that we got dry-shod
+past the corner which had worried us so much on the way up.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/>
+GANGABAL</h2>
+
+<p>
+Friday, <i>June</i> 30.&mdash;The last few days have been somewhat uneventful.
+We left Pahlgam at early dawn on Wednesday, just as the first lemon-coloured
+light was spreading in the east over the pine-serrated heights above the camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rapids below Colonel Ward&rsquo;s bungalow, which had been fierce and
+swollen as we passed them on our upward way, were now reduced to roaring after
+the subdued fashion of the sucking dove; so we hardly paused to contemplate
+either them or the big boulder, red-stained and holy, at Ganesbal, but hastened
+on to the point where, just before turning a high bluff which shuts him from
+sight for the last time, we got the view of Kolahoi, with the newly-risen sun
+glowing on his upper slopes. An hour flew by much too fast, and it was with
+great reluctance that we finally turned our back on the finest part of the
+Lidar Valley, and sadly resumed our march to Sellar, crossing the river and
+following a rather hot and dull road. Sellar itself is not nearly as pretty as
+Eshmakam, and we grew rather tired of it by evening, as we arrived soon after
+one o&rsquo;clock, and found little to do or see.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday we left Sellar and marched to Bejbehara, the hottest and dullest
+march I know of in Kashmir. A shadeless road slopes gently down across the
+plains to the river. All along this road we overtook parties of coolies laden
+with creels of silk cocoons, whose destination is the big silk factory at
+Srinagar, small clouds of hot red dust rising into the still air, knocked up by
+the shuffling tread of their grass-shod feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the fields, dry and burnt to our eyes after the green valleys, squatted the
+reapers, snipping the sparse ears, apparently one by one, with sickles like
+penknives. They seemed to get the work done somehow, as little sheafs laid in
+rows bore witness; but the patience of Job must have been upon them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chenars of Bejbehara threw a most welcome shade from the noonday sun, which
+was striking down with evil force as we panted across the steamy rice-fields
+which surround them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hither we came at noon, only to find that our boats were not awaiting us as we
+had directed. A messenger bearing bitter words was promptly despatched to root
+the lazy scoundrels out from Islamabad, while Jane and I camped out beneath a
+huge tree and lunched, worked, and sketched until four o&rsquo;clock, when the
+Admiral brought the fleet in and fondly deemed his day&rsquo;s work done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was by no means our view of the case, and the usual trouble
+began&mdash;&ldquo;No coolies&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Very
+late&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Plenty tired,&rdquo; &amp;c. &amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course Satarah was defeated, and was soon to be seen sulkily poling away in
+the stern-sheets, while his son-in-law still more sulkily paddled in the bow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made about eight or ten miles, having a swift current under us, before a
+strong squall came up the valley, making the old ark slue about prodigiously,
+and inducing us to tie up for the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we slipped down stream to Srinagar, only halting for a short while
+to obtain some of the native bread for which Pampur is celebrated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river seemed exceedingly hot and stuffy after the lovely air which we have
+been breathing lately, and we quite determined that the sooner we get out of
+the valley the better for our pleasure, if not for our health.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We have been greatly exercised as to how best dispose of the time until
+September, for, during the months of July and August, the heat in the valley is
+very considerable, and every one seeks the higher summer retreats. The
+Smithsons suggested an expedition to Leh, which would, undoubtedly, have been a
+most interesting trip, but which would in no wise have spared us in the matter
+of heat. Had we started about this time for Leh we should have reached our
+destination towards the end of July, and would therefore have found ourselves
+setting out again across an arid and extremely hot country on the return
+journey somewhere about the middle of August.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The game did not seem to be worth the candle, and the Smithsons themselves
+shied at the idea when it was borne in upon them that there would be little or
+no shooting to be done <i>en route</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The alternatives seemed to lie between Gulmarg, where most of the beauty and
+fashion of Kashmir disports itself during the hot weather, Sonamarg, and
+Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sonamarg, from description, seemed likely to be quiet, not to say dull, as a
+residence for two months. One cannot live by scenery alone, and even the
+loveliest may become <i>toujours pâté de l&rsquo;anguille.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pahlgam suffered in our eyes from the same failing, and our thoughts turned to
+Gulmarg. Here, however, a difficulty arose. It is a notoriously wet place. We
+heard horrid tales of golf enthusiasts playing in waders, and of revellers half
+drowned while returning from dinners in neighbouring tents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We thought of rooms in Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel, but our memories of this hostelry
+in Srinagar were not altogether sweet, and we did not in the least hanker after
+a second edition; moreover, every available room had been engaged long ago, and
+it was extremely doubtful, to say the least of it, if the good Mr. Nedou could
+do anything for us. The prospect of a two-month sojourn in a wet tent wherein
+no fire could ever be lighted, and in which Jane pictured her frocks and smart
+hats lying in their boxes all crumpled and shorn of their dainty freshness, was
+far from enticing!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tent existence, when one lives the simple life far from the madding crowd, clad
+in puttoo and shooting-boots, or grass shoes, is delightful; but tent life in
+the midst of a round of society functions&mdash;golf, polo, with their
+attendant teas and dinners&mdash;was not to be thought of without grave
+misgiving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sorely perplexed, and almost at our wits&rsquo; end, the Gordian knot was cut
+by our being offered a small hut which had been occupied by a clerk in the
+State employ, now absent, and which the Resident most kindly placed at our
+disposal for a merely nominal rent. Needless to say we gratefully accepted the
+offer, in spite of the assurance that the hut was of very minute dimensions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, July</i> 2.&mdash;Yesterday we toiled hard in the heat to get
+everything in train for a move to Gulmarg. Subhana, that excellent tailor and
+embroiderer, arranged to have all our heavy luggage sent up to meet us on the
+10th, and from him, too, we arranged for the hire of such furniture as we might
+require, for we knew that the hut was bare as the cupboard of nursery fame.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we set off down the river to keep tryst with the Smithsons at
+Gangabal, where we hope to meet them about the 5th on their way back from
+Tilail. The usual struggle with the crew resulted, also as usual, in our
+favour, and we got right through to Gunderbal at the mouth of the Sind River,
+where we now lie amid a flotilla of boats whose occupiers have fled away from
+the sultriness and smelliness of Srinagar in search of the cool currents, both
+of air and water, which are popularly supposed to flow down the Sind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Jane and I returned from a visit to the post-office along a sweltering path
+among the rice-fields, from which warm waves of air rose steaming into the
+sunset, we failed to observe the celebrated and superior coolness of
+Gunderbal&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, July</i> 6.&mdash;The lumbadhar of Gunderbal, in spite of his
+magnificent name, is a rascal of the deepest dye. He put much water in our
+milk, to the furious disgust of Sabz Ali, and he failed to provide the coolies
+I had ordered; I therefore reported him to Chattar Singh, and sent my
+messengers forth, like another Lars Porsena, to catch coolies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was early on Tuesday morning, and a sufficient number of ponies and
+coolies having been got together by 5.30, we started.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I may here note that, owing to a confusion between <i>Gunderbal</i> (the port,
+so to speak, of the Sind Valley, and route to Leh and Thibet) and
+<i>Gangabal</i>, a lake lying some 12,000 feet above the sea behind Haramok,
+our arrangement to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal was altered by a letter from
+them announcing their imminent arrival at Gunderbal! This was perturbing, but
+as the mistake was not ours, we decided not to allow ourselves to be baulked of
+a trip for which we had surrendered an expedition to Shisha Nag, beyond
+Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lower part of the Sind Valley is in nowise interesting; the way was both
+tedious and hot, and we rejoiced greatly when, having crossed the Sind River,
+we found a lovely spring and halted for tiffin. After an hour&rsquo;s rest we
+followed the main road a little farther, and then, passing the mouth of the
+Chittagul Nullah, turned up the Wangat Valley. The scenery became finer, and
+the last hour&rsquo;s march along a steep mountain-side, with the Wangat River
+far below on our right, was a great improvement on what we had left behind us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The little village of Wangat, perched upon a steep spur above the river, was
+woefully deficient of anything like a good camping-ground. We finally selected
+a small bare rice patch, which, though extremely &ldquo;knubbly,&rdquo; had the
+merits of being almost level, moderately remote from the village and its
+smells, and quite close to a perfect spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday we achieved a really early start, leaving Wangat at 4.15, the path
+being weirdly illuminated by extempore torches made of pine-wood which the
+shikari had prepared. A moderately level march of some three miles brought us
+to the ruined temples of Vernag and the beginning of our work, for here the
+path, turning sharply to the left, led us inexorably up the almost precipitous
+face of the mountain by means of short zigzags.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a stiff pull. The sun was now peering triumphantly over the hills on the
+far side of the valley, and the path was (an extraordinary thing in Kashmir)
+excessively dusty. Up and on we panted, Jane partly supported by having the
+bight of the shikari&rsquo;s puggaree round her waist while he towed her by the
+ends.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no relaxation of the steep gradient, no water, and no shade, and the
+height to be surmounted was 4000 feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the longest lane has a turning, so the highest hill has a top, and we came
+at last to the blissful point where the path deigned to assume an approach to
+the horizontal, and led us to the most delightful spring in Kashmir! The water,
+ice-cold and clear, gushes out of a crevice in the rock, and with the joy of
+wandering Israelites we threw ourselves on the ground, basked in the glorious
+mountain air, and shouted for the tiffin basket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only the faithful &ldquo;Yellow Bag&rdquo; was forthcoming, the tiffin coolie
+being still &ldquo;hull down,&rdquo; and from its varied contents we extracted
+the only edibles, apricots and rock cakes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never have we enjoyed any meal more than that somewhat light breakfast, washed
+down by water which was a pure joy to drink.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! There were but two rock cakes apiece! Another half-hour&rsquo;s clamber,
+along a pretty rough track, brought us to a point whence we looked down a long
+green slope to our destination, Tronkol&mdash;a few Gujar huts, indistinct
+amidst a clump of very ancient birch-trees, standing out as a sort of oasis
+among the bare and boulder-strewn slopes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The view was superb. To the right, the mountain-side fell steeply to where, in
+the depths of the Wangat Nullah, a tiny white thread marked the river foaming
+4000 feet below, and beyond rose a jagged range of spires and pinnacles, snow
+lying white at the bases of the dark precipices. &ldquo;These are the savage
+wilds&rdquo; which bar the route from the Wangat into Tilail and the Upper
+Sind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Over Tronkol, bare uplands, rising wave above wave, shut out the view of
+Gangabal and the track over into the Erin Nullah and down to Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On our left towered the bastions of Haramok, his snow-crowned head rising
+grimly into the clear blue sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We pitched our camp at Tronkol about two o&rsquo;clock, on a green level some
+little way beyond the Gujar huts, and just above a stream which picked its
+riotous way along a bed of enormous boulders, sheltered to a certain extent by
+a fringe of hoary birches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had never beheld such great birches as these, many of them, alas! mere
+skeletons of former grandeur, whose whitening limbs speak eloquently of a
+hundred years of ceaseless struggle with storm and tempest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I saw no young ones springing up to replace these dying warriors. The Gujars
+and their buffaloes probably prevent any youthful green thing from growing. It
+seems a pity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards evening we observed baggage ponies approaching, and at the sight we
+felt aggrieved; for, in our colossal selfishness, we fancied that Tronkol was
+ours, and ours alone. A small tent was pitched, and presently to our surly eyes
+appeared a lonely lady, who proceeded solemnly to play Patience in front of it
+while her dinner was being got ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit of ceremony, and an invitation to share our &ldquo;irishystoo&rdquo;
+and camp-fire, brought Mrs. Locock across, and we made the acquaintance of a
+lady well known for her prowess as a shikari throughout Kashmir&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;There hunted &lsquo;she&rsquo; the walrus, the narwal, and the
+seal.<br/>
+    Ah! &rsquo;twas a noble game,<br/>
+    And, like the lightning&rsquo;s flame;<br/>
+Flew our harpoons of steel&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+I cannot resist the quotation, but I do not really think Mrs. Locock hunts
+walruses in Kashmir, and I know she doesn&rsquo;t use a harpoon. No matter, she
+proved a cheery and delightful companion, and we entirely forgave her for
+coming to Tronkol and poaching on our preserves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were extremely amused at the surprise she expressed at Jane&rsquo;s feat in
+climbing from Wangat. Evidently Jane&rsquo;s reputation is not that of a
+bullock-workman in Srinagar!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we all three went to see Lake Gangabal. An easy path leads over
+some three or four miles of rolling down to our destination, which is one of a
+whole chain of lakes&mdash;or rather tarns&mdash;which lie under the northern
+slopes of Haramok.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We came first upon a small piece of water, lying blue and still in the morning
+sun, and from which a noisy stream poured forth its glacier water. This we had
+a good deal of trouble in crossing, the ladies being borne on the broad backs
+of coolies, in attitudes more quaint than graceful. A second and deeper stream
+being safely forded, we climbed a low ridge to find Gangabad stretched before
+us&mdash;a smooth plane of turquoise blue and pale icy green, beneath the dark
+ramparts of Haramok, whose &ldquo;eagle-baffling&rdquo; crags and glittering
+glaciers rose six thousand sheer feet above. In the foreground the earth, still
+brown, and only just released from its long winter covering of snow, bore
+masses of small golden ranunculus and rose-hued primulas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An extraordinary sense of silence and solitude filled one&mdash;no birds or
+beasts were visible, and only the tinkle of tiny rills running down to the
+lake, and the distant clamour of the infant river, broke, or rather
+accentuated, the loneliness of the scene.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had brought breakfast with us, and after eating it we made haste to recross
+the two rivers, because, troublesome as they were to ford in the morning, they
+would certainly grow worse with every hour of ice-melting sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more on the camp side, however, we strolled along in leisurely mood,
+staying to lunch on top of the ridge overlooking Tronkol. I left the ladies
+then to find their leisurely way back among the flowery hollows, and made for a
+peak overlooking the head of the Chittagul Nullah. A sharp climb up broken
+rocks and over snow slopes brought me to the top, a point some 13,500 feet
+above the sea. In front of me Haramok, seamed with snow-filled gullies, still
+towered far above; immediately below, the saddle&mdash;brown, bare earth,
+snow-streaked&mdash;divided the Chittagul Nullah from Tronkol. Far away down
+the valley the Sind River gleamed like a silver thread in the afternoon light,
+and beyond, the Wular lay a pale haze in the distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the northward rose the fantastic range of peaks that overhang the Wangat
+gorge, and almost below my feet, at a depth of some 1500 feet, lay a sombre
+lakelet, steely dark and still, in the shadow of the ridge upon which I sat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun was going down fast into a fleecy bed of clouds, amid which I knew that
+Nanga Parbat lay swathed from sight. To see that mountain monarch had been the
+chief object of my climb, so, recognising that the sight of him was a hope
+deferred, I made haste to scramble down to the tarn below, stopping here and
+there to fill my pith hat with wild rhubarb, and to pick or admire the new and
+always fascinating wild flowers as I passed. Large-flowered, white anemones;
+tiny gentian, with vivid small blue blossoms; loose-flowered, purple primulas,
+and many strange and novel blossoms starred the grassy patches, or filled the
+rocky crevices with abundant beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the lake side the moisture-loving, rose-coloured primula reappeared in
+masses, and as I followed down its outgoing stream towards the camp, I waded
+through a tangle of columbine, white and blue; a great purple salvia, arnica,
+and a profusion of varied flowers in rampant bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, July</i> 8.&mdash;An early start homewards yesterday, in the cold
+dawn, rewarded us by the sight of the first beams of the rising sun lighting up
+the threefold head of Haramok with an unspeakable glory, as we crossed the open
+boulder-strewn uplands, before descending into the nullah, which lay below us
+still wrapped in a mysterious purple haze. The downward zigzags, with their
+uncompromising steepness, proved almost as tiring as the ascent had been, and
+we were more than ready for breakfast by the time we reached the ruined temples
+of Vernag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These temples, built probably about the beginning of the eighth century, are,
+like all the others which I have seen in Kashmir, small, and somewhat
+uninteresting, except to the archaeologist. They consist, invariably, of a
+&ldquo;cella&rdquo; containing the object of veneration, the lingam, surmounted
+by a high-pitched conical stone roof. In structure they show apparently signs
+of Greek influence in the doorways, and the triangular pediments above them.
+Phallic worship would seem to have been always confined to these temples, with
+ophiolatry&mdash;the nagas or water-snake deities being accommodated in sacred
+tanks, in the midst of which the early Kashmir temples were usually placed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Any one who wishes to study the temple architecture of Kashmir cannot do better
+than read Fergusson&rsquo;s <i>Indian Architecture</i>, wherein he will find
+all the information he wants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the ordinary &ldquo;man in the street&rdquo; the ancient buildings of
+Kashmir do not appeal, either by their aesthetic value or by the dignity of
+size. Martand, the greatest, and probably the finest, both in point of grandeur
+and of situation, I regret to say, I did not see; but the temples at Bhanyar,
+Pandrettan, and Wangat resemble one another closely in design and general
+insignificance. The position of the Wangat ruins, embosomed in the wild tangle
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Of a steep wilderness, whose airy sides<br/>
+With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,<br/>
+Access denied; and overhead up grew<br/>
+Insuperable height of loftiest shade,<br/>
+Cedar, and pine, and fir,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and seated at the base of a solemn circle of mountains, gives the group of
+tottering shrines a picturesqueness and importance which I cannot concede that
+they would otherwise have had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not remember ever to have seen it noted that all buildings which are
+impressive by the mere majesty of size are to be found in plains and not in
+mountainous countries. This is probably due to two causes. The one being the
+denser population of the fat plains, whereby a greater concourse of builders
+and of worshippers would be sustained, and the other being the&mdash;probably
+unconscious&mdash;instinct which debarred the architect from attempting to vie
+with nature in the mountains and impel him to work out his most majestic
+designs amid wide and level horizons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fact remains, whatever may be the cause, that architecture has never been
+advanced much beyond the mere domestic in very mountainous regions, with the
+exception of the mediaeval strongholds, which formed the nucleus of every town
+or village, where a <i>point d&rsquo;appui</i> was required against invasion,
+for the protection of the community.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Breakfast, followed by a prowl among the ruins and a short space for sketching,
+gave the sun time to pour his beams with quite unpleasant insistence into the
+confined fold in the hills, where we began to gasp until the ladies mounted
+their ponies, and we took our way down the valley, crossing the river below
+Wangat, and keeping along the left bank to Vernaboug, where we camped, the only
+incident of any importance being the sad loss of Jane&rsquo;s field-glasses,
+which, carried by her syce in a boot-bag, were dropped in a stream by that
+idiot while crossing, he having lost his footing in a pool, and, clutching
+wildly at the pony&rsquo;s reins, let go the precious binoculars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we were up betimes, Mrs. Locock having ordained a bear
+&ldquo;honk&rdquo;! This was, to me, a new departure in shikar, and truly it
+was amusing to see the shikari, bursting with importance, mustering the forty
+half-naked coolies whom he had collected to beat. A couple of men with tom-toms
+slung round their necks completed the party, which marched in straggling
+procession out of the village at dawn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A mile of easy walking brought us to the rough jungly cliffs, seamed with
+transverse nullahs, narrow and steep, which bordered the river. Here we were
+placed in passes, with great caution and mystery, by the shikari and his
+chief-of-the-staff&mdash;the &ldquo;oldest inhabitant&rdquo; of Vernaboug; and
+here we sat in the morning stillness until a distant clamour and the faint
+beating of tom-toms afar off made us sit up more warily, and watch eagerly for
+the expected bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The yells increase, and the tom-toms, vigorously banged, seem calculated to
+fuss any self-respecting bear into fits. We watch a narrow space between two
+bushes some dozen yards away, and see that the Mannlicher across our knees and
+the smooth-bore, ball loaded in the right and chokeless barrel, lie handy for
+instant use.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hidden in the dense jungle, some hundred yards below, sits Mrs. Locock on the
+matted top of a hazel, while Jane, chittering with suppressed excitement,
+crouches a few paces behind me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The beaters approach, and pandemonium reigns. A few scared birds dart past, but
+no bear comes; and when the first brown body shows among the brushwood we shout
+to stop the uproar, and all move on to another beat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Four &ldquo;honks&rdquo; produced nothing, so far as I was concerned; but a
+bear&mdash;according to her shikari&mdash;passed close by Mrs. Locock, so
+thickly screened by jungle that she couldn&rsquo;t see it. This may be so, but
+Kashmir shikaris have remarkably vivid imaginations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a delightful morning to all parties concerned&mdash;for we were much
+amused, the coolies were adequately paid, and the bear wasn&rsquo;t
+worried&mdash;we returned to breakfast, and then marched fifteen hot miles into
+Gunderbal, where we found the Smithsons, with whom we dined. They have been in
+Gurais and the Tilail district ever since they left Srinagar on the 24th April,
+and have had an adventurous and difficult time, with plenty of snow and
+torrents and avalanches, but somewhat poor sport.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is not according to one&rsquo;s preconceived ideas of shikar in Kashmir,
+as they went into a nullah which no sahib had penetrated for five years; they
+had the best shikari in Kashmir (he said it, and he ought to know); they worked
+very hard, and their bag consisted of one or two moderate ibex and a red bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, July</i> 11.&mdash;On Sunday morning the combined fleet sailed for
+Palhallan. The Smithsons had a &ldquo;matted dounga,&rdquo; and she
+&ldquo;walked away&rdquo; from our heavier ark down the winding Sind at a great
+pace. We reached Shadipur at 11 A.M., but the Smithsons had &ldquo;gone
+before,&rdquo; so, crossing the Jhelum, we made after them in hot pursuit, and
+reached them and Palhallan at sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A narrow canal, bordered by low swampy marshland, allowed us to get within a
+mile of the village and tie up among the shallows, whereupon the mosquitoes
+gathered from far and near, and fell upon us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The final packing, effected amid a hungry crowd of little piping fiends, was a
+veritable nightmare, and yesterday morning we rescued our mangled remains from
+the enemy, and, having paid off our boats, hurriedly clambered on to the ponies
+which had come&mdash;late, as usual&mdash;from Palhallan to convey what was
+left by the mosquitoes to Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The unfortunate Jane&mdash;always a popular person&mdash;is especially so with
+insects; and if there is a flea or a mosquito anywhere within range it
+immediately rushes to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She paid dearly for her fatal gift of attractiveness at Palhallan&mdash;her
+eyes, usually so keen, being what is vulgarly termed &ldquo;bunged up,&rdquo;
+and every vulnerable spot in like piteous plight!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We quitted Palhallan as the Lot family quitted Sodom and Gomorrah, but with no
+lingering tendency to look backward; we cast our eyes unto the hills, and
+kicked the best pace we could out of our &ldquo;tattoos,&rdquo; halting for
+breakfast soon after crossing the hot, white road which runs from Baramula to
+Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we left the steamy valley and wound up a rapidly ascending path among the
+lower fringes and outliers of the forest our spirits rose, and by the time we
+had clambered up the last stiff pull and emerged from the darkly-wooded track
+into the little clearing, where perches the village of Babamarishi, we were
+positively cheerful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more the air was fresh and buoyant, the spring water was cool and
+&ldquo;delicate to drink,&rdquo; and from our tents we could look out over the
+valley lying dim in a yellow heat-haze far below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Babamarishi is a picturesquely-grouped collection of the usual rickety-looking
+wooden huts, no dirtier, but perhaps noisier than usual, owing to the presence
+of a very holy ziarat much frequented by loudly conversational devotees. We
+spent the crisp, warm afternoon peacefully stretched on the sloping sward in
+front of our tents, and making the acquaintance of the only good thing that
+came out of Palhallan&mdash;a charming quartette of young geese which Sabz Ali
+had bought and brought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These delightful birds evinced the most perfect friendliness and confidence in
+us, and we became greatly attached to them. They and the fowls seemed excellent
+travellers, and after a long day&rsquo;s march would come up smiling, like the
+jackdaw of Rheims, &ldquo;not a penny the worse.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we had but a short and easy march from Babamarishi to Gulmarg,
+along a good road, through a fine forest of silver fir.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br/>
+GULMARG</h2>
+
+<p>
+Somehow one&rsquo;s preconceived ideas of a place are almost always quite
+wrong, and so Gulmarg seemed quite different from what I had expected. It
+seemed all twisted the wrong way, and was really quite unlike the place which
+my imagination had evolved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning through a narrow gap, we found ourselves facing a wide, green,
+undulating valley completely surrounded by dense fir forest. Beyond, to the
+left, rose the sloping bulk of Apharwat, one of the range of the Pir Panjal;
+while to the right low, wooded hillocks bounded the valley and fell, on their
+outward flanks, to the Kashmir plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately in front of us a small village or bazaar swarmed with native life,
+and sloped down to a stream which wound through the hollows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All round the edge of the forest a continuous ring of wooden huts and white
+tents showed that the &ldquo;sahib&rdquo; on holiday intent had marked Gulmarg
+for his own.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we rode through the bazaar the view expanded. Apharwat showed all his
+somewhat disappointing face; his upper slopes, streaked with dirty snow, looked
+remarkably dingy when contrasted with the dazzling white clouds which went
+sailing past his uninteresting summit. The absence of all variety in form or
+light and shade, and the dull lines of his foreshortened front, made it hard to
+realise that he stood some five thousand feet above us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near the centre of the marg, on a small hill, was a large wooden building
+surrounded by many satellite huts and tents: this we rightly guessed to be
+Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel. Below, on a spur, was the little church, and to the right,
+in the hollow, the club-house faced the level polo-ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A winding stream, which we subsequently found to be perfectly ubiquitous, and
+an insatiable devourer of errant golf-balls, ran deviously through the valley,
+which seemed to be rather over a mile long, and almost equally wide.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Smithsons rode away vaguely in search of a camping-ground; while we, having
+found out where our hut was, turned back and climbed a knoll behind the bazaar,
+and found ourselves in front of our future home, a very plain and roughly-built
+rectangular wooden hut, containing a small square room opening upon a verandah,
+and having a bedroom and bathroom on each side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was our palace, and we were well satisfied with it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cook-house and servants&rsquo; quarters were in a hut close by, and I could
+summon my retainers or chide them for undue chatter from my bedroom
+window&mdash;a serviceable short cut for the dinner, too, in wet and stormy
+weather!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Life at Gulmarg is extremely apt to degenerate into the &ldquo;trivial
+round&rdquo; of the golf links varied by polo, or polo varied by golf, with
+occasional gymkhanas and picnics. There are, doubtless, many delightful
+excursions to be made, but upon the whole it seems difficult to break far
+beyond the &ldquo;Circular Road,&rdquo; a fairly level and well-kept
+bridle-path, which for eight beautiful miles winds through the pine forest,
+giving marvellous glimpses of snowy peaks and sunlit valleys.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The &ldquo;Circular Road&rdquo; is always fine, whether seen after rain, when,
+far below in the Ferozepore Nullah, the
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,<br/>
+Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+or when in the evening sunlight the whole broad Valley of Kashmir lies glowing
+at our feet, ringed afar by the ethereal mountains whose pale snows stand faint
+in the golden light, until beneath the yellowing sky the clouds turn rosy, and
+from their midst Haramok and Kolahoi raise their proud heads towards the
+earliest star.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The expedition to the top of Apharwat is, in my opinion, hardly worth making,
+but then I was not very lucky in the weather. Major Cardew, R.F.A., and I
+arranged to do the climb together, and duly started one excessively damp and
+foggy morning towards the middle of July.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Taking our ponies, we scrambled up a rough path through the forest to
+Killanmarg, a boulder-strewn slope, some half a mile wide, which lies between
+the upper edge of the forest and the final slopes of the mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sending our ponies home, we set about the ascent of the 3500 feet that remained
+between us and our goal. The whole hillside was a perfect wild garden.
+Columbines, potentillas&mdash;yellow, bronze, and crimson&mdash;primulas,
+anemones, gentian, arnica, and quantities of unknown blossoms gave us ample
+excuse for lingering panting in the rarefied air, as we struggled through
+brushwood first, and then over loose rocks and finally slopes of shelving snow,
+before we found ourselves on the crest of the mountain, shivering slightly in
+the raw, foggy air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our view was narrowed down to the bleak slopes of rock and snow that
+immediately surrounded us, for our hope that we should get above the cloud belt
+was not fulfilled, and beyond a dismal tarn, lying just below us, in whose
+black waters forlorn little bergs of rotten snow floated, and a very much
+circumscribed view of dull tops swathed in flying mist, we saw nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had the sky been clear, I am told that the view would have been magnificent,
+but I should think probably no better than that from Killanmarg, as it is a
+mistake to suppose that a high, or at least too high, elevation &ldquo;lends
+enchantment.&rdquo; As a rule the view is finer when seen half-way up a lofty
+mountain than that obtained from the summit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We did not stay long upon the top of Apharwat discussing the best point of
+view, because Cardew sagaciously remarked that if it grew much thicker he
+wouldn&rsquo;t be answerable for finding the way down, and as I have a holy
+horror of rambling about strange (and possibly precipitous) mountains in a fog,
+we set about retracing our own footsteps in the snow until we regained the
+ridge we had come up by.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A remarkably wet couple we were when we presented ourselves at our respective
+front doors, just in time for a &ldquo;rub down&rdquo; before lunch!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The golf at Gulmarg is very good, the 18-hole course being exceedingly
+sporting, and tricky enough to defeat the very elect. Jane and I had conveyed
+our clubs out to Kashmir, knowing that they were likely to prove useful. I had
+also taken the precaution to pack up a box or two of balls, but I found my
+labour all in vain, as &ldquo;Haskells&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;Kemshall-Arlingtons&rdquo; were supplied by the club at precisely the
+same price as in England&mdash;viz., 1 r. 8 an., or two shillings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+New clubs are also cheap and in plenty, but repairs to old favourites are not
+always satisfactory. My pet driver, having been damaged, was very evilly
+treated by the native craftsman, who bound up its wounds with large screws!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mountains of Kashmir have been a constant joy to us. Varying with every
+change of light and shade, custom cannot stale their infinite variety; but as
+yet I had not seen the great monarch of Chilas, Nanga Parbat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In July and early August he is rarely visible from Gulmarg, owing to the
+haziness of the atmosphere. One clear morning, however, towards the end of
+July, after a night of rain and storm, I was strolling along the Circular Road
+when, lo! far away in the north-west, soaring ethereal above the blue ranges
+that overlook Gurais, above the cloud-banks floating beyond their summits, the
+great mountain, unapproachable in his glory, stood revealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The early morning sun struck full on his untrodden snows, making it hard to
+realise that eighty-five miles of air separated me from that clear-cut peak.
+Soon, very soon, a light cloud clung to his eastern face, and within ten
+minutes the whole vision had faded into an up-piled tower of seething clouds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the season, as the air grew clearer, Jane and I made almost daily
+pilgrimages to the point, only a few minutes&rsquo; walk from our hut, whence,
+framed by a foreground of columnar pines, Nanga Parbat could generally be seen
+for a time in the morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, August</i> 1.&mdash;Society in Gulmarg is particularly cheery, as
+indeed might be expected where two or three hundred English men and women are
+gathered together to amuse themselves and lay in a fresh store of health and
+energy before returning to the routine of duty in the plains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There have been many picnics lately, the little glades or margs, which are
+frequent in the forest slopes, being ideal places of rendezvous for merrymakers
+on horse or foot. Picnics of all sorts and sizes, from the little impromptu
+gatherings of half-a-dozen congenial young souls (always an even number,
+please), who ride off into the romantic shades to nibble biscuits and make tea,
+to the dainty repasts provided by a hospitable lady, whose official hut
+overlooks the Ferozepore Nullah, and who, in turn, overlooks her cook, to the
+great gratification of her guests.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How small a thing will upset the best-laid plans of hospitality! It is said
+that a most carefully planned picnic, where all the little tables, set for two,
+were discreetly screened apart among the bushes, was entirely ruined by a
+piratical damsel undertaking a cutting-out expedition for the capture of the
+hostess&rsquo; best young man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our evenings are by no means dull. On many a starlit night has Jane mounted the
+noble steed which, through the kindness of the Resident, we have hired from the
+&ldquo;State,&rdquo; and ridden across the marg attended by her slaves (her
+husband and the ancient shikari, to wit), to dine and play bridge in some
+hospitable hut, or dance or see theatricals at Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Last week we tore ourselves away from our daily golf, and joined the Smithsons
+in a futile expedition to the foot of the Ferozepore Nullah for bear. Three
+days we spent in vain endeavour to find &ldquo;baloo,&rdquo; and on the fourth
+we wended our toilsome way up the hill again to Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, August</i> 27.&mdash;There are drawbacks as well as advantages in
+being perched, as it were, just above the bazaar. Its proximity enables our
+good Sabz Ali to sally forth each morning and secure the earliest consignment
+of &ldquo;butter and eggs and a pound of cheese,&rdquo; which has come up from
+Srinagar, and select the best of the fruit and vegetables. It affords also an
+interesting promenade for the geese, who solemnly march down the main street
+daily for recreation and such stray articles of food as may be found in the
+heterogeneous rubbish-heaps.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It possesses, however, a superabundance of pi-dogs, who gather together on the
+slope in front of our hut in the watches of the night, and serenade us to a
+maddening extent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The natives, too, have a sinful habit of chattering and shouting at an hour
+when all well-conducted persons should be steeped in their beauty sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few nights ago this culminated in what Keats would have called a
+&ldquo;purple riot.&rdquo; The sweeper and his friends were holding a meeting
+for the purpose of conversation and the consumption of apple brandy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having fruitlessly sent the shikari to try and stop the insufferable noise, I
+was fain to sally forth myself to investigate matters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then to a happy and light-hearted party seated chattering round a blazing fire
+there came suddenly the unwelcome apparition of an exceedingly irate sahib, in
+evening dress and pumps, brandishing a khudstick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A wild scurry, in which the bonfire was scattered, a few remarks in forcible
+English, a whack which just missed the hindmost reveller, and the place became
+a deserted village.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning Sabz Ali came to me in a towering rage to report that the
+sweeper&mdash;that unclean outcast&mdash;had dared to say most opprobrious
+things to him, being inspired thereto by the devil and apple brandy. Nothing
+less than the immediate execution of the culprit by hanging, drawing, and
+quartering would satisfy the outraged feelings of our henchman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I promised a yet severer punishment. I said I would &ldquo;cut&rdquo; the
+wretched minion&rsquo;s pay that month to the amount of a rupee. Vengeance was
+satisfied, and the victim reduced to tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is good to hear Jane&mdash;who for many years has been accustomed to having
+her own way in all household matters&mdash;ordering breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Sabz Ali&mdash;what shall we have for breakfast to-morrow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jessa mem-sahib arder!&rdquo;&mdash;with a friendly grin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I shall have kidneys.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No kidney, mem-sahib! Kidney plenty money&mdash;two annas six pice ek.
+Oh, plenty dear!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired of eggs. Is there any cold chicken you could
+grill?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chota murghi one egg lay, mem-sahib, anda poach. Sahib, chicken grill
+laike!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, all right! But I thought of a mutton-chop for the major
+sahib.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Muttony stup&rdquo; (mutton&rsquo;s tough). &ldquo;Sahib no
+laike!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, that will do&mdash;a poached egg for me and grilled chicken
+for the sahib.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, mem-sahib&mdash;no &rsquo;nuf. Sahib plenty
+&rsquo;ungry&mdash;chicken grill, peechy ramble-tamble egg!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have it your own way. I daresay the major sahib <i>would</i> like
+scrambled eggs, and we&rsquo;ll have coffee&mdash;not tea.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, mem-sahib. No coffee&mdash;coffee finish!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Send the shikari down to the bazaar, then, for a tin of coffee from
+Nusserwanjee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shikari saaf kuro lakri ke major sahib&rdquo; (cleaning the golf-clubs).
+&ldquo;Tea breakfast, coffee kal&rdquo; (to-morrow).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, utterly routed on every point, Jane gives in gracefully, and makes an
+excellent breakfast as prearranged by Sabz Ali!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The news is spread that there will be an exhibition of pictures held in
+Srinagar in September. Every second person is a&mdash;more or
+less&mdash;heaven-born artist out here, so there promises to be no lack of
+exhibits. I dreamed a dream last night, and in my dream I was walking along the
+bund and came upon an elderly gentleman laying Naples yellow on a canvas with a
+trowel. The river was smooth and golden, and reflected the sensuous golden
+tones of the sky. Trees arose from golden puddles, half screening a ziarat
+which, upon the glowing canvas, appeared remarkably like a village church.
+&ldquo;How beautiful!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;how gloriously oleographic!&rdquo;
+and the painter, removing a brush from his mouth, smiled, well pleased, and
+said, &ldquo;I am a Leader among Victorian artists and the public adores
+me!&rdquo; and I left him vigorously painting pot-boilers. Then in a damp dell
+among the willows of the Dal I found a foreigner in spectacles, and the light
+upon his pictures was the light that never was on sea or land; but through a
+silvery mist the willows showed ghostly grey, and a shadowy group of classic
+nymphs were ringed in the dance, and I cried &ldquo;O Corot! lend me your
+spectacles. I fain, like you, would see crude nature dimmed to a silvery
+perpetual twilight.&rdquo; And Corot replied: &ldquo;Mon ami moi je ne vois
+jamais le soleil, je me plonge toujours, dans les ombres bleuâtres et les
+rayons pâles de l&rsquo;aube.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then upward I fared till, treading the clear heights, I found one frantically
+painting the peaks and pinnacles of the mountains in weird stipples of
+alternate red and blue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Great heavens!&rdquo; I exclaimed, &ldquo;what disordered manner is
+this!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The artist glanced swiftly at me, and said disdainfully: &ldquo;I am a modern
+of the moderns, and if you cannot see that mountains are like that, it is your
+fault&mdash;not mine. Go back, you stand too close.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And as I went back I looked over my shoulder, and, truly, the flaring
+rose-colour had blended amicably with the blue, and I admitted that perhaps
+Segantini was not so mad as he looked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A little lower down a stout Scotchman painted a flowery valley. The flowers
+were many and bright, but not so garish as they appeared to him, and I hinted
+as much; but he scorned my criticism.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mon,&rdquo; he shouted, &ldquo;I painted the Three Graces, an&rsquo;
+they made me an Academeesian. I painted a flowery glen in the Tyrol (dearie me,
+but thae flowers cost me a fortune in blue paint), and it was coft for the
+Chantry Bequest, and hoo daur <i>you</i> talk to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I departed hurriedly and came upon four men, two of them with long beards,
+and all with unkempt hair, laboriously depicting a blue pine, needle by needle,
+and every one in its proper place. I asked them if theirs was not a very
+troublesome way of painting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They looked at one another with earnest blue eyes, and remarked that here was
+evidently a Philistine who knew not Cimabue and cared not a jot for Giotto; and
+the first said: &ldquo;Sir, methinks he who would climb the golden stairs
+should do so step by step;&rdquo; and the second said, sadly: &ldquo;We are but
+scapegoats, truly, being cast forth by the vindictive Victorians of our
+day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The third murmured in somewhat broken English.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Victoria Victrix,<br/>
+Beata Beatrix,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+whereby I recognised him to be a poet, if not a painter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the fourth&mdash;an energetic-looking man with a somewhat arrogant
+manner&mdash;said briskly: &ldquo;Perchance the ass is right; these pine
+needles are becoming monotonous, and I have seventeen million four hundred and
+sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven more to do. Beshrew me if I do not
+take to pot-boiling!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down by the water-side a lady sat, sketching in water-colours for dear life;
+around her lay a litter of half-finished works, scattered like autumn leaves in
+Vallombrosa. I approached her, quite friendly, and offered to gather them up
+for her&mdash;at least some of them, saying soothingly, for I saw she was in a
+temper&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear, dear, Clara, why, what <i>is</i> the matter?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am painting the Venice of the East,&rdquo; she cried petulantly,
+&ldquo;but for the life of me I can&rsquo;t see a campanile, and how can I
+possibly paint a picture without a campanile?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I understood that, of course, she couldn&rsquo;t, so I stole away softly on
+tip-toe, leaving her turning doungas into gondolas for all she was worth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A dark, dapper man, with an alert air and an eyeglass, sat near the seventh
+bridge, writing. Beside him stood an easel and other painting-gear. I asked him
+what he was doing, and he answered, with a fine smile, &ldquo;I am gently
+making enemies;&rdquo; so, to turn the subject, I picked up a large canvas,
+smeared over with invisible grey, like the broadside of a modern battleship,
+and sprinkled here and there with pale yellow blobs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What have we here, James?&rdquo; I inquired cheerfully, and he, staying
+his claw-like hand in mid-air, made reply&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A chromatic in tones of sad colour, with golden
+accidentals&mdash;Kashmir night-lights.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! quite so,&rdquo; I exclaimed; &ldquo;but have I got it right side
+up?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then, pointing to a remarkable
+butterfly (<i>Vanessa Sifflerius</i>) depicted in the corner, cried:
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all right; you&rsquo;ll never make a mistake if you keep this
+insect in the <i>right bottom corner</i>. It is put there on purpose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lastly, on an eminence I saw a man like an eagle, sitting facing full the sun,
+and upon his glowing canvas was portrayed the heavens above and the earth
+beneath and the waters under the earth, and behind him sat one who patted him
+upon the back, and looked at intervals over his shoulder at the glorious work,
+and then wrote in a book a eulogy thereof; and I, too, came and looked over the
+painter&rsquo;s shoulder, and I muttered, with Oliver Wendell Holmes,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The foreground golden dirt,<br/>
+The sunshine painted with a squirt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the man who patted the painter on the back turned upon me aggressively,
+and said: &ldquo;This is the only painter who ever was, or will be, and if you
+don&rsquo;t agree with me you are a fool.&rdquo; The painter, smiling a sly
+Monna-Lisan smile of triumph, remarked: &ldquo;Right you are, John. I rather
+think this <i>will</i> knock that rascal Claude,&rdquo; and I laughed so that I
+awoke; but the memory of the dream remained with me, and it seemed to me that,
+perhaps, we poor amateurs might not be any better able to compass aught but
+caricatures of this marvellous scenery than the ghostly limners of my dream!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hut just above ours was tenanted by a party of three young Lancers on leave
+from Rawal Pindi, a gramophone, and a few dogs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the soldiers was laid up with a bad ankle, and it soon became a daily
+custom for Jane or me to play a game of chess or piquet with the invalid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later on, when leave had expired for the hale, when the dogs had departed, and
+the voice of the gramophone was no more heard in the land, we came to see a
+great deal of the wounded warrior, and finally arranged to personally conduct
+him off the premises, and return him, in time for medical survey, to Rawal
+Pindi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many years ago I read a delightful poem called <i>The Paradise of
+Birds</i>&mdash;I believe it was by Mortimer Collins,[1] but I am not sure. Now
+the Poet (who, together with Windbag, sailed to this very paradise of birds)
+deemed that this happy asylum of the feathered fowls was somewhere at the back
+of the North Pole. He cannot have known of Kashmir, or he would assuredly have
+sent the persecuted birds thither, and placed the &ldquo;Roc&rsquo;s Egg&rdquo;
+as janitor, somewhere by the portals of the Jhelum Valley. Kashmir is truly and
+indeed the paradise of birds, for there no man molests them, and no schoolboy
+collects eggs, and the result is a fascinating fearlessness, the result of
+perpetual peace and plenty.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] It is by Courthope, not Collins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I regret exceedingly that my ornithological knowledge is extremely limited. I
+could find no books to help me,[2] and, as I did not care to kill any birds
+merely to enable me to identify their species, my notes were merely
+&ldquo;popular&rdquo; and not &ldquo;scientific.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] See Appendix II.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shall I confess that I began an erudite work on the birds of Kashmir, but got
+no further than the Hoopoe? It began as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<h3>THE HOOPOE</h3>
+
+<p>
+<i>Early history of</i>.&mdash;Tereus, King of Thrace, annoyed his wife Procne
+so much by the very marked attention which he paid to her sister Philomela,
+that she lost her temper so far as to chop up her son Itylus, and present him
+to his papa in the form of a ragoût.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he &ldquo;fell upon&rdquo; the
+ladies with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the heart, he
+was changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow,
+while Itylus became a pheasant.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristæ<br/>
+Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;<br/>
+N epops volucri.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+OVID, <i>Metam</i>. lib. vi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>His crest and patent of nobility</i>.&mdash;Once upon a time, King Solomon,
+while making a royal progress, was much, incommoded by the powerful rays of the
+sun, and as he had ascendency over the birds, and knew their language, he
+called upon the vultures to come and fly betwixt the sun and his nobility, but
+the vultures refused. Then the kindly Hoopoes assembled, and flew in close mass
+above his head, thus forming a shade under which he proceeded on his journey in
+ease and comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At sundown the monarch sent for the King of the Hoopoes, and desired him to
+name a reward for the service which he and his followers had rendered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the King of the Hoopoes answered that nothing could be more glorious than
+the golden crown of King Solomon; and so Solomon decreed that the Hoopoes
+should thenceforward wear golden crowns as a mark of his favour. But alas! when
+men found the Hoopoes all adorned with golden crowns, they pursued and slew
+them in great multitudes for greed of the precious metal, until the King of the
+Hoopoes, in heavy sorrow, hied hastily to King Solomon, and begged that the
+gift of the golden crowns might be rescinded, ere every Hoopoe was slain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Solomon, seeing the misery they had brought upon themselves by their
+presumption, transformed their crowns of gold to crowns of feathers, which no
+man coveted (for the Eastern ladies didn&rsquo;t wear hats), and the Hoopoes
+wear them to this day as a mark of royal favour, but all the feathers fell off
+the necks of the disobliging vultures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>His amazing talent</i>.&mdash;In those dark ages … the Hoopoe was considered
+as prodigiously skilful in defeating the machinations of witches, wizards, and
+hobgoblins. The female, in consequence of this art, could preserve her
+offspring from these dreaded injuries.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She knew all the plants which defeat fascinations, those which give sight to
+the blind; and, more wondrous still, those which open gates or doors, locked,
+bolted, or barred.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aelian relates that a man having three times successively closed the nest of a
+Hoopoe, and having remarked the herb with which the bird, as often, opened it,
+applied the same herb, and <i>with the same success</i>, to charm the locks off
+the strongest coffer.&mdash;<i>Naturalists&rsquo; Magazine</i> (about 1805).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>His personal appearance</i>.&mdash;The beak is bent, convex and
+sub-compressed, and in some degree obtuse; the tongue is obtuse, triangular and
+very short, and the feet are ambulatory. As this bird has a great abundance of
+feathers, it appears considerably thicker than it is. It is, in fact, about the
+size of a mistletoe thrush, but looks, while in its feathers, to be as large as
+a common pigeon.&mdash;<i>Naturalists&rsquo; Magazine</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+I had got <i>no</i> further in my <i>magnum opus</i>, when I unfortunately
+showed my notes to Colonel&mdash;well, I will not mention his name, but he is
+the greatest authority on the birds and beasts of Kashmir. He besought me to
+spare him, pathetically remarking that I should cut the ground from under his
+feet, and take the bread out of his mouth, and the wind out of his sails, if I
+went any further with my monograph on the Hoopoe. He saw at a glance that I was
+conversant with authorities whom he had never consulted, and possessed a
+knowledge of my subject to which he could hardly aspire, so I gracefully agreed
+to leave the field to him, and relinquished my <i>magnum opus</i> in its very
+inception.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the chiefest charms of Kashmir, and one which is apt to be overlooked,
+is the entirely unspoilt freshness of its scenery. No locust horde of
+personally-conducted &ldquo;trippers&rdquo; pollutes its ways and byways, nor
+has the khansamah of the dâk bungalow as yet felt constrained to add sauerkraut
+and German sausage to his bill of fare&mdash;for which Allah be praised!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The world is growing very small, and the globe-trotter rushes round it in
+eighty days. The trail of the cheap excursionist is all over Europe, from the
+North Cape to Tarifa, from the highest Alpine summit (which he attains in
+comfort by a funicular railway) to the deepest mines of Cornwall. Egypt has
+become his footstool, and the shores of the Mediterranean his wash-pot. Niagara
+is mapped and labelled for his benefit, and the Yosemite is his happy
+hunting-ground. He &ldquo;does&rdquo; the West Indies in &ldquo;sixty days for
+sixty pounds,&rdquo; and he is now arranging a special cheap excursion from the
+Cape to Cairo. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; it may be remarked, &ldquo;what were Jane and
+I but globe-trotters&rsquo;? and am I not trying to sing the praises of Kashmir
+with the avowed object of inducing people to go out and see it for
+themselves?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By all manner of means let us travel. Far be it from me to wish folks to stay
+dully at home, while the wonders and beauties of the wide world lie open for
+the admiration and education of its inhabitants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But there are globe-trotters and globe-trotters. My objection is only to
+those&mdash;alas! too numerous&mdash;vagrants who cannot go abroad without
+casting shame on the country which bred them; whose vulgarity causes offence in
+church and picture-gallery; who cannot see a monument or a statue without
+desiring to chip off a fragment, or at least scrawl their insignificant names
+upon it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From these, and such as these, Kashmir is as yet free; but some day, I suppose,
+it will be &ldquo;opened up,&rdquo; when the railway, which is already
+contemplated, is in going order between Pindi and Srinagar, and cheap excursion
+tickets are issued from Berlin and Birmingham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here is a specimen page of the Guide Book (bound in red) for 19&mdash;(?):
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ascend Apharwat by the funicular railway. The neat little station, with
+its red corrugated-iron roof, makes a picturesque spot of colour near the
+Dobie&rsquo;s Ghât. Fares, 4 an. 6 pi., all the way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A local guide should on no account be omitted (several are always to be
+found near the station leaning on their khudsticks, and discussing
+controversial theology in the sweet low tones so noticeable in the Kashmiri).
+See that he be provided with a horn, to the hooting of which the Echo Lake will
+be found responsive.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the balcony of the * Hôtel Baloo an unrivalled view of Nanga Parbat
+should be obtained. Glasses can be procured from the anna-in-the-slot machines
+which are dotted about.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This veritable king of the Himal&mdash;&rdquo; (here follows a pageful
+of regulation guide-book gush).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good sport is to be obtained from the obliging and enterprising manager
+of the hotel, Herr Baer. A few rupees will purchase the privilege of shooting
+at that monarch of the mountains, the markhor. Start not, fair tourist, for no
+danger lurks in the sport. No icy precipices need be scaled, no giddy gulfs
+explored, and the only danger which menaces the bold hunter in the mimic stalk,
+is that which menaces his shins in the broken soda-water bottles and
+sharp-edged sardine tins with which the summit of Apharwat is strewn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a matter of fact, the consumption of mutton is considerable in the
+Hôtel Baloo in the tourist season, and the worthy Baer conceived the brilliant
+and financially sound scheme of attaching some old ibex and markhor horns
+(bought cheap when the old library at Srinagar was swept away in the last
+flood) to his live stock, and turning his decorated flock loose on the
+mountain&rsquo;s brow, where the sportsman saves him the trouble of slaughter
+while enjoying all the excitement and none of the difficulty of a veritable
+stalk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Another brilliant invention of the good Baer is his &lsquo;sunset
+spectacles.&rsquo; These are made with the glasses in two halves&mdash;the
+upper part orange and the lower one purple. These are simply invaluable to
+those who have only a brief half-hour in which to &lsquo;do&rsquo; Apharwat
+before darting down to catch the 3.15 express for Leh (<i>viâ</i> the newly
+opened Zoji La tunnel), since for the modest sum of 8 a. a superb sunset can be
+enjoyed at any time of the day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should, however, the leisured globe-trotter have unlimited time at his
+disposal, he would do well to lunch at the Hôtel Baloo, in order to taste the
+celebrated Kashmir sauerkraut (made of wild rhubarb) and Gujar pie (composed of
+the most tempting tit-bits of the water buffalo), before returning to the
+&lsquo;Savoy&rsquo; at Srinagar by the turbine tram from Tangmarg, or by the
+pneumatic launch which leaves Palhallan Pier every ten minutes, weather
+permitting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should the tourist be a naturalist he can hardly fail to observe, and be
+interested in, the mosquitoes of this charming and picturesque locality. He
+will note that they rival the song-thrush in magnitude and the Bengal tiger in
+ferocity. A coating of tar laid with a trowel over the exposed parts of the
+body will be found the best protection, especially as the new Armour
+Company&rsquo;s patent hermetically sealed bear-proof visor will be found too
+hot for comfort in summer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The environs of Srinagar are charming. Notice the picturesque
+&lsquo;furnished apartments&rsquo; for paying guests all along the water-side,
+and the mixed bathing establishments, crowded daily by the Smart Set, whose
+jewelled pyjamas flash in rivalry of the heliographic oil-tins which deck the
+neighbouring temples.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By a visit to the Museum, and an inspection by eye and nose of the
+quaint specimens of antique clothing exhibited there, the intelligent and
+imaginative traveller may conjure up a mental picture of the unpolished
+appearance of the old-time Mangi and his lady before he adopted the tall hat
+and frock coat of civilisation, or she had discovered the
+&lsquo;swanbill&rsquo;!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br/>
+THE FLOOD</h2>
+
+<p>
+Tuesday, <i>September</i> 12.&mdash;A second edition of the Noachian deluge is
+upon us! It began to rain on Saturday, at the close of a hot and stuffy week,
+and, having succeeded in thoroughly soaking the unfortunate ladies who were
+engaged in a golf competition that day, it proceeded to rain abundantly all
+through Sunday and Monday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The outlook from our hut is dispiriting; through a thick grey veil of vapour
+the gleam of water shines over the swamp that was the polo-ground. The little
+muddy stream in which so many erring golf-balls lie low is up and out for a
+ramble over its banks. The lower golf-greens resemble paddy-fields, and round
+the marg the spires of dull grey pines stand dripping in a steadfast
+shower-bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sometimes the heavy cloud folds everything in its leaden wing, blotting out
+even the streaming village at our feet, and reducing our view to the immediate
+slope below us where the wilted ragwort and rank weeds bend before the tiny
+torrents which trickle everywhere. Then comes a break, falsely suggestive of an
+improvement, and lo! soaring above the cloudy boil, the lofty shoulders of
+Apharwat sheeted in new-fallen snow!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the somewhat oppressive heat of last week, the sudden raw cold strikes
+home, and Jane and I take a great interest in the fire, the &ldquo;Old
+Snake&rdquo;[1] is an accomplished fire-master, and it is pleasant to watch him
+squatting like an ungainly frog in front of the hearth, and sagaciously feeding
+the flame with damp and spitting logs.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] Our pet name for Shikari Mark II., who reigns in the stead of Ahmed Bot,
+sacked for expensive inefficiency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is amazing what lavish expenditure of fuel one will indulge in when it costs
+nothing a ton!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We are just beginning to find out the exact spots where chairs may be planted
+so as to avoid the searching draughts which go far to make our happy home like
+a very airy sort of bird-cage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well! we might have been worrying through all this in a sodden tent, where even
+a boarded floor would barely have kept out rheumatism, and where one would have
+been liable to alarms and excursions at all sorts of untoward times when drains
+wanted deepening and guys slackening. The mere thought of such things sent us
+into a truly thankful state of mind, and we discussed from our cosy chairs the
+probable condition of the party from the Residency which set forth, full of
+high hope, on Saturday morning to attack the markhor of Poonch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here it has rained with vehemence ever since they left; up in the high ground
+it has doubtless snowed; and although they were well armed with cards and
+whisky, yet it would appear but a poor business to play bridge all day in a
+snow-bound tent on the top of the Pir Panjal! Nothing short of a hundred aces
+every few minutes could make the game worth the candle!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This spell of bad weather has greatly interfered with the movements of a large
+number of the folks who were to leave Gulmarg early this week. Many got away
+betimes on Saturday, and a few faced the elements on Sunday, and a painful
+experience they must have had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had intended to leave next Thursday, and had ordered boats to meet us at
+Parana Chauni, but the road will be so bad that I wired this morning to put off
+our transport till further orders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The end of the season at Gulmarg sees the bazaar stock at low water. Eggs,
+fowls, cherry brandy, and spirits of wine are &ldquo;off,&rdquo; also butter,
+but the latter scarcity does not affect us, as we make our own in a pickle jar.
+The bazaar butter became very bad, probably because the large numbers of
+visitors to Gulmarg caused an additional supply to be got from uncleanly
+Gujars, so we, by the kindness of the Assistant Resident, had a special cow
+detailed to supply us daily with milk at our own door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That cow was very friendly; I first made its acquaintance one forenoon. While I
+was sitting below the verandah sketching, with a dozen lovely peaches spread by
+me on the hoards to obtain their final touch of perfection in the sun before
+lunch, the cow strolled up. I was much interested in the sketch, and believed
+that the cow was too; but when I looked up at last, expecting to see its eye
+fixed upon the work in silent approbation,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The &lsquo;cow&rsquo; was still there, but the &lsquo;peaches&rsquo;
+were gone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon the weather showed signs of a desire to amend its ways. The
+clouds broke here and there, and, though it still rained heavily, it became
+apparent that the clerk of the weather had done his worst, and the supply of
+rain was running short. Clad in aquascutic garments, and surmounted by an
+ungainly two-rupee bazaar umbrella (my dapper British one having been annexed
+by a covetous Mangi)&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Ombrifuge, Lord love you, case o&rsquo; rain,<br/>
+I flopped forth &rsquo;sbuddikins on my own ten toes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole slope in front of the hut was a trickle of water, threading the dying
+stalks of dock and ragwort, and hurrying down to add its dirty pittance to the
+small yellow torrent rushing along the greasy strip of clay that in happier
+days was the path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole marg was become lake or stream&mdash;lake over the polo-ground and
+half the golf-links&mdash;fed by the weeping slopes on every side, whence
+innumerable rills rioted over the grass, emulating in ferocity and haste, if
+not in size, the tawny torrents which drained the sides of Apharwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road from the bazaar to the club was all but impassable, but as it had
+still a few inches of freeboard, I followed it to the foot of the church slope,
+and, skirting the hill, inspected the desolation which had been wrought at the
+Kotal hole, where the stream had torn through its banks and wrecked the green.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During a visit of condolence to Mrs. Smithson, whose unfortunate husband is
+pursuing markhor in Poonch, the sky cleared&mdash;a splendid effort in the way
+of a &ldquo;clearing shower&rdquo; being followed by a decided break-up of the
+pall of wet cloud in which we have been too long immersed. Not without a severe
+struggle did Jupiter Pluvius consent to turn off the tap, but at length the sun
+broke through the hanging clouds and sent their sodden grey fragments swirling
+up the Ferozepore Nullah to break in foamy wreaths round the ragged cliffs of
+Kulan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finding the road across to the post-office altogether under water for some
+distance&mdash;a lake extending from the twelfth hole for nearly a quarter of a
+mile to the main road&mdash;I wandered back towards the higher ground, joining
+a waterproof figure, a member of the Green Committee, who was sadly regarding
+the water-logged links with the disconsolate air of the raven let loose from
+the ark! We agreed that this was a remarkably good opportunity for observing
+the drainage system, and taking notes for future guidance, and in company we
+went over as much of the links as possible, finishing below the second hole,
+where the cross stream which comes down from the higher ground had torn away
+the bridge and cut off the huts beyond from civilisation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The homeward stroll at sunset was perfectly beautiful, and showed Gulmarg in an
+absolutely new guise. The lower part of the marg, being all lake, reflected the
+lustrous golden sky and rich dark pine-woods in a faithful mirror. Flying
+fragments of cloud, fleeces of gold and crimson, clung to the mountain-sides or
+sailed above the forests, while beyond Apharwat, coldly clad in a pure white
+mantle of snow, new fallen, rose silhouetted against the darkening sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, September</i> 16.&mdash;After the Deluge came the Exodus,
+everybody trying to leave Gulmarg at once. We had always intended to go down to
+Srinagar about the 15th, but, finding that the Residency party meant to move on
+that day, we arranged to migrate a day earlier in order to avoid the pony and
+coolie famine which a Residential progress entails on the ordinary traveller.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Wednesday afternoon the ten ponies, carefully ordered a week before from the
+outlying villages, were congregated on the weedy slope which falls away from
+our verandah, picking up a scanty sustenance from decaying ragwort and such
+like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Secure in the possession of the necessary transport, Jane and I strolled forth
+for a last look at Nanga Parbat, should he haply deign to be on view. He did
+not deign, however, preferring to remain, like Achilles, when bereft of
+Briseis, sulking in his cloudy tent. So we consoled ourselves with an
+exceedingly fine view of the snow-crowned heights at the head of the Ferozepore
+Nullah. Upon returning to our beloved log cabin we were met by Sabz
+Ali&mdash;almost speechless with wrath&mdash;who broke to us the distressing
+news that six of our ten weight-carriers had departed from the compound. The
+entire staff, with the exception of our factotum, were away in pursuit, and
+there was nothing for it but to possess our souls in what patience we might
+until they returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we had arranged for a four o&rsquo;clock start next morning, it was most
+disconcerting to have all our transport desert so late in the evening. An
+urgent note to the Assistant Resident, and some pressure on the Tehsildhar,
+produced promise of assistance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Early on Thursday morning came an indignant chit from an irate General,
+complaining that my servants were trying to seize his ponies, for which he had
+paid an advance of two rupees, and would I be good enough to investigate the
+affair. Here was the murder out. His chuprassie had obviously bribed my pony
+wallahs, and a letter, stating my case pretty clearly, produced the ponies and
+an apology.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This delay kept us till after midday, when, stowing our invalid snugly in a
+dandy, we left Gulmarg and began the descent to Srinagar. I remained behind to
+see the hut clear and make a sketch, and then hurried down the direct path,
+which drops some 2000 feet to Tangmarg. Here I found Jane and the invalid
+comfortably disposed in a landau, but the baggage spread about anywhere, and
+the usual clamour of coolies uprising in the heated and dust-laden air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No ekka&mdash;the one which had been ordered with the landau having apparently
+got another job and departed. Presently a stray ekka, drawn by a sorely
+weary-looking mule, appeared on the scene, and we seized upon it instantly,
+loaded it up with most of the baggage, and despatched coolies with the rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the storm came a holy calm, and we settled down to a light but welcome
+lunch before starting down the long slope into the valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had heard most disquieting tales of floods; the water had burst the bund at
+Srinagar, and there was said to be ten feet over the polo-ground. The occupants
+of Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel were going in and out by boat, and Srinagar itself was
+said to be quite cut off from all access by road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Residency party have countermanded their intended move to-morrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the post-office I was told that only a small part of the mail had been
+brought into Srinagar, the road being &ldquo;bund&rdquo; between Baramula and
+that place, while an unusual number of landslips and bridges have come down in
+the Jhelum Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nevertheless, we had made a push to get on; things in Kashmir are often less
+gloomy than their reports would make one believe, and so we bowled quite
+cheerfully down the road from Tangmarg, basking in the hot and sunny air, which
+seemed to us really delicious after the raw cheerlessness of the last few days
+at Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From Tangmarg to the dâk bungalow at Margam, a steady descent is maintained by
+an excellent road over the sloping Karewa, for about ten miles, of which we had
+just about travelled half when a series of yells from the syce behind, a wild
+swerve, and a heavy plump brought us up just on the edge of the steep and rocky
+bank, which fell sharply from the roadside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! the axle of the off hind wheel had snapped, and the wheel itself was
+hopelessly lying in the thick white dust, and our landau looked like an ancient
+three-decker in a squall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The horses being unharnessed, we sent the drivers with one of them forward to
+look for help, and Hesketh and Jane proceeded to make tea while I sat by the
+roadside and sketched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently an empty dandy came &ldquo;dribbling by&rdquo; on its return journey
+to Gulmarg, and it was immediately impressed for the benefit of the lame.
+Hardly had we packed him in, when a wandering tonga hove in sight, and, being
+promptly requisitioned, we rattled off the five miles which lay between us and
+Margam in no time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we found a large party assembled in the little rest-house. Colonel and
+Mrs. Maxwell (who had kindly sent us back the tonga on hearing of the
+breakdown); Mr. and Mrs. Allen Baines, whose dandy had been the means of
+bringing Hesketh along; and Sadleir-Jackson, and Edwards of the 9th Lancers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bungalow was full, but I found out that one room was appropriated by a
+coming event, who had cast his shadow before him in the guise of a bearer. This
+being contrary to the etiquette as observed in dâk bungalows, I gently but
+firmly cleared out the neatly arranged toilet things and ready-made bed; while
+Hesketh was taken over, somewhat shattered by his tedious though exciting day,
+by his fellow Lancers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The resources of the little place were severely strained; dinner was a scanty
+meal, and soda-water gave out almost immediately: nevertheless, a cheroot and a
+rubber of bridge sent us contented to bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday (Friday) the question of how to proceed arose. The road was reported
+to be impassable after about five miles, the remaining ten being under water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We set out after breakfast, Jane perched on a pony which Sabz Ali had raised or
+stolen, Hesketh in the dandy, and I on foot. After a warm five miles&rsquo;
+march we came upon signs of a block. Vehicles of many and strange sorts were
+drawn up in the shade of a chenar, under whose wide branches the Baines family
+was faring sumptuously on biscuits and brandy and water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Horses, goats, and cattle strayed around, and a chattering mob of natives,
+busily engaged, as usual, in doing nothing, completed the picture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hesketh was reduced to despair; after two months in bed, this could not but be
+a trying journey under the most favourable circumstances, and the prospect as
+held out by his pessimistic bearer was pretty gloomy&mdash;no boats available,
+and no signs of our doungas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I pushed on to the break in search of my shikari, whom I had sent on by pony
+early in the morning, and soon found that estimable person, who is not really
+the blithering idiot he looks!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the first place, he had appropriated the only two shikaras he could find,
+and our baggage was already being stowed in them; secondly, he had discovered
+both Juma and Ismala, our Mangis, who reported the doungas moored below Parana
+Chaum, about four miles away over the flooded fields.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was good news, and we ate a cheerful lunch under a tree densely populated
+by jackdaws.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Maxwells got away somehow in search of their house-boat, which was supposed
+to have left Baramula some days ago. They started cheerfully, but vaguely, down
+the Spill Canal, and we trust they found their ark somewhere!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Promising to send back a boat for the Baines, we paid and dismissed coolies and
+ponies, and paddled away over the flood water. The country was simply a vast
+lake, the main road merely marked by a dense row of poplars. Trees rose
+promiscuously out of the calm and sunlit water, wisps of maize and wreckage
+clinging to their lower boughs. Presently the road showed in patches, a broad
+waterfall breaking it every here and there as the imprisoned waters from above
+sought the slightly lower channel of the Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed a party of natives bivouacking near the roof and upper storey of
+their wooden hut, which, floating from above, was held up by the Baramula road.
+Sounding now and then with our khudsticks, we found no bottom over the
+submerged rice crops, though we could see plainly the laden ears waving
+dismally down below. This is nothing less than a great calamity for the owners,
+as the rice was just ready for gathering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards dusk we arrived at our ships, calmly lying moored to poplar trees by
+the roadside, and right gladly did we clamber on board, for our invalid was
+pretty well fagged out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we cast loose from our poplars, and brought the fleet up to within
+half a mile of the seventh bridge, or, rather, of the spot where the seventh
+bridge used to be, for all but a fragment has been washed away! The strong
+current prevented us from getting any higher up the river in our doungas. Jane
+and I, however, were anxious to see what appearance Srinagar presented, so we
+manned the shikara with five able-bodied paddlers and pushed our way upwards.
+Turning into a side canal we passed a demolished bridge, and tried to force our
+way up a small but swift stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Failing to make anything of it, we landed and had the boat carried over into a
+wider channel. Three times we were obliged to get out and leave our stalwart
+crew to force the boat on somehow, and they did it well&mdash;hauling,
+paddling, and shouting invocations to various saints, particularly the one
+whose name sounds like &ldquo;jam paws!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The water had already fallen some four or five feet, but there was plenty left.
+A great break in the bund between Nusserwanjee&rsquo;s shop and the Punjab Bank
+allowed us to paddle into the flooded European quarter, past the telegraph
+office, standing knee-deep in muddy water, up over the main road to
+Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel, where boats lay moored outside the dining-room windows,
+then across the lagoon, lightly rippled by a tiny breeze, beneath which lay the
+polo-ground, to the Residency, where we landed to inspect damages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The water had been all over the lower storey, but a muddy deposit on the wooden
+floor, and a brown slimy high-water mark on the door jambs, alone remained to
+show what had happened. The piano had been hoisted upon a table, carpets and
+curtains bundled upstairs, and everything, apparently, saved. The poor garden,
+with its slime-daubed shrubs, broken palings and torn creepers, trailing wisps
+of draggled foliage in the oozy brown pools, was a sad and pitiful sight,
+especially when mentally contrasted with the glowing glory of asters and
+zinneas which it should have been.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The flood has been nearly as bad as the great one of 1903. Fortunately the
+Spill Canal, cut above Srinagar to carry off the flood water, took off some of
+the pressure; the bund, also, is three feet higher than it was then, but it
+gave way in two places&mdash;one somewhere near the top, and the other just
+below the Bank, letting in the river to a depth of ten feet over the low-lying
+quarter. The stream is now falling fast, and, after doing a little shopping and
+visiting the post-office, which is temporarily established on the bund in the
+midst of an amazing litter of desks, boxes, and queer pigeon-holes admirably
+adapted to lose letters by the score, we spun swiftly down the rushing stream
+to tea and our cosy dounga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, September</i> 18.&mdash;It was impossible to get our boats up the
+river yesterday, so I spent the day sketching amidst the most picturesque, but
+horribly smelly, part of the town; much quinine in the evening seemed desirable
+as a counterblast to possible malaria.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sunsets lately have been really magnificent; the poplars and chenars,
+darkly olive, reflected in the flooded fields against a red gold sky, in the
+foreground the black silhouettes of the armada.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The days are almost too hot, but the nights are cool and delicious, and the
+mosquitoes are only noticeable for a brief period of sinful activity about
+sundown, after which the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At half-past ten this morning we set sail; that is to say, we hired nine extra
+coolies and a second shikara to tow, and advanced on Srinagar. Hesketh&rsquo;s
+boat, being the lighter, kept well ahead (here let me note that
+&ldquo;bow&rdquo; in that boat is quite the prettiest girl we have seen in
+Kashmir, and the minx knows it!), but we had good men, and worked along slowly
+and steadily up the main river, the side canals being all choked by broken
+bridges and such like. We crept past the Amira Kadal, or first bridge, about
+two o&rsquo;clock, and tied up for lunch, revelling in the most perfect pears,
+peaches, and walnuts. As a rule the Kashmir fruit is disappointing; abundant
+and cheap certainly, but not by any means of first-rate quality.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Strawberries, cherries, apricots, melons, and grapes might all be far better if
+properly cultivated, and scientifically improved from European stock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The pears alone defy criticism, and the apples, I am told, are excellent also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Vegetables are in great plenty, but, like the fruit, would be much improved by
+good cultivation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, September</i> 25.&mdash;The abomination of desolation wrought by
+the flood is borne in upon one more and more as an inspection of the town
+reveals the damage done more fully&mdash;the houses standing empty, their lower
+storeys dank and slimy, the ruined gardens, and muddy, slippery roads. The
+wrecked garden of the Punjab Bank is one of the saddest sights, and must be a
+painful spectacle to Mr. Harrison, whose joy it was to spend time and money on
+importing exotic and improving indigenous plants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One cannot help reflecting how desperately depressed Noah, and the probably
+more impressionable Mrs. Noah, must have been when, discarding their
+aquascutums for the first time, they sallied forth, a primeval party, to
+observe the emerging country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Noah, tucking up the curious straight garment that is a memory of our
+childhood, went ahead with feminine curiosity; Noah, bare-legged, slithering
+along in the rear and beseeching the ladies to note the slipperiness of the
+alluvial deposit, and for goodness&rsquo; sake not to make a glissade down the
+side of Ararat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I feel confident they must have taken great precautions, for Sabz Ali slipped
+up on the shelving bank of the Jhelum, and, had he not caught the gunwale of
+our dounga in his descent, would most certainly have had to swim for his
+life&mdash;which I doubt if he can do!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, Shem and Co. were as valuable to Noah as Sabz Ali is to us, and I should
+not be surprised if he made them travel on all-fours in the risky places.
+Fathers were very dictatorial in those days, and there was nobody about to make
+them consider their dignity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One can imagine the scene. Ararat, a muddy pyramid dotted here and there with
+olive trees&mdash;curious, by the way, to find olives so high!&mdash;in the
+receding waters the vagrant raven cheerfully picking out the eye of a defunct
+pterodactyl. The heavy clouds rolling off the sodden world&mdash;they must have
+indeed been heavy clouds, nimbus of the first water&mdash;as they had raised
+the world&rsquo;s water-level 250 feet per day during &ldquo;the flood&rdquo; …
+surely a record output!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The primeval family party, sadly poking about along the expanding margin of the
+world, noting how Abel Brown&rsquo;s tall chimney was beginning to show, and
+how Cain Jones&rsquo; wigwam was clean gone. Mrs. Shem said she knew it would,
+the mortar work had been so terribly scamped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And Naboth Robinson&rsquo;s vineyard&mdash;well, <i>it</i> was in a pretty
+mess, to be sure, and serve him right, for Mrs. Noah had frequently offered him
+two of her (second) best milch mammoths for it; yet he had held on to his nasty
+sour grapes, like the mean old curmudgeon that he was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now Hammy must set to work and tidy it up; and oh! what lots of nice manure
+was floating about, all for nothing the cartload … And so the primeval family
+felt better, and went back to the ark to tea, feeling almost cheerful, but
+rather lonesome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately this great flood did little injury to life or limb. A certain
+amount of destruction of crops and other property was inevitable, but on the
+whole the loss was not so great as was at one time feared, and much was saved
+that at first seemed irreparable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A well-known lady artist came near to giving the note of tragedy to the British
+community, and losing the number of her mess (to use a nautical, and therefore
+appropriate expression) by reason of a big willow tree, beneath whose shady
+boughs she had moored her floating studio. This hapless tree, having all its
+sustenance swept from beneath by the greedy water, came down with a crash in
+the night upon the confiding house-boat, and all but swamped it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cook-boat, occupied as usual by a pair of prolific Mangis and their large
+small family, was saved by the proverbial &ldquo;acid drop&rdquo;&mdash;the
+children crawling out somehow or anyhow from among the branches of the fallen
+tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fair artist, having with shrieks invoked the aid of a neighbour, he
+promptly descended from his roof or other temporary camp, and helped her with
+basins and chatties to bale out the half-swamped boat. The lady is now safely
+moored to the mudbank on the other side of the river where willow trees do not
+grow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole bund is in a very unsafe state: it was raised three feet after the
+last flood, but its width was not increased correspondingly. Now that the water
+has fallen, great fissures and subsidences have appeared, and in many places
+large portions of the bank have fallen away, carrying big trees with them.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br/>
+THE MACHIPURA</h2>
+
+<p>
+Wednesday, <i>September</i> 27.&mdash;We left Srinagar yesterday, very sorry
+indeed to part from the many good friends we have made and left there. Truly
+Kashmir is a hospitable country, and we have met with more kind friendliness in
+the last six months than we could have believed possible, coming as we did,
+strangers and pilgrims into a strange land. Our consolation is that every one
+comes &ldquo;Home&rdquo; sooner or later, so that we can look forward to
+meeting most of our friends again ere very long, and recalling with them
+memories of this happy summer with those who have done so much to make it so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Farewell, Srinagar! Your foulness and inward evilness were lost in the
+background behind your picturesque and tumble-down houses as we floated for the
+last time down Jhelum&rsquo;s olive waters, where the sharp-nosed boats lay
+moored along the margin or, poled by their sturdy Mangis and guided by the
+chappars of their wives and daughters, shot athwart the eddying flood, breaking
+the long reflections of the storeyed banks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the Palace of the Maharajah, its fantastic mixture of ancient fairness and
+modern ugliness blending into a homogeneous beauty as distance lent it
+enchantment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the temples, their tin-coated roofs refulgent in the brilliant sunlight;
+under the queer wooden bridges, their solid stone piers parting the suave flow
+of water into noisy swirl and gurgle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the familiar groups of grave, white-robed men solemnly washing themselves,
+then scooping up and drinking the noisome fluid; past their ladies squatting
+like frogs by the river-side, washing away at clothes which never seem a whit
+the cleanlier for all their talk and trouble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the children and fowls, and cows and crows, all hob-nobbing together as
+usual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past all these sights&mdash;so strange to us at first and now so strangely
+familiar&mdash;we floated, till the broken remnant of the seventh bridge lay
+behind us, and the lofty poplars that hem in the Baramula road stood stark and
+solemn in their endless perspective.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here a jangling note, out of tune and harsh, was struck by the dobie, with whom
+we had a grave difference of opinion regarding the washing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That gentleman having &ldquo;lost by neglect&rdquo; certain articles of my
+kit&mdash;to wit sundry shirts and other garments&mdash;and having rendered
+others completely <i>hors de combat</i> by reason of his sinful method of
+washing, I decided to &ldquo;cut&rdquo; three rupees off his remuneration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This decision seemed to have taken from him all that life held of worth, and he
+implored me to spare his wife, children, and home, all of whom would be broken
+up and ruined if I were cruel enough, to enforce my awful threat. Seeing that I
+was obdurate, being well backed by the infuriated Jane, whose underwear showed
+far more lace and open work than nature intended, the wretched dobie melted
+into loud and tearful lamentation, and perched himself howling in the prow.
+This soon became so boresome that I deported him to Hesketh&rsquo;s boat, where
+he underwent another defeat at the hands of that irate Lancer, whose shirts and
+temper had suffered together; finally the woeful washerman, still howling
+lugubriously, was landed on the river bank, and we saw and heard him no more!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down the gentle river we swiftly glided all day, while the Takht and Hari
+Parbat grew smaller and bluer, and Srinagar lay below them invisible in its
+swathing greenery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching Sumbal at sunset, we turned to the left down a narrow canal, and soon
+the Wular lay&mdash;a sheet of molten gold&mdash;upon our right; and by the
+time we had moored alongside a low strip of reedy bank, the glorious rosy
+lights had faded from the snows of the Pir Panjal, and their royal purple and
+gold had turned to soft ebony against the primrose of the sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few hungry mosquitoes worried us somewhat before sunset, promising worse to
+follow; but the sharp little breeze that came flickering over the Wular after
+dark seemed to upset their plans, and send them shivering and hungry to shelter
+among the reeds and rushes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we crossed the Wular, starting as the first pale dawn showed over
+the eastern hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the sun rose over Apharwat, his shafts struck the higher snows and
+turned them rosy; while the lower slopes, their distant pines suffused with
+strong purple, stood reflected in the placid mirror of the lake.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Full many a glorious morning have I seen<br/>
+Flatter the mountain tops with sovran eye,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+but seldom a more lovely one than this&mdash;our last on the Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The active figures of the propellent Mangis, and the quiet ones of their ladies
+at the helm, completed a picture to be recalled with a sigh when we are parted
+by thousands of miles from this entrancing valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sopor we had understood to be but an uninteresting place, but we were, perhaps,
+inclined to regard things Kashmirian through somewhat rosy spectacles. Anyhow,
+we rather liked Sopor. Mooring close alongside a remarkably picturesque
+building standing in the midst of a smooth green lawn, which was once, I
+believe, a dâk bungalow, we halted to make arrangements for the hire of coolies
+and ponies to take us inland, and I went off to the post-office for letters and
+to make inquiries as to the probable depth of water in the river Pohru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our skipper, Juma, affirmed that there was no water to speak of; but Juma
+probably&mdash;nay, certainly&mdash;prefers the <i>otium</i> of a sojourn at
+Sopor to the toil of punting up the Pohru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The postmaster declared that there was lots of water, but qualified his
+optimism by saying that it was falling fast. So we arranged for our land
+transport of ponies for ourselves, and a dandy for Hesketh, to meet us one
+march up the river at Nopura, while we ourselves set forward in our boats to
+Dubgam, three or four miles down the Jhelum, where the Pohru joins it. At the
+entrance are large stores of timber, principally deodar, which is floated down
+from the Lolab, stored at Dubgam, and sent thence down country and otherwhere
+for sale. The great boom across the river to catch the floating logs had been
+carried away in the flood, and merely showed a few melancholy and ineffectual
+spikes of wood sticking up above the now calm and sluggish river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We towed up easily enough, through a quiet and peaceful country, which only
+became gorgeous under the alchemy of sunset, reaching Nopura in good time to
+tie up before dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, September 29</i>.&mdash;On Thursday morning we started, as usual, at
+dawn, and proceeded to pole and haul our way up the devious channel of the
+Pohru. Some four or five miles we accomplished successfully, although there
+were ominous signs of a gradual lack of water, until we came upon a hopeless
+shallow, where the river, instead of concentrating its energies on one deep and
+narrow channel, had run to waste over a wide bed, where the wrinkling wavelets
+showed the golden brown of the gravel just below the surface. Our big dounga
+stuck hard and fast at once, and Captain Jurna promptly gave up all hope of
+getting farther. He was, in fact, greatly gratified to find his prophesies come
+true, and an insufferable air of &ldquo;I told you so&rdquo; overspread his
+face as he wagged his head with mock sorrow, and gently poked the bottom with
+his pole to show how firmly fixed we were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having an invalid with us, however, it was important to gain every easy mile we
+could, and it was not until all the fleet in turn had attempted to cross the
+shallow, and failed, that we made up our minds to take to our land transport.
+It was uncommonly hot in the full glare of the sun as Hesketh in his dandy,
+Jane on her &ldquo;tattoo,&rdquo; and I on foot set forward for the forest
+house at Harwan, which lay some five miles away across the fields, where the
+rice is now being busily cut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the foot of a very brown and parched-looking hill stood the little wooden
+hut, facing the valley of the Pohru and the Kaj-nag range. Hot and thirsty, we
+blessed the good Mr. Blunt, the kindly forest officer, who had so courteously
+given us permission to use the forest huts of the Lolab and the Machipura. Our
+blessings of Blunt turned swiftly to curses directed towards the chowkidar, who
+was not to be seen, and who had left the hut firmly fastened from within. An
+attempt to force the door brought upon us the resentment of a highly irritable
+swarm of big red wasps, who plainly regarded us as objectionable intruders; and
+Jane was really getting quite cross (she says&mdash;she always does&mdash;that
+it was I who lost my temper)&mdash;before the bold sweeper, prying round the
+back premises, found an unbarred window, and the joy bells rang once more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent in the
+rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I sallied forth
+to select a few chikor for the pot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary partridge,
+not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry, scrub-covered
+country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly when pursued. The
+chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the capacity of what fowl
+fanciers call &ldquo;a table bird,&rdquo; being, in fact, truly excellent
+eating.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He is not an altogether easy bird to shoot, owing to his annoying predilection
+for the steepest and rockiest hillsides, and those most densely clothed in
+spiny jungle, wherein lurking, he chooses the inopportune moment when the
+sportsman is hopelessly entangled, like Isaac&rsquo;s ram, to rise chuckling
+and flee away to another hiding-place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without dogs, he would be often extremely hard to find; but unluckily for
+himself, being a true Kashmiri bird, he cannot help making a noise, and thereby
+betraying his presence. His corpse, when dead, is hard to find in the jungle,
+and a runner is, of course, hopeless without canine help. It is well,
+therefore, to kill him as dead as possible, and to that end I used No. 4 shot,
+with, I think, a certain advantage over Walter, who shot with No. 6, and who,
+in consequence, lost several birds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The friendliness and sociability of the beasts and birds of Kashmir has been a
+great joy to us. The thing can be overdone, though, and both the wasps and the
+rats of Harwan were inclined to overstep the bounds of decorum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The latter were obviously overjoyed to see visitors, and visions of unlimited
+plunder from our festive board would, of course, put them somewhat above
+themselves. Still, they should have refrained from rioting so openly around our
+beds as soon as the lights were out, and Jane was naturally indignant when a
+large one ran over her feet!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Friday morning we left Harwan, pretty early, as usual, for it is still
+somewhat too warm to travel comfortably in the middle of the day. The Colonel
+(always an early bird) got away first, followed by our invalid in his dandy,
+while Jane and I remained to hunt the loiterers out of camp. A glorious
+morning, and the cheering knowledge that breakfast was in front of us, sent us
+merrily along for a mile or two, until branching paths led us to inquire of an
+intelligent Kashmiri, who appeared to be busily engaged in reaping rice with a
+penknife, as to the road taken by our precursors, especially the tiffin coolie!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The industrious one had seen no sahibs at all pass by. This was a blow, and
+Jane and I sat down to review the situation. We finally decided that the son of
+the soil was indulging in what the great and good Winston Churchill has called
+a &ldquo;terminological inexactitude,&rdquo; as the others must have gone by
+one of the two roads; so, putting our fortunes to the touch, we took the
+left-hand path, and were in due time rewarded by reaching Sogul, and there
+finding our pioneers peacefully seated under a tree, and breakfast ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the right,
+and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned into a beautiful
+valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and insignificant stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Drogmulla, our objective, lies about fourteen miles from Harwan, and the forest
+house is a full mile beyond the village, at the end of a somewhat steep and
+winding path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A welcome sight was the snug rest-house, perched upon a hillock above a fussy
+little stream and surrounded by a fine clump of deodars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A tiny lawn in front was decorated with an artificial tank full of
+water-plants, and through the opening, among the trees, we saw the snowy crest
+of Shambrywa and the Kaj-nag rising over the deeply-wooded foothills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Drogmulla was so fascinating a spot, and the weather was so remarkably fine,
+that we made up our minds to remain here for a few days. That old red-bearded
+snake, the shikari, has sent the Colonel into a seventh heaven of anticipation
+by pointing to the encircling forest with promise of &ldquo;pul-lenty baloo,
+sahib, this pul-lace.&rdquo; We straightway ordained a honk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our sick soldier is so much better since leaving Gulmarg that he is able to hop
+&ldquo;around&rdquo; with considerable activity on his crutches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, September</i> 30, 4 P.M.&mdash;Walter and I have been bear-honking
+all day in a district reputed to be simply crawling with bears. I love
+bear-honking; it is such a peaceful occupation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a stiff and very hot scramble up a rugged hillside covered with the
+infuriating scrub through which nothing but a reptile could crawl easily, the
+spot is reached within short range of which (in the opinion of the
+&ldquo;oldest inhabitant,&rdquo; backed up by the &ldquo;Snake&rdquo;) the bear
+<i>must</i> pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the battery of rifles and guns is carefully arranged, and I proceed to
+wipe my heated brow and settle down to the calm enjoyment of the honk. Drawing
+forth my cigar-case, I am soon wreathed in the fragrant clouds engendered by
+the incineration of a halfpenny cheroot, and, with a sigh of satisfaction, I
+spread out my writing or sketching materials and proceed to scribble or paint,
+calm in the knowledge that nothing on earth is in the least likely to disturb
+the flow of ideas, or interrupt the laying on of a broad flat wash. Now and
+again, lazily, I lean back to watch the witless hoverings of a big butterfly,
+or sleepily listen to the increasing sound of the tom-toms and the yells of the
+beaters, whose voices, as those of demons of the pit, rend the peaceful air and
+add to my sense of Olympian aloofness!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor, followed by
+a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched, clouds somewhat my
+active faculties, and the article&mdash;&ldquo;A Bear Battue in the
+Himalayas&rdquo;&mdash;which I am engaged in writing for the
+<i>Field</i>&mdash;seems to flag a little.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Come, come! Begone dull sloth&mdash;let me continue&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As the sound of the beaters swells upon the ear, and the thunder of the
+tom-toms grows more insistent, the keen-eyed sportsman grasps more firmly the
+lever of his four-barrelled Nordenfeldt and prepares to play upon the bears his
+hail of stinging missiles. Hark! The plot is thickening, behind yon dense
+screen at the end of the cover the ph&mdash;&mdash; bears are beginning to
+crowd, the pattering of their feet upon the dead leaves sends a thrill through
+the beating heart of the expectant sportsman. A few bears break back amid wild
+yells from the coolies. One or two odd ones dart out here and there at angles
+of the covert. Steady! Steady! Here they are, following the lead of yon fine
+old cock; with a whirr and a rush the bouquet is upon us. The shikari, mad with
+excitement, presses the second Gatling and the light Howitzer into our hands as
+he screams: &lsquo;Bear to right, sahib!&mdash;Bear over!!&mdash;Bear behind!!!
+Bang&mdash;bang!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eh? What? Oh, all right, shikari. Honk finished? Is it? Saw nothing?
+Dear me! how very odd. Very well, then gather up my guns and things, and
+we&rsquo;ll go on to the next beat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, October 1</i>.&mdash;To-day being Sunday, we have been idle and
+happy&mdash;sketching, loafing, and enjoying the scenery and the glorious
+weather. Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the beaters,
+but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have found mushrooms
+growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are also satisfied. After
+lunch I mustered up energy sufficient to take me down to the village to sketch
+a native hut which, surrounded by a patch of flaming millet, had struck me on
+Friday as an extraordinary bit of colour. Jane and Walter, after many
+&ldquo;prave &rsquo;orts&rdquo; about climbing the ridge behind Drogmulla,
+contented themselves with a minor ascent of a knoll about fifty feet high,
+while the Lancer, reckless in his increasing activity, managed to trip over his
+crutches and give himself an extremely unfortunate fall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, October 2</i>.&mdash;There was a man who, during our bear-honk on
+Saturday, rendered himself conspicuous, partly by reason of his likeness to my
+shikari, and also because of his complete knowledge of the whereabouts of all
+bears for many miles around. He was quite glad to impart much information to
+us, and so won upon the sporting but too trustful heart of the brave Colonel,
+that he was retained by that officer in order that he might show sport to the
+Philistines, and annas and even rupees were bestowed upon him; and he and the
+old original &ldquo;Snake&rdquo; were sent forward on Saturday evening, as
+Joshua and Caleb, to spy out the promised land in the neighbourhood of Tregam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lured by rumours of many bears, Walter and I set forth at daylight for Tregam,
+leaving Jane and the youthful Lancer (once more, alas! reduced to stiff
+bandages and a painful relapse) in possession of the hut. We &ldquo;hadna gane
+a mile&mdash;a mile but barely twa,&rdquo; when the old shikari met us with the
+painful intelligence that two sahibs were already at Tregam, and had killed
+many bears there, grievously wounding the rest; so we altered course eight
+points to port, crossed the Pohru, and made for Rainawari.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A sharp climb over a wooded ridge (on the top of which we halted for
+breakfast), followed by a steep descent, brought us into a flat and
+well-cultivated plain, which sloped gently from the foothills of the Kaj-nag to
+the bed of the Pohru. Everywhere, in the glowing sunlight, the villagers were
+busily engaged in reaping the rice, which lay in ripe brown swathes along the
+little fields. The walnuts, of which there are a great plenty in this district,
+have been lately gathered, some few trees only still remaining, loaded with a
+heavy crop, but the main produce lay drying in heaps in the villages as we rode
+through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road to Rainawari seemed curiously devious. A Kashmiri track seldom shies
+at a hill, but pursues its way, heedless of gradient, for its objective; but
+this path imitated a corkscrew in its windings, and reduced us to the utmost
+limit of our patience before, passing through a small village whose
+dull-coloured houses were enlivened with gorgeous festoons of scarlet chilies,
+we climbed a steep little hill and found ourselves upon a park-like lawn or
+clearing, and facing the cluster of rough wooden shanties which compose the
+Rainawari forest bungalow and its outhouses. Behind the huts the densely-wooded
+hill drops sharply to where a stream of good and pure water riots among the
+maidenhair and mosses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A large and inquisitive company of apes came up from the wood to take stock of
+us, and I sat for a long time watching them as they played about quite close to
+me, feeding, chattering, and quarrelling, entirely unconcerned by the presence
+of their human spectator.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, October 6</i>.&mdash;All Tuesday was spent in honking bear in the
+lower woods which stretch far towards the Pohru. The high hills which rise
+above, covered with jungle, are said to be too large to work, and I can well
+believe it! For the first drive I was posted on a steep bank overlooking a most
+lovely little hollow, where the shafts of sunlight fell athwart the grey trunks
+and heavy green masses of the pines, lighting up the yellow leaves of the
+sumachs till they glowed like gold, and casting a flickering network of strong
+lights and shadows among the tangled mazes of undergrowth. A happy family of
+magpies, grey-blue above, with barred tails and yellow beaks, flitted about in
+restless quest, their constant cries being the only sound which broke the
+peaceful stillness, until the faint and distant sound of shouts and tom-toms
+showed that the first act of the farce had begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards the end of the third beat, while I was drowsily digesting tiffin, and,
+truly, not far from napping, I was electrified by the report of a rifle,
+followed by yells and a second shot! The beaters redoubled their shouts, and
+the tom-tommers seemed like to burst their drums.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My shikari, writhing with extreme excitement, hissed, &ldquo;Baloo, sahib,
+baloo!&rdquo; and began aimlessly running to and fro, apparently hoping to meet
+the bear somewhere. It was truly gay for a few minutes, but as nothing further
+occurred, and the beaters grew very hoarse with their prodigious efforts, I
+hurried on to Walter&rsquo;s post to learn what had happened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A bear had suddenly come out of the cover some 40 yards off, and stood to look.
+The Colonel missed it, whereupon it dashed forward, passing within a few yards
+of him, and he missed it again. It departed at top speed across some open
+ground behind him, and gained the great woods which stretch away to the
+Kaj-nag, and never shall we see that bear again! The Colonel was much
+disgusted, and if language&mdash;hot, strong, and plenty of it&mdash;could have
+slain that bear, he would have dropped dead in his tracks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The beaters brought up a wonderful tale of how another bear, badly wounded in
+the leg, had charged through their lines and gone back. They stuck to their
+story, and either a second bear actually existed or they are colossal liars. I
+incline to the latter theory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had wasted all our luck. No more bears came to look at us, and so, late in
+the afternoon, we sought the rest-house and consolation from Jane and Hesketh,
+who had arrived from Drogmulla.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had occasion to deplore the bad manners of the rats at Harwan, but their
+conduct was exemplary compared with that of the rats of Rainawari! I had been
+writing my journal, according to my custom, before going to sleep, and hardly
+had &ldquo;lights out&rdquo; been sounded than a rat went off with my candle,
+literally from below my very nose. Then, from the inadequately partitioned
+chamber where the invalid vainly sought repose, came sounds of
+strife&mdash;boots and curses flying&mdash;followed by an extraordinary
+scraping and scuffling. A large rat, having fallen into the big tin bath, was
+making bids for freedom by ineffectually leaping up the slippery sides. At last
+he contrived to get out, and peace reigned until we managed to get to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wednesday was spent honking in the forlorn hope of a bear, I have now spent
+more than fourteen days in pursuit of black bear, and I have only seen one.
+Every one said to me in spring, &ldquo;Oh, go to the Lolab, it&rsquo;s full of
+bear,&rdquo; I went, and was informed that it was a late season and I was too
+early&mdash;the bears were not yet awake. I was consoled by learning that later
+on, when the mulberries were ripe, the berry-loving beasts jostled one another
+in the pursuit of the delicacy so much, that they were no sport I went down
+from Gulmarg for three days, honking among the mulberries, but saw none. Then I
+was told the maize season was undoubtedly the best. Now the maize is full ripe;
+the maize fields are tempting in their golden glory, and the only thing wanting
+to complete the picture is a big, black bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Either my luck has been particularly bad (and I think it has, as the Colonel
+got a fine bear below Gulmarg, and had another chance at Rainawari), or else
+there are not so many bears in real life as exist in the imaginations of those
+who know. My own theory is, that, unless he has remarkable luck, a stranger, in
+the hands of an ignorant shikari, and knowing nothing of the language, has but
+a remote chance of sport. If the shikari does not happen to know the district
+thoroughly, he is necessarily in the hands of the villagers, and has to trust
+to them to arrange the beats and place the guns. The villagers want their four
+annas for a day&rsquo;s shouting, but do not know or care if a bear is in the
+neighbourhood, so, having planted the gun (and shikari with him), they proceed
+to beat after their own fashion, in other words to stroll, in Indian file, like
+geese across a common, along the line of least resistance, instead of spreading
+out and searching all the thickest jungle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Much yelling serves both to cheer the sahib, and frighten away any bear which
+might otherwise haply frighten them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot say I regret the time I have spent looking for bear. The scenery has
+always been fine&mdash;sometimes magnificent, and there has always been a
+certain cheering hope, which sustained me as I lay hour after hour in the
+Malingam Nullah, or sat expectant amid ever varying and always beautiful glades
+and passes, watching the bird life, and storing up scenes and memories which I
+know I shall never forget.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! we have but a very few days yet before us in Kashmir, and it is
+lamentable, for now the climate is simply perfect, the air clear and clean, and
+without the haze of summer; the first crispness of coming autumn making itself
+felt most distinctly in the early hours of morning ere
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Nor dim nor red, like God&rsquo;s own head,<br/>
+The glorious sun uprist;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and each dawn saw us up and out to watch these sunrises, whose splendour cannot
+be expressed on paper. This morning it was more than usually wonderful, the
+whole flank of Nanga Parbat and his lesser peaks, turning from clear lemon to
+softest rose, stood radiant above the purple shades of the great range which
+lies around Gurais. In the middle distance, rising above the level yellow of
+the plain, still dim and shadowy below the morning light, rolled wave upon wave
+of the blue hills which hold in their embrace the fruitful Lolab. At our feet
+the deodars, still dark with the shadow of night, crept up the dewy slope upon
+whose top we stood. Then suddenly
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+flamed over the eastern ridges, and in a flood of glory the soft shadows and
+pallid lights of the dawn became merged in the brilliance of a Kashmir autumn
+day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our march yesterday from Rainawari to Kitardaji was charming. I had no idea
+that this Machipura country, which is not much visited by summer sojourners in
+Kashmir, was so fine. The district lies along the lower shoulders and foothills
+of the Kaj-nag, and, while lacking the savage grandeur of the Lidar or Upper
+Sind, yet possesses the charm of infinite variety and, in this early autumn, a
+climate in which it is a pure joy to live. On leaving Rainawari we followed up
+a river valley for some distance, and then wound through richly cultivated
+hollows and past well-wooded hills, where the dark silver firs and the deodars
+were lit up by splashes of scarlet and orange, and the deciduous sumach and
+thorn-bushes hung out their autumn flags. Walnuts&mdash;the trees in many
+places turning yellow&mdash;were being gathered into heaps, and the apple
+trees, reddening in the autumn glow, hung heavy with abundant fruit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning into a narrow gorge, where the trees overhung the path and shaded the
+wanderer with many an interlaced bough; where ferns grew in great green clumps,
+and the friendly magpies chattered in the luminous shade, I hurried on, having
+stayed behind the others to sketch. Up and up, till only pines waved over me,
+and the track, leading along the edge of a deep khud, opened out at last upon a
+plateau, hot and sunlit; here an entrancing panorama of Nanga Parbat and the
+whole range of mountains round Haramok caused me to stop &ldquo;at gaze&rdquo;
+until a mundane desire for breakfast sent me scurrying down the dusty and
+slippery descent to Larch, where I found, as I had hoped, the rest of the party
+assembled expectant around the tiffin basket, while the necromancer, Sabz Ali,
+had just succeeded in producing the most delightful stew, omelette, and coffee
+from the usual native toy kitchen, made, apparently, in a few minutes with a
+couple of stones and a dab of mud!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It has been an unfailing marvel to us how, in storm or calm, rain or fine, the
+native cook seems always able to produce a hot meal with such apparently
+inadequate materials as he has at his command. Give him a fire in the open,
+screened by stones and a mud wall, a <i>batterie de cuisine</i> limited to one
+or two war-worn &ldquo;degchies,&rdquo; and let him have a village fowl and
+half-a-dozen tiny eggs, and he will in due time serve up, with modest pride, a
+most excellent repast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The remaining half of our twelve-mile march lay along a continually rising
+track, which finally brought us to Kitardaji, a cosy pine-built hut, perched
+upon a hill clothed with deodars, at the foot of which ran the inevitable
+stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, alas! is our last Kashmir camping-ground, and it is one of the most
+charming of all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At 8.15 this morning we bade farewell to Kitardaji. We had got up before dawn
+to see the sunrise, but afterwards took things leisurely, as the march is short
+to Baramula, and our boats were to be in waiting there, and we had made all
+arrangements for a landau and ekkas to be in readiness to take us down to Rawal
+Pindi, while the Colonel returned up the Jhelum for more shooting before
+rejoining his wife at Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The march of about thirteen miles from Kitardaji to Baramula is fine&mdash;the
+views of Nanga Parbat in the early hours, before the sun&rsquo;s full strength
+cast a golden glow over the distance, were magnificent, and long we lingered
+upon the last ridge, gazing over the great valley, ringed with its guardian
+mountains, ere we sadly turned our backs for the last time on the scene, and
+wended our way downward to Baramula and our boats.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kashmir seems to be as difficult to get out of as to get into! What was our
+amazement and disgust to find neither landau nor ekkas, nor, apparently, any
+chance of getting them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baramula was in a ferment, and wild confusion reigned because the Viceroy,
+having somewhat suddenly determined to come to Jammu, the Maharajah and all his
+suite, together with the Resident and his belongings, were to start down the
+road at once, and all transport was commandeered by the State. Here was a coil!
+Officers innumerable, who had stayed in Kashmir until the limit of their leave,
+were struggling vainly to get on, and had got to Baramula only to find all
+transport in the hands of the State officials. Some few had, by fair means or
+foul, got hold of an ekka or two and hidden them; others had seized ponies, but
+nothing to harness them to. A few of the younger men set forth on foot, and
+others had their servants out in ambush on the roads to try and collect
+transport.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was most important that we should get on, as Hesketh had to be in Pindi to
+go before a medical board on the 14th, in order to be invalided home to
+England; and as he was most anxious to catch a steamer sailing on the 25th, he
+had no time to spare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I telegraphed to Sir Amar Singh for authority to engage ekkas, and I sent for
+the Tehsildhar of Baramulla to complain of my ekkas being taken. He appeared in
+due course&mdash;a somewhat pert little person&mdash;who promised to do what he
+could, which I knew would be nothing. A farewell dinner on board Walter&rsquo;s
+ship concluded a fairly busy day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, October 7</i>.&mdash;A strenuous day, to say the least of it. Sir
+Amar Singh most courteously met my wishes, and himself directed the local
+authorities to assist me. Armed with this power, I again sent for the
+Tehsildhar, who promised many ekkas, but appeared to have some difficulty in
+fulfilling his promises. I spent the forenoon in hunting transport, sending out
+my servants also in pursuit. The Tehsildhar produced one ekka with great pomp,
+as earnest of what he could and would do later on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the afternoon the landau turned up from Srinagar, and at 6 P.M. one of
+my myrmidons rushed in to say that two ekkas had arrived at the dâk bungalow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was but a few yards away, and in a couple of minutes I was on the spot. The
+ekkas had come up from Pindi, and the sahib who had lured them to Baramula
+seemed astonished at my method of taking them over. In an uncommonly short
+while the ekkas were parked, with the landau, close to the boats and under
+strict watch, while all harness was brought on board my dounga, just in time,
+as native officials of some sort romped up and claimed the ekkas, and
+threatened to beat my servants. It was explained to them gently, but firmly,
+that if they touched my ekkas or landau they would taste the waters of the
+Jhelum. We were then left in peaceful possession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, October 10</i>.&mdash;On Sunday morning we really saw our way to
+making a start. We had three ekkas collected, and the Tehsildhar produced a
+fourth with a great flourish, as though in expectation of a heavy tip. The
+landau was being piled with odds and ends while the last bits of business were
+being got through. Juma and his crew were paid and tipped (grumbling, of
+course, for the Kashmiri is a lineal descendant of the horse-leech). The
+shikari went to Smithson, and the sweeper and permanent coolie were transferred
+to the assistant forest officer, while Ayata (in charge of Freddie, the
+blackbird) scrambled into the leading ekka.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By noon all was ready, and amid the rattle and jingle of many harness bells and
+the salaams of the domestics, we bowled out of Baramula, and set forward down
+the valley of the Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br/>
+DELHI AND AGRA</h2>
+
+<p>
+The journey down was uneventful, and quite unlike the journey up, when we had
+been briskly occupied in dodging landslips for days. A good road, white and
+dry, and sloping steadily downward; a good pair of ponies, strong and willing;
+a roomy landau, wherein Hesketh&mdash;still suffering from his fall at
+Drogmulla&mdash;could stretch himself in comparative comfort, combined to bring
+us to Kohala this afternoon in a state of excellent preservation. Here we
+crossed the bridge, which brought us to the right bank of the river&mdash;from
+Kashmir to British territory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kohala is the proud possessor of one of the very worst dâk bungalows yet
+discovered. This seems disappointing when stepping under the folds of the Union
+Jack full of high hope and confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Climbing up through a particularly noisome bazaar to the bungalow, I was met
+with the information that it was already full. I said that was a pity, but that
+room must be found for my party.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Room was got somehow, a dâk bungalow being an extraordinarily elastic dwelling.
+Hesketh was stored in a little tent. I lodged in the dining-room, and Jane took
+up her quarters in a sort of dressing-room kindly given up by a lady, who
+bravely sought asylum with a sister-in-law and a remarkably strong-lunged baby.
+I believe more travellers arrived later, for&mdash;although, thanks to Sir Amax
+Singh and good luck, we gained a good start at Baramula&mdash;now the tongas
+are beginning to roll in and the plot to thicken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot think where the last arrivals bestowed themselves&mdash;not on the
+roof, I trust, for a thunderstorm, accompanied by the usual vigorous squall of
+wind, fell upon us during the night, and raged so furiously that I was greatly
+relieved to see the Lancer&rsquo;s little tent still braving the battle and the
+breeze in the morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a long day before us, so started in good time to make the tedious ascent
+to Murree. It rained steadily, and a cold wind swept down the river valley as
+we began to make our slow way up the long, long hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never knew milestones so extraordinarily far apart as those which mark the
+distance between Kohala and Murree. There are twenty-five of them, distributed
+along a weary winding road which extends without an apparent variation of
+gradient from Kohala to the Murree cemetery. The rise from the river level to
+Murree is 5000 feet, and this, in a heavy landau over a road often deep in red
+mud, is a heavy strain on equine endurance and human patience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a fresh pair of horses waiting for us half-way up the hill, but they
+proved absolutely useless, being obviously already dead tired and quite unable
+to drag the carriage through any of the muddier places even with every one but
+the invalid on foot. So we apologetically put the gallant greys in again, poor
+beasties, and they took us up well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the cemetery the road runs fairly level to where, upon rounding a sharp
+corner, the hill station of Murree comes into sight, clinging to its hill-tops
+and overlooking the far flat plains beyond Pindi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot imagine how anybody would willingly abide in Murree who could go
+anywhere else for the hot weather. There being no level ground, there is no
+polo, no cricket, and no golf. There is no river to fish in, and I do not think
+that there is anything at all to shoot. Doubtless, however, it has its
+compensations. Probably it abounds in pretty mem-sahibs, who with bridge and
+Badminton combine to oil the wheels of life, and make it merry on the Murree
+hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the station high on the left, we dipped in a most puzzling manner down
+a slope through a fine wood giving magnificent views towards the hills of our
+beloved Kashmir, and presently came to &ldquo;Sunny Bank,&rdquo; whence a steep
+road seemed to run sharply hack and up to Murree itself. It was late, and both
+we and our unfortunate horses were tired, but a hasty peep into the little inn
+showed it to be quite impossible as a lodging, and a biting wind sent us
+shivering down the hill as fast as might be to seek rest and warmth at Tret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The good greys took us down the eleven miles in a very short time, and we
+pulled up at the dâk bungalow at 7.30, having been just twelve hours doing the
+forty miles from Kohala.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow and all the compound in front was crowded, detachments <i>en
+route</i>, from Murree to Pindi having halted here for the night. Hesketh was
+lucky enough to share a room with a brother Lancer, and a mixed bag of Gunners
+and Hussars made up a cheery dinner-table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The only member of the party showing signs of collapse was the unfortunate
+Freddie, who, shaken up in his small cage for three days in an ekka, seemed in
+piteous plight, feathers (what there were of them) ruffled and unkempt, and
+eyes dim and half closed. Poor dear, it was only sleep he wanted, for next
+morning he showed up, as his fond owner remarked, &ldquo;bright as a
+button!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>12th</i>.&mdash;The road from Tret to Pindi seemed tame to us, but probably
+charming to the horses, first down a few gently sloping hills, and then for the
+remainder of its six-and-twenty miles it wound its dull and dusty length along
+the level.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We halted for our last picnic lunch in a roadside garden full of loquat trees
+and big purple hibiscus. The only curious thing here was a pi-dog which refused
+to eat cold duck! Certainly it was a <i>very</i> tough duck, but still, I do
+not think a pi-dog should he so fastidious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few more level dusty miles, and we rattled into Rawal Pindi, where, after
+depositing our sick man safely in his own mess precincts, we proceeded to
+ensconce ourselves in Flashman&rsquo;s Hotel, which is certainly far better
+than the Lime Tree, where we stayed before. Indian hotels are about the worst
+in the world. We have sampled rough dens in Spain, in Tetuan, and in
+Corsica&mdash;especially in Corsica, but then they are unpretentious inns in
+unfrequented villages, whereas in India you find in world-famous cities such as
+Agra or Delhi the most comfortless dens calling themselves hotels&mdash;hotels
+where you hardly dare eat half the food for fear of typhoid, and will not eat
+the rest because it is so unsavoury!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It may be argued that the hotels, if bad, are cheap, and that one cannot
+reasonably expect much in return for five or six rupees per day; it seems,
+however, that in a country where food and labour cost next to nothing, a good
+landlord should be able to &ldquo;do&rdquo; his customers well upon five
+rupees, and make a substantial profit into the bargain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Probably, as the facilities for travel are rapidly increasing, and India is now
+as easy to reach as Italy was in days not so long by, the hotels will soon
+improve. Hospitality, which is still to-day greater in the East than in our
+more selfish Western regions, and which has, until quite recently, obviated for
+strangers and pilgrims the necessity for hotels, is now unable to cope with the
+increasing flood of visitors and wanderers; as the need becomes more pressing,
+so will the supply, consequent upon the demand, improve both in quality and
+quantity; and we have already heard of the new Taj Mahal Hotel at Bombay, the
+fame of which has been trumpeted through India, and which is said to rival in
+luxury the palaces of Ritz!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The real and serious difficulty, and one which at present seems insurmountable,
+is to secure cleanliness and safety in that Augean stable&mdash;the cook-house.
+Until the native can be brought to understand the inadvisability of using
+tainted water and unclean utensils, and of permitting the ubiquitous fly to
+pervade the larder&mdash;until, I say, that millennium can be attained, the
+danger of enteric and other ills will always be very great in Indian hotels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, October</i> 13.&mdash;Lunch with Dr. Munro, who surprised us
+somewhat by having married a wife since we played golf and bridge together at
+Gulmarg only a few weeks ago. Tea, a farewell repast with our invalid&mdash;who
+goes before a medical board in a few days, and who will then be doubtless sent
+home on long sick leave&mdash;and the despatch of our heavy luggage direct to
+Bombay, occupied us pretty fully for the day; and in the evening, after dinner,
+we took up our residence in a carriage drawn up in a siding to be attached to
+the 6.30 mail in the morning. Our last recollection of Pindi was a vision of
+the faithful Ayata, paid, tipped, and provided with a flaming
+&ldquo;chit,&rdquo; flapping along the road in the bright moonlight, with all
+his worldly possessions, <i>en route</i> for Abbotabad and home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, October</i> 14.&mdash;A prodigious amount of banging, whistling,
+and yelling seemed to be necessary before we could be coupled up to the early
+train, and sent flying towards Lahore. It was impossible to sleep, and I was
+peacefully watching the landscape as it slid past, first in the pink flush of
+early dawn, and gradually losing colour as the sun, gaining in strength,
+reduced everything to a white hot glow, when, scraping and bumping into a
+wayside station, we were suddenly informed that, owing to hot bearings or
+heated axles or something, we must quit our carriage at once, and so, half
+dressed and wholly wrathful, we were shot out on a hot and exceedingly gritty
+platform, with our hand luggage and bedding all of a heap, and with the whole
+length of the train to traverse to attain our new carriage. Sabz Ali being
+curled up asleep in an &ldquo;intermediate,&rdquo; was all unwitting of this
+upheaval. The officials were impatient, and so Jane and I were in a thoroughly
+unchristian frame of mind by the time we were stowed, hot and greatly fussed,
+into a stifling compartment, whose dust-begrimed windows long withstood all
+endeavours to open them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Lahore about noon, and, having some six hours to dispose of there,
+we spent them in calm contemplation, sitting on the verandah of Nedou&rsquo;s
+Hotel. It was really too hot to think of sight-seeing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, October 19</i>.&mdash;Another night in the train brought us to
+Delhi at dawn, and we drove up to the execrable caravansary of Mr. Maiden. I do
+not propose to write much about Delhi. Every one who has been in India has
+visited the capital of the Moguls, whose wealth of splendid buildings would
+alone have rendered it a supreme attraction for the sight-seer, even had it not
+played the part it did in the Mutiny, and been memorable as the scene of the
+storming of the Kashmir Gate and the death of John Nicholson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We, personally, carried away from Delhi an uncomfortable sense of
+disappointment. It was very hot, and Jane fell a victim to the heat or
+something, and took to her bed in the comfortless hotel, while I prowled sadly
+about the baking streets, and tried to work up an enthusiasm which I did not
+feel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As soon as Jane was fit, we joined forces with a young fellow-countryman and
+his sister, who were the only other English people in the hotel, and drove out
+to see the Kutab Minar. On arrival we found a comfortable dâk bungalow, and,
+having made an excellent breakfast, sallied forth to view the Kutab. May I
+confess that I was again a little disappointed? I do not really know exactly
+why, but the great tower, whose fluted shaft, dark red in the sunglow, shoots
+up some 270 feet into the air, did not appeal to me. It is like no other
+column&mdash;it is unique, marvellous,&mdash;but it leaves me cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The splendid arch of the screen of the old temple, and the lovely columns of
+the Jain temple opposite, attracted me far more than the Kutab Minar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and young Buxton went off to see a native jump down a well fifty feet deep
+for four annas. The performance sounded curious, but unpleasant. The sightseers
+were much impressed! Meanwhile, Miss Buxton and I discovered a very modern and
+exceedingly hideous little Hindu temple, painted in the most appalling
+manner&mdash;altogether a gem of grotesqueness, and truly delightful and
+refreshing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tea in front of the dâk bungalow, in a corner blazing with &ldquo;gold
+mohurs&rdquo; and rosy oleanders, while the driver and the syce harnessed the
+lean pair of horses, a final visit to the Kutab and the great arch, and we
+fared back over the eleven bumpy miles that lay between us and Delhi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A good deal of my spare time, while Jane was <i>hors de combat</i>, was spent
+in the jewellers&rsquo; shops of the Chandni chowk, the principal
+merchants&rsquo; quarter of Delhi. I do not think that anything very special in
+the way of a &ldquo;bargain&rdquo; is to be obtained by the amateur, although
+stones are undoubtedly cheaper than in London. I saw little really fine
+jewellery, probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer, but
+many good spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I wanted I failed
+to get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce and dear. The dealers
+generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink topaz. Peridot are cheaper, I
+think, at home, and certainly in Cairo, and the only amethysts worth looking at
+are sent out from Germany. The pale ones of the country come from Jaipur.
+By-the-bye, the best-coloured amethysts I ever remember seeing were in Clermont
+Ferrand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Delhi has always been connected with gems in my mind. I am not certain why.
+Partly, perhaps, because the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jehan stood in the
+Palace here. I cannot resist giving the description of it in the words of
+Tavernier, who saw it about 1655, and who describes it as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the largest throne; it is in form like one of our field-beds,
+six foot long and four broad. The cushion at the back is round like a bolster;
+the cushions on the sides are flat. I counted about a hundred and eight pale
+rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof weighed a hundred
+carats. Emeralds I counted about a hundred and forty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the top of the canopy,
+which is made like an arch with four paws, stands a peacock with his tail
+spread, consisting entirely of sapphires and other proper-coloured stones;[1]
+the body is of beaten gold enchased with several jewels; and a great RUBY upon
+his breast, to which hangs a pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each aide of
+the peacock stand two nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of various sorts
+of flowers, all of beaten gold enamelled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] &ldquo;Au dessus du ciel qui est faite en voûte à quatre pans on voit un
+Paon, qui a la queue relevée fait de Saphirs bleus et autres pierres de
+couleur.&rdquo;&mdash;T<small>AVERNIER</small>, livre ii. chap. viii.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent
+jewel, with a diamond appendant of eighty or ninety carats weight, encompassed
+with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his eye. The twelve
+pillars also, that uphold the canopy, are set with rows of fair pearl, round,
+and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to ten carats apiece.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed
+two umbrellas, the handles of which are about eight feet high, covered with
+diamonds, the umbrellas themselves being of crimson velvet, embroidered and
+fringed with pearl.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the famous throne which Tamerlane began and Shah Jehan finished;
+and is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty millions and five
+hundred thousand livres of our money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One can picture the enraptured diamond merchant examining this masterpiece of
+Oriental luxury with awe-struck eye, appraising the size and lustre of each
+gem, and taking the fullest notes with which to dazzle his countrymen on
+returning to the more prosaic Europe from what was then indeed the
+&ldquo;Gorgeous East!&rdquo; This world-famous throne was seized by Nadir Shah,
+when he sacked Delhi in 1739, and carried away (together with our Koh-i-noor
+diamond) into Persia. Dow, who saw the famous throne some twenty years before
+Tavernier, describes <i>two</i> peacocks standing behind it with their tails
+expanded, which were studded with jewels. Between the peacocks stood a parrot,
+life size, cut out of a single emerald!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, October</i> 20.&mdash;Yesterday at 6 A.M. we spurned the dust of
+Delhi, hot and blinding, from our feet and clambered into the train, which
+whirled us across the sun-baked plain to Agra.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There has been a woeful shortage of rain in the Punjab and Rajputana, and a
+famine seems imminent&mdash;not a great and universal famine, as, the monsoon
+having been irregular, only some districts have suffered to a serious extent,
+and they can be supplied from elsewhere, whereas in the great famine of 1901
+the drought parched the whole land, and no help could be given by one State to
+another, all lying equally under the sun&rsquo;s curse. Not a great famine,
+perhaps; yet, to one accustomed to the genial juiciness of the West, the miles
+and miles of waterless hot plains, stretching away to where the horizon
+flickered in the glare, the brown and parched vegetation, the lean and
+hungry-looking cattle, tended by equally lean and famished herds, caused the
+monotonous view from the carriage windows to be strangely depressing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is the very battle-ground of Nature and the British Raj. We have given
+peace and, to a certain extent, prosperity to the teeming millions of India,
+and they have increased and multiplied until the land is overburthened, and
+Nature, with relentless will, bids Famine and Pestilence lay waste the cities
+and the plains. Then Science, with irrigation works and improved hygiene,
+strives hard to gain a victory, but still the struggle rages doubtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Agra we liked as much as we disliked Delhi. To begin with creature comforts
+(and the well-being of the body produces a pair of <i>couleur de rose</i>
+spectacles for the mental eye), Laurie&rsquo;s Hotel at Agra is very much more
+comfortable than the den we abode in at Delhi, and after a good tiffin we set
+forth with light hearts to see the Fort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, the accumulated achievement of the greatest of the Mogul Emperors, is a
+magnificent monument of their power and pride. The earliest part, built by
+Akbar, is all of rich red sandstone. The great hall of audience and other
+portions show his broad-minded tolerance and catholicity of taste in being
+almost pure Hindu in style and decoration. Later, with Jehangir and Shah Jehan,
+the high-water mark of sumptuousness was attained in the use of pure white
+marble, lavishly inlaid with coloured stones.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we wandered through halls and corridors of marble most richly wrought, while
+the sun-glare outside did but emphasise the cool shade within, or filter softly
+through the lace-like tracery of pierced white-marble screens, one longed to
+reclothe these glorious skeletons with all the pomp of their dead
+magnificence&mdash;for one magic moment replace the Great Mogul upon his
+peacock throne, surround him with a glittering crowd of courtiers and
+attendants, clothe the wide marble floors upon which they stand with richest
+carpets from the looms of Persia and the North, and drape the tall white
+columns with rustling canopies of silk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the great audience hall let the bare garden-court again glow with a
+million blooms; there let the peacocks sun themselves, their living jewels
+putting to shame the gems that burn back from aigrette and from sword-hilt; see
+and hear the cool waters sparkling once again from their long-dried founts,
+flashing in the white sunlight, and flowing over ducts cunningly inlaid with
+zigzag bands to imitate the ripple of the mountain stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dead frame alone is left of all this gorgeous picture. The imperishable
+marble glows white in the sunlight as it did in the days of Shah Jehan. The
+great red bastions of the Fort frown over the same placid Jumna, and watch each
+morning the pearly dome of the Taj Mahal rise like a moon in the dawn-glow,
+shimmer through the parching glare of an Indian day, and at eve sink, rosy,
+into the purple shadows of swiftly-falling night, as they did when Shah Jehan
+sat &ldquo;in the sunset-lighted balcony with his eyes fixed on the snow-white
+pile at the bend of the river, and his heart full of consolation of having
+wrought for her he loved, through the span of twenty years, a work that she had
+surely accepted at the last.&rdquo;[2]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] <i>The Web of Indian Life</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spent a long afternoon in the Fort, and drove out finally through the
+monstrous gateway in a little Victoria, feeling all the time that none but
+elephants in all their glory of barbaric caparison could pass through such a
+portal worthily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The moon was full almost a week ago, unfortunately, so we determined that,
+failing moonlight, our first visit to the Taj should be at sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two miles&rsquo; drive along an excellent road was delightful, and the
+approach to the Taj has been laid out with much skill as a beautiful bit of
+landscape garden. This care is due to Lord Curzon, who has taken Agra and its
+monuments into his especial keeping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A very small golf-course has been laid out, and the familiar form of the
+enthusiast could be seen, blind to everything but the flight of time and his
+Haskell, hurrying round to save the last of the daylight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beneath a tree was laid out a tea equipage, and a few ladies indolently putting
+showed that, after all, the game was not taken too seriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have no intention of trying to describe the Taj Mahal. The attempt has
+already been made a thousand times. I may merely remark that the detestable
+Indian miniatures, and little ivory or marble models that are, alas! so common,
+are incapable of giving an idea, otherwise than misleading, of this wonderful
+building, which is not&mdash;as they would vainly show it&mdash;glaring,
+staring, and hard, nor does its formality seem other than just what it should
+be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we saw it first&mdash;opalescent in the soft, clear light of
+sunset&mdash;the chief impression it made upon us was that of size; for this we
+were quite unprepared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we approached it from the great red entrance arch, along a smooth path
+bordering the central stretch of still, translucent water, the lovely dome rose
+fairy-like from the masses of trees that, in their turn, formed a background of
+solemn green for gorgeous patches of colour, in bloom and leaf, which glowed on
+either side as we advanced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ascending a flight of steps to the wide terrace, all of whitest marble, upon
+which the Taj is raised, we realised that the detail of carving and of inlay
+was as perfect as the general effect of the whole.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+High as my expectations had been raised, I was not disappointed in the Taj, and
+that is saying much, for one&rsquo;s pre-formed ideas are apt to soar beyond
+bounds and to suffer the fate of Icarus. At the same time, I cannot agree with
+Fergusson that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building in the world. I do
+not admit that it is possible to compare structures of such widely divergent
+types as the Parthenon, the Cathedral of Chartres, the Campanile of Giotto, and
+the Taj Mahal, and pronounce in favour of any one of them. It is as vain as to
+contend that the &ldquo;Rime of the Ancient Mariner&rdquo; is a finer poem than
+Keats&rsquo; &ldquo;Eve of St. Agnes,&rdquo; or that the &ldquo;Erl
+Konig&rdquo; is better music than &ldquo;The Moonlight Sonata.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps it is not too much to say that it is the loveliest tomb in the world,
+and the finest specimen of Mohammedan architecture in existence. If I dared to
+criticise what would appear to be faultless, I should humbly suggest that the
+four corner minarets are not worthy of the centre building, reminding one
+rather of lighthouses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spent a second day in Agra, revisiting the Fort and the Taj rather than
+seeing anything new. We could have hired a motor and rushed out for a hurried
+visit to Fatehpur-Sighri, and there was temptation in the idea; but we decided
+to content ourselves with the abundant food for eye and mind which we had in
+these two wonderful buildings, and in the evening we took the train for Jaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, October 21.</i>&mdash;One is apt to be cross and fussed and
+generally upset on being landed on a strange platform in the dark at 5.30 A.M.,
+as we were at Jaipur, but much solace lay in the fact that a comfortable
+carriage stood waiting us and a most kind and genial host received us on the
+broad verandah of his bungalow, and the cheering fact was borne in upon us that
+we shall have henceforward but little to do with Indian hotels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How one appreciates a large, cool room, good servants, good food, and last, but
+not least, the society of one&rsquo;s kind, after two or three weeks of racket
+and discomfort by road and rail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A restful morning enlivened us sufficiently to enjoy a garden party at the
+Residency in the afternoon, where not only the English society, but a large
+number of native gentlemen, were playing lawn-tennis with laudable energy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After Kashmir, where Sir Amar Singh is the only native who mixes at all with
+the English, it was interesting to see and meet on terms of good-fellowship
+these Rajput aristocrats.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, October</i> 22.&mdash;The city of Jaipur is, I think, principally
+interesting as being modern and enlightened among those of the native states.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the ancient city of Ambér was abandoned, principally on account of its
+scanty water-supply, Jaipur was built upon a regular and prearranged plan,
+having a great wide street down the centre, crossed by two large thoroughfares
+at right angles, thus dividing the town into six rectangular blocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We drove into the city in the afternoon, and were much impressed by its
+airiness and cleanliness. The houses are all coated with pink stucco, picked
+out with white, which, in the bright atmosphere, has, at a little distance, a
+charming effect. On closer inspection the real tawdriness and want of solidity
+of the work become painfully apparent, and the designs in white upon the pink,
+in which the wayward fancy of each householder runs riot, generally leave much
+to be desired, both in design and execution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The broad, clean main streets were a perfect kaleidoscope of colour and
+movement. Men in pink pugarees&mdash;in lemon-coloured&mdash;in emerald green;
+women in blood-red saris, bearing shining brass pots upon their heads, all
+talking, shouting, jostling&mdash;a large family of monkeys on a neighbouring
+roof added their quota of conversation&mdash;calm oxen, often with red-painted
+horns and pink-streaked bodies, camels, asses, horses, strolled about or pushed
+their way through the throng. No Hindu cow would ever dream of making way for
+anybody. Yes, though! Here comes an elephant rolling along, and the holy ones
+with humps discreetly retire aside, covering their retreat before a <i>force
+majeure</i> by stepping up to the nearest greengrocer&rsquo;s stall and
+abstracting a generous mouthful of the most succulent of his wares.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rising in the midst of a lovely garden, just outside the city, is the Albert
+Hall, a remarkably fine structure, built in accordance with the best traditions
+of Mohammedan architecture adapted to modern requirements by our host, the
+designer. It contains both a museum of the products of Rajputana, and also an
+instructive collection of objects of art and science, gathered together for the
+edification of the intelligent native.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We would willingly have spent hours examining the pottery and brass work for
+which Jaipur is famous, or in making friends with the denizens of the great
+aviary in the garden, but time is short, and even the baby panther could only
+claim a few minutes of our devotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Palace of the Maharajah is neither particularly interesting nor beautiful,
+and we did not visit it further than to inspect the ancient observatory built
+by Jey Singh, with its huge sundial, whose gnomon stands 80 feet above the
+ground! What we are pleased to call a superstitious attention to times lucky or
+unlucky has given to astronomical observations in the East an unscientific
+importance which they have not had for centuries in Europe.[3] A slight attack
+of fever prevented me from going to Ambér; so I stayed at home, peacefully
+absorbing quinine, subsequently extracting the following from Jane&rsquo;s
+diary:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[3] I fear this is somewhat misleading. Jey Singh was, <i>par excellence</i>,
+an astronomer, not an astrologer,&mdash;T. R. S.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Tea ready, mem-sahib.&rsquo; The familiar and somewhat plaintive
+sound of Sabz Ali&rsquo;s voice roused me, as it so often has in tent, forest
+hut, or matted dounga;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find myself in
+a real comfortable spring bed, white-enamelled and mosquito-netted, while for
+roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky. Then it was I remembered that, at
+my host&rsquo;s suggestion, my bed had been carried out into the shrubbery, and
+that I had fallen asleep, lulled by the howling of the jackals and the rustle
+of the flying squirrels in the gold mohur-tree overhead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain
+as much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I was soon
+ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the garden among the
+parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little squirrels. We were ready for the
+road before seven, and were soon trotting along between dusty hedges of
+gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded here and there by neem trees and peepuls.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton&rsquo;s,
+and he had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort&mdash;a very
+thin young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our
+way&mdash;slowly, on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on
+the road, and the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let us
+pass.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
+loose a bull <i>in memoriam</i>, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to live
+a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every green-grocer in it is
+only too much honoured if the fastidious animal will condescend to make free
+with his cabbages.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six
+miles out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal stable
+to carry us to Ambér. We climbed upon her (it was a lady elephant) in a great
+hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we were told that an elephant,
+if &lsquo;fresh,&rsquo; was apt to rise up suddenly, to the great detriment of
+the passenger who had &lsquo;not arrived.&rsquo; She was a very
+friendly-looking creature though, and her little eyes twinkled most affably;
+her face was decorated in a scheme of red and green, and her saddle was a sort
+of big mattress surrounded by a railing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed uncommonly
+rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we reached a ridge and
+saw the dead city of Ambér before us, dominated by the white marble palace,
+standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in the water of the lake which laps
+its base.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Up a steep and narrow path we mounted until we reached the courtyard of
+the ancient palace of the ruler of Ambér, and there we alighted from our steed,
+and set out to explore the ruins. First we came to a small temple, ugly enough,
+but interesting, for here a goat is sacrificed every morning to Kali&mdash;a
+particularly hideous goddess, if the frescoes on the walls and the golden image
+in the sanctuary are in any way truthful! Formerly a human sacrifice was
+customary, but the unfortunate goat is found to fulfil modern requirements,
+since goddesses are more easily pleased or less pampered than of yore.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is chiefly
+remarkable for its magnificent situation, and for its court and hall of
+audience of marble and red sandstone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This work was so fine as to excite the jealousy of the Mogul Emperor, so
+the Prince of Ambér had it promptly whitewashed&mdash;and whitewashed it
+remains to this day. Some of the brazen doors are remarkably fine, as also
+those of sandal-wood, inlaid with ivory, in the women&rsquo;s quarters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We climbed to the marble court on the roof, where, canopied only by the
+sky and lighted by the moon, nocturnal durbars were held. Now, in the glare of
+the noonday sun, we fully appreciated the value of an evening sitting, for it
+was impossible to remain grilling there, even though the view of the silent
+city below, falling in tier after tier to the lake&mdash;the glare only broken
+here and there by patches of green garden&mdash;was superb. On either side rose
+the bare, rocky ridges, fort-crowned and looking formidable even in decay,
+while in front the dusty road stretched away into the haze of the dusty plains
+below. Of course, we should have visited the great Jain temples and other
+things worthy of note; but, alas! a green garden, whose palms overhung the
+lake, proved more attractive than even Jain temples, and a charming picnic on
+fruits and cool drinks strengthened us sufficiently to enable us to face the
+hot road home, buoyed up each mile by the nearer prospect of a tub.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Jaipur is celebrated for its enamelling on gold, so our host kindly sent for an
+eminent jeweller to come and show us some trifles. Expectant of a humble native
+carrying the usual bundle, we were much impressed when, in due time, a
+dignitary drove up in a remarkably well turned out carriage and pair. His
+servants were clad in a smart livery, and he himself was resplendent, with
+uncut emerald earrings, and the general appearance of a certain Savoy favourite
+as the &ldquo;Rajah of Bong&rdquo;!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our spirits sank as he spread himself and his goods out upon the drawing-room
+floor, which speedily became a glittering chaos of gold and jewelled cups,
+umbrella handles, boxes, scent-bottles, and necklaces. Jane divided her
+admiration between a rope of fat pearls and a necklace of uncut emeralds,
+either of which might have been hers at the trifling price of some 7000 rupees,
+but we finally restricted our acquisitions to very modest proportions, and the
+stout jeweller departed, apparently no whit less cheerful than when he came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The modern brass-work of Jaipur is somewhat attractive, and we bought various
+articles&mdash;a tall lamp-stand, an elephant bell, and a few ordinary bowls of
+excellent shape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have remarked before on the extreme tameness of, and the confidence shown by,
+wild creatures out here. A titmouse came and perched on the arm of my chair
+while sitting reading on the verandah at Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rats and mice, who own the forest houses in the Machipura, have to be
+kicked off the beds at night. But the little grey squirrels in Sir Swinton
+Jacob&rsquo;s garden are&mdash;<i>facile princeps</i>&mdash;the boldest
+wild-fowl we have yet encountered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every afternoon about three, when tea was toward, the squirrels gathered on the
+gravel path, and prepared to receive bread and butter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a few nervous darts and tail whiskings, a bold squirrel would skip up
+close, and, after eating a little ground bait, would boldly come up and nibble
+out of a motionless hand. In two minutes half-a-dozen pretty little creatures
+would be fidgeting round, eating bread and butter daintily, neatly holding the
+morsel in their little forepaws and nuzzling into one&rsquo;s fingers for more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A handsome magpie, and, of course, a contingent of crows, made up the
+fascinating party; while in the background, among the neem trees and the
+flaming &ldquo;gold mohurs,&rdquo; the minahs and green parrots sustained an
+incessant and riotous conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, October 25</i>.&mdash;Gladly would we have accepted the
+Jacobs&rsquo; invitation to stay longer at Jaipur. We would have liked nothing
+better, but time was flying, and the 5th November&mdash;our day of departure
+from Bombay&mdash;was drawing rapidly near. So yesterday evening we took the
+6.30 train for Ajmere, and, reaching there at 10.30, changed into the
+narrow-gauge railway for Chitor. We are becoming well accustomed to sleeping in
+an Indian train, and Sabz Ali had our beds unrolled and our innumerable hand
+luggage stowed away in no time, including four bottles of soda-water, which he
+has carefully garnered in the washstand, and which no hints, however broad,
+will induce him to relinquish.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br/>
+UDAIPUR</h2>
+
+<p>
+We arrived, very sleepy and gritty, at Chitor at 5.30 A.M., to find an
+unprecedented mob of first-class passengers <i>en route</i> for Udaipur, and
+only one very minute compartment in which to stow them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The station-master&mdash;a solemn Baboo, full of his own importance, becomingly
+clad in a waving white petticoat, with bare legs and elastic-sided boots,
+surmounted by a long cutaway frock-coat, topped by a black skull-cap, and
+finally decorated by a pen behind his ear&mdash;seemed totally unable to cope
+with the terrible problem he was set to solve.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suggested that another carriage should be put on, but he had none, nor any
+solution to offer; so we cleared a second-class compartment and divided the
+party out, and then, with five people in our tiny compartment, we set out on
+the fifty-mile run to Udaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Five people in a carriage in Europe is nowise unusual, but five people in an
+Indian one (and that a narrow, very narrow gauge), accompanied by rolls of
+bedding, tiffin-baskets, and all the quantity of personal luggage which is
+absolutely necessary, not to speak of a large-sized bird-cage (which cannot,
+strictly speaking, be classed as a necessary), requires the ingenuity of a
+professional packer of herrings or figs to adjust nicely!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By cramming the toilet place with bedding, khudsticks, a five-foot brass
+lamp-stand, and the four soda-water bottles, we made shift to stow
+portmanteaux, bags, tiffin-baskets, &amp;c., under the seats and ourselves upon
+them, and then arranged a sort of centre-piece of Jane&rsquo;s big tin
+bonnet-box, surmounted by Freddy in his cage. The other passengers were very
+amiably disposed, and not fat, and they even went so far as to pretend to
+admire Freddy&mdash;a feat of some difficulty, as he is still very bald and of
+an altogether forbidding aspect. This admiration so won upon the heart of Jane,
+that in the fulness thereof she served out biscuits and a little tinned butter
+all round, while Freddy cheerfully spattered food and water upon all
+indiscriminately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here, in the
+stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a desperate deed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and retake
+Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any of those whose
+fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden. The Chondawats
+and the Saktawats both claimed the right of forming the vanguard, and the Rana,
+unable to pronounce in favour of either, subtly decided that the van should be
+given to the clan which should first enter Ontala.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the fortress,
+and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place, but the walls were
+quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment, the leader of the Saktawats
+threw himself from his elephant, and, placing himself before the great spikes
+with which the gate was protected against the assault of the beast, ordered the
+mahout to charge; and so a crushed and mangled corpse was forced into the city
+on the brow of the living battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants rushed to
+battle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in Ontala.
+First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by the defenders
+ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell back among his
+dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling the body in his scarf,
+tied it upon his back, fought his way to the crest of the battlements, and
+hurled the gory body of his chieftain into the city, shouting, &ldquo;The
+vanguard to the Chondawat!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note were
+engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of the defence,
+they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle. Suddenly the foe broke
+in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for leave to finish their
+interesting match. The request was granted by the courtly Rajputs, but upon its
+termination they were both put to death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid hills. After
+skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we bustled through a tunnel
+and drew up at a bright little station, draped with great blue and pink
+convolvulus. And this was Udaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were picked out of the usual jabbering, jostling, gibbering crowd of natives
+by our host, who, looking most enviably cool and clean, took his heated,
+dishevelled, and unbarbered guests off to a comfortable carriage, and we were
+quickly sped towards tiffin and a bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The station is a long way from the town, as the Maharana, a most staunch
+conservative of the old school, having the railway more or less forced upon
+him, drew the line at three miles from his capital, and fixed the terminus
+there. One cannot help being glad that the prosaic steam-engine, crowned with
+foul smoke and heralded by ear-piercing whistles, has not been allowed to
+trespass in Udaipur, wherein no discordant note is struck by train line or
+factory chimney, and where everything and every one is as when the city was
+newly built on the final abandonment of Chitor, the ancient capital of Mewar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here in the heart of the most conservative of native States, whose ruler, the
+Maharana, Sir Fateh Singh, claims descent from that ancient luminary the Sun,
+we found novelty and interest in every yard of the three miles that stretch
+between the station and the capital. The scrub-covered desert has given place
+to a wooded and cultivated valley, ringed by a chain of hills, sterile and
+steep. The white ribbon of the road, through whose dust plough stolid buffaloes
+and strings of creaking bullock-carts, is bordered by tall cactus and
+yellow-flowered mimosa on either side. Among the trees rise countless
+half-ruined temples and chatries; on whose whitewashed walls are frequent
+frescoes of tigers or elephants rampant, and of wonderful Rajput heroes wearing
+the curious bell-shaped skirt, which was their distinctive dress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The people too, their descendants, who crowd the road to-day, are
+remarkable&mdash;the men fine-looking, with beards brushed ferociously upwards,
+and all but the mere peasants carrying swords; the women, dark-eyed, and
+singularly graceful in their red or orange saris, and very full bell-shaped
+petticoats. Upright as darts, they walk with slightly swaying gesture, a
+slender brown arm upraised to support the big brass chatties on their heads,
+revealing an incredible collection of bangles on arms and ankles. These women
+are the descendants of those who, in the stormy days of the sixteenth century,
+while the Rajput princes still struggled heroically with the all-powerful Mogul
+emperors, preferred death to shame, and, led by Kurnavati (mother of Oodi
+Singh, the founder of Udaipur), accepted the &ldquo;Johur,&rdquo; or death by
+fire and suffocation, to the number of 13,000, while their husbands and
+brothers threw open the city gates and went forth to fight and fall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we drew near our destination the towers of the Maharana&rsquo;s Palace rose
+up above the trees, gleaming snowy in the cloudless blue. The brown crenellated
+walls of the city appeared on our left, and, suddenly sweeping round a curve,
+we found ourselves by the border of a lovely lake, whose blue-rippled waters
+lapped the very walls of the town. In the foreground a glorious note of colour
+was struck by a group of &ldquo;scarlet women&rdquo; washing themselves and
+their clothes by the margin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up a steep incline, and we found ourselves before a verandah, blazing overhead
+with bougainvillea, and our hostess waiting to receive us beneath its cool
+shade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon, refreshed and rested, we went down to the shore, where our
+host had arranged for a state-owned boat and four rowers to be in waiting.
+Armed with rods and fishing tackle, we proceeded to see Udaipur from the lake
+which washes its northern side. First crossing a small landlocked bay bordered
+on the left by a long and picturesque crenellated wall, and passing through a
+narrow opening, we found ourselves in a second division of the water; on the
+left, still the wall, with a delightful-looking summer-house perched at a
+salient angle; on the right, small wooded islands, the haunt of innumerable
+cormorants, who, with snaky necks outstretched, watched us suspiciously from
+their eyrie.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A curious white bridge, very high in the centre, barred the view of the main
+lake till, passing through the central arch, we found ourselves in a scene of
+perfect enchantment. Before us the level sheet of molten silver lay spread,
+reflecting the snowy palaces and summer-houses that stood amid the palms and
+greenery of many tiny islands. On the left the city rose from the water in a
+succession of temples and wide-terraced buildings, culminating in the lofty
+pile of the Palace of the Maharana. Here, on this enchanted lake, we rowed to
+and fro until the sun sank swiftly in the west and the red gold glowed on
+temple and turret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, with our catch, about 15 lbs. weight of most excellent fish, we rowed
+back past the white city to the landing-place, and, in the gathering dark,
+climbed the hillock upon which stood our host&rsquo;s bungalow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spent a week at Udaipur&mdash;a happy week, whose short days flew by far too
+quickly. The weather was splendid; hot in the middle of the day&mdash;for the
+season is late, and the monsoon has greatly failed in its cooling
+duty&mdash;but delightful in morning and evening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rising one morning at early dawn, before the sun leaped above the eastern
+hills, we took boat and rowed to one of the island palaces, where, after
+fishing for mahseer, we breakfasted on a marble balcony overlooking the ripples
+of the Pichola Lake, which lapped the feet of a group of great marble
+elephants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not the least interesting expedition was to the south end of the lake one
+afternoon to see the wild pigs fed. Traversing the whole length of the Pichola,
+past the marble ghâts where the crimson-clad women washed and chattered, while
+above them rose the roofs and temple domes of the fairy city culminating in the
+walls and pinnacles of the palace&mdash;past the fleet of queer green barges
+wherein the Maharana disports himself when aquatically inclined, we left the
+many islands marble-crowned on our right; and finally landed at a little
+jutting ledge of rock, whence a jungle track led us in a few minutes to a
+terrace overlooking a rocky and steep slope which fell away from the building
+near which we stood. The scene was surprising! Hundreds of swine of all sorts
+and sizes, from grim slab-sided, gaunt-headed old boars, whose ancient tusks
+showed menacing, to the liveliest and sprightliest of little pigs playing
+hide-and-seek among their staid relatives, were collected from the neighbouring
+jungle to scramble for the daily dole of grain spread for them by the Maharana.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A cloud of dust rose thick in the air, stirred up by the busy feet and snouts
+of the multitude, and grunts and squeals were loud and frequent as a frisky
+party of younglings in their play would heedlessly bump up against some
+short-tempered old boar, who in his turn would angrily butt a too venturesome
+rival in the wind and send him, expostulating noisily, down the hill!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the crowd of swine on the edge of the clearing, a few peacocks,
+attracted by the prospect of a meal, held themselves strictly aloof from the
+vulgar herd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole city of Udaipur is a paradise for the artist&mdash;not a corner, not
+a creature which does not seem to cry aloud to be painted. The only difficulty
+in such <i>embarras de richesses</i> of subject and such scantiness of time, is
+to decide what not to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hardly has the enthusiastic amateur sat down to delineate the stately pile of
+the palace, soaring aloft amid its enveloping greenery, than he is attracted by
+a fascinating glimpse of the lake, where, perhaps, a royal elephant comes down
+to drink, or a crimson-clad bevy of Rajputni lasses stoop to fill their brazen
+chatties with much chatter and laughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bewildered by such wealth of subject, one is but too apt to sit at gaze, and
+finally go home with merely a dozen pages of scribbles added to the little
+canvas jotting-book!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Palace of the Maharana is a very splendid pile of buildings, as seen from
+some little distance crowning the ridge which rises to the south of the lake,
+but it loses much of its beauty when closely viewed. It is, of course, not to
+be compared architecturally with the master-works of Agra and Delhi, and the
+internal decorations are usually tawdry and uninteresting. The entrance is
+fine; the visitor ascends the steep street to the principal gate, a massive
+portal, strengthened against the battering of elephants by huge spikes, and
+decorated by a pair of these animals in fresco-rampant. Beyond the first gate
+rises a second or inner gate. On the right are huge stables where the royal
+elephants are kept, and on the left stand a row of curious arches, beneath one
+of which the Maharanas of old were wont to be weighed against bullion after a
+victory, the equivalent to the royal avoirdupois being distributed as largesse
+to his people!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within the gates, a long and wide terrace stretches along the entire front of
+the Palace, on the face of which is emblazoned the Sun of Mewar, the emblem of
+the Sesodias. This terrace was evidently the happy home of a great number of
+cows, peacocks, geese, and pigeons, which stalked calmly enough, among the
+motley crowd of natives, and gave one the impression of a glorified farmyard.
+The building itself, like most Indian palaces, is composed of a heterogeneous
+agglomeration in all sorts of sizes and styles. Each successive Maharana having
+apparently added a bit here and a bit there as his capricious fancy prompted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane visited the armoury to-day with the Resident, who went to choose a shield
+to be presented by the Maharana to the Victoria Museum at Calcutta. I chose to
+go sketching, and was derided by Jane for missing such a chance of seeing what
+is not shown to visitors as a rule. She whisked away in great pomp in the
+Residential chariot, preceded by two prancing sowars on horseback, and
+subsequently thus related her experiences:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;We really drove up far too fast to the Palace, I was so much interested
+in the delightful streets; and we just whizzed past the innumerable shrines and
+queer shops, and frescoed walls, where extraordinary lions and tigers, and
+Rajput warriors, riding in wide petticoats on prancing steeds, were depicted in
+flaming colours. I wanted, too, to gaze at the native women, in their
+accordion-pleated, dancing frocks of crimson or dark blue; but it seemed to be
+the correct thing for a &lsquo;Personage&rsquo; to drive as fast as possible,
+and try to run over a few people just to show them what unconsidered trifles
+they were. Well, we were received at the entrance to the Palace by one of the
+Prime Ministers. There are two Prime Ministers&mdash;one to criticise and
+frustrate the schemes of the other; the result being, as the Resident remarked,
+that it is not easy to get any business done. Our Prime Minister was dressed in
+a coat of royal purple velvet, on his head was wound a big green turban, and
+round his neck hung a lovely necklet of pearls and emeralds, with a pendant of
+the same, he had also earrings to match. It was truly pitiful to see such
+ornaments wasted on a fat old man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Going up a narrow and rather steep staircase, we came to a small hall
+full of retainers of his Highness, waiting until it should please him to appear
+and breakfast with them, for it is the custom of the Maharana to make that meal
+a sort of public function. In the middle of the hall reposed a big bull,
+evidently very much at ease and quite at home!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A few more steps brought us to the door of the armoury. This is small
+and badly arranged, which seems a pity, as there were some lovely things. Chain
+armour and inlaid suits lay about the floor in heaps; and we were shown the
+saddle used by Akbar during the last siege of Chitor. The most remarkable
+things, however, were the Rajput shields, of which there were some beautiful
+specimens. They are circular, not large, and made, some of tortoiseshell, some
+of polished hippo hide, &amp;c. One was inlaid with great emeralds, a second
+had bosses of turquoise, and a really lovely one was inlaid with fine Jaipur
+enamel in blue and green. There were swords simply encrusted with
+jewels&mdash;one with a hilt of carved crystal; another was a
+curiously-modelled dog&rsquo;s head in smooth silver, and I noticed a beauty in
+pale jade. Altogether it was a most fascinating collection, different from, but
+in its way quite as interesting, as the fine armoury at Madrid.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Thus did Jane triumph over me with her description of what she had seen and
+what I had missed; and I had been trying to delineate the Temple of Jagganath,
+and had been disastrously defeated, for it is indeed a complicated piece of
+drawing, and the children, both large and small, crowded round me to my great
+hindrance. Therefore, it was not until I had been soothed with an excellent
+lunch, and the contents of a very long tumbler, that I felt strong enough to
+take an intelligent interest in the contents of the Maharana&rsquo;s
+curiosity-shop!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, October</i> 30.&mdash;The more we see of Udaipur the more we are
+charmed with it. The whole place is so absolutely unspoilt by modernism, is so
+purely Eastern&mdash;and ancient Eastern at that&mdash;that we feel as though
+we were in a little world far apart from the great one where steam and
+electricity shatter the nerves, and drive their victims through life at high
+pressure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered desert
+stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded in an oasis,
+whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the Maharana rules in
+feudal state, and, like Aytoun&rsquo;s Scottish Cavalier,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;A thousand vassals dwelt around&mdash;all of his kindred they,<br/>
+And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray<br/>
+For the royal race he loves so well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+For to his subjects the Maharana is little less than a divinity, for is he not
+a direct descendant of the Sun? Likewise is he not the chief of the only royal
+house of Rajputana, who disdained to purchase Mogul friendship at the price of
+giving a daughter in marriage to the Mohammedan?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are greater personages among the ruling Princes of India, according to
+British ruling&mdash;Hyderabad, for instance. And in the matter of precedence
+and the number of guns for ceremonial salutation, the Chief of Mewar&mdash;like
+other poor but proud nobles&mdash;is treated rather according to his actual
+power than the cloudless blue of his blood. Hence he is extremely unwilling to
+put himself in a position where he might fail to obtain the honour which he
+considers due to him. He was most averse from attending the Delhi Durbar, but
+such pressure was put upon him that he was induced to proceed thither in his
+special train running, as far as Chitorgarh, upon his own special railway. He
+reached Delhi, and his sponsors rejoiced that they had indeed got him to the
+water, although they had not exactly induced him to drink. As a matter of fact,
+the Maharana, having gone to Delhi to please the British authorities, promptly
+returned to Udaipur to please himself, alleging a terrific headache as reason
+for instant departure from the capital, without his having left his very own
+specially reserved first-class compartment!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He may not be a willing guest, but he is evidently disposed to be an excellent
+host, for great preparations are toward for the reception of the Prince of
+Wales, who is expected in the course of a fortnight or so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Residency, too, is being swept and garnished, the garden already looking
+like a miniature camp, with tents for the suite all among the flower-beds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, October</i> 31.&mdash;A day or two ago we arose betimes, and before
+sunrise embarked in the State gig (which was always, apparently, placed at our
+host&rsquo;s disposal on demand), and set forth to catch fish for our
+breakfast, and then proceed to eat the same on one of the island palaces on the
+lake. We did not catch many fish&mdash;the mahseer were shy that
+morning&mdash;but fortunately we did not entirely depend on the caprices of the
+mahseer for our sustenance, and a remarkably well-fed and contented quartette
+we were when we got into the gig while the day was yet young, and rowed home as
+quickly as might be in order to escape the heat which at noonday is still
+great.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This afternoon we went for a (to us) novel tea picnic. A State elephant
+appeared by request, and we climbed upon him with ladders, and he proceeded to
+roll leisurely along at the rate of about two and a half miles an hour towards
+the foot of a hill, on the top of which stood a small summer palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The afternoon was warm, and the rhythmic pace drowsy, but our steed was
+determined to amuse us and benefit himself. So he blew great blasts of spray at
+his own forelegs and chest to cool himself, and now and then made shocking bad
+shots at so large a target, and, getting a trifle too much elevation, nearly
+swept us from our lofty perch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately his stock of spray gave out ere long, or he found that the
+increasing gradient of the hill took all his breath, for we were left at
+leisure to admire the widening view until we reached the top.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we had tea in one of the cool halls, and then sat watching the sun sink
+towards the hills that stretch to Mount Aboo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the south-east lay Udaipur, milk-white along the margin of its
+&ldquo;marléd&rdquo; waters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On our way home we met with an adventure. While prattling to my hostess, I
+observed that our toes were rising unduly, the saddle or howdah being seated
+somewhat after the fashion of an outside car. Glancing over my shoulder I
+descried Jane and her partner far below their proper level. The howdah was
+coming round, and our steed was eleven feet high! Agonised yells to the
+gentleman who guided the deliberate steps of the pachyderm from a coign of
+vantage on the back of his neck, awoke him to an appreciation of the situation.
+The elephant was &ldquo;hove to&rdquo; with all possible despatch, and we
+crawled off his back with the greatest celerity. We then sat down by the
+roadside and superintended the righting of the saddle and the tautening of the
+girths by several natives, who &ldquo;took in the slack&rdquo; with an energy
+that must have made the poor elephant very &ldquo;uncomfy&rdquo; about the
+waist! I secretly hoped it was hurting him horribly, as I had not forgiven him
+for his practical jokes on the way up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had no more thrills. Resuming our motor &rsquo;bus, in due course, we were
+landed opposite the top of our host&rsquo;s verandah, whereupon the beast shut
+himself up like a three-foot rule, and we got to ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The inexorable flight of time brought us all too soon to the limit of our stay
+at Udaipur. Early on Wednesday the 1st November, therefore, we bade adieu to
+the capital of the State of Mewar, and, accompanied by our kind host and
+hostess, set out to spend a day in exploring the ruined city of Chitor before
+taking train for Bombay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we drove to the station, we passed the group of ancient
+&ldquo;chatries&rdquo; or tombs of dead and gone Ranas of Mewar, and halted for
+a short inspection, as, the train by which we were to travel to Chitorgarh
+being a &ldquo;special,&rdquo; we were not bound to a precise moment for our
+appearance on the platform.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane, who is perfectly Athenian in her passion for novelty, decided to travel
+on the engine, and proceeded to do so; until, at the first halting-place, a
+grimy and somewhat dishevelled female climbed into our carriage, and the next
+half-hour was fully occupied in scooping smuts out of her eyes with teaspoons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had been arranged that an elephant should await our arrival at Chitorgarh to
+take us up to the ancient city, but a careful search into every nook and cranny
+failed to reveal the missing animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So my host and I set out on foot to cross a mile or so of plain which spread in
+deceptive smoothness between us and the ascent to the city. What seemed a
+serene and level track became quickly entangled in a maze of rough little knobs
+and nullahs, and we took a vast amount of exercise before arriving at the old
+bridge which spans the Gamberi River.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, towering over the scrubby bushes and surrounded by a dusty halo, the
+dilatory pachyderm bore down upon us, and, after the mahout had been
+interviewed in unmeasured terms by my host, went rolling slowly to the station
+to pick up the ladies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ancient city of Chitor lies crumbling and desolate on the back of a long,
+level-topped hill, which rises solitary to the height of some five hundred feet
+above the far-stretching plain. Kipling likens it to a great ship, up the sides
+of which the steep road slopes like a gangway. At the foot lies the modern
+village, squalid but picturesque.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we toil, perspiring, up the long ramp which for a weary mile slopes sidelong
+up the scarped flank of the mountain, and pass through the seven gates which
+guarded the way, and every one of which was the scene of many a grim and bloody
+struggle, I will try to sketch the outline of the history of the famous fort,
+for many centuries the headquarters of the royal race of Mewar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Gehlotes, or (as they were afterwards styled) the Sesodias, claim descent
+from the Sun through Manu, Icshwaca, and Rama Chandra, as indeed do the other
+Rajput potentates of Jaipur, Marwar, and Bikanir, the Rana of Mewar, however,
+taking precedence owing to his descent from Lava, the eldest son of Rama.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ancient dynasty of Mewar has fallen from its high estate, but the history
+of its rise is lost in the mists of grey antiquity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We can trace the losses of Mewar, but with difficulty her acquisitions….
+She was an old-established dynasty when all the other States were in
+embryo.&rdquo; Long before Richard of the Lion-heart fared to Palestine to
+wrest the Holy City from the infidel, &ldquo;a hundred kings, its
+(Mewar&rsquo;s) allies and dependants, had their thrones raised in
+Chitor,&rdquo; to defend it against the sword of the Mohammedan; while overhead
+floated the banner displaying the golden sun of Mewar on a crimson field.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some centuries later the Crusaders brought to Europe from the plains of
+Palestine the novel device of armorial bearings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chitor itself appears to have been in possession of the Mori princes until, in
+A.D. 728, it was taken by Bappa, who, though of royal race, was brought up in
+obscurity by the Bhils as an attendant on the sacred kine. This shepherd
+prince, ancestor of the present Rana of Mewar, became a national hero, and many
+legends are still current concerning him and his romantic deeds. The story of
+his &ldquo;amazing marriage,&rdquo; by which he succeeded in wedding six
+hundred damsels all at once, is one of the most curious. Bappa, while still a
+youth, was appealed to, one holiday, by the frolicsome maidens of a
+neighbouring village, who, led by the daughter of the Solankini chief of Nagda,
+in accordance with the custom upon this particular saint&rsquo;s day, had come
+out to indulge in swinging, but who had forgotten to supply themselves with a
+swinging-rope. Bappa agreed to get them one if they would play his game first.
+This the young ladies readily agreed to do; whereupon, all joining hands, he
+danced with them a certain mystic number of times round a sacred tree.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Regardless of their doom, the little victims played,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and finally dispersed to their homes, entirely unconscious that they were all
+as securely married to Bappa as though they had visited Gretna Green with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some time afterwards, upon the engagement of the Solankini maiden to an
+eligible young man, the soothsayer, to whom application had been made with
+regard to fixing a favourable and auspicious wedding-day, discovered from
+certain lines in her hand that the girl was already married! Thus the whole
+story came out, and no less than six hundred brides assumed the title of Mrs.
+Bappa.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He seems to have had a passion for matrimony, for when an old man he left his
+children and his country, and carried his arms west to Khorassan, where he
+wedded new wives and had a numerous offspring. He died at the age of a hundred!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the days of the very much married Bappa, until the time of Samarsi, who
+was Prince of Chitor in the thirteenth century, the city continued to flourish
+and increase in power and importance. Samarsi, having married Pirtha, sister of
+Prithi Raj, the lord of Delhi, joined his brother-in-law against Shabudin. For
+three days the battle raged, until the scale fell finally in favour of
+Shabudin, and the combined forces of Delhi and Chitor were almost annihilated.
+&ldquo;Pirtha, on hearing of the loss of the battle, her husband slain, her
+brother captive, and all the heroes of Delhi and Cheetore &lsquo;asleep on the
+banks of the Caggar in a wave of the steel,&rsquo; joined her lord through the
+flames.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From that time forward the history of Chitor is but a tale of sack and
+slaughter, relieved in its murkiest days by flashes of brilliant heroism and
+self-sacrificing devotion while the chivalrous Rajputs struggled vainly against
+the successive waves of the Mohammedan invasions, which in a fierce flood for
+centuries swept over India, and deluged it with blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the year 1275 Lakumsi became Rana of Chitor. His uncle Bheemsi had married
+Padmani, a fair daughter of Ceylon, and her beauty was such that the fame of it
+came to the ears of Alla-o-din, the Pathan Emperor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He promptly attacked the fortress, but without success for a long period, until
+he agreed to a compromise, declaring that if he could merely see the Lady
+Padmani in a mirror he would be contented and raise the siege.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His request was granted, and, trusting to the honour of a Rajput, he entered
+the city unattended, and was rewarded by a sight of this Eastern Helen
+reflected in a mirror. Desirous of showing equal faith in a noble enemy,
+Bheemsi accompanied Alla back to his lines, but there he was captured and held
+to ransom, Padmani being the price.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Word was now sent to the Emperor that Padmani would be delivered to him, and
+seven hundred covered litters were prepared to convey her and her ladies to
+Delhi, but each litter was borne by six armed bearers, and contained no
+&ldquo;silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses,&rdquo; but only steel-clad
+warriors, who, upon arrival in the Moslem camp, sprang from their concealment
+as surprisingly as Pallas from the head of Zeus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alla-o-din was, however, not to be caught napping, and, being prepared for all
+contingencies, a fierce combat took place, and the warriors of Chitor were hard
+put to it to stand their ground until Bheemsi had escaped to the stronghold on
+a fleet horse. Then the devoted remnant retreated, pursued to the very gates by
+their foes. The flower of Chitor had perished, but they had achieved their
+object. This was called the &ldquo;half sack&rdquo; of Chitor.[1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] These notes on the history of Chitor are taken, it need hardly be said,
+from Tod&rsquo;s <i>Rajast&rsquo;han</i>, he being <i>the</i> authority on
+Rajputana. An account of the above incident is given somewhat differently by
+Maurice in his <i>Modern History of Hindostan</i> (1803), who also relates that
+Akbar used the same trick to enter Rhotas in Behar, after being long baffled by
+the apparent impregnability of that fortress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fifteen years later, Alla-o-din once more attacked Chitor, and this time the
+assaults were so deadly that the garrison was decimated and utter annihilation
+stared the survivors in the face. Then to the Rana appeared the guardian
+goddess of the city, who warned him that &ldquo;if twelve who wear the diadem
+bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass from the line.&rdquo; Now the prince
+had twelve sons, and, in obedience to the goddess and in hope of eventually
+saving their dynasty, eleven of them cheerfully headed sorties on eleven
+following days, and were slain, until only Ajeysi, the youngest, was left
+alive. Then the Kana prepared for the end. He sent the boy Ajeysi with a small
+band by a secret way, and he escaped to Kailwarra, so that the royal race of
+Chitor should not become extinct. Then the women of the city, with the noble
+Padmani at their head, accepted the Johur; &ldquo;the funeral pyre being
+lighted within the great subterranean retreat,&rdquo; they steadfastly marched
+into the living grave rather than yield themselves to the will of the
+conqueror. All being now ready for the last act of the hideous drama, the Rana
+caused the gates to be opened, and with his valiant remnant of an army fell
+upon the foe only to perish to a man, and then, and not till then, did the
+victorious Alla set foot of a conqueror within Chitor, where now no living
+thing remained to stay him from razing her deserted temples to the ground. The
+palace of Padmani alone was spared in this, the first &ldquo;saka&rdquo; of
+Chitor.[2]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] The Jain Tower of Fame was also left standing, it dates from about A.D.
+900.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wrecked stronghold remained an appanage of the Mogul until Hamir, who,
+though not the direct heir of Ajeysi, had gained the chieftainship through his
+valour, and who, having married a ward of the Hindu governor of Chitor, by her
+help regained possession of the fortress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Defeating the Emperor Mahmoud, Hamir entered Chitor in triumph, and once again
+the standard of the Sun floated over its blood-stained rocks. The Emperor
+Mahmoud himself was led captive into Chitor, and kept prisoner there for three
+months until he regained his liberty by surrendering Ajmere, Rinthumbore,
+Nagore, and Sooe Sopoor, with fifty lacs of rupees and a hundred elephants. By
+this victory Hamir became the sole Hindu prince of power in India; and the
+ancestors of the present lords of Marwar and Jaipur brought their levies and
+paid homage, together with the chiefs of Boondi, Abu, and Gwalior.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then ensued for Chitor a period of splendid prosperity, during which rose many
+noble buildings, amongst the ruins of which the great Tower of Victory still
+soars supreme. This splendid monument[3] was raised to commemorate the victory
+gained by Koombho over Mahmoud, King of Malwa, and the Prince of Guzzerat, who
+in A.D. 1440 had formed a league against Chitor. The Rana met them at the head
+of 100,000 troops and 1400 elephants, and overthrew them, and the commemorative
+tower was begun in 1451 and finished in ten years.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[3] It is also attributed to Lakha Rana, A.D. 1373.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The State of Mewar reached the zenith of her glory in 1509, when 80,000 horse,
+seven rajas of the highest rank, nine raos, and 104 chiefs bearing titles of
+rawul or sawut, with 500 elephants, followed Rana Sanga of Chitor into the
+field.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Mogul Baber, who captured Delhi in 1527, was yet unwilling to face the
+ordeal of battle with the warlike Rajputs, but in the following year Sanga
+marched against him at the head of the princes of Rajast&rsquo;han. A terrible
+battle ensued, which long inclined in favour of the Rajputs, until, through the
+treachery of a Tuar chief, they were defeated, and the star of Mewar began to
+decline, although so severe had been the struggle that Baber dared not follow
+up his victory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In 1533 Chitor suffered her second &ldquo;saka&rdquo; at the hands of Buhadoor
+or Bajazet, Sultan of Guzzerat, who, after a grim struggle, obtained a footing
+at the &ldquo;Beeka&rdquo; rock, and, springing a mine there, blew up 45 cubits
+of rampart and killed the Prince of the Haras, with five hundred of his kin.
+Then the Queen-Mother, Jowahir Bae, clad in armour, headed a sally, and was
+slain before the eyes of all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The entrance to the city being forced, the heir of the Sesodias, the infant
+Oodi Singh, son of Sanga, was placed in safety, while Bagh-ji, Prince of Deola,
+assuming royalty, prepared to die, for Chitor could only be retained by the
+Rajput princes while guarded by royalty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The horrible Johur was decreed, and 13,000 women, headed by Kurnavati, the
+mother of Oodi Singh,[4] marched to death and honour through the &ldquo;Gau
+Mukh,&rdquo; or entrance to the subterranean tomb; while the city gates were
+thrown open, and the defenders sallied forth. &ldquo;Every clan lost its
+chief,&rdquo; and 32,000 Rajputs were slain during the siege and storm.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[4] And sister of the Rahtore queen, Jowahir Bae.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Kurnavati had bound Hamayoun, the son of Baber, to her cause by a curious
+ceremony: she having sent him the Rakhi (bracelet), and he having bestowed on
+her the Katchli (corselet), he was bound, in consequence of this bond, to
+assist the lady in any time of need. Too late to save Chitor, he retook it, and
+restored Bikramajit to the throne; but the guardian goddess had turned her face
+from the doomed city, and its final fall was at hand. The Emperor Akbar, having
+laid almost all India at his feet, determined to bring the proud princes of
+Rajputana into subjection. He attacked Chitor, but was foiled by the masculine
+courage of the Rana&rsquo;s concubine queen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again, in 1568, the Emperor Akbar attacked, and this time he found the fated
+city in evil case, for Oodi Singh,[5] the Rana, for whom in infancy his nurse
+had sacrificed her own child, was a degenerate son of his race. He left Chitor
+to be defended by his lieutenants Jeimul and Putta.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[5] The infant Oodi Singh being threatened with death by conspirators, his
+Rajputni nurse hid him in a fruit-basket, and, covering it with leaves, had it
+conveyed out of the fort, substituting her own child just as Bimbir, the
+usurper, entered the room and asked for the prince. Her pallid lips refused to
+utter sound, but she pointed to the cradle and saw the swift steel plunged into
+the heart of her child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the first &ldquo;saka&rdquo; by Alla, twelve crowned heads defended the
+&ldquo;crimson banner&rdquo; to the death. In the second, when conquest, at the
+hand of Bahadur, came from the south, the chieftain of Deola, a noble scion of
+Mewar, claimed the crown of glory and of martyrdom. But on this, the third and
+greatest struggle, no royal victim appeared to appease the Cybele of Chitor and
+win her to retain its battlements as her coronet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Jeimul fell at the Gate of the Sun, the command devolved upon Putta of
+Kailwa, a lad of sixteen. His mother commanded him to don &ldquo;the saffron
+robe,&rdquo; then, with him and his young bride, she fell full armed upon the
+foe, and the heroic trio died before the eyes of the war-worn garrison.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more was the Johur commanded, while 8000 Rajputs ate the last
+&ldquo;beera&rdquo; together, and put on their saffron robes. The gates were
+thrown open, &ldquo;and few survived to stain the yellow mantle by inglorious
+surrender.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus in the blood-red cloud of battle sank for ever the Sun of Chitor; for from
+this, the third and last &ldquo;saka,&rdquo; the ruined city never rose. Her
+doom has been as the doom of Babylon, of which Isaiah declared: &ldquo;It shall
+never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation
+… but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full
+of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there…. And the wild beasts … shall
+cry in their desolate houses, and … in their pleasant palaces:… Her days shall
+not be prolonged.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The top of the long ascent being reached, the last gate, the Hathi Pol, is
+passed, and the wayfarer finds himself in the midst of the great dead city,
+which lies in ruins for three miles along the bastioned brow of the mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just beyond the first group of stately ruins, we came on the building which was
+probably the palace built by Lakha Rana in 1373. Here we sat and rested until
+the elephant, bearing the ladies and the lunch, stalked sedately round the
+jutting angle of a decayed fort, and then we wended our way along a road lined
+with many a half-fallen temple, until we reached the ancient palace where, six
+hundred years ago, dwelt the ill-starred Padmani, whose loveliness brought such
+woe upon Chitor. Here, in a cool chamber overlooking the tank, upon the brink
+of which the palace stands, we lunched; afterwards threading our way among the
+fallen fragments of many a stately shrine and palace towards the high point on
+which the great Jain Tower of Fame rears its deeply-sculptured shaft into the
+sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a thousand years the innumerable stone gods which encircle the tower in
+endless profusion have watched with sightless eyes over the city. Grey already
+with age were they when they saw, raised in pristine beauty, the shattered
+domes and broken columns which now lie prone in the brushwood far beneath their
+feet. What ghastly scenes those stony faces have surveyed, when, swept by the
+scathing steel, the city has run red with blood, and her defenders have fallen
+to the last man. One crowning horror, though, they have been always spared, for
+no maid or matron of Chitor ever deigned to bow her neck beneath the yoke of
+the Mogul, but rather dared to face a fiery death in the bowels of the great
+cavern beneath the city than yield her honour to the conqueror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Tower of Fame is being repaired by the present Rana, under the
+superintendence of our host and a party of native workmen. Masons and most
+skilful carvers in stone were busily engaged in the restoration of parts that
+had fallen into dangerous decay&mdash;an extremely flimsy-looking scaffolding,
+made apparently of light bamboos, tied together in wisps, and forming a
+fragile-looking ramp, wound spirally up the outside of the tower. My host
+seemed to consider it a perfectly safe means of ascent, and as the workmen did
+not appear to slip off in any appreciable numbers I felt constrained to go up.
+I should like to have done it on all fours! The climb was well worth
+undertaking, as it enabled one to inspect the astonishing and finely-carved
+figures which encrust the whole exterior of the column.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the Tower of Fame we made our way to the other great landmark of
+Chitor&mdash;the Tower of Victory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing and examining <i>en route</i> many elaborately-carved temples, whose
+domes rose amid the strangling masses of desert tree and shrub, we came to the
+base of the red tower, whose shaft, four-square and in perfect preservation,
+has, with its more venerable brother of Fame, watched for so many centuries
+over the fallen fortress of Chitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not far away, the rocky wall on which the city stands is shattered into a
+gloomy chasm, half-hidden in rank vegetation, which, clinging with knotted root
+to ledge and crevice, hangs darkly over a stagnant pool. Here was the awful
+portal, &ldquo;the Gau Mukh,&rdquo; or &ldquo;cow&rsquo;s mouth,&rdquo; by
+which, when all was lost to Chitor save honour, her women entered the
+subterranean cavern while the fuel was heaped high, and an honourable death by
+suffocation awaited them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The burning Indian day was over, and the sun blazed red in the west, as we
+mounted our elephant and paced along the road towards the Hathi Pol. Darker
+grew the ghostly domes and shattered battlements against a golden sky, and the
+swift southern night fell, dark yet luminous, as we turned down the hill and
+left the dead city, splendid in its loneliness and isolation, asleep within its
+crumbling walls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our dinner-table was set out on the platform of the station at Chitorgarh, and
+our bedrooms were close by, our host and hostess sleeping in the
+&ldquo;special&rdquo; by which they were to return to Udaipur in the morning,
+while we slept in a siding, ready to be coupled up to the early train from
+Bombay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Late into the warm and balmy night we paced the platform; for there seemed to
+be always something still to say, and we found it hard to part from our
+charming friends; realising, too, that this was the end of our holiday, and
+that before us lay merely the toil and bustle of a return to commonplace,
+everyday life. At last, though, the final fag-end of a cheroot was thrown away,
+the last hand-grips given, and the parting came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is little more to say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All Thursday we rushed through the wide landscape; saw the parched plains
+stretch far into the dusty horizon; saw the lean men and leaner cattle, to whom
+the grim spectre of famine is already foreshadowed; flew past populous villages
+and creaking water-wheels, noting every phase of a scene now familiar, yet
+always delightful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Late in the evening we changed at Baroda, and dawn next morning saw us speeding
+across the swamps and inlets, which gave place ere long to the palm groves and
+clustering houses which marked the farther limits of the suburbs of Bombay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We found the heat&mdash;damp and oppressive&mdash;very trying after the drier
+air of Rajputana, and the Taj Mahal Hotel below our expectations in all
+respects save price. It is undoubtedly better than most Indian hotels, but yet
+it is not good!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bombay is chiefly connected in our minds with the inevitable fuss and worry of
+packing and departure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we left the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a conveyance piled high with miscellaneous
+baggage, we saw the last of our faithful and indispensable Sabz Ali, as he
+hurriedly quitted the hostelry in our wake, fearful lest undue delay should
+jeopardise the possession of the spoils he was carrying off, wrapped in bulging
+bundles of goodly size.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and I were sorrier, I think, to part with him than he with us. After all,
+we were but troublesome charges, for whose well-being he had to answer to
+&ldquo;General &rsquo;Oon Sahib,&rdquo;&mdash;charges who had not been quite so
+lavish with their incalculable riches as they should have been, and who doled
+out rupees, and even annas, with a sorely grudging hand; still I think Sabz
+Ali, as he made his way to the station, with many rupees lining his inmost
+garments, and a flaming &ldquo;chit&rdquo; carefully stowed away, felt a
+certain regret at parting from the &ldquo;sahibs,&rdquo; who had really shown a
+very fine appreciation of his merit, and were sending him back with much honour
+to his own country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Late in the afternoon, as the spires and roofs of the city stood dark against
+the sky, and the many steamers and native dhows showed black upon a flood of
+liquid gold, the <i>Persia</i> got under way, and we slowly left the anchorage,
+steaming out into the fading light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood long, leaning over the bulwarks and watching the lights of Bombay, at
+first so distinct, melt gradually into a line of tiny stars as the gulf widened
+that separated us from the land where we had spent so many happy days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wonder if we shall ever revisit it? I trust so … and yet&mdash;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a rule it is better to revisit only in imagination the places which
+have greatly charmed us … for it was not merely the sights that one beheld
+which were the cause of joy and peace. However lovely the spot, however
+gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed but for
+contributory movements of mind and heart and blood&mdash;the essentials of the
+man as then he was.&rdquo;[6]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[6] &ldquo;Henry Ryecroft&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX I</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+BIG GAME LICENSE No. I,<br/>
+Price Rs. 60 (sixty only).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This license will remain in force from the 15th of March 190 to the 15th
+November 190, and is subject to the Kashmir Stata Game Laws; it permits the
+Licensee to shoot the undermentioned game in the Districts and Nullahs open to
+sportsmen, and, subject to Rules 8 and 9 of these Laws, small game between the
+above dates.
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+                      | No. permitted | No. actually | Size of |District.
+  Name of Animal.     | to be         | shot.        | heads.  |
+                      | shot.         |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-             |         |
+Markhor of any variety|      2        |              |         |
+Ibex                  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon) |      1        |              |         |
+Ovis Vignei (Sharpu)  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Nahura (Burhal)  |      6        |              |         |
+Thibetan Antelope     |      6        |              |         |
+  Do. Gazelle         |      1        |              |         |
+Kashmir Stag          |      2        |              |         |
+Serow                 |      1        |              |         |
+Brown Bears           |      2        |              |         |
+Tehr                  |      6        |              |         |
+Goral                 |      6        |              |         |
+Pigs, Black Bears and |  No limit.    |              |         |
+  Leopards            |               |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+_Name of Licensee____________________________________________
+_Address_____________________________________________________ _Signature of
+Licensee on returning License__________________
+</p>
+
+<p>
+N.B.&mdash;This portion of the License to be returned to the Secretary,<br/>
+Game Preservation Department.
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+————————————————————————————————————-
+                      NAME OF SHIKARIES, &amp;c., EMPLOYED
+———+———-+————+———-+————————————————————-
+      |Name of|        |Nature |    <i>Place of Residence</i>.    |
+Serial|Shikari|Father&rsquo;s|  of   +————-+————+—————+ REMARKS.
+ No.  |  or   |  Name. |employ-| Village | Tehail | District |
+      |Coolie.|        | ment. |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+This License does not permit the Licensee to shoot in any of the closed tracts
+or preserves mentioned in Rules 2 and 10, Kashmir State Game Laws, nor in the
+Gilgit district, nor in the Astor or Kaj-nag districts, without the special
+permit laid down under Rule 2.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Dated</i> ____ (Sd.) AMAR SINGH, GENERAL, RAJA, <i>The</i> ______
+<i>Vice-President of Council, Jammu and Kashmir State</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I certify that a copy of Kashmir State Game Laws, 190, has been issued
+herewith,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Signature of Official granting License</i> ___________________
+</p>
+
+<p>
+NOTE&mdash;This License will be shown on demand and is not transferable. A fee
+of Re. 1 will be charged for a duplicate copy.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX II</h2>
+
+<p>
+From the earliest times the Kashmiris have been objects of contempt and
+derision, whilst the women have been&mdash;perhaps unduly&mdash;lauded for
+their looks and general excellence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Kashmiris themselves are of opinion that &ldquo;once upon a time&rdquo;
+they were an honourable and valiant folk, brought gradually to their present
+condition by foreign oppression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To a certain extent this is probably true, but, according to the
+<i>Rajatarangini Kulan</i>, they were noted for dishonesty and cunning long
+before the evil days of conquest and adversity. Bernier speaks well of the men,
+calling them witty and industrious. Doubtless the Kashmiri character,
+originally none too good, was ruined during the long years of cruelty and
+injustice to which he was subjected by the Tartars, Afghans, and Sikhs, who,
+from the day when Akbar put him into women&rsquo;s clothes, treated him as
+something lower than a brute.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as
+&ldquo;endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain.&rdquo; He speaks
+of the vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the Pathans,
+observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking them with a
+hatchet, but, he concludes, &ldquo;I even judged them worthy of their adverse
+fortune.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that &ldquo;the men are excessively addicted
+to pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and
+cunning;&rdquo; and again, &ldquo;The Cashmerians are of no account as
+soldiers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin
+it,&rdquo; says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri
+character, and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for great
+artistic feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from crime against the
+person. He considers the last merit, though, to be due to cowardice and the
+state of espionage which exists in every village!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who, during the
+great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his brother being swept
+down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly disintegrating roof. The
+following painful conversation ensued:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine
+ancestral roof?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All I have in the world, brother&mdash;two lovely rupees.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth,
+for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Three, then, three, carissimo&mdash;&rsquo;tis all I have&mdash;and make
+haste, for I feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, oh, dearest brother! I could not possibly think of taking so
+much trouble for three rupees, especially as, now I come to think of it, I can
+borrow a singhara pole, and, in due time, will prod for thy corpse in the
+Wular! Mind thou wrappest the lucre snugly in thy cummerbund, that it be not
+lost&mdash;farewell, little brother!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While the gentlemen of the Happy Valley have been lashed by the tongue and pen
+of every traveller, the ladies, on the contrary, have been rather overrated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In all communities where the men are invertebrate the women become the real
+heads of the family, doing not only most of the actual work, but also taking
+the dominant position in affairs generally. This I have observed strikingly in
+the case of the three &ldquo;slackest&rdquo; male races I know&mdash;the Fantis
+of the Gold Coast, the Kashmiri, and the crofters of the West Highlands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Opinion is divided on the question of female loveliness in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marco Polo (who probably only got his ideas of &ldquo;Kesmur&rdquo; from
+hearsay) echoed the prevalent opinion by saying, &ldquo;The women although dark
+are very comely&rdquo; (ch. xxvii.). Bernier is enthusiastic: &ldquo;Les femmes
+surtout y sont très-belles,&rdquo; and hints at their popularity among the
+Moguls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moorcroft, Vigne, and others swelled the laudatory chorus until Forster,
+&ldquo;having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms, suffered a
+sensible disappointment,&rdquo; and even was so rude as to criticise the
+ladies&rsquo; legs, which he considered thick!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lawrence saw &ldquo;thousands of women in the villages, and could not remember,
+save one or two exceptions, ever seeing a really beautiful face;&rdquo; but the
+heaviest blow was dealt them by Jacquemont, who, as a gay Frenchman, should
+have been an excellent judge: &ldquo;Je n&rsquo;avais jamais vu auparavant
+d&rsquo;aussi affreuses sorcières!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX III</h2>
+
+<p>
+I had hoped to have given, through the kindness of Colonel Ward, a full list of
+the birds of Kashmir. Up to the time of going to press, however, the complete
+list has not been made out. A very large proportion, however, has been
+published in the <i>Journal of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Society</i>. I would refer
+those desirous of a knowledge of the birds of Kashmir to the above Journal for
+23rd April and 20th Sept. 1906, and 15th Feb. 1907. Also to Hume and
+Henderson&rsquo;s <i>Lahore to Yarkand</i>, and to Le Mesurier&rsquo;s <i>Game,
+Shore, and Water Birds of India</i>, to which I am indebted for the
+following:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In Kashmir, out of 116 genera of land birds, 34 have a wide range, 32
+are characteristic of the Palar Arctic, 29 of the Indian, and 21 of the
+Himalo-Chinese sub-region. Only one species is peculiar to Kashmir, a very
+normal bullfinch (pyrula).&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The flora, which is most interesting, has yet (as far as I know) to be treated
+independently of the neighbouring regions. Royle is scientific but antiquated,
+and I know of no better list than that given by Lawrence in his <i>Valley of
+Kashmir</i>.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX IV</h2>
+
+<p>
+It may interest any one intending a trip to Kashmir to see a note of reasonable
+expenses as incurred by two people during a nine-month absence from England.
+Therefore I append a précis of ours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is to be remembered that a saving might be effected in many particulars by
+any one knowing something of the country. We had to buy our experience. Fully
+£10 or £12 could be saved in wages, as at first we had a fighting tail like
+&ldquo;Ta Phairson&rdquo; of &ldquo;four-and-twenty men and five-and-thirty
+pipers&rdquo;&mdash;and pipers have to be paid! We also hired tents when we did
+not really require them. Against these outgoings, however, it should be borne
+in mind that, thanks to the kindness of friends, we paid a merely nominal rent
+for a &ldquo;State&rdquo; hut at Gulmarg. At Abbotabad, Jaipur, and Udaipur,
+also, we had no hotel bills to meet.
+</p>
+
+<h3>PRÉCIS OF EXPENSES&mdash;TWO PERSONS</h3>
+
+<p class="center">
+LONDON TO KARACHI (25 Days)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+Half-Return fares, 1st class, London to Trieste,
+  and thence by Austrian Lloyd (unaccelerated)    60   0   0
+Hotels, sleeping-car, gratuities, wine bills, &amp;c. 16  15   0
+Baggage expenses                                   8  15   7
+                                                       —————   85  10   7
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+BOMBAY TO LONDON (25 Days)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+Share of fares                                    60   0   0
+Hotel expenses and sundries, as before            10   6   8
+Baggage expenses, dock dues, &amp;c.                  17  11   4
+                                                       —————  87  18   0
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+KARACHI TO SRINAGAR (16 Days)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+Rail and baggage expenses to Pindi                12   6   8
+Landau and two ekkas to Srinagar, inclusive of
+   gratuities, tolls, &amp;c.                         10  10   8
+Hotels, Dàk bungalows, &amp;c.                        13  18   9
+Duty on firearms (repayable on leaving)            1  16   8
+Resais, waterproof for luggage, kettles, &amp;c.       1  19   3
+Servant&rsquo;s fare to Karachi, wages, &amp;c.              2  12   8
+                                                       —————  43   4   8
+                                                            ——————-
+                            <i>Carry forward</i>                  216  13   3
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+EXPENSES IN KASHMIR (6 Months)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+            <i>Brought forward</i>                                216  13   3
+
+Food, wine, washing, cigars, &amp;c.                  72   7   3
+Wages, inclusive of various clothes               42   9   9
+Amusements, golf and tennis subscriptions, &amp;c.    11   7   2
+Hire of boats, tents and equipment                17   6   5
+Transport coolies and ponies                      33  14  11
+Hire of hut at Gulmarg                             5   6   8
+Sundry furniture, cooking gear, yakdans, &amp;c.       9   0   8
+                                                       —————- 191  12  10
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+BARAMULA TO BOMBAY (1 Month)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+Landau and four ekkas, with gratuities and tolls. 13  14   0
+Dâk bungalows, hotels, &amp;c.                        18   5   8
+Wages, inclusive of gratuities                     6  14   0
+Rail, Pindi to Bombay (<i>viâ</i> Udaipur)               16  17   0
+Baggage                                            5   2   8
+Hire of carriages, &amp;c.                             1   4  11
+                                                  —————  61  18   3
+Loss by exchange on cheques.                                   5  19   7
+                                                            ——————
+                                      Total                  476   3  11
+                                                            ============
+</pre>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>INDEX AND NOTES</h2>
+
+<p>
+ABBOTABAD, A frontier station garrisoned by a mobile force of Gurkhas and Royal
+Artillery, whence any descent from the Black Mountain or Chilas country can be
+checked. Named after Lieutenant Abbot, who reduced the neighbourhood to order
+in 1845-48.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aden, Occupying a warm corner just outside the straits of Babol-Mandeb; was the
+first addition made to the British dominions in the reign of Queen Victoria,
+having been taken from the Arabs in 1839.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Agates,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Agra, Rose to importance under the Moguls, becoming their seat of government
+after Akbar quitted the city he had built, Fatehpur-Sighri, until Aurungzeb
+removed the seat of government to Delhi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Akbar, The third, and in many ways the greatest, of the six &ldquo;Great
+Mogul&rdquo; Emperors of India. A warrior first, he consolidated his conquests
+with the genius of an enlightened statesman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alsu, A small village on the north-west shore of the Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amar Singh (General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I.), Brother of His Highness Sir
+Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; is Vice-President of the
+States Council and owner of much land in Kashmir, the prosperity of which he
+has done much to promote.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ambér, The ancient capital of Jaipur; was built in the eleventh century, its
+Rajput rulers being the powerful allies of Chitor during her struggles against
+the Mohammedan invasion. The Palace was built by Raja Maun, <i>circa</i> 1600,
+in the days of Akbar, whose cousin he was by marriage ( <i>comp</i>. ). Ambér
+was deserted in 1728 by Jey Singh for his new city of Jaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amethyst, This stone should be much worn in Scotland, particularly on New
+Year&rsquo;s Day, it having been (according to the Greek derivation of the
+name) an antidote to drunkenness!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amira Kadal, The highest of the seven bridges at Srinagar; a fine modern
+structure, replacing that built by Amir Khan Jawan Sher, the Pathan, who also
+built Sher Garhi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anda, Egg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anna, the sixteenth part of a rupee, value one penny.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Apharwat, One of the Pir Panjal range, which rises above Gulmarg, height 14,500
+feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aru, A small village, beautifully situated about seven miles above Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Asti, &ldquo;Go slow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Astor, A district on the main route from Kashmir to Gilgit, the village is
+about ninety-two miles from Bandipur. Two passes (the Rajdiangan, or Tragbal,
+11,800 feet, and the Boorzil, 13,500 feet) have to be crossed. About ten passes
+are issued each season to sportsmen, markhor and ibex being the game.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Atchibal, A village seven miles from Islamabad, where many springs burst out
+from the rocks. Atchibal was a favourite pleasure-garden of the Mogul Emperors,
+the remains of which still exist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aurungzeb, The last of the six &ldquo;Great Moguls&rdquo;; deposed and
+imprisoned his predecessor Shah Jehan in 1658, and reigned until 1707. Bigoted
+and intolerant, he shares with Sikander the odium of having destroyed many of
+the ancient Hindu temples of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Avantipura, The modern village is near the extensive ruins named after King
+Avanti Verma, which formed once the capital of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bahamarishi, (_Baba-pam-Rishi=_Father Smoothbeard.) A village some three miles
+below Gulmarg; the ziarat is named after a rishi, or ascetic, of the sixteenth
+century.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baloo, (Kashmiri, <i>Harpat</i>) &ldquo;Rara avis in terras, nigroque similima
+cignis.&rdquo; <i>Anglicè</i>, a bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bandipur, An important village on the north shore of the Wular Lake, the
+starting-point for Gilgit, &amp;c. Oddly enough, Bandipur is not marked on the
+Ordnance Map.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bandobast, A bargain or arrangement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bappa, An eighth-century Rajput hero, and ancestor of the present chiefs of
+Mewar; appears to have had strong Mormon proclivities.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baramula, The third town in Kashmir, having some 900 houses, is built on the
+Jhelum at its outflow from the Kashmir Valley: it is also built on the west
+focus of seismic disturbance in Kashmir, and was destroyed by an earthquake in
+1885, when 3000 Baramulans were killed. We were unaware of these interesting
+facts on the morning of April 4! The &ldquo;Palms of Baramoule,&rdquo; which
+Moore sang of, are like snakes in Iceland&mdash;they do not exist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bara singh, The Kashmir stag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bawan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beera,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bejbehara, The ancient Vijayasvara, a picturesque village and bridge about four
+miles below Islamabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bernier, F., a Frenchman attached to the court of Aurungzeb as medical adviser;
+wrote <i>Voyage à Kachemire</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bhanyar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bheostie, The Indian Aquarius&mdash;the water-bearer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bhils,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Birch, (Kashmiri, <i>Burza</i>) The bark used in making the paper for which
+Kashmir was noted, also for roofing, it being strong and impervious to water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Blue pine, <i>Pinus Excelsa</i>, (Kashmiri, <i>Yar</i>.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bombay,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Books on Kashmir:(1) Bernier, <i>Voyage à Kachemire</i> (Utrecht, 1724); (2)
+Forster&rsquo;s (G) <i>Journey from Bengal to England</i> (London, 1798); (3)
+Moorcroft, <i>Travels in Kashmir, &amp;c.</i> edited by Wilson, 1841; (4)
+Jacquomont (V), <i>Voyage dans l&rsquo;Inde</i> (Paris, 1841); (5) Vigne (G.
+T.), <i>Travels in Kashmir, &amp;c.</i>, 1844; (6) Hugel&rsquo;s
+<i>Travels</i>, 1845; (7) Drew, <i>Jummoo and, Ktishmir Territories</i>; and
+(8) Lawrence&rsquo;s <i>Valley of Kashmir</i> 1895.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Budmash, A scoundrel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bund, An embankment or dyke to bank a river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Burra, Big, or great.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Carnelian, &ldquo;Flesh-stone&rdquo;&mdash;for origin read Marryat&rsquo;s
+<i>Pacha of Many Tales</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chakhoti,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chandni Chowk,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chaplies,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chappar, Paddle with heart-shaped blade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chatris, The cenotaphs of the Maharanas of Mewar; they stand in a walled
+enclosure between Udaipur and the railway station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chenar, <i>Plaianus Orientals</i> or Oriental plane. This magnificent tree is
+supposed to have been introduced into Kashmir by the Mogul Emperors. It grows
+to a great size, one measured by Lawrence being sixty-three feet five inches in
+circumference at five feet above the ground! There is a very fair specimen in
+Kew Gardens, between the pond and the &ldquo;herbaceous border.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chilas,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chit, A note or letter, and also a character or recommendation, Every man
+collects something, from pictures to tram tickets&mdash;the native collects
+&ldquo;chits.&rdquo; Like other collectors he will beg, borrow, or steal to
+improve his store, and life is made a burden by the perpetual writing and
+reading of these mendacious documents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chitor,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chittagul Nullah, The next nullah to the south-west of the Wangat. The village
+of Wangat is wrongly placed in it, according to the Ordnance Map.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chondawats, A Rajput clan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chota, Little, <i>Chota Hazri = petit dejeúner</i> or early breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chowkidar, A functionary whose principal duty seems to be to snore in the
+verandah at night and scare other robbers away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chupatty, A flabby sort of scone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chuprassie,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cockburn&rsquo;s Agency, The nearest approach to &ldquo;Whiteley&rsquo;s&rdquo;
+in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dâk, Post. <i>Dâk Bungalow</i> = posting station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dal Lake, <i>Dal</i> means lake (in a plain), while <i>nag</i> is a mountain
+tarn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dandy, A sort of enclosed chair with four projecting arms, wherein pretty
+ladies are carried when it doesn&rsquo;t suit them to walk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Degchies, Cooking utensils&mdash;best made of aluminium, owing to the unclean
+ways of native scullions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dekho, See, look! Delhi, The capital of the Mogul Emperors, dating from 1638,
+when Shah Jehan commenced to build the great fort. The ancient city lies some
+miles to the south. Delhi was taken by General Lake in 1803.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Deodar, (Kashmiri, <i>Diár.) Cedrus Lebani</i>, var. <i>Deodara</i>. The most
+valuable tree in Kashmir, where it was formerly abundant. It is now chiefly
+found in the north-west districts, and it is carefully cherished by the
+&ldquo;Jungly Sahib&rdquo; and his myrmidons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dobie, The thing that ruins all your shirts and causes you to shatter the Third
+Commandment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Domel, Village with Dâk Bungalow, at the confluence of the Jhelum and the
+Kishenganga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Doolie,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Doras,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dounga, &ldquo;The boats of Kashmir are very long and narrow, and are rowed
+with paddles from the stern, which is a little elevated, to the centre; a tilt
+of mats is extended for the shelter of passengers or merchandize&rdquo;
+(Forster); the mats are made of &ldquo;pits&rdquo; (reed mace), a swamp plant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Drogmulla,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dubgam, A village at junction of the Pohru with the Jhelum, about seven miles
+above Baramula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+EARTHQUAKE, An upsetting event of too frequent occurrence in Kashmir.
+Particularly severe visitations occurred in 1827 and 1885 (<i>see</i>
+Baramula).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Echo Lake, A small tarn on the top of Apharwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ek, One. (<i>Ek dam</i>=immediately.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ekka,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Embroidery,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Erin Nullah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eshmakam, =<i>Eysh Makám</i>(&ldquo;the delightful halting-place&rdquo;) Above
+the village stands the shrine of Zyn-u-din, one of the four disciples of the
+Kashmir patron saint, Shah Nur-u-din.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+FATERPUR-SIGHRI,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ferozepore Nullah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Floating Gardens,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+GANESBAL, The boulder, red-stained and extremely sacred, which lies in the
+middle of the Lidar; bears some fancied likeness to Ganésh (the elephant-headed
+god).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gangabal, A sacred lake, lying under the north glaciers of Haramok at the
+elevation of 12,000 feet. It is said to be a source of the Ganges(!) and is an
+object of pilgrimage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari Habibullah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari Wallah, The Jehu of these parts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghât,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gold mohur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Golf,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gram,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Grass shoes,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gujar, Is not a Kashmiri, being a member of the semi-nomad tribes which graze
+buffaloes and goats upon the hills. He speaks Parímu or Hindki.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gulmarg, (The Rose Marg.) The most frequented resort of the English in Kashmir
+during July and August; stands some 8500 feet above the sea, wherefore some
+people find the air too rarefied. Gulmarg was first mentioned by Yusaf Khan in
+1580.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gunderbal, A village placed where the Sind River debouches into the plain. The
+starting-point for Leh and Thibet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gupkar, Town of Gopaditya(?). A wine-manufacturing suburb of Srinagar,
+overlooking the Dal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gurais, A large village on the Bandipur-Gilgit route, lying on the right bank
+of the Kishenganga, about forty-two miles from Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+HARAMOK, The predominating mountain (16,903 feet) of the valley, from almost
+every part of which his square-headed bulk is visible; hence the name, which
+means &ldquo;all faces&rdquo; or &ldquo;all mouths.&rdquo; A legend holds that
+a vein of emerald lies near the summit, and that within view of this gem no
+snake can live
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harbagwan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hari Parbat, (&ldquo;The Green Hill&rdquo;) So named on account of the gardens
+and vineyards which clothed its sides. Became the residence of Akbar, who built
+the wall round foot of hill in 1597. The fort on top was the work of the
+Pathan, Atta Mohamad Khan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Haripur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harwan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hasrat Bal Mosque, (The Prophet&rsquo;s Hair.) Various fairs and festivals are
+held here, the principal one being held upon the day that the Prophet rode up
+to Heaven on his mule Al Barak (the Thunderer). This mule, by-the-bye, is one
+of the five favoured beasts which the Mohammedans believe destined to
+immortality; the others are (1) Abraham&rsquo;s Ram, (2) Balaam&rsquo;s Ass,
+(3) the one upon which Christ rode on Palm Sunday, and (4) the dog which
+guarded the seven sleepers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed by the
+Sikhs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hassan Abdal, (_Abdal=_fanatic).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hoopoe, Un-natural history of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+INSECTS, Of benign insects such as butterflies there are singularly few. Both
+mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome during the hot weather in the valley.
+Visits to native huts will probably lead to an introduction to other insects.
+In India ants become a nuisance: I met with a foraging party of extremely large
+and well-nourished ones as I entered my bath place one morning. I recognised
+them for the descendants&mdash;decadent somewhat&mdash;of the famous fellows
+who played Alberich to the Gold of Hindostan and regarding which Herodotus
+(commonly known as the Father of History, or of Lies, I forget which) asserted
+that they were of the bigness of foxes and ran with incredible swiftness. He
+evidently got this yarn from Pliny&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indicae Formicae. Aurum ex cavernus egerunt terrae Ipsis autem color
+Fehum magnitudo Aegypti Luporum&rdquo; (Lib. xi. ch. 31)&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+and passed it on to Sir J. Maundevil, who swallowed it greedily. &ldquo;Theise
+pissmyres ben grete as houndes; so that no man dar come to the hilles, for the
+pissmyres wolde assaylen hem and devouren hem&rdquo; (ch. xxx) For the wily
+method of catching the ants napping, together with other <i>contes
+drolatiques</i>, read Maundevil&rsquo;s <i>Travels</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Iris, (Kashmiri, <i>Krishm</i>) Succeeds the tulip and precedes the rose as
+typical of Kashmirian Flora, is used as fodder, and the fibre makes ropes,
+which are, however, not durable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Islamabad, (Or Anant Nag, the &ldquo;Place of Countless Springs.&rdquo;) Is the
+second city in Kashmir, having about 9000 inhabitants; stands at the head of
+the navigable Jhelum, fifty miles by water and thirty-two by land above
+Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jade,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jagganath,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jain, A small sect founded by Mahavera, a contemporary of Gautama. The Jains
+were great temple-builders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jehangir,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jeimal, With Putta, one of the national heroes of the Rajputs. They fell, while
+mere boys, in the heroic defence of Chitor against Akbar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jey Singh, (Sowar Jey Singh.) Succeeded to the throne of Ambér in 1699, founded
+Jaipur in 1728. He wrote the following, which I had not read when I visited his
+observatory at Jaipur &ldquo;Let us devote ourselves at the altar of the King
+of Kings, hallowed be his name! In the book of the register of whose power the
+lofty orbs of Heaven are but a few leaves, and the stars, and that heavenly
+courser the sun, small pieces of money in the treasury of the Most High.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jheel, A small lake, or pond.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jhelum, (Kashmiri, <i>Veth</i>, Hindu, <i>Vetasta</i>, the ancient
+<i>Hydaspes</i>.) Rises at Vernag, becomes navigable at Kanbal, and is so for
+120 miles, when it forms rapids below Baramula. Average breadth at Srinagar in
+December 210 feet, average depth 9 feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Johur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kaj-nag,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kali, (&ldquo;The Terrible.&rdquo;) Wife of Shiva or Mahadeva.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kanbal,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Karachi,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Karewas, &ldquo;Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections,
+with flat, arid tops, and bare of trees, run out towards the valley&rdquo;
+(Lawrence)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kashmir=Kashuf-mir (the country of Kashuf). Was ruled by Tartar princes from
+about 150-100 B.C. for several centuries; conquered after a year&rsquo;s
+struggle by Mahmoud of Guznee (1014-1015 A.D.). Invaded by Baber and Humayun,
+and finally conquered by latter in 1543, and formally annexed by Akbar in 1588.
+After the fall of Delhi (Nadir Shah) in 1739, Kashmir fell into the hands of
+Amirs of Cabul in 1753. It was captured by the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh in
+1819, and, after the defeat of the Sikhs at the hands of the British, was
+handed over to Gulab Singh of Jammu for twenty-five lacs of rupees
+&ldquo;Kailasa is the best place in the three worlds, Himalaya the best part of
+Kailasa, and Kashmir the best place in Himalaya&rdquo; <i>(Rajatarangini
+Kulan</i>).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kastoora, Merula Boulboul (the grey-winged ousel). Jane bought
+&ldquo;Freddie&rdquo; one day in Srinagar, and he has been our friend and
+companion ever since&mdash;being at this present (August 1907) in rude health.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khansamah, A Cook.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khubbar, News&mdash;usually untrustworthy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khud, A steep slope or precipice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khudstick, An alpenstock made of tough wood, usually of Cotoneaster baccillaris
+(lun); should be well tested before purchase, as life may depend on its
+strength.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Killanmarg, A wide sloping marg above Gulmarg, just above the pine forest on
+the slopes of Apharwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kilta, Creel made of the pliant withes of the Wych Hazel, <i>Parrotia</i>
+<i>Jacquemontiana</i> (Chob-i-poh).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kishenganga, A large affluent of the Jhelum which drains the Tilail Valley,
+passes Gurais, and joins the Jhelum below Muzafferabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kitardaji, Forest house in the Machipura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kitmaghar, Bearer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kobala,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kohinar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kolahoi, or Gwash Brari, 17,800 ft. The loftiest peak in Kashmir proper. It has
+not yet been ascended.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Koolan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kralpura,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kulan, A peak of the Pir Panjal, at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kulgam, or Kuligam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kunis,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kurnavati,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kutab Minar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lacquer,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lahore, Capital of the Punjab. An ancient and interesting city, which (like
+Agra and Delhi) only attained its zenith of prosperity in the days of Akbar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lakri, A stick (at Gulmarg also a golf-club).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lalpura, A charming village in the Lolab.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Larch,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lidar, Liddar, or Lambodri, Drains the Kolahoi district, and forms the first
+substantial affluent of the Jhelum, which it joins below Islamabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lidarwat, A small Grujar village fifteen miles above Pahlgam, on the left bank
+of the river, about 10,000 ft. above sea-level.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Logue or Log, Folk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lumbadhar, The headman of a village.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Machipura, &ldquo;The Place of Fish&rdquo;&mdash;why, I cannot imagine! The
+district lying along the east foothills of the Kaj-nag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mahadeo, (Mahadeva or Shiva) A sacred mountain and object of pilgrimage, north
+of Srinagar, 13,500 feet high.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, H.H. Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., succeeded his
+father Ranbir Singh (who was third son of Gulah Singh) in 1885. The family is
+of the Rajput Dogras. &ldquo;His kindness to all classes has won him the
+affection of his people&rdquo; (Lawrence).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Maharana, H.H. the Maharana Dhiraj Sir Fateh Singh, G.C.S.I., of Udaipur, is
+head of the Rajput princes in point of blood, being descended from the
+Suryabansi, or Children of the Sun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mahseer,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Malingam,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Manji or Hanji, A Kashmiri water-thief or boatman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Manserah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mar (snake) Canal. A dirty but most picturesque waterway between the Dal and
+the Anchar Lakes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marg,(Margh?) Persian for a garden abounding in plants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Margam,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martand, The principal temple in Kashmir&mdash;stands on a high karewa some few
+miles from Islamabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Metal-work,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mewar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mogul, The Moguls were a warlike people of Central Asia, who, under Timur
+(Tamerlane) their chief, sacked Delhi in 1398. At the great battle of Panipat,
+in 1524, Baber the Mogul (direct descendant of Timur) defeated the Sultans of
+Delhi. He was the first of the six &ldquo;Great&rdquo; Moguls (the others being
+Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan, and Aurungzeb), who ruled India with
+unparalleled magnificence for 150 years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mulberry, (<i>Morus sp</i>. Kashmiri <i>Tul</i>) A very precious tree in
+Kashmir, on account of the silk industry. It grows to a great size, attaining a
+girth of 25 feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Murghi, A fowl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Murree, A hill station and sanatorium, 37 miles from Rawal Pindi, on a hill
+7500 feet above the sea. Its importance dates from 1850. Forster speaks of it
+as a small village in 1786.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Musafferabad, (&ldquo;The Place of Victory&rdquo;) Built by Masufer Khan, Rajah
+of Chikri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mussick, Water-skin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+NAG, A mountain lake or tarn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nagas, Human-bodied, snake-tailed gods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nagmarg,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nanga Parbat, A great mountain in the Chilas country, 26,620 feet high (the
+fourth in point of height in the world), Mommery and two guides were destroyed
+in 1895, probably by an avalanche, while attempting the ascent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nassim Bagh, (&ldquo;The Garden of Delicious Breezes&rdquo;) A favourite spot
+in the days of the Mogul Emperors. Akbar planted 1200 chenars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neem tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neve, Dr. A. He and his brother are surgeons to the Kashmir Medical Mission,
+where for many years they have carried on the somewhat thankless task of
+benefiting the natives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nishat Bagh, (&ldquo;The Garden of Drink&rdquo;)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nopura, A village on the Pohru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nourmahal, (&ldquo;Light of the Palace&rdquo;), or, more properly, Nur Jehan
+Begum (&ldquo;Light of the World&rdquo;), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated
+in Mooree&rsquo;s <i>Lalla Rookh</i>. Her life story was very curious. See
+Forster&rsquo;s <i>Journey from Bengal to England</i>, London, 1798.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nullah, A valley or ravine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Numdah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ONTALA,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Oodi Singh,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+PADMANI, &ldquo;The Lotus-lovely Lady.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pagdandy, A short cut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pahlgam, &ldquo;The Shepherd&rsquo;s Village,&rdquo; A Kashmiri summer resort
+for those who like quiet. It is 27 miles from Islamabad up the Lidar Valley,
+and is somewhat over 7000 feet above the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pampur, (Padma-pur, city of Vishnu, or Padmun-pur, &ldquo;the place of
+beauty&rdquo;), principally noted now for its Pampur roti or bread, a
+speciality of the place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pandrettan, or Pandrenthan, =Puranadhisthana, &ldquo;the old capital.&rdquo;
+Was built in the time of Partha by his Prime Minister, Meru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Parana Chauni,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Patan. &ldquo;The City&rdquo; or &ldquo;Ferry,&rdquo; the ancient Sankarapura,
+Sankaravarma having built two temples there at the end of the eighth century.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peechy, Afterwards, later, by-and-bye
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peri Mahal, &ldquo;The Abode of the Fairies.&rdquo; Built on the hill above
+Gupkar by Prince Dara Shikoh, probably for astronomical purposes
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Piasse, The onion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pice, See Rupee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pichola Lake,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pir Panjab, Pir=Dogri for peak Pantzal, Kashmiri for ditto Pir also meant a
+saint, particularly one who lived in the pass in the days of Shah Jehan and
+Aurungzeb and who was interviewed by Bernier. The Pir Panjal was the route
+followed by the Moguls when coming to Kashmir, and, rough as it is, they sent
+elephants along it. The highest peak of the Pir Panjal is Tatakuti, 15,500
+feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pohru,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poonch, A native state lying south-west of Kashmir, to which it is tributary.
+The Raja Buldeo Singh is cousin to the Maharajah of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poplar. There are two varieties of Poplar in Kashmir, the Italian or Black
+Poplar, and the White, the latter attains a great size, one near Gurais
+measuring 127 feet in height and 14-1/2 feet in girth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Porcelain,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Puttoo, Native cloth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+RAINAWARI,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rajput, The brave and chivalrous inhabitants of Rajputana. Bernier, probably
+influenced by Mogul opinion, attributes much of their valour to opium, as the
+following curious extract shows &ldquo;Ils sont grands preneurs d&rsquo;opium,
+et je me suis quelque fois etonné de la quantité que je leur en voiois prendre;
+aussi ils s&rsquo;y accoutûmerent dès la jeunesse; le jour d&rsquo;une bataille
+ils ne s&rsquo;oublient pas de doubler la dose; cette drogue les anime ou
+plutot les enyvre, et les rend insensibles an danger, de sorte quils se jettant
+dans le combat comma des bêtes furieuses, ne sachant ce que c&rsquo;est de fuir
+… c&rsquo;est un plaisir de les voir ainsi avec leur fumée d&rsquo;opium dans
+la tête s&rsquo;entre embrasser quand on est prêt de combattre et se dire adieu
+les uns aux autres, comme gens qui sont resolus de mourir.&rdquo;&mdash;Vol. i.
+p. 54.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ramble-tamble egg, Scrambled eggs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (<i>Tetragallus Himalayensis</i>).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rampur. A small village in the Jhelum Valley, and a village on the way into the
+Lolab <i>viâ</i> Kunis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rawal Pindi,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rassad, &ldquo;Field Allowance&rdquo; or extra rations given to coolies when
+doing any mountain work or away from supplies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Resai,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Roorkhee chair, An extremely comfortable and portable chair made by the R.E. at
+Roorkhee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rope bridge,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rupee=one fifteenth of a sovereign, or 1s. and 4d. 12 pice (or pies)= 4 paisa =
+1 anna = 1 penny 16 annas = 1 rupee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+SAAF kuro, &ldquo;Make clean.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Saktawats, A Rapjut clan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sari, A woman&rsquo;s garment, usually brilliant in colour, blood-red and dark
+blue being favoured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sekwas,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sellar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Serow, <i>Nemorhaidus bubalerius</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sesodia, The ruling family of Udaipur, formerly known as Gehlote.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shadipur, &ldquo;The Place of Marriage&rdquo;&mdash;probably with reference to
+the junction of the Sind and Jhelum rivers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shah Jehan, The greatest builder of the Mogul Emperors. Ruled from 1627 to
+1658, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Aurungzeb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shalimar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shalimar Bagh,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shambrywa, One of the peaks of the Kaj-nag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shiah, A Mohammedan sect, usually much at variance with those of Sunni
+persuasion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shikara, A light sort of canoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shikari, A necessary joint in the &ldquo;fighting tail&rdquo; of the sportive
+visitor to Kashmir. Usually a fraud, but, if not too proud, makes quite a good
+golf caddy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shisha Nag, &ldquo;The Glassy or Leaden Lake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Silver fir, <i>Abies Webbiana</i> (Kashmiri, <i>Sungal</i>). Grows to a great
+height, being known 110 feet high and 16 feet in girth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sind Desert,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sind Valley,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Singhara, Meaning &ldquo;horned nut,&rdquo; the water chestnut <i>(Trapa
+bispinosa</i>). An article of diet much prized by the Kashmiri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sogul,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sonamarg, &ldquo;The Golden Marg.&rdquo; A summer station high up the Sind
+Valley on the route to Leh and Ladak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sopor, =Sonapur, or the Golden City. A somewhat unclean little town of some 600
+houses on the Jhelum, about eight miles by road and twelve by water above
+Baramula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Spill Canal, Cut in 1904, after the Great Flood of 1903, to carry some of the
+river clear of Srinagar and ease the pressure on the bund.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Spruce, <i>Picca, Morunda</i>. (Kashmiri, <i>Kachal</i>.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Srinagar, <i>Surga Nagur</i>, City of the Sun. Has a population of 120,000.
+Became capital in 960 A.D., when the ancient city of Pandrettan was burnt in
+the reign of Abimanyu. The city was called Kashmir until recently, Martand
+being called Sringar by Jacquemont.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sultanpur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sumbal, Said to be the site of the ancient city Jayapura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sunt-i-kul = &ldquo;Apple-tree Canal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+TAJ MAHAL, The magnificent tomb of Mumtez Mahal, favourite wife of Shah Jehan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Takht-i-Suleiman, A steep isolated hill rising nearly 1000 feet above Srinagar,
+crowned by a temple which is built on the ruins of a very ancient edifice. The
+Takht or Throne of Solomon is, according to the legend, the place which Solomon
+occupied during his mythical visit to Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tangmarg, &ldquo;The Open Marg&rdquo;. Is the village about 1500 foot below
+Gulmarg, which is the nearest point to Gulmarg attainable by wheeled
+conveyance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tattoo, A pony.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tehsildhar, The functionary who has jurisdiction over a tehsil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Temples, For full description read Lawrence <i>(Valley of Kashmir</i>, chap.
+vi.) Their ruined state is partly due to earthquakes, but probably still more
+to the iconoclastic activity of Sikandar (<i>d.</i> 1416) and Aurungzeb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tilail,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tonga,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Topaz, Name derived from the Greek &ldquo;to conjecture&rdquo;&mdash;because no
+one knew whence they came!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tower of Fame,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tower of Victory,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tragbal,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tragam, A large village south-west of the Lolab, whence a route leads to
+Musafferabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tret, A station at the foot of the Murree hills on the road to Rawal Pindi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trieste,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tronkol,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turquoise,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+UDAIPUR, The capital of the ancient and powerful Rajput State of Mewar, founded
+by Oodi Singh after the fall of Chitor. Uri,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+VERNABOUG,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Vernag,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+WALNUT, A valuable tree in Kashmir, where its fruit and timber are both greatly
+esteemed; grows to a very large size, one in the Lolab having a girth of 18
+feet 10 inches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wangat,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wardwan, The mountainous district on the east of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Water buffalo, An ungainly and &ldquo;sneevish&rdquo; beast beloved of Gujars
+and nobody else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Weights 2 lbs. (English)=1 seer. 40 seers = 1 maund.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wood carving,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wular, Means &ldquo;cave&rdquo;. The largest lake in India, being 12-1/2 x 5
+miles in average extent. In floods it covers much extra space.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wych hazel, <i>See</i> Kilta.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+YAKDAN,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ZIARAT, A Mohammedan shrine. Zoji La, The pass at the head of the Sind Valley
+which is crossed on going to Leh, height 11,300 feet.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11873 ***</div>
+</body>
+
+</html>
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #11873 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11873)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil, by T. R. Swinburne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil
+
+Author: T. R. Swinburne
+
+Release Date: April 2, 2004 [eBook #11873]
+[Most recently updated: February 3, 2022]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Allen Siddle and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH PEN AND PENCIL ***
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR]
+
+
+
+
+A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil
+
+by T. R. Swinburne
+MAJOR (LATE) R.M.A.
+
+
+
+
+“_Over the great windy waters, and over the clear crested summits,
+Unto the sea and the sky, and unto the perfecter earth,
+Come, let us go_!”
+
+                                          CLOUGH
+
+
+WITH 24 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
+TO
+“JANE”
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+ PREFACE
+ CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY
+ CHAPTER II. THE VOYAGE OUT
+ CHAPTER III. KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+ CHAPTER IV. ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+ CHAPTER V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+ CHAPTER VI. OUR FIRST CAMP
+ CHAPTER VII. BACK TO SRINAGAR
+ CHAPTER VIII. THE LOLAB
+ CHAPTER IX. SRINAGAR AGAIN
+ CHAPTER X. THE LIDAR VALLEY
+ CHAPTER XI. GANGABAL
+ CHAPTER XII. GULMARG
+ CHAPTER XIII. THE FLOOD
+ CHAPTER XIV. THE MACHIPURA
+ CHAPTER XV. DELHI AND AGRA
+ CHAPTER XVI. UDAIPUR
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+I observe that it is customary to begin a book by an Introduction,
+Preface, or Foreword. In the good old days of the eighteenth century
+this generally took the form of a burst of grovelling adoration aimed
+at some most noble or otherwise highly important person. This fulsome
+fawning on the great was later changed into propitiation of the British
+public, and unknown authors revelled in excuses for publishing their
+earlier efforts.
+
+But now that every one has written a book, or is about to do so, I feel
+that my apologies are rather due to the public for not having rushed
+into print before. I have really spared it because I had nothing in
+particular to write about, and I confess I am somewhat doubtful as to
+whether I am even now justified in invoking the kind offices of a
+publisher with a view to bringing forth this literary mouse in due
+form!
+
+No admiring (if partial) relatives have hung upon my lips as I read
+them my journal, imploring me with tears in their eyes to waste not an
+instant, but give to a longing world this literary treasure. I have no
+illusions as regards my literary powers, and I do not imagine that I
+shall depose the gifted author of _Eöthen_ from his pride of place.
+
+I claim, however, the merit of truth. The journal was written day by
+day, and the sketches were all done on the spot; and if this
+account—bald and inadequate as I know it to be—of a very happy time
+spent in rambling among some of the finest scenery of this lovely
+earth, may induce any one to betake himself to Kashmir, he will achieve
+something worth living for, and I shall not have spilt ink in vain.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+ THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR (Frontispiece)
+ A SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY
+ A SRINAGAR BYE-WAY—EARLY SPRING
+ ON THE JHELUM—EARLY SPRING
+ THE BUND SRINAGAR—EARLY SPRING
+ THE DAL
+ IN THE NISHAT BAGH
+ THE PIR PANJAL FROM ALSU—MORNING
+ ON THE DAL—SUNSET
+ NATIVE BOATS
+ PANDRETTAN
+ KOLAHOI
+ LIDARWAT
+ THE RAMPARTS OF KASHMIR
+ GANGABAL
+ HARAMOK
+ A TARN ABOVE TRONKOL
+ ON THE CIRCULAR ROAD, GULMARG
+ IN SRINAGAR—TWILIGHT
+ SRINAGAR FLOODED
+ HARI PARBAT—EVENING
+ NANGA PARBAT FROM KITARDAJI
+ MIXED BATHING (UDAIPUR)
+ UDAIPUR
+ MAP OF KASHMIR
+
+
+
+
+A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+A journey to Kashmir now—in these days of cheap and rapid locomotion—is
+in nowise serious. It takes time, I grant you, but to any one with a
+few months to spare—and there are many in that happy position—there can
+be few pleasanter ways of spending a summer holiday.
+
+It would be as well to start from England not later than the middle of
+March, as the Red Sea and the Sind Desert begin to warm up
+uncomfortably in spring. Srinagar would then be reached fairly early in
+April, and the visitor should arrange, if possible, to remain in the
+country until the middle of October. We had to leave just as the
+gorgeous autumn colouring was beginning to blaze in the woods, and the
+first duck were wheeling over the Wular Lake.
+
+The climate of Kashmir is fairly similar to that of many parts of
+Southern Europe. There is a good deal of snow in the valley in winter.
+Spring is charming, the brilliant days only varied by frequent
+thunderstorms—which, however, are almost invariable in keeping their
+pyrotechnics till about five in the afternoon. July and August are hot
+and steamy in the valley, and it is necessary to seek one of the cool
+“Margs” which form ideal camping-grounds on all the lofty mountain
+slopes which surround the valley.
+
+Gulmarg is the most frequented and amusing resort in summer of the
+English colony and contingent from the broiling plains of the Punjab.
+Here the happy fugitive from the sweltering heat of the lower regions
+will find a climate as glorious as the scenery. He can enjoy the best
+of polo and golf, and, if he be not a misogynist, he will vary the
+‘daily round’ with picnics and scrambles on foot or on horseback, in
+exploring the endless beauty of the place, coming home to his hut or
+tent as the sun sinks behind the great pines that screen the Rampur
+Road, to wind up the happy day with a cheery dinner and game of bridge.
+But if Gulmarg does not appeal to him, let him go with his camping
+outfit to Sonamarg or Pahlgam—he will find neither polo nor golf nor
+the gay little society of Gulmarg, but he will find equally charming
+scenery and, perhaps, a drier climate—for it must in fairness be
+admitted that Gulmarg is a rainy place. Likewise his pocket will
+benefit, as his expenses will surely be less, and he will still find
+neighbours dotted about in white tents under the pine trees.
+
+Towards the middle of September the exodus from the high ‘Margs’ takes
+place—many returning sadly to Pindi and Sealkote—others merely to
+Srinagar, while those who yearn after Bara Singh and Bear, decamp
+quietly for their selected nullahs, to be in readiness for the opening
+of the autumn season.
+
+Thus, from April to October, a more or less perfect climate may be
+obtained by watching the mercury in the thermometer, and rising or
+descending the mountain slopes in direct ratio with it.
+
+It is quite unnecessary to take out a large and expensive wardrobe.
+Thin garments for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, such as one wears in a
+fine English summer, and for Kashmir the same sort of things that one
+would take up to Scotland. For men—knickerbockers and flannel
+shirts—and for ladies, short tweed skirts and some flannel blouses. The
+native tailors in Srinagar are clever and cheap, and will copy an
+English shooting suit in fairly good material for about eleven rupees,
+or 14s. 8d.! One pair of strong shooting boots (plentifully studded
+with aluminium nails) is enough. For all mountain work, the invaluable
+but uncomfortable grass shoes must be worn, and both my wife and I
+invariably wore the native chaplies for ordinary marching. Foot-gear
+for golf, tennis, and general service at Srinagar and Gulmarg must be
+laid in, according to the traveller’s fancy, in England.
+
+Underwear to suit both hot and cold weather should be purchased at
+home—not on any account omitting cholera belts.
+
+Shirts and collars should be taken freely, as it is well to remember
+that the native washerman—the well-abused “Dobie”—has a marvellous
+skill in producing a saw-like rim to the starched collar and cuff of
+the newest shirt; while the elegant and delicate lace and embroidery,
+with which the fair are wont to embellish their underwear, take strange
+and unforeseen patterns at the hands of the skilled workmen. It is
+surprising what an effect can be obtained by tying up the neck and
+sleeves of a garment, inserting a few smooth pebbles from the brook,
+and then banging the moist bundle on the bank!
+
+The arrangement of clothing for the voyage is rather complicated, as it
+will probably be necessary to wear warm things while crossing Europe,
+and possibly even until Egypt is reached. Then an assortment of summer
+flannels, sufficient to last as far as India, must be available. We
+were unable to get any washing done from the date we left London, on
+the 22nd of February, until we reached Rawal Pindi, on the 21st March.
+Capacious canvas kit-bags are excellent things for cramming with grist
+for the dobie’s mill.
+
+In arranging for luggage, it should be borne in mind that large trunks
+and dress boxes are inadmissible. From Pindi to Srinagar everything
+must be transported by wheeled conveyance, and, in Kashmir itself, all
+luggage must be selected with a view to its adaptability to the backs
+of coolies or ponies. In Srinagar one can buy native trunks—or
+yakdans—which are cheap, strong, and portable; and the covered creels
+or “kiltas” serve admirably for the stowage of kitchen utensils, food,
+and oddments.
+
+The following list may prove useful to any one who has not already been
+“east of Suez,” and who may therefore not be too proud to profit by
+another’s experience:—
+
+1. “Compactum” camp-bed with case, and fitted with sockets to take
+mosquito netting.
+
+2. Campaigning bedding-bag in Willesden canvas, with bedding complete.
+
+3. Waterproof sheet.
+
+4. Indiarubber bath.
+
+If shooting in the higher mountains is anticipated, a Wolseley
+sleeping-bag should be taken.
+
+5. Small stable-lantern.
+
+6. Rug or plaid—light and warm.
+
+7. Half-a-dozen towels.
+
+8. Deck chair (with name painted on it).
+
+We had also a couple of Roorkhee chairs, and found them most useful.
+
+9. A couple of compressed cane cabin trunks.
+
+9_a_. The “Ranelagh Pack” is a most useful form of “luggage.”
+
+10. Camp kit-bag.
+
+11. Soiled-linen bag, with square mouth, large size. This is an
+excellent “general service” bag, and invaluable for holding boots, &c.
+
+12. Large “brief-bag,” most useful for stowing guide-books, flasks,
+binoculars, biscuits, and such like, that one wants when travelling,
+and never knows where to put. Our “yellow bag” carried even tea things,
+and was greatly beloved. Like the leather bottèl in its later stage,
+“it served to put hinges and odd things in”!
+
+13. Luncheon basket, fitted according to the number of the party.
+
+The above articles can all be bought at the Army and Navy Stores.
+
+14. A light canvas box, fitted as a dressing-case.
+
+Ours were made, according to our own wishes and possessions, by
+Williams, of 41 Bond Street. The innumerable glass bottles, so highly
+prized by the makers of dressing-cases, should be strictly limited in
+number. They are exceedingly heavy, and, as the dressing-case should be
+carried by its owner, the less it weighs the more he (or she) will
+esteem it.
+
+15. A set of aluminium cooking-utensils is much to be recommended. They
+can easily be sold on leaving Kashmir for, at least, their cost price.
+
+16. Pocket flask. This may be of aluminium also, although personally I
+dislike a metal flask.
+
+17. Umbrella—strong, but cheap, as it is sure to be lost or stolen.
+There are few things your native loves more than a nice umbrella,
+unless it be
+
+18. A knife fitted with corkscrew and screwdriver; therefore take two,
+and try to keep one carefully locked up.
+
+19. Pair of good field-glasses.
+
+I took a stalking telescope, but it was useless to my shikari, who
+always borrowed my wife’s binoculars until she lost them—or he stole
+them!
+
+20. Hats. It is obviously a matter of taste what hats a man should
+take. The glossy silk may repose with the frock-coat till its owner
+returns to find it hopelessly out of date, its brim being a thought too
+curly, or its top impossibly wide; but the “bowler” or Homburg hat will
+serve his turn according to his fancy, until, at Aden, he invests in a
+hideous, but shady “topee,” for one-third of the price he would pay in
+London; and this will be his only wear, before sunset, until he again
+reaches a temperate climate. Ladies, who are rightly more particular as
+to the appearance of even so unlovely a thing as a sola topee, would do
+well, perhaps, to buy theirs before starting. Really becoming pith
+helmets seem very scarce in the East!
+
+After sunset, or under awnings, any sort of cap may be worn.
+
+21. Shirts and collars are obviously matters of taste. A good supply of
+white shirts and collars must be taken to cope with the destruction and
+loss which may be expected at the hands of the dobie. Flannel shirts
+can be made easily enough from English models in Srinagar.
+
+22. Under-garments should be of Indian gauze for hot weather, with a
+supply of thicker articles for camping in the hills.
+
+Cholera belts should on no account be omitted.
+
+23. Socks, according to taste—very few knickerbocker stockings need be
+taken, as putties are cheap and usual in Srinagar.
+
+24. Ties—the white ones of the cheap sort that can be thrown away after
+use, with a light heart. Handkerchiefs, and a few pairs of white
+gloves.
+
+25. Sleeping-suits, both thick for camp work and light for hot weather,
+should be taken.
+
+26. Dress suit and dinner-jacket.
+
+27. Knickerbocker or knee-breeches, which can be copied in Kashmir by
+the native tailor.
+
+Riding-breeches are not in the least necessary unless the traveller
+contemplates any special riding expedition. Ordinary shooting
+continuations do quite well for all the mounted work the tourist is
+likely to do. A pair of stohwasser gaiters may be taken, but even they
+are not necessary, neither is a saddle.
+
+A lady, however, should take out a short riding-skirt, or habit, and a
+side-saddle.
+
+28. A tweed suit of medium warmth for travelling, and a couple of
+flannel suits, will bring the wearer to Srinagar, where he can increase
+his stock at a ridiculously low price—about 22 rupees or £1, 9s. 4d.
+per suit.
+
+29. Boots. Here, again, the wayfarer is at full liberty to please
+himself. A pair of strong shooting-boots, with plenty of spare laces
+and, say, a hundred aluminium nails, is a _sine quâ non_. A pair of
+rubbers, or what are known as “gouties” in Swiss winter circles, are
+not to be despised. Otherwise, boots, shoes, slippers, and pumps,
+according to taste.
+
+30. A large “regulation” waterproof, a rain-coat or Burberry, and a
+warm greatcoat will all be required.
+
+It is hard to give definite advice to a lady as to the details of her
+outfit. Let her conform in a general way to the instructions given
+above, always remembering that both Srinagar and Gulmarg are gay and
+festive places, where she will dine and dance, and have ample
+opportunity for displaying a well-chosen wardrobe.
+
+Let her also take heed that she leaves the family diamonds at home. The
+gentle Kashmiri is an inveterate and skilful thief, and the less
+jewellery she can make up her mind to “do with,” the more at ease will
+her mind be. But if she must needs copy the lady of whom we read, that
+
+“Rich and rare were the gems she wore,”
+
+
+then why not line the jewel-case—or rather the secret bag, which she
+will sew into some mysterious garment—with the diamonds of Gophir and
+the pearls of Rome?
+
+If the intending visitor to Kashmir be a sportsman who has already had
+experience in big-game shooting, he will not need any advice from me
+(which, indeed, he would utterly disdain) as to the lethal weapons
+which should form his battery; but if the wayfarer be a humble
+performer who has never slain anything more formidable than a wary old
+stag, or more nerve-shattering than a meteoric cock pheasant rising
+clamorously from behind a turnip, he may not be too proud to learn that
+he will find an ordinary “fowling piece” the most useful weapon which
+he can take with him. If his gun is not choked, he should be provided
+with a dozen or more ball cartridge for bear.
+
+If the pursuit of markhor and ibex is contemplated, a small-bore rifle
+will be required, but a heavy express is wanted to stop a bear. I had a
+“Mannlicher” and an ordinary shot-gun, with a few ball cartridges for
+the latter.
+
+Duty has to be paid on taking firearms into India, and this may be
+refunded on leaving the country. This is not always done, however, as I
+found to my cost, my application for a refund being refused on the
+quibble that my guns were taken back to England by a friend, although I
+was able to prove their identity.
+
+ cartridges out, as it is exceedingly unlikely that the tyro will be
+ able to shoot all the beasts allowed him by his game licence.[1]
+ Smooth-bore cartridges of fair quality can be bought in Srinagar, and
+ I certainly do not consider it worth the trouble and expense to convey
+ them out from England.
+
+[1] See Appendix 1.
+
+
+To the amateur artist I would say: Be well supplied with brushes and
+paper—the latter sealed in tin for passage through the Red Sea and
+India. Colours, and indeed all materials can he got from Treacher &
+Co., Bombay, and also from the branch of the Army and Navy Stores
+there.
+
+Paper is, however, difficult to get in good condition, being frequently
+spoilt by mildew.
+
+It is almost impossible to get anything satisfactory in the way of
+painting materials in Kashmir itself; therefore I say: Be well supplied
+before leaving home.
+
+Finally, a small stock of medicines should certainly be taken, not
+omitting a copious supply of quinine (best in powder form for this
+purpose), and also of strong peppermint or something of the sort, to
+give to the native servants and others who are always falling sick of a
+fever or complaining of an internal pain, which is generally quite
+cured by a dose of peppermint.
+
+Neither Jane nor I love guide-books; we found however, in Kashmir, the
+little book written by Dr. Neve an invaluable companion;[2] while
+Murray’s _Guide to India_ afforded much useful information when
+wandering in that country.
+
+[2] _The Tourist’s Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo, &c._, edited by
+Arthur Neve, F.R.G.S.
+
+
+The best book on Kashmir that I know is Sir Walter Lawrence’s _Valley
+of Kashmir_.
+
+Any one going out as we did, absolutely ignorant of the language,
+should certainly take an elementary phrase-book or something of the
+sort to study on the voyage. We forgot to do this, and had infinite
+trouble afterwards in getting what we wanted, and lost much time in
+acquiring the rudimentary knowledge of Hindustani which enabled us to
+worry along with our native servants, &c. No mere “globe-trotter” need
+attempt to learn any Kashmiri, as Hindustani is “understanded of the
+people” as a rule, and the tradesmen in Srinagar know quite as much
+English as is good for them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+THE VOYAGE OUT
+
+
+It seems extraordinary to me that every day throughout the winter,
+crowds of people should throng the railway stations whence they can
+hurry south in search of warmth and sunshine, and yet London remains
+apparently as full as ever! We plunged into a seething mass of
+outward-bound humanity at Victoria Station on the 22nd of February,
+and, having wrestled our way into the Continental express, were whirled
+across the sad and sodden country to Dover amidst hundreds of our
+shivering fellow-countrymen.
+
+Truly we are beyond measure conservative in our railway discomforts.
+With a bitter easterly wind searching out the chinks of door and
+window, we sat shivering in our unwarmed compartment—unwarmed, I say,
+in spite of the clumsy tin of quickly-cooled hot water procured by
+favour—and a gratuity—from a porter!
+
+The Channel showed even more disagreeable than usual. A grey, cold sky,
+with swift-flying clouds from the east hung over a grey, cold sea, the
+waves showing their wicked white teeth under the lash of the strong
+wind. The patient lightship off the pier was swinging drearily as we
+throbbed past into the gust-swept open and set our bows for the unseen
+coast of France.
+
+The tumult of passengers was speedily reduced to a limp and inert swarm
+of cold, wet, and sea-sick humanity.
+
+The cold and miserable weather clung to us long. In Paris it snowed
+heavily, and I was constrained to betake myself in a cab—“chauffé,” it
+is needless to remark—to seek out a kindly dentist, the bitter east
+wind having sought out and found a weak spot wherein to implant an
+abscess.
+
+At Bâle it was freezing, but clear and bright, and a good breakfast and
+a breath of clean, fresh air was truly enjoyable after the overheated
+sleeping-car in which we had come from Paris.
+
+It may seem unreasonable to grumble at the overheating of the “Sleeper”
+after abusing the under-heating of our British railways. Surely,
+though, there is a golden mean? I wish neither to be frozen nor boiled,
+and there can be no doubt but that the heating of most Continental
+trains is excellent, the power of application being left to the
+traveller.
+
+The journey by the St. Gotthard was delightful, the day brilliant, and
+the frost keen, while we watched the fleeting panorama of icebound
+peaks and snow-powdered pines from the cushions of our comfortable
+carriage.
+
+The glory of winter left us as we left the Swiss mountains and dropped
+down into the fertile flats of Northern Italy, and at Milan all was raw
+chilliness and mud.
+
+Nothing can well be more depressing than wet and cheerless weather in a
+land obviously intended for sunshine.
+
+We slept at Milan, and the next day set forth in heavy rain towards
+Venice. The miserable ranks of distorted and pollarded trees stood
+sadly in pools of yellow-stained water, or stuck out of heaps of
+half-melted and uncleanly snow.
+
+No colour; no life anywhere, excepting an occasional peasant plodding
+along a muddy road, sheltering himself under the characteristic flat
+and bony umbrella of the country.
+
+At Peschiera we had promise of better things. The weather cleared
+somewhat, revealing ranges of white-clad hills around Garda…. But,
+alas! at Verona it rained as hard as ever, and we made our way from the
+railway station at Venice, cowering in the coffin-like cabin of a damp
+and extremely draughty gondola, while cold flurries of an Alpine-born
+wind swept across the Grand Canal.
+
+Sunshine is absolutely necessary to bring out the real beauty of Italy.
+This is particularly the case in Venice, where light and life are
+required to dispel the feeling of sadness so sure to creep over one
+amid the signs of long-past grandeur and decaying magnificence.
+
+On a grey and wintry day one is chiefly impressed by the dank
+chilliness of the palaces on the Grand Canal, whose feet lie lapped in
+slimy water; the lovely tracery of whose windows shows ragged and
+broken, whose stately guest-chambers are in the sordid occupation of
+the dealer in false antiques, and whose motto might be “Ichabod,” for
+their glory has departed.
+
+It is five-and-twenty years since I was last in Venice, and I can truly
+say that it has not improved in that long time. The loss of the great
+Campanile of St. Mark is not compensated for by the gain of the penny
+steamer which frets and fusses its prosaic way along the Grand Canal,
+or blurts its noisome smoke in the very face of the Palace of the
+Doges.
+
+Well! A steady downpour is dispiriting at any time, excepting when one
+is snugly at home with plenty to do, and it is particularly so to the
+unlucky traveller who has to live through half-a-dozen long hours
+intervening between arrival at and departure from Venice on a cold,
+dull, wintry afternoon.
+
+The sombre gondola writhed its sinuous course and deposited us all
+forlorn in the near neighbourhood of the Piazza San Marco. Splashing
+our way across, and pushing through the crowd of greedy fat pigeons, we
+entered the world-famous church. I know my Ruskin, and I feel that I
+should be lost in wonder and admiration—I am not.
+
+The gloom—rich golden gloom if you will—of the interior oppresses me;
+it is cavernous. A service is being held in one of the transepts, and
+the congregation seems noisier and less devout than I could have
+believed possible. My thoughts fly far to where, on its solitary hill,
+the noble pile of Chartres soars majestic, its heaven-piercing spires
+dominating the wide plain of La Beauce. In fancy I enter by the
+splendid north door and find myself in the pillared dimness softly
+lighted by the great window in the west. This seems to me to be the
+greatest achievement of the Christian architect, noble alike in
+conception and in execution.
+
+There is no means of procuring a cold more certain than lingering too
+long in a cold and vault-like church or picture gallery, so we
+adjourned to the Palazzo Daniele, now a mere hotel, where we browsed on
+the literature—chiefly cosmopolitan newspapers—until it was time to
+start for Trieste.
+
+The journey is not an attractive one, as we seemed to be perpetually
+worried by Custom-house authorities and inquisitive ticket-collectors!
+If possible, the wary traveller should so time his sojourn at Venice as
+to allow him to go to Trieste by steamer. The Hôtel de la Ville at
+Trieste is not quite excellent, but ’twill serve, and we were
+remarkably glad to reach it, somewhere about midnight, having left
+Milan soon after seven in the morning!
+
+Trieste itself is rather an engaging town; at least so it seemed to us
+when we awakened to a fresh, bright morning, a blue-and-white sky
+overhead, and a copious allowance of yellow mud under foot!
+
+There were various final purchases to be made. Our deck chairs were
+with the heavy luggage, which the passenger by Austrian Lloyd only gets
+at Port Saïd, as it is sent from London by sea; so a deck chair had to
+be got, also a stock of light literature wherewith to beguile the long
+sea hours.
+
+A visit to our ship—the _Marie Valerie_—showed her to be a
+comfortable-looking vessel of some 4500 tons. She was busily engaged in
+taking in a large cargo, principally for Japan, and she showed no signs
+of an early departure. Her nominal hour for starting was 4 P.M., but
+the captain told us that he should not sail until next morning. So we
+descended to examine our cabin, and found it to be large and airy, but
+totally deficient in the matter of drawers or lockers.
+
+Well! we shall have to keep everything in cabin trunks, and “live in
+our boxes” for the next three weeks.
+
+There was cabin accommodation for twenty passengers, but at dinner we
+mustered but nine. This is, of course, the season when all right-minded
+folks are coming home from India, and we never expected to find a
+crowd; still, nine individuals scattered abroad over the wide decks
+make but a poor show.
+
+The first meal on board a big steamer is always interesting. Every one
+is quietly “taking stock” of his, or her, neighbours, and forming
+estimates of their social value, which are generally entirely upset by
+after experience.
+
+Of our fellow-passengers there were only five whose presence affected
+us in any way. A young Austrian, Herr Otto Frantz, with his wife, going
+out as first secretary of legation to Tokio; Major Twining, R.E., and
+his wife; and Miss Lungley, a cosmopolitan lady, who makes Kashmir her
+headquarters and Rome her _annexe_.
+
+We became acquainted with each other sooner than might have been
+expected, by reason of an exploit of the stewardess—a gibbering idiot.
+The night was cold, so several of the ladies, following an evil custom,
+sent forth from their cabins those vile inventions called hot bottles.
+Only two came back…, and then the fun began. The stewardess, who speaks
+no known tongue, played “hunt the slipper” for the missing bottles
+through all the cabins, whence she was shot out by the enraged
+inhabitants until she was reduced to absolute imbecility, and the
+harassed stewards to gesticular despair.
+
+The missing articles were, I believe, finally discovered and routed out
+of an unoccupied bed, where they had been laid and forgotten by the
+addle-pated lady, and peace reigned.
+
+We sailed from Trieste early on the morning of the 28th of February,
+and steamed leisurely on our way. The Austrian Lloyd’s “unaccelerated”
+steamers are not too active in their movements, being wont to travel at
+purely “economical speed,” and so we were given an excellent view of
+some of the Ionian Islands, steaming through the Ithaca channel, with
+the snow-tipped peak of Cephalonia close on our starboard hand.
+
+Then, leaving the far white hills of the Albanian coast to fade into
+the blue mists, we sped
+
+“Over the sea past Crete,”
+
+
+until the tall lighthouse of Port Saïd rose on the horizon, followed by
+the spars of much shipping, and the roofs of the houses dotted
+apparently over the waters of the Mediterranean. At length the low
+mudbanks which represent the two continents of Africa and Asia spread
+their dull monotony on either hand, and the good ship sat quietly down
+for a happy day’s coaling.
+
+Port Saïd has grown out of all knowledge since I first made its
+acquaintance in 1877. It was then a cluster of evil-looking shanties,
+the abode of the scum of the Levant, who waxed fat by the profits of
+the gambling hells and the sale of pornographic photographs. It has now
+donned the outwardly respectable look of middle age; it has laid itself
+out in streets; the gambling dens have disappeared, and the robbers
+have betaken themselves to the sale of the worst class of Japanese and
+Indian “curios,” ostrich feathers from East Africa, and tobacco in all
+its forms.
+
+Port Saïd has undoubtedly improved, but still it is not a nice place,
+and we were unfeignedly glad to repair on board the _Marie Valerie_ as
+soon as we noted the cessation of the black coaly cloud, through the
+murkiness of which a chattering stream of gnome-like figures passed
+their burthens of “Cardiff” into the bowels of the ship.
+
+Port Saïd was cold, and Suez was cold, and we started down the Red Sea
+followed by a strong north wind, which kept us clad in greatcoats for a
+day or two, and, as we got down into wider waters, obliged us to keep
+our ports closed.
+
+An object-lesson on the subject of closed ports was given in our cabin,
+where the fair chatelaine was reclining in her berth reading, fanned by
+the genial air which floated in at the open port,—a truculent Red Sea
+billow, meeting a slight roll of the ship, entered the cabin in an
+unbroken fall on the lady’s head. A damp tigress flew out through the
+door, wildly demanding the steward, a set of dry bedding, and the
+instant execution of the captain, the officer of the watch, and the man
+at the wheel!
+
+How dull we should be without these little incidents!
+
+A hoopoe took deck, or rather rigging, passage for a while, and evoked
+the greatest interest. Stalking glasses and binoculars were levelled at
+the unconcerned fowl, who sat by the “cathead” with perfect composure,
+and preened himself after his long flight.
+
+The striking of “four bells” just under his beak unnerved him somewhat,
+and he departed in a great fuss and pother.
+
+Our roomy decks afford many quiet corners in which to read or doze, and
+now that the weather is rapidly warming up we spend many hours in these
+peaceful pastimes, varied by an occasional constitutional—none of your
+fisherman’s walks, “three steps and overboard”—but a good, clear tramp,
+unimpeded by the innumerable deck-chairs, protruding feet, and
+ubiquitous children which cover all free space on board a P. & O.
+
+Then comes dinner, followed by a rubber of bridge, and so to bed.
+
+On Saturday the 11th we passed the group of islands commonly known as
+the Twelve Apostles.
+
+First, a tiny rock, rising lonely from the blue—brilliantly blue—waves;
+then a yellow crag of sandstone, looking like a haystack; and then a
+whole group of wild and fantastic islands, evidently of volcanic
+origin, and varying in rough peaks and abrupt cliffs of the strangest
+colours—brick-red, purple-black, grey, and yellow—utterly bare and
+desolate:
+
+“Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,
+Nor aught of vegetative power,
+The weary eye may ken,”
+
+
+save only the white lighthouse, which, perched on its arid hill, serves
+to emphasise the desolation of earth and sky.
+
+The Red Sea is remarkably well supplied with lighthouses; and,
+considering the narrowness of the channel in parts, the strong and
+variable currents, and the innumerable islands and shoals, the supply
+does no more than equal the demand.
+
+I cannot imagine a more grievous death in life than the existence of a
+lighthouse-keeper in the Red Sea!
+
+_Sunday, 12th_.—We passed through the Gate of Tears this morning—the
+dismal, flat, and unprofitable island of Perim being scanned by me from
+the bathroom port, while exchanging an atmosphere of sticky salt air
+for an unrefreshing dip in sticky salt water.
+
+The hoopoe is again with us; in fact I do not think he really left the
+ship, but simply sought a secluded perch, secure from prying
+observation. He reappeared upon the port stay, and proceeded to preen
+himself and observe the ship’s course. He is evidently bound for Aden,
+casting glances of quiet unconcern on Perim and the coast of Araby the
+blest.
+
+Towards sunset we passed the fantastic peaks of little Aden, and,
+drawing up to Steamer Point, cast anchor under the “Barren Rocks of
+Aden.”
+
+_Monday, 13th_.—We had a shocking time last night. All ports closed for
+coaling left us gasping, whilst a fiendish din arose from the bowels of
+the ship, whence cargo was being extracted. The stifling air, reeking
+with damp, developed in the early morning a steady rain, which dripped
+mournfully on the grimy decks. Rain in Aden! We are told on the best
+authority that this is most unusual.
+
+Aden, to the passing stranger, shows few attractions. We went on shore
+when the rain showed signs of ceasing, and after buying a few odds and
+ends, such as a pith hat and some cigarettes, we betook ourselves to
+the principal hotel, where an excessively bad breakfast was served to
+us, after which we were not sorry to shake the mud of Aden off our
+feet, so we chartered a shore boat amid a fearful clamour for extra pay
+and backshish, and set forth to rejoin our ship, now swept and
+garnished, and showing little trace of the coal she had swallowed.
+
+_Monday, 20th_.—We reached Karachi yesterday morning after a quiet,
+calm, and utterly uneventful passage across the Indian Ocean.
+
+It was never hot—merely calm, grey, and even showery, our only
+excitements being an occasional school of porpoises or the sight of a
+passing tramp steamer.
+
+Some time before leaving England I had written to my old friend General
+Woon, commanding the troops at Abbotabad, asking him to provide me with
+a servant capable of dry-nursing a pair of Babes in the Wood throughout
+their sojourn in a strange land. The General promised to supply us with
+such an one, who, he said, would rob us to a certain extent himself,
+but would take good care that nobody else did so!
+
+Immediately, then, upon our arrival in Karachi roads, a dark and
+swarthy person, with a black beard and gleaming white teeth, appeared
+on board, and reported himself as Sabz Ali, our servant and our master!
+
+His knowledge of English “as she is spoke” was scanty and of strange
+quality, but his masterful methods of dealing with the boatmen and
+Custom-house subordinates inspired us with awe and a blind confidence
+that he could—and would—pull us through.
+
+There was no difficulty at the Custom-house until it transpired that I
+wanted to take three firearms into the country. This appeared to be a
+most unusual and reprehensible desire, and my statement that one weapon
+was a rifle which I was taking charge of for a friend did not improve
+the situation. It being Sunday, the principal authorities were sunning
+themselves in their back parlours, and the thing in charge (called a
+Baboo, I understand) became exceedingly fussy, and desired that the
+guns should be unpacked and exhibited lest they should be of service
+pattern. This was simple, as far as my battery was concerned, and I
+promptly laid bare the beauties of my Mannlicher and ancient 12-bore;
+but, alas! Mrs. Smithson’s rifle was soldered like a sardine into a
+strong tin case, and no cold-chisel or screwdriver was forthcoming.
+
+Messengers were sent forth to seek the needful instruments, while I
+proceeded to cut another Gordian knot…. An acquaintance of mine,
+hearing that I was coming to India, suggested that I should take charge
+of a parcel for a friend of hers, who wanted to send it to her fiancé
+in Bombay. As all the heavy baggage was sent from London to join us at
+Port Saïd, I had not seen the “parcel,” and, finding no case or box
+addressed to any one but myself, I had to select one that seemed most
+likely to be right, and forward that.
+
+At last the needful appliances were got and the rifle unpacked; but,
+although it proved to be (as I had said) a large-bore Express, the
+Baboo refused, like a very Pharaoh, to let it go, and I, after a
+two-hour vexatious delay, paid the duty on my own guns, and, leaving a
+note for the chief Customs official, explaining the case and begging
+him to send the rifle on forthwith, packed myself—hot, hungry, and
+angry—into a “gharri,” and set forth to the Devon Place Hotel, whither
+the rest of the party had preceded me.
+
+I have gone into this little episode somewhat at length in order to
+impress upon the voyager to India the necessity for limiting the number
+of firearms or getting a friend to father the extra ones through the
+Customs—a perfectly simple matter had one foreseen the difficulty. Also
+the danger of taking parcels for friends—of which more anon![1]
+
+[1] A big deal case which we unpacked at Srinagar proved to contain a
+“life-sized” work-table. The package holding our camp beds and bedding,
+having a humbler aspect, had been sent to Bombay and cost as a world of
+worry and expense to recover!
+
+
+The Devon Place Hotel may be the best in Karachi, but it is pretty
+bad…. I am told that all Indian hotels are bad—still, the breakfast was
+a considerable improvement on the _Marie Valerie_, and we sallied forth
+as giants refreshed to have a look at Karachi and do a little shopping.
+It being Sunday, the banks were closed, but a kindly shopman cashed me
+a cheque for twenty pounds in the most confiding manner, and enabled us
+to get the few odds and ends we wanted before going up country—among
+them a couple of “resais” or quilted cotton wraps and a sola topee for
+Jane.
+
+Karachi did not strike us as being a particularly interesting town, but
+that may be to a great extent because we did not see the best part of
+it. On landing at Kiamari we had only driven along a hot and glaring
+mole, bordered by swamps and slimy-looking flats for some two miles.
+Then, on reaching the city proper, a dusty road, bordered by somewhat
+suburban-looking houses, brought us to the Devon Place Hotel, near the
+Frere station. After breakfast we merely drove into the bazaars to shop
+before betaking ourselves to the station, in good time for the 6.30
+train.
+
+Passengers—at least first-class passengers—were not numerous, and Major
+Twining and I had no difficulty in securing two compartments—one for
+our wives and one for ourselves.
+
+An Indian first-class carriage is roomy, but bare, being arranged with
+a view to heat rather than cold Two long seats run “fore and aft” on
+either side, and upon them your servant makes your bed at night. Two
+upper berths can be let down in case of a crowd. At the end of each
+compartment is a small toilet-room.
+
+It was unexpectedly chilly at night, and Twining and I were glad to
+roll ourselves up in as many rugs and “resais” as we could persuade the
+ladies to leave to us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+
+
+This morning we awoke to find ourselves rattling and shaking our way
+through the Sind Desert—an interminable waste of sand, barren and
+thirsty-looking, covered with a patchy scrub of yellowish and
+grey-purple bushes.
+
+I can well imagine how hatefully hot it can be here, but to-day it has
+been merely pleasantly warm.
+
+Jane and I were deeply interested in the novel scenes we passed
+through, which, while new and strange to us, were yet made familiar by
+what we had read and heard. The quiet-eyed cattle, with their queer
+humps, were just what we expected to see in the dusty landscape. The
+chattering crowds in the wayside stations, their bright-coloured
+garments flaunting in the white sunlight—the fruit-sellers, the
+water-carriers, were all as though they had stepped out of the pages of
+_Kim_—that most excellent of Indian stories.
+
+And so all day we rattled and shook through the Sind Desert in the hot
+sunlight till the dust lay thick upon us, and our eyes grew tired of
+watching the flying landscape.
+
+In the afternoon we reached Samasata junction, where the Twinings
+parted company with us, being bound for Faridkot.
+
+Sorry were we to lose such charming companions, especially as now
+indeed we become as Babes in the Wood, knowing nothing of the land, its
+customs, or its language!
+
+Henceforward, Sabz Ali shall be our sheet-anchor, and I think he will
+not fail us. His English is truly remarkable, so much so that I regret
+to say I have more than once supposed him to be talking Hindustani when
+he was discoursing in my own mother-tongue. But he certainly is
+extraordinarily sharp in taking up what I and the “Mem-sahib” say.
+
+He presented to me to-day a remarkable letter, of which the following
+is an exact copy. I presume it is a sort of statement as to his general
+duties:—
+
+“_To the_ MAGER SAHIB.
+
+
+“Sir,—I beg to say that General ’Oon Sahib send me to you. He order me
+that the arrangement of Mager Sahib do.
+
+“To give pice to porter kuli this is my work. This is usefull to you.
+
+“You give him many pice.
+
+“Your work is order and to do it my work. You give me Rupee at once.
+Then I will write it on my book, from which you will see it is right or
+wrong. Now I am going to Cashmir with you and Cashmiree are thief.
+
+“If you will give me one man other it will usefull to you. I ask one
+cloth. All Sahib give cloth to Servant on going to Cashmir.
+
+“If will give cloth then all men say that this Sahib is good. I am fear
+from General ’Oon Sahib. It is order to give cloth.
+
+“I can do all work of cook and bearer. I wish that you will happy on
+me, also your lady, and say to General ’Oon Sahib that this man is good
+and honest man.
+
+“I have servant to many Sahib.
+
+“I have more certificate.
+
+“You are rich man and king. I am poor man. I will take two annas
+allowance per day in Cashmir, you will do who you wish.
+
+“I wish that you and lady will happy on me. This is begging you will.—I
+remain, Sir, your most obedient Servant,
+
+“SABAZ ALI, _Bearer_.”
+
+
+_Wednesday, March_ 22.—We slept again in the train on Monday night, and
+arrived in Lahore about 6 o’clock yesterday morning.
+
+We had been advised to tub and dress in the waiting-rooms at the
+station, as we had a break of some six hours before going on to Pindi;
+but, upon investigation, Jane found her waiting-room already fully
+occupied by an uninviting company of Chi-chis (Eurasians), and several
+men—their husbands and brothers presumably—were sleeping the sleep of
+the just in mine, so we left all our luggage stacked on the platform
+under the eye of Sabz Ali, and hurried off to Nedou’s Hotel. Ye gods!
+What a cold drive it was, and how bitterly we regretted that we had not
+brought our wraps from their bundle.
+
+I was fearfully afraid that Jane would get a chill—an evil always to be
+specially guarded against in a tropical climate, but a very hot tub and
+a good breakfast averted all calamity, and we set forth in a funny
+little trap to inspect Lahore.
+
+This is the first large and thoroughly Indian city that we have
+seen—Karachi being merely a thriving modern seaport and garrison
+town—and we set to work to see what we could in the limited time at our
+disposal. We whisked along a road—bumpy withal in parts, and somewhat
+dusty, but broad. On either hand rose substantial stone mansions, half
+hidden by trees and flowering shrubs. Many of these fine-looking
+buildings were shops. I was impressed by their importance, for they
+were quite what would be described by an auctioneer or agent as “most
+desirable family mansions, approached by a carriage drive … standing
+within their own beautifully wooded and secluded grounds in an
+excellent residential neighbourhood,” &c. &c.
+
+Anon we whirled round a corner, and plunged into the seething life of
+the native city. The road was crammed with an apparently impenetrable
+crowd of men and beasts, the latter—water-buffaloes, humpy cattle, and
+donkeys—strolling about and getting in everybody’s way with perfect
+nonchalance, while men in strange raiment of gaudy hue pursued their
+lawful occupations with much clamour. The variety of smells—all bad—was
+quite remarkable.
+
+We could only go at a walk, as the streets were very narrow and the
+inhabitants thereof—particularly the cows—seemed very deaf and
+difficult to arouse to a sense of the need for making room, though our
+good driver yelled himself hoarse and employed language which I feel
+sure was highly flavoured. Our progress was a succession of marvellous
+escapes for human toes and bovine shoulders, but our “helmsman steered
+us through,” and we emerged from the kaleidoscopic labyrinth into the
+open space before the Fort of Lahore, whose pinkish brick walls and
+ponderous bastions rose above us.
+
+The last thing I would desire would be to usurp in any way the
+functions of grave Mr. Murray or well-informed Herr Baedeker, but there
+are certain points to which I will draw attention, and which it seems
+to me very necessary to keep in mind.
+
+To the ordinary traveller in the Punjab and Northern India no buildings
+are more attractive, no ruins more interesting, than those of the Mogul
+dynasty, and the rule of the Mogul princes marks the high-water limit
+of Indian magnificence. It was but for a short time, too, that the
+highest level of grandeur was maintained.
+
+For generations the Moguls had poured in intermittent hordes into
+Northern India, but it was only in 1556 that Akbar, by defeating the
+Pathans at Panipat, laid India at his feet. Following up his success he
+overthrew the Rajputs, and extended his dominion from Afghanistan to
+Benares. Having conquered the country as a great warrior, he proceeded
+to rule it as a noble statesman, being “one of the few sovereigns
+entitled to the appellation both of Great and Good, and the only one of
+Mohammedan race whose mind appears to have arisen so far above all the
+illiberal prejudices of that fanatical religion in which he was
+educated, as to be capable of forming a plan worthy of a monarch who
+loved his people and was solicitous to render them happy.”[1] This
+“plan” was to study the religion, laws, and institutions of his Hindu
+subjects in order that he might govern as far as possible in conformity
+with Hindu usage. The Emperor Akbar was the first of the Mogul monarchs
+who was a great architect. The city of Fattepur Sikri being raised by
+him as a stately dwelling-place until want of water and the
+unhealthiness of the locality caused him to move into Agra, leaving the
+whole city of Fattepur Sikri to the owls and jackals, and later to the
+admiration of the Sahib logue.
+
+[1] Robertson’s _India_, Appendix.
+
+
+A palace in Lahore, the fort at Allahabad, and much lovely work in the
+city of Agra testify to the creative genius of that contemporary of our
+own Good Queen Bess, the first “Great” Mogul. Jehangir, his son and
+successor, has left few buildings of note, but his grandson, Shah
+Jehan, was undoubtedly the most splendid builder of the Mogul
+Mohammedan period. To him Delhi owes its stately palace and vast
+mosque—the Jama Masjid—and Agra would be famous for its wonderful
+palace of dark red stone and fretted marble, even without that
+masterpiece of Mohammedan inspiration, the world-famed Taj Mahal. The
+brief period of supreme magnificence came to an end with the last of
+the “Great” Moguls—Aurungzeb, died in 1707—having only blazed in
+fullest glory for some century and a half, but leaving behind it some
+of the noblest works of man.
+
+It seemed somehow very curious, as we drove up through the stately
+entrance of the Hathi Paon, or Elephant Gate of the fort, to be saluted
+with a “present arms” by British Tommies clad in unobtrusive khaki, and
+to reflect that we are the inheritors of the fallen grandeur of the
+Mogul Emperors; that we in our turn, on many a hard-fought field,
+asserted our power to conquer; and that since then we have (I trust) so
+far followed the sound principles of Akbar as to keep by justice and
+wise rule the broad lands with their teeming millions in a state of
+peace and security unknown before in India.
+
+Opposite the entrance rise the walls of the Palace of Akbar, curiously
+decorated with brilliant blue mosaics of animals and arabesques.
+
+We visited the armoury—a remarkably fine collection of weapons—not the
+least interesting being those taken from the Sikhs and French in the
+earlier part of the last century. Opposite the armoury, and across a
+small beautifully-paved court, were the private apartments of Shah
+Jehan. They reminded me very much of the Alhambra, only, instead of the
+honeycomb vaulted ceilings, and arches decorated in stucco by the
+Moors, the Eastern architect inlaid his ceilings with an extraordinary
+incrustation of glass, usually silvered on the back, but also
+frequently coloured, and giving a strange effect of mother-o’-pearl
+inlay, bordering on tawdriness when examined in detail.
+
+It is possible that this coloured glass actually had its intended
+effect of inlaid jewels, and that the gem-encrusted walls, so
+enthusiastically described by Tavernier and others, as almost matching
+the peacock throne itself, may have been but imitation.
+
+Many of the pilasters were, however, very beautiful—of white marble
+inlaid with flower patterns of coloured stones—while the arched window
+openings were filled in with creamy tracery of fair white marble.
+
+Leaving the fort after an all too short visit, we crossed to the great
+mosque built by Aurungzeb. Ascending—from a garden bright with flowers
+and blossoming trees—a flight of broad steps, we found ourselves at the
+end of a rectangular enclosure, at each corner of which stood a red
+column not altogether unlike a factory chimney. In the centre was a
+circular basin, very wide, and full of clear water, while in front,
+three white marble domes rose like great pearls gleaming against the
+cloudless blue. The mosque itself is built of red—dark red—sandstone,
+decorated with floral designs in white marble.
+
+We climbed one of the minarets, and had a view of the city at our feet,
+and the green and fertile plains stretching dim into the shimmering
+haze beyond the Ravee River.
+
+Then back to the hotel through the teeming alleys and down to the
+station—the road, that we had found so bitterly cold in the early
+morning, now a blaze of sunlight, where the dust stirred up by the
+shuffling feet of the wayfarers quivered in the heat, and the shadows
+of men and beasts lay short and black beneath them.
+
+We were not sorry to seek coolness in the bare railway carriage, and
+let the fresh wind fan us as we sat by the open window and watched the
+flat, monotonous landscape sliding past.
+
+The journey from Lahore to Rawal Pindi is not a very long one—only
+about 170 miles, or less than the distance from London to York; but an
+Indian train being more leisurely in its movement than the Great
+Northern Express, gave us ample time to contemplate the frequent little
+villages—all very much alike—all provided with a noisy population,
+among which dogs and children were extremely prevalent; the level
+plains, broken here and there by clumps of unfamiliar trees, and
+inhabited by scattered herds of water buffaloes, cattle, and
+under-sized sheep, all busily engaged in picking up a precarious
+livelihood, chiefly roast straw, as far as one could see!
+
+We had grown so accustomed to the monotony of the plains, that when we
+suddenly became aware of a faint blue line of mountains paling to snow,
+where they melted into the sky, the Himalayas came upon us almost with
+a shock of surprise.
+
+As we drew nearer, the rampart of mountains that guards India on the
+north, took form and substance, until at Jhelum we fairly left the
+plain and began to ascend the lower foothills.
+
+Between Jhelum and Rawal Pindi the line runs through a country that can
+best be described by that much abused word “weird.” Originally a
+succession of clayey plateaux, the erosion of water has worn and
+honeycombed a tortuous maze of abrupt clefts and ravines, leaving in
+many cases mere shafts and pinnacles, whose fantastic tops stand level
+with the surrounding country. The sun set while we were still winding
+through a labyrinth of peaks and pits, and the effect of the
+contrasting red gold lights and purple shadows in this strange confused
+landscape was a thing to be remembered.
+
+We rolled and bumped into Pindi at 8 P.M., having travelled nearly 1000
+miles during our two days and nights in the train.
+
+Our friends the Smithsons were on the platform waiting to receive us
+and welcome us as strangers and pilgrims in an unknown land. They have
+only remained here to meet us, and they proceed to Kashmir to-morrow,
+sleeping in a carriage in the quiet backwater of a siding, to save
+themselves the worry of a desperately early start to-morrow morning.
+
+The direct route into Kashmir by Murree is impassable, the snow being
+still deep owing to a very late spring following a severe winter. This
+will oblige us to go round by Abbotabad, so I wired to my friend
+General Woon to warn him that we propose to invade his peaceful home.
+
+_Sunday, March 26._—We stayed a couple of days at Pindi, in order to
+make arrangements for transporting ourselves and our luggage into
+Kashmir. The journey can be made _viâ_ Murree in about a couple of days
+by mail tonga, but it is a joyless and horribly wearing mode of travel.
+The tonga, a two-wheeled cart covered by an arched canvas hood and
+drawn by two half-broken horses, holds a couple of passengers
+comfortably, who sit behind and stare at the flying white ribbon of
+road for long, long hours, while the driver urges his wild career. The
+horses are changed every ten miles or so, and horrible and
+blood-curdling tales are extant of the villainy and wrong-headedness of
+some of these tonga ponies, how they jib for sheer pleasure, and leap
+over the low parapet that guards them from the precipice merely to vex
+the helpless traveller. When we suggested that to sit facing the past
+might be conducive to a sort of sea-sickness and certainly to headache,
+and that a total absence of view was to be deprecated, it was impressed
+upon us that if the horses darted over the “khud,” we could slip out
+suddenly and easily, leaving the driver and the ponies to be dashed to
+pieces by themselves! This appeared sound, but, upon inquiry I could
+not hear that any accident had ever happened to any traveller going
+into Kashmir by tonga.
+
+Besides the tonga, there are other modes of going into Kashmir. For
+instance, the sluggish bullock-cart—safe, deliberate, and affording
+ample leisure for admiring the scenery; the light native cart, or ekka,
+consisting of a somewhat small body screened by a wide white hood, and
+capable of holding far more luggage than would at first sight seem
+possible, and drawn by a scraggy-looking but much enduring little horse
+tied up by a wild and complicated system of harness (chiefly consisting
+of bits of old rope) between a pair of odd V-shaped shafts.
+
+Finally, there is the landau—a civilised and luxurious method of
+conveyance which greatly appealed to us. We decided upon chartering a
+landau for ourselves and servant, and two ekkas to carry the heavy
+baggage.
+
+Mr. de Mars, the landlord of the hotel, was most obliging in helping us
+to arrange for our journey, promising to provide us with carriage and
+ekkas for a sum which did not seem to me to be at all exorbitant.
+
+I soon found, however, that the worthy Sabz Ali did not at all approve
+of the arrangement. It was extremely hard to find out by means of his
+scant English what he proposed to do; but I decided that here was an
+excellent opportunity of finding out what he was good for, so we
+determined to give him his head, and let him make his own arrangements.
+
+A smile broke over his swarthy face for a moment, and he disappeared,
+coming back shortly afterwards just as the already ordered ekkas made
+their appearance.
+
+These he promptly dismissed—much to the vexation of Mr. de Mars; but I
+explained to him that I intended to see if my man was really to be
+depended upon as an organiser, and that I should allow him to work upon
+his own lines.
+
+We had arranged to sleep in a carriage drawn into a siding at the
+station, to avoid a very early start next morning. So after dinner we
+strolled down towards our bedroom to find our henchman on the platform,
+full of zeal and energy. I found out (with difficulty) that he proposed
+to go on to Hassan Abdal with the luggage that night by goods train;
+that we should find him there next morning, and that all would be
+right. So he departed, and we rolled ourselves up in our “resais,” and
+wondered how it would all turn out.
+
+On Friday morning we rattled out of Rawal Pindi about seven, and slowly
+wound through a rather stony and uninteresting country, until we
+arrived at the end of our railway journey about ten o’clock, and
+scrambled out at the little roadside station.
+
+Our excellent factotum, Sabz Ali, awaited us with a capacious landau,
+and informed us that the heavy baggage had gone on in the ekkas. So we
+set forth at once on our 42-mile drive to Abbotabad without “reposing
+for a time in the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a
+favourite resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to
+Cashmere” (_Lalla Rookh_).
+
+The landau, though roomy and comfortable, was, like Una’s lion, a “most
+unhasty beast,” and we rolled quite slowly and deliberately over a
+distinctly uninteresting plain for about twenty miles, until we came to
+Haripur, a pretty village enclosed in a perfect mass of fruit trees in
+full bloom.
+
+Here we changed horses, and lunched at the dâk bungalow—a first and
+favourable experience of that useful institution. The dâk bungalow
+generally consists of a simple wooden building containing a dining-room
+and several bedrooms opening on to a verandah, which usually runs round
+three sides of the house. The furniture is strong and simple,
+consisting of tables, bedsteads, and some long chairs. A khansamah or
+cook provides food and liquor at a fixed and reasonable rate.
+
+Travellers are only permitted to remain for twenty-four hours if the
+rooms are wanted, each person paying one rupee (1s. 4d.) for a night,
+or half that amount for a mere day halt.
+
+The khansamah would appear to be the only functionary in residence
+until the hour of departure draws near, when a whole party of
+underlings—chowkidars, bheesties, and sweepers—appear from nowhere in
+particular; and the lordly traveller, having presented them with about
+twopence apiece, rolls off along the dusty white road, leaving the
+khansamah and his myrmidons salaaming on the verandah.
+
+We made the mistake of over-tipping at first in India, not realising
+that a couple of annas out here go as far as a shilling at home; but it
+is a mistake which should be rectified as soon as possible, for you get
+no credit for lavishness, but are merely regarded as a first-class
+idiot. No sane man would ever expend two annas where one would do!
+
+On leaving Haripur the road began to ascend a little, and at the
+village of Sultanpur we entered a valley, through which a shrunken
+stream ran, and which we crossed more than once.
+
+Then a long ascent of about eleven miles brought us near our
+destination.
+
+It had been threatening rain all the afternoon, and now the weather
+made its threat good, and the rain fell in earnest. It grew dark, too;
+and, finally, not having had any reply to my telegram to General Woon,
+we did not know whether we were expected or not.
+
+Sabz Ali, however, had no doubts on the matter. We were approaching his
+own particular country, and whether “Gen’l ’Oon Sahib” was there to
+entertain us or not, _he_ was; and so it was “alright.”
+
+Our poor horses were done to a turn, a heavy landau with five people in
+it, as well as a fair amount of luggage, being no trifle to drag up so
+long and steep a hill. So we had to walk up the last rise to the
+General’s house in the dark and rain, mildly cheered, however, by
+finding the two ekkas just arrived with the baggage.
+
+A most hearty greeting from my old friend and his charming wife awaited
+us, and after a hasty toilet and an excellent dinner we felt at peace
+with all the world.
+
+Both yesterday (Saturday) and to-day it has been cold and disagreeable.
+The past winter, I am told, has been a very severe one, and the
+melancholy brown skeletons of all the eucalyptus trees in the place
+show the dismal results of the frost.
+
+This forenoon the day darkened, and a very severe thunderstorm broke.
+So dark was it at lunch that candles had to be lighted in haste, and
+even now (4 P.M.) I can barely see to write.
+
+_Thursday, March_ 30.—Monday was showery, and Tuesday decidedly wet;
+but, in spite of the hospitable blandishments of our kind hosts, we
+were most anxious to get on, as, having arranged with the Smithsons to
+go into the Astor district to shoot, it was most important to reach
+Srinagar before the first of April—the day upon which the shooting
+passes were to be issued to sportsmen in rotation of application.
+Knowing that only ten passes were to be given for Astor, and that
+several men were ahead of me, I felt that we were running it somewhat
+fine to leave only three days for the journey.
+
+General Woon, who knew Kashmir well, did his very best to dissuade us
+from attempting the passes into Astor, reading to us gloomy extracts
+from his journal, and pointing out that it was no fit country for a
+lady in early spring.
+
+He did much to shake our enthusiasm, but still I felt we must do our
+best to “keep tryst” with the Smithsons. So, on Tuesday, we sent on the
+heavy luggage in two ekkas which Sabz Ali had procured, the two others
+being only hired from Hassan Abdal to Abbotabad.
+
+Sabz Ali had pointed out that, although he himself was a wonderful man,
+and could do almost, if not quite, everything, a second servant would
+be greatly to our (and his) advantage. So, acting on my permission, he
+engaged one Ayata—a gentle person of a sheep-like disposition, who did
+everything he was told, and nothing that he was told not to, during our
+sojourn in Kashmir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+
+
+Dismal tidings came in of floods and storms on the Hassan Abdal road.
+The river had swollen, and both men and beasts had been swept away
+while trying to cross. Undeterred, however, by such news, even when
+backed by warnings and persuasions from our friends, we set forth in
+the rain yesterday morning. The prospect was not cheerful—a grey veil
+of cloud lay over all the surrounding hills, here and there deepening
+into dark and angry thunder-clouds. The road was desperately heavy, but
+the General had most kindly sent on a pair of mules ahead, and, with
+another pair in the shafts, our own nags took a holiday as far as
+Manserah.
+
+The weather grew worse. It rained very heavily and thundered with great
+vigour, and as we straggled up the deeply-muddied slope to the dâk
+bungalow at Manserah we felt somewhat low; but we did not in the least
+realise what was before us!
+
+Our road had lain through fairly level plains, with low cuttings here
+and there, where the saturated soil was already beginning to give way
+and fall upon the road in untidy heaps; but this did not foreshadow
+what might occur later.
+
+At Manserah we met Hill and Hunt, two young gunners, _en route_ for
+Astor. They left in a tonga soon after we arrived, and we did not
+expect to see their speedier outfit again.
+
+Being pressed for time, we only had a cup of cocoa, and then hastened
+on our dismal career.
+
+The road grew steeper, winding over some low hills, but we could not
+see very much, as the whirling cloud masses blotted out all the view.
+By-and-by it bent towards a pine-clad hill, and began to ascend
+steeply. By this time we were very wet, as we had to walk up the hills
+to ease the horses. The scene was extraordinary, as the great
+thunder-clouds boiled up and over us—tawny yellow, and even orange in
+the lights, and dull and solid lead colour in the depths. The distance
+was invisible, but gleams now and again revealed, through the drifts of
+rain, wide stretches of cultivated land lying below us, and a ragged
+forest of pines piercing the mist above.
+
+Dripping, we walked by our wet horses up to the top of the pass, hoping
+for a swift and easy descent on the farther side to Ghari Habibullah,
+where we intended to sleep, as we had given up all idea of being able
+to get on to Domel.
+
+Presently the horses were pulled up sharply as a ton or two of rock and
+earth came crashing upon the road in front of us.
+
+More fallen masses encumbering the way farther on made us feel rather
+anxious, until, on rounding a corner, we found the whole road barred by
+a huge mass of rock and soil.
+
+It was blowing hard, the stormy wind striking chill and bleak through
+the bending pines; it was raining in torrents; it was 5 P.M., and we
+were still some six miles from the haven where we would be; so, after a
+short and utterly ineffectual attempt to get the carriage past the
+obstacle, Jane and I set off to walk down the hill and seek help.
+
+It was exciting, as we had to dodge the rock-falls and run past the
+shaky-looking places! At a turn of the road we came upon the gunners’
+tonga, embedded in a mud-slide. The occupants had had an escape from
+total wreck, as one of the ponies had swerved over the khud, but the
+other saved the situation by lying down in the mud! Hunt had gone off
+into the landscape to try for a village and help, while Hill remained
+to wrestle with the tonga, which, however, remained obstinately
+immovable. We could do nothing to mend matters, so we fled on, meeting
+Hunt, with a few natives and a shovel, on his way back to the scene of
+action.
+
+After an hour and a half of very anxious work, we emerged at dusk from
+the wood, hoping our troubles were over. We could dimly see, and hear,
+through the mist a stream below us; but, alas! no bridge was visible. I
+commandeered a man from the first hut we came to, and tried by signs to
+make him understand that he was to carry the lady across the river;
+but, luckily, just as we reached the bank of what was a very
+nasty-looking stream in full spate, the liberated tonga overtook us,
+and Jane was bundled into it, while we three men waded. The stream was
+strong and up to our knees, and level with the tonga floor, and the
+horses getting frightened began to jib. Hill seized one by the head,
+and Jane was safely drawn to shore and sent on her way under guidance
+of the driver, while we tramped on in the dark until a second torrent
+barred our way. Here, in the gloom, we made out the tonga empty, and
+stuck fast against the far bank. It was all right though, for Jane had
+crawled out at the front and wandered on in search of the dâk bungalow,
+leaving the driver squatting helplessly beside the water.
+
+It was so dark that she missed the bungalow, which stands a little
+above the road, and struggled on till she came to a small cluster of
+native huts. One of the inhabitants, on being boldly accosted, was good
+enough to point out the way, and so the re-united party—tired, wet, and
+with no prospect of dry clothing—took possession of the
+cheerless-looking dâk bungalow. Things now began to improve. To our joy
+we found our ekkas with their contents drawn up in the yard. And while
+a fire was being encouraged into a blaze, and the lean fowl was being
+captured and slain on the back premises, we obtained dry garments—of
+sorts—from the baggage.
+
+Madame’s dinner costume consisted of a blue flannel garment—nocturnal
+by design—delicately covered by a quilted dressing-gown, and the rest
+of us were _en suite_, a great lack of detail as to collars and
+foot-wear being apparent! Nevertheless, the fire blazed royally, and we
+ate up all the old hen and called for more, and prepared to make a
+night of it until, about ten o’clock, our bearer Sabz Ali appeared,
+with a train of coolies carrying our bedding and the other contents of
+the derelict carriage.
+
+This morning the two young gunners departed on foot, leaving their
+tonga, as the road to Domel is reported to be quite impassable. They
+intend to walk by a short cut over the hills, and get on as best they
+may, the race for Astor being a keen one.
+
+We decided to remain here, the weather being still gloomy and
+unsettled, and the road being impossible for a lady.
+
+At noon the landau was brought in, minus a step and very dirty, but
+otherwise “unwounded from the dreadful close.”
+
+Ghari Habibullah is not at all a cheerful spot, as it appears, the
+centre of a grey haze, with dense mist low down on the surrounding
+mountains. Sabz Ali, too, complains of fever, which is not surprising
+after the wetting and exposure of yesterday; and when a native gets
+“fever” he curls up and is fit for nothing, and won’t try.
+
+The dâk bungalow stands on a little plateau overlooking the road and a
+swift river, whose tawny waves were loaded with mud washed from the
+hills by recent storms. On a slope opposite, the queer, flat-roofed
+native village perched, and above it swirled a misty pall which hid all
+but the bases of the hills. To this village we strolled, but it was not
+interesting; the inhabitants did not seem wildly friendly, and the mud
+and dirt and dogs were discouraging. So we roamed along the Domel road
+till we came to a high cliff of conglomerate, which had recently been
+shedding boulders over the track to an alarming extent; so, deciding
+that it would be merely silly to risk getting our heads cracked, we
+turned back, and, re-crossing the river, clambered up a steep path
+above the right bank. Here we soon found great rents and rifts where
+falling rocks had come bounding down the steeps from above, so once
+more we turned tail, and, giving up the idea of any more country walks
+in that region, betook ourselves to the gloomy and chilly bungalow. The
+only really delightful things we saw during our doleful excursion were
+a lovely clump of big, rose-coloured primula, drooping from the clefts
+of a steep rock, and a pair of large and handsome kingfishers,[1]
+pursuing their graceful avocations by a roadside pool—their white
+breasts, ruddy flanks, and gleaming blue backs giving a welcome note of
+colour to the sedate and misty grey of the landscape.
+
+[1] _N. Smyrnensis_ (?).
+
+
+_Tuesday, April_ 4.—Thirty-six hours of Ghari Habibullah give ample
+time for the loneliest recluse to pant for the bustle of a livelier
+world. We were so bored on Thursday that we determined to push on,
+_coûte que coûte_, on Friday morning, although a note sent back by one
+of the gunners from Domel, by a coolie, informed us that the road about
+a mile short of that place was completely blocked by a fallen mass of
+some hundreds of tons.
+
+Our henchman having somewhat recovered of his fever, thanks to a
+generous exhibition of quinine, we gave the order to pack and start,
+hoping to achieve the twelve miles which separated us from Domel, even
+though the last bit had to be done on foot. About two miles from Ghari
+Habibullah we came to the Kashmir custom-house, presided over by a
+polite gentleman, whose brilliant purple beard was a joy to look upon.
+
+Most of the elderly natives dye their beards with, I think, henna,
+producing a fine orange effect, but purple…!
+
+_Bottom_. What beard were I best to play it in?
+
+_Quince_. Why, what you will.
+
+_Bottom_. I will discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard, your
+orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your
+French-crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow
+
+_Midsummer Night’s Dream_,
+Act I. Sc. 2.
+
+
+“What _coloured beard_ comes next by the window?”
+
+“A black man’s, I think.”
+
+“I think a _red_: for that is most in fashion.”
+
+RAM ALLY.
+
+
+Truly, until I beheld that tax-gatherer of the Orient, I had no idea
+that the “purple-in-grain” beard existed outside a poet’s fancy!
+
+The road took us along the left bank of the river, whose soil-stained
+waters churned their way through a wild and rocky gorge. On our left
+the mountain rose bare and steep, fringed with a few straggling bushes,
+and here and there a clinging patch of rose-coloured primula. Part of
+the conglomerate cliff had come down and obliterated the road, but a
+party of coolies was busily at work, and, after about an hour’s delay,
+we triumphantly bumped our way past.
+
+The road now led steadily upward, leaving an ever-increasing slope (or
+khud) between it and the river, until it attained a height of over a
+thousand feet, when, turning to the left, it swung over the watershed,
+and began to descend into the valley of the Kishenganga. Through the
+haze we could make out Domel, our goal, lying far below, and then the
+old Sikh fort of Musafferabad.
+
+The road was so encumbered with rock-falls that we walked the greater
+part of it, until we came to the new bridge over the Kishenganga, whose
+dark red waters rush into the Jhelum about a mile below.
+
+Here was Musafferabad, the whole place a confused jumble of wheeled
+traffic caught up by the big landslip in front. Passing, amid the
+chatter and clamour of men and beasts, through the medley of
+bullock-carts and ekkas that crowded every available space, we hauled
+the carriage through the bed of a watercourse whose bridge was broken.
+Up over the prostrate trunk of a fallen tree we regained the road, to
+find ourselves in front of the big landslip of which we had been
+warned. It consisted of some thousands of tons of dark red mud and
+loose boulders, and it blocked the road for fully a couple of hundred
+yards.
+
+A large and energetic swarm of coolies was busily engaged in “tidying
+up.” This was apparently to be achieved by means of shovels, each
+little shovel worked by two men—one to shovel, and the other to assist
+in raising it when full by means of a little rope round the head. This
+labour had to be lubricated by much conversation.
+
+It seemed upon the whole unlikely that a path could be made for a
+considerable time, so we lunched peacefully in the carriage, a pair of
+extremely friendly crows assisting at the feast, and then, leaving our
+landau to follow as best it might, we walked into Domel, crossing the
+Jhelum by a fine bridge.
+
+The dâk bungalow, prettily placed in a clump of trees, seemed the abode
+of luxury to us after the discomfort of Ghari Habibullah, and we fondly
+hoped that, being now upon the main road which runs from Rawal Pindi to
+Srinagar, our troubles were over.
+
+Saturday was the 1st of April, the day upon which I should have applied
+for my pass for Astor. Wiring to Srinagar to explain that I was in
+Kashmir territory (which I subsequently found was enough to entitle me
+to a pass), and also to Smithson to say that we were making the best of
+our way to join him, we “took the road” after breakfast.
+
+The carriage and the two ekkas had come in early, having been unloaded
+and then carried bodily over the “slide.”
+
+A broad and smooth road, whose gentle gradient of ascent was merely
+sufficient to keep us level with the river bank, opened up an alluring
+prospect of ease and comfort. We lay back on our comfortable cushions
+and watched the clouds as they swept over the mountains, hiding all but
+occasional glimpses of snow-streaked slopes and steep and barren
+ridges.
+
+The valley of the Jhelum between Domel and Ghari is not
+beautiful—merely wide and desolate, with steep hills rising from the
+river, their lower slopes sparsely clad with leafless scrub, their
+shoulders merging into the dull mist which hangs around their invisible
+summits.
+
+Alas! it soon became apparent that our troubles were not over. The
+cliffs above us became steeper, and the familiar boulder reappeared
+upon the road. Small landslips gave us a good deal of trouble, although
+we had no serious difficulty before reaching Ghari. Here we were told
+that a complete “solution of continuity” in the road at Mile 46 would
+prevent our reaching Chakhoti, so we reluctantly decided to remain
+where we were for the night. Although a cold and dull spring afternoon
+is not exciting at Ghari, where distractions are decidedly scanty, we
+found interest in the discovery of the Smithsons’ heavy luggage, which
+had been sent on from Rawal Pindi ages ago. Here it lay in the peaceful
+backwater of a native caravansary, piled high on a bullock-cart, whose
+placid team lay near pensively chewing the “cud of sweet and bitter
+fancy,” and apparently quite innocent of any intention of moving for a
+week or two!
+
+We extracted the charioteers from a neighbouring hut, and gave them to
+understand, by means of Sabz Ali, that hanging was the least annoyance
+they would suffer if they didn’t get under way “ek dam” at once. They
+promptly promised that their oxen—like Pegasus—should fly on the wings
+of the wind, and, having seen us safely round a corner, departed
+peacefully to eat another lotus.
+
+The luggage arrived in Srinagar towards the end of the month.
+
+Sunday morning saw us again battling with a perfect coruscation of
+landslips; so “jumpy” was it in many places that we sat with the
+carriage doors ajar, in hopes that a timely dart out might enable us to
+evade a falling rock. At Mile 46 we were held up for an hour until a
+ramp was made over a bad slide, and the carriage and ekkas were
+unloaded and got across. The landau looked for all the world like a
+great dead beetle surrounded by ants, as, man-handled by a swarm of
+coolies, it was hauled, step by step, over the improvised track. A
+landau is not at all a suitable or convenient carriage for this sort of
+work, and had we guessed what was before us we should most certainly
+have employed the handier tonga.
+
+The road to-day, cut as it was out of the steep flank of the mountain,
+was magnificent, but, in its present condition, nerve-shattering.
+Fallen boulders and innumerable mud-slides constantly forced us to get
+out and walk, while the sturdy little horses tugged the carriage
+through places where the near wheels were frequently within a few
+inches of the broken edge of the road, while far below Jhelum roared
+hungrily as he foamed by the foot of a sheer precipice.
+
+Reaching Chakhoti about four o’clock, we decided to remain there for
+the night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and
+threatening. Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one
+miles, there was no suitable place for a night’s halt until Uri,
+distant some thirteen miles and all uphill.
+
+About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the
+Jhelum, and after tea we set forth to inspect it.
+
+The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I
+confess the means of crossing it, although practised with perfect
+confidence by the natives, did not appeal to me.
+
+From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong
+ropes were stretched—the upper two parallel, and the third, about four
+feet lower, was equidistant from each.
+
+These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
+stretchers—something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
+few yards—
+
+“And up and down the people go,”
+
+
+stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper
+ones with their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised
+European to be where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the
+traveller to within a painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry
+water, before he began to slither circumspectly up the farther slope!
+
+We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro,
+passing one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm,
+and carrying loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with
+the utmost unconcern.
+
+We left Chakhoti early this morning—Tuesday—with the intention of
+getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely
+bad, and the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags.
+Of course they have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have
+been limited to very short stages, and they are in excellent hard
+condition, so that we felt it no great hardship to ask them to do
+forty-two miles: albeit to drag a heavy landau containing five people
+and a good deal of luggage for that distance, with a rise of over 2000
+feet, is a heavy demand upon a single pair of horses!
+
+The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri
+stands on a plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir
+valley.
+
+The ruins of an ancient fort rose on the near edge of the little plain.
+The Jhelum tore through a rocky gorge far below, and a dark semi-circle
+of mountains stood steeply up, their cloud-hidden summits giving
+fleeting glimpses of snow and precipice and pine-clad corries as the
+sun now and again shot through the clinging vapours.
+
+The dâk bungalow of Uri, white and clean, was most attractive, and I
+should imagine the place to be charming in summer, but as yet the short
+crisp turf is still brown from recent snow, and although hot in the
+sun, which now began to shine steadily, it was extremely cold in the
+shade, while lunch (or should I say “tiffin”?) was being got ready. I
+strolled over to the post-office to find—as usual—another urgent wire
+from Smithson several days old, beseeching me to secure my pass for
+Astor at once. Directly after lunch we set forward, and as the road on
+leaving Uri takes a long bend of some miles to the right to a point
+where the Haji Pir River is crossed, and then sweeps back along its
+right hank to a spot almost opposite the dâk bungalow, we thought that
+a short cut down to the water, which from our height seemed quite
+insignificant, and thence up to the road on the other side, would be a
+desirable stroll. As we walked down the steep path into the nullah a
+brace of red-legged partridges (chikor) rose in a great fuss, and
+sailed gaily across the river, whose roaring gained ominously in volume
+as we drew near. It soon became plain to us that everything is on a
+very big scale in this country, and that the clearness of the
+atmosphere helps to delude the unwary stranger. The little stream that
+seemed to require but an occasional stepping-stone to enable us to pass
+over dry-shod, proved in the first place to be much farther off than we
+had supposed, and when, after a hot scramble, we found ourselves on the
+bank, the stepping-stones were no more, but only here and there we saw
+the shoulders of huge rocks which doggedly threw aside the flying foam
+of a fair-sized river. It was obviously impossible to cross except by
+deep wading, but, being unwilling to own defeat, I yelled to a brown
+native on the far bank, and made signs that he should come and do beast
+of burthen. He, however, stolidly shook his head, pointed to the water,
+and then to his chest, and finally we sadly and wrathfully toiled back
+to the road we had so lightly left, and expended all our energies on
+attracting the notice of the carriage, which, having crossed the
+bridge, was crawling along the opposite face of the nullah, and when,
+after a hot three miles, we once more embedded ourselves amongst the
+cushions with a sigh of relief, we swore off short cuts for the future.
+
+We had been warned at Uri that there was a “bad place” at Mile 73, and
+sure enough, on rounding a bend, we came upon the familiar mass of
+semi-liquid red earth and a pile of boulders heaped across the road,
+the khud side of which had entirely given way. The usual crowd of
+coolies was busily engaged in trying to clear the obstruction by means
+of toothpicks and teaspoons.
+
+We quitted the carriage with a celerity engendered of much practice,
+and, having crossed the obstacle on foot, sat down to await the coming
+of our conveyance.
+
+It seemed perfectly marvellous that the heavy vehicle could be safely
+got over a jagged avalanche of earth and rock piled some eight or ten
+feet above the roadway, and having an almost sheer drop to the river
+entirely unguarded for some hundred yards, where the retaining parapet
+and even some of the road itself had gone.
+
+Amid much apparent confusion and tremendous chattering, a sort of rough
+ramp was engineered up the slip, and presently the horseless landau
+appeared borne in triumph by a mob of coolies superintended by our
+priceless Sabz Ali.
+
+For a minute we held our breath as one of the near wheels lipped the
+edge of the chasm, but the thing was judged to an inch, and in due time
+the sturdy chestnuts, the two ekkas, and all the luggage were assembled
+on the right side of what proved to be the last of the really bad
+slips.
+
+The road engineer, who arrived in great state on a motor cycle while we
+were executing the portage, told us that there were no more
+difficulties, but an officer who was going out, and whose tonga was
+checked also at the big slip, informed us that about a mile farther
+were two great boulders on the road, lying so that although a short
+vehicle such as a tonga or motor cycle could wriggle round, yet a long
+four-wheeled landau could not possibly execute the serpentine curve
+required.
+
+We therefore requisitioned a few coolies with crowbars, and set forward
+to attack the boulders. Sure enough there were two beauties, placed so
+that we could not possibly get by, until a large slice was chipped from
+the inner side of each.
+
+This done, our most excellent and skilful driver piloted his ponies
+through the narrow strait, and we felt that, at last, our troubles were
+over, and that we could breathe freely and admire at leisure the snowy
+peaks of the Kaj-nag beyond the Jhelum, and the rough wooded heights
+that frowned upon our right.
+
+I confess the relief was great, as we had endured six days of incessant
+strain on our nerves, never knowing when a turn of the road might bring
+us to an impassable break, or when the conglomerate cliffs beetling
+above might shed a boulder or two upon us!
+
+Passing the somewhat uninviting little village of Rampur, we crossed a
+torrent pouring out of a dark pine-clad gorge, and halted for tea by
+the curious ruined temple of Bhanyar. The building consists of a
+rectangular wall, cloistered on two sides of the interior and
+surrounding a small temple approached by a dilapidated flight of stone
+steps. I regret to be obliged to own that I know but a mere smattering
+of architecture. I do not feel competent therefore to discuss this, the
+first Kashmiri temple I have seen, upon its architectural merits. I
+only know that it struck me as being extremely small, and principally
+interesting from its magnificent background of shaggy forest and
+snow-capped mountain.
+
+Tea on a short smooth sward, starred with yellow colchicum, while the
+carriage, travel-stained and with one step lacking, stood on the road
+hard by, and the horses nibbled invigorating lumps of “gram” and
+molasses. Then the etna was returned to the “allo bagh” (yellow bag)
+and the tea things to the tiffin basket, and away we went along the now
+smooth and level road with only fifteen easy miles between us and
+Baramula.
+
+The vegetation had gradually grown much richer. The sparse and
+storm-buffeted pines and the rough scrub merged into a tangled mass of
+undergrowth and forest, where silver firs and deodars rose conspicuous.
+The little streams that rushed down the hillsides were fringed with
+maidenhair fern, lighted up here and there with a bunch of pink primula
+or a tiny cluster of dog violets.
+
+Jhelum had ceased from roaring, pursuing his placid path unwitting of
+the rush and fury that would befall him lower down, and by-and-by we
+emerged from the dark and forest-covered gorge into a wide basin where
+the river, now smooth and oily, reflected tall poplars and the red
+shoots of young dogwood.
+
+Through a village, round a sweep to the left, over a tract said to be
+much frequented by serpents, and then in the deepening and chilly dusk
+we made out Baramula, lying engirdled by a belt of poplars about a mile
+away.
+
+Glad were we, and probably gladder still our weary horses, to draw up
+before the uninviting-looking dâk bungalow, knowing that only
+thirty-five miles of level and open road lay now between us and
+Srinagar.
+
+The dâk bungalow of Baramula is, upon the whole, the worst we have yet
+sampled. No fire seemed able to impart any cheerfulness to the gloomy
+den we were shown into, and the dinner finally produced by the
+khansamah-kitmaghar-chowkidar (for a single tawny-bearded ruffian
+represented all these functionaries when the morning tip fell due) was
+not of an exhilarating nature. Strolling out to have a look at the town
+of Baramula, I shivered to see a heap of snow piled up against the
+wall. It snowed here, heavily, three days ago, I am told.
+
+We have not been, so far, altogether lucky in the weather. Bitter cold
+in Europe, cold at Port Saïd and Suez, chilly in the Red Sea, and wet
+at Aden! Distinctly chilly in India, excepting during the day; we seem
+to have hit off the most backward spring known here for many years. The
+Murree route, which was closed to us by snow, should have been clear a
+month earlier, and spring here seems not yet to have begun.
+
+_April_ 5.—We crept shivering to our beds last night, to be awakened at
+6 A.M. by an earthquake!
+
+I had just realised what the untoward commotion meant when I heard Jane
+from under her “resai” ask, “What _is_ the matter—is it an earthquake?”
+Almost before I could reply, she was up and away, in a fearful hurry
+and very little else, towards the open country.
+
+I followed, but finding hoar-frost on the ground and a nipping
+eagerness in the air, I went back for a “resai.” The feeling was that
+of going into one’s cabin in a breeze of wind, and the door was
+flapping about. Seizing the wrap in some haste, as I was afraid of the
+door jamming, I rejoined Jane in the open, to watch the poplars swaying
+like drunken men and the solid earth bulging unpleasantly. The shock
+lasted for three minutes, and when it seemed quite over we retired to
+our beds to try to get warm again.
+
+The morning at breakfast-time was perfectly beautiful. Baramula lay
+serenely mirrored in the silver waters of the Jhelum, its picturesque
+brown wooden houses clustering on both banks, and joining hands by
+means of a long brown wooden bridge. No signs of any unusual
+disturbance could be seen among the chattering crews of the snaky
+little boats and deep-laden “doungas” that lined the banks or furrowed
+the waters of the shining river.
+
+We left Baramula in high spirits to accomplish the five-and-thirty
+miles which still stretched between us and Srinagar. The scenery was
+quite different from anything we had yet known, for now we were in the
+broad flat valley of Kashmir, which stretches for some eighty miles
+from beyond Islamabad, on the N.E., to Baramula, planted at the neck
+where the Jhelum River, after spreading itself abroad through the
+fertile plain, concentrates to pour its many waters through the
+mountain barrier until it joins the Indus far away in Sind.
+
+A broad and level road stretched straight and white between a double
+row of stark poplars, reminding one of the poplar-guarded ways of
+Picardy; also (as in France) not only were the miles marked, but also
+the thirty-two subdivisions thereof. On the right hand the ground
+sloped slowly up in a succession of wooded heights, the foothills of
+the Pir Panjal, whose snow-crowned peaks enclose the Kashmir valley on
+the south. Opposite, through a maze of leafless trees, one caught
+occasional gleams of water where the winding reaches of the river
+flowed gently from the turquoise haze where lay the Wular Lake, and
+beyond—clear and pale in the clear, crisp air—shone a glorious range of
+snow mountains, stretching away past where we knew Srinagar must lie,
+to be lost in the distant haze where sky and mountain merged in the
+north-east.
+
+By the roadside we passed many small lakes, or “jheels,” full of duck,
+but as there was never any cover by the sides I could not see how the
+duck were to be approached.
+
+We lunched at the fascinating little bungalow at Patan (pronounced
+“Puttun”), about half-way between Baramula and Srinagar. The Rest House
+stands back from an apparently extremely populous and thriving village,
+the inhabitants whereof were all engaged in conversation of a highly
+animated kind! In the compound stood a fine group of chenar trees
+(_Platanus orientalis_) whose noble trunks and graceful branches showed
+in striking contrast to the slender stems of the poplars. The
+guide-book informed us that an ancient temple lay in ruins near by, but
+we trusted to a later visit and determined to push on. By-and-by a
+fort-crowned hill rose above the tree-tops. This we took to be Hari
+Parbat, the ancient citadel of Srinagar, and presently, through the
+poplars and the willows queer wooden huts or châlets began to appear,
+and the increasing number of men and beasts upon the road showed the
+proximity of the city.
+
+Ekkas, white-hooded, with jingling bells hung round the scraggy necks
+of their lean ponies; brown men clad in sort of night-shirts composed
+of mud-coloured rags; brown dogs, humpy cattle, and children
+innumerable, swarmed upon the causeway in ever-increasing density until
+we drew up at the custom-house, and the usual jabber took place among
+Sabz Ali, the driver, and the officials.
+
+All appeared satisfactory, however, and we were presented with bits of
+brown paper scrawled over with hieroglyphics which we took to be
+passes, and drove on, leaving the native town apparently on our left
+and making a détour through level fields and between rows of poplars,
+until we swung round and crossed the river by a fine bridge. Here we
+first got some idea of the city of Srinagar, which lay spread around
+us, bisected by the broad, but apparently far from sluggish river,
+which seems here to be about the width of the Thames at Westminster at
+high water.
+
+Tier upon tier, the rickety wooden houses crowded either bank, the
+prevailing brown being oddly lighted up by the roofs, which were
+frequently covered with deep green turf. Here and there the steep and
+peculiar dome of a Hindu temple flashed like polished silver in the
+keen sunlight, while around and beyond all rose the ring of the
+everlasting hills, their peaks clear, yet soft, against a background of
+cloudless blue.
+
+Close below us stood a remarkably picturesque pile of buildings, of a
+mixed style of architecture, yet harmonising well enough as a whole
+with its surroundings. Over it flew a great “banner with a strange
+device,” and we assumed (and rightly) that we looked upon the palace of
+His Highness Sir Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir.
+
+Crossing the river, we dived into a bit of the native town, and were
+much struck by the want of colour as compared with an Indian street.
+Everything seemed steeped in the same neutral brown—houses, boats,
+people, and dogs! Emerging from the native street, with its open
+shop-fronts and teeming life, we drove for some little way along a
+straight level road, flanked, as usual, on either side by poplars of
+great size which ran through a brown, flat field, showing traces of
+recent snow, and finally finished our two-hundred-mile drive in front
+of the one and only hotel in all Kashmir.
+
+Our two little chestnuts, which had brought us right through from
+Chakhoti to Srinagar—a distance of about seventy-eight miles—in two
+days, were as lively and fit as possible, and playfully nibbled at each
+other’s noses as they were walked off to their well-earned rest.
+
+The ekka horses, too, had brought our heavy luggage all the way from
+Abbotabad over a shocking road in the most admirable manner, and we had
+every reason to congratulate ourselves on having entrusted the
+arrangement of the whole business—the “bandobast” in native parlance—to
+our henchman Sabz Ali, who had thus proved himself an energetic and
+trustworthy organiser, and saving financier to the extent of some
+twenty rupees.
+
+I may emphasise here the importance of keeping one’s heavy baggage in
+sight, herding on the ekkas in front, if possible, and keeping a wary
+eye and a firm hand on the drivers at all halts. The Smithsons, who had
+sent on their gear from Rawal Pindi some days before we got there, did
+not receive it in Srinagar until the 22nd of April. It took about five
+weeks to do the journey, and the rifle which I was obliged to leave in
+Karachi on the 19th of March finally turned up in Srinagar, after an
+infuriating and vain expenditure of telegrams, on the 1st of May!
+
+Of course, part of the delay was due, and all was attributed, to the
+unusually bad state of the roads. The heavy storms and floods which, by
+wrecking the road, had delayed us so much, naturally checked the heavy
+transport still more; and severe congestion of bullock-carts resulted
+at all the halting-places along the route. Still, the main cause of
+delay lies in the fact that the monopoly of transport has been granted
+by the Maharajah to one Danjibhoy, who charges what he pleases, and
+takes such time over his arrangements as suits his Oriental mind.
+
+The motto over the Transport Office door might well be “_Ohne Hast—mit
+Rast_!”
+
+The other (much-cherished) monopoly in this favoured land is that
+enjoyed by Mr. Nedou, the owner of THE HOTEL in Kashmir.
+
+We were advised when at Lahore to approach Mr. Nedou (who winters in
+his branch there) with many salaams and much “kow-towing,” in order to
+make a certainty of being received into his select circle in Kashmir.
+The great man was quite kind, and promised that he would do his best
+for us; and he was as good as his word, as we were immediately welcomed
+and permitted to add two to the four persons already inhabiting the
+hostelry. I confess that, even after a dâk bungalow of the most
+inferior quality—such as that at Ghari Habibullah or Baramula—Mr.
+Nedou’s hotel fails to impress one with an undue sense of luxury. In
+fact, it presented an even desolate and forlorn appearance with its
+gloomy and chilly passages and cheerless bed-vaults.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+
+
+We learnt that the earthquake of this morning was far more than the
+ordinary affair that we had taken it to be. The hotel showed signs of a
+struggle for existence. Large cracks in the plaster, spanned by strips
+of paper gummed across to show if they widened, and little heaps of
+crumbled mortar on the floors, betrayed that the grip of mother earth
+had been no feeble one.
+
+Telegrams from Lahore inquired if the rumour was true that Srinagar had
+been much damaged, and reported an awful destruction and loss of life
+at Dharmsala. I think if we had fully known what an earthquake really
+meant, we should not have so calmly gone back to bed again!
+
+The advent of Mrs. Smithson upon the scene relieved a certain anxiety
+which we had felt as to immediate plans. The idea of rushing into Astor
+had been given up, we found—not so much on account of our tardy
+arrival, permits being still obtainable, but on account of the
+impossibility—at any rate for ladies—of forcing the high passes which
+the late season has kept safely sealed.
+
+Walter, having pawed the ground in feverish impatience for some days,
+had gone off into a region said to be full of bara singh; so we decided
+to possess our souls in patience for a little time, and remain quietly
+in Srinagar. Accordingly, instead of unpacking our “detonating
+musquetoons,” we exhumed our evening clothes, and began life in
+Srinagar with a cheerful dinner at the Residency.
+
+_Friday, April 7th_.—We are evidently somewhat premature here as far as
+climate goes. The weather since our arrival has become cold and grey,
+and we have seemed on the verge of another snowfall. However, the clerk
+of the weather has refrained from such an insult, contenting himself
+with sending a breeze down upon us fresh from the “Roof of the World,”
+and laden with the chilly moisture of the snows. We have consumed great
+quantities of wood, vainly endeavouring to warm up the den which Mr.
+Nedou has let to us as a sitting-room. Fires are not the fashion in the
+public rooms—probably because the only “public” besides ourselves
+consist of one or two enterprising sportsmen, who doubtless are
+acclimatising themselves to camp life amid the snows, and have implored
+the proprietor to save his fuel and keep the outer doors open.
+
+Yesterday, we went on a shopping excursion down the river, our “hansom”
+being a long narrow sort of canoe, propelled and dexterously steered by
+four or five paddlers, whose mode of _digging_ along by means of their
+heart-shaped blades reminded me not a little of the Kroo boys paddling
+a fish-canoe off Elmina on the Gold Coast.
+
+We embarked close to the back of the hotel, at the Chenar Bagh, and
+went gaily enough down the strong current of what we took to be an
+affluent of the Jhelum. As a matter of fact, the European quarter forms
+an island, low and perfectly flat, the banks of which are heaped into a
+high dyke or “bund,” washed on one side (the south) by the main river,
+and on the other by the Sunt-i-kul Canal, down which we have been
+paddling.
+
+The river life was most fascinating—crowds of heavy doungas lay moored
+along the banks—their long, low bodies covered in by matting, and their
+extremities sloping up into long peaked platforms for the crew.
+These—many of them women and children—were all clothed in
+neutral-tinted gowns, the only bit of colour being an occasional note
+of red or white in the puggaree of the men or skull-cap of the
+children. The married women invariably wore whity-brown veils over the
+head. The wooden houses that lined the banks were all in the general
+low scheme of colour, but a peculiar charm was added by the roofs
+covered in thick, green turf.
+
+Srinagar has been called the “Venice of the East,” and, inasmuch as
+waterways form the main thoroughfares in both, there is a certain
+resemblance. Shikaras (the Kashmiri canoes) are first-cousins to
+gondolas—rather poor relations perhaps; both are dingy and clumsy in
+appearance, and both are managed with an extraordinary dexterity by
+their navigators.
+
+Both cities are “smelly,” though Venice, even at its worst, stands many
+degrees above the incredible filth of Srinagar.
+
+Finally—both cities are within sight of snowy ranges; although it seems
+hardly fair to place in comparison the majestic range that overhangs
+Srinagar and the somewhat distant and sketchy view of the Alps as seen
+from Venice.
+
+Here, I think, all resemblance ceases. The charm of Venice lies in its
+architecture, its art treasures, its historical memories, and its
+interesting people.
+
+Srinagar has no architecture in particular, being but a picturesque
+chaos of tumble-down wooden shanties. It has no history worth speaking
+of, and its inhabitants are—and apparently have always been—a poor lot.
+
+Shopping in Srinagar is not pure and unadulterated joy. Down the river,
+spanned by its seven bridges, amidst a network of foul-smelling alleys,
+you are dragged to the emporiums of the native merchants whose
+advertisements flare upon the river banks, and who, armed with cards,
+and possessed of a wonderful supply of the English language, swarm
+around the victim at every landing-place, and almost tear one another
+in pieces while striving to obtain your custom.
+
+Samad Shall, in a conspicuous hoarding, announces that he can—and
+will—supply you with anything you may desire, including money—for he
+proclaims himself to be a banker.
+
+Ganymede, in his own opinion, is the only wood-carver worth attention.
+
+Suffering Moses is the prince of workers in lacquer, according to his
+own showing.
+
+The nose of the boat grates up against the slimy step of the
+landing-place, and you plunge forthwith into Babel.
+
+“Will you come to my shop?”
+
+“No—you are going somewhere else.”
+
+“After?”
+
+“Perhaps!”
+
+“To-day, master?”
+
+“No—no time to-day.”
+
+“To-morrow, then—I got very naice kyriasity [curiosity]—to-morrow,
+master—what time?”
+
+“Oh! get out! and leave me alone.”
+
+“I send boat for you—ten o’clock to-morrow?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Twelve o’clock?” &c. &c.
+
+After a short experience of Kashmiri pertinacity and business methods,
+you cease from politeness and curtly threaten the river.
+
+Certainly the Kashmiri are exceedingly clever and excellent workers in
+many ways. Their modern embroideries (the old shawl manufacture is
+totally extinct) are beautiful and artistic. Their wood-carving, almost
+always executed in rich brown walnut, is excellent; and their _old_
+papier-mâché lacquer is very good. The tendency, however, is
+unfortunately to abandon their own admirable designs, and assimilate or
+copy Western ideas as conveyed in very doubtful taste by English
+visitors.
+
+The embroidery has perhaps kept its individuality the best, although
+the trail of the serpent as revealed in “quaint” Liberty or South
+Kensington designs is sometimes only too apparent. Certain
+plants—Lotus, Iris, Chenar leaf, and so-called Dal Lake leaves, as well
+as various designs taken from the old Kashmir shawls, give scope to the
+nimble brains and fingers of the embroiderers, who, by-the-bye, are all
+male.
+
+Their colours, almost invariably obtained from native dyes, are
+excellent, and they rarely make a mistake in taste.
+
+The coarser work in wool on cushions, curtains, and thick white numdahs
+is most effective and cheap.
+
+Curiously enough, the best of these numdahs (which make capital rugs or
+bath blankets) are made in Yarkand; and Stein, in his _Sand-Buried
+Cities of Kotan_, found in ancient documents, of the third century or
+so, “the earliest mention of the felt-rugs or ‘numdahs’ so familiar to
+Anglo-Indian use, which to this day form a special product of Kotan
+home industry, and of which large consignments are annually exported to
+Ladak and Kashmir.”
+
+The manufacture of carpets is receiving attention, and Messrs. Mitchell
+own a large carpet factory. Designs and colours are good, but the
+prices are not low enough to enable them to compete with the cheap
+Indian makes; nor, I make bold to say, is the quality such as to
+justify high prices. The shop of Mohamed Jan is well worth a visit, for
+three good reasons—first, because his Oriental carpets from Penjdeh and
+Khiva are of the best; second, because his house is one of the first
+specimens of a high-class native dwelling existing; and third, because
+he never worries his customers nor touts for orders—but, then, he is a
+Persian, and not a Kashmiri!
+
+The famous shawls which fetched such prices in England in early
+Victorian days are no longer valued, having suffered an eclipse similar
+to that undergone by the pictures of certain early Victorian Royal
+Academicians, and the loss of the shawl trade was a severe blow to
+Kashmir. With the exception of occasional specimens of these shawls,
+which, however, can be bought cheaper at sales in London, there are no
+_old_ embroideries to be got.
+
+The wood-carving industry, too, is quite modern; but, although of great
+excellence and ingenuity in manipulation, it does not appeal to me,
+being too florid and copious in its application of design. A restless
+confusion of dragons from Leh, lotus from the Dal Lake, and the
+ever-present chenar leaf, hobnob together with British—very
+British—crests and monograms on the tops of tables and the seats of
+chairs—portions of the furniture that should be left severely plain.
+
+British taste is usually bad, and to it, and not to Kashmiri
+initiative, must be ascribed the production of such exotic works as
+bellows embellished with chaste designs of lotus-buds, and afternoon
+tea-tables flaunting coats-of-arms (doubtless dating from the
+Conquest), beautifully carved in high relief just where the tray—the
+bottom of which is probably ornamented with a flowing design of raised
+flowers—should rest!
+
+The lacquered papier-maché work—often extremely pretty when left to its
+own proper Cabul pattern or other native design—aims too often at
+attracting the eye of the mighty hunter by introducing an inappropriate
+markhor’s head. The old lacquer-work is difficult to get, and, when
+obtained, is high in price; but comparison between the old and the new
+shows the gulf that lies between the loving and skilful labour of the
+artist and the stupid and generally “scamped” achievement of him who
+merely “knocks off” candlesticks and tobacco-boxes by the score, to
+sell to the English visitor—papier-maché being superseded by wood, and
+lacquer by paint.
+
+The workers in silver, copper, and brass are many, but their
+productions are usually rough and inartistic. Genuine old beaten
+metal-work is almost unobtainable, although occasionally desirable
+specimens from Leh do find their way into the Srinagar shops.
+
+Chinese porcelain is to be got, usually in the form of small bowls; but
+it is not of remarkably good quality, and the prices asked for it are
+higher than in London.
+
+The jewellers’ work is very far behind that of India. Amethysts of pale
+colour and yellow topaz are cheap. Fine turquoise do not come into
+Kashmir, but plenty of the rough stones (as well as imitations) are to
+be found, which, owing to a transitory fashion, are priced far above
+their intrinsic value. They come from Thibet.
+
+A great deal of a somewhat soft and ugly-coloured jade is sent from
+Yarkand, also agates and carnelian; beads of these are strung into
+rather uncouth necklets, which may be bought for half the sum first
+asked.
+
+Bargaining is an invariable necessity in all shopping in Kashmir, as
+everywhere else in the East, where the market value of an article is
+not what it costs to produce, but what can be squeezed for it out of
+the purse of the—usually—ignorant purchaser.
+
+Three things are essential to the successful prosecution of shopping in
+Srinagar:—
+
+(1) Unlimited time.
+
+(2) A command of emphatic language, sufficient to impress the native
+mind with the need for keeping to the point.
+
+(3) A liver in such thorough working order as to insure an
+extraordinary supply of good temper.
+
+Without all these attributes the acquisition of objects of “bigotry and
+vertue” in Srinagar is attended with pain and tribulation.
+
+The descent of the river is accomplished with ease and rapidity, but
+_revocare gradum_ involves much hard paddling, with many pants and
+grunts; and it was both cold and dark when we again lay alongside the
+bank of the Chenar Bagh, and scurried up the slippery bund to the
+hotel, with scarcely time to dress for dinner.
+
+_Sunday, 9th April_.—Friday was a horrible day—rainy, dull, and cold;
+but a thrill of excitement was sent through us by the news that Walter
+has shot two fine bara singh! Charlotte (who is nothing if not a keen
+sportswoman) was filled with zeal and the spirit of emulation, so we
+resolved to dash off down the river to Bandipur, join Walter—who has
+now presumably joined the ranks of the unemployed, being only permitted
+by the Game Laws to kill two stags—and take our pick of the remaining
+“Royals,” which, in our vivid imaginations, roamed in dense flocks
+through the nullahs beyond Bandipur!
+
+All Friday and yesterday, therefore, were devoted to preparation. I had
+already, through the kindness of Major Wigram, secured a shikari, who
+immediately demonstrated his zeal and efficiency by purchasing a couple
+of bloodthirsty knives and a huge bottle of Rangoon oil at my expense.
+I pointed out that one “skian-dhu” seemed to me sufficient for
+“gralloching” purposes, but he said two were better for bears. My
+acquaintance with bears being hitherto confined to Regent’s Park, I
+bowed to his superior knowledge and forethought.
+
+A visit to Cockburn’s agency resulted in the hire of the “boarded
+dounga” _Cruiser_, which the helpful Mr. Cockburn procured for us, in
+which to go down the river; also a couple of tents for ourselves with
+tent furniture, one for the servants, and a cooking tent.
+
+The local bootmaker or “chaplie-wallah” appeared, as by magic, on the
+scene, and chaplies were ordered. These consist of a sort of leather
+sandal strapped over soft leather boots or moccasins. They are
+extremely comfortable for walking on ordinary ground, but perfectly
+useless for hill work, even when the soles are studded with nails. The
+hideous but necessary grass shoe is then your only wear. The grass
+shoe, which is made as required by the native, is an intricate
+contrivance of rice straw, kept in position by a straw twist which is
+hauled taut between the big and next toe, and the end expended round
+some of the side webbing. The cleft sock and woollen boot worn
+underneath keep the feet warm, but do not always prevent discomfort and
+even much pain if the cords are not properly adjusted. However, the
+remedy is simple. Tear off the shoe, using such language as may seem
+appropriate to the occasion, throw it at the shikari’s head, and order
+another pair to be made “ek dam”! Jane and I each purchased a yakdan, a
+sort of roughly-made leather box or trunk, strong, and of suitable size
+for either pony or coolie transport. Our wardrobe was stowed in these
+and secured by padlocks, and the cooking gear, together with a certain
+amount of stores in the shape of grocery, bread, and a couple of
+bottles of whisky were safely housed in a pair of large covered creels
+or “kiltas.”
+
+Each of the party provided him or herself with a khudstick, consisting
+of a strong and tough shaft about five feet long, tapering slightly
+towards the base, where it is shod with a chisel-shaped iron end.
+
+Our staff of retainers had now been brought up to five—the shikari,
+Ahmed Bot, having procured a satellite, known as the chota shikari, a
+youth of not unprepossessing appearance, but whose necessity in our
+scheme of existence I had not quite determined. Ahmed Bot, however, was
+of opinion that all sahibs who wanted sport required two shikaris, so I
+imagined that while I was to be engaged with one in pursuit of bara
+singh, the other would employ himself in “rounding up” a few tigers for
+the next day’s sport in another direction. Ahmed Bot agreed with me in
+the main, but did not feel at all sure about the tigers—he proposed
+ibex.
+
+The fifth wheel to our coach was a strikingly ugly person, like a
+hippopotamus, whose plainness was not diminished by a pair of enormous
+goggles; this was the harmless necessary sweeper, that pariah among
+domestics, whose usefulness is undreamed of out of India.
+
+After dinner last night we left the hotel, truly thankful to shake the
+dust of its gloomy precincts from our feet, and sought our boats, which
+were moored in the Chenar Bagh. How snug and bright the “ship” seemed
+after the murky corridors of Nedou! And yet the _Cruiser_ was not much
+to boast of, really, in the way of luxury.
+
+Let me describe a typical boarded dounga. Upon a long, low,
+flat-bottomed hull, which tapered to a sharp point at bow and stern,
+was raised a light wooden superstructure with a flat roof, upon which
+the passengers could sit. The interior was divided off into some
+half-a-dozen compartments, a vestibule or outer cabin held boxes, &c.,
+and through it one passed into the dining or parlour cabin, which
+opened again to two little bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms. There
+was no furniture to speak of, but we had hired from Cockburn all that
+we required for the trip.
+
+The servants, as well as the crew of the dounga, were all stowed in a
+“tender” known as the cook boat—no one, except for navigating duties,
+having any business on board the “flagship.”
+
+Charlotte Smithson had a smaller ship than ours—a light wooden frame,
+which supported movable matting screens or curtains, taking the place
+of our wooden cabins. The matted dounga looked as though it might be
+chilly, particularly if a strong wind came to play among the rather
+draughty-looking mats which were all that our poor friend had between
+her and a cold world!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+OUR FIRST CAMP
+
+
+The fleet, consisting of four sail (I use this word in its purely
+conventional sense, a dounga having no more sails than a battleship),
+got under way about 5 A.M., while it was yet but barely daylight, and
+so we were well clear of Srinagar when we emerged from our cosy cabins
+into a world of clean air and brilliant colour.
+
+The broad smooth current of the Jhelum flowed steadily and calmly
+through a level plain, bearing us along at a comfortable four miles an
+hour, the crew doing little more than keep steerage-way with pole and
+paddle.
+
+Beyond the green, tree-studded levels to the south, the range of the
+Pir Panjal spread wide its array of dazzling peaks, while on the right
+towered the mountains which enclose the Sind Valley, culminating in the
+square-headed mass of Haramok. In the clear air the snows seemed quite
+close, although we knew that the snow-line was really some three
+thousand feet above the level of the valley.
+
+A day like this, as we sit on the little roof of our floating home
+watching the silent river unfold its shining curves, goes far to
+obliterate the memory of the fuss and worry inseparable from the exodus
+from Srinagar. After lunch we tied up for a while, and I took my gun on
+shore to try and pick up a few of the duck that dotted the waters of
+the little lakes or jheels which lay flashing amid the hillocks beyond
+the river banks. The shores of these being perfectly bare and open, it
+was obviously impossible to escape the keenly observant eyes of the
+duck, which appeared, unlike all other birds in Kashmir, to retain
+their customary wariness.
+
+Crouching low amid the furrows of a newly-ploughed field, I sent the
+shikari with a knot of natives to the far side of the water, whence
+they advanced in open line, splashing and shouting.
+
+Presently, with much fuss and indignant quacking, a cloud of duck rose,
+and, circling after their fashion, as though reluctant to quit their
+resting-place, gave me several chances of a long shot before, working
+high into the air, they departed with loud expostulation to some
+quieter haunt.
+
+Later in the afternoon we tied up to the bank for the night near a
+large jheel, where we all landed, Charlotte to try a rifle which she
+had borrowed, and I, if possible, to slay a few more duck, while Jane
+sat peacefully on a bank and enjoyed the glorious sunset.
+
+The bag having been swelled by the addition of another dozen
+“specimens”—obtained by the same manoeuvres as before—we strolled back
+to our ships in the luminous dusk, visions of roast “canard” floating
+seductively before our mental vision.
+
+There proved to be several varieties of duck among the countless flocks
+which I saw, notably mallard, teal, pochard, and shoveller. Likewise
+there were many coots, while herons, disturbed in their meditations by
+the untoward racket, flapped heavily away with disgusted squawks.
+
+Jane is getting along remarkably well with her Hindustani. I have just
+found her diary, and hasten to give an extract:—
+
+“Woke up very early; much bitten by pice. Tom started off to try and
+shoot a burra sahib, as he hears and hopes they’ve not yet shed all
+their horns.”
+
+“He really looked very nice in his new Pushtoo suit, with putty on his
+legs and chaplains on his feet…. His chickory walked in front, carrying
+his bandobast.”
+
+“9 A.M.—Sat down to my solitary breakfast of poached ekkas and paysandu
+tonga, with excellent chuprassies (something like scones). After
+breakfast, tried on my new kilta, which I have had made quite short for
+walking. I generally prefer walking to being carried in a pagdandy.”
+
+“Then took another lesson in Hindustani from my murghi, though I really
+think I hardly require it! My attention a good deal distracted by the
+antics of a pair of bul-buls (not at all the same as our coo-coos) in
+the jungle overhead.”
+
+“7 P.M.—T. returned after what he called a blank blank day. He found
+some bheesties (one of them a chikor ram or wild ghât) chewing the khud
+on a precipitous dâk.”
+
+“They were rather far off, about a mile he thinks, but he couldn’t get
+any nearer owing to a frightful ghari-wallah with deep piasses which
+lay between, so he put up his ornithoptic sight for 2000 yards and
+‘pumped lead’ into the bheesties for half-an-hour.”
+
+“He says he _thinks_ he hit one, but they all went away—as his chickory
+remarked—‘ek dam,’ and Tom agreed with him.”
+
+“He fell into a budmash on his way home and was half-drowned, but the
+chickory, assisted by a friendly chota-hazri, managed to pull him out …
+quite an eventful day!”
+
+“10 P.M.—The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in. It looks
+as if it had been dead for weeks, but the doolie, who found it, says
+that in this climate a few hours is sufficient to obliterate a body….
+Anyhow the head and tail seem all right…. Tom says the proper thing to
+do is to measure something—he can’t quite remember whether it is the
+horns or the tail, but the latter seems the more remarkable, so we
+measured that, and found it to be 3 feet 4 inches.”
+
+“By a little judicious pulling, the chickory, who knows all about
+measuring things, elongated it to 4 feet 3 inches.”
+
+“This, he says, is a ‘_Record_’—how nice!”
+
+_Wednesday, April 12._—The place where we tied up was not far from the
+point where the Jhelum expands into the Wular Lake—a broad expanse of
+water, some seven or eight miles wide in places, which holds the proud
+record of being the largest lake in all India.
+
+The mountains rise steeply from its northern shores, and from their
+narrow glens, squalls swift and strong are said frequently to sweep
+over the open water, particularly in the afternoons. The bold sailormen
+of Kashmir are not conspicuous for nautical daring—in fact their
+flat-bottomed arks, top-heavy and unwieldy, destitute alike of anchor
+and rudder, are not fit to cope with either wind or wave; they
+therefore aim at punting hurriedly across the danger space as soon
+after dawn as may be—panting with exertion and terror, they hustle
+across the smooth and waveless water, invoking at every breath the
+protection of local saints.
+
+Long before we had left our beds, and blissfully unconscious of our
+awful danger, we were striking out for Bandipur, which haven we safely
+reached about 8 A.M. on a still and glorious morning.
+
+Then came the business of collecting coolies and ponies, and loading
+them up with the tents and lesser baggage under the direction of Sabz
+Ali and the shikari.
+
+By nine o’clock we were off. Charlotte and Jane, mounted astride a
+brace of native ponies, led the way, and, in ragged array, the rest of
+the procession followed. A quarter of a mile from the landing-place,
+clustered at the foot of a steep little hill—a spur from the higher
+ranges—lies the village of Bandipur, dirty and picturesque, with, its
+rickety-looking wooden houses, and its crowded little bazaar. It is a
+place of some importance in Kashmir, being the starting-point for the
+Astor country and Gilgit—and here the sahib on shikar bent, obtains
+coolies and ponies to take him over the Tragbal Pass into Gurais. A
+post and telegraph office stands proudly in the middle of the little
+village, and behind it lies a range of “godowns” filled with stores for
+the use of a flying column should the British Raj require to send
+troops quickly along the Gilgit road.
+
+Passing through into the open country, we found ourselves on a good
+road—good, that is to say, for riding or marching, as no roads in
+Kashmir are adapted for wheeled traffic excepting the main artery from
+Baramula to Srinagar, and the greater portion of the route from
+Srinagar to Gulmarg. This road we followed up a gradually narrowing
+valley, and over a brawling little river, until at Kralpura the Gilgit
+road begins the steep ascent to the Tragbal by a series of wide zigzags
+up the face of a mountain. The pass which we should have had to tackle,
+had we carried out our original intention of going into Astor for
+markhor and ibex, is nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, and is still
+securely and implacably closed to all but the hardiest sportsmen. A
+short cut, which we took up the hill face, led us through a rough scrub
+of berberis and wild daphne (the former just showing green and the
+latter in flower) until, somewhat scant of breath, we regained the
+road, and followed it to the left up a gorge. As the mountains closed
+in on either side, we began to look out for the camp, which we knew was
+not far up the nullah. Presently, turning off the Gilgit road, along a
+track to the left, we came upon Walter—bearded like the pard—a pard
+which had left off shaving for about a week. He was pensively sitting
+on a big sun-warmed boulder, beguiling the time while awaiting us by
+contemplating the antics of a large family of monkeys, which he pointed
+out to Jane, to her great joy.
+
+Tender inquiries as to camp and consequent lunch revealed the sad fact
+that some miles of exceedingly rough path yet lay betwixt us and the
+haven where we would be.
+
+So we pricked forward, along a sort of cattle track, across dirty
+snow-filled little gullies, and over rock-strewn slopes, until the
+white gleam of Walter’s tent showed clear on its perch atop of a
+flat-roofed native hut.
+
+Crossing the stream which tumbled down the valley, by a somewhat
+“wobbly” bridge, and picking our way through the mixen which forms the
+approach to every well-appointed hut, we arrived upon the roof which
+supported the tent. This we achieved without any undue trouble, the
+building, like most “gujar” homes, being constructed on the side of a
+hill sufficiently steep to obviate the necessity for any back wall—the
+rear of the roof springing directly from the hillside. A Gujar village,
+owing to this peculiarity of construction, always looks oddly like a
+deposit of great half-open oysters clinging to the face of the hill.
+
+After a welcome lunch, the ladies both pronounced decidedly against
+remaining in or near the highly-scented precincts of the village. The
+argument that there was no flat ground excepting roofs to be seen was
+overruled; so Walter and I climbed a neighbouring ridge, and selected a
+site on the crest.
+
+It was not, certainly, a very good site for a camp, as it was so narrow
+that the unwary might easily step over the edge on either side, and
+toboggan gracefully either back on top of the aforesaid roof, or
+forward into a very rocky-bedded stream which employed its superfluous
+energy in tossing some frayed and battered logs from boulder to
+boulder, and which would have rejoiced greatly in doing the same to a
+fallen nestling from the eyry above.
+
+Neither was the ridge level, and our tents were pitched at such an
+angle that the slumberer whose grasp of the bed-head relaxed
+
+“In the mist and shadow of sleep”
+
+
+was brought to wakefulness by finding his toes gently sliding out into
+the nipping and eager air of night.
+
+The holding-ground for the tent-pegs was not all that could be desired,
+and visions of our tents spreading their wings in the gale and
+vanishing into space haunted us.
+
+No—it was not an ideal camping-ground, and Jane, whose rosy dreams of
+camping in Kashmir had pictured her little white canvas home set up in
+a flowery mead by the side of a purling brook, gazed upon the rugged
+slopes which rose around—the cold snow gleaming through the shaggy
+pine-trees—with a shiver and a distinct air of disapproval.
+
+It grew more than chilly too, as the sun dipped early behind the ridge
+that rose jealous between us and the western light, and an icy breeze
+from the snow came stealing down the gorge and whispering among the
+taller tree-tops in the nullah at our feet.
+
+We were about 1500 feet above the Wular Lake, and snow lay in thick
+patches within a few yards of our tents, and had obviously only melted
+quite recently from the site of the camp, leaving more clammy mud about
+the place than we really required.
+
+As it is reasonable to suppose that the bilingual lady who composes the
+fashion columns of the _Daily Horror_ is most anxious to know how the
+fair sex was accoutred at our dinner party that night, I hasten to
+inform her that Charlotte was gowned in an elegant confection of Puttoo
+of a simply indescribable nuance of _crême de boue_—the train,
+extremely décolletée at the lower end, cunningly revealing at every
+turn glimpses of an enchanting pair of frou-frou putties.
+
+The neat bottines, _à la_ Diane Chasseresse, took a charming touch of
+lightness from the aluminium nails which decorated the “uppers” with a
+quaint and original Dravidian cornice.
+
+She carried a spring bouquet of wild onions _en branche_—ornaments (of
+course), diamonds.
+
+Every one remarked that Jane was simply too lovely for words, as, with
+the sweet simplicity of an _ingénue, en combinaison_ with the craft of
+a Machiavella (I beg to point out that I know my Italian genders), she
+draped her lissom form in the clinging folds of an enormous habit _de
+peau de brebis_—portions of ear and the tip of her nose tilted over the
+edge of the deep turned-up collar, which, on one side, supported the
+coquettish droop of the hairy “Tammy” that, dexterously pinned to the
+spikes of a diamond fender, gave a _clou_ to the entire “_sac
+d’artifice_.”
+
+Walter, having already shot two bara singh and a serow, came under the
+“statute of limitations” of the Kashmir Game Laws, and had to sound the
+“cease firing” as regards these animals; but Charlotte and I, having
+“khubbar” of game, started at 7 A.M. in pursuit. She, attended by
+Walter and in tow of Asna (the best shikari in all Kashmir), followed
+up the nullah which lay to our right, while I deflected to the north.
+Having donned grass shoes, I started off up a very steep slope which
+rose directly behind the camp. Reaching snow within a few minutes of
+leaving my tent, I was glad to find it hard and the going good, the
+early sun not yet having had time to soften and destroy the crisp
+surface.
+
+Up and up we toiled, I puffing like any grampus—partly by reason of not
+yet being in good condition, and partly on account of the height, which
+was probably nearly 9000 feet above sea level. As we rose to the
+shoulder of the hill the gradient became much easier, and I had leisure
+to admire the panorama that stretched around the snowy ridge, which
+fell away abruptly on either side through dense pine forests. The day
+was quite glorious…. The sun, blazing in a cloudless sky, cast sharp
+steel-blue shadows where rock or tree stood between the snow and his
+nobility. The white peaks that rose around in marvellous array seemed
+so near in the bright air that it seemed as though one could see the
+smallest creature moving on their distant slopes. But there was little
+life observable in this still and silent world—nothing but an
+occasional pair of crows flapping steadily over the woods, or a far
+vulture circling at a giddy height in the “blue dome of the air.”
+Silence everywhere, except for the distant and perpetual voice of many
+waters murmuring in the unseen depths below.
+
+To the south—showing clear above the serrated back of the ridge beyond
+the camp—stood the Pir Panjal; pale ivory in the pale horizon below the
+sun. At the foot of the valley up which we had come yesterday, and
+partly screened by the intruding buttresses of its enfolding hills, the
+Wular Lake lay a shimmering shield of molten silver.
+
+In front, the sheeted mountains which guard Gurais and flank the icy
+portals of the Tragbal stood, a series of glistening slopes and
+cold-crowned precipices, while to the east Haramok reared his 17,000
+feet into a threefold peak of snowy majesty.
+
+It was a sight to thank God for, and to remember with joy all the days
+of one’s life. Doubtless there are many views as wonderful in this
+lovely land, but this was the first, and therefore not to be effaced
+nor its memory dimmed by anything that may come after.
+
+The shikari had not climbed the mountain’s brow to waste time over
+scenery; so, having apparently gone as far as he wanted on the ridge,
+he plunged down among the silver firs to the right, and I, with my
+heart in my mouth, went after him. At first it seemed to the
+inexperienced that we were slithering down the most awful places, and
+that, should the snow give way, I should have to swiftly embrace the
+nearest tree to avoid being shot down, a human avalanche, farther than
+I cared to think. However, I soon found it was all right. A welcome
+halt for lunch brought the tiffin coolie to the front. A blanket spread
+upon the hard snow at the foot of a fir made an excellent seat, and a
+cold roast teal, an apple, and a small flask of whisky were soon
+exhumed from the basket. Water, or rather the want of it, was a
+difficulty, for I was uncommonly thirsty, and no sign of any water was
+to be seen. A judicious blending of the dry teal with bits of succulent
+apple overcame the drought, and the half-hour for refreshment passed
+all too quickly.
+
+The men considered it now time to get up some “shikar,” so they
+invented a bear. This was exciting! They had separated (there were four
+of them) in search of traces of bara singh, &c., and some one found the
+bear, or its den, or a lock of its wool—I really couldn’t quite
+ascertain which—but fearful excitement was the immediate result.
+
+A consultation took place in frenzied whispers. My rifle was peeled
+from its case, and we proceeded to scramble stealthily down a horribly
+steep face much broken by rocks. The shikari being in front with my
+rifle over his shoulder, I was favoured with frequent glimpses down its
+ugly black barrel as I, like Jill, “came tumbling after,” and I
+rejoiced that all the cartridges were safely stowed in my own pocket.
+Well! we searched like conspirators for that bear, peeped round rocks
+and peered into holes, and anxiously eyed all possible and impossible
+places where a bear might be supposed to reside, but there was no bear;
+and at length we arrived on the bank of the torrent which rioted
+noisily down the bottom of the nullah.
+
+I now began to realise that plunging about in snow, often over one’s
+knees, and scrambling among the fallen tree-trunks and great rocks
+selected by the torrent to make its bed, was distinctly tiring work!
+
+Presently we came to a bridge over the river. It consisted of a single
+log, and appeared extremely slender. The stream was not deep enough to
+drown a man, but, all the same, a slip, sending one into the foaming
+water among a particularly large and hard collection of boulders,
+seemed most undesirable, and I stepped across, like Agag, delicately,
+carefully balancing myself with a khudstick. The men came prancing over
+as if they were on a good high-road, the careless ease with which they
+made the passage bordering on impertinence! I reflected, however, that
+sheep, and such like beasts of humble brain, can stroll upon the brink
+of gruesome precipices without any fear of falling, and my self-respect
+returned.
+
+After another half-hour of stiff scrambling I sat down to rest awhile,
+leaving the men to spy the neighbourhood. Of course they had to find
+something, so this time they found a “serow”—a somewhat scarce beast. I
+awaited the coming of the serow at various coigns of vantage where they
+said it was bound to pass, while the four men surrounded it from
+different directions. Finally, like the Levite, it passed by on the
+other side—at least I never saw it. The shikari afterwards informed me,
+in confidence, that it was, like the inexcusable baby in _Peter
+Simple_, “a very little one.”
+
+We now made the best of our way down the nullah, and when an apology
+for a path became apparent I rejoiced greatly, and followed it along
+its corkscrew course until the camp came suddenly into view as we
+topped a spur, which gave the path a final excuse for dragging me up a
+stiff two hundred feet, and then sending me down a knee-shaking
+descent, for no apparent reason but pure “cussedness.”
+
+Charlotte had got home just before me, having seen nothing to shoot at.
+She, too, seemed anxious for tea!
+
+During the day Sabz Ali had been doing his level best to improve the
+position in our sleeping-tent. The camp-beds had stood at such an angle
+that it was almost impossible to avoid sliding gradually into the outer
+darkness, but S.A. had scraped out earth from the head, and filled up a
+terrace at the foot, in a way which gave us hope of sound sleep. Our
+things had been carefully stowed, too, and a sort of hole scooped for
+the bath. Luxury stared us in the face!
+
+The sunset certainly was a little dull last night, but we were quite
+unprepared for the dreary aspect of Dame Nature to which we awoke this
+morning. It was raining very heavily, and a dense pall of mist hung low
+among the pines, giving an impression of melancholy durability.
+
+There was obviously nothing to do but exist as cheerfully as might be
+until the weather improved. The wet had shrunk canvas and rope gear
+till the tent-guys were as taut as fiddle-strings; and as it did not
+seem to have occurred to any of the servants to attend to this, an
+immediate tour of the camp had to be undertaken, in “rubbers” and
+waterproofs, to slack off guys and inspect the drainage system, as we
+had no wish to have our earthen floor—already sufficiently cold and
+clammy—turned into an absolute swamp.
+
+These things done, we scuttled and slid down to the mess tent, and
+breakfasted as best we might; and the best was surprisingly good,
+considering the difficulties the wretched servants must have had in
+cooking anything in their wet lair, where the miserable fire of damp
+sticks produced apparently little but acrid smoke.
+
+We passed a dismal day, as, wrapped in our warmest clothes, we sat upon
+our beds watching the rain turn to snow, then to hail and sleet, and
+finally back to rain again; while the ever-changing wisps of grey mist
+gathered thick in the glens, or “put forth an arm and crept from pine
+to pine.”
+
+Towards evening the clouds broke a little, and the forest-clad steeps
+appeared through them, powdered thickly with new snow. Walter and I
+sallied forth from our sodden tents and held a council of war in the
+mud. It was decided to quit our somewhat unsatisfactory and precarious
+position early to-morrow, if fine, as the weather looked so nasty, and
+a squall of wind might have awkward consequences.
+
+_Friday, April_ 14.—A very fairly fine morning enabled us to strike
+camp yesterday, and get the baggage off in good time. The Smithsons
+decided to make for the jheels near the river, in order to give the
+duck a final worry round before the season closes on the 15th.
+
+My shikari having reported a good bara singh in a small nullah off the
+Erin, I arranged to go in search of him. The march down to Bandipur was
+a short and easy one, and we got comfortably settled on board our boats
+early in the afternoon. About sunset the clouds gathered thick over the
+hills which we had left, and a thunderstorm broke, its preliminary
+squall throwing the crews of our fleet into a fearful fuss, and sending
+them on to the bank with extra ropes and holdfasts to make all secure.
+An elderly lady, with a dirty red cap and very untidy ringlets,
+superintended the business with much clamour. We take her to be the
+wife or grandmother (not sure which) of the skipper.
+
+It was with an undoubted sense of solid comfort that we lay in our cosy
+beds under a wooden roof, whereon the fat rain-drops sputtered, while
+the thunder still crackled and banged in the distance!
+
+We shifted before dawn to a small village a couple of miles to the
+east, and at 6.30 Jane and I set out to attack the bara singh, of which
+the shikari held out high hope. My wife, mounted on a rough pony, was
+able to accomplish with great comfort the two miles of flat country
+which we had to traverse before turning off sharp to the right along a
+track which led steeply upwards through the scrub that clothed the
+lower part of the nullah.
+
+There is something unusually charming in the dawn here—the crisp,
+buoyant air, the silent hills, their lower slopes and corries still a
+purple mystery; on high, the silver peaks—looking ridiculously
+close—change swiftly from their cold pallor into rosy life at the first
+touch of the risen sun.
+
+The first part of our day’s work was easy enough. The sun was still
+hidden from us behind the mountain flange on our left; the snow patches
+on the sky-line ahead seemed comparatively near, and the diabolical
+swiftness of the shikari’s stealthy walk was yet to be fully realised.
+
+Up and up we went, first through a thick scrub or jungle of a highly
+prickly description, over a few small streams, then out upon a grassy
+ridge, up which we slowly panted. The gradient became sharper, and I
+began to feel a little anxious about Jane, as the short, brown grass
+was slippery with frost—a slip would be very easy, and the results
+unpleasant. However, with the able assistance of the shikari, she did
+very well, and, having crossed a shelving patch of snow by cutting
+steps with our khudstick, we found ourselves, after an hour and a
+half’s stiff climbing, on the sky-line of the ridge that had seemed but
+an easy stroll from below. The heights and distances are most
+deceptive, partly on account of the crystal clearness of the air, and
+partly because of the magnitude of everything in proportion. The
+mountains are not only high themselves, but their spurs and foothills
+would rank as able-bodied mountains were they not dwarfed by peaks
+which average 15,000 feet in height above the sea. The pines which
+clothe their sides, the chenars and poplars in the valley, are all
+enormous when compared with their European cousins.
+
+The view was most remarkable as we gained the crest of the ridge—a sea
+of white cloud came boiling up from the valley to the east, and,
+pouring over the saddle upon which we stood, gave only occasional
+glimpses of snow and pine and precipice above, or the glint of water in
+the rice-fields far below. Once, between the swirling cloud masses, the
+near hills lay clear in the sunshine for a few moments and revealed a
+party of five bara singh hinds, crossing the slope in front of us, and
+not more than 150 yards away. Alas! there was no stag.
+
+This was not satisfactory weather for stalking. However I was hopeful,
+as I have noticed that in the fine forenoons a thick white belt of
+cloud often forms about the snow level—roughly, some 8000 feet above
+the sea, or 3000 above the Wular Lake—and hangs there for an hour or
+two, to disappear entirely by midday. And so it came about to-day;
+after a halt for tiffin, I set forward in brilliant sunshine, while
+Jane remained quietly perched on the hillside, as the shikari said the
+road was not good for a lady. The shikari was right, as, within ten
+minutes of starting, we had to drop from the crest of the ridge to
+circumvent a big rock which barred our way, to find ourselves
+confronted by a very unpleasant-looking slope of short brown grass,
+which fell away at an angle of about 50° to what seemed an endless
+depth. This grass, having only just become emancipated from its winter
+snow, had all its hair—so to speak—brushed straight down, and there was
+mighty little stuff to hold on to! Carefully digging little holes with
+our khudsticks, and not disdaining the help of my shikari, I got
+across, and thankfully scrambled back to the safety of the ridge.
+
+Now we reached snow, and the going became easier, whereupon Ahmed Bot
+promptly set a pace which left me struggling far behind. As the sun
+grew stronger the surface-crust of the snow became soft, and at every
+few steps one went through to the knees, until both muscles and temper
+became sorely tried. For an hour or so we kept climbing up what was
+evidently one of the many steep and rugged ranges which, radiating from
+Haramok, on this side flank the Wular with their lofty bastions. Having
+apparently attained the height he deemed necessary, and got well above
+the part of the pine forest in which he expected to find game, Ahmed
+Bot turned to the left of the ridge, and we were immediately involved
+in the deep drifts which covered the pine-clad slope of the nullah.
+Over snow-covered trunks of prostrate trees, over hidden holes and
+broken rocks, we toiled and scrambled until, emerging breathless on a
+bare knoll—smooth and white as a great wedding-cake—we obtained a
+searching view into the neighbouring gullies. Still no sign or track of
+any “beast,” so we worked back until, tired and hot, I regained the
+place where Madame lay basking beneath her sunshade. The shikari and
+his myrmidons departed to “look” another bit of country, while I,
+nothing loth, remained to await events in the neighbourhood of the
+refreshment department.
+
+On the return of the men, who had of course seen nothing, we set off
+for home, climbing down the edge of the ridge where yellow colchicum
+starred the turf. It was steep—verging on the precipitous in places—and
+Jane frankly expressed her satisfaction when we accomplished the worst
+part and entered a dense jungle of scrubby bushes, all of which seemed
+to grow spines of sorts. A bear was said to have been seen here
+yesterday, so we kept our weather eyelids lifting, but were not
+favoured with a sight of him. We had almost gained the bottom of the
+hill, with but two short miles to dinner and a tub, when weird shrieks
+and whistles were exchanged between our people and an excited villager
+below. The shikari, his eyes gleaming with uncontrollable excitement,
+announced that the “big stag” was waiting for me at that very
+moment!—and therewith Ahmed Bot dashed off down the hill, leaving me to
+follow as best I might. Leaving my wife in charge of the tiffin coolie,
+I tumbled off after the shikari, whom I found gloating with the
+messenger over the inspiriting particulars of the monarch of the glen,
+which, I understood, crouched expectant some paltry 2000 feet above us,
+near the top of the nullah!
+
+It was past six o’clock, and the light already showing signs of waning,
+so we lost no time in attacking the hill again. I was pretty well
+“done,” and had to accept a tow from the shikari, and hand in hand we
+pressed up that accursed hill until, at seven o’clock, the sun set and
+it began to grow dusk. Lying down near the edge of the snow, to gain
+breath and let the shikari crawl round and “look” the face of the hill,
+I was soon moved to activity by the news that the stag was lying under
+a pine tree within a few hundred yards. A short “crawl” brought me
+within sight of the beast, who lay half-hidden by a rock. It was now so
+dark that even with my glasses I could only make sure that it was a
+“horn beast” and not a hind; there was no time to lose, so, putting up
+my sight for 150 yards, I let him have it, and was nearly as much
+surprised as gratified to see him roll out on the snow to the shot. My
+vexation and disgust may be imagined when I found the noble beast to be
+a miserable 8-pointer, which I would never have fired at if I could
+have seen its head properly. Heartily consigning the shikari, together
+with the mendacious villager and all his kind, to a hot place, I
+dolefully stumbled away downhill again in the gathering dark, and
+finally deposited my weary and dejected self on board the boat, after
+fourteen hours of the hardest walking I have ever done.
+
+There is a confused tale prevalent that the bear, taking a mean
+advantage of my absence, has been down to the village and eaten a few
+ponies, or frightened them—I can’t make out which.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+BACK TO SRINAGAR
+
+
+Easter Day, _April_ 23.—We left the Erin district early in the morning
+following the bara singh fiasco, and punted and poled up the river to
+join the Smithsons in a last attack upon the duck. We found the bold
+Colonel,
+
+“Rough with slaughter and red with fight,”
+
+
+enjoying himself hugely among the jheels, and we prepared to join in
+the fray; but our _chasse_ was put an end to by the discovery that the
+14th, and not the 15th, was the last legal day for shooting. So we
+packed away our guns and towed up to Srinagar, which we reached on
+Sunday afternoon.
+
+Our brief experience of camping and “shikar” had proved to my wife that
+she was not cast in the heroic mould of a female Nimrod. Not being a
+shot herself—as Charlotte is—she saw that, as far as she was concerned,
+a shooting expedition with the Smithsons would entail a great deal of
+solitary rumination in camp, while the rest of the party pursued the
+red bear to his den, or chased the nimble markhor up and down the
+precipices. The joys of reading, knitting, and washing the family
+clothes might—probably would—pall after a time; and the physical
+exertion of “walking with the guns” in Kashmir is decidedly more of an
+undertaking than over a Perthshire grouse moor! Our original
+arrangement, before coming out to join the Smithsons, was that the time
+should be spent in camping, boating, “loafing,” and shooting. Being
+perfectly ignorant of the conditions of life out here, we were unaware
+of the fact that it is practically impossible to combine serious
+shooting with any other form of amusement. In Scotland one may stalk
+one day, fish the next, and golf the third, but out here it is not so.
+The worshipper of Diana must be prepared to sacrifice everything else
+at her shrine; he must go far afield, and be prepared to live hard and
+work hard, and even then it may befall that his trophies of the chase
+are none too plentiful. That will depend a good deal on his shikari and
+his own knowledge, together with luck.
+
+Walter had the good fortune to come upon two fine stags not far from
+his camp almost as soon as he got there. He was within fifty yards of
+them as they were moving slowly in deep snow, and he killed them both;
+the best of these was a remarkably fine 10-pointer, length of horn 41
+inches and span 38-1/2 inches. His wife spent an equal time in the same
+neighbourhood and never saw anything.[1]
+
+[1] That lady subsequently killed a remarkably good 13-pointer bara
+singh and some bears in October.
+
+
+When we talked over plans with Colonel and Mrs. Smithson at Pindi, the
+general idea had crystallised into a scheme for going into Astor to
+shoot, immediately upon our arrival in Kashmir, and, in order to reach
+Srinagar before April 1st—the date of issue of shooting passes—we had
+struggled hard to make our way into the country before it was really
+attractive to the ordinary visitor.
+
+When we did reach Srinagar we found that our friends had abandoned all
+idea of an expedition to Astor, partly on account of expense, but
+principally on account of the backwardness of the season, which
+practically precluded ladies from crossing the Tragbal and Boorzil
+Passes for some time. The merits and demerits of the Tilail district
+and Baltistan came up for review, and then we almost decided to go to
+Leh until we reflected that the return journey over a bare and open
+country—arid and hot as an Egyptian desert—in the month of August might
+not be unmixed joy, and the Smithsons were assured that they would find
+no sport whatever _en route_, but would have to go several marches
+beyond Leh to obtain the chance of an Ovis Ammon or Thibetan antelope.
+
+The Leh scheme thus having come to naught, and our friends being still
+wholly intent on “shikar” to the exclusion of all other pursuits, we
+decided to be independent, so we hired a nice-looking boarded dounga,
+whose fresh and clean appearance pleased us, for a term of three
+months. Nedou’s Hotel offered so few attractions and so many drawbacks
+that we were prepared to do anything rather than return to it, and, as
+a matter of economy, we scored heavily, as, on working it out, we found
+that the boat, including the cook-boat, would cost 60 rupees per month.
+Our food and the wages of those servants whom we should not have
+required at the hotel came to approximately 80 rupees per month, making
+a total of 140 rupees, or £9, 6s. 8d.; whereas our hotel bill would
+have come to 12 rupees per day, without extras—or 360 rupees (£24) per
+month—a clear saving in money as well as in comfort.
+
+Our new habitation—the house dounga _Moon_—was owned and partly worked
+by Satarah, an astute old rascal, whose “tawny beard,” like Hudibras’—
+
+“Was the equal grace
+Both of his wisdom and his face;
+In cut and dye so like a tyle
+A sudden view it would beguile:
+The upper part whereof was whey,
+The nether orange mixt with grey.”
+
+
+His costume consisted of a curious sort of short nightgown worn over
+white and flappy trousers, below which were revealed a pair of big,
+flat naval feet. The first lieutenant, Sabhana—sleek and civil-spoken,
+but desperately afraid of work—was, we understand, son-in-law to the
+Admiral Satarah, having to wife the Lady Jiggry, eldest daughter of
+that worthy, who, with her younger sisters Nouri, Azizi, and “the
+Baba,” completed the ship’s company.
+
+The _Moon_ differed from an ordinary house-boat in being narrower, and
+possessing a long bow and stern which projected far enough from the
+body of the boat to enable men to pole or paddle with ease; a
+house-boat can only be towed. On embarking by means of a narrow
+gangway—a plank possessed of an uncontrollable desire to “tip-up” at
+unexpected and disconcerting moments—one entered first a small
+vestibule, or “ante-cabin,” which held our big boxes and opened into
+the drawing-room—quite a roomy apartment, about fifteen feet by ten
+feet, fitted with a fireplace, a rough writing-table, and overmantel,
+surmounted by a photograph—something faded—of Mrs. Langtry! A small
+table and a couple of deck chairs graced the floor, while upon the
+walls a heterogeneous collection of pictures, including a coloured
+lithograph of a cottage and a brook, a fearful and wonderful portrayal
+of an otter, and a very fancy stag of unlimited points dazzled the eye.
+The ceiling was decorated with an elaborate and most effective design
+in wood—a fashion very common in Srinagar, consisting of a sort of
+patchwork panelling of small pieces of wood, cut to length and shape,
+and tacked on to a backing in geometrical designs. At a little distance
+the effect is rich and excellent, but close inspection shows up the
+tintacks and the glue, and a prying finger penetrates the solid-looking
+panel with perfect ease.
+
+The drawing-room was separated from the dining “saloon” by a sliding
+door—which frequently refused to slide at all, or else perversely slid
+so suddenly as to endanger finger-tips and cause unseemly words to
+flow. This noble apartment of elegant dimensions (to borrow the
+undefiled English of the house-agent) could contain four feasters at a
+pinch. Sabz Ali having cooked the dinner, the cook-boat was laid
+alongside, and Sabz Ali, clambering in and out of the window, proceeded
+to serve the repast, a black paw, presumably belonging to Ayata, the
+kitchenmaid-man, appearing from time to time to retrieve the soiled
+plates or hand up the next course.
+
+A funny little sideboard and cupboard contained a slender stock of
+knives, forks, and glasses, and part of a broken-down dinner set, while
+the fireplace easily held three dozen of soda-water.
+
+Then came Jane’s bedroom, fitted with a cupboard and shelves, which
+were a constant source of covetousness to me, who had none. A small
+bathroom completed our suite of apartments, and, after the bare boards
+of the _Cruiser_, the _Moon_ seemed to overflow with luxury.
+
+We have been taking life easily here for the last week. The Smithsons
+intend going into Tilail as soon as the Tragbal becomes feasible; we
+propose to remain in Srinagar for a while. The weather has not been
+very fine—cold winds and a good deal of rain, varied by thunderstorms,
+being our daily experience. The spring is, I am told, exceptionally
+backward, and, although the almond is in full and lovely flower, the
+poplars and chenars are barely showing a sign of life.
+
+My wife having gone to lunch at the Residency this afternoon, I walked
+half-way up the Takht-i-Suleiman, whose sharp, rock-strewn pyramid
+rises a thousand feet above Srinagar.
+
+The view of the Kashmir plain, through which the river winds like a
+silver snake; the solemn ring of mountains, enclosing the valley with a
+rampart of rock and snow; the innumerable roofs of the city, glittering
+like burnished scales in the keen sunlight, densely clustered round the
+fort-crowned height of Hari Parbat, went to make up such a picture as
+Turner would have kneeled to.
+
+Of course it is simply futile to compare one magnificent view with
+another which differs entirely in kind. All that one can do is to lay
+by in the memory a mental picture-gallery of recollection; and as I sat
+in the shelter of a big rock, gazing out over the level plain
+stretching below, where the changing shadows as they swept by turned
+the amber masses of the trees to gold, I conjured up in my mind’s eye
+other scenes whose beauties will remain with me while life shall
+last:—The purple and gold of a glorious sunset over Etna, the Greek
+theatre of Taormina in front of me, with the sea below—a shimmering
+opal that melted away in the haze beyond Syracuse; the awful rapids
+raging furiously below Niagara, a very ocean tortured and maddened to
+blind fury, pouring its irresistible torrents through the chasm above
+the whirlpool; and again, a cloudless October morning, with just the
+keen zest of early autumn in the air, as I lay high up on a hillside in
+Ardgour watching for deer—with the hills of Lochaber and Ballachulish
+reflected in all their glory of purple and russet in the waters of Loch
+Linnhe, windless and still!
+
+Chills can be caught amidst the most glorious scenery—the little tufts
+of purple self-heal at my feet were shivering and shaking in a biting
+breeze that swept down from the snows to the north-east, and although I
+am an admirer of Kingsley, I do not hold with him in his wrong-headed
+admiration for a “nor’-easter”—so I quitted my perch in search of tea.
+
+_Easter Monday_.—The Smithsons scuttled away in a great hurry to-day,
+their shikari, Asna (the best shikari in Kashmir), having heard that,
+owing to the lateness of the season, the bara singh have not even yet
+all shed their horns—so Charlotte is filled with high hope. The bears,
+too, are said to be waking from their winter’s doze and poking around
+in warm and balmy corners.
+
+Armed to the teeth and thirsting for blood, the hunter and the huntress
+cast loose their matted dounga and paddled away merrily down the Jhelum
+to Bandipur, thence to pursue the royal bara singh, and later, if
+possible, scale the snow-barred slopes of the Tragbal and penetrate the
+lonely Tilail Valley to assail the red bear and the multitudinous ibex.
+
+Jane and I having decided that a purely shikar expedition into the more
+difficult parts of the country was not suited to our prosaic habits,
+remained to enjoy the effeminate pleasures of Srinagar till the weather
+should grow a few degrees warmer.
+
+As we are bidden to a sort of state luncheon to-morrow, given by the
+Maharajah, it appeared to me to be but right and seemly to go and
+inscribe my name in the visitors’ book of His Highness, and also to
+call upon his brother, the Rajah Sir Amar Singh. I went with the more
+alacrity as I thought it might prove interesting. Strolling across the
+big bridge above the Palace, I soon found myself in the purely native
+quarter, immersed in a seething crowd of men and beasts, from beneath
+whose passing feet a cloud of dust rose pungent. The water-sellers, the
+hawkers of vegetables and of sweets, the cattle, the loafers and the
+children got into the way and out of it in kaleidoscopic confusion. By
+the side of the street, money-changers, wrapped in silent
+consideration, bent over their trays of queer and outlandish coins.
+Bright cottons and silks flaunted pennons of gorgeous colours. Brass,
+glowing like gold, rose piled on low wide counters. In front stood the
+Palace, looking its best from this point, and showing huge beside the
+huddle of wooden and plaster huts which hem it in.
+
+General Raja Sir Amar Singh lives in a sort of glorified English villa.
+Were it not for the flowering oleanders and hibiscus in front and the
+silvery gleam of temple domes beyond, one might suppose oneself near
+the banks of Father Thames. And were it not for the group of stalwart
+retainers at the door, the illusion need not be lost on entering the
+house.
+
+The hall and staircase were decorated with a profusion of skins and
+horns, somewhat modern and brilliant rugs, and tall glasses full of
+flowers closely copied from Nature; while the drawing-room was of a
+type very frequently seen near London.
+
+Like so many British reception-rooms, it shone replete with _objets
+d’art_, rather inclining to Oriental luxury than Japanese restraint.
+
+My host, who came in almost immediately, was charming, speaking English
+with fluency, although he has never been in England.
+
+He is essentially a strong man, and remarkably well posted in
+everything, both political and social, that occurs in the state, mixing
+far more freely than his brother with the English, towards whom his
+courtesy is proverbial.
+
+His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many
+respects of a different type. Keeping more aloof from the English
+colony, he spends much of his time in devotion and the privacy of the
+inner Palace.
+
+On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the
+iron bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like
+precincts of the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage,
+and found ourselves at the “front door,” where, in the visitors’ book,
+by means of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and
+condition.
+
+_April_ 27.—His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a luncheon
+given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared
+to cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the
+present feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of
+the Moguls when Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair
+Nourmahal.
+
+“Th’ Imperial Selim held a feast
+In his magnificent Shalimar:—
+In whose saloons …
+The valleys’ loveliest all assembled.”
+
+
+Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the
+stern, where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an
+awning, was brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some
+seven or eight miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
+
+Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the
+Sunt-i-kul Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the
+Takht-i-Suleiman, the rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple,
+forms a constant background to Srinagar.
+
+The canal was closely lined with house-boats and their satellite
+cook-boats, clinging to the poplar-shaded banks. The golf-links lay on
+our left, and on a low spur to the right stood the hospital, which the
+energy and philanthropy of the Neves has gained for the remarkably
+ungrateful Kashmiri. It is told that a man, being exceedingly ill, was
+cared for and nursed during many weeks in the Mission Hospital, his
+whole family likewise living on the kindly sahibs. When he was cured
+and shown the door, he burst into tears because he was not paid wages
+for all the time he had spent in hospital!
+
+Just before entering the waterway of noble chenars, known as the Chenar
+Bagh (a camping-ground reserved for bachelors only), we ported our helm
+(or at least would have done so had there been any rudders in Kashmir),
+and pushed through the lock-gate, which gives entrance to the Dal Lake,
+against a brisk current.
+
+This gate, cunningly arranged upon the non-return-valve principle, is
+normally kept open by the current from the Dal; but if the Jhelum,
+rising in flood, threatens to pour back into the lake and swamp the low
+ground and floating gardens, it closes automatically, and so remains
+sealed until the outward flow regains the mastery.
+
+A sharp bout of paddling, puffing, and splashing shot us into the
+peaceful waters of the Dal Lake, over which every traveller has gushed
+and raved. It is difficult, indeed, not to do so, for it is truly a
+dream of beauty.
+
+A placid sheet of still water, its surface only broken here and there
+by the silvery trails of rippled wake left by the darting shikaras or
+slow-moving market boats, lay before us, shining in the crystal-clear
+atmosphere. On the right rose the Takht, his thousand feet of rocky
+stature dwarfed into insignificance by holy Mahadeo and his peers,
+whose shattered peaks ring round the lake to the north, their dark
+cliffs and shaggy steeps mirrored in its peaceful surface.
+
+On the lower slopes strong patches of yellow mustard and white masses
+of blossoming pear-trees rose behind the tender green fringe of the
+young willows.
+
+As we swept on, the lake widened. On the left a network of water lanes
+threaded the maze of low-growing brushwood and whispering reeds, and
+round us extended the half-submerged patches of soil which form the
+celebrated “floating gardens” of the lake. From any point of view
+except the utilitarian, these gardens are a fraud. A combination of
+matted and decaying water-plants, mud, and young cabbages kept in place
+by rows and thickets of willow scrub, is curious, but not lovely; and
+our eyes turned away to where Hari Parbat raised his crown of crumbling
+forts above the native city, or to the mysterious ruins of Peri Mahal,
+clinging like a swallow’s nest to the shelving slopes above Gupkar.
+
+“Still onward; and the clear canal
+Is rounded to as clear a lake;”
+
+
+and we emerged from the willow-fringed water lanes, and saw across the
+wider shield of glistering water the white cube of the Nishat Bagh
+Pavilion—the Garden of Joy, made for Jehangir the Mogul—standing by the
+water’s edge, and at its foot a great throng and clutter of boats,
+amidst whose snaky prows we pushed our way and landed, something stiff
+after sitting for two hours in a cramped shikara.
+
+Other guests—some thirty in all—were arriving, either like us by boat,
+or by carriage _viâ_ Gupkar, and we strolled in groups up the sloping
+gardens, which still show, in their wild and unrestrained beauty, the
+loving touch of the long-vanished hand of the Mogul.
+
+Down seven wide grassy terraces a series of fountains splashed and
+twinkled in the sun. Broad chenars, just beginning to break into leaf,
+gave promise of ample shade against the day when the blaze should
+become overpowering. So far so good, but the grass that bordered the
+path was not the sweet green turf of an English lawn, and the way was
+edged by big earthen pots, into which were hastily stuck wisps of iris
+blooms and Persian lilac. The topmost terrace widened out, enclosing a
+large basin of clear water, in the middle of which played a fountain.
+On one side was raised a marquee, revealing welcome preparations for
+lunch. On the opposite side of the fountain a profusion of chairs,
+shaded by a great awning, stood expectantly facing a bandstand. Here we
+were welcomed by His Highness, a somewhat small man with exceedingly
+neat legs and an enormous white pugaree, in his customary gracious
+manner.
+
+It was now half-past two, and we had breakfasted early, so that a move
+towards the luncheon tent was most welcome. Finding the fair lady whom
+I was detailed to personally conduct, and the ticketed place where I
+was to sit, I prepared to make a Gargantuan meal. Was it not almost on
+this very spot that
+
+“The board was spread with fruit and wine,
+With grapes of gold, like those that shine
+On Casbin’s hills;—pomegranates full
+    Of melting sweetness, and the pears
+And sunniest apples that Cabul
+    In all its thousand gardens bears.
+Plantains, the golden and the green,
+Malaya’s nectar’d mangusteen;
+Prunes of Bokara, and sweet nuts
+    From the far groves of Samarcand,
+And Basra dates, and apricots,
+    Seed of the sun, from Iran’s land;—
+With rich conserve of Visna cherries,
+Of orange flowers, and of those berries
+That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles
+Feed on in Erac’s rocky dells..
+Wines, too, of every clime and hue
+Around their liquid lustre threw;
+Amber Rosolli..
+And Shiraz wine, that richly ran..
+Melted within the goblets there!”
+
+
+This reckless, but unsubstantial and very unwholesome meal, was not for
+us, and while waiting patiently for the first course to appear, I
+glanced down the long table to admire the decorations. They were
+delightful, consisting of glass flower-vases spaced regularly along the
+festive board, and filled to overflowing with tufts and clumps of
+flowers. Innumerable plates filled with fruit and sweetmeats graced the
+feast, and a magnificent array of knives and forks gave promise of good
+things to come.
+
+Presently the expected dainties arrived, resembling but little the
+lately-described poetic feast; a strict attention to business enabled
+us to keep the wolf from the door, and a very cheerful party finally
+emerged from the big tent to stroll by the fountains that flashed under
+the chenars.
+
+The Maharajah, of course, did not lunch with us, but held aloof,
+peeping occasionally into the cook-house to satisfy himself that the
+lions were being fed properly, and in accordance with their unclean
+customs.
+
+Finally, he and his chief officers of state vanished into a secluded
+tent, where he probably took a little refreshment, having first
+carefully performed the ablutions necessary after the contamination of
+the unbeliever.
+
+His Highness reappeared from nowhere in particular as his guests
+strolled across the terrace, and, after a little polite conversation,
+we took our leave and set forth for Srinagar.
+
+It was a glorious afternoon, and we deeply regretted that time would
+not permit us to visit the neighbouring Shalimar Bagh, which lay hidden
+among the trees near by. The excursion must remain a “hope deferred”
+for the present, as we had again to thread the maze of half-submerged
+melon plots and miniature kitchen gardens which, even in the golden
+glow of a perfect evening, could not be made to fit in with our
+preconceived ideas of “floating gardens.” Jane was frankly
+disappointed, as she admitted to having pictured in her mind’s eye a
+series of peripatetic herbaceous borders in full flower, cruising about
+the lake at their own sweet will and tended by fair Kashmirian maidens.
+
+By-the-bye, here let me expose, once for all, the fallacy of Moore’s
+drivel about the lovely maids of fair “Cashmere.” _There are none!_
+This appears a startling statement and a sweeping; but, as a matter of
+fact, the Eastern girl is not left, like her Western sister, to flirt
+and frivol into middle age in single “cussedness,” but almost
+invariably becomes a respectable married lady at ten or twelve, and
+drapes her lovely, but not over clean, head in the mantle of old
+sacking, which it is _de rigueur_ for matrons to adopt.
+
+The good Tommy Moore did not know this, but, letting his warm Irish
+imagination run riot through a mixed bag of Eastern romancists and
+their works, he evolved, amid a _pôt pourri_ of impossibilities, an
+impossible damsel as unlike anything to be found in these parts as the
+celebrated elephant evolved from his inner consciousness by the German
+professor!
+
+As I traversed the main, or rolled by train,
+    From my Western habitation,
+I frequently thought—perhaps more than I ought—
+    Upon many a quiet occasion
+Of the elegant forms and manifold charms
+    Of the beautiful female Asian.
+
+For the good Tommy Moore, in his pages of yore,
+    Sang as though he could never be weary
+Of fair Nourmahal—an adorable “gal”—
+    And of Paradise and the Peri,
+Until, I declare, I was wild to be where
+    I might gaze on the lovely Kashmiri.
+
+Through the hot plains of Ind I fled like the wind,
+    Unenchanted by mistress or ayah,
+The dusky Hindu, I soon saw, wouldn’t do,
+    So I paused not, until in the sky——Ah!—
+Far upward arose the perpetual snows
+    And the peaks of the proud Himalaya.
+
+But in Kashmir, alas! I found not a lass
+    Who answered to Tommy’s description—
+For the make of such maid I am sadly afraid
+    The fond parents have lost the prescription,
+And I murmured; “No doubt, the old breed has died out,
+    At least such is my honest conviction.”
+
+In the horrible slums which form the foul homes
+    Of the rag-covered dames of the city,
+I saw wrinkled hags, all wrapped in old rags,
+    Whose appearance excited but pity.
+Beyond question the word which it would be absurd
+    To apply to these ladies is “pretty.”
+
+In the high Gujar huts were but brats and old sluts,
+    These last being the plainest of women;
+Then I sought on the waters the sisters and daughters
+    Of the Mangis—those “bold, able seamen”
+(I have often been told that the Mangi is bold,
+    And as brave as at least two or three men).
+
+One lady I saw—I am told her papa
+    In the market did forage and “gram” sell—
+Decked all over with rings, necklets, bangles and things,
+    She appeared a desirable damsel;
+And I cried “Oh, Eureka! I’ve found what I seek:
+    Tell me quick—Is she ‘madam’ or ‘ma’mselle’?”
+
+It was comical, but to this question I put—
+    A remarkably innocent query—
+I received but a sigh or evasive reply,
+    Or a blush from the modest Kashmiri;
+And I gathered at last that the lady was “fast,”
+    And her name should be Phryne, not Heré.
+
+Toddled up a small tot—her hair tied in a knot—
+    Who remarked, “I can hardly consider
+You’ve the ghost of a chance on this wild-goosie dance
+    Unless you should hap on a ‘widder!’
+For our maidens at ten—ay, and less now and then—
+    Are all booked to the wealthiest bidder.”
+
+“My dear man, it’s no use to indulge in abuse
+    Of our customs, so be not enraged, sir—
+No woman a maid is—we’re all married ladies.
+    Our charms very early are caged, sir—
+I’m eleven myself,” remarked the small elf,
+    “And a year ago I was engaged, sir!”
+
+
+Ah, well! The country is the loveliest I ever saw, and that goes far to
+make up for its disgusting population.
+
+Here, indeed, it is that
+
+“Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.”
+
+
+We stopped to look at the ruins of an ancient mosque, built in the days
+of Akbar by the Shiahs. Its remains may be deeply interesting to the
+archaeologist, but to me a neighbouring ziarat, wooden, with its grassy
+roof one blaze of scarlet tulips, was far more attractive. Moving
+homeward, we floated under a lovely old bridge, whose three rose-toned
+arches date from the sixteenth century—the age of the Great Moguls. The
+extreme solidity of its piers contrasts strongly with the exceedingly
+sketchy (and sketchable) bridges manufactured by the Kashmiri.
+
+In fairness, though, I must point out that, as the bridge in Kashmir
+usually spans a stream liable at almost any moment to overwhelming
+floods, it would appear to be a sound idea to build as flimsily as
+possible, with an eye to economical replacement.
+
+The Kashmiri carries this plan to its logical conclusion when he fells
+a tree across a raging torrent, and calls it a bridge, to the
+unutterable discomfiture of the Western wayfarer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+THE LOLAB
+
+
+_May_ 1.—The pear and cherry blossom has been so lovely in and around
+Srinagar that we determined to go to the Lolab Valley and see the apple
+blossom in full flower.
+
+We started in some trepidation, for the warm weather lately has melted
+much snow on the hills, and Jhelum is so full that we were told that
+our three-decker would be unable to pass under the city bridges—of
+which there are seven. We decided to see for ourselves, so set forth
+about eleven, and soon came to the first bridge, the Amira Kadal, which
+carries the main tonga road into Srinagar, tying up just above it, amid
+the clamour and jabber of an idle crowd.
+
+The Admiral solemnly measured the clear space between the top of the
+arch and the water with a long pole, consulted noisily with the crowd,
+yelled his ideas to the crew, and decided to attempt the passage.
+
+Hen-coops, chairs, half-a-dozen flower-pots containing sickly specimens
+of plants, and all other movables being cleared from the upper deck, we
+set sail, and shot the bridge very neatly, only having a few inches of
+daylight between the upper deck and the wooden beams upon which the
+roadway rests.
+
+_Ce nest que, le premier “pont” que coute_.
+
+The other bridges were all easier than the first, and we shot them
+gaily, spending the rest of the day in floating quietly down the river,
+and finally anchoring—or rather mooring, for anchors are, like
+boat-hooks, masts, sails, rudders, and rigging, alike unknown to the
+“jollye mariners” of the Jhelum—some two or three miles above the
+entrance to the dreaded Wular Lake.
+
+This awful stretch of water, so feared by the Kashmiri that his eyes
+goggle when he even thinks of it, is an innocent enough looking lake,
+generally occupied in reflectively reproducing its surroundings upside
+down, but occasionally its calm surface is ruffled by a little breeze,
+and it is reported that wild and horrible squalls sweep down the
+nullahs of Haramok at times, and destroy the unwary. These squalls are
+said to be most frequent in the afternoons, and are probably the
+accompaniments of the thunderstorms.
+
+It is only considered possible to cross the Wular between dawn and 10
+or 11 A.M., and no persuasion will prevail upon a native boatman to
+risk his life on the lake after lunch.
+
+Before turning in, I gave orders that a start should be made next
+morning at five o’clock, but a heavy squall of rain and thunder during
+the night had the effect of causing orders to be set at naught, and at
+breakfast-time there was no sign of “up anchor” nor even of “heaving
+short.” An interview with the Admiral showed me that the Wular, in his
+opinion, was too dangerous to cross to-day—in fact he wouldn’t dream of
+asking coolies to risk it. He was given to understand that we intended
+to cross, and that the sooner he started the safer it would be.
+
+No coolies being forthcoming, I inhumanly gave orders to get under
+way—the available crew consisting of the wicked Satarah, the first
+lieutenant, and the Lady Jiggry. Sulkily and slowly we wended our way
+past the wide flats which border the Wular, all blazing golden with
+mustard in full pungent flower.
+
+Before entering the lake the Admiral meekly requested to be allowed to
+try for coolies in a small village near by. He was allowed quarter of
+an hour for pressgang work, and sure enough he came back within a very
+reasonable time with a few spare hands, and then—paddling and poling
+for dear life—we glided swiftly through the tangled lily-pads and the
+green rosettes of the Singhara, and soon were _in medias res_ and
+fairly committed to the deep.
+
+The Wular lay like a burnished mirror, reflecting the buttresses of
+Haramok on our right, and the snowy ranges by the Tragbal ahead, its
+silvery surface lined here and there with the wavering tracks of other
+boats, or broken by bristling clumps of reeds and tall water-plants.
+Our transit was perfectly peaceful, and by lunch-time we were safely
+tied up to a bank, purple with irises, just below Bandipur.
+
+A visit to the post-office and a stroll up the rocky hill behind it,
+where we sat for some time and watched a pair of jackals sneaking
+about, completed a peaceful afternoon.
+
+_May_ 3.—We were up with the lark, and, having moved along the coast a
+few miles to the west of Bandipur, left the ship before six of the
+clock in pursuit of bear. I had “khubbar” of one in the Malingam
+Nullah, and, after a brisk walk over the lower slopes, we entered the
+nullah and clambered up about 1500 feet to a quiet and retired spot
+under a shady thorn-bush, where we breakfasted.
+
+We thereafter climbed a little higher, and then sat down while the
+shikaris departed to spy, their method of spying being, I believe,
+somewhat after this fashion:—Leaving the sahib with his
+belongings—notably the tiffin coolie—in a spot carefully selected for
+its seclusion, the miscreants depart hurriedly and rapidly up the
+nearest inaccessible crag; this is “business,” and throws dust, so to
+say, in the eyes of the sahib, by means of an exhibition of activity
+and zeal. Passing out of sight over the sky-line, the hunters pause,
+wink at one another, and, choosing a shady and convenient corner,
+proceed to squat, light their pipes, and discuss matters—chiefly
+financial—until they deem it time to return, scrambling and breathless
+with excitement, to relate all that they have seen and done.
+
+So, while the shikaris unceasingly spied for bear, for nine mortal
+hours Jane and I camped out on a remarkably hard and unyielding stone,
+varied by other seats equally tiresome.
+
+Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony
+by observing the habits of a pair of “kastooras,” a hawk, and a brace
+of chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.
+
+At four o’clock the sons of Nimrod returned, declaring that the bear
+had been seen, but that as we had on chaplies and not grass shoes, it
+would be impossible for us to pursue him. I asked the shikari why the
+—— goose he had let me come out in chaplies instead of grass shoes if
+the country was so rough? His reply was to the effect that whatever it
+pleased me to wear pleased him!
+
+_May_ 4.—Armed _cap-à-pie_ so to speak, with pith helmets and grass
+shoes, we again set forth at dawn of day to hunt the bear. Breakfast
+under the same tree, sitting on the same patch of rose-coloured
+flowers—a sort of fumitory (_Corydalus rutaefolia_)—followed by another
+nine-hour bivouac, brought us to 5 P.M. and the extreme limit of
+boredom, when lo! the shikaris burst upon us in a state of frenzied
+excitement to announce the bear! Off we went up a steep track for a
+quarter of an hour, until, at the foot of a rough snow slope, the
+shikari told the much disgusted Jane that she must wait there, the rest
+of the climb being too hard for her, and, in truth, it was pretty bad.
+Up a very steep gully filled with loose stones and rotten snow,
+scrambling, and often hauling ourselves up with our hands by means of
+roots and trailing branches, we slowly worked our way up a place I
+would never have even attempted in cold blood.
+
+Twenty minutes’ severe exertion brought us to a shelf, or rather slope,
+of rock on the right, sparsely covered with wiry brown grass from which
+the snow had but very recently gone, and crowned by a crest of stunted
+pines. Up this we wriggled, I being mainly towed up by my shikari’s
+cummerbund, and, lying under a pine, we peered over the top.
+
+A steep gully divided us from a rough ridge, upon a grassy ledge of
+which, about 200 yards off, a big black beast was grubbing and rooting
+about.
+
+The shikari, shaking with excitement, handed me the rifle, urging me to
+shoot. I did nothing of the sort, having no breath, and my hand being
+unsteady from a fast and stiff climb.
+
+I regret to be obliged to admit that, not realising that it would be
+little short of miraculous to kill a bear stone-dead at 200 yards with
+a Mannlicher, and being also, naturally, somewhat carried away by the
+sight of a real bear within possible distance, I waited until I was
+perfectly steady, and fired. The brute fell over, but immediately
+picked himself up again and made off. I saw I had broken his
+fore-shoulder and fired again as he disappeared over the far side of
+the ledge, but missed, and I saw that bear no more.
+
+We had the utmost difficulty in crossing the precipitous gully to a
+spot below the ledge upon which the beast had been feeding—the ledge
+itself we could not reach at all; and the lateness of the hour and the
+difficulty of the country in which we were, prevented us from trying to
+enter the next ravine and work up and back by the way the bear had
+gone. A neck-breaking crawl down a horrible grass slope brought us to
+better ground, and I sadly joined Jane to be well and deservedly
+scolded for firing a foolish shot. The lady was very much disgusted at
+having been defrauded of the sight of a bear “quite wild,” as she
+expressed it—a certain short-tempered animal which had eaten up her
+best umbrella in the Zoo at Dusseldorf not having fulfilled the
+necessary condition of wildness.
+
+Next day I sent out coolies to search for traces, promising lavish
+“backshish” in the event of success, but I got no trustworthy news,
+“and that was the end of that hunting.”
+
+_May_ 6.—Jane took a respite from the chase, and I sallied forth alone
+at dawn up a nullah from Alsu to look for a bear which was said to
+frequent those parts. A brisk walk of some four miles over the flat,
+followed by a climb up a track—steep as usual—to the left of the main
+track to the Lolab, brought us to a grassy ridge, where I sat down
+patiently to await the bear’s pleasure. I took my note-book with me,
+and whiled away some time in writing the following:—
+
+Let me jot down a sketch of my present position and surroundings; it
+will serve to bring the scene back to me, perhaps, when I am again
+sitting in my own particular armchair watching the fat thrushes hopping
+about the lawn.
+
+Well, I am perched in a little hollow under a big grey boulder, which
+serves to shelter me to a certain, but limited, extent from the brisk
+showers that come sweeping over from the Lolab Valley. The hollow is so
+small that it barely contains my tiffin basket, rifle, gun, and self—in
+fact, my grass-shod and puttied extremities dangle over the rim, whence
+a steep slope shelves down some 200 feet to a brawling burn, the hum of
+which, mingling with the fitful sighing of the pines as the breeze
+sweeps through their sounding boughs, is perpetually in my ears. Across
+the little torrent, and not more than a hundred yards away, rises a
+slope, covered with rough grass and scrub, similar to that in the face
+of which I am ensconced.
+
+Here the bear was seen at 7 A.M. by a Gujar, who gave the fullest
+particulars to Ahmed Bot (my shikari) in a series of yells from a
+hill-top as we came up the valley. We arrived on the scene about seven,
+just in time to be too late, apparently. It is now 3 P.M., and the bear
+is supposed to be asleep, and I am possessing my soul in patience until
+it shall be Bruin’s pleasure to awake and sally forth for his afternoon
+tea.
+
+There is certainly no bear now, so I pass the time in sleeping, eating,
+smoking, writing, and observing the manners and customs of a family of
+monkeys who are disporting themselves in a deep glen to the left.
+Beyond this ravine rises a high spur, beautifully wooded, the principal
+trees being deodar, blue pine (_Excelsa_) and yew. This is sloped at
+the invariable and disgusting angle of 45 degrees. Beyond it rise
+further wooded slopes, with snow gleaming through the deep green, and
+above all is the changing sky, where the clear blue gives way to a
+billowy expanse of white rolling clouds or dark rain-laden masses,
+which pour into the upper clefts of the ravine, and blot out the
+serried ranks of the pines, until a thorough drenching seems
+inevitable—when lo! a glint of blue through the gloomy background, and
+soon again,
+
+“With never a stain, the pavilion of Heaven is bare.”
+
+
+The immediate foreground, as I said before, slopes sharply from my very
+feet, where a clump of wild sage and jasmin (the leaves just breaking)
+grows over a charming little bunch of sweet violets. Lower down I can
+see the lilac flowers of a self-heal, and the bottom of the little
+gorge is clothed with a bush like a hazel, only with large, soft
+whitish flowers.
+
+My solitude has just been enlivened by the appearance of a cheerful
+party of lovely birds. They are very busy among the “hazels,” flying
+from bush to bush with restless activity, and wasting no time in
+idleness. They are about the size of large finches—slender in shape,
+with longish tails. They are divided into two perfectly distinct kinds,
+probably male and female. The former have the back, head, and wings
+black; the latter barred with scarlet, the breast and underparts also
+scarlet. The others—which I assume to be the females—replace the black
+with ashy olive, the wings being barred with yellow, the underparts
+yellowish. The very familiar note of the cuckoo, somewhere up in the
+jungle, reminds me of an English spring.
+
+4 P.M.—I knew it! I knew that if the wind held down the nullah I should
+be dragged up that horrible ridge opposite. Hardly had I written the
+above when I was hunted from my lair, and rushed down 200 steep feet,
+and then up some 500 or 600 on the other side of the stream, through an
+abattis of clinging undergrowth that made a severe toil of what could
+never have been a pleasure. There can be no doubt but that a pith
+helmet—a really shady, broad one—is a most infernal machine under which
+to force one’s way through brushwood.
+
+Well, all things come to an end—wind first, temper next, and finally
+the journey.
+
+My shikari is a fiend in human shape. He slinks along on the flat at
+what _looks_ like a mild three-miles-an-hour constitutional, but unless
+you are a _real_ four-mile man you will be left hopelessly astern; but
+when he gets upon his favourite “one in one” slope, then does he simply
+sail away, with the tiffin coolie carrying a fat basket and all your
+spare lumber in his wake, while you toil upward and ever
+upwards—gasping—until with your last available breath you murmur
+“Asti,” and sink upon the nearest stone a limp, perspiring worm!
+
+5.30 P.M.—That bear has taken a sleeping draught!
+
+I am now perched on a lonely rock, my hard taskmaster having routed me
+out of a very comfortable place under a blue pine, whose discarded
+needles afforded me a really agreeable resting-place, and dragged me
+away down again through the pine forest and jungle; hurried me across a
+roaring torrent on a fallen tree trunk; personally conducted me hastily
+up a place like the roof of a house; and finally, explaining that the
+bear, when disturbed, must inevitably come close past me, has departed
+with his staff (the chota shikari, the tiffin coolie, and a
+baboon-faced native) to wake up the bear and send him along.
+
+After the first flurry of feeling all alone in the world, with only a
+probable bear for society, and having loaded all my guns, clasped my
+visor on my head and my Bessemer hug-proof strait-waistcoat round my
+“tummy,” I felt calm enough to await events with equanimity.
+
+6.15 P.M.—A large and solemn monkey is sitting on the top of a thick
+and squat yew tree regarding me with unfeigned interest. The torrent is
+roaring away in the cleft below. Nothing else seems alive, and I am
+becoming bored——What? A bear? No! The shikari, thank goodness!
+
+“Well, shikari—Baloo dekho hai?” No, it is passing strange, but he has
+_not_ seen a bear. “All right! Pick up the blunderbuss, and let us make
+tracks for the ship.”
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 10.—Beguiled by legends of many bears, detailed to me
+with apparently heartfelt sincerity by Ahmed Bot, I have been pursuing
+these phantoms industriously.
+
+On Monday we quitted our boat, and started upon a trip into the Lolab
+Valley. The views, as the path wound up the green and flower-spangled
+slope, were very beautiful, and, when we had ascended about 1500 feet
+and were about opposite to the supposed haunt of Saturday’s bear, we
+determined to camp and enjoy the scenery, not omitting an evening
+expedition in search of our shy friend.
+
+Jane joining me, we had a most charming ramble down a narrow track to
+the bed of the stream which rushes down from the snow-covered ridge
+guarding the Lolab. Here we crossed into a splendid belt of gaunt
+silver firs, the first I have seen here; whitish yellow marsh-marigolds
+and a most vivid “smalt” blue forget-me-not with large flowers were
+abundant, also an oxalis very like our own wood-sorrel.
+
+Emerging from the pines, we crossed a grassy slope covered with tall
+primulas (P. _denticulata_) of varying shades of mauve and lilac, and
+sat down for a bit among the flowers while the shikaris looked for
+game. (I need hardly remark that the noble but elusive beast had
+appeared on the scene shortly after I left on Saturday; a Gujar told
+the shikari, and the shikari told me, so it must be true.) When we had
+gathered as many flowers as we could carry, we strolled back to the
+camp to watch the sunset transmute the snowy crest of Haramok to a
+golden rose.
+
+Yesterday, Tuesday, I left the camp at dawn, and went all over the same
+ground, but with no better success, only seeing a couple of bara singh,
+hornless now, and therefore comparatively uninteresting from a “shikar”
+point of view. After a delightful but bearless ramble I returned to
+breakfast, and then we struck camp, and completed the ascent of the
+pass over into the Lolab. Arrived at the top, we turned off the path to
+the right, and, climbing a short way, came out upon the lower part of
+the Nagmarg, a pretty, open clearing among the pines where the grass,
+dotted thickly with yellow colchicum, was only showing here and there
+through the melting snow. Choosing a snug and dry place on some
+sun-warmed rocks at the foot of a tree, we prepared to lunch and laze,
+and soon spread abroad the contents of the tiffin basket.
+
+There is something, nay much, of charm in the utter freedom and
+solitude of Kashmir camp life. There is no beaten track to be followed
+diligently by the tourist, German, American, or British, guide-book in
+hand and guide at elbow. No empty sardine-tins, nor untidy scraps of
+paper, mar the clean and lonely margs or village camping-grounds.
+
+The happy wanderer, selecting a grassy dell or convenient shady tree
+with a clear spring or dancing rivulet near by, invokes the tiffin
+coolie, and if a duly watchful eye has been kept upon that incorrigible
+sluggard, in short space the contents of the basket deck the sward.
+What have we here? Yes, of course, cold chicken—
+
+“For beef is rare within these oxless isles.”
+
+
+Bread! (how lucky we sent that coolie into Srinagar the other day).
+Butter, nicely stowed in its little white jar, cheese-cakes (one of the
+Sabz Ali’s masterpieces), and a few unconsidered trifles in the form of
+“jam pups” and a stick of chocolate.
+
+Whisky is there, if required, but really the cold spring water is
+“delicate to drink” without spirituous accompaniment.
+
+Hunger appeased, the beauty of the surrounding scenery becomes
+intensified when seen through the balmy veil of smoke caused by the
+consumption of a mild cheroot, and peace and contentment reign while we
+feed the sprightly crows with chicken bones and bits of cheese rind.
+
+Shall we ever forget—Jane and I—that simple feast on the Nagmarg?
+
+The sloping snow melting into little rills which trickled through the
+fresh-springing flower-strewn grass; the extraordinary blue of the
+hillsides overlooking the Lolab Valley seen through the sloping boughs
+of the pines; the crows hopping audaciously around or croaking on a
+dried branch just above our heads; and above all, the glorious sense of
+freedom, of aloofness from all disturbing elements, of utter and
+irresponsible independence in a lovely land unspoiled by hand of man?
+
+The afternoon sun smote us full in the face as we descended the bare
+and not too smooth path that led into the valley, and we were right
+glad to reach the shade of a grove of deodars that covered the lower
+slopes of the hill. The Lolab Valley, into which we had now penetrated,
+is a rich and picturesque expanse of level plain, some fifteen miles
+long by three or four broad, apparently completely surrounded by a
+densely-wooded curtain of mountains, rising to an elevation of some
+3000 feet above the valley on the south and west, but ranging on the
+other sides up into the lofty summits which bar the route into Gurais
+and the Tilail. The mountain chain is not really continuous, the river
+Pohru, which drains the valley, finding outlet to the west e’er it
+bends sharply to the south and enters the Wular near Sopor.
+
+Perhaps the most noticeable objects in the Lolab are the walnut trees;
+they are now just coming into full leaf, and their great trunks, hoary
+with age and softly velveted with dark green moss, form the noble
+columns of many a lovely camping-ground. We pitched our tents at
+Lalpura in a grove of giants, the majesty of which formed an exquisite
+contrast to the white foam of a cluster of apple trees in bloom.
+
+It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
+sketching, and enjoying the _dolce far niente_ of an idle life.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 14.—On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam, a
+short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest
+officer,[1] had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at
+our disposal; but, as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we
+are obliged to camp every night. We have been working along the north
+side of the Lolab, as the shikari is full of bear “khubbar,” and as
+long as the weather remains fair we really do not much care where we
+go! Skirting the foot of the wooded ridge on our right, and with the
+flat and populous levels of the valley on our left, we marched along a
+good path shaded in many places by the magnificent walnuts and snowy
+fruit-trees for which the Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the
+Pohru by a rickety bridge, and toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached
+Kulgam, nestling at the foot of the hills.
+
+[1] Commonly called the “Jungly-sahib.”
+
+
+After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the
+village to look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as
+usual, and the path none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb
+deserved to be rewarded by, at any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed
+Bot having sent a special message to the Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing
+him to keep the nullah quiet, we were justly incensed when, having
+toiled up some couple of thousand weary feet, we met a gay party of the
+_élite_ of Kulgam prancing down the hill with blankets stuffed with
+wild leeks, or some such delicacy.
+
+Ahmed Bot showed reckless courage. Having overwhelmed the enemy with a
+vituperative broadside, he fell upon them single-handed, tore from them
+their cherished blankets, and spilt the leeks to the four winds.
+
+I expected nothing less than to be promptly hurled down the khud, with
+Jill after me, by the six enraged burghers of Kulgam. But no. They
+simply sat down together on a rock, and blubbered loud and long; we sat
+down opposite them on another rock and laughed, and laughed—tableau!
+
+On Friday I went for a delightful walk through the pine and deodar
+forests, the ostensible objective being, of course, a bear. Putting
+aside all ideas of sport, I gave myself up to the simple joy of mere
+existence in such a land; noting a handsome iris with broad red lilac
+blooms, which I had not seen before; listening to the intermittent
+voice of the cuckoo, and pausing every here and there to gaze over the
+fair valley, backed by its encircling ranges of sunlit mountains.
+
+The chota shikari is a youth of great activity, both mental and
+physical. He almost wept with excitement on observing the mark of a
+bear’s paw on a dusty bit of path. He said it was a bear which had left
+that paw-mark, so I believed him. Late in the dusk of the afternoon he
+_saw_ a bear sitting looking out of a cave. I could only make out a
+black hole, but he saw its ears move. I regarded the spot with a
+powerful telescope, but only saw more hole; still, I cannot doubt the
+chota shikari. The burra shikari saw it too, but was of opinion that it
+was too late to go and bag it. I think he was right, so we went back to
+camp without further adventure.
+
+Yesterday we left Kulgam, and followed up a track to a small village
+which lies at the foot of the track leading over to Gurais and the
+Tilail country. Here we camped in a grove of walnuts, which stood by an
+icy spring. Jane and I went for a stroll, watched a couple of small
+woodpeckers hunting the trunk of a young fir within a few feet of us,
+but retreated hurriedly to camp on the approach of a heavy
+thunderstorm. This was but the prelude to a bad break in the weather;
+all to-day it has rained in torrents, and everything is sopping and
+soaked. The little stream which yesterday trickled by the camp is
+become a young river, and it is a perfect mystery how Sabz Ali manages
+to cook our food over a fire guarded from the full force of the rain by
+blankets propped up with sticks, and how, having cooked it, he can
+bring it, still hot, across the twenty yards of rain-swept space which
+intervenes between the cook-house and our tent.
+
+_Monday, May_ 15.—The deluge continued all night, and only at about ten
+o’clock this forenoon did the heavy curtain of rain break up into
+ragged swirls of cloud, which, torn by the serrated ridges of the
+gloomy pines, rolled dense and dark up the gorges, resonant now with
+the roar of full-fed torrents.
+
+The men are all beginning to complain of fever, and have eaten up a
+great quantity of quinine. Considering the dismal conditions under
+which they have been living for the last couple of days, this is not
+surprising; so, with the first promise of an improvement in the
+weather, we struck camp, determined to make for the forest bungalow at
+Doras and obtain the shelter of a solid roof. Many showers, but no
+serious downpour, enlivened our march, and we arrived at the snug
+little wooden house just in time to escape a particularly fine specimen
+of a thunderstorm. The Doras bungalow seemed a very palace of luxury,
+with its dry, airy rooms and wide verandah, all of sweet-smelling
+deodar wood. The men, too, were thankful to have a good roof over their
+heads, and we heard no more of fever.
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 17.—Yesterday it rained without ceasing, until the
+valley in front of us took the appearance of a lake—A party of terns,
+white above and with black breasts, skirled and wrangled over the
+“casual” water. It was still very wet this morning, but as it cleared
+somewhat after breakfast, we made up our minds to quit the Lolab and
+get back to our boat.
+
+Doras has sad memories for Jane, for here died the “chota murghi,” a
+black chicken endowed with the most affectionate disposition. It was
+permitted to sit on the lady’s knee, and scratch its yellow beak with
+its little yellow claw; but I never cared to let it remain long upon my
+shoulder—a perch it ardently affected. Well! it is dead, poor dear, and
+whether from shock (the pony which carried its basket having fallen
+down with it _en route_ from “Walnut Camp”), or from a surfeit of
+caterpillars which were washed in myriads off the trees there, we
+cannot tell. Sabz Ali brought the little corpse along, holding it by
+one pathetic leg to show the horrified Jane, before giving it to the
+kites and crows. He has many “murghis” left; baskets full, as he says,
+for they are cheap in the Lolab, but we shall never love another so
+dearly.
+
+We had a shocking time while climbing to the pass which leads over to
+Rampur, the road being deep in slimy mud, and so slippery that the
+unfortunate baggage ponies could hardly get along. Jane, who is in
+splendid condition now, toiled nobly up a track which would have been
+delightful had the weather been a little less hideous.
+
+Reaching the ridge which divides the Lolab from the Pohru Valley, we
+turned to the left, along the edge, instead of descending forthwith, as
+we had hoped and expected to do. It was raw and cold, with flying
+wreaths of damp mist shutting out the view, and we were glad of a
+comforting tiffin, swallowed somewhat hurriedly, under a forlorn and
+stunted specimen of a blue pine. Then on along a rough and slippery
+catwalk that made us wonder if the baggage ponies would achieve a safe
+arrival at Rampur.
+
+Crossing a steep, rock-strewn ridge, covered with crown imperial in
+full flower, we began a sharp descent through a wood of deodars; and
+now the thunder, which had been grumbling and rumbling in the distance,
+came upon us, and a deafening peal sent us scurrying down the hill at
+our best pace; the lightning-blasted trunks stretching skywards their
+blackened and tempest-torn limbs in ghastly witness of what had been
+and what might be again.
+
+At last we cleared the wood, and, plunging across a perfect slough of
+deep mud, crawled on to the verandah of the Rampur forest-house, where
+we sat anxiously watching the hillside until we saw our faithful ponies
+safely sliding down the hill.
+
+_Thursday, May_ 18.—The changes of weather in this country are sudden
+and surprising. This morning we woke to a perfect day—the sun bathing
+the warm hillsides, the picturesque brown village, and the brilliant
+masses of snowy blossoming fruit-trees with a radiant smile. And, but
+for the tell-tale riot of the streams and the sponginess of the
+compound, there was nothing to betray the past misdeeds of the clerk of
+the weather.
+
+At noon we set out to cover the short distance that lay between us and
+Kunis, where we had made tryst with Satarah. The country was like a
+series of English woodland glades—watered by many purling streams, and
+bright with masses of apple blossom; the turf around the trees all
+white and pink with petals torn from the branches by the recent storms.
+Clumps of fir clothed the hills with sombre green—a perfect background
+to a perfect picture.
+
+The flowers all along our path to-day were much in evidence after the
+rain. Little prickly rose-bushes (_R. Webbiana_) were covered with pink
+blossoms just bursting into full glory; bushes of white may, yellow
+berberis, Daphne (_Oleoides?_), and many another flowering shrub grew
+in tangled profusion, while pimpernel (red and blue), a small androsace
+(_rotundifolia_), hawks-bit, stork’s bill, wild geranium, a tiny
+mallow, eye-bright, forget-me-not, a little yellow oxalis, a speedwell,
+and many another, to me unknown, blossom starred the roadside. In the
+fields round Kunis the poppies flared, and the iris bordered the fields
+with a ribbon of royal purple.
+
+We reached Kunis at two o’clock, and found the village half submerged,
+the water being up and over the low shores from the recent rain. Our
+boats were moored in a clump of willows, whose feet stood so deeply in
+the water that we had to embark on pony-back! After lunch came the
+usual difference of opinion with the Admiral, who seems to have great
+difficulty in grasping the fact that our will is law as to times and
+seasons for sailing. He always assumes the rôle of passive resister,
+and is always defeated with ignominy. He insisted that it was too late
+to think of reaching Bandipur, but we maintained that we could get at
+any rate part of the way; so he cast off from his willow-tree, and
+sulkily poked and poled out into the Wular, taking uncommon good care
+to hug the shore with fervour.
+
+Here and there a group of willows standing far out into the lake, or a
+half-drowned village, drove us out into the open water, and once when,
+like a latter-day Vasco de Gama, the Admiral was striving to double the
+dreadful promontory of a water-logged fence, a puff of wind fell upon
+us, lashing the smooth water into ripples, whereupon the crew lost
+their wits with fright, and the lady mariners in the cook-boat set up a
+dismal howling; the ark, taking charge, crashed through the fence, her
+way carrying us to the very door of a frontier villa of an amphibious
+village. With amazing alacrity the crew tied us up to the door-post,
+and prepared to go into winter quarters.
+
+This did not suit us at all, and
+
+“The harmless storm being ended,”
+
+
+we ruthlessly broke away from our haven of refuge, and safely arrived
+at Alsu.
+
+_Friday, May_ 19.—An ominous stillness and repose at 3 o’clock this
+morning sent me forth to see why the windlass was not being manned. A
+thing like a big grey bat flapping about, proved, on inspection, to be
+that rascal the Lord High Admiral Satarah. He said he could not start,
+as the hired coolies from Kunis had been so terrified by the horrors of
+yesterday that they had departed in the night, sacrificing their pay
+rather than run any more risks with such daredevils as the mem-sahib
+and me. This was vexatious and entirely unexpected, as I had never
+before known a coolie to bolt before pay-day. Sabz Ali and Satarah were
+promptly despatched on a pressgang foray, while I put to sea with the
+first-lieutenant to show that I meant business. A crew was found in a
+surprisingly short time, and a frenzied dart was made for the mouth of
+the Jhelum.
+
+All day we poled round the shore of the lake, over flooded fields where
+the mustard had spread its cloth of gold a short week ago, over the
+very hedges we had scrambled through when duck-shooting in April, until
+in the evening we entered the river just below Sumbal.
+
+The towing-path was almost, in many places quite, under water, and the
+whole country looked most forlorn and melancholy as the sun went down—a
+pale yellow ball in a pale yellow haze.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 21.—All yesterday we towed up the river against a current
+which ran swift and strong.
+
+The passage of the bridge at Surahal gave us some trouble, as the
+flooded river brought our upper works within a narrow distance of the
+highest point of the span, but we finally scraped through with the loss
+of a portion of the railing which decorated our upper deck.
+
+The strain of towing was severe, so, when a brisk squall and
+threatening thunder-shower overtook us at the mouth of the Sind River,
+we decided to tie up there for the night.
+
+This morning we started at four o’clock, but only reached our berth at
+Srinagar at two, having spent no less than six hours in forcing the
+boats by pole and rope for the last three miles through the town! An
+incredible amount of panting, pushing, yelling, and hauling, with
+frantic invocations to “Jampaws” and other saints, was required to
+enable us to crawl inch by inch against the racing water which met us
+in the narrow canal below the Palace.
+
+All’s well that ends well, and here we are once more in Srinagar, after
+a trip which has been really delightful, albeit the weather latterly
+has not been by any means all that could have been desired, and we have
+slain no bears![2]
+
+[2] Can it be that Bernier was right? “Il ne s’y trouve ni serpens, ni
+tigres, ni ours, ni lions, si ce n’est très rarement.”—_Voyage de
+Kachemire_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+SRINAGAR AGAIN
+
+
+We have spent the last three weeks or so quietly in Srinagar, our boats
+forming links in the long chain that, during the “season,” extends for
+miles along both banks of the river. A large contingent of amphibians
+dwells in the canal leading to the Dal gates, and the Chenar Bagh,
+sacred to the bachelor, shows not a spare inch along its shady length.
+
+Not being either professional globe-trotters or Athenians, we have not
+felt obliged to be perpetually in high-strung pursuit of some new
+thing; and to the seeker after mild and modest enjoyment there is much
+to be said in favour of a sojourn at Srinagar.
+
+Polo, gymkhanas, lawn-tennis, picnics, and golf are everyday
+occurrences, followed by a rendezvous at the club, where every one
+congregates for a smoke and chat, until the sun goes down behind the
+poplars, and the swift shikaras come darting over the stream like
+water-beetles to carry off the sahibs to their boats, to dress, dine,
+and reassemble for “bridge,” or perhaps a dance at Nedou’s Hotel, or at
+that most hospitable hub of Srinagar, the Residency.
+
+Polo is, naturally, practically restricted to the man who brings up his
+ponies from the Punjab, but golf is for all, and the nine-hole course,
+although flat, is not stale, and need not be unprofitable, unless you
+are fallen upon—as I was—by two stalwart Sappers, sons of Canada and
+potent wielders of the cleek, who gave me enough to do to keep my
+rupees in my pocket and the honour of the mother country upheld!
+
+On May 26th we took shikara and paddled across the Dal Lake to see
+something of the Mohammedan festival, consisting in a pilgrimage to the
+Mosque of Hasrat Bal, where a hair of the prophet’s beard is the
+special object of adoration.
+
+As we neared the goal the plot thickened. Hundreds of boats—from
+enormous doungas containing the noisy inhabitants of, I should suppose,
+a whole village, down to the tiniest shikara, whose passenger was
+perched with careful balance to retain a margin of safety to his two
+inches of freeboard—converged upon the crowded bank, above which rose
+the mosque.
+
+How can I best attempt to describe the din, the crush, the light, the
+colour? Was it like Henley? Well, perhaps it might be considered as a
+mad, fantastic Henley. Replace the fair ladies and the startling
+“blazers” with veiled houris and their lords clad in all colours of the
+rainbow; for one immortal “Squash” put hundreds of “squashes,” all
+playing upon weird instruments, or singing in “a singular minor key”;
+let the smell of outlandish cookery be wafted to you from the “family”
+boats and from the bivouacs on the shore; let a constant uproar fall
+upon your ears as when the Hall defeats Third Trinity by half a length;
+and, finally, for the flat banks of Father Thames and the trim lawns of
+Phyllis Court, you must substitute the Nasim Bagh crowned with its huge
+chenars, and Mahadco looking down upon you from his thirteen thousand
+feet of precipice and snow.
+
+Half-an-hour of this kaleidoscopic whirl of gaiety satisfied us. The
+sun, in spite of an awning, was a little trying, so we sought the quiet
+and shade of the Nasim Bagh for lunch and repose.
+
+Returning towards Srinagar about sundown, we stopped to visit the
+ancient Mosque of Hassanabad, which stands on a narrow inlet or creek
+of the Dal Lake, shaded by chenars and willows in all their fresh
+spring green. A little lawn of softest turf slopes up gently to the
+ruined mosque, of which a portion of an apse and vaulted dome alone
+stand sentinel over its fallen greatness. Around lie the tombs of
+princes, whose bones have mouldered for eight hundred years under the
+irises, which wave their green sabres crowned with royal purple in the
+whispering twilight.
+
+Near by, the mud and timber walls of a ziarat stand, softly brown,
+supporting a deeply overhanging, grass-grown roof, blazing with scarlet
+tulips. Through its very centre, and as though supporting it, pierces
+the gnarled trunk of a walnut tree, reminding one of Ygdrasil, the
+Upholder of the Universe.
+
+_May_ 27.—What an improvement it would be if a house-dounga could be
+fitted with torpedo netting! Jane finds herself in the most
+embarrassing situations, while dressing in the morning, from the
+unwelcome pertinacity of the merchants who swarm up the river in the
+early hours from their lairs, and lay themselves alongside the helpless
+house-boats.
+
+By 10 A.M. we have to repel boarders in all directions. Mr. Sami Joo is
+endeavouring to sell boots from the bow, while Guffar Ali is pressing
+embroidery on our acceptance from the stern. Ali Jan is in a boat full
+of carved-wood rubbish on the starboard side, while Samad Shah,
+Sabhana, and half-a-dozen other robbers line the river bank opposite
+our port windows and clamour for custom. A powerful garden-hose of
+considerable calibre might be useful, but for the present I have given
+Sabz Ali orders to rig out long poles, which will prevent the enemy
+from so easily getting to close quarters.
+
+_June_ 17.—It is quite curious that it should be so difficult to find
+time to keep up this journal. Mark Twain, in that best of burlesques,
+_The Innocents Abroad_ affirms, if I remember rightly, that you could
+not condemn your worst enemy to greater suffering than to bind him down
+to keep an accurate diary for a year.
+
+It is the inexorable necessity for writing day by day one’s impressions
+that becomes so trying; and yet it must be done daily if it is to be
+done at all, for the only virtue I can attain to in writing is truth;
+and impressions from memory, like sketches from memory, are of no value
+from the hand of any but a master.
+
+The time set apart for diary-writing is the hour which properly
+intervenes between chota hasri and the announcement of my bath; but,
+somehow, there never seems to be very much time. Either the early tea
+is late or bath is early, or a shikar expedition, with a grass slipper
+in pursuit of flies, takes up the precious moments, and so the business
+of the day gets all behindhand.
+
+The fly question is becoming serious. Personally, I do not consider
+that fleas, mosquitoes, or any other recognised insect pests
+(excepting, perhaps, harvest bugs) are so utterly unendurable as the
+“little, busy, thirsty fly.” It seems odd, too, as he neither stings
+nor bites, that he should be so objectionable; but his tickly method of
+walking over your nose or down your neck, and the exasperating
+pertinacity with which he refuses to take “no” for an answer when you
+flick him delicately with a handkerchief, but “cuts” and comes again,
+maddens you until you rise, bloody-minded in your wrath, and, seizing
+the nearest sledgehammer, fall upon the brute as he sits twiddling his
+legs in a sunny patch on the table, then lo—
+
+“Unwounded from the dreadful close “—
+
+
+he frisks cheerfully away, leaving you to gather up cursefully the
+fragments of the china bowl your wife bought yesterday in the bazaar!
+
+How he manages to congregate in his legions in this ship is a mystery.
+Every window is guarded by “meat safe” blinds of wire gauze; the doors
+are, normally, kept shut; and yet, after one has swept round like an
+irate whirlwind with a grass slipper, and slain or desperately wounded
+every visible fly in the cabin, and at last sat down again to pant and
+paint, hoping for surcease from annoyance, not five minutes pass before
+one, two, nay, a round dozen of the miscreants are gaily licking the
+moisture off the cobalt (may they die in agony!), or trying to swim
+across the glass of water, or playing hop-scotch on the nape of my
+neck.
+
+From what mysterious lair or hidden orifice they come I know not, but
+here they are in profusion until another massacre of the innocents is
+decreed.
+
+It is a sound thing to go round one’s sleeping-cabin at night before
+“turning in,” and make a bag of all that can be found “dreaming the
+happy hours away” on the bulkheads and ceiling. It sends us to bed in
+the virtuous frame of mind of the Village Blacksmith—
+
+“Something attempted, something done,
+Has earned a night’s repose”
+
+
+There are other microbes besides flies in Kashmir which are
+exasperating—coolies, for instance.
+
+I had engaged men through Chattar Singh (the State Transport factotum
+at Srinagar) to take us up the river, and decreed that we should start
+at 4 A.M. yesterday.
+
+We had been to an _al fresco_ gathering at the Residency the night
+before, and so were rather sleepy in the early morning, and I did not
+wake at four o’clock. At six we had not got far on our way, and at ten
+we were but level with Pandrettan, barely three miles from Srinagar as
+the crow (that model of rectilinear volition) flies.
+
+I was busy painting all the forenoon, and failed to note the sluggish
+steps of our coolies, but in the afternoon it was borne in upon us that
+if we wanted to reach Avantipura that night, as we had arranged, a
+little acceleration was necessary.
+
+Then the trouble began. The coolies were bone-lazy, the admiral and
+first-lieutenant were sulky, and the weather was stuffy and threatened
+thunder—the conditions were altogether detrimental to placidity of
+temper.
+
+By sunset we had the shikari, the kitchen-maid, and the sweeper on the
+tow-rope, and even the great and good Sabz Ali was seen to bear a hand
+in poling. Much recrimination now ensued between Sabz Ali and the
+Admiral, and the whole crowd made the air resound with Kashmiri
+“language,” every one, apparently, abusing everybody else, and making
+very nasty remarks about their lady ancestors.
+
+At 10 P.M. I got four more coolies from a village, apparently chiefly
+inhabited by dogs, who deeply resented our proximity, and at 2 o’clock
+this morning we reached the haven where we would be—Avantipura.
+
+This morning I discharged the Srinagar coolies and took a fresh lot,
+who pull better and talk less.
+
+How differently things may be put and yet the truth retained. Yesterday
+we reclined at our ease in our cosy floating cottage, towed up the
+lovely river by a picturesque crew of bronze Kashmiris, the swish of
+the passing water only broken by their melodious voices. The brilliancy
+of the morning gave way in the afternoon to a soft haze which fell over
+the snowy ranges, mellowing their clear tones to a soft and pearly
+grey, while the reflections of the big chenars which graced the river
+bank deepened us the afternoon shadows lengthened and spread over the
+wide landscape. Towards evening we strolled along the river bank
+plucking the ripe mulberries, and idly watching the terns and
+kingfishers busily seeking their suppers over the glassy water; and at
+night we sat on deck while the moon rose higher in the quiet sky, and
+the dark river banks assumed a clearer ebony as she rose above the
+lofty fringe of trees, until the towing-path lay a track of pure silver
+reaching away to the dim belt of woodland which shrouded Avantipura.
+
+That is a perfectly accurate description of the day, and so is this:—
+
+It was very hot—and there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun on
+board a wooden house-dounga. The flies, too, were unusually malevolent,
+and I could scarcely paint, and my wife could hardly read by reason of
+their unwelcome attentions.
+
+The coolies were a poor lot and a slack, and as the day grew stuffier
+and sultrier so did their efforts on the tow-path become “small by
+degrees and beautifully less.”
+
+That irrepressible bird—the old cock—refused to consider himself as
+under arrest in his hen-coop, and insisted upon crowing about fifteen
+times a minute with that fidgeting irregularity which seems peculiar to
+certain unpleasant sounds, and which retains the ear fixed in nervous
+tension for the next explosion of defiance or pride, or whatever evil
+impulse it is which causes a cock to crow.
+
+Driven overboard by the cock, and a feeling that exercise would be
+beneficial, we landed in the afternoon, and plodded along the bank for
+some miles. The innumerable mulberry trees are loaded with ripe fruit,
+the ground below being literally black with fallen berries. We ate
+some, and pronounced them to be but mawkish things.
+
+After dinner we sat on deck, as the lamp smelt too strongly to let us
+enjoy ourselves in the cabin, and the coolies on the bank and the
+people in our boat and those in the cook-boat engaged in a triangular
+duel of words, until the last few grains of my patience ran through the
+glass, and I spake with _my_ tongue.
+
+There is certainly some curious quality in the air of this country
+which affects the nerves: maybe it is the elevation at which one
+lives—certain it is that many people complain of unwonted irritability
+and susceptibility to petty annoyances. And, while travelling in
+Kashmir is easy and comfortable enough along beaten tracks, yet the
+petty worries connected with all matters of transport and supply are
+incessant, and become much more serious if one cannot speak or
+understand Hindustani.
+
+It takes some little time for the Western mind to grasp the fact that
+the Kashmiri cannot and must not be treated on the “man and brothel”
+principle.
+
+He is by nature a slave, and his brain is in many respects the
+undeveloped brain of a child; in certain ways, however, his outward
+childishness conceals the subtlety of the Heathen Chinee.
+
+He has in no degree come to comprehend the dignity of labour any more
+than a Poplar pauper comprehends it, but fortunately his Guardians,
+while granting certain advantages in his tenure of land and payment of
+rent, have bound him, in return, to work for a fair payment, when
+required to do so by his Government, as exercised by the local
+Tehsildhar.
+
+The demand made upon a village for coolies is not, therefore, an
+arbitrary and high-handed system of bullying, but simply a call upon
+the villages to fulfil their obligation towards the State by doing a
+fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay of from four to six annas.
+
+I do not, of course, propose to entangle myself in the working of the
+Land Settlement, which is most fully and admirably explained in
+Lawrence’s _Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+The coolie, drawn from his native village reluctant, like a periwinkle
+from its shell, is never a good starter, and when he finds himself at
+the end of a tow-rope or bowed beneath half a hundredweight of the
+sahib’s trinkets, with a three-thousand-feet pass to attain in front of
+him, he is extremely apt to burst into tears—idle tears—or be overcome
+by a fit of that fell disease—“the lurgies.” Lest my reader should not
+be acquainted with this illness, at least under that name, here is the
+diagnosis of the lurgies as given by a very ordinary seaman to the
+ship’s doctor.
+
+“Well, sir, I eats well, and I sleeps well; but when I’ve got a job of
+work to do—Lor’ bless you, sir! I breaks out all over of a tremble!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+THE LIDAR VALLEY
+
+
+We were glad enough to leave Srinagar, as that place has been
+undoubtedly trying lately, being extremely hot and relaxing. The river,
+which had been up to the fourteen-foot level, as shown on the gate
+ports at the entrance to the Sunt-i-kul Canal, had fallen to 9-1/2
+feet, and the mud, exposed both on its banks and in the fields and
+flats which had been flooded, must have given out unwholesome
+exhalations, of which the riverine population, the dwellers in
+house-boats and doungas, got the full benefit.
+
+Jane has certainly been anything but well lately, and I confess to a
+certain feeling best described as “slack and livery.”
+
+We had not intended to remain nearly so long in Srinagar, but the
+continuity of the chain of entertainments proved too firm to break, and
+dances and dinners, bridge and golf, kept us bound from day to day,
+until the _fête_ at the Residency on the 15th practically brought the
+Srinagar season to a close, and broke up the line of house-boats that
+had been moored along both banks of the river.
+
+We had arranged to start with a party of three other boats up the
+river, visiting Atchibal with our friends, and then going up the Lidar
+Valley, while they retraced their way to Srinagar.
+
+The most popular bachelor in Kashmir was appointed commodore, and
+deputed to set the pace and arrange rendezvous. He began by sending on
+his big house-boat, dragged by many coolies, to Pampur, a distance of
+some ten miles by water, and, following himself on horseback by road,
+instituted a sort of “Devil take the hindmost” race, for which we were
+not prepared.
+
+On reaching Pampur we heard that the “Baltic Fleet” had sailed for
+Avantipura, so we followed on; but, alas! having made a forced march to
+this latter place, we found that Rodjestvenski Phelps had again escaped
+us and “gone before.”
+
+We consigned him and the elusive “chota resident,” who was in command
+of the rest of the party, to perdition, and decided to pursue the even
+tenor of our way to the Lidar Valley.
+
+The upper reaches of the Jhelum tire not wildly or excitingly lovely.
+The narrowed waters, like sweet Thames, run softly between quiet
+British banks, willow veiled. The wide level flats of the lower river
+give place to low sloping hills or “karewas,” which fall in terraced
+undulations from the foothills of the higher ranges which close in the
+eastern extremity of the Kashmir Valley.
+
+It was well into the evening, and the sun had just set, throwing a
+glorious rosy flush over the snows which surround the Lidar Valley,
+when we came to the picturesque bridge which crosses the stream at
+Bejbehara.
+
+The scene here was charming—a grand festa or religious tamasha being
+toward; the whole river was swarming with boats—great doungas, with
+their festive crews yelling a monotonous chant, paddled uproariously
+by. Light shikaras darted in and out, making up for want of volume in
+their song by the piercing shrillness of their utterances. The banks
+and bridge teemed with swarming life, and all Kashmir seemed to have
+contributed its noisiest members to the revel.
+
+Beyond the bridge we could see through the gathering dusk many
+house-boats of the sahibs clustering under a group of magnificent
+chenars, over whose dark masses the moon was just rising, full orbed.
+The piers of the bridge seemed to be set in foliage, large willows
+having grown up from their bases, giving a most curious effect. We
+marked with some apprehension the swiftness of the oily current which
+came swirling round the piers, and soon we found ourselves stuck fast
+about half-way under the bridge, apparently unable to force our boat
+another inch against the stream which boiled past. An appalling uproar
+was caused by the coolies and the unemployed upon the bridge, who all,
+as usual, gave unlimited advice to every one else as to the proper
+management of affairs under the existing circumstances, but did nothing
+whatever in support of their theories. The situation was becoming quite
+interesting, and the “mem-sahib” and I, sitting on the roof of our
+boat, were speculating as to what would happen next when the Gordian
+knot was cut by the unexpected energy and courage of the
+first-lieutenant, who boldly slapped an argumentative coolie in the
+face, while the admiral dashed promiscuously into the shikara,
+and—yelling “Hard-a-starboard!—Full speed ahead!—Sit on the
+safety—valve!”—boldly shot into an overhanging mulberry tree, wherein
+our tow-rope was much entangled. The rope was cleared, the crew poled
+like fury, the coolies hauled for all they were worth, every one yelled
+himself hoarse, and we forged ahead. We crashed under the mulberry
+tree, which swept us from stem to stern, nearly carrying the hen-coop
+overboard; while Jane and I lay flat under a perfect hail of squashy
+black fruit which covered the upper deck.
+
+We went on shore for a moonlight stroll after dinner. The place was
+like a glorified English park; chenars of the first magnitude, taking
+the place of oaks, rose from the short crisp turf, while a band of
+stately poplars stood sentry on the river bank. Through blackest shadow
+and over patches of moonlit sward we rambled till we came upon the
+ruins of a temple, of which little was left but a crumbled heap of
+masonry in the middle of a rectangular grassy hollow which had
+evidently been a tank, small detached mounds, showing where the piers
+of a little bridge had stood, giving access to the building from the
+bank. An avenue of chenars led straight to the bridge, showing either
+the antiquity of the trees or the comparatively modern date of the
+temple.
+
+_June 19_.—Yesterday afternoon we left Bejbehara, and went on to
+Kanbal, the port of Islamabad. A hot and sultry day, oppressive and
+enervating to all but the flies, which were remarkably energetic and
+lively. The river below Islamabad is quite narrow, and hemmed in
+between high mudbanks.
+
+Here we found the “Baltic Fleet,” but, knowing that our fugitive
+friends must have already reached Atchibal, we held to our intention of
+going up the Lidar.
+
+Having tied up to a remarkably smelly bank, which was just lofty enough
+to screen our heated brows from any wandering breeze, we landed to
+explore. A hot walk of a mile or so along a dusty, poplar-lined road
+brought us to the town of Islamabad, which, however, concealed its
+beauties most effectually in a mass of foliage. Although it ranks as
+the second town in Kashmir, it can hardly be said to be more than a big
+village, even allowing for its 9000 inhabitants, its picturesque
+springs, and its boast of having been once upon a time the capital of
+the valley. The first hundred yards of “city,” consisting of a
+highly-seasoned bazaar paved with the accumulated filth of ages, was
+enough to satisfy our thirst for sight-seeing, and after a visit to the
+post-office we trudged back through a most oppressive grey haze to the
+boat. Crowds of the _élite_ of the neighbourhood were hastening into
+Islamabad, where the “tamasha,” which we came upon at Bejbehara, is to
+be continued to-morrow.
+
+We had a good deal of difficulty in getting transport for our
+expedition, as the Assistant Resident and his party had, apparently,
+cleared the place of available ponies and coolies. An appeal to the
+Tehsildhar was no use, as that dignitary had gone to Atchibal in the
+Court train. However, a little pressure applied to Lassoo, the local
+livery stablekeeper, produced eight baggage ponies and a good-looking
+cream-coloured steed, with man’s saddle, for my wife.
+
+The syce, a jovial-looking little flat-faced fellow, was a native of
+Ladakh.
+
+We made a fairly early start, getting off about six, and, having
+skirted the town and passed the neat little Zenana Mission Hospital, we
+had a pretty but uneventful march of some six miles to Bawan, where,
+under a big chenar, we halted for the greater part of the day.
+
+Here let me point out that life is but a series of neglected
+opportunities. We were within a couple of miles of Martand, the
+principal temple in Kashmir, and we did not go to see it! I blush as I
+write this, knowing that hereafter no well-conducted globe-trotter will
+own to my acquaintance, and, indeed, the case requires explanation.
+Well, then, it was excessively hot; we were both in bad condition, and
+I had ten miles more to march, so we decided to visit Martand on our
+way down the valley. Alas! we came this way no more.
+
+Little knowing how much we were missing, we sat contented in the shade
+while the hot hours went by, merely strolling down to visit a sacred
+tank full of cool green water and swarming with holy carp, which
+scrambled in a solid mass for bits of the chupatty which Jane threw to
+them.
+
+A clear stream gushed out of a bank overhung by a tangle of wild
+plants. To the left was a weird figure of the presiding deity, painted
+red, and frankly hideous.
+
+We were truly sorry to feel obliged, at four o’clock, to leave Bawan
+with its massy trees and abundance of clear running water, and step out
+into the heat and glare of the afternoon.
+
+I found it a trying march. The road led along a fairly good track among
+rice-fields, whence the sloping sun glinted its maddening reflection,
+but here and there clumps of walnuts—the fruit just at the pickling
+stage—cast a broad cool shadow, in which one lingered to pant and mop a
+heated brow e’er plunging out again into the grievous white sunlight.
+
+The cavalcade was increased during the afternoon by the addition to our
+numbers of a dog—a distinctly ugly, red-haired native sort of dog,
+commonly called a pi-dog. He appeared, full of business—from nowhere in
+particular—and his business appeared to be to go to Eshmakam with us.
+
+As we neared that place the road began to rise through the loveliest
+woodland scenery—white roses everywhere in great bushes of foamy white,
+and in climbing wreaths that drooped from the higher trees, wild indigo
+in purple patches reminding one not a little of heather. Above the
+still unseen village a big ziarat or monastery shone yellow in the
+sinking sunlight, and overhead rose a rugged grey wall of strangely
+pinnacled crags, outliers of the Wardwan, showing dusky blue in the
+clear-cut shadows, and rose grey where the low sun caught with dying
+glory the projecting peaks and bastions.
+
+In a sort of orchard of walnut trees, on short, clean, green grass, we
+pitched our tents, and right glad was I to sit in a comfortable
+Roorkhee chair and admire the preparations for dinner after a stiff
+day, albeit we only “made good” some sixteen miles at most.
+
+_June_ 20.—A brilliant morning saw us off for Pahlgam, along a road
+which was simply a glorified garden. Roses white and roses pink in wild
+profusion, jasmin both white and yellow, wild indigo, a tall and very
+handsome spiraea, forget-me-not, a tiny sort of Michaelmas daisy, wild
+strawberry, and honeysuckle, among many a (to me unknown) blossom,
+clothed the hillside or drooped over the bank of the clear stream, by
+whose flower-spangled margin lay our path, where, as in Milton’s
+description of Eden,
+
+“Each beauteous flower,
+Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine
+Reared high their flourished heads.”
+
+
+Soon the valley narrowed, and closer on our left roared the Lidar,
+foaming over its boulders in wild haste to find peace and tranquil flow
+in the broad bosom of Jhelum.
+
+The road became somewhat hilly, and at one steep zigzag the nerves of
+Jane failed her slightly and she dismounted, rightly judging that a
+false step on the part of the cream-coloured courser would be followed
+by a hurried descent into the Lidar. I explained to her that I would
+certainly do what I could for her with a dredge in the Wular when I
+came down, but she preferred, she said, not to put me to any
+inconvenience in the matter. We were asked to subscribe, a few days
+later, at Pahlgam to provide the postman with a new pony, his late
+lamented “Tattoo” having been startled by a flash of lightning at that
+very spot, and having paid for the error with his life.
+
+A halt was called for lunch under a blue pine, where we quickly
+discovered how paltry its shade is in comparison with the generous
+screen cast by a chenar; scarcely has the heated traveller picked out a
+seemingly umbrageous spot to recline upon when, lo! a flickering shaft
+of sunlight, broken into an irritating dazzle by a quivering bunch of
+pine needles, strikes him in the eye, and he sets to work to crawl
+vainly around in search of a better screen.
+
+Nothing approaches the great circle of solid coolness thrown by a big
+chenar. The walnut does its best, and comes in a good second. Pines
+(especially blue ones) are, as I remarked before, unsatisfactory.
+
+But if the pine is not all that can be wished as a shade-producer, he
+is in all his varieties a beautiful object to look upon. First, I
+think, in point of magnificence towers the Himalayan spruce, rearing
+his gaunt shaft,
+
+“Like the mast of some tall ammiral,”
+
+
+from the shelving steeps that overhang the torrents, and piercing high
+into the blue. In living majesty he shares the honours with the deodar,
+but he is merely good to look upon; his timber is useless and in his
+decay his fallen and lightning-blasted remains lie rotting on these
+wild hills, while the precious trunks of the deodar and the excelsa are
+laboriously collected, and floated and dragged to the lower valleys,
+producing much good money to Sir Amar Singh and the best of building
+timber to the purchaser.
+
+The road towards Pahlgam is a charming woodland walk, where the wild
+strawberries, still hardly out of flower, grow thick amidst a tangle of
+chestnut, yew, wild cherry, and flowering shrubs. Overhead and to the
+right the rocky steeps rise abruptly until they culminate in the crags
+of Kohinar, and on the left the snow-fed Lidar roars “through the
+cloven ravine in cataract after cataract.”
+
+About four miles from Pahlgam, on turning a corner of the gorge, a
+splendid view bursts upon the wayfarer. The great twin brethren of
+Kolahoi come suddenly into sight, where they stand blocking the head of
+the valley, their double peaks shining with everlasting snow.
+
+It needed all the beauty of the scene to make me forget that the
+thirteen miles from Eshmakam were long and hot, and that I was woefully
+out of condition, and we rejoiced to see the gleam of tents amid the
+pine-wood which constitutes the camping-ground of Pahlgam.
+
+We sat peacefully on the thyme and clover-covered maiden, amongst a
+herd of happily browsing cattle, until our tents were up and the
+irritating but needful bustle of arrival was over, and the tea-table
+spread.
+
+Pahlgam stands some 2000 feet above Srinagar, and although it is not
+supposed to be bracing, yet to us, jaded votaries of fashion in stuffy
+Srinagar, the fresh, clear, pine-scented air was purely delightful, and
+a couple of days saw us “like kidlings blythe and merry”—that is to
+say, as much so as a couple of sedate middle-aged people could
+reasonably be expected to appear. The camping-ground is in a wood of
+blue pines, which, extending from the steeper uplands, covers much of
+the leveller valley, and abuts with woody promontories on the flowery
+strath which borders the river. Here some dozen or so of visitors had
+already selected little clearings, and the flicker of white tents, the
+squealing of ponies, and the jabber of native servants banished all
+ideas of loneliness.
+
+About half a mile below the camping-ground is the bungalow of Colonel
+Ward, clear of the wood and with Kolahoi just showing over the green
+shoulder which hides him from Pahlgam. I was fortunate enough to find
+the Colonel before he left for Datchgam to meet the Residency party,
+and to get, through his kindness, certain information which I wanted
+about the birds of Kashmir.
+
+An enthusiast in natural history, Colonel Ward has given himself with
+heart-whole devotion for many years to the study of the beasts and
+birds of Kashmir, and he is practically the one and only authority on
+the subject.
+
+We were very anxious to cross the high pass above Lidarwat over into
+the Sind Valley, having arranged to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal on
+their way back from Tilail. Knowing that Colonel Ward would be posted
+as to the state of the snow, I had written to him from Srinagar for
+information. His reply, which I got at Islamabad, was not encouraging,
+nor was his opinion altered now. The pass might be possible, but was
+certainly not advisable for ladies at present.
+
+_Friday, June 23_.—We were detained here at Pahlgam until about one
+o’clock to-day, as Colonel Ward, as well as two minor potentates, had
+marched yesterday, employing every available coolie. The fifteen whom I
+required were sent back to me by the Colonel, and turned up about noon,
+so, after lunch, we set forth.
+
+Camels are usually unwilling starters. I knew one who never could be
+induced to do his duty until a fire had been lit under him as a gentle
+stimulant. He lived in Suakin, and existence was one long grievance to
+him, but no other animal with which I am acquainted approaches a
+Pahlgam coolie in _vis inertiâ_.
+
+Whether a too copious lunch had rendered my men torpid, or whether the
+attractions of their happy homes drew them, I know not, but after the
+loads (and these not heavy) had been, after much wrangling, bound upon
+their backs, and they had limped along for a few hundred yards or so,
+one fell sick, or said he was sick, and, peacefully squatting on a
+convenient stone, refused to budge.
+
+We were still close to some of the scattered huts of Pahlgam, so an
+authority, in the shape of a lumbadhar or chowkidar, or some such, came
+to our help, and promptly collected for us an elderly gentleman who was
+tending his flocks and herds in the vicinity. Doubtless it was
+provoking, when he was looking forward to a comfortable afternoon tea
+in the bosom of his family, after a hard day’s work of doing nothing,
+to be called upon to carry a nasty angular yakdan for seven miles along
+a distinctly uneven road; but was he therefore justified in blubbering
+like a baby, and behaving like an ape being led to execution?
+
+The first half-mile was dreadful. At every couple of hundred yards the
+coolies would sit down in a bunch, groaning and crying, and nothing
+less than a push or a thump would induce them to move. We felt like
+slave-drivers, and indeed Sabz Ali and the shikari behaved as such,
+although their prods and objurgations were not so hurtful as they
+appeared, being somewhat after the fashion of the tale told by an
+idiot,
+
+“Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
+
+
+Presently we became so much irritated by the ceaseless row that we
+decided to sit down and read and sketch by the roadside, in order to
+let the whole mournful train pass out of sight and earshot.
+
+Now, I wish to maintain in all seriousness that I am not a Legree, and
+that, although I by no means hold the “man and brother” theory, yet I
+am perfectly prepared to respect the _droits de l’homme_.
+
+This may appear a statement inconsistent with my acknowledgment that I
+permitted coolies to be beaten—the beating being no more than a
+technical “assault,” and never a “thrashing!”—but my contention is that
+when you have to deal with people of so low an organisation that they
+can only be reached by elementary arguments, they must be treated
+absolutely as children, and judiciously whacked as such.
+
+No Kashmiri without the impulsion of _force majeure_ would ever do any
+work—no logical argument will enable him to see ultimate good in
+immediate irksomeness.
+
+It is very difficult for the Western mind to give the Kashmiri credit
+for any virtues, his failings being so conspicuous and repellent; for
+not only is he an outrageous coward, but he feels no shame in admitting
+his cowardice. He is a most accomplished thief, and the truth is not in
+him. He and his are much fouler than Neapolitan lazzaroni, and his
+morals—well, let us give the Kashmiri his due, and turn to his virtues.
+He is, on the whole, cheerful and lively, devoted to children, and kind
+to animals.[1]
+
+[1] This is incorrect, the European Residents having frequently
+attempted, but hitherto vainly, to induce the native authorities to
+curb Kashmiri cruelty.
+
+
+Here is a story which is fairly characteristic of the charming
+Kashmiri.
+
+During the floods which nearly ruined Kashmir in 1901, a village near a
+certain colonel’s bungalow was in danger of losing all its crops and
+half its houses, the neighbouring river being in spate. My friend, on
+going to see if anything could be done, found the water rising, and the
+adult male inhabitants of the village lying upon the ground, and
+beating their heads and hands upon it in woebegone impotence.
+
+He walked about upon their stomachs a little to invigorate them, and,
+sending forthwith for a gang of coolies from an adjacent village which
+lay a little higher, he set the whole crowd to work to divert part of
+the stream by means of driftwood and damming, and was, in the end, able
+to save the houses and a good part of the crops.
+
+When the hired coolies came to be paid for their labour, the villagers
+also put in a claim for wages, and were desperately vexed at my
+friend’s refusal to grant it, complaining bitterly of having had to
+work hard for nothing!
+
+You will find a good description of the Kashmiri in _All’s Well that
+Ends Well:_—
+
+_Parolles_. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister…. He professes
+not keeping of oaths, in breaking them, he is stronger than Hercules.
+He will lie, sir, with such volubility, that you would think truth were
+a fool: drunkenness is his best virtue; … he has everything that an
+honest man should not have; what an honest man should have, he has
+nothing.
+
+
+He excels his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed one of
+the best that is: in a retreat he outruns any lackey; marry, in coming
+on he has the cramp.
+
+
+We had not long sat sketching and basking in the genial glow of a
+summer afternoon among the mountains, when it began to be borne in upon
+us that the weather was going to change, and that the usual
+thunderstorm was meditating a descent upon us. Black clouds came
+boiling up over the mountain peaks, and the too familiar grumble of
+distant thunder sent us hurrying along the lovely ravine, through which
+the path leads to Aru. Only a seven miles’ journey, but ere we had gone
+half-way the storm broke, and a thick veil of sweeping rain fell
+between us and the surrounding mountains.
+
+Presently we found a serious solution of continuity in the track,
+which, after leading us along a precarious ledge by the side of the
+river, finished abruptly; sheared clean off by a recent landslip.
+
+We were very wet, but the river looked wetter still, and it boiled
+round the rocky point, where the road should have been but was not, in
+a distinctly disagreeable manner.
+
+However, Jane dismounting, I climbed upon the cream-coloured courser,
+and proceeded to ford the gap. The water swirled well above the syce’s
+knees, but the noble steed picked his way with the greatest
+circumspection over and among the submerged boulders, till, after
+splashing through some hundred yards of water, he deposited me, not
+much wetter than before, on the continuation of the high-road, whence I
+had the satisfaction of watching Jane go through the same performance.
+
+Hoping against hope that the coolies, by a little haste, might have got
+the tents pitched before the storm came on, we plodded on, until, wet
+to the very skin, we slopped into Aru, to behold a draggled party
+squatting round a central floppy heap in a wet field, which, as we
+gazed, slowly upreared itself into a drooping tent.
+
+In dear old England this sort of experience would have spelt shocking
+colds, and probably rheumatism for life, but here—well, we crawled into
+our tent and found it, thanks to a couple of waterproof sheets spread
+on the ground, surprisingly dry. A change of clothes, a good dinner,
+produced under the most unfavourable circumstances from a wretched
+little cooking-tent, and a fire burning goodness knows how, in the
+open, showed the world to be quite a nice place after all.
+
+After dinner a great camp-fire was lit in front of our tent, the rain
+cleared off, and I sat smoking with much content, while all our soaking
+garments were festooned on branches round the blaze, and Jane and I
+turned them like roasting joints, at intervals, until the steam rose
+like incense towards the stars.
+
+The coolies, too, had quite got over their homesickness, and were
+extraordinarily cheerful, their incessant jabber falling as a lullaby
+on our ears as we dropped off to sleep.
+
+_Saturday, June_ 24.—We got away in good time for our short eight-mile
+march to Lidarwat. The coolies went off gaily—the day was warm and
+brilliant, and the views down the valley towards Pahlgam superb.
+
+We had camped on the low ground at Aru, just across the bridge, but
+about half a mile on, and upon a grassy plateau there is an ideal
+camping-ground facing down the Lidar Valley, towards the peaks which
+rise behind Pahlgam. Want of water is the only drawback to this spot,
+but if mussiks are carried, water can easily be brought from a small
+nullah towards Lidarwat.
+
+Tearing ourselves away from this spot, and turning our backs upon one
+of the most gorgeous views in Kashmir, we plunged into a beautiful
+wood. Maidenhair and many another fern grew in masses among the great
+roots which twined like snakes over the rocky slopes. Far below, with
+muffled roar, the unseen river tore its downward way.
+
+By-and-by, the path emerging from the wood shelved along a green
+hillside, where bracken and golden spurge clothed the little hollows,
+while wild wall-flower, Jacob’s Ladder, and a large purple cranes-bill
+brightened the slopes where happy cattle, but lately released from
+their winter’s imprisonment, were feeding greedily on the young green
+grass.
+
+I fancy the cattle have a remarkably poor time here in winter. Hay is
+not made, and very little winter forage seems to be collected. As the
+snows fall lower on the hills, the flocks and herds are driven down to
+the low ground, where they drag through the dark days as best they can,
+on maize-stalks and such like.
+
+I noticed early in May the water buffaloes just turned out to graze in
+the Lolab, and more weakly, melancholy collections of skin—and—bone I
+have seldom seen.
+
+Now, however, up high in every sunny grassy valley, the Gujars may be
+found camping with their flocks—cattle, ponies, buffaloes, and goats,
+working upwards hard on the track of the receding snow, where the
+primula and the gentian star the spring turf.
+
+A series of grassy uplands brought us close to Lidarwat, when a sharp
+shower, arriving unexpectedly from nowhere in particular, sent us to
+eat our lunch under the shelter of some fairly waterproof trees in the
+company of a herd of water buffaloes of especially evil aspect.
+
+One hoary brute in particular, with enormous horns and pale blue eyes,
+made me think of the legend concerning the origin of the buffalo.
+
+When the Almighty was hard at work creating the animals, the devil came
+and looked on until he became filled with emulation, and begged the
+Deity to let him try his hand at creation. So the Almighty agreed,
+asking him what beast he would prefer to make, and he said, “A cow.” So
+he went away and created a water buffalo, which so disgusted the
+Creator that the devil was not permitted to make any more experiments.
+
+As soon as the rain held up and the thunder had rolled off up the
+valley, we packed the tiffin basket, had one more drink from an icy
+spring, and left the shelter of the friendly trees, followed by the
+glares of all the buffaloes, who appear to have a decided antipathy to
+the “sahib logue.”
+
+We soon came to Lidarwat, passing several tents there, pitched by the
+edge of a green lawn, and sheltered by a deep belt of trees. Crossing
+to the right bank of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we
+continued our way, as the farther up the glen we get to-night, the less
+shall we leave for to-morrow, when we intend to visit the Kolahoi
+Glacier.
+
+The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this
+point, owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in
+common with the buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her
+beloved parasol, he whisked round and let out at me, and I was only
+saved from a nasty kick by my closeness to the beast, whose hock made
+such an impression upon my thigh as to cause me to go a bit short for a
+while.
+
+We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to
+show signs of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the
+river.
+
+A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
+suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at
+night, as our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little
+breezes that came sighing through the pines were straight from the
+snow.
+
+_Sunday, June 25_.—A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
+expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were
+camped amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun
+had already caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and
+gilded their rugged sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth
+and light.
+
+A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right,
+and as fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time
+to admire it duly.
+
+The track now led out into a wide and treeless valley, flanked by
+snow-crowned mountains, and we pushed on merrily until we arrived at
+the brink of a rascally torrent, which gave us some trouble to ford,
+being both exceeding swift and fairly deep. Luckily, it was greedy,
+and, not content with one channel, had spread itself out into four or
+five branches, and thus so squandered itself that Jane on her pony and
+I on coolie-back accomplished the passage without mishap. For some
+miles we held on along an easy path which curved to the right along the
+right bank of the river, which was spanned in many places by great snow
+bridges, often hundreds of yards in width. We lunched sitting on the
+trunk of a dead birch which had been carried by the snow down from its
+eyrie, and then left, a melancholy skeleton, bleaching on the slowly
+melting avalanche. Some two miles farther on we could see the end of
+the Kolahoi Glacier, its grey and rock-strewn snout standing abrupt
+above the white slopes of snow.
+
+Behind rose the fine peak of Harbagwan, in as yet undisputed splendour,
+Kolahoi being still hidden behind the cliffs which towered on our
+right.
+
+Distances seem short in this brilliant air, but we walked for a long
+while over the short turf, flushing crimson with primulas and golden
+with small buttercups, and then over snowy hillocks, before we reached
+the solid ice of the great glacier.
+
+It was so completely covered with fragments of grey rock that Jane
+could hardly he persuaded that it really was an ice slope that we were
+scrambling up with such difficulty, until a peep into a cold mysterious
+cleft convinced her that she was really and truly standing upon 200
+feet of solid ice.
+
+The sight that now burst upon us was one to be remembered. Kolahoi
+towered ethereal—a sunlit wedge of sheer rock some six thousand feet
+above us—into the crystal air. From his feet the white frozen billows
+of the great glacier rolled, a glistering sea, to where we, atoms in
+the enormous loneliness, stood breathless in admiration. Around the
+head of the wide amphitheatre wherein we stood rose a circle of stately
+peaks, their bases flanged with rocky buttresses, dark amid the long
+sweeps of radiant snow, their shattered peaks reared high into the very
+heavens. A great silence reigned. There was no wind with us, and yet,
+even as we watched, a white cloud flitted past the virgin peak of
+Kolahoi—ghostly, intangible; and immediately, even as vultures assemble
+suddenly, no one knows whence, so did the clouds appear, surging over
+the gleaming shoulders of the mountain ridges, and up and round the
+grim precipices. We turned and hurried down the face of the glacier,
+and made for camp, as we knew from much experience that a thunderstorm
+was inevitable.
+
+Over the beds of dirty snow, down by the side of the new-born torrent,
+which leaped full-grown to life from the womb of a green cavern below
+the glacier; over patches of pulpy turf just freed from its wintry
+bondage, and already carpeted with masses of rose-coloured primulas, we
+hastened, keeping to the left bank of the stream, in order to avoid the
+torrent which had so troubled us in the morning, which we knew would be
+deeper in the afternoon owing to the melting of the snows in the
+sunshine.
+
+We had got but a bare half of our journey done when the storm burst,
+and in a very short time we were reduced to the recklessness which
+comes of being as wet as you can possibly be.
+
+    “The thunder bellows far from snow to snow
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie),
+    And loud and louder roars the flood below.
+Heigho! But soon in shelter we shall be
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie).”
+
+
+Crossing the river on a big snow-bridge below the point where our old
+enemy came thundering down the mountain-side, we tramped gaily through
+mud and mire and over slippery rocks until we were gladdened by the
+sight of our camp, dripping away peacefully in the midst of the weeping
+forest.
+
+The rain, as usual, ceased in the evening. A great camp-fire was lit,
+and the neighbouring buffaloes of Gujar-Kote having kindly supplied us
+with milk, we dined wisely and well and dropped off to sleep, lulled by
+the roaring of the Kolahoi River, which raced through the darkness
+close by.
+
+_Tuesday, June 27_.—Being still hopeful of achieving the pass over into
+the Sind, we struck camp early yesterday and marched down to Lidarwat,
+only to find that the party which we knew had camped there with a view
+to crossing, had given up the idea and retreated down the valley; so I
+sent a swift messenger to countermand the three days’ supply of
+“rassad” which I had ordered from Pahlgam for my men, and we marched on
+to Aru. Upon the spur which overlooks Aru we found Dr. Neve encamped,
+and proceeded to discuss the possibility of crossing into the Sind
+Valley _viâ_ Sekwas, Khem Sar, and Koolan. The Doctor, who is an
+enterprising mountaineer, was himself about to cross, but he did not
+encourage Jane to go and do likewise, as he said it would be very
+difficult owing to the late spring, and would probably entail a good
+deal of work with ropes and ice-axes.
+
+This absolutely decided us, our valour being greatly tempered by
+discretion, and we camped quietly at Aru, and came on into Pahlgam this
+forenoon. The river, for some reason best known to itself, was so low
+that we got dry-shod past the corner which had worried us so much on
+the way up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+GANGABAL
+
+
+Friday, _June_ 30.—The last few days have been somewhat uneventful. We
+left Pahlgam at early dawn on Wednesday, just as the first
+lemon-coloured light was spreading in the east over the pine-serrated
+heights above the camp.
+
+The rapids below Colonel Ward’s bungalow, which had been fierce and
+swollen as we passed them on our upward way, were now reduced to
+roaring after the subdued fashion of the sucking dove; so we hardly
+paused to contemplate either them or the big boulder, red-stained and
+holy, at Ganesbal, but hastened on to the point where, just before
+turning a high bluff which shuts him from sight for the last time, we
+got the view of Kolahoi, with the newly-risen sun glowing on his upper
+slopes. An hour flew by much too fast, and it was with great reluctance
+that we finally turned our back on the finest part of the Lidar Valley,
+and sadly resumed our march to Sellar, crossing the river and following
+a rather hot and dull road. Sellar itself is not nearly as pretty as
+Eshmakam, and we grew rather tired of it by evening, as we arrived soon
+after one o’clock, and found little to do or see.
+
+Yesterday we left Sellar and marched to Bejbehara, the hottest and
+dullest march I know of in Kashmir. A shadeless road slopes gently down
+across the plains to the river. All along this road we overtook parties
+of coolies laden with creels of silk cocoons, whose destination is the
+big silk factory at Srinagar, small clouds of hot red dust rising into
+the still air, knocked up by the shuffling tread of their grass-shod
+feet.
+
+In the fields, dry and burnt to our eyes after the green valleys,
+squatted the reapers, snipping the sparse ears, apparently one by one,
+with sickles like penknives. They seemed to get the work done somehow,
+as little sheafs laid in rows bore witness; but the patience of Job
+must have been upon them!
+
+The chenars of Bejbehara threw a most welcome shade from the noonday
+sun, which was striking down with evil force as we panted across the
+steamy rice-fields which surround them.
+
+Hither we came at noon, only to find that our boats were not awaiting
+us as we had directed. A messenger bearing bitter words was promptly
+despatched to root the lazy scoundrels out from Islamabad, while Jane
+and I camped out beneath a huge tree and lunched, worked, and sketched
+until four o’clock, when the Admiral brought the fleet in and fondly
+deemed his day’s work done.
+
+This was by no means our view of the case, and the usual trouble
+began—“No coolies”—“Very late”—“Plenty tired,” &c. &c.
+
+Of course Satarah was defeated, and was soon to be seen sulkily poling
+away in the stern-sheets, while his son-in-law still more sulkily
+paddled in the bow.
+
+We made about eight or ten miles, having a swift current under us,
+before a strong squall came up the valley, making the old ark slue
+about prodigiously, and inducing us to tie up for the night.
+
+This morning we slipped down stream to Srinagar, only halting for a
+short while to obtain some of the native bread for which Pampur is
+celebrated.
+
+The river seemed exceedingly hot and stuffy after the lovely air which
+we have been breathing lately, and we quite determined that the sooner
+we get out of the valley the better for our pleasure, if not for our
+health.
+
+We have been greatly exercised as to how best dispose of the time until
+September, for, during the months of July and August, the heat in the
+valley is very considerable, and every one seeks the higher summer
+retreats. The Smithsons suggested an expedition to Leh, which would,
+undoubtedly, have been a most interesting trip, but which would in no
+wise have spared us in the matter of heat. Had we started about this
+time for Leh we should have reached our destination towards the end of
+July, and would therefore have found ourselves setting out again across
+an arid and extremely hot country on the return journey somewhere about
+the middle of August.
+
+The game did not seem to be worth the candle, and the Smithsons
+themselves shied at the idea when it was borne in upon them that there
+would be little or no shooting to be done _en route_.
+
+The alternatives seemed to lie between Gulmarg, where most of the
+beauty and fashion of Kashmir disports itself during the hot weather,
+Sonamarg, and Pahlgam.
+
+Sonamarg, from description, seemed likely to be quiet, not to say dull,
+as a residence for two months. One cannot live by scenery alone, and
+even the loveliest may become _toujours pâté de l’anguille._
+
+Pahlgam suffered in our eyes from the same failing, and our thoughts
+turned to Gulmarg. Here, however, a difficulty arose. It is a
+notoriously wet place. We heard horrid tales of golf enthusiasts
+playing in waders, and of revellers half drowned while returning from
+dinners in neighbouring tents.
+
+We thought of rooms in Nedou’s Hotel, but our memories of this hostelry
+in Srinagar were not altogether sweet, and we did not in the least
+hanker after a second edition; moreover, every available room had been
+engaged long ago, and it was extremely doubtful, to say the least of
+it, if the good Mr. Nedou could do anything for us. The prospect of a
+two-month sojourn in a wet tent wherein no fire could ever be lighted,
+and in which Jane pictured her frocks and smart hats lying in their
+boxes all crumpled and shorn of their dainty freshness, was far from
+enticing!
+
+Tent existence, when one lives the simple life far from the madding
+crowd, clad in puttoo and shooting-boots, or grass shoes, is
+delightful; but tent life in the midst of a round of society
+functions—golf, polo, with their attendant teas and dinners—was not to
+be thought of without grave misgiving.
+
+Sorely perplexed, and almost at our wits’ end, the Gordian knot was cut
+by our being offered a small hut which had been occupied by a clerk in
+the State employ, now absent, and which the Resident most kindly placed
+at our disposal for a merely nominal rent. Needless to say we
+gratefully accepted the offer, in spite of the assurance that the hut
+was of very minute dimensions.
+
+_Sunday, July_ 2.—Yesterday we toiled hard in the heat to get
+everything in train for a move to Gulmarg. Subhana, that excellent
+tailor and embroiderer, arranged to have all our heavy luggage sent up
+to meet us on the 10th, and from him, too, we arranged for the hire of
+such furniture as we might require, for we knew that the hut was bare
+as the cupboard of nursery fame.
+
+This morning we set off down the river to keep tryst with the Smithsons
+at Gangabal, where we hope to meet them about the 5th on their way back
+from Tilail. The usual struggle with the crew resulted, also as usual,
+in our favour, and we got right through to Gunderbal at the mouth of
+the Sind River, where we now lie amid a flotilla of boats whose
+occupiers have fled away from the sultriness and smelliness of Srinagar
+in search of the cool currents, both of air and water, which are
+popularly supposed to flow down the Sind.
+
+As Jane and I returned from a visit to the post-office along a
+sweltering path among the rice-fields, from which warm waves of air
+rose steaming into the sunset, we failed to observe the celebrated and
+superior coolness of Gunderbal’
+
+_Thursday, July_ 6.—The lumbadhar of Gunderbal, in spite of his
+magnificent name, is a rascal of the deepest dye. He put much water in
+our milk, to the furious disgust of Sabz Ali, and he failed to provide
+the coolies I had ordered; I therefore reported him to Chattar Singh,
+and sent my messengers forth, like another Lars Porsena, to catch
+coolies.
+
+This was early on Tuesday morning, and a sufficient number of ponies
+and coolies having been got together by 5.30, we started.
+
+I may here note that, owing to a confusion between _Gunderbal_ (the
+port, so to speak, of the Sind Valley, and route to Leh and Thibet) and
+_Gangabal_, a lake lying some 12,000 feet above the sea behind Haramok,
+our arrangement to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal was altered by a
+letter from them announcing their imminent arrival at Gunderbal! This
+was perturbing, but as the mistake was not ours, we decided not to
+allow ourselves to be baulked of a trip for which we had surrendered an
+expedition to Shisha Nag, beyond Pahlgam.
+
+The lower part of the Sind Valley is in nowise interesting; the way was
+both tedious and hot, and we rejoiced greatly when, having crossed the
+Sind River, we found a lovely spring and halted for tiffin. After an
+hour’s rest we followed the main road a little farther, and then,
+passing the mouth of the Chittagul Nullah, turned up the Wangat Valley.
+The scenery became finer, and the last hour’s march along a steep
+mountain-side, with the Wangat River far below on our right, was a
+great improvement on what we had left behind us.
+
+The little village of Wangat, perched upon a steep spur above the
+river, was woefully deficient of anything like a good camping-ground.
+We finally selected a small bare rice patch, which, though extremely
+“knubbly,” had the merits of being almost level, moderately remote from
+the village and its smells, and quite close to a perfect spring.
+
+Yesterday we achieved a really early start, leaving Wangat at 4.15, the
+path being weirdly illuminated by extempore torches made of pine-wood
+which the shikari had prepared. A moderately level march of some three
+miles brought us to the ruined temples of Vernag and the beginning of
+our work, for here the path, turning sharply to the left, led us
+inexorably up the almost precipitous face of the mountain by means of
+short zigzags.
+
+It was a stiff pull. The sun was now peering triumphantly over the
+hills on the far side of the valley, and the path was (an extraordinary
+thing in Kashmir) excessively dusty. Up and on we panted, Jane partly
+supported by having the bight of the shikari’s puggaree round her waist
+while he towed her by the ends.
+
+There was no relaxation of the steep gradient, no water, and no shade,
+and the height to be surmounted was 4000 feet.
+
+If the longest lane has a turning, so the highest hill has a top, and
+we came at last to the blissful point where the path deigned to assume
+an approach to the horizontal, and led us to the most delightful spring
+in Kashmir! The water, ice-cold and clear, gushes out of a crevice in
+the rock, and with the joy of wandering Israelites we threw ourselves
+on the ground, basked in the glorious mountain air, and shouted for the
+tiffin basket.
+
+Only the faithful “Yellow Bag” was forthcoming, the tiffin coolie being
+still “hull down,” and from its varied contents we extracted the only
+edibles, apricots and rock cakes.
+
+Never have we enjoyed any meal more than that somewhat light breakfast,
+washed down by water which was a pure joy to drink.
+
+Alas! There were but two rock cakes apiece! Another half-hour’s
+clamber, along a pretty rough track, brought us to a point whence we
+looked down a long green slope to our destination, Tronkol—a few Gujar
+huts, indistinct amidst a clump of very ancient birch-trees, standing
+out as a sort of oasis among the bare and boulder-strewn slopes.
+
+The view was superb. To the right, the mountain-side fell steeply to
+where, in the depths of the Wangat Nullah, a tiny white thread marked
+the river foaming 4000 feet below, and beyond rose a jagged range of
+spires and pinnacles, snow lying white at the bases of the dark
+precipices. “These are the savage wilds” which bar the route from the
+Wangat into Tilail and the Upper Sind.
+
+Over Tronkol, bare uplands, rising wave above wave, shut out the view
+of Gangabal and the track over into the Erin Nullah and down to
+Bandipur.
+
+On our left towered the bastions of Haramok, his snow-crowned head
+rising grimly into the clear blue sky.
+
+We pitched our camp at Tronkol about two o’clock, on a green level some
+little way beyond the Gujar huts, and just above a stream which picked
+its riotous way along a bed of enormous boulders, sheltered to a
+certain extent by a fringe of hoary birches.
+
+We had never beheld such great birches as these, many of them, alas!
+mere skeletons of former grandeur, whose whitening limbs speak
+eloquently of a hundred years of ceaseless struggle with storm and
+tempest.
+
+I saw no young ones springing up to replace these dying warriors. The
+Gujars and their buffaloes probably prevent any youthful green thing
+from growing. It seems a pity.
+
+Towards evening we observed baggage ponies approaching, and at the
+sight we felt aggrieved; for, in our colossal selfishness, we fancied
+that Tronkol was ours, and ours alone. A small tent was pitched, and
+presently to our surly eyes appeared a lonely lady, who proceeded
+solemnly to play Patience in front of it while her dinner was being got
+ready.
+
+A visit of ceremony, and an invitation to share our “irishystoo” and
+camp-fire, brought Mrs. Locock across, and we made the acquaintance of
+a lady well known for her prowess as a shikari throughout Kashmir—
+
+“There hunted ‘she’ the walrus, the narwal, and the seal.
+    Ah! ’twas a noble game,
+    And, like the lightning’s flame;
+Flew our harpoons of steel”
+
+
+I cannot resist the quotation, but I do not really think Mrs. Locock
+hunts walruses in Kashmir, and I know she doesn’t use a harpoon. No
+matter, she proved a cheery and delightful companion, and we entirely
+forgave her for coming to Tronkol and poaching on our preserves.
+
+We were extremely amused at the surprise she expressed at Jane’s feat
+in climbing from Wangat. Evidently Jane’s reputation is not that of a
+bullock-workman in Srinagar!
+
+This morning we all three went to see Lake Gangabal. An easy path leads
+over some three or four miles of rolling down to our destination, which
+is one of a whole chain of lakes—or rather tarns—which lie under the
+northern slopes of Haramok.
+
+We came first upon a small piece of water, lying blue and still in the
+morning sun, and from which a noisy stream poured forth its glacier
+water. This we had a good deal of trouble in crossing, the ladies being
+borne on the broad backs of coolies, in attitudes more quaint than
+graceful. A second and deeper stream being safely forded, we climbed a
+low ridge to find Gangabad stretched before us—a smooth plane of
+turquoise blue and pale icy green, beneath the dark ramparts of
+Haramok, whose “eagle-baffling” crags and glittering glaciers rose six
+thousand sheer feet above. In the foreground the earth, still brown,
+and only just released from its long winter covering of snow, bore
+masses of small golden ranunculus and rose-hued primulas.
+
+An extraordinary sense of silence and solitude filled one—no birds or
+beasts were visible, and only the tinkle of tiny rills running down to
+the lake, and the distant clamour of the infant river, broke, or rather
+accentuated, the loneliness of the scene.
+
+We had brought breakfast with us, and after eating it we made haste to
+recross the two rivers, because, troublesome as they were to ford in
+the morning, they would certainly grow worse with every hour of
+ice-melting sunshine.
+
+Once more on the camp side, however, we strolled along in leisurely
+mood, staying to lunch on top of the ridge overlooking Tronkol. I left
+the ladies then to find their leisurely way back among the flowery
+hollows, and made for a peak overlooking the head of the Chittagul
+Nullah. A sharp climb up broken rocks and over snow slopes brought me
+to the top, a point some 13,500 feet above the sea. In front of me
+Haramok, seamed with snow-filled gullies, still towered far above;
+immediately below, the saddle—brown, bare earth, snow-streaked—divided
+the Chittagul Nullah from Tronkol. Far away down the valley the Sind
+River gleamed like a silver thread in the afternoon light, and beyond,
+the Wular lay a pale haze in the distance.
+
+To the northward rose the fantastic range of peaks that overhang the
+Wangat gorge, and almost below my feet, at a depth of some 1500 feet,
+lay a sombre lakelet, steely dark and still, in the shadow of the ridge
+upon which I sat.
+
+The sun was going down fast into a fleecy bed of clouds, amid which I
+knew that Nanga Parbat lay swathed from sight. To see that mountain
+monarch had been the chief object of my climb, so, recognising that the
+sight of him was a hope deferred, I made haste to scramble down to the
+tarn below, stopping here and there to fill my pith hat with wild
+rhubarb, and to pick or admire the new and always fascinating wild
+flowers as I passed. Large-flowered, white anemones; tiny gentian, with
+vivid small blue blossoms; loose-flowered, purple primulas, and many
+strange and novel blossoms starred the grassy patches, or filled the
+rocky crevices with abundant beauty.
+
+By the lake side the moisture-loving, rose-coloured primula reappeared
+in masses, and as I followed down its outgoing stream towards the camp,
+I waded through a tangle of columbine, white and blue; a great purple
+salvia, arnica, and a profusion of varied flowers in rampant bloom.
+
+_Saturday, July_ 8.—An early start homewards yesterday, in the cold
+dawn, rewarded us by the sight of the first beams of the rising sun
+lighting up the threefold head of Haramok with an unspeakable glory, as
+we crossed the open boulder-strewn uplands, before descending into the
+nullah, which lay below us still wrapped in a mysterious purple haze.
+The downward zigzags, with their uncompromising steepness, proved
+almost as tiring as the ascent had been, and we were more than ready
+for breakfast by the time we reached the ruined temples of Vernag.
+
+These temples, built probably about the beginning of the eighth
+century, are, like all the others which I have seen in Kashmir, small,
+and somewhat uninteresting, except to the archaeologist. They consist,
+invariably, of a “cella” containing the object of veneration, the
+lingam, surmounted by a high-pitched conical stone roof. In structure
+they show apparently signs of Greek influence in the doorways, and the
+triangular pediments above them. Phallic worship would seem to have
+been always confined to these temples, with ophiolatry—the nagas or
+water-snake deities being accommodated in sacred tanks, in the midst of
+which the early Kashmir temples were usually placed.
+
+Any one who wishes to study the temple architecture of Kashmir cannot
+do better than read Fergusson’s _Indian Architecture_, wherein he will
+find all the information he wants.
+
+To the ordinary “man in the street” the ancient buildings of Kashmir do
+not appeal, either by their aesthetic value or by the dignity of size.
+Martand, the greatest, and probably the finest, both in point of
+grandeur and of situation, I regret to say, I did not see; but the
+temples at Bhanyar, Pandrettan, and Wangat resemble one another closely
+in design and general insignificance. The position of the Wangat ruins,
+embosomed in the wild tangle
+
+“Of a steep wilderness, whose airy sides
+With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
+Access denied; and overhead up grew
+Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
+Cedar, and pine, and fir,”
+
+
+and seated at the base of a solemn circle of mountains, gives the group
+of tottering shrines a picturesqueness and importance which I cannot
+concede that they would otherwise have had.
+
+I do not remember ever to have seen it noted that all buildings which
+are impressive by the mere majesty of size are to be found in plains
+and not in mountainous countries. This is probably due to two causes.
+The one being the denser population of the fat plains, whereby a
+greater concourse of builders and of worshippers would be sustained,
+and the other being the—probably unconscious—instinct which debarred
+the architect from attempting to vie with nature in the mountains and
+impel him to work out his most majestic designs amid wide and level
+horizons.
+
+The fact remains, whatever may be the cause, that architecture has
+never been advanced much beyond the mere domestic in very mountainous
+regions, with the exception of the mediaeval strongholds, which formed
+the nucleus of every town or village, where a _point d’appui_ was
+required against invasion, for the protection of the community.
+
+Breakfast, followed by a prowl among the ruins and a short space for
+sketching, gave the sun time to pour his beams with quite unpleasant
+insistence into the confined fold in the hills, where we began to gasp
+until the ladies mounted their ponies, and we took our way down the
+valley, crossing the river below Wangat, and keeping along the left
+bank to Vernaboug, where we camped, the only incident of any importance
+being the sad loss of Jane’s field-glasses, which, carried by her syce
+in a boot-bag, were dropped in a stream by that idiot while crossing,
+he having lost his footing in a pool, and, clutching wildly at the
+pony’s reins, let go the precious binoculars.
+
+This morning we were up betimes, Mrs. Locock having ordained a bear
+“honk”! This was, to me, a new departure in shikar, and truly it was
+amusing to see the shikari, bursting with importance, mustering the
+forty half-naked coolies whom he had collected to beat. A couple of men
+with tom-toms slung round their necks completed the party, which
+marched in straggling procession out of the village at dawn.
+
+A mile of easy walking brought us to the rough jungly cliffs, seamed
+with transverse nullahs, narrow and steep, which bordered the river.
+Here we were placed in passes, with great caution and mystery, by the
+shikari and his chief-of-the-staff—the “oldest inhabitant” of
+Vernaboug; and here we sat in the morning stillness until a distant
+clamour and the faint beating of tom-toms afar off made us sit up more
+warily, and watch eagerly for the expected bear.
+
+The yells increase, and the tom-toms, vigorously banged, seem
+calculated to fuss any self-respecting bear into fits. We watch a
+narrow space between two bushes some dozen yards away, and see that the
+Mannlicher across our knees and the smooth-bore, ball loaded in the
+right and chokeless barrel, lie handy for instant use.
+
+Hidden in the dense jungle, some hundred yards below, sits Mrs. Locock
+on the matted top of a hazel, while Jane, chittering with suppressed
+excitement, crouches a few paces behind me.
+
+The beaters approach, and pandemonium reigns. A few scared birds dart
+past, but no bear comes; and when the first brown body shows among the
+brushwood we shout to stop the uproar, and all move on to another beat.
+
+Four “honks” produced nothing, so far as I was concerned; but a
+bear—according to her shikari—passed close by Mrs. Locock, so thickly
+screened by jungle that she couldn’t see it. This may be so, but
+Kashmir shikaris have remarkably vivid imaginations.
+
+After a delightful morning to all parties concerned—for we were much
+amused, the coolies were adequately paid, and the bear wasn’t
+worried—we returned to breakfast, and then marched fifteen hot miles
+into Gunderbal, where we found the Smithsons, with whom we dined. They
+have been in Gurais and the Tilail district ever since they left
+Srinagar on the 24th April, and have had an adventurous and difficult
+time, with plenty of snow and torrents and avalanches, but somewhat
+poor sport.
+
+This is not according to one’s preconceived ideas of shikar in Kashmir,
+as they went into a nullah which no sahib had penetrated for five
+years; they had the best shikari in Kashmir (he said it, and he ought
+to know); they worked very hard, and their bag consisted of one or two
+moderate ibex and a red bear.
+
+_Tuesday, July_ 11.—On Sunday morning the combined fleet sailed for
+Palhallan. The Smithsons had a “matted dounga,” and she “walked away”
+from our heavier ark down the winding Sind at a great pace. We reached
+Shadipur at 11 A.M., but the Smithsons had “gone before,” so, crossing
+the Jhelum, we made after them in hot pursuit, and reached them and
+Palhallan at sunset.
+
+A narrow canal, bordered by low swampy marshland, allowed us to get
+within a mile of the village and tie up among the shallows, whereupon
+the mosquitoes gathered from far and near, and fell upon us.
+
+The final packing, effected amid a hungry crowd of little piping
+fiends, was a veritable nightmare, and yesterday morning we rescued our
+mangled remains from the enemy, and, having paid off our boats,
+hurriedly clambered on to the ponies which had come—late, as usual—from
+Palhallan to convey what was left by the mosquitoes to Gulmarg.
+
+The unfortunate Jane—always a popular person—is especially so with
+insects; and if there is a flea or a mosquito anywhere within range it
+immediately rushes to her.
+
+She paid dearly for her fatal gift of attractiveness at Palhallan—her
+eyes, usually so keen, being what is vulgarly termed “bunged up,” and
+every vulnerable spot in like piteous plight!
+
+We quitted Palhallan as the Lot family quitted Sodom and Gomorrah, but
+with no lingering tendency to look backward; we cast our eyes unto the
+hills, and kicked the best pace we could out of our “tattoos,” halting
+for breakfast soon after crossing the hot, white road which runs from
+Baramula to Srinagar.
+
+As we left the steamy valley and wound up a rapidly ascending path
+among the lower fringes and outliers of the forest our spirits rose,
+and by the time we had clambered up the last stiff pull and emerged
+from the darkly-wooded track into the little clearing, where perches
+the village of Babamarishi, we were positively cheerful.
+
+Once more the air was fresh and buoyant, the spring water was cool and
+“delicate to drink,” and from our tents we could look out over the
+valley lying dim in a yellow heat-haze far below.
+
+Babamarishi is a picturesquely-grouped collection of the usual
+rickety-looking wooden huts, no dirtier, but perhaps noisier than
+usual, owing to the presence of a very holy ziarat much frequented by
+loudly conversational devotees. We spent the crisp, warm afternoon
+peacefully stretched on the sloping sward in front of our tents, and
+making the acquaintance of the only good thing that came out of
+Palhallan—a charming quartette of young geese which Sabz Ali had bought
+and brought.
+
+These delightful birds evinced the most perfect friendliness and
+confidence in us, and we became greatly attached to them. They and the
+fowls seemed excellent travellers, and after a long day’s march would
+come up smiling, like the jackdaw of Rheims, “not a penny the worse.”
+
+This morning we had but a short and easy march from Babamarishi to
+Gulmarg, along a good road, through a fine forest of silver fir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+GULMARG
+
+
+Somehow one’s preconceived ideas of a place are almost always quite
+wrong, and so Gulmarg seemed quite different from what I had expected.
+It seemed all twisted the wrong way, and was really quite unlike the
+place which my imagination had evolved.
+
+Turning through a narrow gap, we found ourselves facing a wide, green,
+undulating valley completely surrounded by dense fir forest. Beyond, to
+the left, rose the sloping bulk of Apharwat, one of the range of the
+Pir Panjal; while to the right low, wooded hillocks bounded the valley
+and fell, on their outward flanks, to the Kashmir plain.
+
+Immediately in front of us a small village or bazaar swarmed with
+native life, and sloped down to a stream which wound through the
+hollows.
+
+All round the edge of the forest a continuous ring of wooden huts and
+white tents showed that the “sahib” on holiday intent had marked
+Gulmarg for his own.
+
+As we rode through the bazaar the view expanded. Apharwat showed all
+his somewhat disappointing face; his upper slopes, streaked with dirty
+snow, looked remarkably dingy when contrasted with the dazzling white
+clouds which went sailing past his uninteresting summit. The absence of
+all variety in form or light and shade, and the dull lines of his
+foreshortened front, made it hard to realise that he stood some five
+thousand feet above us.
+
+Near the centre of the marg, on a small hill, was a large wooden
+building surrounded by many satellite huts and tents: this we rightly
+guessed to be Nedou’s Hotel. Below, on a spur, was the little church,
+and to the right, in the hollow, the club-house faced the level
+polo-ground.
+
+A winding stream, which we subsequently found to be perfectly
+ubiquitous, and an insatiable devourer of errant golf-balls, ran
+deviously through the valley, which seemed to be rather over a mile
+long, and almost equally wide.
+
+The Smithsons rode away vaguely in search of a camping-ground; while
+we, having found out where our hut was, turned back and climbed a knoll
+behind the bazaar, and found ourselves in front of our future home, a
+very plain and roughly-built rectangular wooden hut, containing a small
+square room opening upon a verandah, and having a bedroom and bathroom
+on each side.
+
+Such was our palace, and we were well satisfied with it.
+
+The cook-house and servants’ quarters were in a hut close by, and I
+could summon my retainers or chide them for undue chatter from my
+bedroom window—a serviceable short cut for the dinner, too, in wet and
+stormy weather!
+
+Life at Gulmarg is extremely apt to degenerate into the “trivial round”
+of the golf links varied by polo, or polo varied by golf, with
+occasional gymkhanas and picnics. There are, doubtless, many delightful
+excursions to be made, but upon the whole it seems difficult to break
+far beyond the “Circular Road,” a fairly level and well-kept
+bridle-path, which for eight beautiful miles winds through the pine
+forest, giving marvellous glimpses of snowy peaks and sunlit valleys.
+
+The “Circular Road” is always fine, whether seen after rain, when, far
+below in the Ferozepore Nullah, the
+
+“Swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,
+Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,”
+
+
+or when in the evening sunlight the whole broad Valley of Kashmir lies
+glowing at our feet, ringed afar by the ethereal mountains whose pale
+snows stand faint in the golden light, until beneath the yellowing sky
+the clouds turn rosy, and from their midst Haramok and Kolahoi raise
+their proud heads towards the earliest star.
+
+The expedition to the top of Apharwat is, in my opinion, hardly worth
+making, but then I was not very lucky in the weather. Major Cardew,
+R.F.A., and I arranged to do the climb together, and duly started one
+excessively damp and foggy morning towards the middle of July.
+
+Taking our ponies, we scrambled up a rough path through the forest to
+Killanmarg, a boulder-strewn slope, some half a mile wide, which lies
+between the upper edge of the forest and the final slopes of the
+mountain.
+
+Sending our ponies home, we set about the ascent of the 3500 feet that
+remained between us and our goal. The whole hillside was a perfect wild
+garden. Columbines, potentillas—yellow, bronze, and crimson—primulas,
+anemones, gentian, arnica, and quantities of unknown blossoms gave us
+ample excuse for lingering panting in the rarefied air, as we struggled
+through brushwood first, and then over loose rocks and finally slopes
+of shelving snow, before we found ourselves on the crest of the
+mountain, shivering slightly in the raw, foggy air.
+
+Our view was narrowed down to the bleak slopes of rock and snow that
+immediately surrounded us, for our hope that we should get above the
+cloud belt was not fulfilled, and beyond a dismal tarn, lying just
+below us, in whose black waters forlorn little bergs of rotten snow
+floated, and a very much circumscribed view of dull tops swathed in
+flying mist, we saw nothing.
+
+Had the sky been clear, I am told that the view would have been
+magnificent, but I should think probably no better than that from
+Killanmarg, as it is a mistake to suppose that a high, or at least too
+high, elevation “lends enchantment.” As a rule the view is finer when
+seen half-way up a lofty mountain than that obtained from the summit.
+
+We did not stay long upon the top of Apharwat discussing the best point
+of view, because Cardew sagaciously remarked that if it grew much
+thicker he wouldn’t be answerable for finding the way down, and as I
+have a holy horror of rambling about strange (and possibly precipitous)
+mountains in a fog, we set about retracing our own footsteps in the
+snow until we regained the ridge we had come up by.
+
+A remarkably wet couple we were when we presented ourselves at our
+respective front doors, just in time for a “rub down” before lunch!
+
+The golf at Gulmarg is very good, the 18-hole course being exceedingly
+sporting, and tricky enough to defeat the very elect. Jane and I had
+conveyed our clubs out to Kashmir, knowing that they were likely to
+prove useful. I had also taken the precaution to pack up a box or two
+of balls, but I found my labour all in vain, as “Haskells” and
+“Kemshall-Arlingtons” were supplied by the club at precisely the same
+price as in England—viz., 1 r. 8 an., or two shillings.
+
+New clubs are also cheap and in plenty, but repairs to old favourites
+are not always satisfactory. My pet driver, having been damaged, was
+very evilly treated by the native craftsman, who bound up its wounds
+with large screws!
+
+The mountains of Kashmir have been a constant joy to us. Varying with
+every change of light and shade, custom cannot stale their infinite
+variety; but as yet I had not seen the great monarch of Chilas, Nanga
+Parbat.
+
+In July and early August he is rarely visible from Gulmarg, owing to
+the haziness of the atmosphere. One clear morning, however, towards the
+end of July, after a night of rain and storm, I was strolling along the
+Circular Road when, lo! far away in the north-west, soaring ethereal
+above the blue ranges that overlook Gurais, above the cloud-banks
+floating beyond their summits, the great mountain, unapproachable in
+his glory, stood revealed.
+
+The early morning sun struck full on his untrodden snows, making it
+hard to realise that eighty-five miles of air separated me from that
+clear-cut peak. Soon, very soon, a light cloud clung to his eastern
+face, and within ten minutes the whole vision had faded into an
+up-piled tower of seething clouds.
+
+Later in the season, as the air grew clearer, Jane and I made almost
+daily pilgrimages to the point, only a few minutes’ walk from our hut,
+whence, framed by a foreground of columnar pines, Nanga Parbat could
+generally be seen for a time in the morning.
+
+_Tuesday, August_ 1.—Society in Gulmarg is particularly cheery, as
+indeed might be expected where two or three hundred English men and
+women are gathered together to amuse themselves and lay in a fresh
+store of health and energy before returning to the routine of duty in
+the plains.
+
+There have been many picnics lately, the little glades or margs, which
+are frequent in the forest slopes, being ideal places of rendezvous for
+merrymakers on horse or foot. Picnics of all sorts and sizes, from the
+little impromptu gatherings of half-a-dozen congenial young souls
+(always an even number, please), who ride off into the romantic shades
+to nibble biscuits and make tea, to the dainty repasts provided by a
+hospitable lady, whose official hut overlooks the Ferozepore Nullah,
+and who, in turn, overlooks her cook, to the great gratification of her
+guests.
+
+How small a thing will upset the best-laid plans of hospitality! It is
+said that a most carefully planned picnic, where all the little tables,
+set for two, were discreetly screened apart among the bushes, was
+entirely ruined by a piratical damsel undertaking a cutting-out
+expedition for the capture of the hostess’ best young man.
+
+Our evenings are by no means dull. On many a starlit night has Jane
+mounted the noble steed which, through the kindness of the Resident, we
+have hired from the “State,” and ridden across the marg attended by her
+slaves (her husband and the ancient shikari, to wit), to dine and play
+bridge in some hospitable hut, or dance or see theatricals at Nedou’s
+Hotel.
+
+Last week we tore ourselves away from our daily golf, and joined the
+Smithsons in a futile expedition to the foot of the Ferozepore Nullah
+for bear. Three days we spent in vain endeavour to find “baloo,” and on
+the fourth we wended our toilsome way up the hill again to Gulmarg.
+
+_Monday, August_ 27.—There are drawbacks as well as advantages in being
+perched, as it were, just above the bazaar. Its proximity enables our
+good Sabz Ali to sally forth each morning and secure the earliest
+consignment of “butter and eggs and a pound of cheese,” which has come
+up from Srinagar, and select the best of the fruit and vegetables. It
+affords also an interesting promenade for the geese, who solemnly march
+down the main street daily for recreation and such stray articles of
+food as may be found in the heterogeneous rubbish-heaps.
+
+It possesses, however, a superabundance of pi-dogs, who gather together
+on the slope in front of our hut in the watches of the night, and
+serenade us to a maddening extent.
+
+The natives, too, have a sinful habit of chattering and shouting at an
+hour when all well-conducted persons should be steeped in their beauty
+sleep.
+
+A few nights ago this culminated in what Keats would have called a
+“purple riot.” The sweeper and his friends were holding a meeting for
+the purpose of conversation and the consumption of apple brandy.
+
+Having fruitlessly sent the shikari to try and stop the insufferable
+noise, I was fain to sally forth myself to investigate matters.
+
+Then to a happy and light-hearted party seated chattering round a
+blazing fire there came suddenly the unwelcome apparition of an
+exceedingly irate sahib, in evening dress and pumps, brandishing a
+khudstick.
+
+A wild scurry, in which the bonfire was scattered, a few remarks in
+forcible English, a whack which just missed the hindmost reveller, and
+the place became a deserted village.
+
+Next morning Sabz Ali came to me in a towering rage to report that the
+sweeper—that unclean outcast—had dared to say most opprobrious things
+to him, being inspired thereto by the devil and apple brandy. Nothing
+less than the immediate execution of the culprit by hanging, drawing,
+and quartering would satisfy the outraged feelings of our henchman.
+
+I promised a yet severer punishment. I said I would “cut” the wretched
+minion’s pay that month to the amount of a rupee. Vengeance was
+satisfied, and the victim reduced to tears.
+
+It is good to hear Jane—who for many years has been accustomed to
+having her own way in all household matters—ordering breakfast.
+
+“Well, Sabz Ali—what shall we have for breakfast to-morrow?”
+
+“Jessa mem-sahib arder!”—with a friendly grin.
+
+“Then I shall have kidneys.”’
+
+“No kidney, mem-sahib! Kidney plenty money—two annas six pice ek. Oh,
+plenty dear!”
+
+“I’m tired of eggs. Is there any cold chicken you could grill?”
+
+“Chota murghi one egg lay, mem-sahib, anda poach. Sahib, chicken grill
+laike!”
+
+“Oh, all right! But I thought of a mutton-chop for the major sahib.”
+
+“Muttony stup” (mutton’s tough). “Sahib no laike!”
+
+“Very well, that will do—a poached egg for me and grilled chicken for
+the sahib.”
+
+“No, mem-sahib—no ’nuf. Sahib plenty ’ungry—chicken grill, peechy
+ramble-tamble egg!”
+
+“Have it your own way. I daresay the major sahib _would_ like scrambled
+eggs, and we’ll have coffee—not tea.”
+
+“No, mem-sahib. No coffee—coffee finish!”
+
+“Send the shikari down to the bazaar, then, for a tin of coffee from
+Nusserwanjee.”
+
+“Shikari saaf kuro lakri ke major sahib” (cleaning the golf-clubs).
+“Tea breakfast, coffee kal” (to-morrow).
+
+And, utterly routed on every point, Jane gives in gracefully, and makes
+an excellent breakfast as prearranged by Sabz Ali!
+
+The news is spread that there will be an exhibition of pictures held in
+Srinagar in September. Every second person is a—more or
+less—heaven-born artist out here, so there promises to be no lack of
+exhibits. I dreamed a dream last night, and in my dream I was walking
+along the bund and came upon an elderly gentleman laying Naples yellow
+on a canvas with a trowel. The river was smooth and golden, and
+reflected the sensuous golden tones of the sky. Trees arose from golden
+puddles, half screening a ziarat which, upon the glowing canvas,
+appeared remarkably like a village church. “How beautiful!” I cried,
+“how gloriously oleographic!” and the painter, removing a brush from
+his mouth, smiled, well pleased, and said, “I am a Leader among
+Victorian artists and the public adores me!” and I left him vigorously
+painting pot-boilers. Then in a damp dell among the willows of the Dal
+I found a foreigner in spectacles, and the light upon his pictures was
+the light that never was on sea or land; but through a silvery mist the
+willows showed ghostly grey, and a shadowy group of classic nymphs were
+ringed in the dance, and I cried “O Corot! lend me your spectacles. I
+fain, like you, would see crude nature dimmed to a silvery perpetual
+twilight.” And Corot replied: “Mon ami moi je ne vois jamais le soleil,
+je me plonge toujours, dans les ombres bleuâtres et les rayons pâles de
+l’aube.”
+
+Then upward I fared till, treading the clear heights, I found one
+frantically painting the peaks and pinnacles of the mountains in weird
+stipples of alternate red and blue.
+
+“Great heavens!” I exclaimed, “what disordered manner is this!”
+
+The artist glanced swiftly at me, and said disdainfully: “I am a modern
+of the moderns, and if you cannot see that mountains are like that, it
+is your fault—not mine. Go back, you stand too close.”
+
+And as I went back I looked over my shoulder, and, truly, the flaring
+rose-colour had blended amicably with the blue, and I admitted that
+perhaps Segantini was not so mad as he looked.
+
+A little lower down a stout Scotchman painted a flowery valley. The
+flowers were many and bright, but not so garish as they appeared to
+him, and I hinted as much; but he scorned my criticism.
+
+“Mon,” he shouted, “I painted the Three Graces, an’ they made me an
+Academeesian. I painted a flowery glen in the Tyrol (dearie me, but
+thae flowers cost me a fortune in blue paint), and it was coft for the
+Chantry Bequest, and hoo daur _you_ talk to me?”
+
+Then I departed hurriedly and came upon four men, two of them with long
+beards, and all with unkempt hair, laboriously depicting a blue pine,
+needle by needle, and every one in its proper place. I asked them if
+theirs was not a very troublesome way of painting.
+
+They looked at one another with earnest blue eyes, and remarked that
+here was evidently a Philistine who knew not Cimabue and cared not a
+jot for Giotto; and the first said: “Sir, methinks he who would climb
+the golden stairs should do so step by step;” and the second said,
+sadly: “We are but scapegoats, truly, being cast forth by the
+vindictive Victorians of our day.”
+
+The third murmured in somewhat broken English.
+
+“Victoria Victrix,
+Beata Beatrix,”
+
+
+whereby I recognised him to be a poet, if not a painter.
+
+But the fourth—an energetic-looking man with a somewhat arrogant
+manner—said briskly: “Perchance the ass is right; these pine needles
+are becoming monotonous, and I have seventeen million four hundred and
+sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven more to do. Beshrew me if I
+do not take to pot-boiling!”
+
+Down by the water-side a lady sat, sketching in water-colours for dear
+life; around her lay a litter of half-finished works, scattered like
+autumn leaves in Vallombrosa. I approached her, quite friendly, and
+offered to gather them up for her—at least some of them, saying
+soothingly, for I saw she was in a temper—
+
+“Dear, dear, Clara, why, what _is_ the matter?”
+
+“I am painting the Venice of the East,” she cried petulantly, “but for
+the life of me I can’t see a campanile, and how can I possibly paint a
+picture without a campanile?”
+
+I understood that, of course, she couldn’t, so I stole away softly on
+tip-toe, leaving her turning doungas into gondolas for all she was
+worth.
+
+A dark, dapper man, with an alert air and an eyeglass, sat near the
+seventh bridge, writing. Beside him stood an easel and other
+painting-gear. I asked him what he was doing, and he answered, with a
+fine smile, “I am gently making enemies;” so, to turn the subject, I
+picked up a large canvas, smeared over with invisible grey, like the
+broadside of a modern battleship, and sprinkled here and there with
+pale yellow blobs.
+
+“What have we here, James?” I inquired cheerfully, and he, staying his
+claw-like hand in mid-air, made reply—
+
+“A chromatic in tones of sad colour, with golden accidentals—Kashmir
+night-lights.”
+
+“Ah! quite so,” I exclaimed; “but have I got it right side up?”
+
+He looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then, pointing to a remarkable
+butterfly (_Vanessa Sifflerius_) depicted in the corner, cried: “It’s
+all right; you’ll never make a mistake if you keep this insect in the
+_right bottom corner_. It is put there on purpose.”
+
+Lastly, on an eminence I saw a man like an eagle, sitting facing full
+the sun, and upon his glowing canvas was portrayed the heavens above
+and the earth beneath and the waters under the earth, and behind him
+sat one who patted him upon the back, and looked at intervals over his
+shoulder at the glorious work, and then wrote in a book a eulogy
+thereof; and I, too, came and looked over the painter’s shoulder, and I
+muttered, with Oliver Wendell Holmes,
+
+“The foreground golden dirt,
+The sunshine painted with a squirt.”
+
+
+Then the man who patted the painter on the back turned upon me
+aggressively, and said: “This is the only painter who ever was, or will
+be, and if you don’t agree with me you are a fool.” The painter,
+smiling a sly Monna-Lisan smile of triumph, remarked: “Right you are,
+John. I rather think this _will_ knock that rascal Claude,” and I
+laughed so that I awoke; but the memory of the dream remained with me,
+and it seemed to me that, perhaps, we poor amateurs might not be any
+better able to compass aught but caricatures of this marvellous scenery
+than the ghostly limners of my dream!
+
+The hut just above ours was tenanted by a party of three young Lancers
+on leave from Rawal Pindi, a gramophone, and a few dogs.
+
+One of the soldiers was laid up with a bad ankle, and it soon became a
+daily custom for Jane or me to play a game of chess or piquet with the
+invalid.
+
+Later on, when leave had expired for the hale, when the dogs had
+departed, and the voice of the gramophone was no more heard in the
+land, we came to see a great deal of the wounded warrior, and finally
+arranged to personally conduct him off the premises, and return him, in
+time for medical survey, to Rawal Pindi.
+
+Many years ago I read a delightful poem called _The Paradise of
+Birds_—I believe it was by Mortimer Collins,[1] but I am not sure. Now
+the Poet (who, together with Windbag, sailed to this very paradise of
+birds) deemed that this happy asylum of the feathered fowls was
+somewhere at the back of the North Pole. He cannot have known of
+Kashmir, or he would assuredly have sent the persecuted birds thither,
+and placed the “Roc’s Egg” as janitor, somewhere by the portals of the
+Jhelum Valley. Kashmir is truly and indeed the paradise of birds, for
+there no man molests them, and no schoolboy collects eggs, and the
+result is a fascinating fearlessness, the result of perpetual peace and
+plenty.
+
+[1] It is by Courthope, not Collins.
+
+
+I regret exceedingly that my ornithological knowledge is extremely
+limited. I could find no books to help me,[2] and, as I did not care to
+kill any birds merely to enable me to identify their species, my notes
+were merely “popular” and not “scientific.”
+
+[2] See Appendix II.
+
+
+Shall I confess that I began an erudite work on the birds of Kashmir,
+but got no further than the Hoopoe? It began as follows:—
+
+THE HOOPOE
+
+_Early history of_.—Tereus, King of Thrace, annoyed his wife Procne so
+much by the very marked attention which he paid to her sister
+Philomela, that she lost her temper so far as to chop up her son
+Itylus, and present him to his papa in the form of a ragoût.
+
+This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he “fell upon” the
+ladies with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the
+heart, he was changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale,
+Procne into a swallow, while Itylus became a pheasant.
+
+“Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristæ
+Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;
+N epops volucri.”
+
+
+OVID, _Metam_. lib. vi.
+
+
+_His crest and patent of nobility_.—Once upon a time, King Solomon,
+while making a royal progress, was much, incommoded by the powerful
+rays of the sun, and as he had ascendency over the birds, and knew
+their language, he called upon the vultures to come and fly betwixt the
+sun and his nobility, but the vultures refused. Then the kindly Hoopoes
+assembled, and flew in close mass above his head, thus forming a shade
+under which he proceeded on his journey in ease and comfort.
+
+At sundown the monarch sent for the King of the Hoopoes, and desired
+him to name a reward for the service which he and his followers had
+rendered.
+
+Then the King of the Hoopoes answered that nothing could be more
+glorious than the golden crown of King Solomon; and so Solomon decreed
+that the Hoopoes should thenceforward wear golden crowns as a mark of
+his favour. But alas! when men found the Hoopoes all adorned with
+golden crowns, they pursued and slew them in great multitudes for greed
+of the precious metal, until the King of the Hoopoes, in heavy sorrow,
+hied hastily to King Solomon, and begged that the gift of the golden
+crowns might be rescinded, ere every Hoopoe was slain.
+
+Then Solomon, seeing the misery they had brought upon themselves by
+their presumption, transformed their crowns of gold to crowns of
+feathers, which no man coveted (for the Eastern ladies didn’t wear
+hats), and the Hoopoes wear them to this day as a mark of royal favour,
+but all the feathers fell off the necks of the disobliging vultures.
+
+_His amazing talent_.—In those dark ages … the Hoopoe was considered as
+prodigiously skilful in defeating the machinations of witches, wizards,
+and hobgoblins. The female, in consequence of this art, could preserve
+her offspring from these dreaded injuries.
+
+She knew all the plants which defeat fascinations, those which give
+sight to the blind; and, more wondrous still, those which open gates or
+doors, locked, bolted, or barred.
+
+Aelian relates that a man having three times successively closed the
+nest of a Hoopoe, and having remarked the herb with which the bird, as
+often, opened it, applied the same herb, and _with the same success_,
+to charm the locks off the strongest coffer.—_Naturalists’ Magazine_
+(about 1805).
+
+_His personal appearance_.—The beak is bent, convex and sub-compressed,
+and in some degree obtuse; the tongue is obtuse, triangular and very
+short, and the feet are ambulatory. As this bird has a great abundance
+of feathers, it appears considerably thicker than it is. It is, in
+fact, about the size of a mistletoe thrush, but looks, while in its
+feathers, to be as large as a common pigeon.—_Naturalists’ Magazine_.
+
+I had got _no_ further in my _magnum opus_, when I unfortunately showed
+my notes to Colonel—well, I will not mention his name, but he is the
+greatest authority on the birds and beasts of Kashmir. He besought me
+to spare him, pathetically remarking that I should cut the ground from
+under his feet, and take the bread out of his mouth, and the wind out
+of his sails, if I went any further with my monograph on the Hoopoe. He
+saw at a glance that I was conversant with authorities whom he had
+never consulted, and possessed a knowledge of my subject to which he
+could hardly aspire, so I gracefully agreed to leave the field to him,
+and relinquished my _magnum opus_ in its very inception.
+
+One of the chiefest charms of Kashmir, and one which is apt to be
+overlooked, is the entirely unspoilt freshness of its scenery. No
+locust horde of personally-conducted “trippers” pollutes its ways and
+byways, nor has the khansamah of the dâk bungalow as yet felt
+constrained to add sauerkraut and German sausage to his bill of
+fare—for which Allah be praised!
+
+The world is growing very small, and the globe-trotter rushes round it
+in eighty days. The trail of the cheap excursionist is all over Europe,
+from the North Cape to Tarifa, from the highest Alpine summit (which he
+attains in comfort by a funicular railway) to the deepest mines of
+Cornwall. Egypt has become his footstool, and the shores of the
+Mediterranean his wash-pot. Niagara is mapped and labelled for his
+benefit, and the Yosemite is his happy hunting-ground. He “does” the
+West Indies in “sixty days for sixty pounds,” and he is now arranging a
+special cheap excursion from the Cape to Cairo. “But,” it may be
+remarked, “what were Jane and I but globe-trotters’? and am I not
+trying to sing the praises of Kashmir with the avowed object of
+inducing people to go out and see it for themselves?”
+
+By all manner of means let us travel. Far be it from me to wish folks
+to stay dully at home, while the wonders and beauties of the wide world
+lie open for the admiration and education of its inhabitants.
+
+But there are globe-trotters and globe-trotters. My objection is only
+to those—alas! too numerous—vagrants who cannot go abroad without
+casting shame on the country which bred them; whose vulgarity causes
+offence in church and picture-gallery; who cannot see a monument or a
+statue without desiring to chip off a fragment, or at least scrawl
+their insignificant names upon it.
+
+From these, and such as these, Kashmir is as yet free; but some day, I
+suppose, it will be “opened up,” when the railway, which is already
+contemplated, is in going order between Pindi and Srinagar, and cheap
+excursion tickets are issued from Berlin and Birmingham.
+
+Here is a specimen page of the Guide Book (bound in red) for 19—(?):
+
+“Ascend Apharwat by the funicular railway. The neat little station,
+with its red corrugated-iron roof, makes a picturesque spot of colour
+near the Dobie’s Ghât. Fares, 4 an. 6 pi., all the way.”
+
+“A local guide should on no account be omitted (several are always to
+be found near the station leaning on their khudsticks, and discussing
+controversial theology in the sweet low tones so noticeable in the
+Kashmiri). See that he be provided with a horn, to the hooting of which
+the Echo Lake will be found responsive.”
+
+“From the balcony of the * Hôtel Baloo an unrivalled view of Nanga
+Parbat should be obtained. Glasses can be procured from the
+anna-in-the-slot machines which are dotted about.”
+
+“This veritable king of the Himal—” (here follows a pageful of
+regulation guide-book gush).
+
+“Good sport is to be obtained from the obliging and enterprising
+manager of the hotel, Herr Baer. A few rupees will purchase the
+privilege of shooting at that monarch of the mountains, the markhor.
+Start not, fair tourist, for no danger lurks in the sport. No icy
+precipices need be scaled, no giddy gulfs explored, and the only danger
+which menaces the bold hunter in the mimic stalk, is that which menaces
+his shins in the broken soda-water bottles and sharp-edged sardine tins
+with which the summit of Apharwat is strewn.”
+
+“As a matter of fact, the consumption of mutton is considerable in the
+Hôtel Baloo in the tourist season, and the worthy Baer conceived the
+brilliant and financially sound scheme of attaching some old ibex and
+markhor horns (bought cheap when the old library at Srinagar was swept
+away in the last flood) to his live stock, and turning his decorated
+flock loose on the mountain’s brow, where the sportsman saves him the
+trouble of slaughter while enjoying all the excitement and none of the
+difficulty of a veritable stalk.”
+
+“Another brilliant invention of the good Baer is his ‘sunset
+spectacles.’ These are made with the glasses in two halves—the upper
+part orange and the lower one purple. These are simply invaluable to
+those who have only a brief half-hour in which to ‘do’ Apharwat before
+darting down to catch the 3.15 express for Leh (_viâ_ the newly opened
+Zoji La tunnel), since for the modest sum of 8 a. a superb sunset can
+be enjoyed at any time of the day.”
+
+“Should, however, the leisured globe-trotter have unlimited time at his
+disposal, he would do well to lunch at the Hôtel Baloo, in order to
+taste the celebrated Kashmir sauerkraut (made of wild rhubarb) and
+Gujar pie (composed of the most tempting tit-bits of the water
+buffalo), before returning to the ‘Savoy’ at Srinagar by the turbine
+tram from Tangmarg, or by the pneumatic launch which leaves Palhallan
+Pier every ten minutes, weather permitting.”
+
+“Should the tourist be a naturalist he can hardly fail to observe, and
+be interested in, the mosquitoes of this charming and picturesque
+locality. He will note that they rival the song-thrush in magnitude and
+the Bengal tiger in ferocity. A coating of tar laid with a trowel over
+the exposed parts of the body will be found the best protection,
+especially as the new Armour Company’s patent hermetically sealed
+bear-proof visor will be found too hot for comfort in summer.”
+
+“The environs of Srinagar are charming. Notice the picturesque
+‘furnished apartments’ for paying guests all along the water-side, and
+the mixed bathing establishments, crowded daily by the Smart Set, whose
+jewelled pyjamas flash in rivalry of the heliographic oil-tins which
+deck the neighbouring temples.”
+
+“By a visit to the Museum, and an inspection by eye and nose of the
+quaint specimens of antique clothing exhibited there, the intelligent
+and imaginative traveller may conjure up a mental picture of the
+unpolished appearance of the old-time Mangi and his lady before he
+adopted the tall hat and frock coat of civilisation, or she had
+discovered the ‘swanbill’!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+THE FLOOD
+
+
+Tuesday, _September_ 12.—A second edition of the Noachian deluge is
+upon us! It began to rain on Saturday, at the close of a hot and stuffy
+week, and, having succeeded in thoroughly soaking the unfortunate
+ladies who were engaged in a golf competition that day, it proceeded to
+rain abundantly all through Sunday and Monday.
+
+The outlook from our hut is dispiriting; through a thick grey veil of
+vapour the gleam of water shines over the swamp that was the
+polo-ground. The little muddy stream in which so many erring golf-balls
+lie low is up and out for a ramble over its banks. The lower
+golf-greens resemble paddy-fields, and round the marg the spires of
+dull grey pines stand dripping in a steadfast shower-bath.
+
+Sometimes the heavy cloud folds everything in its leaden wing, blotting
+out even the streaming village at our feet, and reducing our view to
+the immediate slope below us where the wilted ragwort and rank weeds
+bend before the tiny torrents which trickle everywhere. Then comes a
+break, falsely suggestive of an improvement, and lo! soaring above the
+cloudy boil, the lofty shoulders of Apharwat sheeted in new-fallen
+snow!
+
+After the somewhat oppressive heat of last week, the sudden raw cold
+strikes home, and Jane and I take a great interest in the fire, the
+“Old Snake”[1] is an accomplished fire-master, and it is pleasant to
+watch him squatting like an ungainly frog in front of the hearth, and
+sagaciously feeding the flame with damp and spitting logs.
+
+[1] Our pet name for Shikari Mark II., who reigns in the stead of Ahmed
+Bot, sacked for expensive inefficiency.
+
+
+It is amazing what lavish expenditure of fuel one will indulge in when
+it costs nothing a ton!
+
+We are just beginning to find out the exact spots where chairs may be
+planted so as to avoid the searching draughts which go far to make our
+happy home like a very airy sort of bird-cage.
+
+Well! we might have been worrying through all this in a sodden tent,
+where even a boarded floor would barely have kept out rheumatism, and
+where one would have been liable to alarms and excursions at all sorts
+of untoward times when drains wanted deepening and guys slackening. The
+mere thought of such things sent us into a truly thankful state of
+mind, and we discussed from our cosy chairs the probable condition of
+the party from the Residency which set forth, full of high hope, on
+Saturday morning to attack the markhor of Poonch.
+
+Here it has rained with vehemence ever since they left; up in the high
+ground it has doubtless snowed; and although they were well armed with
+cards and whisky, yet it would appear but a poor business to play
+bridge all day in a snow-bound tent on the top of the Pir Panjal!
+Nothing short of a hundred aces every few minutes could make the game
+worth the candle!
+
+This spell of bad weather has greatly interfered with the movements of
+a large number of the folks who were to leave Gulmarg early this week.
+Many got away betimes on Saturday, and a few faced the elements on
+Sunday, and a painful experience they must have had.
+
+We had intended to leave next Thursday, and had ordered boats to meet
+us at Parana Chauni, but the road will be so bad that I wired this
+morning to put off our transport till further orders.
+
+The end of the season at Gulmarg sees the bazaar stock at low water.
+Eggs, fowls, cherry brandy, and spirits of wine are “off,” also butter,
+but the latter scarcity does not affect us, as we make our own in a
+pickle jar. The bazaar butter became very bad, probably because the
+large numbers of visitors to Gulmarg caused an additional supply to be
+got from uncleanly Gujars, so we, by the kindness of the Assistant
+Resident, had a special cow detailed to supply us daily with milk at
+our own door.
+
+That cow was very friendly; I first made its acquaintance one forenoon.
+While I was sitting below the verandah sketching, with a dozen lovely
+peaches spread by me on the hoards to obtain their final touch of
+perfection in the sun before lunch, the cow strolled up. I was much
+interested in the sketch, and believed that the cow was too; but when I
+looked up at last, expecting to see its eye fixed upon the work in
+silent approbation,
+
+“The ‘cow’ was still there, but the ‘peaches’ were gone.”
+
+
+In the afternoon the weather showed signs of a desire to amend its
+ways. The clouds broke here and there, and, though it still rained
+heavily, it became apparent that the clerk of the weather had done his
+worst, and the supply of rain was running short. Clad in aquascutic
+garments, and surmounted by an ungainly two-rupee bazaar umbrella (my
+dapper British one having been annexed by a covetous Mangi)—
+
+“Ombrifuge, Lord love you, case o’ rain,
+I flopped forth ’sbuddikins on my own ten toes.”
+
+
+The whole slope in front of the hut was a trickle of water, threading
+the dying stalks of dock and ragwort, and hurrying down to add its
+dirty pittance to the small yellow torrent rushing along the greasy
+strip of clay that in happier days was the path.
+
+The whole marg was become lake or stream—lake over the polo-ground and
+half the golf-links—fed by the weeping slopes on every side, whence
+innumerable rills rioted over the grass, emulating in ferocity and
+haste, if not in size, the tawny torrents which drained the sides of
+Apharwat.
+
+The road from the bazaar to the club was all but impassable, but as it
+had still a few inches of freeboard, I followed it to the foot of the
+church slope, and, skirting the hill, inspected the desolation which
+had been wrought at the Kotal hole, where the stream had torn through
+its banks and wrecked the green.
+
+During a visit of condolence to Mrs. Smithson, whose unfortunate
+husband is pursuing markhor in Poonch, the sky cleared—a splendid
+effort in the way of a “clearing shower” being followed by a decided
+break-up of the pall of wet cloud in which we have been too long
+immersed. Not without a severe struggle did Jupiter Pluvius consent to
+turn off the tap, but at length the sun broke through the hanging
+clouds and sent their sodden grey fragments swirling up the Ferozepore
+Nullah to break in foamy wreaths round the ragged cliffs of Kulan.
+
+Finding the road across to the post-office altogether under water for
+some distance—a lake extending from the twelfth hole for nearly a
+quarter of a mile to the main road—I wandered back towards the higher
+ground, joining a waterproof figure, a member of the Green Committee,
+who was sadly regarding the water-logged links with the disconsolate
+air of the raven let loose from the ark! We agreed that this was a
+remarkably good opportunity for observing the drainage system, and
+taking notes for future guidance, and in company we went over as much
+of the links as possible, finishing below the second hole, where the
+cross stream which comes down from the higher ground had torn away the
+bridge and cut off the huts beyond from civilisation.
+
+The homeward stroll at sunset was perfectly beautiful, and showed
+Gulmarg in an absolutely new guise. The lower part of the marg, being
+all lake, reflected the lustrous golden sky and rich dark pine-woods in
+a faithful mirror. Flying fragments of cloud, fleeces of gold and
+crimson, clung to the mountain-sides or sailed above the forests, while
+beyond Apharwat, coldly clad in a pure white mantle of snow, new
+fallen, rose silhouetted against the darkening sky.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 16.—After the Deluge came the Exodus, everybody
+trying to leave Gulmarg at once. We had always intended to go down to
+Srinagar about the 15th, but, finding that the Residency party meant to
+move on that day, we arranged to migrate a day earlier in order to
+avoid the pony and coolie famine which a Residential progress entails
+on the ordinary traveller.
+
+On Wednesday afternoon the ten ponies, carefully ordered a week before
+from the outlying villages, were congregated on the weedy slope which
+falls away from our verandah, picking up a scanty sustenance from
+decaying ragwort and such like.
+
+Secure in the possession of the necessary transport, Jane and I
+strolled forth for a last look at Nanga Parbat, should he haply deign
+to be on view. He did not deign, however, preferring to remain, like
+Achilles, when bereft of Briseis, sulking in his cloudy tent. So we
+consoled ourselves with an exceedingly fine view of the snow-crowned
+heights at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah. Upon returning to our
+beloved log cabin we were met by Sabz Ali—almost speechless with
+wrath—who broke to us the distressing news that six of our ten
+weight-carriers had departed from the compound. The entire staff, with
+the exception of our factotum, were away in pursuit, and there was
+nothing for it but to possess our souls in what patience we might until
+they returned.
+
+As we had arranged for a four o’clock start next morning, it was most
+disconcerting to have all our transport desert so late in the evening.
+An urgent note to the Assistant Resident, and some pressure on the
+Tehsildhar, produced promise of assistance.
+
+Early on Thursday morning came an indignant chit from an irate General,
+complaining that my servants were trying to seize his ponies, for which
+he had paid an advance of two rupees, and would I be good enough to
+investigate the affair. Here was the murder out. His chuprassie had
+obviously bribed my pony wallahs, and a letter, stating my case pretty
+clearly, produced the ponies and an apology.
+
+This delay kept us till after midday, when, stowing our invalid snugly
+in a dandy, we left Gulmarg and began the descent to Srinagar. I
+remained behind to see the hut clear and make a sketch, and then
+hurried down the direct path, which drops some 2000 feet to Tangmarg.
+Here I found Jane and the invalid comfortably disposed in a landau, but
+the baggage spread about anywhere, and the usual clamour of coolies
+uprising in the heated and dust-laden air.
+
+No ekka—the one which had been ordered with the landau having
+apparently got another job and departed. Presently a stray ekka, drawn
+by a sorely weary-looking mule, appeared on the scene, and we seized
+upon it instantly, loaded it up with most of the baggage, and
+despatched coolies with the rest.
+
+After the storm came a holy calm, and we settled down to a light but
+welcome lunch before starting down the long slope into the valley.
+
+We had heard most disquieting tales of floods; the water had burst the
+bund at Srinagar, and there was said to be ten feet over the
+polo-ground. The occupants of Nedou’s Hotel were going in and out by
+boat, and Srinagar itself was said to be quite cut off from all access
+by road.
+
+The Residency party have countermanded their intended move to-morrow.
+
+At the post-office I was told that only a small part of the mail had
+been brought into Srinagar, the road being “bund” between Baramula and
+that place, while an unusual number of landslips and bridges have come
+down in the Jhelum Valley.
+
+Nevertheless, we had made a push to get on; things in Kashmir are often
+less gloomy than their reports would make one believe, and so we bowled
+quite cheerfully down the road from Tangmarg, basking in the hot and
+sunny air, which seemed to us really delicious after the raw
+cheerlessness of the last few days at Gulmarg.
+
+From Tangmarg to the dâk bungalow at Margam, a steady descent is
+maintained by an excellent road over the sloping Karewa, for about ten
+miles, of which we had just about travelled half when a series of yells
+from the syce behind, a wild swerve, and a heavy plump brought us up
+just on the edge of the steep and rocky bank, which fell sharply from
+the roadside.
+
+Alas! the axle of the off hind wheel had snapped, and the wheel itself
+was hopelessly lying in the thick white dust, and our landau looked
+like an ancient three-decker in a squall.
+
+The horses being unharnessed, we sent the drivers with one of them
+forward to look for help, and Hesketh and Jane proceeded to make tea
+while I sat by the roadside and sketched.
+
+Presently an empty dandy came “dribbling by” on its return journey to
+Gulmarg, and it was immediately impressed for the benefit of the lame.
+Hardly had we packed him in, when a wandering tonga hove in sight, and,
+being promptly requisitioned, we rattled off the five miles which lay
+between us and Margam in no time.
+
+Here we found a large party assembled in the little rest-house. Colonel
+and Mrs. Maxwell (who had kindly sent us back the tonga on hearing of
+the breakdown); Mr. and Mrs. Allen Baines, whose dandy had been the
+means of bringing Hesketh along; and Sadleir-Jackson, and Edwards of
+the 9th Lancers.
+
+The bungalow was full, but I found out that one room was appropriated
+by a coming event, who had cast his shadow before him in the guise of a
+bearer. This being contrary to the etiquette as observed in dâk
+bungalows, I gently but firmly cleared out the neatly arranged toilet
+things and ready-made bed; while Hesketh was taken over, somewhat
+shattered by his tedious though exciting day, by his fellow Lancers.
+
+The resources of the little place were severely strained; dinner was a
+scanty meal, and soda-water gave out almost immediately: nevertheless,
+a cheroot and a rubber of bridge sent us contented to bed.
+
+Yesterday (Friday) the question of how to proceed arose. The road was
+reported to be impassable after about five miles, the remaining ten
+being under water.
+
+We set out after breakfast, Jane perched on a pony which Sabz Ali had
+raised or stolen, Hesketh in the dandy, and I on foot. After a warm
+five miles’ march we came upon signs of a block. Vehicles of many and
+strange sorts were drawn up in the shade of a chenar, under whose wide
+branches the Baines family was faring sumptuously on biscuits and
+brandy and water.
+
+Horses, goats, and cattle strayed around, and a chattering mob of
+natives, busily engaged, as usual, in doing nothing, completed the
+picture.
+
+Hesketh was reduced to despair; after two months in bed, this could not
+but be a trying journey under the most favourable circumstances, and
+the prospect as held out by his pessimistic bearer was pretty gloomy—no
+boats available, and no signs of our doungas.
+
+I pushed on to the break in search of my shikari, whom I had sent on by
+pony early in the morning, and soon found that estimable person, who is
+not really the blithering idiot he looks!
+
+In the first place, he had appropriated the only two shikaras he could
+find, and our baggage was already being stowed in them; secondly, he
+had discovered both Juma and Ismala, our Mangis, who reported the
+doungas moored below Parana Chaum, about four miles away over the
+flooded fields.
+
+This was good news, and we ate a cheerful lunch under a tree densely
+populated by jackdaws.
+
+The Maxwells got away somehow in search of their house-boat, which was
+supposed to have left Baramula some days ago. They started cheerfully,
+but vaguely, down the Spill Canal, and we trust they found their ark
+somewhere!
+
+Promising to send back a boat for the Baines, we paid and dismissed
+coolies and ponies, and paddled away over the flood water. The country
+was simply a vast lake, the main road merely marked by a dense row of
+poplars. Trees rose promiscuously out of the calm and sunlit water,
+wisps of maize and wreckage clinging to their lower boughs. Presently
+the road showed in patches, a broad waterfall breaking it every here
+and there as the imprisoned waters from above sought the slightly lower
+channel of the Jhelum.
+
+We passed a party of natives bivouacking near the roof and upper storey
+of their wooden hut, which, floating from above, was held up by the
+Baramula road. Sounding now and then with our khudsticks, we found no
+bottom over the submerged rice crops, though we could see plainly the
+laden ears waving dismally down below. This is nothing less than a
+great calamity for the owners, as the rice was just ready for
+gathering.
+
+Towards dusk we arrived at our ships, calmly lying moored to poplar
+trees by the roadside, and right gladly did we clamber on board, for
+our invalid was pretty well fagged out.
+
+This morning we cast loose from our poplars, and brought the fleet up
+to within half a mile of the seventh bridge, or, rather, of the spot
+where the seventh bridge used to be, for all but a fragment has been
+washed away! The strong current prevented us from getting any higher up
+the river in our doungas. Jane and I, however, were anxious to see what
+appearance Srinagar presented, so we manned the shikara with five
+able-bodied paddlers and pushed our way upwards. Turning into a side
+canal we passed a demolished bridge, and tried to force our way up a
+small but swift stream.
+
+Failing to make anything of it, we landed and had the boat carried over
+into a wider channel. Three times we were obliged to get out and leave
+our stalwart crew to force the boat on somehow, and they did it
+well—hauling, paddling, and shouting invocations to various saints,
+particularly the one whose name sounds like “jam paws!”
+
+The water had already fallen some four or five feet, but there was
+plenty left. A great break in the bund between Nusserwanjee’s shop and
+the Punjab Bank allowed us to paddle into the flooded European quarter,
+past the telegraph office, standing knee-deep in muddy water, up over
+the main road to Nedou’s Hotel, where boats lay moored outside the
+dining-room windows, then across the lagoon, lightly rippled by a tiny
+breeze, beneath which lay the polo-ground, to the Residency, where we
+landed to inspect damages.
+
+The water had been all over the lower storey, but a muddy deposit on
+the wooden floor, and a brown slimy high-water mark on the door jambs,
+alone remained to show what had happened. The piano had been hoisted
+upon a table, carpets and curtains bundled upstairs, and everything,
+apparently, saved. The poor garden, with its slime-daubed shrubs,
+broken palings and torn creepers, trailing wisps of draggled foliage in
+the oozy brown pools, was a sad and pitiful sight, especially when
+mentally contrasted with the glowing glory of asters and zinneas which
+it should have been.
+
+The flood has been nearly as bad as the great one of 1903. Fortunately
+the Spill Canal, cut above Srinagar to carry off the flood water, took
+off some of the pressure; the bund, also, is three feet higher than it
+was then, but it gave way in two places—one somewhere near the top, and
+the other just below the Bank, letting in the river to a depth of ten
+feet over the low-lying quarter. The stream is now falling fast, and,
+after doing a little shopping and visiting the post-office, which is
+temporarily established on the bund in the midst of an amazing litter
+of desks, boxes, and queer pigeon-holes admirably adapted to lose
+letters by the score, we spun swiftly down the rushing stream to tea
+and our cosy dounga.
+
+_Monday, September_ 18.—It was impossible to get our boats up the river
+yesterday, so I spent the day sketching amidst the most picturesque,
+but horribly smelly, part of the town; much quinine in the evening
+seemed desirable as a counterblast to possible malaria.
+
+The sunsets lately have been really magnificent; the poplars and
+chenars, darkly olive, reflected in the flooded fields against a red
+gold sky, in the foreground the black silhouettes of the armada.
+
+The days are almost too hot, but the nights are cool and delicious, and
+the mosquitoes are only noticeable for a brief period of sinful
+activity about sundown, after which the wicked cease from troubling and
+the weary are at rest.
+
+At half-past ten this morning we set sail; that is to say, we hired
+nine extra coolies and a second shikara to tow, and advanced on
+Srinagar. Hesketh’s boat, being the lighter, kept well ahead (here let
+me note that “bow” in that boat is quite the prettiest girl we have
+seen in Kashmir, and the minx knows it!), but we had good men, and
+worked along slowly and steadily up the main river, the side canals
+being all choked by broken bridges and such like. We crept past the
+Amira Kadal, or first bridge, about two o’clock, and tied up for lunch,
+revelling in the most perfect pears, peaches, and walnuts. As a rule
+the Kashmir fruit is disappointing; abundant and cheap certainly, but
+not by any means of first-rate quality.
+
+Strawberries, cherries, apricots, melons, and grapes might all be far
+better if properly cultivated, and scientifically improved from
+European stock.
+
+The pears alone defy criticism, and the apples, I am told, are
+excellent also.
+
+Vegetables are in great plenty, but, like the fruit, would be much
+improved by good cultivation.
+
+_Wednesday, September_ 25.—The abomination of desolation wrought by the
+flood is borne in upon one more and more as an inspection of the town
+reveals the damage done more fully—the houses standing empty, their
+lower storeys dank and slimy, the ruined gardens, and muddy, slippery
+roads. The wrecked garden of the Punjab Bank is one of the saddest
+sights, and must be a painful spectacle to Mr. Harrison, whose joy it
+was to spend time and money on importing exotic and improving
+indigenous plants.
+
+One cannot help reflecting how desperately depressed Noah, and the
+probably more impressionable Mrs. Noah, must have been when, discarding
+their aquascutums for the first time, they sallied forth, a primeval
+party, to observe the emerging country.
+
+Mrs. Noah, tucking up the curious straight garment that is a memory of
+our childhood, went ahead with feminine curiosity; Noah, bare-legged,
+slithering along in the rear and beseeching the ladies to note the
+slipperiness of the alluvial deposit, and for goodness’ sake not to
+make a glissade down the side of Ararat.
+
+I feel confident they must have taken great precautions, for Sabz Ali
+slipped up on the shelving bank of the Jhelum, and, had he not caught
+the gunwale of our dounga in his descent, would most certainly have had
+to swim for his life—which I doubt if he can do!
+
+Now, Shem and Co. were as valuable to Noah as Sabz Ali is to us, and I
+should not be surprised if he made them travel on all-fours in the
+risky places. Fathers were very dictatorial in those days, and there
+was nobody about to make them consider their dignity.
+
+One can imagine the scene. Ararat, a muddy pyramid dotted here and
+there with olive trees—curious, by the way, to find olives so high!—in
+the receding waters the vagrant raven cheerfully picking out the eye of
+a defunct pterodactyl. The heavy clouds rolling off the sodden
+world—they must have indeed been heavy clouds, nimbus of the first
+water—as they had raised the world’s water-level 250 feet per day
+during “the flood” … surely a record output!
+
+The primeval family party, sadly poking about along the expanding
+margin of the world, noting how Abel Brown’s tall chimney was beginning
+to show, and how Cain Jones’ wigwam was clean gone. Mrs. Shem said she
+knew it would, the mortar work had been so terribly scamped.
+
+And Naboth Robinson’s vineyard—well, _it_ was in a pretty mess, to be
+sure, and serve him right, for Mrs. Noah had frequently offered him two
+of her (second) best milch mammoths for it; yet he had held on to his
+nasty sour grapes, like the mean old curmudgeon that he was.
+
+And now Hammy must set to work and tidy it up; and oh! what lots of
+nice manure was floating about, all for nothing the cartload … And so
+the primeval family felt better, and went back to the ark to tea,
+feeling almost cheerful, but rather lonesome.
+
+Fortunately this great flood did little injury to life or limb. A
+certain amount of destruction of crops and other property was
+inevitable, but on the whole the loss was not so great as was at one
+time feared, and much was saved that at first seemed irreparable.
+
+A well-known lady artist came near to giving the note of tragedy to the
+British community, and losing the number of her mess (to use a
+nautical, and therefore appropriate expression) by reason of a big
+willow tree, beneath whose shady boughs she had moored her floating
+studio. This hapless tree, having all its sustenance swept from beneath
+by the greedy water, came down with a crash in the night upon the
+confiding house-boat, and all but swamped it.
+
+The cook-boat, occupied as usual by a pair of prolific Mangis and their
+large small family, was saved by the proverbial “acid drop”—the
+children crawling out somehow or anyhow from among the branches of the
+fallen tree.
+
+The fair artist, having with shrieks invoked the aid of a neighbour, he
+promptly descended from his roof or other temporary camp, and helped
+her with basins and chatties to bale out the half-swamped boat. The
+lady is now safely moored to the mudbank on the other side of the river
+where willow trees do not grow.
+
+The whole bund is in a very unsafe state: it was raised three feet
+after the last flood, but its width was not increased correspondingly.
+Now that the water has fallen, great fissures and subsidences have
+appeared, and in many places large portions of the bank have fallen
+away, carrying big trees with them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+THE MACHIPURA
+
+
+Wednesday, _September_ 27.—We left Srinagar yesterday, very sorry
+indeed to part from the many good friends we have made and left there.
+Truly Kashmir is a hospitable country, and we have met with more kind
+friendliness in the last six months than we could have believed
+possible, coming as we did, strangers and pilgrims into a strange land.
+Our consolation is that every one comes “Home” sooner or later, so that
+we can look forward to meeting most of our friends again ere very long,
+and recalling with them memories of this happy summer with those who
+have done so much to make it so.
+
+Farewell, Srinagar! Your foulness and inward evilness were lost in the
+background behind your picturesque and tumble-down houses as we floated
+for the last time down Jhelum’s olive waters, where the sharp-nosed
+boats lay moored along the margin or, poled by their sturdy Mangis and
+guided by the chappars of their wives and daughters, shot athwart the
+eddying flood, breaking the long reflections of the storeyed banks.
+
+Past the Palace of the Maharajah, its fantastic mixture of ancient
+fairness and modern ugliness blending into a homogeneous beauty as
+distance lent it enchantment.
+
+Past the temples, their tin-coated roofs refulgent in the brilliant
+sunlight; under the queer wooden bridges, their solid stone piers
+parting the suave flow of water into noisy swirl and gurgle.
+
+Past the familiar groups of grave, white-robed men solemnly washing
+themselves, then scooping up and drinking the noisome fluid; past their
+ladies squatting like frogs by the river-side, washing away at clothes
+which never seem a whit the cleanlier for all their talk and trouble.
+
+Past the children and fowls, and cows and crows, all hob-nobbing
+together as usual.
+
+Past all these sights—so strange to us at first and now so strangely
+familiar—we floated, till the broken remnant of the seventh bridge lay
+behind us, and the lofty poplars that hem in the Baramula road stood
+stark and solemn in their endless perspective.
+
+Here a jangling note, out of tune and harsh, was struck by the dobie,
+with whom we had a grave difference of opinion regarding the washing.
+
+That gentleman having “lost by neglect” certain articles of my kit—to
+wit sundry shirts and other garments—and having rendered others
+completely _hors de combat_ by reason of his sinful method of washing,
+I decided to “cut” three rupees off his remuneration.
+
+This decision seemed to have taken from him all that life held of
+worth, and he implored me to spare his wife, children, and home, all of
+whom would be broken up and ruined if I were cruel enough, to enforce
+my awful threat. Seeing that I was obdurate, being well backed by the
+infuriated Jane, whose underwear showed far more lace and open work
+than nature intended, the wretched dobie melted into loud and tearful
+lamentation, and perched himself howling in the prow. This soon became
+so boresome that I deported him to Hesketh’s boat, where he underwent
+another defeat at the hands of that irate Lancer, whose shirts and
+temper had suffered together; finally the woeful washerman, still
+howling lugubriously, was landed on the river bank, and we saw and
+heard him no more!
+
+Down the gentle river we swiftly glided all day, while the Takht and
+Hari Parbat grew smaller and bluer, and Srinagar lay below them
+invisible in its swathing greenery.
+
+Reaching Sumbal at sunset, we turned to the left down a narrow canal,
+and soon the Wular lay—a sheet of molten gold—upon our right; and by
+the time we had moored alongside a low strip of reedy bank, the
+glorious rosy lights had faded from the snows of the Pir Panjal, and
+their royal purple and gold had turned to soft ebony against the
+primrose of the sky.
+
+A few hungry mosquitoes worried us somewhat before sunset, promising
+worse to follow; but the sharp little breeze that came flickering over
+the Wular after dark seemed to upset their plans, and send them
+shivering and hungry to shelter among the reeds and rushes.
+
+This morning we crossed the Wular, starting as the first pale dawn
+showed over the eastern hills.
+
+Before the sun rose over Apharwat, his shafts struck the higher snows
+and turned them rosy; while the lower slopes, their distant pines
+suffused with strong purple, stood reflected in the placid mirror of
+the lake.
+
+“Full many a glorious morning have I seen
+Flatter the mountain tops with sovran eye,”
+
+
+but seldom a more lovely one than this—our last on the Wular Lake.
+
+The active figures of the propellent Mangis, and the quiet ones of
+their ladies at the helm, completed a picture to be recalled with a
+sigh when we are parted by thousands of miles from this entrancing
+valley.
+
+Sopor we had understood to be but an uninteresting place, but we were,
+perhaps, inclined to regard things Kashmirian through somewhat rosy
+spectacles. Anyhow, we rather liked Sopor. Mooring close alongside a
+remarkably picturesque building standing in the midst of a smooth green
+lawn, which was once, I believe, a dâk bungalow, we halted to make
+arrangements for the hire of coolies and ponies to take us inland, and
+I went off to the post-office for letters and to make inquiries as to
+the probable depth of water in the river Pohru.
+
+Our skipper, Juma, affirmed that there was no water to speak of; but
+Juma probably—nay, certainly—prefers the _otium_ of a sojourn at Sopor
+to the toil of punting up the Pohru.
+
+The postmaster declared that there was lots of water, but qualified his
+optimism by saying that it was falling fast. So we arranged for our
+land transport of ponies for ourselves, and a dandy for Hesketh, to
+meet us one march up the river at Nopura, while we ourselves set
+forward in our boats to Dubgam, three or four miles down the Jhelum,
+where the Pohru joins it. At the entrance are large stores of timber,
+principally deodar, which is floated down from the Lolab, stored at
+Dubgam, and sent thence down country and otherwhere for sale. The great
+boom across the river to catch the floating logs had been carried away
+in the flood, and merely showed a few melancholy and ineffectual spikes
+of wood sticking up above the now calm and sluggish river.
+
+We towed up easily enough, through a quiet and peaceful country, which
+only became gorgeous under the alchemy of sunset, reaching Nopura in
+good time to tie up before dinner.
+
+_Friday, September 29_.—On Thursday morning we started, as usual, at
+dawn, and proceeded to pole and haul our way up the devious channel of
+the Pohru. Some four or five miles we accomplished successfully,
+although there were ominous signs of a gradual lack of water, until we
+came upon a hopeless shallow, where the river, instead of concentrating
+its energies on one deep and narrow channel, had run to waste over a
+wide bed, where the wrinkling wavelets showed the golden brown of the
+gravel just below the surface. Our big dounga stuck hard and fast at
+once, and Captain Jurna promptly gave up all hope of getting farther.
+He was, in fact, greatly gratified to find his prophesies come true,
+and an insufferable air of “I told you so” overspread his face as he
+wagged his head with mock sorrow, and gently poked the bottom with his
+pole to show how firmly fixed we were.
+
+Having an invalid with us, however, it was important to gain every easy
+mile we could, and it was not until all the fleet in turn had attempted
+to cross the shallow, and failed, that we made up our minds to take to
+our land transport. It was uncommonly hot in the full glare of the sun
+as Hesketh in his dandy, Jane on her “tattoo,” and I on foot set
+forward for the forest house at Harwan, which lay some five miles away
+across the fields, where the rice is now being busily cut.
+
+At the foot of a very brown and parched-looking hill stood the little
+wooden hut, facing the valley of the Pohru and the Kaj-nag range. Hot
+and thirsty, we blessed the good Mr. Blunt, the kindly forest officer,
+who had so courteously given us permission to use the forest huts of
+the Lolab and the Machipura. Our blessings of Blunt turned swiftly to
+curses directed towards the chowkidar, who was not to be seen, and who
+had left the hut firmly fastened from within. An attempt to force the
+door brought upon us the resentment of a highly irritable swarm of big
+red wasps, who plainly regarded us as objectionable intruders; and Jane
+was really getting quite cross (she says—she always does—that it was I
+who lost my temper)—before the bold sweeper, prying round the back
+premises, found an unbarred window, and the joy bells rang once more.
+
+The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent
+in the rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I
+sallied forth to select a few chikor for the pot.
+
+The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary
+partridge, not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry,
+scrub-covered country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly
+when pursued. The chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the
+capacity of what fowl fanciers call “a table bird,” being, in fact,
+truly excellent eating.
+
+He is not an altogether easy bird to shoot, owing to his annoying
+predilection for the steepest and rockiest hillsides, and those most
+densely clothed in spiny jungle, wherein lurking, he chooses the
+inopportune moment when the sportsman is hopelessly entangled, like
+Isaac’s ram, to rise chuckling and flee away to another hiding-place.
+
+Without dogs, he would be often extremely hard to find; but unluckily
+for himself, being a true Kashmiri bird, he cannot help making a noise,
+and thereby betraying his presence. His corpse, when dead, is hard to
+find in the jungle, and a runner is, of course, hopeless without canine
+help. It is well, therefore, to kill him as dead as possible, and to
+that end I used No. 4 shot, with, I think, a certain advantage over
+Walter, who shot with No. 6, and who, in consequence, lost several
+birds.
+
+The friendliness and sociability of the beasts and birds of Kashmir has
+been a great joy to us. The thing can be overdone, though, and both the
+wasps and the rats of Harwan were inclined to overstep the bounds of
+decorum.
+
+The latter were obviously overjoyed to see visitors, and visions of
+unlimited plunder from our festive board would, of course, put them
+somewhat above themselves. Still, they should have refrained from
+rioting so openly around our beds as soon as the lights were out, and
+Jane was naturally indignant when a large one ran over her feet!
+
+On Friday morning we left Harwan, pretty early, as usual, for it is
+still somewhat too warm to travel comfortably in the middle of the day.
+The Colonel (always an early bird) got away first, followed by our
+invalid in his dandy, while Jane and I remained to hunt the loiterers
+out of camp. A glorious morning, and the cheering knowledge that
+breakfast was in front of us, sent us merrily along for a mile or two,
+until branching paths led us to inquire of an intelligent Kashmiri, who
+appeared to be busily engaged in reaping rice with a penknife, as to
+the road taken by our precursors, especially the tiffin coolie!
+
+The industrious one had seen no sahibs at all pass by. This was a blow,
+and Jane and I sat down to review the situation. We finally decided
+that the son of the soil was indulging in what the great and good
+Winston Churchill has called a “terminological inexactitude,” as the
+others must have gone by one of the two roads; so, putting our fortunes
+to the touch, we took the left-hand path, and were in due time rewarded
+by reaching Sogul, and there finding our pioneers peacefully seated
+under a tree, and breakfast ready.
+
+Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the
+right, and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned
+into a beautiful valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and
+insignificant stream.
+
+Drogmulla, our objective, lies about fourteen miles from Harwan, and
+the forest house is a full mile beyond the village, at the end of a
+somewhat steep and winding path.
+
+A welcome sight was the snug rest-house, perched upon a hillock above a
+fussy little stream and surrounded by a fine clump of deodars.
+
+A tiny lawn in front was decorated with an artificial tank full of
+water-plants, and through the opening, among the trees, we saw the
+snowy crest of Shambrywa and the Kaj-nag rising over the deeply-wooded
+foothills.
+
+Drogmulla was so fascinating a spot, and the weather was so remarkably
+fine, that we made up our minds to remain here for a few days. That old
+red-bearded snake, the shikari, has sent the Colonel into a seventh
+heaven of anticipation by pointing to the encircling forest with
+promise of “pul-lenty baloo, sahib, this pul-lace.” We straightway
+ordained a honk.
+
+Our sick soldier is so much better since leaving Gulmarg that he is
+able to hop “around” with considerable activity on his crutches.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 30, 4 P.M.—Walter and I have been bear-honking
+all day in a district reputed to be simply crawling with bears. I love
+bear-honking; it is such a peaceful occupation.
+
+After a stiff and very hot scramble up a rugged hillside covered with
+the infuriating scrub through which nothing but a reptile could crawl
+easily, the spot is reached within short range of which (in the opinion
+of the “oldest inhabitant,” backed up by the “Snake”) the bear _must_
+pass.
+
+Here the battery of rifles and guns is carefully arranged, and I
+proceed to wipe my heated brow and settle down to the calm enjoyment of
+the honk. Drawing forth my cigar-case, I am soon wreathed in the
+fragrant clouds engendered by the incineration of a halfpenny cheroot,
+and, with a sigh of satisfaction, I spread out my writing or sketching
+materials and proceed to scribble or paint, calm in the knowledge that
+nothing on earth is in the least likely to disturb the flow of ideas,
+or interrupt the laying on of a broad flat wash. Now and again, lazily,
+I lean back to watch the witless hoverings of a big butterfly, or
+sleepily listen to the increasing sound of the tom-toms and the yells
+of the beaters, whose voices, as those of demons of the pit, rend the
+peaceful air and add to my sense of Olympian aloofness!
+
+A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor,
+followed by a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched,
+clouds somewhat my active faculties, and the article—“A Bear Battue in
+the Himalayas”—which I am engaged in writing for the _Field_—seems to
+flag a little.
+
+Come, come! Begone dull sloth—let me continue—
+
+“As the sound of the beaters swells upon the ear, and the thunder of
+the tom-toms grows more insistent, the keen-eyed sportsman grasps more
+firmly the lever of his four-barrelled Nordenfeldt and prepares to play
+upon the bears his hail of stinging missiles. Hark! The plot is
+thickening, behind yon dense screen at the end of the cover the ph——
+bears are beginning to crowd, the pattering of their feet upon the dead
+leaves sends a thrill through the beating heart of the expectant
+sportsman. A few bears break back amid wild yells from the coolies. One
+or two odd ones dart out here and there at angles of the covert.
+Steady! Steady! Here they are, following the lead of yon fine old cock;
+with a whirr and a rush the bouquet is upon us. The shikari, mad with
+excitement, presses the second Gatling and the light Howitzer into our
+hands as he screams: ‘Bear to right, sahib!—Bear over!!—Bear behind!!!
+Bang—bang!’”
+
+“Eh? What? Oh, all right, shikari. Honk finished? Is it? Saw nothing?
+Dear me! how very odd. Very well, then gather up my guns and things,
+and we’ll go on to the next beat.”
+
+_Sunday, October 1_.—To-day being Sunday, we have been idle and
+happy—sketching, loafing, and enjoying the scenery and the glorious
+weather. Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the
+beaters, but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have
+found mushrooms growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are
+also satisfied. After lunch I mustered up energy sufficient to take me
+down to the village to sketch a native hut which, surrounded by a patch
+of flaming millet, had struck me on Friday as an extraordinary bit of
+colour. Jane and Walter, after many “prave ’orts” about climbing the
+ridge behind Drogmulla, contented themselves with a minor ascent of a
+knoll about fifty feet high, while the Lancer, reckless in his
+increasing activity, managed to trip over his crutches and give himself
+an extremely unfortunate fall.
+
+_Monday, October 2_.—There was a man who, during our bear-honk on
+Saturday, rendered himself conspicuous, partly by reason of his
+likeness to my shikari, and also because of his complete knowledge of
+the whereabouts of all bears for many miles around. He was quite glad
+to impart much information to us, and so won upon the sporting but too
+trustful heart of the brave Colonel, that he was retained by that
+officer in order that he might show sport to the Philistines, and annas
+and even rupees were bestowed upon him; and he and the old original
+“Snake” were sent forward on Saturday evening, as Joshua and Caleb, to
+spy out the promised land in the neighbourhood of Tregam.
+
+Lured by rumours of many bears, Walter and I set forth at daylight for
+Tregam, leaving Jane and the youthful Lancer (once more, alas! reduced
+to stiff bandages and a painful relapse) in possession of the hut. We
+“hadna gane a mile—a mile but barely twa,” when the old shikari met us
+with the painful intelligence that two sahibs were already at Tregam,
+and had killed many bears there, grievously wounding the rest; so we
+altered course eight points to port, crossed the Pohru, and made for
+Rainawari.
+
+A sharp climb over a wooded ridge (on the top of which we halted for
+breakfast), followed by a steep descent, brought us into a flat and
+well-cultivated plain, which sloped gently from the foothills of the
+Kaj-nag to the bed of the Pohru. Everywhere, in the glowing sunlight,
+the villagers were busily engaged in reaping the rice, which lay in
+ripe brown swathes along the little fields. The walnuts, of which there
+are a great plenty in this district, have been lately gathered, some
+few trees only still remaining, loaded with a heavy crop, but the main
+produce lay drying in heaps in the villages as we rode through.
+
+The road to Rainawari seemed curiously devious. A Kashmiri track seldom
+shies at a hill, but pursues its way, heedless of gradient, for its
+objective; but this path imitated a corkscrew in its windings, and
+reduced us to the utmost limit of our patience before, passing through
+a small village whose dull-coloured houses were enlivened with gorgeous
+festoons of scarlet chilies, we climbed a steep little hill and found
+ourselves upon a park-like lawn or clearing, and facing the cluster of
+rough wooden shanties which compose the Rainawari forest bungalow and
+its outhouses. Behind the huts the densely-wooded hill drops sharply to
+where a stream of good and pure water riots among the maidenhair and
+mosses.
+
+A large and inquisitive company of apes came up from the wood to take
+stock of us, and I sat for a long time watching them as they played
+about quite close to me, feeding, chattering, and quarrelling, entirely
+unconcerned by the presence of their human spectator.
+
+_Friday, October 6_.—All Tuesday was spent in honking bear in the lower
+woods which stretch far towards the Pohru. The high hills which rise
+above, covered with jungle, are said to be too large to work, and I can
+well believe it! For the first drive I was posted on a steep bank
+overlooking a most lovely little hollow, where the shafts of sunlight
+fell athwart the grey trunks and heavy green masses of the pines,
+lighting up the yellow leaves of the sumachs till they glowed like
+gold, and casting a flickering network of strong lights and shadows
+among the tangled mazes of undergrowth. A happy family of magpies,
+grey-blue above, with barred tails and yellow beaks, flitted about in
+restless quest, their constant cries being the only sound which broke
+the peaceful stillness, until the faint and distant sound of shouts and
+tom-toms showed that the first act of the farce had begun.
+
+Towards the end of the third beat, while I was drowsily digesting
+tiffin, and, truly, not far from napping, I was electrified by the
+report of a rifle, followed by yells and a second shot! The beaters
+redoubled their shouts, and the tom-tommers seemed like to burst their
+drums.
+
+My shikari, writhing with extreme excitement, hissed, “Baloo, sahib,
+baloo!” and began aimlessly running to and fro, apparently hoping to
+meet the bear somewhere. It was truly gay for a few minutes, but as
+nothing further occurred, and the beaters grew very hoarse with their
+prodigious efforts, I hurried on to Walter’s post to learn what had
+happened.
+
+A bear had suddenly come out of the cover some 40 yards off, and stood
+to look. The Colonel missed it, whereupon it dashed forward, passing
+within a few yards of him, and he missed it again. It departed at top
+speed across some open ground behind him, and gained the great woods
+which stretch away to the Kaj-nag, and never shall we see that bear
+again! The Colonel was much disgusted, and if language—hot, strong, and
+plenty of it—could have slain that bear, he would have dropped dead in
+his tracks.
+
+The beaters brought up a wonderful tale of how another bear, badly
+wounded in the leg, had charged through their lines and gone back. They
+stuck to their story, and either a second bear actually existed or they
+are colossal liars. I incline to the latter theory.
+
+We had wasted all our luck. No more bears came to look at us, and so,
+late in the afternoon, we sought the rest-house and consolation from
+Jane and Hesketh, who had arrived from Drogmulla.
+
+I had occasion to deplore the bad manners of the rats at Harwan, but
+their conduct was exemplary compared with that of the rats of
+Rainawari! I had been writing my journal, according to my custom,
+before going to sleep, and hardly had “lights out” been sounded than a
+rat went off with my candle, literally from below my very nose. Then,
+from the inadequately partitioned chamber where the invalid vainly
+sought repose, came sounds of strife—boots and curses flying—followed
+by an extraordinary scraping and scuffling. A large rat, having fallen
+into the big tin bath, was making bids for freedom by ineffectually
+leaping up the slippery sides. At last he contrived to get out, and
+peace reigned until we managed to get to sleep.
+
+Wednesday was spent honking in the forlorn hope of a bear, I have now
+spent more than fourteen days in pursuit of black bear, and I have only
+seen one. Every one said to me in spring, “Oh, go to the Lolab, it’s
+full of bear,” I went, and was informed that it was a late season and I
+was too early—the bears were not yet awake. I was consoled by learning
+that later on, when the mulberries were ripe, the berry-loving beasts
+jostled one another in the pursuit of the delicacy so much, that they
+were no sport I went down from Gulmarg for three days, honking among
+the mulberries, but saw none. Then I was told the maize season was
+undoubtedly the best. Now the maize is full ripe; the maize fields are
+tempting in their golden glory, and the only thing wanting to complete
+the picture is a big, black bear.
+
+Either my luck has been particularly bad (and I think it has, as the
+Colonel got a fine bear below Gulmarg, and had another chance at
+Rainawari), or else there are not so many bears in real life as exist
+in the imaginations of those who know. My own theory is, that, unless
+he has remarkable luck, a stranger, in the hands of an ignorant
+shikari, and knowing nothing of the language, has but a remote chance
+of sport. If the shikari does not happen to know the district
+thoroughly, he is necessarily in the hands of the villagers, and has to
+trust to them to arrange the beats and place the guns. The villagers
+want their four annas for a day’s shouting, but do not know or care if
+a bear is in the neighbourhood, so, having planted the gun (and shikari
+with him), they proceed to beat after their own fashion, in other words
+to stroll, in Indian file, like geese across a common, along the line
+of least resistance, instead of spreading out and searching all the
+thickest jungle.
+
+Much yelling serves both to cheer the sahib, and frighten away any bear
+which might otherwise haply frighten them.
+
+I cannot say I regret the time I have spent looking for bear. The
+scenery has always been fine—sometimes magnificent, and there has
+always been a certain cheering hope, which sustained me as I lay hour
+after hour in the Malingam Nullah, or sat expectant amid ever varying
+and always beautiful glades and passes, watching the bird life, and
+storing up scenes and memories which I know I shall never forget.
+
+Alas! we have but a very few days yet before us in Kashmir, and it is
+lamentable, for now the climate is simply perfect, the air clear and
+clean, and without the haze of summer; the first crispness of coming
+autumn making itself felt most distinctly in the early hours of morning
+ere
+
+“Nor dim nor red, like God’s own head,
+The glorious sun uprist;”
+
+
+and each dawn saw us up and out to watch these sunrises, whose
+splendour cannot be expressed on paper. This morning it was more than
+usually wonderful, the whole flank of Nanga Parbat and his lesser
+peaks, turning from clear lemon to softest rose, stood radiant above
+the purple shades of the great range which lies around Gurais. In the
+middle distance, rising above the level yellow of the plain, still dim
+and shadowy below the morning light, rolled wave upon wave of the blue
+hills which hold in their embrace the fruitful Lolab. At our feet the
+deodars, still dark with the shadow of night, crept up the dewy slope
+upon whose top we stood. Then suddenly
+
+“The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes,”
+
+
+flamed over the eastern ridges, and in a flood of glory the soft
+shadows and pallid lights of the dawn became merged in the brilliance
+of a Kashmir autumn day.
+
+Our march yesterday from Rainawari to Kitardaji was charming. I had no
+idea that this Machipura country, which is not much visited by summer
+sojourners in Kashmir, was so fine. The district lies along the lower
+shoulders and foothills of the Kaj-nag, and, while lacking the savage
+grandeur of the Lidar or Upper Sind, yet possesses the charm of
+infinite variety and, in this early autumn, a climate in which it is a
+pure joy to live. On leaving Rainawari we followed up a river valley
+for some distance, and then wound through richly cultivated hollows and
+past well-wooded hills, where the dark silver firs and the deodars were
+lit up by splashes of scarlet and orange, and the deciduous sumach and
+thorn-bushes hung out their autumn flags. Walnuts—the trees in many
+places turning yellow—were being gathered into heaps, and the apple
+trees, reddening in the autumn glow, hung heavy with abundant fruit.
+
+Turning into a narrow gorge, where the trees overhung the path and
+shaded the wanderer with many an interlaced bough; where ferns grew in
+great green clumps, and the friendly magpies chattered in the luminous
+shade, I hurried on, having stayed behind the others to sketch. Up and
+up, till only pines waved over me, and the track, leading along the
+edge of a deep khud, opened out at last upon a plateau, hot and sunlit;
+here an entrancing panorama of Nanga Parbat and the whole range of
+mountains round Haramok caused me to stop “at gaze” until a mundane
+desire for breakfast sent me scurrying down the dusty and slippery
+descent to Larch, where I found, as I had hoped, the rest of the party
+assembled expectant around the tiffin basket, while the necromancer,
+Sabz Ali, had just succeeded in producing the most delightful stew,
+omelette, and coffee from the usual native toy kitchen, made,
+apparently, in a few minutes with a couple of stones and a dab of mud!
+
+It has been an unfailing marvel to us how, in storm or calm, rain or
+fine, the native cook seems always able to produce a hot meal with such
+apparently inadequate materials as he has at his command. Give him a
+fire in the open, screened by stones and a mud wall, a _batterie de
+cuisine_ limited to one or two war-worn “degchies,” and let him have a
+village fowl and half-a-dozen tiny eggs, and he will in due time serve
+up, with modest pride, a most excellent repast.
+
+The remaining half of our twelve-mile march lay along a continually
+rising track, which finally brought us to Kitardaji, a cosy pine-built
+hut, perched upon a hill clothed with deodars, at the foot of which ran
+the inevitable stream.
+
+This, alas! is our last Kashmir camping-ground, and it is one of the
+most charming of all.
+
+At 8.15 this morning we bade farewell to Kitardaji. We had got up
+before dawn to see the sunrise, but afterwards took things leisurely,
+as the march is short to Baramula, and our boats were to be in waiting
+there, and we had made all arrangements for a landau and ekkas to be in
+readiness to take us down to Rawal Pindi, while the Colonel returned up
+the Jhelum for more shooting before rejoining his wife at Bandipur.
+
+The march of about thirteen miles from Kitardaji to Baramula is
+fine—the views of Nanga Parbat in the early hours, before the sun’s
+full strength cast a golden glow over the distance, were magnificent,
+and long we lingered upon the last ridge, gazing over the great valley,
+ringed with its guardian mountains, ere we sadly turned our backs for
+the last time on the scene, and wended our way downward to Baramula and
+our boats.
+
+Kashmir seems to be as difficult to get out of as to get into! What was
+our amazement and disgust to find neither landau nor ekkas, nor,
+apparently, any chance of getting them!
+
+Baramula was in a ferment, and wild confusion reigned because the
+Viceroy, having somewhat suddenly determined to come to Jammu, the
+Maharajah and all his suite, together with the Resident and his
+belongings, were to start down the road at once, and all transport was
+commandeered by the State. Here was a coil! Officers innumerable, who
+had stayed in Kashmir until the limit of their leave, were struggling
+vainly to get on, and had got to Baramula only to find all transport in
+the hands of the State officials. Some few had, by fair means or foul,
+got hold of an ekka or two and hidden them; others had seized ponies,
+but nothing to harness them to. A few of the younger men set forth on
+foot, and others had their servants out in ambush on the roads to try
+and collect transport.
+
+It was most important that we should get on, as Hesketh had to be in
+Pindi to go before a medical board on the 14th, in order to be
+invalided home to England; and as he was most anxious to catch a
+steamer sailing on the 25th, he had no time to spare.
+
+I telegraphed to Sir Amar Singh for authority to engage ekkas, and I
+sent for the Tehsildhar of Baramulla to complain of my ekkas being
+taken. He appeared in due course—a somewhat pert little person—who
+promised to do what he could, which I knew would be nothing. A farewell
+dinner on board Walter’s ship concluded a fairly busy day.
+
+_Saturday, October 7_.—A strenuous day, to say the least of it. Sir
+Amar Singh most courteously met my wishes, and himself directed the
+local authorities to assist me. Armed with this power, I again sent for
+the Tehsildhar, who promised many ekkas, but appeared to have some
+difficulty in fulfilling his promises. I spent the forenoon in hunting
+transport, sending out my servants also in pursuit. The Tehsildhar
+produced one ekka with great pomp, as earnest of what he could and
+would do later on.
+
+During the afternoon the landau turned up from Srinagar, and at 6 P.M.
+one of my myrmidons rushed in to say that two ekkas had arrived at the
+dâk bungalow.
+
+It was but a few yards away, and in a couple of minutes I was on the
+spot. The ekkas had come up from Pindi, and the sahib who had lured
+them to Baramula seemed astonished at my method of taking them over. In
+an uncommonly short while the ekkas were parked, with the landau, close
+to the boats and under strict watch, while all harness was brought on
+board my dounga, just in time, as native officials of some sort romped
+up and claimed the ekkas, and threatened to beat my servants. It was
+explained to them gently, but firmly, that if they touched my ekkas or
+landau they would taste the waters of the Jhelum. We were then left in
+peaceful possession.
+
+_Tuesday, October 10_.—On Sunday morning we really saw our way to
+making a start. We had three ekkas collected, and the Tehsildhar
+produced a fourth with a great flourish, as though in expectation of a
+heavy tip. The landau was being piled with odds and ends while the last
+bits of business were being got through. Juma and his crew were paid
+and tipped (grumbling, of course, for the Kashmiri is a lineal
+descendant of the horse-leech). The shikari went to Smithson, and the
+sweeper and permanent coolie were transferred to the assistant forest
+officer, while Ayata (in charge of Freddie, the blackbird) scrambled
+into the leading ekka.
+
+By noon all was ready, and amid the rattle and jingle of many harness
+bells and the salaams of the domestics, we bowled out of Baramula, and
+set forward down the valley of the Jhelum.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+DELHI AND AGRA
+
+
+The journey down was uneventful, and quite unlike the journey up, when
+we had been briskly occupied in dodging landslips for days. A good
+road, white and dry, and sloping steadily downward; a good pair of
+ponies, strong and willing; a roomy landau, wherein Hesketh—still
+suffering from his fall at Drogmulla—could stretch himself in
+comparative comfort, combined to bring us to Kohala this afternoon in a
+state of excellent preservation. Here we crossed the bridge, which
+brought us to the right bank of the river—from Kashmir to British
+territory.
+
+Kohala is the proud possessor of one of the very worst dâk bungalows
+yet discovered. This seems disappointing when stepping under the folds
+of the Union Jack full of high hope and confidence.
+
+Climbing up through a particularly noisome bazaar to the bungalow, I
+was met with the information that it was already full. I said that was
+a pity, but that room must be found for my party.
+
+Room was got somehow, a dâk bungalow being an extraordinarily elastic
+dwelling. Hesketh was stored in a little tent. I lodged in the
+dining-room, and Jane took up her quarters in a sort of dressing-room
+kindly given up by a lady, who bravely sought asylum with a
+sister-in-law and a remarkably strong-lunged baby. I believe more
+travellers arrived later, for—although, thanks to Sir Amax Singh and
+good luck, we gained a good start at Baramula—now the tongas are
+beginning to roll in and the plot to thicken.
+
+I cannot think where the last arrivals bestowed themselves—not on the
+roof, I trust, for a thunderstorm, accompanied by the usual vigorous
+squall of wind, fell upon us during the night, and raged so furiously
+that I was greatly relieved to see the Lancer’s little tent still
+braving the battle and the breeze in the morning.
+
+We had a long day before us, so started in good time to make the
+tedious ascent to Murree. It rained steadily, and a cold wind swept
+down the river valley as we began to make our slow way up the long,
+long hill.
+
+I never knew milestones so extraordinarily far apart as those which
+mark the distance between Kohala and Murree. There are twenty-five of
+them, distributed along a weary winding road which extends without an
+apparent variation of gradient from Kohala to the Murree cemetery. The
+rise from the river level to Murree is 5000 feet, and this, in a heavy
+landau over a road often deep in red mud, is a heavy strain on equine
+endurance and human patience.
+
+We had a fresh pair of horses waiting for us half-way up the hill, but
+they proved absolutely useless, being obviously already dead tired and
+quite unable to drag the carriage through any of the muddier places
+even with every one but the invalid on foot. So we apologetically put
+the gallant greys in again, poor beasties, and they took us up well.
+
+From the cemetery the road runs fairly level to where, upon rounding a
+sharp corner, the hill station of Murree comes into sight, clinging to
+its hill-tops and overlooking the far flat plains beyond Pindi.
+
+I cannot imagine how anybody would willingly abide in Murree who could
+go anywhere else for the hot weather. There being no level ground,
+there is no polo, no cricket, and no golf. There is no river to fish
+in, and I do not think that there is anything at all to shoot.
+Doubtless, however, it has its compensations. Probably it abounds in
+pretty mem-sahibs, who with bridge and Badminton combine to oil the
+wheels of life, and make it merry on the Murree hills.
+
+Leaving the station high on the left, we dipped in a most puzzling
+manner down a slope through a fine wood giving magnificent views
+towards the hills of our beloved Kashmir, and presently came to “Sunny
+Bank,” whence a steep road seemed to run sharply hack and up to Murree
+itself. It was late, and both we and our unfortunate horses were tired,
+but a hasty peep into the little inn showed it to be quite impossible
+as a lodging, and a biting wind sent us shivering down the hill as fast
+as might be to seek rest and warmth at Tret.
+
+The good greys took us down the eleven miles in a very short time, and
+we pulled up at the dâk bungalow at 7.30, having been just twelve hours
+doing the forty miles from Kohala.
+
+The dâk bungalow and all the compound in front was crowded, detachments
+_en route_, from Murree to Pindi having halted here for the night.
+Hesketh was lucky enough to share a room with a brother Lancer, and a
+mixed bag of Gunners and Hussars made up a cheery dinner-table.
+
+The only member of the party showing signs of collapse was the
+unfortunate Freddie, who, shaken up in his small cage for three days in
+an ekka, seemed in piteous plight, feathers (what there were of them)
+ruffled and unkempt, and eyes dim and half closed. Poor dear, it was
+only sleep he wanted, for next morning he showed up, as his fond owner
+remarked, “bright as a button!”
+
+_12th_.—The road from Tret to Pindi seemed tame to us, but probably
+charming to the horses, first down a few gently sloping hills, and then
+for the remainder of its six-and-twenty miles it wound its dull and
+dusty length along the level.
+
+We halted for our last picnic lunch in a roadside garden full of loquat
+trees and big purple hibiscus. The only curious thing here was a pi-dog
+which refused to eat cold duck! Certainly it was a _very_ tough duck,
+but still, I do not think a pi-dog should he so fastidious.
+
+A few more level dusty miles, and we rattled into Rawal Pindi, where,
+after depositing our sick man safely in his own mess precincts, we
+proceeded to ensconce ourselves in Flashman’s Hotel, which is certainly
+far better than the Lime Tree, where we stayed before. Indian hotels
+are about the worst in the world. We have sampled rough dens in Spain,
+in Tetuan, and in Corsica—especially in Corsica, but then they are
+unpretentious inns in unfrequented villages, whereas in India you find
+in world-famous cities such as Agra or Delhi the most comfortless dens
+calling themselves hotels—hotels where you hardly dare eat half the
+food for fear of typhoid, and will not eat the rest because it is so
+unsavoury!
+
+It may be argued that the hotels, if bad, are cheap, and that one
+cannot reasonably expect much in return for five or six rupees per day;
+it seems, however, that in a country where food and labour cost next to
+nothing, a good landlord should be able to “do” his customers well upon
+five rupees, and make a substantial profit into the bargain.
+
+Probably, as the facilities for travel are rapidly increasing, and
+India is now as easy to reach as Italy was in days not so long by, the
+hotels will soon improve. Hospitality, which is still to-day greater in
+the East than in our more selfish Western regions, and which has, until
+quite recently, obviated for strangers and pilgrims the necessity for
+hotels, is now unable to cope with the increasing flood of visitors and
+wanderers; as the need becomes more pressing, so will the supply,
+consequent upon the demand, improve both in quality and quantity; and
+we have already heard of the new Taj Mahal Hotel at Bombay, the fame of
+which has been trumpeted through India, and which is said to rival in
+luxury the palaces of Ritz!
+
+The real and serious difficulty, and one which at present seems
+insurmountable, is to secure cleanliness and safety in that Augean
+stable—the cook-house. Until the native can be brought to understand
+the inadvisability of using tainted water and unclean utensils, and of
+permitting the ubiquitous fly to pervade the larder—until, I say, that
+millennium can be attained, the danger of enteric and other ills will
+always be very great in Indian hotels.
+
+_Friday, October_ 13.—Lunch with Dr. Munro, who surprised us somewhat
+by having married a wife since we played golf and bridge together at
+Gulmarg only a few weeks ago. Tea, a farewell repast with our
+invalid—who goes before a medical board in a few days, and who will
+then be doubtless sent home on long sick leave—and the despatch of our
+heavy luggage direct to Bombay, occupied us pretty fully for the day;
+and in the evening, after dinner, we took up our residence in a
+carriage drawn up in a siding to be attached to the 6.30 mail in the
+morning. Our last recollection of Pindi was a vision of the faithful
+Ayata, paid, tipped, and provided with a flaming “chit,” flapping along
+the road in the bright moonlight, with all his worldly possessions, _en
+route_ for Abbotabad and home.
+
+_Saturday, October_ 14.—A prodigious amount of banging, whistling, and
+yelling seemed to be necessary before we could be coupled up to the
+early train, and sent flying towards Lahore. It was impossible to
+sleep, and I was peacefully watching the landscape as it slid past,
+first in the pink flush of early dawn, and gradually losing colour as
+the sun, gaining in strength, reduced everything to a white hot glow,
+when, scraping and bumping into a wayside station, we were suddenly
+informed that, owing to hot bearings or heated axles or something, we
+must quit our carriage at once, and so, half dressed and wholly
+wrathful, we were shot out on a hot and exceedingly gritty platform,
+with our hand luggage and bedding all of a heap, and with the whole
+length of the train to traverse to attain our new carriage. Sabz Ali
+being curled up asleep in an “intermediate,” was all unwitting of this
+upheaval. The officials were impatient, and so Jane and I were in a
+thoroughly unchristian frame of mind by the time we were stowed, hot
+and greatly fussed, into a stifling compartment, whose dust-begrimed
+windows long withstood all endeavours to open them.
+
+We reached Lahore about noon, and, having some six hours to dispose of
+there, we spent them in calm contemplation, sitting on the verandah of
+Nedou’s Hotel. It was really too hot to think of sight-seeing.
+
+_Thursday, October 19_.—Another night in the train brought us to Delhi
+at dawn, and we drove up to the execrable caravansary of Mr. Maiden. I
+do not propose to write much about Delhi. Every one who has been in
+India has visited the capital of the Moguls, whose wealth of splendid
+buildings would alone have rendered it a supreme attraction for the
+sight-seer, even had it not played the part it did in the Mutiny, and
+been memorable as the scene of the storming of the Kashmir Gate and the
+death of John Nicholson.
+
+We, personally, carried away from Delhi an uncomfortable sense of
+disappointment. It was very hot, and Jane fell a victim to the heat or
+something, and took to her bed in the comfortless hotel, while I
+prowled sadly about the baking streets, and tried to work up an
+enthusiasm which I did not feel.
+
+As soon as Jane was fit, we joined forces with a young
+fellow-countryman and his sister, who were the only other English
+people in the hotel, and drove out to see the Kutab Minar. On arrival
+we found a comfortable dâk bungalow, and, having made an excellent
+breakfast, sallied forth to view the Kutab. May I confess that I was
+again a little disappointed? I do not really know exactly why, but the
+great tower, whose fluted shaft, dark red in the sunglow, shoots up
+some 270 feet into the air, did not appeal to me. It is like no other
+column—it is unique, marvellous,—but it leaves me cold.
+
+The splendid arch of the screen of the old temple, and the lovely
+columns of the Jain temple opposite, attracted me far more than the
+Kutab Minar.
+
+Jane and young Buxton went off to see a native jump down a well fifty
+feet deep for four annas. The performance sounded curious, but
+unpleasant. The sightseers were much impressed! Meanwhile, Miss Buxton
+and I discovered a very modern and exceedingly hideous little Hindu
+temple, painted in the most appalling manner—altogether a gem of
+grotesqueness, and truly delightful and refreshing.
+
+Tea in front of the dâk bungalow, in a corner blazing with “gold
+mohurs” and rosy oleanders, while the driver and the syce harnessed the
+lean pair of horses, a final visit to the Kutab and the great arch, and
+we fared back over the eleven bumpy miles that lay between us and
+Delhi.
+
+A good deal of my spare time, while Jane was _hors de combat_, was
+spent in the jewellers’ shops of the Chandni chowk, the principal
+merchants’ quarter of Delhi. I do not think that anything very special
+in the way of a “bargain” is to be obtained by the amateur, although
+stones are undoubtedly cheaper than in London. I saw little really fine
+jewellery, probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer,
+but many good spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I
+wanted I failed to get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce
+and dear. The dealers generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink
+topaz. Peridot are cheaper, I think, at home, and certainly in Cairo,
+and the only amethysts worth looking at are sent out from Germany. The
+pale ones of the country come from Jaipur. By-the-bye, the
+best-coloured amethysts I ever remember seeing were in Clermont
+Ferrand.
+
+Delhi has always been connected with gems in my mind. I am not certain
+why. Partly, perhaps, because the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jehan
+stood in the Palace here. I cannot resist giving the description of it
+in the words of Tavernier, who saw it about 1655, and who describes it
+as follows:—
+
+“This is the largest throne; it is in form like one of our field-beds,
+six foot long and four broad. The cushion at the back is round like a
+bolster; the cushions on the sides are flat. I counted about a hundred
+and eight pale rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof
+weighed a hundred carats. Emeralds I counted about a hundred and
+forty.”
+
+“The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the top of the
+canopy, which is made like an arch with four paws, stands a peacock
+with his tail spread, consisting entirely of sapphires and other
+proper-coloured stones;[1] the body is of beaten gold enchased with
+several jewels; and a great RUBY upon his breast, to which hangs a
+pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each aide of the peacock stand two
+nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of various sorts of flowers,
+all of beaten gold enamelled.”
+
+[1] “Au dessus du ciel qui est faite en voûte à quatre pans on voit un
+Paon, qui a la queue relevée fait de Saphirs bleus et autres pierres de
+couleur.”—TAVERNIER, livre ii. chap. viii.
+
+
+“When the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent
+jewel, with a diamond appendant of eighty or ninety carats weight,
+encompassed with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his
+eye. The twelve pillars also, that uphold the canopy, are set with rows
+of fair pearl, round, and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to
+ten carats apiece.”
+
+“At the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed
+two umbrellas, the handles of which are about eight feet high, covered
+with diamonds, the umbrellas themselves being of crimson velvet,
+embroidered and fringed with pearl.”
+
+“This is the famous throne which Tamerlane began and Shah Jehan
+finished; and is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty
+millions and five hundred thousand livres of our money.”
+
+One can picture the enraptured diamond merchant examining this
+masterpiece of Oriental luxury with awe-struck eye, appraising the size
+and lustre of each gem, and taking the fullest notes with which to
+dazzle his countrymen on returning to the more prosaic Europe from what
+was then indeed the “Gorgeous East!” This world-famous throne was
+seized by Nadir Shah, when he sacked Delhi in 1739, and carried away
+(together with our Koh-i-noor diamond) into Persia. Dow, who saw the
+famous throne some twenty years before Tavernier, describes _two_
+peacocks standing behind it with their tails expanded, which were
+studded with jewels. Between the peacocks stood a parrot, life size,
+cut out of a single emerald!
+
+_Friday, October_ 20.—Yesterday at 6 A.M. we spurned the dust of Delhi,
+hot and blinding, from our feet and clambered into the train, which
+whirled us across the sun-baked plain to Agra.
+
+There has been a woeful shortage of rain in the Punjab and Rajputana,
+and a famine seems imminent—not a great and universal famine, as, the
+monsoon having been irregular, only some districts have suffered to a
+serious extent, and they can be supplied from elsewhere, whereas in the
+great famine of 1901 the drought parched the whole land, and no help
+could be given by one State to another, all lying equally under the
+sun’s curse. Not a great famine, perhaps; yet, to one accustomed to the
+genial juiciness of the West, the miles and miles of waterless hot
+plains, stretching away to where the horizon flickered in the glare,
+the brown and parched vegetation, the lean and hungry-looking cattle,
+tended by equally lean and famished herds, caused the monotonous view
+from the carriage windows to be strangely depressing.
+
+This is the very battle-ground of Nature and the British Raj. We have
+given peace and, to a certain extent, prosperity to the teeming
+millions of India, and they have increased and multiplied until the
+land is overburthened, and Nature, with relentless will, bids Famine
+and Pestilence lay waste the cities and the plains. Then Science, with
+irrigation works and improved hygiene, strives hard to gain a victory,
+but still the struggle rages doubtfully.
+
+Agra we liked as much as we disliked Delhi. To begin with creature
+comforts (and the well-being of the body produces a pair of _couleur de
+rose_ spectacles for the mental eye), Laurie’s Hotel at Agra is very
+much more comfortable than the den we abode in at Delhi, and after a
+good tiffin we set forth with light hearts to see the Fort.
+
+This, the accumulated achievement of the greatest of the Mogul
+Emperors, is a magnificent monument of their power and pride. The
+earliest part, built by Akbar, is all of rich red sandstone. The great
+hall of audience and other portions show his broad-minded tolerance and
+catholicity of taste in being almost pure Hindu in style and
+decoration. Later, with Jehangir and Shah Jehan, the high-water mark of
+sumptuousness was attained in the use of pure white marble, lavishly
+inlaid with coloured stones.
+
+As we wandered through halls and corridors of marble most richly
+wrought, while the sun-glare outside did but emphasise the cool shade
+within, or filter softly through the lace-like tracery of pierced
+white-marble screens, one longed to reclothe these glorious skeletons
+with all the pomp of their dead magnificence—for one magic moment
+replace the Great Mogul upon his peacock throne, surround him with a
+glittering crowd of courtiers and attendants, clothe the wide marble
+floors upon which they stand with richest carpets from the looms of
+Persia and the North, and drape the tall white columns with rustling
+canopies of silk.
+
+Before the great audience hall let the bare garden-court again glow
+with a million blooms; there let the peacocks sun themselves, their
+living jewels putting to shame the gems that burn back from aigrette
+and from sword-hilt; see and hear the cool waters sparkling once again
+from their long-dried founts, flashing in the white sunlight, and
+flowing over ducts cunningly inlaid with zigzag bands to imitate the
+ripple of the mountain stream.
+
+The dead frame alone is left of all this gorgeous picture. The
+imperishable marble glows white in the sunlight as it did in the days
+of Shah Jehan. The great red bastions of the Fort frown over the same
+placid Jumna, and watch each morning the pearly dome of the Taj Mahal
+rise like a moon in the dawn-glow, shimmer through the parching glare
+of an Indian day, and at eve sink, rosy, into the purple shadows of
+swiftly-falling night, as they did when Shah Jehan sat “in the
+sunset-lighted balcony with his eyes fixed on the snow-white pile at
+the bend of the river, and his heart full of consolation of having
+wrought for her he loved, through the span of twenty years, a work that
+she had surely accepted at the last.”[2]
+
+[2] _The Web of Indian Life_
+
+
+We spent a long afternoon in the Fort, and drove out finally through
+the monstrous gateway in a little Victoria, feeling all the time that
+none but elephants in all their glory of barbaric caparison could pass
+through such a portal worthily.
+
+The moon was full almost a week ago, unfortunately, so we determined
+that, failing moonlight, our first visit to the Taj should be at
+sunset.
+
+The two miles’ drive along an excellent road was delightful, and the
+approach to the Taj has been laid out with much skill as a beautiful
+bit of landscape garden. This care is due to Lord Curzon, who has taken
+Agra and its monuments into his especial keeping.
+
+A very small golf-course has been laid out, and the familiar form of
+the enthusiast could be seen, blind to everything but the flight of
+time and his Haskell, hurrying round to save the last of the daylight.
+
+Beneath a tree was laid out a tea equipage, and a few ladies indolently
+putting showed that, after all, the game was not taken too seriously.
+
+I have no intention of trying to describe the Taj Mahal. The attempt
+has already been made a thousand times. I may merely remark that the
+detestable Indian miniatures, and little ivory or marble models that
+are, alas! so common, are incapable of giving an idea, otherwise than
+misleading, of this wonderful building, which is not—as they would
+vainly show it—glaring, staring, and hard, nor does its formality seem
+other than just what it should be.
+
+As we saw it first—opalescent in the soft, clear light of sunset—the
+chief impression it made upon us was that of size; for this we were
+quite unprepared.
+
+As we approached it from the great red entrance arch, along a smooth
+path bordering the central stretch of still, translucent water, the
+lovely dome rose fairy-like from the masses of trees that, in their
+turn, formed a background of solemn green for gorgeous patches of
+colour, in bloom and leaf, which glowed on either side as we advanced.
+
+Ascending a flight of steps to the wide terrace, all of whitest marble,
+upon which the Taj is raised, we realised that the detail of carving
+and of inlay was as perfect as the general effect of the whole.
+
+High as my expectations had been raised, I was not disappointed in the
+Taj, and that is saying much, for one’s pre-formed ideas are apt to
+soar beyond bounds and to suffer the fate of Icarus. At the same time,
+I cannot agree with Fergusson that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful
+building in the world. I do not admit that it is possible to compare
+structures of such widely divergent types as the Parthenon, the
+Cathedral of Chartres, the Campanile of Giotto, and the Taj Mahal, and
+pronounce in favour of any one of them. It is as vain as to contend
+that the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a finer poem than Keats’ “Eve
+of St. Agnes,” or that the “Erl Konig” is better music than “The
+Moonlight Sonata.”
+
+Perhaps it is not too much to say that it is the loveliest tomb in the
+world, and the finest specimen of Mohammedan architecture in existence.
+If I dared to criticise what would appear to be faultless, I should
+humbly suggest that the four corner minarets are not worthy of the
+centre building, reminding one rather of lighthouses.
+
+We spent a second day in Agra, revisiting the Fort and the Taj rather
+than seeing anything new. We could have hired a motor and rushed out
+for a hurried visit to Fatehpur-Sighri, and there was temptation in the
+idea; but we decided to content ourselves with the abundant food for
+eye and mind which we had in these two wonderful buildings, and in the
+evening we took the train for Jaipur.
+
+_Saturday, October 21._—One is apt to be cross and fussed and generally
+upset on being landed on a strange platform in the dark at 5.30 A.M.,
+as we were at Jaipur, but much solace lay in the fact that a
+comfortable carriage stood waiting us and a most kind and genial host
+received us on the broad verandah of his bungalow, and the cheering
+fact was borne in upon us that we shall have henceforward but little to
+do with Indian hotels.
+
+How one appreciates a large, cool room, good servants, good food, and
+last, but not least, the society of one’s kind, after two or three
+weeks of racket and discomfort by road and rail.
+
+A restful morning enlivened us sufficiently to enjoy a garden party at
+the Residency in the afternoon, where not only the English society, but
+a large number of native gentlemen, were playing lawn-tennis with
+laudable energy.
+
+After Kashmir, where Sir Amar Singh is the only native who mixes at all
+with the English, it was interesting to see and meet on terms of
+good-fellowship these Rajput aristocrats.
+
+_Sunday, October_ 22.—The city of Jaipur is, I think, principally
+interesting as being modern and enlightened among those of the native
+states.
+
+When the ancient city of Ambér was abandoned, principally on account of
+its scanty water-supply, Jaipur was built upon a regular and
+prearranged plan, having a great wide street down the centre, crossed
+by two large thoroughfares at right angles, thus dividing the town into
+six rectangular blocks.
+
+We drove into the city in the afternoon, and were much impressed by its
+airiness and cleanliness. The houses are all coated with pink stucco,
+picked out with white, which, in the bright atmosphere, has, at a
+little distance, a charming effect. On closer inspection the real
+tawdriness and want of solidity of the work become painfully apparent,
+and the designs in white upon the pink, in which the wayward fancy of
+each householder runs riot, generally leave much to be desired, both in
+design and execution.
+
+The broad, clean main streets were a perfect kaleidoscope of colour and
+movement. Men in pink pugarees—in lemon-coloured—in emerald green;
+women in blood-red saris, bearing shining brass pots upon their heads,
+all talking, shouting, jostling—a large family of monkeys on a
+neighbouring roof added their quota of conversation—calm oxen, often
+with red-painted horns and pink-streaked bodies, camels, asses, horses,
+strolled about or pushed their way through the throng. No Hindu cow
+would ever dream of making way for anybody. Yes, though! Here comes an
+elephant rolling along, and the holy ones with humps discreetly retire
+aside, covering their retreat before a _force majeure_ by stepping up
+to the nearest greengrocer’s stall and abstracting a generous mouthful
+of the most succulent of his wares.
+
+Rising in the midst of a lovely garden, just outside the city, is the
+Albert Hall, a remarkably fine structure, built in accordance with the
+best traditions of Mohammedan architecture adapted to modern
+requirements by our host, the designer. It contains both a museum of
+the products of Rajputana, and also an instructive collection of
+objects of art and science, gathered together for the edification of
+the intelligent native.
+
+We would willingly have spent hours examining the pottery and brass
+work for which Jaipur is famous, or in making friends with the denizens
+of the great aviary in the garden, but time is short, and even the baby
+panther could only claim a few minutes of our devotion.
+
+The Palace of the Maharajah is neither particularly interesting nor
+beautiful, and we did not visit it further than to inspect the ancient
+observatory built by Jey Singh, with its huge sundial, whose gnomon
+stands 80 feet above the ground! What we are pleased to call a
+superstitious attention to times lucky or unlucky has given to
+astronomical observations in the East an unscientific importance which
+they have not had for centuries in Europe.[3] A slight attack of fever
+prevented me from going to Ambér; so I stayed at home, peacefully
+absorbing quinine, subsequently extracting the following from Jane’s
+diary:—
+
+[3] I fear this is somewhat misleading. Jey Singh was, _par
+excellence_, an astronomer, not an astrologer,—T. R. S.
+
+
+“‘Tea ready, mem-sahib.’ The familiar and somewhat plaintive sound of
+Sabz Ali’s voice roused me, as it so often has in tent, forest hut, or
+matted dounga;”
+
+but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find
+myself in a real comfortable spring bed, white-enamelled and
+mosquito-netted, while for roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky.
+Then it was I remembered that, at my host’s suggestion, my bed had been
+carried out into the shrubbery, and that I had fallen asleep, lulled by
+the howling of the jackals and the rustle of the flying squirrels in
+the gold mohur-tree overhead.
+
+“Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain
+as much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I
+was soon ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the
+garden among the parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little
+squirrels. We were ready for the road before seven, and were soon
+trotting along between dusty hedges of gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded
+here and there by neem trees and peepuls.”
+
+“Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton’s, and
+he had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort—a very
+thin young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat.”
+
+“Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our
+way—slowly, on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on
+the road, and the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let
+us pass.”
+
+“It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
+loose a bull _in memoriam_, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to
+live a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every
+green-grocer in it is only too much honoured if the fastidious animal
+will condescend to make free with his cabbages.”
+
+“Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six
+miles out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal
+stable to carry us to Ambér. We climbed upon her (it was a lady
+elephant) in a great hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we
+were told that an elephant, if ‘fresh,’ was apt to rise up suddenly, to
+the great detriment of the passenger who had ‘not arrived.’ She was a
+very friendly-looking creature though, and her little eyes twinkled
+most affably; her face was decorated in a scheme of red and green, and
+her saddle was a sort of big mattress surrounded by a railing.”
+
+“I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed
+uncommonly rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we
+reached a ridge and saw the dead city of Ambér before us, dominated by
+the white marble palace, standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in
+the water of the lake which laps its base.”
+
+“Up a steep and narrow path we mounted until we reached the courtyard
+of the ancient palace of the ruler of Ambér, and there we alighted from
+our steed, and set out to explore the ruins. First we came to a small
+temple, ugly enough, but interesting, for here a goat is sacrificed
+every morning to Kali—a particularly hideous goddess, if the frescoes
+on the walls and the golden image in the sanctuary are in any way
+truthful! Formerly a human sacrifice was customary, but the unfortunate
+goat is found to fulfil modern requirements, since goddesses are more
+easily pleased or less pampered than of yore.”
+
+“The Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is chiefly
+remarkable for its magnificent situation, and for its court and hall of
+audience of marble and red sandstone.”
+
+“This work was so fine as to excite the jealousy of the Mogul Emperor,
+so the Prince of Ambér had it promptly whitewashed—and whitewashed it
+remains to this day. Some of the brazen doors are remarkably fine, as
+also those of sandal-wood, inlaid with ivory, in the women’s quarters.”
+
+“We climbed to the marble court on the roof, where, canopied only by
+the sky and lighted by the moon, nocturnal durbars were held. Now, in
+the glare of the noonday sun, we fully appreciated the value of an
+evening sitting, for it was impossible to remain grilling there, even
+though the view of the silent city below, falling in tier after tier to
+the lake—the glare only broken here and there by patches of green
+garden—was superb. On either side rose the bare, rocky ridges,
+fort-crowned and looking formidable even in decay, while in front the
+dusty road stretched away into the haze of the dusty plains below. Of
+course, we should have visited the great Jain temples and other things
+worthy of note; but, alas! a green garden, whose palms overhung the
+lake, proved more attractive than even Jain temples, and a charming
+picnic on fruits and cool drinks strengthened us sufficiently to enable
+us to face the hot road home, buoyed up each mile by the nearer
+prospect of a tub.”
+
+Jaipur is celebrated for its enamelling on gold, so our host kindly
+sent for an eminent jeweller to come and show us some trifles.
+Expectant of a humble native carrying the usual bundle, we were much
+impressed when, in due time, a dignitary drove up in a remarkably well
+turned out carriage and pair. His servants were clad in a smart livery,
+and he himself was resplendent, with uncut emerald earrings, and the
+general appearance of a certain Savoy favourite as the “Rajah of Bong”!
+
+Our spirits sank as he spread himself and his goods out upon the
+drawing-room floor, which speedily became a glittering chaos of gold
+and jewelled cups, umbrella handles, boxes, scent-bottles, and
+necklaces. Jane divided her admiration between a rope of fat pearls and
+a necklace of uncut emeralds, either of which might have been hers at
+the trifling price of some 7000 rupees, but we finally restricted our
+acquisitions to very modest proportions, and the stout jeweller
+departed, apparently no whit less cheerful than when he came.
+
+The modern brass-work of Jaipur is somewhat attractive, and we bought
+various articles—a tall lamp-stand, an elephant bell, and a few
+ordinary bowls of excellent shape.
+
+I have remarked before on the extreme tameness of, and the confidence
+shown by, wild creatures out here. A titmouse came and perched on the
+arm of my chair while sitting reading on the verandah at Gulmarg.
+
+The rats and mice, who own the forest houses in the Machipura, have to
+be kicked off the beds at night. But the little grey squirrels in Sir
+Swinton Jacob’s garden are—_facile princeps_—the boldest wild-fowl we
+have yet encountered.
+
+Every afternoon about three, when tea was toward, the squirrels
+gathered on the gravel path, and prepared to receive bread and butter.
+
+After a few nervous darts and tail whiskings, a bold squirrel would
+skip up close, and, after eating a little ground bait, would boldly
+come up and nibble out of a motionless hand. In two minutes
+half-a-dozen pretty little creatures would be fidgeting round, eating
+bread and butter daintily, neatly holding the morsel in their little
+forepaws and nuzzling into one’s fingers for more.
+
+A handsome magpie, and, of course, a contingent of crows, made up the
+fascinating party; while in the background, among the neem trees and
+the flaming “gold mohurs,” the minahs and green parrots sustained an
+incessant and riotous conversation.
+
+_Wednesday, October 25_.—Gladly would we have accepted the Jacobs’
+invitation to stay longer at Jaipur. We would have liked nothing
+better, but time was flying, and the 5th November—our day of departure
+from Bombay—was drawing rapidly near. So yesterday evening we took the
+6.30 train for Ajmere, and, reaching there at 10.30, changed into the
+narrow-gauge railway for Chitor. We are becoming well accustomed to
+sleeping in an Indian train, and Sabz Ali had our beds unrolled and our
+innumerable hand luggage stowed away in no time, including four bottles
+of soda-water, which he has carefully garnered in the washstand, and
+which no hints, however broad, will induce him to relinquish.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+UDAIPUR
+
+
+We arrived, very sleepy and gritty, at Chitor at 5.30 A.M., to find an
+unprecedented mob of first-class passengers _en route_ for Udaipur, and
+only one very minute compartment in which to stow them.
+
+The station-master—a solemn Baboo, full of his own importance,
+becomingly clad in a waving white petticoat, with bare legs and
+elastic-sided boots, surmounted by a long cutaway frock-coat, topped by
+a black skull-cap, and finally decorated by a pen behind his ear—seemed
+totally unable to cope with the terrible problem he was set to solve.
+
+I suggested that another carriage should be put on, but he had none,
+nor any solution to offer; so we cleared a second-class compartment and
+divided the party out, and then, with five people in our tiny
+compartment, we set out on the fifty-mile run to Udaipur.
+
+Five people in a carriage in Europe is nowise unusual, but five people
+in an Indian one (and that a narrow, very narrow gauge), accompanied by
+rolls of bedding, tiffin-baskets, and all the quantity of personal
+luggage which is absolutely necessary, not to speak of a large-sized
+bird-cage (which cannot, strictly speaking, be classed as a necessary),
+requires the ingenuity of a professional packer of herrings or figs to
+adjust nicely!
+
+By cramming the toilet place with bedding, khudsticks, a five-foot
+brass lamp-stand, and the four soda-water bottles, we made shift to
+stow portmanteaux, bags, tiffin-baskets, &c., under the seats and
+ourselves upon them, and then arranged a sort of centre-piece of Jane’s
+big tin bonnet-box, surmounted by Freddy in his cage. The other
+passengers were very amiably disposed, and not fat, and they even went
+so far as to pretend to admire Freddy—a feat of some difficulty, as he
+is still very bald and of an altogether forbidding aspect. This
+admiration so won upon the heart of Jane, that in the fulness thereof
+she served out biscuits and a little tinned butter all round, while
+Freddy cheerfully spattered food and water upon all indiscriminately.
+
+About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here,
+in the stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a
+desperate deed.
+
+The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and
+retake Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any
+of those whose fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at
+Culloden. The Chondawats and the Saktawats both claimed the right of
+forming the vanguard, and the Rana, unable to pronounce in favour of
+either, subtly decided that the van should be given to the clan which
+should first enter Ontala.
+
+The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the
+fortress, and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place,
+but the walls were quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment,
+the leader of the Saktawats threw himself from his elephant, and,
+placing himself before the great spikes with which the gate was
+protected against the assault of the beast, ordered the mahout to
+charge; and so a crushed and mangled corpse was forced into the city on
+the brow of the living battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants
+rushed to battle.
+
+Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in
+Ontala. First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by
+the defenders ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell
+back among his dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling
+the body in his scarf, tied it upon his back, fought his way to the
+crest of the battlements, and hurled the gory body of his chieftain
+into the city, shouting, “The vanguard to the Chondawat!”
+
+It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note
+were engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of
+the defence, they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle.
+Suddenly the foe broke in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for
+leave to finish their interesting match. The request was granted by the
+courtly Rajputs, but upon its termination they were both put to death.
+
+Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid
+hills. After skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we
+bustled through a tunnel and drew up at a bright little station, draped
+with great blue and pink convolvulus. And this was Udaipur.
+
+We were picked out of the usual jabbering, jostling, gibbering crowd of
+natives by our host, who, looking most enviably cool and clean, took
+his heated, dishevelled, and unbarbered guests off to a comfortable
+carriage, and we were quickly sped towards tiffin and a bath.
+
+The station is a long way from the town, as the Maharana, a most
+staunch conservative of the old school, having the railway more or less
+forced upon him, drew the line at three miles from his capital, and
+fixed the terminus there. One cannot help being glad that the prosaic
+steam-engine, crowned with foul smoke and heralded by ear-piercing
+whistles, has not been allowed to trespass in Udaipur, wherein no
+discordant note is struck by train line or factory chimney, and where
+everything and every one is as when the city was newly built on the
+final abandonment of Chitor, the ancient capital of Mewar.
+
+Here in the heart of the most conservative of native States, whose
+ruler, the Maharana, Sir Fateh Singh, claims descent from that ancient
+luminary the Sun, we found novelty and interest in every yard of the
+three miles that stretch between the station and the capital. The
+scrub-covered desert has given place to a wooded and cultivated valley,
+ringed by a chain of hills, sterile and steep. The white ribbon of the
+road, through whose dust plough stolid buffaloes and strings of
+creaking bullock-carts, is bordered by tall cactus and yellow-flowered
+mimosa on either side. Among the trees rise countless half-ruined
+temples and chatries; on whose whitewashed walls are frequent frescoes
+of tigers or elephants rampant, and of wonderful Rajput heroes wearing
+the curious bell-shaped skirt, which was their distinctive dress.
+
+The people too, their descendants, who crowd the road to-day, are
+remarkable—the men fine-looking, with beards brushed ferociously
+upwards, and all but the mere peasants carrying swords; the women,
+dark-eyed, and singularly graceful in their red or orange saris, and
+very full bell-shaped petticoats. Upright as darts, they walk with
+slightly swaying gesture, a slender brown arm upraised to support the
+big brass chatties on their heads, revealing an incredible collection
+of bangles on arms and ankles. These women are the descendants of those
+who, in the stormy days of the sixteenth century, while the Rajput
+princes still struggled heroically with the all-powerful Mogul
+emperors, preferred death to shame, and, led by Kurnavati (mother of
+Oodi Singh, the founder of Udaipur), accepted the “Johur,” or death by
+fire and suffocation, to the number of 13,000, while their husbands and
+brothers threw open the city gates and went forth to fight and fall.
+
+As we drew near our destination the towers of the Maharana’s Palace
+rose up above the trees, gleaming snowy in the cloudless blue. The
+brown crenellated walls of the city appeared on our left, and, suddenly
+sweeping round a curve, we found ourselves by the border of a lovely
+lake, whose blue-rippled waters lapped the very walls of the town. In
+the foreground a glorious note of colour was struck by a group of
+“scarlet women” washing themselves and their clothes by the margin.
+
+Up a steep incline, and we found ourselves before a verandah, blazing
+overhead with bougainvillea, and our hostess waiting to receive us
+beneath its cool shade.
+
+In the afternoon, refreshed and rested, we went down to the shore,
+where our host had arranged for a state-owned boat and four rowers to
+be in waiting. Armed with rods and fishing tackle, we proceeded to see
+Udaipur from the lake which washes its northern side. First crossing a
+small landlocked bay bordered on the left by a long and picturesque
+crenellated wall, and passing through a narrow opening, we found
+ourselves in a second division of the water; on the left, still the
+wall, with a delightful-looking summer-house perched at a salient
+angle; on the right, small wooded islands, the haunt of innumerable
+cormorants, who, with snaky necks outstretched, watched us suspiciously
+from their eyrie.
+
+A curious white bridge, very high in the centre, barred the view of the
+main lake till, passing through the central arch, we found ourselves in
+a scene of perfect enchantment. Before us the level sheet of molten
+silver lay spread, reflecting the snowy palaces and summer-houses that
+stood amid the palms and greenery of many tiny islands. On the left the
+city rose from the water in a succession of temples and wide-terraced
+buildings, culminating in the lofty pile of the Palace of the Maharana.
+Here, on this enchanted lake, we rowed to and fro until the sun sank
+swiftly in the west and the red gold glowed on temple and turret.
+
+Then, with our catch, about 15 lbs. weight of most excellent fish, we
+rowed back past the white city to the landing-place, and, in the
+gathering dark, climbed the hillock upon which stood our host’s
+bungalow.
+
+We spent a week at Udaipur—a happy week, whose short days flew by far
+too quickly. The weather was splendid; hot in the middle of the day—for
+the season is late, and the monsoon has greatly failed in its cooling
+duty—but delightful in morning and evening.
+
+Rising one morning at early dawn, before the sun leaped above the
+eastern hills, we took boat and rowed to one of the island palaces,
+where, after fishing for mahseer, we breakfasted on a marble balcony
+overlooking the ripples of the Pichola Lake, which lapped the feet of a
+group of great marble elephants.
+
+Not the least interesting expedition was to the south end of the lake
+one afternoon to see the wild pigs fed. Traversing the whole length of
+the Pichola, past the marble ghâts where the crimson-clad women washed
+and chattered, while above them rose the roofs and temple domes of the
+fairy city culminating in the walls and pinnacles of the palace—past
+the fleet of queer green barges wherein the Maharana disports himself
+when aquatically inclined, we left the many islands marble-crowned on
+our right; and finally landed at a little jutting ledge of rock, whence
+a jungle track led us in a few minutes to a terrace overlooking a rocky
+and steep slope which fell away from the building near which we stood.
+The scene was surprising! Hundreds of swine of all sorts and sizes,
+from grim slab-sided, gaunt-headed old boars, whose ancient tusks
+showed menacing, to the liveliest and sprightliest of little pigs
+playing hide-and-seek among their staid relatives, were collected from
+the neighbouring jungle to scramble for the daily dole of grain spread
+for them by the Maharana.
+
+A cloud of dust rose thick in the air, stirred up by the busy feet and
+snouts of the multitude, and grunts and squeals were loud and frequent
+as a frisky party of younglings in their play would heedlessly bump up
+against some short-tempered old boar, who in his turn would angrily
+butt a too venturesome rival in the wind and send him, expostulating
+noisily, down the hill!
+
+Beyond the crowd of swine on the edge of the clearing, a few peacocks,
+attracted by the prospect of a meal, held themselves strictly aloof
+from the vulgar herd.
+
+The whole city of Udaipur is a paradise for the artist—not a corner,
+not a creature which does not seem to cry aloud to be painted. The only
+difficulty in such _embarras de richesses_ of subject and such
+scantiness of time, is to decide what not to do.
+
+Hardly has the enthusiastic amateur sat down to delineate the stately
+pile of the palace, soaring aloft amid its enveloping greenery, than he
+is attracted by a fascinating glimpse of the lake, where, perhaps, a
+royal elephant comes down to drink, or a crimson-clad bevy of Rajputni
+lasses stoop to fill their brazen chatties with much chatter and
+laughter.
+
+Bewildered by such wealth of subject, one is but too apt to sit at
+gaze, and finally go home with merely a dozen pages of scribbles added
+to the little canvas jotting-book!
+
+The Palace of the Maharana is a very splendid pile of buildings, as
+seen from some little distance crowning the ridge which rises to the
+south of the lake, but it loses much of its beauty when closely viewed.
+It is, of course, not to be compared architecturally with the
+master-works of Agra and Delhi, and the internal decorations are
+usually tawdry and uninteresting. The entrance is fine; the visitor
+ascends the steep street to the principal gate, a massive portal,
+strengthened against the battering of elephants by huge spikes, and
+decorated by a pair of these animals in fresco-rampant. Beyond the
+first gate rises a second or inner gate. On the right are huge stables
+where the royal elephants are kept, and on the left stand a row of
+curious arches, beneath one of which the Maharanas of old were wont to
+be weighed against bullion after a victory, the equivalent to the royal
+avoirdupois being distributed as largesse to his people!
+
+Within the gates, a long and wide terrace stretches along the entire
+front of the Palace, on the face of which is emblazoned the Sun of
+Mewar, the emblem of the Sesodias. This terrace was evidently the happy
+home of a great number of cows, peacocks, geese, and pigeons, which
+stalked calmly enough, among the motley crowd of natives, and gave one
+the impression of a glorified farmyard. The building itself, like most
+Indian palaces, is composed of a heterogeneous agglomeration in all
+sorts of sizes and styles. Each successive Maharana having apparently
+added a bit here and a bit there as his capricious fancy prompted.
+
+Jane visited the armoury to-day with the Resident, who went to choose a
+shield to be presented by the Maharana to the Victoria Museum at
+Calcutta. I chose to go sketching, and was derided by Jane for missing
+such a chance of seeing what is not shown to visitors as a rule. She
+whisked away in great pomp in the Residential chariot, preceded by two
+prancing sowars on horseback, and subsequently thus related her
+experiences:—
+
+
+“We really drove up far too fast to the Palace, I was so much
+interested in the delightful streets; and we just whizzed past the
+innumerable shrines and queer shops, and frescoed walls, where
+extraordinary lions and tigers, and Rajput warriors, riding in wide
+petticoats on prancing steeds, were depicted in flaming colours. I
+wanted, too, to gaze at the native women, in their accordion-pleated,
+dancing frocks of crimson or dark blue; but it seemed to be the correct
+thing for a ‘Personage’ to drive as fast as possible, and try to run
+over a few people just to show them what unconsidered trifles they
+were. Well, we were received at the entrance to the Palace by one of
+the Prime Ministers. There are two Prime Ministers—one to criticise and
+frustrate the schemes of the other; the result being, as the Resident
+remarked, that it is not easy to get any business done. Our Prime
+Minister was dressed in a coat of royal purple velvet, on his head was
+wound a big green turban, and round his neck hung a lovely necklet of
+pearls and emeralds, with a pendant of the same, he had also earrings
+to match. It was truly pitiful to see such ornaments wasted on a fat
+old man.”
+
+“Going up a narrow and rather steep staircase, we came to a small hall
+full of retainers of his Highness, waiting until it should please him
+to appear and breakfast with them, for it is the custom of the Maharana
+to make that meal a sort of public function. In the middle of the hall
+reposed a big bull, evidently very much at ease and quite at home!”
+
+“A few more steps brought us to the door of the armoury. This is small
+and badly arranged, which seems a pity, as there were some lovely
+things. Chain armour and inlaid suits lay about the floor in heaps; and
+we were shown the saddle used by Akbar during the last siege of Chitor.
+The most remarkable things, however, were the Rajput shields, of which
+there were some beautiful specimens. They are circular, not large, and
+made, some of tortoiseshell, some of polished hippo hide, &c. One was
+inlaid with great emeralds, a second had bosses of turquoise, and a
+really lovely one was inlaid with fine Jaipur enamel in blue and green.
+There were swords simply encrusted with jewels—one with a hilt of
+carved crystal; another was a curiously-modelled dog’s head in smooth
+silver, and I noticed a beauty in pale jade. Altogether it was a most
+fascinating collection, different from, but in its way quite as
+interesting, as the fine armoury at Madrid.”
+
+Thus did Jane triumph over me with her description of what she had seen
+and what I had missed; and I had been trying to delineate the Temple of
+Jagganath, and had been disastrously defeated, for it is indeed a
+complicated piece of drawing, and the children, both large and small,
+crowded round me to my great hindrance. Therefore, it was not until I
+had been soothed with an excellent lunch, and the contents of a very
+long tumbler, that I felt strong enough to take an intelligent interest
+in the contents of the Maharana’s curiosity-shop!
+
+_Monday, October_ 30.—The more we see of Udaipur the more we are
+charmed with it. The whole place is so absolutely unspoilt by
+modernism, is so purely Eastern—and ancient Eastern at that—that we
+feel as though we were in a little world far apart from the great one
+where steam and electricity shatter the nerves, and drive their victims
+through life at high pressure.
+
+Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered
+desert stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded
+in an oasis, whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the
+Maharana rules in feudal state, and, like Aytoun’s Scottish Cavalier,
+
+“A thousand vassals dwelt around—all of his kindred they,
+And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray
+For the royal race he loves so well.”
+
+
+For to his subjects the Maharana is little less than a divinity, for is
+he not a direct descendant of the Sun? Likewise is he not the chief of
+the only royal house of Rajputana, who disdained to purchase Mogul
+friendship at the price of giving a daughter in marriage to the
+Mohammedan?
+
+There are greater personages among the ruling Princes of India,
+according to British ruling—Hyderabad, for instance. And in the matter
+of precedence and the number of guns for ceremonial salutation, the
+Chief of Mewar—like other poor but proud nobles—is treated rather
+according to his actual power than the cloudless blue of his blood.
+Hence he is extremely unwilling to put himself in a position where he
+might fail to obtain the honour which he considers due to him. He was
+most averse from attending the Delhi Durbar, but such pressure was put
+upon him that he was induced to proceed thither in his special train
+running, as far as Chitorgarh, upon his own special railway. He reached
+Delhi, and his sponsors rejoiced that they had indeed got him to the
+water, although they had not exactly induced him to drink. As a matter
+of fact, the Maharana, having gone to Delhi to please the British
+authorities, promptly returned to Udaipur to please himself, alleging a
+terrific headache as reason for instant departure from the capital,
+without his having left his very own specially reserved first-class
+compartment!
+
+He may not be a willing guest, but he is evidently disposed to be an
+excellent host, for great preparations are toward for the reception of
+the Prince of Wales, who is expected in the course of a fortnight or
+so.
+
+The Residency, too, is being swept and garnished, the garden already
+looking like a miniature camp, with tents for the suite all among the
+flower-beds.
+
+_Tuesday, October_ 31.—A day or two ago we arose betimes, and before
+sunrise embarked in the State gig (which was always, apparently, placed
+at our host’s disposal on demand), and set forth to catch fish for our
+breakfast, and then proceed to eat the same on one of the island
+palaces on the lake. We did not catch many fish—the mahseer were shy
+that morning—but fortunately we did not entirely depend on the caprices
+of the mahseer for our sustenance, and a remarkably well-fed and
+contented quartette we were when we got into the gig while the day was
+yet young, and rowed home as quickly as might be in order to escape the
+heat which at noonday is still great.
+
+This afternoon we went for a (to us) novel tea picnic. A State elephant
+appeared by request, and we climbed upon him with ladders, and he
+proceeded to roll leisurely along at the rate of about two and a half
+miles an hour towards the foot of a hill, on the top of which stood a
+small summer palace.
+
+The afternoon was warm, and the rhythmic pace drowsy, but our steed was
+determined to amuse us and benefit himself. So he blew great blasts of
+spray at his own forelegs and chest to cool himself, and now and then
+made shocking bad shots at so large a target, and, getting a trifle too
+much elevation, nearly swept us from our lofty perch.
+
+Fortunately his stock of spray gave out ere long, or he found that the
+increasing gradient of the hill took all his breath, for we were left
+at leisure to admire the widening view until we reached the top.
+
+Here we had tea in one of the cool halls, and then sat watching the sun
+sink towards the hills that stretch to Mount Aboo.
+
+To the south-east lay Udaipur, milk-white along the margin of its
+“marléd” waters.
+
+On our way home we met with an adventure. While prattling to my
+hostess, I observed that our toes were rising unduly, the saddle or
+howdah being seated somewhat after the fashion of an outside car.
+Glancing over my shoulder I descried Jane and her partner far below
+their proper level. The howdah was coming round, and our steed was
+eleven feet high! Agonised yells to the gentleman who guided the
+deliberate steps of the pachyderm from a coign of vantage on the back
+of his neck, awoke him to an appreciation of the situation. The
+elephant was “hove to” with all possible despatch, and we crawled off
+his back with the greatest celerity. We then sat down by the roadside
+and superintended the righting of the saddle and the tautening of the
+girths by several natives, who “took in the slack” with an energy that
+must have made the poor elephant very “uncomfy” about the waist! I
+secretly hoped it was hurting him horribly, as I had not forgiven him
+for his practical jokes on the way up.
+
+We had no more thrills. Resuming our motor ’bus, in due course, we were
+landed opposite the top of our host’s verandah, whereupon the beast
+shut himself up like a three-foot rule, and we got to ground.
+
+The inexorable flight of time brought us all too soon to the limit of
+our stay at Udaipur. Early on Wednesday the 1st November, therefore, we
+bade adieu to the capital of the State of Mewar, and, accompanied by
+our kind host and hostess, set out to spend a day in exploring the
+ruined city of Chitor before taking train for Bombay.
+
+As we drove to the station, we passed the group of ancient “chatries”
+or tombs of dead and gone Ranas of Mewar, and halted for a short
+inspection, as, the train by which we were to travel to Chitorgarh
+being a “special,” we were not bound to a precise moment for our
+appearance on the platform.
+
+Jane, who is perfectly Athenian in her passion for novelty, decided to
+travel on the engine, and proceeded to do so; until, at the first
+halting-place, a grimy and somewhat dishevelled female climbed into our
+carriage, and the next half-hour was fully occupied in scooping smuts
+out of her eyes with teaspoons.
+
+It had been arranged that an elephant should await our arrival at
+Chitorgarh to take us up to the ancient city, but a careful search into
+every nook and cranny failed to reveal the missing animal.
+
+So my host and I set out on foot to cross a mile or so of plain which
+spread in deceptive smoothness between us and the ascent to the city.
+What seemed a serene and level track became quickly entangled in a maze
+of rough little knobs and nullahs, and we took a vast amount of
+exercise before arriving at the old bridge which spans the Gamberi
+River.
+
+Meanwhile, towering over the scrubby bushes and surrounded by a dusty
+halo, the dilatory pachyderm bore down upon us, and, after the mahout
+had been interviewed in unmeasured terms by my host, went rolling
+slowly to the station to pick up the ladies.
+
+The ancient city of Chitor lies crumbling and desolate on the back of a
+long, level-topped hill, which rises solitary to the height of some
+five hundred feet above the far-stretching plain. Kipling likens it to
+a great ship, up the sides of which the steep road slopes like a
+gangway. At the foot lies the modern village, squalid but picturesque.
+
+As we toil, perspiring, up the long ramp which for a weary mile slopes
+sidelong up the scarped flank of the mountain, and pass through the
+seven gates which guarded the way, and every one of which was the scene
+of many a grim and bloody struggle, I will try to sketch the outline of
+the history of the famous fort, for many centuries the headquarters of
+the royal race of Mewar.
+
+The Gehlotes, or (as they were afterwards styled) the Sesodias, claim
+descent from the Sun through Manu, Icshwaca, and Rama Chandra, as
+indeed do the other Rajput potentates of Jaipur, Marwar, and Bikanir,
+the Rana of Mewar, however, taking precedence owing to his descent from
+Lava, the eldest son of Rama.
+
+The ancient dynasty of Mewar has fallen from its high estate, but the
+history of its rise is lost in the mists of grey antiquity.
+
+“We can trace the losses of Mewar, but with difficulty her
+acquisitions…. She was an old-established dynasty when all the other
+States were in embryo.” Long before Richard of the Lion-heart fared to
+Palestine to wrest the Holy City from the infidel, “a hundred kings,
+its (Mewar’s) allies and dependants, had their thrones raised in
+Chitor,” to defend it against the sword of the Mohammedan; while
+overhead floated the banner displaying the golden sun of Mewar on a
+crimson field.
+
+Some centuries later the Crusaders brought to Europe from the plains of
+Palestine the novel device of armorial bearings.
+
+Chitor itself appears to have been in possession of the Mori princes
+until, in A.D. 728, it was taken by Bappa, who, though of royal race,
+was brought up in obscurity by the Bhils as an attendant on the sacred
+kine. This shepherd prince, ancestor of the present Rana of Mewar,
+became a national hero, and many legends are still current concerning
+him and his romantic deeds. The story of his “amazing marriage,” by
+which he succeeded in wedding six hundred damsels all at once, is one
+of the most curious. Bappa, while still a youth, was appealed to, one
+holiday, by the frolicsome maidens of a neighbouring village, who, led
+by the daughter of the Solankini chief of Nagda, in accordance with the
+custom upon this particular saint’s day, had come out to indulge in
+swinging, but who had forgotten to supply themselves with a
+swinging-rope. Bappa agreed to get them one if they would play his game
+first. This the young ladies readily agreed to do; whereupon, all
+joining hands, he danced with them a certain mystic number of times
+round a sacred tree.
+
+“Regardless of their doom, the little victims played,”
+
+
+and finally dispersed to their homes, entirely unconscious that they
+were all as securely married to Bappa as though they had visited Gretna
+Green with him.
+
+Some time afterwards, upon the engagement of the Solankini maiden to an
+eligible young man, the soothsayer, to whom application had been made
+with regard to fixing a favourable and auspicious wedding-day,
+discovered from certain lines in her hand that the girl was already
+married! Thus the whole story came out, and no less than six hundred
+brides assumed the title of Mrs. Bappa.
+
+He seems to have had a passion for matrimony, for when an old man he
+left his children and his country, and carried his arms west to
+Khorassan, where he wedded new wives and had a numerous offspring. He
+died at the age of a hundred!
+
+From the days of the very much married Bappa, until the time of
+Samarsi, who was Prince of Chitor in the thirteenth century, the city
+continued to flourish and increase in power and importance. Samarsi,
+having married Pirtha, sister of Prithi Raj, the lord of Delhi, joined
+his brother-in-law against Shabudin. For three days the battle raged,
+until the scale fell finally in favour of Shabudin, and the combined
+forces of Delhi and Chitor were almost annihilated. “Pirtha, on hearing
+of the loss of the battle, her husband slain, her brother captive, and
+all the heroes of Delhi and Cheetore ‘asleep on the banks of the Caggar
+in a wave of the steel,’ joined her lord through the flames.”
+
+From that time forward the history of Chitor is but a tale of sack and
+slaughter, relieved in its murkiest days by flashes of brilliant
+heroism and self-sacrificing devotion while the chivalrous Rajputs
+struggled vainly against the successive waves of the Mohammedan
+invasions, which in a fierce flood for centuries swept over India, and
+deluged it with blood.
+
+In the year 1275 Lakumsi became Rana of Chitor. His uncle Bheemsi had
+married Padmani, a fair daughter of Ceylon, and her beauty was such
+that the fame of it came to the ears of Alla-o-din, the Pathan Emperor.
+
+He promptly attacked the fortress, but without success for a long
+period, until he agreed to a compromise, declaring that if he could
+merely see the Lady Padmani in a mirror he would be contented and raise
+the siege.
+
+His request was granted, and, trusting to the honour of a Rajput, he
+entered the city unattended, and was rewarded by a sight of this
+Eastern Helen reflected in a mirror. Desirous of showing equal faith in
+a noble enemy, Bheemsi accompanied Alla back to his lines, but there he
+was captured and held to ransom, Padmani being the price.
+
+Word was now sent to the Emperor that Padmani would be delivered to
+him, and seven hundred covered litters were prepared to convey her and
+her ladies to Delhi, but each litter was borne by six armed bearers,
+and contained no “silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses,” but only
+steel-clad warriors, who, upon arrival in the Moslem camp, sprang from
+their concealment as surprisingly as Pallas from the head of Zeus.
+
+Alla-o-din was, however, not to be caught napping, and, being prepared
+for all contingencies, a fierce combat took place, and the warriors of
+Chitor were hard put to it to stand their ground until Bheemsi had
+escaped to the stronghold on a fleet horse. Then the devoted remnant
+retreated, pursued to the very gates by their foes. The flower of
+Chitor had perished, but they had achieved their object. This was
+called the “half sack” of Chitor.[1]
+
+[1] These notes on the history of Chitor are taken, it need hardly be
+said, from Tod’s _Rajast’han_, he being _the_ authority on Rajputana.
+An account of the above incident is given somewhat differently by
+Maurice in his _Modern History of Hindostan_ (1803), who also relates
+that Akbar used the same trick to enter Rhotas in Behar, after being
+long baffled by the apparent impregnability of that fortress.
+
+
+Fifteen years later, Alla-o-din once more attacked Chitor, and this
+time the assaults were so deadly that the garrison was decimated and
+utter annihilation stared the survivors in the face. Then to the Rana
+appeared the guardian goddess of the city, who warned him that “if
+twelve who wear the diadem bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass
+from the line.” Now the prince had twelve sons, and, in obedience to
+the goddess and in hope of eventually saving their dynasty, eleven of
+them cheerfully headed sorties on eleven following days, and were
+slain, until only Ajeysi, the youngest, was left alive. Then the Kana
+prepared for the end. He sent the boy Ajeysi with a small band by a
+secret way, and he escaped to Kailwarra, so that the royal race of
+Chitor should not become extinct. Then the women of the city, with the
+noble Padmani at their head, accepted the Johur; “the funeral pyre
+being lighted within the great subterranean retreat,” they steadfastly
+marched into the living grave rather than yield themselves to the will
+of the conqueror. All being now ready for the last act of the hideous
+drama, the Rana caused the gates to be opened, and with his valiant
+remnant of an army fell upon the foe only to perish to a man, and then,
+and not till then, did the victorious Alla set foot of a conqueror
+within Chitor, where now no living thing remained to stay him from
+razing her deserted temples to the ground. The palace of Padmani alone
+was spared in this, the first “saka” of Chitor.[2]
+
+[2] The Jain Tower of Fame was also left standing, it dates from about
+A.D. 900.
+
+
+The wrecked stronghold remained an appanage of the Mogul until Hamir,
+who, though not the direct heir of Ajeysi, had gained the chieftainship
+through his valour, and who, having married a ward of the Hindu
+governor of Chitor, by her help regained possession of the fortress.
+
+Defeating the Emperor Mahmoud, Hamir entered Chitor in triumph, and
+once again the standard of the Sun floated over its blood-stained
+rocks. The Emperor Mahmoud himself was led captive into Chitor, and
+kept prisoner there for three months until he regained his liberty by
+surrendering Ajmere, Rinthumbore, Nagore, and Sooe Sopoor, with fifty
+lacs of rupees and a hundred elephants. By this victory Hamir became
+the sole Hindu prince of power in India; and the ancestors of the
+present lords of Marwar and Jaipur brought their levies and paid
+homage, together with the chiefs of Boondi, Abu, and Gwalior.
+
+Then ensued for Chitor a period of splendid prosperity, during which
+rose many noble buildings, amongst the ruins of which the great Tower
+of Victory still soars supreme. This splendid monument[3] was raised to
+commemorate the victory gained by Koombho over Mahmoud, King of Malwa,
+and the Prince of Guzzerat, who in A.D. 1440 had formed a league
+against Chitor. The Rana met them at the head of 100,000 troops and
+1400 elephants, and overthrew them, and the commemorative tower was
+begun in 1451 and finished in ten years.
+
+[3] It is also attributed to Lakha Rana, A.D. 1373.
+
+
+The State of Mewar reached the zenith of her glory in 1509, when 80,000
+horse, seven rajas of the highest rank, nine raos, and 104 chiefs
+bearing titles of rawul or sawut, with 500 elephants, followed Rana
+Sanga of Chitor into the field.
+
+The Mogul Baber, who captured Delhi in 1527, was yet unwilling to face
+the ordeal of battle with the warlike Rajputs, but in the following
+year Sanga marched against him at the head of the princes of
+Rajast’han. A terrible battle ensued, which long inclined in favour of
+the Rajputs, until, through the treachery of a Tuar chief, they were
+defeated, and the star of Mewar began to decline, although so severe
+had been the struggle that Baber dared not follow up his victory.
+
+In 1533 Chitor suffered her second “saka” at the hands of Buhadoor or
+Bajazet, Sultan of Guzzerat, who, after a grim struggle, obtained a
+footing at the “Beeka” rock, and, springing a mine there, blew up 45
+cubits of rampart and killed the Prince of the Haras, with five hundred
+of his kin. Then the Queen-Mother, Jowahir Bae, clad in armour, headed
+a sally, and was slain before the eyes of all.
+
+The entrance to the city being forced, the heir of the Sesodias, the
+infant Oodi Singh, son of Sanga, was placed in safety, while Bagh-ji,
+Prince of Deola, assuming royalty, prepared to die, for Chitor could
+only be retained by the Rajput princes while guarded by royalty.
+
+The horrible Johur was decreed, and 13,000 women, headed by Kurnavati,
+the mother of Oodi Singh,[4] marched to death and honour through the
+“Gau Mukh,” or entrance to the subterranean tomb; while the city gates
+were thrown open, and the defenders sallied forth. “Every clan lost its
+chief,” and 32,000 Rajputs were slain during the siege and storm.
+
+[4] And sister of the Rahtore queen, Jowahir Bae.
+
+
+Now Kurnavati had bound Hamayoun, the son of Baber, to her cause by a
+curious ceremony: she having sent him the Rakhi (bracelet), and he
+having bestowed on her the Katchli (corselet), he was bound, in
+consequence of this bond, to assist the lady in any time of need. Too
+late to save Chitor, he retook it, and restored Bikramajit to the
+throne; but the guardian goddess had turned her face from the doomed
+city, and its final fall was at hand. The Emperor Akbar, having laid
+almost all India at his feet, determined to bring the proud princes of
+Rajputana into subjection. He attacked Chitor, but was foiled by the
+masculine courage of the Rana’s concubine queen.
+
+Again, in 1568, the Emperor Akbar attacked, and this time he found the
+fated city in evil case, for Oodi Singh,[5] the Rana, for whom in
+infancy his nurse had sacrificed her own child, was a degenerate son of
+his race. He left Chitor to be defended by his lieutenants Jeimul and
+Putta.
+
+[5] The infant Oodi Singh being threatened with death by conspirators,
+his Rajputni nurse hid him in a fruit-basket, and, covering it with
+leaves, had it conveyed out of the fort, substituting her own child
+just as Bimbir, the usurper, entered the room and asked for the prince.
+Her pallid lips refused to utter sound, but she pointed to the cradle
+and saw the swift steel plunged into the heart of her child.
+
+
+In the first “saka” by Alla, twelve crowned heads defended the “crimson
+banner” to the death. In the second, when conquest, at the hand of
+Bahadur, came from the south, the chieftain of Deola, a noble scion of
+Mewar, claimed the crown of glory and of martyrdom. But on this, the
+third and greatest struggle, no royal victim appeared to appease the
+Cybele of Chitor and win her to retain its battlements as her coronet.
+
+When Jeimul fell at the Gate of the Sun, the command devolved upon
+Putta of Kailwa, a lad of sixteen. His mother commanded him to don “the
+saffron robe,” then, with him and his young bride, she fell full armed
+upon the foe, and the heroic trio died before the eyes of the war-worn
+garrison.
+
+Once more was the Johur commanded, while 8000 Rajputs ate the last
+“beera” together, and put on their saffron robes. The gates were thrown
+open, “and few survived to stain the yellow mantle by inglorious
+surrender.”
+
+Thus in the blood-red cloud of battle sank for ever the Sun of Chitor;
+for from this, the third and last “saka,” the ruined city never rose.
+Her doom has been as the doom of Babylon, of which Isaiah declared: “It
+shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation
+to generation … but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and
+their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell
+there…. And the wild beasts … shall cry in their desolate houses, and …
+in their pleasant palaces:… Her days shall not be prolonged.”
+
+The top of the long ascent being reached, the last gate, the Hathi Pol,
+is passed, and the wayfarer finds himself in the midst of the great
+dead city, which lies in ruins for three miles along the bastioned brow
+of the mountain.
+
+Just beyond the first group of stately ruins, we came on the building
+which was probably the palace built by Lakha Rana in 1373. Here we sat
+and rested until the elephant, bearing the ladies and the lunch,
+stalked sedately round the jutting angle of a decayed fort, and then we
+wended our way along a road lined with many a half-fallen temple, until
+we reached the ancient palace where, six hundred years ago, dwelt the
+ill-starred Padmani, whose loveliness brought such woe upon Chitor.
+Here, in a cool chamber overlooking the tank, upon the brink of which
+the palace stands, we lunched; afterwards threading our way among the
+fallen fragments of many a stately shrine and palace towards the high
+point on which the great Jain Tower of Fame rears its deeply-sculptured
+shaft into the sky.
+
+For a thousand years the innumerable stone gods which encircle the
+tower in endless profusion have watched with sightless eyes over the
+city. Grey already with age were they when they saw, raised in pristine
+beauty, the shattered domes and broken columns which now lie prone in
+the brushwood far beneath their feet. What ghastly scenes those stony
+faces have surveyed, when, swept by the scathing steel, the city has
+run red with blood, and her defenders have fallen to the last man. One
+crowning horror, though, they have been always spared, for no maid or
+matron of Chitor ever deigned to bow her neck beneath the yoke of the
+Mogul, but rather dared to face a fiery death in the bowels of the
+great cavern beneath the city than yield her honour to the conqueror.
+
+The Tower of Fame is being repaired by the present Rana, under the
+superintendence of our host and a party of native workmen. Masons and
+most skilful carvers in stone were busily engaged in the restoration of
+parts that had fallen into dangerous decay—an extremely flimsy-looking
+scaffolding, made apparently of light bamboos, tied together in wisps,
+and forming a fragile-looking ramp, wound spirally up the outside of
+the tower. My host seemed to consider it a perfectly safe means of
+ascent, and as the workmen did not appear to slip off in any
+appreciable numbers I felt constrained to go up. I should like to have
+done it on all fours! The climb was well worth undertaking, as it
+enabled one to inspect the astonishing and finely-carved figures which
+encrust the whole exterior of the column.
+
+From the Tower of Fame we made our way to the other great landmark of
+Chitor—the Tower of Victory.
+
+Passing and examining _en route_ many elaborately-carved temples, whose
+domes rose amid the strangling masses of desert tree and shrub, we came
+to the base of the red tower, whose shaft, four-square and in perfect
+preservation, has, with its more venerable brother of Fame, watched for
+so many centuries over the fallen fortress of Chitor.
+
+Not far away, the rocky wall on which the city stands is shattered into
+a gloomy chasm, half-hidden in rank vegetation, which, clinging with
+knotted root to ledge and crevice, hangs darkly over a stagnant pool.
+Here was the awful portal, “the Gau Mukh,” or “cow’s mouth,” by which,
+when all was lost to Chitor save honour, her women entered the
+subterranean cavern while the fuel was heaped high, and an honourable
+death by suffocation awaited them.
+
+The burning Indian day was over, and the sun blazed red in the west, as
+we mounted our elephant and paced along the road towards the Hathi Pol.
+Darker grew the ghostly domes and shattered battlements against a
+golden sky, and the swift southern night fell, dark yet luminous, as we
+turned down the hill and left the dead city, splendid in its loneliness
+and isolation, asleep within its crumbling walls.
+
+Our dinner-table was set out on the platform of the station at
+Chitorgarh, and our bedrooms were close by, our host and hostess
+sleeping in the “special” by which they were to return to Udaipur in
+the morning, while we slept in a siding, ready to be coupled up to the
+early train from Bombay.
+
+Late into the warm and balmy night we paced the platform; for there
+seemed to be always something still to say, and we found it hard to
+part from our charming friends; realising, too, that this was the end
+of our holiday, and that before us lay merely the toil and bustle of a
+return to commonplace, everyday life. At last, though, the final
+fag-end of a cheroot was thrown away, the last hand-grips given, and
+the parting came.
+
+There is little more to say.
+
+All Thursday we rushed through the wide landscape; saw the parched
+plains stretch far into the dusty horizon; saw the lean men and leaner
+cattle, to whom the grim spectre of famine is already foreshadowed;
+flew past populous villages and creaking water-wheels, noting every
+phase of a scene now familiar, yet always delightful.
+
+Late in the evening we changed at Baroda, and dawn next morning saw us
+speeding across the swamps and inlets, which gave place ere long to the
+palm groves and clustering houses which marked the farther limits of
+the suburbs of Bombay.
+
+We found the heat—damp and oppressive—very trying after the drier air
+of Rajputana, and the Taj Mahal Hotel below our expectations in all
+respects save price. It is undoubtedly better than most Indian hotels,
+but yet it is not good!
+
+Bombay is chiefly connected in our minds with the inevitable fuss and
+worry of packing and departure.
+
+As we left the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a conveyance piled high with
+miscellaneous baggage, we saw the last of our faithful and
+indispensable Sabz Ali, as he hurriedly quitted the hostelry in our
+wake, fearful lest undue delay should jeopardise the possession of the
+spoils he was carrying off, wrapped in bulging bundles of goodly size.
+
+Jane and I were sorrier, I think, to part with him than he with us.
+After all, we were but troublesome charges, for whose well-being he had
+to answer to “General ’Oon Sahib,”—charges who had not been quite so
+lavish with their incalculable riches as they should have been, and who
+doled out rupees, and even annas, with a sorely grudging hand; still I
+think Sabz Ali, as he made his way to the station, with many rupees
+lining his inmost garments, and a flaming “chit” carefully stowed away,
+felt a certain regret at parting from the “sahibs,” who had really
+shown a very fine appreciation of his merit, and were sending him back
+with much honour to his own country.
+
+Late in the afternoon, as the spires and roofs of the city stood dark
+against the sky, and the many steamers and native dhows showed black
+upon a flood of liquid gold, the _Persia_ got under way, and we slowly
+left the anchorage, steaming out into the fading light.
+
+We stood long, leaning over the bulwarks and watching the lights of
+Bombay, at first so distinct, melt gradually into a line of tiny stars
+as the gulf widened that separated us from the land where we had spent
+so many happy days.
+
+I wonder if we shall ever revisit it? I trust so … and yet——
+
+“As a rule it is better to revisit only in imagination the places which
+have greatly charmed us … for it was not merely the sights that one
+beheld which were the cause of joy and peace. However lovely the spot,
+however gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed
+but for contributory movements of mind and heart and blood—the
+essentials of the man as then he was.”[6]
+
+[6] “Henry Ryecroft”
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I
+
+
+BIG GAME LICENSE No. I,
+Price Rs. 60 (sixty only).
+
+
+This license will remain in force from the 15th of March 190 to the
+15th November 190, and is subject to the Kashmir Stata Game Laws; it
+permits the Licensee to shoot the undermentioned game in the Districts
+and Nullahs open to sportsmen, and, subject to Rules 8 and 9 of these
+Laws, small game between the above dates.
+
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+                      | No. permitted | No. actually | Size of |District.
+  Name of Animal.     | to be         | shot.        | heads.  |
+                      | shot.         |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-             |         |
+Markhor of any variety|      2        |              |         |
+Ibex                  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon) |      1        |              |         |
+Ovis Vignei (Sharpu)  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Nahura (Burhal)  |      6        |              |         |
+Thibetan Antelope     |      6        |              |         |
+  Do. Gazelle         |      1        |              |         |
+Kashmir Stag          |      2        |              |         |
+Serow                 |      1        |              |         |
+Brown Bears           |      2        |              |         |
+Tehr                  |      6        |              |         |
+Goral                 |      6        |              |         |
+Pigs, Black Bears and |  No limit.    |              |         |
+  Leopards            |               |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+
+_Name of Licensee____________________________________________
+_Address_____________________________________________________
+_Signature of Licensee on returning License__________________
+
+N.B.—This portion of the License to be returned to the Secretary,
+Game Preservation Department.
+
+————————————————————————————————————-
+                      NAME OF SHIKARIES, &c., EMPLOYED
+———+———-+————+———-+————————————————————-
+      |Name of|        |Nature |    Place of Residence.    |
+Serial|Shikari|Father’s|  of   +————-+————+—————+ REMARKS.
+ No.  |  or   |  Name. |employ-| Village | Tehail | District |
+      |Coolie.|        | ment. |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+
+This License does not permit the Licensee to shoot in any of the closed
+tracts or preserves mentioned in Rules 2 and 10, Kashmir State Game
+Laws, nor in the Gilgit district, nor in the Astor or Kaj-nag
+districts, without the special permit laid down under Rule 2.
+
+_Dated_ ____ (Sd.) AMAR SINGH, GENERAL, RAJA, _The_ ______
+_Vice-President of Council, Jammu and Kashmir State_.
+
+I certify that a copy of Kashmir State Game Laws, 190, has been issued
+herewith,
+
+_Signature of Official granting License_ ___________________
+
+NOTE—This License will be shown on demand and is not transferable. A
+fee of Re. 1 will be charged for a duplicate copy.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II
+
+
+From the earliest times the Kashmiris have been objects of contempt and
+derision, whilst the women have been—perhaps unduly—lauded for their
+looks and general excellence.
+
+The Kashmiris themselves are of opinion that “once upon a time” they
+were an honourable and valiant folk, brought gradually to their present
+condition by foreign oppression.
+
+To a certain extent this is probably true, but, according to the
+_Rajatarangini Kulan_, they were noted for dishonesty and cunning long
+before the evil days of conquest and adversity. Bernier speaks well of
+the men, calling them witty and industrious. Doubtless the Kashmiri
+character, originally none too good, was ruined during the long years
+of cruelty and injustice to which he was subjected by the Tartars,
+Afghans, and Sikhs, who, from the day when Akbar put him into women’s
+clothes, treated him as something lower than a brute.
+
+Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as
+“endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain.” He speaks of
+the vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the
+Pathans, observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking
+them with a hatchet, but, he concludes, “I even judged them worthy of
+their adverse fortune.”
+
+Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that “the men are excessively addicted
+to pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and
+cunning;” and again, “The Cashmerians are of no account as soldiers.”
+
+“Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin
+it,” says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri
+character, and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for
+great artistic feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from
+crime against the person. He considers the last merit, though, to be
+due to cowardice and the state of espionage which exists in every
+village!
+
+I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who,
+during the great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his
+brother being swept down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly
+disintegrating roof. The following painful conversation ensued:—
+
+“Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine
+ancestral roof?”
+
+“Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!”
+
+“Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?”
+
+“All I have in the world, brother—two lovely rupees.”
+
+“Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth,
+for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life.”
+
+“Three, then, three, carissimo—’tis all I have—and make haste, for I
+feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim.”
+
+“Farewell, oh, dearest brother! I could not possibly think of taking so
+much trouble for three rupees, especially as, now I come to think of
+it, I can borrow a singhara pole, and, in due time, will prod for thy
+corpse in the Wular! Mind thou wrappest the lucre snugly in thy
+cummerbund, that it be not lost—farewell, little brother!”
+
+While the gentlemen of the Happy Valley have been lashed by the tongue
+and pen of every traveller, the ladies, on the contrary, have been
+rather overrated.
+
+In all communities where the men are invertebrate the women become the
+real heads of the family, doing not only most of the actual work, but
+also taking the dominant position in affairs generally. This I have
+observed strikingly in the case of the three “slackest” male races I
+know—the Fantis of the Gold Coast, the Kashmiri, and the crofters of
+the West Highlands.
+
+Opinion is divided on the question of female loveliness in Kashmir.
+
+Marco Polo (who probably only got his ideas of “Kesmur” from hearsay)
+echoed the prevalent opinion by saying, “The women although dark are
+very comely” (ch. xxvii.). Bernier is enthusiastic: “Les femmes surtout
+y sont très-belles,” and hints at their popularity among the Moguls.
+
+Moorcroft, Vigne, and others swelled the laudatory chorus until
+Forster, “having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms,
+suffered a sensible disappointment,” and even was so rude as to
+criticise the ladies’ legs, which he considered thick!
+
+Lawrence saw “thousands of women in the villages, and could not
+remember, save one or two exceptions, ever seeing a really beautiful
+face;” but the heaviest blow was dealt them by Jacquemont, who, as a
+gay Frenchman, should have been an excellent judge: “Je n’avais jamais
+vu auparavant d’aussi affreuses sorcières!”
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III
+
+
+I had hoped to have given, through the kindness of Colonel Ward, a full
+list of the birds of Kashmir. Up to the time of going to press,
+however, the complete list has not been made out. A very large
+proportion, however, has been published in the _Journal of the Bombay
+Nat. Hist. Society_. I would refer those desirous of a knowledge of the
+birds of Kashmir to the above Journal for 23rd April and 20th Sept.
+1906, and 15th Feb. 1907. Also to Hume and Henderson’s _Lahore to
+Yarkand_, and to Le Mesurier’s _Game, Shore, and Water Birds of India_,
+to which I am indebted for the following:—
+
+“In Kashmir, out of 116 genera of land birds, 34 have a wide range, 32
+are characteristic of the Palar Arctic, 29 of the Indian, and 21 of the
+Himalo-Chinese sub-region. Only one species is peculiar to Kashmir, a
+very normal bullfinch (pyrula).”
+
+The flora, which is most interesting, has yet (as far as I know) to be
+treated independently of the neighbouring regions. Royle is scientific
+but antiquated, and I know of no better list than that given by
+Lawrence in his _Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV
+
+
+It may interest any one intending a trip to Kashmir to see a note of
+reasonable expenses as incurred by two people during a nine-month
+absence from England. Therefore I append a précis of ours.
+
+It is to be remembered that a saving might be effected in many
+particulars by any one knowing something of the country. We had to buy
+our experience. Fully £10 or £12 could be saved in wages, as at first
+we had a fighting tail like “Ta Phairson” of “four-and-twenty men and
+five-and-thirty pipers”—and pipers have to be paid! We also hired tents
+when we did not really require them. Against these outgoings, however,
+it should be borne in mind that, thanks to the kindness of friends, we
+paid a merely nominal rent for a “State” hut at Gulmarg. At Abbotabad,
+Jaipur, and Udaipur, also, we had no hotel bills to meet.
+
+PRÉCIS OF EXPENSES—TWO PERSONS
+
+LONDON TO KARACHI (25 Days)
+
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+Half-Return fares, 1st class, London to Trieste,
+  and thence by Austrian Lloyd (unaccelerated)    60   0   0
+Hotels, sleeping-car, gratuities, wine bills, &c. 16  15   0
+Baggage expenses                                   8  15   7
+                                                       —————   85  10   7
+
+BOMBAY TO LONDON (25 Days)
+
+Share of fares                                    60   0   0
+Hotel expenses and sundries, as before            10   6   8
+Baggage expenses, dock dues, &c.                  17  11   4
+                                                       —————  87  18   0
+
+KARACHI TO SRINAGAR (16 Days)
+
+Rail and baggage expenses to Pindi                12   6   8
+Landau and two ekkas to Srinagar, inclusive of
+   gratuities, tolls, &c.                         10  10   8
+Hotels, Dàk bungalows, &c.                        13  18   9
+Duty on firearms (repayable on leaving)            1  16   8
+Resais, waterproof for luggage, kettles, &c.       1  19   3
+Servant’s fare to Karachi, wages, &c.              2  12   8
+                                                       —————  43   4   8
+                                                            ——————-
+                            Carry forward                  216  13   3
+
+EXPENSES IN KASHMIR (6 Months)
+
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+            Brought forward                                216  13   3
+
+Food, wine, washing, cigars, &c.                  72   7   3
+Wages, inclusive of various clothes               42   9   9
+Amusements, golf and tennis subscriptions, &c.    11   7   2
+Hire of boats, tents and equipment                17   6   5
+Transport coolies and ponies                      33  14  11
+Hire of hut at Gulmarg                             5   6   8
+Sundry furniture, cooking gear, yakdans, &c.       9   0   8
+                                                       —————- 191  12  10
+
+BARAMULA TO BOMBAY (1 Month)
+
+Landau and four ekkas, with gratuities and tolls. 13  14   0
+Dâk bungalows, hotels, &c.                        18   5   8
+Wages, inclusive of gratuities                     6  14   0
+Rail, Pindi to Bombay (viâ Udaipur)               16  17   0
+Baggage                                            5   2   8
+Hire of carriages, &c.                             1   4  11
+                                                  —————  61  18   3
+Loss by exchange on cheques.                                   5  19   7
+                                                            ——————
+                                      Total                  476   3  11
+                                                            ============
+
+
+
+
+INDEX AND NOTES
+
+
+ABBOTABAD, A frontier station garrisoned by a mobile force of Gurkhas
+and Royal Artillery, whence any descent from the Black Mountain or
+Chilas country can be checked. Named after Lieutenant Abbot, who
+reduced the neighbourhood to order in 1845-48.
+
+Aden, Occupying a warm corner just outside the straits of Babol-Mandeb;
+was the first addition made to the British dominions in the reign of
+Queen Victoria, having been taken from the Arabs in 1839.
+
+Agates,
+
+Agra, Rose to importance under the Moguls, becoming their seat of
+government after Akbar quitted the city he had built, Fatehpur-Sighri,
+until Aurungzeb removed the seat of government to Delhi.
+
+Akbar, The third, and in many ways the greatest, of the six “Great
+Mogul” Emperors of India. A warrior first, he consolidated his
+conquests with the genius of an enlightened statesman.
+
+Alsu, A small village on the north-west shore of the Wular Lake.
+
+Amar Singh (General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I.), Brother of His
+Highness Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; is
+Vice-President of the States Council and owner of much land in Kashmir,
+the prosperity of which he has done much to promote.
+
+Ambér, The ancient capital of Jaipur; was built in the eleventh
+century, its Rajput rulers being the powerful allies of Chitor during
+her struggles against the Mohammedan invasion. The Palace was built by
+Raja Maun, _circa_ 1600, in the days of Akbar, whose cousin he was by
+marriage ( _comp_. ). Ambér was deserted in 1728 by Jey Singh for his
+new city of Jaipur.
+
+Amethyst, This stone should be much worn in Scotland, particularly on
+New Year’s Day, it having been (according to the Greek derivation of
+the name) an antidote to drunkenness!
+
+Amira Kadal, The highest of the seven bridges at Srinagar; a fine
+modern structure, replacing that built by Amir Khan Jawan Sher, the
+Pathan, who also built Sher Garhi.
+
+Anda, Egg.
+
+Anna, the sixteenth part of a rupee, value one penny.
+
+Apharwat, One of the Pir Panjal range, which rises above Gulmarg,
+height 14,500 feet.
+
+Aru, A small village, beautifully situated about seven miles above
+Pahlgam.
+
+Asti, “Go slow.”
+
+Astor, A district on the main route from Kashmir to Gilgit, the village
+is about ninety-two miles from Bandipur. Two passes (the Rajdiangan, or
+Tragbal, 11,800 feet, and the Boorzil, 13,500 feet) have to be crossed.
+About ten passes are issued each season to sportsmen, markhor and ibex
+being the game.
+
+Atchibal, A village seven miles from Islamabad, where many springs
+burst out from the rocks. Atchibal was a favourite pleasure-garden of
+the Mogul Emperors, the remains of which still exist.
+
+Aurungzeb, The last of the six “Great Moguls”; deposed and imprisoned
+his predecessor Shah Jehan in 1658, and reigned until 1707. Bigoted and
+intolerant, he shares with Sikander the odium of having destroyed many
+of the ancient Hindu temples of Kashmir.
+
+Avantipura, The modern village is near the extensive ruins named after
+King Avanti Verma, which formed once the capital of Kashmir.
+
+Bahamarishi, (_Baba-pam-Rishi=_Father Smoothbeard.) A village some
+three miles below Gulmarg; the ziarat is named after a rishi, or
+ascetic, of the sixteenth century.
+
+Baloo, (Kashmiri, _Harpat_) “Rara avis in terras, nigroque similima
+cignis.” _Anglicè_, a bear.
+
+Bandipur, An important village on the north shore of the Wular Lake,
+the starting-point for Gilgit, &c. Oddly enough, Bandipur is not marked
+on the Ordnance Map.
+
+Bandobast, A bargain or arrangement.
+
+Bappa, An eighth-century Rajput hero, and ancestor of the present
+chiefs of Mewar; appears to have had strong Mormon proclivities.
+
+Baramula, The third town in Kashmir, having some 900 houses, is built
+on the Jhelum at its outflow from the Kashmir Valley: it is also built
+on the west focus of seismic disturbance in Kashmir, and was destroyed
+by an earthquake in 1885, when 3000 Baramulans were killed. We were
+unaware of these interesting facts on the morning of April 4! The
+“Palms of Baramoule,” which Moore sang of, are like snakes in
+Iceland—they do not exist.
+
+Bara singh, The Kashmir stag.
+
+Bawan,
+
+Beera,
+
+Bejbehara, The ancient Vijayasvara, a picturesque village and bridge
+about four miles below Islamabad.
+
+Bernier, F., a Frenchman attached to the court of Aurungzeb as medical
+adviser; wrote _Voyage à Kachemire_.
+
+Bhanyar,
+
+Bheostie, The Indian Aquarius—the water-bearer.
+
+Bhils,
+
+Birch, (Kashmiri, _Burza_) The bark used in making the paper for which
+Kashmir was noted, also for roofing, it being strong and impervious to
+water.
+
+Blue pine, _Pinus Excelsa_, (Kashmiri, _Yar_.)
+
+Bombay,
+
+Books on Kashmir:(1) Bernier, _Voyage à Kachemire_ (Utrecht, 1724); (2)
+Forster’s (G) _Journey from Bengal to England_ (London, 1798); (3)
+Moorcroft, _Travels in Kashmir, &c._ edited by Wilson, 1841; (4)
+Jacquomont (V), _Voyage dans l’Inde_ (Paris, 1841); (5) Vigne (G. T.),
+_Travels in Kashmir, &c._, 1844; (6) Hugel’s _Travels_, 1845; (7) Drew,
+_Jummoo and, Ktishmir Territories_; and (8) Lawrence’s _Valley of
+Kashmir_ 1895.
+
+Budmash, A scoundrel.
+
+Bund, An embankment or dyke to bank a river.
+
+Burra, Big, or great.
+
+Carnelian, “Flesh-stone”—for origin read Marryat’s _Pacha of Many
+Tales_
+
+Chakhoti,
+
+Chandni Chowk,
+
+Chaplies,
+
+Chappar, Paddle with heart-shaped blade.
+
+Chatris, The cenotaphs of the Maharanas of Mewar; they stand in a
+walled enclosure between Udaipur and the railway station.
+
+Chenar, _Plaianus Orientals_ or Oriental plane. This magnificent tree
+is supposed to have been introduced into Kashmir by the Mogul Emperors.
+It grows to a great size, one measured by Lawrence being sixty-three
+feet five inches in circumference at five feet above the ground! There
+is a very fair specimen in Kew Gardens, between the pond and the
+“herbaceous border.”
+
+Chilas,
+
+Chit, A note or letter, and also a character or recommendation, Every
+man collects something, from pictures to tram tickets—the native
+collects “chits.” Like other collectors he will beg, borrow, or steal
+to improve his store, and life is made a burden by the perpetual
+writing and reading of these mendacious documents.
+
+Chitor,
+
+Chittagul Nullah, The next nullah to the south-west of the Wangat. The
+village of Wangat is wrongly placed in it, according to the Ordnance
+Map.
+
+Chondawats, A Rajput clan.
+
+Chota, Little, _Chota Hazri = petit dejeúner_ or early breakfast.
+
+Chowkidar, A functionary whose principal duty seems to be to snore in
+the verandah at night and scare other robbers away.
+
+Chupatty, A flabby sort of scone.
+
+Chuprassie,
+
+Cockburn’s Agency, The nearest approach to “Whiteley’s” in Kashmir.
+
+Dâk, Post. _Dâk Bungalow_ = posting station.
+
+Dal Lake, _Dal_ means lake (in a plain), while _nag_ is a mountain
+tarn.
+
+Dandy, A sort of enclosed chair with four projecting arms, wherein
+pretty ladies are carried when it doesn’t suit them to walk.
+
+Degchies, Cooking utensils—best made of aluminium, owing to the unclean
+ways of native scullions.
+
+Dekho, See, look! Delhi, The capital of the Mogul Emperors, dating from
+1638, when Shah Jehan commenced to build the great fort. The ancient
+city lies some miles to the south. Delhi was taken by General Lake in
+1803.
+
+Deodar, (Kashmiri, _Diár.) Cedrus Lebani_, var. _Deodara_. The most
+valuable tree in Kashmir, where it was formerly abundant. It is now
+chiefly found in the north-west districts, and it is carefully
+cherished by the “Jungly Sahib” and his myrmidons.
+
+Dobie, The thing that ruins all your shirts and causes you to shatter
+the Third Commandment.
+
+Domel, Village with Dâk Bungalow, at the confluence of the Jhelum and
+the Kishenganga.
+
+Doolie,
+
+Doras,
+
+Dounga, “The boats of Kashmir are very long and narrow, and are rowed
+with paddles from the stern, which is a little elevated, to the centre;
+a tilt of mats is extended for the shelter of passengers or
+merchandize” (Forster); the mats are made of “pits” (reed mace), a
+swamp plant.
+
+Drogmulla,
+
+Dubgam, A village at junction of the Pohru with the Jhelum, about seven
+miles above Baramula.
+
+EARTHQUAKE, An upsetting event of too frequent occurrence in Kashmir.
+Particularly severe visitations occurred in 1827 and 1885 (_see_
+Baramula).
+
+Echo Lake, A small tarn on the top of Apharwat.
+
+Ek, One. (_Ek dam_=immediately.)
+
+Ekka,
+
+Embroidery,
+
+Erin Nullah,
+
+Eshmakam, =_Eysh Makám_(“the delightful halting-place”) Above the
+village stands the shrine of Zyn-u-din, one of the four disciples of
+the Kashmir patron saint, Shah Nur-u-din.
+
+FATERPUR-SIGHRI,
+
+Ferozepore Nullah,
+
+Floating Gardens,
+
+GANESBAL, The boulder, red-stained and extremely sacred, which lies in
+the middle of the Lidar; bears some fancied likeness to Ganésh (the
+elephant-headed god).
+
+Gangabal, A sacred lake, lying under the north glaciers of Haramok at
+the elevation of 12,000 feet. It is said to be a source of the
+Ganges(!) and is an object of pilgrimage.
+
+Ghari,
+
+Ghari Habibullah,
+
+Ghari Wallah, The Jehu of these parts.
+
+Ghât,
+
+Gold mohur,
+
+Golf,
+
+Gram,
+
+Grass shoes,
+
+Gujar, Is not a Kashmiri, being a member of the semi-nomad tribes which
+graze buffaloes and goats upon the hills. He speaks Parímu or Hindki.
+
+Gulmarg, (The Rose Marg.) The most frequented resort of the English in
+Kashmir during July and August; stands some 8500 feet above the sea,
+wherefore some people find the air too rarefied. Gulmarg was first
+mentioned by Yusaf Khan in 1580.
+
+Gunderbal, A village placed where the Sind River debouches into the
+plain. The starting-point for Leh and Thibet.
+
+Gupkar, Town of Gopaditya(?). A wine-manufacturing suburb of Srinagar,
+overlooking the Dal.
+
+Gurais, A large village on the Bandipur-Gilgit route, lying on the
+right bank of the Kishenganga, about forty-two miles from Bandipur.
+
+HARAMOK, The predominating mountain (16,903 feet) of the valley, from
+almost every part of which his square-headed bulk is visible; hence the
+name, which means “all faces” or “all mouths.” A legend holds that a
+vein of emerald lies near the summit, and that within view of this gem
+no snake can live
+
+Harbagwan,
+
+Hari Parbat, (“The Green Hill”) So named on account of the gardens and
+vineyards which clothed its sides. Became the residence of Akbar, who
+built the wall round foot of hill in 1597. The fort on top was the work
+of the Pathan, Atta Mohamad Khan.
+
+Haripur,
+
+Harwan,
+
+Hasrat Bal Mosque, (The Prophet’s Hair.) Various fairs and festivals
+are held here, the principal one being held upon the day that the
+Prophet rode up to Heaven on his mule Al Barak (the Thunderer). This
+mule, by-the-bye, is one of the five favoured beasts which the
+Mohammedans believe destined to immortality; the others are (1)
+Abraham’s Ram, (2) Balaam’s Ass, (3) the one upon which Christ rode on
+Palm Sunday, and (4) the dog which guarded the seven sleepers.
+
+Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed
+by the Sikhs.
+
+Hassan Abdal, (_Abdal=_fanatic).
+
+Hoopoe, Un-natural history of.
+
+INSECTS, Of benign insects such as butterflies there are singularly
+few. Both mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome during the hot
+weather in the valley. Visits to native huts will probably lead to an
+introduction to other insects. In India ants become a nuisance: I met
+with a foraging party of extremely large and well-nourished ones as I
+entered my bath place one morning. I recognised them for the
+descendants—decadent somewhat—of the famous fellows who played Alberich
+to the Gold of Hindostan and regarding which Herodotus (commonly known
+as the Father of History, or of Lies, I forget which) asserted that
+they were of the bigness of foxes and ran with incredible swiftness. He
+evidently got this yarn from Pliny—
+
+“Indicae Formicae. Aurum ex cavernus egerunt terrae Ipsis autem color
+Fehum magnitudo Aegypti Luporum” (Lib. xi. ch. 31)—
+
+and passed it on to Sir J. Maundevil, who swallowed it greedily.
+“Theise pissmyres ben grete as houndes; so that no man dar come to the
+hilles, for the pissmyres wolde assaylen hem and devouren hem” (ch.
+xxx) For the wily method of catching the ants napping, together with
+other _contes drolatiques_, read Maundevil’s _Travels_.
+
+Iris, (Kashmiri, _Krishm_) Succeeds the tulip and precedes the rose as
+typical of Kashmirian Flora, is used as fodder, and the fibre makes
+ropes, which are, however, not durable.
+
+Islamabad, (Or Anant Nag, the “Place of Countless Springs.”) Is the
+second city in Kashmir, having about 9000 inhabitants; stands at the
+head of the navigable Jhelum, fifty miles by water and thirty-two by
+land above Srinagar.
+
+Jade,
+
+Jagganath,
+
+Jain, A small sect founded by Mahavera, a contemporary of Gautama. The
+Jains were great temple-builders.
+
+Jehangir,
+
+Jeimal, With Putta, one of the national heroes of the Rajputs. They
+fell, while mere boys, in the heroic defence of Chitor against Akbar.
+
+Jey Singh, (Sowar Jey Singh.) Succeeded to the throne of Ambér in 1699,
+founded Jaipur in 1728. He wrote the following, which I had not read
+when I visited his observatory at Jaipur “Let us devote ourselves at
+the altar of the King of Kings, hallowed be his name! In the book of
+the register of whose power the lofty orbs of Heaven are but a few
+leaves, and the stars, and that heavenly courser the sun, small pieces
+of money in the treasury of the Most High.”
+
+Jheel, A small lake, or pond.
+
+Jhelum, (Kashmiri, _Veth_, Hindu, _Vetasta_, the ancient _Hydaspes_.)
+Rises at Vernag, becomes navigable at Kanbal, and is so for 120 miles,
+when it forms rapids below Baramula. Average breadth at Srinagar in
+December 210 feet, average depth 9 feet.
+
+Johur,
+
+Kaj-nag,
+
+Kali, (“The Terrible.”) Wife of Shiva or Mahadeva.
+
+Kanbal,
+
+Karachi,
+
+Karewas, “Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections,
+with flat, arid tops, and bare of trees, run out towards the valley”
+(Lawrence)
+
+Kashmir=Kashuf-mir (the country of Kashuf). Was ruled by Tartar princes
+from about 150-100 B.C. for several centuries; conquered after a year’s
+struggle by Mahmoud of Guznee (1014-1015 A.D.). Invaded by Baber and
+Humayun, and finally conquered by latter in 1543, and formally annexed
+by Akbar in 1588. After the fall of Delhi (Nadir Shah) in 1739, Kashmir
+fell into the hands of Amirs of Cabul in 1753. It was captured by the
+Sikhs under Ranjit Singh in 1819, and, after the defeat of the Sikhs at
+the hands of the British, was handed over to Gulab Singh of Jammu for
+twenty-five lacs of rupees “Kailasa is the best place in the three
+worlds, Himalaya the best part of Kailasa, and Kashmir the best place
+in Himalaya” _(Rajatarangini Kulan_).
+
+Kastoora, Merula Boulboul (the grey-winged ousel). Jane bought
+“Freddie” one day in Srinagar, and he has been our friend and companion
+ever since—being at this present (August 1907) in rude health.
+
+Khansamah, A Cook.
+
+Khubbar, News—usually untrustworthy.
+
+Khud, A steep slope or precipice.
+
+Khudstick, An alpenstock made of tough wood, usually of Cotoneaster
+baccillaris (lun); should be well tested before purchase, as life may
+depend on its strength.
+
+Killanmarg, A wide sloping marg above Gulmarg, just above the pine
+forest on the slopes of Apharwat.
+
+Kilta, Creel made of the pliant withes of the Wych Hazel, _Parrotia_
+_Jacquemontiana_ (Chob-i-poh).
+
+Kishenganga, A large affluent of the Jhelum which drains the Tilail
+Valley, passes Gurais, and joins the Jhelum below Muzafferabad.
+
+Kitardaji, Forest house in the Machipura.
+
+Kitmaghar, Bearer.
+
+Kobala,
+
+Kohinar,
+
+Kolahoi, or Gwash Brari, 17,800 ft. The loftiest peak in Kashmir
+proper. It has not yet been ascended.
+
+Koolan,
+
+Kralpura,
+
+Kulan, A peak of the Pir Panjal, at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah.
+
+Kulgam, or Kuligam.
+
+Kunis,
+
+Kurnavati,
+
+Kutab Minar,
+
+Lacquer,
+
+Lahore, Capital of the Punjab. An ancient and interesting city, which
+(like Agra and Delhi) only attained its zenith of prosperity in the
+days of Akbar.
+
+Lakri, A stick (at Gulmarg also a golf-club).
+
+Lalpura, A charming village in the Lolab.
+
+Larch,
+
+Lidar, Liddar, or Lambodri, Drains the Kolahoi district, and forms the
+first substantial affluent of the Jhelum, which it joins below
+Islamabad.
+
+Lidarwat, A small Grujar village fifteen miles above Pahlgam, on the
+left bank of the river, about 10,000 ft. above sea-level.
+
+Logue or Log, Folk.
+
+Lumbadhar, The headman of a village.
+
+Machipura, “The Place of Fish”—why, I cannot imagine! The district
+lying along the east foothills of the Kaj-nag.
+
+Mahadeo, (Mahadeva or Shiva) A sacred mountain and object of
+pilgrimage, north of Srinagar, 13,500 feet high.
+
+Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, H.H. Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I.,
+succeeded his father Ranbir Singh (who was third son of Gulah Singh) in
+1885. The family is of the Rajput Dogras. “His kindness to all classes
+has won him the affection of his people” (Lawrence).
+
+Maharana, H.H. the Maharana Dhiraj Sir Fateh Singh, G.C.S.I., of
+Udaipur, is head of the Rajput princes in point of blood, being
+descended from the Suryabansi, or Children of the Sun.
+
+Mahseer,
+
+Malingam,
+
+Manji or Hanji, A Kashmiri water-thief or boatman.
+
+Manserah,
+
+Mar (snake) Canal. A dirty but most picturesque waterway between the
+Dal and the Anchar Lakes.
+
+Marg,(Margh?) Persian for a garden abounding in plants.
+
+Margam,
+
+Martand, The principal temple in Kashmir—stands on a high karewa some
+few miles from Islamabad.
+
+Metal-work,
+
+Mewar,
+
+Mogul, The Moguls were a warlike people of Central Asia, who, under
+Timur (Tamerlane) their chief, sacked Delhi in 1398. At the great
+battle of Panipat, in 1524, Baber the Mogul (direct descendant of
+Timur) defeated the Sultans of Delhi. He was the first of the six
+“Great” Moguls (the others being Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan,
+and Aurungzeb), who ruled India with unparalleled magnificence for 150
+years.
+
+Mulberry, (_Morus sp_. Kashmiri _Tul_) A very precious tree in Kashmir,
+on account of the silk industry. It grows to a great size, attaining a
+girth of 25 feet.
+
+Murghi, A fowl.
+
+Murree, A hill station and sanatorium, 37 miles from Rawal Pindi, on a
+hill 7500 feet above the sea. Its importance dates from 1850. Forster
+speaks of it as a small village in 1786.
+
+Musafferabad, (“The Place of Victory”) Built by Masufer Khan, Rajah of
+Chikri.
+
+Mussick, Water-skin.
+
+NAG, A mountain lake or tarn.
+
+Nagas, Human-bodied, snake-tailed gods.
+
+Nagmarg,
+
+Nanga Parbat, A great mountain in the Chilas country, 26,620 feet high
+(the fourth in point of height in the world), Mommery and two guides
+were destroyed in 1895, probably by an avalanche, while attempting the
+ascent.
+
+Nassim Bagh, (“The Garden of Delicious Breezes”) A favourite spot in
+the days of the Mogul Emperors. Akbar planted 1200 chenars.
+
+Neem tree.
+
+Neve, Dr. A. He and his brother are surgeons to the Kashmir Medical
+Mission, where for many years they have carried on the somewhat
+thankless task of benefiting the natives.
+
+Nishat Bagh, (“The Garden of Drink”)
+
+Nopura, A village on the Pohru.
+
+Nourmahal, (“Light of the Palace”), or, more properly, Nur Jehan Begum
+(“Light of the World”), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated in
+Mooree’s _Lalla Rookh_. Her life story was very curious. See Forster’s
+_Journey from Bengal to England_, London, 1798.
+
+Nullah, A valley or ravine.
+
+Numdah,
+
+ONTALA,
+
+Oodi Singh,
+
+PADMANI, “The Lotus-lovely Lady.”
+
+Pagdandy, A short cut.
+
+Pahlgam, “The Shepherd’s Village,” A Kashmiri summer resort for those
+who like quiet. It is 27 miles from Islamabad up the Lidar Valley, and
+is somewhat over 7000 feet above the sea.
+
+Pampur, (Padma-pur, city of Vishnu, or Padmun-pur, “the place of
+beauty”), principally noted now for its Pampur roti or bread, a
+speciality of the place.
+
+Pandrettan, or Pandrenthan, =Puranadhisthana, “the old capital.” Was
+built in the time of Partha by his Prime Minister, Meru.
+
+Parana Chauni,
+
+Patan. “The City” or “Ferry,” the ancient Sankarapura, Sankaravarma
+having built two temples there at the end of the eighth century.
+
+Peechy, Afterwards, later, by-and-bye
+
+Peri Mahal, “The Abode of the Fairies.” Built on the hill above Gupkar
+by Prince Dara Shikoh, probably for astronomical purposes
+
+Piasse, The onion.
+
+Pice, See Rupee.
+
+Pichola Lake,
+
+Pir Panjab, Pir=Dogri for peak Pantzal, Kashmiri for ditto Pir also
+meant a saint, particularly one who lived in the pass in the days of
+Shah Jehan and Aurungzeb and who was interviewed by Bernier. The Pir
+Panjal was the route followed by the Moguls when coming to Kashmir,
+and, rough as it is, they sent elephants along it. The highest peak of
+the Pir Panjal is Tatakuti, 15,500 feet.
+
+Pohru,
+
+Poonch, A native state lying south-west of Kashmir, to which it is
+tributary. The Raja Buldeo Singh is cousin to the Maharajah of Kashmir.
+
+Poplar. There are two varieties of Poplar in Kashmir, the Italian or
+Black Poplar, and the White, the latter attains a great size, one near
+Gurais measuring 127 feet in height and 14-1/2 feet in girth.
+
+Porcelain,
+
+Port Saïd,
+
+Puttoo, Native cloth.
+
+RAINAWARI,
+
+Rajput, The brave and chivalrous inhabitants of Rajputana. Bernier,
+probably influenced by Mogul opinion, attributes much of their valour
+to opium, as the following curious extract shows “Ils sont grands
+preneurs d’opium, et je me suis quelque fois etonné de la quantité que
+je leur en voiois prendre; aussi ils s’y accoutûmerent dès la jeunesse;
+le jour d’une bataille ils ne s’oublient pas de doubler la dose; cette
+drogue les anime ou plutot les enyvre, et les rend insensibles an
+danger, de sorte quils se jettant dans le combat comma des bêtes
+furieuses, ne sachant ce que c’est de fuir … c’est un plaisir de les
+voir ainsi avec leur fumée d’opium dans la tête s’entre embrasser quand
+on est prêt de combattre et se dire adieu les uns aux autres, comme
+gens qui sont resolus de mourir.”—Vol. i. p. 54.
+
+Ramble-tamble egg, Scrambled eggs.
+
+Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (_Tetragallus Himalayensis_).
+
+Rampur. A small village in the Jhelum Valley, and a village on the way
+into the Lolab _viâ_ Kunis.
+
+Rawal Pindi,
+
+Rassad, “Field Allowance” or extra rations given to coolies when doing
+any mountain work or away from supplies.
+
+Resai,
+
+Roorkhee chair, An extremely comfortable and portable chair made by the
+R.E. at Roorkhee.
+
+Rope bridge,
+
+Rupee=one fifteenth of a sovereign, or 1s. and 4d. 12 pice (or pies)= 4
+paisa = 1 anna = 1 penny 16 annas = 1 rupee.
+
+SAAF kuro, “Make clean.”
+
+Saktawats, A Rapjut clan.
+
+Sari, A woman’s garment, usually brilliant in colour, blood-red and
+dark blue being favoured.
+
+Sekwas,
+
+Sellar,
+
+Serow, _Nemorhaidus bubalerius_.
+
+Sesodia, The ruling family of Udaipur, formerly known as Gehlote.
+
+Shadipur, “The Place of Marriage”—probably with reference to the
+junction of the Sind and Jhelum rivers.
+
+Shah Jehan, The greatest builder of the Mogul Emperors. Ruled from 1627
+to 1658, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Aurungzeb.
+
+Shalimar,
+
+Shalimar Bagh,
+
+Shambrywa, One of the peaks of the Kaj-nag.
+
+Shiah, A Mohammedan sect, usually much at variance with those of Sunni
+persuasion.
+
+Shikara, A light sort of canoe.
+
+Shikari, A necessary joint in the “fighting tail” of the sportive
+visitor to Kashmir. Usually a fraud, but, if not too proud, makes quite
+a good golf caddy.
+
+Shisha Nag, “The Glassy or Leaden Lake.”
+
+Silver fir, _Abies Webbiana_ (Kashmiri, _Sungal_). Grows to a great
+height, being known 110 feet high and 16 feet in girth.
+
+Sind Desert,
+
+Sind Valley,
+
+Singhara, Meaning “horned nut,” the water chestnut _(Trapa bispinosa_).
+An article of diet much prized by the Kashmiri.
+
+Sogul,
+
+Sonamarg, “The Golden Marg.” A summer station high up the Sind Valley
+on the route to Leh and Ladak.
+
+Sopor, =Sonapur, or the Golden City. A somewhat unclean little town of
+some 600 houses on the Jhelum, about eight miles by road and twelve by
+water above Baramula.
+
+Spill Canal, Cut in 1904, after the Great Flood of 1903, to carry some
+of the river clear of Srinagar and ease the pressure on the bund.
+
+Spruce, _Picca, Morunda_. (Kashmiri, _Kachal_.)
+
+Srinagar, _Surga Nagur_, City of the Sun. Has a population of 120,000.
+Became capital in 960 A.D., when the ancient city of Pandrettan was
+burnt in the reign of Abimanyu. The city was called Kashmir until
+recently, Martand being called Sringar by Jacquemont.
+
+Sultanpur,
+
+Sumbal, Said to be the site of the ancient city Jayapura.
+
+Sunt-i-kul = “Apple-tree Canal.”
+
+TAJ MAHAL, The magnificent tomb of Mumtez Mahal, favourite wife of Shah
+Jehan.
+
+Takht-i-Suleiman, A steep isolated hill rising nearly 1000 feet above
+Srinagar, crowned by a temple which is built on the ruins of a very
+ancient edifice. The Takht or Throne of Solomon is, according to the
+legend, the place which Solomon occupied during his mythical visit to
+Kashmir.
+
+Tangmarg, “The Open Marg”. Is the village about 1500 foot below
+Gulmarg, which is the nearest point to Gulmarg attainable by wheeled
+conveyance.
+
+Tattoo, A pony.
+
+Tehsildhar, The functionary who has jurisdiction over a tehsil.
+
+Temples, For full description read Lawrence _(Valley of Kashmir_, chap.
+vi.) Their ruined state is partly due to earthquakes, but probably
+still more to the iconoclastic activity of Sikandar (_d._ 1416) and
+Aurungzeb.
+
+Tilail,
+
+Tonga,
+
+Topaz, Name derived from the Greek “to conjecture”—because no one knew
+whence they came!
+
+Tower of Fame,
+
+Tower of Victory,
+
+Tragbal,
+
+Tragam, A large village south-west of the Lolab, whence a route leads
+to Musafferabad.
+
+Tret, A station at the foot of the Murree hills on the road to Rawal
+Pindi.
+
+Trieste,
+
+Tronkol,
+
+Turquoise,
+
+UDAIPUR, The capital of the ancient and powerful Rajput State of Mewar,
+founded by Oodi Singh after the fall of Chitor. Uri,
+
+VERNABOUG,
+
+Vernag,
+
+WALNUT, A valuable tree in Kashmir, where its fruit and timber are both
+greatly esteemed; grows to a very large size, one in the Lolab having a
+girth of 18 feet 10 inches.
+
+Wangat,
+
+Wardwan, The mountainous district on the east of Kashmir.
+
+Water buffalo, An ungainly and “sneevish” beast beloved of Gujars and
+nobody else.
+
+Weights 2 lbs. (English)=1 seer. 40 seers = 1 maund.
+
+Wood carving,
+
+Wular, Means “cave”. The largest lake in India, being 12-1/2 x 5 miles
+in average extent. In floods it covers much extra space.
+
+Wych hazel, _See_ Kilta.
+
+YAKDAN,
+
+ZIARAT, A Mohammedan shrine. Zoji La, The pass at the head of the Sind
+Valley which is crossed on going to Leh, height 11,300 feet.
+
+
+
+
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil, by T. R. Swinburne</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
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+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: T. R. Swinburne</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 2, 2004 [eBook #11873]<br />
+[Most recently updated: February 3, 2022]</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Allen Siddle and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH PEN AND PENCIL ***</div>
+
+<p>[ILLUSTRATION: THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR]</p>
+
+<h1>A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">by T. R. Swinburne</h2>
+
+<h5>MAJOR (LATE) R.M.A.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></h5>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;<i>Over the great windy waters, and over the clear crested summits,<br/>
+Unto the sea and the sky, and unto the perfecter earth,<br/>
+Come, let us go</i>!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+CLOUGH
+</p>
+
+<h5>WITH 24 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS</h5>
+
+<p class="center">
+1907
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p class="center">
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK<br/>
+<br/>
+TO<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;JANE&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap00">PREFACE</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE VOYAGE OUT</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. OUR FIRST CAMP</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. BACK TO SRINAGAR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. THE LOLAB</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. SRINAGAR AGAIN</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. THE LIDAR VALLEY</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. GANGABAL</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. GULMARG</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE FLOOD</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE MACHIPURA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. DELHI AND AGRA</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. UDAIPUR</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap00"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>
+I observe that it is customary to begin a book by an Introduction, Preface, or
+Foreword. In the good old days of the eighteenth century this generally took
+the form of a burst of grovelling adoration aimed at some most noble or
+otherwise highly important person. This fulsome fawning on the great was later
+changed into propitiation of the British public, and unknown authors revelled
+in excuses for publishing their earlier efforts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But now that every one has written a book, or is about to do so, I feel that my
+apologies are rather due to the public for not having rushed into print before.
+I have really spared it because I had nothing in particular to write about, and
+I confess I am somewhat doubtful as to whether I am even now justified in
+invoking the kind offices of a publisher with a view to bringing forth this
+literary mouse in due form!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No admiring (if partial) relatives have hung upon my lips as I read them my
+journal, imploring me with tears in their eyes to waste not an instant, but
+give to a longing world this literary treasure. I have no illusions as regards
+my literary powers, and I do not imagine that I shall depose the gifted author
+of <i>Eöthen</i> from his pride of place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I claim, however, the merit of truth. The journal was written day by day, and
+the sketches were all done on the spot; and if this account&mdash;bald and
+inadequate as I know it to be&mdash;of a very happy time spent in rambling
+among some of the finest scenery of this lovely earth, may induce any one to
+betake himself to Kashmir, he will achieve something worth living for, and I
+shall not have spilt ink in vain.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR (Frontispiece)</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> A SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> A SRINAGAR BYE-WAY&mdash;EARLY SPRING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> ON THE JHELUM&mdash;EARLY SPRING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE BUND SRINAGAR&mdash;EARLY SPRING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE DAL</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> IN THE NISHAT BAGH</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE PIR PANJAL FROM ALSU&mdash;MORNING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> ON THE DAL&mdash;SUNSET</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> NATIVE BOATS</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> PANDRETTAN</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> KOLAHOI</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> LIDARWAT</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> THE RAMPARTS OF KASHMIR</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> GANGABAL</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> HARAMOK</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> A TARN ABOVE TRONKOL</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> ON THE CIRCULAR ROAD, GULMARG</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> IN SRINAGAR&mdash;TWILIGHT</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> SRINAGAR FLOODED</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> HARI PARBAT&mdash;EVENING</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> NANGA PARBAT FROM KITARDAJI</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> MIXED BATHING (UDAIPUR)</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> UDAIPUR</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> MAP OF KASHMIR</td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY</h2>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br/>
+INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+<p>
+A journey to Kashmir now&mdash;in these days of cheap and rapid
+locomotion&mdash;is in nowise serious. It takes time, I grant you, but to any
+one with a few months to spare&mdash;and there are many in that happy
+position&mdash;there can be few pleasanter ways of spending a summer holiday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would be as well to start from England not later than the middle of March,
+as the Red Sea and the Sind Desert begin to warm up uncomfortably in spring.
+Srinagar would then be reached fairly early in April, and the visitor should
+arrange, if possible, to remain in the country until the middle of October. We
+had to leave just as the gorgeous autumn colouring was beginning to blaze in
+the woods, and the first duck were wheeling over the Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The climate of Kashmir is fairly similar to that of many parts of Southern
+Europe. There is a good deal of snow in the valley in winter. Spring is
+charming, the brilliant days only varied by frequent thunderstorms&mdash;which,
+however, are almost invariable in keeping their pyrotechnics till about five in
+the afternoon. July and August are hot and steamy in the valley, and it is
+necessary to seek one of the cool &ldquo;Margs&rdquo; which form ideal
+camping-grounds on all the lofty mountain slopes which surround the valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gulmarg is the most frequented and amusing resort in summer of the English
+colony and contingent from the broiling plains of the Punjab. Here the happy
+fugitive from the sweltering heat of the lower regions will find a climate as
+glorious as the scenery. He can enjoy the best of polo and golf, and, if he be
+not a misogynist, he will vary the &lsquo;daily round&rsquo; with picnics and
+scrambles on foot or on horseback, in exploring the endless beauty of the
+place, coming home to his hut or tent as the sun sinks behind the great pines
+that screen the Rampur Road, to wind up the happy day with a cheery dinner and
+game of bridge. But if Gulmarg does not appeal to him, let him go with his
+camping outfit to Sonamarg or Pahlgam&mdash;he will find neither polo nor golf
+nor the gay little society of Gulmarg, but he will find equally charming
+scenery and, perhaps, a drier climate&mdash;for it must in fairness be admitted
+that Gulmarg is a rainy place. Likewise his pocket will benefit, as his
+expenses will surely be less, and he will still find neighbours dotted about in
+white tents under the pine trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards the middle of September the exodus from the high &lsquo;Margs&rsquo;
+takes place&mdash;many returning sadly to Pindi and Sealkote&mdash;others
+merely to Srinagar, while those who yearn after Bara Singh and Bear, decamp
+quietly for their selected nullahs, to be in readiness for the opening of the
+autumn season.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus, from April to October, a more or less perfect climate may be obtained by
+watching the mercury in the thermometer, and rising or descending the mountain
+slopes in direct ratio with it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It is quite unnecessary to take out a large and expensive wardrobe. Thin
+garments for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, such as one wears in a fine English
+summer, and for Kashmir the same sort of things that one would take up to
+Scotland. For men&mdash;knickerbockers and flannel shirts&mdash;and for ladies,
+short tweed skirts and some flannel blouses. The native tailors in Srinagar are
+clever and cheap, and will copy an English shooting suit in fairly good
+material for about eleven rupees, or 14s. 8d.! One pair of strong shooting
+boots (plentifully studded with aluminium nails) is enough. For all mountain
+work, the invaluable but uncomfortable grass shoes must be worn, and both my
+wife and I invariably wore the native chaplies for ordinary marching. Foot-gear
+for golf, tennis, and general service at Srinagar and Gulmarg must be laid in,
+according to the traveller&rsquo;s fancy, in England.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Underwear to suit both hot and cold weather should be purchased at
+home&mdash;not on any account omitting cholera belts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shirts and collars should be taken freely, as it is well to remember that the
+native washerman&mdash;the well-abused &ldquo;Dobie&rdquo;&mdash;has a
+marvellous skill in producing a saw-like rim to the starched collar and cuff of
+the newest shirt; while the elegant and delicate lace and embroidery, with
+which the fair are wont to embellish their underwear, take strange and
+unforeseen patterns at the hands of the skilled workmen. It is surprising what
+an effect can be obtained by tying up the neck and sleeves of a garment,
+inserting a few smooth pebbles from the brook, and then banging the moist
+bundle on the bank!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The arrangement of clothing for the voyage is rather complicated, as it will
+probably be necessary to wear warm things while crossing Europe, and possibly
+even until Egypt is reached. Then an assortment of summer flannels, sufficient
+to last as far as India, must be available. We were unable to get any washing
+done from the date we left London, on the 22nd of February, until we reached
+Rawal Pindi, on the 21st March. Capacious canvas kit-bags are excellent things
+for cramming with grist for the dobie&rsquo;s mill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In arranging for luggage, it should be borne in mind that large trunks and
+dress boxes are inadmissible. From Pindi to Srinagar everything must be
+transported by wheeled conveyance, and, in Kashmir itself, all luggage must be
+selected with a view to its adaptability to the backs of coolies or ponies. In
+Srinagar one can buy native trunks&mdash;or yakdans&mdash;which are cheap,
+strong, and portable; and the covered creels or &ldquo;kiltas&rdquo; serve
+admirably for the stowage of kitchen utensils, food, and oddments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following list may prove useful to any one who has not already been
+&ldquo;east of Suez,&rdquo; and who may therefore not be too proud to profit by
+another&rsquo;s experience:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+1. &ldquo;Compactum&rdquo; camp-bed with case, and fitted with sockets to take
+mosquito netting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+2. Campaigning bedding-bag in Willesden canvas, with bedding complete.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+3. Waterproof sheet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+4. Indiarubber bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If shooting in the higher mountains is anticipated, a Wolseley sleeping-bag
+should be taken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+5. Small stable-lantern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+6. Rug or plaid&mdash;light and warm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+7. Half-a-dozen towels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+8. Deck chair (with name painted on it).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had also a couple of Roorkhee chairs, and found them most useful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+9. A couple of compressed cane cabin trunks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+9_a_. The &ldquo;Ranelagh Pack&rdquo; is a most useful form of
+&ldquo;luggage.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+10. Camp kit-bag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+11. Soiled-linen bag, with square mouth, large size. This is an excellent
+&ldquo;general service&rdquo; bag, and invaluable for holding boots, &amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+12. Large &ldquo;brief-bag,&rdquo; most useful for stowing guide-books, flasks,
+binoculars, biscuits, and such like, that one wants when travelling, and never
+knows where to put. Our &ldquo;yellow bag&rdquo; carried even tea things, and
+was greatly beloved. Like the leather bottèl in its later stage, &ldquo;it
+served to put hinges and odd things in&rdquo;!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+13. Luncheon basket, fitted according to the number of the party.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The above articles can all be bought at the Army and Navy Stores.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+14. A light canvas box, fitted as a dressing-case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ours were made, according to our own wishes and possessions, by Williams, of 41
+Bond Street. The innumerable glass bottles, so highly prized by the makers of
+dressing-cases, should be strictly limited in number. They are exceedingly
+heavy, and, as the dressing-case should be carried by its owner, the less it
+weighs the more he (or she) will esteem it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+15. A set of aluminium cooking-utensils is much to be recommended. They can
+easily be sold on leaving Kashmir for, at least, their cost price.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+16. Pocket flask. This may be of aluminium also, although personally I dislike
+a metal flask.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+17. Umbrella&mdash;strong, but cheap, as it is sure to be lost or stolen. There
+are few things your native loves more than a nice umbrella, unless it be
+</p>
+
+<p>
+18. A knife fitted with corkscrew and screwdriver; therefore take two, and try
+to keep one carefully locked up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+19. Pair of good field-glasses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took a stalking telescope, but it was useless to my shikari, who always
+borrowed my wife&rsquo;s binoculars until she lost them&mdash;or he stole them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+20. Hats. It is obviously a matter of taste what hats a man should take. The
+glossy silk may repose with the frock-coat till its owner returns to find it
+hopelessly out of date, its brim being a thought too curly, or its top
+impossibly wide; but the &ldquo;bowler&rdquo; or Homburg hat will serve his
+turn according to his fancy, until, at Aden, he invests in a hideous, but shady
+&ldquo;topee,&rdquo; for one-third of the price he would pay in London; and
+this will be his only wear, before sunset, until he again reaches a temperate
+climate. Ladies, who are rightly more particular as to the appearance of even
+so unlovely a thing as a sola topee, would do well, perhaps, to buy theirs
+before starting. Really becoming pith helmets seem very scarce in the East!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After sunset, or under awnings, any sort of cap may be worn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+21. Shirts and collars are obviously matters of taste. A good supply of white
+shirts and collars must be taken to cope with the destruction and loss which
+may be expected at the hands of the dobie. Flannel shirts can be made easily
+enough from English models in Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+22. Under-garments should be of Indian gauze for hot weather, with a supply of
+thicker articles for camping in the hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cholera belts should on no account be omitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+23. Socks, according to taste&mdash;very few knickerbocker stockings need be
+taken, as putties are cheap and usual in Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+24. Ties&mdash;the white ones of the cheap sort that can be thrown away after
+use, with a light heart. Handkerchiefs, and a few pairs of white gloves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+25. Sleeping-suits, both thick for camp work and light for hot weather, should
+be taken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+26. Dress suit and dinner-jacket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+27. Knickerbocker or knee-breeches, which can be copied in Kashmir by the
+native tailor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Riding-breeches are not in the least necessary unless the traveller
+contemplates any special riding expedition. Ordinary shooting continuations do
+quite well for all the mounted work the tourist is likely to do. A pair of
+stohwasser gaiters may be taken, but even they are not necessary, neither is a
+saddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A lady, however, should take out a short riding-skirt, or habit, and a
+side-saddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+28. A tweed suit of medium warmth for travelling, and a couple of flannel
+suits, will bring the wearer to Srinagar, where he can increase his stock at a
+ridiculously low price&mdash;about 22 rupees or £1, 9s. 4d. per suit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+29. Boots. Here, again, the wayfarer is at full liberty to please himself. A
+pair of strong shooting-boots, with plenty of spare laces and, say, a hundred
+aluminium nails, is a <i>sine quâ non</i>. A pair of rubbers, or what are known
+as &ldquo;gouties&rdquo; in Swiss winter circles, are not to be despised.
+Otherwise, boots, shoes, slippers, and pumps, according to taste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+30. A large &ldquo;regulation&rdquo; waterproof, a rain-coat or Burberry, and a
+warm greatcoat will all be required.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It is hard to give definite advice to a lady as to the details of her outfit.
+Let her conform in a general way to the instructions given above, always
+remembering that both Srinagar and Gulmarg are gay and festive places, where
+she will dine and dance, and have ample opportunity for displaying a
+well-chosen wardrobe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let her also take heed that she leaves the family diamonds at home. The gentle
+Kashmiri is an inveterate and skilful thief, and the less jewellery she can
+make up her mind to &ldquo;do with,&rdquo; the more at ease will her mind be.
+But if she must needs copy the lady of whom we read, that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Rich and rare were the gems she wore,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+then why not line the jewel-case&mdash;or rather the secret bag, which she will
+sew into some mysterious garment&mdash;with the diamonds of Gophir and the
+pearls of Rome?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the intending visitor to Kashmir be a sportsman who has already had
+experience in big-game shooting, he will not need any advice from me (which,
+indeed, he would utterly disdain) as to the lethal weapons which should form
+his battery; but if the wayfarer be a humble performer who has never slain
+anything more formidable than a wary old stag, or more nerve-shattering than a
+meteoric cock pheasant rising clamorously from behind a turnip, he may not be
+too proud to learn that he will find an ordinary &ldquo;fowling piece&rdquo;
+the most useful weapon which he can take with him. If his gun is not choked, he
+should be provided with a dozen or more ball cartridge for bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the pursuit of markhor and ibex is contemplated, a small-bore rifle will be
+required, but a heavy express is wanted to stop a bear. I had a
+&ldquo;Mannlicher&rdquo; and an ordinary shot-gun, with a few ball cartridges
+for the latter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Duty has to be paid on taking firearms into India, and this may be refunded on
+leaving the country. This is not always done, however, as I found to my cost,
+my application for a refund being refused on the quibble that my guns were
+taken back to England by a friend, although I was able to prove their identity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ cartridges out, as it is
+exceedingly unlikely that the tyro will be able to shoot all the beasts allowed
+him by his game licence.[1] Smooth-bore cartridges of fair quality can be
+bought in Srinagar, and I certainly do not consider it worth the trouble and
+expense to convey them out from England.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] See Appendix 1.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the amateur artist I would say: Be well supplied with brushes and
+paper&mdash;the latter sealed in tin for passage through the Red Sea and India.
+Colours, and indeed all materials can he got from Treacher &amp; Co., Bombay,
+and also from the branch of the Army and Navy Stores there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Paper is, however, difficult to get in good condition, being frequently spoilt
+by mildew.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is almost impossible to get anything satisfactory in the way of painting
+materials in Kashmir itself; therefore I say: Be well supplied before leaving
+home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, a small stock of medicines should certainly be taken, not omitting a
+copious supply of quinine (best in powder form for this purpose), and also of
+strong peppermint or something of the sort, to give to the native servants and
+others who are always falling sick of a fever or complaining of an internal
+pain, which is generally quite cured by a dose of peppermint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither Jane nor I love guide-books; we found however, in Kashmir, the little
+book written by Dr. Neve an invaluable companion;[2] while Murray&rsquo;s
+<i>Guide to India</i> afforded much useful information when wandering in that
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] <i>The Tourist&rsquo;s Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo, &amp;c.</i>,
+edited by Arthur Neve, F.R.G.S.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The best book on Kashmir that I know is Sir Walter Lawrence&rsquo;s <i>Valley
+of Kashmir</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Any one going out as we did, absolutely ignorant of the language, should
+certainly take an elementary phrase-book or something of the sort to study on
+the voyage. We forgot to do this, and had infinite trouble afterwards in
+getting what we wanted, and lost much time in acquiring the rudimentary
+knowledge of Hindustani which enabled us to worry along with our native
+servants, &amp;c. No mere &ldquo;globe-trotter&rdquo; need attempt to learn any
+Kashmiri, as Hindustani is &ldquo;understanded of the people&rdquo; as a rule,
+and the tradesmen in Srinagar know quite as much English as is good for them.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br/>
+THE VOYAGE OUT</h2>
+
+<p>
+It seems extraordinary to me that every day throughout the winter, crowds of
+people should throng the railway stations whence they can hurry south in search
+of warmth and sunshine, and yet London remains apparently as full as ever! We
+plunged into a seething mass of outward-bound humanity at Victoria Station on
+the 22nd of February, and, having wrestled our way into the Continental
+express, were whirled across the sad and sodden country to Dover amidst
+hundreds of our shivering fellow-countrymen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly we are beyond measure conservative in our railway discomforts. With a
+bitter easterly wind searching out the chinks of door and window, we sat
+shivering in our unwarmed compartment&mdash;unwarmed, I say, in spite of the
+clumsy tin of quickly-cooled hot water procured by favour&mdash;and a
+gratuity&mdash;from a porter!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Channel showed even more disagreeable than usual. A grey, cold sky, with
+swift-flying clouds from the east hung over a grey, cold sea, the waves showing
+their wicked white teeth under the lash of the strong wind. The patient
+lightship off the pier was swinging drearily as we throbbed past into the
+gust-swept open and set our bows for the unseen coast of France.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The tumult of passengers was speedily reduced to a limp and inert swarm of
+cold, wet, and sea-sick humanity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cold and miserable weather clung to us long. In Paris it snowed heavily,
+and I was constrained to betake myself in a cab&mdash;&ldquo;chauffé,&rdquo; it
+is needless to remark&mdash;to seek out a kindly dentist, the bitter east wind
+having sought out and found a weak spot wherein to implant an abscess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Bâle it was freezing, but clear and bright, and a good breakfast and a
+breath of clean, fresh air was truly enjoyable after the overheated
+sleeping-car in which we had come from Paris.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It may seem unreasonable to grumble at the overheating of the
+&ldquo;Sleeper&rdquo; after abusing the under-heating of our British railways.
+Surely, though, there is a golden mean? I wish neither to be frozen nor boiled,
+and there can be no doubt but that the heating of most Continental trains is
+excellent, the power of application being left to the traveller.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journey by the St. Gotthard was delightful, the day brilliant, and the
+frost keen, while we watched the fleeting panorama of icebound peaks and
+snow-powdered pines from the cushions of our comfortable carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The glory of winter left us as we left the Swiss mountains and dropped down
+into the fertile flats of Northern Italy, and at Milan all was raw chilliness
+and mud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing can well be more depressing than wet and cheerless weather in a land
+obviously intended for sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We slept at Milan, and the next day set forth in heavy rain towards Venice. The
+miserable ranks of distorted and pollarded trees stood sadly in pools of
+yellow-stained water, or stuck out of heaps of half-melted and uncleanly snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No colour; no life anywhere, excepting an occasional peasant plodding along a
+muddy road, sheltering himself under the characteristic flat and bony umbrella
+of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Peschiera we had promise of better things. The weather cleared somewhat,
+revealing ranges of white-clad hills around Garda…. But, alas! at Verona it
+rained as hard as ever, and we made our way from the railway station at Venice,
+cowering in the coffin-like cabin of a damp and extremely draughty gondola,
+while cold flurries of an Alpine-born wind swept across the Grand Canal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sunshine is absolutely necessary to bring out the real beauty of Italy. This is
+particularly the case in Venice, where light and life are required to dispel
+the feeling of sadness so sure to creep over one amid the signs of long-past
+grandeur and decaying magnificence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On a grey and wintry day one is chiefly impressed by the dank chilliness of the
+palaces on the Grand Canal, whose feet lie lapped in slimy water; the lovely
+tracery of whose windows shows ragged and broken, whose stately guest-chambers
+are in the sordid occupation of the dealer in false antiques, and whose motto
+might be &ldquo;Ichabod,&rdquo; for their glory has departed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is five-and-twenty years since I was last in Venice, and I can truly say
+that it has not improved in that long time. The loss of the great Campanile of
+St. Mark is not compensated for by the gain of the penny steamer which frets
+and fusses its prosaic way along the Grand Canal, or blurts its noisome smoke
+in the very face of the Palace of the Doges.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well! A steady downpour is dispiriting at any time, excepting when one is
+snugly at home with plenty to do, and it is particularly so to the unlucky
+traveller who has to live through half-a-dozen long hours intervening between
+arrival at and departure from Venice on a cold, dull, wintry afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sombre gondola writhed its sinuous course and deposited us all forlorn in
+the near neighbourhood of the Piazza San Marco. Splashing our way across, and
+pushing through the crowd of greedy fat pigeons, we entered the world-famous
+church. I know my Ruskin, and I feel that I should be lost in wonder and
+admiration&mdash;I am not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The gloom&mdash;rich golden gloom if you will&mdash;of the interior oppresses
+me; it is cavernous. A service is being held in one of the transepts, and the
+congregation seems noisier and less devout than I could have believed possible.
+My thoughts fly far to where, on its solitary hill, the noble pile of Chartres
+soars majestic, its heaven-piercing spires dominating the wide plain of La
+Beauce. In fancy I enter by the splendid north door and find myself in the
+pillared dimness softly lighted by the great window in the west. This seems to
+me to be the greatest achievement of the Christian architect, noble alike in
+conception and in execution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is no means of procuring a cold more certain than lingering too long in a
+cold and vault-like church or picture gallery, so we adjourned to the Palazzo
+Daniele, now a mere hotel, where we browsed on the literature&mdash;chiefly
+cosmopolitan newspapers&mdash;until it was time to start for Trieste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journey is not an attractive one, as we seemed to be perpetually worried by
+Custom-house authorities and inquisitive ticket-collectors! If possible, the
+wary traveller should so time his sojourn at Venice as to allow him to go to
+Trieste by steamer. The Hôtel de la Ville at Trieste is not quite excellent,
+but &rsquo;twill serve, and we were remarkably glad to reach it, somewhere
+about midnight, having left Milan soon after seven in the morning!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trieste itself is rather an engaging town; at least so it seemed to us when we
+awakened to a fresh, bright morning, a blue-and-white sky overhead, and a
+copious allowance of yellow mud under foot!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were various final purchases to be made. Our deck chairs were with the
+heavy luggage, which the passenger by Austrian Lloyd only gets at Port Saïd, as
+it is sent from London by sea; so a deck chair had to be got, also a stock of
+light literature wherewith to beguile the long sea hours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit to our ship&mdash;the <i>Marie Valerie</i>&mdash;showed her to be a
+comfortable-looking vessel of some 4500 tons. She was busily engaged in taking
+in a large cargo, principally for Japan, and she showed no signs of an early
+departure. Her nominal hour for starting was 4 P.M., but the captain told us
+that he should not sail until next morning. So we descended to examine our
+cabin, and found it to be large and airy, but totally deficient in the matter
+of drawers or lockers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well! we shall have to keep everything in cabin trunks, and &ldquo;live in our
+boxes&rdquo; for the next three weeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was cabin accommodation for twenty passengers, but at dinner we mustered
+but nine. This is, of course, the season when all right-minded folks are coming
+home from India, and we never expected to find a crowd; still, nine individuals
+scattered abroad over the wide decks make but a poor show.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first meal on board a big steamer is always interesting. Every one is
+quietly &ldquo;taking stock&rdquo; of his, or her, neighbours, and forming
+estimates of their social value, which are generally entirely upset by after
+experience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of our fellow-passengers there were only five whose presence affected us in any
+way. A young Austrian, Herr Otto Frantz, with his wife, going out as first
+secretary of legation to Tokio; Major Twining, R.E., and his wife; and Miss
+Lungley, a cosmopolitan lady, who makes Kashmir her headquarters and Rome her
+<i>annexe</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We became acquainted with each other sooner than might have been expected, by
+reason of an exploit of the stewardess&mdash;a gibbering idiot. The night was
+cold, so several of the ladies, following an evil custom, sent forth from their
+cabins those vile inventions called hot bottles. Only two came back…, and then
+the fun began. The stewardess, who speaks no known tongue, played &ldquo;hunt
+the slipper&rdquo; for the missing bottles through all the cabins, whence she
+was shot out by the enraged inhabitants until she was reduced to absolute
+imbecility, and the harassed stewards to gesticular despair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The missing articles were, I believe, finally discovered and routed out of an
+unoccupied bed, where they had been laid and forgotten by the addle-pated lady,
+and peace reigned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We sailed from Trieste early on the morning of the 28th of February, and
+steamed leisurely on our way. The Austrian Lloyd&rsquo;s
+&ldquo;unaccelerated&rdquo; steamers are not too active in their movements,
+being wont to travel at purely &ldquo;economical speed,&rdquo; and so we were
+given an excellent view of some of the Ionian Islands, steaming through the
+Ithaca channel, with the snow-tipped peak of Cephalonia close on our starboard
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, leaving the far white hills of the Albanian coast to fade into the blue
+mists, we sped
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Over the sea past Crete,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+until the tall lighthouse of Port Saïd rose on the horizon, followed by the
+spars of much shipping, and the roofs of the houses dotted apparently over the
+waters of the Mediterranean. At length the low mudbanks which represent the two
+continents of Africa and Asia spread their dull monotony on either hand, and
+the good ship sat quietly down for a happy day&rsquo;s coaling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd has grown out of all knowledge since I first made its acquaintance in
+1877. It was then a cluster of evil-looking shanties, the abode of the scum of
+the Levant, who waxed fat by the profits of the gambling hells and the sale of
+pornographic photographs. It has now donned the outwardly respectable look of
+middle age; it has laid itself out in streets; the gambling dens have
+disappeared, and the robbers have betaken themselves to the sale of the worst
+class of Japanese and Indian &ldquo;curios,&rdquo; ostrich feathers from East
+Africa, and tobacco in all its forms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd has undoubtedly improved, but still it is not a nice place, and we
+were unfeignedly glad to repair on board the <i>Marie Valerie</i> as soon as we
+noted the cessation of the black coaly cloud, through the murkiness of which a
+chattering stream of gnome-like figures passed their burthens of
+&ldquo;Cardiff&rdquo; into the bowels of the ship.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd was cold, and Suez was cold, and we started down the Red Sea followed
+by a strong north wind, which kept us clad in greatcoats for a day or two, and,
+as we got down into wider waters, obliged us to keep our ports closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An object-lesson on the subject of closed ports was given in our cabin, where
+the fair chatelaine was reclining in her berth reading, fanned by the genial
+air which floated in at the open port,&mdash;a truculent Red Sea billow,
+meeting a slight roll of the ship, entered the cabin in an unbroken fall on the
+lady&rsquo;s head. A damp tigress flew out through the door, wildly demanding
+the steward, a set of dry bedding, and the instant execution of the captain,
+the officer of the watch, and the man at the wheel!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How dull we should be without these little incidents!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A hoopoe took deck, or rather rigging, passage for a while, and evoked the
+greatest interest. Stalking glasses and binoculars were levelled at the
+unconcerned fowl, who sat by the &ldquo;cathead&rdquo; with perfect composure,
+and preened himself after his long flight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The striking of &ldquo;four bells&rdquo; just under his beak unnerved him
+somewhat, and he departed in a great fuss and pother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our roomy decks afford many quiet corners in which to read or doze, and now
+that the weather is rapidly warming up we spend many hours in these peaceful
+pastimes, varied by an occasional constitutional&mdash;none of your
+fisherman&rsquo;s walks, &ldquo;three steps and overboard&rdquo;&mdash;but a
+good, clear tramp, unimpeded by the innumerable deck-chairs, protruding feet,
+and ubiquitous children which cover all free space on board a P. &amp; O.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then comes dinner, followed by a rubber of bridge, and so to bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Saturday the 11th we passed the group of islands commonly known as the
+Twelve Apostles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+First, a tiny rock, rising lonely from the blue&mdash;brilliantly
+blue&mdash;waves; then a yellow crag of sandstone, looking like a haystack; and
+then a whole group of wild and fantastic islands, evidently of volcanic origin,
+and varying in rough peaks and abrupt cliffs of the strangest
+colours&mdash;brick-red, purple-black, grey, and yellow&mdash;utterly bare and
+desolate:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,<br/>
+Nor aught of vegetative power,<br/>
+The weary eye may ken,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+save only the white lighthouse, which, perched on its arid hill, serves to
+emphasise the desolation of earth and sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Red Sea is remarkably well supplied with lighthouses; and, considering the
+narrowness of the channel in parts, the strong and variable currents, and the
+innumerable islands and shoals, the supply does no more than equal the demand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot imagine a more grievous death in life than the existence of a
+lighthouse-keeper in the Red Sea!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, 12th</i>.&mdash;We passed through the Gate of Tears this
+morning&mdash;the dismal, flat, and unprofitable island of Perim being scanned
+by me from the bathroom port, while exchanging an atmosphere of sticky salt air
+for an unrefreshing dip in sticky salt water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hoopoe is again with us; in fact I do not think he really left the ship,
+but simply sought a secluded perch, secure from prying observation. He
+reappeared upon the port stay, and proceeded to preen himself and observe the
+ship&rsquo;s course. He is evidently bound for Aden, casting glances of quiet
+unconcern on Perim and the coast of Araby the blest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards sunset we passed the fantastic peaks of little Aden, and, drawing up to
+Steamer Point, cast anchor under the &ldquo;Barren Rocks of Aden.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, 13th</i>.&mdash;We had a shocking time last night. All ports closed
+for coaling left us gasping, whilst a fiendish din arose from the bowels of the
+ship, whence cargo was being extracted. The stifling air, reeking with damp,
+developed in the early morning a steady rain, which dripped mournfully on the
+grimy decks. Rain in Aden! We are told on the best authority that this is most
+unusual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aden, to the passing stranger, shows few attractions. We went on shore when the
+rain showed signs of ceasing, and after buying a few odds and ends, such as a
+pith hat and some cigarettes, we betook ourselves to the principal hotel, where
+an excessively bad breakfast was served to us, after which we were not sorry to
+shake the mud of Aden off our feet, so we chartered a shore boat amid a fearful
+clamour for extra pay and backshish, and set forth to rejoin our ship, now
+swept and garnished, and showing little trace of the coal she had swallowed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, 20th</i>.&mdash;We reached Karachi yesterday morning after a quiet,
+calm, and utterly uneventful passage across the Indian Ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was never hot&mdash;merely calm, grey, and even showery, our only
+excitements being an occasional school of porpoises or the sight of a passing
+tramp steamer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some time before leaving England I had written to my old friend General Woon,
+commanding the troops at Abbotabad, asking him to provide me with a servant
+capable of dry-nursing a pair of Babes in the Wood throughout their sojourn in
+a strange land. The General promised to supply us with such an one, who, he
+said, would rob us to a certain extent himself, but would take good care that
+nobody else did so!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately, then, upon our arrival in Karachi roads, a dark and swarthy
+person, with a black beard and gleaming white teeth, appeared on board, and
+reported himself as Sabz Ali, our servant and our master!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His knowledge of English &ldquo;as she is spoke&rdquo; was scanty and of
+strange quality, but his masterful methods of dealing with the boatmen and
+Custom-house subordinates inspired us with awe and a blind confidence that he
+could&mdash;and would&mdash;pull us through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no difficulty at the Custom-house until it transpired that I wanted
+to take three firearms into the country. This appeared to be a most unusual and
+reprehensible desire, and my statement that one weapon was a rifle which I was
+taking charge of for a friend did not improve the situation. It being Sunday,
+the principal authorities were sunning themselves in their back parlours, and
+the thing in charge (called a Baboo, I understand) became exceedingly fussy,
+and desired that the guns should be unpacked and exhibited lest they should be
+of service pattern. This was simple, as far as my battery was concerned, and I
+promptly laid bare the beauties of my Mannlicher and ancient 12-bore; but,
+alas! Mrs. Smithson&rsquo;s rifle was soldered like a sardine into a strong tin
+case, and no cold-chisel or screwdriver was forthcoming.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Messengers were sent forth to seek the needful instruments, while I proceeded
+to cut another Gordian knot…. An acquaintance of mine, hearing that I was
+coming to India, suggested that I should take charge of a parcel for a friend
+of hers, who wanted to send it to her fiancé in Bombay. As all the heavy
+baggage was sent from London to join us at Port Saïd, I had not seen the
+&ldquo;parcel,&rdquo; and, finding no case or box addressed to any one but
+myself, I had to select one that seemed most likely to be right, and forward
+that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last the needful appliances were got and the rifle unpacked; but, although
+it proved to be (as I had said) a large-bore Express, the Baboo refused, like a
+very Pharaoh, to let it go, and I, after a two-hour vexatious delay, paid the
+duty on my own guns, and, leaving a note for the chief Customs official,
+explaining the case and begging him to send the rifle on forthwith, packed
+myself&mdash;hot, hungry, and angry&mdash;into a &ldquo;gharri,&rdquo; and set
+forth to the Devon Place Hotel, whither the rest of the party had preceded me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have gone into this little episode somewhat at length in order to impress
+upon the voyager to India the necessity for limiting the number of firearms or
+getting a friend to father the extra ones through the Customs&mdash;a perfectly
+simple matter had one foreseen the difficulty. Also the danger of taking
+parcels for friends&mdash;of which more anon![1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] A big deal case which we unpacked at Srinagar proved to contain a
+&ldquo;life-sized&rdquo; work-table. The package holding our camp beds and
+bedding, having a humbler aspect, had been sent to Bombay and cost as a world
+of worry and expense to recover!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Devon Place Hotel may be the best in Karachi, but it is pretty bad…. I am
+told that all Indian hotels are bad&mdash;still, the breakfast was a
+considerable improvement on the <i>Marie Valerie</i>, and we sallied forth as
+giants refreshed to have a look at Karachi and do a little shopping. It being
+Sunday, the banks were closed, but a kindly shopman cashed me a cheque for
+twenty pounds in the most confiding manner, and enabled us to get the few odds
+and ends we wanted before going up country&mdash;among them a couple of
+&ldquo;resais&rdquo; or quilted cotton wraps and a sola topee for Jane.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Karachi did not strike us as being a particularly interesting town, but that
+may be to a great extent because we did not see the best part of it. On landing
+at Kiamari we had only driven along a hot and glaring mole, bordered by swamps
+and slimy-looking flats for some two miles. Then, on reaching the city proper,
+a dusty road, bordered by somewhat suburban-looking houses, brought us to the
+Devon Place Hotel, near the Frere station. After breakfast we merely drove into
+the bazaars to shop before betaking ourselves to the station, in good time for
+the 6.30 train.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passengers&mdash;at least first-class passengers&mdash;were not numerous, and
+Major Twining and I had no difficulty in securing two compartments&mdash;one
+for our wives and one for ourselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An Indian first-class carriage is roomy, but bare, being arranged with a view
+to heat rather than cold Two long seats run &ldquo;fore and aft&rdquo; on
+either side, and upon them your servant makes your bed at night. Two upper
+berths can be let down in case of a crowd. At the end of each compartment is a
+small toilet-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was unexpectedly chilly at night, and Twining and I were glad to roll
+ourselves up in as many rugs and &ldquo;resais&rdquo; as we could persuade the
+ladies to leave to us.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br/>
+KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD</h2>
+
+<p>
+This morning we awoke to find ourselves rattling and shaking our way through
+the Sind Desert&mdash;an interminable waste of sand, barren and
+thirsty-looking, covered with a patchy scrub of yellowish and grey-purple
+bushes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can well imagine how hatefully hot it can be here, but to-day it has been
+merely pleasantly warm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and I were deeply interested in the novel scenes we passed through, which,
+while new and strange to us, were yet made familiar by what we had read and
+heard. The quiet-eyed cattle, with their queer humps, were just what we
+expected to see in the dusty landscape. The chattering crowds in the wayside
+stations, their bright-coloured garments flaunting in the white
+sunlight&mdash;the fruit-sellers, the water-carriers, were all as though they
+had stepped out of the pages of <i>Kim</i>&mdash;that most excellent of Indian
+stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so all day we rattled and shook through the Sind Desert in the hot sunlight
+till the dust lay thick upon us, and our eyes grew tired of watching the flying
+landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon we reached Samasata junction, where the Twinings parted
+company with us, being bound for Faridkot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sorry were we to lose such charming companions, especially as now indeed we
+become as Babes in the Wood, knowing nothing of the land, its customs, or its
+language!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henceforward, Sabz Ali shall be our sheet-anchor, and I think he will not fail
+us. His English is truly remarkable, so much so that I regret to say I have
+more than once supposed him to be talking Hindustani when he was discoursing in
+my own mother-tongue. But he certainly is extraordinarily sharp in taking up
+what I and the &ldquo;Mem-sahib&rdquo; say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He presented to me to-day a remarkable letter, of which the following is an
+exact copy. I presume it is a sort of statement as to his general
+duties:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;<i>To the</i> M<small>AGER</small> S<small>AHIB</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sir,&mdash;I beg to say that General &rsquo;Oon Sahib send me to you. He
+order me that the arrangement of Mager Sahib do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To give pice to porter kuli this is my work. This is usefull to you.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You give him many pice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your work is order and to do it my work. You give me Rupee at once. Then
+I will write it on my book, from which you will see it is right or wrong. Now I
+am going to Cashmir with you and Cashmiree are thief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If you will give me one man other it will usefull to you. I ask one
+cloth. All Sahib give cloth to Servant on going to Cashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If will give cloth then all men say that this Sahib is good. I am fear
+from General &rsquo;Oon Sahib. It is order to give cloth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can do all work of cook and bearer. I wish that you will happy on me,
+also your lady, and say to General &rsquo;Oon Sahib that this man is good and
+honest man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have servant to many Sahib.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have more certificate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are rich man and king. I am poor man. I will take two annas
+allowance per day in Cashmir, you will do who you wish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish that you and lady will happy on me. This is begging you
+will.&mdash;I remain, Sir, your most obedient Servant,
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+&ldquo;S<small>ABAZ</small> A<small>LI</small>, <i>Bearer</i>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, March</i> 22.&mdash;We slept again in the train on Monday night,
+and arrived in Lahore about 6 o&rsquo;clock yesterday morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been advised to tub and dress in the waiting-rooms at the station, as we
+had a break of some six hours before going on to Pindi; but, upon
+investigation, Jane found her waiting-room already fully occupied by an
+uninviting company of Chi-chis (Eurasians), and several men&mdash;their
+husbands and brothers presumably&mdash;were sleeping the sleep of the just in
+mine, so we left all our luggage stacked on the platform under the eye of Sabz
+Ali, and hurried off to Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel. Ye gods! What a cold drive it was,
+and how bitterly we regretted that we had not brought our wraps from their
+bundle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was fearfully afraid that Jane would get a chill&mdash;an evil always to be
+specially guarded against in a tropical climate, but a very hot tub and a good
+breakfast averted all calamity, and we set forth in a funny little trap to
+inspect Lahore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is the first large and thoroughly Indian city that we have
+seen&mdash;Karachi being merely a thriving modern seaport and garrison
+town&mdash;and we set to work to see what we could in the limited time at our
+disposal. We whisked along a road&mdash;bumpy withal in parts, and somewhat
+dusty, but broad. On either hand rose substantial stone mansions, half hidden
+by trees and flowering shrubs. Many of these fine-looking buildings were shops.
+I was impressed by their importance, for they were quite what would be
+described by an auctioneer or agent as &ldquo;most desirable family mansions,
+approached by a carriage drive … standing within their own beautifully wooded
+and secluded grounds in an excellent residential neighbourhood,&rdquo; &amp;c.
+&amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anon we whirled round a corner, and plunged into the seething life of the
+native city. The road was crammed with an apparently impenetrable crowd of men
+and beasts, the latter&mdash;water-buffaloes, humpy cattle, and
+donkeys&mdash;strolling about and getting in everybody&rsquo;s way with perfect
+nonchalance, while men in strange raiment of gaudy hue pursued their lawful
+occupations with much clamour. The variety of smells&mdash;all bad&mdash;was
+quite remarkable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We could only go at a walk, as the streets were very narrow and the inhabitants
+thereof&mdash;particularly the cows&mdash;seemed very deaf and difficult to
+arouse to a sense of the need for making room, though our good driver yelled
+himself hoarse and employed language which I feel sure was highly flavoured.
+Our progress was a succession of marvellous escapes for human toes and bovine
+shoulders, but our &ldquo;helmsman steered us through,&rdquo; and we emerged
+from the kaleidoscopic labyrinth into the open space before the Fort of Lahore,
+whose pinkish brick walls and ponderous bastions rose above us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The last thing I would desire would be to usurp in any way the functions of
+grave Mr. Murray or well-informed Herr Baedeker, but there are certain points
+to which I will draw attention, and which it seems to me very necessary to keep
+in mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the ordinary traveller in the Punjab and Northern India no buildings are
+more attractive, no ruins more interesting, than those of the Mogul dynasty,
+and the rule of the Mogul princes marks the high-water limit of Indian
+magnificence. It was but for a short time, too, that the highest level of
+grandeur was maintained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For generations the Moguls had poured in intermittent hordes into Northern
+India, but it was only in 1556 that Akbar, by defeating the Pathans at Panipat,
+laid India at his feet. Following up his success he overthrew the Rajputs, and
+extended his dominion from Afghanistan to Benares. Having conquered the country
+as a great warrior, he proceeded to rule it as a noble statesman, being
+&ldquo;one of the few sovereigns entitled to the appellation both of Great and
+Good, and the only one of Mohammedan race whose mind appears to have arisen so
+far above all the illiberal prejudices of that fanatical religion in which he
+was educated, as to be capable of forming a plan worthy of a monarch who loved
+his people and was solicitous to render them happy.&rdquo;[1] This
+&ldquo;plan&rdquo; was to study the religion, laws, and institutions of his
+Hindu subjects in order that he might govern as far as possible in conformity
+with Hindu usage. The Emperor Akbar was the first of the Mogul monarchs who was
+a great architect. The city of Fattepur Sikri being raised by him as a stately
+dwelling-place until want of water and the unhealthiness of the locality caused
+him to move into Agra, leaving the whole city of Fattepur Sikri to the owls and
+jackals, and later to the admiration of the Sahib logue.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] Robertson&rsquo;s <i>India</i>, Appendix.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A palace in Lahore, the fort at Allahabad, and much lovely work in the city of
+Agra testify to the creative genius of that contemporary of our own Good Queen
+Bess, the first &ldquo;Great&rdquo; Mogul. Jehangir, his son and successor, has
+left few buildings of note, but his grandson, Shah Jehan, was undoubtedly the
+most splendid builder of the Mogul Mohammedan period. To him Delhi owes its
+stately palace and vast mosque&mdash;the Jama Masjid&mdash;and Agra would be
+famous for its wonderful palace of dark red stone and fretted marble, even
+without that masterpiece of Mohammedan inspiration, the world-famed Taj Mahal.
+The brief period of supreme magnificence came to an end with the last of the
+&ldquo;Great&rdquo; Moguls&mdash;Aurungzeb, died in 1707&mdash;having only
+blazed in fullest glory for some century and a half, but leaving behind it some
+of the noblest works of man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed somehow very curious, as we drove up through the stately entrance of
+the Hathi Paon, or Elephant Gate of the fort, to be saluted with a
+&ldquo;present arms&rdquo; by British Tommies clad in unobtrusive khaki, and to
+reflect that we are the inheritors of the fallen grandeur of the Mogul
+Emperors; that we in our turn, on many a hard-fought field, asserted our power
+to conquer; and that since then we have (I trust) so far followed the sound
+principles of Akbar as to keep by justice and wise rule the broad lands with
+their teeming millions in a state of peace and security unknown before in
+India.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Opposite the entrance rise the walls of the Palace of Akbar, curiously
+decorated with brilliant blue mosaics of animals and arabesques.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We visited the armoury&mdash;a remarkably fine collection of weapons&mdash;not
+the least interesting being those taken from the Sikhs and French in the
+earlier part of the last century. Opposite the armoury, and across a small
+beautifully-paved court, were the private apartments of Shah Jehan. They
+reminded me very much of the Alhambra, only, instead of the honeycomb vaulted
+ceilings, and arches decorated in stucco by the Moors, the Eastern architect
+inlaid his ceilings with an extraordinary incrustation of glass, usually
+silvered on the back, but also frequently coloured, and giving a strange effect
+of mother-o&rsquo;-pearl inlay, bordering on tawdriness when examined in
+detail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is possible that this coloured glass actually had its intended effect of
+inlaid jewels, and that the gem-encrusted walls, so enthusiastically described
+by Tavernier and others, as almost matching the peacock throne itself, may have
+been but imitation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many of the pilasters were, however, very beautiful&mdash;of white marble
+inlaid with flower patterns of coloured stones&mdash;while the arched window
+openings were filled in with creamy tracery of fair white marble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the fort after an all too short visit, we crossed to the great mosque
+built by Aurungzeb. Ascending&mdash;from a garden bright with flowers and
+blossoming trees&mdash;a flight of broad steps, we found ourselves at the end
+of a rectangular enclosure, at each corner of which stood a red column not
+altogether unlike a factory chimney. In the centre was a circular basin, very
+wide, and full of clear water, while in front, three white marble domes rose
+like great pearls gleaming against the cloudless blue. The mosque itself is
+built of red&mdash;dark red&mdash;sandstone, decorated with floral designs in
+white marble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We climbed one of the minarets, and had a view of the city at our feet, and the
+green and fertile plains stretching dim into the shimmering haze beyond the
+Ravee River.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then back to the hotel through the teeming alleys and down to the
+station&mdash;the road, that we had found so bitterly cold in the early
+morning, now a blaze of sunlight, where the dust stirred up by the shuffling
+feet of the wayfarers quivered in the heat, and the shadows of men and beasts
+lay short and black beneath them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were not sorry to seek coolness in the bare railway carriage, and let the
+fresh wind fan us as we sat by the open window and watched the flat, monotonous
+landscape sliding past.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The journey from Lahore to Rawal Pindi is not a very long one&mdash;only about
+170 miles, or less than the distance from London to York; but an Indian train
+being more leisurely in its movement than the Great Northern Express, gave us
+ample time to contemplate the frequent little villages&mdash;all very much
+alike&mdash;all provided with a noisy population, among which dogs and children
+were extremely prevalent; the level plains, broken here and there by clumps of
+unfamiliar trees, and inhabited by scattered herds of water buffaloes, cattle,
+and under-sized sheep, all busily engaged in picking up a precarious
+livelihood, chiefly roast straw, as far as one could see!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had grown so accustomed to the monotony of the plains, that when we suddenly
+became aware of a faint blue line of mountains paling to snow, where they
+melted into the sky, the Himalayas came upon us almost with a shock of
+surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we drew nearer, the rampart of mountains that guards India on the north,
+took form and substance, until at Jhelum we fairly left the plain and began to
+ascend the lower foothills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Between Jhelum and Rawal Pindi the line runs through a country that can best be
+described by that much abused word &ldquo;weird.&rdquo; Originally a succession
+of clayey plateaux, the erosion of water has worn and honeycombed a tortuous
+maze of abrupt clefts and ravines, leaving in many cases mere shafts and
+pinnacles, whose fantastic tops stand level with the surrounding country. The
+sun set while we were still winding through a labyrinth of peaks and pits, and
+the effect of the contrasting red gold lights and purple shadows in this
+strange confused landscape was a thing to be remembered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We rolled and bumped into Pindi at 8 P.M., having travelled nearly 1000 miles
+during our two days and nights in the train.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our friends the Smithsons were on the platform waiting to receive us and
+welcome us as strangers and pilgrims in an unknown land. They have only
+remained here to meet us, and they proceed to Kashmir to-morrow, sleeping in a
+carriage in the quiet backwater of a siding, to save themselves the worry of a
+desperately early start to-morrow morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The direct route into Kashmir by Murree is impassable, the snow being still
+deep owing to a very late spring following a severe winter. This will oblige us
+to go round by Abbotabad, so I wired to my friend General Woon to warn him that
+we propose to invade his peaceful home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, March 26.</i>&mdash;We stayed a couple of days at Pindi, in order to
+make arrangements for transporting ourselves and our luggage into Kashmir. The
+journey can be made <i>viâ</i> Murree in about a couple of days by mail tonga,
+but it is a joyless and horribly wearing mode of travel. The tonga, a
+two-wheeled cart covered by an arched canvas hood and drawn by two half-broken
+horses, holds a couple of passengers comfortably, who sit behind and stare at
+the flying white ribbon of road for long, long hours, while the driver urges
+his wild career. The horses are changed every ten miles or so, and horrible and
+blood-curdling tales are extant of the villainy and wrong-headedness of some of
+these tonga ponies, how they jib for sheer pleasure, and leap over the low
+parapet that guards them from the precipice merely to vex the helpless
+traveller. When we suggested that to sit facing the past might be conducive to
+a sort of sea-sickness and certainly to headache, and that a total absence of
+view was to be deprecated, it was impressed upon us that if the horses darted
+over the &ldquo;khud,&rdquo; we could slip out suddenly and easily, leaving the
+driver and the ponies to be dashed to pieces by themselves! This appeared
+sound, but, upon inquiry I could not hear that any accident had ever happened
+to any traveller going into Kashmir by tonga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Besides the tonga, there are other modes of going into Kashmir. For instance,
+the sluggish bullock-cart&mdash;safe, deliberate, and affording ample leisure
+for admiring the scenery; the light native cart, or ekka, consisting of a
+somewhat small body screened by a wide white hood, and capable of holding far
+more luggage than would at first sight seem possible, and drawn by a
+scraggy-looking but much enduring little horse tied up by a wild and
+complicated system of harness (chiefly consisting of bits of old rope) between
+a pair of odd V-shaped shafts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, there is the landau&mdash;a civilised and luxurious method of
+conveyance which greatly appealed to us. We decided upon chartering a landau
+for ourselves and servant, and two ekkas to carry the heavy baggage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. de Mars, the landlord of the hotel, was most obliging in helping us to
+arrange for our journey, promising to provide us with carriage and ekkas for a
+sum which did not seem to me to be at all exorbitant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I soon found, however, that the worthy Sabz Ali did not at all approve of the
+arrangement. It was extremely hard to find out by means of his scant English
+what he proposed to do; but I decided that here was an excellent opportunity of
+finding out what he was good for, so we determined to give him his head, and
+let him make his own arrangements.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A smile broke over his swarthy face for a moment, and he disappeared, coming
+back shortly afterwards just as the already ordered ekkas made their
+appearance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These he promptly dismissed&mdash;much to the vexation of Mr. de Mars; but I
+explained to him that I intended to see if my man was really to be depended
+upon as an organiser, and that I should allow him to work upon his own lines.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had arranged to sleep in a carriage drawn into a siding at the station, to
+avoid a very early start next morning. So after dinner we strolled down towards
+our bedroom to find our henchman on the platform, full of zeal and energy. I
+found out (with difficulty) that he proposed to go on to Hassan Abdal with the
+luggage that night by goods train; that we should find him there next morning,
+and that all would be right. So he departed, and we rolled ourselves up in our
+&ldquo;resais,&rdquo; and wondered how it would all turn out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Friday morning we rattled out of Rawal Pindi about seven, and slowly wound
+through a rather stony and uninteresting country, until we arrived at the end
+of our railway journey about ten o&rsquo;clock, and scrambled out at the little
+roadside station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our excellent factotum, Sabz Ali, awaited us with a capacious landau, and
+informed us that the heavy baggage had gone on in the ekkas. So we set forth at
+once on our 42-mile drive to Abbotabad without &ldquo;reposing for a time in
+the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a favourite
+resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to Cashmere&rdquo;
+(<i>Lalla Rookh</i>).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The landau, though roomy and comfortable, was, like Una&rsquo;s lion, a
+&ldquo;most unhasty beast,&rdquo; and we rolled quite slowly and deliberately
+over a distinctly uninteresting plain for about twenty miles, until we came to
+Haripur, a pretty village enclosed in a perfect mass of fruit trees in full
+bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we changed horses, and lunched at the dâk bungalow&mdash;a first and
+favourable experience of that useful institution. The dâk bungalow generally
+consists of a simple wooden building containing a dining-room and several
+bedrooms opening on to a verandah, which usually runs round three sides of the
+house. The furniture is strong and simple, consisting of tables, bedsteads, and
+some long chairs. A khansamah or cook provides food and liquor at a fixed and
+reasonable rate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Travellers are only permitted to remain for twenty-four hours if the rooms are
+wanted, each person paying one rupee (1s. 4d.) for a night, or half that amount
+for a mere day halt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The khansamah would appear to be the only functionary in residence until the
+hour of departure draws near, when a whole party of
+underlings&mdash;chowkidars, bheesties, and sweepers&mdash;appear from nowhere
+in particular; and the lordly traveller, having presented them with about
+twopence apiece, rolls off along the dusty white road, leaving the khansamah
+and his myrmidons salaaming on the verandah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made the mistake of over-tipping at first in India, not realising that a
+couple of annas out here go as far as a shilling at home; but it is a mistake
+which should be rectified as soon as possible, for you get no credit for
+lavishness, but are merely regarded as a first-class idiot. No sane man would
+ever expend two annas where one would do!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving Haripur the road began to ascend a little, and at the village of
+Sultanpur we entered a valley, through which a shrunken stream ran, and which
+we crossed more than once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then a long ascent of about eleven miles brought us near our destination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had been threatening rain all the afternoon, and now the weather made its
+threat good, and the rain fell in earnest. It grew dark, too; and, finally, not
+having had any reply to my telegram to General Woon, we did not know whether we
+were expected or not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sabz Ali, however, had no doubts on the matter. We were approaching his own
+particular country, and whether &ldquo;Gen&rsquo;l &rsquo;Oon Sahib&rdquo; was
+there to entertain us or not, <i>he</i> was; and so it was
+&ldquo;alright.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our poor horses were done to a turn, a heavy landau with five people in it, as
+well as a fair amount of luggage, being no trifle to drag up so long and steep
+a hill. So we had to walk up the last rise to the General&rsquo;s house in the
+dark and rain, mildly cheered, however, by finding the two ekkas just arrived
+with the baggage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A most hearty greeting from my old friend and his charming wife awaited us, and
+after a hasty toilet and an excellent dinner we felt at peace with all the
+world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both yesterday (Saturday) and to-day it has been cold and disagreeable. The
+past winter, I am told, has been a very severe one, and the melancholy brown
+skeletons of all the eucalyptus trees in the place show the dismal results of
+the frost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This forenoon the day darkened, and a very severe thunderstorm broke. So dark
+was it at lunch that candles had to be lighted in haste, and even now (4 P.M.)
+I can barely see to write.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, March</i> 30.&mdash;Monday was showery, and Tuesday decidedly wet;
+but, in spite of the hospitable blandishments of our kind hosts, we were most
+anxious to get on, as, having arranged with the Smithsons to go into the Astor
+district to shoot, it was most important to reach Srinagar before the first of
+April&mdash;the day upon which the shooting passes were to be issued to
+sportsmen in rotation of application. Knowing that only ten passes were to be
+given for Astor, and that several men were ahead of me, I felt that we were
+running it somewhat fine to leave only three days for the journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+General Woon, who knew Kashmir well, did his very best to dissuade us from
+attempting the passes into Astor, reading to us gloomy extracts from his
+journal, and pointing out that it was no fit country for a lady in early
+spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He did much to shake our enthusiasm, but still I felt we must do our best to
+&ldquo;keep tryst&rdquo; with the Smithsons. So, on Tuesday, we sent on the
+heavy luggage in two ekkas which Sabz Ali had procured, the two others being
+only hired from Hassan Abdal to Abbotabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sabz Ali had pointed out that, although he himself was a wonderful man, and
+could do almost, if not quite, everything, a second servant would be greatly to
+our (and his) advantage. So, acting on my permission, he engaged one
+Ayata&mdash;a gentle person of a sheep-like disposition, who did everything he
+was told, and nothing that he was told not to, during our sojourn in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br/>
+ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+Dismal tidings came in of floods and storms on the Hassan Abdal road. The river
+had swollen, and both men and beasts had been swept away while trying to cross.
+Undeterred, however, by such news, even when backed by warnings and persuasions
+from our friends, we set forth in the rain yesterday morning. The prospect was
+not cheerful&mdash;a grey veil of cloud lay over all the surrounding hills,
+here and there deepening into dark and angry thunder-clouds. The road was
+desperately heavy, but the General had most kindly sent on a pair of mules
+ahead, and, with another pair in the shafts, our own nags took a holiday as far
+as Manserah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The weather grew worse. It rained very heavily and thundered with great vigour,
+and as we straggled up the deeply-muddied slope to the dâk bungalow at Manserah
+we felt somewhat low; but we did not in the least realise what was before us!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our road had lain through fairly level plains, with low cuttings here and
+there, where the saturated soil was already beginning to give way and fall upon
+the road in untidy heaps; but this did not foreshadow what might occur later.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Manserah we met Hill and Hunt, two young gunners, <i>en route</i> for Astor.
+They left in a tonga soon after we arrived, and we did not expect to see their
+speedier outfit again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being pressed for time, we only had a cup of cocoa, and then hastened on our
+dismal career.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road grew steeper, winding over some low hills, but we could not see very
+much, as the whirling cloud masses blotted out all the view. By-and-by it bent
+towards a pine-clad hill, and began to ascend steeply. By this time we were
+very wet, as we had to walk up the hills to ease the horses. The scene was
+extraordinary, as the great thunder-clouds boiled up and over us&mdash;tawny
+yellow, and even orange in the lights, and dull and solid lead colour in the
+depths. The distance was invisible, but gleams now and again revealed, through
+the drifts of rain, wide stretches of cultivated land lying below us, and a
+ragged forest of pines piercing the mist above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dripping, we walked by our wet horses up to the top of the pass, hoping for a
+swift and easy descent on the farther side to Ghari Habibullah, where we
+intended to sleep, as we had given up all idea of being able to get on to
+Domel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the horses were pulled up sharply as a ton or two of rock and earth
+came crashing upon the road in front of us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More fallen masses encumbering the way farther on made us feel rather anxious,
+until, on rounding a corner, we found the whole road barred by a huge mass of
+rock and soil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was blowing hard, the stormy wind striking chill and bleak through the
+bending pines; it was raining in torrents; it was 5 P.M., and we were still
+some six miles from the haven where we would be; so, after a short and utterly
+ineffectual attempt to get the carriage past the obstacle, Jane and I set off
+to walk down the hill and seek help.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was exciting, as we had to dodge the rock-falls and run past the
+shaky-looking places! At a turn of the road we came upon the gunners&rsquo;
+tonga, embedded in a mud-slide. The occupants had had an escape from total
+wreck, as one of the ponies had swerved over the khud, but the other saved the
+situation by lying down in the mud! Hunt had gone off into the landscape to try
+for a village and help, while Hill remained to wrestle with the tonga, which,
+however, remained obstinately immovable. We could do nothing to mend matters,
+so we fled on, meeting Hunt, with a few natives and a shovel, on his way back
+to the scene of action.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After an hour and a half of very anxious work, we emerged at dusk from the
+wood, hoping our troubles were over. We could dimly see, and hear, through the
+mist a stream below us; but, alas! no bridge was visible. I commandeered a man
+from the first hut we came to, and tried by signs to make him understand that
+he was to carry the lady across the river; but, luckily, just as we reached the
+bank of what was a very nasty-looking stream in full spate, the liberated tonga
+overtook us, and Jane was bundled into it, while we three men waded. The stream
+was strong and up to our knees, and level with the tonga floor, and the horses
+getting frightened began to jib. Hill seized one by the head, and Jane was
+safely drawn to shore and sent on her way under guidance of the driver, while
+we tramped on in the dark until a second torrent barred our way. Here, in the
+gloom, we made out the tonga empty, and stuck fast against the far bank. It was
+all right though, for Jane had crawled out at the front and wandered on in
+search of the dâk bungalow, leaving the driver squatting helplessly beside the
+water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was so dark that she missed the bungalow, which stands a little above the
+road, and struggled on till she came to a small cluster of native huts. One of
+the inhabitants, on being boldly accosted, was good enough to point out the
+way, and so the re-united party&mdash;tired, wet, and with no prospect of dry
+clothing&mdash;took possession of the cheerless-looking dâk bungalow. Things
+now began to improve. To our joy we found our ekkas with their contents drawn
+up in the yard. And while a fire was being encouraged into a blaze, and the
+lean fowl was being captured and slain on the back premises, we obtained dry
+garments&mdash;of sorts&mdash;from the baggage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Madame&rsquo;s dinner costume consisted of a blue flannel
+garment&mdash;nocturnal by design&mdash;delicately covered by a quilted
+dressing-gown, and the rest of us were <i>en suite</i>, a great lack of detail
+as to collars and foot-wear being apparent! Nevertheless, the fire blazed
+royally, and we ate up all the old hen and called for more, and prepared to
+make a night of it until, about ten o&rsquo;clock, our bearer Sabz Ali
+appeared, with a train of coolies carrying our bedding and the other contents
+of the derelict carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning the two young gunners departed on foot, leaving their tonga, as
+the road to Domel is reported to be quite impassable. They intend to walk by a
+short cut over the hills, and get on as best they may, the race for Astor being
+a keen one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We decided to remain here, the weather being still gloomy and unsettled, and
+the road being impossible for a lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At noon the landau was brought in, minus a step and very dirty, but otherwise
+&ldquo;unwounded from the dreadful close.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari Habibullah is not at all a cheerful spot, as it appears, the centre of a
+grey haze, with dense mist low down on the surrounding mountains. Sabz Ali,
+too, complains of fever, which is not surprising after the wetting and exposure
+of yesterday; and when a native gets &ldquo;fever&rdquo; he curls up and is fit
+for nothing, and won&rsquo;t try.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow stands on a little plateau overlooking the road and a swift
+river, whose tawny waves were loaded with mud washed from the hills by recent
+storms. On a slope opposite, the queer, flat-roofed native village perched, and
+above it swirled a misty pall which hid all but the bases of the hills. To this
+village we strolled, but it was not interesting; the inhabitants did not seem
+wildly friendly, and the mud and dirt and dogs were discouraging. So we roamed
+along the Domel road till we came to a high cliff of conglomerate, which had
+recently been shedding boulders over the track to an alarming extent; so,
+deciding that it would be merely silly to risk getting our heads cracked, we
+turned back, and, re-crossing the river, clambered up a steep path above the
+right bank. Here we soon found great rents and rifts where falling rocks had
+come bounding down the steeps from above, so once more we turned tail, and,
+giving up the idea of any more country walks in that region, betook ourselves
+to the gloomy and chilly bungalow. The only really delightful things we saw
+during our doleful excursion were a lovely clump of big, rose-coloured primula,
+drooping from the clefts of a steep rock, and a pair of large and handsome
+kingfishers,[1] pursuing their graceful avocations by a roadside
+pool&mdash;their white breasts, ruddy flanks, and gleaming blue backs giving a
+welcome note of colour to the sedate and misty grey of the landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] <i>N. Smyrnensis</i> (?).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, April</i> 4.&mdash;Thirty-six hours of Ghari Habibullah give ample
+time for the loneliest recluse to pant for the bustle of a livelier world. We
+were so bored on Thursday that we determined to push on, <i>coûte que
+coûte</i>, on Friday morning, although a note sent back by one of the gunners
+from Domel, by a coolie, informed us that the road about a mile short of that
+place was completely blocked by a fallen mass of some hundreds of tons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our henchman having somewhat recovered of his fever, thanks to a generous
+exhibition of quinine, we gave the order to pack and start, hoping to achieve
+the twelve miles which separated us from Domel, even though the last bit had to
+be done on foot. About two miles from Ghari Habibullah we came to the Kashmir
+custom-house, presided over by a polite gentleman, whose brilliant purple beard
+was a joy to look upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Most of the elderly natives dye their beards with, I think, henna, producing a
+fine orange effect, but purple…!
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+<i>Bottom</i>. What beard were I best to play it in?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Quince</i>. Why, what you will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Bottom</i>. I will discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard, your
+orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your French-crown-colour
+beard, your perfect yellow
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<i>Midsummer Night&rsquo;s Dream</i>,<br/>
+Act I. Sc. 2.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What <i>coloured beard</i> comes next by the window?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A black man&rsquo;s, I think.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I think a <i>red</i>: for that is most in fashion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+R<small>AM</small> A<small>LLY</small>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly, until I beheld that tax-gatherer of the Orient, I had no idea that the
+&ldquo;purple-in-grain&rdquo; beard existed outside a poet&rsquo;s fancy!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road took us along the left bank of the river, whose soil-stained waters
+churned their way through a wild and rocky gorge. On our left the mountain rose
+bare and steep, fringed with a few straggling bushes, and here and there a
+clinging patch of rose-coloured primula. Part of the conglomerate cliff had
+come down and obliterated the road, but a party of coolies was busily at work,
+and, after about an hour&rsquo;s delay, we triumphantly bumped our way past.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road now led steadily upward, leaving an ever-increasing slope (or khud)
+between it and the river, until it attained a height of over a thousand feet,
+when, turning to the left, it swung over the watershed, and began to descend
+into the valley of the Kishenganga. Through the haze we could make out Domel,
+our goal, lying far below, and then the old Sikh fort of Musafferabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road was so encumbered with rock-falls that we walked the greater part of
+it, until we came to the new bridge over the Kishenganga, whose dark red waters
+rush into the Jhelum about a mile below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here was Musafferabad, the whole place a confused jumble of wheeled traffic
+caught up by the big landslip in front. Passing, amid the chatter and clamour
+of men and beasts, through the medley of bullock-carts and ekkas that crowded
+every available space, we hauled the carriage through the bed of a watercourse
+whose bridge was broken. Up over the prostrate trunk of a fallen tree we
+regained the road, to find ourselves in front of the big landslip of which we
+had been warned. It consisted of some thousands of tons of dark red mud and
+loose boulders, and it blocked the road for fully a couple of hundred yards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A large and energetic swarm of coolies was busily engaged in &ldquo;tidying
+up.&rdquo; This was apparently to be achieved by means of shovels, each little
+shovel worked by two men&mdash;one to shovel, and the other to assist in
+raising it when full by means of a little rope round the head. This labour had
+to be lubricated by much conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed upon the whole unlikely that a path could be made for a considerable
+time, so we lunched peacefully in the carriage, a pair of extremely friendly
+crows assisting at the feast, and then, leaving our landau to follow as best it
+might, we walked into Domel, crossing the Jhelum by a fine bridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow, prettily placed in a clump of trees, seemed the abode of
+luxury to us after the discomfort of Ghari Habibullah, and we fondly hoped
+that, being now upon the main road which runs from Rawal Pindi to Srinagar, our
+troubles were over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Saturday was the 1st of April, the day upon which I should have applied for my
+pass for Astor. Wiring to Srinagar to explain that I was in Kashmir territory
+(which I subsequently found was enough to entitle me to a pass), and also to
+Smithson to say that we were making the best of our way to join him, we
+&ldquo;took the road&rdquo; after breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The carriage and the two ekkas had come in early, having been unloaded and then
+carried bodily over the &ldquo;slide.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A broad and smooth road, whose gentle gradient of ascent was merely sufficient
+to keep us level with the river bank, opened up an alluring prospect of ease
+and comfort. We lay back on our comfortable cushions and watched the clouds as
+they swept over the mountains, hiding all but occasional glimpses of
+snow-streaked slopes and steep and barren ridges.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The valley of the Jhelum between Domel and Ghari is not beautiful&mdash;merely
+wide and desolate, with steep hills rising from the river, their lower slopes
+sparsely clad with leafless scrub, their shoulders merging into the dull mist
+which hangs around their invisible summits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! it soon became apparent that our troubles were not over. The cliffs above
+us became steeper, and the familiar boulder reappeared upon the road. Small
+landslips gave us a good deal of trouble, although we had no serious difficulty
+before reaching Ghari. Here we were told that a complete &ldquo;solution of
+continuity&rdquo; in the road at Mile 46 would prevent our reaching Chakhoti,
+so we reluctantly decided to remain where we were for the night. Although a
+cold and dull spring afternoon is not exciting at Ghari, where distractions are
+decidedly scanty, we found interest in the discovery of the Smithsons&rsquo;
+heavy luggage, which had been sent on from Rawal Pindi ages ago. Here it lay in
+the peaceful backwater of a native caravansary, piled high on a bullock-cart,
+whose placid team lay near pensively chewing the &ldquo;cud of sweet and bitter
+fancy,&rdquo; and apparently quite innocent of any intention of moving for a
+week or two!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We extracted the charioteers from a neighbouring hut, and gave them to
+understand, by means of Sabz Ali, that hanging was the least annoyance they
+would suffer if they didn&rsquo;t get under way &ldquo;ek dam&rdquo; at once.
+They promptly promised that their oxen&mdash;like Pegasus&mdash;should fly on
+the wings of the wind, and, having seen us safely round a corner, departed
+peacefully to eat another lotus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The luggage arrived in Srinagar towards the end of the month.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sunday morning saw us again battling with a perfect coruscation of landslips;
+so &ldquo;jumpy&rdquo; was it in many places that we sat with the carriage
+doors ajar, in hopes that a timely dart out might enable us to evade a falling
+rock. At Mile 46 we were held up for an hour until a ramp was made over a bad
+slide, and the carriage and ekkas were unloaded and got across. The landau
+looked for all the world like a great dead beetle surrounded by ants, as,
+man-handled by a swarm of coolies, it was hauled, step by step, over the
+improvised track. A landau is not at all a suitable or convenient carriage for
+this sort of work, and had we guessed what was before us we should most
+certainly have employed the handier tonga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road to-day, cut as it was out of the steep flank of the mountain, was
+magnificent, but, in its present condition, nerve-shattering. Fallen boulders
+and innumerable mud-slides constantly forced us to get out and walk, while the
+sturdy little horses tugged the carriage through places where the near wheels
+were frequently within a few inches of the broken edge of the road, while far
+below Jhelum roared hungrily as he foamed by the foot of a sheer precipice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching Chakhoti about four o&rsquo;clock, we decided to remain there for the
+night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and threatening.
+Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one miles, there was no
+suitable place for a night&rsquo;s halt until Uri, distant some thirteen miles
+and all uphill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the Jhelum, and
+after tea we set forth to inspect it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I confess the
+means of crossing it, although practised with perfect confidence by the
+natives, did not appeal to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong ropes were
+stretched&mdash;the upper two parallel, and the third, about four feet lower,
+was equidistant from each.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
+stretchers&mdash;something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
+few yards&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;And up and down the people go,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper ones with
+their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised European to be
+where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the traveller to within a
+painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry water, before he began to
+slither circumspectly up the farther slope!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro, passing
+one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm, and carrying
+loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with the utmost
+unconcern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We left Chakhoti early this morning&mdash;Tuesday&mdash;with the intention of
+getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely bad, and
+the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags. Of course they
+have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have been limited to very
+short stages, and they are in excellent hard condition, so that we felt it no
+great hardship to ask them to do forty-two miles: albeit to drag a heavy landau
+containing five people and a good deal of luggage for that distance, with a
+rise of over 2000 feet, is a heavy demand upon a single pair of horses!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri stands on a
+plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ruins of an ancient fort rose on the near edge of the little plain. The
+Jhelum tore through a rocky gorge far below, and a dark semi-circle of
+mountains stood steeply up, their cloud-hidden summits giving fleeting glimpses
+of snow and precipice and pine-clad corries as the sun now and again shot
+through the clinging vapours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow of Uri, white and clean, was most attractive, and I should
+imagine the place to be charming in summer, but as yet the short crisp turf is
+still brown from recent snow, and although hot in the sun, which now began to
+shine steadily, it was extremely cold in the shade, while lunch (or should I
+say &ldquo;tiffin&rdquo;?) was being got ready. I strolled over to the
+post-office to find&mdash;as usual&mdash;another urgent wire from Smithson
+several days old, beseeching me to secure my pass for Astor at once. Directly
+after lunch we set forward, and as the road on leaving Uri takes a long bend of
+some miles to the right to a point where the Haji Pir River is crossed, and
+then sweeps back along its right hank to a spot almost opposite the dâk
+bungalow, we thought that a short cut down to the water, which from our height
+seemed quite insignificant, and thence up to the road on the other side, would
+be a desirable stroll. As we walked down the steep path into the nullah a brace
+of red-legged partridges (chikor) rose in a great fuss, and sailed gaily across
+the river, whose roaring gained ominously in volume as we drew near. It soon
+became plain to us that everything is on a very big scale in this country, and
+that the clearness of the atmosphere helps to delude the unwary stranger. The
+little stream that seemed to require but an occasional stepping-stone to enable
+us to pass over dry-shod, proved in the first place to be much farther off than
+we had supposed, and when, after a hot scramble, we found ourselves on the
+bank, the stepping-stones were no more, but only here and there we saw the
+shoulders of huge rocks which doggedly threw aside the flying foam of a
+fair-sized river. It was obviously impossible to cross except by deep wading,
+but, being unwilling to own defeat, I yelled to a brown native on the far bank,
+and made signs that he should come and do beast of burthen. He, however,
+stolidly shook his head, pointed to the water, and then to his chest, and
+finally we sadly and wrathfully toiled back to the road we had so lightly left,
+and expended all our energies on attracting the notice of the carriage, which,
+having crossed the bridge, was crawling along the opposite face of the nullah,
+and when, after a hot three miles, we once more embedded ourselves amongst the
+cushions with a sigh of relief, we swore off short cuts for the future.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been warned at Uri that there was a &ldquo;bad place&rdquo; at Mile 73,
+and sure enough, on rounding a bend, we came upon the familiar mass of
+semi-liquid red earth and a pile of boulders heaped across the road, the khud
+side of which had entirely given way. The usual crowd of coolies was busily
+engaged in trying to clear the obstruction by means of toothpicks and
+teaspoons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We quitted the carriage with a celerity engendered of much practice, and,
+having crossed the obstacle on foot, sat down to await the coming of our
+conveyance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed perfectly marvellous that the heavy vehicle could be safely got over
+a jagged avalanche of earth and rock piled some eight or ten feet above the
+roadway, and having an almost sheer drop to the river entirely unguarded for
+some hundred yards, where the retaining parapet and even some of the road
+itself had gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amid much apparent confusion and tremendous chattering, a sort of rough ramp
+was engineered up the slip, and presently the horseless landau appeared borne
+in triumph by a mob of coolies superintended by our priceless Sabz Ali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a minute we held our breath as one of the near wheels lipped the edge of
+the chasm, but the thing was judged to an inch, and in due time the sturdy
+chestnuts, the two ekkas, and all the luggage were assembled on the right side
+of what proved to be the last of the really bad slips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road engineer, who arrived in great state on a motor cycle while we were
+executing the portage, told us that there were no more difficulties, but an
+officer who was going out, and whose tonga was checked also at the big slip,
+informed us that about a mile farther were two great boulders on the road,
+lying so that although a short vehicle such as a tonga or motor cycle could
+wriggle round, yet a long four-wheeled landau could not possibly execute the
+serpentine curve required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We therefore requisitioned a few coolies with crowbars, and set forward to
+attack the boulders. Sure enough there were two beauties, placed so that we
+could not possibly get by, until a large slice was chipped from the inner side
+of each.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This done, our most excellent and skilful driver piloted his ponies through the
+narrow strait, and we felt that, at last, our troubles were over, and that we
+could breathe freely and admire at leisure the snowy peaks of the Kaj-nag
+beyond the Jhelum, and the rough wooded heights that frowned upon our right.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I confess the relief was great, as we had endured six days of incessant strain
+on our nerves, never knowing when a turn of the road might bring us to an
+impassable break, or when the conglomerate cliffs beetling above might shed a
+boulder or two upon us!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing the somewhat uninviting little village of Rampur, we crossed a torrent
+pouring out of a dark pine-clad gorge, and halted for tea by the curious ruined
+temple of Bhanyar. The building consists of a rectangular wall, cloistered on
+two sides of the interior and surrounding a small temple approached by a
+dilapidated flight of stone steps. I regret to be obliged to own that I know
+but a mere smattering of architecture. I do not feel competent therefore to
+discuss this, the first Kashmiri temple I have seen, upon its architectural
+merits. I only know that it struck me as being extremely small, and principally
+interesting from its magnificent background of shaggy forest and snow-capped
+mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tea on a short smooth sward, starred with yellow colchicum, while the carriage,
+travel-stained and with one step lacking, stood on the road hard by, and the
+horses nibbled invigorating lumps of &ldquo;gram&rdquo; and molasses. Then the
+etna was returned to the &ldquo;allo bagh&rdquo; (yellow bag) and the tea
+things to the tiffin basket, and away we went along the now smooth and level
+road with only fifteen easy miles between us and Baramula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The vegetation had gradually grown much richer. The sparse and storm-buffeted
+pines and the rough scrub merged into a tangled mass of undergrowth and forest,
+where silver firs and deodars rose conspicuous. The little streams that rushed
+down the hillsides were fringed with maidenhair fern, lighted up here and there
+with a bunch of pink primula or a tiny cluster of dog violets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jhelum had ceased from roaring, pursuing his placid path unwitting of the rush
+and fury that would befall him lower down, and by-and-by we emerged from the
+dark and forest-covered gorge into a wide basin where the river, now smooth and
+oily, reflected tall poplars and the red shoots of young dogwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Through a village, round a sweep to the left, over a tract said to be much
+frequented by serpents, and then in the deepening and chilly dusk we made out
+Baramula, lying engirdled by a belt of poplars about a mile away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Glad were we, and probably gladder still our weary horses, to draw up before
+the uninviting-looking dâk bungalow, knowing that only thirty-five miles of
+level and open road lay now between us and Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow of Baramula is, upon the whole, the worst we have yet sampled.
+No fire seemed able to impart any cheerfulness to the gloomy den we were shown
+into, and the dinner finally produced by the khansamah-kitmaghar-chowkidar (for
+a single tawny-bearded ruffian represented all these functionaries when the
+morning tip fell due) was not of an exhilarating nature. Strolling out to have
+a look at the town of Baramula, I shivered to see a heap of snow piled up
+against the wall. It snowed here, heavily, three days ago, I am told.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We have not been, so far, altogether lucky in the weather. Bitter cold in
+Europe, cold at Port Saïd and Suez, chilly in the Red Sea, and wet at Aden!
+Distinctly chilly in India, excepting during the day; we seem to have hit off
+the most backward spring known here for many years. The Murree route, which was
+closed to us by snow, should have been clear a month earlier, and spring here
+seems not yet to have begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>April</i> 5.&mdash;We crept shivering to our beds last night, to be awakened
+at 6 A.M. by an earthquake!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had just realised what the untoward commotion meant when I heard Jane from
+under her &ldquo;resai&rdquo; ask, &ldquo;What <i>is</i> the matter&mdash;is it
+an earthquake?&rdquo; Almost before I could reply, she was up and away, in a
+fearful hurry and very little else, towards the open country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I followed, but finding hoar-frost on the ground and a nipping eagerness in the
+air, I went back for a &ldquo;resai.&rdquo; The feeling was that of going into
+one&rsquo;s cabin in a breeze of wind, and the door was flapping about. Seizing
+the wrap in some haste, as I was afraid of the door jamming, I rejoined Jane in
+the open, to watch the poplars swaying like drunken men and the solid earth
+bulging unpleasantly. The shock lasted for three minutes, and when it seemed
+quite over we retired to our beds to try to get warm again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The morning at breakfast-time was perfectly beautiful. Baramula lay serenely
+mirrored in the silver waters of the Jhelum, its picturesque brown wooden
+houses clustering on both banks, and joining hands by means of a long brown
+wooden bridge. No signs of any unusual disturbance could be seen among the
+chattering crews of the snaky little boats and deep-laden &ldquo;doungas&rdquo;
+that lined the banks or furrowed the waters of the shining river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We left Baramula in high spirits to accomplish the five-and-thirty miles which
+still stretched between us and Srinagar. The scenery was quite different from
+anything we had yet known, for now we were in the broad flat valley of Kashmir,
+which stretches for some eighty miles from beyond Islamabad, on the N.E., to
+Baramula, planted at the neck where the Jhelum River, after spreading itself
+abroad through the fertile plain, concentrates to pour its many waters through
+the mountain barrier until it joins the Indus far away in Sind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A broad and level road stretched straight and white between a double row of
+stark poplars, reminding one of the poplar-guarded ways of Picardy; also (as in
+France) not only were the miles marked, but also the thirty-two subdivisions
+thereof. On the right hand the ground sloped slowly up in a succession of
+wooded heights, the foothills of the Pir Panjal, whose snow-crowned peaks
+enclose the Kashmir valley on the south. Opposite, through a maze of leafless
+trees, one caught occasional gleams of water where the winding reaches of the
+river flowed gently from the turquoise haze where lay the Wular Lake, and
+beyond&mdash;clear and pale in the clear, crisp air&mdash;shone a glorious
+range of snow mountains, stretching away past where we knew Srinagar must lie,
+to be lost in the distant haze where sky and mountain merged in the north-east.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the roadside we passed many small lakes, or &ldquo;jheels,&rdquo; full of
+duck, but as there was never any cover by the sides I could not see how the
+duck were to be approached.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We lunched at the fascinating little bungalow at Patan (pronounced
+&ldquo;Puttun&rdquo;), about half-way between Baramula and Srinagar. The Rest
+House stands back from an apparently extremely populous and thriving village,
+the inhabitants whereof were all engaged in conversation of a highly animated
+kind! In the compound stood a fine group of chenar trees (<i>Platanus
+orientalis</i>) whose noble trunks and graceful branches showed in striking
+contrast to the slender stems of the poplars. The guide-book informed us that
+an ancient temple lay in ruins near by, but we trusted to a later visit and
+determined to push on. By-and-by a fort-crowned hill rose above the tree-tops.
+This we took to be Hari Parbat, the ancient citadel of Srinagar, and presently,
+through the poplars and the willows queer wooden huts or châlets began to
+appear, and the increasing number of men and beasts upon the road showed the
+proximity of the city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ekkas, white-hooded, with jingling bells hung round the scraggy necks of their
+lean ponies; brown men clad in sort of night-shirts composed of mud-coloured
+rags; brown dogs, humpy cattle, and children innumerable, swarmed upon the
+causeway in ever-increasing density until we drew up at the custom-house, and
+the usual jabber took place among Sabz Ali, the driver, and the officials.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All appeared satisfactory, however, and we were presented with bits of brown
+paper scrawled over with hieroglyphics which we took to be passes, and drove
+on, leaving the native town apparently on our left and making a détour through
+level fields and between rows of poplars, until we swung round and crossed the
+river by a fine bridge. Here we first got some idea of the city of Srinagar,
+which lay spread around us, bisected by the broad, but apparently far from
+sluggish river, which seems here to be about the width of the Thames at
+Westminster at high water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tier upon tier, the rickety wooden houses crowded either bank, the prevailing
+brown being oddly lighted up by the roofs, which were frequently covered with
+deep green turf. Here and there the steep and peculiar dome of a Hindu temple
+flashed like polished silver in the keen sunlight, while around and beyond all
+rose the ring of the everlasting hills, their peaks clear, yet soft, against a
+background of cloudless blue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Close below us stood a remarkably picturesque pile of buildings, of a mixed
+style of architecture, yet harmonising well enough as a whole with its
+surroundings. Over it flew a great &ldquo;banner with a strange device,&rdquo;
+and we assumed (and rightly) that we looked upon the palace of His Highness Sir
+Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing the river, we dived into a bit of the native town, and were much
+struck by the want of colour as compared with an Indian street. Everything
+seemed steeped in the same neutral brown&mdash;houses, boats, people, and dogs!
+Emerging from the native street, with its open shop-fronts and teeming life, we
+drove for some little way along a straight level road, flanked, as usual, on
+either side by poplars of great size which ran through a brown, flat field,
+showing traces of recent snow, and finally finished our two-hundred-mile drive
+in front of the one and only hotel in all Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our two little chestnuts, which had brought us right through from Chakhoti to
+Srinagar&mdash;a distance of about seventy-eight miles&mdash;in two days, were
+as lively and fit as possible, and playfully nibbled at each other&rsquo;s
+noses as they were walked off to their well-earned rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ekka horses, too, had brought our heavy luggage all the way from Abbotabad
+over a shocking road in the most admirable manner, and we had every reason to
+congratulate ourselves on having entrusted the arrangement of the whole
+business&mdash;the &ldquo;bandobast&rdquo; in native parlance&mdash;to our
+henchman Sabz Ali, who had thus proved himself an energetic and trustworthy
+organiser, and saving financier to the extent of some twenty rupees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I may emphasise here the importance of keeping one&rsquo;s heavy baggage in
+sight, herding on the ekkas in front, if possible, and keeping a wary eye and a
+firm hand on the drivers at all halts. The Smithsons, who had sent on their
+gear from Rawal Pindi some days before we got there, did not receive it in
+Srinagar until the 22nd of April. It took about five weeks to do the journey,
+and the rifle which I was obliged to leave in Karachi on the 19th of March
+finally turned up in Srinagar, after an infuriating and vain expenditure of
+telegrams, on the 1st of May!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course, part of the delay was due, and all was attributed, to the unusually
+bad state of the roads. The heavy storms and floods which, by wrecking the
+road, had delayed us so much, naturally checked the heavy transport still more;
+and severe congestion of bullock-carts resulted at all the halting-places along
+the route. Still, the main cause of delay lies in the fact that the monopoly of
+transport has been granted by the Maharajah to one Danjibhoy, who charges what
+he pleases, and takes such time over his arrangements as suits his Oriental
+mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The motto over the Transport Office door might well be &ldquo;<i>Ohne
+Hast&mdash;mit Rast</i>!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other (much-cherished) monopoly in this favoured land is that enjoyed by
+Mr. Nedou, the owner of THE HOTEL in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were advised when at Lahore to approach Mr. Nedou (who winters in his branch
+there) with many salaams and much &ldquo;kow-towing,&rdquo; in order to make a
+certainty of being received into his select circle in Kashmir. The great man
+was quite kind, and promised that he would do his best for us; and he was as
+good as his word, as we were immediately welcomed and permitted to add two to
+the four persons already inhabiting the hostelry. I confess that, even after a
+dâk bungalow of the most inferior quality&mdash;such as that at Ghari
+Habibullah or Baramula&mdash;Mr. Nedou&rsquo;s hotel fails to impress one with
+an undue sense of luxury. In fact, it presented an even desolate and forlorn
+appearance with its gloomy and chilly passages and cheerless bed-vaults.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br/>
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+We learnt that the earthquake of this morning was far more than the ordinary
+affair that we had taken it to be. The hotel showed signs of a struggle for
+existence. Large cracks in the plaster, spanned by strips of paper gummed
+across to show if they widened, and little heaps of crumbled mortar on the
+floors, betrayed that the grip of mother earth had been no feeble one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Telegrams from Lahore inquired if the rumour was true that Srinagar had been
+much damaged, and reported an awful destruction and loss of life at Dharmsala.
+I think if we had fully known what an earthquake really meant, we should not
+have so calmly gone back to bed again!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The advent of Mrs. Smithson upon the scene relieved a certain anxiety which we
+had felt as to immediate plans. The idea of rushing into Astor had been given
+up, we found&mdash;not so much on account of our tardy arrival, permits being
+still obtainable, but on account of the impossibility&mdash;at any rate for
+ladies&mdash;of forcing the high passes which the late season has kept safely
+sealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Walter, having pawed the ground in feverish impatience for some days, had gone
+off into a region said to be full of bara singh; so we decided to possess our
+souls in patience for a little time, and remain quietly in Srinagar.
+Accordingly, instead of unpacking our &ldquo;detonating musquetoons,&rdquo; we
+exhumed our evening clothes, and began life in Srinagar with a cheerful dinner
+at the Residency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, April 7th</i>.&mdash;We are evidently somewhat premature here as far
+as climate goes. The weather since our arrival has become cold and grey, and we
+have seemed on the verge of another snowfall. However, the clerk of the weather
+has refrained from such an insult, contenting himself with sending a breeze
+down upon us fresh from the &ldquo;Roof of the World,&rdquo; and laden with the
+chilly moisture of the snows. We have consumed great quantities of wood, vainly
+endeavouring to warm up the den which Mr. Nedou has let to us as a
+sitting-room. Fires are not the fashion in the public rooms&mdash;probably
+because the only &ldquo;public&rdquo; besides ourselves consist of one or two
+enterprising sportsmen, who doubtless are acclimatising themselves to camp life
+amid the snows, and have implored the proprietor to save his fuel and keep the
+outer doors open.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday, we went on a shopping excursion down the river, our
+&ldquo;hansom&rdquo; being a long narrow sort of canoe, propelled and
+dexterously steered by four or five paddlers, whose mode of <i>digging</i>
+along by means of their heart-shaped blades reminded me not a little of the
+Kroo boys paddling a fish-canoe off Elmina on the Gold Coast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We embarked close to the back of the hotel, at the Chenar Bagh, and went gaily
+enough down the strong current of what we took to be an affluent of the Jhelum.
+As a matter of fact, the European quarter forms an island, low and perfectly
+flat, the banks of which are heaped into a high dyke or &ldquo;bund,&rdquo;
+washed on one side (the south) by the main river, and on the other by the
+Sunt-i-kul Canal, down which we have been paddling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river life was most fascinating&mdash;crowds of heavy doungas lay moored
+along the banks&mdash;their long, low bodies covered in by matting, and their
+extremities sloping up into long peaked platforms for the crew.
+These&mdash;many of them women and children&mdash;were all clothed in
+neutral-tinted gowns, the only bit of colour being an occasional note of red or
+white in the puggaree of the men or skull-cap of the children. The married
+women invariably wore whity-brown veils over the head. The wooden houses that
+lined the banks were all in the general low scheme of colour, but a peculiar
+charm was added by the roofs covered in thick, green turf.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Srinagar has been called the &ldquo;Venice of the East,&rdquo; and, inasmuch as
+waterways form the main thoroughfares in both, there is a certain resemblance.
+Shikaras (the Kashmiri canoes) are first-cousins to gondolas&mdash;rather poor
+relations perhaps; both are dingy and clumsy in appearance, and both are
+managed with an extraordinary dexterity by their navigators.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both cities are &ldquo;smelly,&rdquo; though Venice, even at its worst, stands
+many degrees above the incredible filth of Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally&mdash;both cities are within sight of snowy ranges; although it seems
+hardly fair to place in comparison the majestic range that overhangs Srinagar
+and the somewhat distant and sketchy view of the Alps as seen from Venice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, I think, all resemblance ceases. The charm of Venice lies in its
+architecture, its art treasures, its historical memories, and its interesting
+people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Srinagar has no architecture in particular, being but a picturesque chaos of
+tumble-down wooden shanties. It has no history worth speaking of, and its
+inhabitants are&mdash;and apparently have always been&mdash;a poor lot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shopping in Srinagar is not pure and unadulterated joy. Down the river, spanned
+by its seven bridges, amidst a network of foul-smelling alleys, you are dragged
+to the emporiums of the native merchants whose advertisements flare upon the
+river banks, and who, armed with cards, and possessed of a wonderful supply of
+the English language, swarm around the victim at every landing-place, and
+almost tear one another in pieces while striving to obtain your custom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Samad Shall, in a conspicuous hoarding, announces that he can&mdash;and
+will&mdash;supply you with anything you may desire, including money&mdash;for
+he proclaims himself to be a banker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ganymede, in his own opinion, is the only wood-carver worth attention.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suffering Moses is the prince of workers in lacquer, according to his own
+showing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The nose of the boat grates up against the slimy step of the landing-place, and
+you plunge forthwith into Babel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Will you come to my shop?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No&mdash;you are going somewhere else.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;After?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-day, master?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No&mdash;no time to-day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To-morrow, then&mdash;I got very naice kyriasity
+[curiosity]&mdash;to-morrow, master&mdash;what time?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh! get out! and leave me alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I send boat for you&mdash;ten o&rsquo;clock to-morrow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Twelve o&rsquo;clock?&rdquo; &amp;c. &amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a short experience of Kashmiri pertinacity and business methods, you
+cease from politeness and curtly threaten the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certainly the Kashmiri are exceedingly clever and excellent workers in many
+ways. Their modern embroideries (the old shawl manufacture is totally extinct)
+are beautiful and artistic. Their wood-carving, almost always executed in rich
+brown walnut, is excellent; and their <i>old</i> papier-mâché lacquer is very
+good. The tendency, however, is unfortunately to abandon their own admirable
+designs, and assimilate or copy Western ideas as conveyed in very doubtful
+taste by English visitors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The embroidery has perhaps kept its individuality the best, although the trail
+of the serpent as revealed in &ldquo;quaint&rdquo; Liberty or South Kensington
+designs is sometimes only too apparent. Certain plants&mdash;Lotus, Iris,
+Chenar leaf, and so-called Dal Lake leaves, as well as various designs taken
+from the old Kashmir shawls, give scope to the nimble brains and fingers of the
+embroiderers, who, by-the-bye, are all male.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their colours, almost invariably obtained from native dyes, are excellent, and
+they rarely make a mistake in taste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coarser work in wool on cushions, curtains, and thick white numdahs is most
+effective and cheap.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Curiously enough, the best of these numdahs (which make capital rugs or bath
+blankets) are made in Yarkand; and Stein, in his <i>Sand-Buried Cities of
+Kotan</i>, found in ancient documents, of the third century or so, &ldquo;the
+earliest mention of the felt-rugs or &lsquo;numdahs&rsquo; so familiar to
+Anglo-Indian use, which to this day form a special product of Kotan home
+industry, and of which large consignments are annually exported to Ladak and
+Kashmir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The manufacture of carpets is receiving attention, and Messrs. Mitchell own a
+large carpet factory. Designs and colours are good, but the prices are not low
+enough to enable them to compete with the cheap Indian makes; nor, I make bold
+to say, is the quality such as to justify high prices. The shop of Mohamed Jan
+is well worth a visit, for three good reasons&mdash;first, because his Oriental
+carpets from Penjdeh and Khiva are of the best; second, because his house is
+one of the first specimens of a high-class native dwelling existing; and third,
+because he never worries his customers nor touts for orders&mdash;but, then, he
+is a Persian, and not a Kashmiri!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The famous shawls which fetched such prices in England in early Victorian days
+are no longer valued, having suffered an eclipse similar to that undergone by
+the pictures of certain early Victorian Royal Academicians, and the loss of the
+shawl trade was a severe blow to Kashmir. With the exception of occasional
+specimens of these shawls, which, however, can be bought cheaper at sales in
+London, there are no <i>old</i> embroideries to be got.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wood-carving industry, too, is quite modern; but, although of great
+excellence and ingenuity in manipulation, it does not appeal to me, being too
+florid and copious in its application of design. A restless confusion of
+dragons from Leh, lotus from the Dal Lake, and the ever-present chenar leaf,
+hobnob together with British&mdash;very British&mdash;crests and monograms on
+the tops of tables and the seats of chairs&mdash;portions of the furniture that
+should be left severely plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+British taste is usually bad, and to it, and not to Kashmiri initiative, must
+be ascribed the production of such exotic works as bellows embellished with
+chaste designs of lotus-buds, and afternoon tea-tables flaunting coats-of-arms
+(doubtless dating from the Conquest), beautifully carved in high relief just
+where the tray&mdash;the bottom of which is probably ornamented with a flowing
+design of raised flowers&mdash;should rest!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lacquered papier-maché work&mdash;often extremely pretty when left to its
+own proper Cabul pattern or other native design&mdash;aims too often at
+attracting the eye of the mighty hunter by introducing an inappropriate
+markhor&rsquo;s head. The old lacquer-work is difficult to get, and, when
+obtained, is high in price; but comparison between the old and the new shows
+the gulf that lies between the loving and skilful labour of the artist and the
+stupid and generally &ldquo;scamped&rdquo; achievement of him who merely
+&ldquo;knocks off&rdquo; candlesticks and tobacco-boxes by the score, to sell
+to the English visitor&mdash;papier-maché being superseded by wood, and lacquer
+by paint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The workers in silver, copper, and brass are many, but their productions are
+usually rough and inartistic. Genuine old beaten metal-work is almost
+unobtainable, although occasionally desirable specimens from Leh do find their
+way into the Srinagar shops.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chinese porcelain is to be got, usually in the form of small bowls; but it is
+not of remarkably good quality, and the prices asked for it are higher than in
+London.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The jewellers&rsquo; work is very far behind that of India. Amethysts of pale
+colour and yellow topaz are cheap. Fine turquoise do not come into Kashmir, but
+plenty of the rough stones (as well as imitations) are to be found, which,
+owing to a transitory fashion, are priced far above their intrinsic value. They
+come from Thibet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A great deal of a somewhat soft and ugly-coloured jade is sent from Yarkand,
+also agates and carnelian; beads of these are strung into rather uncouth
+necklets, which may be bought for half the sum first asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bargaining is an invariable necessity in all shopping in Kashmir, as everywhere
+else in the East, where the market value of an article is not what it costs to
+produce, but what can be squeezed for it out of the purse of
+the&mdash;usually&mdash;ignorant purchaser.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three things are essential to the successful prosecution of shopping in
+Srinagar:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+(1) Unlimited time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+(2) A command of emphatic language, sufficient to impress the native mind with
+the need for keeping to the point.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+(3) A liver in such thorough working order as to insure an extraordinary supply
+of good temper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without all these attributes the acquisition of objects of &ldquo;bigotry and
+vertue&rdquo; in Srinagar is attended with pain and tribulation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The descent of the river is accomplished with ease and rapidity, but
+<i>revocare gradum</i> involves much hard paddling, with many pants and grunts;
+and it was both cold and dark when we again lay alongside the bank of the
+Chenar Bagh, and scurried up the slippery bund to the hotel, with scarcely time
+to dress for dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, 9th April</i>.&mdash;Friday was a horrible day&mdash;rainy, dull,
+and cold; but a thrill of excitement was sent through us by the news that
+Walter has shot two fine bara singh! Charlotte (who is nothing if not a keen
+sportswoman) was filled with zeal and the spirit of emulation, so we resolved
+to dash off down the river to Bandipur, join Walter&mdash;who has now
+presumably joined the ranks of the unemployed, being only permitted by the Game
+Laws to kill two stags&mdash;and take our pick of the remaining
+&ldquo;Royals,&rdquo; which, in our vivid imaginations, roamed in dense flocks
+through the nullahs beyond Bandipur!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All Friday and yesterday, therefore, were devoted to preparation. I had
+already, through the kindness of Major Wigram, secured a shikari, who
+immediately demonstrated his zeal and efficiency by purchasing a couple of
+bloodthirsty knives and a huge bottle of Rangoon oil at my expense. I pointed
+out that one &ldquo;skian-dhu&rdquo; seemed to me sufficient for
+&ldquo;gralloching&rdquo; purposes, but he said two were better for bears. My
+acquaintance with bears being hitherto confined to Regent&rsquo;s Park, I bowed
+to his superior knowledge and forethought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit to Cockburn&rsquo;s agency resulted in the hire of the &ldquo;boarded
+dounga&rdquo; <i>Cruiser</i>, which the helpful Mr. Cockburn procured for us,
+in which to go down the river; also a couple of tents for ourselves with tent
+furniture, one for the servants, and a cooking tent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The local bootmaker or &ldquo;chaplie-wallah&rdquo; appeared, as by magic, on
+the scene, and chaplies were ordered. These consist of a sort of leather sandal
+strapped over soft leather boots or moccasins. They are extremely comfortable
+for walking on ordinary ground, but perfectly useless for hill work, even when
+the soles are studded with nails. The hideous but necessary grass shoe is then
+your only wear. The grass shoe, which is made as required by the native, is an
+intricate contrivance of rice straw, kept in position by a straw twist which is
+hauled taut between the big and next toe, and the end expended round some of
+the side webbing. The cleft sock and woollen boot worn underneath keep the feet
+warm, but do not always prevent discomfort and even much pain if the cords are
+not properly adjusted. However, the remedy is simple. Tear off the shoe, using
+such language as may seem appropriate to the occasion, throw it at the
+shikari&rsquo;s head, and order another pair to be made &ldquo;ek dam&rdquo;!
+Jane and I each purchased a yakdan, a sort of roughly-made leather box or
+trunk, strong, and of suitable size for either pony or coolie transport. Our
+wardrobe was stowed in these and secured by padlocks, and the cooking gear,
+together with a certain amount of stores in the shape of grocery, bread, and a
+couple of bottles of whisky were safely housed in a pair of large covered
+creels or &ldquo;kiltas.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each of the party provided him or herself with a khudstick, consisting of a
+strong and tough shaft about five feet long, tapering slightly towards the
+base, where it is shod with a chisel-shaped iron end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our staff of retainers had now been brought up to five&mdash;the shikari, Ahmed
+Bot, having procured a satellite, known as the chota shikari, a youth of not
+unprepossessing appearance, but whose necessity in our scheme of existence I
+had not quite determined. Ahmed Bot, however, was of opinion that all sahibs
+who wanted sport required two shikaris, so I imagined that while I was to be
+engaged with one in pursuit of bara singh, the other would employ himself in
+&ldquo;rounding up&rdquo; a few tigers for the next day&rsquo;s sport in
+another direction. Ahmed Bot agreed with me in the main, but did not feel at
+all sure about the tigers&mdash;he proposed ibex.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fifth wheel to our coach was a strikingly ugly person, like a hippopotamus,
+whose plainness was not diminished by a pair of enormous goggles; this was the
+harmless necessary sweeper, that pariah among domestics, whose usefulness is
+undreamed of out of India.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner last night we left the hotel, truly thankful to shake the dust of
+its gloomy precincts from our feet, and sought our boats, which were moored in
+the Chenar Bagh. How snug and bright the &ldquo;ship&rdquo; seemed after the
+murky corridors of Nedou! And yet the <i>Cruiser</i> was not much to boast of,
+really, in the way of luxury.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let me describe a typical boarded dounga. Upon a long, low, flat-bottomed hull,
+which tapered to a sharp point at bow and stern, was raised a light wooden
+superstructure with a flat roof, upon which the passengers could sit. The
+interior was divided off into some half-a-dozen compartments, a vestibule or
+outer cabin held boxes, &amp;c., and through it one passed into the dining or
+parlour cabin, which opened again to two little bedrooms and a couple of
+bathrooms. There was no furniture to speak of, but we had hired from Cockburn
+all that we required for the trip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The servants, as well as the crew of the dounga, were all stowed in a
+&ldquo;tender&rdquo; known as the cook boat&mdash;no one, except for navigating
+duties, having any business on board the &ldquo;flagship.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Charlotte Smithson had a smaller ship than ours&mdash;a light wooden frame,
+which supported movable matting screens or curtains, taking the place of our
+wooden cabins. The matted dounga looked as though it might be chilly,
+particularly if a strong wind came to play among the rather draughty-looking
+mats which were all that our poor friend had between her and a cold world!
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br/>
+OUR FIRST CAMP</h2>
+
+<p>
+The fleet, consisting of four sail (I use this word in its purely conventional
+sense, a dounga having no more sails than a battleship), got under way about 5
+A.M., while it was yet but barely daylight, and so we were well clear of
+Srinagar when we emerged from our cosy cabins into a world of clean air and
+brilliant colour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The broad smooth current of the Jhelum flowed steadily and calmly through a
+level plain, bearing us along at a comfortable four miles an hour, the crew
+doing little more than keep steerage-way with pole and paddle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the green, tree-studded levels to the south, the range of the Pir Panjal
+spread wide its array of dazzling peaks, while on the right towered the
+mountains which enclose the Sind Valley, culminating in the square-headed mass
+of Haramok. In the clear air the snows seemed quite close, although we knew
+that the snow-line was really some three thousand feet above the level of the
+valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A day like this, as we sit on the little roof of our floating home watching the
+silent river unfold its shining curves, goes far to obliterate the memory of
+the fuss and worry inseparable from the exodus from Srinagar. After lunch we
+tied up for a while, and I took my gun on shore to try and pick up a few of the
+duck that dotted the waters of the little lakes or jheels which lay flashing
+amid the hillocks beyond the river banks. The shores of these being perfectly
+bare and open, it was obviously impossible to escape the keenly observant eyes
+of the duck, which appeared, unlike all other birds in Kashmir, to retain their
+customary wariness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crouching low amid the furrows of a newly-ploughed field, I sent the shikari
+with a knot of natives to the far side of the water, whence they advanced in
+open line, splashing and shouting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently, with much fuss and indignant quacking, a cloud of duck rose, and,
+circling after their fashion, as though reluctant to quit their resting-place,
+gave me several chances of a long shot before, working high into the air, they
+departed with loud expostulation to some quieter haunt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the afternoon we tied up to the bank for the night near a large jheel,
+where we all landed, Charlotte to try a rifle which she had borrowed, and I, if
+possible, to slay a few more duck, while Jane sat peacefully on a bank and
+enjoyed the glorious sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bag having been swelled by the addition of another dozen
+&ldquo;specimens&rdquo;&mdash;obtained by the same manoeuvres as
+before&mdash;we strolled back to our ships in the luminous dusk, visions of
+roast &ldquo;canard&rdquo; floating seductively before our mental vision.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There proved to be several varieties of duck among the countless flocks which I
+saw, notably mallard, teal, pochard, and shoveller. Likewise there were many
+coots, while herons, disturbed in their meditations by the untoward racket,
+flapped heavily away with disgusted squawks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane is getting along remarkably well with her Hindustani. I have just found
+her diary, and hasten to give an extract:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;Woke up very early; much bitten by pice. Tom started off to try and
+shoot a burra sahib, as he hears and hopes they&rsquo;ve not yet shed all their
+horns.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He really looked very nice in his new Pushtoo suit, with putty on his
+legs and chaplains on his feet…. His chickory walked in front, carrying his
+bandobast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;9 A.M.&mdash;Sat down to my solitary breakfast of poached ekkas and
+paysandu tonga, with excellent chuprassies (something like scones). After
+breakfast, tried on my new kilta, which I have had made quite short for
+walking. I generally prefer walking to being carried in a pagdandy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then took another lesson in Hindustani from my murghi, though I really
+think I hardly require it! My attention a good deal distracted by the antics of
+a pair of bul-buls (not at all the same as our coo-coos) in the jungle
+overhead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;7 P.M.&mdash;T. returned after what he called a blank blank day. He
+found some bheesties (one of them a chikor ram or wild ghât) chewing the khud
+on a precipitous dâk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They were rather far off, about a mile he thinks, but he couldn&rsquo;t
+get any nearer owing to a frightful ghari-wallah with deep piasses which lay
+between, so he put up his ornithoptic sight for 2000 yards and &lsquo;pumped
+lead&rsquo; into the bheesties for half-an-hour.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He says he <i>thinks</i> he hit one, but they all went away&mdash;as his
+chickory remarked&mdash;&lsquo;ek dam,&rsquo; and Tom agreed with him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He fell into a budmash on his way home and was half-drowned, but the
+chickory, assisted by a friendly chota-hazri, managed to pull him out … quite
+an eventful day!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;10 P.M.&mdash;The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in. It
+looks as if it had been dead for weeks, but the doolie, who found it, says that
+in this climate a few hours is sufficient to obliterate a body…. Anyhow the
+head and tail seem all right…. Tom says the proper thing to do is to measure
+something&mdash;he can&rsquo;t quite remember whether it is the horns or the
+tail, but the latter seems the more remarkable, so we measured that, and found
+it to be 3 feet 4 inches.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By a little judicious pulling, the chickory, who knows all about
+measuring things, elongated it to 4 feet 3 inches.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This, he says, is a &lsquo;<i>Record</i>&rsquo;&mdash;how nice!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+<i>Wednesday, April 12.</i>&mdash;The place where we tied up was not far from
+the point where the Jhelum expands into the Wular Lake&mdash;a broad expanse of
+water, some seven or eight miles wide in places, which holds the proud record
+of being the largest lake in all India.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mountains rise steeply from its northern shores, and from their narrow
+glens, squalls swift and strong are said frequently to sweep over the open
+water, particularly in the afternoons. The bold sailormen of Kashmir are not
+conspicuous for nautical daring&mdash;in fact their flat-bottomed arks,
+top-heavy and unwieldy, destitute alike of anchor and rudder, are not fit to
+cope with either wind or wave; they therefore aim at punting hurriedly across
+the danger space as soon after dawn as may be&mdash;panting with exertion and
+terror, they hustle across the smooth and waveless water, invoking at every
+breath the protection of local saints.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Long before we had left our beds, and blissfully unconscious of our awful
+danger, we were striking out for Bandipur, which haven we safely reached about
+8 A.M. on a still and glorious morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came the business of collecting coolies and ponies, and loading them up
+with the tents and lesser baggage under the direction of Sabz Ali and the
+shikari.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By nine o&rsquo;clock we were off. Charlotte and Jane, mounted astride a brace
+of native ponies, led the way, and, in ragged array, the rest of the procession
+followed. A quarter of a mile from the landing-place, clustered at the foot of
+a steep little hill&mdash;a spur from the higher ranges&mdash;lies the village
+of Bandipur, dirty and picturesque, with, its rickety-looking wooden houses,
+and its crowded little bazaar. It is a place of some importance in Kashmir,
+being the starting-point for the Astor country and Gilgit&mdash;and here the
+sahib on shikar bent, obtains coolies and ponies to take him over the Tragbal
+Pass into Gurais. A post and telegraph office stands proudly in the middle of
+the little village, and behind it lies a range of &ldquo;godowns&rdquo; filled
+with stores for the use of a flying column should the British Raj require to
+send troops quickly along the Gilgit road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing through into the open country, we found ourselves on a good
+road&mdash;good, that is to say, for riding or marching, as no roads in Kashmir
+are adapted for wheeled traffic excepting the main artery from Baramula to
+Srinagar, and the greater portion of the route from Srinagar to Gulmarg. This
+road we followed up a gradually narrowing valley, and over a brawling little
+river, until at Kralpura the Gilgit road begins the steep ascent to the Tragbal
+by a series of wide zigzags up the face of a mountain. The pass which we should
+have had to tackle, had we carried out our original intention of going into
+Astor for markhor and ibex, is nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, and is still
+securely and implacably closed to all but the hardiest sportsmen. A short cut,
+which we took up the hill face, led us through a rough scrub of berberis and
+wild daphne (the former just showing green and the latter in flower) until,
+somewhat scant of breath, we regained the road, and followed it to the left up
+a gorge. As the mountains closed in on either side, we began to look out for
+the camp, which we knew was not far up the nullah. Presently, turning off the
+Gilgit road, along a track to the left, we came upon Walter&mdash;bearded like
+the pard&mdash;a pard which had left off shaving for about a week. He was
+pensively sitting on a big sun-warmed boulder, beguiling the time while
+awaiting us by contemplating the antics of a large family of monkeys, which he
+pointed out to Jane, to her great joy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tender inquiries as to camp and consequent lunch revealed the sad fact that
+some miles of exceedingly rough path yet lay betwixt us and the haven where we
+would be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So we pricked forward, along a sort of cattle track, across dirty snow-filled
+little gullies, and over rock-strewn slopes, until the white gleam of
+Walter&rsquo;s tent showed clear on its perch atop of a flat-roofed native hut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing the stream which tumbled down the valley, by a somewhat
+&ldquo;wobbly&rdquo; bridge, and picking our way through the mixen which forms
+the approach to every well-appointed hut, we arrived upon the roof which
+supported the tent. This we achieved without any undue trouble, the building,
+like most &ldquo;gujar&rdquo; homes, being constructed on the side of a hill
+sufficiently steep to obviate the necessity for any back wall&mdash;the rear of
+the roof springing directly from the hillside. A Gujar village, owing to this
+peculiarity of construction, always looks oddly like a deposit of great
+half-open oysters clinging to the face of the hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a welcome lunch, the ladies both pronounced decidedly against remaining
+in or near the highly-scented precincts of the village. The argument that there
+was no flat ground excepting roofs to be seen was overruled; so Walter and I
+climbed a neighbouring ridge, and selected a site on the crest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not, certainly, a very good site for a camp, as it was so narrow that
+the unwary might easily step over the edge on either side, and toboggan
+gracefully either back on top of the aforesaid roof, or forward into a very
+rocky-bedded stream which employed its superfluous energy in tossing some
+frayed and battered logs from boulder to boulder, and which would have rejoiced
+greatly in doing the same to a fallen nestling from the eyry above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither was the ridge level, and our tents were pitched at such an angle that
+the slumberer whose grasp of the bed-head relaxed
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;In the mist and shadow of sleep&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+was brought to wakefulness by finding his toes gently sliding out into the
+nipping and eager air of night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The holding-ground for the tent-pegs was not all that could be desired, and
+visions of our tents spreading their wings in the gale and vanishing into space
+haunted us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No&mdash;it was not an ideal camping-ground, and Jane, whose rosy dreams of
+camping in Kashmir had pictured her little white canvas home set up in a
+flowery mead by the side of a purling brook, gazed upon the rugged slopes which
+rose around&mdash;the cold snow gleaming through the shaggy
+pine-trees&mdash;with a shiver and a distinct air of disapproval.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It grew more than chilly too, as the sun dipped early behind the ridge that
+rose jealous between us and the western light, and an icy breeze from the snow
+came stealing down the gorge and whispering among the taller tree-tops in the
+nullah at our feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were about 1500 feet above the Wular Lake, and snow lay in thick patches
+within a few yards of our tents, and had obviously only melted quite recently
+from the site of the camp, leaving more clammy mud about the place than we
+really required.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it is reasonable to suppose that the bilingual lady who composes the fashion
+columns of the <i>Daily Horror</i> is most anxious to know how the fair sex was
+accoutred at our dinner party that night, I hasten to inform her that Charlotte
+was gowned in an elegant confection of Puttoo of a simply indescribable nuance
+of <i>crême de boue</i>&mdash;the train, extremely décolletée at the lower end,
+cunningly revealing at every turn glimpses of an enchanting pair of frou-frou
+putties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The neat bottines, <i>à la</i> Diane Chasseresse, took a charming touch of
+lightness from the aluminium nails which decorated the &ldquo;uppers&rdquo;
+with a quaint and original Dravidian cornice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She carried a spring bouquet of wild onions <i>en branche</i>&mdash;ornaments
+(of course), diamonds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every one remarked that Jane was simply too lovely for words, as, with the
+sweet simplicity of an <i>ingénue, en combinaison</i> with the craft of a
+Machiavella (I beg to point out that I know my Italian genders), she draped her
+lissom form in the clinging folds of an enormous habit <i>de peau de
+brebis</i>&mdash;portions of ear and the tip of her nose tilted over the edge
+of the deep turned-up collar, which, on one side, supported the coquettish
+droop of the hairy &ldquo;Tammy&rdquo; that, dexterously pinned to the spikes
+of a diamond fender, gave a <i>clou</i> to the entire &ldquo;<i>sac
+d&rsquo;artifice</i>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Walter, having already shot two bara singh and a serow, came under the
+&ldquo;statute of limitations&rdquo; of the Kashmir Game Laws, and had to sound
+the &ldquo;cease firing&rdquo; as regards these animals; but Charlotte and I,
+having &ldquo;khubbar&rdquo; of game, started at 7 A.M. in pursuit. She,
+attended by Walter and in tow of Asna (the best shikari in all Kashmir),
+followed up the nullah which lay to our right, while I deflected to the north.
+Having donned grass shoes, I started off up a very steep slope which rose
+directly behind the camp. Reaching snow within a few minutes of leaving my
+tent, I was glad to find it hard and the going good, the early sun not yet
+having had time to soften and destroy the crisp surface.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up and up we toiled, I puffing like any grampus&mdash;partly by reason of not
+yet being in good condition, and partly on account of the height, which was
+probably nearly 9000 feet above sea level. As we rose to the shoulder of the
+hill the gradient became much easier, and I had leisure to admire the panorama
+that stretched around the snowy ridge, which fell away abruptly on either side
+through dense pine forests. The day was quite glorious…. The sun, blazing in a
+cloudless sky, cast sharp steel-blue shadows where rock or tree stood between
+the snow and his nobility. The white peaks that rose around in marvellous array
+seemed so near in the bright air that it seemed as though one could see the
+smallest creature moving on their distant slopes. But there was little life
+observable in this still and silent world&mdash;nothing but an occasional pair
+of crows flapping steadily over the woods, or a far vulture circling at a giddy
+height in the &ldquo;blue dome of the air.&rdquo; Silence everywhere, except
+for the distant and perpetual voice of many waters murmuring in the unseen
+depths below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the south&mdash;showing clear above the serrated back of the ridge beyond
+the camp&mdash;stood the Pir Panjal; pale ivory in the pale horizon below the
+sun. At the foot of the valley up which we had come yesterday, and partly
+screened by the intruding buttresses of its enfolding hills, the Wular Lake lay
+a shimmering shield of molten silver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In front, the sheeted mountains which guard Gurais and flank the icy portals of
+the Tragbal stood, a series of glistening slopes and cold-crowned precipices,
+while to the east Haramok reared his 17,000 feet into a threefold peak of snowy
+majesty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a sight to thank God for, and to remember with joy all the days of
+one&rsquo;s life. Doubtless there are many views as wonderful in this lovely
+land, but this was the first, and therefore not to be effaced nor its memory
+dimmed by anything that may come after.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shikari had not climbed the mountain&rsquo;s brow to waste time over
+scenery; so, having apparently gone as far as he wanted on the ridge, he
+plunged down among the silver firs to the right, and I, with my heart in my
+mouth, went after him. At first it seemed to the inexperienced that we were
+slithering down the most awful places, and that, should the snow give way, I
+should have to swiftly embrace the nearest tree to avoid being shot down, a
+human avalanche, farther than I cared to think. However, I soon found it was
+all right. A welcome halt for lunch brought the tiffin coolie to the front. A
+blanket spread upon the hard snow at the foot of a fir made an excellent seat,
+and a cold roast teal, an apple, and a small flask of whisky were soon exhumed
+from the basket. Water, or rather the want of it, was a difficulty, for I was
+uncommonly thirsty, and no sign of any water was to be seen. A judicious
+blending of the dry teal with bits of succulent apple overcame the drought, and
+the half-hour for refreshment passed all too quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men considered it now time to get up some &ldquo;shikar,&rdquo; so they
+invented a bear. This was exciting! They had separated (there were four of
+them) in search of traces of bara singh, &amp;c., and some one found the bear,
+or its den, or a lock of its wool&mdash;I really couldn&rsquo;t quite ascertain
+which&mdash;but fearful excitement was the immediate result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A consultation took place in frenzied whispers. My rifle was peeled from its
+case, and we proceeded to scramble stealthily down a horribly steep face much
+broken by rocks. The shikari being in front with my rifle over his shoulder, I
+was favoured with frequent glimpses down its ugly black barrel as I, like Jill,
+&ldquo;came tumbling after,&rdquo; and I rejoiced that all the cartridges were
+safely stowed in my own pocket. Well! we searched like conspirators for that
+bear, peeped round rocks and peered into holes, and anxiously eyed all possible
+and impossible places where a bear might be supposed to reside, but there was
+no bear; and at length we arrived on the bank of the torrent which rioted
+noisily down the bottom of the nullah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I now began to realise that plunging about in snow, often over one&rsquo;s
+knees, and scrambling among the fallen tree-trunks and great rocks selected by
+the torrent to make its bed, was distinctly tiring work!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we came to a bridge over the river. It consisted of a single log, and
+appeared extremely slender. The stream was not deep enough to drown a man, but,
+all the same, a slip, sending one into the foaming water among a particularly
+large and hard collection of boulders, seemed most undesirable, and I stepped
+across, like Agag, delicately, carefully balancing myself with a khudstick. The
+men came prancing over as if they were on a good high-road, the careless ease
+with which they made the passage bordering on impertinence! I reflected,
+however, that sheep, and such like beasts of humble brain, can stroll upon the
+brink of gruesome precipices without any fear of falling, and my self-respect
+returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After another half-hour of stiff scrambling I sat down to rest awhile, leaving
+the men to spy the neighbourhood. Of course they had to find something, so this
+time they found a &ldquo;serow&rdquo;&mdash;a somewhat scarce beast. I awaited
+the coming of the serow at various coigns of vantage where they said it was
+bound to pass, while the four men surrounded it from different directions.
+Finally, like the Levite, it passed by on the other side&mdash;at least I never
+saw it. The shikari afterwards informed me, in confidence, that it was, like
+the inexcusable baby in <i>Peter Simple</i>, &ldquo;a very little one.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We now made the best of our way down the nullah, and when an apology for a path
+became apparent I rejoiced greatly, and followed it along its corkscrew course
+until the camp came suddenly into view as we topped a spur, which gave the path
+a final excuse for dragging me up a stiff two hundred feet, and then sending me
+down a knee-shaking descent, for no apparent reason but pure
+&ldquo;cussedness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Charlotte had got home just before me, having seen nothing to shoot at. She,
+too, seemed anxious for tea!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the day Sabz Ali had been doing his level best to improve the position
+in our sleeping-tent. The camp-beds had stood at such an angle that it was
+almost impossible to avoid sliding gradually into the outer darkness, but S.A.
+had scraped out earth from the head, and filled up a terrace at the foot, in a
+way which gave us hope of sound sleep. Our things had been carefully stowed,
+too, and a sort of hole scooped for the bath. Luxury stared us in the face!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sunset certainly was a little dull last night, but we were quite unprepared
+for the dreary aspect of Dame Nature to which we awoke this morning. It was
+raining very heavily, and a dense pall of mist hung low among the pines, giving
+an impression of melancholy durability.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was obviously nothing to do but exist as cheerfully as might be until the
+weather improved. The wet had shrunk canvas and rope gear till the tent-guys
+were as taut as fiddle-strings; and as it did not seem to have occurred to any
+of the servants to attend to this, an immediate tour of the camp had to be
+undertaken, in &ldquo;rubbers&rdquo; and waterproofs, to slack off guys and
+inspect the drainage system, as we had no wish to have our earthen
+floor&mdash;already sufficiently cold and clammy&mdash;turned into an absolute
+swamp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These things done, we scuttled and slid down to the mess tent, and breakfasted
+as best we might; and the best was surprisingly good, considering the
+difficulties the wretched servants must have had in cooking anything in their
+wet lair, where the miserable fire of damp sticks produced apparently little
+but acrid smoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed a dismal day, as, wrapped in our warmest clothes, we sat upon our
+beds watching the rain turn to snow, then to hail and sleet, and finally back
+to rain again; while the ever-changing wisps of grey mist gathered thick in the
+glens, or &ldquo;put forth an arm and crept from pine to pine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards evening the clouds broke a little, and the forest-clad steeps appeared
+through them, powdered thickly with new snow. Walter and I sallied forth from
+our sodden tents and held a council of war in the mud. It was decided to quit
+our somewhat unsatisfactory and precarious position early to-morrow, if fine,
+as the weather looked so nasty, and a squall of wind might have awkward
+consequences.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, April</i> 14.&mdash;A very fairly fine morning enabled us to strike
+camp yesterday, and get the baggage off in good time. The Smithsons decided to
+make for the jheels near the river, in order to give the duck a final worry
+round before the season closes on the 15th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My shikari having reported a good bara singh in a small nullah off the Erin, I
+arranged to go in search of him. The march down to Bandipur was a short and
+easy one, and we got comfortably settled on board our boats early in the
+afternoon. About sunset the clouds gathered thick over the hills which we had
+left, and a thunderstorm broke, its preliminary squall throwing the crews of
+our fleet into a fearful fuss, and sending them on to the bank with extra ropes
+and holdfasts to make all secure. An elderly lady, with a dirty red cap and
+very untidy ringlets, superintended the business with much clamour. We take her
+to be the wife or grandmother (not sure which) of the skipper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was with an undoubted sense of solid comfort that we lay in our cosy beds
+under a wooden roof, whereon the fat rain-drops sputtered, while the thunder
+still crackled and banged in the distance!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We shifted before dawn to a small village a couple of miles to the east, and at
+6.30 Jane and I set out to attack the bara singh, of which the shikari held out
+high hope. My wife, mounted on a rough pony, was able to accomplish with great
+comfort the two miles of flat country which we had to traverse before turning
+off sharp to the right along a track which led steeply upwards through the
+scrub that clothed the lower part of the nullah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is something unusually charming in the dawn here&mdash;the crisp, buoyant
+air, the silent hills, their lower slopes and corries still a purple mystery;
+on high, the silver peaks&mdash;looking ridiculously close&mdash;change swiftly
+from their cold pallor into rosy life at the first touch of the risen sun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first part of our day&rsquo;s work was easy enough. The sun was still
+hidden from us behind the mountain flange on our left; the snow patches on the
+sky-line ahead seemed comparatively near, and the diabolical swiftness of the
+shikari&rsquo;s stealthy walk was yet to be fully realised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up and up we went, first through a thick scrub or jungle of a highly prickly
+description, over a few small streams, then out upon a grassy ridge, up which
+we slowly panted. The gradient became sharper, and I began to feel a little
+anxious about Jane, as the short, brown grass was slippery with frost&mdash;a
+slip would be very easy, and the results unpleasant. However, with the able
+assistance of the shikari, she did very well, and, having crossed a shelving
+patch of snow by cutting steps with our khudstick, we found ourselves, after an
+hour and a half&rsquo;s stiff climbing, on the sky-line of the ridge that had
+seemed but an easy stroll from below. The heights and distances are most
+deceptive, partly on account of the crystal clearness of the air, and partly
+because of the magnitude of everything in proportion. The mountains are not
+only high themselves, but their spurs and foothills would rank as able-bodied
+mountains were they not dwarfed by peaks which average 15,000 feet in height
+above the sea. The pines which clothe their sides, the chenars and poplars in
+the valley, are all enormous when compared with their European cousins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The view was most remarkable as we gained the crest of the ridge&mdash;a sea of
+white cloud came boiling up from the valley to the east, and, pouring over the
+saddle upon which we stood, gave only occasional glimpses of snow and pine and
+precipice above, or the glint of water in the rice-fields far below. Once,
+between the swirling cloud masses, the near hills lay clear in the sunshine for
+a few moments and revealed a party of five bara singh hinds, crossing the slope
+in front of us, and not more than 150 yards away. Alas! there was no stag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was not satisfactory weather for stalking. However I was hopeful, as I
+have noticed that in the fine forenoons a thick white belt of cloud often forms
+about the snow level&mdash;roughly, some 8000 feet above the sea, or 3000 above
+the Wular Lake&mdash;and hangs there for an hour or two, to disappear entirely
+by midday. And so it came about to-day; after a halt for tiffin, I set forward
+in brilliant sunshine, while Jane remained quietly perched on the hillside, as
+the shikari said the road was not good for a lady. The shikari was right, as,
+within ten minutes of starting, we had to drop from the crest of the ridge to
+circumvent a big rock which barred our way, to find ourselves confronted by a
+very unpleasant-looking slope of short brown grass, which fell away at an angle
+of about 50° to what seemed an endless depth. This grass, having only just
+become emancipated from its winter snow, had all its hair&mdash;so to
+speak&mdash;brushed straight down, and there was mighty little stuff to hold on
+to! Carefully digging little holes with our khudsticks, and not disdaining the
+help of my shikari, I got across, and thankfully scrambled back to the safety
+of the ridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now we reached snow, and the going became easier, whereupon Ahmed Bot promptly
+set a pace which left me struggling far behind. As the sun grew stronger the
+surface-crust of the snow became soft, and at every few steps one went through
+to the knees, until both muscles and temper became sorely tried. For an hour or
+so we kept climbing up what was evidently one of the many steep and rugged
+ranges which, radiating from Haramok, on this side flank the Wular with their
+lofty bastions. Having apparently attained the height he deemed necessary, and
+got well above the part of the pine forest in which he expected to find game,
+Ahmed Bot turned to the left of the ridge, and we were immediately involved in
+the deep drifts which covered the pine-clad slope of the nullah. Over
+snow-covered trunks of prostrate trees, over hidden holes and broken rocks, we
+toiled and scrambled until, emerging breathless on a bare knoll&mdash;smooth
+and white as a great wedding-cake&mdash;we obtained a searching view into the
+neighbouring gullies. Still no sign or track of any &ldquo;beast,&rdquo; so we
+worked back until, tired and hot, I regained the place where Madame lay basking
+beneath her sunshade. The shikari and his myrmidons departed to
+&ldquo;look&rdquo; another bit of country, while I, nothing loth, remained to
+await events in the neighbourhood of the refreshment department.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the return of the men, who had of course seen nothing, we set off for home,
+climbing down the edge of the ridge where yellow colchicum starred the turf. It
+was steep&mdash;verging on the precipitous in places&mdash;and Jane frankly
+expressed her satisfaction when we accomplished the worst part and entered a
+dense jungle of scrubby bushes, all of which seemed to grow spines of sorts. A
+bear was said to have been seen here yesterday, so we kept our weather eyelids
+lifting, but were not favoured with a sight of him. We had almost gained the
+bottom of the hill, with but two short miles to dinner and a tub, when weird
+shrieks and whistles were exchanged between our people and an excited villager
+below. The shikari, his eyes gleaming with uncontrollable excitement, announced
+that the &ldquo;big stag&rdquo; was waiting for me at that very
+moment!&mdash;and therewith Ahmed Bot dashed off down the hill, leaving me to
+follow as best I might. Leaving my wife in charge of the tiffin coolie, I
+tumbled off after the shikari, whom I found gloating with the messenger over
+the inspiriting particulars of the monarch of the glen, which, I understood,
+crouched expectant some paltry 2000 feet above us, near the top of the nullah!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was past six o&rsquo;clock, and the light already showing signs of waning,
+so we lost no time in attacking the hill again. I was pretty well
+&ldquo;done,&rdquo; and had to accept a tow from the shikari, and hand in hand
+we pressed up that accursed hill until, at seven o&rsquo;clock, the sun set and
+it began to grow dusk. Lying down near the edge of the snow, to gain breath and
+let the shikari crawl round and &ldquo;look&rdquo; the face of the hill, I was
+soon moved to activity by the news that the stag was lying under a pine tree
+within a few hundred yards. A short &ldquo;crawl&rdquo; brought me within sight
+of the beast, who lay half-hidden by a rock. It was now so dark that even with
+my glasses I could only make sure that it was a &ldquo;horn beast&rdquo; and
+not a hind; there was no time to lose, so, putting up my sight for 150 yards, I
+let him have it, and was nearly as much surprised as gratified to see him roll
+out on the snow to the shot. My vexation and disgust may be imagined when I
+found the noble beast to be a miserable 8-pointer, which I would never have
+fired at if I could have seen its head properly. Heartily consigning the
+shikari, together with the mendacious villager and all his kind, to a hot
+place, I dolefully stumbled away downhill again in the gathering dark, and
+finally deposited my weary and dejected self on board the boat, after fourteen
+hours of the hardest walking I have ever done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a confused tale prevalent that the bear, taking a mean advantage of my
+absence, has been down to the village and eaten a few ponies, or frightened
+them&mdash;I can&rsquo;t make out which.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br/>
+BACK TO SRINAGAR</h2>
+
+<p>
+Easter Day, <i>April</i> 23.&mdash;We left the Erin district early in the
+morning following the bara singh fiasco, and punted and poled up the river to
+join the Smithsons in a last attack upon the duck. We found the bold Colonel,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Rough with slaughter and red with fight,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+enjoying himself hugely among the jheels, and we prepared to join in the fray;
+but our <i>chasse</i> was put an end to by the discovery that the 14th, and not
+the 15th, was the last legal day for shooting. So we packed away our guns and
+towed up to Srinagar, which we reached on Sunday afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our brief experience of camping and &ldquo;shikar&rdquo; had proved to my wife
+that she was not cast in the heroic mould of a female Nimrod. Not being a shot
+herself&mdash;as Charlotte is&mdash;she saw that, as far as she was concerned,
+a shooting expedition with the Smithsons would entail a great deal of solitary
+rumination in camp, while the rest of the party pursued the red bear to his
+den, or chased the nimble markhor up and down the precipices. The joys of
+reading, knitting, and washing the family clothes might&mdash;probably
+would&mdash;pall after a time; and the physical exertion of &ldquo;walking with
+the guns&rdquo; in Kashmir is decidedly more of an undertaking than over a
+Perthshire grouse moor! Our original arrangement, before coming out to join the
+Smithsons, was that the time should be spent in camping, boating,
+&ldquo;loafing,&rdquo; and shooting. Being perfectly ignorant of the conditions
+of life out here, we were unaware of the fact that it is practically impossible
+to combine serious shooting with any other form of amusement. In Scotland one
+may stalk one day, fish the next, and golf the third, but out here it is not
+so. The worshipper of Diana must be prepared to sacrifice everything else at
+her shrine; he must go far afield, and be prepared to live hard and work hard,
+and even then it may befall that his trophies of the chase are none too
+plentiful. That will depend a good deal on his shikari and his own knowledge,
+together with luck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Walter had the good fortune to come upon two fine stags not far from his camp
+almost as soon as he got there. He was within fifty yards of them as they were
+moving slowly in deep snow, and he killed them both; the best of these was a
+remarkably fine 10-pointer, length of horn 41 inches and span 38-1/2 inches.
+His wife spent an equal time in the same neighbourhood and never saw
+anything.[1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] That lady subsequently killed a remarkably good 13-pointer bara singh and
+some bears in October.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we talked over plans with Colonel and Mrs. Smithson at Pindi, the general
+idea had crystallised into a scheme for going into Astor to shoot, immediately
+upon our arrival in Kashmir, and, in order to reach Srinagar before April
+1st&mdash;the date of issue of shooting passes&mdash;we had struggled hard to
+make our way into the country before it was really attractive to the ordinary
+visitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we did reach Srinagar we found that our friends had abandoned all idea of
+an expedition to Astor, partly on account of expense, but principally on
+account of the backwardness of the season, which practically precluded ladies
+from crossing the Tragbal and Boorzil Passes for some time. The merits and
+demerits of the Tilail district and Baltistan came up for review, and then we
+almost decided to go to Leh until we reflected that the return journey over a
+bare and open country&mdash;arid and hot as an Egyptian desert&mdash;in the
+month of August might not be unmixed joy, and the Smithsons were assured that
+they would find no sport whatever <i>en route</i>, but would have to go several
+marches beyond Leh to obtain the chance of an Ovis Ammon or Thibetan antelope.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Leh scheme thus having come to naught, and our friends being still wholly
+intent on &ldquo;shikar&rdquo; to the exclusion of all other pursuits, we
+decided to be independent, so we hired a nice-looking boarded dounga, whose
+fresh and clean appearance pleased us, for a term of three months.
+Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel offered so few attractions and so many drawbacks that we
+were prepared to do anything rather than return to it, and, as a matter of
+economy, we scored heavily, as, on working it out, we found that the boat,
+including the cook-boat, would cost 60 rupees per month. Our food and the wages
+of those servants whom we should not have required at the hotel came to
+approximately 80 rupees per month, making a total of 140 rupees, or £9, 6s.
+8d.; whereas our hotel bill would have come to 12 rupees per day, without
+extras&mdash;or 360 rupees (£24) per month&mdash;a clear saving in money as
+well as in comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our new habitation&mdash;the house dounga <i>Moon</i>&mdash;was owned and
+partly worked by Satarah, an astute old rascal, whose &ldquo;tawny
+beard,&rdquo; like Hudibras&rsquo;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Was the equal grace<br/>
+Both of his wisdom and his face;<br/>
+In cut and dye so like a tyle<br/>
+A sudden view it would beguile:<br/>
+The upper part whereof was whey,<br/>
+The nether orange mixt with grey.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His costume consisted of a curious sort of short nightgown worn over white and
+flappy trousers, below which were revealed a pair of big, flat naval feet. The
+first lieutenant, Sabhana&mdash;sleek and civil-spoken, but desperately afraid
+of work&mdash;was, we understand, son-in-law to the Admiral Satarah, having to
+wife the Lady Jiggry, eldest daughter of that worthy, who, with her younger
+sisters Nouri, Azizi, and &ldquo;the Baba,&rdquo; completed the ship&rsquo;s
+company.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <i>Moon</i> differed from an ordinary house-boat in being narrower, and
+possessing a long bow and stern which projected far enough from the body of the
+boat to enable men to pole or paddle with ease; a house-boat can only be towed.
+On embarking by means of a narrow gangway&mdash;a plank possessed of an
+uncontrollable desire to &ldquo;tip-up&rdquo; at unexpected and disconcerting
+moments&mdash;one entered first a small vestibule, or &ldquo;ante-cabin,&rdquo;
+which held our big boxes and opened into the drawing-room&mdash;quite a roomy
+apartment, about fifteen feet by ten feet, fitted with a fireplace, a rough
+writing-table, and overmantel, surmounted by a photograph&mdash;something
+faded&mdash;of Mrs. Langtry! A small table and a couple of deck chairs graced
+the floor, while upon the walls a heterogeneous collection of pictures,
+including a coloured lithograph of a cottage and a brook, a fearful and
+wonderful portrayal of an otter, and a very fancy stag of unlimited points
+dazzled the eye. The ceiling was decorated with an elaborate and most effective
+design in wood&mdash;a fashion very common in Srinagar, consisting of a sort of
+patchwork panelling of small pieces of wood, cut to length and shape, and
+tacked on to a backing in geometrical designs. At a little distance the effect
+is rich and excellent, but close inspection shows up the tintacks and the glue,
+and a prying finger penetrates the solid-looking panel with perfect ease.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The drawing-room was separated from the dining &ldquo;saloon&rdquo; by a
+sliding door&mdash;which frequently refused to slide at all, or else perversely
+slid so suddenly as to endanger finger-tips and cause unseemly words to flow.
+This noble apartment of elegant dimensions (to borrow the undefiled English of
+the house-agent) could contain four feasters at a pinch. Sabz Ali having cooked
+the dinner, the cook-boat was laid alongside, and Sabz Ali, clambering in and
+out of the window, proceeded to serve the repast, a black paw, presumably
+belonging to Ayata, the kitchenmaid-man, appearing from time to time to
+retrieve the soiled plates or hand up the next course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A funny little sideboard and cupboard contained a slender stock of knives,
+forks, and glasses, and part of a broken-down dinner set, while the fireplace
+easily held three dozen of soda-water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came Jane&rsquo;s bedroom, fitted with a cupboard and shelves, which were
+a constant source of covetousness to me, who had none. A small bathroom
+completed our suite of apartments, and, after the bare boards of the
+<i>Cruiser</i>, the <i>Moon</i> seemed to overflow with luxury.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We have been taking life easily here for the last week. The Smithsons intend
+going into Tilail as soon as the Tragbal becomes feasible; we propose to remain
+in Srinagar for a while. The weather has not been very fine&mdash;cold winds
+and a good deal of rain, varied by thunderstorms, being our daily experience.
+The spring is, I am told, exceptionally backward, and, although the almond is
+in full and lovely flower, the poplars and chenars are barely showing a sign of
+life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My wife having gone to lunch at the Residency this afternoon, I walked half-way
+up the Takht-i-Suleiman, whose sharp, rock-strewn pyramid rises a thousand feet
+above Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The view of the Kashmir plain, through which the river winds like a silver
+snake; the solemn ring of mountains, enclosing the valley with a rampart of
+rock and snow; the innumerable roofs of the city, glittering like burnished
+scales in the keen sunlight, densely clustered round the fort-crowned height of
+Hari Parbat, went to make up such a picture as Turner would have kneeled to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course it is simply futile to compare one magnificent view with another
+which differs entirely in kind. All that one can do is to lay by in the memory
+a mental picture-gallery of recollection; and as I sat in the shelter of a big
+rock, gazing out over the level plain stretching below, where the changing
+shadows as they swept by turned the amber masses of the trees to gold, I
+conjured up in my mind&rsquo;s eye other scenes whose beauties will remain with
+me while life shall last:&mdash;The purple and gold of a glorious sunset over
+Etna, the Greek theatre of Taormina in front of me, with the sea below&mdash;a
+shimmering opal that melted away in the haze beyond Syracuse; the awful rapids
+raging furiously below Niagara, a very ocean tortured and maddened to blind
+fury, pouring its irresistible torrents through the chasm above the whirlpool;
+and again, a cloudless October morning, with just the keen zest of early autumn
+in the air, as I lay high up on a hillside in Ardgour watching for
+deer&mdash;with the hills of Lochaber and Ballachulish reflected in all their
+glory of purple and russet in the waters of Loch Linnhe, windless and still!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chills can be caught amidst the most glorious scenery&mdash;the little tufts of
+purple self-heal at my feet were shivering and shaking in a biting breeze that
+swept down from the snows to the north-east, and although I am an admirer of
+Kingsley, I do not hold with him in his wrong-headed admiration for a
+&ldquo;nor&rsquo;-easter&rdquo;&mdash;so I quitted my perch in search of tea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Easter Monday</i>.&mdash;The Smithsons scuttled away in a great hurry
+to-day, their shikari, Asna (the best shikari in Kashmir), having heard that,
+owing to the lateness of the season, the bara singh have not even yet all shed
+their horns&mdash;so Charlotte is filled with high hope. The bears, too, are
+said to be waking from their winter&rsquo;s doze and poking around in warm and
+balmy corners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Armed to the teeth and thirsting for blood, the hunter and the huntress cast
+loose their matted dounga and paddled away merrily down the Jhelum to Bandipur,
+thence to pursue the royal bara singh, and later, if possible, scale the
+snow-barred slopes of the Tragbal and penetrate the lonely Tilail Valley to
+assail the red bear and the multitudinous ibex.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and I having decided that a purely shikar expedition into the more
+difficult parts of the country was not suited to our prosaic habits, remained
+to enjoy the effeminate pleasures of Srinagar till the weather should grow a
+few degrees warmer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we are bidden to a sort of state luncheon to-morrow, given by the Maharajah,
+it appeared to me to be but right and seemly to go and inscribe my name in the
+visitors&rsquo; book of His Highness, and also to call upon his brother, the
+Rajah Sir Amar Singh. I went with the more alacrity as I thought it might prove
+interesting. Strolling across the big bridge above the Palace, I soon found
+myself in the purely native quarter, immersed in a seething crowd of men and
+beasts, from beneath whose passing feet a cloud of dust rose pungent. The
+water-sellers, the hawkers of vegetables and of sweets, the cattle, the loafers
+and the children got into the way and out of it in kaleidoscopic confusion. By
+the side of the street, money-changers, wrapped in silent consideration, bent
+over their trays of queer and outlandish coins. Bright cottons and silks
+flaunted pennons of gorgeous colours. Brass, glowing like gold, rose piled on
+low wide counters. In front stood the Palace, looking its best from this point,
+and showing huge beside the huddle of wooden and plaster huts which hem it in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+General Raja Sir Amar Singh lives in a sort of glorified English villa. Were it
+not for the flowering oleanders and hibiscus in front and the silvery gleam of
+temple domes beyond, one might suppose oneself near the banks of Father Thames.
+And were it not for the group of stalwart retainers at the door, the illusion
+need not be lost on entering the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hall and staircase were decorated with a profusion of skins and horns,
+somewhat modern and brilliant rugs, and tall glasses full of flowers closely
+copied from Nature; while the drawing-room was of a type very frequently seen
+near London.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Like so many British reception-rooms, it shone replete with <i>objets
+d&rsquo;art</i>, rather inclining to Oriental luxury than Japanese restraint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My host, who came in almost immediately, was charming, speaking English with
+fluency, although he has never been in England.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He is essentially a strong man, and remarkably well posted in everything, both
+political and social, that occurs in the state, mixing far more freely than his
+brother with the English, towards whom his courtesy is proverbial.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many respects of a
+different type. Keeping more aloof from the English colony, he spends much of
+his time in devotion and the privacy of the inner Palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the iron
+bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like precincts of
+the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage, and found ourselves
+at the &ldquo;front door,&rdquo; where, in the visitors&rsquo; book, by means
+of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>April</i> 27.&mdash;His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a
+luncheon given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared
+to cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the present
+feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of the Moguls when
+Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair Nourmahal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Th&rsquo; Imperial Selim held a feast<br/>
+In his magnificent Shalimar:&mdash;<br/>
+In whose saloons …<br/>
+The valleys&rsquo; loveliest all assembled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the stern,
+where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an awning, was
+brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some seven or eight
+miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the Sunt-i-kul
+Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the Takht-i-Suleiman, the
+rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple, forms a constant background to
+Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The canal was closely lined with house-boats and their satellite cook-boats,
+clinging to the poplar-shaded banks. The golf-links lay on our left, and on a
+low spur to the right stood the hospital, which the energy and philanthropy of
+the Neves has gained for the remarkably ungrateful Kashmiri. It is told that a
+man, being exceedingly ill, was cared for and nursed during many weeks in the
+Mission Hospital, his whole family likewise living on the kindly sahibs. When
+he was cured and shown the door, he burst into tears because he was not paid
+wages for all the time he had spent in hospital!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just before entering the waterway of noble chenars, known as the Chenar Bagh (a
+camping-ground reserved for bachelors only), we ported our helm (or at least
+would have done so had there been any rudders in Kashmir), and pushed through
+the lock-gate, which gives entrance to the Dal Lake, against a brisk current.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This gate, cunningly arranged upon the non-return-valve principle, is normally
+kept open by the current from the Dal; but if the Jhelum, rising in flood,
+threatens to pour back into the lake and swamp the low ground and floating
+gardens, it closes automatically, and so remains sealed until the outward flow
+regains the mastery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A sharp bout of paddling, puffing, and splashing shot us into the peaceful
+waters of the Dal Lake, over which every traveller has gushed and raved. It is
+difficult, indeed, not to do so, for it is truly a dream of beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A placid sheet of still water, its surface only broken here and there by the
+silvery trails of rippled wake left by the darting shikaras or slow-moving
+market boats, lay before us, shining in the crystal-clear atmosphere. On the
+right rose the Takht, his thousand feet of rocky stature dwarfed into
+insignificance by holy Mahadeo and his peers, whose shattered peaks ring round
+the lake to the north, their dark cliffs and shaggy steeps mirrored in its
+peaceful surface.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the lower slopes strong patches of yellow mustard and white masses of
+blossoming pear-trees rose behind the tender green fringe of the young willows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we swept on, the lake widened. On the left a network of water lanes threaded
+the maze of low-growing brushwood and whispering reeds, and round us extended
+the half-submerged patches of soil which form the celebrated &ldquo;floating
+gardens&rdquo; of the lake. From any point of view except the utilitarian,
+these gardens are a fraud. A combination of matted and decaying water-plants,
+mud, and young cabbages kept in place by rows and thickets of willow scrub, is
+curious, but not lovely; and our eyes turned away to where Hari Parbat raised
+his crown of crumbling forts above the native city, or to the mysterious ruins
+of Peri Mahal, clinging like a swallow&rsquo;s nest to the shelving slopes
+above Gupkar.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Still onward; and the clear canal<br/>
+Is rounded to as clear a lake;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and we emerged from the willow-fringed water lanes, and saw across the wider
+shield of glistering water the white cube of the Nishat Bagh Pavilion&mdash;the
+Garden of Joy, made for Jehangir the Mogul&mdash;standing by the water&rsquo;s
+edge, and at its foot a great throng and clutter of boats, amidst whose snaky
+prows we pushed our way and landed, something stiff after sitting for two hours
+in a cramped shikara.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Other guests&mdash;some thirty in all&mdash;were arriving, either like us by
+boat, or by carriage <i>viâ</i> Gupkar, and we strolled in groups up the
+sloping gardens, which still show, in their wild and unrestrained beauty, the
+loving touch of the long-vanished hand of the Mogul.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down seven wide grassy terraces a series of fountains splashed and twinkled in
+the sun. Broad chenars, just beginning to break into leaf, gave promise of
+ample shade against the day when the blaze should become overpowering. So far
+so good, but the grass that bordered the path was not the sweet green turf of
+an English lawn, and the way was edged by big earthen pots, into which were
+hastily stuck wisps of iris blooms and Persian lilac. The topmost terrace
+widened out, enclosing a large basin of clear water, in the middle of which
+played a fountain. On one side was raised a marquee, revealing welcome
+preparations for lunch. On the opposite side of the fountain a profusion of
+chairs, shaded by a great awning, stood expectantly facing a bandstand. Here we
+were welcomed by His Highness, a somewhat small man with exceedingly neat legs
+and an enormous white pugaree, in his customary gracious manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was now half-past two, and we had breakfasted early, so that a move towards
+the luncheon tent was most welcome. Finding the fair lady whom I was detailed
+to personally conduct, and the ticketed place where I was to sit, I prepared to
+make a Gargantuan meal. Was it not almost on this very spot that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The board was spread with fruit and wine,<br/>
+With grapes of gold, like those that shine<br/>
+On Casbin&rsquo;s hills;&mdash;pomegranates full<br/>
+    Of melting sweetness, and the pears<br/>
+And sunniest apples that Cabul<br/>
+    In all its thousand gardens bears.<br/>
+Plantains, the golden and the green,<br/>
+Malaya&rsquo;s nectar&rsquo;d mangusteen;<br/>
+Prunes of Bokara, and sweet nuts<br/>
+    From the far groves of Samarcand,<br/>
+And Basra dates, and apricots,<br/>
+    Seed of the sun, from Iran&rsquo;s land;&mdash;<br/>
+With rich conserve of Visna cherries,<br/>
+Of orange flowers, and of those berries<br/>
+That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles<br/>
+Feed on in Erac&rsquo;s rocky dells..<br/>
+Wines, too, of every clime and hue<br/>
+Around their liquid lustre threw;<br/>
+Amber Rosolli..<br/>
+And Shiraz wine, that richly ran..<br/>
+Melted within the goblets there!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+This reckless, but unsubstantial and very unwholesome meal, was not for us, and
+while waiting patiently for the first course to appear, I glanced down the long
+table to admire the decorations. They were delightful, consisting of glass
+flower-vases spaced regularly along the festive board, and filled to
+overflowing with tufts and clumps of flowers. Innumerable plates filled with
+fruit and sweetmeats graced the feast, and a magnificent array of knives and
+forks gave promise of good things to come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently the expected dainties arrived, resembling but little the
+lately-described poetic feast; a strict attention to business enabled us to
+keep the wolf from the door, and a very cheerful party finally emerged from the
+big tent to stroll by the fountains that flashed under the chenars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Maharajah, of course, did not lunch with us, but held aloof, peeping
+occasionally into the cook-house to satisfy himself that the lions were being
+fed properly, and in accordance with their unclean customs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, he and his chief officers of state vanished into a secluded tent,
+where he probably took a little refreshment, having first carefully performed
+the ablutions necessary after the contamination of the unbeliever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His Highness reappeared from nowhere in particular as his guests strolled
+across the terrace, and, after a little polite conversation, we took our leave
+and set forth for Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a glorious afternoon, and we deeply regretted that time would not permit
+us to visit the neighbouring Shalimar Bagh, which lay hidden among the trees
+near by. The excursion must remain a &ldquo;hope deferred&rdquo; for the
+present, as we had again to thread the maze of half-submerged melon plots and
+miniature kitchen gardens which, even in the golden glow of a perfect evening,
+could not be made to fit in with our preconceived ideas of &ldquo;floating
+gardens.&rdquo; Jane was frankly disappointed, as she admitted to having
+pictured in her mind&rsquo;s eye a series of peripatetic herbaceous borders in
+full flower, cruising about the lake at their own sweet will and tended by fair
+Kashmirian maidens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By-the-bye, here let me expose, once for all, the fallacy of Moore&rsquo;s
+drivel about the lovely maids of fair &ldquo;Cashmere.&rdquo; <i>There are
+none!</i> This appears a startling statement and a sweeping; but, as a matter
+of fact, the Eastern girl is not left, like her Western sister, to flirt and
+frivol into middle age in single &ldquo;cussedness,&rdquo; but almost
+invariably becomes a respectable married lady at ten or twelve, and drapes her
+lovely, but not over clean, head in the mantle of old sacking, which it is
+<i>de rigueur</i> for matrons to adopt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The good Tommy Moore did not know this, but, letting his warm Irish imagination
+run riot through a mixed bag of Eastern romancists and their works, he evolved,
+amid a <i>pôt pourri</i> of impossibilities, an impossible damsel as unlike
+anything to be found in these parts as the celebrated elephant evolved from his
+inner consciousness by the German professor!
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+As I traversed the main, or rolled by train,<br/>
+    From my Western habitation,<br/>
+I frequently thought&mdash;perhaps more than I ought&mdash;<br/>
+    Upon many a quiet occasion<br/>
+Of the elegant forms and manifold charms<br/>
+    Of the beautiful female Asian.<br/>
+<br/>
+For the good Tommy Moore, in his pages of yore,<br/>
+    Sang as though he could never be weary<br/>
+Of fair Nourmahal&mdash;an adorable &ldquo;gal&rdquo;&mdash;<br/>
+    And of Paradise and the Peri,<br/>
+Until, I declare, I was wild to be where<br/>
+    I might gaze on the lovely Kashmiri.<br/>
+<br/>
+Through the hot plains of Ind I fled like the wind,<br/>
+    Unenchanted by mistress or ayah,<br/>
+The dusky Hindu, I soon saw, wouldn&rsquo;t do,<br/>
+    So I paused not, until in the sky&mdash;&mdash;Ah!&mdash;<br/>
+Far upward arose the perpetual snows<br/>
+    And the peaks of the proud Himalaya.<br/>
+<br/>
+But in Kashmir, alas! I found not a lass<br/>
+    Who answered to Tommy&rsquo;s description&mdash;<br/>
+For the make of such maid I am sadly afraid<br/>
+    The fond parents have lost the prescription,<br/>
+And I murmured; &ldquo;No doubt, the old breed has died out,<br/>
+    At least such is my honest conviction.&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+In the horrible slums which form the foul homes<br/>
+    Of the rag-covered dames of the city,<br/>
+I saw wrinkled hags, all wrapped in old rags,<br/>
+    Whose appearance excited but pity.<br/>
+Beyond question the word which it would be absurd<br/>
+    To apply to these ladies is &ldquo;pretty.&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+In the high Gujar huts were but brats and old sluts,<br/>
+    These last being the plainest of women;<br/>
+Then I sought on the waters the sisters and daughters<br/>
+    Of the Mangis&mdash;those &ldquo;bold, able seamen&rdquo;<br/>
+(I have often been told that the Mangi is bold,<br/>
+    And as brave as at least two or three men).<br/>
+<br/>
+One lady I saw&mdash;I am told her papa<br/>
+    In the market did forage and &ldquo;gram&rdquo; sell&mdash;<br/>
+Decked all over with rings, necklets, bangles and things,<br/>
+    She appeared a desirable damsel;<br/>
+And I cried &ldquo;Oh, Eureka! I&rsquo;ve found what I seek:<br/>
+    Tell me quick&mdash;Is she &lsquo;madam&rsquo; or
+&lsquo;ma&rsquo;mselle&rsquo;?&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+It was comical, but to this question I put&mdash;<br/>
+    A remarkably innocent query&mdash;<br/>
+I received but a sigh or evasive reply,<br/>
+    Or a blush from the modest Kashmiri;<br/>
+And I gathered at last that the lady was &ldquo;fast,&rdquo;<br/>
+    And her name should be Phryne, not Heré.<br/>
+<br/>
+Toddled up a small tot&mdash;her hair tied in a knot&mdash;<br/>
+    Who remarked, &ldquo;I can hardly consider<br/>
+You&rsquo;ve the ghost of a chance on this wild-goosie dance<br/>
+    Unless you should hap on a &lsquo;widder!&rsquo;<br/>
+For our maidens at ten&mdash;ay, and less now and then&mdash;<br/>
+    Are all booked to the wealthiest bidder.&rdquo;<br/>
+<br/>
+&ldquo;My dear man, it&rsquo;s no use to indulge in abuse<br/>
+    Of our customs, so be not enraged, sir&mdash;<br/>
+No woman a maid is&mdash;we&rsquo;re all married ladies.<br/>
+    Our charms very early are caged, sir&mdash;<br/>
+I&rsquo;m eleven myself,&rdquo; remarked the small elf,<br/>
+    &ldquo;And a year ago I was engaged, sir!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ah, well! The country is the loveliest I ever saw, and that goes far to make up
+for its disgusting population.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, indeed, it is that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stopped to look at the ruins of an ancient mosque, built in the days of
+Akbar by the Shiahs. Its remains may be deeply interesting to the
+archaeologist, but to me a neighbouring ziarat, wooden, with its grassy roof
+one blaze of scarlet tulips, was far more attractive. Moving homeward, we
+floated under a lovely old bridge, whose three rose-toned arches date from the
+sixteenth century&mdash;the age of the Great Moguls. The extreme solidity of
+its piers contrasts strongly with the exceedingly sketchy (and sketchable)
+bridges manufactured by the Kashmiri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In fairness, though, I must point out that, as the bridge in Kashmir usually
+spans a stream liable at almost any moment to overwhelming floods, it would
+appear to be a sound idea to build as flimsily as possible, with an eye to
+economical replacement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Kashmiri carries this plan to its logical conclusion when he fells a tree
+across a raging torrent, and calls it a bridge, to the unutterable discomfiture
+of the Western wayfarer.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br/>
+THE LOLAB</h2>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 1.&mdash;The pear and cherry blossom has been so lovely in and
+around Srinagar that we determined to go to the Lolab Valley and see the apple
+blossom in full flower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We started in some trepidation, for the warm weather lately has melted much
+snow on the hills, and Jhelum is so full that we were told that our
+three-decker would be unable to pass under the city bridges&mdash;of which
+there are seven. We decided to see for ourselves, so set forth about eleven,
+and soon came to the first bridge, the Amira Kadal, which carries the main
+tonga road into Srinagar, tying up just above it, amid the clamour and jabber
+of an idle crowd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Admiral solemnly measured the clear space between the top of the arch and
+the water with a long pole, consulted noisily with the crowd, yelled his ideas
+to the crew, and decided to attempt the passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hen-coops, chairs, half-a-dozen flower-pots containing sickly specimens of
+plants, and all other movables being cleared from the upper deck, we set sail,
+and shot the bridge very neatly, only having a few inches of daylight between
+the upper deck and the wooden beams upon which the roadway rests.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Ce nest que, le premier &ldquo;pont&rdquo; que coute</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other bridges were all easier than the first, and we shot them gaily,
+spending the rest of the day in floating quietly down the river, and finally
+anchoring&mdash;or rather mooring, for anchors are, like boat-hooks, masts,
+sails, rudders, and rigging, alike unknown to the &ldquo;jollye mariners&rdquo;
+of the Jhelum&mdash;some two or three miles above the entrance to the dreaded
+Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This awful stretch of water, so feared by the Kashmiri that his eyes goggle
+when he even thinks of it, is an innocent enough looking lake, generally
+occupied in reflectively reproducing its surroundings upside down, but
+occasionally its calm surface is ruffled by a little breeze, and it is reported
+that wild and horrible squalls sweep down the nullahs of Haramok at times, and
+destroy the unwary. These squalls are said to be most frequent in the
+afternoons, and are probably the accompaniments of the thunderstorms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is only considered possible to cross the Wular between dawn and 10 or 11
+A.M., and no persuasion will prevail upon a native boatman to risk his life on
+the lake after lunch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before turning in, I gave orders that a start should be made next morning at
+five o&rsquo;clock, but a heavy squall of rain and thunder during the night had
+the effect of causing orders to be set at naught, and at breakfast-time there
+was no sign of &ldquo;up anchor&rdquo; nor even of &ldquo;heaving short.&rdquo;
+An interview with the Admiral showed me that the Wular, in his opinion, was too
+dangerous to cross to-day&mdash;in fact he wouldn&rsquo;t dream of asking
+coolies to risk it. He was given to understand that we intended to cross, and
+that the sooner he started the safer it would be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No coolies being forthcoming, I inhumanly gave orders to get under
+way&mdash;the available crew consisting of the wicked Satarah, the first
+lieutenant, and the Lady Jiggry. Sulkily and slowly we wended our way past the
+wide flats which border the Wular, all blazing golden with mustard in full
+pungent flower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before entering the lake the Admiral meekly requested to be allowed to try for
+coolies in a small village near by. He was allowed quarter of an hour for
+pressgang work, and sure enough he came back within a very reasonable time with
+a few spare hands, and then&mdash;paddling and poling for dear life&mdash;we
+glided swiftly through the tangled lily-pads and the green rosettes of the
+Singhara, and soon were <i>in medias res</i> and fairly committed to the deep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Wular lay like a burnished mirror, reflecting the buttresses of Haramok on
+our right, and the snowy ranges by the Tragbal ahead, its silvery surface lined
+here and there with the wavering tracks of other boats, or broken by bristling
+clumps of reeds and tall water-plants. Our transit was perfectly peaceful, and
+by lunch-time we were safely tied up to a bank, purple with irises, just below
+Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit to the post-office and a stroll up the rocky hill behind it, where we
+sat for some time and watched a pair of jackals sneaking about, completed a
+peaceful afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 3.&mdash;We were up with the lark, and, having moved along the coast
+a few miles to the west of Bandipur, left the ship before six of the clock in
+pursuit of bear. I had &ldquo;khubbar&rdquo; of one in the Malingam Nullah,
+and, after a brisk walk over the lower slopes, we entered the nullah and
+clambered up about 1500 feet to a quiet and retired spot under a shady
+thorn-bush, where we breakfasted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We thereafter climbed a little higher, and then sat down while the shikaris
+departed to spy, their method of spying being, I believe, somewhat after this
+fashion:&mdash;Leaving the sahib with his belongings&mdash;notably the tiffin
+coolie&mdash;in a spot carefully selected for its seclusion, the miscreants
+depart hurriedly and rapidly up the nearest inaccessible crag; this is
+&ldquo;business,&rdquo; and throws dust, so to say, in the eyes of the sahib,
+by means of an exhibition of activity and zeal. Passing out of sight over the
+sky-line, the hunters pause, wink at one another, and, choosing a shady and
+convenient corner, proceed to squat, light their pipes, and discuss
+matters&mdash;chiefly financial&mdash;until they deem it time to return,
+scrambling and breathless with excitement, to relate all that they have seen
+and done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So, while the shikaris unceasingly spied for bear, for nine mortal hours Jane
+and I camped out on a remarkably hard and unyielding stone, varied by other
+seats equally tiresome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony by
+observing the habits of a pair of &ldquo;kastooras,&rdquo; a hawk, and a brace
+of chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At four o&rsquo;clock the sons of Nimrod returned, declaring that the bear had
+been seen, but that as we had on chaplies and not grass shoes, it would be
+impossible for us to pursue him. I asked the shikari why the &mdash;&mdash;
+goose he had let me come out in chaplies instead of grass shoes if the country
+was so rough? His reply was to the effect that whatever it pleased me to wear
+pleased him!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 4.&mdash;Armed <i>cap-à-pie</i> so to speak, with pith helmets and
+grass shoes, we again set forth at dawn of day to hunt the bear. Breakfast
+under the same tree, sitting on the same patch of rose-coloured flowers&mdash;a
+sort of fumitory (<i>Corydalus rutaefolia</i>)&mdash;followed by another
+nine-hour bivouac, brought us to 5 P.M. and the extreme limit of boredom, when
+lo! the shikaris burst upon us in a state of frenzied excitement to announce
+the bear! Off we went up a steep track for a quarter of an hour, until, at the
+foot of a rough snow slope, the shikari told the much disgusted Jane that she
+must wait there, the rest of the climb being too hard for her, and, in truth,
+it was pretty bad. Up a very steep gully filled with loose stones and rotten
+snow, scrambling, and often hauling ourselves up with our hands by means of
+roots and trailing branches, we slowly worked our way up a place I would never
+have even attempted in cold blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Twenty minutes&rsquo; severe exertion brought us to a shelf, or rather slope,
+of rock on the right, sparsely covered with wiry brown grass from which the
+snow had but very recently gone, and crowned by a crest of stunted pines. Up
+this we wriggled, I being mainly towed up by my shikari&rsquo;s cummerbund,
+and, lying under a pine, we peered over the top.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A steep gully divided us from a rough ridge, upon a grassy ledge of which,
+about 200 yards off, a big black beast was grubbing and rooting about.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shikari, shaking with excitement, handed me the rifle, urging me to shoot.
+I did nothing of the sort, having no breath, and my hand being unsteady from a
+fast and stiff climb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I regret to be obliged to admit that, not realising that it would be little
+short of miraculous to kill a bear stone-dead at 200 yards with a Mannlicher,
+and being also, naturally, somewhat carried away by the sight of a real bear
+within possible distance, I waited until I was perfectly steady, and fired. The
+brute fell over, but immediately picked himself up again and made off. I saw I
+had broken his fore-shoulder and fired again as he disappeared over the far
+side of the ledge, but missed, and I saw that bear no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had the utmost difficulty in crossing the precipitous gully to a spot below
+the ledge upon which the beast had been feeding&mdash;the ledge itself we could
+not reach at all; and the lateness of the hour and the difficulty of the
+country in which we were, prevented us from trying to enter the next ravine and
+work up and back by the way the bear had gone. A neck-breaking crawl down a
+horrible grass slope brought us to better ground, and I sadly joined Jane to be
+well and deservedly scolded for firing a foolish shot. The lady was very much
+disgusted at having been defrauded of the sight of a bear &ldquo;quite
+wild,&rdquo; as she expressed it&mdash;a certain short-tempered animal which
+had eaten up her best umbrella in the Zoo at Dusseldorf not having fulfilled
+the necessary condition of wildness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next day I sent out coolies to search for traces, promising lavish
+&ldquo;backshish&rdquo; in the event of success, but I got no trustworthy news,
+&ldquo;and that was the end of that hunting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 6.&mdash;Jane took a respite from the chase, and I sallied forth
+alone at dawn up a nullah from Alsu to look for a bear which was said to
+frequent those parts. A brisk walk of some four miles over the flat, followed
+by a climb up a track&mdash;steep as usual&mdash;to the left of the main track
+to the Lolab, brought us to a grassy ridge, where I sat down patiently to await
+the bear&rsquo;s pleasure. I took my note-book with me, and whiled away some
+time in writing the following:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let me jot down a sketch of my present position and surroundings; it will serve
+to bring the scene back to me, perhaps, when I am again sitting in my own
+particular armchair watching the fat thrushes hopping about the lawn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, I am perched in a little hollow under a big grey boulder, which serves to
+shelter me to a certain, but limited, extent from the brisk showers that come
+sweeping over from the Lolab Valley. The hollow is so small that it barely
+contains my tiffin basket, rifle, gun, and self&mdash;in fact, my grass-shod
+and puttied extremities dangle over the rim, whence a steep slope shelves down
+some 200 feet to a brawling burn, the hum of which, mingling with the fitful
+sighing of the pines as the breeze sweeps through their sounding boughs, is
+perpetually in my ears. Across the little torrent, and not more than a hundred
+yards away, rises a slope, covered with rough grass and scrub, similar to that
+in the face of which I am ensconced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the bear was seen at 7 A.M. by a Gujar, who gave the fullest particulars
+to Ahmed Bot (my shikari) in a series of yells from a hill-top as we came up
+the valley. We arrived on the scene about seven, just in time to be too late,
+apparently. It is now 3 P.M., and the bear is supposed to be asleep, and I am
+possessing my soul in patience until it shall be Bruin&rsquo;s pleasure to
+awake and sally forth for his afternoon tea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is certainly no bear now, so I pass the time in sleeping, eating,
+smoking, writing, and observing the manners and customs of a family of monkeys
+who are disporting themselves in a deep glen to the left. Beyond this ravine
+rises a high spur, beautifully wooded, the principal trees being deodar, blue
+pine (<i>Excelsa</i>) and yew. This is sloped at the invariable and disgusting
+angle of 45 degrees. Beyond it rise further wooded slopes, with snow gleaming
+through the deep green, and above all is the changing sky, where the clear blue
+gives way to a billowy expanse of white rolling clouds or dark rain-laden
+masses, which pour into the upper clefts of the ravine, and blot out the
+serried ranks of the pines, until a thorough drenching seems
+inevitable&mdash;when lo! a glint of blue through the gloomy background, and
+soon again,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;With never a stain, the pavilion of Heaven is bare.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The immediate foreground, as I said before, slopes sharply from my very feet,
+where a clump of wild sage and jasmin (the leaves just breaking) grows over a
+charming little bunch of sweet violets. Lower down I can see the lilac flowers
+of a self-heal, and the bottom of the little gorge is clothed with a bush like
+a hazel, only with large, soft whitish flowers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My solitude has just been enlivened by the appearance of a cheerful party of
+lovely birds. They are very busy among the &ldquo;hazels,&rdquo; flying from
+bush to bush with restless activity, and wasting no time in idleness. They are
+about the size of large finches&mdash;slender in shape, with longish tails.
+They are divided into two perfectly distinct kinds, probably male and female.
+The former have the back, head, and wings black; the latter barred with
+scarlet, the breast and underparts also scarlet. The others&mdash;which I
+assume to be the females&mdash;replace the black with ashy olive, the wings
+being barred with yellow, the underparts yellowish. The very familiar note of
+the cuckoo, somewhere up in the jungle, reminds me of an English spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+4 P.M.&mdash;I knew it! I knew that if the wind held down the nullah I should
+be dragged up that horrible ridge opposite. Hardly had I written the above when
+I was hunted from my lair, and rushed down 200 steep feet, and then up some 500
+or 600 on the other side of the stream, through an abattis of clinging
+undergrowth that made a severe toil of what could never have been a pleasure.
+There can be no doubt but that a pith helmet&mdash;a really shady, broad
+one&mdash;is a most infernal machine under which to force one&rsquo;s way
+through brushwood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, all things come to an end&mdash;wind first, temper next, and finally the
+journey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My shikari is a fiend in human shape. He slinks along on the flat at what
+<i>looks</i> like a mild three-miles-an-hour constitutional, but unless you are
+a <i>real</i> four-mile man you will be left hopelessly astern; but when he
+gets upon his favourite &ldquo;one in one&rdquo; slope, then does he simply
+sail away, with the tiffin coolie carrying a fat basket and all your spare
+lumber in his wake, while you toil upward and ever
+upwards&mdash;gasping&mdash;until with your last available breath you murmur
+&ldquo;Asti,&rdquo; and sink upon the nearest stone a limp, perspiring worm!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+5.30 P.M.&mdash;That bear has taken a sleeping draught!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am now perched on a lonely rock, my hard taskmaster having routed me out of a
+very comfortable place under a blue pine, whose discarded needles afforded me a
+really agreeable resting-place, and dragged me away down again through the pine
+forest and jungle; hurried me across a roaring torrent on a fallen tree trunk;
+personally conducted me hastily up a place like the roof of a house; and
+finally, explaining that the bear, when disturbed, must inevitably come close
+past me, has departed with his staff (the chota shikari, the tiffin coolie, and
+a baboon-faced native) to wake up the bear and send him along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the first flurry of feeling all alone in the world, with only a probable
+bear for society, and having loaded all my guns, clasped my visor on my head
+and my Bessemer hug-proof strait-waistcoat round my &ldquo;tummy,&rdquo; I felt
+calm enough to await events with equanimity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+6.15 P.M.&mdash;A large and solemn monkey is sitting on the top of a thick and
+squat yew tree regarding me with unfeigned interest. The torrent is roaring
+away in the cleft below. Nothing else seems alive, and I am becoming
+bored&mdash;&mdash;What? A bear? No! The shikari, thank goodness!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, shikari&mdash;Baloo dekho hai?&rdquo; No, it is passing strange,
+but he has <i>not</i> seen a bear. &ldquo;All right! Pick up the blunderbuss,
+and let us make tracks for the ship.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, May</i> 10.&mdash;Beguiled by legends of many bears, detailed to
+me with apparently heartfelt sincerity by Ahmed Bot, I have been pursuing these
+phantoms industriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Monday we quitted our boat, and started upon a trip into the Lolab Valley.
+The views, as the path wound up the green and flower-spangled slope, were very
+beautiful, and, when we had ascended about 1500 feet and were about opposite to
+the supposed haunt of Saturday&rsquo;s bear, we determined to camp and enjoy
+the scenery, not omitting an evening expedition in search of our shy friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane joining me, we had a most charming ramble down a narrow track to the bed
+of the stream which rushes down from the snow-covered ridge guarding the Lolab.
+Here we crossed into a splendid belt of gaunt silver firs, the first I have
+seen here; whitish yellow marsh-marigolds and a most vivid &ldquo;smalt&rdquo;
+blue forget-me-not with large flowers were abundant, also an oxalis very like
+our own wood-sorrel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Emerging from the pines, we crossed a grassy slope covered with tall primulas
+(P. <i>denticulata</i>) of varying shades of mauve and lilac, and sat down for
+a bit among the flowers while the shikaris looked for game. (I need hardly
+remark that the noble but elusive beast had appeared on the scene shortly after
+I left on Saturday; a Gujar told the shikari, and the shikari told me, so it
+must be true.) When we had gathered as many flowers as we could carry, we
+strolled back to the camp to watch the sunset transmute the snowy crest of
+Haramok to a golden rose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday, Tuesday, I left the camp at dawn, and went all over the same ground,
+but with no better success, only seeing a couple of bara singh, hornless now,
+and therefore comparatively uninteresting from a &ldquo;shikar&rdquo; point of
+view. After a delightful but bearless ramble I returned to breakfast, and then
+we struck camp, and completed the ascent of the pass over into the Lolab.
+Arrived at the top, we turned off the path to the right, and, climbing a short
+way, came out upon the lower part of the Nagmarg, a pretty, open clearing among
+the pines where the grass, dotted thickly with yellow colchicum, was only
+showing here and there through the melting snow. Choosing a snug and dry place
+on some sun-warmed rocks at the foot of a tree, we prepared to lunch and laze,
+and soon spread abroad the contents of the tiffin basket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is something, nay much, of charm in the utter freedom and solitude of
+Kashmir camp life. There is no beaten track to be followed diligently by the
+tourist, German, American, or British, guide-book in hand and guide at elbow.
+No empty sardine-tins, nor untidy scraps of paper, mar the clean and lonely
+margs or village camping-grounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The happy wanderer, selecting a grassy dell or convenient shady tree with a
+clear spring or dancing rivulet near by, invokes the tiffin coolie, and if a
+duly watchful eye has been kept upon that incorrigible sluggard, in short space
+the contents of the basket deck the sward. What have we here? Yes, of course,
+cold chicken&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;For beef is rare within these oxless isles.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+Bread! (how lucky we sent that coolie into Srinagar the other day). Butter,
+nicely stowed in its little white jar, cheese-cakes (one of the Sabz
+Ali&rsquo;s masterpieces), and a few unconsidered trifles in the form of
+&ldquo;jam pups&rdquo; and a stick of chocolate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whisky is there, if required, but really the cold spring water is
+&ldquo;delicate to drink&rdquo; without spirituous accompaniment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hunger appeased, the beauty of the surrounding scenery becomes intensified when
+seen through the balmy veil of smoke caused by the consumption of a mild
+cheroot, and peace and contentment reign while we feed the sprightly crows with
+chicken bones and bits of cheese rind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shall we ever forget&mdash;Jane and I&mdash;that simple feast on the Nagmarg?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sloping snow melting into little rills which trickled through the
+fresh-springing flower-strewn grass; the extraordinary blue of the hillsides
+overlooking the Lolab Valley seen through the sloping boughs of the pines; the
+crows hopping audaciously around or croaking on a dried branch just above our
+heads; and above all, the glorious sense of freedom, of aloofness from all
+disturbing elements, of utter and irresponsible independence in a lovely land
+unspoiled by hand of man?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The afternoon sun smote us full in the face as we descended the bare and not
+too smooth path that led into the valley, and we were right glad to reach the
+shade of a grove of deodars that covered the lower slopes of the hill. The
+Lolab Valley, into which we had now penetrated, is a rich and picturesque
+expanse of level plain, some fifteen miles long by three or four broad,
+apparently completely surrounded by a densely-wooded curtain of mountains,
+rising to an elevation of some 3000 feet above the valley on the south and
+west, but ranging on the other sides up into the lofty summits which bar the
+route into Gurais and the Tilail. The mountain chain is not really continuous,
+the river Pohru, which drains the valley, finding outlet to the west e&rsquo;er
+it bends sharply to the south and enters the Wular near Sopor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps the most noticeable objects in the Lolab are the walnut trees; they are
+now just coming into full leaf, and their great trunks, hoary with age and
+softly velveted with dark green moss, form the noble columns of many a lovely
+camping-ground. We pitched our tents at Lalpura in a grove of giants, the
+majesty of which formed an exquisite contrast to the white foam of a cluster of
+apple trees in bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
+sketching, and enjoying the <i>dolce far niente</i> of an idle life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, May</i> 14.&mdash;On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam,
+a short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest officer,[1]
+had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at our disposal; but,
+as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we are obliged to camp every
+night. We have been working along the north side of the Lolab, as the shikari
+is full of bear &ldquo;khubbar,&rdquo; and as long as the weather remains fair
+we really do not much care where we go! Skirting the foot of the wooded ridge
+on our right, and with the flat and populous levels of the valley on our left,
+we marched along a good path shaded in many places by the magnificent walnuts
+and snowy fruit-trees for which the Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the
+Pohru by a rickety bridge, and toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached Kulgam,
+nestling at the foot of the hills.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] Commonly called the &ldquo;Jungly-sahib.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the village to
+look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as usual, and the path
+none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb deserved to be rewarded by, at
+any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed Bot having sent a special message to the
+Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing him to keep the nullah quiet, we were justly
+incensed when, having toiled up some couple of thousand weary feet, we met a
+gay party of the <i>élite</i> of Kulgam prancing down the hill with blankets
+stuffed with wild leeks, or some such delicacy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ahmed Bot showed reckless courage. Having overwhelmed the enemy with a
+vituperative broadside, he fell upon them single-handed, tore from them their
+cherished blankets, and spilt the leeks to the four winds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I expected nothing less than to be promptly hurled down the khud, with Jill
+after me, by the six enraged burghers of Kulgam. But no. They simply sat down
+together on a rock, and blubbered loud and long; we sat down opposite them on
+another rock and laughed, and laughed&mdash;tableau!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Friday I went for a delightful walk through the pine and deodar forests, the
+ostensible objective being, of course, a bear. Putting aside all ideas of
+sport, I gave myself up to the simple joy of mere existence in such a land;
+noting a handsome iris with broad red lilac blooms, which I had not seen
+before; listening to the intermittent voice of the cuckoo, and pausing every
+here and there to gaze over the fair valley, backed by its encircling ranges of
+sunlit mountains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chota shikari is a youth of great activity, both mental and physical. He
+almost wept with excitement on observing the mark of a bear&rsquo;s paw on a
+dusty bit of path. He said it was a bear which had left that paw-mark, so I
+believed him. Late in the dusk of the afternoon he <i>saw</i> a bear sitting
+looking out of a cave. I could only make out a black hole, but he saw its ears
+move. I regarded the spot with a powerful telescope, but only saw more hole;
+still, I cannot doubt the chota shikari. The burra shikari saw it too, but was
+of opinion that it was too late to go and bag it. I think he was right, so we
+went back to camp without further adventure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday we left Kulgam, and followed up a track to a small village which lies
+at the foot of the track leading over to Gurais and the Tilail country. Here we
+camped in a grove of walnuts, which stood by an icy spring. Jane and I went for
+a stroll, watched a couple of small woodpeckers hunting the trunk of a young
+fir within a few feet of us, but retreated hurriedly to camp on the approach of
+a heavy thunderstorm. This was but the prelude to a bad break in the weather;
+all to-day it has rained in torrents, and everything is sopping and soaked. The
+little stream which yesterday trickled by the camp is become a young river, and
+it is a perfect mystery how Sabz Ali manages to cook our food over a fire
+guarded from the full force of the rain by blankets propped up with sticks, and
+how, having cooked it, he can bring it, still hot, across the twenty yards of
+rain-swept space which intervenes between the cook-house and our tent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, May</i> 15.&mdash;The deluge continued all night, and only at about
+ten o&rsquo;clock this forenoon did the heavy curtain of rain break up into
+ragged swirls of cloud, which, torn by the serrated ridges of the gloomy pines,
+rolled dense and dark up the gorges, resonant now with the roar of full-fed
+torrents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The men are all beginning to complain of fever, and have eaten up a great
+quantity of quinine. Considering the dismal conditions under which they have
+been living for the last couple of days, this is not surprising; so, with the
+first promise of an improvement in the weather, we struck camp, determined to
+make for the forest bungalow at Doras and obtain the shelter of a solid roof.
+Many showers, but no serious downpour, enlivened our march, and we arrived at
+the snug little wooden house just in time to escape a particularly fine
+specimen of a thunderstorm. The Doras bungalow seemed a very palace of luxury,
+with its dry, airy rooms and wide verandah, all of sweet-smelling deodar wood.
+The men, too, were thankful to have a good roof over their heads, and we heard
+no more of fever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, May</i> 17.&mdash;Yesterday it rained without ceasing, until the
+valley in front of us took the appearance of a lake&mdash;A party of terns,
+white above and with black breasts, skirled and wrangled over the
+&ldquo;casual&rdquo; water. It was still very wet this morning, but as it
+cleared somewhat after breakfast, we made up our minds to quit the Lolab and
+get back to our boat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Doras has sad memories for Jane, for here died the &ldquo;chota murghi,&rdquo;
+a black chicken endowed with the most affectionate disposition. It was
+permitted to sit on the lady&rsquo;s knee, and scratch its yellow beak with its
+little yellow claw; but I never cared to let it remain long upon my
+shoulder&mdash;a perch it ardently affected. Well! it is dead, poor dear, and
+whether from shock (the pony which carried its basket having fallen down with
+it <i>en route</i> from &ldquo;Walnut Camp&rdquo;), or from a surfeit of
+caterpillars which were washed in myriads off the trees there, we cannot tell.
+Sabz Ali brought the little corpse along, holding it by one pathetic leg to
+show the horrified Jane, before giving it to the kites and crows. He has many
+&ldquo;murghis&rdquo; left; baskets full, as he says, for they are cheap in the
+Lolab, but we shall never love another so dearly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a shocking time while climbing to the pass which leads over to Rampur,
+the road being deep in slimy mud, and so slippery that the unfortunate baggage
+ponies could hardly get along. Jane, who is in splendid condition now, toiled
+nobly up a track which would have been delightful had the weather been a little
+less hideous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching the ridge which divides the Lolab from the Pohru Valley, we turned to
+the left, along the edge, instead of descending forthwith, as we had hoped and
+expected to do. It was raw and cold, with flying wreaths of damp mist shutting
+out the view, and we were glad of a comforting tiffin, swallowed somewhat
+hurriedly, under a forlorn and stunted specimen of a blue pine. Then on along a
+rough and slippery catwalk that made us wonder if the baggage ponies would
+achieve a safe arrival at Rampur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing a steep, rock-strewn ridge, covered with crown imperial in full
+flower, we began a sharp descent through a wood of deodars; and now the
+thunder, which had been grumbling and rumbling in the distance, came upon us,
+and a deafening peal sent us scurrying down the hill at our best pace; the
+lightning-blasted trunks stretching skywards their blackened and tempest-torn
+limbs in ghastly witness of what had been and what might be again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last we cleared the wood, and, plunging across a perfect slough of deep mud,
+crawled on to the verandah of the Rampur forest-house, where we sat anxiously
+watching the hillside until we saw our faithful ponies safely sliding down the
+hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, May</i> 18.&mdash;The changes of weather in this country are
+sudden and surprising. This morning we woke to a perfect day&mdash;the sun
+bathing the warm hillsides, the picturesque brown village, and the brilliant
+masses of snowy blossoming fruit-trees with a radiant smile. And, but for the
+tell-tale riot of the streams and the sponginess of the compound, there was
+nothing to betray the past misdeeds of the clerk of the weather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At noon we set out to cover the short distance that lay between us and Kunis,
+where we had made tryst with Satarah. The country was like a series of English
+woodland glades&mdash;watered by many purling streams, and bright with masses
+of apple blossom; the turf around the trees all white and pink with petals torn
+from the branches by the recent storms. Clumps of fir clothed the hills with
+sombre green&mdash;a perfect background to a perfect picture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The flowers all along our path to-day were much in evidence after the rain.
+Little prickly rose-bushes (<i>R. Webbiana</i>) were covered with pink blossoms
+just bursting into full glory; bushes of white may, yellow berberis, Daphne
+(<i>Oleoides?</i>), and many another flowering shrub grew in tangled profusion,
+while pimpernel (red and blue), a small androsace (<i>rotundifolia</i>),
+hawks-bit, stork&rsquo;s bill, wild geranium, a tiny mallow, eye-bright,
+forget-me-not, a little yellow oxalis, a speedwell, and many another, to me
+unknown, blossom starred the roadside. In the fields round Kunis the poppies
+flared, and the iris bordered the fields with a ribbon of royal purple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Kunis at two o&rsquo;clock, and found the village half submerged,
+the water being up and over the low shores from the recent rain. Our boats were
+moored in a clump of willows, whose feet stood so deeply in the water that we
+had to embark on pony-back! After lunch came the usual difference of opinion
+with the Admiral, who seems to have great difficulty in grasping the fact that
+our will is law as to times and seasons for sailing. He always assumes the rôle
+of passive resister, and is always defeated with ignominy. He insisted that it
+was too late to think of reaching Bandipur, but we maintained that we could get
+at any rate part of the way; so he cast off from his willow-tree, and sulkily
+poked and poled out into the Wular, taking uncommon good care to hug the shore
+with fervour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here and there a group of willows standing far out into the lake, or a
+half-drowned village, drove us out into the open water, and once when, like a
+latter-day Vasco de Gama, the Admiral was striving to double the dreadful
+promontory of a water-logged fence, a puff of wind fell upon us, lashing the
+smooth water into ripples, whereupon the crew lost their wits with fright, and
+the lady mariners in the cook-boat set up a dismal howling; the ark, taking
+charge, crashed through the fence, her way carrying us to the very door of a
+frontier villa of an amphibious village. With amazing alacrity the crew tied us
+up to the door-post, and prepared to go into winter quarters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This did not suit us at all, and
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The harmless storm being ended,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+we ruthlessly broke away from our haven of refuge, and safely arrived at Alsu.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, May</i> 19.&mdash;An ominous stillness and repose at 3 o&rsquo;clock
+this morning sent me forth to see why the windlass was not being manned. A
+thing like a big grey bat flapping about, proved, on inspection, to be that
+rascal the Lord High Admiral Satarah. He said he could not start, as the hired
+coolies from Kunis had been so terrified by the horrors of yesterday that they
+had departed in the night, sacrificing their pay rather than run any more risks
+with such daredevils as the mem-sahib and me. This was vexatious and entirely
+unexpected, as I had never before known a coolie to bolt before pay-day. Sabz
+Ali and Satarah were promptly despatched on a pressgang foray, while I put to
+sea with the first-lieutenant to show that I meant business. A crew was found
+in a surprisingly short time, and a frenzied dart was made for the mouth of the
+Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All day we poled round the shore of the lake, over flooded fields where the
+mustard had spread its cloth of gold a short week ago, over the very hedges we
+had scrambled through when duck-shooting in April, until in the evening we
+entered the river just below Sumbal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The towing-path was almost, in many places quite, under water, and the whole
+country looked most forlorn and melancholy as the sun went down&mdash;a pale
+yellow ball in a pale yellow haze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, May</i> 21.&mdash;All yesterday we towed up the river against a
+current which ran swift and strong.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The passage of the bridge at Surahal gave us some trouble, as the flooded river
+brought our upper works within a narrow distance of the highest point of the
+span, but we finally scraped through with the loss of a portion of the railing
+which decorated our upper deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The strain of towing was severe, so, when a brisk squall and threatening
+thunder-shower overtook us at the mouth of the Sind River, we decided to tie up
+there for the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we started at four o&rsquo;clock, but only reached our berth at
+Srinagar at two, having spent no less than six hours in forcing the boats by
+pole and rope for the last three miles through the town! An incredible amount
+of panting, pushing, yelling, and hauling, with frantic invocations to
+&ldquo;Jampaws&rdquo; and other saints, was required to enable us to crawl inch
+by inch against the racing water which met us in the narrow canal below the
+Palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All&rsquo;s well that ends well, and here we are once more in Srinagar, after a
+trip which has been really delightful, albeit the weather latterly has not been
+by any means all that could have been desired, and we have slain no bears![2]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] Can it be that Bernier was right? &ldquo;Il ne s&rsquo;y trouve ni serpens,
+ni tigres, ni ours, ni lions, si ce n&rsquo;est très
+rarement.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Voyage de Kachemire</i>.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br/>
+SRINAGAR AGAIN</h2>
+
+<p>
+We have spent the last three weeks or so quietly in Srinagar, our boats forming
+links in the long chain that, during the &ldquo;season,&rdquo; extends for
+miles along both banks of the river. A large contingent of amphibians dwells in
+the canal leading to the Dal gates, and the Chenar Bagh, sacred to the
+bachelor, shows not a spare inch along its shady length.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not being either professional globe-trotters or Athenians, we have not felt
+obliged to be perpetually in high-strung pursuit of some new thing; and to the
+seeker after mild and modest enjoyment there is much to be said in favour of a
+sojourn at Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Polo, gymkhanas, lawn-tennis, picnics, and golf are everyday occurrences,
+followed by a rendezvous at the club, where every one congregates for a smoke
+and chat, until the sun goes down behind the poplars, and the swift shikaras
+come darting over the stream like water-beetles to carry off the sahibs to
+their boats, to dress, dine, and reassemble for &ldquo;bridge,&rdquo; or
+perhaps a dance at Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel, or at that most hospitable hub of
+Srinagar, the Residency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Polo is, naturally, practically restricted to the man who brings up his ponies
+from the Punjab, but golf is for all, and the nine-hole course, although flat,
+is not stale, and need not be unprofitable, unless you are fallen upon&mdash;as
+I was&mdash;by two stalwart Sappers, sons of Canada and potent wielders of the
+cleek, who gave me enough to do to keep my rupees in my pocket and the honour
+of the mother country upheld!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On May 26th we took shikara and paddled across the Dal Lake to see something of
+the Mohammedan festival, consisting in a pilgrimage to the Mosque of Hasrat
+Bal, where a hair of the prophet&rsquo;s beard is the special object of
+adoration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we neared the goal the plot thickened. Hundreds of boats&mdash;from enormous
+doungas containing the noisy inhabitants of, I should suppose, a whole village,
+down to the tiniest shikara, whose passenger was perched with careful balance
+to retain a margin of safety to his two inches of freeboard&mdash;converged
+upon the crowded bank, above which rose the mosque.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How can I best attempt to describe the din, the crush, the light, the colour?
+Was it like Henley? Well, perhaps it might be considered as a mad, fantastic
+Henley. Replace the fair ladies and the startling &ldquo;blazers&rdquo; with
+veiled houris and their lords clad in all colours of the rainbow; for one
+immortal &ldquo;Squash&rdquo; put hundreds of &ldquo;squashes,&rdquo; all
+playing upon weird instruments, or singing in &ldquo;a singular minor
+key&rdquo;; let the smell of outlandish cookery be wafted to you from the
+&ldquo;family&rdquo; boats and from the bivouacs on the shore; let a constant
+uproar fall upon your ears as when the Hall defeats Third Trinity by half a
+length; and, finally, for the flat banks of Father Thames and the trim lawns of
+Phyllis Court, you must substitute the Nasim Bagh crowned with its huge
+chenars, and Mahadco looking down upon you from his thirteen thousand feet of
+precipice and snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Half-an-hour of this kaleidoscopic whirl of gaiety satisfied us. The sun, in
+spite of an awning, was a little trying, so we sought the quiet and shade of
+the Nasim Bagh for lunch and repose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Returning towards Srinagar about sundown, we stopped to visit the ancient
+Mosque of Hassanabad, which stands on a narrow inlet or creek of the Dal Lake,
+shaded by chenars and willows in all their fresh spring green. A little lawn of
+softest turf slopes up gently to the ruined mosque, of which a portion of an
+apse and vaulted dome alone stand sentinel over its fallen greatness. Around
+lie the tombs of princes, whose bones have mouldered for eight hundred years
+under the irises, which wave their green sabres crowned with royal purple in
+the whispering twilight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near by, the mud and timber walls of a ziarat stand, softly brown, supporting a
+deeply overhanging, grass-grown roof, blazing with scarlet tulips. Through its
+very centre, and as though supporting it, pierces the gnarled trunk of a walnut
+tree, reminding one of Ygdrasil, the Upholder of the Universe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>May</i> 27.&mdash;What an improvement it would be if a house-dounga could be
+fitted with torpedo netting! Jane finds herself in the most embarrassing
+situations, while dressing in the morning, from the unwelcome pertinacity of
+the merchants who swarm up the river in the early hours from their lairs, and
+lay themselves alongside the helpless house-boats.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By 10 A.M. we have to repel boarders in all directions. Mr. Sami Joo is
+endeavouring to sell boots from the bow, while Guffar Ali is pressing
+embroidery on our acceptance from the stern. Ali Jan is in a boat full of
+carved-wood rubbish on the starboard side, while Samad Shah, Sabhana, and
+half-a-dozen other robbers line the river bank opposite our port windows and
+clamour for custom. A powerful garden-hose of considerable calibre might be
+useful, but for the present I have given Sabz Ali orders to rig out long poles,
+which will prevent the enemy from so easily getting to close quarters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June</i> 17.&mdash;It is quite curious that it should be so difficult to
+find time to keep up this journal. Mark Twain, in that best of burlesques,
+<i>The Innocents Abroad</i> affirms, if I remember rightly, that you could not
+condemn your worst enemy to greater suffering than to bind him down to keep an
+accurate diary for a year.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is the inexorable necessity for writing day by day one&rsquo;s impressions
+that becomes so trying; and yet it must be done daily if it is to be done at
+all, for the only virtue I can attain to in writing is truth; and impressions
+from memory, like sketches from memory, are of no value from the hand of any
+but a master.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The time set apart for diary-writing is the hour which properly intervenes
+between chota hasri and the announcement of my bath; but, somehow, there never
+seems to be very much time. Either the early tea is late or bath is early, or a
+shikar expedition, with a grass slipper in pursuit of flies, takes up the
+precious moments, and so the business of the day gets all behindhand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fly question is becoming serious. Personally, I do not consider that fleas,
+mosquitoes, or any other recognised insect pests (excepting, perhaps, harvest
+bugs) are so utterly unendurable as the &ldquo;little, busy, thirsty
+fly.&rdquo; It seems odd, too, as he neither stings nor bites, that he should
+be so objectionable; but his tickly method of walking over your nose or down
+your neck, and the exasperating pertinacity with which he refuses to take
+&ldquo;no&rdquo; for an answer when you flick him delicately with a
+handkerchief, but &ldquo;cuts&rdquo; and comes again, maddens you until you
+rise, bloody-minded in your wrath, and, seizing the nearest sledgehammer, fall
+upon the brute as he sits twiddling his legs in a sunny patch on the table,
+then lo&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Unwounded from the dreadful close &ldquo;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+he frisks cheerfully away, leaving you to gather up cursefully the fragments of
+the china bowl your wife bought yesterday in the bazaar!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How he manages to congregate in his legions in this ship is a mystery. Every
+window is guarded by &ldquo;meat safe&rdquo; blinds of wire gauze; the doors
+are, normally, kept shut; and yet, after one has swept round like an irate
+whirlwind with a grass slipper, and slain or desperately wounded every visible
+fly in the cabin, and at last sat down again to pant and paint, hoping for
+surcease from annoyance, not five minutes pass before one, two, nay, a round
+dozen of the miscreants are gaily licking the moisture off the cobalt (may they
+die in agony!), or trying to swim across the glass of water, or playing
+hop-scotch on the nape of my neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From what mysterious lair or hidden orifice they come I know not, but here they
+are in profusion until another massacre of the innocents is decreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a sound thing to go round one&rsquo;s sleeping-cabin at night before
+&ldquo;turning in,&rdquo; and make a bag of all that can be found
+&ldquo;dreaming the happy hours away&rdquo; on the bulkheads and ceiling. It
+sends us to bed in the virtuous frame of mind of the Village Blacksmith&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Something attempted, something done,<br/>
+Has earned a night&rsquo;s repose&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are other microbes besides flies in Kashmir which are
+exasperating&mdash;coolies, for instance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had engaged men through Chattar Singh (the State Transport factotum at
+Srinagar) to take us up the river, and decreed that we should start at 4 A.M.
+yesterday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had been to an <i>al fresco</i> gathering at the Residency the night before,
+and so were rather sleepy in the early morning, and I did not wake at four
+o&rsquo;clock. At six we had not got far on our way, and at ten we were but
+level with Pandrettan, barely three miles from Srinagar as the crow (that model
+of rectilinear volition) flies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was busy painting all the forenoon, and failed to note the sluggish steps of
+our coolies, but in the afternoon it was borne in upon us that if we wanted to
+reach Avantipura that night, as we had arranged, a little acceleration was
+necessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the trouble began. The coolies were bone-lazy, the admiral and
+first-lieutenant were sulky, and the weather was stuffy and threatened
+thunder&mdash;the conditions were altogether detrimental to placidity of
+temper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By sunset we had the shikari, the kitchen-maid, and the sweeper on the
+tow-rope, and even the great and good Sabz Ali was seen to bear a hand in
+poling. Much recrimination now ensued between Sabz Ali and the Admiral, and the
+whole crowd made the air resound with Kashmiri &ldquo;language,&rdquo; every
+one, apparently, abusing everybody else, and making very nasty remarks about
+their lady ancestors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At 10 P.M. I got four more coolies from a village, apparently chiefly inhabited
+by dogs, who deeply resented our proximity, and at 2 o&rsquo;clock this morning
+we reached the haven where we would be&mdash;Avantipura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning I discharged the Srinagar coolies and took a fresh lot, who pull
+better and talk less.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How differently things may be put and yet the truth retained. Yesterday we
+reclined at our ease in our cosy floating cottage, towed up the lovely river by
+a picturesque crew of bronze Kashmiris, the swish of the passing water only
+broken by their melodious voices. The brilliancy of the morning gave way in the
+afternoon to a soft haze which fell over the snowy ranges, mellowing their
+clear tones to a soft and pearly grey, while the reflections of the big chenars
+which graced the river bank deepened us the afternoon shadows lengthened and
+spread over the wide landscape. Towards evening we strolled along the river
+bank plucking the ripe mulberries, and idly watching the terns and kingfishers
+busily seeking their suppers over the glassy water; and at night we sat on deck
+while the moon rose higher in the quiet sky, and the dark river banks assumed a
+clearer ebony as she rose above the lofty fringe of trees, until the
+towing-path lay a track of pure silver reaching away to the dim belt of
+woodland which shrouded Avantipura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That is a perfectly accurate description of the day, and so is this:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was very hot&mdash;and there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun on
+board a wooden house-dounga. The flies, too, were unusually malevolent, and I
+could scarcely paint, and my wife could hardly read by reason of their
+unwelcome attentions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coolies were a poor lot and a slack, and as the day grew stuffier and
+sultrier so did their efforts on the tow-path become &ldquo;small by degrees
+and beautifully less.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That irrepressible bird&mdash;the old cock&mdash;refused to consider himself as
+under arrest in his hen-coop, and insisted upon crowing about fifteen times a
+minute with that fidgeting irregularity which seems peculiar to certain
+unpleasant sounds, and which retains the ear fixed in nervous tension for the
+next explosion of defiance or pride, or whatever evil impulse it is which
+causes a cock to crow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Driven overboard by the cock, and a feeling that exercise would be beneficial,
+we landed in the afternoon, and plodded along the bank for some miles. The
+innumerable mulberry trees are loaded with ripe fruit, the ground below being
+literally black with fallen berries. We ate some, and pronounced them to be but
+mawkish things.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner we sat on deck, as the lamp smelt too strongly to let us enjoy
+ourselves in the cabin, and the coolies on the bank and the people in our boat
+and those in the cook-boat engaged in a triangular duel of words, until the
+last few grains of my patience ran through the glass, and I spake with
+<i>my</i> tongue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is certainly some curious quality in the air of this country which
+affects the nerves: maybe it is the elevation at which one lives&mdash;certain
+it is that many people complain of unwonted irritability and susceptibility to
+petty annoyances. And, while travelling in Kashmir is easy and comfortable
+enough along beaten tracks, yet the petty worries connected with all matters of
+transport and supply are incessant, and become much more serious if one cannot
+speak or understand Hindustani.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It takes some little time for the Western mind to grasp the fact that the
+Kashmiri cannot and must not be treated on the &ldquo;man and brothel&rdquo;
+principle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He is by nature a slave, and his brain is in many respects the undeveloped
+brain of a child; in certain ways, however, his outward childishness conceals
+the subtlety of the Heathen Chinee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He has in no degree come to comprehend the dignity of labour any more than a
+Poplar pauper comprehends it, but fortunately his Guardians, while granting
+certain advantages in his tenure of land and payment of rent, have bound him,
+in return, to work for a fair payment, when required to do so by his
+Government, as exercised by the local Tehsildhar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The demand made upon a village for coolies is not, therefore, an arbitrary and
+high-handed system of bullying, but simply a call upon the villages to fulfil
+their obligation towards the State by doing a fair day&rsquo;s work for a fair
+day&rsquo;s pay of from four to six annas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not, of course, propose to entangle myself in the working of the Land
+Settlement, which is most fully and admirably explained in Lawrence&rsquo;s
+<i>Valley of Kashmir</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coolie, drawn from his native village reluctant, like a periwinkle from its
+shell, is never a good starter, and when he finds himself at the end of a
+tow-rope or bowed beneath half a hundredweight of the sahib&rsquo;s trinkets,
+with a three-thousand-feet pass to attain in front of him, he is extremely apt
+to burst into tears&mdash;idle tears&mdash;or be overcome by a fit of that fell
+disease&mdash;&ldquo;the lurgies.&rdquo; Lest my reader should not be
+acquainted with this illness, at least under that name, here is the diagnosis
+of the lurgies as given by a very ordinary seaman to the ship&rsquo;s doctor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, sir, I eats well, and I sleeps well; but when I&rsquo;ve got a job
+of work to do&mdash;Lor&rsquo; bless you, sir! I breaks out all over of a
+tremble!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br/>
+THE LIDAR VALLEY</h2>
+
+<p>
+We were glad enough to leave Srinagar, as that place has been undoubtedly
+trying lately, being extremely hot and relaxing. The river, which had been up
+to the fourteen-foot level, as shown on the gate ports at the entrance to the
+Sunt-i-kul Canal, had fallen to 9-1/2 feet, and the mud, exposed both on its
+banks and in the fields and flats which had been flooded, must have given out
+unwholesome exhalations, of which the riverine population, the dwellers in
+house-boats and doungas, got the full benefit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane has certainly been anything but well lately, and I confess to a certain
+feeling best described as &ldquo;slack and livery.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not intended to remain nearly so long in Srinagar, but the continuity of
+the chain of entertainments proved too firm to break, and dances and dinners,
+bridge and golf, kept us bound from day to day, until the <i>fête</i> at the
+Residency on the 15th practically brought the Srinagar season to a close, and
+broke up the line of house-boats that had been moored along both banks of the
+river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had arranged to start with a party of three other boats up the river,
+visiting Atchibal with our friends, and then going up the Lidar Valley, while
+they retraced their way to Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most popular bachelor in Kashmir was appointed commodore, and deputed to
+set the pace and arrange rendezvous. He began by sending on his big house-boat,
+dragged by many coolies, to Pampur, a distance of some ten miles by water, and,
+following himself on horseback by road, instituted a sort of &ldquo;Devil take
+the hindmost&rdquo; race, for which we were not prepared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On reaching Pampur we heard that the &ldquo;Baltic Fleet&rdquo; had sailed for
+Avantipura, so we followed on; but, alas! having made a forced march to this
+latter place, we found that Rodjestvenski Phelps had again escaped us and
+&ldquo;gone before.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We consigned him and the elusive &ldquo;chota resident,&rdquo; who was in
+command of the rest of the party, to perdition, and decided to pursue the even
+tenor of our way to the Lidar Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The upper reaches of the Jhelum tire not wildly or excitingly lovely. The
+narrowed waters, like sweet Thames, run softly between quiet British banks,
+willow veiled. The wide level flats of the lower river give place to low
+sloping hills or &ldquo;karewas,&rdquo; which fall in terraced undulations from
+the foothills of the higher ranges which close in the eastern extremity of the
+Kashmir Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was well into the evening, and the sun had just set, throwing a glorious
+rosy flush over the snows which surround the Lidar Valley, when we came to the
+picturesque bridge which crosses the stream at Bejbehara.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scene here was charming&mdash;a grand festa or religious tamasha being
+toward; the whole river was swarming with boats&mdash;great doungas, with their
+festive crews yelling a monotonous chant, paddled uproariously by. Light
+shikaras darted in and out, making up for want of volume in their song by the
+piercing shrillness of their utterances. The banks and bridge teemed with
+swarming life, and all Kashmir seemed to have contributed its noisiest members
+to the revel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the bridge we could see through the gathering dusk many house-boats of
+the sahibs clustering under a group of magnificent chenars, over whose dark
+masses the moon was just rising, full orbed. The piers of the bridge seemed to
+be set in foliage, large willows having grown up from their bases, giving a
+most curious effect. We marked with some apprehension the swiftness of the oily
+current which came swirling round the piers, and soon we found ourselves stuck
+fast about half-way under the bridge, apparently unable to force our boat
+another inch against the stream which boiled past. An appalling uproar was
+caused by the coolies and the unemployed upon the bridge, who all, as usual,
+gave unlimited advice to every one else as to the proper management of affairs
+under the existing circumstances, but did nothing whatever in support of their
+theories. The situation was becoming quite interesting, and the
+&ldquo;mem-sahib&rdquo; and I, sitting on the roof of our boat, were
+speculating as to what would happen next when the Gordian knot was cut by the
+unexpected energy and courage of the first-lieutenant, who boldly slapped an
+argumentative coolie in the face, while the admiral dashed promiscuously into
+the shikara, and&mdash;yelling &ldquo;Hard-a-starboard!&mdash;Full speed
+ahead!&mdash;Sit on the safety&mdash;valve!&rdquo;&mdash;boldly shot into an
+overhanging mulberry tree, wherein our tow-rope was much entangled. The rope
+was cleared, the crew poled like fury, the coolies hauled for all they were
+worth, every one yelled himself hoarse, and we forged ahead. We crashed under
+the mulberry tree, which swept us from stem to stern, nearly carrying the
+hen-coop overboard; while Jane and I lay flat under a perfect hail of squashy
+black fruit which covered the upper deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We went on shore for a moonlight stroll after dinner. The place was like a
+glorified English park; chenars of the first magnitude, taking the place of
+oaks, rose from the short crisp turf, while a band of stately poplars stood
+sentry on the river bank. Through blackest shadow and over patches of moonlit
+sward we rambled till we came upon the ruins of a temple, of which little was
+left but a crumbled heap of masonry in the middle of a rectangular grassy
+hollow which had evidently been a tank, small detached mounds, showing where
+the piers of a little bridge had stood, giving access to the building from the
+bank. An avenue of chenars led straight to the bridge, showing either the
+antiquity of the trees or the comparatively modern date of the temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June 19</i>.&mdash;Yesterday afternoon we left Bejbehara, and went on to
+Kanbal, the port of Islamabad. A hot and sultry day, oppressive and enervating
+to all but the flies, which were remarkably energetic and lively. The river
+below Islamabad is quite narrow, and hemmed in between high mudbanks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we found the &ldquo;Baltic Fleet,&rdquo; but, knowing that our fugitive
+friends must have already reached Atchibal, we held to our intention of going
+up the Lidar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having tied up to a remarkably smelly bank, which was just lofty enough to
+screen our heated brows from any wandering breeze, we landed to explore. A hot
+walk of a mile or so along a dusty, poplar-lined road brought us to the town of
+Islamabad, which, however, concealed its beauties most effectually in a mass of
+foliage. Although it ranks as the second town in Kashmir, it can hardly be said
+to be more than a big village, even allowing for its 9000 inhabitants, its
+picturesque springs, and its boast of having been once upon a time the capital
+of the valley. The first hundred yards of &ldquo;city,&rdquo; consisting of a
+highly-seasoned bazaar paved with the accumulated filth of ages, was enough to
+satisfy our thirst for sight-seeing, and after a visit to the post-office we
+trudged back through a most oppressive grey haze to the boat. Crowds of the
+<i>élite</i> of the neighbourhood were hastening into Islamabad, where the
+&ldquo;tamasha,&rdquo; which we came upon at Bejbehara, is to be continued
+to-morrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a good deal of difficulty in getting transport for our expedition, as
+the Assistant Resident and his party had, apparently, cleared the place of
+available ponies and coolies. An appeal to the Tehsildhar was no use, as that
+dignitary had gone to Atchibal in the Court train. However, a little pressure
+applied to Lassoo, the local livery stablekeeper, produced eight baggage ponies
+and a good-looking cream-coloured steed, with man&rsquo;s saddle, for my wife.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The syce, a jovial-looking little flat-faced fellow, was a native of Ladakh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made a fairly early start, getting off about six, and, having skirted the
+town and passed the neat little Zenana Mission Hospital, we had a pretty but
+uneventful march of some six miles to Bawan, where, under a big chenar, we
+halted for the greater part of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here let me point out that life is but a series of neglected opportunities. We
+were within a couple of miles of Martand, the principal temple in Kashmir, and
+we did not go to see it! I blush as I write this, knowing that hereafter no
+well-conducted globe-trotter will own to my acquaintance, and, indeed, the case
+requires explanation. Well, then, it was excessively hot; we were both in bad
+condition, and I had ten miles more to march, so we decided to visit Martand on
+our way down the valley. Alas! we came this way no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Little knowing how much we were missing, we sat contented in the shade while
+the hot hours went by, merely strolling down to visit a sacred tank full of
+cool green water and swarming with holy carp, which scrambled in a solid mass
+for bits of the chupatty which Jane threw to them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A clear stream gushed out of a bank overhung by a tangle of wild plants. To the
+left was a weird figure of the presiding deity, painted red, and frankly
+hideous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were truly sorry to feel obliged, at four o&rsquo;clock, to leave Bawan with
+its massy trees and abundance of clear running water, and step out into the
+heat and glare of the afternoon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I found it a trying march. The road led along a fairly good track among
+rice-fields, whence the sloping sun glinted its maddening reflection, but here
+and there clumps of walnuts&mdash;the fruit just at the pickling
+stage&mdash;cast a broad cool shadow, in which one lingered to pant and mop a
+heated brow e&rsquo;er plunging out again into the grievous white sunlight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cavalcade was increased during the afternoon by the addition to our numbers
+of a dog&mdash;a distinctly ugly, red-haired native sort of dog, commonly
+called a pi-dog. He appeared, full of business&mdash;from nowhere in
+particular&mdash;and his business appeared to be to go to Eshmakam with us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we neared that place the road began to rise through the loveliest woodland
+scenery&mdash;white roses everywhere in great bushes of foamy white, and in
+climbing wreaths that drooped from the higher trees, wild indigo in purple
+patches reminding one not a little of heather. Above the still unseen village a
+big ziarat or monastery shone yellow in the sinking sunlight, and overhead rose
+a rugged grey wall of strangely pinnacled crags, outliers of the Wardwan,
+showing dusky blue in the clear-cut shadows, and rose grey where the low sun
+caught with dying glory the projecting peaks and bastions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a sort of orchard of walnut trees, on short, clean, green grass, we pitched
+our tents, and right glad was I to sit in a comfortable Roorkhee chair and
+admire the preparations for dinner after a stiff day, albeit we only
+&ldquo;made good&rdquo; some sixteen miles at most.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>June</i> 20.&mdash;A brilliant morning saw us off for Pahlgam, along a road
+which was simply a glorified garden. Roses white and roses pink in wild
+profusion, jasmin both white and yellow, wild indigo, a tall and very handsome
+spiraea, forget-me-not, a tiny sort of Michaelmas daisy, wild strawberry, and
+honeysuckle, among many a (to me unknown) blossom, clothed the hillside or
+drooped over the bank of the clear stream, by whose flower-spangled margin lay
+our path, where, as in Milton&rsquo;s description of Eden,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Each beauteous flower,<br/>
+Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine<br/>
+Reared high their flourished heads.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon the valley narrowed, and closer on our left roared the Lidar, foaming over
+its boulders in wild haste to find peace and tranquil flow in the broad bosom
+of Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road became somewhat hilly, and at one steep zigzag the nerves of Jane
+failed her slightly and she dismounted, rightly judging that a false step on
+the part of the cream-coloured courser would be followed by a hurried descent
+into the Lidar. I explained to her that I would certainly do what I could for
+her with a dredge in the Wular when I came down, but she preferred, she said,
+not to put me to any inconvenience in the matter. We were asked to subscribe, a
+few days later, at Pahlgam to provide the postman with a new pony, his late
+lamented &ldquo;Tattoo&rdquo; having been startled by a flash of lightning at
+that very spot, and having paid for the error with his life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A halt was called for lunch under a blue pine, where we quickly discovered how
+paltry its shade is in comparison with the generous screen cast by a chenar;
+scarcely has the heated traveller picked out a seemingly umbrageous spot to
+recline upon when, lo! a flickering shaft of sunlight, broken into an
+irritating dazzle by a quivering bunch of pine needles, strikes him in the eye,
+and he sets to work to crawl vainly around in search of a better screen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing approaches the great circle of solid coolness thrown by a big chenar.
+The walnut does its best, and comes in a good second. Pines (especially blue
+ones) are, as I remarked before, unsatisfactory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But if the pine is not all that can be wished as a shade-producer, he is in all
+his varieties a beautiful object to look upon. First, I think, in point of
+magnificence towers the Himalayan spruce, rearing his gaunt shaft,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Like the mast of some tall ammiral,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+from the shelving steeps that overhang the torrents, and piercing high into the
+blue. In living majesty he shares the honours with the deodar, but he is merely
+good to look upon; his timber is useless and in his decay his fallen and
+lightning-blasted remains lie rotting on these wild hills, while the precious
+trunks of the deodar and the excelsa are laboriously collected, and floated and
+dragged to the lower valleys, producing much good money to Sir Amar Singh and
+the best of building timber to the purchaser.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road towards Pahlgam is a charming woodland walk, where the wild
+strawberries, still hardly out of flower, grow thick amidst a tangle of
+chestnut, yew, wild cherry, and flowering shrubs. Overhead and to the right the
+rocky steeps rise abruptly until they culminate in the crags of Kohinar, and on
+the left the snow-fed Lidar roars &ldquo;through the cloven ravine in cataract
+after cataract.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About four miles from Pahlgam, on turning a corner of the gorge, a splendid
+view bursts upon the wayfarer. The great twin brethren of Kolahoi come suddenly
+into sight, where they stand blocking the head of the valley, their double
+peaks shining with everlasting snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It needed all the beauty of the scene to make me forget that the thirteen miles
+from Eshmakam were long and hot, and that I was woefully out of condition, and
+we rejoiced to see the gleam of tents amid the pine-wood which constitutes the
+camping-ground of Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We sat peacefully on the thyme and clover-covered maiden, amongst a herd of
+happily browsing cattle, until our tents were up and the irritating but needful
+bustle of arrival was over, and the tea-table spread.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pahlgam stands some 2000 feet above Srinagar, and although it is not supposed
+to be bracing, yet to us, jaded votaries of fashion in stuffy Srinagar, the
+fresh, clear, pine-scented air was purely delightful, and a couple of days saw
+us &ldquo;like kidlings blythe and merry&rdquo;&mdash;that is to say, as much
+so as a couple of sedate middle-aged people could reasonably be expected to
+appear. The camping-ground is in a wood of blue pines, which, extending from
+the steeper uplands, covers much of the leveller valley, and abuts with woody
+promontories on the flowery strath which borders the river. Here some dozen or
+so of visitors had already selected little clearings, and the flicker of white
+tents, the squealing of ponies, and the jabber of native servants banished all
+ideas of loneliness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About half a mile below the camping-ground is the bungalow of Colonel Ward,
+clear of the wood and with Kolahoi just showing over the green shoulder which
+hides him from Pahlgam. I was fortunate enough to find the Colonel before he
+left for Datchgam to meet the Residency party, and to get, through his
+kindness, certain information which I wanted about the birds of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An enthusiast in natural history, Colonel Ward has given himself with
+heart-whole devotion for many years to the study of the beasts and birds of
+Kashmir, and he is practically the one and only authority on the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were very anxious to cross the high pass above Lidarwat over into the Sind
+Valley, having arranged to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal on their way back
+from Tilail. Knowing that Colonel Ward would be posted as to the state of the
+snow, I had written to him from Srinagar for information. His reply, which I
+got at Islamabad, was not encouraging, nor was his opinion altered now. The
+pass might be possible, but was certainly not advisable for ladies at present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, June 23</i>.&mdash;We were detained here at Pahlgam until about one
+o&rsquo;clock to-day, as Colonel Ward, as well as two minor potentates, had
+marched yesterday, employing every available coolie. The fifteen whom I
+required were sent back to me by the Colonel, and turned up about noon, so,
+after lunch, we set forth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Camels are usually unwilling starters. I knew one who never could be induced to
+do his duty until a fire had been lit under him as a gentle stimulant. He lived
+in Suakin, and existence was one long grievance to him, but no other animal
+with which I am acquainted approaches a Pahlgam coolie in <i>vis inertiâ</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether a too copious lunch had rendered my men torpid, or whether the
+attractions of their happy homes drew them, I know not, but after the loads
+(and these not heavy) had been, after much wrangling, bound upon their backs,
+and they had limped along for a few hundred yards or so, one fell sick, or said
+he was sick, and, peacefully squatting on a convenient stone, refused to budge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were still close to some of the scattered huts of Pahlgam, so an authority,
+in the shape of a lumbadhar or chowkidar, or some such, came to our help, and
+promptly collected for us an elderly gentleman who was tending his flocks and
+herds in the vicinity. Doubtless it was provoking, when he was looking forward
+to a comfortable afternoon tea in the bosom of his family, after a hard
+day&rsquo;s work of doing nothing, to be called upon to carry a nasty angular
+yakdan for seven miles along a distinctly uneven road; but was he therefore
+justified in blubbering like a baby, and behaving like an ape being led to
+execution?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first half-mile was dreadful. At every couple of hundred yards the coolies
+would sit down in a bunch, groaning and crying, and nothing less than a push or
+a thump would induce them to move. We felt like slave-drivers, and indeed Sabz
+Ali and the shikari behaved as such, although their prods and objurgations were
+not so hurtful as they appeared, being somewhat after the fashion of the tale
+told by an idiot,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we became so much irritated by the ceaseless row that we decided to
+sit down and read and sketch by the roadside, in order to let the whole
+mournful train pass out of sight and earshot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, I wish to maintain in all seriousness that I am not a Legree, and that,
+although I by no means hold the &ldquo;man and brother&rdquo; theory, yet I am
+perfectly prepared to respect the <i>droits de l&rsquo;homme</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This may appear a statement inconsistent with my acknowledgment that I
+permitted coolies to be beaten&mdash;the beating being no more than a technical
+&ldquo;assault,&rdquo; and never a &ldquo;thrashing!&rdquo;&mdash;but my
+contention is that when you have to deal with people of so low an organisation
+that they can only be reached by elementary arguments, they must be treated
+absolutely as children, and judiciously whacked as such.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No Kashmiri without the impulsion of <i>force majeure</i> would ever do any
+work&mdash;no logical argument will enable him to see ultimate good in
+immediate irksomeness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is very difficult for the Western mind to give the Kashmiri credit for any
+virtues, his failings being so conspicuous and repellent; for not only is he an
+outrageous coward, but he feels no shame in admitting his cowardice. He is a
+most accomplished thief, and the truth is not in him. He and his are much
+fouler than Neapolitan lazzaroni, and his morals&mdash;well, let us give the
+Kashmiri his due, and turn to his virtues. He is, on the whole, cheerful and
+lively, devoted to children, and kind to animals.[1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] This is incorrect, the European Residents having frequently attempted, but
+hitherto vainly, to induce the native authorities to curb Kashmiri cruelty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here is a story which is fairly characteristic of the charming Kashmiri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the floods which nearly ruined Kashmir in 1901, a village near a certain
+colonel&rsquo;s bungalow was in danger of losing all its crops and half its
+houses, the neighbouring river being in spate. My friend, on going to see if
+anything could be done, found the water rising, and the adult male inhabitants
+of the village lying upon the ground, and beating their heads and hands upon it
+in woebegone impotence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He walked about upon their stomachs a little to invigorate them, and, sending
+forthwith for a gang of coolies from an adjacent village which lay a little
+higher, he set the whole crowd to work to divert part of the stream by means of
+driftwood and damming, and was, in the end, able to save the houses and a good
+part of the crops.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the hired coolies came to be paid for their labour, the villagers also put
+in a claim for wages, and were desperately vexed at my friend&rsquo;s refusal
+to grant it, complaining bitterly of having had to work hard for nothing!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You will find a good description of the Kashmiri in <i>All&rsquo;s Well that
+Ends Well:</i>&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>Parolles</i>. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister…. He professes
+not keeping of oaths, in breaking them, he is stronger than Hercules. He will
+lie, sir, with such volubility, that you would think truth were a fool:
+drunkenness is his best virtue; … he has everything that an honest man should
+not have; what an honest man should have, he has nothing.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="letter">
+He excels his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed one of the best
+that is: in a retreat he outruns any lackey; marry, in coming on he has the
+cramp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not long sat sketching and basking in the genial glow of a summer
+afternoon among the mountains, when it began to be borne in upon us that the
+weather was going to change, and that the usual thunderstorm was meditating a
+descent upon us. Black clouds came boiling up over the mountain peaks, and the
+too familiar grumble of distant thunder sent us hurrying along the lovely
+ravine, through which the path leads to Aru. Only a seven miles&rsquo; journey,
+but ere we had gone half-way the storm broke, and a thick veil of sweeping rain
+fell between us and the surrounding mountains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently we found a serious solution of continuity in the track, which, after
+leading us along a precarious ledge by the side of the river, finished
+abruptly; sheared clean off by a recent landslip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were very wet, but the river looked wetter still, and it boiled round the
+rocky point, where the road should have been but was not, in a distinctly
+disagreeable manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+However, Jane dismounting, I climbed upon the cream-coloured courser, and
+proceeded to ford the gap. The water swirled well above the syce&rsquo;s knees,
+but the noble steed picked his way with the greatest circumspection over and
+among the submerged boulders, till, after splashing through some hundred yards
+of water, he deposited me, not much wetter than before, on the continuation of
+the high-road, whence I had the satisfaction of watching Jane go through the
+same performance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hoping against hope that the coolies, by a little haste, might have got the
+tents pitched before the storm came on, we plodded on, until, wet to the very
+skin, we slopped into Aru, to behold a draggled party squatting round a central
+floppy heap in a wet field, which, as we gazed, slowly upreared itself into a
+drooping tent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In dear old England this sort of experience would have spelt shocking colds,
+and probably rheumatism for life, but here&mdash;well, we crawled into our tent
+and found it, thanks to a couple of waterproof sheets spread on the ground,
+surprisingly dry. A change of clothes, a good dinner, produced under the most
+unfavourable circumstances from a wretched little cooking-tent, and a fire
+burning goodness knows how, in the open, showed the world to be quite a nice
+place after all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After dinner a great camp-fire was lit in front of our tent, the rain cleared
+off, and I sat smoking with much content, while all our soaking garments were
+festooned on branches round the blaze, and Jane and I turned them like roasting
+joints, at intervals, until the steam rose like incense towards the stars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coolies, too, had quite got over their homesickness, and were
+extraordinarily cheerful, their incessant jabber falling as a lullaby on our
+ears as we dropped off to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, June</i> 24.&mdash;We got away in good time for our short
+eight-mile march to Lidarwat. The coolies went off gaily&mdash;the day was warm
+and brilliant, and the views down the valley towards Pahlgam superb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had camped on the low ground at Aru, just across the bridge, but about half
+a mile on, and upon a grassy plateau there is an ideal camping-ground facing
+down the Lidar Valley, towards the peaks which rise behind Pahlgam. Want of
+water is the only drawback to this spot, but if mussiks are carried, water can
+easily be brought from a small nullah towards Lidarwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tearing ourselves away from this spot, and turning our backs upon one of the
+most gorgeous views in Kashmir, we plunged into a beautiful wood. Maidenhair
+and many another fern grew in masses among the great roots which twined like
+snakes over the rocky slopes. Far below, with muffled roar, the unseen river
+tore its downward way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By-and-by, the path emerging from the wood shelved along a green hillside,
+where bracken and golden spurge clothed the little hollows, while wild
+wall-flower, Jacob&rsquo;s Ladder, and a large purple cranes-bill brightened
+the slopes where happy cattle, but lately released from their winter&rsquo;s
+imprisonment, were feeding greedily on the young green grass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I fancy the cattle have a remarkably poor time here in winter. Hay is not made,
+and very little winter forage seems to be collected. As the snows fall lower on
+the hills, the flocks and herds are driven down to the low ground, where they
+drag through the dark days as best they can, on maize-stalks and such like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I noticed early in May the water buffaloes just turned out to graze in the
+Lolab, and more weakly, melancholy collections of skin&mdash;and&mdash;bone I
+have seldom seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, however, up high in every sunny grassy valley, the Gujars may be found
+camping with their flocks&mdash;cattle, ponies, buffaloes, and goats, working
+upwards hard on the track of the receding snow, where the primula and the
+gentian star the spring turf.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A series of grassy uplands brought us close to Lidarwat, when a sharp shower,
+arriving unexpectedly from nowhere in particular, sent us to eat our lunch
+under the shelter of some fairly waterproof trees in the company of a herd of
+water buffaloes of especially evil aspect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One hoary brute in particular, with enormous horns and pale blue eyes, made me
+think of the legend concerning the origin of the buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the Almighty was hard at work creating the animals, the devil came and
+looked on until he became filled with emulation, and begged the Deity to let
+him try his hand at creation. So the Almighty agreed, asking him what beast he
+would prefer to make, and he said, &ldquo;A cow.&rdquo; So he went away and
+created a water buffalo, which so disgusted the Creator that the devil was not
+permitted to make any more experiments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As soon as the rain held up and the thunder had rolled off up the valley, we
+packed the tiffin basket, had one more drink from an icy spring, and left the
+shelter of the friendly trees, followed by the glares of all the buffaloes, who
+appear to have a decided antipathy to the &ldquo;sahib logue.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We soon came to Lidarwat, passing several tents there, pitched by the edge of a
+green lawn, and sheltered by a deep belt of trees. Crossing to the right bank
+of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we continued our way, as the farther
+up the glen we get to-night, the less shall we leave for to-morrow, when we
+intend to visit the Kolahoi Glacier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this point,
+owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in common with the
+buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her beloved parasol, he whisked
+round and let out at me, and I was only saved from a nasty kick by my closeness
+to the beast, whose hock made such an impression upon my thigh as to cause me
+to go a bit short for a while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to show signs
+of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
+suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at night, as
+our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little breezes that came
+sighing through the pines were straight from the snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, June 25</i>.&mdash;A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
+expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were camped
+amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun had already
+caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and gilded their rugged
+sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth and light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right, and as
+fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time to admire it
+duly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The track now led out into a wide and treeless valley, flanked by snow-crowned
+mountains, and we pushed on merrily until we arrived at the brink of a rascally
+torrent, which gave us some trouble to ford, being both exceeding swift and
+fairly deep. Luckily, it was greedy, and, not content with one channel, had
+spread itself out into four or five branches, and thus so squandered itself
+that Jane on her pony and I on coolie-back accomplished the passage without
+mishap. For some miles we held on along an easy path which curved to the right
+along the right bank of the river, which was spanned in many places by great
+snow bridges, often hundreds of yards in width. We lunched sitting on the trunk
+of a dead birch which had been carried by the snow down from its eyrie, and
+then left, a melancholy skeleton, bleaching on the slowly melting avalanche.
+Some two miles farther on we could see the end of the Kolahoi Glacier, its grey
+and rock-strewn snout standing abrupt above the white slopes of snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Behind rose the fine peak of Harbagwan, in as yet undisputed splendour, Kolahoi
+being still hidden behind the cliffs which towered on our right.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Distances seem short in this brilliant air, but we walked for a long while over
+the short turf, flushing crimson with primulas and golden with small
+buttercups, and then over snowy hillocks, before we reached the solid ice of
+the great glacier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was so completely covered with fragments of grey rock that Jane could hardly
+he persuaded that it really was an ice slope that we were scrambling up with
+such difficulty, until a peep into a cold mysterious cleft convinced her that
+she was really and truly standing upon 200 feet of solid ice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sight that now burst upon us was one to be remembered. Kolahoi towered
+ethereal&mdash;a sunlit wedge of sheer rock some six thousand feet above
+us&mdash;into the crystal air. From his feet the white frozen billows of the
+great glacier rolled, a glistering sea, to where we, atoms in the enormous
+loneliness, stood breathless in admiration. Around the head of the wide
+amphitheatre wherein we stood rose a circle of stately peaks, their bases
+flanged with rocky buttresses, dark amid the long sweeps of radiant snow, their
+shattered peaks reared high into the very heavens. A great silence reigned.
+There was no wind with us, and yet, even as we watched, a white cloud flitted
+past the virgin peak of Kolahoi&mdash;ghostly, intangible; and immediately,
+even as vultures assemble suddenly, no one knows whence, so did the clouds
+appear, surging over the gleaming shoulders of the mountain ridges, and up and
+round the grim precipices. We turned and hurried down the face of the glacier,
+and made for camp, as we knew from much experience that a thunderstorm was
+inevitable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Over the beds of dirty snow, down by the side of the new-born torrent, which
+leaped full-grown to life from the womb of a green cavern below the glacier;
+over patches of pulpy turf just freed from its wintry bondage, and already
+carpeted with masses of rose-coloured primulas, we hastened, keeping to the
+left bank of the stream, in order to avoid the torrent which had so troubled us
+in the morning, which we knew would be deeper in the afternoon owing to the
+melting of the snows in the sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had got but a bare half of our journey done when the storm burst, and in a
+very short time we were reduced to the recklessness which comes of being as wet
+as you can possibly be.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+    &ldquo;The thunder bellows far from snow to snow<br/>
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie),<br/>
+    And loud and louder roars the flood below.<br/>
+Heigho! But soon in shelter we shall be<br/>
+(Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie).&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+Crossing the river on a big snow-bridge below the point where our old enemy
+came thundering down the mountain-side, we tramped gaily through mud and mire
+and over slippery rocks until we were gladdened by the sight of our camp,
+dripping away peacefully in the midst of the weeping forest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rain, as usual, ceased in the evening. A great camp-fire was lit, and the
+neighbouring buffaloes of Gujar-Kote having kindly supplied us with milk, we
+dined wisely and well and dropped off to sleep, lulled by the roaring of the
+Kolahoi River, which raced through the darkness close by.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, June 27</i>.&mdash;Being still hopeful of achieving the pass over
+into the Sind, we struck camp early yesterday and marched down to Lidarwat,
+only to find that the party which we knew had camped there with a view to
+crossing, had given up the idea and retreated down the valley; so I sent a
+swift messenger to countermand the three days&rsquo; supply of
+&ldquo;rassad&rdquo; which I had ordered from Pahlgam for my men, and we
+marched on to Aru. Upon the spur which overlooks Aru we found Dr. Neve
+encamped, and proceeded to discuss the possibility of crossing into the Sind
+Valley <i>viâ</i> Sekwas, Khem Sar, and Koolan. The Doctor, who is an
+enterprising mountaineer, was himself about to cross, but he did not encourage
+Jane to go and do likewise, as he said it would be very difficult owing to the
+late spring, and would probably entail a good deal of work with ropes and
+ice-axes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This absolutely decided us, our valour being greatly tempered by discretion,
+and we camped quietly at Aru, and came on into Pahlgam this forenoon. The
+river, for some reason best known to itself, was so low that we got dry-shod
+past the corner which had worried us so much on the way up.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br/>
+GANGABAL</h2>
+
+<p>
+Friday, <i>June</i> 30.&mdash;The last few days have been somewhat uneventful.
+We left Pahlgam at early dawn on Wednesday, just as the first lemon-coloured
+light was spreading in the east over the pine-serrated heights above the camp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rapids below Colonel Ward&rsquo;s bungalow, which had been fierce and
+swollen as we passed them on our upward way, were now reduced to roaring after
+the subdued fashion of the sucking dove; so we hardly paused to contemplate
+either them or the big boulder, red-stained and holy, at Ganesbal, but hastened
+on to the point where, just before turning a high bluff which shuts him from
+sight for the last time, we got the view of Kolahoi, with the newly-risen sun
+glowing on his upper slopes. An hour flew by much too fast, and it was with
+great reluctance that we finally turned our back on the finest part of the
+Lidar Valley, and sadly resumed our march to Sellar, crossing the river and
+following a rather hot and dull road. Sellar itself is not nearly as pretty as
+Eshmakam, and we grew rather tired of it by evening, as we arrived soon after
+one o&rsquo;clock, and found little to do or see.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday we left Sellar and marched to Bejbehara, the hottest and dullest
+march I know of in Kashmir. A shadeless road slopes gently down across the
+plains to the river. All along this road we overtook parties of coolies laden
+with creels of silk cocoons, whose destination is the big silk factory at
+Srinagar, small clouds of hot red dust rising into the still air, knocked up by
+the shuffling tread of their grass-shod feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the fields, dry and burnt to our eyes after the green valleys, squatted the
+reapers, snipping the sparse ears, apparently one by one, with sickles like
+penknives. They seemed to get the work done somehow, as little sheafs laid in
+rows bore witness; but the patience of Job must have been upon them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chenars of Bejbehara threw a most welcome shade from the noonday sun, which
+was striking down with evil force as we panted across the steamy rice-fields
+which surround them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hither we came at noon, only to find that our boats were not awaiting us as we
+had directed. A messenger bearing bitter words was promptly despatched to root
+the lazy scoundrels out from Islamabad, while Jane and I camped out beneath a
+huge tree and lunched, worked, and sketched until four o&rsquo;clock, when the
+Admiral brought the fleet in and fondly deemed his day&rsquo;s work done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was by no means our view of the case, and the usual trouble
+began&mdash;&ldquo;No coolies&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Very
+late&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Plenty tired,&rdquo; &amp;c. &amp;c.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of course Satarah was defeated, and was soon to be seen sulkily poling away in
+the stern-sheets, while his son-in-law still more sulkily paddled in the bow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made about eight or ten miles, having a swift current under us, before a
+strong squall came up the valley, making the old ark slue about prodigiously,
+and inducing us to tie up for the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we slipped down stream to Srinagar, only halting for a short while
+to obtain some of the native bread for which Pampur is celebrated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river seemed exceedingly hot and stuffy after the lovely air which we have
+been breathing lately, and we quite determined that the sooner we get out of
+the valley the better for our pleasure, if not for our health.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We have been greatly exercised as to how best dispose of the time until
+September, for, during the months of July and August, the heat in the valley is
+very considerable, and every one seeks the higher summer retreats. The
+Smithsons suggested an expedition to Leh, which would, undoubtedly, have been a
+most interesting trip, but which would in no wise have spared us in the matter
+of heat. Had we started about this time for Leh we should have reached our
+destination towards the end of July, and would therefore have found ourselves
+setting out again across an arid and extremely hot country on the return
+journey somewhere about the middle of August.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The game did not seem to be worth the candle, and the Smithsons themselves
+shied at the idea when it was borne in upon them that there would be little or
+no shooting to be done <i>en route</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The alternatives seemed to lie between Gulmarg, where most of the beauty and
+fashion of Kashmir disports itself during the hot weather, Sonamarg, and
+Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sonamarg, from description, seemed likely to be quiet, not to say dull, as a
+residence for two months. One cannot live by scenery alone, and even the
+loveliest may become <i>toujours pâté de l&rsquo;anguille.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pahlgam suffered in our eyes from the same failing, and our thoughts turned to
+Gulmarg. Here, however, a difficulty arose. It is a notoriously wet place. We
+heard horrid tales of golf enthusiasts playing in waders, and of revellers half
+drowned while returning from dinners in neighbouring tents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We thought of rooms in Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel, but our memories of this hostelry
+in Srinagar were not altogether sweet, and we did not in the least hanker after
+a second edition; moreover, every available room had been engaged long ago, and
+it was extremely doubtful, to say the least of it, if the good Mr. Nedou could
+do anything for us. The prospect of a two-month sojourn in a wet tent wherein
+no fire could ever be lighted, and in which Jane pictured her frocks and smart
+hats lying in their boxes all crumpled and shorn of their dainty freshness, was
+far from enticing!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tent existence, when one lives the simple life far from the madding crowd, clad
+in puttoo and shooting-boots, or grass shoes, is delightful; but tent life in
+the midst of a round of society functions&mdash;golf, polo, with their
+attendant teas and dinners&mdash;was not to be thought of without grave
+misgiving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sorely perplexed, and almost at our wits&rsquo; end, the Gordian knot was cut
+by our being offered a small hut which had been occupied by a clerk in the
+State employ, now absent, and which the Resident most kindly placed at our
+disposal for a merely nominal rent. Needless to say we gratefully accepted the
+offer, in spite of the assurance that the hut was of very minute dimensions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, July</i> 2.&mdash;Yesterday we toiled hard in the heat to get
+everything in train for a move to Gulmarg. Subhana, that excellent tailor and
+embroiderer, arranged to have all our heavy luggage sent up to meet us on the
+10th, and from him, too, we arranged for the hire of such furniture as we might
+require, for we knew that the hut was bare as the cupboard of nursery fame.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we set off down the river to keep tryst with the Smithsons at
+Gangabal, where we hope to meet them about the 5th on their way back from
+Tilail. The usual struggle with the crew resulted, also as usual, in our
+favour, and we got right through to Gunderbal at the mouth of the Sind River,
+where we now lie amid a flotilla of boats whose occupiers have fled away from
+the sultriness and smelliness of Srinagar in search of the cool currents, both
+of air and water, which are popularly supposed to flow down the Sind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Jane and I returned from a visit to the post-office along a sweltering path
+among the rice-fields, from which warm waves of air rose steaming into the
+sunset, we failed to observe the celebrated and superior coolness of
+Gunderbal&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, July</i> 6.&mdash;The lumbadhar of Gunderbal, in spite of his
+magnificent name, is a rascal of the deepest dye. He put much water in our
+milk, to the furious disgust of Sabz Ali, and he failed to provide the coolies
+I had ordered; I therefore reported him to Chattar Singh, and sent my
+messengers forth, like another Lars Porsena, to catch coolies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was early on Tuesday morning, and a sufficient number of ponies and
+coolies having been got together by 5.30, we started.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I may here note that, owing to a confusion between <i>Gunderbal</i> (the port,
+so to speak, of the Sind Valley, and route to Leh and Thibet) and
+<i>Gangabal</i>, a lake lying some 12,000 feet above the sea behind Haramok,
+our arrangement to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal was altered by a letter from
+them announcing their imminent arrival at Gunderbal! This was perturbing, but
+as the mistake was not ours, we decided not to allow ourselves to be baulked of
+a trip for which we had surrendered an expedition to Shisha Nag, beyond
+Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lower part of the Sind Valley is in nowise interesting; the way was both
+tedious and hot, and we rejoiced greatly when, having crossed the Sind River,
+we found a lovely spring and halted for tiffin. After an hour&rsquo;s rest we
+followed the main road a little farther, and then, passing the mouth of the
+Chittagul Nullah, turned up the Wangat Valley. The scenery became finer, and
+the last hour&rsquo;s march along a steep mountain-side, with the Wangat River
+far below on our right, was a great improvement on what we had left behind us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The little village of Wangat, perched upon a steep spur above the river, was
+woefully deficient of anything like a good camping-ground. We finally selected
+a small bare rice patch, which, though extremely &ldquo;knubbly,&rdquo; had the
+merits of being almost level, moderately remote from the village and its
+smells, and quite close to a perfect spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday we achieved a really early start, leaving Wangat at 4.15, the path
+being weirdly illuminated by extempore torches made of pine-wood which the
+shikari had prepared. A moderately level march of some three miles brought us
+to the ruined temples of Vernag and the beginning of our work, for here the
+path, turning sharply to the left, led us inexorably up the almost precipitous
+face of the mountain by means of short zigzags.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a stiff pull. The sun was now peering triumphantly over the hills on the
+far side of the valley, and the path was (an extraordinary thing in Kashmir)
+excessively dusty. Up and on we panted, Jane partly supported by having the
+bight of the shikari&rsquo;s puggaree round her waist while he towed her by the
+ends.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no relaxation of the steep gradient, no water, and no shade, and the
+height to be surmounted was 4000 feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the longest lane has a turning, so the highest hill has a top, and we came
+at last to the blissful point where the path deigned to assume an approach to
+the horizontal, and led us to the most delightful spring in Kashmir! The water,
+ice-cold and clear, gushes out of a crevice in the rock, and with the joy of
+wandering Israelites we threw ourselves on the ground, basked in the glorious
+mountain air, and shouted for the tiffin basket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only the faithful &ldquo;Yellow Bag&rdquo; was forthcoming, the tiffin coolie
+being still &ldquo;hull down,&rdquo; and from its varied contents we extracted
+the only edibles, apricots and rock cakes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never have we enjoyed any meal more than that somewhat light breakfast, washed
+down by water which was a pure joy to drink.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! There were but two rock cakes apiece! Another half-hour&rsquo;s clamber,
+along a pretty rough track, brought us to a point whence we looked down a long
+green slope to our destination, Tronkol&mdash;a few Gujar huts, indistinct
+amidst a clump of very ancient birch-trees, standing out as a sort of oasis
+among the bare and boulder-strewn slopes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The view was superb. To the right, the mountain-side fell steeply to where, in
+the depths of the Wangat Nullah, a tiny white thread marked the river foaming
+4000 feet below, and beyond rose a jagged range of spires and pinnacles, snow
+lying white at the bases of the dark precipices. &ldquo;These are the savage
+wilds&rdquo; which bar the route from the Wangat into Tilail and the Upper
+Sind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Over Tronkol, bare uplands, rising wave above wave, shut out the view of
+Gangabal and the track over into the Erin Nullah and down to Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On our left towered the bastions of Haramok, his snow-crowned head rising
+grimly into the clear blue sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We pitched our camp at Tronkol about two o&rsquo;clock, on a green level some
+little way beyond the Gujar huts, and just above a stream which picked its
+riotous way along a bed of enormous boulders, sheltered to a certain extent by
+a fringe of hoary birches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had never beheld such great birches as these, many of them, alas! mere
+skeletons of former grandeur, whose whitening limbs speak eloquently of a
+hundred years of ceaseless struggle with storm and tempest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I saw no young ones springing up to replace these dying warriors. The Gujars
+and their buffaloes probably prevent any youthful green thing from growing. It
+seems a pity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards evening we observed baggage ponies approaching, and at the sight we
+felt aggrieved; for, in our colossal selfishness, we fancied that Tronkol was
+ours, and ours alone. A small tent was pitched, and presently to our surly eyes
+appeared a lonely lady, who proceeded solemnly to play Patience in front of it
+while her dinner was being got ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A visit of ceremony, and an invitation to share our &ldquo;irishystoo&rdquo;
+and camp-fire, brought Mrs. Locock across, and we made the acquaintance of a
+lady well known for her prowess as a shikari throughout Kashmir&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;There hunted &lsquo;she&rsquo; the walrus, the narwal, and the
+seal.<br/>
+    Ah! &rsquo;twas a noble game,<br/>
+    And, like the lightning&rsquo;s flame;<br/>
+Flew our harpoons of steel&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+I cannot resist the quotation, but I do not really think Mrs. Locock hunts
+walruses in Kashmir, and I know she doesn&rsquo;t use a harpoon. No matter, she
+proved a cheery and delightful companion, and we entirely forgave her for
+coming to Tronkol and poaching on our preserves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were extremely amused at the surprise she expressed at Jane&rsquo;s feat in
+climbing from Wangat. Evidently Jane&rsquo;s reputation is not that of a
+bullock-workman in Srinagar!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we all three went to see Lake Gangabal. An easy path leads over
+some three or four miles of rolling down to our destination, which is one of a
+whole chain of lakes&mdash;or rather tarns&mdash;which lie under the northern
+slopes of Haramok.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We came first upon a small piece of water, lying blue and still in the morning
+sun, and from which a noisy stream poured forth its glacier water. This we had
+a good deal of trouble in crossing, the ladies being borne on the broad backs
+of coolies, in attitudes more quaint than graceful. A second and deeper stream
+being safely forded, we climbed a low ridge to find Gangabad stretched before
+us&mdash;a smooth plane of turquoise blue and pale icy green, beneath the dark
+ramparts of Haramok, whose &ldquo;eagle-baffling&rdquo; crags and glittering
+glaciers rose six thousand sheer feet above. In the foreground the earth, still
+brown, and only just released from its long winter covering of snow, bore
+masses of small golden ranunculus and rose-hued primulas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An extraordinary sense of silence and solitude filled one&mdash;no birds or
+beasts were visible, and only the tinkle of tiny rills running down to the
+lake, and the distant clamour of the infant river, broke, or rather
+accentuated, the loneliness of the scene.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had brought breakfast with us, and after eating it we made haste to recross
+the two rivers, because, troublesome as they were to ford in the morning, they
+would certainly grow worse with every hour of ice-melting sunshine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more on the camp side, however, we strolled along in leisurely mood,
+staying to lunch on top of the ridge overlooking Tronkol. I left the ladies
+then to find their leisurely way back among the flowery hollows, and made for a
+peak overlooking the head of the Chittagul Nullah. A sharp climb up broken
+rocks and over snow slopes brought me to the top, a point some 13,500 feet
+above the sea. In front of me Haramok, seamed with snow-filled gullies, still
+towered far above; immediately below, the saddle&mdash;brown, bare earth,
+snow-streaked&mdash;divided the Chittagul Nullah from Tronkol. Far away down
+the valley the Sind River gleamed like a silver thread in the afternoon light,
+and beyond, the Wular lay a pale haze in the distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the northward rose the fantastic range of peaks that overhang the Wangat
+gorge, and almost below my feet, at a depth of some 1500 feet, lay a sombre
+lakelet, steely dark and still, in the shadow of the ridge upon which I sat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun was going down fast into a fleecy bed of clouds, amid which I knew that
+Nanga Parbat lay swathed from sight. To see that mountain monarch had been the
+chief object of my climb, so, recognising that the sight of him was a hope
+deferred, I made haste to scramble down to the tarn below, stopping here and
+there to fill my pith hat with wild rhubarb, and to pick or admire the new and
+always fascinating wild flowers as I passed. Large-flowered, white anemones;
+tiny gentian, with vivid small blue blossoms; loose-flowered, purple primulas,
+and many strange and novel blossoms starred the grassy patches, or filled the
+rocky crevices with abundant beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the lake side the moisture-loving, rose-coloured primula reappeared in
+masses, and as I followed down its outgoing stream towards the camp, I waded
+through a tangle of columbine, white and blue; a great purple salvia, arnica,
+and a profusion of varied flowers in rampant bloom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, July</i> 8.&mdash;An early start homewards yesterday, in the cold
+dawn, rewarded us by the sight of the first beams of the rising sun lighting up
+the threefold head of Haramok with an unspeakable glory, as we crossed the open
+boulder-strewn uplands, before descending into the nullah, which lay below us
+still wrapped in a mysterious purple haze. The downward zigzags, with their
+uncompromising steepness, proved almost as tiring as the ascent had been, and
+we were more than ready for breakfast by the time we reached the ruined temples
+of Vernag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These temples, built probably about the beginning of the eighth century, are,
+like all the others which I have seen in Kashmir, small, and somewhat
+uninteresting, except to the archaeologist. They consist, invariably, of a
+&ldquo;cella&rdquo; containing the object of veneration, the lingam, surmounted
+by a high-pitched conical stone roof. In structure they show apparently signs
+of Greek influence in the doorways, and the triangular pediments above them.
+Phallic worship would seem to have been always confined to these temples, with
+ophiolatry&mdash;the nagas or water-snake deities being accommodated in sacred
+tanks, in the midst of which the early Kashmir temples were usually placed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Any one who wishes to study the temple architecture of Kashmir cannot do better
+than read Fergusson&rsquo;s <i>Indian Architecture</i>, wherein he will find
+all the information he wants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the ordinary &ldquo;man in the street&rdquo; the ancient buildings of
+Kashmir do not appeal, either by their aesthetic value or by the dignity of
+size. Martand, the greatest, and probably the finest, both in point of grandeur
+and of situation, I regret to say, I did not see; but the temples at Bhanyar,
+Pandrettan, and Wangat resemble one another closely in design and general
+insignificance. The position of the Wangat ruins, embosomed in the wild tangle
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Of a steep wilderness, whose airy sides<br/>
+With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,<br/>
+Access denied; and overhead up grew<br/>
+Insuperable height of loftiest shade,<br/>
+Cedar, and pine, and fir,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and seated at the base of a solemn circle of mountains, gives the group of
+tottering shrines a picturesqueness and importance which I cannot concede that
+they would otherwise have had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not remember ever to have seen it noted that all buildings which are
+impressive by the mere majesty of size are to be found in plains and not in
+mountainous countries. This is probably due to two causes. The one being the
+denser population of the fat plains, whereby a greater concourse of builders
+and of worshippers would be sustained, and the other being the&mdash;probably
+unconscious&mdash;instinct which debarred the architect from attempting to vie
+with nature in the mountains and impel him to work out his most majestic
+designs amid wide and level horizons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fact remains, whatever may be the cause, that architecture has never been
+advanced much beyond the mere domestic in very mountainous regions, with the
+exception of the mediaeval strongholds, which formed the nucleus of every town
+or village, where a <i>point d&rsquo;appui</i> was required against invasion,
+for the protection of the community.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Breakfast, followed by a prowl among the ruins and a short space for sketching,
+gave the sun time to pour his beams with quite unpleasant insistence into the
+confined fold in the hills, where we began to gasp until the ladies mounted
+their ponies, and we took our way down the valley, crossing the river below
+Wangat, and keeping along the left bank to Vernaboug, where we camped, the only
+incident of any importance being the sad loss of Jane&rsquo;s field-glasses,
+which, carried by her syce in a boot-bag, were dropped in a stream by that
+idiot while crossing, he having lost his footing in a pool, and, clutching
+wildly at the pony&rsquo;s reins, let go the precious binoculars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we were up betimes, Mrs. Locock having ordained a bear
+&ldquo;honk&rdquo;! This was, to me, a new departure in shikar, and truly it
+was amusing to see the shikari, bursting with importance, mustering the forty
+half-naked coolies whom he had collected to beat. A couple of men with tom-toms
+slung round their necks completed the party, which marched in straggling
+procession out of the village at dawn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A mile of easy walking brought us to the rough jungly cliffs, seamed with
+transverse nullahs, narrow and steep, which bordered the river. Here we were
+placed in passes, with great caution and mystery, by the shikari and his
+chief-of-the-staff&mdash;the &ldquo;oldest inhabitant&rdquo; of Vernaboug; and
+here we sat in the morning stillness until a distant clamour and the faint
+beating of tom-toms afar off made us sit up more warily, and watch eagerly for
+the expected bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The yells increase, and the tom-toms, vigorously banged, seem calculated to
+fuss any self-respecting bear into fits. We watch a narrow space between two
+bushes some dozen yards away, and see that the Mannlicher across our knees and
+the smooth-bore, ball loaded in the right and chokeless barrel, lie handy for
+instant use.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hidden in the dense jungle, some hundred yards below, sits Mrs. Locock on the
+matted top of a hazel, while Jane, chittering with suppressed excitement,
+crouches a few paces behind me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The beaters approach, and pandemonium reigns. A few scared birds dart past, but
+no bear comes; and when the first brown body shows among the brushwood we shout
+to stop the uproar, and all move on to another beat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Four &ldquo;honks&rdquo; produced nothing, so far as I was concerned; but a
+bear&mdash;according to her shikari&mdash;passed close by Mrs. Locock, so
+thickly screened by jungle that she couldn&rsquo;t see it. This may be so, but
+Kashmir shikaris have remarkably vivid imaginations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a delightful morning to all parties concerned&mdash;for we were much
+amused, the coolies were adequately paid, and the bear wasn&rsquo;t
+worried&mdash;we returned to breakfast, and then marched fifteen hot miles into
+Gunderbal, where we found the Smithsons, with whom we dined. They have been in
+Gurais and the Tilail district ever since they left Srinagar on the 24th April,
+and have had an adventurous and difficult time, with plenty of snow and
+torrents and avalanches, but somewhat poor sport.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is not according to one&rsquo;s preconceived ideas of shikar in Kashmir,
+as they went into a nullah which no sahib had penetrated for five years; they
+had the best shikari in Kashmir (he said it, and he ought to know); they worked
+very hard, and their bag consisted of one or two moderate ibex and a red bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, July</i> 11.&mdash;On Sunday morning the combined fleet sailed for
+Palhallan. The Smithsons had a &ldquo;matted dounga,&rdquo; and she
+&ldquo;walked away&rdquo; from our heavier ark down the winding Sind at a great
+pace. We reached Shadipur at 11 A.M., but the Smithsons had &ldquo;gone
+before,&rdquo; so, crossing the Jhelum, we made after them in hot pursuit, and
+reached them and Palhallan at sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A narrow canal, bordered by low swampy marshland, allowed us to get within a
+mile of the village and tie up among the shallows, whereupon the mosquitoes
+gathered from far and near, and fell upon us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The final packing, effected amid a hungry crowd of little piping fiends, was a
+veritable nightmare, and yesterday morning we rescued our mangled remains from
+the enemy, and, having paid off our boats, hurriedly clambered on to the ponies
+which had come&mdash;late, as usual&mdash;from Palhallan to convey what was
+left by the mosquitoes to Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The unfortunate Jane&mdash;always a popular person&mdash;is especially so with
+insects; and if there is a flea or a mosquito anywhere within range it
+immediately rushes to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She paid dearly for her fatal gift of attractiveness at Palhallan&mdash;her
+eyes, usually so keen, being what is vulgarly termed &ldquo;bunged up,&rdquo;
+and every vulnerable spot in like piteous plight!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We quitted Palhallan as the Lot family quitted Sodom and Gomorrah, but with no
+lingering tendency to look backward; we cast our eyes unto the hills, and
+kicked the best pace we could out of our &ldquo;tattoos,&rdquo; halting for
+breakfast soon after crossing the hot, white road which runs from Baramula to
+Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we left the steamy valley and wound up a rapidly ascending path among the
+lower fringes and outliers of the forest our spirits rose, and by the time we
+had clambered up the last stiff pull and emerged from the darkly-wooded track
+into the little clearing, where perches the village of Babamarishi, we were
+positively cheerful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more the air was fresh and buoyant, the spring water was cool and
+&ldquo;delicate to drink,&rdquo; and from our tents we could look out over the
+valley lying dim in a yellow heat-haze far below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Babamarishi is a picturesquely-grouped collection of the usual rickety-looking
+wooden huts, no dirtier, but perhaps noisier than usual, owing to the presence
+of a very holy ziarat much frequented by loudly conversational devotees. We
+spent the crisp, warm afternoon peacefully stretched on the sloping sward in
+front of our tents, and making the acquaintance of the only good thing that
+came out of Palhallan&mdash;a charming quartette of young geese which Sabz Ali
+had bought and brought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These delightful birds evinced the most perfect friendliness and confidence in
+us, and we became greatly attached to them. They and the fowls seemed excellent
+travellers, and after a long day&rsquo;s march would come up smiling, like the
+jackdaw of Rheims, &ldquo;not a penny the worse.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we had but a short and easy march from Babamarishi to Gulmarg,
+along a good road, through a fine forest of silver fir.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br/>
+GULMARG</h2>
+
+<p>
+Somehow one&rsquo;s preconceived ideas of a place are almost always quite
+wrong, and so Gulmarg seemed quite different from what I had expected. It
+seemed all twisted the wrong way, and was really quite unlike the place which
+my imagination had evolved.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning through a narrow gap, we found ourselves facing a wide, green,
+undulating valley completely surrounded by dense fir forest. Beyond, to the
+left, rose the sloping bulk of Apharwat, one of the range of the Pir Panjal;
+while to the right low, wooded hillocks bounded the valley and fell, on their
+outward flanks, to the Kashmir plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately in front of us a small village or bazaar swarmed with native life,
+and sloped down to a stream which wound through the hollows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All round the edge of the forest a continuous ring of wooden huts and white
+tents showed that the &ldquo;sahib&rdquo; on holiday intent had marked Gulmarg
+for his own.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we rode through the bazaar the view expanded. Apharwat showed all his
+somewhat disappointing face; his upper slopes, streaked with dirty snow, looked
+remarkably dingy when contrasted with the dazzling white clouds which went
+sailing past his uninteresting summit. The absence of all variety in form or
+light and shade, and the dull lines of his foreshortened front, made it hard to
+realise that he stood some five thousand feet above us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near the centre of the marg, on a small hill, was a large wooden building
+surrounded by many satellite huts and tents: this we rightly guessed to be
+Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel. Below, on a spur, was the little church, and to the right,
+in the hollow, the club-house faced the level polo-ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A winding stream, which we subsequently found to be perfectly ubiquitous, and
+an insatiable devourer of errant golf-balls, ran deviously through the valley,
+which seemed to be rather over a mile long, and almost equally wide.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Smithsons rode away vaguely in search of a camping-ground; while we, having
+found out where our hut was, turned back and climbed a knoll behind the bazaar,
+and found ourselves in front of our future home, a very plain and roughly-built
+rectangular wooden hut, containing a small square room opening upon a verandah,
+and having a bedroom and bathroom on each side.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was our palace, and we were well satisfied with it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cook-house and servants&rsquo; quarters were in a hut close by, and I could
+summon my retainers or chide them for undue chatter from my bedroom
+window&mdash;a serviceable short cut for the dinner, too, in wet and stormy
+weather!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Life at Gulmarg is extremely apt to degenerate into the &ldquo;trivial
+round&rdquo; of the golf links varied by polo, or polo varied by golf, with
+occasional gymkhanas and picnics. There are, doubtless, many delightful
+excursions to be made, but upon the whole it seems difficult to break far
+beyond the &ldquo;Circular Road,&rdquo; a fairly level and well-kept
+bridle-path, which for eight beautiful miles winds through the pine forest,
+giving marvellous glimpses of snowy peaks and sunlit valleys.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The &ldquo;Circular Road&rdquo; is always fine, whether seen after rain, when,
+far below in the Ferozepore Nullah, the
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,<br/>
+Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+or when in the evening sunlight the whole broad Valley of Kashmir lies glowing
+at our feet, ringed afar by the ethereal mountains whose pale snows stand faint
+in the golden light, until beneath the yellowing sky the clouds turn rosy, and
+from their midst Haramok and Kolahoi raise their proud heads towards the
+earliest star.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The expedition to the top of Apharwat is, in my opinion, hardly worth making,
+but then I was not very lucky in the weather. Major Cardew, R.F.A., and I
+arranged to do the climb together, and duly started one excessively damp and
+foggy morning towards the middle of July.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Taking our ponies, we scrambled up a rough path through the forest to
+Killanmarg, a boulder-strewn slope, some half a mile wide, which lies between
+the upper edge of the forest and the final slopes of the mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sending our ponies home, we set about the ascent of the 3500 feet that remained
+between us and our goal. The whole hillside was a perfect wild garden.
+Columbines, potentillas&mdash;yellow, bronze, and crimson&mdash;primulas,
+anemones, gentian, arnica, and quantities of unknown blossoms gave us ample
+excuse for lingering panting in the rarefied air, as we struggled through
+brushwood first, and then over loose rocks and finally slopes of shelving snow,
+before we found ourselves on the crest of the mountain, shivering slightly in
+the raw, foggy air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our view was narrowed down to the bleak slopes of rock and snow that
+immediately surrounded us, for our hope that we should get above the cloud belt
+was not fulfilled, and beyond a dismal tarn, lying just below us, in whose
+black waters forlorn little bergs of rotten snow floated, and a very much
+circumscribed view of dull tops swathed in flying mist, we saw nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had the sky been clear, I am told that the view would have been magnificent,
+but I should think probably no better than that from Killanmarg, as it is a
+mistake to suppose that a high, or at least too high, elevation &ldquo;lends
+enchantment.&rdquo; As a rule the view is finer when seen half-way up a lofty
+mountain than that obtained from the summit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We did not stay long upon the top of Apharwat discussing the best point of
+view, because Cardew sagaciously remarked that if it grew much thicker he
+wouldn&rsquo;t be answerable for finding the way down, and as I have a holy
+horror of rambling about strange (and possibly precipitous) mountains in a fog,
+we set about retracing our own footsteps in the snow until we regained the
+ridge we had come up by.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A remarkably wet couple we were when we presented ourselves at our respective
+front doors, just in time for a &ldquo;rub down&rdquo; before lunch!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The golf at Gulmarg is very good, the 18-hole course being exceedingly
+sporting, and tricky enough to defeat the very elect. Jane and I had conveyed
+our clubs out to Kashmir, knowing that they were likely to prove useful. I had
+also taken the precaution to pack up a box or two of balls, but I found my
+labour all in vain, as &ldquo;Haskells&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;Kemshall-Arlingtons&rdquo; were supplied by the club at precisely the
+same price as in England&mdash;viz., 1 r. 8 an., or two shillings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+New clubs are also cheap and in plenty, but repairs to old favourites are not
+always satisfactory. My pet driver, having been damaged, was very evilly
+treated by the native craftsman, who bound up its wounds with large screws!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mountains of Kashmir have been a constant joy to us. Varying with every
+change of light and shade, custom cannot stale their infinite variety; but as
+yet I had not seen the great monarch of Chilas, Nanga Parbat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In July and early August he is rarely visible from Gulmarg, owing to the
+haziness of the atmosphere. One clear morning, however, towards the end of
+July, after a night of rain and storm, I was strolling along the Circular Road
+when, lo! far away in the north-west, soaring ethereal above the blue ranges
+that overlook Gurais, above the cloud-banks floating beyond their summits, the
+great mountain, unapproachable in his glory, stood revealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The early morning sun struck full on his untrodden snows, making it hard to
+realise that eighty-five miles of air separated me from that clear-cut peak.
+Soon, very soon, a light cloud clung to his eastern face, and within ten
+minutes the whole vision had faded into an up-piled tower of seething clouds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later in the season, as the air grew clearer, Jane and I made almost daily
+pilgrimages to the point, only a few minutes&rsquo; walk from our hut, whence,
+framed by a foreground of columnar pines, Nanga Parbat could generally be seen
+for a time in the morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, August</i> 1.&mdash;Society in Gulmarg is particularly cheery, as
+indeed might be expected where two or three hundred English men and women are
+gathered together to amuse themselves and lay in a fresh store of health and
+energy before returning to the routine of duty in the plains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There have been many picnics lately, the little glades or margs, which are
+frequent in the forest slopes, being ideal places of rendezvous for merrymakers
+on horse or foot. Picnics of all sorts and sizes, from the little impromptu
+gatherings of half-a-dozen congenial young souls (always an even number,
+please), who ride off into the romantic shades to nibble biscuits and make tea,
+to the dainty repasts provided by a hospitable lady, whose official hut
+overlooks the Ferozepore Nullah, and who, in turn, overlooks her cook, to the
+great gratification of her guests.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How small a thing will upset the best-laid plans of hospitality! It is said
+that a most carefully planned picnic, where all the little tables, set for two,
+were discreetly screened apart among the bushes, was entirely ruined by a
+piratical damsel undertaking a cutting-out expedition for the capture of the
+hostess&rsquo; best young man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our evenings are by no means dull. On many a starlit night has Jane mounted the
+noble steed which, through the kindness of the Resident, we have hired from the
+&ldquo;State,&rdquo; and ridden across the marg attended by her slaves (her
+husband and the ancient shikari, to wit), to dine and play bridge in some
+hospitable hut, or dance or see theatricals at Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Last week we tore ourselves away from our daily golf, and joined the Smithsons
+in a futile expedition to the foot of the Ferozepore Nullah for bear. Three
+days we spent in vain endeavour to find &ldquo;baloo,&rdquo; and on the fourth
+we wended our toilsome way up the hill again to Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, August</i> 27.&mdash;There are drawbacks as well as advantages in
+being perched, as it were, just above the bazaar. Its proximity enables our
+good Sabz Ali to sally forth each morning and secure the earliest consignment
+of &ldquo;butter and eggs and a pound of cheese,&rdquo; which has come up from
+Srinagar, and select the best of the fruit and vegetables. It affords also an
+interesting promenade for the geese, who solemnly march down the main street
+daily for recreation and such stray articles of food as may be found in the
+heterogeneous rubbish-heaps.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It possesses, however, a superabundance of pi-dogs, who gather together on the
+slope in front of our hut in the watches of the night, and serenade us to a
+maddening extent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The natives, too, have a sinful habit of chattering and shouting at an hour
+when all well-conducted persons should be steeped in their beauty sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few nights ago this culminated in what Keats would have called a
+&ldquo;purple riot.&rdquo; The sweeper and his friends were holding a meeting
+for the purpose of conversation and the consumption of apple brandy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having fruitlessly sent the shikari to try and stop the insufferable noise, I
+was fain to sally forth myself to investigate matters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then to a happy and light-hearted party seated chattering round a blazing fire
+there came suddenly the unwelcome apparition of an exceedingly irate sahib, in
+evening dress and pumps, brandishing a khudstick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A wild scurry, in which the bonfire was scattered, a few remarks in forcible
+English, a whack which just missed the hindmost reveller, and the place became
+a deserted village.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next morning Sabz Ali came to me in a towering rage to report that the
+sweeper&mdash;that unclean outcast&mdash;had dared to say most opprobrious
+things to him, being inspired thereto by the devil and apple brandy. Nothing
+less than the immediate execution of the culprit by hanging, drawing, and
+quartering would satisfy the outraged feelings of our henchman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I promised a yet severer punishment. I said I would &ldquo;cut&rdquo; the
+wretched minion&rsquo;s pay that month to the amount of a rupee. Vengeance was
+satisfied, and the victim reduced to tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is good to hear Jane&mdash;who for many years has been accustomed to having
+her own way in all household matters&mdash;ordering breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, Sabz Ali&mdash;what shall we have for breakfast to-morrow?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Jessa mem-sahib arder!&rdquo;&mdash;with a friendly grin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then I shall have kidneys.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No kidney, mem-sahib! Kidney plenty money&mdash;two annas six pice ek.
+Oh, plenty dear!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired of eggs. Is there any cold chicken you could
+grill?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chota murghi one egg lay, mem-sahib, anda poach. Sahib, chicken grill
+laike!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, all right! But I thought of a mutton-chop for the major
+sahib.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Muttony stup&rdquo; (mutton&rsquo;s tough). &ldquo;Sahib no
+laike!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Very well, that will do&mdash;a poached egg for me and grilled chicken
+for the sahib.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, mem-sahib&mdash;no &rsquo;nuf. Sahib plenty
+&rsquo;ungry&mdash;chicken grill, peechy ramble-tamble egg!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have it your own way. I daresay the major sahib <i>would</i> like
+scrambled eggs, and we&rsquo;ll have coffee&mdash;not tea.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, mem-sahib. No coffee&mdash;coffee finish!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Send the shikari down to the bazaar, then, for a tin of coffee from
+Nusserwanjee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shikari saaf kuro lakri ke major sahib&rdquo; (cleaning the golf-clubs).
+&ldquo;Tea breakfast, coffee kal&rdquo; (to-morrow).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, utterly routed on every point, Jane gives in gracefully, and makes an
+excellent breakfast as prearranged by Sabz Ali!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The news is spread that there will be an exhibition of pictures held in
+Srinagar in September. Every second person is a&mdash;more or
+less&mdash;heaven-born artist out here, so there promises to be no lack of
+exhibits. I dreamed a dream last night, and in my dream I was walking along the
+bund and came upon an elderly gentleman laying Naples yellow on a canvas with a
+trowel. The river was smooth and golden, and reflected the sensuous golden
+tones of the sky. Trees arose from golden puddles, half screening a ziarat
+which, upon the glowing canvas, appeared remarkably like a village church.
+&ldquo;How beautiful!&rdquo; I cried, &ldquo;how gloriously oleographic!&rdquo;
+and the painter, removing a brush from his mouth, smiled, well pleased, and
+said, &ldquo;I am a Leader among Victorian artists and the public adores
+me!&rdquo; and I left him vigorously painting pot-boilers. Then in a damp dell
+among the willows of the Dal I found a foreigner in spectacles, and the light
+upon his pictures was the light that never was on sea or land; but through a
+silvery mist the willows showed ghostly grey, and a shadowy group of classic
+nymphs were ringed in the dance, and I cried &ldquo;O Corot! lend me your
+spectacles. I fain, like you, would see crude nature dimmed to a silvery
+perpetual twilight.&rdquo; And Corot replied: &ldquo;Mon ami moi je ne vois
+jamais le soleil, je me plonge toujours, dans les ombres bleuâtres et les
+rayons pâles de l&rsquo;aube.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then upward I fared till, treading the clear heights, I found one frantically
+painting the peaks and pinnacles of the mountains in weird stipples of
+alternate red and blue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Great heavens!&rdquo; I exclaimed, &ldquo;what disordered manner is
+this!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The artist glanced swiftly at me, and said disdainfully: &ldquo;I am a modern
+of the moderns, and if you cannot see that mountains are like that, it is your
+fault&mdash;not mine. Go back, you stand too close.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And as I went back I looked over my shoulder, and, truly, the flaring
+rose-colour had blended amicably with the blue, and I admitted that perhaps
+Segantini was not so mad as he looked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A little lower down a stout Scotchman painted a flowery valley. The flowers
+were many and bright, but not so garish as they appeared to him, and I hinted
+as much; but he scorned my criticism.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mon,&rdquo; he shouted, &ldquo;I painted the Three Graces, an&rsquo;
+they made me an Academeesian. I painted a flowery glen in the Tyrol (dearie me,
+but thae flowers cost me a fortune in blue paint), and it was coft for the
+Chantry Bequest, and hoo daur <i>you</i> talk to me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then I departed hurriedly and came upon four men, two of them with long beards,
+and all with unkempt hair, laboriously depicting a blue pine, needle by needle,
+and every one in its proper place. I asked them if theirs was not a very
+troublesome way of painting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They looked at one another with earnest blue eyes, and remarked that here was
+evidently a Philistine who knew not Cimabue and cared not a jot for Giotto; and
+the first said: &ldquo;Sir, methinks he who would climb the golden stairs
+should do so step by step;&rdquo; and the second said, sadly: &ldquo;We are but
+scapegoats, truly, being cast forth by the vindictive Victorians of our
+day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The third murmured in somewhat broken English.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Victoria Victrix,<br/>
+Beata Beatrix,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+whereby I recognised him to be a poet, if not a painter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the fourth&mdash;an energetic-looking man with a somewhat arrogant
+manner&mdash;said briskly: &ldquo;Perchance the ass is right; these pine
+needles are becoming monotonous, and I have seventeen million four hundred and
+sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven more to do. Beshrew me if I do not
+take to pot-boiling!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down by the water-side a lady sat, sketching in water-colours for dear life;
+around her lay a litter of half-finished works, scattered like autumn leaves in
+Vallombrosa. I approached her, quite friendly, and offered to gather them up
+for her&mdash;at least some of them, saying soothingly, for I saw she was in a
+temper&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear, dear, Clara, why, what <i>is</i> the matter?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am painting the Venice of the East,&rdquo; she cried petulantly,
+&ldquo;but for the life of me I can&rsquo;t see a campanile, and how can I
+possibly paint a picture without a campanile?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I understood that, of course, she couldn&rsquo;t, so I stole away softly on
+tip-toe, leaving her turning doungas into gondolas for all she was worth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A dark, dapper man, with an alert air and an eyeglass, sat near the seventh
+bridge, writing. Beside him stood an easel and other painting-gear. I asked him
+what he was doing, and he answered, with a fine smile, &ldquo;I am gently
+making enemies;&rdquo; so, to turn the subject, I picked up a large canvas,
+smeared over with invisible grey, like the broadside of a modern battleship,
+and sprinkled here and there with pale yellow blobs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What have we here, James?&rdquo; I inquired cheerfully, and he, staying
+his claw-like hand in mid-air, made reply&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A chromatic in tones of sad colour, with golden
+accidentals&mdash;Kashmir night-lights.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! quite so,&rdquo; I exclaimed; &ldquo;but have I got it right side
+up?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then, pointing to a remarkable
+butterfly (<i>Vanessa Sifflerius</i>) depicted in the corner, cried:
+&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all right; you&rsquo;ll never make a mistake if you keep this
+insect in the <i>right bottom corner</i>. It is put there on purpose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lastly, on an eminence I saw a man like an eagle, sitting facing full the sun,
+and upon his glowing canvas was portrayed the heavens above and the earth
+beneath and the waters under the earth, and behind him sat one who patted him
+upon the back, and looked at intervals over his shoulder at the glorious work,
+and then wrote in a book a eulogy thereof; and I, too, came and looked over the
+painter&rsquo;s shoulder, and I muttered, with Oliver Wendell Holmes,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The foreground golden dirt,<br/>
+The sunshine painted with a squirt.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the man who patted the painter on the back turned upon me aggressively,
+and said: &ldquo;This is the only painter who ever was, or will be, and if you
+don&rsquo;t agree with me you are a fool.&rdquo; The painter, smiling a sly
+Monna-Lisan smile of triumph, remarked: &ldquo;Right you are, John. I rather
+think this <i>will</i> knock that rascal Claude,&rdquo; and I laughed so that I
+awoke; but the memory of the dream remained with me, and it seemed to me that,
+perhaps, we poor amateurs might not be any better able to compass aught but
+caricatures of this marvellous scenery than the ghostly limners of my dream!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hut just above ours was tenanted by a party of three young Lancers on leave
+from Rawal Pindi, a gramophone, and a few dogs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the soldiers was laid up with a bad ankle, and it soon became a daily
+custom for Jane or me to play a game of chess or piquet with the invalid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Later on, when leave had expired for the hale, when the dogs had departed, and
+the voice of the gramophone was no more heard in the land, we came to see a
+great deal of the wounded warrior, and finally arranged to personally conduct
+him off the premises, and return him, in time for medical survey, to Rawal
+Pindi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many years ago I read a delightful poem called <i>The Paradise of
+Birds</i>&mdash;I believe it was by Mortimer Collins,[1] but I am not sure. Now
+the Poet (who, together with Windbag, sailed to this very paradise of birds)
+deemed that this happy asylum of the feathered fowls was somewhere at the back
+of the North Pole. He cannot have known of Kashmir, or he would assuredly have
+sent the persecuted birds thither, and placed the &ldquo;Roc&rsquo;s Egg&rdquo;
+as janitor, somewhere by the portals of the Jhelum Valley. Kashmir is truly and
+indeed the paradise of birds, for there no man molests them, and no schoolboy
+collects eggs, and the result is a fascinating fearlessness, the result of
+perpetual peace and plenty.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] It is by Courthope, not Collins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I regret exceedingly that my ornithological knowledge is extremely limited. I
+could find no books to help me,[2] and, as I did not care to kill any birds
+merely to enable me to identify their species, my notes were merely
+&ldquo;popular&rdquo; and not &ldquo;scientific.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] See Appendix II.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shall I confess that I began an erudite work on the birds of Kashmir, but got
+no further than the Hoopoe? It began as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<h3>THE HOOPOE</h3>
+
+<p>
+<i>Early history of</i>.&mdash;Tereus, King of Thrace, annoyed his wife Procne
+so much by the very marked attention which he paid to her sister Philomela,
+that she lost her temper so far as to chop up her son Itylus, and present him
+to his papa in the form of a ragoût.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he &ldquo;fell upon&rdquo; the
+ladies with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the heart, he
+was changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow,
+while Itylus became a pheasant.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristæ<br/>
+Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;<br/>
+N epops volucri.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+OVID, <i>Metam</i>. lib. vi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>His crest and patent of nobility</i>.&mdash;Once upon a time, King Solomon,
+while making a royal progress, was much, incommoded by the powerful rays of the
+sun, and as he had ascendency over the birds, and knew their language, he
+called upon the vultures to come and fly betwixt the sun and his nobility, but
+the vultures refused. Then the kindly Hoopoes assembled, and flew in close mass
+above his head, thus forming a shade under which he proceeded on his journey in
+ease and comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At sundown the monarch sent for the King of the Hoopoes, and desired him to
+name a reward for the service which he and his followers had rendered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then the King of the Hoopoes answered that nothing could be more glorious than
+the golden crown of King Solomon; and so Solomon decreed that the Hoopoes
+should thenceforward wear golden crowns as a mark of his favour. But alas! when
+men found the Hoopoes all adorned with golden crowns, they pursued and slew
+them in great multitudes for greed of the precious metal, until the King of the
+Hoopoes, in heavy sorrow, hied hastily to King Solomon, and begged that the
+gift of the golden crowns might be rescinded, ere every Hoopoe was slain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Solomon, seeing the misery they had brought upon themselves by their
+presumption, transformed their crowns of gold to crowns of feathers, which no
+man coveted (for the Eastern ladies didn&rsquo;t wear hats), and the Hoopoes
+wear them to this day as a mark of royal favour, but all the feathers fell off
+the necks of the disobliging vultures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>His amazing talent</i>.&mdash;In those dark ages … the Hoopoe was considered
+as prodigiously skilful in defeating the machinations of witches, wizards, and
+hobgoblins. The female, in consequence of this art, could preserve her
+offspring from these dreaded injuries.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She knew all the plants which defeat fascinations, those which give sight to
+the blind; and, more wondrous still, those which open gates or doors, locked,
+bolted, or barred.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aelian relates that a man having three times successively closed the nest of a
+Hoopoe, and having remarked the herb with which the bird, as often, opened it,
+applied the same herb, and <i>with the same success</i>, to charm the locks off
+the strongest coffer.&mdash;<i>Naturalists&rsquo; Magazine</i> (about 1805).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>His personal appearance</i>.&mdash;The beak is bent, convex and
+sub-compressed, and in some degree obtuse; the tongue is obtuse, triangular and
+very short, and the feet are ambulatory. As this bird has a great abundance of
+feathers, it appears considerably thicker than it is. It is, in fact, about the
+size of a mistletoe thrush, but looks, while in its feathers, to be as large as
+a common pigeon.&mdash;<i>Naturalists&rsquo; Magazine</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+I had got <i>no</i> further in my <i>magnum opus</i>, when I unfortunately
+showed my notes to Colonel&mdash;well, I will not mention his name, but he is
+the greatest authority on the birds and beasts of Kashmir. He besought me to
+spare him, pathetically remarking that I should cut the ground from under his
+feet, and take the bread out of his mouth, and the wind out of his sails, if I
+went any further with my monograph on the Hoopoe. He saw at a glance that I was
+conversant with authorities whom he had never consulted, and possessed a
+knowledge of my subject to which he could hardly aspire, so I gracefully agreed
+to leave the field to him, and relinquished my <i>magnum opus</i> in its very
+inception.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the chiefest charms of Kashmir, and one which is apt to be overlooked,
+is the entirely unspoilt freshness of its scenery. No locust horde of
+personally-conducted &ldquo;trippers&rdquo; pollutes its ways and byways, nor
+has the khansamah of the dâk bungalow as yet felt constrained to add sauerkraut
+and German sausage to his bill of fare&mdash;for which Allah be praised!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The world is growing very small, and the globe-trotter rushes round it in
+eighty days. The trail of the cheap excursionist is all over Europe, from the
+North Cape to Tarifa, from the highest Alpine summit (which he attains in
+comfort by a funicular railway) to the deepest mines of Cornwall. Egypt has
+become his footstool, and the shores of the Mediterranean his wash-pot. Niagara
+is mapped and labelled for his benefit, and the Yosemite is his happy
+hunting-ground. He &ldquo;does&rdquo; the West Indies in &ldquo;sixty days for
+sixty pounds,&rdquo; and he is now arranging a special cheap excursion from the
+Cape to Cairo. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; it may be remarked, &ldquo;what were Jane and
+I but globe-trotters&rsquo;? and am I not trying to sing the praises of Kashmir
+with the avowed object of inducing people to go out and see it for
+themselves?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By all manner of means let us travel. Far be it from me to wish folks to stay
+dully at home, while the wonders and beauties of the wide world lie open for
+the admiration and education of its inhabitants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But there are globe-trotters and globe-trotters. My objection is only to
+those&mdash;alas! too numerous&mdash;vagrants who cannot go abroad without
+casting shame on the country which bred them; whose vulgarity causes offence in
+church and picture-gallery; who cannot see a monument or a statue without
+desiring to chip off a fragment, or at least scrawl their insignificant names
+upon it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From these, and such as these, Kashmir is as yet free; but some day, I suppose,
+it will be &ldquo;opened up,&rdquo; when the railway, which is already
+contemplated, is in going order between Pindi and Srinagar, and cheap excursion
+tickets are issued from Berlin and Birmingham.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here is a specimen page of the Guide Book (bound in red) for 19&mdash;(?):
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ascend Apharwat by the funicular railway. The neat little station, with
+its red corrugated-iron roof, makes a picturesque spot of colour near the
+Dobie&rsquo;s Ghât. Fares, 4 an. 6 pi., all the way.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A local guide should on no account be omitted (several are always to be
+found near the station leaning on their khudsticks, and discussing
+controversial theology in the sweet low tones so noticeable in the Kashmiri).
+See that he be provided with a horn, to the hooting of which the Echo Lake will
+be found responsive.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;From the balcony of the * Hôtel Baloo an unrivalled view of Nanga Parbat
+should be obtained. Glasses can be procured from the anna-in-the-slot machines
+which are dotted about.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This veritable king of the Himal&mdash;&rdquo; (here follows a pageful
+of regulation guide-book gush).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Good sport is to be obtained from the obliging and enterprising manager
+of the hotel, Herr Baer. A few rupees will purchase the privilege of shooting
+at that monarch of the mountains, the markhor. Start not, fair tourist, for no
+danger lurks in the sport. No icy precipices need be scaled, no giddy gulfs
+explored, and the only danger which menaces the bold hunter in the mimic stalk,
+is that which menaces his shins in the broken soda-water bottles and
+sharp-edged sardine tins with which the summit of Apharwat is strewn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a matter of fact, the consumption of mutton is considerable in the
+Hôtel Baloo in the tourist season, and the worthy Baer conceived the brilliant
+and financially sound scheme of attaching some old ibex and markhor horns
+(bought cheap when the old library at Srinagar was swept away in the last
+flood) to his live stock, and turning his decorated flock loose on the
+mountain&rsquo;s brow, where the sportsman saves him the trouble of slaughter
+while enjoying all the excitement and none of the difficulty of a veritable
+stalk.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Another brilliant invention of the good Baer is his &lsquo;sunset
+spectacles.&rsquo; These are made with the glasses in two halves&mdash;the
+upper part orange and the lower one purple. These are simply invaluable to
+those who have only a brief half-hour in which to &lsquo;do&rsquo; Apharwat
+before darting down to catch the 3.15 express for Leh (<i>viâ</i> the newly
+opened Zoji La tunnel), since for the modest sum of 8 a. a superb sunset can be
+enjoyed at any time of the day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should, however, the leisured globe-trotter have unlimited time at his
+disposal, he would do well to lunch at the Hôtel Baloo, in order to taste the
+celebrated Kashmir sauerkraut (made of wild rhubarb) and Gujar pie (composed of
+the most tempting tit-bits of the water buffalo), before returning to the
+&lsquo;Savoy&rsquo; at Srinagar by the turbine tram from Tangmarg, or by the
+pneumatic launch which leaves Palhallan Pier every ten minutes, weather
+permitting.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Should the tourist be a naturalist he can hardly fail to observe, and be
+interested in, the mosquitoes of this charming and picturesque locality. He
+will note that they rival the song-thrush in magnitude and the Bengal tiger in
+ferocity. A coating of tar laid with a trowel over the exposed parts of the
+body will be found the best protection, especially as the new Armour
+Company&rsquo;s patent hermetically sealed bear-proof visor will be found too
+hot for comfort in summer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The environs of Srinagar are charming. Notice the picturesque
+&lsquo;furnished apartments&rsquo; for paying guests all along the water-side,
+and the mixed bathing establishments, crowded daily by the Smart Set, whose
+jewelled pyjamas flash in rivalry of the heliographic oil-tins which deck the
+neighbouring temples.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;By a visit to the Museum, and an inspection by eye and nose of the
+quaint specimens of antique clothing exhibited there, the intelligent and
+imaginative traveller may conjure up a mental picture of the unpolished
+appearance of the old-time Mangi and his lady before he adopted the tall hat
+and frock coat of civilisation, or she had discovered the
+&lsquo;swanbill&rsquo;!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br/>
+THE FLOOD</h2>
+
+<p>
+Tuesday, <i>September</i> 12.&mdash;A second edition of the Noachian deluge is
+upon us! It began to rain on Saturday, at the close of a hot and stuffy week,
+and, having succeeded in thoroughly soaking the unfortunate ladies who were
+engaged in a golf competition that day, it proceeded to rain abundantly all
+through Sunday and Monday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The outlook from our hut is dispiriting; through a thick grey veil of vapour
+the gleam of water shines over the swamp that was the polo-ground. The little
+muddy stream in which so many erring golf-balls lie low is up and out for a
+ramble over its banks. The lower golf-greens resemble paddy-fields, and round
+the marg the spires of dull grey pines stand dripping in a steadfast
+shower-bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sometimes the heavy cloud folds everything in its leaden wing, blotting out
+even the streaming village at our feet, and reducing our view to the immediate
+slope below us where the wilted ragwort and rank weeds bend before the tiny
+torrents which trickle everywhere. Then comes a break, falsely suggestive of an
+improvement, and lo! soaring above the cloudy boil, the lofty shoulders of
+Apharwat sheeted in new-fallen snow!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the somewhat oppressive heat of last week, the sudden raw cold strikes
+home, and Jane and I take a great interest in the fire, the &ldquo;Old
+Snake&rdquo;[1] is an accomplished fire-master, and it is pleasant to watch him
+squatting like an ungainly frog in front of the hearth, and sagaciously feeding
+the flame with damp and spitting logs.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] Our pet name for Shikari Mark II., who reigns in the stead of Ahmed Bot,
+sacked for expensive inefficiency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is amazing what lavish expenditure of fuel one will indulge in when it costs
+nothing a ton!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We are just beginning to find out the exact spots where chairs may be planted
+so as to avoid the searching draughts which go far to make our happy home like
+a very airy sort of bird-cage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well! we might have been worrying through all this in a sodden tent, where even
+a boarded floor would barely have kept out rheumatism, and where one would have
+been liable to alarms and excursions at all sorts of untoward times when drains
+wanted deepening and guys slackening. The mere thought of such things sent us
+into a truly thankful state of mind, and we discussed from our cosy chairs the
+probable condition of the party from the Residency which set forth, full of
+high hope, on Saturday morning to attack the markhor of Poonch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here it has rained with vehemence ever since they left; up in the high ground
+it has doubtless snowed; and although they were well armed with cards and
+whisky, yet it would appear but a poor business to play bridge all day in a
+snow-bound tent on the top of the Pir Panjal! Nothing short of a hundred aces
+every few minutes could make the game worth the candle!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This spell of bad weather has greatly interfered with the movements of a large
+number of the folks who were to leave Gulmarg early this week. Many got away
+betimes on Saturday, and a few faced the elements on Sunday, and a painful
+experience they must have had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had intended to leave next Thursday, and had ordered boats to meet us at
+Parana Chauni, but the road will be so bad that I wired this morning to put off
+our transport till further orders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The end of the season at Gulmarg sees the bazaar stock at low water. Eggs,
+fowls, cherry brandy, and spirits of wine are &ldquo;off,&rdquo; also butter,
+but the latter scarcity does not affect us, as we make our own in a pickle jar.
+The bazaar butter became very bad, probably because the large numbers of
+visitors to Gulmarg caused an additional supply to be got from uncleanly
+Gujars, so we, by the kindness of the Assistant Resident, had a special cow
+detailed to supply us daily with milk at our own door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That cow was very friendly; I first made its acquaintance one forenoon. While I
+was sitting below the verandah sketching, with a dozen lovely peaches spread by
+me on the hoards to obtain their final touch of perfection in the sun before
+lunch, the cow strolled up. I was much interested in the sketch, and believed
+that the cow was too; but when I looked up at last, expecting to see its eye
+fixed upon the work in silent approbation,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The &lsquo;cow&rsquo; was still there, but the &lsquo;peaches&rsquo;
+were gone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon the weather showed signs of a desire to amend its ways. The
+clouds broke here and there, and, though it still rained heavily, it became
+apparent that the clerk of the weather had done his worst, and the supply of
+rain was running short. Clad in aquascutic garments, and surmounted by an
+ungainly two-rupee bazaar umbrella (my dapper British one having been annexed
+by a covetous Mangi)&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Ombrifuge, Lord love you, case o&rsquo; rain,<br/>
+I flopped forth &rsquo;sbuddikins on my own ten toes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole slope in front of the hut was a trickle of water, threading the dying
+stalks of dock and ragwort, and hurrying down to add its dirty pittance to the
+small yellow torrent rushing along the greasy strip of clay that in happier
+days was the path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole marg was become lake or stream&mdash;lake over the polo-ground and
+half the golf-links&mdash;fed by the weeping slopes on every side, whence
+innumerable rills rioted over the grass, emulating in ferocity and haste, if
+not in size, the tawny torrents which drained the sides of Apharwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road from the bazaar to the club was all but impassable, but as it had
+still a few inches of freeboard, I followed it to the foot of the church slope,
+and, skirting the hill, inspected the desolation which had been wrought at the
+Kotal hole, where the stream had torn through its banks and wrecked the green.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During a visit of condolence to Mrs. Smithson, whose unfortunate husband is
+pursuing markhor in Poonch, the sky cleared&mdash;a splendid effort in the way
+of a &ldquo;clearing shower&rdquo; being followed by a decided break-up of the
+pall of wet cloud in which we have been too long immersed. Not without a severe
+struggle did Jupiter Pluvius consent to turn off the tap, but at length the sun
+broke through the hanging clouds and sent their sodden grey fragments swirling
+up the Ferozepore Nullah to break in foamy wreaths round the ragged cliffs of
+Kulan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finding the road across to the post-office altogether under water for some
+distance&mdash;a lake extending from the twelfth hole for nearly a quarter of a
+mile to the main road&mdash;I wandered back towards the higher ground, joining
+a waterproof figure, a member of the Green Committee, who was sadly regarding
+the water-logged links with the disconsolate air of the raven let loose from
+the ark! We agreed that this was a remarkably good opportunity for observing
+the drainage system, and taking notes for future guidance, and in company we
+went over as much of the links as possible, finishing below the second hole,
+where the cross stream which comes down from the higher ground had torn away
+the bridge and cut off the huts beyond from civilisation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The homeward stroll at sunset was perfectly beautiful, and showed Gulmarg in an
+absolutely new guise. The lower part of the marg, being all lake, reflected the
+lustrous golden sky and rich dark pine-woods in a faithful mirror. Flying
+fragments of cloud, fleeces of gold and crimson, clung to the mountain-sides or
+sailed above the forests, while beyond Apharwat, coldly clad in a pure white
+mantle of snow, new fallen, rose silhouetted against the darkening sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, September</i> 16.&mdash;After the Deluge came the Exodus,
+everybody trying to leave Gulmarg at once. We had always intended to go down to
+Srinagar about the 15th, but, finding that the Residency party meant to move on
+that day, we arranged to migrate a day earlier in order to avoid the pony and
+coolie famine which a Residential progress entails on the ordinary traveller.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Wednesday afternoon the ten ponies, carefully ordered a week before from the
+outlying villages, were congregated on the weedy slope which falls away from
+our verandah, picking up a scanty sustenance from decaying ragwort and such
+like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Secure in the possession of the necessary transport, Jane and I strolled forth
+for a last look at Nanga Parbat, should he haply deign to be on view. He did
+not deign, however, preferring to remain, like Achilles, when bereft of
+Briseis, sulking in his cloudy tent. So we consoled ourselves with an
+exceedingly fine view of the snow-crowned heights at the head of the Ferozepore
+Nullah. Upon returning to our beloved log cabin we were met by Sabz
+Ali&mdash;almost speechless with wrath&mdash;who broke to us the distressing
+news that six of our ten weight-carriers had departed from the compound. The
+entire staff, with the exception of our factotum, were away in pursuit, and
+there was nothing for it but to possess our souls in what patience we might
+until they returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we had arranged for a four o&rsquo;clock start next morning, it was most
+disconcerting to have all our transport desert so late in the evening. An
+urgent note to the Assistant Resident, and some pressure on the Tehsildhar,
+produced promise of assistance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Early on Thursday morning came an indignant chit from an irate General,
+complaining that my servants were trying to seize his ponies, for which he had
+paid an advance of two rupees, and would I be good enough to investigate the
+affair. Here was the murder out. His chuprassie had obviously bribed my pony
+wallahs, and a letter, stating my case pretty clearly, produced the ponies and
+an apology.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This delay kept us till after midday, when, stowing our invalid snugly in a
+dandy, we left Gulmarg and began the descent to Srinagar. I remained behind to
+see the hut clear and make a sketch, and then hurried down the direct path,
+which drops some 2000 feet to Tangmarg. Here I found Jane and the invalid
+comfortably disposed in a landau, but the baggage spread about anywhere, and
+the usual clamour of coolies uprising in the heated and dust-laden air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No ekka&mdash;the one which had been ordered with the landau having apparently
+got another job and departed. Presently a stray ekka, drawn by a sorely
+weary-looking mule, appeared on the scene, and we seized upon it instantly,
+loaded it up with most of the baggage, and despatched coolies with the rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the storm came a holy calm, and we settled down to a light but welcome
+lunch before starting down the long slope into the valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had heard most disquieting tales of floods; the water had burst the bund at
+Srinagar, and there was said to be ten feet over the polo-ground. The occupants
+of Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel were going in and out by boat, and Srinagar itself was
+said to be quite cut off from all access by road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Residency party have countermanded their intended move to-morrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the post-office I was told that only a small part of the mail had been
+brought into Srinagar, the road being &ldquo;bund&rdquo; between Baramula and
+that place, while an unusual number of landslips and bridges have come down in
+the Jhelum Valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nevertheless, we had made a push to get on; things in Kashmir are often less
+gloomy than their reports would make one believe, and so we bowled quite
+cheerfully down the road from Tangmarg, basking in the hot and sunny air, which
+seemed to us really delicious after the raw cheerlessness of the last few days
+at Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From Tangmarg to the dâk bungalow at Margam, a steady descent is maintained by
+an excellent road over the sloping Karewa, for about ten miles, of which we had
+just about travelled half when a series of yells from the syce behind, a wild
+swerve, and a heavy plump brought us up just on the edge of the steep and rocky
+bank, which fell sharply from the roadside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! the axle of the off hind wheel had snapped, and the wheel itself was
+hopelessly lying in the thick white dust, and our landau looked like an ancient
+three-decker in a squall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The horses being unharnessed, we sent the drivers with one of them forward to
+look for help, and Hesketh and Jane proceeded to make tea while I sat by the
+roadside and sketched.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Presently an empty dandy came &ldquo;dribbling by&rdquo; on its return journey
+to Gulmarg, and it was immediately impressed for the benefit of the lame.
+Hardly had we packed him in, when a wandering tonga hove in sight, and, being
+promptly requisitioned, we rattled off the five miles which lay between us and
+Margam in no time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we found a large party assembled in the little rest-house. Colonel and
+Mrs. Maxwell (who had kindly sent us back the tonga on hearing of the
+breakdown); Mr. and Mrs. Allen Baines, whose dandy had been the means of
+bringing Hesketh along; and Sadleir-Jackson, and Edwards of the 9th Lancers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bungalow was full, but I found out that one room was appropriated by a
+coming event, who had cast his shadow before him in the guise of a bearer. This
+being contrary to the etiquette as observed in dâk bungalows, I gently but
+firmly cleared out the neatly arranged toilet things and ready-made bed; while
+Hesketh was taken over, somewhat shattered by his tedious though exciting day,
+by his fellow Lancers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The resources of the little place were severely strained; dinner was a scanty
+meal, and soda-water gave out almost immediately: nevertheless, a cheroot and a
+rubber of bridge sent us contented to bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yesterday (Friday) the question of how to proceed arose. The road was reported
+to be impassable after about five miles, the remaining ten being under water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We set out after breakfast, Jane perched on a pony which Sabz Ali had raised or
+stolen, Hesketh in the dandy, and I on foot. After a warm five miles&rsquo;
+march we came upon signs of a block. Vehicles of many and strange sorts were
+drawn up in the shade of a chenar, under whose wide branches the Baines family
+was faring sumptuously on biscuits and brandy and water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Horses, goats, and cattle strayed around, and a chattering mob of natives,
+busily engaged, as usual, in doing nothing, completed the picture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hesketh was reduced to despair; after two months in bed, this could not but be
+a trying journey under the most favourable circumstances, and the prospect as
+held out by his pessimistic bearer was pretty gloomy&mdash;no boats available,
+and no signs of our doungas.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I pushed on to the break in search of my shikari, whom I had sent on by pony
+early in the morning, and soon found that estimable person, who is not really
+the blithering idiot he looks!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the first place, he had appropriated the only two shikaras he could find,
+and our baggage was already being stowed in them; secondly, he had discovered
+both Juma and Ismala, our Mangis, who reported the doungas moored below Parana
+Chaum, about four miles away over the flooded fields.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was good news, and we ate a cheerful lunch under a tree densely populated
+by jackdaws.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Maxwells got away somehow in search of their house-boat, which was supposed
+to have left Baramula some days ago. They started cheerfully, but vaguely, down
+the Spill Canal, and we trust they found their ark somewhere!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Promising to send back a boat for the Baines, we paid and dismissed coolies and
+ponies, and paddled away over the flood water. The country was simply a vast
+lake, the main road merely marked by a dense row of poplars. Trees rose
+promiscuously out of the calm and sunlit water, wisps of maize and wreckage
+clinging to their lower boughs. Presently the road showed in patches, a broad
+waterfall breaking it every here and there as the imprisoned waters from above
+sought the slightly lower channel of the Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed a party of natives bivouacking near the roof and upper storey of
+their wooden hut, which, floating from above, was held up by the Baramula road.
+Sounding now and then with our khudsticks, we found no bottom over the
+submerged rice crops, though we could see plainly the laden ears waving
+dismally down below. This is nothing less than a great calamity for the owners,
+as the rice was just ready for gathering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards dusk we arrived at our ships, calmly lying moored to poplar trees by
+the roadside, and right gladly did we clamber on board, for our invalid was
+pretty well fagged out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we cast loose from our poplars, and brought the fleet up to within
+half a mile of the seventh bridge, or, rather, of the spot where the seventh
+bridge used to be, for all but a fragment has been washed away! The strong
+current prevented us from getting any higher up the river in our doungas. Jane
+and I, however, were anxious to see what appearance Srinagar presented, so we
+manned the shikara with five able-bodied paddlers and pushed our way upwards.
+Turning into a side canal we passed a demolished bridge, and tried to force our
+way up a small but swift stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Failing to make anything of it, we landed and had the boat carried over into a
+wider channel. Three times we were obliged to get out and leave our stalwart
+crew to force the boat on somehow, and they did it well&mdash;hauling,
+paddling, and shouting invocations to various saints, particularly the one
+whose name sounds like &ldquo;jam paws!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The water had already fallen some four or five feet, but there was plenty left.
+A great break in the bund between Nusserwanjee&rsquo;s shop and the Punjab Bank
+allowed us to paddle into the flooded European quarter, past the telegraph
+office, standing knee-deep in muddy water, up over the main road to
+Nedou&rsquo;s Hotel, where boats lay moored outside the dining-room windows,
+then across the lagoon, lightly rippled by a tiny breeze, beneath which lay the
+polo-ground, to the Residency, where we landed to inspect damages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The water had been all over the lower storey, but a muddy deposit on the wooden
+floor, and a brown slimy high-water mark on the door jambs, alone remained to
+show what had happened. The piano had been hoisted upon a table, carpets and
+curtains bundled upstairs, and everything, apparently, saved. The poor garden,
+with its slime-daubed shrubs, broken palings and torn creepers, trailing wisps
+of draggled foliage in the oozy brown pools, was a sad and pitiful sight,
+especially when mentally contrasted with the glowing glory of asters and
+zinneas which it should have been.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The flood has been nearly as bad as the great one of 1903. Fortunately the
+Spill Canal, cut above Srinagar to carry off the flood water, took off some of
+the pressure; the bund, also, is three feet higher than it was then, but it
+gave way in two places&mdash;one somewhere near the top, and the other just
+below the Bank, letting in the river to a depth of ten feet over the low-lying
+quarter. The stream is now falling fast, and, after doing a little shopping and
+visiting the post-office, which is temporarily established on the bund in the
+midst of an amazing litter of desks, boxes, and queer pigeon-holes admirably
+adapted to lose letters by the score, we spun swiftly down the rushing stream
+to tea and our cosy dounga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, September</i> 18.&mdash;It was impossible to get our boats up the
+river yesterday, so I spent the day sketching amidst the most picturesque, but
+horribly smelly, part of the town; much quinine in the evening seemed desirable
+as a counterblast to possible malaria.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sunsets lately have been really magnificent; the poplars and chenars,
+darkly olive, reflected in the flooded fields against a red gold sky, in the
+foreground the black silhouettes of the armada.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The days are almost too hot, but the nights are cool and delicious, and the
+mosquitoes are only noticeable for a brief period of sinful activity about
+sundown, after which the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At half-past ten this morning we set sail; that is to say, we hired nine extra
+coolies and a second shikara to tow, and advanced on Srinagar. Hesketh&rsquo;s
+boat, being the lighter, kept well ahead (here let me note that
+&ldquo;bow&rdquo; in that boat is quite the prettiest girl we have seen in
+Kashmir, and the minx knows it!), but we had good men, and worked along slowly
+and steadily up the main river, the side canals being all choked by broken
+bridges and such like. We crept past the Amira Kadal, or first bridge, about
+two o&rsquo;clock, and tied up for lunch, revelling in the most perfect pears,
+peaches, and walnuts. As a rule the Kashmir fruit is disappointing; abundant
+and cheap certainly, but not by any means of first-rate quality.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Strawberries, cherries, apricots, melons, and grapes might all be far better if
+properly cultivated, and scientifically improved from European stock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The pears alone defy criticism, and the apples, I am told, are excellent also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Vegetables are in great plenty, but, like the fruit, would be much improved by
+good cultivation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, September</i> 25.&mdash;The abomination of desolation wrought by
+the flood is borne in upon one more and more as an inspection of the town
+reveals the damage done more fully&mdash;the houses standing empty, their lower
+storeys dank and slimy, the ruined gardens, and muddy, slippery roads. The
+wrecked garden of the Punjab Bank is one of the saddest sights, and must be a
+painful spectacle to Mr. Harrison, whose joy it was to spend time and money on
+importing exotic and improving indigenous plants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One cannot help reflecting how desperately depressed Noah, and the probably
+more impressionable Mrs. Noah, must have been when, discarding their
+aquascutums for the first time, they sallied forth, a primeval party, to
+observe the emerging country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Noah, tucking up the curious straight garment that is a memory of our
+childhood, went ahead with feminine curiosity; Noah, bare-legged, slithering
+along in the rear and beseeching the ladies to note the slipperiness of the
+alluvial deposit, and for goodness&rsquo; sake not to make a glissade down the
+side of Ararat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I feel confident they must have taken great precautions, for Sabz Ali slipped
+up on the shelving bank of the Jhelum, and, had he not caught the gunwale of
+our dounga in his descent, would most certainly have had to swim for his
+life&mdash;which I doubt if he can do!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now, Shem and Co. were as valuable to Noah as Sabz Ali is to us, and I should
+not be surprised if he made them travel on all-fours in the risky places.
+Fathers were very dictatorial in those days, and there was nobody about to make
+them consider their dignity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One can imagine the scene. Ararat, a muddy pyramid dotted here and there with
+olive trees&mdash;curious, by the way, to find olives so high!&mdash;in the
+receding waters the vagrant raven cheerfully picking out the eye of a defunct
+pterodactyl. The heavy clouds rolling off the sodden world&mdash;they must have
+indeed been heavy clouds, nimbus of the first water&mdash;as they had raised
+the world&rsquo;s water-level 250 feet per day during &ldquo;the flood&rdquo; …
+surely a record output!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The primeval family party, sadly poking about along the expanding margin of the
+world, noting how Abel Brown&rsquo;s tall chimney was beginning to show, and
+how Cain Jones&rsquo; wigwam was clean gone. Mrs. Shem said she knew it would,
+the mortar work had been so terribly scamped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And Naboth Robinson&rsquo;s vineyard&mdash;well, <i>it</i> was in a pretty
+mess, to be sure, and serve him right, for Mrs. Noah had frequently offered him
+two of her (second) best milch mammoths for it; yet he had held on to his nasty
+sour grapes, like the mean old curmudgeon that he was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now Hammy must set to work and tidy it up; and oh! what lots of nice manure
+was floating about, all for nothing the cartload … And so the primeval family
+felt better, and went back to the ark to tea, feeling almost cheerful, but
+rather lonesome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately this great flood did little injury to life or limb. A certain
+amount of destruction of crops and other property was inevitable, but on the
+whole the loss was not so great as was at one time feared, and much was saved
+that at first seemed irreparable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A well-known lady artist came near to giving the note of tragedy to the British
+community, and losing the number of her mess (to use a nautical, and therefore
+appropriate expression) by reason of a big willow tree, beneath whose shady
+boughs she had moored her floating studio. This hapless tree, having all its
+sustenance swept from beneath by the greedy water, came down with a crash in
+the night upon the confiding house-boat, and all but swamped it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cook-boat, occupied as usual by a pair of prolific Mangis and their large
+small family, was saved by the proverbial &ldquo;acid drop&rdquo;&mdash;the
+children crawling out somehow or anyhow from among the branches of the fallen
+tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fair artist, having with shrieks invoked the aid of a neighbour, he
+promptly descended from his roof or other temporary camp, and helped her with
+basins and chatties to bale out the half-swamped boat. The lady is now safely
+moored to the mudbank on the other side of the river where willow trees do not
+grow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole bund is in a very unsafe state: it was raised three feet after the
+last flood, but its width was not increased correspondingly. Now that the water
+has fallen, great fissures and subsidences have appeared, and in many places
+large portions of the bank have fallen away, carrying big trees with them.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br/>
+THE MACHIPURA</h2>
+
+<p>
+Wednesday, <i>September</i> 27.&mdash;We left Srinagar yesterday, very sorry
+indeed to part from the many good friends we have made and left there. Truly
+Kashmir is a hospitable country, and we have met with more kind friendliness in
+the last six months than we could have believed possible, coming as we did,
+strangers and pilgrims into a strange land. Our consolation is that every one
+comes &ldquo;Home&rdquo; sooner or later, so that we can look forward to
+meeting most of our friends again ere very long, and recalling with them
+memories of this happy summer with those who have done so much to make it so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Farewell, Srinagar! Your foulness and inward evilness were lost in the
+background behind your picturesque and tumble-down houses as we floated for the
+last time down Jhelum&rsquo;s olive waters, where the sharp-nosed boats lay
+moored along the margin or, poled by their sturdy Mangis and guided by the
+chappars of their wives and daughters, shot athwart the eddying flood, breaking
+the long reflections of the storeyed banks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the Palace of the Maharajah, its fantastic mixture of ancient fairness and
+modern ugliness blending into a homogeneous beauty as distance lent it
+enchantment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the temples, their tin-coated roofs refulgent in the brilliant sunlight;
+under the queer wooden bridges, their solid stone piers parting the suave flow
+of water into noisy swirl and gurgle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the familiar groups of grave, white-robed men solemnly washing themselves,
+then scooping up and drinking the noisome fluid; past their ladies squatting
+like frogs by the river-side, washing away at clothes which never seem a whit
+the cleanlier for all their talk and trouble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past the children and fowls, and cows and crows, all hob-nobbing together as
+usual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Past all these sights&mdash;so strange to us at first and now so strangely
+familiar&mdash;we floated, till the broken remnant of the seventh bridge lay
+behind us, and the lofty poplars that hem in the Baramula road stood stark and
+solemn in their endless perspective.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here a jangling note, out of tune and harsh, was struck by the dobie, with whom
+we had a grave difference of opinion regarding the washing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That gentleman having &ldquo;lost by neglect&rdquo; certain articles of my
+kit&mdash;to wit sundry shirts and other garments&mdash;and having rendered
+others completely <i>hors de combat</i> by reason of his sinful method of
+washing, I decided to &ldquo;cut&rdquo; three rupees off his remuneration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This decision seemed to have taken from him all that life held of worth, and he
+implored me to spare his wife, children, and home, all of whom would be broken
+up and ruined if I were cruel enough, to enforce my awful threat. Seeing that I
+was obdurate, being well backed by the infuriated Jane, whose underwear showed
+far more lace and open work than nature intended, the wretched dobie melted
+into loud and tearful lamentation, and perched himself howling in the prow.
+This soon became so boresome that I deported him to Hesketh&rsquo;s boat, where
+he underwent another defeat at the hands of that irate Lancer, whose shirts and
+temper had suffered together; finally the woeful washerman, still howling
+lugubriously, was landed on the river bank, and we saw and heard him no more!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Down the gentle river we swiftly glided all day, while the Takht and Hari
+Parbat grew smaller and bluer, and Srinagar lay below them invisible in its
+swathing greenery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Reaching Sumbal at sunset, we turned to the left down a narrow canal, and soon
+the Wular lay&mdash;a sheet of molten gold&mdash;upon our right; and by the
+time we had moored alongside a low strip of reedy bank, the glorious rosy
+lights had faded from the snows of the Pir Panjal, and their royal purple and
+gold had turned to soft ebony against the primrose of the sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few hungry mosquitoes worried us somewhat before sunset, promising worse to
+follow; but the sharp little breeze that came flickering over the Wular after
+dark seemed to upset their plans, and send them shivering and hungry to shelter
+among the reeds and rushes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning we crossed the Wular, starting as the first pale dawn showed over
+the eastern hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the sun rose over Apharwat, his shafts struck the higher snows and
+turned them rosy; while the lower slopes, their distant pines suffused with
+strong purple, stood reflected in the placid mirror of the lake.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Full many a glorious morning have I seen<br/>
+Flatter the mountain tops with sovran eye,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+but seldom a more lovely one than this&mdash;our last on the Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The active figures of the propellent Mangis, and the quiet ones of their ladies
+at the helm, completed a picture to be recalled with a sigh when we are parted
+by thousands of miles from this entrancing valley.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sopor we had understood to be but an uninteresting place, but we were, perhaps,
+inclined to regard things Kashmirian through somewhat rosy spectacles. Anyhow,
+we rather liked Sopor. Mooring close alongside a remarkably picturesque
+building standing in the midst of a smooth green lawn, which was once, I
+believe, a dâk bungalow, we halted to make arrangements for the hire of coolies
+and ponies to take us inland, and I went off to the post-office for letters and
+to make inquiries as to the probable depth of water in the river Pohru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our skipper, Juma, affirmed that there was no water to speak of; but Juma
+probably&mdash;nay, certainly&mdash;prefers the <i>otium</i> of a sojourn at
+Sopor to the toil of punting up the Pohru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The postmaster declared that there was lots of water, but qualified his
+optimism by saying that it was falling fast. So we arranged for our land
+transport of ponies for ourselves, and a dandy for Hesketh, to meet us one
+march up the river at Nopura, while we ourselves set forward in our boats to
+Dubgam, three or four miles down the Jhelum, where the Pohru joins it. At the
+entrance are large stores of timber, principally deodar, which is floated down
+from the Lolab, stored at Dubgam, and sent thence down country and otherwhere
+for sale. The great boom across the river to catch the floating logs had been
+carried away in the flood, and merely showed a few melancholy and ineffectual
+spikes of wood sticking up above the now calm and sluggish river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We towed up easily enough, through a quiet and peaceful country, which only
+became gorgeous under the alchemy of sunset, reaching Nopura in good time to
+tie up before dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, September 29</i>.&mdash;On Thursday morning we started, as usual, at
+dawn, and proceeded to pole and haul our way up the devious channel of the
+Pohru. Some four or five miles we accomplished successfully, although there
+were ominous signs of a gradual lack of water, until we came upon a hopeless
+shallow, where the river, instead of concentrating its energies on one deep and
+narrow channel, had run to waste over a wide bed, where the wrinkling wavelets
+showed the golden brown of the gravel just below the surface. Our big dounga
+stuck hard and fast at once, and Captain Jurna promptly gave up all hope of
+getting farther. He was, in fact, greatly gratified to find his prophesies come
+true, and an insufferable air of &ldquo;I told you so&rdquo; overspread his
+face as he wagged his head with mock sorrow, and gently poked the bottom with
+his pole to show how firmly fixed we were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having an invalid with us, however, it was important to gain every easy mile we
+could, and it was not until all the fleet in turn had attempted to cross the
+shallow, and failed, that we made up our minds to take to our land transport.
+It was uncommonly hot in the full glare of the sun as Hesketh in his dandy,
+Jane on her &ldquo;tattoo,&rdquo; and I on foot set forward for the forest
+house at Harwan, which lay some five miles away across the fields, where the
+rice is now being busily cut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the foot of a very brown and parched-looking hill stood the little wooden
+hut, facing the valley of the Pohru and the Kaj-nag range. Hot and thirsty, we
+blessed the good Mr. Blunt, the kindly forest officer, who had so courteously
+given us permission to use the forest huts of the Lolab and the Machipura. Our
+blessings of Blunt turned swiftly to curses directed towards the chowkidar, who
+was not to be seen, and who had left the hut firmly fastened from within. An
+attempt to force the door brought upon us the resentment of a highly irritable
+swarm of big red wasps, who plainly regarded us as objectionable intruders; and
+Jane was really getting quite cross (she says&mdash;she always does&mdash;that
+it was I who lost my temper)&mdash;before the bold sweeper, prying round the
+back premises, found an unbarred window, and the joy bells rang once more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent in the
+rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I sallied forth
+to select a few chikor for the pot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary partridge,
+not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry, scrub-covered
+country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly when pursued. The
+chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the capacity of what fowl
+fanciers call &ldquo;a table bird,&rdquo; being, in fact, truly excellent
+eating.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He is not an altogether easy bird to shoot, owing to his annoying predilection
+for the steepest and rockiest hillsides, and those most densely clothed in
+spiny jungle, wherein lurking, he chooses the inopportune moment when the
+sportsman is hopelessly entangled, like Isaac&rsquo;s ram, to rise chuckling
+and flee away to another hiding-place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without dogs, he would be often extremely hard to find; but unluckily for
+himself, being a true Kashmiri bird, he cannot help making a noise, and thereby
+betraying his presence. His corpse, when dead, is hard to find in the jungle,
+and a runner is, of course, hopeless without canine help. It is well,
+therefore, to kill him as dead as possible, and to that end I used No. 4 shot,
+with, I think, a certain advantage over Walter, who shot with No. 6, and who,
+in consequence, lost several birds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The friendliness and sociability of the beasts and birds of Kashmir has been a
+great joy to us. The thing can be overdone, though, and both the wasps and the
+rats of Harwan were inclined to overstep the bounds of decorum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The latter were obviously overjoyed to see visitors, and visions of unlimited
+plunder from our festive board would, of course, put them somewhat above
+themselves. Still, they should have refrained from rioting so openly around our
+beds as soon as the lights were out, and Jane was naturally indignant when a
+large one ran over her feet!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Friday morning we left Harwan, pretty early, as usual, for it is still
+somewhat too warm to travel comfortably in the middle of the day. The Colonel
+(always an early bird) got away first, followed by our invalid in his dandy,
+while Jane and I remained to hunt the loiterers out of camp. A glorious
+morning, and the cheering knowledge that breakfast was in front of us, sent us
+merrily along for a mile or two, until branching paths led us to inquire of an
+intelligent Kashmiri, who appeared to be busily engaged in reaping rice with a
+penknife, as to the road taken by our precursors, especially the tiffin coolie!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The industrious one had seen no sahibs at all pass by. This was a blow, and
+Jane and I sat down to review the situation. We finally decided that the son of
+the soil was indulging in what the great and good Winston Churchill has called
+a &ldquo;terminological inexactitude,&rdquo; as the others must have gone by
+one of the two roads; so, putting our fortunes to the touch, we took the
+left-hand path, and were in due time rewarded by reaching Sogul, and there
+finding our pioneers peacefully seated under a tree, and breakfast ready.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the right,
+and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned into a beautiful
+valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and insignificant stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Drogmulla, our objective, lies about fourteen miles from Harwan, and the forest
+house is a full mile beyond the village, at the end of a somewhat steep and
+winding path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A welcome sight was the snug rest-house, perched upon a hillock above a fussy
+little stream and surrounded by a fine clump of deodars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A tiny lawn in front was decorated with an artificial tank full of
+water-plants, and through the opening, among the trees, we saw the snowy crest
+of Shambrywa and the Kaj-nag rising over the deeply-wooded foothills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Drogmulla was so fascinating a spot, and the weather was so remarkably fine,
+that we made up our minds to remain here for a few days. That old red-bearded
+snake, the shikari, has sent the Colonel into a seventh heaven of anticipation
+by pointing to the encircling forest with promise of &ldquo;pul-lenty baloo,
+sahib, this pul-lace.&rdquo; We straightway ordained a honk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our sick soldier is so much better since leaving Gulmarg that he is able to hop
+&ldquo;around&rdquo; with considerable activity on his crutches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, September</i> 30, 4 P.M.&mdash;Walter and I have been bear-honking
+all day in a district reputed to be simply crawling with bears. I love
+bear-honking; it is such a peaceful occupation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a stiff and very hot scramble up a rugged hillside covered with the
+infuriating scrub through which nothing but a reptile could crawl easily, the
+spot is reached within short range of which (in the opinion of the
+&ldquo;oldest inhabitant,&rdquo; backed up by the &ldquo;Snake&rdquo;) the bear
+<i>must</i> pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the battery of rifles and guns is carefully arranged, and I proceed to
+wipe my heated brow and settle down to the calm enjoyment of the honk. Drawing
+forth my cigar-case, I am soon wreathed in the fragrant clouds engendered by
+the incineration of a halfpenny cheroot, and, with a sigh of satisfaction, I
+spread out my writing or sketching materials and proceed to scribble or paint,
+calm in the knowledge that nothing on earth is in the least likely to disturb
+the flow of ideas, or interrupt the laying on of a broad flat wash. Now and
+again, lazily, I lean back to watch the witless hoverings of a big butterfly,
+or sleepily listen to the increasing sound of the tom-toms and the yells of the
+beaters, whose voices, as those of demons of the pit, rend the peaceful air and
+add to my sense of Olympian aloofness!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor, followed by
+a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched, clouds somewhat my
+active faculties, and the article&mdash;&ldquo;A Bear Battue in the
+Himalayas&rdquo;&mdash;which I am engaged in writing for the
+<i>Field</i>&mdash;seems to flag a little.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Come, come! Begone dull sloth&mdash;let me continue&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As the sound of the beaters swells upon the ear, and the thunder of the
+tom-toms grows more insistent, the keen-eyed sportsman grasps more firmly the
+lever of his four-barrelled Nordenfeldt and prepares to play upon the bears his
+hail of stinging missiles. Hark! The plot is thickening, behind yon dense
+screen at the end of the cover the ph&mdash;&mdash; bears are beginning to
+crowd, the pattering of their feet upon the dead leaves sends a thrill through
+the beating heart of the expectant sportsman. A few bears break back amid wild
+yells from the coolies. One or two odd ones dart out here and there at angles
+of the covert. Steady! Steady! Here they are, following the lead of yon fine
+old cock; with a whirr and a rush the bouquet is upon us. The shikari, mad with
+excitement, presses the second Gatling and the light Howitzer into our hands as
+he screams: &lsquo;Bear to right, sahib!&mdash;Bear over!!&mdash;Bear behind!!!
+Bang&mdash;bang!&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eh? What? Oh, all right, shikari. Honk finished? Is it? Saw nothing?
+Dear me! how very odd. Very well, then gather up my guns and things, and
+we&rsquo;ll go on to the next beat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, October 1</i>.&mdash;To-day being Sunday, we have been idle and
+happy&mdash;sketching, loafing, and enjoying the scenery and the glorious
+weather. Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the beaters,
+but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have found mushrooms
+growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are also satisfied. After
+lunch I mustered up energy sufficient to take me down to the village to sketch
+a native hut which, surrounded by a patch of flaming millet, had struck me on
+Friday as an extraordinary bit of colour. Jane and Walter, after many
+&ldquo;prave &rsquo;orts&rdquo; about climbing the ridge behind Drogmulla,
+contented themselves with a minor ascent of a knoll about fifty feet high,
+while the Lancer, reckless in his increasing activity, managed to trip over his
+crutches and give himself an extremely unfortunate fall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, October 2</i>.&mdash;There was a man who, during our bear-honk on
+Saturday, rendered himself conspicuous, partly by reason of his likeness to my
+shikari, and also because of his complete knowledge of the whereabouts of all
+bears for many miles around. He was quite glad to impart much information to
+us, and so won upon the sporting but too trustful heart of the brave Colonel,
+that he was retained by that officer in order that he might show sport to the
+Philistines, and annas and even rupees were bestowed upon him; and he and the
+old original &ldquo;Snake&rdquo; were sent forward on Saturday evening, as
+Joshua and Caleb, to spy out the promised land in the neighbourhood of Tregam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lured by rumours of many bears, Walter and I set forth at daylight for Tregam,
+leaving Jane and the youthful Lancer (once more, alas! reduced to stiff
+bandages and a painful relapse) in possession of the hut. We &ldquo;hadna gane
+a mile&mdash;a mile but barely twa,&rdquo; when the old shikari met us with the
+painful intelligence that two sahibs were already at Tregam, and had killed
+many bears there, grievously wounding the rest; so we altered course eight
+points to port, crossed the Pohru, and made for Rainawari.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A sharp climb over a wooded ridge (on the top of which we halted for
+breakfast), followed by a steep descent, brought us into a flat and
+well-cultivated plain, which sloped gently from the foothills of the Kaj-nag to
+the bed of the Pohru. Everywhere, in the glowing sunlight, the villagers were
+busily engaged in reaping the rice, which lay in ripe brown swathes along the
+little fields. The walnuts, of which there are a great plenty in this district,
+have been lately gathered, some few trees only still remaining, loaded with a
+heavy crop, but the main produce lay drying in heaps in the villages as we rode
+through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The road to Rainawari seemed curiously devious. A Kashmiri track seldom shies
+at a hill, but pursues its way, heedless of gradient, for its objective; but
+this path imitated a corkscrew in its windings, and reduced us to the utmost
+limit of our patience before, passing through a small village whose
+dull-coloured houses were enlivened with gorgeous festoons of scarlet chilies,
+we climbed a steep little hill and found ourselves upon a park-like lawn or
+clearing, and facing the cluster of rough wooden shanties which compose the
+Rainawari forest bungalow and its outhouses. Behind the huts the densely-wooded
+hill drops sharply to where a stream of good and pure water riots among the
+maidenhair and mosses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A large and inquisitive company of apes came up from the wood to take stock of
+us, and I sat for a long time watching them as they played about quite close to
+me, feeding, chattering, and quarrelling, entirely unconcerned by the presence
+of their human spectator.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, October 6</i>.&mdash;All Tuesday was spent in honking bear in the
+lower woods which stretch far towards the Pohru. The high hills which rise
+above, covered with jungle, are said to be too large to work, and I can well
+believe it! For the first drive I was posted on a steep bank overlooking a most
+lovely little hollow, where the shafts of sunlight fell athwart the grey trunks
+and heavy green masses of the pines, lighting up the yellow leaves of the
+sumachs till they glowed like gold, and casting a flickering network of strong
+lights and shadows among the tangled mazes of undergrowth. A happy family of
+magpies, grey-blue above, with barred tails and yellow beaks, flitted about in
+restless quest, their constant cries being the only sound which broke the
+peaceful stillness, until the faint and distant sound of shouts and tom-toms
+showed that the first act of the farce had begun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards the end of the third beat, while I was drowsily digesting tiffin, and,
+truly, not far from napping, I was electrified by the report of a rifle,
+followed by yells and a second shot! The beaters redoubled their shouts, and
+the tom-tommers seemed like to burst their drums.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My shikari, writhing with extreme excitement, hissed, &ldquo;Baloo, sahib,
+baloo!&rdquo; and began aimlessly running to and fro, apparently hoping to meet
+the bear somewhere. It was truly gay for a few minutes, but as nothing further
+occurred, and the beaters grew very hoarse with their prodigious efforts, I
+hurried on to Walter&rsquo;s post to learn what had happened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A bear had suddenly come out of the cover some 40 yards off, and stood to look.
+The Colonel missed it, whereupon it dashed forward, passing within a few yards
+of him, and he missed it again. It departed at top speed across some open
+ground behind him, and gained the great woods which stretch away to the
+Kaj-nag, and never shall we see that bear again! The Colonel was much
+disgusted, and if language&mdash;hot, strong, and plenty of it&mdash;could have
+slain that bear, he would have dropped dead in his tracks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The beaters brought up a wonderful tale of how another bear, badly wounded in
+the leg, had charged through their lines and gone back. They stuck to their
+story, and either a second bear actually existed or they are colossal liars. I
+incline to the latter theory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had wasted all our luck. No more bears came to look at us, and so, late in
+the afternoon, we sought the rest-house and consolation from Jane and Hesketh,
+who had arrived from Drogmulla.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had occasion to deplore the bad manners of the rats at Harwan, but their
+conduct was exemplary compared with that of the rats of Rainawari! I had been
+writing my journal, according to my custom, before going to sleep, and hardly
+had &ldquo;lights out&rdquo; been sounded than a rat went off with my candle,
+literally from below my very nose. Then, from the inadequately partitioned
+chamber where the invalid vainly sought repose, came sounds of
+strife&mdash;boots and curses flying&mdash;followed by an extraordinary
+scraping and scuffling. A large rat, having fallen into the big tin bath, was
+making bids for freedom by ineffectually leaping up the slippery sides. At last
+he contrived to get out, and peace reigned until we managed to get to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wednesday was spent honking in the forlorn hope of a bear, I have now spent
+more than fourteen days in pursuit of black bear, and I have only seen one.
+Every one said to me in spring, &ldquo;Oh, go to the Lolab, it&rsquo;s full of
+bear,&rdquo; I went, and was informed that it was a late season and I was too
+early&mdash;the bears were not yet awake. I was consoled by learning that later
+on, when the mulberries were ripe, the berry-loving beasts jostled one another
+in the pursuit of the delicacy so much, that they were no sport I went down
+from Gulmarg for three days, honking among the mulberries, but saw none. Then I
+was told the maize season was undoubtedly the best. Now the maize is full ripe;
+the maize fields are tempting in their golden glory, and the only thing wanting
+to complete the picture is a big, black bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Either my luck has been particularly bad (and I think it has, as the Colonel
+got a fine bear below Gulmarg, and had another chance at Rainawari), or else
+there are not so many bears in real life as exist in the imaginations of those
+who know. My own theory is, that, unless he has remarkable luck, a stranger, in
+the hands of an ignorant shikari, and knowing nothing of the language, has but
+a remote chance of sport. If the shikari does not happen to know the district
+thoroughly, he is necessarily in the hands of the villagers, and has to trust
+to them to arrange the beats and place the guns. The villagers want their four
+annas for a day&rsquo;s shouting, but do not know or care if a bear is in the
+neighbourhood, so, having planted the gun (and shikari with him), they proceed
+to beat after their own fashion, in other words to stroll, in Indian file, like
+geese across a common, along the line of least resistance, instead of spreading
+out and searching all the thickest jungle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Much yelling serves both to cheer the sahib, and frighten away any bear which
+might otherwise haply frighten them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot say I regret the time I have spent looking for bear. The scenery has
+always been fine&mdash;sometimes magnificent, and there has always been a
+certain cheering hope, which sustained me as I lay hour after hour in the
+Malingam Nullah, or sat expectant amid ever varying and always beautiful glades
+and passes, watching the bird life, and storing up scenes and memories which I
+know I shall never forget.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! we have but a very few days yet before us in Kashmir, and it is
+lamentable, for now the climate is simply perfect, the air clear and clean, and
+without the haze of summer; the first crispness of coming autumn making itself
+felt most distinctly in the early hours of morning ere
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Nor dim nor red, like God&rsquo;s own head,<br/>
+The glorious sun uprist;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and each dawn saw us up and out to watch these sunrises, whose splendour cannot
+be expressed on paper. This morning it was more than usually wonderful, the
+whole flank of Nanga Parbat and his lesser peaks, turning from clear lemon to
+softest rose, stood radiant above the purple shades of the great range which
+lies around Gurais. In the middle distance, rising above the level yellow of
+the plain, still dim and shadowy below the morning light, rolled wave upon wave
+of the blue hills which hold in their embrace the fruitful Lolab. At our feet
+the deodars, still dark with the shadow of night, crept up the dewy slope upon
+whose top we stood. Then suddenly
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+flamed over the eastern ridges, and in a flood of glory the soft shadows and
+pallid lights of the dawn became merged in the brilliance of a Kashmir autumn
+day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our march yesterday from Rainawari to Kitardaji was charming. I had no idea
+that this Machipura country, which is not much visited by summer sojourners in
+Kashmir, was so fine. The district lies along the lower shoulders and foothills
+of the Kaj-nag, and, while lacking the savage grandeur of the Lidar or Upper
+Sind, yet possesses the charm of infinite variety and, in this early autumn, a
+climate in which it is a pure joy to live. On leaving Rainawari we followed up
+a river valley for some distance, and then wound through richly cultivated
+hollows and past well-wooded hills, where the dark silver firs and the deodars
+were lit up by splashes of scarlet and orange, and the deciduous sumach and
+thorn-bushes hung out their autumn flags. Walnuts&mdash;the trees in many
+places turning yellow&mdash;were being gathered into heaps, and the apple
+trees, reddening in the autumn glow, hung heavy with abundant fruit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning into a narrow gorge, where the trees overhung the path and shaded the
+wanderer with many an interlaced bough; where ferns grew in great green clumps,
+and the friendly magpies chattered in the luminous shade, I hurried on, having
+stayed behind the others to sketch. Up and up, till only pines waved over me,
+and the track, leading along the edge of a deep khud, opened out at last upon a
+plateau, hot and sunlit; here an entrancing panorama of Nanga Parbat and the
+whole range of mountains round Haramok caused me to stop &ldquo;at gaze&rdquo;
+until a mundane desire for breakfast sent me scurrying down the dusty and
+slippery descent to Larch, where I found, as I had hoped, the rest of the party
+assembled expectant around the tiffin basket, while the necromancer, Sabz Ali,
+had just succeeded in producing the most delightful stew, omelette, and coffee
+from the usual native toy kitchen, made, apparently, in a few minutes with a
+couple of stones and a dab of mud!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It has been an unfailing marvel to us how, in storm or calm, rain or fine, the
+native cook seems always able to produce a hot meal with such apparently
+inadequate materials as he has at his command. Give him a fire in the open,
+screened by stones and a mud wall, a <i>batterie de cuisine</i> limited to one
+or two war-worn &ldquo;degchies,&rdquo; and let him have a village fowl and
+half-a-dozen tiny eggs, and he will in due time serve up, with modest pride, a
+most excellent repast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The remaining half of our twelve-mile march lay along a continually rising
+track, which finally brought us to Kitardaji, a cosy pine-built hut, perched
+upon a hill clothed with deodars, at the foot of which ran the inevitable
+stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, alas! is our last Kashmir camping-ground, and it is one of the most
+charming of all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At 8.15 this morning we bade farewell to Kitardaji. We had got up before dawn
+to see the sunrise, but afterwards took things leisurely, as the march is short
+to Baramula, and our boats were to be in waiting there, and we had made all
+arrangements for a landau and ekkas to be in readiness to take us down to Rawal
+Pindi, while the Colonel returned up the Jhelum for more shooting before
+rejoining his wife at Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The march of about thirteen miles from Kitardaji to Baramula is fine&mdash;the
+views of Nanga Parbat in the early hours, before the sun&rsquo;s full strength
+cast a golden glow over the distance, were magnificent, and long we lingered
+upon the last ridge, gazing over the great valley, ringed with its guardian
+mountains, ere we sadly turned our backs for the last time on the scene, and
+wended our way downward to Baramula and our boats.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kashmir seems to be as difficult to get out of as to get into! What was our
+amazement and disgust to find neither landau nor ekkas, nor, apparently, any
+chance of getting them!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baramula was in a ferment, and wild confusion reigned because the Viceroy,
+having somewhat suddenly determined to come to Jammu, the Maharajah and all his
+suite, together with the Resident and his belongings, were to start down the
+road at once, and all transport was commandeered by the State. Here was a coil!
+Officers innumerable, who had stayed in Kashmir until the limit of their leave,
+were struggling vainly to get on, and had got to Baramula only to find all
+transport in the hands of the State officials. Some few had, by fair means or
+foul, got hold of an ekka or two and hidden them; others had seized ponies, but
+nothing to harness them to. A few of the younger men set forth on foot, and
+others had their servants out in ambush on the roads to try and collect
+transport.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was most important that we should get on, as Hesketh had to be in Pindi to
+go before a medical board on the 14th, in order to be invalided home to
+England; and as he was most anxious to catch a steamer sailing on the 25th, he
+had no time to spare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I telegraphed to Sir Amar Singh for authority to engage ekkas, and I sent for
+the Tehsildhar of Baramulla to complain of my ekkas being taken. He appeared in
+due course&mdash;a somewhat pert little person&mdash;who promised to do what he
+could, which I knew would be nothing. A farewell dinner on board Walter&rsquo;s
+ship concluded a fairly busy day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, October 7</i>.&mdash;A strenuous day, to say the least of it. Sir
+Amar Singh most courteously met my wishes, and himself directed the local
+authorities to assist me. Armed with this power, I again sent for the
+Tehsildhar, who promised many ekkas, but appeared to have some difficulty in
+fulfilling his promises. I spent the forenoon in hunting transport, sending out
+my servants also in pursuit. The Tehsildhar produced one ekka with great pomp,
+as earnest of what he could and would do later on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the afternoon the landau turned up from Srinagar, and at 6 P.M. one of
+my myrmidons rushed in to say that two ekkas had arrived at the dâk bungalow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was but a few yards away, and in a couple of minutes I was on the spot. The
+ekkas had come up from Pindi, and the sahib who had lured them to Baramula
+seemed astonished at my method of taking them over. In an uncommonly short
+while the ekkas were parked, with the landau, close to the boats and under
+strict watch, while all harness was brought on board my dounga, just in time,
+as native officials of some sort romped up and claimed the ekkas, and
+threatened to beat my servants. It was explained to them gently, but firmly,
+that if they touched my ekkas or landau they would taste the waters of the
+Jhelum. We were then left in peaceful possession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, October 10</i>.&mdash;On Sunday morning we really saw our way to
+making a start. We had three ekkas collected, and the Tehsildhar produced a
+fourth with a great flourish, as though in expectation of a heavy tip. The
+landau was being piled with odds and ends while the last bits of business were
+being got through. Juma and his crew were paid and tipped (grumbling, of
+course, for the Kashmiri is a lineal descendant of the horse-leech). The
+shikari went to Smithson, and the sweeper and permanent coolie were transferred
+to the assistant forest officer, while Ayata (in charge of Freddie, the
+blackbird) scrambled into the leading ekka.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By noon all was ready, and amid the rattle and jingle of many harness bells and
+the salaams of the domestics, we bowled out of Baramula, and set forward down
+the valley of the Jhelum.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br/>
+DELHI AND AGRA</h2>
+
+<p>
+The journey down was uneventful, and quite unlike the journey up, when we had
+been briskly occupied in dodging landslips for days. A good road, white and
+dry, and sloping steadily downward; a good pair of ponies, strong and willing;
+a roomy landau, wherein Hesketh&mdash;still suffering from his fall at
+Drogmulla&mdash;could stretch himself in comparative comfort, combined to bring
+us to Kohala this afternoon in a state of excellent preservation. Here we
+crossed the bridge, which brought us to the right bank of the river&mdash;from
+Kashmir to British territory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kohala is the proud possessor of one of the very worst dâk bungalows yet
+discovered. This seems disappointing when stepping under the folds of the Union
+Jack full of high hope and confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Climbing up through a particularly noisome bazaar to the bungalow, I was met
+with the information that it was already full. I said that was a pity, but that
+room must be found for my party.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Room was got somehow, a dâk bungalow being an extraordinarily elastic dwelling.
+Hesketh was stored in a little tent. I lodged in the dining-room, and Jane took
+up her quarters in a sort of dressing-room kindly given up by a lady, who
+bravely sought asylum with a sister-in-law and a remarkably strong-lunged baby.
+I believe more travellers arrived later, for&mdash;although, thanks to Sir Amax
+Singh and good luck, we gained a good start at Baramula&mdash;now the tongas
+are beginning to roll in and the plot to thicken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot think where the last arrivals bestowed themselves&mdash;not on the
+roof, I trust, for a thunderstorm, accompanied by the usual vigorous squall of
+wind, fell upon us during the night, and raged so furiously that I was greatly
+relieved to see the Lancer&rsquo;s little tent still braving the battle and the
+breeze in the morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a long day before us, so started in good time to make the tedious ascent
+to Murree. It rained steadily, and a cold wind swept down the river valley as
+we began to make our slow way up the long, long hill.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never knew milestones so extraordinarily far apart as those which mark the
+distance between Kohala and Murree. There are twenty-five of them, distributed
+along a weary winding road which extends without an apparent variation of
+gradient from Kohala to the Murree cemetery. The rise from the river level to
+Murree is 5000 feet, and this, in a heavy landau over a road often deep in red
+mud, is a heavy strain on equine endurance and human patience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had a fresh pair of horses waiting for us half-way up the hill, but they
+proved absolutely useless, being obviously already dead tired and quite unable
+to drag the carriage through any of the muddier places even with every one but
+the invalid on foot. So we apologetically put the gallant greys in again, poor
+beasties, and they took us up well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the cemetery the road runs fairly level to where, upon rounding a sharp
+corner, the hill station of Murree comes into sight, clinging to its hill-tops
+and overlooking the far flat plains beyond Pindi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot imagine how anybody would willingly abide in Murree who could go
+anywhere else for the hot weather. There being no level ground, there is no
+polo, no cricket, and no golf. There is no river to fish in, and I do not think
+that there is anything at all to shoot. Doubtless, however, it has its
+compensations. Probably it abounds in pretty mem-sahibs, who with bridge and
+Badminton combine to oil the wheels of life, and make it merry on the Murree
+hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the station high on the left, we dipped in a most puzzling manner down
+a slope through a fine wood giving magnificent views towards the hills of our
+beloved Kashmir, and presently came to &ldquo;Sunny Bank,&rdquo; whence a steep
+road seemed to run sharply hack and up to Murree itself. It was late, and both
+we and our unfortunate horses were tired, but a hasty peep into the little inn
+showed it to be quite impossible as a lodging, and a biting wind sent us
+shivering down the hill as fast as might be to seek rest and warmth at Tret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The good greys took us down the eleven miles in a very short time, and we
+pulled up at the dâk bungalow at 7.30, having been just twelve hours doing the
+forty miles from Kohala.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dâk bungalow and all the compound in front was crowded, detachments <i>en
+route</i>, from Murree to Pindi having halted here for the night. Hesketh was
+lucky enough to share a room with a brother Lancer, and a mixed bag of Gunners
+and Hussars made up a cheery dinner-table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The only member of the party showing signs of collapse was the unfortunate
+Freddie, who, shaken up in his small cage for three days in an ekka, seemed in
+piteous plight, feathers (what there were of them) ruffled and unkempt, and
+eyes dim and half closed. Poor dear, it was only sleep he wanted, for next
+morning he showed up, as his fond owner remarked, &ldquo;bright as a
+button!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>12th</i>.&mdash;The road from Tret to Pindi seemed tame to us, but probably
+charming to the horses, first down a few gently sloping hills, and then for the
+remainder of its six-and-twenty miles it wound its dull and dusty length along
+the level.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We halted for our last picnic lunch in a roadside garden full of loquat trees
+and big purple hibiscus. The only curious thing here was a pi-dog which refused
+to eat cold duck! Certainly it was a <i>very</i> tough duck, but still, I do
+not think a pi-dog should he so fastidious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few more level dusty miles, and we rattled into Rawal Pindi, where, after
+depositing our sick man safely in his own mess precincts, we proceeded to
+ensconce ourselves in Flashman&rsquo;s Hotel, which is certainly far better
+than the Lime Tree, where we stayed before. Indian hotels are about the worst
+in the world. We have sampled rough dens in Spain, in Tetuan, and in
+Corsica&mdash;especially in Corsica, but then they are unpretentious inns in
+unfrequented villages, whereas in India you find in world-famous cities such as
+Agra or Delhi the most comfortless dens calling themselves hotels&mdash;hotels
+where you hardly dare eat half the food for fear of typhoid, and will not eat
+the rest because it is so unsavoury!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It may be argued that the hotels, if bad, are cheap, and that one cannot
+reasonably expect much in return for five or six rupees per day; it seems,
+however, that in a country where food and labour cost next to nothing, a good
+landlord should be able to &ldquo;do&rdquo; his customers well upon five
+rupees, and make a substantial profit into the bargain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Probably, as the facilities for travel are rapidly increasing, and India is now
+as easy to reach as Italy was in days not so long by, the hotels will soon
+improve. Hospitality, which is still to-day greater in the East than in our
+more selfish Western regions, and which has, until quite recently, obviated for
+strangers and pilgrims the necessity for hotels, is now unable to cope with the
+increasing flood of visitors and wanderers; as the need becomes more pressing,
+so will the supply, consequent upon the demand, improve both in quality and
+quantity; and we have already heard of the new Taj Mahal Hotel at Bombay, the
+fame of which has been trumpeted through India, and which is said to rival in
+luxury the palaces of Ritz!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The real and serious difficulty, and one which at present seems insurmountable,
+is to secure cleanliness and safety in that Augean stable&mdash;the cook-house.
+Until the native can be brought to understand the inadvisability of using
+tainted water and unclean utensils, and of permitting the ubiquitous fly to
+pervade the larder&mdash;until, I say, that millennium can be attained, the
+danger of enteric and other ills will always be very great in Indian hotels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, October</i> 13.&mdash;Lunch with Dr. Munro, who surprised us
+somewhat by having married a wife since we played golf and bridge together at
+Gulmarg only a few weeks ago. Tea, a farewell repast with our invalid&mdash;who
+goes before a medical board in a few days, and who will then be doubtless sent
+home on long sick leave&mdash;and the despatch of our heavy luggage direct to
+Bombay, occupied us pretty fully for the day; and in the evening, after dinner,
+we took up our residence in a carriage drawn up in a siding to be attached to
+the 6.30 mail in the morning. Our last recollection of Pindi was a vision of
+the faithful Ayata, paid, tipped, and provided with a flaming
+&ldquo;chit,&rdquo; flapping along the road in the bright moonlight, with all
+his worldly possessions, <i>en route</i> for Abbotabad and home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, October</i> 14.&mdash;A prodigious amount of banging, whistling,
+and yelling seemed to be necessary before we could be coupled up to the early
+train, and sent flying towards Lahore. It was impossible to sleep, and I was
+peacefully watching the landscape as it slid past, first in the pink flush of
+early dawn, and gradually losing colour as the sun, gaining in strength,
+reduced everything to a white hot glow, when, scraping and bumping into a
+wayside station, we were suddenly informed that, owing to hot bearings or
+heated axles or something, we must quit our carriage at once, and so, half
+dressed and wholly wrathful, we were shot out on a hot and exceedingly gritty
+platform, with our hand luggage and bedding all of a heap, and with the whole
+length of the train to traverse to attain our new carriage. Sabz Ali being
+curled up asleep in an &ldquo;intermediate,&rdquo; was all unwitting of this
+upheaval. The officials were impatient, and so Jane and I were in a thoroughly
+unchristian frame of mind by the time we were stowed, hot and greatly fussed,
+into a stifling compartment, whose dust-begrimed windows long withstood all
+endeavours to open them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Lahore about noon, and, having some six hours to dispose of there,
+we spent them in calm contemplation, sitting on the verandah of Nedou&rsquo;s
+Hotel. It was really too hot to think of sight-seeing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Thursday, October 19</i>.&mdash;Another night in the train brought us to
+Delhi at dawn, and we drove up to the execrable caravansary of Mr. Maiden. I do
+not propose to write much about Delhi. Every one who has been in India has
+visited the capital of the Moguls, whose wealth of splendid buildings would
+alone have rendered it a supreme attraction for the sight-seer, even had it not
+played the part it did in the Mutiny, and been memorable as the scene of the
+storming of the Kashmir Gate and the death of John Nicholson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We, personally, carried away from Delhi an uncomfortable sense of
+disappointment. It was very hot, and Jane fell a victim to the heat or
+something, and took to her bed in the comfortless hotel, while I prowled sadly
+about the baking streets, and tried to work up an enthusiasm which I did not
+feel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As soon as Jane was fit, we joined forces with a young fellow-countryman and
+his sister, who were the only other English people in the hotel, and drove out
+to see the Kutab Minar. On arrival we found a comfortable dâk bungalow, and,
+having made an excellent breakfast, sallied forth to view the Kutab. May I
+confess that I was again a little disappointed? I do not really know exactly
+why, but the great tower, whose fluted shaft, dark red in the sunglow, shoots
+up some 270 feet into the air, did not appeal to me. It is like no other
+column&mdash;it is unique, marvellous,&mdash;but it leaves me cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The splendid arch of the screen of the old temple, and the lovely columns of
+the Jain temple opposite, attracted me far more than the Kutab Minar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and young Buxton went off to see a native jump down a well fifty feet deep
+for four annas. The performance sounded curious, but unpleasant. The sightseers
+were much impressed! Meanwhile, Miss Buxton and I discovered a very modern and
+exceedingly hideous little Hindu temple, painted in the most appalling
+manner&mdash;altogether a gem of grotesqueness, and truly delightful and
+refreshing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tea in front of the dâk bungalow, in a corner blazing with &ldquo;gold
+mohurs&rdquo; and rosy oleanders, while the driver and the syce harnessed the
+lean pair of horses, a final visit to the Kutab and the great arch, and we
+fared back over the eleven bumpy miles that lay between us and Delhi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A good deal of my spare time, while Jane was <i>hors de combat</i>, was spent
+in the jewellers&rsquo; shops of the Chandni chowk, the principal
+merchants&rsquo; quarter of Delhi. I do not think that anything very special in
+the way of a &ldquo;bargain&rdquo; is to be obtained by the amateur, although
+stones are undoubtedly cheaper than in London. I saw little really fine
+jewellery, probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer, but
+many good spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I wanted I failed
+to get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce and dear. The dealers
+generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink topaz. Peridot are cheaper, I
+think, at home, and certainly in Cairo, and the only amethysts worth looking at
+are sent out from Germany. The pale ones of the country come from Jaipur.
+By-the-bye, the best-coloured amethysts I ever remember seeing were in Clermont
+Ferrand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Delhi has always been connected with gems in my mind. I am not certain why.
+Partly, perhaps, because the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jehan stood in the
+Palace here. I cannot resist giving the description of it in the words of
+Tavernier, who saw it about 1655, and who describes it as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the largest throne; it is in form like one of our field-beds,
+six foot long and four broad. The cushion at the back is round like a bolster;
+the cushions on the sides are flat. I counted about a hundred and eight pale
+rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof weighed a hundred
+carats. Emeralds I counted about a hundred and forty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and
+diamonds, with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the top of the canopy,
+which is made like an arch with four paws, stands a peacock with his tail
+spread, consisting entirely of sapphires and other proper-coloured stones;[1]
+the body is of beaten gold enchased with several jewels; and a great RUBY upon
+his breast, to which hangs a pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each aide of
+the peacock stand two nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of various sorts
+of flowers, all of beaten gold enamelled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] &ldquo;Au dessus du ciel qui est faite en voûte à quatre pans on voit un
+Paon, qui a la queue relevée fait de Saphirs bleus et autres pierres de
+couleur.&rdquo;&mdash;T<small>AVERNIER</small>, livre ii. chap. viii.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent
+jewel, with a diamond appendant of eighty or ninety carats weight, encompassed
+with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his eye. The twelve
+pillars also, that uphold the canopy, are set with rows of fair pearl, round,
+and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to ten carats apiece.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;At the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed
+two umbrellas, the handles of which are about eight feet high, covered with
+diamonds, the umbrellas themselves being of crimson velvet, embroidered and
+fringed with pearl.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is the famous throne which Tamerlane began and Shah Jehan finished;
+and is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty millions and five
+hundred thousand livres of our money.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One can picture the enraptured diamond merchant examining this masterpiece of
+Oriental luxury with awe-struck eye, appraising the size and lustre of each
+gem, and taking the fullest notes with which to dazzle his countrymen on
+returning to the more prosaic Europe from what was then indeed the
+&ldquo;Gorgeous East!&rdquo; This world-famous throne was seized by Nadir Shah,
+when he sacked Delhi in 1739, and carried away (together with our Koh-i-noor
+diamond) into Persia. Dow, who saw the famous throne some twenty years before
+Tavernier, describes <i>two</i> peacocks standing behind it with their tails
+expanded, which were studded with jewels. Between the peacocks stood a parrot,
+life size, cut out of a single emerald!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Friday, October</i> 20.&mdash;Yesterday at 6 A.M. we spurned the dust of
+Delhi, hot and blinding, from our feet and clambered into the train, which
+whirled us across the sun-baked plain to Agra.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There has been a woeful shortage of rain in the Punjab and Rajputana, and a
+famine seems imminent&mdash;not a great and universal famine, as, the monsoon
+having been irregular, only some districts have suffered to a serious extent,
+and they can be supplied from elsewhere, whereas in the great famine of 1901
+the drought parched the whole land, and no help could be given by one State to
+another, all lying equally under the sun&rsquo;s curse. Not a great famine,
+perhaps; yet, to one accustomed to the genial juiciness of the West, the miles
+and miles of waterless hot plains, stretching away to where the horizon
+flickered in the glare, the brown and parched vegetation, the lean and
+hungry-looking cattle, tended by equally lean and famished herds, caused the
+monotonous view from the carriage windows to be strangely depressing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is the very battle-ground of Nature and the British Raj. We have given
+peace and, to a certain extent, prosperity to the teeming millions of India,
+and they have increased and multiplied until the land is overburthened, and
+Nature, with relentless will, bids Famine and Pestilence lay waste the cities
+and the plains. Then Science, with irrigation works and improved hygiene,
+strives hard to gain a victory, but still the struggle rages doubtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Agra we liked as much as we disliked Delhi. To begin with creature comforts
+(and the well-being of the body produces a pair of <i>couleur de rose</i>
+spectacles for the mental eye), Laurie&rsquo;s Hotel at Agra is very much more
+comfortable than the den we abode in at Delhi, and after a good tiffin we set
+forth with light hearts to see the Fort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, the accumulated achievement of the greatest of the Mogul Emperors, is a
+magnificent monument of their power and pride. The earliest part, built by
+Akbar, is all of rich red sandstone. The great hall of audience and other
+portions show his broad-minded tolerance and catholicity of taste in being
+almost pure Hindu in style and decoration. Later, with Jehangir and Shah Jehan,
+the high-water mark of sumptuousness was attained in the use of pure white
+marble, lavishly inlaid with coloured stones.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we wandered through halls and corridors of marble most richly wrought, while
+the sun-glare outside did but emphasise the cool shade within, or filter softly
+through the lace-like tracery of pierced white-marble screens, one longed to
+reclothe these glorious skeletons with all the pomp of their dead
+magnificence&mdash;for one magic moment replace the Great Mogul upon his
+peacock throne, surround him with a glittering crowd of courtiers and
+attendants, clothe the wide marble floors upon which they stand with richest
+carpets from the looms of Persia and the North, and drape the tall white
+columns with rustling canopies of silk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the great audience hall let the bare garden-court again glow with a
+million blooms; there let the peacocks sun themselves, their living jewels
+putting to shame the gems that burn back from aigrette and from sword-hilt; see
+and hear the cool waters sparkling once again from their long-dried founts,
+flashing in the white sunlight, and flowing over ducts cunningly inlaid with
+zigzag bands to imitate the ripple of the mountain stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dead frame alone is left of all this gorgeous picture. The imperishable
+marble glows white in the sunlight as it did in the days of Shah Jehan. The
+great red bastions of the Fort frown over the same placid Jumna, and watch each
+morning the pearly dome of the Taj Mahal rise like a moon in the dawn-glow,
+shimmer through the parching glare of an Indian day, and at eve sink, rosy,
+into the purple shadows of swiftly-falling night, as they did when Shah Jehan
+sat &ldquo;in the sunset-lighted balcony with his eyes fixed on the snow-white
+pile at the bend of the river, and his heart full of consolation of having
+wrought for her he loved, through the span of twenty years, a work that she had
+surely accepted at the last.&rdquo;[2]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] <i>The Web of Indian Life</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spent a long afternoon in the Fort, and drove out finally through the
+monstrous gateway in a little Victoria, feeling all the time that none but
+elephants in all their glory of barbaric caparison could pass through such a
+portal worthily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The moon was full almost a week ago, unfortunately, so we determined that,
+failing moonlight, our first visit to the Taj should be at sunset.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two miles&rsquo; drive along an excellent road was delightful, and the
+approach to the Taj has been laid out with much skill as a beautiful bit of
+landscape garden. This care is due to Lord Curzon, who has taken Agra and its
+monuments into his especial keeping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A very small golf-course has been laid out, and the familiar form of the
+enthusiast could be seen, blind to everything but the flight of time and his
+Haskell, hurrying round to save the last of the daylight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beneath a tree was laid out a tea equipage, and a few ladies indolently putting
+showed that, after all, the game was not taken too seriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have no intention of trying to describe the Taj Mahal. The attempt has
+already been made a thousand times. I may merely remark that the detestable
+Indian miniatures, and little ivory or marble models that are, alas! so common,
+are incapable of giving an idea, otherwise than misleading, of this wonderful
+building, which is not&mdash;as they would vainly show it&mdash;glaring,
+staring, and hard, nor does its formality seem other than just what it should
+be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we saw it first&mdash;opalescent in the soft, clear light of
+sunset&mdash;the chief impression it made upon us was that of size; for this we
+were quite unprepared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we approached it from the great red entrance arch, along a smooth path
+bordering the central stretch of still, translucent water, the lovely dome rose
+fairy-like from the masses of trees that, in their turn, formed a background of
+solemn green for gorgeous patches of colour, in bloom and leaf, which glowed on
+either side as we advanced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ascending a flight of steps to the wide terrace, all of whitest marble, upon
+which the Taj is raised, we realised that the detail of carving and of inlay
+was as perfect as the general effect of the whole.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+High as my expectations had been raised, I was not disappointed in the Taj, and
+that is saying much, for one&rsquo;s pre-formed ideas are apt to soar beyond
+bounds and to suffer the fate of Icarus. At the same time, I cannot agree with
+Fergusson that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building in the world. I do
+not admit that it is possible to compare structures of such widely divergent
+types as the Parthenon, the Cathedral of Chartres, the Campanile of Giotto, and
+the Taj Mahal, and pronounce in favour of any one of them. It is as vain as to
+contend that the &ldquo;Rime of the Ancient Mariner&rdquo; is a finer poem than
+Keats&rsquo; &ldquo;Eve of St. Agnes,&rdquo; or that the &ldquo;Erl
+Konig&rdquo; is better music than &ldquo;The Moonlight Sonata.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps it is not too much to say that it is the loveliest tomb in the world,
+and the finest specimen of Mohammedan architecture in existence. If I dared to
+criticise what would appear to be faultless, I should humbly suggest that the
+four corner minarets are not worthy of the centre building, reminding one
+rather of lighthouses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spent a second day in Agra, revisiting the Fort and the Taj rather than
+seeing anything new. We could have hired a motor and rushed out for a hurried
+visit to Fatehpur-Sighri, and there was temptation in the idea; but we decided
+to content ourselves with the abundant food for eye and mind which we had in
+these two wonderful buildings, and in the evening we took the train for Jaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Saturday, October 21.</i>&mdash;One is apt to be cross and fussed and
+generally upset on being landed on a strange platform in the dark at 5.30 A.M.,
+as we were at Jaipur, but much solace lay in the fact that a comfortable
+carriage stood waiting us and a most kind and genial host received us on the
+broad verandah of his bungalow, and the cheering fact was borne in upon us that
+we shall have henceforward but little to do with Indian hotels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How one appreciates a large, cool room, good servants, good food, and last, but
+not least, the society of one&rsquo;s kind, after two or three weeks of racket
+and discomfort by road and rail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A restful morning enlivened us sufficiently to enjoy a garden party at the
+Residency in the afternoon, where not only the English society, but a large
+number of native gentlemen, were playing lawn-tennis with laudable energy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After Kashmir, where Sir Amar Singh is the only native who mixes at all with
+the English, it was interesting to see and meet on terms of good-fellowship
+these Rajput aristocrats.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Sunday, October</i> 22.&mdash;The city of Jaipur is, I think, principally
+interesting as being modern and enlightened among those of the native states.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the ancient city of Ambér was abandoned, principally on account of its
+scanty water-supply, Jaipur was built upon a regular and prearranged plan,
+having a great wide street down the centre, crossed by two large thoroughfares
+at right angles, thus dividing the town into six rectangular blocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We drove into the city in the afternoon, and were much impressed by its
+airiness and cleanliness. The houses are all coated with pink stucco, picked
+out with white, which, in the bright atmosphere, has, at a little distance, a
+charming effect. On closer inspection the real tawdriness and want of solidity
+of the work become painfully apparent, and the designs in white upon the pink,
+in which the wayward fancy of each householder runs riot, generally leave much
+to be desired, both in design and execution.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The broad, clean main streets were a perfect kaleidoscope of colour and
+movement. Men in pink pugarees&mdash;in lemon-coloured&mdash;in emerald green;
+women in blood-red saris, bearing shining brass pots upon their heads, all
+talking, shouting, jostling&mdash;a large family of monkeys on a neighbouring
+roof added their quota of conversation&mdash;calm oxen, often with red-painted
+horns and pink-streaked bodies, camels, asses, horses, strolled about or pushed
+their way through the throng. No Hindu cow would ever dream of making way for
+anybody. Yes, though! Here comes an elephant rolling along, and the holy ones
+with humps discreetly retire aside, covering their retreat before a <i>force
+majeure</i> by stepping up to the nearest greengrocer&rsquo;s stall and
+abstracting a generous mouthful of the most succulent of his wares.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rising in the midst of a lovely garden, just outside the city, is the Albert
+Hall, a remarkably fine structure, built in accordance with the best traditions
+of Mohammedan architecture adapted to modern requirements by our host, the
+designer. It contains both a museum of the products of Rajputana, and also an
+instructive collection of objects of art and science, gathered together for the
+edification of the intelligent native.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We would willingly have spent hours examining the pottery and brass work for
+which Jaipur is famous, or in making friends with the denizens of the great
+aviary in the garden, but time is short, and even the baby panther could only
+claim a few minutes of our devotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Palace of the Maharajah is neither particularly interesting nor beautiful,
+and we did not visit it further than to inspect the ancient observatory built
+by Jey Singh, with its huge sundial, whose gnomon stands 80 feet above the
+ground! What we are pleased to call a superstitious attention to times lucky or
+unlucky has given to astronomical observations in the East an unscientific
+importance which they have not had for centuries in Europe.[3] A slight attack
+of fever prevented me from going to Ambér; so I stayed at home, peacefully
+absorbing quinine, subsequently extracting the following from Jane&rsquo;s
+diary:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[3] I fear this is somewhat misleading. Jey Singh was, <i>par excellence</i>,
+an astronomer, not an astrologer,&mdash;T. R. S.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;Tea ready, mem-sahib.&rsquo; The familiar and somewhat plaintive
+sound of Sabz Ali&rsquo;s voice roused me, as it so often has in tent, forest
+hut, or matted dounga;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find myself in
+a real comfortable spring bed, white-enamelled and mosquito-netted, while for
+roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky. Then it was I remembered that, at
+my host&rsquo;s suggestion, my bed had been carried out into the shrubbery, and
+that I had fallen asleep, lulled by the howling of the jackals and the rustle
+of the flying squirrels in the gold mohur-tree overhead.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain
+as much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I was soon
+ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the garden among the
+parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little squirrels. We were ready for the
+road before seven, and were soon trotting along between dusty hedges of
+gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded here and there by neem trees and peepuls.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton&rsquo;s,
+and he had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort&mdash;a very
+thin young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our
+way&mdash;slowly, on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on
+the road, and the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let us
+pass.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
+loose a bull <i>in memoriam</i>, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to live
+a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every green-grocer in it is
+only too much honoured if the fastidious animal will condescend to make free
+with his cabbages.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six
+miles out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal stable
+to carry us to Ambér. We climbed upon her (it was a lady elephant) in a great
+hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we were told that an elephant,
+if &lsquo;fresh,&rsquo; was apt to rise up suddenly, to the great detriment of
+the passenger who had &lsquo;not arrived.&rsquo; She was a very
+friendly-looking creature though, and her little eyes twinkled most affably;
+her face was decorated in a scheme of red and green, and her saddle was a sort
+of big mattress surrounded by a railing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed uncommonly
+rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we reached a ridge and
+saw the dead city of Ambér before us, dominated by the white marble palace,
+standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in the water of the lake which laps
+its base.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Up a steep and narrow path we mounted until we reached the courtyard of
+the ancient palace of the ruler of Ambér, and there we alighted from our steed,
+and set out to explore the ruins. First we came to a small temple, ugly enough,
+but interesting, for here a goat is sacrificed every morning to Kali&mdash;a
+particularly hideous goddess, if the frescoes on the walls and the golden image
+in the sanctuary are in any way truthful! Formerly a human sacrifice was
+customary, but the unfortunate goat is found to fulfil modern requirements,
+since goddesses are more easily pleased or less pampered than of yore.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is chiefly
+remarkable for its magnificent situation, and for its court and hall of
+audience of marble and red sandstone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This work was so fine as to excite the jealousy of the Mogul Emperor, so
+the Prince of Ambér had it promptly whitewashed&mdash;and whitewashed it
+remains to this day. Some of the brazen doors are remarkably fine, as also
+those of sandal-wood, inlaid with ivory, in the women&rsquo;s quarters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We climbed to the marble court on the roof, where, canopied only by the
+sky and lighted by the moon, nocturnal durbars were held. Now, in the glare of
+the noonday sun, we fully appreciated the value of an evening sitting, for it
+was impossible to remain grilling there, even though the view of the silent
+city below, falling in tier after tier to the lake&mdash;the glare only broken
+here and there by patches of green garden&mdash;was superb. On either side rose
+the bare, rocky ridges, fort-crowned and looking formidable even in decay,
+while in front the dusty road stretched away into the haze of the dusty plains
+below. Of course, we should have visited the great Jain temples and other
+things worthy of note; but, alas! a green garden, whose palms overhung the
+lake, proved more attractive than even Jain temples, and a charming picnic on
+fruits and cool drinks strengthened us sufficiently to enable us to face the
+hot road home, buoyed up each mile by the nearer prospect of a tub.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Jaipur is celebrated for its enamelling on gold, so our host kindly sent for an
+eminent jeweller to come and show us some trifles. Expectant of a humble native
+carrying the usual bundle, we were much impressed when, in due time, a
+dignitary drove up in a remarkably well turned out carriage and pair. His
+servants were clad in a smart livery, and he himself was resplendent, with
+uncut emerald earrings, and the general appearance of a certain Savoy favourite
+as the &ldquo;Rajah of Bong&rdquo;!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our spirits sank as he spread himself and his goods out upon the drawing-room
+floor, which speedily became a glittering chaos of gold and jewelled cups,
+umbrella handles, boxes, scent-bottles, and necklaces. Jane divided her
+admiration between a rope of fat pearls and a necklace of uncut emeralds,
+either of which might have been hers at the trifling price of some 7000 rupees,
+but we finally restricted our acquisitions to very modest proportions, and the
+stout jeweller departed, apparently no whit less cheerful than when he came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The modern brass-work of Jaipur is somewhat attractive, and we bought various
+articles&mdash;a tall lamp-stand, an elephant bell, and a few ordinary bowls of
+excellent shape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have remarked before on the extreme tameness of, and the confidence shown by,
+wild creatures out here. A titmouse came and perched on the arm of my chair
+while sitting reading on the verandah at Gulmarg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rats and mice, who own the forest houses in the Machipura, have to be
+kicked off the beds at night. But the little grey squirrels in Sir Swinton
+Jacob&rsquo;s garden are&mdash;<i>facile princeps</i>&mdash;the boldest
+wild-fowl we have yet encountered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every afternoon about three, when tea was toward, the squirrels gathered on the
+gravel path, and prepared to receive bread and butter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a few nervous darts and tail whiskings, a bold squirrel would skip up
+close, and, after eating a little ground bait, would boldly come up and nibble
+out of a motionless hand. In two minutes half-a-dozen pretty little creatures
+would be fidgeting round, eating bread and butter daintily, neatly holding the
+morsel in their little forepaws and nuzzling into one&rsquo;s fingers for more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A handsome magpie, and, of course, a contingent of crows, made up the
+fascinating party; while in the background, among the neem trees and the
+flaming &ldquo;gold mohurs,&rdquo; the minahs and green parrots sustained an
+incessant and riotous conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wednesday, October 25</i>.&mdash;Gladly would we have accepted the
+Jacobs&rsquo; invitation to stay longer at Jaipur. We would have liked nothing
+better, but time was flying, and the 5th November&mdash;our day of departure
+from Bombay&mdash;was drawing rapidly near. So yesterday evening we took the
+6.30 train for Ajmere, and, reaching there at 10.30, changed into the
+narrow-gauge railway for Chitor. We are becoming well accustomed to sleeping in
+an Indian train, and Sabz Ali had our beds unrolled and our innumerable hand
+luggage stowed away in no time, including four bottles of soda-water, which he
+has carefully garnered in the washstand, and which no hints, however broad,
+will induce him to relinquish.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br/>
+UDAIPUR</h2>
+
+<p>
+We arrived, very sleepy and gritty, at Chitor at 5.30 A.M., to find an
+unprecedented mob of first-class passengers <i>en route</i> for Udaipur, and
+only one very minute compartment in which to stow them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The station-master&mdash;a solemn Baboo, full of his own importance, becomingly
+clad in a waving white petticoat, with bare legs and elastic-sided boots,
+surmounted by a long cutaway frock-coat, topped by a black skull-cap, and
+finally decorated by a pen behind his ear&mdash;seemed totally unable to cope
+with the terrible problem he was set to solve.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suggested that another carriage should be put on, but he had none, nor any
+solution to offer; so we cleared a second-class compartment and divided the
+party out, and then, with five people in our tiny compartment, we set out on
+the fifty-mile run to Udaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Five people in a carriage in Europe is nowise unusual, but five people in an
+Indian one (and that a narrow, very narrow gauge), accompanied by rolls of
+bedding, tiffin-baskets, and all the quantity of personal luggage which is
+absolutely necessary, not to speak of a large-sized bird-cage (which cannot,
+strictly speaking, be classed as a necessary), requires the ingenuity of a
+professional packer of herrings or figs to adjust nicely!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By cramming the toilet place with bedding, khudsticks, a five-foot brass
+lamp-stand, and the four soda-water bottles, we made shift to stow
+portmanteaux, bags, tiffin-baskets, &amp;c., under the seats and ourselves upon
+them, and then arranged a sort of centre-piece of Jane&rsquo;s big tin
+bonnet-box, surmounted by Freddy in his cage. The other passengers were very
+amiably disposed, and not fat, and they even went so far as to pretend to
+admire Freddy&mdash;a feat of some difficulty, as he is still very bald and of
+an altogether forbidding aspect. This admiration so won upon the heart of Jane,
+that in the fulness thereof she served out biscuits and a little tinned butter
+all round, while Freddy cheerfully spattered food and water upon all
+indiscriminately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here, in the
+stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a desperate deed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and retake
+Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any of those whose
+fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden. The Chondawats
+and the Saktawats both claimed the right of forming the vanguard, and the Rana,
+unable to pronounce in favour of either, subtly decided that the van should be
+given to the clan which should first enter Ontala.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the fortress,
+and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place, but the walls were
+quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment, the leader of the Saktawats
+threw himself from his elephant, and, placing himself before the great spikes
+with which the gate was protected against the assault of the beast, ordered the
+mahout to charge; and so a crushed and mangled corpse was forced into the city
+on the brow of the living battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants rushed to
+battle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in Ontala.
+First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by the defenders
+ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell back among his
+dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling the body in his scarf,
+tied it upon his back, fought his way to the crest of the battlements, and
+hurled the gory body of his chieftain into the city, shouting, &ldquo;The
+vanguard to the Chondawat!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note were
+engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of the defence,
+they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle. Suddenly the foe broke
+in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for leave to finish their
+interesting match. The request was granted by the courtly Rajputs, but upon its
+termination they were both put to death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid hills. After
+skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we bustled through a tunnel
+and drew up at a bright little station, draped with great blue and pink
+convolvulus. And this was Udaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were picked out of the usual jabbering, jostling, gibbering crowd of natives
+by our host, who, looking most enviably cool and clean, took his heated,
+dishevelled, and unbarbered guests off to a comfortable carriage, and we were
+quickly sped towards tiffin and a bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The station is a long way from the town, as the Maharana, a most staunch
+conservative of the old school, having the railway more or less forced upon
+him, drew the line at three miles from his capital, and fixed the terminus
+there. One cannot help being glad that the prosaic steam-engine, crowned with
+foul smoke and heralded by ear-piercing whistles, has not been allowed to
+trespass in Udaipur, wherein no discordant note is struck by train line or
+factory chimney, and where everything and every one is as when the city was
+newly built on the final abandonment of Chitor, the ancient capital of Mewar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here in the heart of the most conservative of native States, whose ruler, the
+Maharana, Sir Fateh Singh, claims descent from that ancient luminary the Sun,
+we found novelty and interest in every yard of the three miles that stretch
+between the station and the capital. The scrub-covered desert has given place
+to a wooded and cultivated valley, ringed by a chain of hills, sterile and
+steep. The white ribbon of the road, through whose dust plough stolid buffaloes
+and strings of creaking bullock-carts, is bordered by tall cactus and
+yellow-flowered mimosa on either side. Among the trees rise countless
+half-ruined temples and chatries; on whose whitewashed walls are frequent
+frescoes of tigers or elephants rampant, and of wonderful Rajput heroes wearing
+the curious bell-shaped skirt, which was their distinctive dress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The people too, their descendants, who crowd the road to-day, are
+remarkable&mdash;the men fine-looking, with beards brushed ferociously upwards,
+and all but the mere peasants carrying swords; the women, dark-eyed, and
+singularly graceful in their red or orange saris, and very full bell-shaped
+petticoats. Upright as darts, they walk with slightly swaying gesture, a
+slender brown arm upraised to support the big brass chatties on their heads,
+revealing an incredible collection of bangles on arms and ankles. These women
+are the descendants of those who, in the stormy days of the sixteenth century,
+while the Rajput princes still struggled heroically with the all-powerful Mogul
+emperors, preferred death to shame, and, led by Kurnavati (mother of Oodi
+Singh, the founder of Udaipur), accepted the &ldquo;Johur,&rdquo; or death by
+fire and suffocation, to the number of 13,000, while their husbands and
+brothers threw open the city gates and went forth to fight and fall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we drew near our destination the towers of the Maharana&rsquo;s Palace rose
+up above the trees, gleaming snowy in the cloudless blue. The brown crenellated
+walls of the city appeared on our left, and, suddenly sweeping round a curve,
+we found ourselves by the border of a lovely lake, whose blue-rippled waters
+lapped the very walls of the town. In the foreground a glorious note of colour
+was struck by a group of &ldquo;scarlet women&rdquo; washing themselves and
+their clothes by the margin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up a steep incline, and we found ourselves before a verandah, blazing overhead
+with bougainvillea, and our hostess waiting to receive us beneath its cool
+shade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon, refreshed and rested, we went down to the shore, where our
+host had arranged for a state-owned boat and four rowers to be in waiting.
+Armed with rods and fishing tackle, we proceeded to see Udaipur from the lake
+which washes its northern side. First crossing a small landlocked bay bordered
+on the left by a long and picturesque crenellated wall, and passing through a
+narrow opening, we found ourselves in a second division of the water; on the
+left, still the wall, with a delightful-looking summer-house perched at a
+salient angle; on the right, small wooded islands, the haunt of innumerable
+cormorants, who, with snaky necks outstretched, watched us suspiciously from
+their eyrie.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A curious white bridge, very high in the centre, barred the view of the main
+lake till, passing through the central arch, we found ourselves in a scene of
+perfect enchantment. Before us the level sheet of molten silver lay spread,
+reflecting the snowy palaces and summer-houses that stood amid the palms and
+greenery of many tiny islands. On the left the city rose from the water in a
+succession of temples and wide-terraced buildings, culminating in the lofty
+pile of the Palace of the Maharana. Here, on this enchanted lake, we rowed to
+and fro until the sun sank swiftly in the west and the red gold glowed on
+temple and turret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, with our catch, about 15 lbs. weight of most excellent fish, we rowed
+back past the white city to the landing-place, and, in the gathering dark,
+climbed the hillock upon which stood our host&rsquo;s bungalow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spent a week at Udaipur&mdash;a happy week, whose short days flew by far too
+quickly. The weather was splendid; hot in the middle of the day&mdash;for the
+season is late, and the monsoon has greatly failed in its cooling
+duty&mdash;but delightful in morning and evening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rising one morning at early dawn, before the sun leaped above the eastern
+hills, we took boat and rowed to one of the island palaces, where, after
+fishing for mahseer, we breakfasted on a marble balcony overlooking the ripples
+of the Pichola Lake, which lapped the feet of a group of great marble
+elephants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not the least interesting expedition was to the south end of the lake one
+afternoon to see the wild pigs fed. Traversing the whole length of the Pichola,
+past the marble ghâts where the crimson-clad women washed and chattered, while
+above them rose the roofs and temple domes of the fairy city culminating in the
+walls and pinnacles of the palace&mdash;past the fleet of queer green barges
+wherein the Maharana disports himself when aquatically inclined, we left the
+many islands marble-crowned on our right; and finally landed at a little
+jutting ledge of rock, whence a jungle track led us in a few minutes to a
+terrace overlooking a rocky and steep slope which fell away from the building
+near which we stood. The scene was surprising! Hundreds of swine of all sorts
+and sizes, from grim slab-sided, gaunt-headed old boars, whose ancient tusks
+showed menacing, to the liveliest and sprightliest of little pigs playing
+hide-and-seek among their staid relatives, were collected from the neighbouring
+jungle to scramble for the daily dole of grain spread for them by the Maharana.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A cloud of dust rose thick in the air, stirred up by the busy feet and snouts
+of the multitude, and grunts and squeals were loud and frequent as a frisky
+party of younglings in their play would heedlessly bump up against some
+short-tempered old boar, who in his turn would angrily butt a too venturesome
+rival in the wind and send him, expostulating noisily, down the hill!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the crowd of swine on the edge of the clearing, a few peacocks,
+attracted by the prospect of a meal, held themselves strictly aloof from the
+vulgar herd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole city of Udaipur is a paradise for the artist&mdash;not a corner, not
+a creature which does not seem to cry aloud to be painted. The only difficulty
+in such <i>embarras de richesses</i> of subject and such scantiness of time, is
+to decide what not to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hardly has the enthusiastic amateur sat down to delineate the stately pile of
+the palace, soaring aloft amid its enveloping greenery, than he is attracted by
+a fascinating glimpse of the lake, where, perhaps, a royal elephant comes down
+to drink, or a crimson-clad bevy of Rajputni lasses stoop to fill their brazen
+chatties with much chatter and laughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bewildered by such wealth of subject, one is but too apt to sit at gaze, and
+finally go home with merely a dozen pages of scribbles added to the little
+canvas jotting-book!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Palace of the Maharana is a very splendid pile of buildings, as seen from
+some little distance crowning the ridge which rises to the south of the lake,
+but it loses much of its beauty when closely viewed. It is, of course, not to
+be compared architecturally with the master-works of Agra and Delhi, and the
+internal decorations are usually tawdry and uninteresting. The entrance is
+fine; the visitor ascends the steep street to the principal gate, a massive
+portal, strengthened against the battering of elephants by huge spikes, and
+decorated by a pair of these animals in fresco-rampant. Beyond the first gate
+rises a second or inner gate. On the right are huge stables where the royal
+elephants are kept, and on the left stand a row of curious arches, beneath one
+of which the Maharanas of old were wont to be weighed against bullion after a
+victory, the equivalent to the royal avoirdupois being distributed as largesse
+to his people!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within the gates, a long and wide terrace stretches along the entire front of
+the Palace, on the face of which is emblazoned the Sun of Mewar, the emblem of
+the Sesodias. This terrace was evidently the happy home of a great number of
+cows, peacocks, geese, and pigeons, which stalked calmly enough, among the
+motley crowd of natives, and gave one the impression of a glorified farmyard.
+The building itself, like most Indian palaces, is composed of a heterogeneous
+agglomeration in all sorts of sizes and styles. Each successive Maharana having
+apparently added a bit here and a bit there as his capricious fancy prompted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane visited the armoury to-day with the Resident, who went to choose a shield
+to be presented by the Maharana to the Victoria Museum at Calcutta. I chose to
+go sketching, and was derided by Jane for missing such a chance of seeing what
+is not shown to visitors as a rule. She whisked away in great pomp in the
+Residential chariot, preceded by two prancing sowars on horseback, and
+subsequently thus related her experiences:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+
+<p class="p2">
+&ldquo;We really drove up far too fast to the Palace, I was so much interested
+in the delightful streets; and we just whizzed past the innumerable shrines and
+queer shops, and frescoed walls, where extraordinary lions and tigers, and
+Rajput warriors, riding in wide petticoats on prancing steeds, were depicted in
+flaming colours. I wanted, too, to gaze at the native women, in their
+accordion-pleated, dancing frocks of crimson or dark blue; but it seemed to be
+the correct thing for a &lsquo;Personage&rsquo; to drive as fast as possible,
+and try to run over a few people just to show them what unconsidered trifles
+they were. Well, we were received at the entrance to the Palace by one of the
+Prime Ministers. There are two Prime Ministers&mdash;one to criticise and
+frustrate the schemes of the other; the result being, as the Resident remarked,
+that it is not easy to get any business done. Our Prime Minister was dressed in
+a coat of royal purple velvet, on his head was wound a big green turban, and
+round his neck hung a lovely necklet of pearls and emeralds, with a pendant of
+the same, he had also earrings to match. It was truly pitiful to see such
+ornaments wasted on a fat old man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Going up a narrow and rather steep staircase, we came to a small hall
+full of retainers of his Highness, waiting until it should please him to appear
+and breakfast with them, for it is the custom of the Maharana to make that meal
+a sort of public function. In the middle of the hall reposed a big bull,
+evidently very much at ease and quite at home!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A few more steps brought us to the door of the armoury. This is small
+and badly arranged, which seems a pity, as there were some lovely things. Chain
+armour and inlaid suits lay about the floor in heaps; and we were shown the
+saddle used by Akbar during the last siege of Chitor. The most remarkable
+things, however, were the Rajput shields, of which there were some beautiful
+specimens. They are circular, not large, and made, some of tortoiseshell, some
+of polished hippo hide, &amp;c. One was inlaid with great emeralds, a second
+had bosses of turquoise, and a really lovely one was inlaid with fine Jaipur
+enamel in blue and green. There were swords simply encrusted with
+jewels&mdash;one with a hilt of carved crystal; another was a
+curiously-modelled dog&rsquo;s head in smooth silver, and I noticed a beauty in
+pale jade. Altogether it was a most fascinating collection, different from, but
+in its way quite as interesting, as the fine armoury at Madrid.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Thus did Jane triumph over me with her description of what she had seen and
+what I had missed; and I had been trying to delineate the Temple of Jagganath,
+and had been disastrously defeated, for it is indeed a complicated piece of
+drawing, and the children, both large and small, crowded round me to my great
+hindrance. Therefore, it was not until I had been soothed with an excellent
+lunch, and the contents of a very long tumbler, that I felt strong enough to
+take an intelligent interest in the contents of the Maharana&rsquo;s
+curiosity-shop!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Monday, October</i> 30.&mdash;The more we see of Udaipur the more we are
+charmed with it. The whole place is so absolutely unspoilt by modernism, is so
+purely Eastern&mdash;and ancient Eastern at that&mdash;that we feel as though
+we were in a little world far apart from the great one where steam and
+electricity shatter the nerves, and drive their victims through life at high
+pressure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered desert
+stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded in an oasis,
+whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the Maharana rules in
+feudal state, and, like Aytoun&rsquo;s Scottish Cavalier,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;A thousand vassals dwelt around&mdash;all of his kindred they,<br/>
+And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray<br/>
+For the royal race he loves so well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+For to his subjects the Maharana is little less than a divinity, for is he not
+a direct descendant of the Sun? Likewise is he not the chief of the only royal
+house of Rajputana, who disdained to purchase Mogul friendship at the price of
+giving a daughter in marriage to the Mohammedan?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are greater personages among the ruling Princes of India, according to
+British ruling&mdash;Hyderabad, for instance. And in the matter of precedence
+and the number of guns for ceremonial salutation, the Chief of Mewar&mdash;like
+other poor but proud nobles&mdash;is treated rather according to his actual
+power than the cloudless blue of his blood. Hence he is extremely unwilling to
+put himself in a position where he might fail to obtain the honour which he
+considers due to him. He was most averse from attending the Delhi Durbar, but
+such pressure was put upon him that he was induced to proceed thither in his
+special train running, as far as Chitorgarh, upon his own special railway. He
+reached Delhi, and his sponsors rejoiced that they had indeed got him to the
+water, although they had not exactly induced him to drink. As a matter of fact,
+the Maharana, having gone to Delhi to please the British authorities, promptly
+returned to Udaipur to please himself, alleging a terrific headache as reason
+for instant departure from the capital, without his having left his very own
+specially reserved first-class compartment!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He may not be a willing guest, but he is evidently disposed to be an excellent
+host, for great preparations are toward for the reception of the Prince of
+Wales, who is expected in the course of a fortnight or so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Residency, too, is being swept and garnished, the garden already looking
+like a miniature camp, with tents for the suite all among the flower-beds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Tuesday, October</i> 31.&mdash;A day or two ago we arose betimes, and before
+sunrise embarked in the State gig (which was always, apparently, placed at our
+host&rsquo;s disposal on demand), and set forth to catch fish for our
+breakfast, and then proceed to eat the same on one of the island palaces on the
+lake. We did not catch many fish&mdash;the mahseer were shy that
+morning&mdash;but fortunately we did not entirely depend on the caprices of the
+mahseer for our sustenance, and a remarkably well-fed and contented quartette
+we were when we got into the gig while the day was yet young, and rowed home as
+quickly as might be in order to escape the heat which at noonday is still
+great.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This afternoon we went for a (to us) novel tea picnic. A State elephant
+appeared by request, and we climbed upon him with ladders, and he proceeded to
+roll leisurely along at the rate of about two and a half miles an hour towards
+the foot of a hill, on the top of which stood a small summer palace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The afternoon was warm, and the rhythmic pace drowsy, but our steed was
+determined to amuse us and benefit himself. So he blew great blasts of spray at
+his own forelegs and chest to cool himself, and now and then made shocking bad
+shots at so large a target, and, getting a trifle too much elevation, nearly
+swept us from our lofty perch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately his stock of spray gave out ere long, or he found that the
+increasing gradient of the hill took all his breath, for we were left at
+leisure to admire the widening view until we reached the top.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here we had tea in one of the cool halls, and then sat watching the sun sink
+towards the hills that stretch to Mount Aboo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the south-east lay Udaipur, milk-white along the margin of its
+&ldquo;marléd&rdquo; waters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On our way home we met with an adventure. While prattling to my hostess, I
+observed that our toes were rising unduly, the saddle or howdah being seated
+somewhat after the fashion of an outside car. Glancing over my shoulder I
+descried Jane and her partner far below their proper level. The howdah was
+coming round, and our steed was eleven feet high! Agonised yells to the
+gentleman who guided the deliberate steps of the pachyderm from a coign of
+vantage on the back of his neck, awoke him to an appreciation of the situation.
+The elephant was &ldquo;hove to&rdquo; with all possible despatch, and we
+crawled off his back with the greatest celerity. We then sat down by the
+roadside and superintended the righting of the saddle and the tautening of the
+girths by several natives, who &ldquo;took in the slack&rdquo; with an energy
+that must have made the poor elephant very &ldquo;uncomfy&rdquo; about the
+waist! I secretly hoped it was hurting him horribly, as I had not forgiven him
+for his practical jokes on the way up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had no more thrills. Resuming our motor &rsquo;bus, in due course, we were
+landed opposite the top of our host&rsquo;s verandah, whereupon the beast shut
+himself up like a three-foot rule, and we got to ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The inexorable flight of time brought us all too soon to the limit of our stay
+at Udaipur. Early on Wednesday the 1st November, therefore, we bade adieu to
+the capital of the State of Mewar, and, accompanied by our kind host and
+hostess, set out to spend a day in exploring the ruined city of Chitor before
+taking train for Bombay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we drove to the station, we passed the group of ancient
+&ldquo;chatries&rdquo; or tombs of dead and gone Ranas of Mewar, and halted for
+a short inspection, as, the train by which we were to travel to Chitorgarh
+being a &ldquo;special,&rdquo; we were not bound to a precise moment for our
+appearance on the platform.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane, who is perfectly Athenian in her passion for novelty, decided to travel
+on the engine, and proceeded to do so; until, at the first halting-place, a
+grimy and somewhat dishevelled female climbed into our carriage, and the next
+half-hour was fully occupied in scooping smuts out of her eyes with teaspoons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had been arranged that an elephant should await our arrival at Chitorgarh to
+take us up to the ancient city, but a careful search into every nook and cranny
+failed to reveal the missing animal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So my host and I set out on foot to cross a mile or so of plain which spread in
+deceptive smoothness between us and the ascent to the city. What seemed a
+serene and level track became quickly entangled in a maze of rough little knobs
+and nullahs, and we took a vast amount of exercise before arriving at the old
+bridge which spans the Gamberi River.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, towering over the scrubby bushes and surrounded by a dusty halo, the
+dilatory pachyderm bore down upon us, and, after the mahout had been
+interviewed in unmeasured terms by my host, went rolling slowly to the station
+to pick up the ladies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ancient city of Chitor lies crumbling and desolate on the back of a long,
+level-topped hill, which rises solitary to the height of some five hundred feet
+above the far-stretching plain. Kipling likens it to a great ship, up the sides
+of which the steep road slopes like a gangway. At the foot lies the modern
+village, squalid but picturesque.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we toil, perspiring, up the long ramp which for a weary mile slopes sidelong
+up the scarped flank of the mountain, and pass through the seven gates which
+guarded the way, and every one of which was the scene of many a grim and bloody
+struggle, I will try to sketch the outline of the history of the famous fort,
+for many centuries the headquarters of the royal race of Mewar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Gehlotes, or (as they were afterwards styled) the Sesodias, claim descent
+from the Sun through Manu, Icshwaca, and Rama Chandra, as indeed do the other
+Rajput potentates of Jaipur, Marwar, and Bikanir, the Rana of Mewar, however,
+taking precedence owing to his descent from Lava, the eldest son of Rama.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ancient dynasty of Mewar has fallen from its high estate, but the history
+of its rise is lost in the mists of grey antiquity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We can trace the losses of Mewar, but with difficulty her acquisitions….
+She was an old-established dynasty when all the other States were in
+embryo.&rdquo; Long before Richard of the Lion-heart fared to Palestine to
+wrest the Holy City from the infidel, &ldquo;a hundred kings, its
+(Mewar&rsquo;s) allies and dependants, had their thrones raised in
+Chitor,&rdquo; to defend it against the sword of the Mohammedan; while overhead
+floated the banner displaying the golden sun of Mewar on a crimson field.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some centuries later the Crusaders brought to Europe from the plains of
+Palestine the novel device of armorial bearings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chitor itself appears to have been in possession of the Mori princes until, in
+A.D. 728, it was taken by Bappa, who, though of royal race, was brought up in
+obscurity by the Bhils as an attendant on the sacred kine. This shepherd
+prince, ancestor of the present Rana of Mewar, became a national hero, and many
+legends are still current concerning him and his romantic deeds. The story of
+his &ldquo;amazing marriage,&rdquo; by which he succeeded in wedding six
+hundred damsels all at once, is one of the most curious. Bappa, while still a
+youth, was appealed to, one holiday, by the frolicsome maidens of a
+neighbouring village, who, led by the daughter of the Solankini chief of Nagda,
+in accordance with the custom upon this particular saint&rsquo;s day, had come
+out to indulge in swinging, but who had forgotten to supply themselves with a
+swinging-rope. Bappa agreed to get them one if they would play his game first.
+This the young ladies readily agreed to do; whereupon, all joining hands, he
+danced with them a certain mystic number of times round a sacred tree.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Regardless of their doom, the little victims played,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and finally dispersed to their homes, entirely unconscious that they were all
+as securely married to Bappa as though they had visited Gretna Green with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some time afterwards, upon the engagement of the Solankini maiden to an
+eligible young man, the soothsayer, to whom application had been made with
+regard to fixing a favourable and auspicious wedding-day, discovered from
+certain lines in her hand that the girl was already married! Thus the whole
+story came out, and no less than six hundred brides assumed the title of Mrs.
+Bappa.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He seems to have had a passion for matrimony, for when an old man he left his
+children and his country, and carried his arms west to Khorassan, where he
+wedded new wives and had a numerous offspring. He died at the age of a hundred!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the days of the very much married Bappa, until the time of Samarsi, who
+was Prince of Chitor in the thirteenth century, the city continued to flourish
+and increase in power and importance. Samarsi, having married Pirtha, sister of
+Prithi Raj, the lord of Delhi, joined his brother-in-law against Shabudin. For
+three days the battle raged, until the scale fell finally in favour of
+Shabudin, and the combined forces of Delhi and Chitor were almost annihilated.
+&ldquo;Pirtha, on hearing of the loss of the battle, her husband slain, her
+brother captive, and all the heroes of Delhi and Cheetore &lsquo;asleep on the
+banks of the Caggar in a wave of the steel,&rsquo; joined her lord through the
+flames.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From that time forward the history of Chitor is but a tale of sack and
+slaughter, relieved in its murkiest days by flashes of brilliant heroism and
+self-sacrificing devotion while the chivalrous Rajputs struggled vainly against
+the successive waves of the Mohammedan invasions, which in a fierce flood for
+centuries swept over India, and deluged it with blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the year 1275 Lakumsi became Rana of Chitor. His uncle Bheemsi had married
+Padmani, a fair daughter of Ceylon, and her beauty was such that the fame of it
+came to the ears of Alla-o-din, the Pathan Emperor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He promptly attacked the fortress, but without success for a long period, until
+he agreed to a compromise, declaring that if he could merely see the Lady
+Padmani in a mirror he would be contented and raise the siege.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His request was granted, and, trusting to the honour of a Rajput, he entered
+the city unattended, and was rewarded by a sight of this Eastern Helen
+reflected in a mirror. Desirous of showing equal faith in a noble enemy,
+Bheemsi accompanied Alla back to his lines, but there he was captured and held
+to ransom, Padmani being the price.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Word was now sent to the Emperor that Padmani would be delivered to him, and
+seven hundred covered litters were prepared to convey her and her ladies to
+Delhi, but each litter was borne by six armed bearers, and contained no
+&ldquo;silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses,&rdquo; but only steel-clad
+warriors, who, upon arrival in the Moslem camp, sprang from their concealment
+as surprisingly as Pallas from the head of Zeus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alla-o-din was, however, not to be caught napping, and, being prepared for all
+contingencies, a fierce combat took place, and the warriors of Chitor were hard
+put to it to stand their ground until Bheemsi had escaped to the stronghold on
+a fleet horse. Then the devoted remnant retreated, pursued to the very gates by
+their foes. The flower of Chitor had perished, but they had achieved their
+object. This was called the &ldquo;half sack&rdquo; of Chitor.[1]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[1] These notes on the history of Chitor are taken, it need hardly be said,
+from Tod&rsquo;s <i>Rajast&rsquo;han</i>, he being <i>the</i> authority on
+Rajputana. An account of the above incident is given somewhat differently by
+Maurice in his <i>Modern History of Hindostan</i> (1803), who also relates that
+Akbar used the same trick to enter Rhotas in Behar, after being long baffled by
+the apparent impregnability of that fortress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fifteen years later, Alla-o-din once more attacked Chitor, and this time the
+assaults were so deadly that the garrison was decimated and utter annihilation
+stared the survivors in the face. Then to the Rana appeared the guardian
+goddess of the city, who warned him that &ldquo;if twelve who wear the diadem
+bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass from the line.&rdquo; Now the prince
+had twelve sons, and, in obedience to the goddess and in hope of eventually
+saving their dynasty, eleven of them cheerfully headed sorties on eleven
+following days, and were slain, until only Ajeysi, the youngest, was left
+alive. Then the Kana prepared for the end. He sent the boy Ajeysi with a small
+band by a secret way, and he escaped to Kailwarra, so that the royal race of
+Chitor should not become extinct. Then the women of the city, with the noble
+Padmani at their head, accepted the Johur; &ldquo;the funeral pyre being
+lighted within the great subterranean retreat,&rdquo; they steadfastly marched
+into the living grave rather than yield themselves to the will of the
+conqueror. All being now ready for the last act of the hideous drama, the Rana
+caused the gates to be opened, and with his valiant remnant of an army fell
+upon the foe only to perish to a man, and then, and not till then, did the
+victorious Alla set foot of a conqueror within Chitor, where now no living
+thing remained to stay him from razing her deserted temples to the ground. The
+palace of Padmani alone was spared in this, the first &ldquo;saka&rdquo; of
+Chitor.[2]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[2] The Jain Tower of Fame was also left standing, it dates from about A.D.
+900.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The wrecked stronghold remained an appanage of the Mogul until Hamir, who,
+though not the direct heir of Ajeysi, had gained the chieftainship through his
+valour, and who, having married a ward of the Hindu governor of Chitor, by her
+help regained possession of the fortress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Defeating the Emperor Mahmoud, Hamir entered Chitor in triumph, and once again
+the standard of the Sun floated over its blood-stained rocks. The Emperor
+Mahmoud himself was led captive into Chitor, and kept prisoner there for three
+months until he regained his liberty by surrendering Ajmere, Rinthumbore,
+Nagore, and Sooe Sopoor, with fifty lacs of rupees and a hundred elephants. By
+this victory Hamir became the sole Hindu prince of power in India; and the
+ancestors of the present lords of Marwar and Jaipur brought their levies and
+paid homage, together with the chiefs of Boondi, Abu, and Gwalior.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then ensued for Chitor a period of splendid prosperity, during which rose many
+noble buildings, amongst the ruins of which the great Tower of Victory still
+soars supreme. This splendid monument[3] was raised to commemorate the victory
+gained by Koombho over Mahmoud, King of Malwa, and the Prince of Guzzerat, who
+in A.D. 1440 had formed a league against Chitor. The Rana met them at the head
+of 100,000 troops and 1400 elephants, and overthrew them, and the commemorative
+tower was begun in 1451 and finished in ten years.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[3] It is also attributed to Lakha Rana, A.D. 1373.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The State of Mewar reached the zenith of her glory in 1509, when 80,000 horse,
+seven rajas of the highest rank, nine raos, and 104 chiefs bearing titles of
+rawul or sawut, with 500 elephants, followed Rana Sanga of Chitor into the
+field.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Mogul Baber, who captured Delhi in 1527, was yet unwilling to face the
+ordeal of battle with the warlike Rajputs, but in the following year Sanga
+marched against him at the head of the princes of Rajast&rsquo;han. A terrible
+battle ensued, which long inclined in favour of the Rajputs, until, through the
+treachery of a Tuar chief, they were defeated, and the star of Mewar began to
+decline, although so severe had been the struggle that Baber dared not follow
+up his victory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In 1533 Chitor suffered her second &ldquo;saka&rdquo; at the hands of Buhadoor
+or Bajazet, Sultan of Guzzerat, who, after a grim struggle, obtained a footing
+at the &ldquo;Beeka&rdquo; rock, and, springing a mine there, blew up 45 cubits
+of rampart and killed the Prince of the Haras, with five hundred of his kin.
+Then the Queen-Mother, Jowahir Bae, clad in armour, headed a sally, and was
+slain before the eyes of all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The entrance to the city being forced, the heir of the Sesodias, the infant
+Oodi Singh, son of Sanga, was placed in safety, while Bagh-ji, Prince of Deola,
+assuming royalty, prepared to die, for Chitor could only be retained by the
+Rajput princes while guarded by royalty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The horrible Johur was decreed, and 13,000 women, headed by Kurnavati, the
+mother of Oodi Singh,[4] marched to death and honour through the &ldquo;Gau
+Mukh,&rdquo; or entrance to the subterranean tomb; while the city gates were
+thrown open, and the defenders sallied forth. &ldquo;Every clan lost its
+chief,&rdquo; and 32,000 Rajputs were slain during the siege and storm.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[4] And sister of the Rahtore queen, Jowahir Bae.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now Kurnavati had bound Hamayoun, the son of Baber, to her cause by a curious
+ceremony: she having sent him the Rakhi (bracelet), and he having bestowed on
+her the Katchli (corselet), he was bound, in consequence of this bond, to
+assist the lady in any time of need. Too late to save Chitor, he retook it, and
+restored Bikramajit to the throne; but the guardian goddess had turned her face
+from the doomed city, and its final fall was at hand. The Emperor Akbar, having
+laid almost all India at his feet, determined to bring the proud princes of
+Rajputana into subjection. He attacked Chitor, but was foiled by the masculine
+courage of the Rana&rsquo;s concubine queen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again, in 1568, the Emperor Akbar attacked, and this time he found the fated
+city in evil case, for Oodi Singh,[5] the Rana, for whom in infancy his nurse
+had sacrificed her own child, was a degenerate son of his race. He left Chitor
+to be defended by his lieutenants Jeimul and Putta.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[5] The infant Oodi Singh being threatened with death by conspirators, his
+Rajputni nurse hid him in a fruit-basket, and, covering it with leaves, had it
+conveyed out of the fort, substituting her own child just as Bimbir, the
+usurper, entered the room and asked for the prince. Her pallid lips refused to
+utter sound, but she pointed to the cradle and saw the swift steel plunged into
+the heart of her child.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the first &ldquo;saka&rdquo; by Alla, twelve crowned heads defended the
+&ldquo;crimson banner&rdquo; to the death. In the second, when conquest, at the
+hand of Bahadur, came from the south, the chieftain of Deola, a noble scion of
+Mewar, claimed the crown of glory and of martyrdom. But on this, the third and
+greatest struggle, no royal victim appeared to appease the Cybele of Chitor and
+win her to retain its battlements as her coronet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Jeimul fell at the Gate of the Sun, the command devolved upon Putta of
+Kailwa, a lad of sixteen. His mother commanded him to don &ldquo;the saffron
+robe,&rdquo; then, with him and his young bride, she fell full armed upon the
+foe, and the heroic trio died before the eyes of the war-worn garrison.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once more was the Johur commanded, while 8000 Rajputs ate the last
+&ldquo;beera&rdquo; together, and put on their saffron robes. The gates were
+thrown open, &ldquo;and few survived to stain the yellow mantle by inglorious
+surrender.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus in the blood-red cloud of battle sank for ever the Sun of Chitor; for from
+this, the third and last &ldquo;saka,&rdquo; the ruined city never rose. Her
+doom has been as the doom of Babylon, of which Isaiah declared: &ldquo;It shall
+never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation
+… but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full
+of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there…. And the wild beasts … shall
+cry in their desolate houses, and … in their pleasant palaces:… Her days shall
+not be prolonged.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The top of the long ascent being reached, the last gate, the Hathi Pol, is
+passed, and the wayfarer finds himself in the midst of the great dead city,
+which lies in ruins for three miles along the bastioned brow of the mountain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just beyond the first group of stately ruins, we came on the building which was
+probably the palace built by Lakha Rana in 1373. Here we sat and rested until
+the elephant, bearing the ladies and the lunch, stalked sedately round the
+jutting angle of a decayed fort, and then we wended our way along a road lined
+with many a half-fallen temple, until we reached the ancient palace where, six
+hundred years ago, dwelt the ill-starred Padmani, whose loveliness brought such
+woe upon Chitor. Here, in a cool chamber overlooking the tank, upon the brink
+of which the palace stands, we lunched; afterwards threading our way among the
+fallen fragments of many a stately shrine and palace towards the high point on
+which the great Jain Tower of Fame rears its deeply-sculptured shaft into the
+sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a thousand years the innumerable stone gods which encircle the tower in
+endless profusion have watched with sightless eyes over the city. Grey already
+with age were they when they saw, raised in pristine beauty, the shattered
+domes and broken columns which now lie prone in the brushwood far beneath their
+feet. What ghastly scenes those stony faces have surveyed, when, swept by the
+scathing steel, the city has run red with blood, and her defenders have fallen
+to the last man. One crowning horror, though, they have been always spared, for
+no maid or matron of Chitor ever deigned to bow her neck beneath the yoke of
+the Mogul, but rather dared to face a fiery death in the bowels of the great
+cavern beneath the city than yield her honour to the conqueror.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Tower of Fame is being repaired by the present Rana, under the
+superintendence of our host and a party of native workmen. Masons and most
+skilful carvers in stone were busily engaged in the restoration of parts that
+had fallen into dangerous decay&mdash;an extremely flimsy-looking scaffolding,
+made apparently of light bamboos, tied together in wisps, and forming a
+fragile-looking ramp, wound spirally up the outside of the tower. My host
+seemed to consider it a perfectly safe means of ascent, and as the workmen did
+not appear to slip off in any appreciable numbers I felt constrained to go up.
+I should like to have done it on all fours! The climb was well worth
+undertaking, as it enabled one to inspect the astonishing and finely-carved
+figures which encrust the whole exterior of the column.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the Tower of Fame we made our way to the other great landmark of
+Chitor&mdash;the Tower of Victory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing and examining <i>en route</i> many elaborately-carved temples, whose
+domes rose amid the strangling masses of desert tree and shrub, we came to the
+base of the red tower, whose shaft, four-square and in perfect preservation,
+has, with its more venerable brother of Fame, watched for so many centuries
+over the fallen fortress of Chitor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not far away, the rocky wall on which the city stands is shattered into a
+gloomy chasm, half-hidden in rank vegetation, which, clinging with knotted root
+to ledge and crevice, hangs darkly over a stagnant pool. Here was the awful
+portal, &ldquo;the Gau Mukh,&rdquo; or &ldquo;cow&rsquo;s mouth,&rdquo; by
+which, when all was lost to Chitor save honour, her women entered the
+subterranean cavern while the fuel was heaped high, and an honourable death by
+suffocation awaited them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The burning Indian day was over, and the sun blazed red in the west, as we
+mounted our elephant and paced along the road towards the Hathi Pol. Darker
+grew the ghostly domes and shattered battlements against a golden sky, and the
+swift southern night fell, dark yet luminous, as we turned down the hill and
+left the dead city, splendid in its loneliness and isolation, asleep within its
+crumbling walls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our dinner-table was set out on the platform of the station at Chitorgarh, and
+our bedrooms were close by, our host and hostess sleeping in the
+&ldquo;special&rdquo; by which they were to return to Udaipur in the morning,
+while we slept in a siding, ready to be coupled up to the early train from
+Bombay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Late into the warm and balmy night we paced the platform; for there seemed to
+be always something still to say, and we found it hard to part from our
+charming friends; realising, too, that this was the end of our holiday, and
+that before us lay merely the toil and bustle of a return to commonplace,
+everyday life. At last, though, the final fag-end of a cheroot was thrown away,
+the last hand-grips given, and the parting came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is little more to say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All Thursday we rushed through the wide landscape; saw the parched plains
+stretch far into the dusty horizon; saw the lean men and leaner cattle, to whom
+the grim spectre of famine is already foreshadowed; flew past populous villages
+and creaking water-wheels, noting every phase of a scene now familiar, yet
+always delightful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Late in the evening we changed at Baroda, and dawn next morning saw us speeding
+across the swamps and inlets, which gave place ere long to the palm groves and
+clustering houses which marked the farther limits of the suburbs of Bombay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We found the heat&mdash;damp and oppressive&mdash;very trying after the drier
+air of Rajputana, and the Taj Mahal Hotel below our expectations in all
+respects save price. It is undoubtedly better than most Indian hotels, but yet
+it is not good!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bombay is chiefly connected in our minds with the inevitable fuss and worry of
+packing and departure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we left the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a conveyance piled high with miscellaneous
+baggage, we saw the last of our faithful and indispensable Sabz Ali, as he
+hurriedly quitted the hostelry in our wake, fearful lest undue delay should
+jeopardise the possession of the spoils he was carrying off, wrapped in bulging
+bundles of goodly size.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jane and I were sorrier, I think, to part with him than he with us. After all,
+we were but troublesome charges, for whose well-being he had to answer to
+&ldquo;General &rsquo;Oon Sahib,&rdquo;&mdash;charges who had not been quite so
+lavish with their incalculable riches as they should have been, and who doled
+out rupees, and even annas, with a sorely grudging hand; still I think Sabz
+Ali, as he made his way to the station, with many rupees lining his inmost
+garments, and a flaming &ldquo;chit&rdquo; carefully stowed away, felt a
+certain regret at parting from the &ldquo;sahibs,&rdquo; who had really shown a
+very fine appreciation of his merit, and were sending him back with much honour
+to his own country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Late in the afternoon, as the spires and roofs of the city stood dark against
+the sky, and the many steamers and native dhows showed black upon a flood of
+liquid gold, the <i>Persia</i> got under way, and we slowly left the anchorage,
+steaming out into the fading light.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood long, leaning over the bulwarks and watching the lights of Bombay, at
+first so distinct, melt gradually into a line of tiny stars as the gulf widened
+that separated us from the land where we had spent so many happy days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wonder if we shall ever revisit it? I trust so … and yet&mdash;&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As a rule it is better to revisit only in imagination the places which
+have greatly charmed us … for it was not merely the sights that one beheld
+which were the cause of joy and peace. However lovely the spot, however
+gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed but for
+contributory movements of mind and heart and blood&mdash;the essentials of the
+man as then he was.&rdquo;[6]
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+[6] &ldquo;Henry Ryecroft&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX I</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+BIG GAME LICENSE No. I,<br/>
+Price Rs. 60 (sixty only).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This license will remain in force from the 15th of March 190 to the 15th
+November 190, and is subject to the Kashmir Stata Game Laws; it permits the
+Licensee to shoot the undermentioned game in the Districts and Nullahs open to
+sportsmen, and, subject to Rules 8 and 9 of these Laws, small game between the
+above dates.
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+                      | No. permitted | No. actually | Size of |District.
+  Name of Animal.     | to be         | shot.        | heads.  |
+                      | shot.         |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-             |         |
+Markhor of any variety|      2        |              |         |
+Ibex                  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon) |      1        |              |         |
+Ovis Vignei (Sharpu)  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Nahura (Burhal)  |      6        |              |         |
+Thibetan Antelope     |      6        |              |         |
+  Do. Gazelle         |      1        |              |         |
+Kashmir Stag          |      2        |              |         |
+Serow                 |      1        |              |         |
+Brown Bears           |      2        |              |         |
+Tehr                  |      6        |              |         |
+Goral                 |      6        |              |         |
+Pigs, Black Bears and |  No limit.    |              |         |
+  Leopards            |               |              |         |
+———————————+———————-+———————+————-+————-
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+_Name of Licensee____________________________________________
+_Address_____________________________________________________ _Signature of
+Licensee on returning License__________________
+</p>
+
+<p>
+N.B.&mdash;This portion of the License to be returned to the Secretary,<br/>
+Game Preservation Department.
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+————————————————————————————————————-
+                      NAME OF SHIKARIES, &amp;c., EMPLOYED
+———+———-+————+———-+————————————————————-
+      |Name of|        |Nature |    <i>Place of Residence</i>.    |
+Serial|Shikari|Father&rsquo;s|  of   +————-+————+—————+ REMARKS.
+ No.  |  or   |  Name. |employ-| Village | Tehail | District |
+      |Coolie.|        | ment. |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+———+———-+————+———-+————-+————+—————+—————-
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+This License does not permit the Licensee to shoot in any of the closed tracts
+or preserves mentioned in Rules 2 and 10, Kashmir State Game Laws, nor in the
+Gilgit district, nor in the Astor or Kaj-nag districts, without the special
+permit laid down under Rule 2.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Dated</i> ____ (Sd.) AMAR SINGH, GENERAL, RAJA, <i>The</i> ______
+<i>Vice-President of Council, Jammu and Kashmir State</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I certify that a copy of Kashmir State Game Laws, 190, has been issued
+herewith,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Signature of Official granting License</i> ___________________
+</p>
+
+<p>
+NOTE&mdash;This License will be shown on demand and is not transferable. A fee
+of Re. 1 will be charged for a duplicate copy.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX II</h2>
+
+<p>
+From the earliest times the Kashmiris have been objects of contempt and
+derision, whilst the women have been&mdash;perhaps unduly&mdash;lauded for
+their looks and general excellence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Kashmiris themselves are of opinion that &ldquo;once upon a time&rdquo;
+they were an honourable and valiant folk, brought gradually to their present
+condition by foreign oppression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To a certain extent this is probably true, but, according to the
+<i>Rajatarangini Kulan</i>, they were noted for dishonesty and cunning long
+before the evil days of conquest and adversity. Bernier speaks well of the men,
+calling them witty and industrious. Doubtless the Kashmiri character,
+originally none too good, was ruined during the long years of cruelty and
+injustice to which he was subjected by the Tartars, Afghans, and Sikhs, who,
+from the day when Akbar put him into women&rsquo;s clothes, treated him as
+something lower than a brute.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as
+&ldquo;endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain.&rdquo; He speaks
+of the vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the Pathans,
+observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking them with a
+hatchet, but, he concludes, &ldquo;I even judged them worthy of their adverse
+fortune.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that &ldquo;the men are excessively addicted
+to pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and
+cunning;&rdquo; and again, &ldquo;The Cashmerians are of no account as
+soldiers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin
+it,&rdquo; says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri
+character, and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for great
+artistic feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from crime against the
+person. He considers the last merit, though, to be due to cowardice and the
+state of espionage which exists in every village!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who, during the
+great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his brother being swept
+down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly disintegrating roof. The
+following painful conversation ensued:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine
+ancestral roof?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All I have in the world, brother&mdash;two lovely rupees.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth,
+for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Three, then, three, carissimo&mdash;&rsquo;tis all I have&mdash;and make
+haste, for I feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, oh, dearest brother! I could not possibly think of taking so
+much trouble for three rupees, especially as, now I come to think of it, I can
+borrow a singhara pole, and, in due time, will prod for thy corpse in the
+Wular! Mind thou wrappest the lucre snugly in thy cummerbund, that it be not
+lost&mdash;farewell, little brother!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While the gentlemen of the Happy Valley have been lashed by the tongue and pen
+of every traveller, the ladies, on the contrary, have been rather overrated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In all communities where the men are invertebrate the women become the real
+heads of the family, doing not only most of the actual work, but also taking
+the dominant position in affairs generally. This I have observed strikingly in
+the case of the three &ldquo;slackest&rdquo; male races I know&mdash;the Fantis
+of the Gold Coast, the Kashmiri, and the crofters of the West Highlands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Opinion is divided on the question of female loveliness in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marco Polo (who probably only got his ideas of &ldquo;Kesmur&rdquo; from
+hearsay) echoed the prevalent opinion by saying, &ldquo;The women although dark
+are very comely&rdquo; (ch. xxvii.). Bernier is enthusiastic: &ldquo;Les femmes
+surtout y sont très-belles,&rdquo; and hints at their popularity among the
+Moguls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Moorcroft, Vigne, and others swelled the laudatory chorus until Forster,
+&ldquo;having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms, suffered a
+sensible disappointment,&rdquo; and even was so rude as to criticise the
+ladies&rsquo; legs, which he considered thick!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lawrence saw &ldquo;thousands of women in the villages, and could not remember,
+save one or two exceptions, ever seeing a really beautiful face;&rdquo; but the
+heaviest blow was dealt them by Jacquemont, who, as a gay Frenchman, should
+have been an excellent judge: &ldquo;Je n&rsquo;avais jamais vu auparavant
+d&rsquo;aussi affreuses sorcières!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX III</h2>
+
+<p>
+I had hoped to have given, through the kindness of Colonel Ward, a full list of
+the birds of Kashmir. Up to the time of going to press, however, the complete
+list has not been made out. A very large proportion, however, has been
+published in the <i>Journal of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Society</i>. I would refer
+those desirous of a knowledge of the birds of Kashmir to the above Journal for
+23rd April and 20th Sept. 1906, and 15th Feb. 1907. Also to Hume and
+Henderson&rsquo;s <i>Lahore to Yarkand</i>, and to Le Mesurier&rsquo;s <i>Game,
+Shore, and Water Birds of India</i>, to which I am indebted for the
+following:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In Kashmir, out of 116 genera of land birds, 34 have a wide range, 32
+are characteristic of the Palar Arctic, 29 of the Indian, and 21 of the
+Himalo-Chinese sub-region. Only one species is peculiar to Kashmir, a very
+normal bullfinch (pyrula).&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The flora, which is most interesting, has yet (as far as I know) to be treated
+independently of the neighbouring regions. Royle is scientific but antiquated,
+and I know of no better list than that given by Lawrence in his <i>Valley of
+Kashmir</i>.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>APPENDIX IV</h2>
+
+<p>
+It may interest any one intending a trip to Kashmir to see a note of reasonable
+expenses as incurred by two people during a nine-month absence from England.
+Therefore I append a précis of ours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is to be remembered that a saving might be effected in many particulars by
+any one knowing something of the country. We had to buy our experience. Fully
+£10 or £12 could be saved in wages, as at first we had a fighting tail like
+&ldquo;Ta Phairson&rdquo; of &ldquo;four-and-twenty men and five-and-thirty
+pipers&rdquo;&mdash;and pipers have to be paid! We also hired tents when we did
+not really require them. Against these outgoings, however, it should be borne
+in mind that, thanks to the kindness of friends, we paid a merely nominal rent
+for a &ldquo;State&rdquo; hut at Gulmarg. At Abbotabad, Jaipur, and Udaipur,
+also, we had no hotel bills to meet.
+</p>
+
+<h3>PRÉCIS OF EXPENSES&mdash;TWO PERSONS</h3>
+
+<p class="center">
+LONDON TO KARACHI (25 Days)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+Half-Return fares, 1st class, London to Trieste,
+  and thence by Austrian Lloyd (unaccelerated)    60   0   0
+Hotels, sleeping-car, gratuities, wine bills, &amp;c. 16  15   0
+Baggage expenses                                   8  15   7
+                                                       —————   85  10   7
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+BOMBAY TO LONDON (25 Days)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+Share of fares                                    60   0   0
+Hotel expenses and sundries, as before            10   6   8
+Baggage expenses, dock dues, &amp;c.                  17  11   4
+                                                       —————  87  18   0
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+KARACHI TO SRINAGAR (16 Days)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+Rail and baggage expenses to Pindi                12   6   8
+Landau and two ekkas to Srinagar, inclusive of
+   gratuities, tolls, &amp;c.                         10  10   8
+Hotels, Dàk bungalows, &amp;c.                        13  18   9
+Duty on firearms (repayable on leaving)            1  16   8
+Resais, waterproof for luggage, kettles, &amp;c.       1  19   3
+Servant&rsquo;s fare to Karachi, wages, &amp;c.              2  12   8
+                                                       —————  43   4   8
+                                                            ——————-
+                            <i>Carry forward</i>                  216  13   3
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+EXPENSES IN KASHMIR (6 Months)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+                                                   £   s.  d.  £   s.  d.
+            <i>Brought forward</i>                                216  13   3
+
+Food, wine, washing, cigars, &amp;c.                  72   7   3
+Wages, inclusive of various clothes               42   9   9
+Amusements, golf and tennis subscriptions, &amp;c.    11   7   2
+Hire of boats, tents and equipment                17   6   5
+Transport coolies and ponies                      33  14  11
+Hire of hut at Gulmarg                             5   6   8
+Sundry furniture, cooking gear, yakdans, &amp;c.       9   0   8
+                                                       —————- 191  12  10
+</pre>
+
+<p class="center">
+BARAMULA TO BOMBAY (1 Month)
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+Landau and four ekkas, with gratuities and tolls. 13  14   0
+Dâk bungalows, hotels, &amp;c.                        18   5   8
+Wages, inclusive of gratuities                     6  14   0
+Rail, Pindi to Bombay (<i>viâ</i> Udaipur)               16  17   0
+Baggage                                            5   2   8
+Hire of carriages, &amp;c.                             1   4  11
+                                                  —————  61  18   3
+Loss by exchange on cheques.                                   5  19   7
+                                                            ——————
+                                      Total                  476   3  11
+                                                            ============
+</pre>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2>INDEX AND NOTES</h2>
+
+<p>
+ABBOTABAD, A frontier station garrisoned by a mobile force of Gurkhas and Royal
+Artillery, whence any descent from the Black Mountain or Chilas country can be
+checked. Named after Lieutenant Abbot, who reduced the neighbourhood to order
+in 1845-48.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aden, Occupying a warm corner just outside the straits of Babol-Mandeb; was the
+first addition made to the British dominions in the reign of Queen Victoria,
+having been taken from the Arabs in 1839.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Agates,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Agra, Rose to importance under the Moguls, becoming their seat of government
+after Akbar quitted the city he had built, Fatehpur-Sighri, until Aurungzeb
+removed the seat of government to Delhi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Akbar, The third, and in many ways the greatest, of the six &ldquo;Great
+Mogul&rdquo; Emperors of India. A warrior first, he consolidated his conquests
+with the genius of an enlightened statesman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alsu, A small village on the north-west shore of the Wular Lake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amar Singh (General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I.), Brother of His Highness Sir
+Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; is Vice-President of the
+States Council and owner of much land in Kashmir, the prosperity of which he
+has done much to promote.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ambér, The ancient capital of Jaipur; was built in the eleventh century, its
+Rajput rulers being the powerful allies of Chitor during her struggles against
+the Mohammedan invasion. The Palace was built by Raja Maun, <i>circa</i> 1600,
+in the days of Akbar, whose cousin he was by marriage ( <i>comp</i>. ). Ambér
+was deserted in 1728 by Jey Singh for his new city of Jaipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amethyst, This stone should be much worn in Scotland, particularly on New
+Year&rsquo;s Day, it having been (according to the Greek derivation of the
+name) an antidote to drunkenness!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Amira Kadal, The highest of the seven bridges at Srinagar; a fine modern
+structure, replacing that built by Amir Khan Jawan Sher, the Pathan, who also
+built Sher Garhi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anda, Egg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anna, the sixteenth part of a rupee, value one penny.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Apharwat, One of the Pir Panjal range, which rises above Gulmarg, height 14,500
+feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aru, A small village, beautifully situated about seven miles above Pahlgam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Asti, &ldquo;Go slow.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Astor, A district on the main route from Kashmir to Gilgit, the village is
+about ninety-two miles from Bandipur. Two passes (the Rajdiangan, or Tragbal,
+11,800 feet, and the Boorzil, 13,500 feet) have to be crossed. About ten passes
+are issued each season to sportsmen, markhor and ibex being the game.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Atchibal, A village seven miles from Islamabad, where many springs burst out
+from the rocks. Atchibal was a favourite pleasure-garden of the Mogul Emperors,
+the remains of which still exist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aurungzeb, The last of the six &ldquo;Great Moguls&rdquo;; deposed and
+imprisoned his predecessor Shah Jehan in 1658, and reigned until 1707. Bigoted
+and intolerant, he shares with Sikander the odium of having destroyed many of
+the ancient Hindu temples of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Avantipura, The modern village is near the extensive ruins named after King
+Avanti Verma, which formed once the capital of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bahamarishi, (_Baba-pam-Rishi=_Father Smoothbeard.) A village some three miles
+below Gulmarg; the ziarat is named after a rishi, or ascetic, of the sixteenth
+century.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baloo, (Kashmiri, <i>Harpat</i>) &ldquo;Rara avis in terras, nigroque similima
+cignis.&rdquo; <i>Anglicè</i>, a bear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bandipur, An important village on the north shore of the Wular Lake, the
+starting-point for Gilgit, &amp;c. Oddly enough, Bandipur is not marked on the
+Ordnance Map.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bandobast, A bargain or arrangement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bappa, An eighth-century Rajput hero, and ancestor of the present chiefs of
+Mewar; appears to have had strong Mormon proclivities.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baramula, The third town in Kashmir, having some 900 houses, is built on the
+Jhelum at its outflow from the Kashmir Valley: it is also built on the west
+focus of seismic disturbance in Kashmir, and was destroyed by an earthquake in
+1885, when 3000 Baramulans were killed. We were unaware of these interesting
+facts on the morning of April 4! The &ldquo;Palms of Baramoule,&rdquo; which
+Moore sang of, are like snakes in Iceland&mdash;they do not exist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bara singh, The Kashmir stag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bawan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beera,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bejbehara, The ancient Vijayasvara, a picturesque village and bridge about four
+miles below Islamabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bernier, F., a Frenchman attached to the court of Aurungzeb as medical adviser;
+wrote <i>Voyage à Kachemire</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bhanyar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bheostie, The Indian Aquarius&mdash;the water-bearer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bhils,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Birch, (Kashmiri, <i>Burza</i>) The bark used in making the paper for which
+Kashmir was noted, also for roofing, it being strong and impervious to water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Blue pine, <i>Pinus Excelsa</i>, (Kashmiri, <i>Yar</i>.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bombay,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Books on Kashmir:(1) Bernier, <i>Voyage à Kachemire</i> (Utrecht, 1724); (2)
+Forster&rsquo;s (G) <i>Journey from Bengal to England</i> (London, 1798); (3)
+Moorcroft, <i>Travels in Kashmir, &amp;c.</i> edited by Wilson, 1841; (4)
+Jacquomont (V), <i>Voyage dans l&rsquo;Inde</i> (Paris, 1841); (5) Vigne (G.
+T.), <i>Travels in Kashmir, &amp;c.</i>, 1844; (6) Hugel&rsquo;s
+<i>Travels</i>, 1845; (7) Drew, <i>Jummoo and, Ktishmir Territories</i>; and
+(8) Lawrence&rsquo;s <i>Valley of Kashmir</i> 1895.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Budmash, A scoundrel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bund, An embankment or dyke to bank a river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Burra, Big, or great.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Carnelian, &ldquo;Flesh-stone&rdquo;&mdash;for origin read Marryat&rsquo;s
+<i>Pacha of Many Tales</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chakhoti,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chandni Chowk,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chaplies,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chappar, Paddle with heart-shaped blade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chatris, The cenotaphs of the Maharanas of Mewar; they stand in a walled
+enclosure between Udaipur and the railway station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chenar, <i>Plaianus Orientals</i> or Oriental plane. This magnificent tree is
+supposed to have been introduced into Kashmir by the Mogul Emperors. It grows
+to a great size, one measured by Lawrence being sixty-three feet five inches in
+circumference at five feet above the ground! There is a very fair specimen in
+Kew Gardens, between the pond and the &ldquo;herbaceous border.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chilas,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chit, A note or letter, and also a character or recommendation, Every man
+collects something, from pictures to tram tickets&mdash;the native collects
+&ldquo;chits.&rdquo; Like other collectors he will beg, borrow, or steal to
+improve his store, and life is made a burden by the perpetual writing and
+reading of these mendacious documents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chitor,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chittagul Nullah, The next nullah to the south-west of the Wangat. The village
+of Wangat is wrongly placed in it, according to the Ordnance Map.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chondawats, A Rajput clan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chota, Little, <i>Chota Hazri = petit dejeúner</i> or early breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chowkidar, A functionary whose principal duty seems to be to snore in the
+verandah at night and scare other robbers away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chupatty, A flabby sort of scone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Chuprassie,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cockburn&rsquo;s Agency, The nearest approach to &ldquo;Whiteley&rsquo;s&rdquo;
+in Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dâk, Post. <i>Dâk Bungalow</i> = posting station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dal Lake, <i>Dal</i> means lake (in a plain), while <i>nag</i> is a mountain
+tarn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dandy, A sort of enclosed chair with four projecting arms, wherein pretty
+ladies are carried when it doesn&rsquo;t suit them to walk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Degchies, Cooking utensils&mdash;best made of aluminium, owing to the unclean
+ways of native scullions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dekho, See, look! Delhi, The capital of the Mogul Emperors, dating from 1638,
+when Shah Jehan commenced to build the great fort. The ancient city lies some
+miles to the south. Delhi was taken by General Lake in 1803.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Deodar, (Kashmiri, <i>Diár.) Cedrus Lebani</i>, var. <i>Deodara</i>. The most
+valuable tree in Kashmir, where it was formerly abundant. It is now chiefly
+found in the north-west districts, and it is carefully cherished by the
+&ldquo;Jungly Sahib&rdquo; and his myrmidons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dobie, The thing that ruins all your shirts and causes you to shatter the Third
+Commandment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Domel, Village with Dâk Bungalow, at the confluence of the Jhelum and the
+Kishenganga.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Doolie,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Doras,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dounga, &ldquo;The boats of Kashmir are very long and narrow, and are rowed
+with paddles from the stern, which is a little elevated, to the centre; a tilt
+of mats is extended for the shelter of passengers or merchandize&rdquo;
+(Forster); the mats are made of &ldquo;pits&rdquo; (reed mace), a swamp plant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Drogmulla,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dubgam, A village at junction of the Pohru with the Jhelum, about seven miles
+above Baramula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+EARTHQUAKE, An upsetting event of too frequent occurrence in Kashmir.
+Particularly severe visitations occurred in 1827 and 1885 (<i>see</i>
+Baramula).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Echo Lake, A small tarn on the top of Apharwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ek, One. (<i>Ek dam</i>=immediately.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ekka,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Embroidery,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Erin Nullah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eshmakam, =<i>Eysh Makám</i>(&ldquo;the delightful halting-place&rdquo;) Above
+the village stands the shrine of Zyn-u-din, one of the four disciples of the
+Kashmir patron saint, Shah Nur-u-din.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+FATERPUR-SIGHRI,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ferozepore Nullah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Floating Gardens,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+GANESBAL, The boulder, red-stained and extremely sacred, which lies in the
+middle of the Lidar; bears some fancied likeness to Ganésh (the elephant-headed
+god).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gangabal, A sacred lake, lying under the north glaciers of Haramok at the
+elevation of 12,000 feet. It is said to be a source of the Ganges(!) and is an
+object of pilgrimage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari Habibullah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghari Wallah, The Jehu of these parts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ghât,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gold mohur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Golf,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gram,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Grass shoes,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gujar, Is not a Kashmiri, being a member of the semi-nomad tribes which graze
+buffaloes and goats upon the hills. He speaks Parímu or Hindki.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gulmarg, (The Rose Marg.) The most frequented resort of the English in Kashmir
+during July and August; stands some 8500 feet above the sea, wherefore some
+people find the air too rarefied. Gulmarg was first mentioned by Yusaf Khan in
+1580.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gunderbal, A village placed where the Sind River debouches into the plain. The
+starting-point for Leh and Thibet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gupkar, Town of Gopaditya(?). A wine-manufacturing suburb of Srinagar,
+overlooking the Dal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gurais, A large village on the Bandipur-Gilgit route, lying on the right bank
+of the Kishenganga, about forty-two miles from Bandipur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+HARAMOK, The predominating mountain (16,903 feet) of the valley, from almost
+every part of which his square-headed bulk is visible; hence the name, which
+means &ldquo;all faces&rdquo; or &ldquo;all mouths.&rdquo; A legend holds that
+a vein of emerald lies near the summit, and that within view of this gem no
+snake can live
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harbagwan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hari Parbat, (&ldquo;The Green Hill&rdquo;) So named on account of the gardens
+and vineyards which clothed its sides. Became the residence of Akbar, who built
+the wall round foot of hill in 1597. The fort on top was the work of the
+Pathan, Atta Mohamad Khan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Haripur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harwan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hasrat Bal Mosque, (The Prophet&rsquo;s Hair.) Various fairs and festivals are
+held here, the principal one being held upon the day that the Prophet rode up
+to Heaven on his mule Al Barak (the Thunderer). This mule, by-the-bye, is one
+of the five favoured beasts which the Mohammedans believe destined to
+immortality; the others are (1) Abraham&rsquo;s Ram, (2) Balaam&rsquo;s Ass,
+(3) the one upon which Christ rode on Palm Sunday, and (4) the dog which
+guarded the seven sleepers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed by the
+Sikhs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hassan Abdal, (_Abdal=_fanatic).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hoopoe, Un-natural history of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+INSECTS, Of benign insects such as butterflies there are singularly few. Both
+mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome during the hot weather in the valley.
+Visits to native huts will probably lead to an introduction to other insects.
+In India ants become a nuisance: I met with a foraging party of extremely large
+and well-nourished ones as I entered my bath place one morning. I recognised
+them for the descendants&mdash;decadent somewhat&mdash;of the famous fellows
+who played Alberich to the Gold of Hindostan and regarding which Herodotus
+(commonly known as the Father of History, or of Lies, I forget which) asserted
+that they were of the bigness of foxes and ran with incredible swiftness. He
+evidently got this yarn from Pliny&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Indicae Formicae. Aurum ex cavernus egerunt terrae Ipsis autem color
+Fehum magnitudo Aegypti Luporum&rdquo; (Lib. xi. ch. 31)&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+and passed it on to Sir J. Maundevil, who swallowed it greedily. &ldquo;Theise
+pissmyres ben grete as houndes; so that no man dar come to the hilles, for the
+pissmyres wolde assaylen hem and devouren hem&rdquo; (ch. xxx) For the wily
+method of catching the ants napping, together with other <i>contes
+drolatiques</i>, read Maundevil&rsquo;s <i>Travels</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Iris, (Kashmiri, <i>Krishm</i>) Succeeds the tulip and precedes the rose as
+typical of Kashmirian Flora, is used as fodder, and the fibre makes ropes,
+which are, however, not durable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Islamabad, (Or Anant Nag, the &ldquo;Place of Countless Springs.&rdquo;) Is the
+second city in Kashmir, having about 9000 inhabitants; stands at the head of
+the navigable Jhelum, fifty miles by water and thirty-two by land above
+Srinagar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jade,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jagganath,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jain, A small sect founded by Mahavera, a contemporary of Gautama. The Jains
+were great temple-builders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jehangir,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jeimal, With Putta, one of the national heroes of the Rajputs. They fell, while
+mere boys, in the heroic defence of Chitor against Akbar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jey Singh, (Sowar Jey Singh.) Succeeded to the throne of Ambér in 1699, founded
+Jaipur in 1728. He wrote the following, which I had not read when I visited his
+observatory at Jaipur &ldquo;Let us devote ourselves at the altar of the King
+of Kings, hallowed be his name! In the book of the register of whose power the
+lofty orbs of Heaven are but a few leaves, and the stars, and that heavenly
+courser the sun, small pieces of money in the treasury of the Most High.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jheel, A small lake, or pond.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jhelum, (Kashmiri, <i>Veth</i>, Hindu, <i>Vetasta</i>, the ancient
+<i>Hydaspes</i>.) Rises at Vernag, becomes navigable at Kanbal, and is so for
+120 miles, when it forms rapids below Baramula. Average breadth at Srinagar in
+December 210 feet, average depth 9 feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Johur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kaj-nag,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kali, (&ldquo;The Terrible.&rdquo;) Wife of Shiva or Mahadeva.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kanbal,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Karachi,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Karewas, &ldquo;Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections,
+with flat, arid tops, and bare of trees, run out towards the valley&rdquo;
+(Lawrence)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kashmir=Kashuf-mir (the country of Kashuf). Was ruled by Tartar princes from
+about 150-100 B.C. for several centuries; conquered after a year&rsquo;s
+struggle by Mahmoud of Guznee (1014-1015 A.D.). Invaded by Baber and Humayun,
+and finally conquered by latter in 1543, and formally annexed by Akbar in 1588.
+After the fall of Delhi (Nadir Shah) in 1739, Kashmir fell into the hands of
+Amirs of Cabul in 1753. It was captured by the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh in
+1819, and, after the defeat of the Sikhs at the hands of the British, was
+handed over to Gulab Singh of Jammu for twenty-five lacs of rupees
+&ldquo;Kailasa is the best place in the three worlds, Himalaya the best part of
+Kailasa, and Kashmir the best place in Himalaya&rdquo; <i>(Rajatarangini
+Kulan</i>).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kastoora, Merula Boulboul (the grey-winged ousel). Jane bought
+&ldquo;Freddie&rdquo; one day in Srinagar, and he has been our friend and
+companion ever since&mdash;being at this present (August 1907) in rude health.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khansamah, A Cook.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khubbar, News&mdash;usually untrustworthy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khud, A steep slope or precipice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Khudstick, An alpenstock made of tough wood, usually of Cotoneaster baccillaris
+(lun); should be well tested before purchase, as life may depend on its
+strength.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Killanmarg, A wide sloping marg above Gulmarg, just above the pine forest on
+the slopes of Apharwat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kilta, Creel made of the pliant withes of the Wych Hazel, <i>Parrotia</i>
+<i>Jacquemontiana</i> (Chob-i-poh).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kishenganga, A large affluent of the Jhelum which drains the Tilail Valley,
+passes Gurais, and joins the Jhelum below Muzafferabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kitardaji, Forest house in the Machipura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kitmaghar, Bearer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kobala,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kohinar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kolahoi, or Gwash Brari, 17,800 ft. The loftiest peak in Kashmir proper. It has
+not yet been ascended.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Koolan,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kralpura,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kulan, A peak of the Pir Panjal, at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kulgam, or Kuligam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kunis,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kurnavati,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kutab Minar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lacquer,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lahore, Capital of the Punjab. An ancient and interesting city, which (like
+Agra and Delhi) only attained its zenith of prosperity in the days of Akbar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lakri, A stick (at Gulmarg also a golf-club).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lalpura, A charming village in the Lolab.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Larch,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lidar, Liddar, or Lambodri, Drains the Kolahoi district, and forms the first
+substantial affluent of the Jhelum, which it joins below Islamabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lidarwat, A small Grujar village fifteen miles above Pahlgam, on the left bank
+of the river, about 10,000 ft. above sea-level.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Logue or Log, Folk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lumbadhar, The headman of a village.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Machipura, &ldquo;The Place of Fish&rdquo;&mdash;why, I cannot imagine! The
+district lying along the east foothills of the Kaj-nag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mahadeo, (Mahadeva or Shiva) A sacred mountain and object of pilgrimage, north
+of Srinagar, 13,500 feet high.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, H.H. Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., succeeded his
+father Ranbir Singh (who was third son of Gulah Singh) in 1885. The family is
+of the Rajput Dogras. &ldquo;His kindness to all classes has won him the
+affection of his people&rdquo; (Lawrence).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Maharana, H.H. the Maharana Dhiraj Sir Fateh Singh, G.C.S.I., of Udaipur, is
+head of the Rajput princes in point of blood, being descended from the
+Suryabansi, or Children of the Sun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mahseer,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Malingam,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Manji or Hanji, A Kashmiri water-thief or boatman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Manserah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mar (snake) Canal. A dirty but most picturesque waterway between the Dal and
+the Anchar Lakes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Marg,(Margh?) Persian for a garden abounding in plants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Margam,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martand, The principal temple in Kashmir&mdash;stands on a high karewa some few
+miles from Islamabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Metal-work,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mewar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mogul, The Moguls were a warlike people of Central Asia, who, under Timur
+(Tamerlane) their chief, sacked Delhi in 1398. At the great battle of Panipat,
+in 1524, Baber the Mogul (direct descendant of Timur) defeated the Sultans of
+Delhi. He was the first of the six &ldquo;Great&rdquo; Moguls (the others being
+Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan, and Aurungzeb), who ruled India with
+unparalleled magnificence for 150 years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mulberry, (<i>Morus sp</i>. Kashmiri <i>Tul</i>) A very precious tree in
+Kashmir, on account of the silk industry. It grows to a great size, attaining a
+girth of 25 feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Murghi, A fowl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Murree, A hill station and sanatorium, 37 miles from Rawal Pindi, on a hill
+7500 feet above the sea. Its importance dates from 1850. Forster speaks of it
+as a small village in 1786.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Musafferabad, (&ldquo;The Place of Victory&rdquo;) Built by Masufer Khan, Rajah
+of Chikri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mussick, Water-skin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+NAG, A mountain lake or tarn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nagas, Human-bodied, snake-tailed gods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nagmarg,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nanga Parbat, A great mountain in the Chilas country, 26,620 feet high (the
+fourth in point of height in the world), Mommery and two guides were destroyed
+in 1895, probably by an avalanche, while attempting the ascent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nassim Bagh, (&ldquo;The Garden of Delicious Breezes&rdquo;) A favourite spot
+in the days of the Mogul Emperors. Akbar planted 1200 chenars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neem tree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neve, Dr. A. He and his brother are surgeons to the Kashmir Medical Mission,
+where for many years they have carried on the somewhat thankless task of
+benefiting the natives.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nishat Bagh, (&ldquo;The Garden of Drink&rdquo;)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nopura, A village on the Pohru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nourmahal, (&ldquo;Light of the Palace&rdquo;), or, more properly, Nur Jehan
+Begum (&ldquo;Light of the World&rdquo;), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated
+in Mooree&rsquo;s <i>Lalla Rookh</i>. Her life story was very curious. See
+Forster&rsquo;s <i>Journey from Bengal to England</i>, London, 1798.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nullah, A valley or ravine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Numdah,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ONTALA,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Oodi Singh,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+PADMANI, &ldquo;The Lotus-lovely Lady.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pagdandy, A short cut.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pahlgam, &ldquo;The Shepherd&rsquo;s Village,&rdquo; A Kashmiri summer resort
+for those who like quiet. It is 27 miles from Islamabad up the Lidar Valley,
+and is somewhat over 7000 feet above the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pampur, (Padma-pur, city of Vishnu, or Padmun-pur, &ldquo;the place of
+beauty&rdquo;), principally noted now for its Pampur roti or bread, a
+speciality of the place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pandrettan, or Pandrenthan, =Puranadhisthana, &ldquo;the old capital.&rdquo;
+Was built in the time of Partha by his Prime Minister, Meru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Parana Chauni,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Patan. &ldquo;The City&rdquo; or &ldquo;Ferry,&rdquo; the ancient Sankarapura,
+Sankaravarma having built two temples there at the end of the eighth century.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peechy, Afterwards, later, by-and-bye
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peri Mahal, &ldquo;The Abode of the Fairies.&rdquo; Built on the hill above
+Gupkar by Prince Dara Shikoh, probably for astronomical purposes
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Piasse, The onion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pice, See Rupee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pichola Lake,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pir Panjab, Pir=Dogri for peak Pantzal, Kashmiri for ditto Pir also meant a
+saint, particularly one who lived in the pass in the days of Shah Jehan and
+Aurungzeb and who was interviewed by Bernier. The Pir Panjal was the route
+followed by the Moguls when coming to Kashmir, and, rough as it is, they sent
+elephants along it. The highest peak of the Pir Panjal is Tatakuti, 15,500
+feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pohru,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poonch, A native state lying south-west of Kashmir, to which it is tributary.
+The Raja Buldeo Singh is cousin to the Maharajah of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poplar. There are two varieties of Poplar in Kashmir, the Italian or Black
+Poplar, and the White, the latter attains a great size, one near Gurais
+measuring 127 feet in height and 14-1/2 feet in girth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Porcelain,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Port Saïd,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Puttoo, Native cloth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+RAINAWARI,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rajput, The brave and chivalrous inhabitants of Rajputana. Bernier, probably
+influenced by Mogul opinion, attributes much of their valour to opium, as the
+following curious extract shows &ldquo;Ils sont grands preneurs d&rsquo;opium,
+et je me suis quelque fois etonné de la quantité que je leur en voiois prendre;
+aussi ils s&rsquo;y accoutûmerent dès la jeunesse; le jour d&rsquo;une bataille
+ils ne s&rsquo;oublient pas de doubler la dose; cette drogue les anime ou
+plutot les enyvre, et les rend insensibles an danger, de sorte quils se jettant
+dans le combat comma des bêtes furieuses, ne sachant ce que c&rsquo;est de fuir
+… c&rsquo;est un plaisir de les voir ainsi avec leur fumée d&rsquo;opium dans
+la tête s&rsquo;entre embrasser quand on est prêt de combattre et se dire adieu
+les uns aux autres, comme gens qui sont resolus de mourir.&rdquo;&mdash;Vol. i.
+p. 54.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ramble-tamble egg, Scrambled eggs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (<i>Tetragallus Himalayensis</i>).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rampur. A small village in the Jhelum Valley, and a village on the way into the
+Lolab <i>viâ</i> Kunis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rawal Pindi,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rassad, &ldquo;Field Allowance&rdquo; or extra rations given to coolies when
+doing any mountain work or away from supplies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Resai,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Roorkhee chair, An extremely comfortable and portable chair made by the R.E. at
+Roorkhee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rope bridge,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rupee=one fifteenth of a sovereign, or 1s. and 4d. 12 pice (or pies)= 4 paisa =
+1 anna = 1 penny 16 annas = 1 rupee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+SAAF kuro, &ldquo;Make clean.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Saktawats, A Rapjut clan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sari, A woman&rsquo;s garment, usually brilliant in colour, blood-red and dark
+blue being favoured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sekwas,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sellar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Serow, <i>Nemorhaidus bubalerius</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sesodia, The ruling family of Udaipur, formerly known as Gehlote.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shadipur, &ldquo;The Place of Marriage&rdquo;&mdash;probably with reference to
+the junction of the Sind and Jhelum rivers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shah Jehan, The greatest builder of the Mogul Emperors. Ruled from 1627 to
+1658, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Aurungzeb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shalimar,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shalimar Bagh,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shambrywa, One of the peaks of the Kaj-nag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shiah, A Mohammedan sect, usually much at variance with those of Sunni
+persuasion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shikara, A light sort of canoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shikari, A necessary joint in the &ldquo;fighting tail&rdquo; of the sportive
+visitor to Kashmir. Usually a fraud, but, if not too proud, makes quite a good
+golf caddy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shisha Nag, &ldquo;The Glassy or Leaden Lake.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Silver fir, <i>Abies Webbiana</i> (Kashmiri, <i>Sungal</i>). Grows to a great
+height, being known 110 feet high and 16 feet in girth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sind Desert,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sind Valley,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Singhara, Meaning &ldquo;horned nut,&rdquo; the water chestnut <i>(Trapa
+bispinosa</i>). An article of diet much prized by the Kashmiri.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sogul,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sonamarg, &ldquo;The Golden Marg.&rdquo; A summer station high up the Sind
+Valley on the route to Leh and Ladak.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sopor, =Sonapur, or the Golden City. A somewhat unclean little town of some 600
+houses on the Jhelum, about eight miles by road and twelve by water above
+Baramula.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Spill Canal, Cut in 1904, after the Great Flood of 1903, to carry some of the
+river clear of Srinagar and ease the pressure on the bund.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Spruce, <i>Picca, Morunda</i>. (Kashmiri, <i>Kachal</i>.)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Srinagar, <i>Surga Nagur</i>, City of the Sun. Has a population of 120,000.
+Became capital in 960 A.D., when the ancient city of Pandrettan was burnt in
+the reign of Abimanyu. The city was called Kashmir until recently, Martand
+being called Sringar by Jacquemont.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sultanpur,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sumbal, Said to be the site of the ancient city Jayapura.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sunt-i-kul = &ldquo;Apple-tree Canal.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+TAJ MAHAL, The magnificent tomb of Mumtez Mahal, favourite wife of Shah Jehan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Takht-i-Suleiman, A steep isolated hill rising nearly 1000 feet above Srinagar,
+crowned by a temple which is built on the ruins of a very ancient edifice. The
+Takht or Throne of Solomon is, according to the legend, the place which Solomon
+occupied during his mythical visit to Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tangmarg, &ldquo;The Open Marg&rdquo;. Is the village about 1500 foot below
+Gulmarg, which is the nearest point to Gulmarg attainable by wheeled
+conveyance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tattoo, A pony.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tehsildhar, The functionary who has jurisdiction over a tehsil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Temples, For full description read Lawrence <i>(Valley of Kashmir</i>, chap.
+vi.) Their ruined state is partly due to earthquakes, but probably still more
+to the iconoclastic activity of Sikandar (<i>d.</i> 1416) and Aurungzeb.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tilail,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tonga,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Topaz, Name derived from the Greek &ldquo;to conjecture&rdquo;&mdash;because no
+one knew whence they came!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tower of Fame,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tower of Victory,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tragbal,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tragam, A large village south-west of the Lolab, whence a route leads to
+Musafferabad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tret, A station at the foot of the Murree hills on the road to Rawal Pindi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trieste,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tronkol,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turquoise,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+UDAIPUR, The capital of the ancient and powerful Rajput State of Mewar, founded
+by Oodi Singh after the fall of Chitor. Uri,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+VERNABOUG,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Vernag,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+WALNUT, A valuable tree in Kashmir, where its fruit and timber are both greatly
+esteemed; grows to a very large size, one in the Lolab having a girth of 18
+feet 10 inches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wangat,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wardwan, The mountainous district on the east of Kashmir.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Water buffalo, An ungainly and &ldquo;sneevish&rdquo; beast beloved of Gujars
+and nobody else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Weights 2 lbs. (English)=1 seer. 40 seers = 1 maund.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wood carving,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wular, Means &ldquo;cave&rdquo;. The largest lake in India, being 12-1/2 x 5
+miles in average extent. In floods it covers much extra space.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wych hazel, <i>See</i> Kilta.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+YAKDAN,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ZIARAT, A Mohammedan shrine. Zoji La, The pass at the head of the Sind Valley
+which is crossed on going to Leh, height 11,300 feet.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH PEN AND PENCIL ***</div>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and
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+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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+
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+
+
+
+Title: A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil
+
+Author: T. R. Swinburne
+
+Release Date: April 2, 2004  [eBook #11873]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH
+PEN AND PENCIL***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Internet Archive Million Book Project, Allen Siddle,
+and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH PEN AND PENCIL
+
+BY
+
+T. R. SWINBURNE
+
+MAJOR (LATE) R.M.A.
+
+WITH 24 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR]
+
+
+
+  "_Over the great windy waters, and over the clear crested summits,
+  Unto the sea and the sky, and unto the perfecter earth,
+  Come, let us go_!"
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
+
+TO
+
+"JANE"
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+I observe that it is customary to begin a book by an Introduction, Preface,
+or Foreword. In the good old days of the eighteenth century this generally
+took the form of a burst of grovelling adoration aimed at some most noble
+or otherwise highly important person. This fulsome fawning on the great
+was later changed into propitiation of the British public, and unknown
+authors revelled in excuses for publishing their earlier efforts.
+
+But now that every one has written a book, or is about to do so, I feel
+that my apologies are rather due to the public for not having rushed into
+print before. I have really spared it because I had nothing in particular
+to write about, and I confess I am somewhat doubtful as to whether I am
+even now justified in invoking the kind offices of a publisher with a view
+to bringing forth this literary mouse in due form!
+
+No admiring (if partial) relatives have hung upon my lips as I read them
+my journal, imploring me with tears in their eyes to waste not an instant,
+but give to a longing world this literary treasure. I have no illusions as
+regards my literary powers, and I do not imagine that I shall depose the
+gifted author of _E�then_ from his pride of place.
+
+I claim, however, the merit of truth. The journal was written day by day,
+and the sketches were all done on the spot; and if this account--bald and
+inadequate as I know it to be--of a very happy time spent in rambling
+among some of the finest scenery of this lovely earth, may induce any one
+to betake himself to Kashmir, he will achieve something worth living for,
+and I shall not have spilt ink in vain.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+   I. INTRODUCTORY
+
+  II. THE VOYAGE OUT
+
+ III. KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+
+  IV. ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+
+   V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+
+  VI. OUR FIRST CAMP
+
+ VII. BACK TO SRINAGAR
+
+VIII. THE LOLAB
+
+  IX. SRINAGAR AGAIN
+
+   X. THE LIDAR VALLEY
+
+  XI. GANGABAL
+
+ XII. GULMARG
+
+XIII. THE FLOOD
+
+ XIV. THE MACHIPURA
+
+  XV. DELHI AND AGRA
+
+ XVI. UDAIPUR
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR (Frontispiece)
+
+A SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY
+
+A SRINAGAR BYE-WAY--EARLY SPRING
+
+ON THE JHELUM--EARLY SPRING
+
+THE BUND SRINAGAR--EARLY SPRING
+
+THE DAL
+
+IN THE NISHAT BAGH
+
+THE PIR PANJAL FROM ALSU--MORNING
+
+ON THE DAL--SUNSET
+
+NATIVE BOATS
+
+PANDRETTAN
+
+KOLAHOI
+
+LIDARWAT
+
+THE RAMPARTS OF KASHMIR
+
+GANGABAL
+
+HARAMOK
+
+A TARN ABOVE TRONKOL
+
+ON THE CIRCULAR ROAD, GULMARG
+
+IN SRINAGAR--TWILIGHT
+
+SRINAGAR FLOODED
+
+HARI PARBAT--EVENING
+
+NANGA PARBAT FROM KITARDAJI
+
+MIXED BATHING (UDAIPUR)
+
+UDAIPUR
+
+MAP OF KASHMIR
+
+
+
+A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+A journey to Kashmir now--in these days of cheap and rapid locomotion--is
+in nowise serious. It takes time, I grant you, but to any one with a few
+months to spare--and there are many in that happy position--there can be
+few pleasanter ways of spending a summer holiday.
+
+It would be as well to start from England not later than the middle of
+March, as the Red Sea and the Sind Desert begin to warm up uncomfortably
+in spring. Srinagar would then be reached fairly early in April, and the
+visitor should arrange, if possible, to remain in the country until the
+middle of October. We had to leave just as the gorgeous autumn colouring
+was beginning to blaze in the woods, and the first duck were wheeling over
+the Wular Lake.
+
+The climate of Kashmir is fairly similar to that of many parts of Southern
+Europe. There is a good deal of snow in the valley in winter. Spring is
+charming, the brilliant days only varied by frequent thunderstorms--which,
+however, are almost invariable in keeping their pyrotechnics till about
+five in the afternoon. July and August are hot and steamy in the valley,
+and it is necessary to seek one of the cool "Margs" which form ideal
+camping-grounds on all the lofty mountain slopes which surround the valley.
+
+Gulmarg is the most frequented and amusing resort in summer of the English
+colony and contingent from the broiling plains of the Punjab. Here the
+happy fugitive from the sweltering heat of the lower regions will find a
+climate as glorious as the scenery. He can enjoy the best of polo and golf,
+and, if he be not a misogynist, he will vary the 'daily round' with
+picnics and scrambles on foot or on horseback, in exploring the endless
+beauty of the place, coming home to his hut or tent as the sun sinks
+behind the great pines that screen the Rampur Road, to wind up the happy
+day with a cheery dinner and game of bridge. But if Gulmarg does not
+appeal to him, let him go with his camping outfit to Sonamarg or
+Pahlgam--he will find neither polo nor golf nor the gay little society of
+Gulmarg, but he will find equally charming scenery and, perhaps, a drier
+climate--for it must in fairness be admitted that Gulmarg is a rainy
+place. Likewise his pocket will benefit, as his expenses will surely be
+less, and he will still find neighbours dotted about in white tents under
+the pine trees.
+
+Towards the middle of September the exodus from the high 'Margs' takes
+place--many returning sadly to Pindi and Sealkote--others merely to
+Srinagar, while those who yearn after Bara Singh and Bear, decamp quietly
+for their selected nullahs, to be in readiness for the opening of the
+autumn season.
+
+Thus, from April to October, a more or less perfect climate may be
+obtained by watching the mercury in the thermometer, and rising or
+descending the mountain slopes in direct ratio with it.
+
+It is quite unnecessary to take out a large and expensive wardrobe. Thin
+garments for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, such as one wears in a fine
+English summer, and for Kashmir the same sort of things that one would
+take up to Scotland. For men--knickerbockers and flannel shirts--and for
+ladies, short tweed skirts and some flannel blouses. The native tailors in
+Srinagar are clever and cheap, and will copy an English shooting suit in
+fairly good material for about eleven rupees, or 14s. 8d.! One pair of
+strong shooting boots (plentifully studded with aluminium nails) is enough.
+For all mountain work, the invaluable but uncomfortable grass shoes must
+be worn, and both my wife and I invariably wore the native chaplies for
+ordinary marching. Foot-gear for golf, tennis, and general service at
+Srinagar and Gulmarg must be laid in, according to the traveller's fancy,
+in England.
+
+Underwear to suit both hot and cold weather should be purchased at
+home--not on any account omitting cholera belts.
+
+Shirts and collars should be taken freely, as it is well to remember that
+the native washerman--the well-abused "Dobie"--has a marvellous skill in
+producing a saw-like rim to the starched collar and cuff of the newest
+shirt; while the elegant and delicate lace and embroidery, with which the
+fair are wont to embellish their underwear, take strange and unforeseen
+patterns at the hands of the skilled workmen. It is surprising what an
+effect can be obtained by tying up the neck and sleeves of a garment,
+inserting a few smooth pebbles from the brook, and then banging the moist
+bundle on the bank!
+
+The arrangement of clothing for the voyage is rather complicated, as it
+will probably be necessary to wear warm things while crossing Europe, and
+possibly even until Egypt is reached. Then an assortment of summer
+flannels, sufficient to last as far as India, must be available. We were
+unable to get any washing done from the date we left London, on the 22nd
+of February, until we reached Rawal Pindi, on the 21st March. Capacious
+canvas kit-bags are excellent things for cramming with grist for the
+dobie's mill.
+
+In arranging for luggage, it should be borne in mind that large trunks and
+dress boxes are inadmissible. From Pindi to Srinagar everything must be
+transported by wheeled conveyance, and, in Kashmir itself, all luggage
+must be selected with a view to its adaptability to the backs of coolies
+or ponies. In Srinagar one can buy native trunks--or yakdans--which are
+cheap, strong, and portable; and the covered creels or "kiltas" serve
+admirably for the stowage of kitchen utensils, food, and oddments.
+
+The following list may prove useful to any one who has not already been
+"east of Suez," and who may therefore not be too proud to profit by
+another's experience:--
+
+  1. "Compactum" camp-bed with case, and fitted with sockets to take
+mosquito netting.
+
+  2. Campaigning bedding-bag in Willesden canvas, with bedding complete.
+
+  3. Waterproof sheet.
+
+  4. Indiarubber bath.
+
+If shooting in the higher mountains is anticipated, a Wolseley
+sleeping-bag should be taken.
+
+  5. Small stable-lantern.
+
+  6. Rug or plaid--light and warm.
+
+  7. Half-a-dozen towels.
+
+  8. Deck chair (with name painted on it).
+
+We had also a couple of Roorkhee chairs, and found them most useful.
+
+  9. A couple of compressed cane cabin trunks.
+
+  9_a_. The "Ranelagh Pack" is a most useful form of "luggage."
+
+  10. Camp kit-bag.
+
+  11. Soiled-linen bag, with square mouth, large size. This is an
+excellent "general service" bag, and invaluable for holding boots, &c.
+
+  12. Large "brief-bag," most useful for stowing guide-books, flasks,
+binoculars, biscuits, and such like, that one wants when travelling, and
+never knows where to put. Our "yellow bag" carried even tea things, and
+was greatly beloved. Like the leather bott�l in its later stage, "it
+served to put hinges and odd things in"!
+
+  13. Luncheon basket, fitted according to the number of the party.
+
+The above articles can all be bought at the Army and Navy Stores.
+
+  14. A light canvas box, fitted as a dressing-case.
+
+Ours were made, according to our own wishes and possessions, by Williams,
+of 41 Bond Street. The innumerable glass bottles, so highly prized by the
+makers of dressing-cases, should be strictly limited in number. They are
+exceedingly heavy, and, as the dressing-case should be carried by its
+owner, the less it weighs the more he (or she) will esteem it.
+
+  15. A set of aluminium cooking-utensils is much to be recommended. They
+can easily be sold on leaving Kashmir for, at least, their cost price.
+
+  16. Pocket flask. This may be of aluminium also, although personally I
+dislike a metal flask.
+
+  17. Umbrella--strong, but cheap, as it is sure to be lost or stolen.
+There are few things your native loves more than a nice umbrella, unless
+it be
+
+  18. A knife fitted with corkscrew and screwdriver; therefore take two,
+and try to keep one carefully locked up.
+
+  19. Pair of good field-glasses.
+
+I took a stalking telescope, but it was useless to my shikari, who always
+borrowed my wife's binoculars until she lost them--or he stole them!
+
+  20. Hats. It is obviously a matter of taste what hats a man should take.
+The glossy silk may repose with the frock-coat till its owner returns to
+find it hopelessly out of date, its brim being a thought too curly, or its
+top impossibly wide; but the "bowler" or Homburg hat will serve his turn
+according to his fancy, until, at Aden, he invests in a hideous, but shady
+"topee," for one-third of the price he would pay in London; and this will
+be his only wear, before sunset, until he again reaches a temperate
+climate. Ladies, who are rightly more particular as to the appearance of
+even so unlovely a thing as a sola topee, would do well, perhaps, to buy
+theirs before starting. Really becoming pith helmets seem very scarce in
+the East!
+
+After sunset, or under awnings, any sort of cap may be worn.
+
+  21. Shirts and collars are obviously matters of taste. A good supply of
+white shirts and collars must be taken to cope with the destruction and
+loss which may be expected at the hands of the dobie. Flannel shirts can
+be made easily enough from English models in Srinagar.
+
+  22. Under-garments should be of Indian gauze for hot weather, with a
+supply of thicker articles for camping in the hills.
+
+Cholera belts should on no account be omitted.
+
+  23. Socks, according to taste--very few knickerbocker stockings need be
+taken, as putties are cheap and usual in Srinagar.
+
+  24. Ties--the white ones of the cheap sort that can be thrown away after
+use, with a light heart. Handkerchiefs, and a few pairs of white gloves.
+
+  25. Sleeping-suits, both thick for camp work and light for hot weather,
+should be taken.
+
+  26. Dress suit and dinner-jacket.
+
+  27. Knickerbocker or knee-breeches, which can be copied in Kashmir by the
+native tailor.
+
+Riding-breeches are not in the least necessary unless the traveller
+contemplates any special riding expedition. Ordinary shooting
+continuations do quite well for all the mounted work the tourist is likely
+to do. A pair of stohwasser gaiters may be taken, but even they are not
+necessary, neither is a saddle.
+
+A lady, however, should take out a short riding-skirt, or habit, and a
+side-saddle.
+
+  28. A tweed suit of medium warmth for travelling, and a couple of flannel
+suits, will bring the wearer to Srinagar, where he can increase his stock
+at a ridiculously low price--about 22 rupees or �1, 9s. 4d. per suit.
+
+  29. Boots. Here, again, the wayfarer is at full liberty to please
+himself. A pair of strong shooting-boots, with plenty of spare laces and,
+say, a hundred aluminium nails, is a _sine qu� non_. A pair of rubbers, or
+what are known as "gouties" in Swiss winter circles, are not to be
+despised. Otherwise, boots, shoes, slippers, and pumps, according to taste.
+
+30. A large "regulation" waterproof, a rain-coat or Burberry, and a warm
+greatcoat will all be required.
+
+It is hard to give definite advice to a lady as to the details of her
+outfit. Let her conform in a general way to the instructions given above,
+always remembering that both Srinagar and Gulmarg are gay and festive
+places, where she will dine and dance, and have ample opportunity for
+displaying a well-chosen wardrobe.
+
+Let her also take heed that she leaves the family diamonds at home. The
+gentle Kashmiri is an inveterate and skilful thief, and the less jewellery
+she can make up her mind to "do with," the more at ease will her mind be.
+But if she must needs copy the lady of whom we read, that
+
+  "Rich and rare were the gems she wore,"
+
+then why not line the jewel-case--or rather the secret bag, which she will
+sew into some mysterious garment--with the diamonds of Gophir and the
+pearls of Rome?
+
+If the intending visitor to Kashmir be a sportsman who has already had
+experience in big-game shooting, he will not need any advice from me
+(which, indeed, he would utterly disdain) as to the lethal weapons which
+should form his battery; but if the wayfarer be a humble performer who has
+never slain anything more formidable than a wary old stag, or more
+nerve-shattering than a meteoric cock pheasant rising clamorously from
+behind a turnip, he may not be too proud to learn that he will find an
+ordinary "fowling piece" the most useful weapon which he can take with
+him. If his gun is not choked, he should be provided with a dozen or more
+ball cartridge for bear.
+
+If the pursuit of markhor and ibex is contemplated, a small-bore rifle
+will be required, but a heavy express is wanted to stop a bear. I had a
+"Mannlicher" and an ordinary shot-gun, with a few ball cartridges for the
+latter.
+
+Duty has to be paid on taking firearms into India, and this may be
+refunded on leaving the country. This is not always done, however, as I
+found to my cost, my application for a refund being refused on the quibble
+that my guns were taken back to England by a friend, although I was able
+to prove their identity.
+
+It is not necessary to take a large number of rifle cartridges out, as it
+is exceedingly unlikely that the tyro will be able to shoot all the beasts
+allowed him by his game licence.[1] Smooth-bore cartridges of fair quality
+can be bought in Srinagar, and I certainly do not consider it worth the
+trouble and expense to convey them out from England.
+
+To the amateur artist I would say: Be well supplied with brushes and
+paper--the latter sealed in tin for passage through the Red Sea and India.
+Colours, and indeed all materials can he got from Treacher & Co., Bombay,
+and also from the branch of the Army and Navy Stores there.
+
+Paper is, however, difficult to get in good condition, being frequently
+spoilt by mildew.
+
+It is almost impossible to get anything satisfactory in the way of
+painting materials in Kashmir itself; therefore I say: Be well supplied
+before leaving home.
+
+Finally, a small stock of medicines should certainly be taken, not
+omitting a copious supply of quinine (best in powder form for this
+purpose), and also of strong peppermint or something of the sort, to give
+to the native servants and others who are always falling sick of a fever
+or complaining of an internal pain, which is generally quite cured by a
+dose of peppermint.
+
+Neither Jane nor I love guide-books; we found however, in Kashmir, the
+little book written by Dr. Neve an invaluable companion;[2] while Murray's
+_Guide to India_ afforded much useful information when wandering in that
+country.
+
+The best book on Kashmir that I know is Sir Walter Lawrence's _Valley of
+Kashmir_.
+
+Any one going out as we did, absolutely ignorant of the language, should
+certainly take an elementary phrase-book or something of the sort to study
+on the voyage. We forgot to do this, and had infinite trouble afterwards
+in getting what we wanted, and lost much time in acquiring the rudimentary
+knowledge of Hindustani which enabled us to worry along with our native
+servants, &c. No mere "globe-trotter" need attempt to learn any Kashmiri,
+as Hindustani is "understanded of the people" as a rule, and the tradesmen
+in Srinagar know quite as much English as is good for them.
+
+
+[1] See Appendix 1.
+
+[2] _The Tourist's Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo, &c._, edited by
+    Arthur Neve, F.R.G.S.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE VOYAGE OUT
+
+It seems extraordinary to me that every day throughout the winter, crowds
+of people should throng the railway stations whence they can hurry south
+in search of warmth and sunshine, and yet London remains apparently as
+full as ever! We plunged into a seething mass of outward-bound humanity at
+Victoria Station on the 22nd of February, and, having wrestled our way
+into the Continental express, were whirled across the sad and sodden
+country to Dover amidst hundreds of our shivering fellow-countrymen.
+
+Truly we are beyond measure conservative in our railway discomforts. With
+a bitter easterly wind searching out the chinks of door and window, we sat
+shivering in our unwarmed compartment--unwarmed, I say, in spite of the
+clumsy tin of quickly-cooled hot water procured by favour--and a
+gratuity--from a porter!
+
+The Channel showed even more disagreeable than usual. A grey, cold sky,
+with swift-flying clouds from the east hung over a grey, cold sea, the
+waves showing their wicked white teeth under the lash of the strong wind.
+The patient lightship off the pier was swinging drearily as we throbbed
+past into the gust-swept open and set our bows for the unseen coast of
+France.
+
+The tumult of passengers was speedily reduced to a limp and inert swarm of
+cold, wet, and sea-sick humanity.
+
+The cold and miserable weather clung to us long. In Paris it snowed
+heavily, and I was constrained to betake myself in a cab--"chauff�," it is
+needless to remark--to seek out a kindly dentist, the bitter east wind
+having sought out and found a weak spot wherein to implant an abscess.
+
+At B�le it was freezing, but clear and bright, and a good breakfast and a
+breath of clean, fresh air was truly enjoyable after the overheated
+sleeping-car in which we had come from Paris.
+
+It may seem unreasonable to grumble at the overheating of the "Sleeper"
+after abusing the under-heating of our British railways. Surely, though,
+there is a golden mean? I wish neither to be frozen nor boiled, and there
+can be no doubt but that the heating of most Continental trains is
+excellent, the power of application being left to the traveller.
+
+The journey by the St. Gotthard was delightful, the day brilliant, and the
+frost keen, while we watched the fleeting panorama of icebound peaks and
+snow-powdered pines from the cushions of our comfortable carriage.
+
+The glory of winter left us as we left the Swiss mountains and dropped
+down into the fertile flats of Northern Italy, and at Milan all was raw
+chilliness and mud.
+
+Nothing can well be more depressing than wet and cheerless weather in a
+land obviously intended for sunshine.
+
+We slept at Milan, and the next day set forth in heavy rain towards Venice.
+The miserable ranks of distorted and pollarded trees stood sadly in pools
+of yellow-stained water, or stuck out of heaps of half-melted and
+uncleanly snow.
+
+No colour; no life anywhere, excepting an occasional peasant plodding
+along a muddy road, sheltering himself under the characteristic flat and
+bony umbrella of the country.
+
+At Peschiera we had promise of better things. The weather cleared somewhat,
+revealing ranges of white-clad hills around Garda.... But, alas! at Verona
+it rained as hard as ever, and we made our way from the railway station at
+Venice, cowering in the coffin-like cabin of a damp and extremely draughty
+gondola, while cold flurries of an Alpine-born wind swept across the Grand
+Canal.
+
+Sunshine is absolutely necessary to bring out the real beauty of Italy.
+This is particularly the case in Venice, where light and life are required
+to dispel the feeling of sadness so sure to creep over one amid the signs
+of long-past grandeur and decaying magnificence.
+
+On a grey and wintry day one is chiefly impressed by the dank chilliness
+of the palaces on the Grand Canal, whose feet lie lapped in slimy water;
+the lovely tracery of whose windows shows ragged and broken, whose stately
+guest-chambers are in the sordid occupation of the dealer in false
+antiques, and whose motto might be "Ichabod," for their glory has departed.
+
+It is five-and-twenty years since I was last in Venice, and I can truly
+say that it has not improved in that long time. The loss of the great
+Campanile of St. Mark is not compensated for by the gain of the penny
+steamer which frets and fusses its prosaic way along the Grand Canal, or
+blurts its noisome smoke in the very face of the Palace of the Doges.
+
+Well! A steady downpour is dispiriting at any time, excepting when one is
+snugly at home with plenty to do, and it is particularly so to the unlucky
+traveller who has to live through half-a-dozen long hours intervening
+between arrival at and departure from Venice on a cold, dull, wintry
+afternoon.
+
+The sombre gondola writhed its sinuous course and deposited us all forlorn
+in the near neighbourhood of the Piazza San Marco. Splashing our way
+across, and pushing through the crowd of greedy fat pigeons, we entered
+the world-famous church. I know my Ruskin, and I feel that I should be
+lost in wonder and admiration--I am not.
+
+The gloom--rich golden gloom if you will--of the interior oppresses me; it
+is cavernous. A service is being held in one of the transepts, and the
+congregation seems noisier and less devout than I could have believed
+possible. My thoughts fly far to where, on its solitary hill, the noble
+pile of Chartres soars majestic, its heaven-piercing spires dominating the
+wide plain of La Beauce. In fancy I enter by the splendid north door and
+find myself in the pillared dimness softly lighted by the great window in
+the west. This seems to me to be the greatest achievement of the Christian
+architect, noble alike in conception and in execution.
+
+There is no means of procuring a cold more certain than lingering too long
+in a cold and vault-like church or picture gallery, so we adjourned to the
+Palazzo Daniele, now a mere hotel, where we browsed on the
+literature--chiefly cosmopolitan newspapers--until it was time to start
+for Trieste.
+
+The journey is not an attractive one, as we seemed to be perpetually
+worried by Custom-house authorities and inquisitive ticket-collectors! If
+possible, the wary traveller should so time his sojourn at Venice as to
+allow him to go to Trieste by steamer. The H�tel de la Ville at Trieste is
+not quite excellent, but 'twill serve, and we were remarkably glad to
+reach it, somewhere about midnight, having left Milan soon after seven in
+the morning!
+
+Trieste itself is rather an engaging town; at least so it seemed to us
+when we awakened to a fresh, bright morning, a blue-and-white sky overhead,
+and a copious allowance of yellow mud under foot!
+
+There were various final purchases to be made. Our deck chairs were with
+the heavy luggage, which the passenger by Austrian Lloyd only gets at Port
+Sa�d, as it is sent from London by sea; so a deck chair had to be got,
+also a stock of light literature wherewith to beguile the long sea hours.
+
+A visit to our ship--the _Marie Valerie_--showed her to be a
+comfortable-looking vessel of some 4500 tons. She was busily engaged in
+taking in a large cargo, principally for Japan, and she showed no signs of
+an early departure. Her nominal hour for starting was 4 P.M., but the
+captain told us that he should not sail until next morning. So we
+descended to examine our cabin, and found it to be large and airy, but
+totally deficient in the matter of drawers or lockers.
+
+Well! we shall have to keep everything in cabin trunks, and "live in our
+boxes" for the next three weeks.
+
+There was cabin accommodation for twenty passengers, but at dinner we
+mustered but nine. This is, of course, the season when all right-minded
+folks are coming home from India, and we never expected to find a crowd;
+still, nine individuals scattered abroad over the wide decks make but a
+poor show.
+
+The first meal on board a big steamer is always interesting. Every one is
+quietly "taking stock" of his, or her, neighbours, and forming estimates
+of their social value, which are generally entirely upset by after
+experience.
+
+Of our fellow-passengers there were only five whose presence affected us
+in any way. A young Austrian, Herr Otto Frantz, with his wife, going out
+as first secretary of legation to Tokio; Major Twining, R.E., and his wife;
+and Miss Lungley, a cosmopolitan lady, who makes Kashmir her headquarters
+and Rome her _annexe_.
+
+We became acquainted with each other sooner than might have been expected,
+by reason of an exploit of the stewardess--a gibbering idiot. The night
+was cold, so several of the ladies, following an evil custom, sent forth
+from their cabins those vile inventions called hot bottles. Only two came
+back..., and then the fun began. The stewardess, who speaks no known
+tongue, played "hunt the slipper" for the missing bottles through all the
+cabins, whence she was shot out by the enraged inhabitants until she was
+reduced to absolute imbecility, and the harassed stewards to gesticular
+despair.
+
+The missing articles were, I believe, finally discovered and routed out of
+an unoccupied bed, where they had been laid and forgotten by the
+addle-pated lady, and peace reigned.
+
+We sailed from Trieste early on the morning of the 28th of February, and
+steamed leisurely on our way. The Austrian Lloyd's "unaccelerated"
+steamers are not too active in their movements, being wont to travel at
+purely "economical speed," and so we were given an excellent view of some
+of the Ionian Islands, steaming through the Ithaca channel, with the
+snow-tipped peak of Cephalonia close on our starboard hand.
+
+Then, leaving the far white hills of the Albanian coast to fade into the
+blue mists, we sped
+
+  "Over the sea past Crete,"
+
+until the tall lighthouse of Port Sa�d rose on the horizon, followed by
+the spars of much shipping, and the roofs of the houses dotted apparently
+over the waters of the Mediterranean. At length the low mudbanks which
+represent the two continents of Africa and Asia spread their dull monotony
+on either hand, and the good ship sat quietly down for a happy day's
+coaling.
+
+Port Sa�d has grown out of all knowledge since I first made its
+acquaintance in 1877. It was then a cluster of evil-looking shanties, the
+abode of the scum of the Levant, who waxed fat by the profits of the
+gambling hells and the sale of pornographic photographs. It has now donned
+the outwardly respectable look of middle age; it has laid itself out in
+streets; the gambling dens have disappeared, and the robbers have betaken
+themselves to the sale of the worst class of Japanese and Indian "curios,"
+ostrich feathers from East Africa, and tobacco in all its forms.
+
+Port Sa�d has undoubtedly improved, but still it is not a nice place, and
+we were unfeignedly glad to repair on board the _Marie Valerie_ as soon as
+we noted the cessation of the black coaly cloud, through the murkiness of
+which a chattering stream of gnome-like figures passed their burthens of
+"Cardiff" into the bowels of the ship.
+
+Port Sa�d was cold, and Suez was cold, and we started down the Red Sea
+followed by a strong north wind, which kept us clad in greatcoats for a
+day or two, and, as we got down into wider waters, obliged us to keep our
+ports closed.
+
+An object-lesson on the subject of closed ports was given in our cabin,
+where the fair chatelaine was reclining in her berth reading, fanned by
+the genial air which floated in at the open port,--a truculent Red Sea
+billow, meeting a slight roll of the ship, entered the cabin in an
+unbroken fall on the lady's head. A damp tigress flew out through the door,
+wildly demanding the steward, a set of dry bedding, and the instant
+execution of the captain, the officer of the watch, and the man at the
+wheel!
+
+How dull we should be without these little incidents!
+
+A hoopoe took deck, or rather rigging, passage for a while, and evoked the
+greatest interest. Stalking glasses and binoculars were levelled at the
+unconcerned fowl, who sat by the "cathead" with perfect composure, and
+preened himself after his long flight.
+
+The striking of "four bells" just under his beak unnerved him somewhat,
+and he departed in a great fuss and pother.
+
+Our roomy decks afford many quiet corners in which to read or doze, and
+now that the weather is rapidly warming up we spend many hours in these
+peaceful pastimes, varied by an occasional constitutional--none of your
+fisherman's walks, "three steps and overboard"--but a good, clear tramp,
+unimpeded by the innumerable deck-chairs, protruding feet, and ubiquitous
+children which cover all free space on board a P. & O.
+
+Then comes dinner, followed by a rubber of bridge, and so to bed.
+
+On Saturday the 11th we passed the group of islands commonly known as the
+Twelve Apostles.
+
+First, a tiny rock, rising lonely from the blue--brilliantly blue--waves;
+then a yellow crag of sandstone, looking like a haystack; and then a whole
+group of wild and fantastic islands, evidently of volcanic origin, and
+varying in rough peaks and abrupt cliffs of the strangest
+colours--brick-red, purple-black, grey, and yellow--utterly bare and
+desolate:
+
+  "Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,
+   Nor aught of vegetative power,
+     The weary eye may ken,"
+
+
+save only the white lighthouse, which, perched on its arid hill, serves to
+emphasise the desolation of earth and sky.
+
+The Red Sea is remarkably well supplied with lighthouses; and, considering
+the narrowness of the channel in parts, the strong and variable currents,
+and the innumerable islands and shoals, the supply does no more than equal
+the demand.
+
+I cannot imagine a more grievous death in life than the existence of a
+lighthouse-keeper in the Red Sea!
+
+_Sunday, 12th_.--We passed through the Gate of Tears this morning--the
+dismal, flat, and unprofitable island of Perim being scanned by me from
+the bathroom port, while exchanging an atmosphere of sticky salt air for
+an unrefreshing dip in sticky salt water.
+
+The hoopoe is again with us; in fact I do not think he really left the
+ship, but simply sought a secluded perch, secure from prying observation.
+He reappeared upon the port stay, and proceeded to preen himself and
+observe the ship's course. He is evidently bound for Aden, casting glances
+of quiet unconcern on Perim and the coast of Araby the blest.
+
+Towards sunset we passed the fantastic peaks of little Aden, and, drawing
+up to Steamer Point, cast anchor under the "Barren Rocks of Aden."
+
+_Monday, 13th_.--We had a shocking time last night. All ports closed for
+coaling left us gasping, whilst a fiendish din arose from the bowels of
+the ship, whence cargo was being extracted. The stifling air, reeking with
+damp, developed in the early morning a steady rain, which dripped
+mournfully on the grimy decks. Rain in Aden! We are told on the best
+authority that this is most unusual.
+
+Aden, to the passing stranger, shows few attractions. We went on shore
+when the rain showed signs of ceasing, and after buying a few odds and
+ends, such as a pith hat and some cigarettes, we betook ourselves to the
+principal hotel, where an excessively bad breakfast was served to us,
+after which we were not sorry to shake the mud of Aden off our feet, so we
+chartered a shore boat amid a fearful clamour for extra pay and backshish,
+and set forth to rejoin our ship, now swept and garnished, and showing
+little trace of the coal she had swallowed.
+
+_Monday, 20th_.--We reached Karachi yesterday morning after a quiet, calm,
+and utterly uneventful passage across the Indian Ocean.
+
+It was never hot--merely calm, grey, and even showery, our only
+excitements being an occasional school of porpoises or the sight of a
+passing tramp steamer.
+
+Some time before leaving England I had written to my old friend General
+Woon, commanding the troops at Abbotabad, asking him to provide me with a
+servant capable of dry-nursing a pair of Babes in the Wood throughout
+their sojourn in a strange land. The General promised to supply us with
+such an one, who, he said, would rob us to a certain extent himself, but
+would take good care that nobody else did so!
+
+Immediately, then, upon our arrival in Karachi roads, a dark and swarthy
+person, with a black beard and gleaming white teeth, appeared on board,
+and reported himself as Sabz Ali, our servant and our master!
+
+His knowledge of English "as she is spoke" was scanty and of strange
+quality, but his masterful methods of dealing with the boatmen and
+Custom-house subordinates inspired us with awe and a blind confidence that
+he could--and would--pull us through.
+
+There was no difficulty at the Custom-house until it transpired that I
+wanted to take three firearms into the country. This appeared to be a most
+unusual and reprehensible desire, and my statement that one weapon was a
+rifle which I was taking charge of for a friend did not improve the
+situation. It being Sunday, the principal authorities were sunning
+themselves in their back parlours, and the thing in charge (called a Baboo,
+I understand) became exceedingly fussy, and desired that the guns should
+be unpacked and exhibited lest they should be of service pattern. This was
+simple, as far as my battery was concerned, and I promptly laid bare the
+beauties of my Mannlicher and ancient 12-bore; but, alas! Mrs. Smithson's
+rifle was soldered like a sardine into a strong tin case, and no
+cold-chisel or screwdriver was forthcoming.
+
+Messengers were sent forth to seek the needful instruments, while I
+proceeded to cut another Gordian knot.... An acquaintance of mine, hearing
+that I was coming to India, suggested that I should take charge of a
+parcel for a friend of hers, who wanted to send it to her fianc� in Bombay.
+As all the heavy baggage was sent from London to join us at Port Sa�d, I
+had not seen the "parcel," and, finding no case or box addressed to any
+one but myself, I had to select one that seemed most likely to be right,
+and forward that.
+
+At last the needful appliances were got and the rifle unpacked; but,
+although it proved to be (as I had said) a large-bore Express, the Baboo
+refused, like a very Pharaoh, to let it go, and I, after a two-hour
+vexatious delay, paid the duty on my own guns, and, leaving a note for the
+chief Customs official, explaining the case and begging him to send the
+rifle on forthwith, packed myself--hot, hungry, and angry--into a "gharri,"
+and set forth to the Devon Place Hotel, whither the rest of the party had
+preceded me.
+
+I have gone into this little episode somewhat at length in order to
+impress upon the voyager to India the necessity for limiting the number of
+firearms or getting a friend to father the extra ones through the
+Customs--a perfectly simple matter had one foreseen the difficulty. Also
+the danger of taking parcels for friends--of which more anon![1]
+
+The Devon Place Hotel may be the best in Karachi, but it is pretty bad....
+I am told that all Indian hotels are bad--still, the breakfast was a
+considerable improvement on the _Marie Valerie_, and we sallied forth as
+giants refreshed to have a look at Karachi and do a little shopping. It
+being Sunday, the banks were closed, but a kindly shopman cashed me a
+cheque for twenty pounds in the most confiding manner, and enabled us to
+get the few odds and ends we wanted before going up country--among them a
+couple of "resais" or quilted cotton wraps and a sola topee for Jane.
+
+Karachi did not strike us as being a particularly interesting town, but
+that may be to a great extent because we did not see the best part of it.
+On landing at Kiamari we had only driven along a hot and glaring mole,
+bordered by swamps and slimy-looking flats for some two miles. Then, on
+reaching the city proper, a dusty road, bordered by somewhat
+suburban-looking houses, brought us to the Devon Place Hotel, near the
+Frere station. After breakfast we merely drove into the bazaars to shop
+before betaking ourselves to the station, in good time for the 6.30 train.
+
+Passengers--at least first-class passengers--were not numerous, and Major
+Twining and I had no difficulty in securing two compartments--one for our
+wives and one for ourselves.
+
+An Indian first-class carriage is roomy, but bare, being arranged with a
+view to heat rather than cold Two long seats run "fore and aft" on either
+side, and upon them your servant makes your bed at night. Two upper berths
+can be let down in case of a crowd. At the end of each compartment is a
+small toilet-room.
+
+It was unexpectedly chilly at night, and Twining and I were glad to roll
+ourselves up in as many rugs and "resais" as we could persuade the ladies
+to leave to us.
+
+
+[1] A big deal case which we unpacked at Srinagar proved to contain a
+    "life-sized" work-table. The package holding our camp beds and bedding,
+    having a humbler aspect, had been sent to Bombay and cost as a world
+    of worry and expense to recover!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+
+This morning we awoke to find ourselves rattling and shaking our way
+through the Sind Desert--an interminable waste of sand, barren and
+thirsty-looking, covered with a patchy scrub of yellowish and grey-purple
+bushes.
+
+I can well imagine how hatefully hot it can be here, but to-day it has
+been merely pleasantly warm.
+
+Jane and I were deeply interested in the novel scenes we passed through,
+which, while new and strange to us, were yet made familiar by what we had
+read and heard. The quiet-eyed cattle, with their queer humps, were just
+what we expected to see in the dusty landscape. The chattering crowds in
+the wayside stations, their bright-coloured garments flaunting in the
+white sunlight--the fruit-sellers, the water-carriers, were all as though
+they had stepped out of the pages of _Kim_--that most excellent of Indian
+stories.
+
+And so all day we rattled and shook through the Sind Desert in the hot
+sunlight till the dust lay thick upon us, and our eyes grew tired of
+watching the flying landscape.
+
+In the afternoon we reached Samasata junction, where the Twinings parted
+company with us, being bound for Faridkot.
+
+Sorry were we to lose such charming companions, especially as now indeed
+we become as Babes in the Wood, knowing nothing of the land, its customs,
+or its language!
+
+Henceforward, Sabz Ali shall be our sheet-anchor, and I think he will not
+fail us. His English is truly remarkable, so much so that I regret to say
+I have more than once supposed him to be talking Hindustani when he was
+discoursing in my own mother-tongue. But he certainly is extraordinarily
+sharp in taking up what I and the "Mem-sahib" say.
+
+He presented to me to-day a remarkable letter, of which the following is
+an exact copy. I presume it is a sort of statement as to his general
+duties:--
+
+"_To the_ MAGER SAHIB.
+
+    "Sir,--I beg to say that General 'Oon Sahib send me to you. He
+    order me that the arrangement of Mager Sahib do.
+
+    "To give pice to porter kuli this is my work. This is usefull to
+    you.
+
+    "You give him many pice.
+
+    "Your work is order and to do it my work. You give me Rupee at
+    once. Then I will write it on my book, from which you will see it
+    is right or wrong. Now I am going to Cashmir with you and
+    Cashmiree are thief.
+
+    "If you will give me one man other it will usefull to you. I ask
+    one cloth. All Sahib give cloth to Servant on going to Cashmir.
+
+    "If will give cloth then all men say that this Sahib is good. I am
+    fear from General 'Oon Sahib. It is order to give cloth.
+
+    "I can do all work of cook and bearer. I wish that you will happy
+    on me, also your lady, and say to General 'Oon Sahib that this
+    man is good and honest man.
+
+    "I have servant to many Sahib.
+
+    "I have more certificate.
+
+    "You are rich man and king. I am poor man. I will take two annas
+    allowance per day in Cashmir, you will do who you wish.
+
+    "I wish that you and lady will happy on me. This is begging you
+    will.--I remain, Sir, your most obedient Servant,
+
+"SABAZ ALI, _Bearer_."
+
+_Wednesday, March_ 22.--We slept again in the train on Monday night, and
+arrived in Lahore about 6 o'clock yesterday morning.
+
+We had been advised to tub and dress in the waiting-rooms at the station,
+as we had a break of some six hours before going on to Pindi; but, upon
+investigation, Jane found her waiting-room already fully occupied by an
+uninviting company of Chi-chis (Eurasians), and several men--their
+husbands and brothers presumably--were sleeping the sleep of the just in
+mine, so we left all our luggage stacked on the platform under the eye of
+Sabz Ali, and hurried off to Nedou's Hotel. Ye gods! What a cold drive it
+was, and how bitterly we regretted that we had not brought our wraps from
+their bundle.
+
+I was fearfully afraid that Jane would get a chill--an evil always to be
+specially guarded against in a tropical climate, but a very hot tub and a
+good breakfast averted all calamity, and we set forth in a funny little
+trap to inspect Lahore.
+
+This is the first large and thoroughly Indian city that we have
+seen--Karachi being merely a thriving modern seaport and garrison
+town--and we set to work to see what we could in the limited time at our
+disposal. We whisked along a road--bumpy withal in parts, and somewhat
+dusty, but broad. On either hand rose substantial stone mansions, half
+hidden by trees and flowering shrubs. Many of these fine-looking buildings
+were shops. I was impressed by their importance, for they were quite what
+would be described by an auctioneer or agent as "most desirable family
+mansions, approached by a carriage drive ... standing within their own
+beautifully wooded and secluded grounds in an excellent residential
+neighbourhood," &c. &c.
+
+Anon we whirled round a corner, and plunged into the seething life of the
+native city. The road was crammed with an apparently impenetrable crowd of
+men and beasts, the latter--water-buffaloes, humpy cattle, and
+donkeys--strolling about and getting in everybody's way with perfect
+nonchalance, while men in strange raiment of gaudy hue pursued their
+lawful occupations with much clamour. The variety of smells--all bad--was
+quite remarkable.
+
+We could only go at a walk, as the streets were very narrow and the
+inhabitants thereof--particularly the cows--seemed very deaf and difficult
+to arouse to a sense of the need for making room, though our good driver
+yelled himself hoarse and employed language which I feel sure was highly
+flavoured. Our progress was a succession of marvellous escapes for human
+toes and bovine shoulders, but our "helmsman steered us through," and we
+emerged from the kaleidoscopic labyrinth into the open space before the
+Fort of Lahore, whose pinkish brick walls and ponderous bastions rose
+above us.
+
+The last thing I would desire would be to usurp in any way the functions
+of grave Mr. Murray or well-informed Herr Baedeker, but there are certain
+points to which I will draw attention, and which it seems to me very
+necessary to keep in mind.
+
+To the ordinary traveller in the Punjab and Northern India no buildings
+are more attractive, no ruins more interesting, than those of the Mogul
+dynasty, and the rule of the Mogul princes marks the high-water limit of
+Indian magnificence. It was but for a short time, too, that the highest
+level of grandeur was maintained.
+
+For generations the Moguls had poured in intermittent hordes into Northern
+India, but it was only in 1556 that Akbar, by defeating the Pathans at
+Panipat, laid India at his feet. Following up his success he overthrew the
+Rajputs, and extended his dominion from Afghanistan to Benares. Having
+conquered the country as a great warrior, he proceeded to rule it as a
+noble statesman, being "one of the few sovereigns entitled to the
+appellation both of Great and Good, and the only one of Mohammedan race
+whose mind appears to have arisen so far above all the illiberal
+prejudices of that fanatical religion in which he was educated, as to be
+capable of forming a plan worthy of a monarch who loved his people and was
+solicitous to render them happy."[1] This "plan" was to study the religion,
+laws, and institutions of his Hindu subjects in order that he might govern
+as far as possible in conformity with Hindu usage. The Emperor Akbar was
+the first of the Mogul monarchs who was a great architect. The city of
+Fattepur Sikri being raised by him as a stately dwelling-place until want
+of water and the unhealthiness of the locality caused him to move into
+Agra, leaving the whole city of Fattepur Sikri to the owls and jackals,
+and later to the admiration of the Sahib logue.
+
+A palace in Lahore, the fort at Allahabad, and much lovely work in the
+city of Agra testify to the creative genius of that contemporary of our
+own Good Queen Bess, the first "Great" Mogul. Jehangir, his son and
+successor, has left few buildings of note, but his grandson, Shah Jehan,
+was undoubtedly the most splendid builder of the Mogul Mohammedan period.
+To him Delhi owes its stately palace and vast mosque--the Jama Masjid--and
+Agra would be famous for its wonderful palace of dark red stone and
+fretted marble, even without that masterpiece of Mohammedan inspiration,
+the world-famed Taj Mahal. The brief period of supreme magnificence came
+to an end with the last of the "Great" Moguls--Aurungzeb, died in
+1707--having only blazed in fullest glory for some century and a half, but
+leaving behind it some of the noblest works of man.
+
+It seemed somehow very curious, as we drove up through the stately
+entrance of the Hathi Paon, or Elephant Gate of the fort, to be saluted
+with a "present arms" by British Tommies clad in unobtrusive khaki, and to
+reflect that we are the inheritors of the fallen grandeur of the Mogul
+Emperors; that we in our turn, on many a hard-fought field, asserted our
+power to conquer; and that since then we have (I trust) so far followed
+the sound principles of Akbar as to keep by justice and wise rule the
+broad lands with their teeming millions in a state of peace and security
+unknown before in India.
+
+Opposite the entrance rise the walls of the Palace of Akbar, curiously
+decorated with brilliant blue mosaics of animals and arabesques.
+
+We visited the armoury--a remarkably fine collection of weapons--not the
+least interesting being those taken from the Sikhs and French in the
+earlier part of the last century. Opposite the armoury, and across a small
+beautifully-paved court, were the private apartments of Shah Jehan. They
+reminded me very much of the Alhambra, only, instead of the honeycomb
+vaulted ceilings, and arches decorated in stucco by the Moors, the Eastern
+architect inlaid his ceilings with an extraordinary incrustation of glass,
+usually silvered on the back, but also frequently coloured, and giving a
+strange effect of mother-o'-pearl inlay, bordering on tawdriness when
+examined in detail.
+
+It is possible that this coloured glass actually had its intended effect
+of inlaid jewels, and that the gem-encrusted walls, so enthusiastically
+described by Tavernier and others, as almost matching the peacock throne
+itself, may have been but imitation.
+
+Many of the pilasters were, however, very beautiful--of white marble
+inlaid with flower patterns of coloured stones--while the arched window
+openings were filled in with creamy tracery of fair white marble.
+
+Leaving the fort after an all too short visit, we crossed to the great
+mosque built by Aurungzeb. Ascending--from a garden bright with flowers
+and blossoming trees--a flight of broad steps, we found ourselves at the
+end of a rectangular enclosure, at each corner of which stood a red column
+not altogether unlike a factory chimney. In the centre was a circular
+basin, very wide, and full of clear water, while in front, three white
+marble domes rose like great pearls gleaming against the cloudless blue.
+The mosque itself is built of red--dark red--sandstone, decorated with
+floral designs in white marble.
+
+We climbed one of the minarets, and had a view of the city at our feet,
+and the green and fertile plains stretching dim into the shimmering haze
+beyond the Ravee River.
+
+Then back to the hotel through the teeming alleys and down to the
+station--the road, that we had found so bitterly cold in the early morning,
+now a blaze of sunlight, where the dust stirred up by the shuffling feet
+of the wayfarers quivered in the heat, and the shadows of men and beasts
+lay short and black beneath them.
+
+We were not sorry to seek coolness in the bare railway carriage, and let
+the fresh wind fan us as we sat by the open window and watched the flat,
+monotonous landscape sliding past.
+
+The journey from Lahore to Rawal Pindi is not a very long one--only about
+170 miles, or less than the distance from London to York; but an Indian
+train being more leisurely in its movement than the Great Northern Express,
+gave us ample time to contemplate the frequent little villages--all very
+much alike--all provided with a noisy population, among which dogs and
+children were extremely prevalent; the level plains, broken here and there
+by clumps of unfamiliar trees, and inhabited by scattered herds of water
+buffaloes, cattle, and under-sized sheep, all busily engaged in picking up
+a precarious livelihood, chiefly roast straw, as far as one could see!
+
+We had grown so accustomed to the monotony of the plains, that when we
+suddenly became aware of a faint blue line of mountains paling to snow,
+where they melted into the sky, the Himalayas came upon us almost with a
+shock of surprise.
+
+As we drew nearer, the rampart of mountains that guards India on the north,
+took form and substance, until at Jhelum we fairly left the plain and
+began to ascend the lower foothills.
+
+Between Jhelum and Rawal Pindi the line runs through a country that can
+best be described by that much abused word "weird." Originally a
+succession of clayey plateaux, the erosion of water has worn and
+honeycombed a tortuous maze of abrupt clefts and ravines, leaving in many
+cases mere shafts and pinnacles, whose fantastic tops stand level with the
+surrounding country. The sun set while we were still winding through a
+labyrinth of peaks and pits, and the effect of the contrasting red gold
+lights and purple shadows in this strange confused landscape was a thing
+to be remembered.
+
+We rolled and bumped into Pindi at 8 P.M., having travelled nearly 1000
+miles during our two days and nights in the train.
+
+Our friends the Smithsons were on the platform waiting to receive us and
+welcome us as strangers and pilgrims in an unknown land. They have only
+remained here to meet us, and they proceed to Kashmir to-morrow, sleeping
+in a carriage in the quiet backwater of a siding, to save themselves the
+worry of a desperately early start to-morrow morning.
+
+The direct route into Kashmir by Murree is impassable, the snow being
+still deep owing to a very late spring following a severe winter. This
+will oblige us to go round by Abbotabad, so I wired to my friend General
+Woon to warn him that we propose to invade his peaceful home.
+
+_Sunday, March 26._--We stayed a couple of days at Pindi, in order to make
+arrangements for transporting ourselves and our luggage into Kashmir. The
+journey can be made _vi�_ Murree in about a couple of days by mail tonga,
+but it is a joyless and horribly wearing mode of travel. The tonga, a
+two-wheeled cart covered by an arched canvas hood and drawn by two
+half-broken horses, holds a couple of passengers comfortably, who sit
+behind and stare at the flying white ribbon of road for long, long hours,
+while the driver urges his wild career. The horses are changed every ten
+miles or so, and horrible and blood-curdling tales are extant of the
+villainy and wrong-headedness of some of these tonga ponies, how they jib
+for sheer pleasure, and leap over the low parapet that guards them from
+the precipice merely to vex the helpless traveller. When we suggested that
+to sit facing the past might be conducive to a sort of sea-sickness and
+certainly to headache, and that a total absence of view was to be
+deprecated, it was impressed upon us that if the horses darted over the
+"khud," we could slip out suddenly and easily, leaving the driver and the
+ponies to be dashed to pieces by themselves! This appeared sound, but,
+upon inquiry I could not hear that any accident had ever happened to any
+traveller going into Kashmir by tonga.
+
+Besides the tonga, there are other modes of going into Kashmir. For
+instance, the sluggish bullock-cart--safe, deliberate, and affording ample
+leisure for admiring the scenery; the light native cart, or ekka,
+consisting of a somewhat small body screened by a wide white hood, and
+capable of holding far more luggage than would at first sight seem
+possible, and drawn by a scraggy-looking but much enduring little horse
+tied up by a wild and complicated system of harness (chiefly consisting of
+bits of old rope) between a pair of odd V-shaped shafts.
+
+Finally, there is the landau--a civilised and luxurious method of
+conveyance which greatly appealed to us. We decided upon chartering a
+landau for ourselves and servant, and two ekkas to carry the heavy baggage.
+
+Mr. de Mars, the landlord of the hotel, was most obliging in helping us to
+arrange for our journey, promising to provide us with carriage and ekkas
+for a sum which did not seem to me to be at all exorbitant.
+
+I soon found, however, that the worthy Sabz Ali did not at all approve of
+the arrangement. It was extremely hard to find out by means of his scant
+English what he proposed to do; but I decided that here was an excellent
+opportunity of finding out what he was good for, so we determined to give
+him his head, and let him make his own arrangements.
+
+A smile broke over his swarthy face for a moment, and he disappeared,
+coming back shortly afterwards just as the already ordered ekkas made
+their appearance.
+
+These he promptly dismissed--much to the vexation of Mr. de Mars; but I
+explained to him that I intended to see if my man was really to be
+depended upon as an organiser, and that I should allow him to work upon
+his own lines.
+
+We had arranged to sleep in a carriage drawn into a siding at the station,
+to avoid a very early start next morning. So after dinner we strolled down
+towards our bedroom to find our henchman on the platform, full of zeal and
+energy. I found out (with difficulty) that he proposed to go on to Hassan
+Abdal with the luggage that night by goods train; that we should find him
+there next morning, and that all would be right. So he departed, and we
+rolled ourselves up in our "resais," and wondered how it would all turn
+out.
+
+On Friday morning we rattled out of Rawal Pindi about seven, and slowly
+wound through a rather stony and uninteresting country, until we arrived
+at the end of our railway journey about ten o'clock, and scrambled out at
+the little roadside station.
+
+Our excellent factotum, Sabz Ali, awaited us with a capacious landau, and
+informed us that the heavy baggage had gone on in the ekkas. So we set
+forth at once on our 42-mile drive to Abbotabad without "reposing for a
+time in the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a
+favourite resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to
+Cashmere" (_Lalla Rookh_).
+
+The landau, though roomy and comfortable, was, like Una's lion, a "most
+unhasty beast," and we rolled quite slowly and deliberately over a
+distinctly uninteresting plain for about twenty miles, until we came to
+Haripur, a pretty village enclosed in a perfect mass of fruit trees in
+full bloom.
+
+Here we changed horses, and lunched at the d�k bungalow--a first and
+favourable experience of that useful institution. The d�k bungalow
+generally consists of a simple wooden building containing a dining-room
+and several bedrooms opening on to a verandah, which usually runs round
+three sides of the house. The furniture is strong and simple, consisting
+of tables, bedsteads, and some long chairs. A khansamah or cook provides
+food and liquor at a fixed and reasonable rate.
+
+Travellers are only permitted to remain for twenty-four hours if the rooms
+are wanted, each person paying one rupee (1s. 4d.) for a night, or half
+that amount for a mere day halt.
+
+The khansamah would appear to be the only functionary in residence until
+the hour of departure draws near, when a whole party of
+underlings--chowkidars, bheesties, and sweepers--appear from nowhere in
+particular; and the lordly traveller, having presented them with about
+twopence apiece, rolls off along the dusty white road, leaving the
+khansamah and his myrmidons salaaming on the verandah.
+
+We made the mistake of over-tipping at first in India, not realising that
+a couple of annas out here go as far as a shilling at home; but it is a
+mistake which should be rectified as soon as possible, for you get no
+credit for lavishness, but are merely regarded as a first-class idiot. No
+sane man would ever expend two annas where one would do!
+
+On leaving Haripur the road began to ascend a little, and at the village
+of Sultanpur we entered a valley, through which a shrunken stream ran, and
+which we crossed more than once.
+
+Then a long ascent of about eleven miles brought us near our destination.
+
+It had been threatening rain all the afternoon, and now the weather made
+its threat good, and the rain fell in earnest. It grew dark, too; and,
+finally, not having had any reply to my telegram to General Woon, we did
+not know whether we were expected or not.
+
+Sabz Ali, however, had no doubts on the matter. We were approaching his
+own particular country, and whether "Gen'l 'Oon Sahib" was there to
+entertain us or not, _he_ was; and so it was "alright."
+
+Our poor horses were done to a turn, a heavy landau with five people in it,
+as well as a fair amount of luggage, being no trifle to drag up so long
+and steep a hill. So we had to walk up the last rise to the General's
+house in the dark and rain, mildly cheered, however, by finding the two
+ekkas just arrived with the baggage.
+
+A most hearty greeting from my old friend and his charming wife awaited us,
+and after a hasty toilet and an excellent dinner we felt at peace with all
+the world.
+
+Both yesterday (Saturday) and to-day it has been cold and disagreeable.
+The past winter, I am told, has been a very severe one, and the melancholy
+brown skeletons of all the eucalyptus trees in the place show the dismal
+results of the frost.
+
+This forenoon the day darkened, and a very severe thunderstorm broke. So
+dark was it at lunch that candles had to be lighted in haste, and even now
+(4 P.M.) I can barely see to write.
+
+_Thursday, March_ 30.--Monday was showery, and Tuesday decidedly wet; but,
+in spite of the hospitable blandishments of our kind hosts, we were most
+anxious to get on, as, having arranged with the Smithsons to go into the
+Astor district to shoot, it was most important to reach Srinagar before
+the first of April--the day upon which the shooting passes were to be
+issued to sportsmen in rotation of application. Knowing that only ten
+passes were to be given for Astor, and that several men were ahead of me,
+I felt that we were running it somewhat fine to leave only three days for
+the journey.
+
+General Woon, who knew Kashmir well, did his very best to dissuade us from
+attempting the passes into Astor, reading to us gloomy extracts from his
+journal, and pointing out that it was no fit country for a lady in early
+spring.
+
+He did much to shake our enthusiasm, but still I felt we must do our best
+to "keep tryst" with the Smithsons. So, on Tuesday, we sent on the heavy
+luggage in two ekkas which Sabz Ali had procured, the two others being
+only hired from Hassan Abdal to Abbotabad.
+
+Sabz Ali had pointed out that, although he himself was a wonderful man,
+and could do almost, if not quite, everything, a second servant would be
+greatly to our (and his) advantage. So, acting on my permission, he
+engaged one Ayata--a gentle person of a sheep-like disposition, who did
+everything he was told, and nothing that he was told not to, during our
+sojourn in Kashmir.
+
+
+[1] Robertson's _India_, Appendix.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+
+Dismal tidings came in of floods and storms on the Hassan Abdal road. The
+river had swollen, and both men and beasts had been swept away while
+trying to cross. Undeterred, however, by such news, even when backed by
+warnings and persuasions from our friends, we set forth in the rain
+yesterday morning. The prospect was not cheerful--a grey veil of cloud lay
+over all the surrounding hills, here and there deepening into dark and
+angry thunder-clouds. The road was desperately heavy, but the General had
+most kindly sent on a pair of mules ahead, and, with another pair in the
+shafts, our own nags took a holiday as far as Manserah.
+
+The weather grew worse. It rained very heavily and thundered with great
+vigour, and as we straggled up the deeply-muddied slope to the d�k
+bungalow at Manserah we felt somewhat low; but we did not in the least
+realise what was before us!
+
+Our road had lain through fairly level plains, with low cuttings here and
+there, where the saturated soil was already beginning to give way and fall
+upon the road in untidy heaps; but this did not foreshadow what might
+occur later.
+
+At Manserah we met Hill and Hunt, two young gunners, _en route_ for Astor.
+They left in a tonga soon after we arrived, and we did not expect to see
+their speedier outfit again.
+
+Being pressed for time, we only had a cup of cocoa, and then hastened on
+our dismal career.
+
+The road grew steeper, winding over some low hills, but we could not see
+very much, as the whirling cloud masses blotted out all the view.
+By-and-by it bent towards a pine-clad hill, and began to ascend steeply.
+By this time we were very wet, as we had to walk up the hills to ease the
+horses. The scene was extraordinary, as the great thunder-clouds boiled up
+and over us--tawny yellow, and even orange in the lights, and dull and
+solid lead colour in the depths. The distance was invisible, but gleams
+now and again revealed, through the drifts of rain, wide stretches of
+cultivated land lying below us, and a ragged forest of pines piercing the
+mist above.
+
+Dripping, we walked by our wet horses up to the top of the pass, hoping
+for a swift and easy descent on the farther side to Ghari Habibullah,
+where we intended to sleep, as we had given up all idea of being able to
+get on to Domel.
+
+Presently the horses were pulled up sharply as a ton or two of rock and
+earth came crashing upon the road in front of us.
+
+More fallen masses encumbering the way farther on made us feel rather
+anxious, until, on rounding a corner, we found the whole road barred by a
+huge mass of rock and soil.
+
+It was blowing hard, the stormy wind striking chill and bleak through the
+bending pines; it was raining in torrents; it was 5 P.M., and we were
+still some six miles from the haven where we would be; so, after a short
+and utterly ineffectual attempt to get the carriage past the obstacle,
+Jane and I set off to walk down the hill and seek help.
+
+It was exciting, as we had to dodge the rock-falls and run past the
+shaky-looking places! At a turn of the road we came upon the gunners'
+tonga, embedded in a mud-slide. The occupants had had an escape from total
+wreck, as one of the ponies had swerved over the khud, but the other saved
+the situation by lying down in the mud! Hunt had gone off into the
+landscape to try for a village and help, while Hill remained to wrestle
+with the tonga, which, however, remained obstinately immovable. We could
+do nothing to mend matters, so we fled on, meeting Hunt, with a few
+natives and a shovel, on his way back to the scene of action.
+
+After an hour and a half of very anxious work, we emerged at dusk from the
+wood, hoping our troubles were over. We could dimly see, and hear, through
+the mist a stream below us; but, alas! no bridge was visible. I
+commandeered a man from the first hut we came to, and tried by signs to
+make him understand that he was to carry the lady across the river; but,
+luckily, just as we reached the bank of what was a very nasty-looking
+stream in full spate, the liberated tonga overtook us, and Jane was
+bundled into it, while we three men waded. The stream was strong and up to
+our knees, and level with the tonga floor, and the horses getting
+frightened began to jib. Hill seized one by the head, and Jane was safely
+drawn to shore and sent on her way under guidance of the driver, while we
+tramped on in the dark until a second torrent barred our way. Here, in the
+gloom, we made out the tonga empty, and stuck fast against the far bank.
+It was all right though, for Jane had crawled out at the front and
+wandered on in search of the d�k bungalow, leaving the driver squatting
+helplessly beside the water.
+
+It was so dark that she missed the bungalow, which stands a little above
+the road, and struggled on till she came to a small cluster of native huts.
+One of the inhabitants, on being boldly accosted, was good enough to point
+out the way, and so the re-united party--tired, wet, and with no prospect
+of dry clothing--took possession of the cheerless-looking d�k bungalow.
+Things now began to improve. To our joy we found our ekkas with their
+contents drawn up in the yard. And while a fire was being encouraged into
+a blaze, and the lean fowl was being captured and slain on the back
+premises, we obtained dry garments--of sorts--from the baggage.
+
+Madame's dinner costume consisted of a blue flannel garment--nocturnal by
+design--delicately covered by a quilted dressing-gown, and the rest of us
+were _en suite_, a great lack of detail as to collars and foot-wear being
+apparent! Nevertheless, the fire blazed royally, and we ate up all the old
+hen and called for more, and prepared to make a night of it until, about
+ten o'clock, our bearer Sabz Ali appeared, with a train of coolies carrying
+our bedding and the other contents of the derelict carriage.
+
+This morning the two young gunners departed on foot, leaving their tonga,
+as the road to Domel is reported to be quite impassable. They intend to
+walk by a short cut over the hills, and get on as best they may, the race
+for Astor being a keen one.
+
+We decided to remain here, the weather being still gloomy and unsettled,
+and the road being impossible for a lady.
+
+At noon the landau was brought in, minus a step and very dirty, but
+otherwise "unwounded from the dreadful close."
+
+Ghari Habibullah is not at all a cheerful spot, as it appears, the centre
+of a grey haze, with dense mist low down on the surrounding mountains.
+Sabz Ali, too, complains of fever, which is not surprising after the
+wetting and exposure of yesterday; and when a native gets "fever" he curls
+up and is fit for nothing, and won't try.
+
+The d�k bungalow stands on a little plateau overlooking the road and a
+swift river, whose tawny waves were loaded with mud washed from the hills
+by recent storms. On a slope opposite, the queer, flat-roofed native
+village perched, and above it swirled a misty pall which hid all but the
+bases of the hills. To this village we strolled, but it was not
+interesting; the inhabitants did not seem wildly friendly, and the mud and
+dirt and dogs were discouraging. So we roamed along the Domel road till we
+came to a high cliff of conglomerate, which had recently been shedding
+boulders over the track to an alarming extent; so, deciding that it would
+be merely silly to risk getting our heads cracked, we turned back, and,
+re-crossing the river, clambered up a steep path above the right bank. Here
+we soon found great rents and rifts where falling rocks had come bounding
+down the steeps from above, so once more we turned tail, and, giving up
+the idea of any more country walks in that region, betook ourselves to the
+gloomy and chilly bungalow. The only really delightful things we saw
+during our doleful excursion were a lovely clump of big, rose-coloured
+primula, drooping from the clefts of a steep rock, and a pair of large and
+handsome kingfishers,[1] pursuing their graceful avocations by a roadside
+pool--their white breasts, ruddy flanks, and gleaming blue backs giving a
+welcome note of colour to the sedate and misty grey of the landscape.
+
+_Tuesday, April_ 4.--Thirty-six hours of Ghari Habibullah give ample time
+for the loneliest recluse to pant for the bustle of a livelier world. We
+were so bored on Thursday that we determined to push on, _co�te que co�te_,
+on Friday morning, although a note sent back by one of the gunners from
+Domel, by a coolie, informed us that the road about a mile short of that
+place was completely blocked by a fallen mass of some hundreds of tons.
+
+Our henchman having somewhat recovered of his fever, thanks to a generous
+exhibition of quinine, we gave the order to pack and start, hoping to
+achieve the twelve miles which separated us from Domel, even though the
+last bit had to be done on foot. About two miles from Ghari Habibullah we
+came to the Kashmir custom-house, presided over by a polite gentleman,
+whose brilliant purple beard was a joy to look upon.
+
+Most of the elderly natives dye their beards with, I think, henna,
+producing a fine orange effect, but purple...!
+
+  _Bottom_. What beard were I best to play it in?
+
+  _Quince_. Why, what you will.
+
+  _Bottom_. I will discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard, your
+  orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your
+  French-crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow
+
+_Midsummer Night's Dream_,
+
+Act I. Sc. 2.
+
+  "What _coloured beard_ comes next by the window?"
+
+  "A black man's, I think."
+
+  "I think a _red_: for that is most in fashion."
+
+RAM ALLY.
+
+Truly, until I beheld that tax-gatherer of the Orient, I had no idea that
+the "purple-in-grain" beard existed outside a poet's fancy!
+
+The road took us along the left bank of the river, whose soil-stained
+waters churned their way through a wild and rocky gorge. On our left the
+mountain rose bare and steep, fringed with a few straggling bushes, and
+here and there a clinging patch of rose-coloured primula. Part of the
+conglomerate cliff had come down and obliterated the road, but a party of
+coolies was busily at work, and, after about an hour's delay, we
+triumphantly bumped our way past.
+
+The road now led steadily upward, leaving an ever-increasing slope (or
+khud) between it and the river, until it attained a height of over a
+thousand feet, when, turning to the left, it swung over the watershed, and
+began to descend into the valley of the Kishenganga. Through the haze we
+could make out Domel, our goal, lying far below, and then the old Sikh
+fort of Musafferabad.
+
+The road was so encumbered with rock-falls that we walked the greater part
+of it, until we came to the new bridge over the Kishenganga, whose dark
+red waters rush into the Jhelum about a mile below.
+
+Here was Musafferabad, the whole place a confused jumble of wheeled
+traffic caught up by the big landslip in front. Passing, amid the chatter
+and clamour of men and beasts, through the medley of bullock-carts and
+ekkas that crowded every available space, we hauled the carriage through
+the bed of a watercourse whose bridge was broken. Up over the prostrate
+trunk of a fallen tree we regained the road, to find ourselves in front of
+the big landslip of which we had been warned. It consisted of some
+thousands of tons of dark red mud and loose boulders, and it blocked the
+road for fully a couple of hundred yards.
+
+A large and energetic swarm of coolies was busily engaged in "tidying up."
+This was apparently to be achieved by means of shovels, each little shovel
+worked by two men--one to shovel, and the other to assist in raising it
+when full by means of a little rope round the head. This labour had to be
+lubricated by much conversation.
+
+It seemed upon the whole unlikely that a path could be made for a
+considerable time, so we lunched peacefully in the carriage, a pair of
+extremely friendly crows assisting at the feast, and then, leaving our
+landau to follow as best it might, we walked into Domel, crossing the
+Jhelum by a fine bridge.
+
+The d�k bungalow, prettily placed in a clump of trees, seemed the abode of
+luxury to us after the discomfort of Ghari Habibullah, and we fondly hoped
+that, being now upon the main road which runs from Rawal Pindi to Srinagar,
+our troubles were over.
+
+Saturday was the 1st of April, the day upon which I should have applied
+for my pass for Astor. Wiring to Srinagar to explain that I was in Kashmir
+territory (which I subsequently found was enough to entitle me to a pass),
+and also to Smithson to say that we were making the best of our way to
+join him, we "took the road" after breakfast.
+
+The carriage and the two ekkas had come in early, having been unloaded and
+then carried bodily over the "slide."
+
+A broad and smooth road, whose gentle gradient of ascent was merely
+sufficient to keep us level with the river bank, opened up an alluring
+prospect of ease and comfort. We lay back on our comfortable cushions and
+watched the clouds as they swept over the mountains, hiding all but
+occasional glimpses of snow-streaked slopes and steep and barren ridges.
+
+The valley of the Jhelum between Domel and Ghari is not beautiful--merely
+wide and desolate, with steep hills rising from the river, their lower
+slopes sparsely clad with leafless scrub, their shoulders merging into the
+dull mist which hangs around their invisible summits.
+
+Alas! it soon became apparent that our troubles were not over. The cliffs
+above us became steeper, and the familiar boulder reappeared upon the road.
+Small landslips gave us a good deal of trouble, although we had no serious
+difficulty before reaching Ghari. Here we were told that a complete
+"solution of continuity" in the road at Mile 46 would prevent our reaching
+Chakhoti, so we reluctantly decided to remain where we were for the night.
+Although a cold and dull spring afternoon is not exciting at Ghari, where
+distractions are decidedly scanty, we found interest in the discovery of
+the Smithsons' heavy luggage, which had been sent on from Rawal Pindi ages
+ago. Here it lay in the peaceful backwater of a native caravansary, piled
+high on a bullock-cart, whose placid team lay near pensively chewing the
+"cud of sweet and bitter fancy," and apparently quite innocent of any
+intention of moving for a week or two!
+
+We extracted the charioteers from a neighbouring hut, and gave them to
+understand, by means of Sabz Ali, that hanging was the least annoyance
+they would suffer if they didn't get under way "ek dam" at once. They
+promptly promised that their oxen--like Pegasus--should fly on the wings
+of the wind, and, having seen us safely round a corner, departed
+peacefully to eat another lotus.
+
+The luggage arrived in Srinagar towards the end of the month.
+
+Sunday morning saw us again battling with a perfect coruscation of
+landslips; so "jumpy" was it in many places that we sat with the carriage
+doors ajar, in hopes that a timely dart out might enable us to evade a
+falling rock. At Mile 46 we were held up for an hour until a ramp was made
+over a bad slide, and the carriage and ekkas were unloaded and got across.
+The landau looked for all the world like a great dead beetle surrounded by
+ants, as, man-handled by a swarm of coolies, it was hauled, step by step,
+over the improvised track. A landau is not at all a suitable or convenient
+carriage for this sort of work, and had we guessed what was before us we
+should most certainly have employed the handier tonga.
+
+The road to-day, cut as it was out of the steep flank of the mountain, was
+magnificent, but, in its present condition, nerve-shattering. Fallen
+boulders and innumerable mud-slides constantly forced us to get out and
+walk, while the sturdy little horses tugged the carriage through places
+where the near wheels were frequently within a few inches of the broken
+edge of the road, while far below Jhelum roared hungrily as he foamed by
+the foot of a sheer precipice.
+
+Reaching Chakhoti about four o'clock, we decided to remain there for the
+night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and
+threatening. Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one
+miles, there was no suitable place for a night's halt until Uri, distant
+some thirteen miles and all uphill.
+
+About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the Jhelum,
+and after tea we set forth to inspect it.
+
+The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I confess
+the means of crossing it, although practised with perfect confidence by
+the natives, did not appeal to me.
+
+From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong ropes
+were stretched--the upper two parallel, and the third, about four feet
+lower, was equidistant from each.
+
+These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
+stretchers--something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
+few yards--
+
+  "And up and down the people go,"
+
+stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper ones
+with their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised
+European to be where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the
+traveller to within a painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry
+water, before he began to slither circumspectly up the farther slope!
+
+We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro,
+passing one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm, and
+carrying loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with the
+utmost unconcern.
+
+We left Chakhoti early this morning--Tuesday--with the intention of
+getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely bad,
+and the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags. Of
+course they have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have been
+limited to very short stages, and they are in excellent hard condition, so
+that we felt it no great hardship to ask them to do forty-two miles:
+albeit to drag a heavy landau containing five people and a good deal of
+luggage for that distance, with a rise of over 2000 feet, is a heavy
+demand upon a single pair of horses!
+
+The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri stands
+on a plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir valley.
+
+The ruins of an ancient fort rose on the near edge of the little plain.
+The Jhelum tore through a rocky gorge far below, and a dark semi-circle of
+mountains stood steeply up, their cloud-hidden summits giving fleeting
+glimpses of snow and precipice and pine-clad corries as the sun now and
+again shot through the clinging vapours.
+
+The d�k bungalow of Uri, white and clean, was most attractive, and I
+should imagine the place to be charming in summer, but as yet the short
+crisp turf is still brown from recent snow, and although hot in the sun,
+which now began to shine steadily, it was extremely cold in the shade,
+while lunch (or should I say "tiffin"?) was being got ready. I strolled
+over to the post-office to find--as usual--another urgent wire from
+Smithson several days old, beseeching me to secure my pass for Astor at
+once. Directly after lunch we set forward, and as the road on leaving Uri
+takes a long bend of some miles to the right to a point where the Haji Pir
+River is crossed, and then sweeps back along its right hank to a spot
+almost opposite the d�k bungalow, we thought that a short cut down to the
+water, which from our height seemed quite insignificant, and thence up to
+the road on the other side, would be a desirable stroll. As we walked down
+the steep path into the nullah a brace of red-legged partridges (chikor)
+rose in a great fuss, and sailed gaily across the river, whose roaring
+gained ominously in volume as we drew near. It soon became plain to us
+that everything is on a very big scale in this country, and that the
+clearness of the atmosphere helps to delude the unwary stranger. The
+little stream that seemed to require but an occasional stepping-stone to
+enable us to pass over dry-shod, proved in the first place to be much
+farther off than we had supposed, and when, after a hot scramble, we found
+ourselves on the bank, the stepping-stones were no more, but only here and
+there we saw the shoulders of huge rocks which doggedly threw aside the
+flying foam of a fair-sized river. It was obviously impossible to cross
+except by deep wading, but, being unwilling to own defeat, I yelled to a
+brown native on the far bank, and made signs that he should come and do
+beast of burthen. He, however, stolidly shook his head, pointed to the
+water, and then to his chest, and finally we sadly and wrathfully toiled
+back to the road we had so lightly left, and expended all our energies on
+attracting the notice of the carriage, which, having crossed the bridge,
+was crawling along the opposite face of the nullah, and when, after a hot
+three miles, we once more embedded ourselves amongst the cushions with a
+sigh of relief, we swore off short cuts for the future.
+
+We had been warned at Uri that there was a "bad place" at Mile 73, and
+sure enough, on rounding a bend, we came upon the familiar mass of
+semi-liquid red earth and a pile of boulders heaped across the road, the
+khud side of which had entirely given way. The usual crowd of coolies was
+busily engaged in trying to clear the obstruction by means of toothpicks
+and teaspoons.
+
+We quitted the carriage with a celerity engendered of much practice, and,
+having crossed the obstacle on foot, sat down to await the coming of our
+conveyance.
+
+It seemed perfectly marvellous that the heavy vehicle could be safely got
+over a jagged avalanche of earth and rock piled some eight or ten feet
+above the roadway, and having an almost sheer drop to the river entirely
+unguarded for some hundred yards, where the retaining parapet and even
+some of the road itself had gone.
+
+Amid much apparent confusion and tremendous chattering, a sort of rough
+ramp was engineered up the slip, and presently the horseless landau
+appeared borne in triumph by a mob of coolies superintended by our
+priceless Sabz Ali.
+
+For a minute we held our breath as one of the near wheels lipped the edge
+of the chasm, but the thing was judged to an inch, and in due time the
+sturdy chestnuts, the two ekkas, and all the luggage were assembled on the
+right side of what proved to be the last of the really bad slips.
+
+The road engineer, who arrived in great state on a motor cycle while we
+were executing the portage, told us that there were no more difficulties,
+but an officer who was going out, and whose tonga was checked also at the
+big slip, informed us that about a mile farther were two great boulders on
+the road, lying so that although a short vehicle such as a tonga or motor
+cycle could wriggle round, yet a long four-wheeled landau could not
+possibly execute the serpentine curve required.
+
+We therefore requisitioned a few coolies with crowbars, and set forward to
+attack the boulders. Sure enough there were two beauties, placed so that
+we could not possibly get by, until a large slice was chipped from the
+inner side of each.
+
+This done, our most excellent and skilful driver piloted his ponies
+through the narrow strait, and we felt that, at last, our troubles were
+over, and that we could breathe freely and admire at leisure the snowy
+peaks of the Kaj-nag beyond the Jhelum, and the rough wooded heights that
+frowned upon our right.
+
+I confess the relief was great, as we had endured six days of incessant
+strain on our nerves, never knowing when a turn of the road might bring us
+to an impassable break, or when the conglomerate cliffs beetling above
+might shed a boulder or two upon us!
+
+Passing the somewhat uninviting little village of Rampur, we crossed a
+torrent pouring out of a dark pine-clad gorge, and halted for tea by the
+curious ruined temple of Bhanyar. The building consists of a rectangular
+wall, cloistered on two sides of the interior and surrounding a small
+temple approached by a dilapidated flight of stone steps. I regret to be
+obliged to own that I know but a mere smattering of architecture. I do not
+feel competent therefore to discuss this, the first Kashmiri temple I have
+seen, upon its architectural merits. I only know that it struck me as
+being extremely small, and principally interesting from its magnificent
+background of shaggy forest and snow-capped mountain.
+
+Tea on a short smooth sward, starred with yellow colchicum, while the
+carriage, travel-stained and with one step lacking, stood on the road hard
+by, and the horses nibbled invigorating lumps of "gram" and molasses. Then
+the etna was returned to the "allo bagh" (yellow bag) and the tea things
+to the tiffin basket, and away we went along the now smooth and level road
+with only fifteen easy miles between us and Baramula.
+
+The vegetation had gradually grown much richer. The sparse and
+storm-buffeted pines and the rough scrub merged into a tangled mass of
+undergrowth and forest, where silver firs and deodars rose conspicuous.
+The little streams that rushed down the hillsides were fringed with
+maidenhair fern, lighted up here and there with a bunch of pink primula or
+a tiny cluster of dog violets.
+
+Jhelum had ceased from roaring, pursuing his placid path unwitting of the
+rush and fury that would befall him lower down, and by-and-by we emerged
+from the dark and forest-covered gorge into a wide basin where the river,
+now smooth and oily, reflected tall poplars and the red shoots of young
+dogwood.
+
+Through a village, round a sweep to the left, over a tract said to be much
+frequented by serpents, and then in the deepening and chilly dusk we made
+out Baramula, lying engirdled by a belt of poplars about a mile away.
+
+Glad were we, and probably gladder still our weary horses, to draw up
+before the uninviting-looking d�k bungalow, knowing that only thirty-five
+miles of level and open road lay now between us and Srinagar.
+
+The d�k bungalow of Baramula is, upon the whole, the worst we have yet
+sampled. No fire seemed able to impart any cheerfulness to the gloomy den
+we were shown into, and the dinner finally produced by the
+khansamah-kitmaghar-chowkidar (for a single tawny-bearded ruffian
+represented all these functionaries when the morning tip fell due) was not
+of an exhilarating nature. Strolling out to have a look at the town of
+Baramula, I shivered to see a heap of snow piled up against the wall. It
+snowed here, heavily, three days ago, I am told.
+
+We have not been, so far, altogether lucky in the weather. Bitter cold in
+Europe, cold at Port Sa�d and Suez, chilly in the Red Sea, and wet at Aden!
+Distinctly chilly in India, excepting during the day; we seem to have hit
+off the most backward spring known here for many years. The Murree route,
+which was closed to us by snow, should have been clear a month earlier,
+and spring here seems not yet to have begun.
+
+_April_ 5.--We crept shivering to our beds last night, to be awakened at 6
+A.M. by an earthquake!
+
+I had just realised what the untoward commotion meant when I heard Jane
+from under her "resai" ask, "What _is_ the matter--is it an earthquake?"
+Almost before I could reply, she was up and away, in a fearful hurry and
+very little else, towards the open country.
+
+I followed, but finding hoar-frost on the ground and a nipping eagerness
+in the air, I went back for a "resai." The feeling was that of going into
+one's cabin in a breeze of wind, and the door was flapping about. Seizing
+the wrap in some haste, as I was afraid of the door jamming, I rejoined
+Jane in the open, to watch the poplars swaying like drunken men and the
+solid earth bulging unpleasantly. The shock lasted for three minutes, and
+when it seemed quite over we retired to our beds to try to get warm again.
+
+The morning at breakfast-time was perfectly beautiful. Baramula lay
+serenely mirrored in the silver waters of the Jhelum, its picturesque
+brown wooden houses clustering on both banks, and joining hands by means
+of a long brown wooden bridge. No signs of any unusual disturbance could
+be seen among the chattering crews of the snaky little boats and
+deep-laden "doungas" that lined the banks or furrowed the waters of the
+shining river.
+
+We left Baramula in high spirits to accomplish the five-and-thirty miles
+which still stretched between us and Srinagar. The scenery was quite
+different from anything we had yet known, for now we were in the broad
+flat valley of Kashmir, which stretches for some eighty miles from beyond
+Islamabad, on the N.E., to Baramula, planted at the neck where the Jhelum
+River, after spreading itself abroad through the fertile plain,
+concentrates to pour its many waters through the mountain barrier until it
+joins the Indus far away in Sind.
+
+A broad and level road stretched straight and white between a double row
+of stark poplars, reminding one of the poplar-guarded ways of Picardy;
+also (as in France) not only were the miles marked, but also the
+thirty-two subdivisions thereof. On the right hand the ground sloped
+slowly up in a succession of wooded heights, the foothills of the Pir
+Panjal, whose snow-crowned peaks enclose the Kashmir valley on the south.
+Opposite, through a maze of leafless trees, one caught occasional gleams
+of water where the winding reaches of the river flowed gently from the
+turquoise haze where lay the Wular Lake, and beyond--clear and pale in
+the clear, crisp air--shone a glorious range of snow mountains, stretching
+away past where we knew Srinagar must lie, to be lost in the distant haze
+where sky and mountain merged in the north-east.
+
+By the roadside we passed many small lakes, or "jheels," full of duck, but
+as there was never any cover by the sides I could not see how the duck
+were to be approached.
+
+We lunched at the fascinating little bungalow at Patan (pronounced
+"Puttun"), about half-way between Baramula and Srinagar. The Rest House
+stands back from an apparently extremely populous and thriving village,
+the inhabitants whereof were all engaged in conversation of a highly
+animated kind! In the compound stood a fine group of chenar trees
+(_Platanus orientalis_) whose noble trunks and graceful branches showed in
+striking contrast to the slender stems of the poplars. The guide-book
+informed us that an ancient temple lay in ruins near by, but we trusted to
+a later visit and determined to push on. By-and-by a fort-crowned hill
+rose above the tree-tops. This we took to be Hari Parbat, the ancient
+citadel of Srinagar, and presently, through the poplars and the willows
+queer wooden huts or ch�lets began to appear, and the increasing number of
+men and beasts upon the road showed the proximity of the city.
+
+Ekkas, white-hooded, with jingling bells hung round the scraggy necks of
+their lean ponies; brown men clad in sort of night-shirts composed of
+mud-coloured rags; brown dogs, humpy cattle, and children innumerable,
+swarmed upon the causeway in ever-increasing density until we drew up at
+the custom-house, and the usual jabber took place among Sabz Ali, the
+driver, and the officials.
+
+All appeared satisfactory, however, and we were presented with bits of
+brown paper scrawled over with hieroglyphics which we took to be passes,
+and drove on, leaving the native town apparently on our left and making a
+d�tour through level fields and between rows of poplars, until we swung
+round and crossed the river by a fine bridge. Here we first got some idea
+of the city of Srinagar, which lay spread around us, bisected by the broad,
+but apparently far from sluggish river, which seems here to be about the
+width of the Thames at Westminster at high water.
+
+Tier upon tier, the rickety wooden houses crowded either bank, the
+prevailing brown being oddly lighted up by the roofs, which were
+frequently covered with deep green turf. Here and there the steep and
+peculiar dome of a Hindu temple flashed like polished silver in the keen
+sunlight, while around and beyond all rose the ring of the everlasting
+hills, their peaks clear, yet soft, against a background of cloudless blue.
+
+Close below us stood a remarkably picturesque pile of buildings, of a
+mixed style of architecture, yet harmonising well enough as a whole with
+its surroundings. Over it flew a great "banner with a strange device," and
+we assumed (and rightly) that we looked upon the palace of His Highness
+Sir Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir.
+
+Crossing the river, we dived into a bit of the native town, and were much
+struck by the want of colour as compared with an Indian street. Everything
+seemed steeped in the same neutral brown--houses, boats, people, and dogs!
+Emerging from the native street, with its open shop-fronts and teeming
+life, we drove for some little way along a straight level road, flanked,
+as usual, on either side by poplars of great size which ran through a
+brown, flat field, showing traces of recent snow, and finally finished our
+two-hundred-mile drive in front of the one and only hotel in all Kashmir.
+
+Our two little chestnuts, which had brought us right through from Chakhoti
+to Srinagar--a distance of about seventy-eight miles--in two days, were as
+lively and fit as possible, and playfully nibbled at each other's noses as
+they were walked off to their well-earned rest.
+
+The ekka horses, too, had brought our heavy luggage all the way from
+Abbotabad over a shocking road in the most admirable manner, and we had
+every reason to congratulate ourselves on having entrusted the arrangement
+of the whole business--the "bandobast" in native parlance--to our henchman
+Sabz Ali, who had thus proved himself an energetic and trustworthy
+organiser, and saving financier to the extent of some twenty rupees.
+
+I may emphasise here the importance of keeping one's heavy baggage in
+sight, herding on the ekkas in front, if possible, and keeping a wary eye
+and a firm hand on the drivers at all halts. The Smithsons, who had sent
+on their gear from Rawal Pindi some days before we got there, did not
+receive it in Srinagar until the 22nd of April. It took about five weeks
+to do the journey, and the rifle which I was obliged to leave in Karachi
+on the 19th of March finally turned up in Srinagar, after an infuriating
+and vain expenditure of telegrams, on the 1st of May!
+
+Of course, part of the delay was due, and all was attributed, to the
+unusually bad state of the roads. The heavy storms and floods which, by
+wrecking the road, had delayed us so much, naturally checked the heavy
+transport still more; and severe congestion of bullock-carts resulted at
+all the halting-places along the route. Still, the main cause of delay
+lies in the fact that the monopoly of transport has been granted by the
+Maharajah to one Danjibhoy, who charges what he pleases, and takes such
+time over his arrangements as suits his Oriental mind.
+
+The motto over the Transport Office door might well be "_Ohne Hast--mit
+Rast_!"
+
+The other (much-cherished) monopoly in this favoured land is that enjoyed
+by Mr. Nedou, the owner of THE HOTEL in Kashmir.
+
+We were advised when at Lahore to approach Mr. Nedou (who winters in his
+branch there) with many salaams and much "kow-towing," in order to make a
+certainty of being received into his select circle in Kashmir. The great
+man was quite kind, and promised that he would do his best for us; and he
+was as good as his word, as we were immediately welcomed and permitted to
+add two to the four persons already inhabiting the hostelry. I confess
+that, even after a d�k bungalow of the most inferior quality--such as that
+at Ghari Habibullah or Baramula--Mr. Nedou's hotel fails to impress one
+with an undue sense of luxury. In fact, it presented an even desolate and
+forlorn appearance with its gloomy and chilly passages and cheerless
+bed-vaults.
+
+
+[1] _N. Smyrnensis_ (?).
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+
+We learnt that the earthquake of this morning was far more than the
+ordinary affair that we had taken it to be. The hotel showed signs of a
+struggle for existence. Large cracks in the plaster, spanned by strips of
+paper gummed across to show if they widened, and little heaps of crumbled
+mortar on the floors, betrayed that the grip of mother earth had been no
+feeble one.
+
+Telegrams from Lahore inquired if the rumour was true that Srinagar had
+been much damaged, and reported an awful destruction and loss of life at
+Dharmsala. I think if we had fully known what an earthquake really meant,
+we should not have so calmly gone back to bed again!
+
+The advent of Mrs. Smithson upon the scene relieved a certain anxiety which
+we had felt as to immediate plans. The idea of rushing into Astor had been
+given up, we found--not so much on account of our tardy arrival, permits
+being still obtainable, but on account of the impossibility--at any rate
+for ladies--of forcing the high passes which the late season has kept
+safely sealed.
+
+Walter, having pawed the ground in feverish impatience for some days, had
+gone off into a region said to be full of bara singh; so we decided to
+possess our souls in patience for a little time, and remain quietly in
+Srinagar. Accordingly, instead of unpacking our "detonating musquetoons,"
+we exhumed our evening clothes, and began life in Srinagar with a cheerful
+dinner at the Residency.
+
+_Friday, April 7th_.--We are evidently somewhat premature here as far as
+climate goes. The weather since our arrival has become cold and grey, and
+we have seemed on the verge of another snowfall. However, the clerk of the
+weather has refrained from such an insult, contenting himself with sending
+a breeze down upon us fresh from the "Roof of the World," and laden with
+the chilly moisture of the snows. We have consumed great quantities of
+wood, vainly endeavouring to warm up the den which Mr. Nedou has let to us
+as a sitting-room. Fires are not the fashion in the public rooms--probably
+because the only "public" besides ourselves consist of one or two
+enterprising sportsmen, who doubtless are acclimatising themselves to camp
+life amid the snows, and have implored the proprietor to save his fuel and
+keep the outer doors open.
+
+Yesterday, we went on a shopping excursion down the river, our "hansom"
+being a long narrow sort of canoe, propelled and dexterously steered by
+four or five paddlers, whose mode of _digging_ along by means of their
+heart-shaped blades reminded me not a little of the Kroo boys paddling a
+fish-canoe off Elmina on the Gold Coast.
+
+We embarked close to the back of the hotel, at the Chenar Bagh, and went
+gaily enough down the strong current of what we took to be an affluent of
+the Jhelum. As a matter of fact, the European quarter forms an island, low
+and perfectly flat, the banks of which are heaped into a high dyke or
+"bund," washed on one side (the south) by the main river, and on the other
+by the Sunt-i-kul Canal, down which we have been paddling.
+
+The river life was most fascinating--crowds of heavy doungas lay moored
+along the banks--their long, low bodies covered in by matting, and their
+extremities sloping up into long peaked platforms for the crew.
+These--many of them women and children--were all clothed in neutral-tinted
+gowns, the only bit of colour being an occasional note of red or white in
+the puggaree of the men or skull-cap of the children. The married women
+invariably wore whity-brown veils over the head. The wooden houses that
+lined the banks were all in the general low scheme of colour, but a
+peculiar charm was added by the roofs covered in thick, green turf.
+
+Srinagar has been called the "Venice of the East," and, inasmuch as
+waterways form the main thoroughfares in both, there is a certain
+resemblance. Shikaras (the Kashmiri canoes) are first-cousins to
+gondolas--rather poor relations perhaps; both are dingy and clumsy in
+appearance, and both are managed with an extraordinary dexterity by their
+navigators.
+
+Both cities are "smelly," though Venice, even at its worst, stands many
+degrees above the incredible filth of Srinagar.
+
+Finally--both cities are within sight of snowy ranges; although it seems
+hardly fair to place in comparison the majestic range that overhangs
+Srinagar and the somewhat distant and sketchy view of the Alps as seen
+from Venice.
+
+Here, I think, all resemblance ceases. The charm of Venice lies in its
+architecture, its art treasures, its historical memories, and its
+interesting people.
+
+Srinagar has no architecture in particular, being but a picturesque chaos
+of tumble-down wooden shanties. It has no history worth speaking of, and
+its inhabitants are--and apparently have always been--a poor lot.
+
+Shopping in Srinagar is not pure and unadulterated joy. Down the river,
+spanned by its seven bridges, amidst a network of foul-smelling alleys,
+you are dragged to the emporiums of the native merchants whose
+advertisements flare upon the river banks, and who, armed with cards, and
+possessed of a wonderful supply of the English language, swarm around the
+victim at every landing-place, and almost tear one another in pieces while
+striving to obtain your custom.
+
+Samad Shall, in a conspicuous hoarding, announces that he can--and
+will--supply you with anything you may desire, including money--for he
+proclaims himself to be a banker.
+
+Ganymede, in his own opinion, is the only wood-carver worth attention.
+
+Suffering Moses is the prince of workers in lacquer, according to his own
+showing.
+
+The nose of the boat grates up against the slimy step of the landing-place,
+and you plunge forthwith into Babel.
+
+"Will you come to my shop?"
+
+"No--you are going somewhere else."
+
+"After?"
+
+"Perhaps!"
+
+"To-day, master?"
+
+"No--no time to-day."
+
+"To-morrow, then--I got very naice kyriasity [curiosity]--to-morrow,
+master--what time?"
+
+"Oh! get out! and leave me alone."
+
+"I send boat for you--ten o'clock to-morrow?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Twelve o'clock?" &c. &c.
+
+After a short experience of Kashmiri pertinacity and business methods, you
+cease from politeness and curtly threaten the river.
+
+Certainly the Kashmiri are exceedingly clever and excellent workers in
+many ways. Their modern embroideries (the old shawl manufacture is totally
+extinct) are beautiful and artistic. Their wood-carving, almost always
+executed in rich brown walnut, is excellent; and their _old_ papier-m�ch�
+lacquer is very good. The tendency, however, is unfortunately to abandon
+their own admirable designs, and assimilate or copy Western ideas as
+conveyed in very doubtful taste by English visitors.
+
+The embroidery has perhaps kept its individuality the best, although the
+trail of the serpent as revealed in "quaint" Liberty or South Kensington
+designs is sometimes only too apparent. Certain plants--Lotus, Iris,
+Chenar leaf, and so-called Dal Lake leaves, as well as various designs
+taken from the old Kashmir shawls, give scope to the nimble brains and
+fingers of the embroiderers, who, by-the-bye, are all male.
+
+Their colours, almost invariably obtained from native dyes, are excellent,
+and they rarely make a mistake in taste.
+
+The coarser work in wool on cushions, curtains, and thick white numdahs is
+most effective and cheap.
+
+Curiously enough, the best of these numdahs (which make capital rugs or
+bath blankets) are made in Yarkand; and Stein, in his _Sand-Buried Cities
+of Kotan_, found in ancient documents, of the third century or so, "the
+earliest mention of the felt-rugs or 'numdahs' so familiar to Anglo-Indian
+use, which to this day form a special product of Kotan home industry, and
+of which large consignments are annually exported to Ladak and Kashmir."
+
+The manufacture of carpets is receiving attention, and Messrs. Mitchell
+own a large carpet factory. Designs and colours are good, but the prices
+are not low enough to enable them to compete with the cheap Indian makes;
+nor, I make bold to say, is the quality such as to justify high prices.
+The shop of Mohamed Jan is well worth a visit, for three good
+reasons--first, because his Oriental carpets from Penjdeh and Khiva are of
+the best; second, because his house is one of the first specimens of a
+high-class native dwelling existing; and third, because he never worries
+his customers nor touts for orders--but, then, he is a Persian, and not a
+Kashmiri!
+
+The famous shawls which fetched such prices in England in early Victorian
+days are no longer valued, having suffered an eclipse similar to that
+undergone by the pictures of certain early Victorian Royal Academicians,
+and the loss of the shawl trade was a severe blow to Kashmir. With the
+exception of occasional specimens of these shawls, which, however, can be
+bought cheaper at sales in London, there are no _old_ embroideries to be
+got.
+
+The wood-carving industry, too, is quite modern; but, although of great
+excellence and ingenuity in manipulation, it does not appeal to me, being
+too florid and copious in its application of design. A restless confusion
+of dragons from Leh, lotus from the Dal Lake, and the ever-present chenar
+leaf, hobnob together with British--very British--crests and monograms on
+the tops of tables and the seats of chairs--portions of the furniture that
+should be left severely plain.
+
+British taste is usually bad, and to it, and not to Kashmiri initiative,
+must be ascribed the production of such exotic works as bellows
+embellished with chaste designs of lotus-buds, and afternoon tea-tables
+flaunting coats-of-arms (doubtless dating from the Conquest), beautifully
+carved in high relief just where the tray--the bottom of which is probably
+ornamented with a flowing design of raised flowers--should rest!
+
+The lacquered papier-mach� work--often extremely pretty when left to its
+own proper Cabul pattern or other native design--aims too often at
+attracting the eye of the mighty hunter by introducing an inappropriate
+markhor's head. The old lacquer-work is difficult to get, and, when
+obtained, is high in price; but comparison between the old and the new
+shows the gulf that lies between the loving and skilful labour of the
+artist and the stupid and generally "scamped" achievement of him who
+merely "knocks off" candlesticks and tobacco-boxes by the score, to sell
+to the English visitor--papier-mach� being superseded by wood, and lacquer
+by paint.
+
+The workers in silver, copper, and brass are many, but their productions
+are usually rough and inartistic. Genuine old beaten metal-work is almost
+unobtainable, although occasionally desirable specimens from Leh do find
+their way into the Srinagar shops.
+
+Chinese porcelain is to be got, usually in the form of small bowls; but it
+is not of remarkably good quality, and the prices asked for it are higher
+than in London.
+
+The jewellers' work is very far behind that of India. Amethysts of pale
+colour and yellow topaz are cheap. Fine turquoise do not come into Kashmir,
+but plenty of the rough stones (as well as imitations) are to be found,
+which, owing to a transitory fashion, are priced far above their intrinsic
+value. They come from Thibet.
+
+A great deal of a somewhat soft and ugly-coloured jade is sent from
+Yarkand, also agates and carnelian; beads of these are strung into rather
+uncouth necklets, which may be bought for half the sum first asked.
+
+Bargaining is an invariable necessity in all shopping in Kashmir, as
+everywhere else in the East, where the market value of an article is not
+what it costs to produce, but what can be squeezed for it out of the purse
+of the--usually--ignorant purchaser.
+
+Three things are essential to the successful prosecution of shopping in
+Srinagar:--
+
+(1) Unlimited time.
+
+(2) A command of emphatic language, sufficient to impress the native mind
+with the need for keeping to the point.
+
+(3) A liver in such thorough working order as to insure an extraordinary
+supply of good temper.
+
+Without all these attributes the acquisition of objects of "bigotry and
+vertue" in Srinagar is attended with pain and tribulation.
+
+The descent of the river is accomplished with ease and rapidity, but
+_revocare gradum_ involves much hard paddling, with many pants and grunts;
+and it was both cold and dark when we again lay alongside the bank of the
+Chenar Bagh, and scurried up the slippery bund to the hotel, with scarcely
+time to dress for dinner.
+
+_Sunday, 9th April_.--Friday was a horrible day--rainy, dull, and cold;
+but a thrill of excitement was sent through us by the news that Walter has
+shot two fine bara singh! Charlotte (who is nothing if not a keen
+sportswoman) was filled with zeal and the spirit of emulation, so we
+resolved to dash off down the river to Bandipur, join Walter--who has now
+presumably joined the ranks of the unemployed, being only permitted by the
+Game Laws to kill two stags--and take our pick of the remaining "Royals,"
+which, in our vivid imaginations, roamed in dense flocks through the
+nullahs beyond Bandipur!
+
+All Friday and yesterday, therefore, were devoted to preparation. I had
+already, through the kindness of Major Wigram, secured a shikari, who
+immediately demonstrated his zeal and efficiency by purchasing a couple of
+bloodthirsty knives and a huge bottle of Rangoon oil at my expense. I
+pointed out that one "skian-dhu" seemed to me sufficient for "gralloching"
+purposes, but he said two were better for bears. My acquaintance with
+bears being hitherto confined to Regent's Park, I bowed to his superior
+knowledge and forethought.
+
+A visit to Cockburn's agency resulted in the hire of the "boarded dounga"
+_Cruiser_, which the helpful Mr. Cockburn procured for us, in which to go
+down the river; also a couple of tents for ourselves with tent furniture,
+one for the servants, and a cooking tent.
+
+The local bootmaker or "chaplie-wallah" appeared, as by magic, on the
+scene, and chaplies were ordered. These consist of a sort of leather
+sandal strapped over soft leather boots or moccasins. They are extremely
+comfortable for walking on ordinary ground, but perfectly useless for hill
+work, even when the soles are studded with nails. The hideous but
+necessary grass shoe is then your only wear. The grass shoe, which is made
+as required by the native, is an intricate contrivance of rice straw, kept
+in position by a straw twist which is hauled taut between the big and next
+toe, and the end expended round some of the side webbing. The cleft sock
+and woollen boot worn underneath keep the feet warm, but do not always
+prevent discomfort and even much pain if the cords are not properly
+adjusted. However, the remedy is simple. Tear off the shoe, using such
+language as may seem appropriate to the occasion, throw it at the shikari's
+head, and order another pair to be made "ek dam"! Jane and I each
+purchased a yakdan, a sort of roughly-made leather box or trunk, strong,
+and of suitable size for either pony or coolie transport. Our wardrobe was
+stowed in these and secured by padlocks, and the cooking gear, together
+with a certain amount of stores in the shape of grocery, bread, and a
+couple of bottles of whisky were safely housed in a pair of large covered
+creels or "kiltas."
+
+Each of the party provided him or herself with a khudstick, consisting of
+a strong and tough shaft about five feet long, tapering slightly towards
+the base, where it is shod with a chisel-shaped iron end.
+
+Our staff of retainers had now been brought up to five--the shikari, Ahmed
+Bot, having procured a satellite, known as the chota shikari, a youth of
+not unprepossessing appearance, but whose necessity in our scheme of
+existence I had not quite determined. Ahmed Bot, however, was of opinion
+that all sahibs who wanted sport required two shikaris, so I imagined that
+while I was to be engaged with one in pursuit of bara singh, the other
+would employ himself in "rounding up" a few tigers for the next day's
+sport in another direction. Ahmed Bot agreed with me in the main, but did
+not feel at all sure about the tigers--he proposed ibex.
+
+The fifth wheel to our coach was a strikingly ugly person, like a
+hippopotamus, whose plainness was not diminished by a pair of enormous
+goggles; this was the harmless necessary sweeper, that pariah among
+domestics, whose usefulness is undreamed of out of India.
+
+After dinner last night we left the hotel, truly thankful to shake the
+dust of its gloomy precincts from our feet, and sought our boats, which
+were moored in the Chenar Bagh. How snug and bright the "ship" seemed
+after the murky corridors of Nedou! And yet the _Cruiser_ was not much to
+boast of, really, in the way of luxury.
+
+Let me describe a typical boarded dounga. Upon a long, low, flat-bottomed
+hull, which tapered to a sharp point at bow and stern, was raised a light
+wooden superstructure with a flat roof, upon which the passengers could
+sit. The interior was divided off into some half-a-dozen compartments, a
+vestibule or outer cabin held boxes, &c., and through it one passed into
+the dining or parlour cabin, which opened again to two little bedrooms and
+a couple of bathrooms. There was no furniture to speak of, but we had
+hired from Cockburn all that we required for the trip.
+
+The servants, as well as the crew of the dounga, were all stowed in a
+"tender" known as the cook boat--no one, except for navigating duties,
+having any business on board the "flagship."
+
+Charlotte Smithson had a smaller ship than ours--a light wooden frame,
+which supported movable matting screens or curtains, taking the place of
+our wooden cabins. The matted dounga looked as though it might be chilly,
+particularly if a strong wind came to play among the rather
+draughty-looking mats which were all that our poor friend had between her
+and a cold world!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OUR FIRST CAMP
+
+The fleet, consisting of four sail (I use this word in its purely
+conventional sense, a dounga having no more sails than a battleship), got
+under way about 5 A.M., while it was yet but barely daylight, and so we
+were well clear of Srinagar when we emerged from our cosy cabins into a
+world of clean air and brilliant colour.
+
+The broad smooth current of the Jhelum flowed steadily and calmly through
+a level plain, bearing us along at a comfortable four miles an hour, the
+crew doing little more than keep steerage-way with pole and paddle.
+
+Beyond the green, tree-studded levels to the south, the range of the Pir
+Panjal spread wide its array of dazzling peaks, while on the right towered
+the mountains which enclose the Sind Valley, culminating in the
+square-headed mass of Haramok. In the clear air the snows seemed quite
+close, although we knew that the snow-line was really some three thousand
+feet above the level of the valley.
+
+A day like this, as we sit on the little roof of our floating home
+watching the silent river unfold its shining curves, goes far to
+obliterate the memory of the fuss and worry inseparable from the exodus
+from Srinagar. After lunch we tied up for a while, and I took my gun on
+shore to try and pick up a few of the duck that dotted the waters of the
+little lakes or jheels which lay flashing amid the hillocks beyond the
+river banks. The shores of these being perfectly bare and open, it was
+obviously impossible to escape the keenly observant eyes of the duck,
+which appeared, unlike all other birds in Kashmir, to retain their
+customary wariness.
+
+Crouching low amid the furrows of a newly-ploughed field, I sent the
+shikari with a knot of natives to the far side of the water, whence they
+advanced in open line, splashing and shouting.
+
+Presently, with much fuss and indignant quacking, a cloud of duck rose,
+and, circling after their fashion, as though reluctant to quit their
+resting-place, gave me several chances of a long shot before, working high
+into the air, they departed with loud expostulation to some quieter haunt.
+
+Later in the afternoon we tied up to the bank for the night near a large
+jheel, where we all landed, Charlotte to try a rifle which she had
+borrowed, and I, if possible, to slay a few more duck, while Jane sat
+peacefully on a bank and enjoyed the glorious sunset.
+
+The bag having been swelled by the addition of another dozen
+"specimens"--obtained by the same manoeuvres as before--we strolled back
+to our ships in the luminous dusk, visions of roast "canard" floating
+seductively before our mental vision.
+
+There proved to be several varieties of duck among the countless flocks
+which I saw, notably mallard, teal, pochard, and shoveller. Likewise there
+were many coots, while herons, disturbed in their meditations by the
+untoward racket, flapped heavily away with disgusted squawks.
+
+Jane is getting along remarkably well with her Hindustani. I have just
+found her diary, and hasten to give an extract:--
+
+"Woke up very early; much bitten by pice. Tom started off to try and shoot
+a burra sahib, as he hears and hopes they've not yet shed all their horns."
+
+"He really looked very nice in his new Pushtoo suit, with putty on his
+legs and chaplains on his feet.... His chickory walked in front, carrying
+his bandobast."
+
+"9 A.M.--Sat down to my solitary breakfast of poached ekkas and paysandu
+tonga, with excellent chuprassies (something like scones). After breakfast,
+tried on my new kilta, which I have had made quite short for walking. I
+generally prefer walking to being carried in a pagdandy."
+
+"Then took another lesson in Hindustani from my murghi, though I really
+think I hardly require it! My attention a good deal distracted by the
+antics of a pair of bul-buls (not at all the same as our coo-coos) in the
+jungle overhead."
+
+"7 P.M.--T. returned after what he called a blank blank day. He found some
+bheesties (one of them a chikor ram or wild gh�t) chewing the khud on a
+precipitous d�k."
+
+"They were rather far off, about a mile he thinks, but he couldn't get any
+nearer owing to a frightful ghari-wallah with deep piasses which lay
+between, so he put up his ornithoptic sight for 2000 yards and 'pumped
+lead' into the bheesties for half-an-hour."
+
+"He says he _thinks_ he hit one, but they all went away--as his chickory
+remarked--'ek dam,' and Tom agreed with him."
+
+"He fell into a budmash on his way home and was half-drowned, but the
+chickory, assisted by a friendly chota-hazri, managed to pull him out ...
+quite an eventful day!"
+
+"10 P.M.--The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in. It looks as
+if it had been dead for weeks, but the doolie, who found it, says that in
+this climate a few hours is sufficient to obliterate a body.... Anyhow the
+head and tail seem all right.... Tom says the proper thing to do is to
+measure something--he can't quite remember whether it is the horns or the
+tail, but the latter seems the more remarkable, so we measured that, and
+found it to be 3 feet 4 inches."
+
+"By a little judicious pulling, the chickory, who knows all about
+measuring things, elongated it to 4 feet 3 inches."
+
+"This, he says, is a '_Record_'--how nice!"
+
+_Wednesday, April 12._--The place where we tied up was not far from the
+point where the Jhelum expands into the Wular Lake--a broad expanse of
+water, some seven or eight miles wide in places, which holds the proud
+record of being the largest lake in all India.
+
+The mountains rise steeply from its northern shores, and from their narrow
+glens, squalls swift and strong are said frequently to sweep over the open
+water, particularly in the afternoons. The bold sailormen of Kashmir are
+not conspicuous for nautical daring--in fact their flat-bottomed arks,
+top-heavy and unwieldy, destitute alike of anchor and rudder, are not fit
+to cope with either wind or wave; they therefore aim at punting hurriedly
+across the danger space as soon after dawn as may be--panting with
+exertion and terror, they hustle across the smooth and waveless water,
+invoking at every breath the protection of local saints.
+
+Long before we had left our beds, and blissfully unconscious of our awful
+danger, we were striking out for Bandipur, which haven we safely reached
+about 8 A.M. on a still and glorious morning.
+
+Then came the business of collecting coolies and ponies, and loading them
+up with the tents and lesser baggage under the direction of Sabz Ali and
+the shikari.
+
+By nine o'clock we were off. Charlotte and Jane, mounted astride a brace
+of native ponies, led the way, and, in ragged array, the rest of the
+procession followed. A quarter of a mile from the landing-place, clustered
+at the foot of a steep little hill--a spur from the higher ranges--lies
+the village of Bandipur, dirty and picturesque, with, its rickety-looking
+wooden houses, and its crowded little bazaar. It is a place of some
+importance in Kashmir, being the starting-point for the Astor country and
+Gilgit--and here the sahib on shikar bent, obtains coolies and ponies to
+take him over the Tragbal Pass into Gurais. A post and telegraph office
+stands proudly in the middle of the little village, and behind it lies a
+range of "godowns" filled with stores for the use of a flying column
+should the British Raj require to send troops quickly along the Gilgit
+road.
+
+Passing through into the open country, we found ourselves on a good
+road--good, that is to say, for riding or marching, as no roads in Kashmir
+are adapted for wheeled traffic excepting the main artery from Baramula to
+Srinagar, and the greater portion of the route from Srinagar to Gulmarg.
+This road we followed up a gradually narrowing valley, and over a brawling
+little river, until at Kralpura the Gilgit road begins the steep ascent to
+the Tragbal by a series of wide zigzags up the face of a mountain. The
+pass which we should have had to tackle, had we carried out our original
+intention of going into Astor for markhor and ibex, is nearly 12,000 feet
+above sea level, and is still securely and implacably closed to all but
+the hardiest sportsmen. A short cut, which we took up the hill face, led
+us through a rough scrub of berberis and wild daphne (the former just
+showing green and the latter in flower) until, somewhat scant of breath,
+we regained the road, and followed it to the left up a gorge. As the
+mountains closed in on either side, we began to look out for the camp,
+which we knew was not far up the nullah. Presently, turning off the Gilgit
+road, along a track to the left, we came upon Walter--bearded like the
+pard--a pard which had left off shaving for about a week. He was pensively
+sitting on a big sun-warmed boulder, beguiling the time while awaiting us
+by contemplating the antics of a large family of monkeys, which he pointed
+out to Jane, to her great joy.
+
+Tender inquiries as to camp and consequent lunch revealed the sad fact
+that some miles of exceedingly rough path yet lay betwixt us and the haven
+where we would be.
+
+So we pricked forward, along a sort of cattle track, across dirty
+snow-filled little gullies, and over rock-strewn slopes, until the white
+gleam of Walter's tent showed clear on its perch atop of a flat-roofed
+native hut.
+
+Crossing the stream which tumbled down the valley, by a somewhat "wobbly"
+bridge, and picking our way through the mixen which forms the approach to
+every well-appointed hut, we arrived upon the roof which supported the
+tent. This we achieved without any undue trouble, the building, like most
+"gujar" homes, being constructed on the side of a hill sufficiently steep
+to obviate the necessity for any back wall--the rear of the roof
+springing directly from the hillside. A Gujar village, owing to this
+peculiarity of construction, always looks oddly like a deposit of great
+half-open oysters clinging to the face of the hill.
+
+After a welcome lunch, the ladies both pronounced decidedly against
+remaining in or near the highly-scented precincts of the village. The
+argument that there was no flat ground excepting roofs to be seen was
+overruled; so Walter and I climbed a neighbouring ridge, and selected a
+site on the crest.
+
+It was not, certainly, a very good site for a camp, as it was so narrow
+that the unwary might easily step over the edge on either side, and
+toboggan gracefully either back on top of the aforesaid roof, or forward
+into a very rocky-bedded stream which employed its superfluous energy in
+tossing some frayed and battered logs from boulder to boulder, and which
+would have rejoiced greatly in doing the same to a fallen nestling from
+the eyry above.
+
+Neither was the ridge level, and our tents were pitched at such an angle
+that the slumberer whose grasp of the bed-head relaxed
+
+  "In the mist and shadow of sleep"
+
+was brought to wakefulness by finding his toes gently sliding out into the
+nipping and eager air of night.
+
+The holding-ground for the tent-pegs was not all that could be desired,
+and visions of our tents spreading their wings in the gale and vanishing
+into space haunted us.
+
+No--it was not an ideal camping-ground, and Jane, whose rosy dreams of
+camping in Kashmir had pictured her little white canvas home set up in a
+flowery mead by the side of a purling brook, gazed upon the rugged slopes
+which rose around--the cold snow gleaming through the shaggy
+pine-trees--with a shiver and a distinct air of disapproval.
+
+It grew more than chilly too, as the sun dipped early behind the ridge
+that rose jealous between us and the western light, and an icy breeze from
+the snow came stealing down the gorge and whispering among the taller
+tree-tops in the nullah at our feet.
+
+We were about 1500 feet above the Wular Lake, and snow lay in thick
+patches within a few yards of our tents, and had obviously only melted
+quite recently from the site of the camp, leaving more clammy mud about
+the place than we really required.
+
+As it is reasonable to suppose that the bilingual lady who composes the
+fashion columns of the _Daily Horror_ is most anxious to know how the fair
+sex was accoutred at our dinner party that night, I hasten to inform her
+that Charlotte was gowned in an elegant confection of Puttoo of a simply
+indescribable nuance of _cr�me de boue_--the train, extremely d�collet�e
+at the lower end, cunningly revealing at every turn glimpses of an
+enchanting pair of frou-frou putties.
+
+The neat bottines, _� la_ Diane Chasseresse, took a charming touch of
+lightness from the aluminium nails which decorated the "uppers" with a
+quaint and original Dravidian cornice.
+
+She carried a spring bouquet of wild onions _en branche_--ornaments (of
+course), diamonds.
+
+Every one remarked that Jane was simply too lovely for words, as, with the
+sweet simplicity of an _ing�nue, en combinaison_ with the craft of a
+Machiavella (I beg to point out that I know my Italian genders), she
+draped her lissom form in the clinging folds of an enormous habit _de peau
+de brebis_--portions of ear and the tip of her nose tilted over the edge
+of the deep turned-up collar, which, on one side, supported the coquettish
+droop of the hairy "Tammy" that, dexterously pinned to the spikes of a
+diamond fender, gave a _clou_ to the entire "_sac d'artifice_."
+
+Walter, having already shot two bara singh and a serow, came under the
+"statute of limitations" of the Kashmir Game Laws, and had to sound the
+"cease firing" as regards these animals; but Charlotte and I, having
+"khubbar" of game, started at 7 A.M. in pursuit. She, attended by Walter
+and in tow of Asna (the best shikari in all Kashmir), followed up the
+nullah which lay to our right, while I deflected to the north. Having
+donned grass shoes, I started off up a very steep slope which rose
+directly behind the camp. Reaching snow within a few minutes of leaving my
+tent, I was glad to find it hard and the going good, the early sun not yet
+having had time to soften and destroy the crisp surface.
+
+Up and up we toiled, I puffing like any grampus--partly by reason of not
+yet being in good condition, and partly on account of the height, which
+was probably nearly 9000 feet above sea level. As we rose to the shoulder
+of the hill the gradient became much easier, and I had leisure to admire
+the panorama that stretched around the snowy ridge, which fell away
+abruptly on either side through dense pine forests. The day was quite
+glorious.... The sun, blazing in a cloudless sky, cast sharp steel-blue
+shadows where rock or tree stood between the snow and his nobility. The
+white peaks that rose around in marvellous array seemed so near in the
+bright air that it seemed as though one could see the smallest creature
+moving on their distant slopes. But there was little life observable in
+this still and silent world--nothing but an occasional pair of crows
+flapping steadily over the woods, or a far vulture circling at a giddy
+height in the "blue dome of the air." Silence everywhere, except for the
+distant and perpetual voice of many waters murmuring in the unseen depths
+below.
+
+To the south--showing clear above the serrated back of the ridge beyond
+the camp--stood the Pir Panjal; pale ivory in the pale horizon below the
+sun. At the foot of the valley up which we had come yesterday, and partly
+screened by the intruding buttresses of its enfolding hills, the Wular
+Lake lay a shimmering shield of molten silver.
+
+In front, the sheeted mountains which guard Gurais and flank the icy
+portals of the Tragbal stood, a series of glistening slopes and
+cold-crowned precipices, while to the east Haramok reared his 17,000 feet
+into a threefold peak of snowy majesty.
+
+It was a sight to thank God for, and to remember with joy all the days of
+one's life. Doubtless there are many views as wonderful in this lovely
+land, but this was the first, and therefore not to be effaced nor its
+memory dimmed by anything that may come after.
+
+The shikari had not climbed the mountain's brow to waste time over scenery;
+so, having apparently gone as far as he wanted on the ridge, he plunged
+down among the silver firs to the right, and I, with my heart in my mouth,
+went after him. At first it seemed to the inexperienced that we were
+slithering down the most awful places, and that, should the snow give way,
+I should have to swiftly embrace the nearest tree to avoid being shot down,
+a human avalanche, farther than I cared to think. However, I soon found it
+was all right. A welcome halt for lunch brought the tiffin coolie to the
+front. A blanket spread upon the hard snow at the foot of a fir made an
+excellent seat, and a cold roast teal, an apple, and a small flask of
+whisky were soon exhumed from the basket. Water, or rather the want of it,
+was a difficulty, for I was uncommonly thirsty, and no sign of any water
+was to be seen. A judicious blending of the dry teal with bits of
+succulent apple overcame the drought, and the half-hour for refreshment
+passed all too quickly.
+
+The men considered it now time to get up some "shikar," so they invented a
+bear. This was exciting! They had separated (there were four of them) in
+search of traces of bara singh, &c., and some one found the bear, or its
+den, or a lock of its wool--I really couldn't quite ascertain which--but
+fearful excitement was the immediate result.
+
+A consultation took place in frenzied whispers. My rifle was peeled from
+its case, and we proceeded to scramble stealthily down a horribly steep
+face much broken by rocks. The shikari being in front with my rifle over
+his shoulder, I was favoured with frequent glimpses down its ugly black
+barrel as I, like Jill, "came tumbling after," and I rejoiced that all the
+cartridges were safely stowed in my own pocket. Well! we searched like
+conspirators for that bear, peeped round rocks and peered into holes, and
+anxiously eyed all possible and impossible places where a bear might be
+supposed to reside, but there was no bear; and at length we arrived on the
+bank of the torrent which rioted noisily down the bottom of the nullah.
+
+I now began to realise that plunging about in snow, often over one's knees,
+and scrambling among the fallen tree-trunks and great rocks selected by
+the torrent to make its bed, was distinctly tiring work!
+
+Presently we came to a bridge over the river. It consisted of a single log,
+and appeared extremely slender. The stream was not deep enough to drown a
+man, but, all the same, a slip, sending one into the foaming water among a
+particularly large and hard collection of boulders, seemed most
+undesirable, and I stepped across, like Agag, delicately, carefully
+balancing myself with a khudstick. The men came prancing over as if they
+were on a good high-road, the careless ease with which they made the
+passage bordering on impertinence! I reflected, however, that sheep, and
+such like beasts of humble brain, can stroll upon the brink of gruesome
+precipices without any fear of falling, and my self-respect returned.
+
+After another half-hour of stiff scrambling I sat down to rest awhile,
+leaving the men to spy the neighbourhood. Of course they had to find
+something, so this time they found a "serow"--a somewhat scarce beast. I
+awaited the coming of the serow at various coigns of vantage where they
+said it was bound to pass, while the four men surrounded it from different
+directions. Finally, like the Levite, it passed by on the other side--at
+least I never saw it. The shikari afterwards informed me, in confidence,
+that it was, like the inexcusable baby in _Peter Simple_, "a very little
+one."
+
+We now made the best of our way down the nullah, and when an apology for a
+path became apparent I rejoiced greatly, and followed it along its
+corkscrew course until the camp came suddenly into view as we topped a
+spur, which gave the path a final excuse for dragging me up a stiff two
+hundred feet, and then sending me down a knee-shaking descent, for no
+apparent reason but pure "cussedness."
+
+Charlotte had got home just before me, having seen nothing to shoot at.
+She, too, seemed anxious for tea!
+
+During the day Sabz Ali had been doing his level best to improve the
+position in our sleeping-tent. The camp-beds had stood at such an angle
+that it was almost impossible to avoid sliding gradually into the outer
+darkness, but S.A. had scraped out earth from the head, and filled up a
+terrace at the foot, in a way which gave us hope of sound sleep. Our
+things had been carefully stowed, too, and a sort of hole scooped for the
+bath. Luxury stared us in the face!
+
+The sunset certainly was a little dull last night, but we were quite
+unprepared for the dreary aspect of Dame Nature to which we awoke this
+morning. It was raining very heavily, and a dense pall of mist hung low
+among the pines, giving an impression of melancholy durability.
+
+There was obviously nothing to do but exist as cheerfully as might be
+until the weather improved. The wet had shrunk canvas and rope gear till
+the tent-guys were as taut as fiddle-strings; and as it did not seem to
+have occurred to any of the servants to attend to this, an immediate tour
+of the camp had to be undertaken, in "rubbers" and waterproofs, to slack
+off guys and inspect the drainage system, as we had no wish to have our
+earthen floor--already sufficiently cold and clammy--turned into an
+absolute swamp.
+
+These things done, we scuttled and slid down to the mess tent, and
+breakfasted as best we might; and the best was surprisingly good,
+considering the difficulties the wretched servants must have had in
+cooking anything in their wet lair, where the miserable fire of damp
+sticks produced apparently little but acrid smoke.
+
+We passed a dismal day, as, wrapped in our warmest clothes, we sat upon
+our beds watching the rain turn to snow, then to hail and sleet, and
+finally back to rain again; while the ever-changing wisps of grey mist
+gathered thick in the glens, or "put forth an arm and crept from pine to
+pine."
+
+Towards evening the clouds broke a little, and the forest-clad steeps
+appeared through them, powdered thickly with new snow. Walter and I
+sallied forth from our sodden tents and held a council of war in the mud.
+It was decided to quit our somewhat unsatisfactory and precarious position
+early to-morrow, if fine, as the weather looked so nasty, and a squall of
+wind might have awkward consequences.
+
+_Friday, April_ 14.--A very fairly fine morning enabled us to strike camp
+yesterday, and get the baggage off in good time. The Smithsons decided to
+make for the jheels near the river, in order to give the duck a final
+worry round before the season closes on the 15th.
+
+My shikari having reported a good bara singh in a small nullah off the
+Erin, I arranged to go in search of him. The march down to Bandipur was a
+short and easy one, and we got comfortably settled on board our boats
+early in the afternoon. About sunset the clouds gathered thick over the
+hills which we had left, and a thunderstorm broke, its preliminary squall
+throwing the crews of our fleet into a fearful fuss, and sending them on
+to the bank with extra ropes and holdfasts to make all secure. An elderly
+lady, with a dirty red cap and very untidy ringlets, superintended the
+business with much clamour. We take her to be the wife or grandmother (not
+sure which) of the skipper.
+
+It was with an undoubted sense of solid comfort that we lay in our cosy
+beds under a wooden roof, whereon the fat rain-drops sputtered, while the
+thunder still crackled and banged in the distance!
+
+We shifted before dawn to a small village a couple of miles to the east,
+and at 6.30 Jane and I set out to attack the bara singh, of which the
+shikari held out high hope. My wife, mounted on a rough pony, was able to
+accomplish with great comfort the two miles of flat country which we had
+to traverse before turning off sharp to the right along a track which led
+steeply upwards through the scrub that clothed the lower part of the
+nullah.
+
+There is something unusually charming in the dawn here--the crisp, buoyant
+air, the silent hills, their lower slopes and corries still a purple
+mystery; on high, the silver peaks--looking ridiculously close--change
+swiftly from their cold pallor into rosy life at the first touch of the
+risen sun.
+
+The first part of our day's work was easy enough. The sun was still hidden
+from us behind the mountain flange on our left; the snow patches on the
+sky-line ahead seemed comparatively near, and the diabolical swiftness of
+the shikari's stealthy walk was yet to be fully realised.
+
+Up and up we went, first through a thick scrub or jungle of a highly
+prickly description, over a few small streams, then out upon a grassy
+ridge, up which we slowly panted. The gradient became sharper, and I began
+to feel a little anxious about Jane, as the short, brown grass was
+slippery with frost--a slip would be very easy, and the results unpleasant.
+However, with the able assistance of the shikari, she did very well, and,
+having crossed a shelving patch of snow by cutting steps with our
+khudstick, we found ourselves, after an hour and a half's stiff climbing,
+on the sky-line of the ridge that had seemed but an easy stroll from below.
+The heights and distances are most deceptive, partly on account of the
+crystal clearness of the air, and partly because of the magnitude of
+everything in proportion. The mountains are not only high themselves, but
+their spurs and foothills would rank as able-bodied mountains were they
+not dwarfed by peaks which average 15,000 feet in height above the sea.
+The pines which clothe their sides, the chenars and poplars in the valley,
+are all enormous when compared with their European cousins.
+
+The view was most remarkable as we gained the crest of the ridge--a sea of
+white cloud came boiling up from the valley to the east, and, pouring over
+the saddle upon which we stood, gave only occasional glimpses of snow and
+pine and precipice above, or the glint of water in the rice-fields far
+below. Once, between the swirling cloud masses, the near hills lay clear
+in the sunshine for a few moments and revealed a party of five bara singh
+hinds, crossing the slope in front of us, and not more than 150 yards away.
+Alas! there was no stag.
+
+This was not satisfactory weather for stalking. However I was hopeful, as
+I have noticed that in the fine forenoons a thick white belt of cloud
+often forms about the snow level--roughly, some 8000 feet above the sea,
+or 3000 above the Wular Lake--and hangs there for an hour or two, to
+disappear entirely by midday. And so it came about to-day; after a halt
+for tiffin, I set forward in brilliant sunshine, while Jane remained
+quietly perched on the hillside, as the shikari said the road was not good
+for a lady. The shikari was right, as, within ten minutes of starting, we
+had to drop from the crest of the ridge to circumvent a big rock which
+barred our way, to find ourselves confronted by a very unpleasant-looking
+slope of short brown grass, which fell away at an angle of about 50� to
+what seemed an endless depth. This grass, having only just become
+emancipated from its winter snow, had all its hair--so to speak--brushed
+straight down, and there was mighty little stuff to hold on to! Carefully
+digging little holes with our khudsticks, and not disdaining the help of
+my shikari, I got across, and thankfully scrambled back to the safety of
+the ridge.
+
+Now we reached snow, and the going became easier, whereupon Ahmed Bot
+promptly set a pace which left me struggling far behind. As the sun grew
+stronger the surface-crust of the snow became soft, and at every few steps
+one went through to the knees, until both muscles and temper became sorely
+tried. For an hour or so we kept climbing up what was evidently one of the
+many steep and rugged ranges which, radiating from Haramok, on this side
+flank the Wular with their lofty bastions. Having apparently attained the
+height he deemed necessary, and got well above the part of the pine forest
+in which he expected to find game, Ahmed Bot turned to the left of the
+ridge, and we were immediately involved in the deep drifts which covered
+the pine-clad slope of the nullah. Over snow-covered trunks of prostrate
+trees, over hidden holes and broken rocks, we toiled and scrambled until,
+emerging breathless on a bare knoll--smooth and white as a great
+wedding-cake--we obtained a searching view into the neighbouring gullies.
+Still no sign or track of any "beast," so we worked back until, tired and
+hot, I regained the place where Madame lay basking beneath her sunshade.
+The shikari and his myrmidons departed to "look" another bit of country,
+while I, nothing loth, remained to await events in the neighbourhood of
+the refreshment department.
+
+On the return of the men, who had of course seen nothing, we set off for
+home, climbing down the edge of the ridge where yellow colchicum starred
+the turf. It was steep--verging on the precipitous in places--and Jane
+frankly expressed her satisfaction when we accomplished the worst part and
+entered a dense jungle of scrubby bushes, all of which seemed to grow
+spines of sorts. A bear was said to have been seen here yesterday, so we
+kept our weather eyelids lifting, but were not favoured with a sight of
+him. We had almost gained the bottom of the hill, with but two short miles
+to dinner and a tub, when weird shrieks and whistles were exchanged
+between our people and an excited villager below. The shikari, his eyes
+gleaming with uncontrollable excitement, announced that the "big stag" was
+waiting for me at that very moment!--and therewith Ahmed Bot dashed off
+down the hill, leaving me to follow as best I might. Leaving my wife in
+charge of the tiffin coolie, I tumbled off after the shikari, whom I found
+gloating with the messenger over the inspiriting particulars of the
+monarch of the glen, which, I understood, crouched expectant some paltry
+2000 feet above us, near the top of the nullah!
+
+It was past six o'clock, and the light already showing signs of waning, so
+we lost no time in attacking the hill again. I was pretty well "done," and
+had to accept a tow from the shikari, and hand in hand we pressed up that
+accursed hill until, at seven o'clock, the sun set and it began to grow
+dusk. Lying down near the edge of the snow, to gain breath and let the
+shikari crawl round and "look" the face of the hill, I was soon moved to
+activity by the news that the stag was lying under a pine tree within a
+few hundred yards. A short "crawl" brought me within sight of the beast,
+who lay half-hidden by a rock. It was now so dark that even with my
+glasses I could only make sure that it was a "horn beast" and not a hind;
+there was no time to lose, so, putting up my sight for 150 yards, I let
+him have it, and was nearly as much surprised as gratified to see him roll
+out on the snow to the shot. My vexation and disgust may be imagined when
+I found the noble beast to be a miserable 8-pointer, which I would never
+have fired at if I could have seen its head properly. Heartily consigning
+the shikari, together with the mendacious villager and all his kind, to a
+hot place, I dolefully stumbled away downhill again in the gathering dark,
+and finally deposited my weary and dejected self on board the boat, after
+fourteen hours of the hardest walking I have ever done.
+
+There is a confused tale prevalent that the bear, taking a mean advantage
+of my absence, has been down to the village and eaten a few ponies, or
+frightened them--I can't make out which.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+BACK TO SRINAGAR
+
+Easter Day, _April_ 23.--We left the Erin district early in the morning
+following the bara singh fiasco, and punted and poled up the river to join
+the Smithsons in a last attack upon the duck. We found the bold Colonel,
+
+  "Rough with slaughter and red with fight,"
+
+enjoying himself hugely among the jheels, and we prepared to join in the
+fray; but our _chasse_ was put an end to by the discovery that the 14th,
+and not the 15th, was the last legal day for shooting. So we packed away
+our guns and towed up to Srinagar, which we reached on Sunday afternoon.
+
+Our brief experience of camping and "shikar" had proved to my wife that
+she was not cast in the heroic mould of a female Nimrod. Not being a shot
+herself--as Charlotte is--she saw that, as far as she was concerned, a
+shooting expedition with the Smithsons would entail a great deal of
+solitary rumination in camp, while the rest of the party pursued the red
+bear to his den, or chased the nimble markhor up and down the precipices.
+The joys of reading, knitting, and washing the family clothes
+might--probably would--pall after a time; and the physical exertion of
+"walking with the guns" in Kashmir is decidedly more of an undertaking
+than over a Perthshire grouse moor! Our original arrangement, before
+coming out to join the Smithsons, was that the time should be spent in
+camping, boating, "loafing," and shooting. Being perfectly ignorant of the
+conditions of life out here, we were unaware of the fact that it is
+practically impossible to combine serious shooting with any other form of
+amusement. In Scotland one may stalk one day, fish the next, and golf the
+third, but out here it is not so. The worshipper of Diana must be prepared
+to sacrifice everything else at her shrine; he must go far afield, and be
+prepared to live hard and work hard, and even then it may befall that his
+trophies of the chase are none too plentiful. That will depend a good deal
+on his shikari and his own knowledge, together with luck.
+
+Walter had the good fortune to come upon two fine stags not far from his
+camp almost as soon as he got there. He was within fifty yards of them as
+they were moving slowly in deep snow, and he killed them both; the best of
+these was a remarkably fine 10-pointer, length of horn 41 inches and span
+38-1/2 inches. His wife spent an equal time in the same neighbourhood and
+never saw anything.[1]
+
+When we talked over plans with Colonel and Mrs. Smithson at Pindi, the
+general idea had crystallised into a scheme for going into Astor to shoot,
+immediately upon our arrival in Kashmir, and, in order to reach Srinagar
+before April 1st--the date of issue of shooting passes--we had struggled
+hard to make our way into the country before it was really attractive to
+the ordinary visitor.
+
+When we did reach Srinagar we found that our friends had abandoned all
+idea of an expedition to Astor, partly on account of expense, but
+principally on account of the backwardness of the season, which
+practically precluded ladies from crossing the Tragbal and Boorzil Passes
+for some time. The merits and demerits of the Tilail district and
+Baltistan came up for review, and then we almost decided to go to Leh
+until we reflected that the return journey over a bare and open
+country--arid and hot as an Egyptian desert--in the month of August might
+not be unmixed joy, and the Smithsons were assured that they would find no
+sport whatever _en route_, but would have to go several marches beyond Leh
+to obtain the chance of an Ovis Ammon or Thibetan antelope.
+
+The Leh scheme thus having come to naught, and our friends being still
+wholly intent on "shikar" to the exclusion of all other pursuits, we
+decided to be independent, so we hired a nice-looking boarded dounga,
+whose fresh and clean appearance pleased us, for a term of three months.
+Nedou's Hotel offered so few attractions and so many drawbacks that we
+were prepared to do anything rather than return to it, and, as a matter of
+economy, we scored heavily, as, on working it out, we found that the boat,
+including the cook-boat, would cost 60 rupees per month. Our food and the
+wages of those servants whom we should not have required at the hotel came
+to approximately 80 rupees per month, making a total of 140 rupees, or �9,
+6s. 8d.; whereas our hotel bill would have come to 12 rupees per day,
+without extras--or 360 rupees (�24) per month--a clear saving in money as
+well as in comfort.
+
+Our new habitation--the house dounga _Moon_--was owned and partly worked
+by Satarah, an astute old rascal, whose "tawny beard," like Hudibras'--
+
+    "Was the equal grace
+  Both of his wisdom and his face;
+  In cut and dye so like a tyle
+  A sudden view it would beguile:
+  The upper part whereof was whey,
+  The nether orange mixt with grey."
+
+His costume consisted of a curious sort of short nightgown worn over white
+and flappy trousers, below which were revealed a pair of big, flat naval
+feet. The first lieutenant, Sabhana--sleek and civil-spoken, but
+desperately afraid of work--was, we understand, son-in-law to the Admiral
+Satarah, having to wife the Lady Jiggry, eldest daughter of that worthy,
+who, with her younger sisters Nouri, Azizi, and "the Baba," completed the
+ship's company.
+
+The _Moon_ differed from an ordinary house-boat in being narrower, and
+possessing a long bow and stern which projected far enough from the body
+of the boat to enable men to pole or paddle with ease; a house-boat can
+only be towed. On embarking by means of a narrow gangway--a plank
+possessed of an uncontrollable desire to "tip-up" at unexpected and
+disconcerting moments--one entered first a small vestibule, or
+"ante-cabin," which held our big boxes and opened into the
+drawing-room--quite a roomy apartment, about fifteen feet by ten feet,
+fitted with a fireplace, a rough writing-table, and overmantel, surmounted
+by a photograph--something faded--of Mrs. Langtry! A small table and a
+couple of deck chairs graced the floor, while upon the walls a
+heterogeneous collection of pictures, including a coloured lithograph of a
+cottage and a brook, a fearful and wonderful portrayal of an otter, and a
+very fancy stag of unlimited points dazzled the eye. The ceiling was
+decorated with an elaborate and most effective design in wood--a fashion
+very common in Srinagar, consisting of a sort of patchwork panelling of
+small pieces of wood, cut to length and shape, and tacked on to a backing
+in geometrical designs. At a little distance the effect is rich and
+excellent, but close inspection shows up the tintacks and the glue, and a
+prying finger penetrates the solid-looking panel with perfect ease.
+
+The drawing-room was separated from the dining "saloon" by a sliding
+door--which frequently refused to slide at all, or else perversely slid so
+suddenly as to endanger finger-tips and cause unseemly words to flow. This
+noble apartment of elegant dimensions (to borrow the undefiled English of
+the house-agent) could contain four feasters at a pinch. Sabz Ali having
+cooked the dinner, the cook-boat was laid alongside, and Sabz Ali,
+clambering in and out of the window, proceeded to serve the repast, a
+black paw, presumably belonging to Ayata, the kitchenmaid-man, appearing
+from time to time to retrieve the soiled plates or hand up the next course.
+
+A funny little sideboard and cupboard contained a slender stock of knives,
+forks, and glasses, and part of a broken-down dinner set, while the
+fireplace easily held three dozen of soda-water.
+
+Then came Jane's bedroom, fitted with a cupboard and shelves, which were a
+constant source of covetousness to me, who had none. A small bathroom
+completed our suite of apartments, and, after the bare boards of the
+_Cruiser_, the _Moon_ seemed to overflow with luxury.
+
+We have been taking life easily here for the last week. The Smithsons
+intend going into Tilail as soon as the Tragbal becomes feasible; we
+propose to remain in Srinagar for a while. The weather has not been very
+fine--cold winds and a good deal of rain, varied by thunderstorms, being
+our daily experience. The spring is, I am told, exceptionally backward,
+and, although the almond is in full and lovely flower, the poplars and
+chenars are barely showing a sign of life.
+
+My wife having gone to lunch at the Residency this afternoon, I walked
+half-way up the Takht-i-Suleiman, whose sharp, rock-strewn pyramid rises a
+thousand feet above Srinagar.
+
+The view of the Kashmir plain, through which the river winds like a silver
+snake; the solemn ring of mountains, enclosing the valley with a rampart
+of rock and snow; the innumerable roofs of the city, glittering like
+burnished scales in the keen sunlight, densely clustered round the
+fort-crowned height of Hari Parbat, went to make up such a picture as
+Turner would have kneeled to.
+
+Of course it is simply futile to compare one magnificent view with another
+which differs entirely in kind. All that one can do is to lay by in the
+memory a mental picture-gallery of recollection; and as I sat in the
+shelter of a big rock, gazing out over the level plain stretching below,
+where the changing shadows as they swept by turned the amber masses of the
+trees to gold, I conjured up in my mind's eye other scenes whose beauties
+will remain with me while life shall last:--The purple and gold of a
+glorious sunset over Etna, the Greek theatre of Taormina in front of me,
+with the sea below--a shimmering opal that melted away in the haze beyond
+Syracuse; the awful rapids raging furiously below Niagara, a very ocean
+tortured and maddened to blind fury, pouring its irresistible torrents
+through the chasm above the whirlpool; and again, a cloudless October
+morning, with just the keen zest of early autumn in the air, as I lay high
+up on a hillside in Ardgour watching for deer--with the hills of Lochaber
+and Ballachulish reflected in all their glory of purple and russet in the
+waters of Loch Linnhe, windless and still!
+
+Chills can be caught amidst the most glorious scenery--the little tufts of
+purple self-heal at my feet were shivering and shaking in a biting breeze
+that swept down from the snows to the north-east, and although I am an
+admirer of Kingsley, I do not hold with him in his wrong-headed admiration
+for a "nor'-easter"--so I quitted my perch in search of tea.
+
+_Easter Monday_.--The Smithsons scuttled away in a great hurry to-day,
+their shikari, Asna (the best shikari in Kashmir), having heard that,
+owing to the lateness of the season, the bara singh have not even yet all
+shed their horns--so Charlotte is filled with high hope. The bears, too,
+are said to be waking from their winter's doze and poking around in warm
+and balmy corners.
+
+Armed to the teeth and thirsting for blood, the hunter and the huntress
+cast loose their matted dounga and paddled away merrily down the Jhelum to
+Bandipur, thence to pursue the royal bara singh, and later, if possible,
+scale the snow-barred slopes of the Tragbal and penetrate the lonely
+Tilail Valley to assail the red bear and the multitudinous ibex.
+
+Jane and I having decided that a purely shikar expedition into the more
+difficult parts of the country was not suited to our prosaic habits,
+remained to enjoy the effeminate pleasures of Srinagar till the weather
+should grow a few degrees warmer.
+
+As we are bidden to a sort of state luncheon to-morrow, given by the
+Maharajah, it appeared to me to be but right and seemly to go and inscribe
+my name in the visitors' book of His Highness, and also to call upon his
+brother, the Rajah Sir Amar Singh. I went with the more alacrity as I
+thought it might prove interesting. Strolling across the big bridge above
+the Palace, I soon found myself in the purely native quarter, immersed in
+a seething crowd of men and beasts, from beneath whose passing feet a
+cloud of dust rose pungent. The water-sellers, the hawkers of vegetables
+and of sweets, the cattle, the loafers and the children got into the way
+and out of it in kaleidoscopic confusion. By the side of the street,
+money-changers, wrapped in silent consideration, bent over their trays of
+queer and outlandish coins. Bright cottons and silks flaunted pennons of
+gorgeous colours. Brass, glowing like gold, rose piled on low wide
+counters. In front stood the Palace, looking its best from this point, and
+showing huge beside the huddle of wooden and plaster huts which hem it in.
+
+General Raja Sir Amar Singh lives in a sort of glorified English villa.
+Were it not for the flowering oleanders and hibiscus in front and the
+silvery gleam of temple domes beyond, one might suppose oneself near the
+banks of Father Thames. And were it not for the group of stalwart
+retainers at the door, the illusion need not be lost on entering the house.
+
+The hall and staircase were decorated with a profusion of skins and horns,
+somewhat modern and brilliant rugs, and tall glasses full of flowers
+closely copied from Nature; while the drawing-room was of a type very
+frequently seen near London.
+
+Like so many British reception-rooms, it shone replete with _objets d'art_,
+rather inclining to Oriental luxury than Japanese restraint.
+
+My host, who came in almost immediately, was charming, speaking English
+with fluency, although he has never been in England.
+
+He is essentially a strong man, and remarkably well posted in everything,
+both political and social, that occurs in the state, mixing far more
+freely than his brother with the English, towards whom his courtesy is
+proverbial.
+
+His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many respects
+of a different type. Keeping more aloof from the English colony, he spends
+much of his time in devotion and the privacy of the inner Palace.
+
+On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the
+iron bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like
+precincts of the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage, and
+found ourselves at the "front door," where, in the visitors' book, by
+means of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and
+condition.
+
+_April_ 27.--His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a luncheon
+given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared to
+cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the present
+feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of the Moguls
+when Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair Nourmahal.
+
+  "Th' Imperial Selim held a feast
+  In his magnificent Shalimar:--
+  In whose saloons ...
+  The valleys' loveliest all assembled."
+
+Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the
+stern, where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an
+awning, was brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some
+seven or eight miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
+
+Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the Sunt-i-kul
+Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the Takht-i-Suleiman,
+the rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple, forms a constant
+background to Srinagar.
+
+The canal was closely lined with house-boats and their satellite
+cook-boats, clinging to the poplar-shaded banks. The golf-links lay on our
+left, and on a low spur to the right stood the hospital, which the energy
+and philanthropy of the Neves has gained for the remarkably ungrateful
+Kashmiri. It is told that a man, being exceedingly ill, was cared for and
+nursed during many weeks in the Mission Hospital, his whole family
+likewise living on the kindly sahibs. When he was cured and shown the door,
+he burst into tears because he was not paid wages for all the time he had
+spent in hospital!
+
+Just before entering the waterway of noble chenars, known as the Chenar
+Bagh (a camping-ground reserved for bachelors only), we ported our helm
+(or at least would have done so had there been any rudders in Kashmir),
+and pushed through the lock-gate, which gives entrance to the Dal Lake,
+against a brisk current.
+
+This gate, cunningly arranged upon the non-return-valve principle, is
+normally kept open by the current from the Dal; but if the Jhelum, rising
+in flood, threatens to pour back into the lake and swamp the low ground
+and floating gardens, it closes automatically, and so remains sealed until
+the outward flow regains the mastery.
+
+A sharp bout of paddling, puffing, and splashing shot us into the peaceful
+waters of the Dal Lake, over which every traveller has gushed and raved.
+It is difficult, indeed, not to do so, for it is truly a dream of beauty.
+
+A placid sheet of still water, its surface only broken here and there by
+the silvery trails of rippled wake left by the darting shikaras or
+slow-moving market boats, lay before us, shining in the crystal-clear
+atmosphere. On the right rose the Takht, his thousand feet of rocky
+stature dwarfed into insignificance by holy Mahadeo and his peers, whose
+shattered peaks ring round the lake to the north, their dark cliffs and
+shaggy steeps mirrored in its peaceful surface.
+
+On the lower slopes strong patches of yellow mustard and white masses of
+blossoming pear-trees rose behind the tender green fringe of the young
+willows.
+
+As we swept on, the lake widened. On the left a network of water lanes
+threaded the maze of low-growing brushwood and whispering reeds, and round
+us extended the half-submerged patches of soil which form the celebrated
+"floating gardens" of the lake. From any point of view except the
+utilitarian, these gardens are a fraud. A combination of matted and
+decaying water-plants, mud, and young cabbages kept in place by rows and
+thickets of willow scrub, is curious, but not lovely; and our eyes turned
+away to where Hari Parbat raised his crown of crumbling forts above the
+native city, or to the mysterious ruins of Peri Mahal, clinging like a
+swallow's nest to the shelving slopes above Gupkar.
+
+  "Still onward; and the clear canal
+  Is rounded to as clear a lake;"
+
+and we emerged from the willow-fringed water lanes, and saw across the
+wider shield of glistering water the white cube of the Nishat Bagh
+Pavilion--the Garden of Joy, made for Jehangir the Mogul--standing by the
+water's edge, and at its foot a great throng and clutter of boats, amidst
+whose snaky prows we pushed our way and landed, something stiff after
+sitting for two hours in a cramped shikara.
+
+Other guests--some thirty in all--were arriving, either like us by boat,
+or by carriage _vi�_ Gupkar, and we strolled in groups up the sloping
+gardens, which still show, in their wild and unrestrained beauty, the
+loving touch of the long-vanished hand of the Mogul.
+
+Down seven wide grassy terraces a series of fountains splashed and
+twinkled in the sun. Broad chenars, just beginning to break into leaf,
+gave promise of ample shade against the day when the blaze should become
+overpowering. So far so good, but the grass that bordered the path was not
+the sweet green turf of an English lawn, and the way was edged by big
+earthen pots, into which were hastily stuck wisps of iris blooms and
+Persian lilac. The topmost terrace widened out, enclosing a large basin of
+clear water, in the middle of which played a fountain. On one side was
+raised a marquee, revealing welcome preparations for lunch. On the
+opposite side of the fountain a profusion of chairs, shaded by a great
+awning, stood expectantly facing a bandstand. Here we were welcomed by His
+Highness, a somewhat small man with exceedingly neat legs and an enormous
+white pugaree, in his customary gracious manner.
+
+It was now half-past two, and we had breakfasted early, so that a move
+towards the luncheon tent was most welcome. Finding the fair lady whom I
+was detailed to personally conduct, and the ticketed place where I was to
+sit, I prepared to make a Gargantuan meal. Was it not almost on this very
+spot that
+
+  "The board was spread with fruit and wine,
+  With grapes of gold, like those that shine
+  On Casbin's hills;--pomegranates full
+    Of melting sweetness, and the pears
+  And sunniest apples that Cabul
+    In all its thousand gardens bears.
+  Plantains, the golden and the green,
+  Malaya's nectar'd mangusteen;
+  Prunes of Bokara, and sweet nuts
+    From the far groves of Samarcand,
+  And Basra dates, and apricots,
+    Seed of the sun, from Iran's land;--
+  With rich conserve of Visna cherries,
+  Of orange flowers, and of those berries
+  That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles
+  Feed on in Erac's rocky dells..
+  Wines, too, of every clime and hue
+  Around their liquid lustre threw;
+  Amber Rosolli..
+  And Shiraz wine, that richly ran..
+  Melted within the goblets there!"
+
+This reckless, but unsubstantial and very unwholesome meal, was not for us,
+and while waiting patiently for the first course to appear, I glanced down
+the long table to admire the decorations. They were delightful, consisting
+of glass flower-vases spaced regularly along the festive board, and filled
+to overflowing with tufts and clumps of flowers. Innumerable plates filled
+with fruit and sweetmeats graced the feast, and a magnificent array of
+knives and forks gave promise of good things to come.
+
+Presently the expected dainties arrived, resembling but little the
+lately-described poetic feast; a strict attention to business enabled us
+to keep the wolf from the door, and a very cheerful party finally emerged
+from the big tent to stroll by the fountains that flashed under the
+chenars.
+
+The Maharajah, of course, did not lunch with us, but held aloof, peeping
+occasionally into the cook-house to satisfy himself that the lions were
+being fed properly, and in accordance with their unclean customs.
+
+Finally, he and his chief officers of state vanished into a secluded tent,
+where he probably took a little refreshment, having first carefully
+performed the ablutions necessary after the contamination of the
+unbeliever.
+
+His Highness reappeared from nowhere in particular as his guests strolled
+across the terrace, and, after a little polite conversation, we took our
+leave and set forth for Srinagar.
+
+It was a glorious afternoon, and we deeply regretted that time would not
+permit us to visit the neighbouring Shalimar Bagh, which lay hidden among
+the trees near by. The excursion must remain a "hope deferred" for the
+present, as we had again to thread the maze of half-submerged melon plots
+and miniature kitchen gardens which, even in the golden glow of a perfect
+evening, could not be made to fit in with our preconceived ideas of
+"floating gardens." Jane was frankly disappointed, as she admitted to
+having pictured in her mind's eye a series of peripatetic herbaceous
+borders in full flower, cruising about the lake at their own sweet will
+and tended by fair Kashmirian maidens.
+
+By-the-bye, here let me expose, once for all, the fallacy of Moore's
+drivel about the lovely maids of fair "Cashmere." _There are none!_ This
+appears a startling statement and a sweeping; but, as a matter of fact,
+the Eastern girl is not left, like her Western sister, to flirt and frivol
+into middle age in single "cussedness," but almost invariably becomes a
+respectable married lady at ten or twelve, and drapes her lovely, but not
+over clean, head in the mantle of old sacking, which it is _de rigueur_
+for matrons to adopt.
+
+The good Tommy Moore did not know this, but, letting his warm Irish
+imagination run riot through a mixed bag of Eastern romancists and their
+works, he evolved, amid a _p�t pourri_ of impossibilities, an impossible
+damsel as unlike anything to be found in these parts as the celebrated
+elephant evolved from his inner consciousness by the German professor!
+
+  As I traversed the main, or rolled by train,
+    From my Western habitation,
+  I frequently thought--perhaps more than I ought--
+    Upon many a quiet occasion
+  Of the elegant forms and manifold charms
+    Of the beautiful female Asian.
+
+  For the good Tommy Moore, in his pages of yore,
+    Sang as though he could never be weary
+  Of fair Nourmahal--an adorable "gal"--
+    And of Paradise and the Peri,
+  Until, I declare, I was wild to be where
+    I might gaze on the lovely Kashmiri.
+
+  Through the hot plains of Ind I fled like the wind,
+    Unenchanted by mistress or ayah,
+  The dusky Hindu, I soon saw, wouldn't do,
+    So I paused not, until in the sky----Ah!--
+  Far upward arose the perpetual snows
+    And the peaks of the proud Himalaya.
+
+  But in Kashmir, alas! I found not a lass
+    Who answered to Tommy's description--
+  For the make of such maid I am sadly afraid
+    The fond parents have lost the prescription,
+  And I murmured; "No doubt, the old breed has died out,
+    At least such is my honest conviction."
+
+  In the horrible slums which form the foul homes
+    Of the rag-covered dames of the city,
+  I saw wrinkled hags, all wrapped in old rags,
+    Whose appearance excited but pity.
+  Beyond question the word which it would be absurd
+    To apply to these ladies is "pretty."
+
+  In the high Gujar huts were but brats and old sluts,
+    These last being the plainest of women;
+  Then I sought on the waters the sisters and daughters
+    Of the Mangis--those "bold, able seamen"
+  (I have often been told that the Mangi is bold,
+    And as brave as at least two or three men).
+
+  One lady I saw--I am told her papa
+    In the market did forage and "gram" sell--
+  Decked all over with rings, necklets, bangles and things,
+    She appeared a desirable damsel;
+  And I cried "Oh, Eureka! I've found what I seek:
+    Tell me quick--Is she 'madam' or 'ma'mselle'?"
+
+  It was comical, but to this question I put--
+    A remarkably innocent query--
+  I received but a sigh or evasive reply,
+    Or a blush from the modest Kashmiri;
+  And I gathered at last that the lady was "fast,"
+    And her name should be Phryne, not Her�.
+
+  Toddled up a small tot--her hair tied in a knot--
+    Who remarked, "I can hardly consider
+  You've the ghost of a chance on this wild-goosie dance
+    Unless you should hap on a 'widder!'
+  For our maidens at ten--ay, and less now and then--
+    Are all booked to the wealthiest bidder."
+
+  "My dear man, it's no use to indulge in abuse
+    Of our customs, so be not enraged, sir--
+  No woman a maid is--we're all married ladies.
+    Our charms very early are caged, sir--
+  I'm eleven myself," remarked the small elf,
+    "And a year ago I was engaged, sir!"
+
+Ah, well! The country is the loveliest I ever saw, and that goes far to
+make up for its disgusting population.
+
+Here, indeed, it is that
+
+  "Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile."
+
+We stopped to look at the ruins of an ancient mosque, built in the days of
+Akbar by the Shiahs. Its remains may be deeply interesting to the
+archaeologist, but to me a neighbouring ziarat, wooden, with its grassy
+roof one blaze of scarlet tulips, was far more attractive. Moving homeward,
+we floated under a lovely old bridge, whose three rose-toned arches date
+from the sixteenth century--the age of the Great Moguls. The extreme
+solidity of its piers contrasts strongly with the exceedingly sketchy (and
+sketchable) bridges manufactured by the Kashmiri.
+
+In fairness, though, I must point out that, as the bridge in Kashmir
+usually spans a stream liable at almost any moment to overwhelming floods,
+it would appear to be a sound idea to build as flimsily as possible, with
+an eye to economical replacement.
+
+The Kashmiri carries this plan to its logical conclusion when he fells a
+tree across a raging torrent, and calls it a bridge, to the unutterable
+discomfiture of the Western wayfarer.
+
+
+[1] That lady subsequently killed a remarkably good 13-pointer bara singh
+    and some bears in October.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE LOLAB
+
+_May_ 1.--The pear and cherry blossom has been so lovely in and around
+Srinagar that we determined to go to the Lolab Valley and see the apple
+blossom in full flower.
+
+We started in some trepidation, for the warm weather lately has melted
+much snow on the hills, and Jhelum is so full that we were told that our
+three-decker would be unable to pass under the city bridges--of which
+there are seven. We decided to see for ourselves, so set forth about
+eleven, and soon came to the first bridge, the Amira Kadal, which carries
+the main tonga road into Srinagar, tying up just above it, amid the
+clamour and jabber of an idle crowd.
+
+The Admiral solemnly measured the clear space between the top of the arch
+and the water with a long pole, consulted noisily with the crowd, yelled
+his ideas to the crew, and decided to attempt the passage.
+
+Hen-coops, chairs, half-a-dozen flower-pots containing sickly specimens of
+plants, and all other movables being cleared from the upper deck, we set
+sail, and shot the bridge very neatly, only having a few inches of
+daylight between the upper deck and the wooden beams upon which the
+roadway rests.
+
+  _Ce nest que, le premier "pont" que coute_.
+
+The other bridges were all easier than the first, and we shot them gaily,
+spending the rest of the day in floating quietly down the river, and
+finally anchoring--or rather mooring, for anchors are, like boat-hooks,
+masts, sails, rudders, and rigging, alike unknown to the "jollye mariners"
+of the Jhelum--some two or three miles above the entrance to the dreaded
+Wular Lake.
+
+This awful stretch of water, so feared by the Kashmiri that his eyes
+goggle when he even thinks of it, is an innocent enough looking lake,
+generally occupied in reflectively reproducing its surroundings upside
+down, but occasionally its calm surface is ruffled by a little breeze, and
+it is reported that wild and horrible squalls sweep down the nullahs of
+Haramok at times, and destroy the unwary. These squalls are said to be
+most frequent in the afternoons, and are probably the accompaniments of
+the thunderstorms.
+
+It is only considered possible to cross the Wular between dawn and 10 or
+11 A.M., and no persuasion will prevail upon a native boatman to risk his
+life on the lake after lunch.
+
+Before turning in, I gave orders that a start should be made next morning
+at five o'clock, but a heavy squall of rain and thunder during the night
+had the effect of causing orders to be set at naught, and at
+breakfast-time there was no sign of "up anchor" nor even of "heaving
+short." An interview with the Admiral showed me that the Wular, in his
+opinion, was too dangerous to cross to-day--in fact he wouldn't dream of
+asking coolies to risk it. He was given to understand that we intended to
+cross, and that the sooner he started the safer it would be.
+
+No coolies being forthcoming, I inhumanly gave orders to get under
+way--the available crew consisting of the wicked Satarah, the first
+lieutenant, and the Lady Jiggry. Sulkily and slowly we wended our way past
+the wide flats which border the Wular, all blazing golden with mustard in
+full pungent flower.
+
+Before entering the lake the Admiral meekly requested to be allowed to try
+for coolies in a small village near by. He was allowed quarter of an hour
+for pressgang work, and sure enough he came back within a very reasonable
+time with a few spare hands, and then--paddling and poling for dear
+life--we glided swiftly through the tangled lily-pads and the green
+rosettes of the Singhara, and soon were _in medias res_ and fairly
+committed to the deep.
+
+The Wular lay like a burnished mirror, reflecting the buttresses of
+Haramok on our right, and the snowy ranges by the Tragbal ahead, its
+silvery surface lined here and there with the wavering tracks of other
+boats, or broken by bristling clumps of reeds and tall water-plants. Our
+transit was perfectly peaceful, and by lunch-time we were safely tied up
+to a bank, purple with irises, just below Bandipur.
+
+A visit to the post-office and a stroll up the rocky hill behind it, where
+we sat for some time and watched a pair of jackals sneaking about,
+completed a peaceful afternoon.
+
+_May_ 3.--We were up with the lark, and, having moved along the coast a
+few miles to the west of Bandipur, left the ship before six of the clock
+in pursuit of bear. I had "khubbar" of one in the Malingam Nullah, and,
+after a brisk walk over the lower slopes, we entered the nullah and
+clambered up about 1500 feet to a quiet and retired spot under a shady
+thorn-bush, where we breakfasted.
+
+We thereafter climbed a little higher, and then sat down while the
+shikaris departed to spy, their method of spying being, I believe,
+somewhat after this fashion:--Leaving the sahib with his
+belongings--notably the tiffin coolie--in a spot carefully selected for
+its seclusion, the miscreants depart hurriedly and rapidly up the nearest
+inaccessible crag; this is "business," and throws dust, so to say, in the
+eyes of the sahib, by means of an exhibition of activity and zeal. Passing
+out of sight over the sky-line, the hunters pause, wink at one another,
+and, choosing a shady and convenient corner, proceed to squat, light their
+pipes, and discuss matters--chiefly financial--until they deem it time to
+return, scrambling and breathless with excitement, to relate all that they
+have seen and done.
+
+So, while the shikaris unceasingly spied for bear, for nine mortal hours
+Jane and I camped out on a remarkably hard and unyielding stone, varied by
+other seats equally tiresome.
+
+Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony by
+observing the habits of a pair of "kastooras," a hawk, and a brace of
+chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.
+
+At four o'clock the sons of Nimrod returned, declaring that the bear had
+been seen, but that as we had on chaplies and not grass shoes, it would be
+impossible for us to pursue him. I asked the shikari why the ---- goose he
+had let me come out in chaplies instead of grass shoes if the country was
+so rough? His reply was to the effect that whatever it pleased me to wear
+pleased him!
+
+_May_ 4.--Armed _cap-�-pie_ so to speak, with pith helmets and grass shoes,
+we again set forth at dawn of day to hunt the bear. Breakfast under the
+same tree, sitting on the same patch of rose-coloured flowers--a sort of
+fumitory (_Corydalus rutaefolia_)--followed by another nine-hour bivouac,
+brought us to 5 P.M. and the extreme limit of boredom, when lo! the
+shikaris burst upon us in a state of frenzied excitement to announce the
+bear! Off we went up a steep track for a quarter of an hour, until, at the
+foot of a rough snow slope, the shikari told the much disgusted Jane that
+she must wait there, the rest of the climb being too hard for her, and, in
+truth, it was pretty bad. Up a very steep gully filled with loose stones
+and rotten snow, scrambling, and often hauling ourselves up with our hands
+by means of roots and trailing branches, we slowly worked our way up a
+place I would never have even attempted in cold blood.
+
+Twenty minutes' severe exertion brought us to a shelf, or rather slope, of
+rock on the right, sparsely covered with wiry brown grass from which the
+snow had but very recently gone, and crowned by a crest of stunted pines.
+Up this we wriggled, I being mainly towed up by my shikari's cummerbund,
+and, lying under a pine, we peered over the top.
+
+A steep gully divided us from a rough ridge, upon a grassy ledge of which,
+about 200 yards off, a big black beast was grubbing and rooting about.
+
+The shikari, shaking with excitement, handed me the rifle, urging me to
+shoot. I did nothing of the sort, having no breath, and my hand being
+unsteady from a fast and stiff climb.
+
+I regret to be obliged to admit that, not realising that it would be
+little short of miraculous to kill a bear stone-dead at 200 yards with a
+Mannlicher, and being also, naturally, somewhat carried away by the sight
+of a real bear within possible distance, I waited until I was perfectly
+steady, and fired. The brute fell over, but immediately picked himself up
+again and made off. I saw I had broken his fore-shoulder and fired again
+as he disappeared over the far side of the ledge, but missed, and I saw
+that bear no more.
+
+We had the utmost difficulty in crossing the precipitous gully to a spot
+below the ledge upon which the beast had been feeding--the ledge itself we
+could not reach at all; and the lateness of the hour and the difficulty of
+the country in which we were, prevented us from trying to enter the next
+ravine and work up and back by the way the bear had gone. A neck-breaking
+crawl down a horrible grass slope brought us to better ground, and I sadly
+joined Jane to be well and deservedly scolded for firing a foolish shot.
+The lady was very much disgusted at having been defrauded of the sight of
+a bear "quite wild," as she expressed it--a certain short-tempered animal
+which had eaten up her best umbrella in the Zoo at Dusseldorf not having
+fulfilled the necessary condition of wildness.
+
+Next day I sent out coolies to search for traces, promising lavish
+"backshish" in the event of success, but I got no trustworthy news, "and
+that was the end of that hunting."
+
+_May_ 6.--Jane took a respite from the chase, and I sallied forth alone at
+dawn up a nullah from Alsu to look for a bear which was said to frequent
+those parts. A brisk walk of some four miles over the flat, followed by a
+climb up a track--steep as usual--to the left of the main track to the
+Lolab, brought us to a grassy ridge, where I sat down patiently to await
+the bear's pleasure. I took my note-book with me, and whiled away some
+time in writing the following:--
+
+Let me jot down a sketch of my present position and surroundings; it will
+serve to bring the scene back to me, perhaps, when I am again sitting in
+my own particular armchair watching the fat thrushes hopping about the
+lawn.
+
+Well, I am perched in a little hollow under a big grey boulder, which
+serves to shelter me to a certain, but limited, extent from the brisk
+showers that come sweeping over from the Lolab Valley. The hollow is so
+small that it barely contains my tiffin basket, rifle, gun, and self--in
+fact, my grass-shod and puttied extremities dangle over the rim, whence a
+steep slope shelves down some 200 feet to a brawling burn, the hum of
+which, mingling with the fitful sighing of the pines as the breeze sweeps
+through their sounding boughs, is perpetually in my ears. Across the
+little torrent, and not more than a hundred yards away, rises a slope,
+covered with rough grass and scrub, similar to that in the face of which I
+am ensconced.
+
+Here the bear was seen at 7 A.M. by a Gujar, who gave the fullest
+particulars to Ahmed Bot (my shikari) in a series of yells from a hill-top
+as we came up the valley. We arrived on the scene about seven, just in
+time to be too late, apparently. It is now 3 P.M., and the bear is
+supposed to be asleep, and I am possessing my soul in patience until it
+shall be Bruin's pleasure to awake and sally forth for his afternoon tea.
+
+There is certainly no bear now, so I pass the time in sleeping, eating,
+smoking, writing, and observing the manners and customs of a family of
+monkeys who are disporting themselves in a deep glen to the left. Beyond
+this ravine rises a high spur, beautifully wooded, the principal trees
+being deodar, blue pine (_Excelsa_) and yew. This is sloped at the
+invariable and disgusting angle of 45 degrees. Beyond it rise further
+wooded slopes, with snow gleaming through the deep green, and above all is
+the changing sky, where the clear blue gives way to a billowy expanse of
+white rolling clouds or dark rain-laden masses, which pour into the upper
+clefts of the ravine, and blot out the serried ranks of the pines, until a
+thorough drenching seems inevitable--when lo! a glint of blue through the
+gloomy background, and soon again,
+
+  "With never a stain, the pavilion of Heaven is bare."
+
+The immediate foreground, as I said before, slopes sharply from my very
+feet, where a clump of wild sage and jasmin (the leaves just breaking)
+grows over a charming little bunch of sweet violets. Lower down I can see
+the lilac flowers of a self-heal, and the bottom of the little gorge is
+clothed with a bush like a hazel, only with large, soft whitish flowers.
+
+My solitude has just been enlivened by the appearance of a cheerful party
+of lovely birds. They are very busy among the "hazels," flying from bush
+to bush with restless activity, and wasting no time in idleness. They are
+about the size of large finches--slender in shape, with longish tails.
+They are divided into two perfectly distinct kinds, probably male and
+female. The former have the back, head, and wings black; the latter barred
+with scarlet, the breast and underparts also scarlet. The others--which I
+assume to be the females--replace the black with ashy olive, the wings
+being barred with yellow, the underparts yellowish. The very familiar note
+of the cuckoo, somewhere up in the jungle, reminds me of an English spring.
+
+4 P.M.--I knew it! I knew that if the wind held down the nullah I should
+be dragged up that horrible ridge opposite. Hardly had I written the above
+when I was hunted from my lair, and rushed down 200 steep feet, and then
+up some 500 or 600 on the other side of the stream, through an abattis of
+clinging undergrowth that made a severe toil of what could never have been
+a pleasure. There can be no doubt but that a pith helmet--a really shady,
+broad one--is a most infernal machine under which to force one's way
+through brushwood.
+
+Well, all things come to an end--wind first, temper next, and finally the
+journey.
+
+My shikari is a fiend in human shape. He slinks along on the flat at what
+_looks_ like a mild three-miles-an-hour constitutional, but unless you are
+a _real_ four-mile man you will be left hopelessly astern; but when he
+gets upon his favourite "one in one" slope, then does he simply sail away,
+with the tiffin coolie carrying a fat basket and all your spare lumber in
+his wake, while you toil upward and ever upwards--gasping--until with your
+last available breath you murmur "Asti," and sink upon the nearest stone a
+limp, perspiring worm!
+
+5.30 P.M.--That bear has taken a sleeping draught!
+
+I am now perched on a lonely rock, my hard taskmaster having routed me out
+of a very comfortable place under a blue pine, whose discarded needles
+afforded me a really agreeable resting-place, and dragged me away down
+again through the pine forest and jungle; hurried me across a roaring
+torrent on a fallen tree trunk; personally conducted me hastily up a place
+like the roof of a house; and finally, explaining that the bear, when
+disturbed, must inevitably come close past me, has departed with his staff
+(the chota shikari, the tiffin coolie, and a baboon-faced native) to wake
+up the bear and send him along.
+
+After the first flurry of feeling all alone in the world, with only a
+probable bear for society, and having loaded all my guns, clasped my visor
+on my head and my Bessemer hug-proof strait-waistcoat round my "tummy," I
+felt calm enough to await events with equanimity.
+
+6.15 P.M.--A large and solemn monkey is sitting on the top of a thick and
+squat yew tree regarding me with unfeigned interest. The torrent is
+roaring away in the cleft below. Nothing else seems alive, and I am
+becoming bored----What? A bear? No! The shikari, thank goodness!
+
+"Well, shikari--Baloo dekho hai?" No, it is passing strange, but he has
+_not_ seen a bear. "All right! Pick up the blunderbuss, and let us make
+tracks for the ship."
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 10.--Beguiled by legends of many bears, detailed to me
+with apparently heartfelt sincerity by Ahmed Bot, I have been pursuing
+these phantoms industriously.
+
+On Monday we quitted our boat, and started upon a trip into the Lolab
+Valley. The views, as the path wound up the green and flower-spangled
+slope, were very beautiful, and, when we had ascended about 1500 feet and
+were about opposite to the supposed haunt of Saturday's bear, we
+determined to camp and enjoy the scenery, not omitting an evening
+expedition in search of our shy friend.
+
+Jane joining me, we had a most charming ramble down a narrow track to the
+bed of the stream which rushes down from the snow-covered ridge guarding
+the Lolab. Here we crossed into a splendid belt of gaunt silver firs, the
+first I have seen here; whitish yellow marsh-marigolds and a most vivid
+"smalt" blue forget-me-not with large flowers were abundant, also an
+oxalis very like our own wood-sorrel.
+
+Emerging from the pines, we crossed a grassy slope covered with tall
+primulas (P. _denticulata_) of varying shades of mauve and lilac, and sat
+down for a bit among the flowers while the shikaris looked for game. (I
+need hardly remark that the noble but elusive beast had appeared on the
+scene shortly after I left on Saturday; a Gujar told the shikari, and the
+shikari told me, so it must be true.) When we had gathered as many flowers
+as we could carry, we strolled back to the camp to watch the sunset
+transmute the snowy crest of Haramok to a golden rose.
+
+Yesterday, Tuesday, I left the camp at dawn, and went all over the same
+ground, but with no better success, only seeing a couple of bara singh,
+hornless now, and therefore comparatively uninteresting from a "shikar"
+point of view. After a delightful but bearless ramble I returned to
+breakfast, and then we struck camp, and completed the ascent of the pass
+over into the Lolab. Arrived at the top, we turned off the path to the
+right, and, climbing a short way, came out upon the lower part of the
+Nagmarg, a pretty, open clearing among the pines where the grass, dotted
+thickly with yellow colchicum, was only showing here and there through the
+melting snow. Choosing a snug and dry place on some sun-warmed rocks at
+the foot of a tree, we prepared to lunch and laze, and soon spread abroad
+the contents of the tiffin basket.
+
+There is something, nay much, of charm in the utter freedom and solitude
+of Kashmir camp life. There is no beaten track to be followed diligently
+by the tourist, German, American, or British, guide-book in hand and guide
+at elbow. No empty sardine-tins, nor untidy scraps of paper, mar the clean
+and lonely margs or village camping-grounds.
+
+The happy wanderer, selecting a grassy dell or convenient shady tree with
+a clear spring or dancing rivulet near by, invokes the tiffin coolie, and
+if a duly watchful eye has been kept upon that incorrigible sluggard, in
+short space the contents of the basket deck the sward. What have we here?
+Yes, of course, cold chicken--
+
+  "For beef is rare within these oxless isles."
+
+Bread! (how lucky we sent that coolie into Srinagar the other day). Butter,
+nicely stowed in its little white jar, cheese-cakes (one of the Sabz Ali's
+masterpieces), and a few unconsidered trifles in the form of "jam pups"
+and a stick of chocolate.
+
+Whisky is there, if required, but really the cold spring water is
+"delicate to drink" without spirituous accompaniment.
+
+Hunger appeased, the beauty of the surrounding scenery becomes intensified
+when seen through the balmy veil of smoke caused by the consumption of a
+mild cheroot, and peace and contentment reign while we feed the sprightly
+crows with chicken bones and bits of cheese rind.
+
+Shall we ever forget--Jane and I--that simple feast on the Nagmarg?
+
+The sloping snow melting into little rills which trickled through the
+fresh-springing flower-strewn grass; the extraordinary blue of the
+hillsides overlooking the Lolab Valley seen through the sloping boughs of
+the pines; the crows hopping audaciously around or croaking on a dried
+branch just above our heads; and above all, the glorious sense of freedom,
+of aloofness from all disturbing elements, of utter and irresponsible
+independence in a lovely land unspoiled by hand of man?
+
+The afternoon sun smote us full in the face as we descended the bare and
+not too smooth path that led into the valley, and we were right glad to
+reach the shade of a grove of deodars that covered the lower slopes of the
+hill. The Lolab Valley, into which we had now penetrated, is a rich and
+picturesque expanse of level plain, some fifteen miles long by three or
+four broad, apparently completely surrounded by a densely-wooded curtain
+of mountains, rising to an elevation of some 3000 feet above the valley on
+the south and west, but ranging on the other sides up into the lofty
+summits which bar the route into Gurais and the Tilail. The mountain chain
+is not really continuous, the river Pohru, which drains the valley,
+finding outlet to the west e'er it bends sharply to the south and enters
+the Wular near Sopor.
+
+Perhaps the most noticeable objects in the Lolab are the walnut trees;
+they are now just coming into full leaf, and their great trunks, hoary
+with age and softly velveted with dark green moss, form the noble columns
+of many a lovely camping-ground. We pitched our tents at Lalpura in a
+grove of giants, the majesty of which formed an exquisite contrast to the
+white foam of a cluster of apple trees in bloom.
+
+It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
+sketching, and enjoying the _dolce far niente_ of an idle life.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 14.--On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam, a
+short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest
+officer,[1] had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at
+our disposal; but, as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we are
+obliged to camp every night. We have been working along the north side
+of the Lolab, as the shikari is full of bear "khubbar," and as long as the
+weather remains fair we really do not much care where we go! Skirting the
+foot of the wooded ridge on our right, and with the flat and populous
+levels of the valley on our left, we marched along a good path shaded in
+many places by the magnificent walnuts and snowy fruit-trees for which the
+Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the Pohru by a rickety bridge, and
+toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached Kulgam, nestling at the foot of
+the hills.
+
+After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the
+village to look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as usual,
+and the path none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb deserved to
+be rewarded by, at any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed Bot having sent
+a special message to the Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing him to keep the
+nullah quiet, we were justly incensed when, having toiled up some couple
+of thousand weary feet, we met a gay party of the _�lite_ of Kulgam
+prancing down the hill with blankets stuffed with wild leeks, or some such
+delicacy.
+
+Ahmed Bot showed reckless courage. Having overwhelmed the enemy with a
+vituperative broadside, he fell upon them single-handed, tore from them
+their cherished blankets, and spilt the leeks to the four winds.
+
+I expected nothing less than to be promptly hurled down the khud, with
+Jill after me, by the six enraged burghers of Kulgam. But no. They simply
+sat down together on a rock, and blubbered loud and long; we sat down
+opposite them on another rock and laughed, and laughed--tableau!
+
+On Friday I went for a delightful walk through the pine and deodar forests,
+the ostensible objective being, of course, a bear. Putting aside all ideas
+of sport, I gave myself up to the simple joy of mere existence in such a
+land; noting a handsome iris with broad red lilac blooms, which I had not
+seen before; listening to the intermittent voice of the cuckoo, and
+pausing every here and there to gaze over the fair valley, backed by its
+encircling ranges of sunlit mountains.
+
+The chota shikari is a youth of great activity, both mental and physical.
+He almost wept with excitement on observing the mark of a bear's paw on a
+dusty bit of path. He said it was a bear which had left that paw-mark, so
+I believed him. Late in the dusk of the afternoon he _saw_ a bear sitting
+looking out of a cave. I could only make out a black hole, but he saw its
+ears move. I regarded the spot with a powerful telescope, but only saw
+more hole; still, I cannot doubt the chota shikari. The burra shikari saw
+it too, but was of opinion that it was too late to go and bag it. I think
+he was right, so we went back to camp without further adventure.
+
+Yesterday we left Kulgam, and followed up a track to a small village which
+lies at the foot of the track leading over to Gurais and the Tilail
+country. Here we camped in a grove of walnuts, which stood by an icy
+spring. Jane and I went for a stroll, watched a couple of small
+woodpeckers hunting the trunk of a young fir within a few feet of us, but
+retreated hurriedly to camp on the approach of a heavy thunderstorm. This
+was but the prelude to a bad break in the weather; all to-day it has
+rained in torrents, and everything is sopping and soaked. The little
+stream which yesterday trickled by the camp is become a young river, and
+it is a perfect mystery how Sabz Ali manages to cook our food over a fire
+guarded from the full force of the rain by blankets propped up with sticks,
+and how, having cooked it, he can bring it, still hot, across the twenty
+yards of rain-swept space which intervenes between the cook-house and our
+tent.
+
+_Monday, May_ 15.--The deluge continued all night, and only at about ten
+o'clock this forenoon did the heavy curtain of rain break up into ragged
+swirls of cloud, which, torn by the serrated ridges of the gloomy pines,
+rolled dense and dark up the gorges, resonant now with the roar of
+full-fed torrents.
+
+The men are all beginning to complain of fever, and have eaten up a great
+quantity of quinine. Considering the dismal conditions under which they
+have been living for the last couple of days, this is not surprising; so,
+with the first promise of an improvement in the weather, we struck camp,
+determined to make for the forest bungalow at Doras and obtain the shelter
+of a solid roof. Many showers, but no serious downpour, enlivened our
+march, and we arrived at the snug little wooden house just in time to
+escape a particularly fine specimen of a thunderstorm. The Doras bungalow
+seemed a very palace of luxury, with its dry, airy rooms and wide verandah,
+all of sweet-smelling deodar wood. The men, too, were thankful to have a
+good roof over their heads, and we heard no more of fever.
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 17.--Yesterday it rained without ceasing, until the
+valley in front of us took the appearance of a lake--A party of terns,
+white above and with black breasts, skirled and wrangled over the "casual"
+water. It was still very wet this morning, but as it cleared somewhat
+after breakfast, we made up our minds to quit the Lolab and get back to
+our boat.
+
+Doras has sad memories for Jane, for here died the "chota murghi," a black
+chicken endowed with the most affectionate disposition. It was permitted
+to sit on the lady's knee, and scratch its yellow beak with its little
+yellow claw; but I never cared to let it remain long upon my shoulder--a
+perch it ardently affected. Well! it is dead, poor dear, and whether from
+shock (the pony which carried its basket having fallen down with it _en
+route_ from "Walnut Camp"), or from a surfeit of caterpillars which were
+washed in myriads off the trees there, we cannot tell. Sabz Ali brought
+the little corpse along, holding it by one pathetic leg to show the
+horrified Jane, before giving it to the kites and crows. He has many
+"murghis" left; baskets full, as he says, for they are cheap in the Lolab,
+but we shall never love another so dearly.
+
+We had a shocking time while climbing to the pass which leads over to
+Rampur, the road being deep in slimy mud, and so slippery that the
+unfortunate baggage ponies could hardly get along. Jane, who is in
+splendid condition now, toiled nobly up a track which would have been
+delightful had the weather been a little less hideous.
+
+Reaching the ridge which divides the Lolab from the Pohru Valley, we
+turned to the left, along the edge, instead of descending forthwith, as we
+had hoped and expected to do. It was raw and cold, with flying wreaths of
+damp mist shutting out the view, and we were glad of a comforting tiffin,
+swallowed somewhat hurriedly, under a forlorn and stunted specimen of a
+blue pine. Then on along a rough and slippery catwalk that made us wonder
+if the baggage ponies would achieve a safe arrival at Rampur.
+
+Crossing a steep, rock-strewn ridge, covered with crown imperial in full
+flower, we began a sharp descent through a wood of deodars; and now the
+thunder, which had been grumbling and rumbling in the distance, came upon
+us, and a deafening peal sent us scurrying down the hill at our best pace;
+the lightning-blasted trunks stretching skywards their blackened and
+tempest-torn limbs in ghastly witness of what had been and what might be
+again.
+
+At last we cleared the wood, and, plunging across a perfect slough of deep
+mud, crawled on to the verandah of the Rampur forest-house, where we sat
+anxiously watching the hillside until we saw our faithful ponies safely
+sliding down the hill.
+
+_Thursday, May_ 18.--The changes of weather in this country are sudden and
+surprising. This morning we woke to a perfect day--the sun bathing the
+warm hillsides, the picturesque brown village, and the brilliant masses of
+snowy blossoming fruit-trees with a radiant smile. And, but for the
+tell-tale riot of the streams and the sponginess of the compound, there
+was nothing to betray the past misdeeds of the clerk of the weather.
+
+At noon we set out to cover the short distance that lay between us and
+Kunis, where we had made tryst with Satarah. The country was like a series
+of English woodland glades--watered by many purling streams, and bright
+with masses of apple blossom; the turf around the trees all white and pink
+with petals torn from the branches by the recent storms. Clumps of fir
+clothed the hills with sombre green--a perfect background to a perfect
+picture.
+
+The flowers all along our path to-day were much in evidence after the rain.
+Little prickly rose-bushes (_R. Webbiana_) were covered with pink blossoms
+just bursting into full glory; bushes of white may, yellow berberis,
+Daphne (_Oleoides?_), and many another flowering shrub grew in tangled
+profusion, while pimpernel (red and blue), a small androsace
+(_rotundifolia_), hawks-bit, stork's bill, wild geranium, a tiny mallow,
+eye-bright, forget-me-not, a little yellow oxalis, a speedwell, and many
+another, to me unknown, blossom starred the roadside. In the fields round
+Kunis the poppies flared, and the iris bordered the fields with a ribbon
+of royal purple.
+
+We reached Kunis at two o'clock, and found the village half submerged, the
+water being up and over the low shores from the recent rain. Our boats
+were moored in a clump of willows, whose feet stood so deeply in the water
+that we had to embark on pony-back! After lunch came the usual difference
+of opinion with the Admiral, who seems to have great difficulty in
+grasping the fact that our will is law as to times and seasons for sailing.
+He always assumes the r�le of passive resister, and is always defeated
+with ignominy. He insisted that it was too late to think of reaching
+Bandipur, but we maintained that we could get at any rate part of the way;
+so he cast off from his willow-tree, and sulkily poked and poled out into
+the Wular, taking uncommon good care to hug the shore with fervour.
+
+Here and there a group of willows standing far out into the lake, or a
+half-drowned village, drove us out into the open water, and once when,
+like a latter-day Vasco de Gama, the Admiral was striving to double the
+dreadful promontory of a water-logged fence, a puff of wind fell upon us,
+lashing the smooth water into ripples, whereupon the crew lost their wits
+with fright, and the lady mariners in the cook-boat set up a dismal
+howling; the ark, taking charge, crashed through the fence, her way
+carrying us to the very door of a frontier villa of an amphibious village.
+With amazing alacrity the crew tied us up to the door-post, and prepared
+to go into winter quarters.
+
+This did not suit us at all, and
+
+  "The harmless storm being ended,"
+
+we ruthlessly broke away from our haven of refuge, and safely arrived at
+Alsu.
+
+_Friday, May_ 19.--An ominous stillness and repose at 3 o'clock this
+morning sent me forth to see why the windlass was not being manned. A
+thing like a big grey bat flapping about, proved, on inspection, to be
+that rascal the Lord High Admiral Satarah. He said he could not start, as
+the hired coolies from Kunis had been so terrified by the horrors of
+yesterday that they had departed in the night, sacrificing their pay
+rather than run any more risks with such daredevils as the mem-sahib and
+me. This was vexatious and entirely unexpected, as I had never before
+known a coolie to bolt before pay-day. Sabz Ali and Satarah were promptly
+despatched on a pressgang foray, while I put to sea with the
+first-lieutenant to show that I meant business. A crew was found in a
+surprisingly short time, and a frenzied dart was made for the mouth of the
+Jhelum.
+
+All day we poled round the shore of the lake, over flooded fields where
+the mustard had spread its cloth of gold a short week ago, over the very
+hedges we had scrambled through when duck-shooting in April, until in the
+evening we entered the river just below Sumbal.
+
+The towing-path was almost, in many places quite, under water, and the
+whole country looked most forlorn and melancholy as the sun went down--a
+pale yellow ball in a pale yellow haze.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 21.--All yesterday we towed up the river against a current
+which ran swift and strong.
+
+The passage of the bridge at Surahal gave us some trouble, as the flooded
+river brought our upper works within a narrow distance of the highest
+point of the span, but we finally scraped through with the loss of a
+portion of the railing which decorated our upper deck.
+
+The strain of towing was severe, so, when a brisk squall and threatening
+thunder-shower overtook us at the mouth of the Sind River, we decided to
+tie up there for the night.
+
+This morning we started at four o'clock, but only reached our berth at
+Srinagar at two, having spent no less than six hours in forcing the boats
+by pole and rope for the last three miles through the town! An incredible
+amount of panting, pushing, yelling, and hauling, with frantic invocations
+to "Jampaws" and other saints, was required to enable us to crawl inch by
+inch against the racing water which met us in the narrow canal below the
+Palace.
+
+All's well that ends well, and here we are once more in Srinagar, after a
+trip which has been really delightful, albeit the weather latterly has not
+been by any means all that could have been desired, and we have slain no
+bears![2]
+
+
+[1] Commonly called the "Jungly-sahib."
+
+[2] Can it be that Bernier was right? "Il ne s'y trouve ni serpens, ni
+    tigres, ni ours, ni lions, si ce n'est tr�s rarement."--_Voyage de
+    Kachemire_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SRINAGAR AGAIN
+
+We have spent the last three weeks or so quietly in Srinagar, our boats
+forming links in the long chain that, during the "season," extends for
+miles along both banks of the river. A large contingent of amphibians
+dwells in the canal leading to the Dal gates, and the Chenar Bagh, sacred
+to the bachelor, shows not a spare inch along its shady length.
+
+Not being either professional globe-trotters or Athenians, we have not
+felt obliged to be perpetually in high-strung pursuit of some new thing;
+and to the seeker after mild and modest enjoyment there is much to be said
+in favour of a sojourn at Srinagar.
+
+Polo, gymkhanas, lawn-tennis, picnics, and golf are everyday occurrences,
+followed by a rendezvous at the club, where every one congregates for a
+smoke and chat, until the sun goes down behind the poplars, and the swift
+shikaras come darting over the stream like water-beetles to carry off the
+sahibs to their boats, to dress, dine, and reassemble for "bridge," or
+perhaps a dance at Nedou's Hotel, or at that most hospitable hub of
+Srinagar, the Residency.
+
+Polo is, naturally, practically restricted to the man who brings up his
+ponies from the Punjab, but golf is for all, and the nine-hole course,
+although flat, is not stale, and need not be unprofitable, unless you are
+fallen upon--as I was--by two stalwart Sappers, sons of Canada and potent
+wielders of the cleek, who gave me enough to do to keep my rupees in my
+pocket and the honour of the mother country upheld!
+
+On May 26th we took shikara and paddled across the Dal Lake to see
+something of the Mohammedan festival, consisting in a pilgrimage to the
+Mosque of Hasrat Bal, where a hair of the prophet's beard is the special
+object of adoration.
+
+As we neared the goal the plot thickened. Hundreds of boats--from enormous
+doungas containing the noisy inhabitants of, I should suppose, a whole
+village, down to the tiniest shikara, whose passenger was perched with
+careful balance to retain a margin of safety to his two inches of
+freeboard--converged upon the crowded bank, above which rose the mosque.
+
+How can I best attempt to describe the din, the crush, the light, the
+colour? Was it like Henley? Well, perhaps it might be considered as a mad,
+fantastic Henley. Replace the fair ladies and the startling "blazers" with
+veiled houris and their lords clad in all colours of the rainbow; for one
+immortal "Squash" put hundreds of "squashes," all playing upon weird
+instruments, or singing in "a singular minor key"; let the smell of
+outlandish cookery be wafted to you from the "family" boats and from the
+bivouacs on the shore; let a constant uproar fall upon your ears as when
+the Hall defeats Third Trinity by half a length; and, finally, for the
+flat banks of Father Thames and the trim lawns of Phyllis Court, you must
+substitute the Nasim Bagh crowned with its huge chenars, and Mahadco
+looking down upon you from his thirteen thousand feet of precipice and
+snow.
+
+Half-an-hour of this kaleidoscopic whirl of gaiety satisfied us. The sun,
+in spite of an awning, was a little trying, so we sought the quiet and
+shade of the Nasim Bagh for lunch and repose.
+
+Returning towards Srinagar about sundown, we stopped to visit the ancient
+Mosque of Hassanabad, which stands on a narrow inlet or creek of the Dal
+Lake, shaded by chenars and willows in all their fresh spring green. A
+little lawn of softest turf slopes up gently to the ruined mosque, of
+which a portion of an apse and vaulted dome alone stand sentinel over its
+fallen greatness. Around lie the tombs of princes, whose bones have
+mouldered for eight hundred years under the irises, which wave their green
+sabres crowned with royal purple in the whispering twilight.
+
+Near by, the mud and timber walls of a ziarat stand, softly brown,
+supporting a deeply overhanging, grass-grown roof, blazing with scarlet
+tulips. Through its very centre, and as though supporting it, pierces the
+gnarled trunk of a walnut tree, reminding one of Ygdrasil, the Upholder of
+the Universe.
+
+_May_ 27.--What an improvement it would be if a house-dounga could be
+fitted with torpedo netting! Jane finds herself in the most embarrassing
+situations, while dressing in the morning, from the unwelcome pertinacity
+of the merchants who swarm up the river in the early hours from their
+lairs, and lay themselves alongside the helpless house-boats.
+
+By 10 A.M. we have to repel boarders in all directions. Mr. Sami Joo is
+endeavouring to sell boots from the bow, while Guffar Ali is pressing
+embroidery on our acceptance from the stern. Ali Jan is in a boat full of
+carved-wood rubbish on the starboard side, while Samad Shah, Sabhana, and
+half-a-dozen other robbers line the river bank opposite our port windows
+and clamour for custom. A powerful garden-hose of considerable calibre
+might be useful, but for the present I have given Sabz Ali orders to rig
+out long poles, which will prevent the enemy from so easily getting to
+close quarters.
+
+_June_ 17.--It is quite curious that it should be so difficult to find
+time to keep up this journal. Mark Twain, in that best of burlesques, _The
+Innocents Abroad_ affirms, if I remember rightly, that you could not
+condemn your worst enemy to greater suffering than to bind him down to
+keep an accurate diary for a year.
+
+It is the inexorable necessity for writing day by day one's impressions
+that becomes so trying; and yet it must be done daily if it is to be done
+at all, for the only virtue I can attain to in writing is truth; and
+impressions from memory, like sketches from memory, are of no value from
+the hand of any but a master.
+
+The time set apart for diary-writing is the hour which properly intervenes
+between chota hasri and the announcement of my bath; but, somehow, there
+never seems to be very much time. Either the early tea is late or bath is
+early, or a shikar expedition, with a grass slipper in pursuit of flies,
+takes up the precious moments, and so the business of the day gets all
+behindhand.
+
+The fly question is becoming serious. Personally, I do not consider that
+fleas, mosquitoes, or any other recognised insect pests (excepting,
+perhaps, harvest bugs) are so utterly unendurable as the "little, busy,
+thirsty fly." It seems odd, too, as he neither stings nor bites, that he
+should be so objectionable; but his tickly method of walking over your
+nose or down your neck, and the exasperating pertinacity with which he
+refuses to take "no" for an answer when you flick him delicately with a
+handkerchief, but "cuts" and comes again, maddens you until you rise,
+bloody-minded in your wrath, and, seizing the nearest sledgehammer, fall
+upon the brute as he sits twiddling his legs in a sunny patch on the table,
+then lo--
+
+  "Unwounded from the dreadful close "--
+
+he frisks cheerfully away, leaving you to gather up cursefully the
+fragments of the china bowl your wife bought yesterday in the bazaar!
+
+How he manages to congregate in his legions in this ship is a mystery.
+Every window is guarded by "meat safe" blinds of wire gauze; the doors are,
+normally, kept shut; and yet, after one has swept round like an irate
+whirlwind with a grass slipper, and slain or desperately wounded every
+visible fly in the cabin, and at last sat down again to pant and paint,
+hoping for surcease from annoyance, not five minutes pass before one, two,
+nay, a round dozen of the miscreants are gaily licking the moisture off
+the cobalt (may they die in agony!), or trying to swim across the glass of
+water, or playing hop-scotch on the nape of my neck.
+
+From what mysterious lair or hidden orifice they come I know not, but here
+they are in profusion until another massacre of the innocents is decreed.
+
+It is a sound thing to go round one's sleeping-cabin at night before
+"turning in," and make a bag of all that can be found "dreaming the happy
+hours away" on the bulkheads and ceiling. It sends us to bed in the
+virtuous frame of mind of the Village Blacksmith--
+
+  "Something attempted, something done,
+  Has earned a night's repose"
+
+There are other microbes besides flies in Kashmir which are
+exasperating--coolies, for instance.
+
+I had engaged men through Chattar Singh (the State Transport factotum at
+Srinagar) to take us up the river, and decreed that we should start at
+4 A.M. yesterday.
+
+We had been to an _al fresco_ gathering at the Residency the night before,
+and so were rather sleepy in the early morning, and I did not wake at four
+o'clock. At six we had not got far on our way, and at ten we were but
+level with Pandrettan, barely three miles from Srinagar as the crow (that
+model of rectilinear volition) flies.
+
+I was busy painting all the forenoon, and failed to note the sluggish
+steps of our coolies, but in the afternoon it was borne in upon us that if
+we wanted to reach Avantipura that night, as we had arranged, a little
+acceleration was necessary.
+
+Then the trouble began. The coolies were bone-lazy, the admiral and
+first-lieutenant were sulky, and the weather was stuffy and threatened
+thunder--the conditions were altogether detrimental to placidity of
+temper.
+
+By sunset we had the shikari, the kitchen-maid, and the sweeper on the
+tow-rope, and even the great and good Sabz Ali was seen to bear a hand in
+poling. Much recrimination now ensued between Sabz Ali and the Admiral,
+and the whole crowd made the air resound with Kashmiri "language," every
+one, apparently, abusing everybody else, and making very nasty remarks
+about their lady ancestors.
+
+At 10 P.M. I got four more coolies from a village, apparently chiefly
+inhabited by dogs, who deeply resented our proximity, and at 2 o'clock
+this morning we reached the haven where we would be--Avantipura.
+
+This morning I discharged the Srinagar coolies and took a fresh lot, who
+pull better and talk less.
+
+How differently things may be put and yet the truth retained. Yesterday we
+reclined at our ease in our cosy floating cottage, towed up the lovely
+river by a picturesque crew of bronze Kashmiris, the swish of the passing
+water only broken by their melodious voices. The brilliancy of the morning
+gave way in the afternoon to a soft haze which fell over the snowy ranges,
+mellowing their clear tones to a soft and pearly grey, while the
+reflections of the big chenars which graced the river bank deepened us the
+afternoon shadows lengthened and spread over the wide landscape. Towards
+evening we strolled along the river bank plucking the ripe mulberries, and
+idly watching the terns and kingfishers busily seeking their suppers over
+the glassy water; and at night we sat on deck while the moon rose higher
+in the quiet sky, and the dark river banks assumed a clearer ebony as she
+rose above the lofty fringe of trees, until the towing-path lay a track of
+pure silver reaching away to the dim belt of woodland which shrouded
+Avantipura.
+
+That is a perfectly accurate description of the day, and so is this:--
+
+It was very hot--and there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun on
+board a wooden house-dounga. The flies, too, were unusually malevolent,
+and I could scarcely paint, and my wife could hardly read by reason of
+their unwelcome attentions.
+
+The coolies were a poor lot and a slack, and as the day grew stuffier and
+sultrier so did their efforts on the tow-path become "small by degrees and
+beautifully less."
+
+That irrepressible bird--the old cock--refused to consider himself as
+under arrest in his hen-coop, and insisted upon crowing about fifteen
+times a minute with that fidgeting irregularity which seems peculiar to
+certain unpleasant sounds, and which retains the ear fixed in nervous
+tension for the next explosion of defiance or pride, or whatever evil
+impulse it is which causes a cock to crow.
+
+Driven overboard by the cock, and a feeling that exercise would be
+beneficial, we landed in the afternoon, and plodded along the bank for
+some miles. The innumerable mulberry trees are loaded with ripe fruit, the
+ground below being literally black with fallen berries. We ate some, and
+pronounced them to be but mawkish things.
+
+After dinner we sat on deck, as the lamp smelt too strongly to let us
+enjoy ourselves in the cabin, and the coolies on the bank and the people
+in our boat and those in the cook-boat engaged in a triangular duel of
+words, until the last few grains of my patience ran through the glass, and
+I spake with _my_ tongue.
+
+There is certainly some curious quality in the air of this country which
+affects the nerves: maybe it is the elevation at which one lives--certain
+it is that many people complain of unwonted irritability and
+susceptibility to petty annoyances. And, while travelling in Kashmir is
+easy and comfortable enough along beaten tracks, yet the petty worries
+connected with all matters of transport and supply are incessant, and
+become much more serious if one cannot speak or understand Hindustani.
+
+It takes some little time for the Western mind to grasp the fact that the
+Kashmiri cannot and must not be treated on the "man and brothel" principle.
+
+He is by nature a slave, and his brain is in many respects the undeveloped
+brain of a child; in certain ways, however, his outward childishness
+conceals the subtlety of the Heathen Chinee.
+
+He has in no degree come to comprehend the dignity of labour any more than
+a Poplar pauper comprehends it, but fortunately his Guardians, while
+granting certain advantages in his tenure of land and payment of rent,
+have bound him, in return, to work for a fair payment, when required to do
+so by his Government, as exercised by the local Tehsildhar.
+
+The demand made upon a village for coolies is not, therefore, an arbitrary
+and high-handed system of bullying, but simply a call upon the villages to
+fulfil their obligation towards the State by doing a fair day's work for a
+fair day's pay of from four to six annas.
+
+I do not, of course, propose to entangle myself in the working of the Land
+Settlement, which is most fully and admirably explained in Lawrence's
+_Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+The coolie, drawn from his native village reluctant, like a periwinkle
+from its shell, is never a good starter, and when he finds himself at the
+end of a tow-rope or bowed beneath half a hundredweight of the sahib's
+trinkets, with a three-thousand-feet pass to attain in front of him, he is
+extremely apt to burst into tears--idle tears--or be overcome by a fit of
+that fell disease--"the lurgies." Lest my reader should not be acquainted
+with this illness, at least under that name, here is the diagnosis of the
+lurgies as given by a very ordinary seaman to the ship's doctor.
+
+"Well, sir, I eats well, and I sleeps well; but when I've got a job of
+work to do--Lor' bless you, sir! I breaks out all over of a tremble!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LIDAR VALLEY
+
+We were glad enough to leave Srinagar, as that place has been undoubtedly
+trying lately, being extremely hot and relaxing. The river, which had been
+up to the fourteen-foot level, as shown on the gate ports at the entrance
+to the Sunt-i-kul Canal, had fallen to 9-1/2 feet, and the mud, exposed
+both on its banks and in the fields and flats which had been flooded, must
+have given out unwholesome exhalations, of which the riverine population,
+the dwellers in house-boats and doungas, got the full benefit.
+
+Jane has certainly been anything but well lately, and I confess to a
+certain feeling best described as "slack and livery."
+
+We had not intended to remain nearly so long in Srinagar, but the
+continuity of the chain of entertainments proved too firm to break, and
+dances and dinners, bridge and golf, kept us bound from day to day, until
+the _f�te_ at the Residency on the 15th practically brought the Srinagar
+season to a close, and broke up the line of house-boats that had been
+moored along both banks of the river.
+
+We had arranged to start with a party of three other boats up the river,
+visiting Atchibal with our friends, and then going up the Lidar Valley,
+while they retraced their way to Srinagar.
+
+The most popular bachelor in Kashmir was appointed commodore, and deputed
+to set the pace and arrange rendezvous. He began by sending on his big
+house-boat, dragged by many coolies, to Pampur, a distance of some ten
+miles by water, and, following himself on horseback by road, instituted a
+sort of "Devil take the hindmost" race, for which we were not prepared.
+
+On reaching Pampur we heard that the "Baltic Fleet" had sailed for
+Avantipura, so we followed on; but, alas! having made a forced march to
+this latter place, we found that Rodjestvenski Phelps had again escaped us
+and "gone before."
+
+We consigned him and the elusive "chota resident," who was in command of
+the rest of the party, to perdition, and decided to pursue the even tenor
+of our way to the Lidar Valley.
+
+The upper reaches of the Jhelum tire not wildly or excitingly lovely. The
+narrowed waters, like sweet Thames, run softly between quiet British banks,
+willow veiled. The wide level flats of the lower river give place to low
+sloping hills or "karewas," which fall in terraced undulations from the
+foothills of the higher ranges which close in the eastern extremity of the
+Kashmir Valley.
+
+It was well into the evening, and the sun had just set, throwing a
+glorious rosy flush over the snows which surround the Lidar Valley, when
+we came to the picturesque bridge which crosses the stream at Bejbehara.
+
+The scene here was charming--a grand festa or religious tamasha being
+toward; the whole river was swarming with boats--great doungas, with their
+festive crews yelling a monotonous chant, paddled uproariously by. Light
+shikaras darted in and out, making up for want of volume in their song by
+the piercing shrillness of their utterances. The banks and bridge teemed
+with swarming life, and all Kashmir seemed to have contributed its
+noisiest members to the revel.
+
+Beyond the bridge we could see through the gathering dusk many house-boats
+of the sahibs clustering under a group of magnificent chenars, over whose
+dark masses the moon was just rising, full orbed. The piers of the bridge
+seemed to be set in foliage, large willows having grown up from their
+bases, giving a most curious effect. We marked with some apprehension the
+swiftness of the oily current which came swirling round the piers, and
+soon we found ourselves stuck fast about half-way under the bridge,
+apparently unable to force our boat another inch against the stream which
+boiled past. An appalling uproar was caused by the coolies and the
+unemployed upon the bridge, who all, as usual, gave unlimited advice to
+every one else as to the proper management of affairs under the existing
+circumstances, but did nothing whatever in support of their theories. The
+situation was becoming quite interesting, and the "mem-sahib" and I,
+sitting on the roof of our boat, were speculating as to what would happen
+next when the Gordian knot was cut by the unexpected energy and courage of
+the first-lieutenant, who boldly slapped an argumentative coolie in the
+face, while the admiral dashed promiscuously into the shikara,
+and--yelling "Hard-a-starboard!--Full speed ahead!--Sit on the
+safety--valve!"--boldly shot into an overhanging mulberry tree, wherein
+our tow-rope was much entangled. The rope was cleared, the crew poled
+like fury, the coolies hauled for all they were worth, every one yelled
+himself hoarse, and we forged ahead. We crashed under the mulberry tree,
+which swept us from stem to stern, nearly carrying the hen-coop overboard;
+while Jane and I lay flat under a perfect hail of squashy black fruit
+which covered the upper deck.
+
+We went on shore for a moonlight stroll after dinner. The place was like a
+glorified English park; chenars of the first magnitude, taking the place
+of oaks, rose from the short crisp turf, while a band of stately poplars
+stood sentry on the river bank. Through blackest shadow and over patches
+of moonlit sward we rambled till we came upon the ruins of a temple, of
+which little was left but a crumbled heap of masonry in the middle of a
+rectangular grassy hollow which had evidently been a tank, small detached
+mounds, showing where the piers of a little bridge had stood, giving
+access to the building from the bank. An avenue of chenars led straight to
+the bridge, showing either the antiquity of the trees or the comparatively
+modern date of the temple.
+
+_June 19_.--Yesterday afternoon we left Bejbehara, and went on to Kanbal,
+the port of Islamabad. A hot and sultry day, oppressive and enervating to
+all but the flies, which were remarkably energetic and lively. The river
+below Islamabad is quite narrow, and hemmed in between high mudbanks.
+
+Here we found the "Baltic Fleet," but, knowing that our fugitive friends
+must have already reached Atchibal, we held to our intention of going up
+the Lidar.
+
+Having tied up to a remarkably smelly bank, which was just lofty enough to
+screen our heated brows from any wandering breeze, we landed to explore. A
+hot walk of a mile or so along a dusty, poplar-lined road brought us to
+the town of Islamabad, which, however, concealed its beauties most
+effectually in a mass of foliage. Although it ranks as the second town in
+Kashmir, it can hardly be said to be more than a big village, even
+allowing for its 9000 inhabitants, its picturesque springs, and its boast
+of having been once upon a time the capital of the valley. The first
+hundred yards of "city," consisting of a highly-seasoned bazaar paved with
+the accumulated filth of ages, was enough to satisfy our thirst for
+sight-seeing, and after a visit to the post-office we trudged back through
+a most oppressive grey haze to the boat. Crowds of the _�lite_ of the
+neighbourhood were hastening into Islamabad, where the "tamasha," which we
+came upon at Bejbehara, is to be continued to-morrow.
+
+We had a good deal of difficulty in getting transport for our expedition,
+as the Assistant Resident and his party had, apparently, cleared the place
+of available ponies and coolies. An appeal to the Tehsildhar was no use,
+as that dignitary had gone to Atchibal in the Court train. However, a
+little pressure applied to Lassoo, the local livery stablekeeper, produced
+eight baggage ponies and a good-looking cream-coloured steed, with man's
+saddle, for my wife.
+
+The syce, a jovial-looking little flat-faced fellow, was a native of
+Ladakh.
+
+We made a fairly early start, getting off about six, and, having skirted
+the town and passed the neat little Zenana Mission Hospital, we had a
+pretty but uneventful march of some six miles to Bawan, where, under a big
+chenar, we halted for the greater part of the day.
+
+Here let me point out that life is but a series of neglected opportunities.
+We were within a couple of miles of Martand, the principal temple in
+Kashmir, and we did not go to see it! I blush as I write this, knowing
+that hereafter no well-conducted globe-trotter will own to my acquaintance,
+and, indeed, the case requires explanation. Well, then, it was excessively
+hot; we were both in bad condition, and I had ten miles more to march, so
+we decided to visit Martand on our way down the valley. Alas! we came this
+way no more.
+
+Little knowing how much we were missing, we sat contented in the shade
+while the hot hours went by, merely strolling down to visit a sacred tank
+full of cool green water and swarming with holy carp, which scrambled in a
+solid mass for bits of the chupatty which Jane threw to them.
+
+A clear stream gushed out of a bank overhung by a tangle of wild plants.
+To the left was a weird figure of the presiding deity, painted red, and
+frankly hideous.
+
+We were truly sorry to feel obliged, at four o'clock, to leave Bawan with
+its massy trees and abundance of clear running water, and step out into
+the heat and glare of the afternoon.
+
+I found it a trying march. The road led along a fairly good track among
+rice-fields, whence the sloping sun glinted its maddening reflection, but
+here and there clumps of walnuts--the fruit just at the pickling
+stage--cast a broad cool shadow, in which one lingered to pant and mop a
+heated brow e'er plunging out again into the grievous white sunlight.
+
+The cavalcade was increased during the afternoon by the addition to our
+numbers of a dog--a distinctly ugly, red-haired native sort of dog,
+commonly called a pi-dog. He appeared, full of business--from nowhere in
+particular--and his business appeared to be to go to Eshmakam with us.
+
+As we neared that place the road began to rise through the loveliest
+woodland scenery--white roses everywhere in great bushes of foamy white,
+and in climbing wreaths that drooped from the higher trees, wild indigo in
+purple patches reminding one not a little of heather. Above the still
+unseen village a big ziarat or monastery shone yellow in the sinking
+sunlight, and overhead rose a rugged grey wall of strangely pinnacled
+crags, outliers of the Wardwan, showing dusky blue in the clear-cut
+shadows, and rose grey where the low sun caught with dying glory the
+projecting peaks and bastions.
+
+In a sort of orchard of walnut trees, on short, clean, green grass, we
+pitched our tents, and right glad was I to sit in a comfortable Roorkhee
+chair and admire the preparations for dinner after a stiff day, albeit we
+only "made good" some sixteen miles at most.
+
+_June_ 20.--A brilliant morning saw us off for Pahlgam, along a road which
+was simply a glorified garden. Roses white and roses pink in wild
+profusion, jasmin both white and yellow, wild indigo, a tall and very
+handsome spiraea, forget-me-not, a tiny sort of Michaelmas daisy, wild
+strawberry, and honeysuckle, among many a (to me unknown) blossom, clothed
+the hillside or drooped over the bank of the clear stream, by whose
+flower-spangled margin lay our path, where, as in Milton's description of
+Eden,
+
+  "Each beauteous flower,
+  Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine
+  Reared high their flourished heads."
+
+Soon the valley narrowed, and closer on our left roared the Lidar, foaming
+over its boulders in wild haste to find peace and tranquil flow in the
+broad bosom of Jhelum.
+
+The road became somewhat hilly, and at one steep zigzag the nerves of Jane
+failed her slightly and she dismounted, rightly judging that a false step
+on the part of the cream-coloured courser would be followed by a hurried
+descent into the Lidar. I explained to her that I would certainly do what
+I could for her with a dredge in the Wular when I came down, but she
+preferred, she said, not to put me to any inconvenience in the matter. We
+were asked to subscribe, a few days later, at Pahlgam to provide the
+postman with a new pony, his late lamented "Tattoo" having been startled
+by a flash of lightning at that very spot, and having paid for the error
+with his life.
+
+A halt was called for lunch under a blue pine, where we quickly discovered
+how paltry its shade is in comparison with the generous screen cast by a
+chenar; scarcely has the heated traveller picked out a seemingly
+umbrageous spot to recline upon when, lo! a flickering shaft of sunlight,
+broken into an irritating dazzle by a quivering bunch of pine needles,
+strikes him in the eye, and he sets to work to crawl vainly around in
+search of a better screen.
+
+Nothing approaches the great circle of solid coolness thrown by a big
+chenar. The walnut does its best, and comes in a good second. Pines
+(especially blue ones) are, as I remarked before, unsatisfactory.
+
+But if the pine is not all that can be wished as a shade-producer, he is
+in all his varieties a beautiful object to look upon. First, I think, in
+point of magnificence towers the Himalayan spruce, rearing his gaunt shaft,
+
+  "Like the mast of some tall ammiral,"
+
+from the shelving steeps that overhang the torrents, and piercing high
+into the blue. In living majesty he shares the honours with the deodar,
+but he is merely good to look upon; his timber is useless and in his decay
+his fallen and lightning-blasted remains lie rotting on these wild hills,
+while the precious trunks of the deodar and the excelsa are laboriously
+collected, and floated and dragged to the lower valleys, producing much
+good money to Sir Amar Singh and the best of building timber to the
+purchaser.
+
+The road towards Pahlgam is a charming woodland walk, where the wild
+strawberries, still hardly out of flower, grow thick amidst a tangle of
+chestnut, yew, wild cherry, and flowering shrubs. Overhead and to the
+right the rocky steeps rise abruptly until they culminate in the crags of
+Kohinar, and on the left the snow-fed Lidar roars "through the cloven
+ravine in cataract after cataract."
+
+About four miles from Pahlgam, on turning a corner of the gorge, a
+splendid view bursts upon the wayfarer. The great twin brethren of Kolahoi
+come suddenly into sight, where they stand blocking the head of the valley,
+their double peaks shining with everlasting snow.
+
+It needed all the beauty of the scene to make me forget that the thirteen
+miles from Eshmakam were long and hot, and that I was woefully out of
+condition, and we rejoiced to see the gleam of tents amid the pine-wood
+which constitutes the camping-ground of Pahlgam.
+
+We sat peacefully on the thyme and clover-covered maiden, amongst a herd
+of happily browsing cattle, until our tents were up and the irritating but
+needful bustle of arrival was over, and the tea-table spread.
+
+Pahlgam stands some 2000 feet above Srinagar, and although it is not
+supposed to be bracing, yet to us, jaded votaries of fashion in stuffy
+Srinagar, the fresh, clear, pine-scented air was purely delightful, and a
+couple of days saw us "like kidlings blythe and merry"--that is to say, as
+much so as a couple of sedate middle-aged people could reasonably be
+expected to appear. The camping-ground is in a wood of blue pines, which,
+extending from the steeper uplands, covers much of the leveller valley,
+and abuts with woody promontories on the flowery strath which borders the
+river. Here some dozen or so of visitors had already selected little
+clearings, and the flicker of white tents, the squealing of ponies, and
+the jabber of native servants banished all ideas of loneliness.
+
+About half a mile below the camping-ground is the bungalow of Colonel Ward,
+clear of the wood and with Kolahoi just showing over the green shoulder
+which hides him from Pahlgam. I was fortunate enough to find the Colonel
+before he left for Datchgam to meet the Residency party, and to get,
+through his kindness, certain information which I wanted about the birds
+of Kashmir.
+
+An enthusiast in natural history, Colonel Ward has given himself with
+heart-whole devotion for many years to the study of the beasts and birds
+of Kashmir, and he is practically the one and only authority on the
+subject.
+
+We were very anxious to cross the high pass above Lidarwat over into the
+Sind Valley, having arranged to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal on their
+way back from Tilail. Knowing that Colonel Ward would be posted as to the
+state of the snow, I had written to him from Srinagar for information. His
+reply, which I got at Islamabad, was not encouraging, nor was his opinion
+altered now. The pass might be possible, but was certainly not advisable
+for ladies at present.
+
+_Friday, June 23_.--We were detained here at Pahlgam until about one
+o'clock to-day, as Colonel Ward, as well as two minor potentates, had
+marched yesterday, employing every available coolie. The fifteen whom I
+required were sent back to me by the Colonel, and turned up about noon, so,
+after lunch, we set forth.
+
+Camels are usually unwilling starters. I knew one who never could be
+induced to do his duty until a fire had been lit under him as a gentle
+stimulant. He lived in Suakin, and existence was one long grievance to him,
+but no other animal with which I am acquainted approaches a Pahlgam coolie
+in _vis inerti�_.
+
+Whether a too copious lunch had rendered my men torpid, or whether the
+attractions of their happy homes drew them, I know not, but after the
+loads (and these not heavy) had been, after much wrangling, bound upon
+their backs, and they had limped along for a few hundred yards or so, one
+fell sick, or said he was sick, and, peacefully squatting on a convenient
+stone, refused to budge.
+
+We were still close to some of the scattered huts of Pahlgam, so an
+authority, in the shape of a lumbadhar or chowkidar, or some such, came to
+our help, and promptly collected for us an elderly gentleman who was
+tending his flocks and herds in the vicinity. Doubtless it was provoking,
+when he was looking forward to a comfortable afternoon tea in the bosom of
+his family, after a hard day's work of doing nothing, to be called upon to
+carry a nasty angular yakdan for seven miles along a distinctly uneven
+road; but was he therefore justified in blubbering like a baby, and
+behaving like an ape being led to execution?
+
+The first half-mile was dreadful. At every couple of hundred yards the
+coolies would sit down in a bunch, groaning and crying, and nothing less
+than a push or a thump would induce them to move. We felt like
+slave-drivers, and indeed Sabz Ali and the shikari behaved as such,
+although their prods and objurgations were not so hurtful as they appeared,
+being somewhat after the fashion of the tale told by an idiot,
+
+  "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
+
+Presently we became so much irritated by the ceaseless row that we decided
+to sit down and read and sketch by the roadside, in order to let the whole
+mournful train pass out of sight and earshot.
+
+Now, I wish to maintain in all seriousness that I am not a Legree, and
+that, although I by no means hold the "man and brother" theory, yet I am
+perfectly prepared to respect the _droits de l'homme_.
+
+This may appear a statement inconsistent with my acknowledgment that I
+permitted coolies to be beaten--the beating being no more than a
+technical "assault," and never a "thrashing!"--but my contention is that
+when you have to deal with people of so low an organisation that they can
+only be reached by elementary arguments, they must be treated absolutely
+as children, and judiciously whacked as such.
+
+No Kashmiri without the impulsion of _force majeure_ would ever do any
+work--no logical argument will enable him to see ultimate good in
+immediate irksomeness.
+
+It is very difficult for the Western mind to give the Kashmiri credit for
+any virtues, his failings being so conspicuous and repellent; for not only
+is he an outrageous coward, but he feels no shame in admitting his
+cowardice. He is a most accomplished thief, and the truth is not in him.
+He and his are much fouler than Neapolitan lazzaroni, and his morals--well,
+let us give the Kashmiri his due, and turn to his virtues. He is, on the
+whole, cheerful and lively, devoted to children, and kind to animals.[1]
+
+Here is a story which is fairly characteristic of the charming Kashmiri.
+
+During the floods which nearly ruined Kashmir in 1901, a village near a
+certain colonel's bungalow was in danger of losing all its crops and half
+its houses, the neighbouring river being in spate. My friend, on going to
+see if anything could be done, found the water rising, and the adult male
+inhabitants of the village lying upon the ground, and beating their heads
+and hands upon it in woebegone impotence.
+
+He walked about upon their stomachs a little to invigorate them, and,
+sending forthwith for a gang of coolies from an adjacent village which lay
+a little higher, he set the whole crowd to work to divert part of the
+stream by means of driftwood and damming, and was, in the end, able to
+save the houses and a good part of the crops.
+
+When the hired coolies came to be paid for their labour, the villagers
+also put in a claim for wages, and were desperately vexed at my friend's
+refusal to grant it, complaining bitterly of having had to work hard for
+nothing!
+
+You will find a good description of the Kashmiri in _All's Well that Ends
+Well:_--
+
+    _Parolles_. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister.... He
+    professes not keeping of oaths, in breaking them, he is stronger
+    than Hercules. He will lie, sir, with such volubility, that you
+    would think truth were a fool: drunkenness is his best
+    virtue; ... he has everything that an honest man should not have;
+    what an honest man should have, he has nothing.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    He excels his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed
+    one of the best that is: in a retreat he outruns any lackey;
+    marry, in coming on he has the cramp.
+
+We had not long sat sketching and basking in the genial glow of a summer
+afternoon among the mountains, when it began to be borne in upon us that
+the weather was going to change, and that the usual thunderstorm was
+meditating a descent upon us. Black clouds came boiling up over the
+mountain peaks, and the too familiar grumble of distant thunder sent us
+hurrying along the lovely ravine, through which the path leads to Aru.
+Only a seven miles' journey, but ere we had gone half-way the storm broke,
+and a thick veil of sweeping rain fell between us and the surrounding
+mountains.
+
+Presently we found a serious solution of continuity in the track, which,
+after leading us along a precarious ledge by the side of the river,
+finished abruptly; sheared clean off by a recent landslip.
+
+We were very wet, but the river looked wetter still, and it boiled round
+the rocky point, where the road should have been but was not, in a
+distinctly disagreeable manner.
+
+However, Jane dismounting, I climbed upon the cream-coloured courser, and
+proceeded to ford the gap. The water swirled well above the syce's knees,
+but the noble steed picked his way with the greatest circumspection over
+and among the submerged boulders, till, after splashing through some
+hundred yards of water, he deposited me, not much wetter than before, on
+the continuation of the high-road, whence I had the satisfaction of
+watching Jane go through the same performance.
+
+Hoping against hope that the coolies, by a little haste, might have got
+the tents pitched before the storm came on, we plodded on, until, wet to
+the very skin, we slopped into Aru, to behold a draggled party squatting
+round a central floppy heap in a wet field, which, as we gazed, slowly
+upreared itself into a drooping tent.
+
+In dear old England this sort of experience would have spelt shocking
+colds, and probably rheumatism for life, but here--well, we crawled into
+our tent and found it, thanks to a couple of waterproof sheets spread on
+the ground, surprisingly dry. A change of clothes, a good dinner, produced
+under the most unfavourable circumstances from a wretched little
+cooking-tent, and a fire burning goodness knows how, in the open, showed
+the world to be quite a nice place after all.
+
+After dinner a great camp-fire was lit in front of our tent, the rain
+cleared off, and I sat smoking with much content, while all our soaking
+garments were festooned on branches round the blaze, and Jane and I turned
+them like roasting joints, at intervals, until the steam rose like incense
+towards the stars.
+
+The coolies, too, had quite got over their homesickness, and were
+extraordinarily cheerful, their incessant jabber falling as a lullaby on
+our ears as we dropped off to sleep.
+
+_Saturday, June_ 24.--We got away in good time for our short eight-mile
+march to Lidarwat. The coolies went off gaily--the day was warm and
+brilliant, and the views down the valley towards Pahlgam superb.
+
+We had camped on the low ground at Aru, just across the bridge, but about
+half a mile on, and upon a grassy plateau there is an ideal camping-ground
+facing down the Lidar Valley, towards the peaks which rise behind Pahlgam.
+Want of water is the only drawback to this spot, but if mussiks are
+carried, water can easily be brought from a small nullah towards Lidarwat.
+
+Tearing ourselves away from this spot, and turning our backs upon one of
+the most gorgeous views in Kashmir, we plunged into a beautiful wood.
+Maidenhair and many another fern grew in masses among the great roots
+which twined like snakes over the rocky slopes. Far below, with muffled
+roar, the unseen river tore its downward way.
+
+By-and-by, the path emerging from the wood shelved along a green hillside,
+where bracken and golden spurge clothed the little hollows, while wild
+wall-flower, Jacob's Ladder, and a large purple cranes-bill brightened the
+slopes where happy cattle, but lately released from their winter's
+imprisonment, were feeding greedily on the young green grass.
+
+I fancy the cattle have a remarkably poor time here in winter. Hay is not
+made, and very little winter forage seems to be collected. As the snows
+fall lower on the hills, the flocks and herds are driven down to the low
+ground, where they drag through the dark days as best they can, on
+maize-stalks and such like.
+
+I noticed early in May the water buffaloes just turned out to graze in the
+Lolab, and more weakly, melancholy collections of skin--and--bone I have
+seldom seen.
+
+Now, however, up high in every sunny grassy valley, the Gujars may be
+found camping with their flocks--cattle, ponies, buffaloes, and goats,
+working upwards hard on the track of the receding snow, where the primula
+and the gentian star the spring turf.
+
+A series of grassy uplands brought us close to Lidarwat, when a sharp
+shower, arriving unexpectedly from nowhere in particular, sent us to eat
+our lunch under the shelter of some fairly waterproof trees in the company
+of a herd of water buffaloes of especially evil aspect.
+
+One hoary brute in particular, with enormous horns and pale blue eyes,
+made me think of the legend concerning the origin of the buffalo.
+
+When the Almighty was hard at work creating the animals, the devil came
+and looked on until he became filled with emulation, and begged the Deity
+to let him try his hand at creation. So the Almighty agreed, asking him
+what beast he would prefer to make, and he said, "A cow." So he went away
+and created a water buffalo, which so disgusted the Creator that the devil
+was not permitted to make any more experiments.
+
+As soon as the rain held up and the thunder had rolled off up the valley,
+we packed the tiffin basket, had one more drink from an icy spring, and
+left the shelter of the friendly trees, followed by the glares of all the
+buffaloes, who appear to have a decided antipathy to the "sahib logue."
+
+We soon came to Lidarwat, passing several tents there, pitched by the edge
+of a green lawn, and sheltered by a deep belt of trees. Crossing to the
+right bank of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we continued our way,
+as the farther up the glen we get to-night, the less shall we leave for
+to-morrow, when we intend to visit the Kolahoi Glacier.
+
+The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this point,
+owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in common with
+the buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her beloved parasol, he
+whisked round and let out at me, and I was only saved from a nasty kick by
+my closeness to the beast, whose hock made such an impression upon my
+thigh as to cause me to go a bit short for a while.
+
+We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to show
+signs of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the river.
+
+A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
+suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at night,
+as our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little breezes
+that came sighing through the pines were straight from the snow.
+
+_Sunday, June 25_.--A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
+expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were
+camped amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun had
+already caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and gilded
+their rugged sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth and light.
+
+A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right, and
+as fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time to
+admire it duly.
+
+The track now led out into a wide and treeless valley, flanked by
+snow-crowned mountains, and we pushed on merrily until we arrived at the
+brink of a rascally torrent, which gave us some trouble to ford, being
+both exceeding swift and fairly deep. Luckily, it was greedy, and, not
+content with one channel, had spread itself out into four or five branches,
+and thus so squandered itself that Jane on her pony and I on coolie-back
+accomplished the passage without mishap. For some miles we held on along
+an easy path which curved to the right along the right bank of the river,
+which was spanned in many places by great snow bridges, often hundreds of
+yards in width. We lunched sitting on the trunk of a dead birch which had
+been carried by the snow down from its eyrie, and then left, a melancholy
+skeleton, bleaching on the slowly melting avalanche. Some two miles
+farther on we could see the end of the Kolahoi Glacier, its grey and
+rock-strewn snout standing abrupt above the white slopes of snow.
+
+Behind rose the fine peak of Harbagwan, in as yet undisputed splendour,
+Kolahoi being still hidden behind the cliffs which towered on our right.
+
+Distances seem short in this brilliant air, but we walked for a long while
+over the short turf, flushing crimson with primulas and golden with small
+buttercups, and then over snowy hillocks, before we reached the solid ice
+of the great glacier.
+
+It was so completely covered with fragments of grey rock that Jane could
+hardly he persuaded that it really was an ice slope that we were
+scrambling up with such difficulty, until a peep into a cold mysterious
+cleft convinced her that she was really and truly standing upon 200 feet
+of solid ice.
+
+The sight that now burst upon us was one to be remembered. Kolahoi towered
+ethereal--a sunlit wedge of sheer rock some six thousand feet above
+us--into the crystal air. From his feet the white frozen billows of the
+great glacier rolled, a glistering sea, to where we, atoms in the enormous
+loneliness, stood breathless in admiration. Around the head of the wide
+amphitheatre wherein we stood rose a circle of stately peaks, their bases
+flanged with rocky buttresses, dark amid the long sweeps of radiant snow,
+their shattered peaks reared high into the very heavens. A great silence
+reigned. There was no wind with us, and yet, even as we watched, a white
+cloud flitted past the virgin peak of Kolahoi--ghostly, intangible; and
+immediately, even as vultures assemble suddenly, no one knows whence, so
+did the clouds appear, surging over the gleaming shoulders of the mountain
+ridges, and up and round the grim precipices. We turned and hurried down
+the face of the glacier, and made for camp, as we knew from much
+experience that a thunderstorm was inevitable.
+
+Over the beds of dirty snow, down by the side of the new-born torrent,
+which leaped full-grown to life from the womb of a green cavern below the
+glacier; over patches of pulpy turf just freed from its wintry bondage,
+and already carpeted with masses of rose-coloured primulas, we hastened,
+keeping to the left bank of the stream, in order to avoid the torrent
+which had so troubled us in the morning, which we knew would be deeper in
+the afternoon owing to the melting of the snows in the sunshine.
+
+We had got but a bare half of our journey done when the storm burst, and
+in a very short time we were reduced to the recklessness which comes of
+being as wet as you can possibly be.
+
+    "The thunder bellows far from snow to snow
+  (Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie),
+    And loud and louder roars the flood below.
+  Heigho! But soon in shelter we shall be
+  (Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie)."
+
+Crossing the river on a big snow-bridge below the point where our old
+enemy came thundering down the mountain-side, we tramped gaily through mud
+and mire and over slippery rocks until we were gladdened by the sight of
+our camp, dripping away peacefully in the midst of the weeping forest.
+
+The rain, as usual, ceased in the evening. A great camp-fire was lit, and
+the neighbouring buffaloes of Gujar-Kote having kindly supplied us with
+milk, we dined wisely and well and dropped off to sleep, lulled by the
+roaring of the Kolahoi River, which raced through the darkness close by.
+
+_Tuesday, June 27_.--Being still hopeful of achieving the pass over into
+the Sind, we struck camp early yesterday and marched down to Lidarwat,
+only to find that the party which we knew had camped there with a view to
+crossing, had given up the idea and retreated down the valley; so I sent a
+swift messenger to countermand the three days' supply of "rassad" which I
+had ordered from Pahlgam for my men, and we marched on to Aru. Upon the
+spur which overlooks Aru we found Dr. Neve encamped, and proceeded to
+discuss the possibility of crossing into the Sind Valley _vi�_ Sekwas,
+Khem Sar, and Koolan. The Doctor, who is an enterprising mountaineer, was
+himself about to cross, but he did not encourage Jane to go and do
+likewise, as he said it would be very difficult owing to the late spring,
+and would probably entail a good deal of work with ropes and ice-axes.
+
+This absolutely decided us, our valour being greatly tempered by
+discretion, and we camped quietly at Aru, and came on into Pahlgam this
+forenoon. The river, for some reason best known to itself, was so low that
+we got dry-shod past the corner which had worried us so much on the way up.
+
+
+[1] This is incorrect, the European Residents having frequently attempted,
+    but hitherto vainly, to induce the native authorities to curb Kashmiri
+    cruelty.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+GANGABAL
+
+Friday, _June_ 30.--The last few days have been somewhat uneventful. We
+left Pahlgam at early dawn on Wednesday, just as the first lemon-coloured
+light was spreading in the east over the pine-serrated heights above the
+camp.
+
+The rapids below Colonel Ward's bungalow, which had been fierce and
+swollen as we passed them on our upward way, were now reduced to roaring
+after the subdued fashion of the sucking dove; so we hardly paused to
+contemplate either them or the big boulder, red-stained and holy, at
+Ganesbal, but hastened on to the point where, just before turning a high
+bluff which shuts him from sight for the last time, we got the view of
+Kolahoi, with the newly-risen sun glowing on his upper slopes. An hour
+flew by much too fast, and it was with great reluctance that we finally
+turned our back on the finest part of the Lidar Valley, and sadly resumed
+our march to Sellar, crossing the river and following a rather hot and
+dull road. Sellar itself is not nearly as pretty as Eshmakam, and we grew
+rather tired of it by evening, as we arrived soon after one o'clock, and
+found little to do or see.
+
+Yesterday we left Sellar and marched to Bejbehara, the hottest and dullest
+march I know of in Kashmir. A shadeless road slopes gently down across the
+plains to the river. All along this road we overtook parties of coolies
+laden with creels of silk cocoons, whose destination is the big silk
+factory at Srinagar, small clouds of hot red dust rising into the still
+air, knocked up by the shuffling tread of their grass-shod feet.
+
+In the fields, dry and burnt to our eyes after the green valleys, squatted
+the reapers, snipping the sparse ears, apparently one by one, with sickles
+like penknives. They seemed to get the work done somehow, as little sheafs
+laid in rows bore witness; but the patience of Job must have been upon
+them!
+
+The chenars of Bejbehara threw a most welcome shade from the noonday sun,
+which was striking down with evil force as we panted across the steamy
+rice-fields which surround them.
+
+Hither we came at noon, only to find that our boats were not awaiting us
+as we had directed. A messenger bearing bitter words was promptly
+despatched to root the lazy scoundrels out from Islamabad, while Jane and
+I camped out beneath a huge tree and lunched, worked, and sketched until
+four o'clock, when the Admiral brought the fleet in and fondly deemed his
+day's work done.
+
+This was by no means our view of the case, and the usual trouble
+began--"No coolies"--"Very late"--"Plenty tired," &c. &c.
+
+Of course Satarah was defeated, and was soon to be seen sulkily poling
+away in the stern-sheets, while his son-in-law still more sulkily paddled
+in the bow.
+
+We made about eight or ten miles, having a swift current under us, before
+a strong squall came up the valley, making the old ark slue about
+prodigiously, and inducing us to tie up for the night.
+
+This morning we slipped down stream to Srinagar, only halting for a short
+while to obtain some of the native bread for which Pampur is celebrated.
+
+The river seemed exceedingly hot and stuffy after the lovely air which we
+have been breathing lately, and we quite determined that the sooner we get
+out of the valley the better for our pleasure, if not for our health.
+
+We have been greatly exercised as to how best dispose of the time until
+September, for, during the months of July and August, the heat in the
+valley is very considerable, and every one seeks the higher summer
+retreats. The Smithsons suggested an expedition to Leh, which would,
+undoubtedly, have been a most interesting trip, but which would in no wise
+have spared us in the matter of heat. Had we started about this time for
+Leh we should have reached our destination towards the end of July, and
+would therefore have found ourselves setting out again across an arid and
+extremely hot country on the return journey somewhere about the middle of
+August.
+
+The game did not seem to be worth the candle, and the Smithsons themselves
+shied at the idea when it was borne in upon them that there would be
+little or no shooting to be done _en route_.
+
+The alternatives seemed to lie between Gulmarg, where most of the beauty
+and fashion of Kashmir disports itself during the hot weather, Sonamarg,
+and Pahlgam.
+
+Sonamarg, from description, seemed likely to be quiet, not to say dull, as
+a residence for two months. One cannot live by scenery alone, and even the
+loveliest may become _toujours p�t� de l'anguille._
+
+Pahlgam suffered in our eyes from the same failing, and our thoughts
+turned to Gulmarg. Here, however, a difficulty arose. It is a notoriously
+wet place. We heard horrid tales of golf enthusiasts playing in waders,
+and of revellers half drowned while returning from dinners in neighbouring
+tents.
+
+We thought of rooms in Nedou's Hotel, but our memories of this hostelry in
+Srinagar were not altogether sweet, and we did not in the least hanker
+after a second edition; moreover, every available room had been engaged
+long ago, and it was extremely doubtful, to say the least of it, if the
+good Mr. Nedou could do anything for us. The prospect of a two-month
+sojourn in a wet tent wherein no fire could ever be lighted, and in which
+Jane pictured her frocks and smart hats lying in their boxes all crumpled
+and shorn of their dainty freshness, was far from enticing!
+
+Tent existence, when one lives the simple life far from the madding crowd,
+clad in puttoo and shooting-boots, or grass shoes, is delightful; but tent
+life in the midst of a round of society functions--golf, polo, with their
+attendant teas and dinners--was not to be thought of without grave
+misgiving.
+
+Sorely perplexed, and almost at our wits' end, the Gordian knot was cut by
+our being offered a small hut which had been occupied by a clerk in the
+State employ, now absent, and which the Resident most kindly placed at our
+disposal for a merely nominal rent. Needless to say we gratefully accepted
+the offer, in spite of the assurance that the hut was of very minute
+dimensions.
+
+_Sunday, July_ 2.--Yesterday we toiled hard in the heat to get everything
+in train for a move to Gulmarg. Subhana, that excellent tailor and
+embroiderer, arranged to have all our heavy luggage sent up to meet us on
+the 10th, and from him, too, we arranged for the hire of such furniture as
+we might require, for we knew that the hut was bare as the cupboard of
+nursery fame.
+
+This morning we set off down the river to keep tryst with the Smithsons at
+Gangabal, where we hope to meet them about the 5th on their way back from
+Tilail. The usual struggle with the crew resulted, also as usual, in our
+favour, and we got right through to Gunderbal at the mouth of the Sind
+River, where we now lie amid a flotilla of boats whose occupiers have fled
+away from the sultriness and smelliness of Srinagar in search of the cool
+currents, both of air and water, which are popularly supposed to flow down
+the Sind.
+
+As Jane and I returned from a visit to the post-office along a sweltering
+path among the rice-fields, from which warm waves of air rose steaming
+into the sunset, we failed to observe the celebrated and superior coolness
+of Gunderbal'
+
+_Thursday, July_ 6.--The lumbadhar of Gunderbal, in spite of his
+magnificent name, is a rascal of the deepest dye. He put much water in our
+milk, to the furious disgust of Sabz Ali, and he failed to provide the
+coolies I had ordered; I therefore reported him to Chattar Singh, and sent
+my messengers forth, like another Lars Porsena, to catch coolies.
+
+This was early on Tuesday morning, and a sufficient number of ponies and
+coolies having been got together by 5.30, we started.
+
+I may here note that, owing to a confusion between _Gunderbal_ (the port,
+so to speak, of the Sind Valley, and route to Leh and Thibet) and
+_Gangabal_, a lake lying some 12,000 feet above the sea behind Haramok,
+our arrangement to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal was altered by a letter
+from them announcing their imminent arrival at Gunderbal! This was
+perturbing, but as the mistake was not ours, we decided not to allow
+ourselves to be baulked of a trip for which we had surrendered an
+expedition to Shisha Nag, beyond Pahlgam.
+
+The lower part of the Sind Valley is in nowise interesting; the way was
+both tedious and hot, and we rejoiced greatly when, having crossed the
+Sind River, we found a lovely spring and halted for tiffin. After an
+hour's rest we followed the main road a little farther, and then, passing
+the mouth of the Chittagul Nullah, turned up the Wangat Valley. The
+scenery became finer, and the last hour's march along a steep
+mountain-side, with the Wangat River far below on our right, was a great
+improvement on what we had left behind us.
+
+The little village of Wangat, perched upon a steep spur above the river,
+was woefully deficient of anything like a good camping-ground. We finally
+selected a small bare rice patch, which, though extremely "knubbly," had
+the merits of being almost level, moderately remote from the village and
+its smells, and quite close to a perfect spring.
+
+Yesterday we achieved a really early start, leaving Wangat at 4.15, the
+path being weirdly illuminated by extempore torches made of pine-wood
+which the shikari had prepared. A moderately level march of some three
+miles brought us to the ruined temples of Vernag and the beginning of our
+work, for here the path, turning sharply to the left, led us inexorably up
+the almost precipitous face of the mountain by means of short zigzags.
+
+It was a stiff pull. The sun was now peering triumphantly over the hills
+on the far side of the valley, and the path was (an extraordinary thing in
+Kashmir) excessively dusty. Up and on we panted, Jane partly supported by
+having the bight of the shikari's puggaree round her waist while he towed
+her by the ends.
+
+There was no relaxation of the steep gradient, no water, and no shade, and
+the height to be surmounted was 4000 feet.
+
+If the longest lane has a turning, so the highest hill has a top, and we
+came at last to the blissful point where the path deigned to assume an
+approach to the horizontal, and led us to the most delightful spring in
+Kashmir! The water, ice-cold and clear, gushes out of a crevice in the
+rock, and with the joy of wandering Israelites we threw ourselves on the
+ground, basked in the glorious mountain air, and shouted for the tiffin
+basket.
+
+Only the faithful "Yellow Bag" was forthcoming, the tiffin coolie being
+still "hull down," and from its varied contents we extracted the only
+edibles, apricots and rock cakes.
+
+Never have we enjoyed any meal more than that somewhat light breakfast,
+washed down by water which was a pure joy to drink.
+
+Alas! There were but two rock cakes apiece! Another half-hour's clamber,
+along a pretty rough track, brought us to a point whence we looked down a
+long green slope to our destination, Tronkol--a few Gujar huts, indistinct
+amidst a clump of very ancient birch-trees, standing out as a sort of
+oasis among the bare and boulder-strewn slopes.
+
+The view was superb. To the right, the mountain-side fell steeply to where,
+in the depths of the Wangat Nullah, a tiny white thread marked the river
+foaming 4000 feet below, and beyond rose a jagged range of spires and
+pinnacles, snow lying white at the bases of the dark precipices. "These
+are the savage wilds" which bar the route from the Wangat into Tilail and
+the Upper Sind.
+
+Over Tronkol, bare uplands, rising wave above wave, shut out the view of
+Gangabal and the track over into the Erin Nullah and down to Bandipur.
+
+On our left towered the bastions of Haramok, his snow-crowned head rising
+grimly into the clear blue sky.
+
+We pitched our camp at Tronkol about two o'clock, on a green level some
+little way beyond the Gujar huts, and just above a stream which picked its
+riotous way along a bed of enormous boulders, sheltered to a certain
+extent by a fringe of hoary birches.
+
+We had never beheld such great birches as these, many of them, alas! mere
+skeletons of former grandeur, whose whitening limbs speak eloquently of a
+hundred years of ceaseless struggle with storm and tempest.
+
+I saw no young ones springing up to replace these dying warriors. The
+Gujars and their buffaloes probably prevent any youthful green thing from
+growing. It seems a pity.
+
+Towards evening we observed baggage ponies approaching, and at the sight
+we felt aggrieved; for, in our colossal selfishness, we fancied that
+Tronkol was ours, and ours alone. A small tent was pitched, and presently
+to our surly eyes appeared a lonely lady, who proceeded solemnly to play
+Patience in front of it while her dinner was being got ready.
+
+A visit of ceremony, and an invitation to share our "irishystoo" and
+camp-fire, brought Mrs. Locock across, and we made the acquaintance of a
+lady well known for her prowess as a shikari throughout Kashmir--
+
+  "There hunted 'she' the walrus, the narwal, and the seal.
+    Ah! 'twas a noble game,
+    And, like the lightning's flame;
+  Flew our harpoons of steel"
+
+I cannot resist the quotation, but I do not really think Mrs. Locock hunts
+walruses in Kashmir, and I know she doesn't use a harpoon. No matter, she
+proved a cheery and delightful companion, and we entirely forgave her for
+coming to Tronkol and poaching on our preserves.
+
+We were extremely amused at the surprise she expressed at Jane's feat in
+climbing from Wangat. Evidently Jane's reputation is not that of a
+bullock-workman in Srinagar!
+
+This morning we all three went to see Lake Gangabal. An easy path leads
+over some three or four miles of rolling down to our destination, which is
+one of a whole chain of lakes--or rather tarns--which lie under the
+northern slopes of Haramok.
+
+We came first upon a small piece of water, lying blue and still in the
+morning sun, and from which a noisy stream poured forth its glacier water.
+This we had a good deal of trouble in crossing, the ladies being borne on
+the broad backs of coolies, in attitudes more quaint than graceful. A
+second and deeper stream being safely forded, we climbed a low ridge to
+find Gangabad stretched before us--a smooth plane of turquoise blue and
+pale icy green, beneath the dark ramparts of Haramok, whose
+"eagle-baffling" crags and glittering glaciers rose six thousand sheer
+feet above. In the foreground the earth, still brown, and only just
+released from its long winter covering of snow, bore masses of small
+golden ranunculus and rose-hued primulas.
+
+An extraordinary sense of silence and solitude filled one--no birds or
+beasts were visible, and only the tinkle of tiny rills running down to the
+lake, and the distant clamour of the infant river, broke, or rather
+accentuated, the loneliness of the scene.
+
+We had brought breakfast with us, and after eating it we made haste to
+recross the two rivers, because, troublesome as they were to ford in the
+morning, they would certainly grow worse with every hour of ice-melting
+sunshine.
+
+Once more on the camp side, however, we strolled along in leisurely mood,
+staying to lunch on top of the ridge overlooking Tronkol. I left the
+ladies then to find their leisurely way back among the flowery hollows,
+and made for a peak overlooking the head of the Chittagul Nullah. A sharp
+climb up broken rocks and over snow slopes brought me to the top, a point
+some 13,500 feet above the sea. In front of me Haramok, seamed with
+snow-filled gullies, still towered far above; immediately below, the
+saddle--brown, bare earth, snow-streaked--divided the Chittagul Nullah
+from Tronkol. Far away down the valley the Sind River gleamed like a
+silver thread in the afternoon light, and beyond, the Wular lay a pale
+haze in the distance.
+
+To the northward rose the fantastic range of peaks that overhang the
+Wangat gorge, and almost below my feet, at a depth of some 1500 feet, lay
+a sombre lakelet, steely dark and still, in the shadow of the ridge upon
+which I sat.
+
+The sun was going down fast into a fleecy bed of clouds, amid which I knew
+that Nanga Parbat lay swathed from sight. To see that mountain monarch had
+been the chief object of my climb, so, recognising that the sight of him
+was a hope deferred, I made haste to scramble down to the tarn below,
+stopping here and there to fill my pith hat with wild rhubarb, and to pick
+or admire the new and always fascinating wild flowers as I passed.
+Large-flowered, white anemones; tiny gentian, with vivid small blue
+blossoms; loose-flowered, purple primulas, and many strange and novel
+blossoms starred the grassy patches, or filled the rocky crevices with
+abundant beauty.
+
+By the lake side the moisture-loving, rose-coloured primula reappeared in
+masses, and as I followed down its outgoing stream towards the camp, I
+waded through a tangle of columbine, white and blue; a great purple salvia,
+arnica, and a profusion of varied flowers in rampant bloom.
+
+_Saturday, July_ 8.--An early start homewards yesterday, in the cold dawn,
+rewarded us by the sight of the first beams of the rising sun lighting up
+the threefold head of Haramok with an unspeakable glory, as we crossed the
+open boulder-strewn uplands, before descending into the nullah, which lay
+below us still wrapped in a mysterious purple haze. The downward zigzags,
+with their uncompromising steepness, proved almost as tiring as the ascent
+had been, and we were more than ready for breakfast by the time we reached
+the ruined temples of Vernag.
+
+These temples, built probably about the beginning of the eighth century,
+are, like all the others which I have seen in Kashmir, small, and somewhat
+uninteresting, except to the archaeologist. They consist, invariably, of a
+"cella" containing the object of veneration, the lingam, surmounted by a
+high-pitched conical stone roof. In structure they show apparently signs
+of Greek influence in the doorways, and the triangular pediments above
+them. Phallic worship would seem to have been always confined to these
+temples, with ophiolatry--the nagas or water-snake deities being
+accommodated in sacred tanks, in the midst of which the early Kashmir
+temples were usually placed.
+
+Any one who wishes to study the temple architecture of Kashmir cannot do
+better than read Fergusson's _Indian Architecture_, wherein he will find
+all the information he wants.
+
+To the ordinary "man in the street" the ancient buildings of Kashmir do
+not appeal, either by their aesthetic value or by the dignity of size.
+Martand, the greatest, and probably the finest, both in point of grandeur
+and of situation, I regret to say, I did not see; but the temples at
+Bhanyar, Pandrettan, and Wangat resemble one another closely in design and
+general insignificance. The position of the Wangat ruins, embosomed in the
+wild tangle
+
+  "Of a steep wilderness, whose airy sides
+  With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
+  Access denied; and overhead up grew
+  Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
+  Cedar, and pine, and fir,"
+
+and seated at the base of a solemn circle of mountains, gives the group of
+tottering shrines a picturesqueness and importance which I cannot concede
+that they would otherwise have had.
+
+I do not remember ever to have seen it noted that all buildings which are
+impressive by the mere majesty of size are to be found in plains and not
+in mountainous countries. This is probably due to two causes. The one
+being the denser population of the fat plains, whereby a greater concourse
+of builders and of worshippers would be sustained, and the other being
+the--probably unconscious--instinct which debarred the architect from
+attempting to vie with nature in the mountains and impel him to work out
+his most majestic designs amid wide and level horizons.
+
+The fact remains, whatever may be the cause, that architecture has never
+been advanced much beyond the mere domestic in very mountainous regions,
+with the exception of the mediaeval strongholds, which formed the nucleus
+of every town or village, where a _point d'appui_ was required against
+invasion, for the protection of the community.
+
+Breakfast, followed by a prowl among the ruins and a short space for
+sketching, gave the sun time to pour his beams with quite unpleasant
+insistence into the confined fold in the hills, where we began to gasp
+until the ladies mounted their ponies, and we took our way down the valley,
+crossing the river below Wangat, and keeping along the left bank to
+Vernaboug, where we camped, the only incident of any importance being the
+sad loss of Jane's field-glasses, which, carried by her syce in a boot-bag,
+were dropped in a stream by that idiot while crossing, he having lost his
+footing in a pool, and, clutching wildly at the pony's reins, let go the
+precious binoculars.
+
+This morning we were up betimes, Mrs. Locock having ordained a bear "honk"!
+This was, to me, a new departure in shikar, and truly it was amusing to
+see the shikari, bursting with importance, mustering the forty half-naked
+coolies whom he had collected to beat. A couple of men with tom-toms slung
+round their necks completed the party, which marched in straggling
+procession out of the village at dawn.
+
+A mile of easy walking brought us to the rough jungly cliffs, seamed with
+transverse nullahs, narrow and steep, which bordered the river. Here we
+were placed in passes, with great caution and mystery, by the shikari and
+his chief-of-the-staff--the "oldest inhabitant" of Vernaboug; and here we
+sat in the morning stillness until a distant clamour and the faint beating
+of tom-toms afar off made us sit up more warily, and watch eagerly for the
+expected bear.
+
+The yells increase, and the tom-toms, vigorously banged, seem calculated
+to fuss any self-respecting bear into fits. We watch a narrow space
+between two bushes some dozen yards away, and see that the Mannlicher
+across our knees and the smooth-bore, ball loaded in the right and
+chokeless barrel, lie handy for instant use.
+
+Hidden in the dense jungle, some hundred yards below, sits Mrs. Locock on
+the matted top of a hazel, while Jane, chittering with suppressed
+excitement, crouches a few paces behind me.
+
+The beaters approach, and pandemonium reigns. A few scared birds dart past,
+but no bear comes; and when the first brown body shows among the brushwood
+we shout to stop the uproar, and all move on to another beat.
+
+Four "honks" produced nothing, so far as I was concerned; but a
+bear--according to her shikari--passed close by Mrs. Locock, so thickly
+screened by jungle that she couldn't see it. This may be so, but Kashmir
+shikaris have remarkably vivid imaginations.
+
+After a delightful morning to all parties concerned--for we were much
+amused, the coolies were adequately paid, and the bear wasn't worried--we
+returned to breakfast, and then marched fifteen hot miles into Gunderbal,
+where we found the Smithsons, with whom we dined. They have been in Gurais
+and the Tilail district ever since they left Srinagar on the 24th April,
+and have had an adventurous and difficult time, with plenty of snow and
+torrents and avalanches, but somewhat poor sport.
+
+This is not according to one's preconceived ideas of shikar in Kashmir, as
+they went into a nullah which no sahib had penetrated for five years; they
+had the best shikari in Kashmir (he said it, and he ought to know); they
+worked very hard, and their bag consisted of one or two moderate ibex and
+a red bear.
+
+_Tuesday, July_ 11.--On Sunday morning the combined fleet sailed for
+Palhallan. The Smithsons had a "matted dounga," and she "walked away" from
+our heavier ark down the winding Sind at a great pace. We reached Shadipur
+at 11 A.M., but the Smithsons had "gone before," so, crossing the Jhelum,
+we made after them in hot pursuit, and reached them and Palhallan at
+sunset.
+
+A narrow canal, bordered by low swampy marshland, allowed us to get within
+a mile of the village and tie up among the shallows, whereupon the
+mosquitoes gathered from far and near, and fell upon us.
+
+The final packing, effected amid a hungry crowd of little piping fiends,
+was a veritable nightmare, and yesterday morning we rescued our mangled
+remains from the enemy, and, having paid off our boats, hurriedly
+clambered on to the ponies which had come--late, as usual--from Palhallan
+to convey what was left by the mosquitoes to Gulmarg.
+
+The unfortunate Jane--always a popular person--is especially so with
+insects; and if there is a flea or a mosquito anywhere within range it
+immediately rushes to her.
+
+She paid dearly for her fatal gift of attractiveness at Palhallan--her
+eyes, usually so keen, being what is vulgarly termed "bunged up," and
+every vulnerable spot in like piteous plight!
+
+We quitted Palhallan as the Lot family quitted Sodom and Gomorrah, but
+with no lingering tendency to look backward; we cast our eyes unto the
+hills, and kicked the best pace we could out of our "tattoos," halting for
+breakfast soon after crossing the hot, white road which runs from Baramula
+to Srinagar.
+
+As we left the steamy valley and wound up a rapidly ascending path among
+the lower fringes and outliers of the forest our spirits rose, and by the
+time we had clambered up the last stiff pull and emerged from the
+darkly-wooded track into the little clearing, where perches the village of
+Babamarishi, we were positively cheerful.
+
+Once more the air was fresh and buoyant, the spring water was cool and
+"delicate to drink," and from our tents we could look out over the valley
+lying dim in a yellow heat-haze far below.
+
+Babamarishi is a picturesquely-grouped collection of the usual
+rickety-looking wooden huts, no dirtier, but perhaps noisier than usual,
+owing to the presence of a very holy ziarat much frequented by loudly
+conversational devotees. We spent the crisp, warm afternoon peacefully
+stretched on the sloping sward in front of our tents, and making the
+acquaintance of the only good thing that came out of Palhallan--a charming
+quartette of young geese which Sabz Ali had bought and brought.
+
+These delightful birds evinced the most perfect friendliness and
+confidence in us, and we became greatly attached to them. They and the
+fowls seemed excellent travellers, and after a long day's march would come
+up smiling, like the jackdaw of Rheims, "not a penny the worse."
+
+This morning we had but a short and easy march from Babamarishi to Gulmarg,
+along a good road, through a fine forest of silver fir.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GULMARG
+
+Somehow one's preconceived ideas of a place are almost always quite wrong,
+and so Gulmarg seemed quite different from what I had expected. It seemed
+all twisted the wrong way, and was really quite unlike the place which my
+imagination had evolved.
+
+Turning through a narrow gap, we found ourselves facing a wide, green,
+undulating valley completely surrounded by dense fir forest. Beyond, to
+the left, rose the sloping bulk of Apharwat, one of the range of the Pir
+Panjal; while to the right low, wooded hillocks bounded the valley and
+fell, on their outward flanks, to the Kashmir plain.
+
+Immediately in front of us a small village or bazaar swarmed with native
+life, and sloped down to a stream which wound through the hollows.
+
+All round the edge of the forest a continuous ring of wooden huts and
+white tents showed that the "sahib" on holiday intent had marked Gulmarg
+for his own.
+
+As we rode through the bazaar the view expanded. Apharwat showed all his
+somewhat disappointing face; his upper slopes, streaked with dirty snow,
+looked remarkably dingy when contrasted with the dazzling white clouds
+which went sailing past his uninteresting summit. The absence of all
+variety in form or light and shade, and the dull lines of his
+foreshortened front, made it hard to realise that he stood some five
+thousand feet above us.
+
+Near the centre of the marg, on a small hill, was a large wooden building
+surrounded by many satellite huts and tents: this we rightly guessed to be
+Nedou's Hotel. Below, on a spur, was the little church, and to the right,
+in the hollow, the club-house faced the level polo-ground.
+
+A winding stream, which we subsequently found to be perfectly ubiquitous,
+and an insatiable devourer of errant golf-balls, ran deviously through the
+valley, which seemed to be rather over a mile long, and almost equally
+wide.
+
+The Smithsons rode away vaguely in search of a camping-ground; while we,
+having found out where our hut was, turned back and climbed a knoll behind
+the bazaar, and found ourselves in front of our future home, a very plain
+and roughly-built rectangular wooden hut, containing a small square room
+opening upon a verandah, and having a bedroom and bathroom on each side.
+
+Such was our palace, and we were well satisfied with it.
+
+The cook-house and servants' quarters were in a hut close by, and I could
+summon my retainers or chide them for undue chatter from my bedroom
+window--a serviceable short cut for the dinner, too, in wet and stormy
+weather!
+
+Life at Gulmarg is extremely apt to degenerate into the "trivial round" of
+the golf links varied by polo, or polo varied by golf, with occasional
+gymkhanas and picnics. There are, doubtless, many delightful excursions to
+be made, but upon the whole it seems difficult to break far beyond the
+"Circular Road," a fairly level and well-kept bridle-path, which for eight
+beautiful miles winds through the pine forest, giving marvellous glimpses
+of snowy peaks and sunlit valleys.
+
+The "Circular Road" is always fine, whether seen after rain, when, far
+below in the Ferozepore Nullah, the
+
+  "Swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,
+  Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,"
+
+or when in the evening sunlight the whole broad Valley of Kashmir lies
+glowing at our feet, ringed afar by the ethereal mountains whose pale
+snows stand faint in the golden light, until beneath the yellowing sky the
+clouds turn rosy, and from their midst Haramok and Kolahoi raise their
+proud heads towards the earliest star.
+
+The expedition to the top of Apharwat is, in my opinion, hardly worth
+making, but then I was not very lucky in the weather. Major Cardew, R.F.A.,
+and I arranged to do the climb together, and duly started one excessively
+damp and foggy morning towards the middle of July.
+
+Taking our ponies, we scrambled up a rough path through the forest to
+Killanmarg, a boulder-strewn slope, some half a mile wide, which lies
+between the upper edge of the forest and the final slopes of the mountain.
+
+Sending our ponies home, we set about the ascent of the 3500 feet that
+remained between us and our goal. The whole hillside was a perfect wild
+garden. Columbines, potentillas--yellow, bronze, and crimson--primulas,
+anemones, gentian, arnica, and quantities of unknown blossoms gave us
+ample excuse for lingering panting in the rarefied air, as we struggled
+through brushwood first, and then over loose rocks and finally slopes of
+shelving snow, before we found ourselves on the crest of the mountain,
+shivering slightly in the raw, foggy air.
+
+Our view was narrowed down to the bleak slopes of rock and snow that
+immediately surrounded us, for our hope that we should get above the cloud
+belt was not fulfilled, and beyond a dismal tarn, lying just below us, in
+whose black waters forlorn little bergs of rotten snow floated, and a very
+much circumscribed view of dull tops swathed in flying mist, we saw
+nothing.
+
+Had the sky been clear, I am told that the view would have been
+magnificent, but I should think probably no better than that from
+Killanmarg, as it is a mistake to suppose that a high, or at least too
+high, elevation "lends enchantment." As a rule the view is finer when seen
+half-way up a lofty mountain than that obtained from the summit.
+
+We did not stay long upon the top of Apharwat discussing the best point of
+view, because Cardew sagaciously remarked that if it grew much thicker he
+wouldn't be answerable for finding the way down, and as I have a holy
+horror of rambling about strange (and possibly precipitous) mountains in a
+fog, we set about retracing our own footsteps in the snow until we
+regained the ridge we had come up by.
+
+A remarkably wet couple we were when we presented ourselves at our
+respective front doors, just in time for a "rub down" before lunch!
+
+The golf at Gulmarg is very good, the 18-hole course being exceedingly
+sporting, and tricky enough to defeat the very elect. Jane and I had
+conveyed our clubs out to Kashmir, knowing that they were likely to prove
+useful. I had also taken the precaution to pack up a box or two of balls,
+but I found my labour all in vain, as "Haskells" and "Kemshall-Arlingtons"
+were supplied by the club at precisely the same price as in England--viz.,
+1 r. 8 an., or two shillings.
+
+New clubs are also cheap and in plenty, but repairs to old favourites are
+not always satisfactory. My pet driver, having been damaged, was very
+evilly treated by the native craftsman, who bound up its wounds with large
+screws!
+
+The mountains of Kashmir have been a constant joy to us. Varying with
+every change of light and shade, custom cannot stale their infinite
+variety; but as yet I had not seen the great monarch of Chilas, Nanga
+Parbat.
+
+In July and early August he is rarely visible from Gulmarg, owing to the
+haziness of the atmosphere. One clear morning, however, towards the end of
+July, after a night of rain and storm, I was strolling along the Circular
+Road when, lo! far away in the north-west, soaring ethereal above the blue
+ranges that overlook Gurais, above the cloud-banks floating beyond their
+summits, the great mountain, unapproachable in his glory, stood revealed.
+
+The early morning sun struck full on his untrodden snows, making it hard
+to realise that eighty-five miles of air separated me from that clear-cut
+peak. Soon, very soon, a light cloud clung to his eastern face, and within
+ten minutes the whole vision had faded into an up-piled tower of seething
+clouds.
+
+Later in the season, as the air grew clearer, Jane and I made almost daily
+pilgrimages to the point, only a few minutes' walk from our hut, whence,
+framed by a foreground of columnar pines, Nanga Parbat could generally be
+seen for a time in the morning.
+
+_Tuesday, August_ 1.--Society in Gulmarg is particularly cheery, as indeed
+might be expected where two or three hundred English men and women are
+gathered together to amuse themselves and lay in a fresh store of health
+and energy before returning to the routine of duty in the plains.
+
+There have been many picnics lately, the little glades or margs, which are
+frequent in the forest slopes, being ideal places of rendezvous for
+merrymakers on horse or foot. Picnics of all sorts and sizes, from the
+little impromptu gatherings of half-a-dozen congenial young souls (always
+an even number, please), who ride off into the romantic shades to nibble
+biscuits and make tea, to the dainty repasts provided by a hospitable lady,
+whose official hut overlooks the Ferozepore Nullah, and who, in turn,
+overlooks her cook, to the great gratification of her guests.
+
+How small a thing will upset the best-laid plans of hospitality! It is
+said that a most carefully planned picnic, where all the little tables,
+set for two, were discreetly screened apart among the bushes, was entirely
+ruined by a piratical damsel undertaking a cutting-out expedition for the
+capture of the hostess' best young man.
+
+Our evenings are by no means dull. On many a starlit night has Jane
+mounted the noble steed which, through the kindness of the Resident, we
+have hired from the "State," and ridden across the marg attended by her
+slaves (her husband and the ancient shikari, to wit), to dine and play
+bridge in some hospitable hut, or dance or see theatricals at Nedou's
+Hotel.
+
+Last week we tore ourselves away from our daily golf, and joined the
+Smithsons in a futile expedition to the foot of the Ferozepore Nullah for
+bear. Three days we spent in vain endeavour to find "baloo," and on the
+fourth we wended our toilsome way up the hill again to Gulmarg.
+
+_Monday, August_ 27.--There are drawbacks as well as advantages in being
+perched, as it were, just above the bazaar. Its proximity enables our good
+Sabz Ali to sally forth each morning and secure the earliest consignment
+of "butter and eggs and a pound of cheese," which has come up from
+Srinagar, and select the best of the fruit and vegetables. It affords also
+an interesting promenade for the geese, who solemnly march down the main
+street daily for recreation and such stray articles of food as may be
+found in the heterogeneous rubbish-heaps.
+
+It possesses, however, a superabundance of pi-dogs, who gather together on
+the slope in front of our hut in the watches of the night, and serenade us
+to a maddening extent.
+
+The natives, too, have a sinful habit of chattering and shouting at an
+hour when all well-conducted persons should be steeped in their beauty
+sleep.
+
+A few nights ago this culminated in what Keats would have called a "purple
+riot." The sweeper and his friends were holding a meeting for the purpose
+of conversation and the consumption of apple brandy.
+
+Having fruitlessly sent the shikari to try and stop the insufferable noise,
+I was fain to sally forth myself to investigate matters.
+
+Then to a happy and light-hearted party seated chattering round a blazing
+fire there came suddenly the unwelcome apparition of an exceedingly irate
+sahib, in evening dress and pumps, brandishing a khudstick.
+
+A wild scurry, in which the bonfire was scattered, a few remarks in
+forcible English, a whack which just missed the hindmost reveller, and the
+place became a deserted village.
+
+Next morning Sabz Ali came to me in a towering rage to report that the
+sweeper--that unclean outcast--had dared to say most opprobrious things to
+him, being inspired thereto by the devil and apple brandy. Nothing less
+than the immediate execution of the culprit by hanging, drawing, and
+quartering would satisfy the outraged feelings of our henchman.
+
+I promised a yet severer punishment. I said I would "cut" the wretched
+minion's pay that month to the amount of a rupee. Vengeance was satisfied,
+and the victim reduced to tears.
+
+It is good to hear Jane--who for many years has been accustomed to having
+her own way in all household matters--ordering breakfast.
+
+"Well, Sabz Ali--what shall we have for breakfast to-morrow?"
+
+"Jessa mem-sahib arder!"--with a friendly grin.
+
+"Then I shall have kidneys."'
+
+"No kidney, mem-sahib! Kidney plenty money--two annas six pice ek. Oh,
+plenty dear!"
+
+"I'm tired of eggs. Is there any cold chicken you
+could grill?"
+
+"Chota murghi one egg lay, mem-sahib, anda poach. Sahib, chicken grill
+laike!"
+
+"Oh, all right! But I thought of a mutton-chop for the major sahib."
+
+"Muttony stup" (mutton's tough). "Sahib no laike!"
+
+"Very well, that will do--a poached egg for me and grilled chicken for the
+sahib."
+
+"No, mem-sahib--no 'nuf. Sahib plenty 'ungry--chicken grill, peechy
+ramble-tamble egg!"
+
+"Have it your own way. I daresay the major sahib _would_ like scrambled
+eggs, and we'll have coffee--not tea."
+
+"No, mem-sahib. No coffee--coffee finish!"
+
+"Send the shikari down to the bazaar, then, for a tin of coffee from
+Nusserwanjee."
+
+"Shikari saaf kuro lakri ke major sahib" (cleaning the golf-clubs). "Tea
+breakfast, coffee kal" (to-morrow).
+
+And, utterly routed on every point, Jane gives in gracefully, and makes an
+excellent breakfast as prearranged by Sabz Ali!
+
+The news is spread that there will be an exhibition of pictures held in
+Srinagar in September. Every second person is a--more or less--heaven-born
+artist out here, so there promises to be no lack of exhibits. I dreamed a
+dream last night, and in my dream I was walking along the bund and came
+upon an elderly gentleman laying Naples yellow on a canvas with a trowel.
+The river was smooth and golden, and reflected the sensuous golden tones
+of the sky. Trees arose from golden puddles, half screening a ziarat which,
+upon the glowing canvas, appeared remarkably like a village church. "How
+beautiful!" I cried, "how gloriously oleographic!" and the painter,
+removing a brush from his mouth, smiled, well pleased, and said, "I am a
+Leader among Victorian artists and the public adores me!" and I left him
+vigorously painting pot-boilers. Then in a damp dell among the willows of
+the Dal I found a foreigner in spectacles, and the light upon his pictures
+was the light that never was on sea or land; but through a silvery mist
+the willows showed ghostly grey, and a shadowy group of classic nymphs
+were ringed in the dance, and I cried "O Corot! lend me your spectacles. I
+fain, like you, would see crude nature dimmed to a silvery perpetual
+twilight." And Corot replied: "Mon ami moi je ne vois jamais le soleil, je
+me plonge toujours, dans les ombres bleu�tres et les rayons p�les de
+l'aube."
+
+Then upward I fared till, treading the clear heights, I found one
+frantically painting the peaks and pinnacles of the mountains in weird
+stipples of alternate red and blue.
+
+"Great heavens!" I exclaimed, "what disordered manner is this!"
+
+The artist glanced swiftly at me, and said disdainfully: "I am a modern of
+the moderns, and if you cannot see that mountains are like that, it is
+your fault--not mine. Go back, you stand too close."
+
+And as I went back I looked over my shoulder, and, truly, the flaring
+rose-colour had blended amicably with the blue, and I admitted that
+perhaps Segantini was not so mad as he looked.
+
+A little lower down a stout Scotchman painted a flowery valley. The
+flowers were many and bright, but not so garish as they appeared to him,
+and I hinted as much; but he scorned my criticism.
+
+"Mon," he shouted, "I painted the Three Graces, an' they made me an
+Academeesian. I painted a flowery glen in the Tyrol (dearie me, but thae
+flowers cost me a fortune in blue paint), and it was coft for the Chantry
+Bequest, and hoo daur _you_ talk to me?"
+
+Then I departed hurriedly and came upon four men, two of them with long
+beards, and all with unkempt hair, laboriously depicting a blue pine,
+needle by needle, and every one in its proper place. I asked them if
+theirs was not a very troublesome way of painting.
+
+They looked at one another with earnest blue eyes, and remarked that here
+was evidently a Philistine who knew not Cimabue and cared not a jot for
+Giotto; and the first said: "Sir, methinks he who would climb the golden
+stairs should do so step by step;" and the second said, sadly: "We are but
+scapegoats, truly, being cast forth by the vindictive Victorians of our
+day."
+
+The third murmured in somewhat broken English.
+
+  "Victoria Victrix,
+  Beata Beatrix,"
+
+whereby I recognised him to be a poet, if not a painter.
+
+But the fourth--an energetic-looking man with a somewhat arrogant
+manner--said briskly: "Perchance the ass is right; these pine needles are
+becoming monotonous, and I have seventeen million four hundred and
+sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven more to do. Beshrew me if I do
+not take to pot-boiling!"
+
+Down by the water-side a lady sat, sketching in water-colours for dear
+life; around her lay a litter of half-finished works, scattered like
+autumn leaves in Vallombrosa. I approached her, quite friendly, and
+offered to gather them up for her--at least some of them, saying
+soothingly, for I saw she was in a temper--
+
+"Dear, dear, Clara, why, what _is_ the matter?"
+
+"I am painting the Venice of the East," she cried petulantly, "but for the
+life of me I can't see a campanile, and how can I possibly paint a picture
+without a campanile?"
+
+I understood that, of course, she couldn't, so I stole away softly on
+tip-toe, leaving her turning doungas into gondolas for all she was worth.
+
+A dark, dapper man, with an alert air and an eyeglass, sat near the
+seventh bridge, writing. Beside him stood an easel and other painting-gear.
+I asked him what he was doing, and he answered, with a fine smile, "I am
+gently making enemies;" so, to turn the subject, I picked up a large
+canvas, smeared over with invisible grey, like the broadside of a modern
+battleship, and sprinkled here and there with pale yellow blobs.
+
+"What have we here, James?" I inquired cheerfully, and he, staying his
+claw-like hand in mid-air, made reply--
+
+"A chromatic in tones of sad colour, with golden accidentals--Kashmir
+night-lights."
+
+"Ah! quite so," I exclaimed; "but have I got it right side up?"
+
+He looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then, pointing to a remarkable
+butterfly (_Vanessa Sifflerius_) depicted in the corner, cried: "It's all
+right; you'll never make a mistake if you keep this insect in the _right
+bottom corner_. It is put there on purpose."
+
+Lastly, on an eminence I saw a man like an eagle, sitting facing full the
+sun, and upon his glowing canvas was portrayed the heavens above and the
+earth beneath and the waters under the earth, and behind him sat one who
+patted him upon the back, and looked at intervals over his shoulder at the
+glorious work, and then wrote in a book a eulogy thereof; and I, too, came
+and looked over the painter's shoulder, and I muttered, with Oliver
+Wendell Holmes,
+
+  "The foreground golden dirt,
+  The sunshine painted with a squirt."
+
+Then the man who patted the painter on the back turned upon me
+aggressively, and said: "This is the only painter who ever was, or will be,
+and if you don't agree with me you are a fool." The painter, smiling a sly
+Monna-Lisan smile of triumph, remarked: "Right you are, John. I rather
+think this _will_ knock that rascal Claude," and I laughed so that I awoke;
+but the memory of the dream remained with me, and it seemed to me that,
+perhaps, we poor amateurs might not be any better able to compass aught
+but caricatures of this marvellous scenery than the ghostly limners of my
+dream!
+
+The hut just above ours was tenanted by a party of three young Lancers on
+leave from Rawal Pindi, a gramophone, and a few dogs.
+
+One of the soldiers was laid up with a bad ankle, and it soon became a
+daily custom for Jane or me to play a game of chess or piquet with the
+invalid.
+
+Later on, when leave had expired for the hale, when the dogs had departed,
+and the voice of the gramophone was no more heard in the land, we came to
+see a great deal of the wounded warrior, and finally arranged to
+personally conduct him off the premises, and return him, in time for
+medical survey, to Rawal Pindi.
+
+Many years ago I read a delightful poem called _The Paradise of Birds_--I
+believe it was by Mortimer Collins,[1] but I am not sure. Now the Poet
+(who, together with Windbag, sailed to this very paradise of birds) deemed
+that this happy asylum of the feathered fowls was somewhere at the back of
+the North Pole. He cannot have known of Kashmir, or he would assuredly
+have sent the persecuted birds thither, and placed the "Roc's Egg" as
+janitor, somewhere by the portals of the Jhelum Valley. Kashmir is truly
+and indeed the paradise of birds, for there no man molests them, and no
+schoolboy collects eggs, and the result is a fascinating fearlessness, the
+result of perpetual peace and plenty.
+
+I regret exceedingly that my ornithological knowledge is extremely limited.
+I could find no books to help me,[2] and, as I did not care to kill any
+birds merely to enable me to identify their species, my notes were merely
+"popular" and not "scientific."
+
+Shall I confess that I began an erudite work on the birds of Kashmir, but
+got no further than the Hoopoe? It began as follows:--
+
+THE HOOPOE
+
+_Early history of_.--Tereus, King of Thrace, annoyed his wife Procne so
+much by the very marked attention which he paid to her sister Philomela,
+that she lost her temper so far as to chop up her son Itylus, and present
+him to his papa in the form of a rago�t.
+
+This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he "fell upon" the ladies
+with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the heart, he was
+changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow,
+while Itylus became a pheasant.
+
+  "Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristae
+  Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;
+  Nomen epops volucri."
+
+OVID, _Metam_. lib. vi.
+
+_His crest and patent of nobility_.--Once upon a time, King Solomon, while
+making a royal progress, was much, incommoded by the powerful rays of the
+sun, and as he had ascendency over the birds, and knew their language, he
+called upon the vultures to come and fly betwixt the sun and his nobility,
+but the vultures refused. Then the kindly Hoopoes assembled, and flew in
+close mass above his head, thus forming a shade under which he proceeded
+on his journey in ease and comfort.
+
+At sundown the monarch sent for the King of the Hoopoes, and desired him
+to name a reward for the service which he and his followers had rendered.
+
+Then the King of the Hoopoes answered that nothing could be more glorious
+than the golden crown of King Solomon; and so Solomon decreed that the
+Hoopoes should thenceforward wear golden crowns as a mark of his favour.
+But alas! when men found the Hoopoes all adorned with golden crowns, they
+pursued and slew them in great multitudes for greed of the precious metal,
+until the King of the Hoopoes, in heavy sorrow, hied hastily to King
+Solomon, and begged that the gift of the golden crowns might be rescinded,
+ere every Hoopoe was slain.
+
+Then Solomon, seeing the misery they had brought upon themselves by their
+presumption, transformed their crowns of gold to crowns of feathers, which
+no man coveted (for the Eastern ladies didn't wear hats), and the Hoopoes
+wear them to this day as a mark of royal favour, but all the feathers fell
+off the necks of the disobliging vultures.
+
+_His amazing talent_.--In those dark ages ... the Hoopoe was considered as
+prodigiously skilful in defeating the machinations of witches, wizards,
+and hobgoblins. The female, in consequence of this art, could preserve her
+offspring from these dreaded injuries.
+
+She knew all the plants which defeat fascinations, those which give sight
+to the blind; and, more wondrous still, those which open gates or doors,
+locked, bolted, or barred.
+
+Aelian relates that a man having three times successively closed the nest
+of a Hoopoe, and having remarked the herb with which the bird, as often,
+opened it, applied the same herb, and _with the same success_, to charm
+the locks off the strongest coffer.--_Naturalists' Magazine_ (about 1805).
+
+_His personal appearance_.--The beak is bent, convex and sub-compressed,
+and in some degree obtuse; the tongue is obtuse, triangular and very short,
+and the feet are ambulatory. As this bird has a great abundance of
+feathers, it appears considerably thicker than it is. It is, in fact,
+about the size of a mistletoe thrush, but looks, while in its feathers, to
+be as large as a common pigeon.--_Naturalists' Magazine_.
+
+I had got _no_ further in my _magnum opus_, when I unfortunately showed my
+notes to Colonel--well, I will not mention his name, but he is the
+greatest authority on the birds and beasts of Kashmir. He besought me to
+spare him, pathetically remarking that I should cut the ground from under
+his feet, and take the bread out of his mouth, and the wind out of his
+sails, if I went any further with my monograph on the Hoopoe. He saw at a
+glance that I was conversant with authorities whom he had never consulted,
+and possessed a knowledge of my subject to which he could hardly aspire,
+so I gracefully agreed to leave the field to him, and relinquished my
+_magnum opus_ in its very inception.
+
+One of the chiefest charms of Kashmir, and one which is apt to be
+overlooked, is the entirely unspoilt freshness of its scenery. No locust
+horde of personally-conducted "trippers" pollutes its ways and byways, nor
+has the khansamah of the d�k bungalow as yet felt constrained to add
+sauerkraut and German sausage to his bill of fare--for which Allah be
+praised!
+
+The world is growing very small, and the globe-trotter rushes round it in
+eighty days. The trail of the cheap excursionist is all over Europe, from
+the North Cape to Tarifa, from the highest Alpine summit (which he attains
+in comfort by a funicular railway) to the deepest mines of Cornwall. Egypt
+has become his footstool, and the shores of the Mediterranean his wash-pot.
+Niagara is mapped and labelled for his benefit, and the Yosemite is his
+happy hunting-ground. He "does" the West Indies in "sixty days for sixty
+pounds," and he is now arranging a special cheap excursion from the Cape
+to Cairo. "But," it may be remarked, "what were Jane and I but
+globe-trotters'? and am I not trying to sing the praises of Kashmir with
+the avowed object of inducing people to go out and see it for themselves?"
+
+By all manner of means let us travel. Far be it from me to wish folks to
+stay dully at home, while the wonders and beauties of the wide world lie
+open for the admiration and education of its inhabitants.
+
+But there are globe-trotters and globe-trotters. My objection is only to
+those--alas! too numerous--vagrants who cannot go abroad without casting
+shame on the country which bred them; whose vulgarity causes offence in
+church and picture-gallery; who cannot see a monument or a statue without
+desiring to chip off a fragment, or at least scrawl their insignificant
+names upon it.
+
+From these, and such as these, Kashmir is as yet free; but some day, I
+suppose, it will be "opened up," when the railway, which is already
+contemplated, is in going order between Pindi and Srinagar, and cheap
+excursion tickets are issued from Berlin and Birmingham.
+
+Here is a specimen page of the Guide Book (bound in red) for 19--(?):
+
+"Ascend Apharwat by the funicular railway. The neat little station,
+with its red corrugated-iron roof, makes a picturesque spot of colour near
+the Dobie's Gh�t. Fares, 4 an. 6 pi., all the way."
+
+"A local guide should on no account be omitted (several are always to be
+found near the station leaning on their khudsticks, and discussing
+controversial theology in the sweet low tones so noticeable in the
+Kashmiri). See that he be provided with a horn, to the hooting of which
+the Echo Lake will be found responsive."
+
+"From the balcony of the * H�tel Baloo an unrivalled view of Nanga Parbat
+should be obtained. Glasses can be procured from the anna-in-the-slot
+machines which are dotted about."
+
+"This veritable king of the Himal--" (here follows a pageful of regulation
+guide-book gush).
+
+"Good sport is to be obtained from the obliging and enterprising manager
+of the hotel, Herr Baer. A few rupees will purchase the privilege of
+shooting at that monarch of the mountains, the markhor. Start not, fair
+tourist, for no danger lurks in the sport. No icy precipices need be
+scaled, no giddy gulfs explored, and the only danger which menaces the
+bold hunter in the mimic stalk, is that which menaces his shins in the
+broken soda-water bottles and sharp-edged sardine tins with which the
+summit of Apharwat is strewn."
+
+"As a matter of fact, the consumption of mutton is considerable in the
+H�tel Baloo in the tourist season, and the worthy Baer conceived the
+brilliant and financially sound scheme of attaching some old ibex and
+markhor horns (bought cheap when the old library at Srinagar was swept
+away in the last flood) to his live stock, and turning his decorated flock
+loose on the mountain's brow, where the sportsman saves him the trouble of
+slaughter while enjoying all the excitement and none of the difficulty of
+a veritable stalk."
+
+"Another brilliant invention of the good Baer is his 'sunset spectacles.'
+These are made with the glasses in two halves--the upper part orange and
+the lower one purple. These are simply invaluable to those who have only a
+brief half-hour in which to 'do' Apharwat before darting down to catch the
+3.15 express for Leh (_vi�_ the newly opened Zoji La tunnel), since for
+the modest sum of 8 a. a superb sunset can be enjoyed at any time of the
+day."
+
+"Should, however, the leisured globe-trotter have unlimited time at his
+disposal, he would do well to lunch at the H�tel Baloo, in order to taste
+the celebrated Kashmir sauerkraut (made of wild rhubarb) and Gujar pie
+(composed of the most tempting tit-bits of the water buffalo), before
+returning to the 'Savoy' at Srinagar by the turbine tram from Tangmarg, or
+by the pneumatic launch which leaves Palhallan Pier every ten minutes,
+weather permitting."
+
+"Should the tourist be a naturalist he can hardly fail to observe, and be
+interested in, the mosquitoes of this charming and picturesque locality.
+He will note that they rival the song-thrush in magnitude and the Bengal
+tiger in ferocity. A coating of tar laid with a trowel over the exposed
+parts of the body will be found the best protection, especially as the new
+Armour Company's patent hermetically sealed bear-proof visor will be found
+too hot for comfort in summer."
+
+"The environs of Srinagar are charming. Notice the picturesque 'furnished
+apartments' for paying guests all along the water-side, and the mixed
+bathing establishments, crowded daily by the Smart Set, whose jewelled
+pyjamas flash in rivalry of the heliographic oil-tins which deck the
+neighbouring temples."
+
+"By a visit to the Museum, and an inspection by eye and nose of the quaint
+specimens of antique clothing exhibited there, the intelligent and
+imaginative traveller may conjure up a mental picture of the unpolished
+appearance of the old-time Mangi and his lady before he adopted the tall
+hat and frock coat of civilisation, or she had discovered the 'swanbill'!"
+
+
+[1] It is by Courthope, not Collins.
+
+[2] See Appendix II.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE FLOOD
+
+Tuesday, _September_ 12.--A second edition of the Noachian deluge is upon
+us! It began to rain on Saturday, at the close of a hot and stuffy week,
+and, having succeeded in thoroughly soaking the unfortunate ladies who
+were engaged in a golf competition that day, it proceeded to rain
+abundantly all through Sunday and Monday.
+
+The outlook from our hut is dispiriting; through a thick grey veil of
+vapour the gleam of water shines over the swamp that was the polo-ground.
+The little muddy stream in which so many erring golf-balls lie low is up
+and out for a ramble over its banks. The lower golf-greens resemble
+paddy-fields, and round the marg the spires of dull grey pines stand
+dripping in a steadfast shower-bath.
+
+Sometimes the heavy cloud folds everything in its leaden wing, blotting
+out even the streaming village at our feet, and reducing our view to the
+immediate slope below us where the wilted ragwort and rank weeds bend
+before the tiny torrents which trickle everywhere. Then comes a break,
+falsely suggestive of an improvement, and lo! soaring above the cloudy
+boil, the lofty shoulders of Apharwat sheeted in new-fallen snow!
+
+After the somewhat oppressive heat of last week, the sudden raw cold
+strikes home, and Jane and I take a great interest in the fire, the "Old
+Snake"[1] is an accomplished fire-master, and it is pleasant to watch him
+squatting like an ungainly frog in front of the hearth, and sagaciously
+feeding the flame with damp and spitting logs.
+
+It is amazing what lavish expenditure of fuel one will indulge in when it
+costs nothing a ton!
+
+We are just beginning to find out the exact spots where chairs may be
+planted so as to avoid the searching draughts which go far to make our
+happy home like a very airy sort of bird-cage.
+
+Well! we might have been worrying through all this in a sodden tent, where
+even a boarded floor would barely have kept out rheumatism, and where one
+would have been liable to alarms and excursions at all sorts of untoward
+times when drains wanted deepening and guys slackening. The mere thought
+of such things sent us into a truly thankful state of mind, and we
+discussed from our cosy chairs the probable condition of the party from
+the Residency which set forth, full of high hope, on Saturday morning to
+attack the markhor of Poonch.
+
+Here it has rained with vehemence ever since they left; up in the high
+ground it has doubtless snowed; and although they were well armed with
+cards and whisky, yet it would appear but a poor business to play bridge
+all day in a snow-bound tent on the top of the Pir Panjal! Nothing short
+of a hundred aces every few minutes could make the game worth the candle!
+
+This spell of bad weather has greatly interfered with the movements of a
+large number of the folks who were to leave Gulmarg early this week. Many
+got away betimes on Saturday, and a few faced the elements on Sunday, and
+a painful experience they must have had.
+
+We had intended to leave next Thursday, and had ordered boats to meet us
+at Parana Chauni, but the road will be so bad that I wired this morning to
+put off our transport till further orders.
+
+The end of the season at Gulmarg sees the bazaar stock at low water. Eggs,
+fowls, cherry brandy, and spirits of wine are "off," also butter, but the
+latter scarcity does not affect us, as we make our own in a pickle jar.
+The bazaar butter became very bad, probably because the large numbers of
+visitors to Gulmarg caused an additional supply to be got from uncleanly
+Gujars, so we, by the kindness of the Assistant Resident, had a special
+cow detailed to supply us daily with milk at our own door.
+
+That cow was very friendly; I first made its acquaintance one forenoon.
+While I was sitting below the verandah sketching, with a dozen lovely
+peaches spread by me on the hoards to obtain their final touch of
+perfection in the sun before lunch, the cow strolled up. I was much
+interested in the sketch, and believed that the cow was too; but when I
+looked up at last, expecting to see its eye fixed upon the work in silent
+approbation,
+
+  "The 'cow' was still there, but the 'peaches' were gone."
+
+In the afternoon the weather showed signs of a desire to amend its ways.
+The clouds broke here and there, and, though it still rained heavily, it
+became apparent that the clerk of the weather had done his worst, and the
+supply of rain was running short. Clad in aquascutic garments, and
+surmounted by an ungainly two-rupee bazaar umbrella (my dapper British one
+having been annexed by a covetous Mangi)--
+
+  "Ombrifuge, Lord love you, case o' rain,
+  I flopped forth 'sbuddikins on my own ten toes."
+
+The whole slope in front of the hut was a trickle of water, threading the
+dying stalks of dock and ragwort, and hurrying down to add its dirty
+pittance to the small yellow torrent rushing along the greasy strip of
+clay that in happier days was the path.
+
+The whole marg was become lake or stream--lake over the polo-ground and
+half the golf-links--fed by the weeping slopes on every side, whence
+innumerable rills rioted over the grass, emulating in ferocity and haste,
+if not in size, the tawny torrents which drained the sides of Apharwat.
+
+The road from the bazaar to the club was all but impassable, but as it had
+still a few inches of freeboard, I followed it to the foot of the church
+slope, and, skirting the hill, inspected the desolation which had been
+wrought at the Kotal hole, where the stream had torn through its banks and
+wrecked the green.
+
+During a visit of condolence to Mrs. Smithson, whose unfortunate husband
+is pursuing markhor in Poonch, the sky cleared--a splendid effort in the
+way of a "clearing shower" being followed by a decided break-up of the
+pall of wet cloud in which we have been too long immersed. Not without a
+severe struggle did Jupiter Pluvius consent to turn off the tap, but at
+length the sun broke through the hanging clouds and sent their sodden grey
+fragments swirling up the Ferozepore Nullah to break in foamy wreaths
+round the ragged cliffs of Kulan.
+
+Finding the road across to the post-office altogether under water for some
+distance--a lake extending from the twelfth hole for nearly a quarter of a
+mile to the main road--I wandered back towards the higher ground, joining
+a waterproof figure, a member of the Green Committee, who was sadly
+regarding the water-logged links with the disconsolate air of the raven let
+loose from the ark! We agreed that this was a remarkably good opportunity
+for observing the drainage system, and taking notes for future guidance,
+and in company we went over as much of the links as possible, finishing
+below the second hole, where the cross stream which comes down from the
+higher ground had torn away the bridge and cut off the huts beyond from
+civilisation.
+
+The homeward stroll at sunset was perfectly beautiful, and showed Gulmarg
+in an absolutely new guise. The lower part of the marg, being all lake,
+reflected the lustrous golden sky and rich dark pine-woods in a faithful
+mirror. Flying fragments of cloud, fleeces of gold and crimson, clung to
+the mountain-sides or sailed above the forests, while beyond Apharwat,
+coldly clad in a pure white mantle of snow, new fallen, rose silhouetted
+against the darkening sky.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 16.--After the Deluge came the Exodus, everybody
+trying to leave Gulmarg at once. We had always intended to go down to
+Srinagar about the 15th, but, finding that the Residency party meant to
+move on that day, we arranged to migrate a day earlier in order to avoid
+the pony and coolie famine which a Residential progress entails on the
+ordinary traveller.
+
+On Wednesday afternoon the ten ponies, carefully ordered a week before
+from the outlying villages, were congregated on the weedy slope which
+falls away from our verandah, picking up a scanty sustenance from decaying
+ragwort and such like.
+
+Secure in the possession of the necessary transport, Jane and I strolled
+forth for a last look at Nanga Parbat, should he haply deign to be on view.
+He did not deign, however, preferring to remain, like Achilles, when
+bereft of Briseis, sulking in his cloudy tent. So we consoled ourselves
+with an exceedingly fine view of the snow-crowned heights at the head of
+the Ferozepore Nullah. Upon returning to our beloved log cabin we were met
+by Sabz Ali--almost speechless with wrath--who broke to us the distressing
+news that six of our ten weight-carriers had departed from the compound.
+The entire staff, with the exception of our factotum, were away in pursuit,
+and there was nothing for it but to possess our souls in what patience we
+might until they returned.
+
+As we had arranged for a four o'clock start next morning, it was most
+disconcerting to have all our transport desert so late in the evening. An
+urgent note to the Assistant Resident, and some pressure on the Tehsildhar,
+produced promise of assistance.
+
+Early on Thursday morning came an indignant chit from an irate General,
+complaining that my servants were trying to seize his ponies, for which he
+had paid an advance of two rupees, and would I be good enough to
+investigate the affair. Here was the murder out. His chuprassie had
+obviously bribed my pony wallahs, and a letter, stating my case pretty
+clearly, produced the ponies and an apology.
+
+This delay kept us till after midday, when, stowing our invalid snugly in
+a dandy, we left Gulmarg and began the descent to Srinagar. I remained
+behind to see the hut clear and make a sketch, and then hurried down the
+direct path, which drops some 2000 feet to Tangmarg. Here I found Jane and
+the invalid comfortably disposed in a landau, but the baggage spread about
+anywhere, and the usual clamour of coolies uprising in the heated and
+dust-laden air.
+
+No ekka--the one which had been ordered with the landau having apparently
+got another job and departed. Presently a stray ekka, drawn by a sorely
+weary-looking mule, appeared on the scene, and we seized upon it instantly,
+loaded it up with most of the baggage, and despatched coolies with the
+rest.
+
+After the storm came a holy calm, and we settled down to a light but
+welcome lunch before starting down the long slope into the valley.
+
+We had heard most disquieting tales of floods; the water had burst the
+bund at Srinagar, and there was said to be ten feet over the polo-ground.
+The occupants of Nedou's Hotel were going in and out by boat, and Srinagar
+itself was said to be quite cut off from all access by road.
+
+The Residency party have countermanded their intended move to-morrow.
+
+At the post-office I was told that only a small part of the mail had been
+brought into Srinagar, the road being "bund" between Baramula and that
+place, while an unusual number of landslips and bridges have come down in
+the Jhelum Valley.
+
+Nevertheless, we had made a push to get on; things in Kashmir are often
+less gloomy than their reports would make one believe, and so we bowled
+quite cheerfully down the road from Tangmarg, basking in the hot and sunny
+air, which seemed to us really delicious after the raw cheerlessness of
+the last few days at Gulmarg.
+
+From Tangmarg to the d�k bungalow at Margam, a steady descent is
+maintained by an excellent road over the sloping Karewa, for about ten
+miles, of which we had just about travelled half when a series of yells
+from the syce behind, a wild swerve, and a heavy plump brought us up just
+on the edge of the steep and rocky bank, which fell sharply from the
+roadside.
+
+Alas! the axle of the off hind wheel had snapped, and the wheel itself was
+hopelessly lying in the thick white dust, and our landau looked like an
+ancient three-decker in a squall.
+
+The horses being unharnessed, we sent the drivers with one of them forward
+to look for help, and Hesketh and Jane proceeded to make tea while I sat
+by the roadside and sketched.
+
+Presently an empty dandy came "dribbling by" on its return journey to
+Gulmarg, and it was immediately impressed for the benefit of the lame.
+Hardly had we packed him in, when a wandering tonga hove in sight, and,
+being promptly requisitioned, we rattled off the five miles which lay
+between us and Margam in no time.
+
+Here we found a large party assembled in the little rest-house. Colonel
+and Mrs. Maxwell (who had kindly sent us back the tonga on hearing of the
+breakdown); Mr. and Mrs. Allen Baines, whose dandy had been the means of
+bringing Hesketh along; and Sadleir-Jackson, and Edwards of the 9th
+Lancers.
+
+The bungalow was full, but I found out that one room was appropriated by a
+coming event, who had cast his shadow before him in the guise of a bearer.
+This being contrary to the etiquette as observed in d�k bungalows, I
+gently but firmly cleared out the neatly arranged toilet things and
+ready-made bed; while Hesketh was taken over, somewhat shattered by his
+tedious though exciting day, by his fellow Lancers.
+
+The resources of the little place were severely strained; dinner was a
+scanty meal, and soda-water gave out almost immediately: nevertheless, a
+cheroot and a rubber of bridge sent us contented to bed.
+
+Yesterday (Friday) the question of how to proceed arose. The road was
+reported to be impassable after about five miles, the remaining ten being
+under water.
+
+We set out after breakfast, Jane perched on a pony which Sabz Ali had
+raised or stolen, Hesketh in the dandy, and I on foot. After a warm five
+miles' march we came upon signs of a block. Vehicles of many and strange
+sorts were drawn up in the shade of a chenar, under whose wide branches
+the Baines family was faring sumptuously on biscuits and brandy and water.
+
+Horses, goats, and cattle strayed around, and a chattering mob of natives,
+busily engaged, as usual, in doing nothing, completed the picture.
+
+Hesketh was reduced to despair; after two months in bed, this could not
+but be a trying journey under the most favourable circumstances, and the
+prospect as held out by his pessimistic bearer was pretty gloomy--no boats
+available, and no signs of our doungas.
+
+I pushed on to the break in search of my shikari, whom I had sent on by
+pony early in the morning, and soon found that estimable person, who is
+not really the blithering idiot he looks!
+
+In the first place, he had appropriated the only two shikaras he could
+find, and our baggage was already being stowed in them; secondly, he had
+discovered both Juma and Ismala, our Mangis, who reported the doungas
+moored below Parana Chaum, about four miles away over the flooded fields.
+
+This was good news, and we ate a cheerful lunch under a tree densely
+populated by jackdaws.
+
+The Maxwells got away somehow in search of their house-boat, which was
+supposed to have left Baramula some days ago. They started cheerfully, but
+vaguely, down the Spill Canal, and we trust they found their ark somewhere!
+
+Promising to send back a boat for the Baines, we paid and dismissed
+coolies and ponies, and paddled away over the flood water. The country was
+simply a vast lake, the main road merely marked by a dense row of poplars.
+Trees rose promiscuously out of the calm and sunlit water, wisps of maize
+and wreckage clinging to their lower boughs. Presently the road showed in
+patches, a broad waterfall breaking it every here and there as the
+imprisoned waters from above sought the slightly lower channel of the
+Jhelum.
+
+We passed a party of natives bivouacking near the roof and upper storey of
+their wooden hut, which, floating from above, was held up by the Baramula
+road. Sounding now and then with our khudsticks, we found no bottom over
+the submerged rice crops, though we could see plainly the laden ears
+waving dismally down below. This is nothing less than a great calamity for
+the owners, as the rice was just ready for gathering.
+
+Towards dusk we arrived at our ships, calmly lying moored to poplar trees
+by the roadside, and right gladly did we clamber on board, for our invalid
+was pretty well fagged out.
+
+This morning we cast loose from our poplars, and brought the fleet up to
+within half a mile of the seventh bridge, or, rather, of the spot where
+the seventh bridge used to be, for all but a fragment has been washed away!
+The strong current prevented us from getting any higher up the river in
+our doungas. Jane and I, however, were anxious to see what appearance
+Srinagar presented, so we manned the shikara with five able-bodied
+paddlers and pushed our way upwards. Turning into a side canal we passed a
+demolished bridge, and tried to force our way up a small but swift stream.
+
+Failing to make anything of it, we landed and had the boat carried over
+into a wider channel. Three times we were obliged to get out and leave our
+stalwart crew to force the boat on somehow, and they did it well--hauling,
+paddling, and shouting invocations to various saints, particularly the one
+whose name sounds like "jam paws!"
+
+The water had already fallen some four or five feet, but there was plenty
+left. A great break in the bund between Nusserwanjee's shop and the Punjab
+Bank allowed us to paddle into the flooded European quarter, past the
+telegraph office, standing knee-deep in muddy water, up over the main road
+to Nedou's Hotel, where boats lay moored outside the dining-room windows,
+then across the lagoon, lightly rippled by a tiny breeze, beneath which
+lay the polo-ground, to the Residency, where we landed to inspect damages.
+
+The water had been all over the lower storey, but a muddy deposit on the
+wooden floor, and a brown slimy high-water mark on the door jambs, alone
+remained to show what had happened. The piano had been hoisted upon a
+table, carpets and curtains bundled upstairs, and everything, apparently,
+saved. The poor garden, with its slime-daubed shrubs, broken palings and
+torn creepers, trailing wisps of draggled foliage in the oozy brown pools,
+was a sad and pitiful sight, especially when mentally contrasted with the
+glowing glory of asters and zinneas which it should have been.
+
+The flood has been nearly as bad as the great one of 1903. Fortunately the
+Spill Canal, cut above Srinagar to carry off the flood water, took off
+some of the pressure; the bund, also, is three feet higher than it was
+then, but it gave way in two places--one somewhere near the top, and the
+other just below the Bank, letting in the river to a depth of ten feet
+over the low-lying quarter. The stream is now falling fast, and, after
+doing a little shopping and visiting the post-office, which is temporarily
+established on the bund in the midst of an amazing litter of desks, boxes,
+and queer pigeon-holes admirably adapted to lose letters by the score, we
+spun swiftly down the rushing stream to tea and our cosy dounga.
+
+_Monday, September_ 18.--It was impossible to get our boats up the river
+yesterday, so I spent the day sketching amidst the most picturesque, but
+horribly smelly, part of the town; much quinine in the evening seemed
+desirable as a counterblast to possible malaria.
+
+The sunsets lately have been really magnificent; the poplars and chenars,
+darkly olive, reflected in the flooded fields against a red gold sky, in
+the foreground the black silhouettes of the armada.
+
+The days are almost too hot, but the nights are cool and delicious, and
+the mosquitoes are only noticeable for a brief period of sinful activity
+about sundown, after which the wicked cease from troubling and the weary
+are at rest.
+
+At half-past ten this morning we set sail; that is to say, we hired nine
+extra coolies and a second shikara to tow, and advanced on Srinagar.
+Hesketh's boat, being the lighter, kept well ahead (here let me note that
+"bow" in that boat is quite the prettiest girl we have seen in Kashmir,
+and the minx knows it!), but we had good men, and worked along slowly and
+steadily up the main river, the side canals being all choked by broken
+bridges and such like. We crept past the Amira Kadal, or first bridge,
+about two o'clock, and tied up for lunch, revelling in the most perfect
+pears, peaches, and walnuts. As a rule the Kashmir fruit is disappointing;
+abundant and cheap certainly, but not by any means of first-rate quality.
+
+Strawberries, cherries, apricots, melons, and grapes might all be far
+better if properly cultivated, and scientifically improved from European
+stock.
+
+The pears alone defy criticism, and the apples, I am told, are excellent
+also.
+
+Vegetables are in great plenty, but, like the fruit, would be much
+improved by good cultivation.
+
+_Wednesday, September_ 25.--The abomination of desolation wrought by the
+flood is borne in upon one more and more as an inspection of the town
+reveals the damage done more fully--the houses standing empty, their lower
+storeys dank and slimy, the ruined gardens, and muddy, slippery roads. The
+wrecked garden of the Punjab Bank is one of the saddest sights, and must
+be a painful spectacle to Mr. Harrison, whose joy it was to spend time and
+money on importing exotic and improving indigenous plants.
+
+One cannot help reflecting how desperately depressed Noah, and the
+probably more impressionable Mrs. Noah, must have been when, discarding
+their aquascutums for the first time, they sallied forth, a primeval party,
+to observe the emerging country.
+
+Mrs. Noah, tucking up the curious straight garment that is a memory of our
+childhood, went ahead with feminine curiosity; Noah, bare-legged,
+slithering along in the rear and beseeching the ladies to note the
+slipperiness of the alluvial deposit, and for goodness' sake not to make a
+glissade down the side of Ararat.
+
+I feel confident they must have taken great precautions, for Sabz Ali
+slipped up on the shelving bank of the Jhelum, and, had he not caught the
+gunwale of our dounga in his descent, would most certainly have had to
+swim for his life--which I doubt if he can do!
+
+Now, Shem and Co. were as valuable to Noah as Sabz Ali is to us, and I
+should not be surprised if he made them travel on all-fours in the risky
+places. Fathers were very dictatorial in those days, and there was nobody
+about to make them consider their dignity.
+
+One can imagine the scene. Ararat, a muddy pyramid dotted here and there
+with olive trees--curious, by the way, to find olives so high!--in the
+receding waters the vagrant raven cheerfully picking out the eye of a
+defunct pterodactyl. The heavy clouds rolling off the sodden world--they
+must have indeed been heavy clouds, nimbus of the first water--as they had
+raised the world's water-level 250 feet per day during "the flood" ...
+surely a record output!
+
+The primeval family party, sadly poking about along the expanding margin
+of the world, noting how Abel Brown's tall chimney was beginning to show,
+and how Cain Jones' wigwam was clean gone. Mrs. Shem said she knew it
+would, the mortar work had been so terribly scamped.
+
+And Naboth Robinson's vineyard--well, _it_ was in a pretty mess, to be
+sure, and serve him right, for Mrs. Noah had frequently offered him two of
+her (second) best milch mammoths for it; yet he had held on to his nasty
+sour grapes, like the mean old curmudgeon that he was.
+
+And now Hammy must set to work and tidy it up; and oh! what lots of nice
+manure was floating about, all for nothing the cartload ... And so the
+primeval family felt better, and went back to the ark to tea, feeling
+almost cheerful, but rather lonesome.
+
+Fortunately this great flood did little injury to life or limb. A certain
+amount of destruction of crops and other property was inevitable, but on
+the whole the loss was not so great as was at one time feared, and much
+was saved that at first seemed irreparable.
+
+A well-known lady artist came near to giving the note of tragedy to the
+British community, and losing the number of her mess (to use a nautical,
+and therefore appropriate expression) by reason of a big willow tree,
+beneath whose shady boughs she had moored her floating studio. This
+hapless tree, having all its sustenance swept from beneath by the greedy
+water, came down with a crash in the night upon the confiding house-boat,
+and all but swamped it.
+
+The cook-boat, occupied as usual by a pair of prolific Mangis and their
+large small family, was saved by the proverbial "acid drop"--the children
+crawling out somehow or anyhow from among the branches of the fallen tree.
+
+The fair artist, having with shrieks invoked the aid of a neighbour, he
+promptly descended from his roof or other temporary camp, and helped her
+with basins and chatties to bale out the half-swamped boat. The lady is
+now safely moored to the mudbank on the other side of the river where
+willow trees do not grow.
+
+The whole bund is in a very unsafe state: it was raised three feet after
+the last flood, but its width was not increased correspondingly. Now that
+the water has fallen, great fissures and subsidences have appeared, and in
+many places large portions of the bank have fallen away, carrying big
+trees with them.
+
+
+[1] Our pet name for Shikari Mark II., who reigns in the stead of Ahmed
+    Bot, sacked for expensive inefficiency.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MACHIPURA
+
+Wednesday, _September_ 27.--We left Srinagar yesterday, very sorry indeed
+to part from the many good friends we have made and left there. Truly
+Kashmir is a hospitable country, and we have met with more kind
+friendliness in the last six months than we could have believed possible,
+coming as we did, strangers and pilgrims into a strange land. Our
+consolation is that every one comes "Home" sooner or later, so that we can
+look forward to meeting most of our friends again ere very long, and
+recalling with them memories of this happy summer with those who have done
+so much to make it so.
+
+Farewell, Srinagar! Your foulness and inward evilness were lost in the
+background behind your picturesque and tumble-down houses as we floated for
+the last time down Jhelum's olive waters, where the sharp-nosed boats lay
+moored along the margin or, poled by their sturdy Mangis and guided by the
+chappars of their wives and daughters, shot athwart the eddying flood,
+breaking the long reflections of the storeyed banks.
+
+Past the Palace of the Maharajah, its fantastic mixture of ancient
+fairness and modern ugliness blending into a homogeneous beauty as
+distance lent it enchantment.
+
+Past the temples, their tin-coated roofs refulgent in the brilliant
+sunlight; under the queer wooden bridges, their solid stone piers parting
+the suave flow of water into noisy swirl and gurgle.
+
+Past the familiar groups of grave, white-robed men solemnly washing
+themselves, then scooping up and drinking the noisome fluid; past their
+ladies squatting like frogs by the river-side, washing away at clothes
+which never seem a whit the cleanlier for all their talk and trouble.
+
+Past the children and fowls, and cows and crows, all hob-nobbing together
+as usual.
+
+Past all these sights--so strange to us at first and now so strangely
+familiar--we floated, till the broken remnant of the seventh bridge lay
+behind us, and the lofty poplars that hem in the Baramula road stood stark
+and solemn in their endless perspective.
+
+Here a jangling note, out of tune and harsh, was struck by the dobie, with
+whom we had a grave difference of opinion regarding the washing.
+
+That gentleman having "lost by neglect" certain articles of my kit--to wit
+sundry shirts and other garments--and having rendered others completely
+_hors de combat_ by reason of his sinful method of washing, I decided to
+"cut" three rupees off his remuneration.
+
+This decision seemed to have taken from him all that life held of worth,
+and he implored me to spare his wife, children, and home, all of whom
+would be broken up and ruined if I were cruel enough, to enforce my awful
+threat. Seeing that I was obdurate, being well backed by the infuriated
+Jane, whose underwear showed far more lace and open work than nature
+intended, the wretched dobie melted into loud and tearful lamentation, and
+perched himself howling in the prow. This soon became so boresome that I
+deported him to Hesketh's boat, where he underwent another defeat at the
+hands of that irate Lancer, whose shirts and temper had suffered together;
+finally the woeful washerman, still howling lugubriously, was landed on
+the river bank, and we saw and heard him no more!
+
+Down the gentle river we swiftly glided all day, while the Takht and Hari
+Parbat grew smaller and bluer, and Srinagar lay below them invisible in
+its swathing greenery.
+
+Reaching Sumbal at sunset, we turned to the left down a narrow canal, and
+soon the Wular lay--a sheet of molten gold--upon our right; and by the
+time we had moored alongside a low strip of reedy bank, the glorious rosy
+lights had faded from the snows of the Pir Panjal, and their royal purple
+and gold had turned to soft ebony against the primrose of the sky.
+
+A few hungry mosquitoes worried us somewhat before sunset, promising worse
+to follow; but the sharp little breeze that came flickering over the Wular
+after dark seemed to upset their plans, and send them shivering and hungry
+to shelter among the reeds and rushes.
+
+This morning we crossed the Wular, starting as the first pale dawn showed
+over the eastern hills.
+
+Before the sun rose over Apharwat, his shafts struck the higher snows and
+turned them rosy; while the lower slopes, their distant pines suffused
+with strong purple, stood reflected in the placid mirror of the lake.
+
+  "Full many a glorious morning have I seen
+  Flatter the mountain tops with sovran eye,"
+
+but seldom a more lovely one than this--our last on the Wular Lake.
+
+The active figures of the propellent Mangis, and the quiet ones of their
+ladies at the helm, completed a picture to be recalled with a sigh when we
+are parted by thousands of miles from this entrancing valley.
+
+Sopor we had understood to be but an uninteresting place, but we were,
+perhaps, inclined to regard things Kashmirian through somewhat rosy
+spectacles. Anyhow, we rather liked Sopor. Mooring close alongside a
+remarkably picturesque building standing in the midst of a smooth green
+lawn, which was once, I believe, a d�k bungalow, we halted to make
+arrangements for the hire of coolies and ponies to take us inland, and I
+went off to the post-office for letters and to make inquiries as to the
+probable depth of water in the river Pohru.
+
+Our skipper, Juma, affirmed that there was no water to speak of; but Juma
+probably--nay, certainly--prefers the _otium_ of a sojourn at Sopor to the
+toil of punting up the Pohru.
+
+The postmaster declared that there was lots of water, but qualified his
+optimism by saying that it was falling fast. So we arranged for our land
+transport of ponies for ourselves, and a dandy for Hesketh, to meet us one
+march up the river at Nopura, while we ourselves set forward in our boats
+to Dubgam, three or four miles down the Jhelum, where the Pohru joins it.
+At the entrance are large stores of timber, principally deodar, which is
+floated down from the Lolab, stored at Dubgam, and sent thence down
+country and otherwhere for sale. The great boom across the river to catch
+the floating logs had been carried away in the flood, and merely showed a
+few melancholy and ineffectual spikes of wood sticking up above the now
+calm and sluggish river.
+
+We towed up easily enough, through a quiet and peaceful country, which
+only became gorgeous under the alchemy of sunset, reaching Nopura in good
+time to tie up before dinner.
+
+_Friday, September 29_.--On Thursday morning we started, as usual, at dawn,
+and proceeded to pole and haul our way up the devious channel of the Pohru.
+Some four or five miles we accomplished successfully, although there were
+ominous signs of a gradual lack of water, until we came upon a hopeless
+shallow, where the river, instead of concentrating its energies on one
+deep and narrow channel, had run to waste over a wide bed, where the
+wrinkling wavelets showed the golden brown of the gravel just below the
+surface. Our big dounga stuck hard and fast at once, and Captain Jurna
+promptly gave up all hope of getting farther. He was, in fact, greatly
+gratified to find his prophesies come true, and an insufferable air of "I
+told you so" overspread his face as he wagged his head with mock sorrow,
+and gently poked the bottom with his pole to show how firmly fixed we were.
+
+Having an invalid with us, however, it was important to gain every easy
+mile we could, and it was not until all the fleet in turn had attempted to
+cross the shallow, and failed, that we made up our minds to take to our
+land transport. It was uncommonly hot in the full glare of the sun as
+Hesketh in his dandy, Jane on her "tattoo," and I on foot set forward for
+the forest house at Harwan, which lay some five miles away across the
+fields, where the rice is now being busily cut.
+
+At the foot of a very brown and parched-looking hill stood the little
+wooden hut, facing the valley of the Pohru and the Kaj-nag range. Hot and
+thirsty, we blessed the good Mr. Blunt, the kindly forest officer, who had
+so courteously given us permission to use the forest huts of the Lolab and
+the Machipura. Our blessings of Blunt turned swiftly to curses directed
+towards the chowkidar, who was not to be seen, and who had left the hut
+firmly fastened from within. An attempt to force the door brought upon us
+the resentment of a highly irritable swarm of big red wasps, who plainly
+regarded us as objectionable intruders; and Jane was really getting quite
+cross (she says--she always does--that it was I who lost my
+temper)--before the bold sweeper, prying round the back premises, found an
+unbarred window, and the joy bells rang once more.
+
+The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent in
+the rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I
+sallied forth to select a few chikor for the pot.
+
+The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary
+partridge, not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry,
+scrub-covered country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly
+when pursued. The chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the
+capacity of what fowl fanciers call "a table bird," being, in fact, truly
+excellent eating.
+
+He is not an altogether easy bird to shoot, owing to his annoying
+predilection for the steepest and rockiest hillsides, and those most
+densely clothed in spiny jungle, wherein lurking, he chooses the
+inopportune moment when the sportsman is hopelessly entangled, like
+Isaac's ram, to rise chuckling and flee away to another hiding-place.
+
+Without dogs, he would be often extremely hard to find; but unluckily for
+himself, being a true Kashmiri bird, he cannot help making a noise, and
+thereby betraying his presence. His corpse, when dead, is hard to find in
+the jungle, and a runner is, of course, hopeless without canine help. It
+is well, therefore, to kill him as dead as possible, and to that end I
+used No. 4 shot, with, I think, a certain advantage over Walter, who shot
+with No. 6, and who, in consequence, lost several birds.
+
+The friendliness and sociability of the beasts and birds of Kashmir has
+been a great joy to us. The thing can be overdone, though, and both the
+wasps and the rats of Harwan were inclined to overstep the bounds of
+decorum.
+
+The latter were obviously overjoyed to see visitors, and visions of
+unlimited plunder from our festive board would, of course, put them
+somewhat above themselves. Still, they should have refrained from rioting
+so openly around our beds as soon as the lights were out, and Jane was
+naturally indignant when a large one ran over her feet!
+
+On Friday morning we left Harwan, pretty early, as usual, for it is still
+somewhat too warm to travel comfortably in the middle of the day. The
+Colonel (always an early bird) got away first, followed by our invalid in
+his dandy, while Jane and I remained to hunt the loiterers out of camp. A
+glorious morning, and the cheering knowledge that breakfast was in front
+of us, sent us merrily along for a mile or two, until branching paths led
+us to inquire of an intelligent Kashmiri, who appeared to be busily
+engaged in reaping rice with a penknife, as to the road taken by our
+precursors, especially the tiffin coolie!
+
+The industrious one had seen no sahibs at all pass by. This was a blow,
+and Jane and I sat down to review the situation. We finally decided that
+the son of the soil was indulging in what the great and good Winston
+Churchill has called a "terminological inexactitude," as the others must
+have gone by one of the two roads; so, putting our fortunes to the touch,
+we took the left-hand path, and were in due time rewarded by reaching
+Sogul, and there finding our pioneers peacefully seated under a tree, and
+breakfast ready.
+
+Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the
+right, and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned into a
+beautiful valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and insignificant
+stream.
+
+Drogmulla, our objective, lies about fourteen miles from Harwan, and the
+forest house is a full mile beyond the village, at the end of a somewhat
+steep and winding path.
+
+A welcome sight was the snug rest-house, perched upon a hillock above a
+fussy little stream and surrounded by a fine clump of deodars.
+
+A tiny lawn in front was decorated with an artificial tank full of
+water-plants, and through the opening, among the trees, we saw the snowy
+crest of Shambrywa and the Kaj-nag rising over the deeply-wooded foothills.
+
+Drogmulla was so fascinating a spot, and the weather was so remarkably
+fine, that we made up our minds to remain here for a few days. That old
+red-bearded snake, the shikari, has sent the Colonel into a seventh heaven
+of anticipation by pointing to the encircling forest with promise of
+"pul-lenty baloo, sahib, this pul-lace." We straightway ordained a honk.
+
+Our sick soldier is so much better since leaving Gulmarg that he is able
+to hop "around" with considerable activity on his crutches.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 30, 4 P.M.--Walter and I have been bear-honking all
+day in a district reputed to be simply crawling with bears. I love
+bear-honking; it is such a peaceful occupation.
+
+After a stiff and very hot scramble up a rugged hillside covered with the
+infuriating scrub through which nothing but a reptile could crawl easily,
+the spot is reached within short range of which (in the opinion of the
+"oldest inhabitant," backed up by the "Snake") the bear _must_ pass.
+
+Here the battery of rifles and guns is carefully arranged, and I proceed
+to wipe my heated brow and settle down to the calm enjoyment of the honk.
+Drawing forth my cigar-case, I am soon wreathed in the fragrant clouds
+engendered by the incineration of a halfpenny cheroot, and, with a sigh of
+satisfaction, I spread out my writing or sketching materials and proceed
+to scribble or paint, calm in the knowledge that nothing on earth is in
+the least likely to disturb the flow of ideas, or interrupt the laying on
+of a broad flat wash. Now and again, lazily, I lean back to watch the
+witless hoverings of a big butterfly, or sleepily listen to the increasing
+sound of the tom-toms and the yells of the beaters, whose voices, as those
+of demons of the pit, rend the peaceful air and add to my sense of
+Olympian aloofness!
+
+A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor,
+followed by a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched, clouds
+somewhat my active faculties, and the article--"A Bear Battue in the
+Himalayas"--which I am engaged in writing for the _Field_--seems to flag a
+little.
+
+Come, come! Begone dull sloth--let me continue--
+
+"As the sound of the beaters swells upon the ear, and the thunder of the
+tom-toms grows more insistent, the keen-eyed sportsman grasps more firmly
+the lever of his four-barrelled Nordenfeldt and prepares to play upon the
+bears his hail of stinging missiles. Hark! The plot is thickening, behind
+yon dense screen at the end of the cover the ph---- bears are beginning to
+crowd, the pattering of their feet upon the dead leaves sends a thrill
+through the beating heart of the expectant sportsman. A few bears break
+back amid wild yells from the coolies. One or two odd ones dart out here
+and there at angles of the covert. Steady! Steady! Here they are,
+following the lead of yon fine old cock; with a whirr and a rush the
+bouquet is upon us. The shikari, mad with excitement, presses the second
+Gatling and the light Howitzer into our hands as he screams: 'Bear to
+right, sahib!--Bear over!!--Bear behind!!! Bang--bang!'"
+
+"Eh? What? Oh, all right, shikari. Honk finished? Is it? Saw nothing? Dear
+me! how very odd. Very well, then gather up my guns and things, and we'll
+go on to the next beat."
+
+_Sunday, October 1_.--To-day being Sunday, we have been idle and
+happy--sketching, loafing, and enjoying the scenery and the glorious
+weather. Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the
+beaters, but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have found
+mushrooms growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are also
+satisfied. After lunch I mustered up energy sufficient to take me down to
+the village to sketch a native hut which, surrounded by a patch of flaming
+millet, had struck me on Friday as an extraordinary bit of colour. Jane
+and Walter, after many "prave 'orts" about climbing the ridge behind
+Drogmulla, contented themselves with a minor ascent of a knoll about fifty
+feet high, while the Lancer, reckless in his increasing activity, managed
+to trip over his crutches and give himself an extremely unfortunate fall.
+
+_Monday, October 2_.--There was a man who, during our bear-honk on
+Saturday, rendered himself conspicuous, partly by reason of his likeness
+to my shikari, and also because of his complete knowledge of the
+whereabouts of all bears for many miles around. He was quite glad to
+impart much information to us, and so won upon the sporting but too
+trustful heart of the brave Colonel, that he was retained by that officer
+in order that he might show sport to the Philistines, and annas and even
+rupees were bestowed upon him; and he and the old original "Snake" were
+sent forward on Saturday evening, as Joshua and Caleb, to spy out the
+promised land in the neighbourhood of Tregam.
+
+Lured by rumours of many bears, Walter and I set forth at daylight for
+Tregam, leaving Jane and the youthful Lancer (once more, alas! reduced to
+stiff bandages and a painful relapse) in possession of the hut. We "hadna
+gane a mile--a mile but barely twa," when the old shikari met us with the
+painful intelligence that two sahibs were already at Tregam, and had
+killed many bears there, grievously wounding the rest; so we altered
+course eight points to port, crossed the Pohru, and made for Rainawari.
+
+A sharp climb over a wooded ridge (on the top of which we halted for
+breakfast), followed by a steep descent, brought us into a flat and
+well-cultivated plain, which sloped gently from the foothills of the
+Kaj-nag to the bed of the Pohru. Everywhere, in the glowing sunlight, the
+villagers were busily engaged in reaping the rice, which lay in ripe brown
+swathes along the little fields. The walnuts, of which there are a great
+plenty in this district, have been lately gathered, some few trees only
+still remaining, loaded with a heavy crop, but the main produce lay drying
+in heaps in the villages as we rode through.
+
+The road to Rainawari seemed curiously devious. A Kashmiri track seldom
+shies at a hill, but pursues its way, heedless of gradient, for its
+objective; but this path imitated a corkscrew in its windings, and reduced
+us to the utmost limit of our patience before, passing through a small
+village whose dull-coloured houses were enlivened with gorgeous festoons
+of scarlet chilies, we climbed a steep little hill and found ourselves
+upon a park-like lawn or clearing, and facing the cluster of rough wooden
+shanties which compose the Rainawari forest bungalow and its outhouses.
+Behind the huts the densely-wooded hill drops sharply to where a stream of
+good and pure water riots among the maidenhair and mosses.
+
+A large and inquisitive company of apes came up from the wood to take
+stock of us, and I sat for a long time watching them as they played about
+quite close to me, feeding, chattering, and quarrelling, entirely
+unconcerned by the presence of their human spectator.
+
+_Friday, October 6_.--All Tuesday was spent in honking bear in the lower
+woods which stretch far towards the Pohru. The high hills which rise above,
+covered with jungle, are said to be too large to work, and I can well
+believe it! For the first drive I was posted on a steep bank overlooking a
+most lovely little hollow, where the shafts of sunlight fell athwart the
+grey trunks and heavy green masses of the pines, lighting up the yellow
+leaves of the sumachs till they glowed like gold, and casting a flickering
+network of strong lights and shadows among the tangled mazes of
+undergrowth. A happy family of magpies, grey-blue above, with barred tails
+and yellow beaks, flitted about in restless quest, their constant cries
+being the only sound which broke the peaceful stillness, until the faint
+and distant sound of shouts and tom-toms showed that the first act of the
+farce had begun.
+
+Towards the end of the third beat, while I was drowsily digesting tiffin,
+and, truly, not far from napping, I was electrified by the report of a
+rifle, followed by yells and a second shot! The beaters redoubled their
+shouts, and the tom-tommers seemed like to burst their drums.
+
+My shikari, writhing with extreme excitement, hissed, "Baloo, sahib,
+baloo!" and began aimlessly running to and fro, apparently hoping to meet
+the bear somewhere. It was truly gay for a few minutes, but as nothing
+further occurred, and the beaters grew very hoarse with their prodigious
+efforts, I hurried on to Walter's post to learn what had happened.
+
+A bear had suddenly come out of the cover some 40 yards off, and stood to
+look. The Colonel missed it, whereupon it dashed forward, passing within a
+few yards of him, and he missed it again. It departed at top speed across
+some open ground behind him, and gained the great woods which stretch away
+to the Kaj-nag, and never shall we see that bear again! The Colonel was
+much disgusted, and if language--hot, strong, and plenty of it--could
+have slain that bear, he would have dropped dead in his tracks.
+
+The beaters brought up a wonderful tale of how another bear, badly wounded
+in the leg, had charged through their lines and gone back. They stuck to
+their story, and either a second bear actually existed or they are
+colossal liars. I incline to the latter theory.
+
+We had wasted all our luck. No more bears came to look at us, and so, late
+in the afternoon, we sought the rest-house and consolation from Jane and
+Hesketh, who had arrived from Drogmulla.
+
+I had occasion to deplore the bad manners of the rats at Harwan, but their
+conduct was exemplary compared with that of the rats of Rainawari! I had
+been writing my journal, according to my custom, before going to sleep,
+and hardly had "lights out" been sounded than a rat went off with my
+candle, literally from below my very nose. Then, from the inadequately
+partitioned chamber where the invalid vainly sought repose, came sounds of
+strife--boots and curses flying--followed by an extraordinary scraping and
+scuffling. A large rat, having fallen into the big tin bath, was making
+bids for freedom by ineffectually leaping up the slippery sides. At last
+he contrived to get out, and peace reigned until we managed to get to
+sleep.
+
+Wednesday was spent honking in the forlorn hope of a bear, I have now
+spent more than fourteen days in pursuit of black bear, and I have only
+seen one. Every one said to me in spring, "Oh, go to the Lolab, it's full
+of bear," I went, and was informed that it was a late season and I was too
+early--the bears were not yet awake. I was consoled by learning that later
+on, when the mulberries were ripe, the berry-loving beasts jostled one
+another in the pursuit of the delicacy so much, that they were no sport I
+went down from Gulmarg for three days, honking among the mulberries, but
+saw none. Then I was told the maize season was undoubtedly the best. Now
+the maize is full ripe; the maize fields are tempting in their golden
+glory, and the only thing wanting to complete the picture is a big, black
+bear.
+
+Either my luck has been particularly bad (and I think it has, as the
+Colonel got a fine bear below Gulmarg, and had another chance at
+Rainawari), or else there are not so many bears in real life as exist in
+the imaginations of those who know. My own theory is, that, unless he has
+remarkable luck, a stranger, in the hands of an ignorant shikari, and
+knowing nothing of the language, has but a remote chance of sport. If the
+shikari does not happen to know the district thoroughly, he is necessarily
+in the hands of the villagers, and has to trust to them to arrange the
+beats and place the guns. The villagers want their four annas for a day's
+shouting, but do not know or care if a bear is in the neighbourhood, so,
+having planted the gun (and shikari with him), they proceed to beat after
+their own fashion, in other words to stroll, in Indian file, like geese
+across a common, along the line of least resistance, instead of spreading
+out and searching all the thickest jungle.
+
+Much yelling serves both to cheer the sahib, and frighten away any bear
+which might otherwise haply frighten them.
+
+I cannot say I regret the time I have spent looking for bear. The scenery
+has always been fine--sometimes magnificent, and there has always been a
+certain cheering hope, which sustained me as I lay hour after hour in the
+Malingam Nullah, or sat expectant amid ever varying and always beautiful
+glades and passes, watching the bird life, and storing up scenes and
+memories which I know I shall never forget.
+
+Alas! we have but a very few days yet before us in Kashmir, and it is
+lamentable, for now the climate is simply perfect, the air clear and clean,
+and without the haze of summer; the first crispness of coming autumn
+making itself felt most distinctly in the early hours of morning ere
+
+  "Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
+  The glorious sun uprist;"
+
+and each dawn saw us up and out to watch these sunrises, whose splendour
+cannot be expressed on paper. This morning it was more than usually
+wonderful, the whole flank of Nanga Parbat and his lesser peaks, turning
+from clear lemon to softest rose, stood radiant above the purple shades of
+the great range which lies around Gurais. In the middle distance, rising
+above the level yellow of the plain, still dim and shadowy below the
+morning light, rolled wave upon wave of the blue hills which hold in their
+embrace the fruitful Lolab. At our feet the deodars, still dark with the
+shadow of night, crept up the dewy slope upon whose top we stood. Then
+suddenly
+
+  "The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes,"
+
+flamed over the eastern ridges, and in a flood of glory the soft shadows
+and pallid lights of the dawn became merged in the brilliance of a Kashmir
+autumn day.
+
+Our march yesterday from Rainawari to Kitardaji was charming. I had no
+idea that this Machipura country, which is not much visited by summer
+sojourners in Kashmir, was so fine. The district lies along the lower
+shoulders and foothills of the Kaj-nag, and, while lacking the savage
+grandeur of the Lidar or Upper Sind, yet possesses the charm of infinite
+variety and, in this early autumn, a climate in which it is a pure joy to
+live. On leaving Rainawari we followed up a river valley for some distance,
+and then wound through richly cultivated hollows and past well-wooded
+hills, where the dark silver firs and the deodars were lit up by splashes
+of scarlet and orange, and the deciduous sumach and thorn-bushes hung out
+their autumn flags. Walnuts--the trees in many places turning yellow--were
+being gathered into heaps, and the apple trees, reddening in the autumn
+glow, hung heavy with abundant fruit.
+
+Turning into a narrow gorge, where the trees overhung the path and shaded
+the wanderer with many an interlaced bough; where ferns grew in great
+green clumps, and the friendly magpies chattered in the luminous shade, I
+hurried on, having stayed behind the others to sketch. Up and up, till
+only pines waved over me, and the track, leading along the edge of a deep
+khud, opened out at last upon a plateau, hot and sunlit; here an
+entrancing panorama of Nanga Parbat and the whole range of mountains round
+Haramok caused me to stop "at gaze" until a mundane desire for breakfast
+sent me scurrying down the dusty and slippery descent to Larch, where I
+found, as I had hoped, the rest of the party assembled expectant around
+the tiffin basket, while the necromancer, Sabz Ali, had just succeeded in
+producing the most delightful stew, omelette, and coffee from the usual
+native toy kitchen, made, apparently, in a few minutes with a couple of
+stones and a dab of mud!
+
+It has been an unfailing marvel to us how, in storm or calm, rain or fine,
+the native cook seems always able to produce a hot meal with such
+apparently inadequate materials as he has at his command. Give him a fire
+in the open, screened by stones and a mud wall, a _batterie de cuisine_
+limited to one or two war-worn "degchies," and let him have a village fowl
+and half-a-dozen tiny eggs, and he will in due time serve up, with modest
+pride, a most excellent repast.
+
+The remaining half of our twelve-mile march lay along a continually rising
+track, which finally brought us to Kitardaji, a cosy pine-built hut,
+perched upon a hill clothed with deodars, at the foot of which ran the
+inevitable stream.
+
+This, alas! is our last Kashmir camping-ground, and it is one of the most
+charming of all.
+
+At 8.15 this morning we bade farewell to Kitardaji. We had got up before
+dawn to see the sunrise, but afterwards took things leisurely, as the
+march is short to Baramula, and our boats were to be in waiting there, and
+we had made all arrangements for a landau and ekkas to be in readiness to
+take us down to Rawal Pindi, while the Colonel returned up the Jhelum for
+more shooting before rejoining his wife at Bandipur.
+
+The march of about thirteen miles from Kitardaji to Baramula is fine--the
+views of Nanga Parbat in the early hours, before the sun's full strength
+cast a golden glow over the distance, were magnificent, and long we
+lingered upon the last ridge, gazing over the great valley, ringed with
+its guardian mountains, ere we sadly turned our backs for the last time on
+the scene, and wended our way downward to Baramula and our boats.
+
+Kashmir seems to be as difficult to get out of as to get into! What was
+our amazement and disgust to find neither landau nor ekkas, nor,
+apparently, any chance of getting them!
+
+Baramula was in a ferment, and wild confusion reigned because the Viceroy,
+having somewhat suddenly determined to come to Jammu, the Maharajah and
+all his suite, together with the Resident and his belongings, were to
+start down the road at once, and all transport was commandeered by the
+State. Here was a coil! Officers innumerable, who had stayed in Kashmir
+until the limit of their leave, were struggling vainly to get on, and had
+got to Baramula only to find all transport in the hands of the State
+officials. Some few had, by fair means or foul, got hold of an ekka or two
+and hidden them; others had seized ponies, but nothing to harness them to.
+A few of the younger men set forth on foot, and others had their servants
+out in ambush on the roads to try and collect transport.
+
+It was most important that we should get on, as Hesketh had to be in Pindi
+to go before a medical board on the 14th, in order to be invalided home to
+England; and as he was most anxious to catch a steamer sailing on the 25th,
+he had no time to spare.
+
+I telegraphed to Sir Amar Singh for authority to engage ekkas, and I sent
+for the Tehsildhar of Baramulla to complain of my ekkas being taken. He
+appeared in due course--a somewhat pert little person--who promised to do
+what he could, which I knew would be nothing. A farewell dinner on board
+Walter's ship concluded a fairly busy day.
+
+_Saturday, October 7_.--A strenuous day, to say the least of it. Sir Amar
+Singh most courteously met my wishes, and himself directed the local
+authorities to assist me. Armed with this power, I again sent for the
+Tehsildhar, who promised many ekkas, but appeared to have some difficulty
+in fulfilling his promises. I spent the forenoon in hunting transport,
+sending out my servants also in pursuit. The Tehsildhar produced one ekka
+with great pomp, as earnest of what he could and would do later on.
+
+During the afternoon the landau turned up from Srinagar, and at 6 P.M. one
+of my myrmidons rushed in to say that two ekkas had arrived at the d�k
+bungalow.
+
+It was but a few yards away, and in a couple of minutes I was on the spot.
+The ekkas had come up from Pindi, and the sahib who had lured them to
+Baramula seemed astonished at my method of taking them over. In an
+uncommonly short while the ekkas were parked, with the landau, close to
+the boats and under strict watch, while all harness was brought on board
+my dounga, just in time, as native officials of some sort romped up and
+claimed the ekkas, and threatened to beat my servants. It was explained to
+them gently, but firmly, that if they touched my ekkas or landau they
+would taste the waters of the Jhelum. We were then left in peaceful
+possession.
+
+_Tuesday, October 10_.--On Sunday morning we really saw our way to making
+a start. We had three ekkas collected, and the Tehsildhar produced a
+fourth with a great flourish, as though in expectation of a heavy tip. The
+landau was being piled with odds and ends while the last bits of business
+were being got through. Juma and his crew were paid and tipped (grumbling,
+of course, for the Kashmiri is a lineal descendant of the horse-leech).
+The shikari went to Smithson, and the sweeper and permanent coolie were
+transferred to the assistant forest officer, while Ayata (in charge of
+Freddie, the blackbird) scrambled into the leading ekka.
+
+By noon all was ready, and amid the rattle and jingle of many harness
+bells and the salaams of the domestics, we bowled out of Baramula, and set
+forward down the valley of the Jhelum.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DELHI AND AGRA
+
+The journey down was uneventful, and quite unlike the journey up, when we
+had been briskly occupied in dodging landslips for days. A good road,
+white and dry, and sloping steadily downward; a good pair of ponies,
+strong and willing; a roomy landau, wherein Hesketh--still suffering from
+his fall at Drogmulla--could stretch himself in comparative comfort,
+combined to bring us to Kohala this afternoon in a state of excellent
+preservation. Here we crossed the bridge, which brought us to the right
+bank of the river--from Kashmir to British territory.
+
+Kohala is the proud possessor of one of the very worst d�k bungalows yet
+discovered. This seems disappointing when stepping under the folds of the
+Union Jack full of high hope and confidence.
+
+Climbing up through a particularly noisome bazaar to the bungalow, I was
+met with the information that it was already full. I said that was a pity,
+but that room must be found for my party.
+
+Room was got somehow, a d�k bungalow being an extraordinarily elastic
+dwelling. Hesketh was stored in a little tent. I lodged in the dining-room,
+and Jane took up her quarters in a sort of dressing-room kindly given up
+by a lady, who bravely sought asylum with a sister-in-law and a remarkably
+strong-lunged baby. I believe more travellers arrived later,
+for--although, thanks to Sir Amax Singh and good luck, we gained a good
+start at Baramula--now the tongas are beginning to roll in and the plot to
+thicken.
+
+I cannot think where the last arrivals bestowed themselves--not on the
+roof, I trust, for a thunderstorm, accompanied by the usual vigorous
+squall of wind, fell upon us during the night, and raged so furiously that
+I was greatly relieved to see the Lancer's little tent still braving the
+battle and the breeze in the morning.
+
+We had a long day before us, so started in good time to make the tedious
+ascent to Murree. It rained steadily, and a cold wind swept down the river
+valley as we began to make our slow way up the long, long hill.
+
+I never knew milestones so extraordinarily far apart as those which mark
+the distance between Kohala and Murree. There are twenty-five of them,
+distributed along a weary winding road which extends without an apparent
+variation of gradient from Kohala to the Murree cemetery. The rise from
+the river level to Murree is 5000 feet, and this, in a heavy landau over a
+road often deep in red mud, is a heavy strain on equine endurance and
+human patience.
+
+We had a fresh pair of horses waiting for us half-way up the hill, but they
+proved absolutely useless, being obviously already dead tired and quite
+unable to drag the carriage through any of the muddier places even with
+every one but the invalid on foot. So we apologetically put the gallant
+greys in again, poor beasties, and they took us up well.
+
+From the cemetery the road runs fairly level to where, upon rounding a
+sharp corner, the hill station of Murree comes into sight, clinging to its
+hill-tops and overlooking the far flat plains beyond Pindi.
+
+I cannot imagine how anybody would willingly abide in Murree who could go
+anywhere else for the hot weather. There being no level ground, there is
+no polo, no cricket, and no golf. There is no river to fish in, and I do
+not think that there is anything at all to shoot. Doubtless, however, it
+has its compensations. Probably it abounds in pretty mem-sahibs, who with
+bridge and Badminton combine to oil the wheels of life, and make it merry
+on the Murree hills.
+
+Leaving the station high on the left, we dipped in a most puzzling manner
+down a slope through a fine wood giving magnificent views towards the
+hills of our beloved Kashmir, and presently came to "Sunny Bank," whence a
+steep road seemed to run sharply hack and up to Murree itself. It was late,
+and both we and our unfortunate horses were tired, but a hasty peep into
+the little inn showed it to be quite impossible as a lodging, and a biting
+wind sent us shivering down the hill as fast as might be to seek rest and
+warmth at Tret.
+
+The good greys took us down the eleven miles in a very short time, and we
+pulled up at the d�k bungalow at 7.30, having been just twelve hours doing
+the forty miles from Kohala.
+
+The d�k bungalow and all the compound in front was crowded, detachments
+_en route_, from Murree to Pindi having halted here for the night. Hesketh
+was lucky enough to share a room with a brother Lancer, and a mixed bag of
+Gunners and Hussars made up a cheery dinner-table.
+
+The only member of the party showing signs of collapse was the unfortunate
+Freddie, who, shaken up in his small cage for three days in an ekka,
+seemed in piteous plight, feathers (what there were of them) ruffled and
+unkempt, and eyes dim and half closed. Poor dear, it was only sleep he
+wanted, for next morning he showed up, as his fond owner remarked, "bright
+as a button!"
+
+_12th_.--The road from Tret to Pindi seemed tame to us, but probably
+charming to the horses, first down a few gently sloping hills, and then
+for the remainder of its six-and-twenty miles it wound its dull and dusty
+length along the level.
+
+We halted for our last picnic lunch in a roadside garden full of loquat
+trees and big purple hibiscus. The only curious thing here was a pi-dog
+which refused to eat cold duck! Certainly it was a _very_ tough duck, but
+still, I do not think a pi-dog should he so fastidious.
+
+A few more level dusty miles, and we rattled into Rawal Pindi, where,
+after depositing our sick man safely in his own mess precincts, we
+proceeded to ensconce ourselves in Flashman's Hotel, which is certainly
+far better than the Lime Tree, where we stayed before. Indian hotels are
+about the worst in the world. We have sampled rough dens in Spain, in
+Tetuan, and in Corsica--especially in Corsica, but then they are
+unpretentious inns in unfrequented villages, whereas in India you find in
+world-famous cities such as Agra or Delhi the most comfortless dens
+calling themselves hotels--hotels where you hardly dare eat half the food
+for fear of typhoid, and will not eat the rest because it is so unsavoury!
+
+It may be argued that the hotels, if bad, are cheap, and that one cannot
+reasonably expect much in return for five or six rupees per day; it seems,
+however, that in a country where food and labour cost next to nothing, a
+good landlord should be able to "do" his customers well upon five rupees,
+and make a substantial profit into the bargain.
+
+Probably, as the facilities for travel are rapidly increasing, and India
+is now as easy to reach as Italy was in days not so long by, the hotels
+will soon improve. Hospitality, which is still to-day greater in the East
+than in our more selfish Western regions, and which has, until quite
+recently, obviated for strangers and pilgrims the necessity for hotels, is
+now unable to cope with the increasing flood of visitors and wanderers; as
+the need becomes more pressing, so will the supply, consequent upon the
+demand, improve both in quality and quantity; and we have already heard of
+the new Taj Mahal Hotel at Bombay, the fame of which has been trumpeted
+through India, and which is said to rival in luxury the palaces of Ritz!
+
+The real and serious difficulty, and one which at present seems
+insurmountable, is to secure cleanliness and safety in that Augean
+stable--the cook-house. Until the native can be brought to understand the
+inadvisability of using tainted water and unclean utensils, and of
+permitting the ubiquitous fly to pervade the larder--until, I say, that
+millennium can be attained, the danger of enteric and other ills will
+always be very great in Indian hotels.
+
+_Friday, October_ 13.--Lunch with Dr. Munro, who surprised us somewhat by
+having married a wife since we played golf and bridge together at Gulmarg
+only a few weeks ago. Tea, a farewell repast with our invalid--who goes
+before a medical board in a few days, and who will then be doubtless sent
+home on long sick leave--and the despatch of our heavy luggage direct to
+Bombay, occupied us pretty fully for the day; and in the evening, after
+dinner, we took up our residence in a carriage drawn up in a siding to be
+attached to the 6.30 mail in the morning. Our last recollection of Pindi
+was a vision of the faithful Ayata, paid, tipped, and provided with a
+flaming "chit," flapping along the road in the bright moonlight, with all
+his worldly possessions, _en route_ for Abbotabad and home.
+
+_Saturday, October_ 14.--A prodigious amount of banging, whistling, and
+yelling seemed to be necessary before we could be coupled up to the early
+train, and sent flying towards Lahore. It was impossible to sleep, and I
+was peacefully watching the landscape as it slid past, first in the pink
+flush of early dawn, and gradually losing colour as the sun, gaining in
+strength, reduced everything to a white hot glow, when, scraping and
+bumping into a wayside station, we were suddenly informed that, owing to
+hot bearings or heated axles or something, we must quit our carriage at
+once, and so, half dressed and wholly wrathful, we were shot out on a hot
+and exceedingly gritty platform, with our hand luggage and bedding all of
+a heap, and with the whole length of the train to traverse to attain our
+new carriage. Sabz Ali being curled up asleep in an "intermediate," was
+all unwitting of this upheaval. The officials were impatient, and so Jane
+and I were in a thoroughly unchristian frame of mind by the time we were
+stowed, hot and greatly fussed, into a stifling compartment, whose
+dust-begrimed windows long withstood all endeavours to open them.
+
+We reached Lahore about noon, and, having some six hours to dispose of
+there, we spent them in calm contemplation, sitting on the verandah of
+Nedou's Hotel. It was really too hot to think of sight-seeing.
+
+_Thursday, October 19_.--Another night in the train brought us to Delhi at
+dawn, and we drove up to the execrable caravansary of Mr. Maiden. I do not
+propose to write much about Delhi. Every one who has been in India has
+visited the capital of the Moguls, whose wealth of splendid buildings
+would alone have rendered it a supreme attraction for the sight-seer, even
+had it not played the part it did in the Mutiny, and been memorable as the
+scene of the storming of the Kashmir Gate and the death of John Nicholson.
+
+We, personally, carried away from Delhi an uncomfortable sense of
+disappointment. It was very hot, and Jane fell a victim to the heat or
+something, and took to her bed in the comfortless hotel, while I prowled
+sadly about the baking streets, and tried to work up an enthusiasm which I
+did not feel.
+
+As soon as Jane was fit, we joined forces with a young fellow-countryman
+and his sister, who were the only other English people in the hotel, and
+drove out to see the Kutab Minar. On arrival we found a comfortable d�k
+bungalow, and, having made an excellent breakfast, sallied forth to view
+the Kutab. May I confess that I was again a little disappointed? I do not
+really know exactly why, but the great tower, whose fluted shaft, dark red
+in the sunglow, shoots up some 270 feet into the air, did not appeal to me.
+It is like no other column--it is unique, marvellous,--but it leaves me
+cold.
+
+The splendid arch of the screen of the old temple, and the lovely columns
+of the Jain temple opposite, attracted me far more than the Kutab Minar.
+
+Jane and young Buxton went off to see a native jump down a well fifty feet
+deep for four annas. The performance sounded curious, but unpleasant. The
+sightseers were much impressed! Meanwhile, Miss Buxton and I discovered a
+very modern and exceedingly hideous little Hindu temple, painted in the
+most appalling manner--altogether a gem of grotesqueness, and truly
+delightful and refreshing.
+
+Tea in front of the d�k bungalow, in a corner blazing with "gold mohurs"
+and rosy oleanders, while the driver and the syce harnessed the lean pair
+of horses, a final visit to the Kutab and the great arch, and we fared
+back over the eleven bumpy miles that lay between us and Delhi.
+
+A good deal of my spare time, while Jane was _hors de combat_, was spent
+in the jewellers' shops of the Chandni chowk, the principal merchants'
+quarter of Delhi. I do not think that anything very special in the way of
+a "bargain" is to be obtained by the amateur, although stones are
+undoubtedly cheaper than in London. I saw little really fine jewellery,
+probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer, but many good
+spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I wanted I failed to
+get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce and dear. The dealers
+generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink topaz. Peridot are cheaper, I
+think, at home, and certainly in Cairo, and the only amethysts worth
+looking at are sent out from Germany. The pale ones of the country come
+from Jaipur. By-the-bye, the best-coloured amethysts I ever remember
+seeing were in Clermont Ferrand.
+
+Delhi has always been connected with gems in my mind. I am not certain why.
+Partly, perhaps, because the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jehan stood in
+the Palace here. I cannot resist giving the description of it in the words
+of Tavernier, who saw it about 1655, and who describes it as follows:--
+
+"This is the largest throne; it is in form like one of our field-beds, six
+foot long and four broad. The cushion at the back is round like a bolster;
+the cushions on the sides are flat. I counted about a hundred and eight
+pale rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof weighed a
+hundred carats. Emeralds I counted about a hundred and forty."
+
+"The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and diamonds,
+with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the top of the canopy, which is
+made like an arch with four paws, stands a peacock with his tail spread,
+consisting entirely of sapphires and other proper-coloured stones;[1] the
+body is of beaten gold enchased with several jewels; and a great RUBY upon
+his breast, to which hangs a pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each aide
+of the peacock stand two nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of
+various sorts of flowers, all of beaten gold enamelled."
+
+"When the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent jewel,
+with a diamond appendant of eighty or ninety carats weight, encompassed
+with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his eye. The twelve
+pillars also, that uphold the canopy, are set with rows of fair pearl,
+round, and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to ten carats
+apiece."
+
+"At the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed
+two umbrellas, the handles of which are about eight feet high, covered
+with diamonds, the umbrellas themselves being of crimson velvet,
+embroidered and fringed with pearl."
+
+"This is the famous throne which Tamerlane began and Shah Jehan finished;
+and is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty millions and five
+hundred thousand livres of our money."
+
+One can picture the enraptured diamond merchant examining this masterpiece
+of Oriental luxury with awe-struck eye, appraising the size and lustre of
+each gem, and taking the fullest notes with which to dazzle his countrymen
+on returning to the more prosaic Europe from what was then indeed the
+"Gorgeous East!" This world-famous throne was seized by Nadir Shah, when
+he sacked Delhi in 1739, and carried away (together with our Koh-i-noor
+diamond) into Persia. Dow, who saw the famous throne some twenty years
+before Tavernier, describes _two_ peacocks standing behind it with their
+tails expanded, which were studded with jewels. Between the peacocks stood
+a parrot, life size, cut out of a single emerald!
+
+_Friday, October_ 20.--Yesterday at 6 A.M. we spurned the dust of Delhi,
+hot and blinding, from our feet and clambered into the train, which
+whirled us across the sun-baked plain to Agra.
+
+There has been a woeful shortage of rain in the Punjab and Rajputana, and
+a famine seems imminent--not a great and universal famine, as, the monsoon
+having been irregular, only some districts have suffered to a serious
+extent, and they can be supplied from elsewhere, whereas in the great
+famine of 1901 the drought parched the whole land, and no help could be
+given by one State to another, all lying equally under the sun's curse.
+Not a great famine, perhaps; yet, to one accustomed to the genial
+juiciness of the West, the miles and miles of waterless hot plains,
+stretching away to where the horizon flickered in the glare, the brown and
+parched vegetation, the lean and hungry-looking cattle, tended by equally
+lean and famished herds, caused the monotonous view from the carriage
+windows to be strangely depressing.
+
+This is the very battle-ground of Nature and the British Raj. We have
+given peace and, to a certain extent, prosperity to the teeming millions
+of India, and they have increased and multiplied until the land is
+overburthened, and Nature, with relentless will, bids Famine and
+Pestilence lay waste the cities and the plains. Then Science, with
+irrigation works and improved hygiene, strives hard to gain a victory, but
+still the struggle rages doubtfully.
+
+Agra we liked as much as we disliked Delhi. To begin with creature
+comforts (and the well-being of the body produces a pair of _couleur de
+rose_ spectacles for the mental eye), Laurie's Hotel at Agra is very much
+more comfortable than the den we abode in at Delhi, and after a good
+tiffin we set forth with light hearts to see the Fort.
+
+This, the accumulated achievement of the greatest of the Mogul Emperors,
+is a magnificent monument of their power and pride. The earliest part,
+built by Akbar, is all of rich red sandstone. The great hall of audience
+and other portions show his broad-minded tolerance and catholicity of
+taste in being almost pure Hindu in style and decoration. Later, with
+Jehangir and Shah Jehan, the high-water mark of sumptuousness was attained
+in the use of pure white marble, lavishly inlaid with coloured stones.
+
+As we wandered through halls and corridors of marble most richly wrought,
+while the sun-glare outside did but emphasise the cool shade within, or
+filter softly through the lace-like tracery of pierced white-marble
+screens, one longed to reclothe these glorious skeletons with all the pomp
+of their dead magnificence--for one magic moment replace the Great Mogul
+upon his peacock throne, surround him with a glittering crowd of courtiers
+and attendants, clothe the wide marble floors upon which they stand with
+richest carpets from the looms of Persia and the North, and drape the tall
+white columns with rustling canopies of silk.
+
+Before the great audience hall let the bare garden-court again glow with a
+million blooms; there let the peacocks sun themselves, their living jewels
+putting to shame the gems that burn back from aigrette and from sword-hilt;
+see and hear the cool waters sparkling once again from their long-dried
+founts, flashing in the white sunlight, and flowing over ducts cunningly
+inlaid with zigzag bands to imitate the ripple of the mountain stream.
+
+The dead frame alone is left of all this gorgeous picture. The
+imperishable marble glows white in the sunlight as it did in the days of
+Shah Jehan. The great red bastions of the Fort frown over the same placid
+Jumna, and watch each morning the pearly dome of the Taj Mahal rise like a
+moon in the dawn-glow, shimmer through the parching glare of an Indian day,
+and at eve sink, rosy, into the purple shadows of swiftly-falling night,
+as they did when Shah Jehan sat "in the sunset-lighted balcony with his
+eyes fixed on the snow-white pile at the bend of the river, and his heart
+full of consolation of having wrought for her he loved, through the span
+of twenty years, a work that she had surely accepted at the last."[2]
+
+We spent a long afternoon in the Fort, and drove out finally through the
+monstrous gateway in a little Victoria, feeling all the time that none but
+elephants in all their glory of barbaric caparison could pass through such
+a portal worthily.
+
+The moon was full almost a week ago, unfortunately, so we determined that,
+failing moonlight, our first visit to the Taj should be at sunset.
+
+The two miles' drive along an excellent road was delightful, and the
+approach to the Taj has been laid out with much skill as a beautiful bit
+of landscape garden. This care is due to Lord Curzon, who has taken Agra
+and its monuments into his especial keeping.
+
+A very small golf-course has been laid out, and the familiar form of the
+enthusiast could be seen, blind to everything but the flight of time and
+his Haskell, hurrying round to save the last of the daylight.
+
+Beneath a tree was laid out a tea equipage, and a few ladies indolently
+putting showed that, after all, the game was not taken too seriously.
+
+I have no intention of trying to describe the Taj Mahal. The attempt has
+already been made a thousand times. I may merely remark that the
+detestable Indian miniatures, and little ivory or marble models that are,
+alas! so common, are incapable of giving an idea, otherwise than
+misleading, of this wonderful building, which is not--as they would vainly
+show it--glaring, staring, and hard, nor does its formality seem other
+than just what it should be.
+
+As we saw it first--opalescent in the soft, clear light of sunset--the
+chief impression it made upon us was that of size; for this we were quite
+unprepared.
+
+As we approached it from the great red entrance arch, along a smooth path
+bordering the central stretch of still, translucent water, the lovely dome
+rose fairy-like from the masses of trees that, in their turn, formed a
+background of solemn green for gorgeous patches of colour, in bloom and
+leaf, which glowed on either side as we advanced.
+
+Ascending a flight of steps to the wide terrace, all of whitest marble,
+upon which the Taj is raised, we realised that the detail of carving and
+of inlay was as perfect as the general effect of the whole.
+
+High as my expectations had been raised, I was not disappointed in the Taj,
+and that is saying much, for one's pre-formed ideas are apt to soar beyond
+bounds and to suffer the fate of Icarus. At the same time, I cannot agree
+with Fergusson that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building in the
+world. I do not admit that it is possible to compare structures of such
+widely divergent types as the Parthenon, the Cathedral of Chartres, the
+Campanile of Giotto, and the Taj Mahal, and pronounce in favour of any one
+of them. It is as vain as to contend that the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
+is a finer poem than Keats' "Eve of St. Agnes," or that the "Erl Konig" is
+better music than "The Moonlight Sonata."
+
+Perhaps it is not too much to say that it is the loveliest tomb in the
+world, and the finest specimen of Mohammedan architecture in existence. If
+I dared to criticise what would appear to be faultless, I should humbly
+suggest that the four corner minarets are not worthy of the centre
+building, reminding one rather of lighthouses.
+
+We spent a second day in Agra, revisiting the Fort and the Taj rather than
+seeing anything new. We could have hired a motor and rushed out for a
+hurried visit to Fatehpur-Sighri, and there was temptation in the idea;
+but we decided to content ourselves with the abundant food for eye and
+mind which we had in these two wonderful buildings, and in the evening we
+took the train for Jaipur.
+
+_Saturday, October 21._--One is apt to be cross and fussed and generally
+upset on being landed on a strange platform in the dark at 5.30 A.M., as
+we were at Jaipur, but much solace lay in the fact that a comfortable
+carriage stood waiting us and a most kind and genial host received us on
+the broad verandah of his bungalow, and the cheering fact was borne in
+upon us that we shall have henceforward but little to do with Indian
+hotels.
+
+How one appreciates a large, cool room, good servants, good food, and last,
+but not least, the society of one's kind, after two or three weeks of
+racket and discomfort by road and rail.
+
+A restful morning enlivened us sufficiently to enjoy a garden party at the
+Residency in the afternoon, where not only the English society, but a
+large number of native gentlemen, were playing lawn-tennis with laudable
+energy.
+
+After Kashmir, where Sir Amar Singh is the only native who mixes at all
+with the English, it was interesting to see and meet on terms of
+good-fellowship these Rajput aristocrats.
+
+_Sunday, October_ 22.--The city of Jaipur is, I think, principally
+interesting as being modern and enlightened among those of the native
+states.
+
+When the ancient city of Amb�r was abandoned, principally on account of
+its scanty water-supply, Jaipur was built upon a regular and prearranged
+plan, having a great wide street down the centre, crossed by two large
+thoroughfares at right angles, thus dividing the town into six rectangular
+blocks.
+
+We drove into the city in the afternoon, and were much impressed by its
+airiness and cleanliness. The houses are all coated with pink stucco,
+picked out with white, which, in the bright atmosphere, has, at a little
+distance, a charming effect. On closer inspection the real tawdriness and
+want of solidity of the work become painfully apparent, and the designs in
+white upon the pink, in which the wayward fancy of each householder runs
+riot, generally leave much to be desired, both in design and execution.
+
+The broad, clean main streets were a perfect kaleidoscope of colour and
+movement. Men in pink pugarees--in lemon-coloured--in emerald green; women
+in blood-red saris, bearing shining brass pots upon their heads, all
+talking, shouting, jostling--a large family of monkeys on a neighbouring
+roof added their quota of conversation--calm oxen, often with red-painted
+horns and pink-streaked bodies, camels, asses, horses, strolled about or
+pushed their way through the throng. No Hindu cow would ever dream of
+making way for anybody. Yes, though! Here comes an elephant rolling along,
+and the holy ones with humps discreetly retire aside, covering their
+retreat before a _force majeure_ by stepping up to the nearest
+greengrocer's stall and abstracting a generous mouthful of the most
+succulent of his wares.
+
+Rising in the midst of a lovely garden, just outside the city, is the
+Albert Hall, a remarkably fine structure, built in accordance with the
+best traditions of Mohammedan architecture adapted to modern requirements
+by our host, the designer. It contains both a museum of the products of
+Rajputana, and also an instructive collection of objects of art and
+science, gathered together for the edification of the intelligent native.
+
+We would willingly have spent hours examining the pottery and brass work
+for which Jaipur is famous, or in making friends with the denizens of the
+great aviary in the garden, but time is short, and even the baby panther
+could only claim a few minutes of our devotion.
+
+The Palace of the Maharajah is neither particularly interesting nor
+beautiful, and we did not visit it further than to inspect the ancient
+observatory built by Jey Singh, with its huge sundial, whose gnomon stands
+80 feet above the ground! What we are pleased to call a superstitious
+attention to times lucky or unlucky has given to astronomical observations
+in the East an unscientific importance which they have not had for
+centuries in Europe.[3] A slight attack of fever prevented me from going
+to Amb�r; so I stayed at home, peacefully absorbing quinine, subsequently
+extracting the following from Jane's diary:--
+
+    "'Tea ready, mem-sahib.' The familiar and somewhat
+    plaintive sound of Sabz Ali's voice roused me,
+    as it so often has in tent, forest hut, or matted dounga;"
+
+but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find
+myself in a real comfortable spring bed, white-enamelled and
+mosquito-netted, while for roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky.
+Then it was I remembered that, at my host's suggestion, my bed had been
+carried out into the shrubbery, and that I had fallen asleep, lulled by
+the howling of the jackals and the rustle of the flying squirrels in the
+gold mohur-tree overhead.
+
+"Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain as
+much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I was soon
+ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the garden among
+the parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little squirrels. We were ready
+for the road before seven, and were soon trotting along between dusty
+hedges of gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded here and there by neem trees and
+peepuls."
+
+"Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton's, and he
+had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort--a very thin
+young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat."
+
+"Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our way--slowly,
+on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on the road, and
+the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let us pass."
+
+"It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
+loose a bull _in memoriam_, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to live
+a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every green-grocer in it
+is only too much honoured if the fastidious animal will condescend to make
+free with his cabbages."
+
+"Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six miles
+out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal stable to
+carry us to Amb�r. We climbed upon her (it was a lady elephant) in a great
+hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we were told that an
+elephant, if 'fresh,' was apt to rise up suddenly, to the great detriment
+of the passenger who had 'not arrived.' She was a very friendly-looking
+creature though, and her little eyes twinkled most affably; her face was
+decorated in a scheme of red and green, and her saddle was a sort of big
+mattress surrounded by a railing."
+
+"I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed uncommonly
+rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we reached a ridge
+and saw the dead city of Amb�r before us, dominated by the white marble
+palace, standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in the water of the lake
+which laps its base."
+
+"Up a steep and narrow path we mounted until we reached the courtyard of
+the ancient palace of the ruler of Amb�r, and there we alighted from our
+steed, and set out to explore the ruins. First we came to a small temple,
+ugly enough, but interesting, for here a goat is sacrificed every morning
+to Kali--a particularly hideous goddess, if the frescoes on the walls and
+the golden image in the sanctuary are in any way truthful! Formerly a
+human sacrifice was customary, but the unfortunate goat is found to fulfil
+modern requirements, since goddesses are more easily pleased or less
+pampered than of yore."
+
+"The Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is chiefly
+remarkable for its magnificent situation, and for its court and hall of
+audience of marble and red sandstone."
+
+"This work was so fine as to excite the jealousy of the Mogul Emperor, so
+the Prince of Amb�r had it promptly whitewashed--and whitewashed it
+remains to this day. Some of the brazen doors are remarkably fine, as also
+those of sandal-wood, inlaid with ivory, in the women's quarters."
+
+"We climbed to the marble court on the roof, where, canopied only by the
+sky and lighted by the moon, nocturnal durbars were held. Now, in the
+glare of the noonday sun, we fully appreciated the value of an evening
+sitting, for it was impossible to remain grilling there, even though the
+view of the silent city below, falling in tier after tier to the lake--the
+glare only broken here and there by patches of green garden--was superb.
+On either side rose the bare, rocky ridges, fort-crowned and looking
+formidable even in decay, while in front the dusty road stretched away
+into the haze of the dusty plains below. Of course, we should have visited
+the great Jain temples and other things worthy of note; but, alas! a green
+garden, whose palms overhung the lake, proved more attractive than even
+Jain temples, and a charming picnic on fruits and cool drinks strengthened
+us sufficiently to enable us to face the hot road home, buoyed up each
+mile by the nearer prospect of a tub."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Jaipur is celebrated for its enamelling on gold, so our host kindly sent
+for an eminent jeweller to come and show us some trifles. Expectant of a
+humble native carrying the usual bundle, we were much impressed when, in
+due time, a dignitary drove up in a remarkably well turned out carriage
+and pair. His servants were clad in a smart livery, and he himself was
+resplendent, with uncut emerald earrings, and the general appearance of a
+certain Savoy favourite as the "Rajah of Bong"!
+
+Our spirits sank as he spread himself and his goods out upon the
+drawing-room floor, which speedily became a glittering chaos of gold and
+jewelled cups, umbrella handles, boxes, scent-bottles, and necklaces. Jane
+divided her admiration between a rope of fat pearls and a necklace of
+uncut emeralds, either of which might have been hers at the trifling price
+of some 7000 rupees, but we finally restricted our acquisitions to very
+modest proportions, and the stout jeweller departed, apparently no whit
+less cheerful than when he came.
+
+The modern brass-work of Jaipur is somewhat attractive, and we bought
+various articles--a tall lamp-stand, an elephant bell, and a few ordinary
+bowls of excellent shape.
+
+I have remarked before on the extreme tameness of, and the confidence
+shown by, wild creatures out here. A titmouse came and perched on the arm
+of my chair while sitting reading on the verandah at Gulmarg.
+
+The rats and mice, who own the forest houses in the Machipura, have to be
+kicked off the beds at night. But the little grey squirrels in Sir Swinton
+Jacob's garden are--_facile princeps_--the boldest wild-fowl we have yet
+encountered.
+
+Every afternoon about three, when tea was toward, the squirrels gathered
+on the gravel path, and prepared to receive bread and butter.
+
+After a few nervous darts and tail whiskings, a bold squirrel would skip
+up close, and, after eating a little ground bait, would boldly come up and
+nibble out of a motionless hand. In two minutes half-a-dozen pretty little
+creatures would be fidgeting round, eating bread and butter daintily,
+neatly holding the morsel in their little forepaws and nuzzling into one's
+fingers for more.
+
+A handsome magpie, and, of course, a contingent of crows, made up the
+fascinating party; while in the background, among the neem trees and the
+flaming "gold mohurs," the minahs and green parrots sustained an incessant
+and riotous conversation.
+
+_Wednesday, October 25_.--Gladly would we have accepted the Jacobs'
+invitation to stay longer at Jaipur. We would have liked nothing better,
+but time was flying, and the 5th November--our day of departure from
+Bombay--was drawing rapidly near. So yesterday evening we took the 6.30
+train for Ajmere, and, reaching there at 10.30, changed into the
+narrow-gauge railway for Chitor. We are becoming well accustomed to
+sleeping in an Indian train, and Sabz Ali had our beds unrolled and our
+innumerable hand luggage stowed away in no time, including four bottles of
+soda-water, which he has carefully garnered in the washstand, and which no
+hints, however broad, will induce him to relinquish.
+
+
+[1] "Au dessus du ciel qui est faite en vo�te � quatre pans on voit un
+    Paon, qui a la queue relev�e fait de Saphirs bleus et autres pierres
+    de couleur."--TAVERNIER, livre ii. chap. viii.
+
+[2] _The Web of Indian Life_
+
+[3] I fear this is somewhat misleading. Jey Singh was, _par excellence_,
+    an astronomer, not an astrologer,--T. R. S.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+UDAIPUR
+
+We arrived, very sleepy and gritty, at Chitor at 5.30 A.M., to find an
+unprecedented mob of first-class passengers _en route_ for Udaipur, and
+only one very minute compartment in which to stow them.
+
+The station-master--a solemn Baboo, full of his own importance, becomingly
+clad in a waving white petticoat, with bare legs and elastic-sided boots,
+surmounted by a long cutaway frock-coat, topped by a black skull-cap, and
+finally decorated by a pen behind his ear--seemed totally unable to cope
+with the terrible problem he was set to solve.
+
+I suggested that another carriage should be put on, but he had none, nor
+any solution to offer; so we cleared a second-class compartment and
+divided the party out, and then, with five people in our tiny compartment,
+we set out on the fifty-mile run to Udaipur.
+
+Five people in a carriage in Europe is nowise unusual, but five people in
+an Indian one (and that a narrow, very narrow gauge), accompanied by rolls
+of bedding, tiffin-baskets, and all the quantity of personal luggage which
+is absolutely necessary, not to speak of a large-sized bird-cage (which
+cannot, strictly speaking, be classed as a necessary), requires the
+ingenuity of a professional packer of herrings or figs to adjust nicely!
+
+By cramming the toilet place with bedding, khudsticks, a five-foot brass
+lamp-stand, and the four soda-water bottles, we made shift to stow
+portmanteaux, bags, tiffin-baskets, &c., under the seats and ourselves
+upon them, and then arranged a sort of centre-piece of Jane's big tin
+bonnet-box, surmounted by Freddy in his cage. The other passengers were
+very amiably disposed, and not fat, and they even went so far as to
+pretend to admire Freddy--a feat of some difficulty, as he is still very
+bald and of an altogether forbidding aspect. This admiration so won upon
+the heart of Jane, that in the fulness thereof she served out biscuits and
+a little tinned butter all round, while Freddy cheerfully spattered food
+and water upon all indiscriminately.
+
+About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here, in
+the stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a
+desperate deed.
+
+The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and
+retake Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any of
+those whose fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden.
+The Chondawats and the Saktawats both claimed the right of forming the
+vanguard, and the Rana, unable to pronounce in favour of either, subtly
+decided that the van should be given to the clan which should first enter
+Ontala.
+
+The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the
+fortress, and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place, but
+the walls were quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment, the
+leader of the Saktawats threw himself from his elephant, and, placing
+himself before the great spikes with which the gate was protected against
+the assault of the beast, ordered the mahout to charge; and so a crushed
+and mangled corpse was forced into the city on the brow of the living
+battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants rushed to battle.
+
+Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in Ontala.
+First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by the
+defenders ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell back
+among his dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling the body
+in his scarf, tied it upon his back, fought his way to the crest of the
+battlements, and hurled the gory body of his chieftain into the city,
+shouting, "The vanguard to the Chondawat!"
+
+It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note
+were engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of the
+defence, they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle. Suddenly
+the foe broke in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for leave to
+finish their interesting match. The request was granted by the courtly
+Rajputs, but upon its termination they were both put to death.
+
+Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid hills.
+After skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we bustled
+through a tunnel and drew up at a bright little station, draped with great
+blue and pink convolvulus. And this was Udaipur.
+
+We were picked out of the usual jabbering, jostling, gibbering crowd of
+natives by our host, who, looking most enviably cool and clean, took his
+heated, dishevelled, and unbarbered guests off to a comfortable carriage,
+and we were quickly sped towards tiffin and a bath.
+
+The station is a long way from the town, as the Maharana, a most staunch
+conservative of the old school, having the railway more or less forced
+upon him, drew the line at three miles from his capital, and fixed the
+terminus there. One cannot help being glad that the prosaic steam-engine,
+crowned with foul smoke and heralded by ear-piercing whistles, has not
+been allowed to trespass in Udaipur, wherein no discordant note is struck
+by train line or factory chimney, and where everything and every one is as
+when the city was newly built on the final abandonment of Chitor, the
+ancient capital of Mewar.
+
+Here in the heart of the most conservative of native States, whose ruler,
+the Maharana, Sir Fateh Singh, claims descent from that ancient luminary
+the Sun, we found novelty and interest in every yard of the three miles
+that stretch between the station and the capital. The scrub-covered desert
+has given place to a wooded and cultivated valley, ringed by a chain of
+hills, sterile and steep. The white ribbon of the road, through whose dust
+plough stolid buffaloes and strings of creaking bullock-carts, is bordered
+by tall cactus and yellow-flowered mimosa on either side. Among the trees
+rise countless half-ruined temples and chatries; on whose whitewashed
+walls are frequent frescoes of tigers or elephants rampant, and of
+wonderful Rajput heroes wearing the curious bell-shaped skirt, which was
+their distinctive dress.
+
+The people too, their descendants, who crowd the road to-day, are
+remarkable--the men fine-looking, with beards brushed ferociously upwards,
+and all but the mere peasants carrying swords; the women, dark-eyed, and
+singularly graceful in their red or orange saris, and very full
+bell-shaped petticoats. Upright as darts, they walk with slightly swaying
+gesture, a slender brown arm upraised to support the big brass chatties on
+their heads, revealing an incredible collection of bangles on arms and
+ankles. These women are the descendants of those who, in the stormy days
+of the sixteenth century, while the Rajput princes still struggled
+heroically with the all-powerful Mogul emperors, preferred death to shame,
+and, led by Kurnavati (mother of Oodi Singh, the founder of Udaipur),
+accepted the "Johur," or death by fire and suffocation, to the number of
+13,000, while their husbands and brothers threw open the city gates and
+went forth to fight and fall.
+
+As we drew near our destination the towers of the Maharana's Palace rose
+up above the trees, gleaming snowy in the cloudless blue. The brown
+crenellated walls of the city appeared on our left, and, suddenly sweeping
+round a curve, we found ourselves by the border of a lovely lake, whose
+blue-rippled waters lapped the very walls of the town. In the foreground a
+glorious note of colour was struck by a group of "scarlet women" washing
+themselves and their clothes by the margin.
+
+Up a steep incline, and we found ourselves before a verandah, blazing
+overhead with bougainvillea, and our hostess waiting to receive us beneath
+its cool shade.
+
+In the afternoon, refreshed and rested, we went down to the shore, where
+our host had arranged for a state-owned boat and four rowers to be in
+waiting. Armed with rods and fishing tackle, we proceeded to see Udaipur
+from the lake which washes its northern side. First crossing a small
+landlocked bay bordered on the left by a long and picturesque crenellated
+wall, and passing through a narrow opening, we found ourselves in a second
+division of the water; on the left, still the wall, with a
+delightful-looking summer-house perched at a salient angle; on the right,
+small wooded islands, the haunt of innumerable cormorants, who, with snaky
+necks outstretched, watched us suspiciously from their eyrie.
+
+A curious white bridge, very high in the centre, barred the view of the
+main lake till, passing through the central arch, we found ourselves in a
+scene of perfect enchantment. Before us the level sheet of molten silver
+lay spread, reflecting the snowy palaces and summer-houses that stood amid
+the palms and greenery of many tiny islands. On the left the city rose
+from the water in a succession of temples and wide-terraced buildings,
+culminating in the lofty pile of the Palace of the Maharana. Here, on this
+enchanted lake, we rowed to and fro until the sun sank swiftly in the west
+and the red gold glowed on temple and turret.
+
+Then, with our catch, about 15 lbs. weight of most excellent fish, we
+rowed back past the white city to the landing-place, and, in the gathering
+dark, climbed the hillock upon which stood our host's bungalow.
+
+We spent a week at Udaipur--a happy week, whose short days flew by far too
+quickly. The weather was splendid; hot in the middle of the day--for the
+season is late, and the monsoon has greatly failed in its cooling
+duty--but delightful in morning and evening.
+
+Rising one morning at early dawn, before the sun leaped above the eastern
+hills, we took boat and rowed to one of the island palaces, where, after
+fishing for mahseer, we breakfasted on a marble balcony overlooking the
+ripples of the Pichola Lake, which lapped the feet of a group of great
+marble elephants.
+
+Not the least interesting expedition was to the south end of the lake one
+afternoon to see the wild pigs fed. Traversing the whole length of the
+Pichola, past the marble gh�ts where the crimson-clad women washed and
+chattered, while above them rose the roofs and temple domes of the fairy
+city culminating in the walls and pinnacles of the palace--past the fleet
+of queer green barges wherein the Maharana disports himself when
+aquatically inclined, we left the many islands marble-crowned on our right;
+and finally landed at a little jutting ledge of rock, whence a jungle
+track led us in a few minutes to a terrace overlooking a rocky and steep
+slope which fell away from the building near which we stood. The scene was
+surprising! Hundreds of swine of all sorts and sizes, from grim slab-sided,
+gaunt-headed old boars, whose ancient tusks showed menacing, to the
+liveliest and sprightliest of little pigs playing hide-and-seek among
+their staid relatives, were collected from the neighbouring jungle to
+scramble for the daily dole of grain spread for them by the Maharana.
+
+A cloud of dust rose thick in the air, stirred up by the busy feet and
+snouts of the multitude, and grunts and squeals were loud and frequent as
+a frisky party of younglings in their play would heedlessly bump up
+against some short-tempered old boar, who in his turn would angrily butt a
+too venturesome rival in the wind and send him, expostulating noisily,
+down the hill!
+
+Beyond the crowd of swine on the edge of the clearing, a few peacocks,
+attracted by the prospect of a meal, held themselves strictly aloof from
+the vulgar herd.
+
+The whole city of Udaipur is a paradise for the artist--not a corner, not
+a creature which does not seem to cry aloud to be painted. The only
+difficulty in such _embarras de richesses_ of subject and such scantiness
+of time, is to decide what not to do.
+
+Hardly has the enthusiastic amateur sat down to delineate the stately pile
+of the palace, soaring aloft amid its enveloping greenery, than he is
+attracted by a fascinating glimpse of the lake, where, perhaps, a royal
+elephant comes down to drink, or a crimson-clad bevy of Rajputni lasses
+stoop to fill their brazen chatties with much chatter and laughter.
+
+Bewildered by such wealth of subject, one is but too apt to sit at gaze,
+and finally go home with merely a dozen pages of scribbles added to the
+little canvas jotting-book!
+
+The Palace of the Maharana is a very splendid pile of buildings, as seen
+from some little distance crowning the ridge which rises to the south of
+the lake, but it loses much of its beauty when closely viewed. It is, of
+course, not to be compared architecturally with the master-works of Agra
+and Delhi, and the internal decorations are usually tawdry and
+uninteresting. The entrance is fine; the visitor ascends the steep street
+to the principal gate, a massive portal, strengthened against the
+battering of elephants by huge spikes, and decorated by a pair of these
+animals in fresco-rampant. Beyond the first gate rises a second or inner
+gate. On the right are huge stables where the royal elephants are kept,
+and on the left stand a row of curious arches, beneath one of which the
+Maharanas of old were wont to be weighed against bullion after a victory,
+the equivalent to the royal avoirdupois being distributed as largesse to
+his people!
+
+Within the gates, a long and wide terrace stretches along the entire front
+of the Palace, on the face of which is emblazoned the Sun of Mewar, the
+emblem of the Sesodias. This terrace was evidently the happy home of a
+great number of cows, peacocks, geese, and pigeons, which stalked calmly
+enough, among the motley crowd of natives, and gave one the impression of
+a glorified farmyard. The building itself, like most Indian palaces, is
+composed of a heterogeneous agglomeration in all sorts of sizes and styles.
+Each successive Maharana having apparently added a bit here and a bit
+there as his capricious fancy prompted.
+
+Jane visited the armoury to-day with the Resident, who went to choose a
+shield to be presented by the Maharana to the Victoria Museum at Calcutta.
+I chose to go sketching, and was derided by Jane for missing such a chance
+of seeing what is not shown to visitors as a rule. She whisked away in
+great pomp in the Residential chariot, preceded by two prancing sowars on
+horseback, and subsequently thus related her experiences:--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"We really drove up far too fast to the Palace, I was so much interested
+in the delightful streets; and we just whizzed past the innumerable
+shrines and queer shops, and frescoed walls, where extraordinary lions and
+tigers, and Rajput warriors, riding in wide petticoats on prancing steeds,
+were depicted in flaming colours. I wanted, too, to gaze at the native
+women, in their accordion-pleated, dancing frocks of crimson or dark blue;
+but it seemed to be the correct thing for a 'Personage' to drive as fast
+as possible, and try to run over a few people just to show them what
+unconsidered trifles they were. Well, we were received at the entrance to
+the Palace by one of the Prime Ministers. There are two Prime
+Ministers--one to criticise and frustrate the schemes of the other; the
+result being, as the Resident remarked, that it is not easy to get any
+business done. Our Prime Minister was dressed in a coat of royal purple
+velvet, on his head was wound a big green turban, and round his neck hung
+a lovely necklet of pearls and emeralds, with a pendant of the same, he
+had also earrings to match. It was truly pitiful to see such ornaments
+wasted on a fat old man."
+
+"Going up a narrow and rather steep staircase, we came to a small hall
+full of retainers of his Highness, waiting until it should please him to
+appear and breakfast with them, for it is the custom of the Maharana to
+make that meal a sort of public function. In the middle of the hall
+reposed a big bull, evidently very much at ease and quite at home!"
+
+"A few more steps brought us to the door of the armoury. This is small and
+badly arranged, which seems a pity, as there were some lovely things.
+Chain armour and inlaid suits lay about the floor in heaps; and we were
+shown the saddle used by Akbar during the last siege of Chitor. The most
+remarkable things, however, were the Rajput shields, of which there were
+some beautiful specimens. They are circular, not large, and made, some of
+tortoiseshell, some of polished hippo hide, &c. One was inlaid with great
+emeralds, a second had bosses of turquoise, and a really lovely one was
+inlaid with fine Jaipur enamel in blue and green. There were swords simply
+encrusted with jewels--one with a hilt of carved crystal; another was a
+curiously-modelled dog's head in smooth silver, and I noticed a beauty in
+pale jade. Altogether it was a most fascinating collection, different from,
+but in its way quite as interesting, as the fine armoury at Madrid."
+
+Thus did Jane triumph over me with her description of what she had seen
+and what I had missed; and I had been trying to delineate the Temple of
+Jagganath, and had been disastrously defeated, for it is indeed a
+complicated piece of drawing, and the children, both large and small,
+crowded round me to my great hindrance. Therefore, it was not until I had
+been soothed with an excellent lunch, and the contents of a very long
+tumbler, that I felt strong enough to take an intelligent interest in the
+contents of the Maharana's curiosity-shop!
+
+_Monday, October_ 30.--The more we see of Udaipur the more we are charmed
+with it. The whole place is so absolutely unspoilt by modernism, is so
+purely Eastern--and ancient Eastern at that--that we feel as though we
+were in a little world far apart from the great one where steam and
+electricity shatter the nerves, and drive their victims through life at
+high pressure.
+
+Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered
+desert stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded in
+an oasis, whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the
+Maharana rules in feudal state, and, like Aytoun's Scottish Cavalier,
+
+  "A thousand vassals dwelt around--all of his kindred they,
+  And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray
+  For the royal race he loves so well."
+
+For to his subjects the Maharana is little less than a divinity, for is he
+not a direct descendant of the Sun? Likewise is he not the chief of the
+only royal house of Rajputana, who disdained to purchase Mogul friendship
+at the price of giving a daughter in marriage to the Mohammedan?
+
+There are greater personages among the ruling Princes of India, according
+to British ruling--Hyderabad, for instance. And in the matter of
+precedence and the number of guns for ceremonial salutation, the Chief of
+Mewar--like other poor but proud nobles--is treated rather according to
+his actual power than the cloudless blue of his blood. Hence he is
+extremely unwilling to put himself in a position where he might fail to
+obtain the honour which he considers due to him. He was most averse from
+attending the Delhi Durbar, but such pressure was put upon him that he was
+induced to proceed thither in his special train running, as far as
+Chitorgarh, upon his own special railway. He reached Delhi, and his
+sponsors rejoiced that they had indeed got him to the water, although they
+had not exactly induced him to drink. As a matter of fact, the Maharana,
+having gone to Delhi to please the British authorities, promptly returned
+to Udaipur to please himself, alleging a terrific headache as reason for
+instant departure from the capital, without his having left his very own
+specially reserved first-class compartment!
+
+He may not be a willing guest, but he is evidently disposed to be an
+excellent host, for great preparations are toward for the reception of the
+Prince of Wales, who is expected in the course of a fortnight or so.
+
+The Residency, too, is being swept and garnished, the garden already
+looking like a miniature camp, with tents for the suite all among the
+flower-beds.
+
+_Tuesday, October_ 31.--A day or two ago we arose betimes, and before
+sunrise embarked in the State gig (which was always, apparently, placed at
+our host's disposal on demand), and set forth to catch fish for our
+breakfast, and then proceed to eat the same on one of the island palaces
+on the lake. We did not catch many fish--the mahseer were shy that
+morning--but fortunately we did not entirely depend on the caprices of the
+mahseer for our sustenance, and a remarkably well-fed and contented
+quartette we were when we got into the gig while the day was yet young,
+and rowed home as quickly as might be in order to escape the heat which at
+noonday is still great.
+
+This afternoon we went for a (to us) novel tea picnic. A State elephant
+appeared by request, and we climbed upon him with ladders, and he
+proceeded to roll leisurely along at the rate of about two and a half
+miles an hour towards the foot of a hill, on the top of which stood a
+small summer palace.
+
+The afternoon was warm, and the rhythmic pace drowsy, but our steed was
+determined to amuse us and benefit himself. So he blew great blasts of
+spray at his own forelegs and chest to cool himself, and now and then made
+shocking bad shots at so large a target, and, getting a trifle too much
+elevation, nearly swept us from our lofty perch.
+
+Fortunately his stock of spray gave out ere long, or he found that the
+increasing gradient of the hill took all his breath, for we were left at
+leisure to admire the widening view until we reached the top.
+
+Here we had tea in one of the cool halls, and then sat watching the sun
+sink towards the hills that stretch to Mount Aboo.
+
+To the south-east lay Udaipur, milk-white along the margin of its "marl�d"
+waters.
+
+On our way home we met with an adventure. While prattling to my hostess, I
+observed that our toes were rising unduly, the saddle or howdah being
+seated somewhat after the fashion of an outside car. Glancing over my
+shoulder I descried Jane and her partner far below their proper level. The
+howdah was coming round, and our steed was eleven feet high! Agonised
+yells to the gentleman who guided the deliberate steps of the pachyderm
+from a coign of vantage on the back of his neck, awoke him to an
+appreciation of the situation. The elephant was "hove to" with all
+possible despatch, and we crawled off his back with the greatest celerity.
+We then sat down by the roadside and superintended the righting of the
+saddle and the tautening of the girths by several natives, who "took in
+the slack" with an energy that must have made the poor elephant very
+"uncomfy" about the waist! I secretly hoped it was hurting him horribly,
+as I had not forgiven him for his practical jokes on the way up.
+
+We had no more thrills. Resuming our motor 'bus, in due course, we were
+landed opposite the top of our host's verandah, whereupon the beast shut
+himself up like a three-foot rule, and we got to ground.
+
+The inexorable flight of time brought us all too soon to the limit of our
+stay at Udaipur. Early on Wednesday the 1st November, therefore, we bade
+adieu to the capital of the State of Mewar, and, accompanied by our kind
+host and hostess, set out to spend a day in exploring the ruined city of
+Chitor before taking train for Bombay.
+
+As we drove to the station, we passed the group of ancient "chatries" or
+tombs of dead and gone Ranas of Mewar, and halted for a short inspection,
+as, the train by which we were to travel to Chitorgarh being a "special,"
+we were not bound to a precise moment for our appearance on the platform.
+
+Jane, who is perfectly Athenian in her passion for novelty, decided to
+travel on the engine, and proceeded to do so; until, at the first
+halting-place, a grimy and somewhat dishevelled female climbed into our
+carriage, and the next half-hour was fully occupied in scooping smuts out
+of her eyes with teaspoons.
+
+It had been arranged that an elephant should await our arrival at
+Chitorgarh to take us up to the ancient city, but a careful search into
+every nook and cranny failed to reveal the missing animal.
+
+So my host and I set out on foot to cross a mile or so of plain which
+spread in deceptive smoothness between us and the ascent to the city. What
+seemed a serene and level track became quickly entangled in a maze of
+rough little knobs and nullahs, and we took a vast amount of exercise
+before arriving at the old bridge which spans the Gamberi River.
+
+Meanwhile, towering over the scrubby bushes and surrounded by a dusty halo,
+the dilatory pachyderm bore down upon us, and, after the mahout had been
+interviewed in unmeasured terms by my host, went rolling slowly to the
+station to pick up the ladies.
+
+The ancient city of Chitor lies crumbling and desolate on the back of a
+long, level-topped hill, which rises solitary to the height of some five
+hundred feet above the far-stretching plain. Kipling likens it to a great
+ship, up the sides of which the steep road slopes like a gangway. At the
+foot lies the modern village, squalid but picturesque.
+
+As we toil, perspiring, up the long ramp which for a weary mile slopes
+sidelong up the scarped flank of the mountain, and pass through the seven
+gates which guarded the way, and every one of which was the scene of many
+a grim and bloody struggle, I will try to sketch the outline of the
+history of the famous fort, for many centuries the headquarters of the
+royal race of Mewar.
+
+The Gehlotes, or (as they were afterwards styled) the Sesodias, claim
+descent from the Sun through Manu, Icshwaca, and Rama Chandra, as indeed
+do the other Rajput potentates of Jaipur, Marwar, and Bikanir, the Rana of
+Mewar, however, taking precedence owing to his descent from Lava, the
+eldest son of Rama.
+
+The ancient dynasty of Mewar has fallen from its high estate, but the
+history of its rise is lost in the mists of grey antiquity.
+
+"We can trace the losses of Mewar, but with difficulty her acquisitions....
+She was an old-established dynasty when all the other States were in
+embryo." Long before Richard of the Lion-heart fared to Palestine to wrest
+the Holy City from the infidel, "a hundred kings, its (Mewar's) allies and
+dependants, had their thrones raised in Chitor," to defend it against the
+sword of the Mohammedan; while overhead floated the banner displaying the
+golden sun of Mewar on a crimson field.
+
+Some centuries later the Crusaders brought to Europe from the plains of
+Palestine the novel device of armorial bearings.
+
+Chitor itself appears to have been in possession of the Mori princes until,
+in A.D. 728, it was taken by Bappa, who, though of royal race, was brought
+up in obscurity by the Bhils as an attendant on the sacred kine. This
+shepherd prince, ancestor of the present Rana of Mewar, became a national
+hero, and many legends are still current concerning him and his romantic
+deeds. The story of his "amazing marriage," by which he succeeded in
+wedding six hundred damsels all at once, is one of the most curious. Bappa,
+while still a youth, was appealed to, one holiday, by the frolicsome
+maidens of a neighbouring village, who, led by the daughter of the
+Solankini chief of Nagda, in accordance with the custom upon this
+particular saint's day, had come out to indulge in swinging, but who had
+forgotten to supply themselves with a swinging-rope. Bappa agreed to get
+them one if they would play his game first. This the young ladies readily
+agreed to do; whereupon, all joining hands, he danced with them a certain
+mystic number of times round a sacred tree.
+
+  "Regardless of their doom, the little victims played,"
+
+and finally dispersed to their homes, entirely unconscious that they were
+all as securely married to Bappa as though they had visited Gretna Green
+with him.
+
+Some time afterwards, upon the engagement of the Solankini maiden to an
+eligible young man, the soothsayer, to whom application had been made with
+regard to fixing a favourable and auspicious wedding-day, discovered from
+certain lines in her hand that the girl was already married! Thus the
+whole story came out, and no less than six hundred brides assumed the
+title of Mrs. Bappa.
+
+He seems to have had a passion for matrimony, for when an old man he left
+his children and his country, and carried his arms west to Khorassan,
+where he wedded new wives and had a numerous offspring. He died at the age
+of a hundred!
+
+From the days of the very much married Bappa, until the time of Samarsi,
+who was Prince of Chitor in the thirteenth century, the city continued to
+flourish and increase in power and importance. Samarsi, having married
+Pirtha, sister of Prithi Raj, the lord of Delhi, joined his brother-in-law
+against Shabudin. For three days the battle raged, until the scale fell
+finally in favour of Shabudin, and the combined forces of Delhi and Chitor
+were almost annihilated. "Pirtha, on hearing of the loss of the battle,
+her husband slain, her brother captive, and all the heroes of Delhi and
+Cheetore 'asleep on the banks of the Caggar in a wave of the steel,'
+joined her lord through the flames."
+
+From that time forward the history of Chitor is but a tale of sack and
+slaughter, relieved in its murkiest days by flashes of brilliant heroism
+and self-sacrificing devotion while the chivalrous Rajputs struggled
+vainly against the successive waves of the Mohammedan invasions, which in
+a fierce flood for centuries swept over India, and deluged it with blood.
+
+In the year 1275 Lakumsi became Rana of Chitor. His uncle Bheemsi had
+married Padmani, a fair daughter of Ceylon, and her beauty was such that
+the fame of it came to the ears of Alla-o-din, the Pathan Emperor.
+
+He promptly attacked the fortress, but without success for a long period,
+until he agreed to a compromise, declaring that if he could merely see the
+Lady Padmani in a mirror he would be contented and raise the siege.
+
+His request was granted, and, trusting to the honour of a Rajput, he
+entered the city unattended, and was rewarded by a sight of this Eastern
+Helen reflected in a mirror. Desirous of showing equal faith in a noble
+enemy, Bheemsi accompanied Alla back to his lines, but there he was
+captured and held to ransom, Padmani being the price.
+
+Word was now sent to the Emperor that Padmani would be delivered to him,
+and seven hundred covered litters were prepared to convey her and her
+ladies to Delhi, but each litter was borne by six armed bearers, and
+contained no "silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses," but only
+steel-clad warriors, who, upon arrival in the Moslem camp, sprang from
+their concealment as surprisingly as Pallas from the head of Zeus.
+
+Alla-o-din was, however, not to be caught napping, and, being prepared for
+all contingencies, a fierce combat took place, and the warriors of Chitor
+were hard put to it to stand their ground until Bheemsi had escaped to the
+stronghold on a fleet horse. Then the devoted remnant retreated, pursued
+to the very gates by their foes. The flower of Chitor had perished, but
+they had achieved their object. This was called the "half sack" of
+Chitor.[1]
+
+Fifteen years later, Alla-o-din once more attacked Chitor, and this time
+the assaults were so deadly that the garrison was decimated and utter
+annihilation stared the survivors in the face. Then to the Rana appeared
+the guardian goddess of the city, who warned him that "if twelve who wear
+the diadem bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass from the line." Now
+the prince had twelve sons, and, in obedience to the goddess and in hope
+of eventually saving their dynasty, eleven of them cheerfully headed
+sorties on eleven following days, and were slain, until only Ajeysi, the
+youngest, was left alive. Then the Kana prepared for the end. He sent the
+boy Ajeysi with a small band by a secret way, and he escaped to Kailwarra,
+so that the royal race of Chitor should not become extinct. Then the women
+of the city, with the noble Padmani at their head, accepted the Johur;
+"the funeral pyre being lighted within the great subterranean retreat,"
+they steadfastly marched into the living grave rather than yield
+themselves to the will of the conqueror. All being now ready for the last
+act of the hideous drama, the Rana caused the gates to be opened, and with
+his valiant remnant of an army fell upon the foe only to perish to a man,
+and then, and not till then, did the victorious Alla set foot of a
+conqueror within Chitor, where now no living thing remained to stay him
+from razing her deserted temples to the ground. The palace of Padmani
+alone was spared in this, the first "saka" of Chitor.[2]
+
+The wrecked stronghold remained an appanage of the Mogul until Hamir, who,
+though not the direct heir of Ajeysi, had gained the chieftainship through
+his valour, and who, having married a ward of the Hindu governor of Chitor,
+by her help regained possession of the fortress.
+
+Defeating the Emperor Mahmoud, Hamir entered Chitor in triumph, and once
+again the standard of the Sun floated over its blood-stained rocks. The
+Emperor Mahmoud himself was led captive into Chitor, and kept prisoner
+there for three months until he regained his liberty by surrendering
+Ajmere, Rinthumbore, Nagore, and Sooe Sopoor, with fifty lacs of rupees
+and a hundred elephants. By this victory Hamir became the sole Hindu
+prince of power in India; and the ancestors of the present lords of Marwar
+and Jaipur brought their levies and paid homage, together with the chiefs
+of Boondi, Abu, and Gwalior.
+
+Then ensued for Chitor a period of splendid prosperity, during which rose
+many noble buildings, amongst the ruins of which the great Tower of
+Victory still soars supreme. This splendid monument[3] was raised to
+commemorate the victory gained by Koombho over Mahmoud, King of Malwa, and
+the Prince of Guzzerat, who in A.D. 1440 had formed a league against
+Chitor. The Rana met them at the head of 100,000 troops and 1400 elephants,
+and overthrew them, and the commemorative tower was begun in 1451 and
+finished in ten years.
+
+The State of Mewar reached the zenith of her glory in 1509, when 80,000
+horse, seven rajas of the highest rank, nine raos, and 104 chiefs bearing
+titles of rawul or sawut, with 500 elephants, followed Rana Sanga of
+Chitor into the field.
+
+The Mogul Baber, who captured Delhi in 1527, was yet unwilling to face the
+ordeal of battle with the warlike Rajputs, but in the following year Sanga
+marched against him at the head of the princes of Rajast'han. A terrible
+battle ensued, which long inclined in favour of the Rajputs, until,
+through the treachery of a Tuar chief, they were defeated, and the star of
+Mewar began to decline, although so severe had been the struggle that
+Baber dared not follow up his victory.
+
+In 1533 Chitor suffered her second "saka" at the hands of Buhadoor or
+Bajazet, Sultan of Guzzerat, who, after a grim struggle, obtained a
+footing at the "Beeka" rock, and, springing a mine there, blew up 45
+cubits of rampart and killed the Prince of the Haras, with five hundred of
+his kin. Then the Queen-Mother, Jowahir Bae, clad in armour, headed a
+sally, and was slain before the eyes of all.
+
+The entrance to the city being forced, the heir of the Sesodias, the
+infant Oodi Singh, son of Sanga, was placed in safety, while Bagh-ji,
+Prince of Deola, assuming royalty, prepared to die, for Chitor could only
+be retained by the Rajput princes while guarded by royalty.
+
+The horrible Johur was decreed, and 13,000 women, headed by Kurnavati, the
+mother of Oodi Singh,[4] marched to death and honour through the "Gau
+Mukh," or entrance to the subterranean tomb; while the city gates were
+thrown open, and the defenders sallied forth. "Every clan lost its chief,"
+and 32,000 Rajputs were slain during the siege and storm.
+
+Now Kurnavati had bound Hamayoun, the son of Baber, to her cause by a
+curious ceremony: she having sent him the Rakhi (bracelet), and he having
+bestowed on her the Katchli (corselet), he was bound, in consequence of
+this bond, to assist the lady in any time of need. Too late to save Chitor,
+he retook it, and restored Bikramajit to the throne; but the guardian
+goddess had turned her face from the doomed city, and its final fall was
+at hand. The Emperor Akbar, having laid almost all India at his feet,
+determined to bring the proud princes of Rajputana into subjection. He
+attacked Chitor, but was foiled by the masculine courage of the Rana's
+concubine queen.
+
+Again, in 1568, the Emperor Akbar attacked, and this time he found the
+fated city in evil case, for Oodi Singh,[5] the Rana, for whom in infancy
+his nurse had sacrificed her own child, was a degenerate son of his race.
+He left Chitor to be defended by his lieutenants Jeimul and Putta.
+
+In the first "saka" by Alla, twelve crowned heads defended the "crimson
+banner" to the death. In the second, when conquest, at the hand of Bahadur,
+came from the south, the chieftain of Deola, a noble scion of Mewar,
+claimed the crown of glory and of martyrdom. But on this, the third and
+greatest struggle, no royal victim appeared to appease the Cybele of
+Chitor and win her to retain its battlements as her coronet.
+
+When Jeimul fell at the Gate of the Sun, the command devolved upon Putta
+of Kailwa, a lad of sixteen. His mother commanded him to don "the saffron
+robe," then, with him and his young bride, she fell full armed upon the
+foe, and the heroic trio died before the eyes of the war-worn garrison.
+
+Once more was the Johur commanded, while 8000 Rajputs ate the last "beera"
+together, and put on their saffron robes. The gates were thrown open, "and
+few survived to stain the yellow mantle by inglorious surrender."
+
+Thus in the blood-red cloud of battle sank for ever the Sun of Chitor; for
+from this, the third and last "saka," the ruined city never rose. Her doom
+has been as the doom of Babylon, of which Isaiah declared: "It shall never
+be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
+generation ... but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their
+houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there....
+And the wild beasts ... shall cry in their desolate houses, and ... in
+their pleasant palaces:... Her days shall not be prolonged."
+
+The top of the long ascent being reached, the last gate, the Hathi Pol, is
+passed, and the wayfarer finds himself in the midst of the great dead city,
+which lies in ruins for three miles along the bastioned brow of the
+mountain.
+
+Just beyond the first group of stately ruins, we came on the building
+which was probably the palace built by Lakha Rana in 1373. Here we sat and
+rested until the elephant, bearing the ladies and the lunch, stalked
+sedately round the jutting angle of a decayed fort, and then we wended our
+way along a road lined with many a half-fallen temple, until we reached
+the ancient palace where, six hundred years ago, dwelt the ill-starred
+Padmani, whose loveliness brought such woe upon Chitor. Here, in a cool
+chamber overlooking the tank, upon the brink of which the palace stands,
+we lunched; afterwards threading our way among the fallen fragments of
+many a stately shrine and palace towards the high point on which the great
+Jain Tower of Fame rears its deeply-sculptured shaft into the sky.
+
+For a thousand years the innumerable stone gods which encircle the tower
+in endless profusion have watched with sightless eyes over the city. Grey
+already with age were they when they saw, raised in pristine beauty, the
+shattered domes and broken columns which now lie prone in the brushwood
+far beneath their feet. What ghastly scenes those stony faces have
+surveyed, when, swept by the scathing steel, the city has run red with
+blood, and her defenders have fallen to the last man. One crowning horror,
+though, they have been always spared, for no maid or matron of Chitor ever
+deigned to bow her neck beneath the yoke of the Mogul, but rather dared to
+face a fiery death in the bowels of the great cavern beneath the city than
+yield her honour to the conqueror.
+
+The Tower of Fame is being repaired by the present Rana, under the
+superintendence of our host and a party of native workmen. Masons and most
+skilful carvers in stone were busily engaged in the restoration of parts
+that had fallen into dangerous decay--an extremely flimsy-looking
+scaffolding, made apparently of light bamboos, tied together in wisps, and
+forming a fragile-looking ramp, wound spirally up the outside of the tower.
+My host seemed to consider it a perfectly safe means of ascent, and as the
+workmen did not appear to slip off in any appreciable numbers I felt
+constrained to go up. I should like to have done it on all fours! The
+climb was well worth undertaking, as it enabled one to inspect the
+astonishing and finely-carved figures which encrust the whole exterior of
+the column.
+
+From the Tower of Fame we made our way to the other great landmark of
+Chitor--the Tower of Victory.
+
+Passing and examining _en route_ many elaborately-carved temples, whose
+domes rose amid the strangling masses of desert tree and shrub, we came to
+the base of the red tower, whose shaft, four-square and in perfect
+preservation, has, with its more venerable brother of Fame, watched for so
+many centuries over the fallen fortress of Chitor.
+
+Not far away, the rocky wall on which the city stands is shattered into a
+gloomy chasm, half-hidden in rank vegetation, which, clinging with knotted
+root to ledge and crevice, hangs darkly over a stagnant pool. Here was the
+awful portal, "the Gau Mukh," or "cow's mouth," by which, when all was
+lost to Chitor save honour, her women entered the subterranean cavern
+while the fuel was heaped high, and an honourable death by suffocation
+awaited them.
+
+The burning Indian day was over, and the sun blazed red in the west, as we
+mounted our elephant and paced along the road towards the Hathi Pol.
+Darker grew the ghostly domes and shattered battlements against a golden
+sky, and the swift southern night fell, dark yet luminous, as we turned
+down the hill and left the dead city, splendid in its loneliness and
+isolation, asleep within its crumbling walls.
+
+Our dinner-table was set out on the platform of the station at Chitorgarh,
+and our bedrooms were close by, our host and hostess sleeping in the
+"special" by which they were to return to Udaipur in the morning, while we
+slept in a siding, ready to be coupled up to the early train from Bombay.
+
+Late into the warm and balmy night we paced the platform; for there seemed
+to be always something still to say, and we found it hard to part from our
+charming friends; realising, too, that this was the end of our holiday,
+and that before us lay merely the toil and bustle of a return to
+commonplace, everyday life. At last, though, the final fag-end of a
+cheroot was thrown away, the last hand-grips given, and the parting came.
+
+There is little more to say.
+
+All Thursday we rushed through the wide landscape; saw the parched plains
+stretch far into the dusty horizon; saw the lean men and leaner cattle, to
+whom the grim spectre of famine is already foreshadowed; flew past
+populous villages and creaking water-wheels, noting every phase of a scene
+now familiar, yet always delightful.
+
+Late in the evening we changed at Baroda, and dawn next morning saw us
+speeding across the swamps and inlets, which gave place ere long to the
+palm groves and clustering houses which marked the farther limits of the
+suburbs of Bombay.
+
+We found the heat--damp and oppressive--very trying after the drier air of
+Rajputana, and the Taj Mahal Hotel below our expectations in all respects
+save price. It is undoubtedly better than most Indian hotels, but yet it
+is not good!
+
+Bombay is chiefly connected in our minds with the inevitable fuss and
+worry of packing and departure.
+
+As we left the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a conveyance piled high with
+miscellaneous baggage, we saw the last of our faithful and indispensable
+Sabz Ali, as he hurriedly quitted the hostelry in our wake, fearful lest
+undue delay should jeopardise the possession of the spoils he was carrying
+off, wrapped in bulging bundles of goodly size.
+
+Jane and I were sorrier, I think, to part with him than he with us. After
+all, we were but troublesome charges, for whose well-being he had to
+answer to "General 'Oon Sahib,"--charges who had not been quite so lavish
+with their incalculable riches as they should have been, and who doled out
+rupees, and even annas, with a sorely grudging hand; still I think Sabz
+Ali, as he made his way to the station, with many rupees lining his inmost
+garments, and a flaming "chit" carefully stowed away, felt a certain
+regret at parting from the "sahibs," who had really shown a very fine
+appreciation of his merit, and were sending him back with much honour to
+his own country.
+
+Late in the afternoon, as the spires and roofs of the city stood dark
+against the sky, and the many steamers and native dhows showed black upon
+a flood of liquid gold, the _Persia_ got under way, and we slowly left the
+anchorage, steaming out into the fading light.
+
+We stood long, leaning over the bulwarks and watching the lights of Bombay,
+at first so distinct, melt gradually into a line of tiny stars as the gulf
+widened that separated us from the land where we had spent so many happy
+days.
+
+I wonder if we shall ever revisit it? I trust so ... and yet----
+
+"As a rule it is better to revisit only in imagination the places which
+have greatly charmed us ... for it was not merely the sights that one
+beheld which were the cause of joy and peace. However lovely the spot,
+however gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed but
+for contributory movements of mind and heart and blood--the essentials of
+the man as then he was."[6]
+
+
+[1] These notes on the history of Chitor are taken, it need hardly be said,
+    from Tod's _Rajast'han_, he being _the_ authority on Rajputana. An
+    account of the above incident is given somewhat differently by Maurice
+    in his _Modern History of Hindostan_ (1803), who also relates that
+    Akbar used the same trick to enter Rhotas in Behar, after being long
+    baffled by the apparent impregnability of that fortress.
+
+[2] The Jain Tower of Fame was also left standing, it dates from about
+    A.D. 900.
+
+[3] It is also attributed to Lakha Rana, A.D. 1373.
+
+[4] And sister of the Rahtore queen, Jowahir Bae.
+
+[5] The infant Oodi Singh being threatened with death by conspirators, his
+    Rajputni nurse hid him in a fruit-basket, and, covering it with leaves,
+    had it conveyed out of the fort, substituting her own child just as
+    Bimbir, the usurper, entered the room and asked for the prince. Her
+    pallid lips refused to utter sound, but she pointed to the cradle and
+    saw the swift steel plunged into the heart of her child.
+
+[6] "Henry Ryecroft"
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I
+
+BIG GAME LICENSE No. I,
+Price Rs. 60 (sixty only).
+
+This license will remain in force from the 15th of March 190  to the 15th
+November 190, and is subject to the Kashmir Stata Game Laws; it permits
+the Licensee to shoot the undermentioned game in the Districts and Nullahs
+open to sportsmen, and, subject to Rules 8 and 9 of these Laws, small game
+between the above dates.
+
+----------------------+---------------+--------------+---------+---------
+                      | No. permitted | No. actually | Size of |District.
+  Name of Animal.     | to be         | shot.        | heads.  |
+                      | shot.         |              |         |
+----------------------+---------------+--------------+---------+---------
+Markhor of any variety|      2        |              |         |
+Ibex                  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon) |      1        |              |         |
+Ovis Vignei (Sharpu)  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Nahura (Burhal)  |      6        |              |         |
+Thibetan Antelope     |      6        |              |         |
+  Do. Gazelle         |      1        |              |         |
+Kashmir Stag          |      2        |              |         |
+Serow                 |      1        |              |         |
+Brown Bears           |      2        |              |         |
+Tehr                  |      6        |              |         |
+Goral                 |      6        |              |         |
+Pigs, Black Bears and |  No limit.    |              |         |
+  Leopards            |               |              |         |
+----------------------+---------------+--------------+---------+---------
+
+_Name of Licensee____________________________________________
+_Address_____________________________________________________
+_Signature of Licensee on returning License__________________
+
+N.B.--This portion of the License to be returned to the Secretary,
+Game Preservation Department.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+                      NAME OF SHIKARIES, &c., EMPLOYED
+------+-------+--------+-------+-----------------------------------------
+      |Name of|        |Nature |    _Place of Residence_.    |
+Serial|Shikari|Father's|  of   +---------+--------+----------+ REMARKS.
+ No.  |  or   |  Name. |employ-| Village | Tehail | District |
+      |Coolie.|        | ment. |         |        |          |
+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-----------
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-----------
+
+This License does not permit the Licensee to shoot in any of the closed
+tracts or preserves mentioned in Rules 2 and 10, Kashmir State Game Laws,
+nor in the Gilgit district, nor in the Astor or Kaj-nag districts,
+without the special permit laid down under Rule 2.
+
+
+_Dated_ ____ (Sd.) AMAR SINGH, GENERAL, RAJA,
+_The_ ______ _Vice-President of Council, Jammu and Kashmir State_.
+
+I certify that a copy of Kashmir State Game Laws, 190, has been issued
+herewith,
+
+_Signature of Official granting License_ ___________________
+
+NOTE--This License will be shown on demand and is not transferable.
+A fee of Re. 1 will be charged for a duplicate copy.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II
+
+From the earliest times the Kashmiris have been objects of contempt and
+derision, whilst the women have been--perhaps unduly--lauded for their
+looks and general excellence.
+
+The Kashmiris themselves are of opinion that "once upon a time" they were
+an honourable and valiant folk, brought gradually to their present
+condition by foreign oppression.
+
+To a certain extent this is probably true, but, according to the
+_Rajatarangini Kulan_, they were noted for dishonesty and cunning long
+before the evil days of conquest and adversity. Bernier speaks well of the
+men, calling them witty and industrious. Doubtless the Kashmiri character,
+originally none too good, was ruined during the long years of cruelty and
+injustice to which he was subjected by the Tartars, Afghans, and Sikhs,
+who, from the day when Akbar put him into women's clothes, treated him as
+something lower than a brute.
+
+Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as
+"endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain." He speaks of the
+vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the Pathans,
+observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking them with a
+hatchet, but, he concludes, "I even judged them worthy of their adverse
+fortune."
+
+Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that "the men are excessively addicted to
+pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and cunning;"
+and again, "The Cashmerians are of no account as soldiers."
+
+"Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin it,"
+says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri character,
+and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for great artistic
+feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from crime against the
+person. He considers the last merit, though, to be due to cowardice and
+the state of espionage which exists in every village!
+
+I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who, during
+the great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his brother
+being swept down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly disintegrating
+roof. The following painful conversation ensued:--
+
+"Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine
+ancestral roof?"
+
+"Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!"
+
+"Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?"
+
+"All I have in the world, brother--two lovely rupees."
+
+"Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth,
+for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life."
+
+"Three, then, three, carissimo--'tis all I have--and make haste, for I
+feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim."
+
+"Farewell, oh, dearest brother! I could not possibly think of taking so
+much trouble for three rupees, especially as, now I come to think of it, I
+can borrow a singhara pole, and, in due time, will prod for thy corpse in
+the Wular! Mind thou wrappest the lucre snugly in thy cummerbund, that it
+be not lost--farewell, little brother!"
+
+While the gentlemen of the Happy Valley have been lashed by the tongue and
+pen of every traveller, the ladies, on the contrary, have been rather
+overrated.
+
+In all communities where the men are invertebrate the women become the
+real heads of the family, doing not only most of the actual work, but also
+taking the dominant position in affairs generally. This I have observed
+strikingly in the case of the three "slackest" male races I know--the
+Fantis of the Gold Coast, the Kashmiri, and the crofters of the West
+Highlands.
+
+Opinion is divided on the question of female loveliness in Kashmir.
+
+Marco Polo (who probably only got his ideas of "Kesmur" from hearsay)
+echoed the prevalent opinion by saying, "The women although dark are very
+comely" (ch. xxvii.). Bernier is enthusiastic: "Les femmes surtout y sont
+tr�s-belles," and hints at their popularity among the Moguls.
+
+Moorcroft, Vigne, and others swelled the laudatory chorus until Forster,
+"having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms, suffered a
+sensible disappointment," and even was so rude as to criticise the ladies'
+legs, which he considered thick!
+
+Lawrence saw "thousands of women in the villages, and could not remember,
+save one or two exceptions, ever seeing a really beautiful face;" but the
+heaviest blow was dealt them by Jacquemont, who, as a gay Frenchman,
+should have been an excellent judge: "Je n'avais jamais vu auparavant
+d'aussi affreuses sorci�res!"
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III
+
+I had hoped to have given, through the kindness of Colonel Ward, a full
+list of the birds of Kashmir. Up to the time of going to press, however,
+the complete list has not been made out. A very large proportion, however,
+has been published in the _Journal of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Society_. I
+would refer those desirous of a knowledge of the birds of Kashmir to the
+above Journal for 23rd April and 20th Sept. 1906, and 15th Feb. 1907. Also
+to Hume and Henderson's _Lahore to Yarkand_, and to Le Mesurier's _Game,
+Shore, and Water Birds of India_, to which I am indebted for the
+following:--
+
+"In Kashmir, out of 116 genera of land birds, 34 have a wide range, 32 are
+characteristic of the Palar Arctic, 29 of the Indian, and 21 of the
+Himalo-Chinese sub-region. Only one species is peculiar to Kashmir, a very
+normal bullfinch (pyrula)."
+
+The flora, which is most interesting, has yet (as far as I know) to be
+treated independently of the neighbouring regions. Royle is scientific but
+antiquated, and I know of no better list than that given by Lawrence in
+his _Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV
+
+It may interest any one intending a trip to Kashmir to see a note of
+reasonable expenses as incurred by two people during a nine-month absence
+from England. Therefore I append a pr�cis of ours.
+
+It is to be remembered that a saving might be effected in many particulars
+by any one knowing something of the country. We had to buy our experience.
+Fully �10 or �12 could be saved in wages, as at first we had a fighting
+tail like "Ta Phairson" of "four-and-twenty men and five-and-thirty
+pipers"--and pipers have to be paid! We also hired tents when we did not
+really require them. Against these outgoings, however, it should be borne
+in mind that, thanks to the kindness of friends, we paid a merely nominal
+rent for a "State" hut at Gulmarg. At Abbotabad, Jaipur, and Udaipur, also,
+we had no hotel bills to meet.
+
+
+PR�CIS OF EXPENSES--TWO PERSONS
+
+LONDON TO KARACHI (25 Days)
+                                                   �   s.  d.  �   s.  d.
+Half-Return fares, 1st class, London to Trieste,
+  and thence by Austrian Lloyd (unaccelerated)    60   0   0
+Hotels, sleeping-car, gratuities, wine bills, &c. 16  15   0
+Baggage expenses                                   8  15   7
+                                                  ----------  85  10   7
+
+BOMBAY TO LONDON (25 Days)
+Share of fares                                    60   0   0
+Hotel expenses and sundries, as before            10   6   8
+Baggage expenses, dock dues, &c.                  17  11   4
+                                                  ----------  87  18   0
+
+KARACHI TO SRINAGAR (16 Days)
+Rail and baggage expenses to Pindi                12   6   8
+Landau and two ekkas to Srinagar, inclusive of
+   gratuities, tolls, &c.                         10  10   8
+Hotels, D�k bungalows, &c.                        13  18   9
+Duty on firearms (repayable on leaving)            1  16   8
+Resais, waterproof for luggage, kettles, &c.       1  19   3
+Servant's fare to Karachi, wages, &c.              2  12   8
+                                                  ----------  43   4   8
+                                                            -------------
+                            _Carry forward_                  216  13   3
+
+EXPENSES IN KASHMIR (6 Months)
+                                                   �   s.  d.  �   s.  d.
+            _Brought forward_                                216  13   3
+
+Food, wine, washing, cigars, &c.                  72   7   3
+Wages, inclusive of various clothes               42   9   9
+Amusements, golf and tennis subscriptions, &c.    11   7   2
+Hire of boats, tents and equipment                17   6   5
+Transport coolies and ponies                      33  14  11
+Hire of hut at Gulmarg                             5   6   8
+Sundry furniture, cooking gear, yakdans, &c.       9   0   8
+                                                 ----------- 191  12  10
+
+BARAMULA TO BOMBAY (1 Month)
+
+Landau and four ekkas, with gratuities and tolls. 13  14   0
+D�k bungalows, hotels, &c.                        18   5   8
+Wages, inclusive of gratuities                     6  14   0
+Rail, Pindi to Bombay (_vi�_ Udaipur)             16  17   0
+Baggage                                            5   2   8
+Hire of carriages, &c.                             1   4  11
+                                                  ----------  61  18   3
+Loss by exchange on cheques.                                   5  19   7
+                                                            ------------
+                                      Total                  476   3  11
+                                                            ============
+
+
+
+INDEX AND NOTES
+
+ABBOTABAD, A frontier station garrisoned by a mobile force of Gurkhas and
+  Royal Artillery, whence any descent from the Black Mountain or Chilas
+  country can be checked. Named after Lieutenant Abbot, who reduced the
+  neighbourhood to order in 1845-48.
+Aden, Occupying a warm corner just outside the straits of Babol-Mandeb;
+  was the first addition made to the British dominions in the reign of
+  Queen Victoria, having been taken from the Arabs in 1839.
+Agates,
+Agra, Rose to importance under the Moguls, becoming their seat of
+  government after Akbar quitted the city he had built, Fatehpur-Sighri,
+  until Aurungzeb removed the seat of government to Delhi.
+Akbar, The third, and in many ways the greatest, of the six "Great Mogul"
+  Emperors of India. A warrior first, he consolidated his conquests with
+  the genius of an enlightened statesman.
+Alsu, A small village on the north-west shore of the Wular Lake.
+Amar Singh (General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I.), Brother of His
+  Highness Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; is
+  Vice-President of the States Council and owner of much land in Kashmir,
+  the prosperity of which he has done much to promote.
+Amb�r, The ancient capital of Jaipur; was built in the eleventh century,
+  its Rajput rulers being the powerful allies of Chitor during her
+  struggles against the Mohammedan invasion. The Palace was built by Raja
+  Maun, _circa_ 1600, in the days of Akbar, whose cousin he was by
+  marriage ( _comp_. ). Amb�r was deserted in 1728 by Jey Singh for his
+  new city of Jaipur.
+Amethyst, This stone should be much worn in Scotland, particularly on New
+  Year's Day, it having been (according to the Greek derivation of the
+  name) an antidote to drunkenness!
+Amira Kadal, The highest of the seven bridges at Srinagar; a fine modern
+  structure, replacing that built by Amir Khan Jawan Sher, the Pathan, who
+  also built Sher Garhi.
+Anda, Egg.
+Anna, the sixteenth part of a rupee, value one penny.
+Apharwat, One of the Pir Panjal range, which rises above Gulmarg, height
+  14,500 feet.
+Aru, A small village, beautifully situated about seven miles above Pahlgam.
+Asti, "Go slow."
+Astor, A district on the main route from Kashmir to Gilgit, the village is
+  about ninety-two miles from Bandipur. Two passes (the Rajdiangan, or
+  Tragbal, 11,800 feet, and the Boorzil, 13,500 feet) have to be crossed.
+  About ten passes are issued each season to sportsmen, markhor and ibex
+  being the game.
+Atchibal, A village seven miles from Islamabad, where many springs burst
+  out from the rocks. Atchibal was a favourite pleasure-garden of the
+  Mogul Emperors, the remains of which still exist.
+Aurungzeb, The last of the six "Great Moguls"; deposed and imprisoned his
+  predecessor Shah Jehan in 1658, and reigned until 1707. Bigoted and
+  intolerant, he shares with Sikander the odium of having destroyed many
+  of the ancient Hindu temples of Kashmir.
+Avantipura, The modern village is near the extensive ruins named after
+  King Avanti Verma, which formed once the capital of Kashmir.
+
+Bahamarishi, (_Baba-pam-Rishi=_Father Smoothbeard.) A village some three
+  miles below Gulmarg; the ziarat is named after a rishi, or ascetic, of
+  the sixteenth century.
+Baloo, (Kashmiri, _Harpat_) "Rara avis in terras, nigroque similima
+  cignis." _Anglic�_, a bear.
+Bandipur, An important village on the north shore of the Wular Lake, the
+  starting-point for Gilgit, &c. Oddly enough, Bandipur is not marked on
+  the Ordnance Map.
+Bandobast, A bargain or arrangement.
+Bappa, An eighth-century Rajput hero, and ancestor of the present chiefs
+  of Mewar; appears to have had strong Mormon proclivities.
+Baramula, The third town in Kashmir, having some 900 houses, is built on
+  the Jhelum at its outflow from the Kashmir Valley: it is also built on
+  the west focus of seismic disturbance in Kashmir, and was destroyed by
+  an earthquake in 1885, when 3000 Baramulans were killed. We were unaware
+  of these interesting facts on the morning of April 4! The "Palms of
+  Baramoule," which Moore sang of, are like snakes in Iceland--they do
+  not exist.
+Bara singh, The Kashmir stag.
+Bawan,
+Beera,
+Bejbehara, The ancient Vijayasvara, a picturesque village and bridge about
+  four miles below Islamabad.
+Bernier, F., a Frenchman attached to the court of Aurungzeb as medical
+  adviser; wrote _Voyage � Kachemire_.
+Bhanyar,
+Bheostie, The Indian Aquarius--the water-bearer.
+Bhils,
+Birch, (Kashmiri, _Burza_) The bark used in making the paper for which
+  Kashmir was noted, also for roofing, it being strong and impervious to
+  water.
+Blue pine, _Pinus Excelsa_, (Kashmiri, _Yar_.)
+Bombay,
+Books on Kashmir:(1) Bernier, _Voyage � Kachemire_ (Utrecht, 1724);
+  (2) Forster's (G) _Journey from Bengal to England_ (London, 1798);
+  (3) Moorcroft, _Travels in Kashmir, &c._ edited by Wilson, 1841;
+  (4) Jacquomont (V), _Voyage dans l'Inde_ (Paris, 1841);
+  (5) Vigne (G. T.), _Travels in Kashmir, &c._, 1844;
+  (6) Hugel's _Travels_, 1845;
+  (7) Drew, _Jummoo and, Ktishmir Territories_; and
+  (8) Lawrence's _Valley of Kashmir_ 1895.
+Budmash, A scoundrel.
+Bund, An embankment or dyke to bank a river.
+Burra, Big, or great.
+
+Carnelian, "Flesh-stone"--for origin read Marryat's _Pacha of Many Tales_
+Chakhoti,
+Chandni Chowk,
+Chaplies,
+Chappar, Paddle with heart-shaped blade.
+Chatris, The cenotaphs of the Maharanas of Mewar; they stand in a walled
+  enclosure between Udaipur and the railway station.
+Chonar, _Plaianus Orientals_ or Oriental plane. This magnificent tree is
+  supposed to have been introduced into Kashmir by the Mogul Emperors. It
+  grows to a great size, one measured by Lawrence being sixty-three feet
+  five inches in circumference at five feet above the ground! There is a
+  very fair specimen in Kew Gardens, between the pond and the "herbaceous
+  border."
+Chilas,
+Chit, A note or letter, and also a character or recommendation, Every man
+  collects something, from pictures to tram tickets--the native collects
+  "chits." Like other collectors he will beg, borrow, or steal to improve
+  his store, and life is made a burden by the perpetual writing and
+  reading of these mendacious documents.
+Chitor,
+Chittagul Nullah, The next nullah to the south-west of the Wangat. The
+  village of Wangat is wrongly placed in it, according to the Ordnance Map.
+Chondawats, A Rajput clan.
+Chota, Little, _Chota Hazm = petit deje�ner_ or early breakfast.
+Chowkidar, A functionary whose principal duty seems to be to snore in the
+  verandah at night and scare other robbers away.
+Chupatty, A flabby sort of scone.
+Chuprassie,
+Cockburn's Agency, The nearest approach to "Whiteley's" in Kashmir.
+
+D�k, Post. _D�k Bungalow_=posting station.
+Dal Lake, _Dal_ means lake (in a plain), while _nag_ is a mountain tarn.
+Dandy, A sort of enclosed chair with four projecting arms, wherein pretty
+  ladies are carried when it doesn't suit them to walk.
+Degchies, Cooking utensils--best made of aluminium, owing to the unclean
+  ways of native scullions.
+Dekho, See, look!
+Delhi, The capital of the Mogul Emperors, dating from 1638, when Shah
+  Jehan commenced to build the great fort. The ancient city lies some
+  miles to the south. Delhi was taken by General Lake in 1803.
+Deodar, (Kashmiri, _Di�r.) Cedrus Lebani_, var. _Deodara_. The most
+  valuable tree in Kashmir, where it was formerly abundant. It is now
+  chiefly found in the north-west districts, and it is carefully cherished
+  by the "Jungly Sahib" and his myrmidons.
+Dobie, The thing that ruins all your shirts and causes you to shatter the
+  Third Commandment.
+Domel, Village with D�k Bungalow, at the confluence of the Jhelum and the
+  Kishenganga.
+Doolie,
+Doras,
+Dounga, "The boats of Kashmir are very long and narrow, and are rowed with
+  paddles from the stern, which is a little elevated, to the centre; a
+  tilt of mats is extended for the shelter of passengers or merchandize"
+  (Forster); the mats are made of "pits" (reed mace), a swamp plant.
+Drogmulla,
+Dubgam, A village at junction of the Pohru with the Jhelum, about seven
+  miles above Baramula.
+
+EARTHQUAKE, An upsetting event of too frequent occurrence in Kashmir.
+  Particularly severe visitations occurred in 1827 and 1885 (_see_
+  Baramula).
+Echo Lake, A small tarn on the top of Apharwat.
+Ek, One. (_Ek dam_=immediately.)
+Ekka,
+Embroidery,
+Erin Nullah,
+Eshmakam, =_Eysh Mak�m_("the delightful halting-place") Above the village
+  stands the shrine of Zyn-u-din, one of the four disciples of the Kashmir
+  patron saint, Shah Nur-u-din.
+
+FATERPUR-SIGHRI,
+Ferozepore Nullah,
+Floating Gardens,
+
+GANESBAL, The boulder, red-stained and extremely sacred, which lies in the
+  middle of the Lidar; bears some fancied likeness to Gan�sh (the
+  elephant-headed god).
+Gangabal, A sacred lake, lying under the north glaciers of Haramok at the
+  elevation of 12,000 feet. It is said to be a source of the Ganges(!)
+  and is an object of pilgrimage
+Ghari,
+Ghari Habibullah,
+Ghari Wallah, The Jehu of these parts.
+Gh�t,
+Gold mohur,
+Golf,
+Gram,
+Grass shoes,
+Gujar, Is not a Kashmiri, being a member of the semi-nomad tribes which
+  graze buffaloes and goats upon the hills. He speaks Par�mu or Hindki.
+Gulmarg, (The Rose Marg.) The most frequented resort of the English in
+  Kashmir during July and August; stands some 8500 feet above the sea,
+  wherefore some people find the air too rarefied. Gulmarg was first
+  mentioned by Yusaf Khan in 1580.
+Gunderbal, A village placed where the Sind River debouches into the plain.
+  The starting-point for Leh and Thibet.
+Gupkar, Town of Gopaditya(?). A wine-manufacturing suburb of Srinagar,
+  overlooking the Dal.
+Gurais, A large village on the Bandipur-Gilgit route, lying on the right
+  bank of the Kishenganga, about forty-two miles from Bandipur.
+
+HARAMOK, The predominating mountain (16,903 feet) of the valley, from
+  almost every part of which his square-headed bulk is visible; hence the
+  name, which means "all faces" or "all mouths." A legend holds that a
+  vein of emerald lies near the summit, and that within view of this gem
+  no snake can live
+Harbagwan,
+Hari Parbat, ("The Green Hill") So named on account of the gardens and
+  vineyards which clothed its sides. Became the residence of Akbar, who
+  built the wall round foot of hill in 1597. The fort on top was the work
+  of the Pathan, Atta Mohamad Khan.
+Haripur,
+Harwan,
+Hasrat Bal Mosque, (The Prophet's Hair.) Various fairs and festivals are
+  held here, the principal one being held upon the day that the Prophet
+  rode up to Heaven on his mule Al Barak (the Thunderer). This mule,
+  by-the-bye, is one of the five favoured beasts which the Mohammedans
+  believe destined to immortality; the others are (1) Abraham's Ram, (2)
+  Balaam's Ass, (3) the one upon which Christ rode on Palm Sunday, and (4)
+  the dog which guarded the seven sleepers.
+Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed by
+  the Sikhs.
+Hassan Abdal, (_Abdal=_fanatic).
+Hoopoe, Un-natural history of.
+
+INSECTS, Of benign insects such as butterflies there are singularly few.
+  Both mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome during the hot weather in
+  the valley. Visits to native huts will probably lead to an introduction
+  to other insects. In India ants become a nuisance: I met with a foraging
+  party of extremely large and well-nourished ones as I entered my bath
+  place one morning. I recognised them for the descendants--decadent
+  somewhat--of the famous fellows who played Alberich to the Gold of
+  Hindostan and regarding which Herodotus (commonly known as the Father of
+  History, or of Lies, I forget which) asserted that they were of the
+  bigness of foxes and ran with incredible swiftness. He evidently got
+  this yarn from Pliny--
+
+    "Indicae Formicae.
+    Aurum ex cavernus egerunt terrae
+    Ipsis autem color Fehum magnitudo Aegypti Luporum"
+    (Lib. xi. ch. 31)--
+
+  and passed it on to Sir J. Maundevil, who swallowed it greedily. "Theise
+  pissmyres ben grete as houndes; so that no man dar come to the hilles,
+  for the pissmyres wolde assaylen hem and devouren hem" (ch. xxx) For the
+  wily method of catching the ants napping, together with other _contes
+  drolatiques_, read Maundevil's _Travels_.
+Iris, (Kashmiri, _Krishm_) Succeeds the tulip and precedes the rose as
+  typical of Kashmirian Flora, is used as fodder, and the fibre makes
+  ropes, which are, however, not durable.
+Islamabad, (Or Anant Nag, the "Place of Countless Springs.") Is the second
+  city in Kashmir, having about 9000 inhabitants; stands at the head of
+  the navigable Jhelum, fifty miles by water and thirty-two by land above
+  Srinagar.
+
+Jade,
+Jagganath,
+Jain, A small sect founded by Mahavera, a contemporary of Gautama. The
+  Jains were great temple-builders.
+Jehangir,
+Jeimal, With Putta, one of the national heroes of the Rajputs. They fell,
+  while mere boys, in the heroic defence of Chitor against Akbar.
+Jey Singh, (Sowar Jey Singh.) Succeeded to the throne of Amb�r in 1699,
+  founded Jaipur in 1728. He wrote the following, which I had not read
+  when I visited his observatory at Jaipur "Let us devote ourselves at the
+  altar of the King of Kings, hallowed be his name! In the book of the
+  register of whose power the lofty orbs of Heaven are but a few leaves,
+  and the stars, and that heavenly courser the sun, small pieces of money
+  in the treasury of the Most High."
+Jheel, A small lake, or pond.
+Jhelum, (Kashmiri, _Veth_, Hindu, _Vetasta_, the ancient _Hydaspes_.)
+  Rises at Vernag, becomes navigable at Kanbal, and is so for 120 miles,
+  when it forms rapids below Baramula. Average breadth at Srinagar in
+  December 210 feet, average depth 9 feet.
+Johur,
+
+Kaj-nag,
+Kali, ("The Terrible.") Wife of Shiva or Mahadeva.
+Kanbal,
+Karachi,
+Karewas, "Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections,
+  with flat, arid tops, and bare of trees, run out towards the valley"
+  (Lawrence)
+Kashmir=Kashuf-mir (the country of Kashuf). Was ruled by Tartar princes
+  from about 150-100 B.C. for several centuries; conquered after a year's
+  struggle by Mahmoud of Guznee (1014-1015 A.D.). Invaded by Baber and
+  Humayun, and finally conquered by latter in 1543, and formally annexed
+  by Akbar in 1588. After the fall of Delhi (Nadir Shah) in 1739, Kashmir
+  fell into the hands of Amirs of Cabul in 1753. It was captured by the
+  Sikhs under Ranjit Singh in 1819, and, after the defeat of the Sikhs at
+  the hands of the British, was handed over to Gulab Singh of Jammu for
+  twenty-five lacs of rupees "Kailasa is the best place in the three
+  worlds, Himalaya the best part of Kailasa, and Kashmir the best place in
+  Himalaya" _(Rajatarangini Kulan_).
+Kastoora, Merula Boulboul (the grey-winged ousel). Jane
+  bought "Freddie" one day in Srinagar, and he has been our friend
+  and companion ever since--being at this present (August 1907)
+  in rude health.
+Khansamah, A Cook.
+Khubbar, News--usually untrustworthy.
+Khud, A steep slope or precipice.
+Khudstick, An alpenstock made of tough wood, usually of Cotoneaster
+  baccillaris (lun); should be well tested before purchase, as life may
+  depend on its strength.
+Killanmarg, A wide sloping marg above Gulmarg, just above the pine forest
+  on the slopes of Apharwat.
+Kilta, Creel made of the pliant withes of the Wych Hazel, _Parrotia_
+  _Jacquemontiana_ (Chob-i-poh).
+Kishenganga, A large affluent of the Jhelum which drains the Tilail Valley,
+  passes Gurais, and joins the Jhelum below Muzafferabad.
+Kitardaji, Forest house in the Machipura.
+Kitmaghar, Bearer.
+Kobala,
+Kohinar,
+Kolahoi, or Gwash Brari, 17,800 ft. The loftiest peak in Kashmir proper.
+  It has not yet been ascended.
+Koolan,
+Kralpura,
+Kulan, A peak of the Pir Panjal, at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah.
+Kulgam, or Kuligam.
+Kunis,
+Kurnavati,
+Kutab Minar,
+
+Lacquer,
+Lahore, Capital of the Punjab. An ancient and interesting city, which
+  (like Agra and Delhi) only attained its zenith of prosperity in the days
+  of Akbar.
+Lakri, A stick (at Gulmarg also a golf-club).
+Lalpura, A charming village in the Lolab.
+Larch,
+Lidar, Liddar, or Lambodri, Drains the Kolahoi district, and forms the
+  first substantial affluent of the Jhelum, which it joins below Islamabad.
+Lidarwat, A small Grujar village fifteen miles above Pahlgam, on the left
+  bank of the river, about 10,000 ft. above sea-level.
+Logue or Log, Folk.
+Lumbadhar, The headman of a village.
+
+Machipura, "The Place of Fish"--why, I cannot imagine! The district lying
+  along the east foothills of the Kaj-nag.
+Mahadeo, (Mahadeva or Shiva) A sacred mountain and object of pilgrimage,
+  north of Srinagar, 13,500 feet high.
+Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, H.H. Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., succeeded
+  his father Ranbir Singh (who was third son of Gulah Singh) in 1885. The
+  family is of the Rajput Dogras. "His kindness to all classes has won him
+  the affection of his people" (Lawrence).
+Maharana, H.H. the Maharana Dhiraj Sir Fateh Singh, G.C.S.I., of Udaipur,
+  is head of the Rajput princes in point of blood, being descended from the
+  Suryabansi, or Children of the Sun.
+Mahseer,
+Malingam,
+Manji or Hanji, A Kashmiri water-thief or boatman.
+Manserah,
+Mar (snake) Canal. A dirty but most picturesque waterway between the Dal
+  and the Anchar Lakes.
+Marg,(Margh?) Persian for a garden abounding in plants.
+Margam,
+Martand, The principal temple in Kashmir--stands on a high karewa some few
+  miles from Islamabad.
+Metal-work,
+Mewar,
+Mogul, The Moguls were a warlike people of Central Asia, who, under Timur
+  (Tamerlane) their chief, sacked Delhi in 1398. At the great battle of
+  Panipat, in 1524, Baber the Mogul (direct descendant of Timur) defeated
+  the Sultans of Delhi. He was the first of the six "Great" Moguls (the
+  others being Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan, and Aurungzeb), who
+  ruled India with unparalleled magnificence for 150 years.
+Mulberry, (_Morus sp_. Kashmiri _Tul_) A very precious tree in Kashmir, on
+  account of the silk industry. It grows to a great size, attaining a girth
+  of 25 feet.
+Murghi, A fowl.
+Murree, A hill station and sanatorium, 37 miles from Rawal Pindi, on a
+  hill 7500 feet above the sea. Its importance dates from 1850. Forster
+  speaks of it as a small village in 1786.
+Musafferabad, ("The Place of Victory") Built by Masufer Khan, Rajah of
+  Chikri.
+Mussick, Water-skin.
+
+NAG, A mountain lake or tarn.
+Nagas, Human-bodied, snake-tailed gods.
+Nagmarg,
+Nanga Parbat, A great mountain in the Chilas country, 26,620 feet high
+  (the fourth in point of height in the world), Mommery and two guides were
+  destroyed in 1895, probably by an avalanche, while attempting the ascent.
+Nassim Bagh, ("The Garden of Delicious Breezes") A favourite spot in the
+  days of the Mogul Emperors. Akbar planted 1200 chenars.
+Neem tree.
+Neve, Dr. A. He and his brother are surgeons to the Kashmir Medical
+  Mission, where for many years they have carried on the somewhat
+  thankless task of benefiting the natives.
+Nishat Bagh, ("The Garden of Drink")
+Nopura, A village on the Pohru.
+Nourmahal, ("Light of the Palace"), or, more properly, Nur Jehan Begum
+  ("Light of the World"), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated in Mooree's
+  _Lalla Rookh_. Her life story was very curious. See Forster's _Journey
+  from Bengal to England_, London, 1798.
+Nullah, A valley or ravine.
+Numdah,
+
+ONTALA,
+Oodi Singh,
+
+PADMANI, "The Lotus-lovely Lady."
+Pagdandy, A short cut.
+Pahlgam, "The Shepherd's Village," A Kashmiri summer resort for those who
+  like quiet. It is 27 miles from Islamabad up the Lidar Valley, and is
+  somewhat over 7000 feet above the sea.
+Pampur, (Padma-pur, city of Vishnu, or Padmun-pur, "the place of beauty"),
+  principally noted now for its Pampur roti or bread, a speciality of the
+  place.
+Pandrettan, or Pandrenthan, =Puranadhisthana, "the old capital." Was built
+  in the time of Partha by his Prime Minister, Meru.
+Parana Chauni,
+Patan. "The City" or "Ferry," the ancient Sankarapura, Sankaravarma having
+  built two temples there at the end of the eighth century.
+Peechy, Afterwards, later, by-and-bye
+Peri Mahal, "The Abode of the Fairies." Built on the hill above Gupkar by
+  Prince Dara Shikoh, probably for astronomical purposes
+Piasse, The onion.
+Pice, See Rupee.
+Pichola Lake,
+Pir Panjab, Pir=Dogri for peak Pantzal, Kashmiri for ditto Pir also meant
+  a saint, particularly one who lived in the pass in the days of Shah
+  Jehan and Aurungzeb and who was interviewed by Bernier. The Pir Panjal
+  was the route followed by the Moguls when coming to Kashmir, and, rough
+  as it is, they sent elephants along it. The highest peak of the Pir
+  Panjal is Tatakuti, 15,500 feet.
+Pohru,
+Poonch, A native state lying south-west of Kashmir, to which it is
+  tributary. The Raja Buldeo Singh is cousin to the Maharajah of Kashmir.
+Poplar. There are two varieties of Poplar in Kashmir, the Italian or
+  Black Poplar, and the White, the latter attains a great size, one near
+  Gurais measuring 127 feet in height and 14-1/2 feet in girth.
+Porcelain,
+Port Sa�d,
+Puttoo, Native cloth.
+
+RAINAWARI,
+Rajput, The brave and chivalrous inhabitants of Rajputana. Bernier,
+  probably influenced by Mogul opinion, attributes much of their valour to
+  opium, as the following curious extract shows "Ils sont grands preneurs
+  d'opium, et je me suis quelque fois etonn� de la quantit� que je leur
+  en voiois prendre; aussi ils s'y accout�merent d�s la jeunesse; le jour
+  d'une bataille ils ne s'oublient pas de doubler la dose; cette drogue
+  les anime ou plutot les enyvre, et les rend insensibles an danger, de
+  sorte quils se jettant dans le combat comma des b�tes furieuses, ne
+  sachant ce que c'est de fuir ... c'est un plaisir de les voir ainsi avec
+  leur fum�e d'opium dans la t�te s'entre embrasser quand on est pr�t de
+  combattre et se dire adieu les uns aux autres, comme gens qui sont
+  resolus de mourir."--Vol. i. p. 54.
+Ramble-tamble egg, Scrambled eggs.
+Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (_Tetragallus Himalayensis_).
+Rampur. A small village in the Jhelum Valley, and a village on the way
+  into the Lolab _vi�_ Kunis.
+Rawal Pindi,
+Rassad, "Field Allowance" or extra rations given to coolies when doing any
+  mountain work or away from supplies.
+Resai,
+Roorkhee chair, An extremely comfortable and portable chair made by the
+  R.E. at Roorkhee.
+Rope bridge,
+Rupee=one fifteenth of a sovereign, or 1s. and 4d.
+  12 pice (or pies)= 4 paisa = 1 anna = 1 penny
+  16 annas = 1 rupee.
+
+SAAF kuro, "Make clean."
+Saktawats, A Rapjut clan.
+Sari, A woman's garment, usually brilliant in colour, blood-red and dark
+  blue being favoured.
+Sekwas,
+Sellar,
+Serow, _Nemorhaidus bubalerius_.
+Sesodia, The ruling family of Udaipur, formerly known as Gehlote.
+Shadipur, "The Place of Marriage"--probably with reference to the junction
+  of the Sind and Jhelum rivers.
+Shah Jehan, The greatest builder of the Mogul Emperors. Ruled from 1627 to
+  1658, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Aurungzeb.
+Shalimar,
+Shalimar Bagh,
+Shambrywa, One of the peaks of the Kaj-nag.
+Shiah, A Mohammedan sect, usually much at variance with those of Sunni
+  persuasion.
+Shikara, A light sort of canoe.
+Shikari, A necessary joint in the "fighting tail" of the sportive visitor
+  to Kashmir. Usually a fraud, but, if not too proud, makes quite a good
+  golf caddy.
+Shisha Nag, "The Glassy or Leaden Lake."
+Silver fir, _Abies Webbiana_ (Kashmiri, _Sungal_). Grows to a great height,
+  being known 110 feet high and 16 feet in girth.
+Sind Desert,
+Sind Valley,
+Singhara, Meaning "horned nut," the water chestnut _(Trapa bispinosa_).
+  An article of diet much prized by the Kashmiri.
+Sogul,
+Sonamarg, "The Golden Marg." A summer station high up the Sind Valley on
+  the route to Leh and Ladak.
+Sopor, =Sonapur, or the Golden City. A somewhat unclean little town of
+  some 600 houses on the Jhelum, about eight miles by road and twelve by
+  water above Baramula.
+Spill Canal, Cut in 1904, after the Great Flood of 1903, to carry some of
+  the river clear of Srinagar and ease the pressure on the bund.
+Spruce, _Picca, Morunda_. (Kashmiri, _Kachal_.)
+Srinagar, _Surga Nagur_, City of the Sun. Has a population of 120,000.
+  Became capital in 960 A.D., when the ancient city of Pandrettan was burnt
+  in the reign of Abimanyu. The city was called Kashmir until recently,
+  Martand being called Sringar by Jacquemont.
+Sultanpur,
+Sumbal, Said to be the site of the ancient city Jayapura.
+Sunt-i-kul = "Apple-tree Canal."
+
+TAJ MAHAL, The magnificent tomb of Mumtez Mahal, favourite wife of Shah
+  Jehan.
+Takht-i-Suleiman, A steep isolated hill rising nearly 1000 feet above
+  Srinagar, crowned by a temple which is built on the ruins of a very
+  ancient edifice. The Takht or Throne of Solomon is, according to the
+  legend, the place which Solomon occupied during his mythical visit to
+  Kashmir.
+Tangmarg, "The Open Marg". Is the village about 1500 foot below Gulmarg,
+  which is the nearest point to Gulmarg attainable by wheeled conveyance.
+Tattoo, A pony.
+Tehsildhar, The functionary who has jurisdiction over a tehsil.
+Temples, For full description read Lawrence _(Valley of Kashmir_, chap.
+  vi.) Their ruined state is partly due to earthquakes, but probably still
+  more to the iconoclastic activity of Sikandar (_d._ 1416) and Aurungzeb.
+Tilail,
+Tonga,
+Topaz, Name derived from the Greek "to conjecture"--because no one knew
+  whence they came!
+Tower of Fame,
+Tower of Victory,
+Tragbal,
+Tragam, A large village south-west of the Lolab, whence a route leads to
+  Musafferabad.
+Tret, A station at the foot of the Murree hills on the road to Rawal Pindi.
+Trieste,
+Tronkol,
+Turquoise,
+
+UDAIPUR, The capital of the ancient and powerful Rajput State of Mewar,
+  founded by Oodi Singh after the fall of Chitor.
+Uri,
+
+VERNABOUG,
+Vernag,
+
+WALNUT, A valuable tree in Kashmir, where its fruit and timber are both
+  greatly esteemed; grows to a very large size, one in the Lolab having a
+  girth of 18 feet 10 inches.
+Wangat,
+Wardwan, The mountainous district on the east of Kashmir.
+Water buffalo, An ungainly and "sneevish" beast beloved of Gujars and
+  nobody else.
+Weights 2 lbs. (English)=1 seer. 40 seers = 1 maund.
+Wood carving,
+Wular, Means "cave". The largest lake in India, being 12-1/2 x 5 miles in
+  average extent. In floods it covers much extra space.
+Wych hazel, _See_ Kilta.
+
+YAKDAN,
+
+ZIARAT, A Mohammedan shrine.
+Zoji La, The pass at the head of the Sind Valley which is crossed on going
+  to Leh, height 11,300 feet.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH
+PEN AND PENCIL***
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and
+Pencil, by T. R. Swinburne
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Holiday in the Happy Valley with Pen and Pencil
+
+Author: T. R. Swinburne
+
+Release Date: April 2, 2004  [eBook #11873]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH
+PEN AND PENCIL***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Internet Archive Million Book Project, Allen Siddle,
+and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH PEN AND PENCIL
+
+BY
+
+T. R. SWINBURNE
+
+MAJOR (LATE) R.M.A.
+
+WITH 24 COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+1907
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[ILLUSTRATION: THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR]
+
+
+
+  "_Over the great windy waters, and over the clear crested summits,
+  Unto the sea and the sky, and unto the perfecter earth,
+  Come, let us go_!"
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
+
+TO
+
+"JANE"
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+I observe that it is customary to begin a book by an Introduction, Preface,
+or Foreword. In the good old days of the eighteenth century this generally
+took the form of a burst of grovelling adoration aimed at some most noble
+or otherwise highly important person. This fulsome fawning on the great
+was later changed into propitiation of the British public, and unknown
+authors revelled in excuses for publishing their earlier efforts.
+
+But now that every one has written a book, or is about to do so, I feel
+that my apologies are rather due to the public for not having rushed into
+print before. I have really spared it because I had nothing in particular
+to write about, and I confess I am somewhat doubtful as to whether I am
+even now justified in invoking the kind offices of a publisher with a view
+to bringing forth this literary mouse in due form!
+
+No admiring (if partial) relatives have hung upon my lips as I read them
+my journal, imploring me with tears in their eyes to waste not an instant,
+but give to a longing world this literary treasure. I have no illusions as
+regards my literary powers, and I do not imagine that I shall depose the
+gifted author of _Eoethen_ from his pride of place.
+
+I claim, however, the merit of truth. The journal was written day by day,
+and the sketches were all done on the spot; and if this account--bald and
+inadequate as I know it to be--of a very happy time spent in rambling
+among some of the finest scenery of this lovely earth, may induce any one
+to betake himself to Kashmir, he will achieve something worth living for,
+and I shall not have spilt ink in vain.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+   I. INTRODUCTORY
+
+  II. THE VOYAGE OUT
+
+ III. KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+
+  IV. ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+
+   V. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+
+  VI. OUR FIRST CAMP
+
+ VII. BACK TO SRINAGAR
+
+VIII. THE LOLAB
+
+  IX. SRINAGAR AGAIN
+
+   X. THE LIDAR VALLEY
+
+  XI. GANGABAL
+
+ XII. GULMARG
+
+XIII. THE FLOOD
+
+ XIV. THE MACHIPURA
+
+  XV. DELHI AND AGRA
+
+ XVI. UDAIPUR
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+THE JHELUM AT SRINAGAR (Frontispiece)
+
+A SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY
+
+A SRINAGAR BYE-WAY--EARLY SPRING
+
+ON THE JHELUM--EARLY SPRING
+
+THE BUND SRINAGAR--EARLY SPRING
+
+THE DAL
+
+IN THE NISHAT BAGH
+
+THE PIR PANJAL FROM ALSU--MORNING
+
+ON THE DAL--SUNSET
+
+NATIVE BOATS
+
+PANDRETTAN
+
+KOLAHOI
+
+LIDARWAT
+
+THE RAMPARTS OF KASHMIR
+
+GANGABAL
+
+HARAMOK
+
+A TARN ABOVE TRONKOL
+
+ON THE CIRCULAR ROAD, GULMARG
+
+IN SRINAGAR--TWILIGHT
+
+SRINAGAR FLOODED
+
+HARI PARBAT--EVENING
+
+NANGA PARBAT FROM KITARDAJI
+
+MIXED BATHING (UDAIPUR)
+
+UDAIPUR
+
+MAP OF KASHMIR
+
+
+
+A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+A journey to Kashmir now--in these days of cheap and rapid locomotion--is
+in nowise serious. It takes time, I grant you, but to any one with a few
+months to spare--and there are many in that happy position--there can be
+few pleasanter ways of spending a summer holiday.
+
+It would be as well to start from England not later than the middle of
+March, as the Red Sea and the Sind Desert begin to warm up uncomfortably
+in spring. Srinagar would then be reached fairly early in April, and the
+visitor should arrange, if possible, to remain in the country until the
+middle of October. We had to leave just as the gorgeous autumn colouring
+was beginning to blaze in the woods, and the first duck were wheeling over
+the Wular Lake.
+
+The climate of Kashmir is fairly similar to that of many parts of Southern
+Europe. There is a good deal of snow in the valley in winter. Spring is
+charming, the brilliant days only varied by frequent thunderstorms--which,
+however, are almost invariable in keeping their pyrotechnics till about
+five in the afternoon. July and August are hot and steamy in the valley,
+and it is necessary to seek one of the cool "Margs" which form ideal
+camping-grounds on all the lofty mountain slopes which surround the valley.
+
+Gulmarg is the most frequented and amusing resort in summer of the English
+colony and contingent from the broiling plains of the Punjab. Here the
+happy fugitive from the sweltering heat of the lower regions will find a
+climate as glorious as the scenery. He can enjoy the best of polo and golf,
+and, if he be not a misogynist, he will vary the 'daily round' with
+picnics and scrambles on foot or on horseback, in exploring the endless
+beauty of the place, coming home to his hut or tent as the sun sinks
+behind the great pines that screen the Rampur Road, to wind up the happy
+day with a cheery dinner and game of bridge. But if Gulmarg does not
+appeal to him, let him go with his camping outfit to Sonamarg or
+Pahlgam--he will find neither polo nor golf nor the gay little society of
+Gulmarg, but he will find equally charming scenery and, perhaps, a drier
+climate--for it must in fairness be admitted that Gulmarg is a rainy
+place. Likewise his pocket will benefit, as his expenses will surely be
+less, and he will still find neighbours dotted about in white tents under
+the pine trees.
+
+Towards the middle of September the exodus from the high 'Margs' takes
+place--many returning sadly to Pindi and Sealkote--others merely to
+Srinagar, while those who yearn after Bara Singh and Bear, decamp quietly
+for their selected nullahs, to be in readiness for the opening of the
+autumn season.
+
+Thus, from April to October, a more or less perfect climate may be
+obtained by watching the mercury in the thermometer, and rising or
+descending the mountain slopes in direct ratio with it.
+
+It is quite unnecessary to take out a large and expensive wardrobe. Thin
+garments for the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, such as one wears in a fine
+English summer, and for Kashmir the same sort of things that one would
+take up to Scotland. For men--knickerbockers and flannel shirts--and for
+ladies, short tweed skirts and some flannel blouses. The native tailors in
+Srinagar are clever and cheap, and will copy an English shooting suit in
+fairly good material for about eleven rupees, or 14s. 8d.! One pair of
+strong shooting boots (plentifully studded with aluminium nails) is enough.
+For all mountain work, the invaluable but uncomfortable grass shoes must
+be worn, and both my wife and I invariably wore the native chaplies for
+ordinary marching. Foot-gear for golf, tennis, and general service at
+Srinagar and Gulmarg must be laid in, according to the traveller's fancy,
+in England.
+
+Underwear to suit both hot and cold weather should be purchased at
+home--not on any account omitting cholera belts.
+
+Shirts and collars should be taken freely, as it is well to remember that
+the native washerman--the well-abused "Dobie"--has a marvellous skill in
+producing a saw-like rim to the starched collar and cuff of the newest
+shirt; while the elegant and delicate lace and embroidery, with which the
+fair are wont to embellish their underwear, take strange and unforeseen
+patterns at the hands of the skilled workmen. It is surprising what an
+effect can be obtained by tying up the neck and sleeves of a garment,
+inserting a few smooth pebbles from the brook, and then banging the moist
+bundle on the bank!
+
+The arrangement of clothing for the voyage is rather complicated, as it
+will probably be necessary to wear warm things while crossing Europe, and
+possibly even until Egypt is reached. Then an assortment of summer
+flannels, sufficient to last as far as India, must be available. We were
+unable to get any washing done from the date we left London, on the 22nd
+of February, until we reached Rawal Pindi, on the 21st March. Capacious
+canvas kit-bags are excellent things for cramming with grist for the
+dobie's mill.
+
+In arranging for luggage, it should be borne in mind that large trunks and
+dress boxes are inadmissible. From Pindi to Srinagar everything must be
+transported by wheeled conveyance, and, in Kashmir itself, all luggage
+must be selected with a view to its adaptability to the backs of coolies
+or ponies. In Srinagar one can buy native trunks--or yakdans--which are
+cheap, strong, and portable; and the covered creels or "kiltas" serve
+admirably for the stowage of kitchen utensils, food, and oddments.
+
+The following list may prove useful to any one who has not already been
+"east of Suez," and who may therefore not be too proud to profit by
+another's experience:--
+
+  1. "Compactum" camp-bed with case, and fitted with sockets to take
+mosquito netting.
+
+  2. Campaigning bedding-bag in Willesden canvas, with bedding complete.
+
+  3. Waterproof sheet.
+
+  4. Indiarubber bath.
+
+If shooting in the higher mountains is anticipated, a Wolseley
+sleeping-bag should be taken.
+
+  5. Small stable-lantern.
+
+  6. Rug or plaid--light and warm.
+
+  7. Half-a-dozen towels.
+
+  8. Deck chair (with name painted on it).
+
+We had also a couple of Roorkhee chairs, and found them most useful.
+
+  9. A couple of compressed cane cabin trunks.
+
+  9_a_. The "Ranelagh Pack" is a most useful form of "luggage."
+
+  10. Camp kit-bag.
+
+  11. Soiled-linen bag, with square mouth, large size. This is an
+excellent "general service" bag, and invaluable for holding boots, &c.
+
+  12. Large "brief-bag," most useful for stowing guide-books, flasks,
+binoculars, biscuits, and such like, that one wants when travelling, and
+never knows where to put. Our "yellow bag" carried even tea things, and
+was greatly beloved. Like the leather bottel in its later stage, "it
+served to put hinges and odd things in"!
+
+  13. Luncheon basket, fitted according to the number of the party.
+
+The above articles can all be bought at the Army and Navy Stores.
+
+  14. A light canvas box, fitted as a dressing-case.
+
+Ours were made, according to our own wishes and possessions, by Williams,
+of 41 Bond Street. The innumerable glass bottles, so highly prized by the
+makers of dressing-cases, should be strictly limited in number. They are
+exceedingly heavy, and, as the dressing-case should be carried by its
+owner, the less it weighs the more he (or she) will esteem it.
+
+  15. A set of aluminium cooking-utensils is much to be recommended. They
+can easily be sold on leaving Kashmir for, at least, their cost price.
+
+  16. Pocket flask. This may be of aluminium also, although personally I
+dislike a metal flask.
+
+  17. Umbrella--strong, but cheap, as it is sure to be lost or stolen.
+There are few things your native loves more than a nice umbrella, unless
+it be
+
+  18. A knife fitted with corkscrew and screwdriver; therefore take two,
+and try to keep one carefully locked up.
+
+  19. Pair of good field-glasses.
+
+I took a stalking telescope, but it was useless to my shikari, who always
+borrowed my wife's binoculars until she lost them--or he stole them!
+
+  20. Hats. It is obviously a matter of taste what hats a man should take.
+The glossy silk may repose with the frock-coat till its owner returns to
+find it hopelessly out of date, its brim being a thought too curly, or its
+top impossibly wide; but the "bowler" or Homburg hat will serve his turn
+according to his fancy, until, at Aden, he invests in a hideous, but shady
+"topee," for one-third of the price he would pay in London; and this will
+be his only wear, before sunset, until he again reaches a temperate
+climate. Ladies, who are rightly more particular as to the appearance of
+even so unlovely a thing as a sola topee, would do well, perhaps, to buy
+theirs before starting. Really becoming pith helmets seem very scarce in
+the East!
+
+After sunset, or under awnings, any sort of cap may be worn.
+
+  21. Shirts and collars are obviously matters of taste. A good supply of
+white shirts and collars must be taken to cope with the destruction and
+loss which may be expected at the hands of the dobie. Flannel shirts can
+be made easily enough from English models in Srinagar.
+
+  22. Under-garments should be of Indian gauze for hot weather, with a
+supply of thicker articles for camping in the hills.
+
+Cholera belts should on no account be omitted.
+
+  23. Socks, according to taste--very few knickerbocker stockings need be
+taken, as putties are cheap and usual in Srinagar.
+
+  24. Ties--the white ones of the cheap sort that can be thrown away after
+use, with a light heart. Handkerchiefs, and a few pairs of white gloves.
+
+  25. Sleeping-suits, both thick for camp work and light for hot weather,
+should be taken.
+
+  26. Dress suit and dinner-jacket.
+
+  27. Knickerbocker or knee-breeches, which can be copied in Kashmir by the
+native tailor.
+
+Riding-breeches are not in the least necessary unless the traveller
+contemplates any special riding expedition. Ordinary shooting
+continuations do quite well for all the mounted work the tourist is likely
+to do. A pair of stohwasser gaiters may be taken, but even they are not
+necessary, neither is a saddle.
+
+A lady, however, should take out a short riding-skirt, or habit, and a
+side-saddle.
+
+  28. A tweed suit of medium warmth for travelling, and a couple of flannel
+suits, will bring the wearer to Srinagar, where he can increase his stock
+at a ridiculously low price--about 22 rupees or L1, 9s. 4d. per suit.
+
+  29. Boots. Here, again, the wayfarer is at full liberty to please
+himself. A pair of strong shooting-boots, with plenty of spare laces and,
+say, a hundred aluminium nails, is a _sine qua non_. A pair of rubbers, or
+what are known as "gouties" in Swiss winter circles, are not to be
+despised. Otherwise, boots, shoes, slippers, and pumps, according to taste.
+
+30. A large "regulation" waterproof, a rain-coat or Burberry, and a warm
+greatcoat will all be required.
+
+It is hard to give definite advice to a lady as to the details of her
+outfit. Let her conform in a general way to the instructions given above,
+always remembering that both Srinagar and Gulmarg are gay and festive
+places, where she will dine and dance, and have ample opportunity for
+displaying a well-chosen wardrobe.
+
+Let her also take heed that she leaves the family diamonds at home. The
+gentle Kashmiri is an inveterate and skilful thief, and the less jewellery
+she can make up her mind to "do with," the more at ease will her mind be.
+But if she must needs copy the lady of whom we read, that
+
+  "Rich and rare were the gems she wore,"
+
+then why not line the jewel-case--or rather the secret bag, which she will
+sew into some mysterious garment--with the diamonds of Gophir and the
+pearls of Rome?
+
+If the intending visitor to Kashmir be a sportsman who has already had
+experience in big-game shooting, he will not need any advice from me
+(which, indeed, he would utterly disdain) as to the lethal weapons which
+should form his battery; but if the wayfarer be a humble performer who has
+never slain anything more formidable than a wary old stag, or more
+nerve-shattering than a meteoric cock pheasant rising clamorously from
+behind a turnip, he may not be too proud to learn that he will find an
+ordinary "fowling piece" the most useful weapon which he can take with
+him. If his gun is not choked, he should be provided with a dozen or more
+ball cartridge for bear.
+
+If the pursuit of markhor and ibex is contemplated, a small-bore rifle
+will be required, but a heavy express is wanted to stop a bear. I had a
+"Mannlicher" and an ordinary shot-gun, with a few ball cartridges for the
+latter.
+
+Duty has to be paid on taking firearms into India, and this may be
+refunded on leaving the country. This is not always done, however, as I
+found to my cost, my application for a refund being refused on the quibble
+that my guns were taken back to England by a friend, although I was able
+to prove their identity.
+
+It is not necessary to take a large number of rifle cartridges out, as it
+is exceedingly unlikely that the tyro will be able to shoot all the beasts
+allowed him by his game licence.[1] Smooth-bore cartridges of fair quality
+can be bought in Srinagar, and I certainly do not consider it worth the
+trouble and expense to convey them out from England.
+
+To the amateur artist I would say: Be well supplied with brushes and
+paper--the latter sealed in tin for passage through the Red Sea and India.
+Colours, and indeed all materials can he got from Treacher & Co., Bombay,
+and also from the branch of the Army and Navy Stores there.
+
+Paper is, however, difficult to get in good condition, being frequently
+spoilt by mildew.
+
+It is almost impossible to get anything satisfactory in the way of
+painting materials in Kashmir itself; therefore I say: Be well supplied
+before leaving home.
+
+Finally, a small stock of medicines should certainly be taken, not
+omitting a copious supply of quinine (best in powder form for this
+purpose), and also of strong peppermint or something of the sort, to give
+to the native servants and others who are always falling sick of a fever
+or complaining of an internal pain, which is generally quite cured by a
+dose of peppermint.
+
+Neither Jane nor I love guide-books; we found however, in Kashmir, the
+little book written by Dr. Neve an invaluable companion;[2] while Murray's
+_Guide to India_ afforded much useful information when wandering in that
+country.
+
+The best book on Kashmir that I know is Sir Walter Lawrence's _Valley of
+Kashmir_.
+
+Any one going out as we did, absolutely ignorant of the language, should
+certainly take an elementary phrase-book or something of the sort to study
+on the voyage. We forgot to do this, and had infinite trouble afterwards
+in getting what we wanted, and lost much time in acquiring the rudimentary
+knowledge of Hindustani which enabled us to worry along with our native
+servants, &c. No mere "globe-trotter" need attempt to learn any Kashmiri,
+as Hindustani is "understanded of the people" as a rule, and the tradesmen
+in Srinagar know quite as much English as is good for them.
+
+
+[1] See Appendix 1.
+
+[2] _The Tourist's Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, Skardo, &c._, edited by
+    Arthur Neve, F.R.G.S.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE VOYAGE OUT
+
+It seems extraordinary to me that every day throughout the winter, crowds
+of people should throng the railway stations whence they can hurry south
+in search of warmth and sunshine, and yet London remains apparently as
+full as ever! We plunged into a seething mass of outward-bound humanity at
+Victoria Station on the 22nd of February, and, having wrestled our way
+into the Continental express, were whirled across the sad and sodden
+country to Dover amidst hundreds of our shivering fellow-countrymen.
+
+Truly we are beyond measure conservative in our railway discomforts. With
+a bitter easterly wind searching out the chinks of door and window, we sat
+shivering in our unwarmed compartment--unwarmed, I say, in spite of the
+clumsy tin of quickly-cooled hot water procured by favour--and a
+gratuity--from a porter!
+
+The Channel showed even more disagreeable than usual. A grey, cold sky,
+with swift-flying clouds from the east hung over a grey, cold sea, the
+waves showing their wicked white teeth under the lash of the strong wind.
+The patient lightship off the pier was swinging drearily as we throbbed
+past into the gust-swept open and set our bows for the unseen coast of
+France.
+
+The tumult of passengers was speedily reduced to a limp and inert swarm of
+cold, wet, and sea-sick humanity.
+
+The cold and miserable weather clung to us long. In Paris it snowed
+heavily, and I was constrained to betake myself in a cab--"chauffe," it is
+needless to remark--to seek out a kindly dentist, the bitter east wind
+having sought out and found a weak spot wherein to implant an abscess.
+
+At Bale it was freezing, but clear and bright, and a good breakfast and a
+breath of clean, fresh air was truly enjoyable after the overheated
+sleeping-car in which we had come from Paris.
+
+It may seem unreasonable to grumble at the overheating of the "Sleeper"
+after abusing the under-heating of our British railways. Surely, though,
+there is a golden mean? I wish neither to be frozen nor boiled, and there
+can be no doubt but that the heating of most Continental trains is
+excellent, the power of application being left to the traveller.
+
+The journey by the St. Gotthard was delightful, the day brilliant, and the
+frost keen, while we watched the fleeting panorama of icebound peaks and
+snow-powdered pines from the cushions of our comfortable carriage.
+
+The glory of winter left us as we left the Swiss mountains and dropped
+down into the fertile flats of Northern Italy, and at Milan all was raw
+chilliness and mud.
+
+Nothing can well be more depressing than wet and cheerless weather in a
+land obviously intended for sunshine.
+
+We slept at Milan, and the next day set forth in heavy rain towards Venice.
+The miserable ranks of distorted and pollarded trees stood sadly in pools
+of yellow-stained water, or stuck out of heaps of half-melted and
+uncleanly snow.
+
+No colour; no life anywhere, excepting an occasional peasant plodding
+along a muddy road, sheltering himself under the characteristic flat and
+bony umbrella of the country.
+
+At Peschiera we had promise of better things. The weather cleared somewhat,
+revealing ranges of white-clad hills around Garda.... But, alas! at Verona
+it rained as hard as ever, and we made our way from the railway station at
+Venice, cowering in the coffin-like cabin of a damp and extremely draughty
+gondola, while cold flurries of an Alpine-born wind swept across the Grand
+Canal.
+
+Sunshine is absolutely necessary to bring out the real beauty of Italy.
+This is particularly the case in Venice, where light and life are required
+to dispel the feeling of sadness so sure to creep over one amid the signs
+of long-past grandeur and decaying magnificence.
+
+On a grey and wintry day one is chiefly impressed by the dank chilliness
+of the palaces on the Grand Canal, whose feet lie lapped in slimy water;
+the lovely tracery of whose windows shows ragged and broken, whose stately
+guest-chambers are in the sordid occupation of the dealer in false
+antiques, and whose motto might be "Ichabod," for their glory has departed.
+
+It is five-and-twenty years since I was last in Venice, and I can truly
+say that it has not improved in that long time. The loss of the great
+Campanile of St. Mark is not compensated for by the gain of the penny
+steamer which frets and fusses its prosaic way along the Grand Canal, or
+blurts its noisome smoke in the very face of the Palace of the Doges.
+
+Well! A steady downpour is dispiriting at any time, excepting when one is
+snugly at home with plenty to do, and it is particularly so to the unlucky
+traveller who has to live through half-a-dozen long hours intervening
+between arrival at and departure from Venice on a cold, dull, wintry
+afternoon.
+
+The sombre gondola writhed its sinuous course and deposited us all forlorn
+in the near neighbourhood of the Piazza San Marco. Splashing our way
+across, and pushing through the crowd of greedy fat pigeons, we entered
+the world-famous church. I know my Ruskin, and I feel that I should be
+lost in wonder and admiration--I am not.
+
+The gloom--rich golden gloom if you will--of the interior oppresses me; it
+is cavernous. A service is being held in one of the transepts, and the
+congregation seems noisier and less devout than I could have believed
+possible. My thoughts fly far to where, on its solitary hill, the noble
+pile of Chartres soars majestic, its heaven-piercing spires dominating the
+wide plain of La Beauce. In fancy I enter by the splendid north door and
+find myself in the pillared dimness softly lighted by the great window in
+the west. This seems to me to be the greatest achievement of the Christian
+architect, noble alike in conception and in execution.
+
+There is no means of procuring a cold more certain than lingering too long
+in a cold and vault-like church or picture gallery, so we adjourned to the
+Palazzo Daniele, now a mere hotel, where we browsed on the
+literature--chiefly cosmopolitan newspapers--until it was time to start
+for Trieste.
+
+The journey is not an attractive one, as we seemed to be perpetually
+worried by Custom-house authorities and inquisitive ticket-collectors! If
+possible, the wary traveller should so time his sojourn at Venice as to
+allow him to go to Trieste by steamer. The Hotel de la Ville at Trieste is
+not quite excellent, but 'twill serve, and we were remarkably glad to
+reach it, somewhere about midnight, having left Milan soon after seven in
+the morning!
+
+Trieste itself is rather an engaging town; at least so it seemed to us
+when we awakened to a fresh, bright morning, a blue-and-white sky overhead,
+and a copious allowance of yellow mud under foot!
+
+There were various final purchases to be made. Our deck chairs were with
+the heavy luggage, which the passenger by Austrian Lloyd only gets at Port
+Said, as it is sent from London by sea; so a deck chair had to be got,
+also a stock of light literature wherewith to beguile the long sea hours.
+
+A visit to our ship--the _Marie Valerie_--showed her to be a
+comfortable-looking vessel of some 4500 tons. She was busily engaged in
+taking in a large cargo, principally for Japan, and she showed no signs of
+an early departure. Her nominal hour for starting was 4 P.M., but the
+captain told us that he should not sail until next morning. So we
+descended to examine our cabin, and found it to be large and airy, but
+totally deficient in the matter of drawers or lockers.
+
+Well! we shall have to keep everything in cabin trunks, and "live in our
+boxes" for the next three weeks.
+
+There was cabin accommodation for twenty passengers, but at dinner we
+mustered but nine. This is, of course, the season when all right-minded
+folks are coming home from India, and we never expected to find a crowd;
+still, nine individuals scattered abroad over the wide decks make but a
+poor show.
+
+The first meal on board a big steamer is always interesting. Every one is
+quietly "taking stock" of his, or her, neighbours, and forming estimates
+of their social value, which are generally entirely upset by after
+experience.
+
+Of our fellow-passengers there were only five whose presence affected us
+in any way. A young Austrian, Herr Otto Frantz, with his wife, going out
+as first secretary of legation to Tokio; Major Twining, R.E., and his wife;
+and Miss Lungley, a cosmopolitan lady, who makes Kashmir her headquarters
+and Rome her _annexe_.
+
+We became acquainted with each other sooner than might have been expected,
+by reason of an exploit of the stewardess--a gibbering idiot. The night
+was cold, so several of the ladies, following an evil custom, sent forth
+from their cabins those vile inventions called hot bottles. Only two came
+back..., and then the fun began. The stewardess, who speaks no known
+tongue, played "hunt the slipper" for the missing bottles through all the
+cabins, whence she was shot out by the enraged inhabitants until she was
+reduced to absolute imbecility, and the harassed stewards to gesticular
+despair.
+
+The missing articles were, I believe, finally discovered and routed out of
+an unoccupied bed, where they had been laid and forgotten by the
+addle-pated lady, and peace reigned.
+
+We sailed from Trieste early on the morning of the 28th of February, and
+steamed leisurely on our way. The Austrian Lloyd's "unaccelerated"
+steamers are not too active in their movements, being wont to travel at
+purely "economical speed," and so we were given an excellent view of some
+of the Ionian Islands, steaming through the Ithaca channel, with the
+snow-tipped peak of Cephalonia close on our starboard hand.
+
+Then, leaving the far white hills of the Albanian coast to fade into the
+blue mists, we sped
+
+  "Over the sea past Crete,"
+
+until the tall lighthouse of Port Said rose on the horizon, followed by
+the spars of much shipping, and the roofs of the houses dotted apparently
+over the waters of the Mediterranean. At length the low mudbanks which
+represent the two continents of Africa and Asia spread their dull monotony
+on either hand, and the good ship sat quietly down for a happy day's
+coaling.
+
+Port Said has grown out of all knowledge since I first made its
+acquaintance in 1877. It was then a cluster of evil-looking shanties, the
+abode of the scum of the Levant, who waxed fat by the profits of the
+gambling hells and the sale of pornographic photographs. It has now donned
+the outwardly respectable look of middle age; it has laid itself out in
+streets; the gambling dens have disappeared, and the robbers have betaken
+themselves to the sale of the worst class of Japanese and Indian "curios,"
+ostrich feathers from East Africa, and tobacco in all its forms.
+
+Port Said has undoubtedly improved, but still it is not a nice place, and
+we were unfeignedly glad to repair on board the _Marie Valerie_ as soon as
+we noted the cessation of the black coaly cloud, through the murkiness of
+which a chattering stream of gnome-like figures passed their burthens of
+"Cardiff" into the bowels of the ship.
+
+Port Said was cold, and Suez was cold, and we started down the Red Sea
+followed by a strong north wind, which kept us clad in greatcoats for a
+day or two, and, as we got down into wider waters, obliged us to keep our
+ports closed.
+
+An object-lesson on the subject of closed ports was given in our cabin,
+where the fair chatelaine was reclining in her berth reading, fanned by
+the genial air which floated in at the open port,--a truculent Red Sea
+billow, meeting a slight roll of the ship, entered the cabin in an
+unbroken fall on the lady's head. A damp tigress flew out through the door,
+wildly demanding the steward, a set of dry bedding, and the instant
+execution of the captain, the officer of the watch, and the man at the
+wheel!
+
+How dull we should be without these little incidents!
+
+A hoopoe took deck, or rather rigging, passage for a while, and evoked the
+greatest interest. Stalking glasses and binoculars were levelled at the
+unconcerned fowl, who sat by the "cathead" with perfect composure, and
+preened himself after his long flight.
+
+The striking of "four bells" just under his beak unnerved him somewhat,
+and he departed in a great fuss and pother.
+
+Our roomy decks afford many quiet corners in which to read or doze, and
+now that the weather is rapidly warming up we spend many hours in these
+peaceful pastimes, varied by an occasional constitutional--none of your
+fisherman's walks, "three steps and overboard"--but a good, clear tramp,
+unimpeded by the innumerable deck-chairs, protruding feet, and ubiquitous
+children which cover all free space on board a P. & O.
+
+Then comes dinner, followed by a rubber of bridge, and so to bed.
+
+On Saturday the 11th we passed the group of islands commonly known as the
+Twelve Apostles.
+
+First, a tiny rock, rising lonely from the blue--brilliantly blue--waves;
+then a yellow crag of sandstone, looking like a haystack; and then a whole
+group of wild and fantastic islands, evidently of volcanic origin, and
+varying in rough peaks and abrupt cliffs of the strangest
+colours--brick-red, purple-black, grey, and yellow--utterly bare and
+desolate:
+
+  "Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower,
+   Nor aught of vegetative power,
+     The weary eye may ken,"
+
+
+save only the white lighthouse, which, perched on its arid hill, serves to
+emphasise the desolation of earth and sky.
+
+The Red Sea is remarkably well supplied with lighthouses; and, considering
+the narrowness of the channel in parts, the strong and variable currents,
+and the innumerable islands and shoals, the supply does no more than equal
+the demand.
+
+I cannot imagine a more grievous death in life than the existence of a
+lighthouse-keeper in the Red Sea!
+
+_Sunday, 12th_.--We passed through the Gate of Tears this morning--the
+dismal, flat, and unprofitable island of Perim being scanned by me from
+the bathroom port, while exchanging an atmosphere of sticky salt air for
+an unrefreshing dip in sticky salt water.
+
+The hoopoe is again with us; in fact I do not think he really left the
+ship, but simply sought a secluded perch, secure from prying observation.
+He reappeared upon the port stay, and proceeded to preen himself and
+observe the ship's course. He is evidently bound for Aden, casting glances
+of quiet unconcern on Perim and the coast of Araby the blest.
+
+Towards sunset we passed the fantastic peaks of little Aden, and, drawing
+up to Steamer Point, cast anchor under the "Barren Rocks of Aden."
+
+_Monday, 13th_.--We had a shocking time last night. All ports closed for
+coaling left us gasping, whilst a fiendish din arose from the bowels of
+the ship, whence cargo was being extracted. The stifling air, reeking with
+damp, developed in the early morning a steady rain, which dripped
+mournfully on the grimy decks. Rain in Aden! We are told on the best
+authority that this is most unusual.
+
+Aden, to the passing stranger, shows few attractions. We went on shore
+when the rain showed signs of ceasing, and after buying a few odds and
+ends, such as a pith hat and some cigarettes, we betook ourselves to the
+principal hotel, where an excessively bad breakfast was served to us,
+after which we were not sorry to shake the mud of Aden off our feet, so we
+chartered a shore boat amid a fearful clamour for extra pay and backshish,
+and set forth to rejoin our ship, now swept and garnished, and showing
+little trace of the coal she had swallowed.
+
+_Monday, 20th_.--We reached Karachi yesterday morning after a quiet, calm,
+and utterly uneventful passage across the Indian Ocean.
+
+It was never hot--merely calm, grey, and even showery, our only
+excitements being an occasional school of porpoises or the sight of a
+passing tramp steamer.
+
+Some time before leaving England I had written to my old friend General
+Woon, commanding the troops at Abbotabad, asking him to provide me with a
+servant capable of dry-nursing a pair of Babes in the Wood throughout
+their sojourn in a strange land. The General promised to supply us with
+such an one, who, he said, would rob us to a certain extent himself, but
+would take good care that nobody else did so!
+
+Immediately, then, upon our arrival in Karachi roads, a dark and swarthy
+person, with a black beard and gleaming white teeth, appeared on board,
+and reported himself as Sabz Ali, our servant and our master!
+
+His knowledge of English "as she is spoke" was scanty and of strange
+quality, but his masterful methods of dealing with the boatmen and
+Custom-house subordinates inspired us with awe and a blind confidence that
+he could--and would--pull us through.
+
+There was no difficulty at the Custom-house until it transpired that I
+wanted to take three firearms into the country. This appeared to be a most
+unusual and reprehensible desire, and my statement that one weapon was a
+rifle which I was taking charge of for a friend did not improve the
+situation. It being Sunday, the principal authorities were sunning
+themselves in their back parlours, and the thing in charge (called a Baboo,
+I understand) became exceedingly fussy, and desired that the guns should
+be unpacked and exhibited lest they should be of service pattern. This was
+simple, as far as my battery was concerned, and I promptly laid bare the
+beauties of my Mannlicher and ancient 12-bore; but, alas! Mrs. Smithson's
+rifle was soldered like a sardine into a strong tin case, and no
+cold-chisel or screwdriver was forthcoming.
+
+Messengers were sent forth to seek the needful instruments, while I
+proceeded to cut another Gordian knot.... An acquaintance of mine, hearing
+that I was coming to India, suggested that I should take charge of a
+parcel for a friend of hers, who wanted to send it to her fiance in Bombay.
+As all the heavy baggage was sent from London to join us at Port Said, I
+had not seen the "parcel," and, finding no case or box addressed to any
+one but myself, I had to select one that seemed most likely to be right,
+and forward that.
+
+At last the needful appliances were got and the rifle unpacked; but,
+although it proved to be (as I had said) a large-bore Express, the Baboo
+refused, like a very Pharaoh, to let it go, and I, after a two-hour
+vexatious delay, paid the duty on my own guns, and, leaving a note for the
+chief Customs official, explaining the case and begging him to send the
+rifle on forthwith, packed myself--hot, hungry, and angry--into a "gharri,"
+and set forth to the Devon Place Hotel, whither the rest of the party had
+preceded me.
+
+I have gone into this little episode somewhat at length in order to
+impress upon the voyager to India the necessity for limiting the number of
+firearms or getting a friend to father the extra ones through the
+Customs--a perfectly simple matter had one foreseen the difficulty. Also
+the danger of taking parcels for friends--of which more anon![1]
+
+The Devon Place Hotel may be the best in Karachi, but it is pretty bad....
+I am told that all Indian hotels are bad--still, the breakfast was a
+considerable improvement on the _Marie Valerie_, and we sallied forth as
+giants refreshed to have a look at Karachi and do a little shopping. It
+being Sunday, the banks were closed, but a kindly shopman cashed me a
+cheque for twenty pounds in the most confiding manner, and enabled us to
+get the few odds and ends we wanted before going up country--among them a
+couple of "resais" or quilted cotton wraps and a sola topee for Jane.
+
+Karachi did not strike us as being a particularly interesting town, but
+that may be to a great extent because we did not see the best part of it.
+On landing at Kiamari we had only driven along a hot and glaring mole,
+bordered by swamps and slimy-looking flats for some two miles. Then, on
+reaching the city proper, a dusty road, bordered by somewhat
+suburban-looking houses, brought us to the Devon Place Hotel, near the
+Frere station. After breakfast we merely drove into the bazaars to shop
+before betaking ourselves to the station, in good time for the 6.30 train.
+
+Passengers--at least first-class passengers--were not numerous, and Major
+Twining and I had no difficulty in securing two compartments--one for our
+wives and one for ourselves.
+
+An Indian first-class carriage is roomy, but bare, being arranged with a
+view to heat rather than cold Two long seats run "fore and aft" on either
+side, and upon them your servant makes your bed at night. Two upper berths
+can be let down in case of a crowd. At the end of each compartment is a
+small toilet-room.
+
+It was unexpectedly chilly at night, and Twining and I were glad to roll
+ourselves up in as many rugs and "resais" as we could persuade the ladies
+to leave to us.
+
+
+[1] A big deal case which we unpacked at Srinagar proved to contain a
+    "life-sized" work-table. The package holding our camp beds and bedding,
+    having a humbler aspect, had been sent to Bombay and cost as a world
+    of worry and expense to recover!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+KARACHI TO ABBOTABAD
+
+This morning we awoke to find ourselves rattling and shaking our way
+through the Sind Desert--an interminable waste of sand, barren and
+thirsty-looking, covered with a patchy scrub of yellowish and grey-purple
+bushes.
+
+I can well imagine how hatefully hot it can be here, but to-day it has
+been merely pleasantly warm.
+
+Jane and I were deeply interested in the novel scenes we passed through,
+which, while new and strange to us, were yet made familiar by what we had
+read and heard. The quiet-eyed cattle, with their queer humps, were just
+what we expected to see in the dusty landscape. The chattering crowds in
+the wayside stations, their bright-coloured garments flaunting in the
+white sunlight--the fruit-sellers, the water-carriers, were all as though
+they had stepped out of the pages of _Kim_--that most excellent of Indian
+stories.
+
+And so all day we rattled and shook through the Sind Desert in the hot
+sunlight till the dust lay thick upon us, and our eyes grew tired of
+watching the flying landscape.
+
+In the afternoon we reached Samasata junction, where the Twinings parted
+company with us, being bound for Faridkot.
+
+Sorry were we to lose such charming companions, especially as now indeed
+we become as Babes in the Wood, knowing nothing of the land, its customs,
+or its language!
+
+Henceforward, Sabz Ali shall be our sheet-anchor, and I think he will not
+fail us. His English is truly remarkable, so much so that I regret to say
+I have more than once supposed him to be talking Hindustani when he was
+discoursing in my own mother-tongue. But he certainly is extraordinarily
+sharp in taking up what I and the "Mem-sahib" say.
+
+He presented to me to-day a remarkable letter, of which the following is
+an exact copy. I presume it is a sort of statement as to his general
+duties:--
+
+"_To the_ MAGER SAHIB.
+
+    "Sir,--I beg to say that General 'Oon Sahib send me to you. He
+    order me that the arrangement of Mager Sahib do.
+
+    "To give pice to porter kuli this is my work. This is usefull to
+    you.
+
+    "You give him many pice.
+
+    "Your work is order and to do it my work. You give me Rupee at
+    once. Then I will write it on my book, from which you will see it
+    is right or wrong. Now I am going to Cashmir with you and
+    Cashmiree are thief.
+
+    "If you will give me one man other it will usefull to you. I ask
+    one cloth. All Sahib give cloth to Servant on going to Cashmir.
+
+    "If will give cloth then all men say that this Sahib is good. I am
+    fear from General 'Oon Sahib. It is order to give cloth.
+
+    "I can do all work of cook and bearer. I wish that you will happy
+    on me, also your lady, and say to General 'Oon Sahib that this
+    man is good and honest man.
+
+    "I have servant to many Sahib.
+
+    "I have more certificate.
+
+    "You are rich man and king. I am poor man. I will take two annas
+    allowance per day in Cashmir, you will do who you wish.
+
+    "I wish that you and lady will happy on me. This is begging you
+    will.--I remain, Sir, your most obedient Servant,
+
+"SABAZ ALI, _Bearer_."
+
+_Wednesday, March_ 22.--We slept again in the train on Monday night, and
+arrived in Lahore about 6 o'clock yesterday morning.
+
+We had been advised to tub and dress in the waiting-rooms at the station,
+as we had a break of some six hours before going on to Pindi; but, upon
+investigation, Jane found her waiting-room already fully occupied by an
+uninviting company of Chi-chis (Eurasians), and several men--their
+husbands and brothers presumably--were sleeping the sleep of the just in
+mine, so we left all our luggage stacked on the platform under the eye of
+Sabz Ali, and hurried off to Nedou's Hotel. Ye gods! What a cold drive it
+was, and how bitterly we regretted that we had not brought our wraps from
+their bundle.
+
+I was fearfully afraid that Jane would get a chill--an evil always to be
+specially guarded against in a tropical climate, but a very hot tub and a
+good breakfast averted all calamity, and we set forth in a funny little
+trap to inspect Lahore.
+
+This is the first large and thoroughly Indian city that we have
+seen--Karachi being merely a thriving modern seaport and garrison
+town--and we set to work to see what we could in the limited time at our
+disposal. We whisked along a road--bumpy withal in parts, and somewhat
+dusty, but broad. On either hand rose substantial stone mansions, half
+hidden by trees and flowering shrubs. Many of these fine-looking buildings
+were shops. I was impressed by their importance, for they were quite what
+would be described by an auctioneer or agent as "most desirable family
+mansions, approached by a carriage drive ... standing within their own
+beautifully wooded and secluded grounds in an excellent residential
+neighbourhood," &c. &c.
+
+Anon we whirled round a corner, and plunged into the seething life of the
+native city. The road was crammed with an apparently impenetrable crowd of
+men and beasts, the latter--water-buffaloes, humpy cattle, and
+donkeys--strolling about and getting in everybody's way with perfect
+nonchalance, while men in strange raiment of gaudy hue pursued their
+lawful occupations with much clamour. The variety of smells--all bad--was
+quite remarkable.
+
+We could only go at a walk, as the streets were very narrow and the
+inhabitants thereof--particularly the cows--seemed very deaf and difficult
+to arouse to a sense of the need for making room, though our good driver
+yelled himself hoarse and employed language which I feel sure was highly
+flavoured. Our progress was a succession of marvellous escapes for human
+toes and bovine shoulders, but our "helmsman steered us through," and we
+emerged from the kaleidoscopic labyrinth into the open space before the
+Fort of Lahore, whose pinkish brick walls and ponderous bastions rose
+above us.
+
+The last thing I would desire would be to usurp in any way the functions
+of grave Mr. Murray or well-informed Herr Baedeker, but there are certain
+points to which I will draw attention, and which it seems to me very
+necessary to keep in mind.
+
+To the ordinary traveller in the Punjab and Northern India no buildings
+are more attractive, no ruins more interesting, than those of the Mogul
+dynasty, and the rule of the Mogul princes marks the high-water limit of
+Indian magnificence. It was but for a short time, too, that the highest
+level of grandeur was maintained.
+
+For generations the Moguls had poured in intermittent hordes into Northern
+India, but it was only in 1556 that Akbar, by defeating the Pathans at
+Panipat, laid India at his feet. Following up his success he overthrew the
+Rajputs, and extended his dominion from Afghanistan to Benares. Having
+conquered the country as a great warrior, he proceeded to rule it as a
+noble statesman, being "one of the few sovereigns entitled to the
+appellation both of Great and Good, and the only one of Mohammedan race
+whose mind appears to have arisen so far above all the illiberal
+prejudices of that fanatical religion in which he was educated, as to be
+capable of forming a plan worthy of a monarch who loved his people and was
+solicitous to render them happy."[1] This "plan" was to study the religion,
+laws, and institutions of his Hindu subjects in order that he might govern
+as far as possible in conformity with Hindu usage. The Emperor Akbar was
+the first of the Mogul monarchs who was a great architect. The city of
+Fattepur Sikri being raised by him as a stately dwelling-place until want
+of water and the unhealthiness of the locality caused him to move into
+Agra, leaving the whole city of Fattepur Sikri to the owls and jackals,
+and later to the admiration of the Sahib logue.
+
+A palace in Lahore, the fort at Allahabad, and much lovely work in the
+city of Agra testify to the creative genius of that contemporary of our
+own Good Queen Bess, the first "Great" Mogul. Jehangir, his son and
+successor, has left few buildings of note, but his grandson, Shah Jehan,
+was undoubtedly the most splendid builder of the Mogul Mohammedan period.
+To him Delhi owes its stately palace and vast mosque--the Jama Masjid--and
+Agra would be famous for its wonderful palace of dark red stone and
+fretted marble, even without that masterpiece of Mohammedan inspiration,
+the world-famed Taj Mahal. The brief period of supreme magnificence came
+to an end with the last of the "Great" Moguls--Aurungzeb, died in
+1707--having only blazed in fullest glory for some century and a half, but
+leaving behind it some of the noblest works of man.
+
+It seemed somehow very curious, as we drove up through the stately
+entrance of the Hathi Paon, or Elephant Gate of the fort, to be saluted
+with a "present arms" by British Tommies clad in unobtrusive khaki, and to
+reflect that we are the inheritors of the fallen grandeur of the Mogul
+Emperors; that we in our turn, on many a hard-fought field, asserted our
+power to conquer; and that since then we have (I trust) so far followed
+the sound principles of Akbar as to keep by justice and wise rule the
+broad lands with their teeming millions in a state of peace and security
+unknown before in India.
+
+Opposite the entrance rise the walls of the Palace of Akbar, curiously
+decorated with brilliant blue mosaics of animals and arabesques.
+
+We visited the armoury--a remarkably fine collection of weapons--not the
+least interesting being those taken from the Sikhs and French in the
+earlier part of the last century. Opposite the armoury, and across a small
+beautifully-paved court, were the private apartments of Shah Jehan. They
+reminded me very much of the Alhambra, only, instead of the honeycomb
+vaulted ceilings, and arches decorated in stucco by the Moors, the Eastern
+architect inlaid his ceilings with an extraordinary incrustation of glass,
+usually silvered on the back, but also frequently coloured, and giving a
+strange effect of mother-o'-pearl inlay, bordering on tawdriness when
+examined in detail.
+
+It is possible that this coloured glass actually had its intended effect
+of inlaid jewels, and that the gem-encrusted walls, so enthusiastically
+described by Tavernier and others, as almost matching the peacock throne
+itself, may have been but imitation.
+
+Many of the pilasters were, however, very beautiful--of white marble
+inlaid with flower patterns of coloured stones--while the arched window
+openings were filled in with creamy tracery of fair white marble.
+
+Leaving the fort after an all too short visit, we crossed to the great
+mosque built by Aurungzeb. Ascending--from a garden bright with flowers
+and blossoming trees--a flight of broad steps, we found ourselves at the
+end of a rectangular enclosure, at each corner of which stood a red column
+not altogether unlike a factory chimney. In the centre was a circular
+basin, very wide, and full of clear water, while in front, three white
+marble domes rose like great pearls gleaming against the cloudless blue.
+The mosque itself is built of red--dark red--sandstone, decorated with
+floral designs in white marble.
+
+We climbed one of the minarets, and had a view of the city at our feet,
+and the green and fertile plains stretching dim into the shimmering haze
+beyond the Ravee River.
+
+Then back to the hotel through the teeming alleys and down to the
+station--the road, that we had found so bitterly cold in the early morning,
+now a blaze of sunlight, where the dust stirred up by the shuffling feet
+of the wayfarers quivered in the heat, and the shadows of men and beasts
+lay short and black beneath them.
+
+We were not sorry to seek coolness in the bare railway carriage, and let
+the fresh wind fan us as we sat by the open window and watched the flat,
+monotonous landscape sliding past.
+
+The journey from Lahore to Rawal Pindi is not a very long one--only about
+170 miles, or less than the distance from London to York; but an Indian
+train being more leisurely in its movement than the Great Northern Express,
+gave us ample time to contemplate the frequent little villages--all very
+much alike--all provided with a noisy population, among which dogs and
+children were extremely prevalent; the level plains, broken here and there
+by clumps of unfamiliar trees, and inhabited by scattered herds of water
+buffaloes, cattle, and under-sized sheep, all busily engaged in picking up
+a precarious livelihood, chiefly roast straw, as far as one could see!
+
+We had grown so accustomed to the monotony of the plains, that when we
+suddenly became aware of a faint blue line of mountains paling to snow,
+where they melted into the sky, the Himalayas came upon us almost with a
+shock of surprise.
+
+As we drew nearer, the rampart of mountains that guards India on the north,
+took form and substance, until at Jhelum we fairly left the plain and
+began to ascend the lower foothills.
+
+Between Jhelum and Rawal Pindi the line runs through a country that can
+best be described by that much abused word "weird." Originally a
+succession of clayey plateaux, the erosion of water has worn and
+honeycombed a tortuous maze of abrupt clefts and ravines, leaving in many
+cases mere shafts and pinnacles, whose fantastic tops stand level with the
+surrounding country. The sun set while we were still winding through a
+labyrinth of peaks and pits, and the effect of the contrasting red gold
+lights and purple shadows in this strange confused landscape was a thing
+to be remembered.
+
+We rolled and bumped into Pindi at 8 P.M., having travelled nearly 1000
+miles during our two days and nights in the train.
+
+Our friends the Smithsons were on the platform waiting to receive us and
+welcome us as strangers and pilgrims in an unknown land. They have only
+remained here to meet us, and they proceed to Kashmir to-morrow, sleeping
+in a carriage in the quiet backwater of a siding, to save themselves the
+worry of a desperately early start to-morrow morning.
+
+The direct route into Kashmir by Murree is impassable, the snow being
+still deep owing to a very late spring following a severe winter. This
+will oblige us to go round by Abbotabad, so I wired to my friend General
+Woon to warn him that we propose to invade his peaceful home.
+
+_Sunday, March 26._--We stayed a couple of days at Pindi, in order to make
+arrangements for transporting ourselves and our luggage into Kashmir. The
+journey can be made _via_ Murree in about a couple of days by mail tonga,
+but it is a joyless and horribly wearing mode of travel. The tonga, a
+two-wheeled cart covered by an arched canvas hood and drawn by two
+half-broken horses, holds a couple of passengers comfortably, who sit
+behind and stare at the flying white ribbon of road for long, long hours,
+while the driver urges his wild career. The horses are changed every ten
+miles or so, and horrible and blood-curdling tales are extant of the
+villainy and wrong-headedness of some of these tonga ponies, how they jib
+for sheer pleasure, and leap over the low parapet that guards them from
+the precipice merely to vex the helpless traveller. When we suggested that
+to sit facing the past might be conducive to a sort of sea-sickness and
+certainly to headache, and that a total absence of view was to be
+deprecated, it was impressed upon us that if the horses darted over the
+"khud," we could slip out suddenly and easily, leaving the driver and the
+ponies to be dashed to pieces by themselves! This appeared sound, but,
+upon inquiry I could not hear that any accident had ever happened to any
+traveller going into Kashmir by tonga.
+
+Besides the tonga, there are other modes of going into Kashmir. For
+instance, the sluggish bullock-cart--safe, deliberate, and affording ample
+leisure for admiring the scenery; the light native cart, or ekka,
+consisting of a somewhat small body screened by a wide white hood, and
+capable of holding far more luggage than would at first sight seem
+possible, and drawn by a scraggy-looking but much enduring little horse
+tied up by a wild and complicated system of harness (chiefly consisting of
+bits of old rope) between a pair of odd V-shaped shafts.
+
+Finally, there is the landau--a civilised and luxurious method of
+conveyance which greatly appealed to us. We decided upon chartering a
+landau for ourselves and servant, and two ekkas to carry the heavy baggage.
+
+Mr. de Mars, the landlord of the hotel, was most obliging in helping us to
+arrange for our journey, promising to provide us with carriage and ekkas
+for a sum which did not seem to me to be at all exorbitant.
+
+I soon found, however, that the worthy Sabz Ali did not at all approve of
+the arrangement. It was extremely hard to find out by means of his scant
+English what he proposed to do; but I decided that here was an excellent
+opportunity of finding out what he was good for, so we determined to give
+him his head, and let him make his own arrangements.
+
+A smile broke over his swarthy face for a moment, and he disappeared,
+coming back shortly afterwards just as the already ordered ekkas made
+their appearance.
+
+These he promptly dismissed--much to the vexation of Mr. de Mars; but I
+explained to him that I intended to see if my man was really to be
+depended upon as an organiser, and that I should allow him to work upon
+his own lines.
+
+We had arranged to sleep in a carriage drawn into a siding at the station,
+to avoid a very early start next morning. So after dinner we strolled down
+towards our bedroom to find our henchman on the platform, full of zeal and
+energy. I found out (with difficulty) that he proposed to go on to Hassan
+Abdal with the luggage that night by goods train; that we should find him
+there next morning, and that all would be right. So he departed, and we
+rolled ourselves up in our "resais," and wondered how it would all turn
+out.
+
+On Friday morning we rattled out of Rawal Pindi about seven, and slowly
+wound through a rather stony and uninteresting country, until we arrived
+at the end of our railway journey about ten o'clock, and scrambled out at
+the little roadside station.
+
+Our excellent factotum, Sabz Ali, awaited us with a capacious landau, and
+informed us that the heavy baggage had gone on in the ekkas. So we set
+forth at once on our 42-mile drive to Abbotabad without "reposing for a
+time in the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a
+favourite resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to
+Cashmere" (_Lalla Rookh_).
+
+The landau, though roomy and comfortable, was, like Una's lion, a "most
+unhasty beast," and we rolled quite slowly and deliberately over a
+distinctly uninteresting plain for about twenty miles, until we came to
+Haripur, a pretty village enclosed in a perfect mass of fruit trees in
+full bloom.
+
+Here we changed horses, and lunched at the dak bungalow--a first and
+favourable experience of that useful institution. The dak bungalow
+generally consists of a simple wooden building containing a dining-room
+and several bedrooms opening on to a verandah, which usually runs round
+three sides of the house. The furniture is strong and simple, consisting
+of tables, bedsteads, and some long chairs. A khansamah or cook provides
+food and liquor at a fixed and reasonable rate.
+
+Travellers are only permitted to remain for twenty-four hours if the rooms
+are wanted, each person paying one rupee (1s. 4d.) for a night, or half
+that amount for a mere day halt.
+
+The khansamah would appear to be the only functionary in residence until
+the hour of departure draws near, when a whole party of
+underlings--chowkidars, bheesties, and sweepers--appear from nowhere in
+particular; and the lordly traveller, having presented them with about
+twopence apiece, rolls off along the dusty white road, leaving the
+khansamah and his myrmidons salaaming on the verandah.
+
+We made the mistake of over-tipping at first in India, not realising that
+a couple of annas out here go as far as a shilling at home; but it is a
+mistake which should be rectified as soon as possible, for you get no
+credit for lavishness, but are merely regarded as a first-class idiot. No
+sane man would ever expend two annas where one would do!
+
+On leaving Haripur the road began to ascend a little, and at the village
+of Sultanpur we entered a valley, through which a shrunken stream ran, and
+which we crossed more than once.
+
+Then a long ascent of about eleven miles brought us near our destination.
+
+It had been threatening rain all the afternoon, and now the weather made
+its threat good, and the rain fell in earnest. It grew dark, too; and,
+finally, not having had any reply to my telegram to General Woon, we did
+not know whether we were expected or not.
+
+Sabz Ali, however, had no doubts on the matter. We were approaching his
+own particular country, and whether "Gen'l 'Oon Sahib" was there to
+entertain us or not, _he_ was; and so it was "alright."
+
+Our poor horses were done to a turn, a heavy landau with five people in it,
+as well as a fair amount of luggage, being no trifle to drag up so long
+and steep a hill. So we had to walk up the last rise to the General's
+house in the dark and rain, mildly cheered, however, by finding the two
+ekkas just arrived with the baggage.
+
+A most hearty greeting from my old friend and his charming wife awaited us,
+and after a hasty toilet and an excellent dinner we felt at peace with all
+the world.
+
+Both yesterday (Saturday) and to-day it has been cold and disagreeable.
+The past winter, I am told, has been a very severe one, and the melancholy
+brown skeletons of all the eucalyptus trees in the place show the dismal
+results of the frost.
+
+This forenoon the day darkened, and a very severe thunderstorm broke. So
+dark was it at lunch that candles had to be lighted in haste, and even now
+(4 P.M.) I can barely see to write.
+
+_Thursday, March_ 30.--Monday was showery, and Tuesday decidedly wet; but,
+in spite of the hospitable blandishments of our kind hosts, we were most
+anxious to get on, as, having arranged with the Smithsons to go into the
+Astor district to shoot, it was most important to reach Srinagar before
+the first of April--the day upon which the shooting passes were to be
+issued to sportsmen in rotation of application. Knowing that only ten
+passes were to be given for Astor, and that several men were ahead of me,
+I felt that we were running it somewhat fine to leave only three days for
+the journey.
+
+General Woon, who knew Kashmir well, did his very best to dissuade us from
+attempting the passes into Astor, reading to us gloomy extracts from his
+journal, and pointing out that it was no fit country for a lady in early
+spring.
+
+He did much to shake our enthusiasm, but still I felt we must do our best
+to "keep tryst" with the Smithsons. So, on Tuesday, we sent on the heavy
+luggage in two ekkas which Sabz Ali had procured, the two others being
+only hired from Hassan Abdal to Abbotabad.
+
+Sabz Ali had pointed out that, although he himself was a wonderful man,
+and could do almost, if not quite, everything, a second servant would be
+greatly to our (and his) advantage. So, acting on my permission, he
+engaged one Ayata--a gentle person of a sheep-like disposition, who did
+everything he was told, and nothing that he was told not to, during our
+sojourn in Kashmir.
+
+
+[1] Robertson's _India_, Appendix.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ABBOTABAD TO SRINAGAR
+
+Dismal tidings came in of floods and storms on the Hassan Abdal road. The
+river had swollen, and both men and beasts had been swept away while
+trying to cross. Undeterred, however, by such news, even when backed by
+warnings and persuasions from our friends, we set forth in the rain
+yesterday morning. The prospect was not cheerful--a grey veil of cloud lay
+over all the surrounding hills, here and there deepening into dark and
+angry thunder-clouds. The road was desperately heavy, but the General had
+most kindly sent on a pair of mules ahead, and, with another pair in the
+shafts, our own nags took a holiday as far as Manserah.
+
+The weather grew worse. It rained very heavily and thundered with great
+vigour, and as we straggled up the deeply-muddied slope to the dak
+bungalow at Manserah we felt somewhat low; but we did not in the least
+realise what was before us!
+
+Our road had lain through fairly level plains, with low cuttings here and
+there, where the saturated soil was already beginning to give way and fall
+upon the road in untidy heaps; but this did not foreshadow what might
+occur later.
+
+At Manserah we met Hill and Hunt, two young gunners, _en route_ for Astor.
+They left in a tonga soon after we arrived, and we did not expect to see
+their speedier outfit again.
+
+Being pressed for time, we only had a cup of cocoa, and then hastened on
+our dismal career.
+
+The road grew steeper, winding over some low hills, but we could not see
+very much, as the whirling cloud masses blotted out all the view.
+By-and-by it bent towards a pine-clad hill, and began to ascend steeply.
+By this time we were very wet, as we had to walk up the hills to ease the
+horses. The scene was extraordinary, as the great thunder-clouds boiled up
+and over us--tawny yellow, and even orange in the lights, and dull and
+solid lead colour in the depths. The distance was invisible, but gleams
+now and again revealed, through the drifts of rain, wide stretches of
+cultivated land lying below us, and a ragged forest of pines piercing the
+mist above.
+
+Dripping, we walked by our wet horses up to the top of the pass, hoping
+for a swift and easy descent on the farther side to Ghari Habibullah,
+where we intended to sleep, as we had given up all idea of being able to
+get on to Domel.
+
+Presently the horses were pulled up sharply as a ton or two of rock and
+earth came crashing upon the road in front of us.
+
+More fallen masses encumbering the way farther on made us feel rather
+anxious, until, on rounding a corner, we found the whole road barred by a
+huge mass of rock and soil.
+
+It was blowing hard, the stormy wind striking chill and bleak through the
+bending pines; it was raining in torrents; it was 5 P.M., and we were
+still some six miles from the haven where we would be; so, after a short
+and utterly ineffectual attempt to get the carriage past the obstacle,
+Jane and I set off to walk down the hill and seek help.
+
+It was exciting, as we had to dodge the rock-falls and run past the
+shaky-looking places! At a turn of the road we came upon the gunners'
+tonga, embedded in a mud-slide. The occupants had had an escape from total
+wreck, as one of the ponies had swerved over the khud, but the other saved
+the situation by lying down in the mud! Hunt had gone off into the
+landscape to try for a village and help, while Hill remained to wrestle
+with the tonga, which, however, remained obstinately immovable. We could
+do nothing to mend matters, so we fled on, meeting Hunt, with a few
+natives and a shovel, on his way back to the scene of action.
+
+After an hour and a half of very anxious work, we emerged at dusk from the
+wood, hoping our troubles were over. We could dimly see, and hear, through
+the mist a stream below us; but, alas! no bridge was visible. I
+commandeered a man from the first hut we came to, and tried by signs to
+make him understand that he was to carry the lady across the river; but,
+luckily, just as we reached the bank of what was a very nasty-looking
+stream in full spate, the liberated tonga overtook us, and Jane was
+bundled into it, while we three men waded. The stream was strong and up to
+our knees, and level with the tonga floor, and the horses getting
+frightened began to jib. Hill seized one by the head, and Jane was safely
+drawn to shore and sent on her way under guidance of the driver, while we
+tramped on in the dark until a second torrent barred our way. Here, in the
+gloom, we made out the tonga empty, and stuck fast against the far bank.
+It was all right though, for Jane had crawled out at the front and
+wandered on in search of the dak bungalow, leaving the driver squatting
+helplessly beside the water.
+
+It was so dark that she missed the bungalow, which stands a little above
+the road, and struggled on till she came to a small cluster of native huts.
+One of the inhabitants, on being boldly accosted, was good enough to point
+out the way, and so the re-united party--tired, wet, and with no prospect
+of dry clothing--took possession of the cheerless-looking dak bungalow.
+Things now began to improve. To our joy we found our ekkas with their
+contents drawn up in the yard. And while a fire was being encouraged into
+a blaze, and the lean fowl was being captured and slain on the back
+premises, we obtained dry garments--of sorts--from the baggage.
+
+Madame's dinner costume consisted of a blue flannel garment--nocturnal by
+design--delicately covered by a quilted dressing-gown, and the rest of us
+were _en suite_, a great lack of detail as to collars and foot-wear being
+apparent! Nevertheless, the fire blazed royally, and we ate up all the old
+hen and called for more, and prepared to make a night of it until, about
+ten o'clock, our bearer Sabz Ali appeared, with a train of coolies carrying
+our bedding and the other contents of the derelict carriage.
+
+This morning the two young gunners departed on foot, leaving their tonga,
+as the road to Domel is reported to be quite impassable. They intend to
+walk by a short cut over the hills, and get on as best they may, the race
+for Astor being a keen one.
+
+We decided to remain here, the weather being still gloomy and unsettled,
+and the road being impossible for a lady.
+
+At noon the landau was brought in, minus a step and very dirty, but
+otherwise "unwounded from the dreadful close."
+
+Ghari Habibullah is not at all a cheerful spot, as it appears, the centre
+of a grey haze, with dense mist low down on the surrounding mountains.
+Sabz Ali, too, complains of fever, which is not surprising after the
+wetting and exposure of yesterday; and when a native gets "fever" he curls
+up and is fit for nothing, and won't try.
+
+The dak bungalow stands on a little plateau overlooking the road and a
+swift river, whose tawny waves were loaded with mud washed from the hills
+by recent storms. On a slope opposite, the queer, flat-roofed native
+village perched, and above it swirled a misty pall which hid all but the
+bases of the hills. To this village we strolled, but it was not
+interesting; the inhabitants did not seem wildly friendly, and the mud and
+dirt and dogs were discouraging. So we roamed along the Domel road till we
+came to a high cliff of conglomerate, which had recently been shedding
+boulders over the track to an alarming extent; so, deciding that it would
+be merely silly to risk getting our heads cracked, we turned back, and,
+re-crossing the river, clambered up a steep path above the right bank. Here
+we soon found great rents and rifts where falling rocks had come bounding
+down the steeps from above, so once more we turned tail, and, giving up
+the idea of any more country walks in that region, betook ourselves to the
+gloomy and chilly bungalow. The only really delightful things we saw
+during our doleful excursion were a lovely clump of big, rose-coloured
+primula, drooping from the clefts of a steep rock, and a pair of large and
+handsome kingfishers,[1] pursuing their graceful avocations by a roadside
+pool--their white breasts, ruddy flanks, and gleaming blue backs giving a
+welcome note of colour to the sedate and misty grey of the landscape.
+
+_Tuesday, April_ 4.--Thirty-six hours of Ghari Habibullah give ample time
+for the loneliest recluse to pant for the bustle of a livelier world. We
+were so bored on Thursday that we determined to push on, _coute que coute_,
+on Friday morning, although a note sent back by one of the gunners from
+Domel, by a coolie, informed us that the road about a mile short of that
+place was completely blocked by a fallen mass of some hundreds of tons.
+
+Our henchman having somewhat recovered of his fever, thanks to a generous
+exhibition of quinine, we gave the order to pack and start, hoping to
+achieve the twelve miles which separated us from Domel, even though the
+last bit had to be done on foot. About two miles from Ghari Habibullah we
+came to the Kashmir custom-house, presided over by a polite gentleman,
+whose brilliant purple beard was a joy to look upon.
+
+Most of the elderly natives dye their beards with, I think, henna,
+producing a fine orange effect, but purple...!
+
+  _Bottom_. What beard were I best to play it in?
+
+  _Quince_. Why, what you will.
+
+  _Bottom_. I will discharge it in either your straw-coloured beard, your
+  orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain beard, or your
+  French-crown-colour beard, your perfect yellow
+
+_Midsummer Night's Dream_,
+
+Act I. Sc. 2.
+
+  "What _coloured beard_ comes next by the window?"
+
+  "A black man's, I think."
+
+  "I think a _red_: for that is most in fashion."
+
+RAM ALLY.
+
+Truly, until I beheld that tax-gatherer of the Orient, I had no idea that
+the "purple-in-grain" beard existed outside a poet's fancy!
+
+The road took us along the left bank of the river, whose soil-stained
+waters churned their way through a wild and rocky gorge. On our left the
+mountain rose bare and steep, fringed with a few straggling bushes, and
+here and there a clinging patch of rose-coloured primula. Part of the
+conglomerate cliff had come down and obliterated the road, but a party of
+coolies was busily at work, and, after about an hour's delay, we
+triumphantly bumped our way past.
+
+The road now led steadily upward, leaving an ever-increasing slope (or
+khud) between it and the river, until it attained a height of over a
+thousand feet, when, turning to the left, it swung over the watershed, and
+began to descend into the valley of the Kishenganga. Through the haze we
+could make out Domel, our goal, lying far below, and then the old Sikh
+fort of Musafferabad.
+
+The road was so encumbered with rock-falls that we walked the greater part
+of it, until we came to the new bridge over the Kishenganga, whose dark
+red waters rush into the Jhelum about a mile below.
+
+Here was Musafferabad, the whole place a confused jumble of wheeled
+traffic caught up by the big landslip in front. Passing, amid the chatter
+and clamour of men and beasts, through the medley of bullock-carts and
+ekkas that crowded every available space, we hauled the carriage through
+the bed of a watercourse whose bridge was broken. Up over the prostrate
+trunk of a fallen tree we regained the road, to find ourselves in front of
+the big landslip of which we had been warned. It consisted of some
+thousands of tons of dark red mud and loose boulders, and it blocked the
+road for fully a couple of hundred yards.
+
+A large and energetic swarm of coolies was busily engaged in "tidying up."
+This was apparently to be achieved by means of shovels, each little shovel
+worked by two men--one to shovel, and the other to assist in raising it
+when full by means of a little rope round the head. This labour had to be
+lubricated by much conversation.
+
+It seemed upon the whole unlikely that a path could be made for a
+considerable time, so we lunched peacefully in the carriage, a pair of
+extremely friendly crows assisting at the feast, and then, leaving our
+landau to follow as best it might, we walked into Domel, crossing the
+Jhelum by a fine bridge.
+
+The dak bungalow, prettily placed in a clump of trees, seemed the abode of
+luxury to us after the discomfort of Ghari Habibullah, and we fondly hoped
+that, being now upon the main road which runs from Rawal Pindi to Srinagar,
+our troubles were over.
+
+Saturday was the 1st of April, the day upon which I should have applied
+for my pass for Astor. Wiring to Srinagar to explain that I was in Kashmir
+territory (which I subsequently found was enough to entitle me to a pass),
+and also to Smithson to say that we were making the best of our way to
+join him, we "took the road" after breakfast.
+
+The carriage and the two ekkas had come in early, having been unloaded and
+then carried bodily over the "slide."
+
+A broad and smooth road, whose gentle gradient of ascent was merely
+sufficient to keep us level with the river bank, opened up an alluring
+prospect of ease and comfort. We lay back on our comfortable cushions and
+watched the clouds as they swept over the mountains, hiding all but
+occasional glimpses of snow-streaked slopes and steep and barren ridges.
+
+The valley of the Jhelum between Domel and Ghari is not beautiful--merely
+wide and desolate, with steep hills rising from the river, their lower
+slopes sparsely clad with leafless scrub, their shoulders merging into the
+dull mist which hangs around their invisible summits.
+
+Alas! it soon became apparent that our troubles were not over. The cliffs
+above us became steeper, and the familiar boulder reappeared upon the road.
+Small landslips gave us a good deal of trouble, although we had no serious
+difficulty before reaching Ghari. Here we were told that a complete
+"solution of continuity" in the road at Mile 46 would prevent our reaching
+Chakhoti, so we reluctantly decided to remain where we were for the night.
+Although a cold and dull spring afternoon is not exciting at Ghari, where
+distractions are decidedly scanty, we found interest in the discovery of
+the Smithsons' heavy luggage, which had been sent on from Rawal Pindi ages
+ago. Here it lay in the peaceful backwater of a native caravansary, piled
+high on a bullock-cart, whose placid team lay near pensively chewing the
+"cud of sweet and bitter fancy," and apparently quite innocent of any
+intention of moving for a week or two!
+
+We extracted the charioteers from a neighbouring hut, and gave them to
+understand, by means of Sabz Ali, that hanging was the least annoyance
+they would suffer if they didn't get under way "ek dam" at once. They
+promptly promised that their oxen--like Pegasus--should fly on the wings
+of the wind, and, having seen us safely round a corner, departed
+peacefully to eat another lotus.
+
+The luggage arrived in Srinagar towards the end of the month.
+
+Sunday morning saw us again battling with a perfect coruscation of
+landslips; so "jumpy" was it in many places that we sat with the carriage
+doors ajar, in hopes that a timely dart out might enable us to evade a
+falling rock. At Mile 46 we were held up for an hour until a ramp was made
+over a bad slide, and the carriage and ekkas were unloaded and got across.
+The landau looked for all the world like a great dead beetle surrounded by
+ants, as, man-handled by a swarm of coolies, it was hauled, step by step,
+over the improvised track. A landau is not at all a suitable or convenient
+carriage for this sort of work, and had we guessed what was before us we
+should most certainly have employed the handier tonga.
+
+The road to-day, cut as it was out of the steep flank of the mountain, was
+magnificent, but, in its present condition, nerve-shattering. Fallen
+boulders and innumerable mud-slides constantly forced us to get out and
+walk, while the sturdy little horses tugged the carriage through places
+where the near wheels were frequently within a few inches of the broken
+edge of the road, while far below Jhelum roared hungrily as he foamed by
+the foot of a sheer precipice.
+
+Reaching Chakhoti about four o'clock, we decided to remain there for the
+night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and
+threatening. Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one
+miles, there was no suitable place for a night's halt until Uri, distant
+some thirteen miles and all uphill.
+
+About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the Jhelum,
+and after tea we set forth to inspect it.
+
+The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I confess
+the means of crossing it, although practised with perfect confidence by
+the natives, did not appeal to me.
+
+From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong ropes
+were stretched--the upper two parallel, and the third, about four feet
+lower, was equidistant from each.
+
+These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
+stretchers--something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
+few yards--
+
+  "And up and down the people go,"
+
+stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper ones
+with their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised
+European to be where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the
+traveller to within a painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry
+water, before he began to slither circumspectly up the farther slope!
+
+We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro,
+passing one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm, and
+carrying loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with the
+utmost unconcern.
+
+We left Chakhoti early this morning--Tuesday--with the intention of
+getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely bad,
+and the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags. Of
+course they have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have been
+limited to very short stages, and they are in excellent hard condition, so
+that we felt it no great hardship to ask them to do forty-two miles:
+albeit to drag a heavy landau containing five people and a good deal of
+luggage for that distance, with a rise of over 2000 feet, is a heavy
+demand upon a single pair of horses!
+
+The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri stands
+on a plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir valley.
+
+The ruins of an ancient fort rose on the near edge of the little plain.
+The Jhelum tore through a rocky gorge far below, and a dark semi-circle of
+mountains stood steeply up, their cloud-hidden summits giving fleeting
+glimpses of snow and precipice and pine-clad corries as the sun now and
+again shot through the clinging vapours.
+
+The dak bungalow of Uri, white and clean, was most attractive, and I
+should imagine the place to be charming in summer, but as yet the short
+crisp turf is still brown from recent snow, and although hot in the sun,
+which now began to shine steadily, it was extremely cold in the shade,
+while lunch (or should I say "tiffin"?) was being got ready. I strolled
+over to the post-office to find--as usual--another urgent wire from
+Smithson several days old, beseeching me to secure my pass for Astor at
+once. Directly after lunch we set forward, and as the road on leaving Uri
+takes a long bend of some miles to the right to a point where the Haji Pir
+River is crossed, and then sweeps back along its right hank to a spot
+almost opposite the dak bungalow, we thought that a short cut down to the
+water, which from our height seemed quite insignificant, and thence up to
+the road on the other side, would be a desirable stroll. As we walked down
+the steep path into the nullah a brace of red-legged partridges (chikor)
+rose in a great fuss, and sailed gaily across the river, whose roaring
+gained ominously in volume as we drew near. It soon became plain to us
+that everything is on a very big scale in this country, and that the
+clearness of the atmosphere helps to delude the unwary stranger. The
+little stream that seemed to require but an occasional stepping-stone to
+enable us to pass over dry-shod, proved in the first place to be much
+farther off than we had supposed, and when, after a hot scramble, we found
+ourselves on the bank, the stepping-stones were no more, but only here and
+there we saw the shoulders of huge rocks which doggedly threw aside the
+flying foam of a fair-sized river. It was obviously impossible to cross
+except by deep wading, but, being unwilling to own defeat, I yelled to a
+brown native on the far bank, and made signs that he should come and do
+beast of burthen. He, however, stolidly shook his head, pointed to the
+water, and then to his chest, and finally we sadly and wrathfully toiled
+back to the road we had so lightly left, and expended all our energies on
+attracting the notice of the carriage, which, having crossed the bridge,
+was crawling along the opposite face of the nullah, and when, after a hot
+three miles, we once more embedded ourselves amongst the cushions with a
+sigh of relief, we swore off short cuts for the future.
+
+We had been warned at Uri that there was a "bad place" at Mile 73, and
+sure enough, on rounding a bend, we came upon the familiar mass of
+semi-liquid red earth and a pile of boulders heaped across the road, the
+khud side of which had entirely given way. The usual crowd of coolies was
+busily engaged in trying to clear the obstruction by means of toothpicks
+and teaspoons.
+
+We quitted the carriage with a celerity engendered of much practice, and,
+having crossed the obstacle on foot, sat down to await the coming of our
+conveyance.
+
+It seemed perfectly marvellous that the heavy vehicle could be safely got
+over a jagged avalanche of earth and rock piled some eight or ten feet
+above the roadway, and having an almost sheer drop to the river entirely
+unguarded for some hundred yards, where the retaining parapet and even
+some of the road itself had gone.
+
+Amid much apparent confusion and tremendous chattering, a sort of rough
+ramp was engineered up the slip, and presently the horseless landau
+appeared borne in triumph by a mob of coolies superintended by our
+priceless Sabz Ali.
+
+For a minute we held our breath as one of the near wheels lipped the edge
+of the chasm, but the thing was judged to an inch, and in due time the
+sturdy chestnuts, the two ekkas, and all the luggage were assembled on the
+right side of what proved to be the last of the really bad slips.
+
+The road engineer, who arrived in great state on a motor cycle while we
+were executing the portage, told us that there were no more difficulties,
+but an officer who was going out, and whose tonga was checked also at the
+big slip, informed us that about a mile farther were two great boulders on
+the road, lying so that although a short vehicle such as a tonga or motor
+cycle could wriggle round, yet a long four-wheeled landau could not
+possibly execute the serpentine curve required.
+
+We therefore requisitioned a few coolies with crowbars, and set forward to
+attack the boulders. Sure enough there were two beauties, placed so that
+we could not possibly get by, until a large slice was chipped from the
+inner side of each.
+
+This done, our most excellent and skilful driver piloted his ponies
+through the narrow strait, and we felt that, at last, our troubles were
+over, and that we could breathe freely and admire at leisure the snowy
+peaks of the Kaj-nag beyond the Jhelum, and the rough wooded heights that
+frowned upon our right.
+
+I confess the relief was great, as we had endured six days of incessant
+strain on our nerves, never knowing when a turn of the road might bring us
+to an impassable break, or when the conglomerate cliffs beetling above
+might shed a boulder or two upon us!
+
+Passing the somewhat uninviting little village of Rampur, we crossed a
+torrent pouring out of a dark pine-clad gorge, and halted for tea by the
+curious ruined temple of Bhanyar. The building consists of a rectangular
+wall, cloistered on two sides of the interior and surrounding a small
+temple approached by a dilapidated flight of stone steps. I regret to be
+obliged to own that I know but a mere smattering of architecture. I do not
+feel competent therefore to discuss this, the first Kashmiri temple I have
+seen, upon its architectural merits. I only know that it struck me as
+being extremely small, and principally interesting from its magnificent
+background of shaggy forest and snow-capped mountain.
+
+Tea on a short smooth sward, starred with yellow colchicum, while the
+carriage, travel-stained and with one step lacking, stood on the road hard
+by, and the horses nibbled invigorating lumps of "gram" and molasses. Then
+the etna was returned to the "allo bagh" (yellow bag) and the tea things
+to the tiffin basket, and away we went along the now smooth and level road
+with only fifteen easy miles between us and Baramula.
+
+The vegetation had gradually grown much richer. The sparse and
+storm-buffeted pines and the rough scrub merged into a tangled mass of
+undergrowth and forest, where silver firs and deodars rose conspicuous.
+The little streams that rushed down the hillsides were fringed with
+maidenhair fern, lighted up here and there with a bunch of pink primula or
+a tiny cluster of dog violets.
+
+Jhelum had ceased from roaring, pursuing his placid path unwitting of the
+rush and fury that would befall him lower down, and by-and-by we emerged
+from the dark and forest-covered gorge into a wide basin where the river,
+now smooth and oily, reflected tall poplars and the red shoots of young
+dogwood.
+
+Through a village, round a sweep to the left, over a tract said to be much
+frequented by serpents, and then in the deepening and chilly dusk we made
+out Baramula, lying engirdled by a belt of poplars about a mile away.
+
+Glad were we, and probably gladder still our weary horses, to draw up
+before the uninviting-looking dak bungalow, knowing that only thirty-five
+miles of level and open road lay now between us and Srinagar.
+
+The dak bungalow of Baramula is, upon the whole, the worst we have yet
+sampled. No fire seemed able to impart any cheerfulness to the gloomy den
+we were shown into, and the dinner finally produced by the
+khansamah-kitmaghar-chowkidar (for a single tawny-bearded ruffian
+represented all these functionaries when the morning tip fell due) was not
+of an exhilarating nature. Strolling out to have a look at the town of
+Baramula, I shivered to see a heap of snow piled up against the wall. It
+snowed here, heavily, three days ago, I am told.
+
+We have not been, so far, altogether lucky in the weather. Bitter cold in
+Europe, cold at Port Said and Suez, chilly in the Red Sea, and wet at Aden!
+Distinctly chilly in India, excepting during the day; we seem to have hit
+off the most backward spring known here for many years. The Murree route,
+which was closed to us by snow, should have been clear a month earlier,
+and spring here seems not yet to have begun.
+
+_April_ 5.--We crept shivering to our beds last night, to be awakened at 6
+A.M. by an earthquake!
+
+I had just realised what the untoward commotion meant when I heard Jane
+from under her "resai" ask, "What _is_ the matter--is it an earthquake?"
+Almost before I could reply, she was up and away, in a fearful hurry and
+very little else, towards the open country.
+
+I followed, but finding hoar-frost on the ground and a nipping eagerness
+in the air, I went back for a "resai." The feeling was that of going into
+one's cabin in a breeze of wind, and the door was flapping about. Seizing
+the wrap in some haste, as I was afraid of the door jamming, I rejoined
+Jane in the open, to watch the poplars swaying like drunken men and the
+solid earth bulging unpleasantly. The shock lasted for three minutes, and
+when it seemed quite over we retired to our beds to try to get warm again.
+
+The morning at breakfast-time was perfectly beautiful. Baramula lay
+serenely mirrored in the silver waters of the Jhelum, its picturesque
+brown wooden houses clustering on both banks, and joining hands by means
+of a long brown wooden bridge. No signs of any unusual disturbance could
+be seen among the chattering crews of the snaky little boats and
+deep-laden "doungas" that lined the banks or furrowed the waters of the
+shining river.
+
+We left Baramula in high spirits to accomplish the five-and-thirty miles
+which still stretched between us and Srinagar. The scenery was quite
+different from anything we had yet known, for now we were in the broad
+flat valley of Kashmir, which stretches for some eighty miles from beyond
+Islamabad, on the N.E., to Baramula, planted at the neck where the Jhelum
+River, after spreading itself abroad through the fertile plain,
+concentrates to pour its many waters through the mountain barrier until it
+joins the Indus far away in Sind.
+
+A broad and level road stretched straight and white between a double row
+of stark poplars, reminding one of the poplar-guarded ways of Picardy;
+also (as in France) not only were the miles marked, but also the
+thirty-two subdivisions thereof. On the right hand the ground sloped
+slowly up in a succession of wooded heights, the foothills of the Pir
+Panjal, whose snow-crowned peaks enclose the Kashmir valley on the south.
+Opposite, through a maze of leafless trees, one caught occasional gleams
+of water where the winding reaches of the river flowed gently from the
+turquoise haze where lay the Wular Lake, and beyond--clear and pale in
+the clear, crisp air--shone a glorious range of snow mountains, stretching
+away past where we knew Srinagar must lie, to be lost in the distant haze
+where sky and mountain merged in the north-east.
+
+By the roadside we passed many small lakes, or "jheels," full of duck, but
+as there was never any cover by the sides I could not see how the duck
+were to be approached.
+
+We lunched at the fascinating little bungalow at Patan (pronounced
+"Puttun"), about half-way between Baramula and Srinagar. The Rest House
+stands back from an apparently extremely populous and thriving village,
+the inhabitants whereof were all engaged in conversation of a highly
+animated kind! In the compound stood a fine group of chenar trees
+(_Platanus orientalis_) whose noble trunks and graceful branches showed in
+striking contrast to the slender stems of the poplars. The guide-book
+informed us that an ancient temple lay in ruins near by, but we trusted to
+a later visit and determined to push on. By-and-by a fort-crowned hill
+rose above the tree-tops. This we took to be Hari Parbat, the ancient
+citadel of Srinagar, and presently, through the poplars and the willows
+queer wooden huts or chalets began to appear, and the increasing number of
+men and beasts upon the road showed the proximity of the city.
+
+Ekkas, white-hooded, with jingling bells hung round the scraggy necks of
+their lean ponies; brown men clad in sort of night-shirts composed of
+mud-coloured rags; brown dogs, humpy cattle, and children innumerable,
+swarmed upon the causeway in ever-increasing density until we drew up at
+the custom-house, and the usual jabber took place among Sabz Ali, the
+driver, and the officials.
+
+All appeared satisfactory, however, and we were presented with bits of
+brown paper scrawled over with hieroglyphics which we took to be passes,
+and drove on, leaving the native town apparently on our left and making a
+detour through level fields and between rows of poplars, until we swung
+round and crossed the river by a fine bridge. Here we first got some idea
+of the city of Srinagar, which lay spread around us, bisected by the broad,
+but apparently far from sluggish river, which seems here to be about the
+width of the Thames at Westminster at high water.
+
+Tier upon tier, the rickety wooden houses crowded either bank, the
+prevailing brown being oddly lighted up by the roofs, which were
+frequently covered with deep green turf. Here and there the steep and
+peculiar dome of a Hindu temple flashed like polished silver in the keen
+sunlight, while around and beyond all rose the ring of the everlasting
+hills, their peaks clear, yet soft, against a background of cloudless blue.
+
+Close below us stood a remarkably picturesque pile of buildings, of a
+mixed style of architecture, yet harmonising well enough as a whole with
+its surroundings. Over it flew a great "banner with a strange device," and
+we assumed (and rightly) that we looked upon the palace of His Highness
+Sir Pratab Singh, Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir.
+
+Crossing the river, we dived into a bit of the native town, and were much
+struck by the want of colour as compared with an Indian street. Everything
+seemed steeped in the same neutral brown--houses, boats, people, and dogs!
+Emerging from the native street, with its open shop-fronts and teeming
+life, we drove for some little way along a straight level road, flanked,
+as usual, on either side by poplars of great size which ran through a
+brown, flat field, showing traces of recent snow, and finally finished our
+two-hundred-mile drive in front of the one and only hotel in all Kashmir.
+
+Our two little chestnuts, which had brought us right through from Chakhoti
+to Srinagar--a distance of about seventy-eight miles--in two days, were as
+lively and fit as possible, and playfully nibbled at each other's noses as
+they were walked off to their well-earned rest.
+
+The ekka horses, too, had brought our heavy luggage all the way from
+Abbotabad over a shocking road in the most admirable manner, and we had
+every reason to congratulate ourselves on having entrusted the arrangement
+of the whole business--the "bandobast" in native parlance--to our henchman
+Sabz Ali, who had thus proved himself an energetic and trustworthy
+organiser, and saving financier to the extent of some twenty rupees.
+
+I may emphasise here the importance of keeping one's heavy baggage in
+sight, herding on the ekkas in front, if possible, and keeping a wary eye
+and a firm hand on the drivers at all halts. The Smithsons, who had sent
+on their gear from Rawal Pindi some days before we got there, did not
+receive it in Srinagar until the 22nd of April. It took about five weeks
+to do the journey, and the rifle which I was obliged to leave in Karachi
+on the 19th of March finally turned up in Srinagar, after an infuriating
+and vain expenditure of telegrams, on the 1st of May!
+
+Of course, part of the delay was due, and all was attributed, to the
+unusually bad state of the roads. The heavy storms and floods which, by
+wrecking the road, had delayed us so much, naturally checked the heavy
+transport still more; and severe congestion of bullock-carts resulted at
+all the halting-places along the route. Still, the main cause of delay
+lies in the fact that the monopoly of transport has been granted by the
+Maharajah to one Danjibhoy, who charges what he pleases, and takes such
+time over his arrangements as suits his Oriental mind.
+
+The motto over the Transport Office door might well be "_Ohne Hast--mit
+Rast_!"
+
+The other (much-cherished) monopoly in this favoured land is that enjoyed
+by Mr. Nedou, the owner of THE HOTEL in Kashmir.
+
+We were advised when at Lahore to approach Mr. Nedou (who winters in his
+branch there) with many salaams and much "kow-towing," in order to make a
+certainty of being received into his select circle in Kashmir. The great
+man was quite kind, and promised that he would do his best for us; and he
+was as good as his word, as we were immediately welcomed and permitted to
+add two to the four persons already inhabiting the hostelry. I confess
+that, even after a dak bungalow of the most inferior quality--such as that
+at Ghari Habibullah or Baramula--Mr. Nedou's hotel fails to impress one
+with an undue sense of luxury. In fact, it presented an even desolate and
+forlorn appearance with its gloomy and chilly passages and cheerless
+bed-vaults.
+
+
+[1] _N. Smyrnensis_ (?).
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SRINAGAR
+
+We learnt that the earthquake of this morning was far more than the
+ordinary affair that we had taken it to be. The hotel showed signs of a
+struggle for existence. Large cracks in the plaster, spanned by strips of
+paper gummed across to show if they widened, and little heaps of crumbled
+mortar on the floors, betrayed that the grip of mother earth had been no
+feeble one.
+
+Telegrams from Lahore inquired if the rumour was true that Srinagar had
+been much damaged, and reported an awful destruction and loss of life at
+Dharmsala. I think if we had fully known what an earthquake really meant,
+we should not have so calmly gone back to bed again!
+
+The advent of Mrs. Smithson upon the scene relieved a certain anxiety which
+we had felt as to immediate plans. The idea of rushing into Astor had been
+given up, we found--not so much on account of our tardy arrival, permits
+being still obtainable, but on account of the impossibility--at any rate
+for ladies--of forcing the high passes which the late season has kept
+safely sealed.
+
+Walter, having pawed the ground in feverish impatience for some days, had
+gone off into a region said to be full of bara singh; so we decided to
+possess our souls in patience for a little time, and remain quietly in
+Srinagar. Accordingly, instead of unpacking our "detonating musquetoons,"
+we exhumed our evening clothes, and began life in Srinagar with a cheerful
+dinner at the Residency.
+
+_Friday, April 7th_.--We are evidently somewhat premature here as far as
+climate goes. The weather since our arrival has become cold and grey, and
+we have seemed on the verge of another snowfall. However, the clerk of the
+weather has refrained from such an insult, contenting himself with sending
+a breeze down upon us fresh from the "Roof of the World," and laden with
+the chilly moisture of the snows. We have consumed great quantities of
+wood, vainly endeavouring to warm up the den which Mr. Nedou has let to us
+as a sitting-room. Fires are not the fashion in the public rooms--probably
+because the only "public" besides ourselves consist of one or two
+enterprising sportsmen, who doubtless are acclimatising themselves to camp
+life amid the snows, and have implored the proprietor to save his fuel and
+keep the outer doors open.
+
+Yesterday, we went on a shopping excursion down the river, our "hansom"
+being a long narrow sort of canoe, propelled and dexterously steered by
+four or five paddlers, whose mode of _digging_ along by means of their
+heart-shaped blades reminded me not a little of the Kroo boys paddling a
+fish-canoe off Elmina on the Gold Coast.
+
+We embarked close to the back of the hotel, at the Chenar Bagh, and went
+gaily enough down the strong current of what we took to be an affluent of
+the Jhelum. As a matter of fact, the European quarter forms an island, low
+and perfectly flat, the banks of which are heaped into a high dyke or
+"bund," washed on one side (the south) by the main river, and on the other
+by the Sunt-i-kul Canal, down which we have been paddling.
+
+The river life was most fascinating--crowds of heavy doungas lay moored
+along the banks--their long, low bodies covered in by matting, and their
+extremities sloping up into long peaked platforms for the crew.
+These--many of them women and children--were all clothed in neutral-tinted
+gowns, the only bit of colour being an occasional note of red or white in
+the puggaree of the men or skull-cap of the children. The married women
+invariably wore whity-brown veils over the head. The wooden houses that
+lined the banks were all in the general low scheme of colour, but a
+peculiar charm was added by the roofs covered in thick, green turf.
+
+Srinagar has been called the "Venice of the East," and, inasmuch as
+waterways form the main thoroughfares in both, there is a certain
+resemblance. Shikaras (the Kashmiri canoes) are first-cousins to
+gondolas--rather poor relations perhaps; both are dingy and clumsy in
+appearance, and both are managed with an extraordinary dexterity by their
+navigators.
+
+Both cities are "smelly," though Venice, even at its worst, stands many
+degrees above the incredible filth of Srinagar.
+
+Finally--both cities are within sight of snowy ranges; although it seems
+hardly fair to place in comparison the majestic range that overhangs
+Srinagar and the somewhat distant and sketchy view of the Alps as seen
+from Venice.
+
+Here, I think, all resemblance ceases. The charm of Venice lies in its
+architecture, its art treasures, its historical memories, and its
+interesting people.
+
+Srinagar has no architecture in particular, being but a picturesque chaos
+of tumble-down wooden shanties. It has no history worth speaking of, and
+its inhabitants are--and apparently have always been--a poor lot.
+
+Shopping in Srinagar is not pure and unadulterated joy. Down the river,
+spanned by its seven bridges, amidst a network of foul-smelling alleys,
+you are dragged to the emporiums of the native merchants whose
+advertisements flare upon the river banks, and who, armed with cards, and
+possessed of a wonderful supply of the English language, swarm around the
+victim at every landing-place, and almost tear one another in pieces while
+striving to obtain your custom.
+
+Samad Shall, in a conspicuous hoarding, announces that he can--and
+will--supply you with anything you may desire, including money--for he
+proclaims himself to be a banker.
+
+Ganymede, in his own opinion, is the only wood-carver worth attention.
+
+Suffering Moses is the prince of workers in lacquer, according to his own
+showing.
+
+The nose of the boat grates up against the slimy step of the landing-place,
+and you plunge forthwith into Babel.
+
+"Will you come to my shop?"
+
+"No--you are going somewhere else."
+
+"After?"
+
+"Perhaps!"
+
+"To-day, master?"
+
+"No--no time to-day."
+
+"To-morrow, then--I got very naice kyriasity [curiosity]--to-morrow,
+master--what time?"
+
+"Oh! get out! and leave me alone."
+
+"I send boat for you--ten o'clock to-morrow?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Twelve o'clock?" &c. &c.
+
+After a short experience of Kashmiri pertinacity and business methods, you
+cease from politeness and curtly threaten the river.
+
+Certainly the Kashmiri are exceedingly clever and excellent workers in
+many ways. Their modern embroideries (the old shawl manufacture is totally
+extinct) are beautiful and artistic. Their wood-carving, almost always
+executed in rich brown walnut, is excellent; and their _old_ papier-mache
+lacquer is very good. The tendency, however, is unfortunately to abandon
+their own admirable designs, and assimilate or copy Western ideas as
+conveyed in very doubtful taste by English visitors.
+
+The embroidery has perhaps kept its individuality the best, although the
+trail of the serpent as revealed in "quaint" Liberty or South Kensington
+designs is sometimes only too apparent. Certain plants--Lotus, Iris,
+Chenar leaf, and so-called Dal Lake leaves, as well as various designs
+taken from the old Kashmir shawls, give scope to the nimble brains and
+fingers of the embroiderers, who, by-the-bye, are all male.
+
+Their colours, almost invariably obtained from native dyes, are excellent,
+and they rarely make a mistake in taste.
+
+The coarser work in wool on cushions, curtains, and thick white numdahs is
+most effective and cheap.
+
+Curiously enough, the best of these numdahs (which make capital rugs or
+bath blankets) are made in Yarkand; and Stein, in his _Sand-Buried Cities
+of Kotan_, found in ancient documents, of the third century or so, "the
+earliest mention of the felt-rugs or 'numdahs' so familiar to Anglo-Indian
+use, which to this day form a special product of Kotan home industry, and
+of which large consignments are annually exported to Ladak and Kashmir."
+
+The manufacture of carpets is receiving attention, and Messrs. Mitchell
+own a large carpet factory. Designs and colours are good, but the prices
+are not low enough to enable them to compete with the cheap Indian makes;
+nor, I make bold to say, is the quality such as to justify high prices.
+The shop of Mohamed Jan is well worth a visit, for three good
+reasons--first, because his Oriental carpets from Penjdeh and Khiva are of
+the best; second, because his house is one of the first specimens of a
+high-class native dwelling existing; and third, because he never worries
+his customers nor touts for orders--but, then, he is a Persian, and not a
+Kashmiri!
+
+The famous shawls which fetched such prices in England in early Victorian
+days are no longer valued, having suffered an eclipse similar to that
+undergone by the pictures of certain early Victorian Royal Academicians,
+and the loss of the shawl trade was a severe blow to Kashmir. With the
+exception of occasional specimens of these shawls, which, however, can be
+bought cheaper at sales in London, there are no _old_ embroideries to be
+got.
+
+The wood-carving industry, too, is quite modern; but, although of great
+excellence and ingenuity in manipulation, it does not appeal to me, being
+too florid and copious in its application of design. A restless confusion
+of dragons from Leh, lotus from the Dal Lake, and the ever-present chenar
+leaf, hobnob together with British--very British--crests and monograms on
+the tops of tables and the seats of chairs--portions of the furniture that
+should be left severely plain.
+
+British taste is usually bad, and to it, and not to Kashmiri initiative,
+must be ascribed the production of such exotic works as bellows
+embellished with chaste designs of lotus-buds, and afternoon tea-tables
+flaunting coats-of-arms (doubtless dating from the Conquest), beautifully
+carved in high relief just where the tray--the bottom of which is probably
+ornamented with a flowing design of raised flowers--should rest!
+
+The lacquered papier-mache work--often extremely pretty when left to its
+own proper Cabul pattern or other native design--aims too often at
+attracting the eye of the mighty hunter by introducing an inappropriate
+markhor's head. The old lacquer-work is difficult to get, and, when
+obtained, is high in price; but comparison between the old and the new
+shows the gulf that lies between the loving and skilful labour of the
+artist and the stupid and generally "scamped" achievement of him who
+merely "knocks off" candlesticks and tobacco-boxes by the score, to sell
+to the English visitor--papier-mache being superseded by wood, and lacquer
+by paint.
+
+The workers in silver, copper, and brass are many, but their productions
+are usually rough and inartistic. Genuine old beaten metal-work is almost
+unobtainable, although occasionally desirable specimens from Leh do find
+their way into the Srinagar shops.
+
+Chinese porcelain is to be got, usually in the form of small bowls; but it
+is not of remarkably good quality, and the prices asked for it are higher
+than in London.
+
+The jewellers' work is very far behind that of India. Amethysts of pale
+colour and yellow topaz are cheap. Fine turquoise do not come into Kashmir,
+but plenty of the rough stones (as well as imitations) are to be found,
+which, owing to a transitory fashion, are priced far above their intrinsic
+value. They come from Thibet.
+
+A great deal of a somewhat soft and ugly-coloured jade is sent from
+Yarkand, also agates and carnelian; beads of these are strung into rather
+uncouth necklets, which may be bought for half the sum first asked.
+
+Bargaining is an invariable necessity in all shopping in Kashmir, as
+everywhere else in the East, where the market value of an article is not
+what it costs to produce, but what can be squeezed for it out of the purse
+of the--usually--ignorant purchaser.
+
+Three things are essential to the successful prosecution of shopping in
+Srinagar:--
+
+(1) Unlimited time.
+
+(2) A command of emphatic language, sufficient to impress the native mind
+with the need for keeping to the point.
+
+(3) A liver in such thorough working order as to insure an extraordinary
+supply of good temper.
+
+Without all these attributes the acquisition of objects of "bigotry and
+vertue" in Srinagar is attended with pain and tribulation.
+
+The descent of the river is accomplished with ease and rapidity, but
+_revocare gradum_ involves much hard paddling, with many pants and grunts;
+and it was both cold and dark when we again lay alongside the bank of the
+Chenar Bagh, and scurried up the slippery bund to the hotel, with scarcely
+time to dress for dinner.
+
+_Sunday, 9th April_.--Friday was a horrible day--rainy, dull, and cold;
+but a thrill of excitement was sent through us by the news that Walter has
+shot two fine bara singh! Charlotte (who is nothing if not a keen
+sportswoman) was filled with zeal and the spirit of emulation, so we
+resolved to dash off down the river to Bandipur, join Walter--who has now
+presumably joined the ranks of the unemployed, being only permitted by the
+Game Laws to kill two stags--and take our pick of the remaining "Royals,"
+which, in our vivid imaginations, roamed in dense flocks through the
+nullahs beyond Bandipur!
+
+All Friday and yesterday, therefore, were devoted to preparation. I had
+already, through the kindness of Major Wigram, secured a shikari, who
+immediately demonstrated his zeal and efficiency by purchasing a couple of
+bloodthirsty knives and a huge bottle of Rangoon oil at my expense. I
+pointed out that one "skian-dhu" seemed to me sufficient for "gralloching"
+purposes, but he said two were better for bears. My acquaintance with
+bears being hitherto confined to Regent's Park, I bowed to his superior
+knowledge and forethought.
+
+A visit to Cockburn's agency resulted in the hire of the "boarded dounga"
+_Cruiser_, which the helpful Mr. Cockburn procured for us, in which to go
+down the river; also a couple of tents for ourselves with tent furniture,
+one for the servants, and a cooking tent.
+
+The local bootmaker or "chaplie-wallah" appeared, as by magic, on the
+scene, and chaplies were ordered. These consist of a sort of leather
+sandal strapped over soft leather boots or moccasins. They are extremely
+comfortable for walking on ordinary ground, but perfectly useless for hill
+work, even when the soles are studded with nails. The hideous but
+necessary grass shoe is then your only wear. The grass shoe, which is made
+as required by the native, is an intricate contrivance of rice straw, kept
+in position by a straw twist which is hauled taut between the big and next
+toe, and the end expended round some of the side webbing. The cleft sock
+and woollen boot worn underneath keep the feet warm, but do not always
+prevent discomfort and even much pain if the cords are not properly
+adjusted. However, the remedy is simple. Tear off the shoe, using such
+language as may seem appropriate to the occasion, throw it at the shikari's
+head, and order another pair to be made "ek dam"! Jane and I each
+purchased a yakdan, a sort of roughly-made leather box or trunk, strong,
+and of suitable size for either pony or coolie transport. Our wardrobe was
+stowed in these and secured by padlocks, and the cooking gear, together
+with a certain amount of stores in the shape of grocery, bread, and a
+couple of bottles of whisky were safely housed in a pair of large covered
+creels or "kiltas."
+
+Each of the party provided him or herself with a khudstick, consisting of
+a strong and tough shaft about five feet long, tapering slightly towards
+the base, where it is shod with a chisel-shaped iron end.
+
+Our staff of retainers had now been brought up to five--the shikari, Ahmed
+Bot, having procured a satellite, known as the chota shikari, a youth of
+not unprepossessing appearance, but whose necessity in our scheme of
+existence I had not quite determined. Ahmed Bot, however, was of opinion
+that all sahibs who wanted sport required two shikaris, so I imagined that
+while I was to be engaged with one in pursuit of bara singh, the other
+would employ himself in "rounding up" a few tigers for the next day's
+sport in another direction. Ahmed Bot agreed with me in the main, but did
+not feel at all sure about the tigers--he proposed ibex.
+
+The fifth wheel to our coach was a strikingly ugly person, like a
+hippopotamus, whose plainness was not diminished by a pair of enormous
+goggles; this was the harmless necessary sweeper, that pariah among
+domestics, whose usefulness is undreamed of out of India.
+
+After dinner last night we left the hotel, truly thankful to shake the
+dust of its gloomy precincts from our feet, and sought our boats, which
+were moored in the Chenar Bagh. How snug and bright the "ship" seemed
+after the murky corridors of Nedou! And yet the _Cruiser_ was not much to
+boast of, really, in the way of luxury.
+
+Let me describe a typical boarded dounga. Upon a long, low, flat-bottomed
+hull, which tapered to a sharp point at bow and stern, was raised a light
+wooden superstructure with a flat roof, upon which the passengers could
+sit. The interior was divided off into some half-a-dozen compartments, a
+vestibule or outer cabin held boxes, &c., and through it one passed into
+the dining or parlour cabin, which opened again to two little bedrooms and
+a couple of bathrooms. There was no furniture to speak of, but we had
+hired from Cockburn all that we required for the trip.
+
+The servants, as well as the crew of the dounga, were all stowed in a
+"tender" known as the cook boat--no one, except for navigating duties,
+having any business on board the "flagship."
+
+Charlotte Smithson had a smaller ship than ours--a light wooden frame,
+which supported movable matting screens or curtains, taking the place of
+our wooden cabins. The matted dounga looked as though it might be chilly,
+particularly if a strong wind came to play among the rather
+draughty-looking mats which were all that our poor friend had between her
+and a cold world!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+OUR FIRST CAMP
+
+The fleet, consisting of four sail (I use this word in its purely
+conventional sense, a dounga having no more sails than a battleship), got
+under way about 5 A.M., while it was yet but barely daylight, and so we
+were well clear of Srinagar when we emerged from our cosy cabins into a
+world of clean air and brilliant colour.
+
+The broad smooth current of the Jhelum flowed steadily and calmly through
+a level plain, bearing us along at a comfortable four miles an hour, the
+crew doing little more than keep steerage-way with pole and paddle.
+
+Beyond the green, tree-studded levels to the south, the range of the Pir
+Panjal spread wide its array of dazzling peaks, while on the right towered
+the mountains which enclose the Sind Valley, culminating in the
+square-headed mass of Haramok. In the clear air the snows seemed quite
+close, although we knew that the snow-line was really some three thousand
+feet above the level of the valley.
+
+A day like this, as we sit on the little roof of our floating home
+watching the silent river unfold its shining curves, goes far to
+obliterate the memory of the fuss and worry inseparable from the exodus
+from Srinagar. After lunch we tied up for a while, and I took my gun on
+shore to try and pick up a few of the duck that dotted the waters of the
+little lakes or jheels which lay flashing amid the hillocks beyond the
+river banks. The shores of these being perfectly bare and open, it was
+obviously impossible to escape the keenly observant eyes of the duck,
+which appeared, unlike all other birds in Kashmir, to retain their
+customary wariness.
+
+Crouching low amid the furrows of a newly-ploughed field, I sent the
+shikari with a knot of natives to the far side of the water, whence they
+advanced in open line, splashing and shouting.
+
+Presently, with much fuss and indignant quacking, a cloud of duck rose,
+and, circling after their fashion, as though reluctant to quit their
+resting-place, gave me several chances of a long shot before, working high
+into the air, they departed with loud expostulation to some quieter haunt.
+
+Later in the afternoon we tied up to the bank for the night near a large
+jheel, where we all landed, Charlotte to try a rifle which she had
+borrowed, and I, if possible, to slay a few more duck, while Jane sat
+peacefully on a bank and enjoyed the glorious sunset.
+
+The bag having been swelled by the addition of another dozen
+"specimens"--obtained by the same manoeuvres as before--we strolled back
+to our ships in the luminous dusk, visions of roast "canard" floating
+seductively before our mental vision.
+
+There proved to be several varieties of duck among the countless flocks
+which I saw, notably mallard, teal, pochard, and shoveller. Likewise there
+were many coots, while herons, disturbed in their meditations by the
+untoward racket, flapped heavily away with disgusted squawks.
+
+Jane is getting along remarkably well with her Hindustani. I have just
+found her diary, and hasten to give an extract:--
+
+"Woke up very early; much bitten by pice. Tom started off to try and shoot
+a burra sahib, as he hears and hopes they've not yet shed all their horns."
+
+"He really looked very nice in his new Pushtoo suit, with putty on his
+legs and chaplains on his feet.... His chickory walked in front, carrying
+his bandobast."
+
+"9 A.M.--Sat down to my solitary breakfast of poached ekkas and paysandu
+tonga, with excellent chuprassies (something like scones). After breakfast,
+tried on my new kilta, which I have had made quite short for walking. I
+generally prefer walking to being carried in a pagdandy."
+
+"Then took another lesson in Hindustani from my murghi, though I really
+think I hardly require it! My attention a good deal distracted by the
+antics of a pair of bul-buls (not at all the same as our coo-coos) in the
+jungle overhead."
+
+"7 P.M.--T. returned after what he called a blank blank day. He found some
+bheesties (one of them a chikor ram or wild ghat) chewing the khud on a
+precipitous dak."
+
+"They were rather far off, about a mile he thinks, but he couldn't get any
+nearer owing to a frightful ghari-wallah with deep piasses which lay
+between, so he put up his ornithoptic sight for 2000 yards and 'pumped
+lead' into the bheesties for half-an-hour."
+
+"He says he _thinks_ he hit one, but they all went away--as his chickory
+remarked--'ek dam,' and Tom agreed with him."
+
+"He fell into a budmash on his way home and was half-drowned, but the
+chickory, assisted by a friendly chota-hazri, managed to pull him out ...
+quite an eventful day!"
+
+"10 P.M.--The body of the ram chikor has just been brought in. It looks as
+if it had been dead for weeks, but the doolie, who found it, says that in
+this climate a few hours is sufficient to obliterate a body.... Anyhow the
+head and tail seem all right.... Tom says the proper thing to do is to
+measure something--he can't quite remember whether it is the horns or the
+tail, but the latter seems the more remarkable, so we measured that, and
+found it to be 3 feet 4 inches."
+
+"By a little judicious pulling, the chickory, who knows all about
+measuring things, elongated it to 4 feet 3 inches."
+
+"This, he says, is a '_Record_'--how nice!"
+
+_Wednesday, April 12._--The place where we tied up was not far from the
+point where the Jhelum expands into the Wular Lake--a broad expanse of
+water, some seven or eight miles wide in places, which holds the proud
+record of being the largest lake in all India.
+
+The mountains rise steeply from its northern shores, and from their narrow
+glens, squalls swift and strong are said frequently to sweep over the open
+water, particularly in the afternoons. The bold sailormen of Kashmir are
+not conspicuous for nautical daring--in fact their flat-bottomed arks,
+top-heavy and unwieldy, destitute alike of anchor and rudder, are not fit
+to cope with either wind or wave; they therefore aim at punting hurriedly
+across the danger space as soon after dawn as may be--panting with
+exertion and terror, they hustle across the smooth and waveless water,
+invoking at every breath the protection of local saints.
+
+Long before we had left our beds, and blissfully unconscious of our awful
+danger, we were striking out for Bandipur, which haven we safely reached
+about 8 A.M. on a still and glorious morning.
+
+Then came the business of collecting coolies and ponies, and loading them
+up with the tents and lesser baggage under the direction of Sabz Ali and
+the shikari.
+
+By nine o'clock we were off. Charlotte and Jane, mounted astride a brace
+of native ponies, led the way, and, in ragged array, the rest of the
+procession followed. A quarter of a mile from the landing-place, clustered
+at the foot of a steep little hill--a spur from the higher ranges--lies
+the village of Bandipur, dirty and picturesque, with, its rickety-looking
+wooden houses, and its crowded little bazaar. It is a place of some
+importance in Kashmir, being the starting-point for the Astor country and
+Gilgit--and here the sahib on shikar bent, obtains coolies and ponies to
+take him over the Tragbal Pass into Gurais. A post and telegraph office
+stands proudly in the middle of the little village, and behind it lies a
+range of "godowns" filled with stores for the use of a flying column
+should the British Raj require to send troops quickly along the Gilgit
+road.
+
+Passing through into the open country, we found ourselves on a good
+road--good, that is to say, for riding or marching, as no roads in Kashmir
+are adapted for wheeled traffic excepting the main artery from Baramula to
+Srinagar, and the greater portion of the route from Srinagar to Gulmarg.
+This road we followed up a gradually narrowing valley, and over a brawling
+little river, until at Kralpura the Gilgit road begins the steep ascent to
+the Tragbal by a series of wide zigzags up the face of a mountain. The
+pass which we should have had to tackle, had we carried out our original
+intention of going into Astor for markhor and ibex, is nearly 12,000 feet
+above sea level, and is still securely and implacably closed to all but
+the hardiest sportsmen. A short cut, which we took up the hill face, led
+us through a rough scrub of berberis and wild daphne (the former just
+showing green and the latter in flower) until, somewhat scant of breath,
+we regained the road, and followed it to the left up a gorge. As the
+mountains closed in on either side, we began to look out for the camp,
+which we knew was not far up the nullah. Presently, turning off the Gilgit
+road, along a track to the left, we came upon Walter--bearded like the
+pard--a pard which had left off shaving for about a week. He was pensively
+sitting on a big sun-warmed boulder, beguiling the time while awaiting us
+by contemplating the antics of a large family of monkeys, which he pointed
+out to Jane, to her great joy.
+
+Tender inquiries as to camp and consequent lunch revealed the sad fact
+that some miles of exceedingly rough path yet lay betwixt us and the haven
+where we would be.
+
+So we pricked forward, along a sort of cattle track, across dirty
+snow-filled little gullies, and over rock-strewn slopes, until the white
+gleam of Walter's tent showed clear on its perch atop of a flat-roofed
+native hut.
+
+Crossing the stream which tumbled down the valley, by a somewhat "wobbly"
+bridge, and picking our way through the mixen which forms the approach to
+every well-appointed hut, we arrived upon the roof which supported the
+tent. This we achieved without any undue trouble, the building, like most
+"gujar" homes, being constructed on the side of a hill sufficiently steep
+to obviate the necessity for any back wall--the rear of the roof
+springing directly from the hillside. A Gujar village, owing to this
+peculiarity of construction, always looks oddly like a deposit of great
+half-open oysters clinging to the face of the hill.
+
+After a welcome lunch, the ladies both pronounced decidedly against
+remaining in or near the highly-scented precincts of the village. The
+argument that there was no flat ground excepting roofs to be seen was
+overruled; so Walter and I climbed a neighbouring ridge, and selected a
+site on the crest.
+
+It was not, certainly, a very good site for a camp, as it was so narrow
+that the unwary might easily step over the edge on either side, and
+toboggan gracefully either back on top of the aforesaid roof, or forward
+into a very rocky-bedded stream which employed its superfluous energy in
+tossing some frayed and battered logs from boulder to boulder, and which
+would have rejoiced greatly in doing the same to a fallen nestling from
+the eyry above.
+
+Neither was the ridge level, and our tents were pitched at such an angle
+that the slumberer whose grasp of the bed-head relaxed
+
+  "In the mist and shadow of sleep"
+
+was brought to wakefulness by finding his toes gently sliding out into the
+nipping and eager air of night.
+
+The holding-ground for the tent-pegs was not all that could be desired,
+and visions of our tents spreading their wings in the gale and vanishing
+into space haunted us.
+
+No--it was not an ideal camping-ground, and Jane, whose rosy dreams of
+camping in Kashmir had pictured her little white canvas home set up in a
+flowery mead by the side of a purling brook, gazed upon the rugged slopes
+which rose around--the cold snow gleaming through the shaggy
+pine-trees--with a shiver and a distinct air of disapproval.
+
+It grew more than chilly too, as the sun dipped early behind the ridge
+that rose jealous between us and the western light, and an icy breeze from
+the snow came stealing down the gorge and whispering among the taller
+tree-tops in the nullah at our feet.
+
+We were about 1500 feet above the Wular Lake, and snow lay in thick
+patches within a few yards of our tents, and had obviously only melted
+quite recently from the site of the camp, leaving more clammy mud about
+the place than we really required.
+
+As it is reasonable to suppose that the bilingual lady who composes the
+fashion columns of the _Daily Horror_ is most anxious to know how the fair
+sex was accoutred at our dinner party that night, I hasten to inform her
+that Charlotte was gowned in an elegant confection of Puttoo of a simply
+indescribable nuance of _creme de boue_--the train, extremely decolletee
+at the lower end, cunningly revealing at every turn glimpses of an
+enchanting pair of frou-frou putties.
+
+The neat bottines, _a la_ Diane Chasseresse, took a charming touch of
+lightness from the aluminium nails which decorated the "uppers" with a
+quaint and original Dravidian cornice.
+
+She carried a spring bouquet of wild onions _en branche_--ornaments (of
+course), diamonds.
+
+Every one remarked that Jane was simply too lovely for words, as, with the
+sweet simplicity of an _ingenue, en combinaison_ with the craft of a
+Machiavella (I beg to point out that I know my Italian genders), she
+draped her lissom form in the clinging folds of an enormous habit _de peau
+de brebis_--portions of ear and the tip of her nose tilted over the edge
+of the deep turned-up collar, which, on one side, supported the coquettish
+droop of the hairy "Tammy" that, dexterously pinned to the spikes of a
+diamond fender, gave a _clou_ to the entire "_sac d'artifice_."
+
+Walter, having already shot two bara singh and a serow, came under the
+"statute of limitations" of the Kashmir Game Laws, and had to sound the
+"cease firing" as regards these animals; but Charlotte and I, having
+"khubbar" of game, started at 7 A.M. in pursuit. She, attended by Walter
+and in tow of Asna (the best shikari in all Kashmir), followed up the
+nullah which lay to our right, while I deflected to the north. Having
+donned grass shoes, I started off up a very steep slope which rose
+directly behind the camp. Reaching snow within a few minutes of leaving my
+tent, I was glad to find it hard and the going good, the early sun not yet
+having had time to soften and destroy the crisp surface.
+
+Up and up we toiled, I puffing like any grampus--partly by reason of not
+yet being in good condition, and partly on account of the height, which
+was probably nearly 9000 feet above sea level. As we rose to the shoulder
+of the hill the gradient became much easier, and I had leisure to admire
+the panorama that stretched around the snowy ridge, which fell away
+abruptly on either side through dense pine forests. The day was quite
+glorious.... The sun, blazing in a cloudless sky, cast sharp steel-blue
+shadows where rock or tree stood between the snow and his nobility. The
+white peaks that rose around in marvellous array seemed so near in the
+bright air that it seemed as though one could see the smallest creature
+moving on their distant slopes. But there was little life observable in
+this still and silent world--nothing but an occasional pair of crows
+flapping steadily over the woods, or a far vulture circling at a giddy
+height in the "blue dome of the air." Silence everywhere, except for the
+distant and perpetual voice of many waters murmuring in the unseen depths
+below.
+
+To the south--showing clear above the serrated back of the ridge beyond
+the camp--stood the Pir Panjal; pale ivory in the pale horizon below the
+sun. At the foot of the valley up which we had come yesterday, and partly
+screened by the intruding buttresses of its enfolding hills, the Wular
+Lake lay a shimmering shield of molten silver.
+
+In front, the sheeted mountains which guard Gurais and flank the icy
+portals of the Tragbal stood, a series of glistening slopes and
+cold-crowned precipices, while to the east Haramok reared his 17,000 feet
+into a threefold peak of snowy majesty.
+
+It was a sight to thank God for, and to remember with joy all the days of
+one's life. Doubtless there are many views as wonderful in this lovely
+land, but this was the first, and therefore not to be effaced nor its
+memory dimmed by anything that may come after.
+
+The shikari had not climbed the mountain's brow to waste time over scenery;
+so, having apparently gone as far as he wanted on the ridge, he plunged
+down among the silver firs to the right, and I, with my heart in my mouth,
+went after him. At first it seemed to the inexperienced that we were
+slithering down the most awful places, and that, should the snow give way,
+I should have to swiftly embrace the nearest tree to avoid being shot down,
+a human avalanche, farther than I cared to think. However, I soon found it
+was all right. A welcome halt for lunch brought the tiffin coolie to the
+front. A blanket spread upon the hard snow at the foot of a fir made an
+excellent seat, and a cold roast teal, an apple, and a small flask of
+whisky were soon exhumed from the basket. Water, or rather the want of it,
+was a difficulty, for I was uncommonly thirsty, and no sign of any water
+was to be seen. A judicious blending of the dry teal with bits of
+succulent apple overcame the drought, and the half-hour for refreshment
+passed all too quickly.
+
+The men considered it now time to get up some "shikar," so they invented a
+bear. This was exciting! They had separated (there were four of them) in
+search of traces of bara singh, &c., and some one found the bear, or its
+den, or a lock of its wool--I really couldn't quite ascertain which--but
+fearful excitement was the immediate result.
+
+A consultation took place in frenzied whispers. My rifle was peeled from
+its case, and we proceeded to scramble stealthily down a horribly steep
+face much broken by rocks. The shikari being in front with my rifle over
+his shoulder, I was favoured with frequent glimpses down its ugly black
+barrel as I, like Jill, "came tumbling after," and I rejoiced that all the
+cartridges were safely stowed in my own pocket. Well! we searched like
+conspirators for that bear, peeped round rocks and peered into holes, and
+anxiously eyed all possible and impossible places where a bear might be
+supposed to reside, but there was no bear; and at length we arrived on the
+bank of the torrent which rioted noisily down the bottom of the nullah.
+
+I now began to realise that plunging about in snow, often over one's knees,
+and scrambling among the fallen tree-trunks and great rocks selected by
+the torrent to make its bed, was distinctly tiring work!
+
+Presently we came to a bridge over the river. It consisted of a single log,
+and appeared extremely slender. The stream was not deep enough to drown a
+man, but, all the same, a slip, sending one into the foaming water among a
+particularly large and hard collection of boulders, seemed most
+undesirable, and I stepped across, like Agag, delicately, carefully
+balancing myself with a khudstick. The men came prancing over as if they
+were on a good high-road, the careless ease with which they made the
+passage bordering on impertinence! I reflected, however, that sheep, and
+such like beasts of humble brain, can stroll upon the brink of gruesome
+precipices without any fear of falling, and my self-respect returned.
+
+After another half-hour of stiff scrambling I sat down to rest awhile,
+leaving the men to spy the neighbourhood. Of course they had to find
+something, so this time they found a "serow"--a somewhat scarce beast. I
+awaited the coming of the serow at various coigns of vantage where they
+said it was bound to pass, while the four men surrounded it from different
+directions. Finally, like the Levite, it passed by on the other side--at
+least I never saw it. The shikari afterwards informed me, in confidence,
+that it was, like the inexcusable baby in _Peter Simple_, "a very little
+one."
+
+We now made the best of our way down the nullah, and when an apology for a
+path became apparent I rejoiced greatly, and followed it along its
+corkscrew course until the camp came suddenly into view as we topped a
+spur, which gave the path a final excuse for dragging me up a stiff two
+hundred feet, and then sending me down a knee-shaking descent, for no
+apparent reason but pure "cussedness."
+
+Charlotte had got home just before me, having seen nothing to shoot at.
+She, too, seemed anxious for tea!
+
+During the day Sabz Ali had been doing his level best to improve the
+position in our sleeping-tent. The camp-beds had stood at such an angle
+that it was almost impossible to avoid sliding gradually into the outer
+darkness, but S.A. had scraped out earth from the head, and filled up a
+terrace at the foot, in a way which gave us hope of sound sleep. Our
+things had been carefully stowed, too, and a sort of hole scooped for the
+bath. Luxury stared us in the face!
+
+The sunset certainly was a little dull last night, but we were quite
+unprepared for the dreary aspect of Dame Nature to which we awoke this
+morning. It was raining very heavily, and a dense pall of mist hung low
+among the pines, giving an impression of melancholy durability.
+
+There was obviously nothing to do but exist as cheerfully as might be
+until the weather improved. The wet had shrunk canvas and rope gear till
+the tent-guys were as taut as fiddle-strings; and as it did not seem to
+have occurred to any of the servants to attend to this, an immediate tour
+of the camp had to be undertaken, in "rubbers" and waterproofs, to slack
+off guys and inspect the drainage system, as we had no wish to have our
+earthen floor--already sufficiently cold and clammy--turned into an
+absolute swamp.
+
+These things done, we scuttled and slid down to the mess tent, and
+breakfasted as best we might; and the best was surprisingly good,
+considering the difficulties the wretched servants must have had in
+cooking anything in their wet lair, where the miserable fire of damp
+sticks produced apparently little but acrid smoke.
+
+We passed a dismal day, as, wrapped in our warmest clothes, we sat upon
+our beds watching the rain turn to snow, then to hail and sleet, and
+finally back to rain again; while the ever-changing wisps of grey mist
+gathered thick in the glens, or "put forth an arm and crept from pine to
+pine."
+
+Towards evening the clouds broke a little, and the forest-clad steeps
+appeared through them, powdered thickly with new snow. Walter and I
+sallied forth from our sodden tents and held a council of war in the mud.
+It was decided to quit our somewhat unsatisfactory and precarious position
+early to-morrow, if fine, as the weather looked so nasty, and a squall of
+wind might have awkward consequences.
+
+_Friday, April_ 14.--A very fairly fine morning enabled us to strike camp
+yesterday, and get the baggage off in good time. The Smithsons decided to
+make for the jheels near the river, in order to give the duck a final
+worry round before the season closes on the 15th.
+
+My shikari having reported a good bara singh in a small nullah off the
+Erin, I arranged to go in search of him. The march down to Bandipur was a
+short and easy one, and we got comfortably settled on board our boats
+early in the afternoon. About sunset the clouds gathered thick over the
+hills which we had left, and a thunderstorm broke, its preliminary squall
+throwing the crews of our fleet into a fearful fuss, and sending them on
+to the bank with extra ropes and holdfasts to make all secure. An elderly
+lady, with a dirty red cap and very untidy ringlets, superintended the
+business with much clamour. We take her to be the wife or grandmother (not
+sure which) of the skipper.
+
+It was with an undoubted sense of solid comfort that we lay in our cosy
+beds under a wooden roof, whereon the fat rain-drops sputtered, while the
+thunder still crackled and banged in the distance!
+
+We shifted before dawn to a small village a couple of miles to the east,
+and at 6.30 Jane and I set out to attack the bara singh, of which the
+shikari held out high hope. My wife, mounted on a rough pony, was able to
+accomplish with great comfort the two miles of flat country which we had
+to traverse before turning off sharp to the right along a track which led
+steeply upwards through the scrub that clothed the lower part of the
+nullah.
+
+There is something unusually charming in the dawn here--the crisp, buoyant
+air, the silent hills, their lower slopes and corries still a purple
+mystery; on high, the silver peaks--looking ridiculously close--change
+swiftly from their cold pallor into rosy life at the first touch of the
+risen sun.
+
+The first part of our day's work was easy enough. The sun was still hidden
+from us behind the mountain flange on our left; the snow patches on the
+sky-line ahead seemed comparatively near, and the diabolical swiftness of
+the shikari's stealthy walk was yet to be fully realised.
+
+Up and up we went, first through a thick scrub or jungle of a highly
+prickly description, over a few small streams, then out upon a grassy
+ridge, up which we slowly panted. The gradient became sharper, and I began
+to feel a little anxious about Jane, as the short, brown grass was
+slippery with frost--a slip would be very easy, and the results unpleasant.
+However, with the able assistance of the shikari, she did very well, and,
+having crossed a shelving patch of snow by cutting steps with our
+khudstick, we found ourselves, after an hour and a half's stiff climbing,
+on the sky-line of the ridge that had seemed but an easy stroll from below.
+The heights and distances are most deceptive, partly on account of the
+crystal clearness of the air, and partly because of the magnitude of
+everything in proportion. The mountains are not only high themselves, but
+their spurs and foothills would rank as able-bodied mountains were they
+not dwarfed by peaks which average 15,000 feet in height above the sea.
+The pines which clothe their sides, the chenars and poplars in the valley,
+are all enormous when compared with their European cousins.
+
+The view was most remarkable as we gained the crest of the ridge--a sea of
+white cloud came boiling up from the valley to the east, and, pouring over
+the saddle upon which we stood, gave only occasional glimpses of snow and
+pine and precipice above, or the glint of water in the rice-fields far
+below. Once, between the swirling cloud masses, the near hills lay clear
+in the sunshine for a few moments and revealed a party of five bara singh
+hinds, crossing the slope in front of us, and not more than 150 yards away.
+Alas! there was no stag.
+
+This was not satisfactory weather for stalking. However I was hopeful, as
+I have noticed that in the fine forenoons a thick white belt of cloud
+often forms about the snow level--roughly, some 8000 feet above the sea,
+or 3000 above the Wular Lake--and hangs there for an hour or two, to
+disappear entirely by midday. And so it came about to-day; after a halt
+for tiffin, I set forward in brilliant sunshine, while Jane remained
+quietly perched on the hillside, as the shikari said the road was not good
+for a lady. The shikari was right, as, within ten minutes of starting, we
+had to drop from the crest of the ridge to circumvent a big rock which
+barred our way, to find ourselves confronted by a very unpleasant-looking
+slope of short brown grass, which fell away at an angle of about 50 deg. to
+what seemed an endless depth. This grass, having only just become
+emancipated from its winter snow, had all its hair--so to speak--brushed
+straight down, and there was mighty little stuff to hold on to! Carefully
+digging little holes with our khudsticks, and not disdaining the help of
+my shikari, I got across, and thankfully scrambled back to the safety of
+the ridge.
+
+Now we reached snow, and the going became easier, whereupon Ahmed Bot
+promptly set a pace which left me struggling far behind. As the sun grew
+stronger the surface-crust of the snow became soft, and at every few steps
+one went through to the knees, until both muscles and temper became sorely
+tried. For an hour or so we kept climbing up what was evidently one of the
+many steep and rugged ranges which, radiating from Haramok, on this side
+flank the Wular with their lofty bastions. Having apparently attained the
+height he deemed necessary, and got well above the part of the pine forest
+in which he expected to find game, Ahmed Bot turned to the left of the
+ridge, and we were immediately involved in the deep drifts which covered
+the pine-clad slope of the nullah. Over snow-covered trunks of prostrate
+trees, over hidden holes and broken rocks, we toiled and scrambled until,
+emerging breathless on a bare knoll--smooth and white as a great
+wedding-cake--we obtained a searching view into the neighbouring gullies.
+Still no sign or track of any "beast," so we worked back until, tired and
+hot, I regained the place where Madame lay basking beneath her sunshade.
+The shikari and his myrmidons departed to "look" another bit of country,
+while I, nothing loth, remained to await events in the neighbourhood of
+the refreshment department.
+
+On the return of the men, who had of course seen nothing, we set off for
+home, climbing down the edge of the ridge where yellow colchicum starred
+the turf. It was steep--verging on the precipitous in places--and Jane
+frankly expressed her satisfaction when we accomplished the worst part and
+entered a dense jungle of scrubby bushes, all of which seemed to grow
+spines of sorts. A bear was said to have been seen here yesterday, so we
+kept our weather eyelids lifting, but were not favoured with a sight of
+him. We had almost gained the bottom of the hill, with but two short miles
+to dinner and a tub, when weird shrieks and whistles were exchanged
+between our people and an excited villager below. The shikari, his eyes
+gleaming with uncontrollable excitement, announced that the "big stag" was
+waiting for me at that very moment!--and therewith Ahmed Bot dashed off
+down the hill, leaving me to follow as best I might. Leaving my wife in
+charge of the tiffin coolie, I tumbled off after the shikari, whom I found
+gloating with the messenger over the inspiriting particulars of the
+monarch of the glen, which, I understood, crouched expectant some paltry
+2000 feet above us, near the top of the nullah!
+
+It was past six o'clock, and the light already showing signs of waning, so
+we lost no time in attacking the hill again. I was pretty well "done," and
+had to accept a tow from the shikari, and hand in hand we pressed up that
+accursed hill until, at seven o'clock, the sun set and it began to grow
+dusk. Lying down near the edge of the snow, to gain breath and let the
+shikari crawl round and "look" the face of the hill, I was soon moved to
+activity by the news that the stag was lying under a pine tree within a
+few hundred yards. A short "crawl" brought me within sight of the beast,
+who lay half-hidden by a rock. It was now so dark that even with my
+glasses I could only make sure that it was a "horn beast" and not a hind;
+there was no time to lose, so, putting up my sight for 150 yards, I let
+him have it, and was nearly as much surprised as gratified to see him roll
+out on the snow to the shot. My vexation and disgust may be imagined when
+I found the noble beast to be a miserable 8-pointer, which I would never
+have fired at if I could have seen its head properly. Heartily consigning
+the shikari, together with the mendacious villager and all his kind, to a
+hot place, I dolefully stumbled away downhill again in the gathering dark,
+and finally deposited my weary and dejected self on board the boat, after
+fourteen hours of the hardest walking I have ever done.
+
+There is a confused tale prevalent that the bear, taking a mean advantage
+of my absence, has been down to the village and eaten a few ponies, or
+frightened them--I can't make out which.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+BACK TO SRINAGAR
+
+Easter Day, _April_ 23.--We left the Erin district early in the morning
+following the bara singh fiasco, and punted and poled up the river to join
+the Smithsons in a last attack upon the duck. We found the bold Colonel,
+
+  "Rough with slaughter and red with fight,"
+
+enjoying himself hugely among the jheels, and we prepared to join in the
+fray; but our _chasse_ was put an end to by the discovery that the 14th,
+and not the 15th, was the last legal day for shooting. So we packed away
+our guns and towed up to Srinagar, which we reached on Sunday afternoon.
+
+Our brief experience of camping and "shikar" had proved to my wife that
+she was not cast in the heroic mould of a female Nimrod. Not being a shot
+herself--as Charlotte is--she saw that, as far as she was concerned, a
+shooting expedition with the Smithsons would entail a great deal of
+solitary rumination in camp, while the rest of the party pursued the red
+bear to his den, or chased the nimble markhor up and down the precipices.
+The joys of reading, knitting, and washing the family clothes
+might--probably would--pall after a time; and the physical exertion of
+"walking with the guns" in Kashmir is decidedly more of an undertaking
+than over a Perthshire grouse moor! Our original arrangement, before
+coming out to join the Smithsons, was that the time should be spent in
+camping, boating, "loafing," and shooting. Being perfectly ignorant of the
+conditions of life out here, we were unaware of the fact that it is
+practically impossible to combine serious shooting with any other form of
+amusement. In Scotland one may stalk one day, fish the next, and golf the
+third, but out here it is not so. The worshipper of Diana must be prepared
+to sacrifice everything else at her shrine; he must go far afield, and be
+prepared to live hard and work hard, and even then it may befall that his
+trophies of the chase are none too plentiful. That will depend a good deal
+on his shikari and his own knowledge, together with luck.
+
+Walter had the good fortune to come upon two fine stags not far from his
+camp almost as soon as he got there. He was within fifty yards of them as
+they were moving slowly in deep snow, and he killed them both; the best of
+these was a remarkably fine 10-pointer, length of horn 41 inches and span
+38-1/2 inches. His wife spent an equal time in the same neighbourhood and
+never saw anything.[1]
+
+When we talked over plans with Colonel and Mrs. Smithson at Pindi, the
+general idea had crystallised into a scheme for going into Astor to shoot,
+immediately upon our arrival in Kashmir, and, in order to reach Srinagar
+before April 1st--the date of issue of shooting passes--we had struggled
+hard to make our way into the country before it was really attractive to
+the ordinary visitor.
+
+When we did reach Srinagar we found that our friends had abandoned all
+idea of an expedition to Astor, partly on account of expense, but
+principally on account of the backwardness of the season, which
+practically precluded ladies from crossing the Tragbal and Boorzil Passes
+for some time. The merits and demerits of the Tilail district and
+Baltistan came up for review, and then we almost decided to go to Leh
+until we reflected that the return journey over a bare and open
+country--arid and hot as an Egyptian desert--in the month of August might
+not be unmixed joy, and the Smithsons were assured that they would find no
+sport whatever _en route_, but would have to go several marches beyond Leh
+to obtain the chance of an Ovis Ammon or Thibetan antelope.
+
+The Leh scheme thus having come to naught, and our friends being still
+wholly intent on "shikar" to the exclusion of all other pursuits, we
+decided to be independent, so we hired a nice-looking boarded dounga,
+whose fresh and clean appearance pleased us, for a term of three months.
+Nedou's Hotel offered so few attractions and so many drawbacks that we
+were prepared to do anything rather than return to it, and, as a matter of
+economy, we scored heavily, as, on working it out, we found that the boat,
+including the cook-boat, would cost 60 rupees per month. Our food and the
+wages of those servants whom we should not have required at the hotel came
+to approximately 80 rupees per month, making a total of 140 rupees, or L9,
+6s. 8d.; whereas our hotel bill would have come to 12 rupees per day,
+without extras--or 360 rupees (L24) per month--a clear saving in money as
+well as in comfort.
+
+Our new habitation--the house dounga _Moon_--was owned and partly worked
+by Satarah, an astute old rascal, whose "tawny beard," like Hudibras'--
+
+    "Was the equal grace
+  Both of his wisdom and his face;
+  In cut and dye so like a tyle
+  A sudden view it would beguile:
+  The upper part whereof was whey,
+  The nether orange mixt with grey."
+
+His costume consisted of a curious sort of short nightgown worn over white
+and flappy trousers, below which were revealed a pair of big, flat naval
+feet. The first lieutenant, Sabhana--sleek and civil-spoken, but
+desperately afraid of work--was, we understand, son-in-law to the Admiral
+Satarah, having to wife the Lady Jiggry, eldest daughter of that worthy,
+who, with her younger sisters Nouri, Azizi, and "the Baba," completed the
+ship's company.
+
+The _Moon_ differed from an ordinary house-boat in being narrower, and
+possessing a long bow and stern which projected far enough from the body
+of the boat to enable men to pole or paddle with ease; a house-boat can
+only be towed. On embarking by means of a narrow gangway--a plank
+possessed of an uncontrollable desire to "tip-up" at unexpected and
+disconcerting moments--one entered first a small vestibule, or
+"ante-cabin," which held our big boxes and opened into the
+drawing-room--quite a roomy apartment, about fifteen feet by ten feet,
+fitted with a fireplace, a rough writing-table, and overmantel, surmounted
+by a photograph--something faded--of Mrs. Langtry! A small table and a
+couple of deck chairs graced the floor, while upon the walls a
+heterogeneous collection of pictures, including a coloured lithograph of a
+cottage and a brook, a fearful and wonderful portrayal of an otter, and a
+very fancy stag of unlimited points dazzled the eye. The ceiling was
+decorated with an elaborate and most effective design in wood--a fashion
+very common in Srinagar, consisting of a sort of patchwork panelling of
+small pieces of wood, cut to length and shape, and tacked on to a backing
+in geometrical designs. At a little distance the effect is rich and
+excellent, but close inspection shows up the tintacks and the glue, and a
+prying finger penetrates the solid-looking panel with perfect ease.
+
+The drawing-room was separated from the dining "saloon" by a sliding
+door--which frequently refused to slide at all, or else perversely slid so
+suddenly as to endanger finger-tips and cause unseemly words to flow. This
+noble apartment of elegant dimensions (to borrow the undefiled English of
+the house-agent) could contain four feasters at a pinch. Sabz Ali having
+cooked the dinner, the cook-boat was laid alongside, and Sabz Ali,
+clambering in and out of the window, proceeded to serve the repast, a
+black paw, presumably belonging to Ayata, the kitchenmaid-man, appearing
+from time to time to retrieve the soiled plates or hand up the next course.
+
+A funny little sideboard and cupboard contained a slender stock of knives,
+forks, and glasses, and part of a broken-down dinner set, while the
+fireplace easily held three dozen of soda-water.
+
+Then came Jane's bedroom, fitted with a cupboard and shelves, which were a
+constant source of covetousness to me, who had none. A small bathroom
+completed our suite of apartments, and, after the bare boards of the
+_Cruiser_, the _Moon_ seemed to overflow with luxury.
+
+We have been taking life easily here for the last week. The Smithsons
+intend going into Tilail as soon as the Tragbal becomes feasible; we
+propose to remain in Srinagar for a while. The weather has not been very
+fine--cold winds and a good deal of rain, varied by thunderstorms, being
+our daily experience. The spring is, I am told, exceptionally backward,
+and, although the almond is in full and lovely flower, the poplars and
+chenars are barely showing a sign of life.
+
+My wife having gone to lunch at the Residency this afternoon, I walked
+half-way up the Takht-i-Suleiman, whose sharp, rock-strewn pyramid rises a
+thousand feet above Srinagar.
+
+The view of the Kashmir plain, through which the river winds like a silver
+snake; the solemn ring of mountains, enclosing the valley with a rampart
+of rock and snow; the innumerable roofs of the city, glittering like
+burnished scales in the keen sunlight, densely clustered round the
+fort-crowned height of Hari Parbat, went to make up such a picture as
+Turner would have kneeled to.
+
+Of course it is simply futile to compare one magnificent view with another
+which differs entirely in kind. All that one can do is to lay by in the
+memory a mental picture-gallery of recollection; and as I sat in the
+shelter of a big rock, gazing out over the level plain stretching below,
+where the changing shadows as they swept by turned the amber masses of the
+trees to gold, I conjured up in my mind's eye other scenes whose beauties
+will remain with me while life shall last:--The purple and gold of a
+glorious sunset over Etna, the Greek theatre of Taormina in front of me,
+with the sea below--a shimmering opal that melted away in the haze beyond
+Syracuse; the awful rapids raging furiously below Niagara, a very ocean
+tortured and maddened to blind fury, pouring its irresistible torrents
+through the chasm above the whirlpool; and again, a cloudless October
+morning, with just the keen zest of early autumn in the air, as I lay high
+up on a hillside in Ardgour watching for deer--with the hills of Lochaber
+and Ballachulish reflected in all their glory of purple and russet in the
+waters of Loch Linnhe, windless and still!
+
+Chills can be caught amidst the most glorious scenery--the little tufts of
+purple self-heal at my feet were shivering and shaking in a biting breeze
+that swept down from the snows to the north-east, and although I am an
+admirer of Kingsley, I do not hold with him in his wrong-headed admiration
+for a "nor'-easter"--so I quitted my perch in search of tea.
+
+_Easter Monday_.--The Smithsons scuttled away in a great hurry to-day,
+their shikari, Asna (the best shikari in Kashmir), having heard that,
+owing to the lateness of the season, the bara singh have not even yet all
+shed their horns--so Charlotte is filled with high hope. The bears, too,
+are said to be waking from their winter's doze and poking around in warm
+and balmy corners.
+
+Armed to the teeth and thirsting for blood, the hunter and the huntress
+cast loose their matted dounga and paddled away merrily down the Jhelum to
+Bandipur, thence to pursue the royal bara singh, and later, if possible,
+scale the snow-barred slopes of the Tragbal and penetrate the lonely
+Tilail Valley to assail the red bear and the multitudinous ibex.
+
+Jane and I having decided that a purely shikar expedition into the more
+difficult parts of the country was not suited to our prosaic habits,
+remained to enjoy the effeminate pleasures of Srinagar till the weather
+should grow a few degrees warmer.
+
+As we are bidden to a sort of state luncheon to-morrow, given by the
+Maharajah, it appeared to me to be but right and seemly to go and inscribe
+my name in the visitors' book of His Highness, and also to call upon his
+brother, the Rajah Sir Amar Singh. I went with the more alacrity as I
+thought it might prove interesting. Strolling across the big bridge above
+the Palace, I soon found myself in the purely native quarter, immersed in
+a seething crowd of men and beasts, from beneath whose passing feet a
+cloud of dust rose pungent. The water-sellers, the hawkers of vegetables
+and of sweets, the cattle, the loafers and the children got into the way
+and out of it in kaleidoscopic confusion. By the side of the street,
+money-changers, wrapped in silent consideration, bent over their trays of
+queer and outlandish coins. Bright cottons and silks flaunted pennons of
+gorgeous colours. Brass, glowing like gold, rose piled on low wide
+counters. In front stood the Palace, looking its best from this point, and
+showing huge beside the huddle of wooden and plaster huts which hem it in.
+
+General Raja Sir Amar Singh lives in a sort of glorified English villa.
+Were it not for the flowering oleanders and hibiscus in front and the
+silvery gleam of temple domes beyond, one might suppose oneself near the
+banks of Father Thames. And were it not for the group of stalwart
+retainers at the door, the illusion need not be lost on entering the house.
+
+The hall and staircase were decorated with a profusion of skins and horns,
+somewhat modern and brilliant rugs, and tall glasses full of flowers
+closely copied from Nature; while the drawing-room was of a type very
+frequently seen near London.
+
+Like so many British reception-rooms, it shone replete with _objets d'art_,
+rather inclining to Oriental luxury than Japanese restraint.
+
+My host, who came in almost immediately, was charming, speaking English
+with fluency, although he has never been in England.
+
+He is essentially a strong man, and remarkably well posted in everything,
+both political and social, that occurs in the state, mixing far more
+freely than his brother with the English, towards whom his courtesy is
+proverbial.
+
+His elder brother, the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir, is in many respects
+of a different type. Keeping more aloof from the English colony, he spends
+much of his time in devotion and the privacy of the inner Palace.
+
+On leaving Sir Amar Singh, one of his henchmen conducted me across the
+iron bridge spanning a cut from the Jhelum, and into the warren-like
+precincts of the Palace; presently we emerged from an obscure passage, and
+found ourselves at the "front door," where, in the visitors' book, by
+means of the stumpy pencil attached thereto, I inscribed my name and
+condition.
+
+_April_ 27.--His Highness the Maharajah having invited us to a luncheon
+given by him in honour of Colonel Pears, the new Resident, we prepared to
+cross the famous Dal Lake to the Nishat Bagh, the scene of the present
+feast, which we fondly hoped might recall the glorious days of the Moguls
+when Jehangir dallied in the historic Shalimar with the fair Nourmahal.
+
+  "Th' Imperial Selim held a feast
+  In his magnificent Shalimar:--
+  In whose saloons ...
+  The valleys' loveliest all assembled."
+
+Our shikara, a sort of canoe paddled by four active fellows, with the
+stern, where we sat on cushions, carefully screened from the sun by an
+awning, was brought alongside the dounga at about 11.30, as we had some
+seven or eight miles to accomplish before reaching the Nishat Bagh.
+
+Leaving the main river just above the Club, we paddled down the Sunt-i-kul
+Canal, which runs between the European quarter and the Takht-i-Suleiman,
+the rough brown hill which, crowned with its temple, forms a constant
+background to Srinagar.
+
+The canal was closely lined with house-boats and their satellite
+cook-boats, clinging to the poplar-shaded banks. The golf-links lay on our
+left, and on a low spur to the right stood the hospital, which the energy
+and philanthropy of the Neves has gained for the remarkably ungrateful
+Kashmiri. It is told that a man, being exceedingly ill, was cared for and
+nursed during many weeks in the Mission Hospital, his whole family
+likewise living on the kindly sahibs. When he was cured and shown the door,
+he burst into tears because he was not paid wages for all the time he had
+spent in hospital!
+
+Just before entering the waterway of noble chenars, known as the Chenar
+Bagh (a camping-ground reserved for bachelors only), we ported our helm
+(or at least would have done so had there been any rudders in Kashmir),
+and pushed through the lock-gate, which gives entrance to the Dal Lake,
+against a brisk current.
+
+This gate, cunningly arranged upon the non-return-valve principle, is
+normally kept open by the current from the Dal; but if the Jhelum, rising
+in flood, threatens to pour back into the lake and swamp the low ground
+and floating gardens, it closes automatically, and so remains sealed until
+the outward flow regains the mastery.
+
+A sharp bout of paddling, puffing, and splashing shot us into the peaceful
+waters of the Dal Lake, over which every traveller has gushed and raved.
+It is difficult, indeed, not to do so, for it is truly a dream of beauty.
+
+A placid sheet of still water, its surface only broken here and there by
+the silvery trails of rippled wake left by the darting shikaras or
+slow-moving market boats, lay before us, shining in the crystal-clear
+atmosphere. On the right rose the Takht, his thousand feet of rocky
+stature dwarfed into insignificance by holy Mahadeo and his peers, whose
+shattered peaks ring round the lake to the north, their dark cliffs and
+shaggy steeps mirrored in its peaceful surface.
+
+On the lower slopes strong patches of yellow mustard and white masses of
+blossoming pear-trees rose behind the tender green fringe of the young
+willows.
+
+As we swept on, the lake widened. On the left a network of water lanes
+threaded the maze of low-growing brushwood and whispering reeds, and round
+us extended the half-submerged patches of soil which form the celebrated
+"floating gardens" of the lake. From any point of view except the
+utilitarian, these gardens are a fraud. A combination of matted and
+decaying water-plants, mud, and young cabbages kept in place by rows and
+thickets of willow scrub, is curious, but not lovely; and our eyes turned
+away to where Hari Parbat raised his crown of crumbling forts above the
+native city, or to the mysterious ruins of Peri Mahal, clinging like a
+swallow's nest to the shelving slopes above Gupkar.
+
+  "Still onward; and the clear canal
+  Is rounded to as clear a lake;"
+
+and we emerged from the willow-fringed water lanes, and saw across the
+wider shield of glistering water the white cube of the Nishat Bagh
+Pavilion--the Garden of Joy, made for Jehangir the Mogul--standing by the
+water's edge, and at its foot a great throng and clutter of boats, amidst
+whose snaky prows we pushed our way and landed, something stiff after
+sitting for two hours in a cramped shikara.
+
+Other guests--some thirty in all--were arriving, either like us by boat,
+or by carriage _via_ Gupkar, and we strolled in groups up the sloping
+gardens, which still show, in their wild and unrestrained beauty, the
+loving touch of the long-vanished hand of the Mogul.
+
+Down seven wide grassy terraces a series of fountains splashed and
+twinkled in the sun. Broad chenars, just beginning to break into leaf,
+gave promise of ample shade against the day when the blaze should become
+overpowering. So far so good, but the grass that bordered the path was not
+the sweet green turf of an English lawn, and the way was edged by big
+earthen pots, into which were hastily stuck wisps of iris blooms and
+Persian lilac. The topmost terrace widened out, enclosing a large basin of
+clear water, in the middle of which played a fountain. On one side was
+raised a marquee, revealing welcome preparations for lunch. On the
+opposite side of the fountain a profusion of chairs, shaded by a great
+awning, stood expectantly facing a bandstand. Here we were welcomed by His
+Highness, a somewhat small man with exceedingly neat legs and an enormous
+white pugaree, in his customary gracious manner.
+
+It was now half-past two, and we had breakfasted early, so that a move
+towards the luncheon tent was most welcome. Finding the fair lady whom I
+was detailed to personally conduct, and the ticketed place where I was to
+sit, I prepared to make a Gargantuan meal. Was it not almost on this very
+spot that
+
+  "The board was spread with fruit and wine,
+  With grapes of gold, like those that shine
+  On Casbin's hills;--pomegranates full
+    Of melting sweetness, and the pears
+  And sunniest apples that Cabul
+    In all its thousand gardens bears.
+  Plantains, the golden and the green,
+  Malaya's nectar'd mangusteen;
+  Prunes of Bokara, and sweet nuts
+    From the far groves of Samarcand,
+  And Basra dates, and apricots,
+    Seed of the sun, from Iran's land;--
+  With rich conserve of Visna cherries,
+  Of orange flowers, and of those berries
+  That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles
+  Feed on in Erac's rocky dells..
+  Wines, too, of every clime and hue
+  Around their liquid lustre threw;
+  Amber Rosolli..
+  And Shiraz wine, that richly ran..
+  Melted within the goblets there!"
+
+This reckless, but unsubstantial and very unwholesome meal, was not for us,
+and while waiting patiently for the first course to appear, I glanced down
+the long table to admire the decorations. They were delightful, consisting
+of glass flower-vases spaced regularly along the festive board, and filled
+to overflowing with tufts and clumps of flowers. Innumerable plates filled
+with fruit and sweetmeats graced the feast, and a magnificent array of
+knives and forks gave promise of good things to come.
+
+Presently the expected dainties arrived, resembling but little the
+lately-described poetic feast; a strict attention to business enabled us
+to keep the wolf from the door, and a very cheerful party finally emerged
+from the big tent to stroll by the fountains that flashed under the
+chenars.
+
+The Maharajah, of course, did not lunch with us, but held aloof, peeping
+occasionally into the cook-house to satisfy himself that the lions were
+being fed properly, and in accordance with their unclean customs.
+
+Finally, he and his chief officers of state vanished into a secluded tent,
+where he probably took a little refreshment, having first carefully
+performed the ablutions necessary after the contamination of the
+unbeliever.
+
+His Highness reappeared from nowhere in particular as his guests strolled
+across the terrace, and, after a little polite conversation, we took our
+leave and set forth for Srinagar.
+
+It was a glorious afternoon, and we deeply regretted that time would not
+permit us to visit the neighbouring Shalimar Bagh, which lay hidden among
+the trees near by. The excursion must remain a "hope deferred" for the
+present, as we had again to thread the maze of half-submerged melon plots
+and miniature kitchen gardens which, even in the golden glow of a perfect
+evening, could not be made to fit in with our preconceived ideas of
+"floating gardens." Jane was frankly disappointed, as she admitted to
+having pictured in her mind's eye a series of peripatetic herbaceous
+borders in full flower, cruising about the lake at their own sweet will
+and tended by fair Kashmirian maidens.
+
+By-the-bye, here let me expose, once for all, the fallacy of Moore's
+drivel about the lovely maids of fair "Cashmere." _There are none!_ This
+appears a startling statement and a sweeping; but, as a matter of fact,
+the Eastern girl is not left, like her Western sister, to flirt and frivol
+into middle age in single "cussedness," but almost invariably becomes a
+respectable married lady at ten or twelve, and drapes her lovely, but not
+over clean, head in the mantle of old sacking, which it is _de rigueur_
+for matrons to adopt.
+
+The good Tommy Moore did not know this, but, letting his warm Irish
+imagination run riot through a mixed bag of Eastern romancists and their
+works, he evolved, amid a _pot pourri_ of impossibilities, an impossible
+damsel as unlike anything to be found in these parts as the celebrated
+elephant evolved from his inner consciousness by the German professor!
+
+  As I traversed the main, or rolled by train,
+    From my Western habitation,
+  I frequently thought--perhaps more than I ought--
+    Upon many a quiet occasion
+  Of the elegant forms and manifold charms
+    Of the beautiful female Asian.
+
+  For the good Tommy Moore, in his pages of yore,
+    Sang as though he could never be weary
+  Of fair Nourmahal--an adorable "gal"--
+    And of Paradise and the Peri,
+  Until, I declare, I was wild to be where
+    I might gaze on the lovely Kashmiri.
+
+  Through the hot plains of Ind I fled like the wind,
+    Unenchanted by mistress or ayah,
+  The dusky Hindu, I soon saw, wouldn't do,
+    So I paused not, until in the sky----Ah!--
+  Far upward arose the perpetual snows
+    And the peaks of the proud Himalaya.
+
+  But in Kashmir, alas! I found not a lass
+    Who answered to Tommy's description--
+  For the make of such maid I am sadly afraid
+    The fond parents have lost the prescription,
+  And I murmured; "No doubt, the old breed has died out,
+    At least such is my honest conviction."
+
+  In the horrible slums which form the foul homes
+    Of the rag-covered dames of the city,
+  I saw wrinkled hags, all wrapped in old rags,
+    Whose appearance excited but pity.
+  Beyond question the word which it would be absurd
+    To apply to these ladies is "pretty."
+
+  In the high Gujar huts were but brats and old sluts,
+    These last being the plainest of women;
+  Then I sought on the waters the sisters and daughters
+    Of the Mangis--those "bold, able seamen"
+  (I have often been told that the Mangi is bold,
+    And as brave as at least two or three men).
+
+  One lady I saw--I am told her papa
+    In the market did forage and "gram" sell--
+  Decked all over with rings, necklets, bangles and things,
+    She appeared a desirable damsel;
+  And I cried "Oh, Eureka! I've found what I seek:
+    Tell me quick--Is she 'madam' or 'ma'mselle'?"
+
+  It was comical, but to this question I put--
+    A remarkably innocent query--
+  I received but a sigh or evasive reply,
+    Or a blush from the modest Kashmiri;
+  And I gathered at last that the lady was "fast,"
+    And her name should be Phryne, not Here.
+
+  Toddled up a small tot--her hair tied in a knot--
+    Who remarked, "I can hardly consider
+  You've the ghost of a chance on this wild-goosie dance
+    Unless you should hap on a 'widder!'
+  For our maidens at ten--ay, and less now and then--
+    Are all booked to the wealthiest bidder."
+
+  "My dear man, it's no use to indulge in abuse
+    Of our customs, so be not enraged, sir--
+  No woman a maid is--we're all married ladies.
+    Our charms very early are caged, sir--
+  I'm eleven myself," remarked the small elf,
+    "And a year ago I was engaged, sir!"
+
+Ah, well! The country is the loveliest I ever saw, and that goes far to
+make up for its disgusting population.
+
+Here, indeed, it is that
+
+  "Every prospect pleases, and only man is vile."
+
+We stopped to look at the ruins of an ancient mosque, built in the days of
+Akbar by the Shiahs. Its remains may be deeply interesting to the
+archaeologist, but to me a neighbouring ziarat, wooden, with its grassy
+roof one blaze of scarlet tulips, was far more attractive. Moving homeward,
+we floated under a lovely old bridge, whose three rose-toned arches date
+from the sixteenth century--the age of the Great Moguls. The extreme
+solidity of its piers contrasts strongly with the exceedingly sketchy (and
+sketchable) bridges manufactured by the Kashmiri.
+
+In fairness, though, I must point out that, as the bridge in Kashmir
+usually spans a stream liable at almost any moment to overwhelming floods,
+it would appear to be a sound idea to build as flimsily as possible, with
+an eye to economical replacement.
+
+The Kashmiri carries this plan to its logical conclusion when he fells a
+tree across a raging torrent, and calls it a bridge, to the unutterable
+discomfiture of the Western wayfarer.
+
+
+[1] That lady subsequently killed a remarkably good 13-pointer bara singh
+    and some bears in October.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE LOLAB
+
+_May_ 1.--The pear and cherry blossom has been so lovely in and around
+Srinagar that we determined to go to the Lolab Valley and see the apple
+blossom in full flower.
+
+We started in some trepidation, for the warm weather lately has melted
+much snow on the hills, and Jhelum is so full that we were told that our
+three-decker would be unable to pass under the city bridges--of which
+there are seven. We decided to see for ourselves, so set forth about
+eleven, and soon came to the first bridge, the Amira Kadal, which carries
+the main tonga road into Srinagar, tying up just above it, amid the
+clamour and jabber of an idle crowd.
+
+The Admiral solemnly measured the clear space between the top of the arch
+and the water with a long pole, consulted noisily with the crowd, yelled
+his ideas to the crew, and decided to attempt the passage.
+
+Hen-coops, chairs, half-a-dozen flower-pots containing sickly specimens of
+plants, and all other movables being cleared from the upper deck, we set
+sail, and shot the bridge very neatly, only having a few inches of
+daylight between the upper deck and the wooden beams upon which the
+roadway rests.
+
+  _Ce nest que, le premier "pont" que coute_.
+
+The other bridges were all easier than the first, and we shot them gaily,
+spending the rest of the day in floating quietly down the river, and
+finally anchoring--or rather mooring, for anchors are, like boat-hooks,
+masts, sails, rudders, and rigging, alike unknown to the "jollye mariners"
+of the Jhelum--some two or three miles above the entrance to the dreaded
+Wular Lake.
+
+This awful stretch of water, so feared by the Kashmiri that his eyes
+goggle when he even thinks of it, is an innocent enough looking lake,
+generally occupied in reflectively reproducing its surroundings upside
+down, but occasionally its calm surface is ruffled by a little breeze, and
+it is reported that wild and horrible squalls sweep down the nullahs of
+Haramok at times, and destroy the unwary. These squalls are said to be
+most frequent in the afternoons, and are probably the accompaniments of
+the thunderstorms.
+
+It is only considered possible to cross the Wular between dawn and 10 or
+11 A.M., and no persuasion will prevail upon a native boatman to risk his
+life on the lake after lunch.
+
+Before turning in, I gave orders that a start should be made next morning
+at five o'clock, but a heavy squall of rain and thunder during the night
+had the effect of causing orders to be set at naught, and at
+breakfast-time there was no sign of "up anchor" nor even of "heaving
+short." An interview with the Admiral showed me that the Wular, in his
+opinion, was too dangerous to cross to-day--in fact he wouldn't dream of
+asking coolies to risk it. He was given to understand that we intended to
+cross, and that the sooner he started the safer it would be.
+
+No coolies being forthcoming, I inhumanly gave orders to get under
+way--the available crew consisting of the wicked Satarah, the first
+lieutenant, and the Lady Jiggry. Sulkily and slowly we wended our way past
+the wide flats which border the Wular, all blazing golden with mustard in
+full pungent flower.
+
+Before entering the lake the Admiral meekly requested to be allowed to try
+for coolies in a small village near by. He was allowed quarter of an hour
+for pressgang work, and sure enough he came back within a very reasonable
+time with a few spare hands, and then--paddling and poling for dear
+life--we glided swiftly through the tangled lily-pads and the green
+rosettes of the Singhara, and soon were _in medias res_ and fairly
+committed to the deep.
+
+The Wular lay like a burnished mirror, reflecting the buttresses of
+Haramok on our right, and the snowy ranges by the Tragbal ahead, its
+silvery surface lined here and there with the wavering tracks of other
+boats, or broken by bristling clumps of reeds and tall water-plants. Our
+transit was perfectly peaceful, and by lunch-time we were safely tied up
+to a bank, purple with irises, just below Bandipur.
+
+A visit to the post-office and a stroll up the rocky hill behind it, where
+we sat for some time and watched a pair of jackals sneaking about,
+completed a peaceful afternoon.
+
+_May_ 3.--We were up with the lark, and, having moved along the coast a
+few miles to the west of Bandipur, left the ship before six of the clock
+in pursuit of bear. I had "khubbar" of one in the Malingam Nullah, and,
+after a brisk walk over the lower slopes, we entered the nullah and
+clambered up about 1500 feet to a quiet and retired spot under a shady
+thorn-bush, where we breakfasted.
+
+We thereafter climbed a little higher, and then sat down while the
+shikaris departed to spy, their method of spying being, I believe,
+somewhat after this fashion:--Leaving the sahib with his
+belongings--notably the tiffin coolie--in a spot carefully selected for
+its seclusion, the miscreants depart hurriedly and rapidly up the nearest
+inaccessible crag; this is "business," and throws dust, so to say, in the
+eyes of the sahib, by means of an exhibition of activity and zeal. Passing
+out of sight over the sky-line, the hunters pause, wink at one another,
+and, choosing a shady and convenient corner, proceed to squat, light their
+pipes, and discuss matters--chiefly financial--until they deem it time to
+return, scrambling and breathless with excitement, to relate all that they
+have seen and done.
+
+So, while the shikaris unceasingly spied for bear, for nine mortal hours
+Jane and I camped out on a remarkably hard and unyielding stone, varied by
+other seats equally tiresome.
+
+Fortunately we had brought books with us, and we relieved the monotony by
+observing the habits of a pair of "kastooras," a hawk, and a brace of
+chikor at intervals, but it was truly a tedious chase.
+
+At four o'clock the sons of Nimrod returned, declaring that the bear had
+been seen, but that as we had on chaplies and not grass shoes, it would be
+impossible for us to pursue him. I asked the shikari why the ---- goose he
+had let me come out in chaplies instead of grass shoes if the country was
+so rough? His reply was to the effect that whatever it pleased me to wear
+pleased him!
+
+_May_ 4.--Armed _cap-a-pie_ so to speak, with pith helmets and grass shoes,
+we again set forth at dawn of day to hunt the bear. Breakfast under the
+same tree, sitting on the same patch of rose-coloured flowers--a sort of
+fumitory (_Corydalus rutaefolia_)--followed by another nine-hour bivouac,
+brought us to 5 P.M. and the extreme limit of boredom, when lo! the
+shikaris burst upon us in a state of frenzied excitement to announce the
+bear! Off we went up a steep track for a quarter of an hour, until, at the
+foot of a rough snow slope, the shikari told the much disgusted Jane that
+she must wait there, the rest of the climb being too hard for her, and, in
+truth, it was pretty bad. Up a very steep gully filled with loose stones
+and rotten snow, scrambling, and often hauling ourselves up with our hands
+by means of roots and trailing branches, we slowly worked our way up a
+place I would never have even attempted in cold blood.
+
+Twenty minutes' severe exertion brought us to a shelf, or rather slope, of
+rock on the right, sparsely covered with wiry brown grass from which the
+snow had but very recently gone, and crowned by a crest of stunted pines.
+Up this we wriggled, I being mainly towed up by my shikari's cummerbund,
+and, lying under a pine, we peered over the top.
+
+A steep gully divided us from a rough ridge, upon a grassy ledge of which,
+about 200 yards off, a big black beast was grubbing and rooting about.
+
+The shikari, shaking with excitement, handed me the rifle, urging me to
+shoot. I did nothing of the sort, having no breath, and my hand being
+unsteady from a fast and stiff climb.
+
+I regret to be obliged to admit that, not realising that it would be
+little short of miraculous to kill a bear stone-dead at 200 yards with a
+Mannlicher, and being also, naturally, somewhat carried away by the sight
+of a real bear within possible distance, I waited until I was perfectly
+steady, and fired. The brute fell over, but immediately picked himself up
+again and made off. I saw I had broken his fore-shoulder and fired again
+as he disappeared over the far side of the ledge, but missed, and I saw
+that bear no more.
+
+We had the utmost difficulty in crossing the precipitous gully to a spot
+below the ledge upon which the beast had been feeding--the ledge itself we
+could not reach at all; and the lateness of the hour and the difficulty of
+the country in which we were, prevented us from trying to enter the next
+ravine and work up and back by the way the bear had gone. A neck-breaking
+crawl down a horrible grass slope brought us to better ground, and I sadly
+joined Jane to be well and deservedly scolded for firing a foolish shot.
+The lady was very much disgusted at having been defrauded of the sight of
+a bear "quite wild," as she expressed it--a certain short-tempered animal
+which had eaten up her best umbrella in the Zoo at Dusseldorf not having
+fulfilled the necessary condition of wildness.
+
+Next day I sent out coolies to search for traces, promising lavish
+"backshish" in the event of success, but I got no trustworthy news, "and
+that was the end of that hunting."
+
+_May_ 6.--Jane took a respite from the chase, and I sallied forth alone at
+dawn up a nullah from Alsu to look for a bear which was said to frequent
+those parts. A brisk walk of some four miles over the flat, followed by a
+climb up a track--steep as usual--to the left of the main track to the
+Lolab, brought us to a grassy ridge, where I sat down patiently to await
+the bear's pleasure. I took my note-book with me, and whiled away some
+time in writing the following:--
+
+Let me jot down a sketch of my present position and surroundings; it will
+serve to bring the scene back to me, perhaps, when I am again sitting in
+my own particular armchair watching the fat thrushes hopping about the
+lawn.
+
+Well, I am perched in a little hollow under a big grey boulder, which
+serves to shelter me to a certain, but limited, extent from the brisk
+showers that come sweeping over from the Lolab Valley. The hollow is so
+small that it barely contains my tiffin basket, rifle, gun, and self--in
+fact, my grass-shod and puttied extremities dangle over the rim, whence a
+steep slope shelves down some 200 feet to a brawling burn, the hum of
+which, mingling with the fitful sighing of the pines as the breeze sweeps
+through their sounding boughs, is perpetually in my ears. Across the
+little torrent, and not more than a hundred yards away, rises a slope,
+covered with rough grass and scrub, similar to that in the face of which I
+am ensconced.
+
+Here the bear was seen at 7 A.M. by a Gujar, who gave the fullest
+particulars to Ahmed Bot (my shikari) in a series of yells from a hill-top
+as we came up the valley. We arrived on the scene about seven, just in
+time to be too late, apparently. It is now 3 P.M., and the bear is
+supposed to be asleep, and I am possessing my soul in patience until it
+shall be Bruin's pleasure to awake and sally forth for his afternoon tea.
+
+There is certainly no bear now, so I pass the time in sleeping, eating,
+smoking, writing, and observing the manners and customs of a family of
+monkeys who are disporting themselves in a deep glen to the left. Beyond
+this ravine rises a high spur, beautifully wooded, the principal trees
+being deodar, blue pine (_Excelsa_) and yew. This is sloped at the
+invariable and disgusting angle of 45 degrees. Beyond it rise further
+wooded slopes, with snow gleaming through the deep green, and above all is
+the changing sky, where the clear blue gives way to a billowy expanse of
+white rolling clouds or dark rain-laden masses, which pour into the upper
+clefts of the ravine, and blot out the serried ranks of the pines, until a
+thorough drenching seems inevitable--when lo! a glint of blue through the
+gloomy background, and soon again,
+
+  "With never a stain, the pavilion of Heaven is bare."
+
+The immediate foreground, as I said before, slopes sharply from my very
+feet, where a clump of wild sage and jasmin (the leaves just breaking)
+grows over a charming little bunch of sweet violets. Lower down I can see
+the lilac flowers of a self-heal, and the bottom of the little gorge is
+clothed with a bush like a hazel, only with large, soft whitish flowers.
+
+My solitude has just been enlivened by the appearance of a cheerful party
+of lovely birds. They are very busy among the "hazels," flying from bush
+to bush with restless activity, and wasting no time in idleness. They are
+about the size of large finches--slender in shape, with longish tails.
+They are divided into two perfectly distinct kinds, probably male and
+female. The former have the back, head, and wings black; the latter barred
+with scarlet, the breast and underparts also scarlet. The others--which I
+assume to be the females--replace the black with ashy olive, the wings
+being barred with yellow, the underparts yellowish. The very familiar note
+of the cuckoo, somewhere up in the jungle, reminds me of an English spring.
+
+4 P.M.--I knew it! I knew that if the wind held down the nullah I should
+be dragged up that horrible ridge opposite. Hardly had I written the above
+when I was hunted from my lair, and rushed down 200 steep feet, and then
+up some 500 or 600 on the other side of the stream, through an abattis of
+clinging undergrowth that made a severe toil of what could never have been
+a pleasure. There can be no doubt but that a pith helmet--a really shady,
+broad one--is a most infernal machine under which to force one's way
+through brushwood.
+
+Well, all things come to an end--wind first, temper next, and finally the
+journey.
+
+My shikari is a fiend in human shape. He slinks along on the flat at what
+_looks_ like a mild three-miles-an-hour constitutional, but unless you are
+a _real_ four-mile man you will be left hopelessly astern; but when he
+gets upon his favourite "one in one" slope, then does he simply sail away,
+with the tiffin coolie carrying a fat basket and all your spare lumber in
+his wake, while you toil upward and ever upwards--gasping--until with your
+last available breath you murmur "Asti," and sink upon the nearest stone a
+limp, perspiring worm!
+
+5.30 P.M.--That bear has taken a sleeping draught!
+
+I am now perched on a lonely rock, my hard taskmaster having routed me out
+of a very comfortable place under a blue pine, whose discarded needles
+afforded me a really agreeable resting-place, and dragged me away down
+again through the pine forest and jungle; hurried me across a roaring
+torrent on a fallen tree trunk; personally conducted me hastily up a place
+like the roof of a house; and finally, explaining that the bear, when
+disturbed, must inevitably come close past me, has departed with his staff
+(the chota shikari, the tiffin coolie, and a baboon-faced native) to wake
+up the bear and send him along.
+
+After the first flurry of feeling all alone in the world, with only a
+probable bear for society, and having loaded all my guns, clasped my visor
+on my head and my Bessemer hug-proof strait-waistcoat round my "tummy," I
+felt calm enough to await events with equanimity.
+
+6.15 P.M.--A large and solemn monkey is sitting on the top of a thick and
+squat yew tree regarding me with unfeigned interest. The torrent is
+roaring away in the cleft below. Nothing else seems alive, and I am
+becoming bored----What? A bear? No! The shikari, thank goodness!
+
+"Well, shikari--Baloo dekho hai?" No, it is passing strange, but he has
+_not_ seen a bear. "All right! Pick up the blunderbuss, and let us make
+tracks for the ship."
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 10.--Beguiled by legends of many bears, detailed to me
+with apparently heartfelt sincerity by Ahmed Bot, I have been pursuing
+these phantoms industriously.
+
+On Monday we quitted our boat, and started upon a trip into the Lolab
+Valley. The views, as the path wound up the green and flower-spangled
+slope, were very beautiful, and, when we had ascended about 1500 feet and
+were about opposite to the supposed haunt of Saturday's bear, we
+determined to camp and enjoy the scenery, not omitting an evening
+expedition in search of our shy friend.
+
+Jane joining me, we had a most charming ramble down a narrow track to the
+bed of the stream which rushes down from the snow-covered ridge guarding
+the Lolab. Here we crossed into a splendid belt of gaunt silver firs, the
+first I have seen here; whitish yellow marsh-marigolds and a most vivid
+"smalt" blue forget-me-not with large flowers were abundant, also an
+oxalis very like our own wood-sorrel.
+
+Emerging from the pines, we crossed a grassy slope covered with tall
+primulas (P. _denticulata_) of varying shades of mauve and lilac, and sat
+down for a bit among the flowers while the shikaris looked for game. (I
+need hardly remark that the noble but elusive beast had appeared on the
+scene shortly after I left on Saturday; a Gujar told the shikari, and the
+shikari told me, so it must be true.) When we had gathered as many flowers
+as we could carry, we strolled back to the camp to watch the sunset
+transmute the snowy crest of Haramok to a golden rose.
+
+Yesterday, Tuesday, I left the camp at dawn, and went all over the same
+ground, but with no better success, only seeing a couple of bara singh,
+hornless now, and therefore comparatively uninteresting from a "shikar"
+point of view. After a delightful but bearless ramble I returned to
+breakfast, and then we struck camp, and completed the ascent of the pass
+over into the Lolab. Arrived at the top, we turned off the path to the
+right, and, climbing a short way, came out upon the lower part of the
+Nagmarg, a pretty, open clearing among the pines where the grass, dotted
+thickly with yellow colchicum, was only showing here and there through the
+melting snow. Choosing a snug and dry place on some sun-warmed rocks at
+the foot of a tree, we prepared to lunch and laze, and soon spread abroad
+the contents of the tiffin basket.
+
+There is something, nay much, of charm in the utter freedom and solitude
+of Kashmir camp life. There is no beaten track to be followed diligently
+by the tourist, German, American, or British, guide-book in hand and guide
+at elbow. No empty sardine-tins, nor untidy scraps of paper, mar the clean
+and lonely margs or village camping-grounds.
+
+The happy wanderer, selecting a grassy dell or convenient shady tree with
+a clear spring or dancing rivulet near by, invokes the tiffin coolie, and
+if a duly watchful eye has been kept upon that incorrigible sluggard, in
+short space the contents of the basket deck the sward. What have we here?
+Yes, of course, cold chicken--
+
+  "For beef is rare within these oxless isles."
+
+Bread! (how lucky we sent that coolie into Srinagar the other day). Butter,
+nicely stowed in its little white jar, cheese-cakes (one of the Sabz Ali's
+masterpieces), and a few unconsidered trifles in the form of "jam pups"
+and a stick of chocolate.
+
+Whisky is there, if required, but really the cold spring water is
+"delicate to drink" without spirituous accompaniment.
+
+Hunger appeased, the beauty of the surrounding scenery becomes intensified
+when seen through the balmy veil of smoke caused by the consumption of a
+mild cheroot, and peace and contentment reign while we feed the sprightly
+crows with chicken bones and bits of cheese rind.
+
+Shall we ever forget--Jane and I--that simple feast on the Nagmarg?
+
+The sloping snow melting into little rills which trickled through the
+fresh-springing flower-strewn grass; the extraordinary blue of the
+hillsides overlooking the Lolab Valley seen through the sloping boughs of
+the pines; the crows hopping audaciously around or croaking on a dried
+branch just above our heads; and above all, the glorious sense of freedom,
+of aloofness from all disturbing elements, of utter and irresponsible
+independence in a lovely land unspoiled by hand of man?
+
+The afternoon sun smote us full in the face as we descended the bare and
+not too smooth path that led into the valley, and we were right glad to
+reach the shade of a grove of deodars that covered the lower slopes of the
+hill. The Lolab Valley, into which we had now penetrated, is a rich and
+picturesque expanse of level plain, some fifteen miles long by three or
+four broad, apparently completely surrounded by a densely-wooded curtain
+of mountains, rising to an elevation of some 3000 feet above the valley on
+the south and west, but ranging on the other sides up into the lofty
+summits which bar the route into Gurais and the Tilail. The mountain chain
+is not really continuous, the river Pohru, which drains the valley,
+finding outlet to the west e'er it bends sharply to the south and enters
+the Wular near Sopor.
+
+Perhaps the most noticeable objects in the Lolab are the walnut trees;
+they are now just coming into full leaf, and their great trunks, hoary
+with age and softly velveted with dark green moss, form the noble columns
+of many a lovely camping-ground. We pitched our tents at Lalpura in a
+grove of giants, the majesty of which formed an exquisite contrast to the
+white foam of a cluster of apple trees in bloom.
+
+It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
+sketching, and enjoying the _dolce far niente_ of an idle life.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 14.--On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam, a
+short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest
+officer,[1] had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at
+our disposal; but, as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we are
+obliged to camp every night. We have been working along the north side
+of the Lolab, as the shikari is full of bear "khubbar," and as long as the
+weather remains fair we really do not much care where we go! Skirting the
+foot of the wooded ridge on our right, and with the flat and populous
+levels of the valley on our left, we marched along a good path shaded in
+many places by the magnificent walnuts and snowy fruit-trees for which the
+Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the Pohru by a rickety bridge, and
+toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached Kulgam, nestling at the foot of
+the hills.
+
+After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the
+village to look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as usual,
+and the path none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb deserved to
+be rewarded by, at any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed Bot having sent
+a special message to the Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing him to keep the
+nullah quiet, we were justly incensed when, having toiled up some couple
+of thousand weary feet, we met a gay party of the _elite_ of Kulgam
+prancing down the hill with blankets stuffed with wild leeks, or some such
+delicacy.
+
+Ahmed Bot showed reckless courage. Having overwhelmed the enemy with a
+vituperative broadside, he fell upon them single-handed, tore from them
+their cherished blankets, and spilt the leeks to the four winds.
+
+I expected nothing less than to be promptly hurled down the khud, with
+Jill after me, by the six enraged burghers of Kulgam. But no. They simply
+sat down together on a rock, and blubbered loud and long; we sat down
+opposite them on another rock and laughed, and laughed--tableau!
+
+On Friday I went for a delightful walk through the pine and deodar forests,
+the ostensible objective being, of course, a bear. Putting aside all ideas
+of sport, I gave myself up to the simple joy of mere existence in such a
+land; noting a handsome iris with broad red lilac blooms, which I had not
+seen before; listening to the intermittent voice of the cuckoo, and
+pausing every here and there to gaze over the fair valley, backed by its
+encircling ranges of sunlit mountains.
+
+The chota shikari is a youth of great activity, both mental and physical.
+He almost wept with excitement on observing the mark of a bear's paw on a
+dusty bit of path. He said it was a bear which had left that paw-mark, so
+I believed him. Late in the dusk of the afternoon he _saw_ a bear sitting
+looking out of a cave. I could only make out a black hole, but he saw its
+ears move. I regarded the spot with a powerful telescope, but only saw
+more hole; still, I cannot doubt the chota shikari. The burra shikari saw
+it too, but was of opinion that it was too late to go and bag it. I think
+he was right, so we went back to camp without further adventure.
+
+Yesterday we left Kulgam, and followed up a track to a small village which
+lies at the foot of the track leading over to Gurais and the Tilail
+country. Here we camped in a grove of walnuts, which stood by an icy
+spring. Jane and I went for a stroll, watched a couple of small
+woodpeckers hunting the trunk of a young fir within a few feet of us, but
+retreated hurriedly to camp on the approach of a heavy thunderstorm. This
+was but the prelude to a bad break in the weather; all to-day it has
+rained in torrents, and everything is sopping and soaked. The little
+stream which yesterday trickled by the camp is become a young river, and
+it is a perfect mystery how Sabz Ali manages to cook our food over a fire
+guarded from the full force of the rain by blankets propped up with sticks,
+and how, having cooked it, he can bring it, still hot, across the twenty
+yards of rain-swept space which intervenes between the cook-house and our
+tent.
+
+_Monday, May_ 15.--The deluge continued all night, and only at about ten
+o'clock this forenoon did the heavy curtain of rain break up into ragged
+swirls of cloud, which, torn by the serrated ridges of the gloomy pines,
+rolled dense and dark up the gorges, resonant now with the roar of
+full-fed torrents.
+
+The men are all beginning to complain of fever, and have eaten up a great
+quantity of quinine. Considering the dismal conditions under which they
+have been living for the last couple of days, this is not surprising; so,
+with the first promise of an improvement in the weather, we struck camp,
+determined to make for the forest bungalow at Doras and obtain the shelter
+of a solid roof. Many showers, but no serious downpour, enlivened our
+march, and we arrived at the snug little wooden house just in time to
+escape a particularly fine specimen of a thunderstorm. The Doras bungalow
+seemed a very palace of luxury, with its dry, airy rooms and wide verandah,
+all of sweet-smelling deodar wood. The men, too, were thankful to have a
+good roof over their heads, and we heard no more of fever.
+
+_Wednesday, May_ 17.--Yesterday it rained without ceasing, until the
+valley in front of us took the appearance of a lake--A party of terns,
+white above and with black breasts, skirled and wrangled over the "casual"
+water. It was still very wet this morning, but as it cleared somewhat
+after breakfast, we made up our minds to quit the Lolab and get back to
+our boat.
+
+Doras has sad memories for Jane, for here died the "chota murghi," a black
+chicken endowed with the most affectionate disposition. It was permitted
+to sit on the lady's knee, and scratch its yellow beak with its little
+yellow claw; but I never cared to let it remain long upon my shoulder--a
+perch it ardently affected. Well! it is dead, poor dear, and whether from
+shock (the pony which carried its basket having fallen down with it _en
+route_ from "Walnut Camp"), or from a surfeit of caterpillars which were
+washed in myriads off the trees there, we cannot tell. Sabz Ali brought
+the little corpse along, holding it by one pathetic leg to show the
+horrified Jane, before giving it to the kites and crows. He has many
+"murghis" left; baskets full, as he says, for they are cheap in the Lolab,
+but we shall never love another so dearly.
+
+We had a shocking time while climbing to the pass which leads over to
+Rampur, the road being deep in slimy mud, and so slippery that the
+unfortunate baggage ponies could hardly get along. Jane, who is in
+splendid condition now, toiled nobly up a track which would have been
+delightful had the weather been a little less hideous.
+
+Reaching the ridge which divides the Lolab from the Pohru Valley, we
+turned to the left, along the edge, instead of descending forthwith, as we
+had hoped and expected to do. It was raw and cold, with flying wreaths of
+damp mist shutting out the view, and we were glad of a comforting tiffin,
+swallowed somewhat hurriedly, under a forlorn and stunted specimen of a
+blue pine. Then on along a rough and slippery catwalk that made us wonder
+if the baggage ponies would achieve a safe arrival at Rampur.
+
+Crossing a steep, rock-strewn ridge, covered with crown imperial in full
+flower, we began a sharp descent through a wood of deodars; and now the
+thunder, which had been grumbling and rumbling in the distance, came upon
+us, and a deafening peal sent us scurrying down the hill at our best pace;
+the lightning-blasted trunks stretching skywards their blackened and
+tempest-torn limbs in ghastly witness of what had been and what might be
+again.
+
+At last we cleared the wood, and, plunging across a perfect slough of deep
+mud, crawled on to the verandah of the Rampur forest-house, where we sat
+anxiously watching the hillside until we saw our faithful ponies safely
+sliding down the hill.
+
+_Thursday, May_ 18.--The changes of weather in this country are sudden and
+surprising. This morning we woke to a perfect day--the sun bathing the
+warm hillsides, the picturesque brown village, and the brilliant masses of
+snowy blossoming fruit-trees with a radiant smile. And, but for the
+tell-tale riot of the streams and the sponginess of the compound, there
+was nothing to betray the past misdeeds of the clerk of the weather.
+
+At noon we set out to cover the short distance that lay between us and
+Kunis, where we had made tryst with Satarah. The country was like a series
+of English woodland glades--watered by many purling streams, and bright
+with masses of apple blossom; the turf around the trees all white and pink
+with petals torn from the branches by the recent storms. Clumps of fir
+clothed the hills with sombre green--a perfect background to a perfect
+picture.
+
+The flowers all along our path to-day were much in evidence after the rain.
+Little prickly rose-bushes (_R. Webbiana_) were covered with pink blossoms
+just bursting into full glory; bushes of white may, yellow berberis,
+Daphne (_Oleoides?_), and many another flowering shrub grew in tangled
+profusion, while pimpernel (red and blue), a small androsace
+(_rotundifolia_), hawks-bit, stork's bill, wild geranium, a tiny mallow,
+eye-bright, forget-me-not, a little yellow oxalis, a speedwell, and many
+another, to me unknown, blossom starred the roadside. In the fields round
+Kunis the poppies flared, and the iris bordered the fields with a ribbon
+of royal purple.
+
+We reached Kunis at two o'clock, and found the village half submerged, the
+water being up and over the low shores from the recent rain. Our boats
+were moored in a clump of willows, whose feet stood so deeply in the water
+that we had to embark on pony-back! After lunch came the usual difference
+of opinion with the Admiral, who seems to have great difficulty in
+grasping the fact that our will is law as to times and seasons for sailing.
+He always assumes the role of passive resister, and is always defeated
+with ignominy. He insisted that it was too late to think of reaching
+Bandipur, but we maintained that we could get at any rate part of the way;
+so he cast off from his willow-tree, and sulkily poked and poled out into
+the Wular, taking uncommon good care to hug the shore with fervour.
+
+Here and there a group of willows standing far out into the lake, or a
+half-drowned village, drove us out into the open water, and once when,
+like a latter-day Vasco de Gama, the Admiral was striving to double the
+dreadful promontory of a water-logged fence, a puff of wind fell upon us,
+lashing the smooth water into ripples, whereupon the crew lost their wits
+with fright, and the lady mariners in the cook-boat set up a dismal
+howling; the ark, taking charge, crashed through the fence, her way
+carrying us to the very door of a frontier villa of an amphibious village.
+With amazing alacrity the crew tied us up to the door-post, and prepared
+to go into winter quarters.
+
+This did not suit us at all, and
+
+  "The harmless storm being ended,"
+
+we ruthlessly broke away from our haven of refuge, and safely arrived at
+Alsu.
+
+_Friday, May_ 19.--An ominous stillness and repose at 3 o'clock this
+morning sent me forth to see why the windlass was not being manned. A
+thing like a big grey bat flapping about, proved, on inspection, to be
+that rascal the Lord High Admiral Satarah. He said he could not start, as
+the hired coolies from Kunis had been so terrified by the horrors of
+yesterday that they had departed in the night, sacrificing their pay
+rather than run any more risks with such daredevils as the mem-sahib and
+me. This was vexatious and entirely unexpected, as I had never before
+known a coolie to bolt before pay-day. Sabz Ali and Satarah were promptly
+despatched on a pressgang foray, while I put to sea with the
+first-lieutenant to show that I meant business. A crew was found in a
+surprisingly short time, and a frenzied dart was made for the mouth of the
+Jhelum.
+
+All day we poled round the shore of the lake, over flooded fields where
+the mustard had spread its cloth of gold a short week ago, over the very
+hedges we had scrambled through when duck-shooting in April, until in the
+evening we entered the river just below Sumbal.
+
+The towing-path was almost, in many places quite, under water, and the
+whole country looked most forlorn and melancholy as the sun went down--a
+pale yellow ball in a pale yellow haze.
+
+_Sunday, May_ 21.--All yesterday we towed up the river against a current
+which ran swift and strong.
+
+The passage of the bridge at Surahal gave us some trouble, as the flooded
+river brought our upper works within a narrow distance of the highest
+point of the span, but we finally scraped through with the loss of a
+portion of the railing which decorated our upper deck.
+
+The strain of towing was severe, so, when a brisk squall and threatening
+thunder-shower overtook us at the mouth of the Sind River, we decided to
+tie up there for the night.
+
+This morning we started at four o'clock, but only reached our berth at
+Srinagar at two, having spent no less than six hours in forcing the boats
+by pole and rope for the last three miles through the town! An incredible
+amount of panting, pushing, yelling, and hauling, with frantic invocations
+to "Jampaws" and other saints, was required to enable us to crawl inch by
+inch against the racing water which met us in the narrow canal below the
+Palace.
+
+All's well that ends well, and here we are once more in Srinagar, after a
+trip which has been really delightful, albeit the weather latterly has not
+been by any means all that could have been desired, and we have slain no
+bears![2]
+
+
+[1] Commonly called the "Jungly-sahib."
+
+[2] Can it be that Bernier was right? "Il ne s'y trouve ni serpens, ni
+    tigres, ni ours, ni lions, si ce n'est tres rarement."--_Voyage de
+    Kachemire_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SRINAGAR AGAIN
+
+We have spent the last three weeks or so quietly in Srinagar, our boats
+forming links in the long chain that, during the "season," extends for
+miles along both banks of the river. A large contingent of amphibians
+dwells in the canal leading to the Dal gates, and the Chenar Bagh, sacred
+to the bachelor, shows not a spare inch along its shady length.
+
+Not being either professional globe-trotters or Athenians, we have not
+felt obliged to be perpetually in high-strung pursuit of some new thing;
+and to the seeker after mild and modest enjoyment there is much to be said
+in favour of a sojourn at Srinagar.
+
+Polo, gymkhanas, lawn-tennis, picnics, and golf are everyday occurrences,
+followed by a rendezvous at the club, where every one congregates for a
+smoke and chat, until the sun goes down behind the poplars, and the swift
+shikaras come darting over the stream like water-beetles to carry off the
+sahibs to their boats, to dress, dine, and reassemble for "bridge," or
+perhaps a dance at Nedou's Hotel, or at that most hospitable hub of
+Srinagar, the Residency.
+
+Polo is, naturally, practically restricted to the man who brings up his
+ponies from the Punjab, but golf is for all, and the nine-hole course,
+although flat, is not stale, and need not be unprofitable, unless you are
+fallen upon--as I was--by two stalwart Sappers, sons of Canada and potent
+wielders of the cleek, who gave me enough to do to keep my rupees in my
+pocket and the honour of the mother country upheld!
+
+On May 26th we took shikara and paddled across the Dal Lake to see
+something of the Mohammedan festival, consisting in a pilgrimage to the
+Mosque of Hasrat Bal, where a hair of the prophet's beard is the special
+object of adoration.
+
+As we neared the goal the plot thickened. Hundreds of boats--from enormous
+doungas containing the noisy inhabitants of, I should suppose, a whole
+village, down to the tiniest shikara, whose passenger was perched with
+careful balance to retain a margin of safety to his two inches of
+freeboard--converged upon the crowded bank, above which rose the mosque.
+
+How can I best attempt to describe the din, the crush, the light, the
+colour? Was it like Henley? Well, perhaps it might be considered as a mad,
+fantastic Henley. Replace the fair ladies and the startling "blazers" with
+veiled houris and their lords clad in all colours of the rainbow; for one
+immortal "Squash" put hundreds of "squashes," all playing upon weird
+instruments, or singing in "a singular minor key"; let the smell of
+outlandish cookery be wafted to you from the "family" boats and from the
+bivouacs on the shore; let a constant uproar fall upon your ears as when
+the Hall defeats Third Trinity by half a length; and, finally, for the
+flat banks of Father Thames and the trim lawns of Phyllis Court, you must
+substitute the Nasim Bagh crowned with its huge chenars, and Mahadco
+looking down upon you from his thirteen thousand feet of precipice and
+snow.
+
+Half-an-hour of this kaleidoscopic whirl of gaiety satisfied us. The sun,
+in spite of an awning, was a little trying, so we sought the quiet and
+shade of the Nasim Bagh for lunch and repose.
+
+Returning towards Srinagar about sundown, we stopped to visit the ancient
+Mosque of Hassanabad, which stands on a narrow inlet or creek of the Dal
+Lake, shaded by chenars and willows in all their fresh spring green. A
+little lawn of softest turf slopes up gently to the ruined mosque, of
+which a portion of an apse and vaulted dome alone stand sentinel over its
+fallen greatness. Around lie the tombs of princes, whose bones have
+mouldered for eight hundred years under the irises, which wave their green
+sabres crowned with royal purple in the whispering twilight.
+
+Near by, the mud and timber walls of a ziarat stand, softly brown,
+supporting a deeply overhanging, grass-grown roof, blazing with scarlet
+tulips. Through its very centre, and as though supporting it, pierces the
+gnarled trunk of a walnut tree, reminding one of Ygdrasil, the Upholder of
+the Universe.
+
+_May_ 27.--What an improvement it would be if a house-dounga could be
+fitted with torpedo netting! Jane finds herself in the most embarrassing
+situations, while dressing in the morning, from the unwelcome pertinacity
+of the merchants who swarm up the river in the early hours from their
+lairs, and lay themselves alongside the helpless house-boats.
+
+By 10 A.M. we have to repel boarders in all directions. Mr. Sami Joo is
+endeavouring to sell boots from the bow, while Guffar Ali is pressing
+embroidery on our acceptance from the stern. Ali Jan is in a boat full of
+carved-wood rubbish on the starboard side, while Samad Shah, Sabhana, and
+half-a-dozen other robbers line the river bank opposite our port windows
+and clamour for custom. A powerful garden-hose of considerable calibre
+might be useful, but for the present I have given Sabz Ali orders to rig
+out long poles, which will prevent the enemy from so easily getting to
+close quarters.
+
+_June_ 17.--It is quite curious that it should be so difficult to find
+time to keep up this journal. Mark Twain, in that best of burlesques, _The
+Innocents Abroad_ affirms, if I remember rightly, that you could not
+condemn your worst enemy to greater suffering than to bind him down to
+keep an accurate diary for a year.
+
+It is the inexorable necessity for writing day by day one's impressions
+that becomes so trying; and yet it must be done daily if it is to be done
+at all, for the only virtue I can attain to in writing is truth; and
+impressions from memory, like sketches from memory, are of no value from
+the hand of any but a master.
+
+The time set apart for diary-writing is the hour which properly intervenes
+between chota hasri and the announcement of my bath; but, somehow, there
+never seems to be very much time. Either the early tea is late or bath is
+early, or a shikar expedition, with a grass slipper in pursuit of flies,
+takes up the precious moments, and so the business of the day gets all
+behindhand.
+
+The fly question is becoming serious. Personally, I do not consider that
+fleas, mosquitoes, or any other recognised insect pests (excepting,
+perhaps, harvest bugs) are so utterly unendurable as the "little, busy,
+thirsty fly." It seems odd, too, as he neither stings nor bites, that he
+should be so objectionable; but his tickly method of walking over your
+nose or down your neck, and the exasperating pertinacity with which he
+refuses to take "no" for an answer when you flick him delicately with a
+handkerchief, but "cuts" and comes again, maddens you until you rise,
+bloody-minded in your wrath, and, seizing the nearest sledgehammer, fall
+upon the brute as he sits twiddling his legs in a sunny patch on the table,
+then lo--
+
+  "Unwounded from the dreadful close "--
+
+he frisks cheerfully away, leaving you to gather up cursefully the
+fragments of the china bowl your wife bought yesterday in the bazaar!
+
+How he manages to congregate in his legions in this ship is a mystery.
+Every window is guarded by "meat safe" blinds of wire gauze; the doors are,
+normally, kept shut; and yet, after one has swept round like an irate
+whirlwind with a grass slipper, and slain or desperately wounded every
+visible fly in the cabin, and at last sat down again to pant and paint,
+hoping for surcease from annoyance, not five minutes pass before one, two,
+nay, a round dozen of the miscreants are gaily licking the moisture off
+the cobalt (may they die in agony!), or trying to swim across the glass of
+water, or playing hop-scotch on the nape of my neck.
+
+From what mysterious lair or hidden orifice they come I know not, but here
+they are in profusion until another massacre of the innocents is decreed.
+
+It is a sound thing to go round one's sleeping-cabin at night before
+"turning in," and make a bag of all that can be found "dreaming the happy
+hours away" on the bulkheads and ceiling. It sends us to bed in the
+virtuous frame of mind of the Village Blacksmith--
+
+  "Something attempted, something done,
+  Has earned a night's repose"
+
+There are other microbes besides flies in Kashmir which are
+exasperating--coolies, for instance.
+
+I had engaged men through Chattar Singh (the State Transport factotum at
+Srinagar) to take us up the river, and decreed that we should start at
+4 A.M. yesterday.
+
+We had been to an _al fresco_ gathering at the Residency the night before,
+and so were rather sleepy in the early morning, and I did not wake at four
+o'clock. At six we had not got far on our way, and at ten we were but
+level with Pandrettan, barely three miles from Srinagar as the crow (that
+model of rectilinear volition) flies.
+
+I was busy painting all the forenoon, and failed to note the sluggish
+steps of our coolies, but in the afternoon it was borne in upon us that if
+we wanted to reach Avantipura that night, as we had arranged, a little
+acceleration was necessary.
+
+Then the trouble began. The coolies were bone-lazy, the admiral and
+first-lieutenant were sulky, and the weather was stuffy and threatened
+thunder--the conditions were altogether detrimental to placidity of
+temper.
+
+By sunset we had the shikari, the kitchen-maid, and the sweeper on the
+tow-rope, and even the great and good Sabz Ali was seen to bear a hand in
+poling. Much recrimination now ensued between Sabz Ali and the Admiral,
+and the whole crowd made the air resound with Kashmiri "language," every
+one, apparently, abusing everybody else, and making very nasty remarks
+about their lady ancestors.
+
+At 10 P.M. I got four more coolies from a village, apparently chiefly
+inhabited by dogs, who deeply resented our proximity, and at 2 o'clock
+this morning we reached the haven where we would be--Avantipura.
+
+This morning I discharged the Srinagar coolies and took a fresh lot, who
+pull better and talk less.
+
+How differently things may be put and yet the truth retained. Yesterday we
+reclined at our ease in our cosy floating cottage, towed up the lovely
+river by a picturesque crew of bronze Kashmiris, the swish of the passing
+water only broken by their melodious voices. The brilliancy of the morning
+gave way in the afternoon to a soft haze which fell over the snowy ranges,
+mellowing their clear tones to a soft and pearly grey, while the
+reflections of the big chenars which graced the river bank deepened us the
+afternoon shadows lengthened and spread over the wide landscape. Towards
+evening we strolled along the river bank plucking the ripe mulberries, and
+idly watching the terns and kingfishers busily seeking their suppers over
+the glassy water; and at night we sat on deck while the moon rose higher
+in the quiet sky, and the dark river banks assumed a clearer ebony as she
+rose above the lofty fringe of trees, until the towing-path lay a track of
+pure silver reaching away to the dim belt of woodland which shrouded
+Avantipura.
+
+That is a perfectly accurate description of the day, and so is this:--
+
+It was very hot--and there is nothing hid from the heat of the sun on
+board a wooden house-dounga. The flies, too, were unusually malevolent,
+and I could scarcely paint, and my wife could hardly read by reason of
+their unwelcome attentions.
+
+The coolies were a poor lot and a slack, and as the day grew stuffier and
+sultrier so did their efforts on the tow-path become "small by degrees and
+beautifully less."
+
+That irrepressible bird--the old cock--refused to consider himself as
+under arrest in his hen-coop, and insisted upon crowing about fifteen
+times a minute with that fidgeting irregularity which seems peculiar to
+certain unpleasant sounds, and which retains the ear fixed in nervous
+tension for the next explosion of defiance or pride, or whatever evil
+impulse it is which causes a cock to crow.
+
+Driven overboard by the cock, and a feeling that exercise would be
+beneficial, we landed in the afternoon, and plodded along the bank for
+some miles. The innumerable mulberry trees are loaded with ripe fruit, the
+ground below being literally black with fallen berries. We ate some, and
+pronounced them to be but mawkish things.
+
+After dinner we sat on deck, as the lamp smelt too strongly to let us
+enjoy ourselves in the cabin, and the coolies on the bank and the people
+in our boat and those in the cook-boat engaged in a triangular duel of
+words, until the last few grains of my patience ran through the glass, and
+I spake with _my_ tongue.
+
+There is certainly some curious quality in the air of this country which
+affects the nerves: maybe it is the elevation at which one lives--certain
+it is that many people complain of unwonted irritability and
+susceptibility to petty annoyances. And, while travelling in Kashmir is
+easy and comfortable enough along beaten tracks, yet the petty worries
+connected with all matters of transport and supply are incessant, and
+become much more serious if one cannot speak or understand Hindustani.
+
+It takes some little time for the Western mind to grasp the fact that the
+Kashmiri cannot and must not be treated on the "man and brothel" principle.
+
+He is by nature a slave, and his brain is in many respects the undeveloped
+brain of a child; in certain ways, however, his outward childishness
+conceals the subtlety of the Heathen Chinee.
+
+He has in no degree come to comprehend the dignity of labour any more than
+a Poplar pauper comprehends it, but fortunately his Guardians, while
+granting certain advantages in his tenure of land and payment of rent,
+have bound him, in return, to work for a fair payment, when required to do
+so by his Government, as exercised by the local Tehsildhar.
+
+The demand made upon a village for coolies is not, therefore, an arbitrary
+and high-handed system of bullying, but simply a call upon the villages to
+fulfil their obligation towards the State by doing a fair day's work for a
+fair day's pay of from four to six annas.
+
+I do not, of course, propose to entangle myself in the working of the Land
+Settlement, which is most fully and admirably explained in Lawrence's
+_Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+The coolie, drawn from his native village reluctant, like a periwinkle
+from its shell, is never a good starter, and when he finds himself at the
+end of a tow-rope or bowed beneath half a hundredweight of the sahib's
+trinkets, with a three-thousand-feet pass to attain in front of him, he is
+extremely apt to burst into tears--idle tears--or be overcome by a fit of
+that fell disease--"the lurgies." Lest my reader should not be acquainted
+with this illness, at least under that name, here is the diagnosis of the
+lurgies as given by a very ordinary seaman to the ship's doctor.
+
+"Well, sir, I eats well, and I sleeps well; but when I've got a job of
+work to do--Lor' bless you, sir! I breaks out all over of a tremble!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LIDAR VALLEY
+
+We were glad enough to leave Srinagar, as that place has been undoubtedly
+trying lately, being extremely hot and relaxing. The river, which had been
+up to the fourteen-foot level, as shown on the gate ports at the entrance
+to the Sunt-i-kul Canal, had fallen to 9-1/2 feet, and the mud, exposed
+both on its banks and in the fields and flats which had been flooded, must
+have given out unwholesome exhalations, of which the riverine population,
+the dwellers in house-boats and doungas, got the full benefit.
+
+Jane has certainly been anything but well lately, and I confess to a
+certain feeling best described as "slack and livery."
+
+We had not intended to remain nearly so long in Srinagar, but the
+continuity of the chain of entertainments proved too firm to break, and
+dances and dinners, bridge and golf, kept us bound from day to day, until
+the _fete_ at the Residency on the 15th practically brought the Srinagar
+season to a close, and broke up the line of house-boats that had been
+moored along both banks of the river.
+
+We had arranged to start with a party of three other boats up the river,
+visiting Atchibal with our friends, and then going up the Lidar Valley,
+while they retraced their way to Srinagar.
+
+The most popular bachelor in Kashmir was appointed commodore, and deputed
+to set the pace and arrange rendezvous. He began by sending on his big
+house-boat, dragged by many coolies, to Pampur, a distance of some ten
+miles by water, and, following himself on horseback by road, instituted a
+sort of "Devil take the hindmost" race, for which we were not prepared.
+
+On reaching Pampur we heard that the "Baltic Fleet" had sailed for
+Avantipura, so we followed on; but, alas! having made a forced march to
+this latter place, we found that Rodjestvenski Phelps had again escaped us
+and "gone before."
+
+We consigned him and the elusive "chota resident," who was in command of
+the rest of the party, to perdition, and decided to pursue the even tenor
+of our way to the Lidar Valley.
+
+The upper reaches of the Jhelum tire not wildly or excitingly lovely. The
+narrowed waters, like sweet Thames, run softly between quiet British banks,
+willow veiled. The wide level flats of the lower river give place to low
+sloping hills or "karewas," which fall in terraced undulations from the
+foothills of the higher ranges which close in the eastern extremity of the
+Kashmir Valley.
+
+It was well into the evening, and the sun had just set, throwing a
+glorious rosy flush over the snows which surround the Lidar Valley, when
+we came to the picturesque bridge which crosses the stream at Bejbehara.
+
+The scene here was charming--a grand festa or religious tamasha being
+toward; the whole river was swarming with boats--great doungas, with their
+festive crews yelling a monotonous chant, paddled uproariously by. Light
+shikaras darted in and out, making up for want of volume in their song by
+the piercing shrillness of their utterances. The banks and bridge teemed
+with swarming life, and all Kashmir seemed to have contributed its
+noisiest members to the revel.
+
+Beyond the bridge we could see through the gathering dusk many house-boats
+of the sahibs clustering under a group of magnificent chenars, over whose
+dark masses the moon was just rising, full orbed. The piers of the bridge
+seemed to be set in foliage, large willows having grown up from their
+bases, giving a most curious effect. We marked with some apprehension the
+swiftness of the oily current which came swirling round the piers, and
+soon we found ourselves stuck fast about half-way under the bridge,
+apparently unable to force our boat another inch against the stream which
+boiled past. An appalling uproar was caused by the coolies and the
+unemployed upon the bridge, who all, as usual, gave unlimited advice to
+every one else as to the proper management of affairs under the existing
+circumstances, but did nothing whatever in support of their theories. The
+situation was becoming quite interesting, and the "mem-sahib" and I,
+sitting on the roof of our boat, were speculating as to what would happen
+next when the Gordian knot was cut by the unexpected energy and courage of
+the first-lieutenant, who boldly slapped an argumentative coolie in the
+face, while the admiral dashed promiscuously into the shikara,
+and--yelling "Hard-a-starboard!--Full speed ahead!--Sit on the
+safety--valve!"--boldly shot into an overhanging mulberry tree, wherein
+our tow-rope was much entangled. The rope was cleared, the crew poled
+like fury, the coolies hauled for all they were worth, every one yelled
+himself hoarse, and we forged ahead. We crashed under the mulberry tree,
+which swept us from stem to stern, nearly carrying the hen-coop overboard;
+while Jane and I lay flat under a perfect hail of squashy black fruit
+which covered the upper deck.
+
+We went on shore for a moonlight stroll after dinner. The place was like a
+glorified English park; chenars of the first magnitude, taking the place
+of oaks, rose from the short crisp turf, while a band of stately poplars
+stood sentry on the river bank. Through blackest shadow and over patches
+of moonlit sward we rambled till we came upon the ruins of a temple, of
+which little was left but a crumbled heap of masonry in the middle of a
+rectangular grassy hollow which had evidently been a tank, small detached
+mounds, showing where the piers of a little bridge had stood, giving
+access to the building from the bank. An avenue of chenars led straight to
+the bridge, showing either the antiquity of the trees or the comparatively
+modern date of the temple.
+
+_June 19_.--Yesterday afternoon we left Bejbehara, and went on to Kanbal,
+the port of Islamabad. A hot and sultry day, oppressive and enervating to
+all but the flies, which were remarkably energetic and lively. The river
+below Islamabad is quite narrow, and hemmed in between high mudbanks.
+
+Here we found the "Baltic Fleet," but, knowing that our fugitive friends
+must have already reached Atchibal, we held to our intention of going up
+the Lidar.
+
+Having tied up to a remarkably smelly bank, which was just lofty enough to
+screen our heated brows from any wandering breeze, we landed to explore. A
+hot walk of a mile or so along a dusty, poplar-lined road brought us to
+the town of Islamabad, which, however, concealed its beauties most
+effectually in a mass of foliage. Although it ranks as the second town in
+Kashmir, it can hardly be said to be more than a big village, even
+allowing for its 9000 inhabitants, its picturesque springs, and its boast
+of having been once upon a time the capital of the valley. The first
+hundred yards of "city," consisting of a highly-seasoned bazaar paved with
+the accumulated filth of ages, was enough to satisfy our thirst for
+sight-seeing, and after a visit to the post-office we trudged back through
+a most oppressive grey haze to the boat. Crowds of the _elite_ of the
+neighbourhood were hastening into Islamabad, where the "tamasha," which we
+came upon at Bejbehara, is to be continued to-morrow.
+
+We had a good deal of difficulty in getting transport for our expedition,
+as the Assistant Resident and his party had, apparently, cleared the place
+of available ponies and coolies. An appeal to the Tehsildhar was no use,
+as that dignitary had gone to Atchibal in the Court train. However, a
+little pressure applied to Lassoo, the local livery stablekeeper, produced
+eight baggage ponies and a good-looking cream-coloured steed, with man's
+saddle, for my wife.
+
+The syce, a jovial-looking little flat-faced fellow, was a native of
+Ladakh.
+
+We made a fairly early start, getting off about six, and, having skirted
+the town and passed the neat little Zenana Mission Hospital, we had a
+pretty but uneventful march of some six miles to Bawan, where, under a big
+chenar, we halted for the greater part of the day.
+
+Here let me point out that life is but a series of neglected opportunities.
+We were within a couple of miles of Martand, the principal temple in
+Kashmir, and we did not go to see it! I blush as I write this, knowing
+that hereafter no well-conducted globe-trotter will own to my acquaintance,
+and, indeed, the case requires explanation. Well, then, it was excessively
+hot; we were both in bad condition, and I had ten miles more to march, so
+we decided to visit Martand on our way down the valley. Alas! we came this
+way no more.
+
+Little knowing how much we were missing, we sat contented in the shade
+while the hot hours went by, merely strolling down to visit a sacred tank
+full of cool green water and swarming with holy carp, which scrambled in a
+solid mass for bits of the chupatty which Jane threw to them.
+
+A clear stream gushed out of a bank overhung by a tangle of wild plants.
+To the left was a weird figure of the presiding deity, painted red, and
+frankly hideous.
+
+We were truly sorry to feel obliged, at four o'clock, to leave Bawan with
+its massy trees and abundance of clear running water, and step out into
+the heat and glare of the afternoon.
+
+I found it a trying march. The road led along a fairly good track among
+rice-fields, whence the sloping sun glinted its maddening reflection, but
+here and there clumps of walnuts--the fruit just at the pickling
+stage--cast a broad cool shadow, in which one lingered to pant and mop a
+heated brow e'er plunging out again into the grievous white sunlight.
+
+The cavalcade was increased during the afternoon by the addition to our
+numbers of a dog--a distinctly ugly, red-haired native sort of dog,
+commonly called a pi-dog. He appeared, full of business--from nowhere in
+particular--and his business appeared to be to go to Eshmakam with us.
+
+As we neared that place the road began to rise through the loveliest
+woodland scenery--white roses everywhere in great bushes of foamy white,
+and in climbing wreaths that drooped from the higher trees, wild indigo in
+purple patches reminding one not a little of heather. Above the still
+unseen village a big ziarat or monastery shone yellow in the sinking
+sunlight, and overhead rose a rugged grey wall of strangely pinnacled
+crags, outliers of the Wardwan, showing dusky blue in the clear-cut
+shadows, and rose grey where the low sun caught with dying glory the
+projecting peaks and bastions.
+
+In a sort of orchard of walnut trees, on short, clean, green grass, we
+pitched our tents, and right glad was I to sit in a comfortable Roorkhee
+chair and admire the preparations for dinner after a stiff day, albeit we
+only "made good" some sixteen miles at most.
+
+_June_ 20.--A brilliant morning saw us off for Pahlgam, along a road which
+was simply a glorified garden. Roses white and roses pink in wild
+profusion, jasmin both white and yellow, wild indigo, a tall and very
+handsome spiraea, forget-me-not, a tiny sort of Michaelmas daisy, wild
+strawberry, and honeysuckle, among many a (to me unknown) blossom, clothed
+the hillside or drooped over the bank of the clear stream, by whose
+flower-spangled margin lay our path, where, as in Milton's description of
+Eden,
+
+  "Each beauteous flower,
+  Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine
+  Reared high their flourished heads."
+
+Soon the valley narrowed, and closer on our left roared the Lidar, foaming
+over its boulders in wild haste to find peace and tranquil flow in the
+broad bosom of Jhelum.
+
+The road became somewhat hilly, and at one steep zigzag the nerves of Jane
+failed her slightly and she dismounted, rightly judging that a false step
+on the part of the cream-coloured courser would be followed by a hurried
+descent into the Lidar. I explained to her that I would certainly do what
+I could for her with a dredge in the Wular when I came down, but she
+preferred, she said, not to put me to any inconvenience in the matter. We
+were asked to subscribe, a few days later, at Pahlgam to provide the
+postman with a new pony, his late lamented "Tattoo" having been startled
+by a flash of lightning at that very spot, and having paid for the error
+with his life.
+
+A halt was called for lunch under a blue pine, where we quickly discovered
+how paltry its shade is in comparison with the generous screen cast by a
+chenar; scarcely has the heated traveller picked out a seemingly
+umbrageous spot to recline upon when, lo! a flickering shaft of sunlight,
+broken into an irritating dazzle by a quivering bunch of pine needles,
+strikes him in the eye, and he sets to work to crawl vainly around in
+search of a better screen.
+
+Nothing approaches the great circle of solid coolness thrown by a big
+chenar. The walnut does its best, and comes in a good second. Pines
+(especially blue ones) are, as I remarked before, unsatisfactory.
+
+But if the pine is not all that can be wished as a shade-producer, he is
+in all his varieties a beautiful object to look upon. First, I think, in
+point of magnificence towers the Himalayan spruce, rearing his gaunt shaft,
+
+  "Like the mast of some tall ammiral,"
+
+from the shelving steeps that overhang the torrents, and piercing high
+into the blue. In living majesty he shares the honours with the deodar,
+but he is merely good to look upon; his timber is useless and in his decay
+his fallen and lightning-blasted remains lie rotting on these wild hills,
+while the precious trunks of the deodar and the excelsa are laboriously
+collected, and floated and dragged to the lower valleys, producing much
+good money to Sir Amar Singh and the best of building timber to the
+purchaser.
+
+The road towards Pahlgam is a charming woodland walk, where the wild
+strawberries, still hardly out of flower, grow thick amidst a tangle of
+chestnut, yew, wild cherry, and flowering shrubs. Overhead and to the
+right the rocky steeps rise abruptly until they culminate in the crags of
+Kohinar, and on the left the snow-fed Lidar roars "through the cloven
+ravine in cataract after cataract."
+
+About four miles from Pahlgam, on turning a corner of the gorge, a
+splendid view bursts upon the wayfarer. The great twin brethren of Kolahoi
+come suddenly into sight, where they stand blocking the head of the valley,
+their double peaks shining with everlasting snow.
+
+It needed all the beauty of the scene to make me forget that the thirteen
+miles from Eshmakam were long and hot, and that I was woefully out of
+condition, and we rejoiced to see the gleam of tents amid the pine-wood
+which constitutes the camping-ground of Pahlgam.
+
+We sat peacefully on the thyme and clover-covered maiden, amongst a herd
+of happily browsing cattle, until our tents were up and the irritating but
+needful bustle of arrival was over, and the tea-table spread.
+
+Pahlgam stands some 2000 feet above Srinagar, and although it is not
+supposed to be bracing, yet to us, jaded votaries of fashion in stuffy
+Srinagar, the fresh, clear, pine-scented air was purely delightful, and a
+couple of days saw us "like kidlings blythe and merry"--that is to say, as
+much so as a couple of sedate middle-aged people could reasonably be
+expected to appear. The camping-ground is in a wood of blue pines, which,
+extending from the steeper uplands, covers much of the leveller valley,
+and abuts with woody promontories on the flowery strath which borders the
+river. Here some dozen or so of visitors had already selected little
+clearings, and the flicker of white tents, the squealing of ponies, and
+the jabber of native servants banished all ideas of loneliness.
+
+About half a mile below the camping-ground is the bungalow of Colonel Ward,
+clear of the wood and with Kolahoi just showing over the green shoulder
+which hides him from Pahlgam. I was fortunate enough to find the Colonel
+before he left for Datchgam to meet the Residency party, and to get,
+through his kindness, certain information which I wanted about the birds
+of Kashmir.
+
+An enthusiast in natural history, Colonel Ward has given himself with
+heart-whole devotion for many years to the study of the beasts and birds
+of Kashmir, and he is practically the one and only authority on the
+subject.
+
+We were very anxious to cross the high pass above Lidarwat over into the
+Sind Valley, having arranged to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal on their
+way back from Tilail. Knowing that Colonel Ward would be posted as to the
+state of the snow, I had written to him from Srinagar for information. His
+reply, which I got at Islamabad, was not encouraging, nor was his opinion
+altered now. The pass might be possible, but was certainly not advisable
+for ladies at present.
+
+_Friday, June 23_.--We were detained here at Pahlgam until about one
+o'clock to-day, as Colonel Ward, as well as two minor potentates, had
+marched yesterday, employing every available coolie. The fifteen whom I
+required were sent back to me by the Colonel, and turned up about noon, so,
+after lunch, we set forth.
+
+Camels are usually unwilling starters. I knew one who never could be
+induced to do his duty until a fire had been lit under him as a gentle
+stimulant. He lived in Suakin, and existence was one long grievance to him,
+but no other animal with which I am acquainted approaches a Pahlgam coolie
+in _vis inertia_.
+
+Whether a too copious lunch had rendered my men torpid, or whether the
+attractions of their happy homes drew them, I know not, but after the
+loads (and these not heavy) had been, after much wrangling, bound upon
+their backs, and they had limped along for a few hundred yards or so, one
+fell sick, or said he was sick, and, peacefully squatting on a convenient
+stone, refused to budge.
+
+We were still close to some of the scattered huts of Pahlgam, so an
+authority, in the shape of a lumbadhar or chowkidar, or some such, came to
+our help, and promptly collected for us an elderly gentleman who was
+tending his flocks and herds in the vicinity. Doubtless it was provoking,
+when he was looking forward to a comfortable afternoon tea in the bosom of
+his family, after a hard day's work of doing nothing, to be called upon to
+carry a nasty angular yakdan for seven miles along a distinctly uneven
+road; but was he therefore justified in blubbering like a baby, and
+behaving like an ape being led to execution?
+
+The first half-mile was dreadful. At every couple of hundred yards the
+coolies would sit down in a bunch, groaning and crying, and nothing less
+than a push or a thump would induce them to move. We felt like
+slave-drivers, and indeed Sabz Ali and the shikari behaved as such,
+although their prods and objurgations were not so hurtful as they appeared,
+being somewhat after the fashion of the tale told by an idiot,
+
+  "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
+
+Presently we became so much irritated by the ceaseless row that we decided
+to sit down and read and sketch by the roadside, in order to let the whole
+mournful train pass out of sight and earshot.
+
+Now, I wish to maintain in all seriousness that I am not a Legree, and
+that, although I by no means hold the "man and brother" theory, yet I am
+perfectly prepared to respect the _droits de l'homme_.
+
+This may appear a statement inconsistent with my acknowledgment that I
+permitted coolies to be beaten--the beating being no more than a
+technical "assault," and never a "thrashing!"--but my contention is that
+when you have to deal with people of so low an organisation that they can
+only be reached by elementary arguments, they must be treated absolutely
+as children, and judiciously whacked as such.
+
+No Kashmiri without the impulsion of _force majeure_ would ever do any
+work--no logical argument will enable him to see ultimate good in
+immediate irksomeness.
+
+It is very difficult for the Western mind to give the Kashmiri credit for
+any virtues, his failings being so conspicuous and repellent; for not only
+is he an outrageous coward, but he feels no shame in admitting his
+cowardice. He is a most accomplished thief, and the truth is not in him.
+He and his are much fouler than Neapolitan lazzaroni, and his morals--well,
+let us give the Kashmiri his due, and turn to his virtues. He is, on the
+whole, cheerful and lively, devoted to children, and kind to animals.[1]
+
+Here is a story which is fairly characteristic of the charming Kashmiri.
+
+During the floods which nearly ruined Kashmir in 1901, a village near a
+certain colonel's bungalow was in danger of losing all its crops and half
+its houses, the neighbouring river being in spate. My friend, on going to
+see if anything could be done, found the water rising, and the adult male
+inhabitants of the village lying upon the ground, and beating their heads
+and hands upon it in woebegone impotence.
+
+He walked about upon their stomachs a little to invigorate them, and,
+sending forthwith for a gang of coolies from an adjacent village which lay
+a little higher, he set the whole crowd to work to divert part of the
+stream by means of driftwood and damming, and was, in the end, able to
+save the houses and a good part of the crops.
+
+When the hired coolies came to be paid for their labour, the villagers
+also put in a claim for wages, and were desperately vexed at my friend's
+refusal to grant it, complaining bitterly of having had to work hard for
+nothing!
+
+You will find a good description of the Kashmiri in _All's Well that Ends
+Well:_--
+
+    _Parolles_. He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister.... He
+    professes not keeping of oaths, in breaking them, he is stronger
+    than Hercules. He will lie, sir, with such volubility, that you
+    would think truth were a fool: drunkenness is his best
+    virtue; ... he has everything that an honest man should not have;
+    what an honest man should have, he has nothing.
+
+           *       *       *       *       *
+
+    He excels his brother for a coward, yet his brother is reputed
+    one of the best that is: in a retreat he outruns any lackey;
+    marry, in coming on he has the cramp.
+
+We had not long sat sketching and basking in the genial glow of a summer
+afternoon among the mountains, when it began to be borne in upon us that
+the weather was going to change, and that the usual thunderstorm was
+meditating a descent upon us. Black clouds came boiling up over the
+mountain peaks, and the too familiar grumble of distant thunder sent us
+hurrying along the lovely ravine, through which the path leads to Aru.
+Only a seven miles' journey, but ere we had gone half-way the storm broke,
+and a thick veil of sweeping rain fell between us and the surrounding
+mountains.
+
+Presently we found a serious solution of continuity in the track, which,
+after leading us along a precarious ledge by the side of the river,
+finished abruptly; sheared clean off by a recent landslip.
+
+We were very wet, but the river looked wetter still, and it boiled round
+the rocky point, where the road should have been but was not, in a
+distinctly disagreeable manner.
+
+However, Jane dismounting, I climbed upon the cream-coloured courser, and
+proceeded to ford the gap. The water swirled well above the syce's knees,
+but the noble steed picked his way with the greatest circumspection over
+and among the submerged boulders, till, after splashing through some
+hundred yards of water, he deposited me, not much wetter than before, on
+the continuation of the high-road, whence I had the satisfaction of
+watching Jane go through the same performance.
+
+Hoping against hope that the coolies, by a little haste, might have got
+the tents pitched before the storm came on, we plodded on, until, wet to
+the very skin, we slopped into Aru, to behold a draggled party squatting
+round a central floppy heap in a wet field, which, as we gazed, slowly
+upreared itself into a drooping tent.
+
+In dear old England this sort of experience would have spelt shocking
+colds, and probably rheumatism for life, but here--well, we crawled into
+our tent and found it, thanks to a couple of waterproof sheets spread on
+the ground, surprisingly dry. A change of clothes, a good dinner, produced
+under the most unfavourable circumstances from a wretched little
+cooking-tent, and a fire burning goodness knows how, in the open, showed
+the world to be quite a nice place after all.
+
+After dinner a great camp-fire was lit in front of our tent, the rain
+cleared off, and I sat smoking with much content, while all our soaking
+garments were festooned on branches round the blaze, and Jane and I turned
+them like roasting joints, at intervals, until the steam rose like incense
+towards the stars.
+
+The coolies, too, had quite got over their homesickness, and were
+extraordinarily cheerful, their incessant jabber falling as a lullaby on
+our ears as we dropped off to sleep.
+
+_Saturday, June_ 24.--We got away in good time for our short eight-mile
+march to Lidarwat. The coolies went off gaily--the day was warm and
+brilliant, and the views down the valley towards Pahlgam superb.
+
+We had camped on the low ground at Aru, just across the bridge, but about
+half a mile on, and upon a grassy plateau there is an ideal camping-ground
+facing down the Lidar Valley, towards the peaks which rise behind Pahlgam.
+Want of water is the only drawback to this spot, but if mussiks are
+carried, water can easily be brought from a small nullah towards Lidarwat.
+
+Tearing ourselves away from this spot, and turning our backs upon one of
+the most gorgeous views in Kashmir, we plunged into a beautiful wood.
+Maidenhair and many another fern grew in masses among the great roots
+which twined like snakes over the rocky slopes. Far below, with muffled
+roar, the unseen river tore its downward way.
+
+By-and-by, the path emerging from the wood shelved along a green hillside,
+where bracken and golden spurge clothed the little hollows, while wild
+wall-flower, Jacob's Ladder, and a large purple cranes-bill brightened the
+slopes where happy cattle, but lately released from their winter's
+imprisonment, were feeding greedily on the young green grass.
+
+I fancy the cattle have a remarkably poor time here in winter. Hay is not
+made, and very little winter forage seems to be collected. As the snows
+fall lower on the hills, the flocks and herds are driven down to the low
+ground, where they drag through the dark days as best they can, on
+maize-stalks and such like.
+
+I noticed early in May the water buffaloes just turned out to graze in the
+Lolab, and more weakly, melancholy collections of skin--and--bone I have
+seldom seen.
+
+Now, however, up high in every sunny grassy valley, the Gujars may be
+found camping with their flocks--cattle, ponies, buffaloes, and goats,
+working upwards hard on the track of the receding snow, where the primula
+and the gentian star the spring turf.
+
+A series of grassy uplands brought us close to Lidarwat, when a sharp
+shower, arriving unexpectedly from nowhere in particular, sent us to eat
+our lunch under the shelter of some fairly waterproof trees in the company
+of a herd of water buffaloes of especially evil aspect.
+
+One hoary brute in particular, with enormous horns and pale blue eyes,
+made me think of the legend concerning the origin of the buffalo.
+
+When the Almighty was hard at work creating the animals, the devil came
+and looked on until he became filled with emulation, and begged the Deity
+to let him try his hand at creation. So the Almighty agreed, asking him
+what beast he would prefer to make, and he said, "A cow." So he went away
+and created a water buffalo, which so disgusted the Creator that the devil
+was not permitted to make any more experiments.
+
+As soon as the rain held up and the thunder had rolled off up the valley,
+we packed the tiffin basket, had one more drink from an icy spring, and
+left the shelter of the friendly trees, followed by the glares of all the
+buffaloes, who appear to have a decided antipathy to the "sahib logue."
+
+We soon came to Lidarwat, passing several tents there, pitched by the edge
+of a green lawn, and sheltered by a deep belt of trees. Crossing to the
+right bank of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we continued our way,
+as the farther up the glen we get to-night, the less shall we leave for
+to-morrow, when we intend to visit the Kolahoi Glacier.
+
+The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this point,
+owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in common with
+the buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her beloved parasol, he
+whisked round and let out at me, and I was only saved from a nasty kick by
+my closeness to the beast, whose hock made such an impression upon my
+thigh as to cause me to go a bit short for a while.
+
+We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to show
+signs of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the river.
+
+A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
+suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at night,
+as our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little breezes
+that came sighing through the pines were straight from the snow.
+
+_Sunday, June 25_.--A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
+expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were
+camped amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun had
+already caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and gilded
+their rugged sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth and light.
+
+A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right, and
+as fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time to
+admire it duly.
+
+The track now led out into a wide and treeless valley, flanked by
+snow-crowned mountains, and we pushed on merrily until we arrived at the
+brink of a rascally torrent, which gave us some trouble to ford, being
+both exceeding swift and fairly deep. Luckily, it was greedy, and, not
+content with one channel, had spread itself out into four or five branches,
+and thus so squandered itself that Jane on her pony and I on coolie-back
+accomplished the passage without mishap. For some miles we held on along
+an easy path which curved to the right along the right bank of the river,
+which was spanned in many places by great snow bridges, often hundreds of
+yards in width. We lunched sitting on the trunk of a dead birch which had
+been carried by the snow down from its eyrie, and then left, a melancholy
+skeleton, bleaching on the slowly melting avalanche. Some two miles
+farther on we could see the end of the Kolahoi Glacier, its grey and
+rock-strewn snout standing abrupt above the white slopes of snow.
+
+Behind rose the fine peak of Harbagwan, in as yet undisputed splendour,
+Kolahoi being still hidden behind the cliffs which towered on our right.
+
+Distances seem short in this brilliant air, but we walked for a long while
+over the short turf, flushing crimson with primulas and golden with small
+buttercups, and then over snowy hillocks, before we reached the solid ice
+of the great glacier.
+
+It was so completely covered with fragments of grey rock that Jane could
+hardly he persuaded that it really was an ice slope that we were
+scrambling up with such difficulty, until a peep into a cold mysterious
+cleft convinced her that she was really and truly standing upon 200 feet
+of solid ice.
+
+The sight that now burst upon us was one to be remembered. Kolahoi towered
+ethereal--a sunlit wedge of sheer rock some six thousand feet above
+us--into the crystal air. From his feet the white frozen billows of the
+great glacier rolled, a glistering sea, to where we, atoms in the enormous
+loneliness, stood breathless in admiration. Around the head of the wide
+amphitheatre wherein we stood rose a circle of stately peaks, their bases
+flanged with rocky buttresses, dark amid the long sweeps of radiant snow,
+their shattered peaks reared high into the very heavens. A great silence
+reigned. There was no wind with us, and yet, even as we watched, a white
+cloud flitted past the virgin peak of Kolahoi--ghostly, intangible; and
+immediately, even as vultures assemble suddenly, no one knows whence, so
+did the clouds appear, surging over the gleaming shoulders of the mountain
+ridges, and up and round the grim precipices. We turned and hurried down
+the face of the glacier, and made for camp, as we knew from much
+experience that a thunderstorm was inevitable.
+
+Over the beds of dirty snow, down by the side of the new-born torrent,
+which leaped full-grown to life from the womb of a green cavern below the
+glacier; over patches of pulpy turf just freed from its wintry bondage,
+and already carpeted with masses of rose-coloured primulas, we hastened,
+keeping to the left bank of the stream, in order to avoid the torrent
+which had so troubled us in the morning, which we knew would be deeper in
+the afternoon owing to the melting of the snows in the sunshine.
+
+We had got but a bare half of our journey done when the storm burst, and
+in a very short time we were reduced to the recklessness which comes of
+being as wet as you can possibly be.
+
+    "The thunder bellows far from snow to snow
+  (Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie),
+    And loud and louder roars the flood below.
+  Heigho! But soon in shelter we shall be
+  (Home, Rose and Home, Provence and La Palie)."
+
+Crossing the river on a big snow-bridge below the point where our old
+enemy came thundering down the mountain-side, we tramped gaily through mud
+and mire and over slippery rocks until we were gladdened by the sight of
+our camp, dripping away peacefully in the midst of the weeping forest.
+
+The rain, as usual, ceased in the evening. A great camp-fire was lit, and
+the neighbouring buffaloes of Gujar-Kote having kindly supplied us with
+milk, we dined wisely and well and dropped off to sleep, lulled by the
+roaring of the Kolahoi River, which raced through the darkness close by.
+
+_Tuesday, June 27_.--Being still hopeful of achieving the pass over into
+the Sind, we struck camp early yesterday and marched down to Lidarwat,
+only to find that the party which we knew had camped there with a view to
+crossing, had given up the idea and retreated down the valley; so I sent a
+swift messenger to countermand the three days' supply of "rassad" which I
+had ordered from Pahlgam for my men, and we marched on to Aru. Upon the
+spur which overlooks Aru we found Dr. Neve encamped, and proceeded to
+discuss the possibility of crossing into the Sind Valley _via_ Sekwas,
+Khem Sar, and Koolan. The Doctor, who is an enterprising mountaineer, was
+himself about to cross, but he did not encourage Jane to go and do
+likewise, as he said it would be very difficult owing to the late spring,
+and would probably entail a good deal of work with ropes and ice-axes.
+
+This absolutely decided us, our valour being greatly tempered by
+discretion, and we camped quietly at Aru, and came on into Pahlgam this
+forenoon. The river, for some reason best known to itself, was so low that
+we got dry-shod past the corner which had worried us so much on the way up.
+
+
+[1] This is incorrect, the European Residents having frequently attempted,
+    but hitherto vainly, to induce the native authorities to curb Kashmiri
+    cruelty.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+GANGABAL
+
+Friday, _June_ 30.--The last few days have been somewhat uneventful. We
+left Pahlgam at early dawn on Wednesday, just as the first lemon-coloured
+light was spreading in the east over the pine-serrated heights above the
+camp.
+
+The rapids below Colonel Ward's bungalow, which had been fierce and
+swollen as we passed them on our upward way, were now reduced to roaring
+after the subdued fashion of the sucking dove; so we hardly paused to
+contemplate either them or the big boulder, red-stained and holy, at
+Ganesbal, but hastened on to the point where, just before turning a high
+bluff which shuts him from sight for the last time, we got the view of
+Kolahoi, with the newly-risen sun glowing on his upper slopes. An hour
+flew by much too fast, and it was with great reluctance that we finally
+turned our back on the finest part of the Lidar Valley, and sadly resumed
+our march to Sellar, crossing the river and following a rather hot and
+dull road. Sellar itself is not nearly as pretty as Eshmakam, and we grew
+rather tired of it by evening, as we arrived soon after one o'clock, and
+found little to do or see.
+
+Yesterday we left Sellar and marched to Bejbehara, the hottest and dullest
+march I know of in Kashmir. A shadeless road slopes gently down across the
+plains to the river. All along this road we overtook parties of coolies
+laden with creels of silk cocoons, whose destination is the big silk
+factory at Srinagar, small clouds of hot red dust rising into the still
+air, knocked up by the shuffling tread of their grass-shod feet.
+
+In the fields, dry and burnt to our eyes after the green valleys, squatted
+the reapers, snipping the sparse ears, apparently one by one, with sickles
+like penknives. They seemed to get the work done somehow, as little sheafs
+laid in rows bore witness; but the patience of Job must have been upon
+them!
+
+The chenars of Bejbehara threw a most welcome shade from the noonday sun,
+which was striking down with evil force as we panted across the steamy
+rice-fields which surround them.
+
+Hither we came at noon, only to find that our boats were not awaiting us
+as we had directed. A messenger bearing bitter words was promptly
+despatched to root the lazy scoundrels out from Islamabad, while Jane and
+I camped out beneath a huge tree and lunched, worked, and sketched until
+four o'clock, when the Admiral brought the fleet in and fondly deemed his
+day's work done.
+
+This was by no means our view of the case, and the usual trouble
+began--"No coolies"--"Very late"--"Plenty tired," &c. &c.
+
+Of course Satarah was defeated, and was soon to be seen sulkily poling
+away in the stern-sheets, while his son-in-law still more sulkily paddled
+in the bow.
+
+We made about eight or ten miles, having a swift current under us, before
+a strong squall came up the valley, making the old ark slue about
+prodigiously, and inducing us to tie up for the night.
+
+This morning we slipped down stream to Srinagar, only halting for a short
+while to obtain some of the native bread for which Pampur is celebrated.
+
+The river seemed exceedingly hot and stuffy after the lovely air which we
+have been breathing lately, and we quite determined that the sooner we get
+out of the valley the better for our pleasure, if not for our health.
+
+We have been greatly exercised as to how best dispose of the time until
+September, for, during the months of July and August, the heat in the
+valley is very considerable, and every one seeks the higher summer
+retreats. The Smithsons suggested an expedition to Leh, which would,
+undoubtedly, have been a most interesting trip, but which would in no wise
+have spared us in the matter of heat. Had we started about this time for
+Leh we should have reached our destination towards the end of July, and
+would therefore have found ourselves setting out again across an arid and
+extremely hot country on the return journey somewhere about the middle of
+August.
+
+The game did not seem to be worth the candle, and the Smithsons themselves
+shied at the idea when it was borne in upon them that there would be
+little or no shooting to be done _en route_.
+
+The alternatives seemed to lie between Gulmarg, where most of the beauty
+and fashion of Kashmir disports itself during the hot weather, Sonamarg,
+and Pahlgam.
+
+Sonamarg, from description, seemed likely to be quiet, not to say dull, as
+a residence for two months. One cannot live by scenery alone, and even the
+loveliest may become _toujours pate de l'anguille._
+
+Pahlgam suffered in our eyes from the same failing, and our thoughts
+turned to Gulmarg. Here, however, a difficulty arose. It is a notoriously
+wet place. We heard horrid tales of golf enthusiasts playing in waders,
+and of revellers half drowned while returning from dinners in neighbouring
+tents.
+
+We thought of rooms in Nedou's Hotel, but our memories of this hostelry in
+Srinagar were not altogether sweet, and we did not in the least hanker
+after a second edition; moreover, every available room had been engaged
+long ago, and it was extremely doubtful, to say the least of it, if the
+good Mr. Nedou could do anything for us. The prospect of a two-month
+sojourn in a wet tent wherein no fire could ever be lighted, and in which
+Jane pictured her frocks and smart hats lying in their boxes all crumpled
+and shorn of their dainty freshness, was far from enticing!
+
+Tent existence, when one lives the simple life far from the madding crowd,
+clad in puttoo and shooting-boots, or grass shoes, is delightful; but tent
+life in the midst of a round of society functions--golf, polo, with their
+attendant teas and dinners--was not to be thought of without grave
+misgiving.
+
+Sorely perplexed, and almost at our wits' end, the Gordian knot was cut by
+our being offered a small hut which had been occupied by a clerk in the
+State employ, now absent, and which the Resident most kindly placed at our
+disposal for a merely nominal rent. Needless to say we gratefully accepted
+the offer, in spite of the assurance that the hut was of very minute
+dimensions.
+
+_Sunday, July_ 2.--Yesterday we toiled hard in the heat to get everything
+in train for a move to Gulmarg. Subhana, that excellent tailor and
+embroiderer, arranged to have all our heavy luggage sent up to meet us on
+the 10th, and from him, too, we arranged for the hire of such furniture as
+we might require, for we knew that the hut was bare as the cupboard of
+nursery fame.
+
+This morning we set off down the river to keep tryst with the Smithsons at
+Gangabal, where we hope to meet them about the 5th on their way back from
+Tilail. The usual struggle with the crew resulted, also as usual, in our
+favour, and we got right through to Gunderbal at the mouth of the Sind
+River, where we now lie amid a flotilla of boats whose occupiers have fled
+away from the sultriness and smelliness of Srinagar in search of the cool
+currents, both of air and water, which are popularly supposed to flow down
+the Sind.
+
+As Jane and I returned from a visit to the post-office along a sweltering
+path among the rice-fields, from which warm waves of air rose steaming
+into the sunset, we failed to observe the celebrated and superior coolness
+of Gunderbal'
+
+_Thursday, July_ 6.--The lumbadhar of Gunderbal, in spite of his
+magnificent name, is a rascal of the deepest dye. He put much water in our
+milk, to the furious disgust of Sabz Ali, and he failed to provide the
+coolies I had ordered; I therefore reported him to Chattar Singh, and sent
+my messengers forth, like another Lars Porsena, to catch coolies.
+
+This was early on Tuesday morning, and a sufficient number of ponies and
+coolies having been got together by 5.30, we started.
+
+I may here note that, owing to a confusion between _Gunderbal_ (the port,
+so to speak, of the Sind Valley, and route to Leh and Thibet) and
+_Gangabal_, a lake lying some 12,000 feet above the sea behind Haramok,
+our arrangement to meet the Smithsons at Gangabal was altered by a letter
+from them announcing their imminent arrival at Gunderbal! This was
+perturbing, but as the mistake was not ours, we decided not to allow
+ourselves to be baulked of a trip for which we had surrendered an
+expedition to Shisha Nag, beyond Pahlgam.
+
+The lower part of the Sind Valley is in nowise interesting; the way was
+both tedious and hot, and we rejoiced greatly when, having crossed the
+Sind River, we found a lovely spring and halted for tiffin. After an
+hour's rest we followed the main road a little farther, and then, passing
+the mouth of the Chittagul Nullah, turned up the Wangat Valley. The
+scenery became finer, and the last hour's march along a steep
+mountain-side, with the Wangat River far below on our right, was a great
+improvement on what we had left behind us.
+
+The little village of Wangat, perched upon a steep spur above the river,
+was woefully deficient of anything like a good camping-ground. We finally
+selected a small bare rice patch, which, though extremely "knubbly," had
+the merits of being almost level, moderately remote from the village and
+its smells, and quite close to a perfect spring.
+
+Yesterday we achieved a really early start, leaving Wangat at 4.15, the
+path being weirdly illuminated by extempore torches made of pine-wood
+which the shikari had prepared. A moderately level march of some three
+miles brought us to the ruined temples of Vernag and the beginning of our
+work, for here the path, turning sharply to the left, led us inexorably up
+the almost precipitous face of the mountain by means of short zigzags.
+
+It was a stiff pull. The sun was now peering triumphantly over the hills
+on the far side of the valley, and the path was (an extraordinary thing in
+Kashmir) excessively dusty. Up and on we panted, Jane partly supported by
+having the bight of the shikari's puggaree round her waist while he towed
+her by the ends.
+
+There was no relaxation of the steep gradient, no water, and no shade, and
+the height to be surmounted was 4000 feet.
+
+If the longest lane has a turning, so the highest hill has a top, and we
+came at last to the blissful point where the path deigned to assume an
+approach to the horizontal, and led us to the most delightful spring in
+Kashmir! The water, ice-cold and clear, gushes out of a crevice in the
+rock, and with the joy of wandering Israelites we threw ourselves on the
+ground, basked in the glorious mountain air, and shouted for the tiffin
+basket.
+
+Only the faithful "Yellow Bag" was forthcoming, the tiffin coolie being
+still "hull down," and from its varied contents we extracted the only
+edibles, apricots and rock cakes.
+
+Never have we enjoyed any meal more than that somewhat light breakfast,
+washed down by water which was a pure joy to drink.
+
+Alas! There were but two rock cakes apiece! Another half-hour's clamber,
+along a pretty rough track, brought us to a point whence we looked down a
+long green slope to our destination, Tronkol--a few Gujar huts, indistinct
+amidst a clump of very ancient birch-trees, standing out as a sort of
+oasis among the bare and boulder-strewn slopes.
+
+The view was superb. To the right, the mountain-side fell steeply to where,
+in the depths of the Wangat Nullah, a tiny white thread marked the river
+foaming 4000 feet below, and beyond rose a jagged range of spires and
+pinnacles, snow lying white at the bases of the dark precipices. "These
+are the savage wilds" which bar the route from the Wangat into Tilail and
+the Upper Sind.
+
+Over Tronkol, bare uplands, rising wave above wave, shut out the view of
+Gangabal and the track over into the Erin Nullah and down to Bandipur.
+
+On our left towered the bastions of Haramok, his snow-crowned head rising
+grimly into the clear blue sky.
+
+We pitched our camp at Tronkol about two o'clock, on a green level some
+little way beyond the Gujar huts, and just above a stream which picked its
+riotous way along a bed of enormous boulders, sheltered to a certain
+extent by a fringe of hoary birches.
+
+We had never beheld such great birches as these, many of them, alas! mere
+skeletons of former grandeur, whose whitening limbs speak eloquently of a
+hundred years of ceaseless struggle with storm and tempest.
+
+I saw no young ones springing up to replace these dying warriors. The
+Gujars and their buffaloes probably prevent any youthful green thing from
+growing. It seems a pity.
+
+Towards evening we observed baggage ponies approaching, and at the sight
+we felt aggrieved; for, in our colossal selfishness, we fancied that
+Tronkol was ours, and ours alone. A small tent was pitched, and presently
+to our surly eyes appeared a lonely lady, who proceeded solemnly to play
+Patience in front of it while her dinner was being got ready.
+
+A visit of ceremony, and an invitation to share our "irishystoo" and
+camp-fire, brought Mrs. Locock across, and we made the acquaintance of a
+lady well known for her prowess as a shikari throughout Kashmir--
+
+  "There hunted 'she' the walrus, the narwal, and the seal.
+    Ah! 'twas a noble game,
+    And, like the lightning's flame;
+  Flew our harpoons of steel"
+
+I cannot resist the quotation, but I do not really think Mrs. Locock hunts
+walruses in Kashmir, and I know she doesn't use a harpoon. No matter, she
+proved a cheery and delightful companion, and we entirely forgave her for
+coming to Tronkol and poaching on our preserves.
+
+We were extremely amused at the surprise she expressed at Jane's feat in
+climbing from Wangat. Evidently Jane's reputation is not that of a
+bullock-workman in Srinagar!
+
+This morning we all three went to see Lake Gangabal. An easy path leads
+over some three or four miles of rolling down to our destination, which is
+one of a whole chain of lakes--or rather tarns--which lie under the
+northern slopes of Haramok.
+
+We came first upon a small piece of water, lying blue and still in the
+morning sun, and from which a noisy stream poured forth its glacier water.
+This we had a good deal of trouble in crossing, the ladies being borne on
+the broad backs of coolies, in attitudes more quaint than graceful. A
+second and deeper stream being safely forded, we climbed a low ridge to
+find Gangabad stretched before us--a smooth plane of turquoise blue and
+pale icy green, beneath the dark ramparts of Haramok, whose
+"eagle-baffling" crags and glittering glaciers rose six thousand sheer
+feet above. In the foreground the earth, still brown, and only just
+released from its long winter covering of snow, bore masses of small
+golden ranunculus and rose-hued primulas.
+
+An extraordinary sense of silence and solitude filled one--no birds or
+beasts were visible, and only the tinkle of tiny rills running down to the
+lake, and the distant clamour of the infant river, broke, or rather
+accentuated, the loneliness of the scene.
+
+We had brought breakfast with us, and after eating it we made haste to
+recross the two rivers, because, troublesome as they were to ford in the
+morning, they would certainly grow worse with every hour of ice-melting
+sunshine.
+
+Once more on the camp side, however, we strolled along in leisurely mood,
+staying to lunch on top of the ridge overlooking Tronkol. I left the
+ladies then to find their leisurely way back among the flowery hollows,
+and made for a peak overlooking the head of the Chittagul Nullah. A sharp
+climb up broken rocks and over snow slopes brought me to the top, a point
+some 13,500 feet above the sea. In front of me Haramok, seamed with
+snow-filled gullies, still towered far above; immediately below, the
+saddle--brown, bare earth, snow-streaked--divided the Chittagul Nullah
+from Tronkol. Far away down the valley the Sind River gleamed like a
+silver thread in the afternoon light, and beyond, the Wular lay a pale
+haze in the distance.
+
+To the northward rose the fantastic range of peaks that overhang the
+Wangat gorge, and almost below my feet, at a depth of some 1500 feet, lay
+a sombre lakelet, steely dark and still, in the shadow of the ridge upon
+which I sat.
+
+The sun was going down fast into a fleecy bed of clouds, amid which I knew
+that Nanga Parbat lay swathed from sight. To see that mountain monarch had
+been the chief object of my climb, so, recognising that the sight of him
+was a hope deferred, I made haste to scramble down to the tarn below,
+stopping here and there to fill my pith hat with wild rhubarb, and to pick
+or admire the new and always fascinating wild flowers as I passed.
+Large-flowered, white anemones; tiny gentian, with vivid small blue
+blossoms; loose-flowered, purple primulas, and many strange and novel
+blossoms starred the grassy patches, or filled the rocky crevices with
+abundant beauty.
+
+By the lake side the moisture-loving, rose-coloured primula reappeared in
+masses, and as I followed down its outgoing stream towards the camp, I
+waded through a tangle of columbine, white and blue; a great purple salvia,
+arnica, and a profusion of varied flowers in rampant bloom.
+
+_Saturday, July_ 8.--An early start homewards yesterday, in the cold dawn,
+rewarded us by the sight of the first beams of the rising sun lighting up
+the threefold head of Haramok with an unspeakable glory, as we crossed the
+open boulder-strewn uplands, before descending into the nullah, which lay
+below us still wrapped in a mysterious purple haze. The downward zigzags,
+with their uncompromising steepness, proved almost as tiring as the ascent
+had been, and we were more than ready for breakfast by the time we reached
+the ruined temples of Vernag.
+
+These temples, built probably about the beginning of the eighth century,
+are, like all the others which I have seen in Kashmir, small, and somewhat
+uninteresting, except to the archaeologist. They consist, invariably, of a
+"cella" containing the object of veneration, the lingam, surmounted by a
+high-pitched conical stone roof. In structure they show apparently signs
+of Greek influence in the doorways, and the triangular pediments above
+them. Phallic worship would seem to have been always confined to these
+temples, with ophiolatry--the nagas or water-snake deities being
+accommodated in sacred tanks, in the midst of which the early Kashmir
+temples were usually placed.
+
+Any one who wishes to study the temple architecture of Kashmir cannot do
+better than read Fergusson's _Indian Architecture_, wherein he will find
+all the information he wants.
+
+To the ordinary "man in the street" the ancient buildings of Kashmir do
+not appeal, either by their aesthetic value or by the dignity of size.
+Martand, the greatest, and probably the finest, both in point of grandeur
+and of situation, I regret to say, I did not see; but the temples at
+Bhanyar, Pandrettan, and Wangat resemble one another closely in design and
+general insignificance. The position of the Wangat ruins, embosomed in the
+wild tangle
+
+  "Of a steep wilderness, whose airy sides
+  With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
+  Access denied; and overhead up grew
+  Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
+  Cedar, and pine, and fir,"
+
+and seated at the base of a solemn circle of mountains, gives the group of
+tottering shrines a picturesqueness and importance which I cannot concede
+that they would otherwise have had.
+
+I do not remember ever to have seen it noted that all buildings which are
+impressive by the mere majesty of size are to be found in plains and not
+in mountainous countries. This is probably due to two causes. The one
+being the denser population of the fat plains, whereby a greater concourse
+of builders and of worshippers would be sustained, and the other being
+the--probably unconscious--instinct which debarred the architect from
+attempting to vie with nature in the mountains and impel him to work out
+his most majestic designs amid wide and level horizons.
+
+The fact remains, whatever may be the cause, that architecture has never
+been advanced much beyond the mere domestic in very mountainous regions,
+with the exception of the mediaeval strongholds, which formed the nucleus
+of every town or village, where a _point d'appui_ was required against
+invasion, for the protection of the community.
+
+Breakfast, followed by a prowl among the ruins and a short space for
+sketching, gave the sun time to pour his beams with quite unpleasant
+insistence into the confined fold in the hills, where we began to gasp
+until the ladies mounted their ponies, and we took our way down the valley,
+crossing the river below Wangat, and keeping along the left bank to
+Vernaboug, where we camped, the only incident of any importance being the
+sad loss of Jane's field-glasses, which, carried by her syce in a boot-bag,
+were dropped in a stream by that idiot while crossing, he having lost his
+footing in a pool, and, clutching wildly at the pony's reins, let go the
+precious binoculars.
+
+This morning we were up betimes, Mrs. Locock having ordained a bear "honk"!
+This was, to me, a new departure in shikar, and truly it was amusing to
+see the shikari, bursting with importance, mustering the forty half-naked
+coolies whom he had collected to beat. A couple of men with tom-toms slung
+round their necks completed the party, which marched in straggling
+procession out of the village at dawn.
+
+A mile of easy walking brought us to the rough jungly cliffs, seamed with
+transverse nullahs, narrow and steep, which bordered the river. Here we
+were placed in passes, with great caution and mystery, by the shikari and
+his chief-of-the-staff--the "oldest inhabitant" of Vernaboug; and here we
+sat in the morning stillness until a distant clamour and the faint beating
+of tom-toms afar off made us sit up more warily, and watch eagerly for the
+expected bear.
+
+The yells increase, and the tom-toms, vigorously banged, seem calculated
+to fuss any self-respecting bear into fits. We watch a narrow space
+between two bushes some dozen yards away, and see that the Mannlicher
+across our knees and the smooth-bore, ball loaded in the right and
+chokeless barrel, lie handy for instant use.
+
+Hidden in the dense jungle, some hundred yards below, sits Mrs. Locock on
+the matted top of a hazel, while Jane, chittering with suppressed
+excitement, crouches a few paces behind me.
+
+The beaters approach, and pandemonium reigns. A few scared birds dart past,
+but no bear comes; and when the first brown body shows among the brushwood
+we shout to stop the uproar, and all move on to another beat.
+
+Four "honks" produced nothing, so far as I was concerned; but a
+bear--according to her shikari--passed close by Mrs. Locock, so thickly
+screened by jungle that she couldn't see it. This may be so, but Kashmir
+shikaris have remarkably vivid imaginations.
+
+After a delightful morning to all parties concerned--for we were much
+amused, the coolies were adequately paid, and the bear wasn't worried--we
+returned to breakfast, and then marched fifteen hot miles into Gunderbal,
+where we found the Smithsons, with whom we dined. They have been in Gurais
+and the Tilail district ever since they left Srinagar on the 24th April,
+and have had an adventurous and difficult time, with plenty of snow and
+torrents and avalanches, but somewhat poor sport.
+
+This is not according to one's preconceived ideas of shikar in Kashmir, as
+they went into a nullah which no sahib had penetrated for five years; they
+had the best shikari in Kashmir (he said it, and he ought to know); they
+worked very hard, and their bag consisted of one or two moderate ibex and
+a red bear.
+
+_Tuesday, July_ 11.--On Sunday morning the combined fleet sailed for
+Palhallan. The Smithsons had a "matted dounga," and she "walked away" from
+our heavier ark down the winding Sind at a great pace. We reached Shadipur
+at 11 A.M., but the Smithsons had "gone before," so, crossing the Jhelum,
+we made after them in hot pursuit, and reached them and Palhallan at
+sunset.
+
+A narrow canal, bordered by low swampy marshland, allowed us to get within
+a mile of the village and tie up among the shallows, whereupon the
+mosquitoes gathered from far and near, and fell upon us.
+
+The final packing, effected amid a hungry crowd of little piping fiends,
+was a veritable nightmare, and yesterday morning we rescued our mangled
+remains from the enemy, and, having paid off our boats, hurriedly
+clambered on to the ponies which had come--late, as usual--from Palhallan
+to convey what was left by the mosquitoes to Gulmarg.
+
+The unfortunate Jane--always a popular person--is especially so with
+insects; and if there is a flea or a mosquito anywhere within range it
+immediately rushes to her.
+
+She paid dearly for her fatal gift of attractiveness at Palhallan--her
+eyes, usually so keen, being what is vulgarly termed "bunged up," and
+every vulnerable spot in like piteous plight!
+
+We quitted Palhallan as the Lot family quitted Sodom and Gomorrah, but
+with no lingering tendency to look backward; we cast our eyes unto the
+hills, and kicked the best pace we could out of our "tattoos," halting for
+breakfast soon after crossing the hot, white road which runs from Baramula
+to Srinagar.
+
+As we left the steamy valley and wound up a rapidly ascending path among
+the lower fringes and outliers of the forest our spirits rose, and by the
+time we had clambered up the last stiff pull and emerged from the
+darkly-wooded track into the little clearing, where perches the village of
+Babamarishi, we were positively cheerful.
+
+Once more the air was fresh and buoyant, the spring water was cool and
+"delicate to drink," and from our tents we could look out over the valley
+lying dim in a yellow heat-haze far below.
+
+Babamarishi is a picturesquely-grouped collection of the usual
+rickety-looking wooden huts, no dirtier, but perhaps noisier than usual,
+owing to the presence of a very holy ziarat much frequented by loudly
+conversational devotees. We spent the crisp, warm afternoon peacefully
+stretched on the sloping sward in front of our tents, and making the
+acquaintance of the only good thing that came out of Palhallan--a charming
+quartette of young geese which Sabz Ali had bought and brought.
+
+These delightful birds evinced the most perfect friendliness and
+confidence in us, and we became greatly attached to them. They and the
+fowls seemed excellent travellers, and after a long day's march would come
+up smiling, like the jackdaw of Rheims, "not a penny the worse."
+
+This morning we had but a short and easy march from Babamarishi to Gulmarg,
+along a good road, through a fine forest of silver fir.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+GULMARG
+
+Somehow one's preconceived ideas of a place are almost always quite wrong,
+and so Gulmarg seemed quite different from what I had expected. It seemed
+all twisted the wrong way, and was really quite unlike the place which my
+imagination had evolved.
+
+Turning through a narrow gap, we found ourselves facing a wide, green,
+undulating valley completely surrounded by dense fir forest. Beyond, to
+the left, rose the sloping bulk of Apharwat, one of the range of the Pir
+Panjal; while to the right low, wooded hillocks bounded the valley and
+fell, on their outward flanks, to the Kashmir plain.
+
+Immediately in front of us a small village or bazaar swarmed with native
+life, and sloped down to a stream which wound through the hollows.
+
+All round the edge of the forest a continuous ring of wooden huts and
+white tents showed that the "sahib" on holiday intent had marked Gulmarg
+for his own.
+
+As we rode through the bazaar the view expanded. Apharwat showed all his
+somewhat disappointing face; his upper slopes, streaked with dirty snow,
+looked remarkably dingy when contrasted with the dazzling white clouds
+which went sailing past his uninteresting summit. The absence of all
+variety in form or light and shade, and the dull lines of his
+foreshortened front, made it hard to realise that he stood some five
+thousand feet above us.
+
+Near the centre of the marg, on a small hill, was a large wooden building
+surrounded by many satellite huts and tents: this we rightly guessed to be
+Nedou's Hotel. Below, on a spur, was the little church, and to the right,
+in the hollow, the club-house faced the level polo-ground.
+
+A winding stream, which we subsequently found to be perfectly ubiquitous,
+and an insatiable devourer of errant golf-balls, ran deviously through the
+valley, which seemed to be rather over a mile long, and almost equally
+wide.
+
+The Smithsons rode away vaguely in search of a camping-ground; while we,
+having found out where our hut was, turned back and climbed a knoll behind
+the bazaar, and found ourselves in front of our future home, a very plain
+and roughly-built rectangular wooden hut, containing a small square room
+opening upon a verandah, and having a bedroom and bathroom on each side.
+
+Such was our palace, and we were well satisfied with it.
+
+The cook-house and servants' quarters were in a hut close by, and I could
+summon my retainers or chide them for undue chatter from my bedroom
+window--a serviceable short cut for the dinner, too, in wet and stormy
+weather!
+
+Life at Gulmarg is extremely apt to degenerate into the "trivial round" of
+the golf links varied by polo, or polo varied by golf, with occasional
+gymkhanas and picnics. There are, doubtless, many delightful excursions to
+be made, but upon the whole it seems difficult to break far beyond the
+"Circular Road," a fairly level and well-kept bridle-path, which for eight
+beautiful miles winds through the pine forest, giving marvellous glimpses
+of snowy peaks and sunlit valleys.
+
+The "Circular Road" is always fine, whether seen after rain, when, far
+below in the Ferozepore Nullah, the
+
+  "Swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,
+  Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,"
+
+or when in the evening sunlight the whole broad Valley of Kashmir lies
+glowing at our feet, ringed afar by the ethereal mountains whose pale
+snows stand faint in the golden light, until beneath the yellowing sky the
+clouds turn rosy, and from their midst Haramok and Kolahoi raise their
+proud heads towards the earliest star.
+
+The expedition to the top of Apharwat is, in my opinion, hardly worth
+making, but then I was not very lucky in the weather. Major Cardew, R.F.A.,
+and I arranged to do the climb together, and duly started one excessively
+damp and foggy morning towards the middle of July.
+
+Taking our ponies, we scrambled up a rough path through the forest to
+Killanmarg, a boulder-strewn slope, some half a mile wide, which lies
+between the upper edge of the forest and the final slopes of the mountain.
+
+Sending our ponies home, we set about the ascent of the 3500 feet that
+remained between us and our goal. The whole hillside was a perfect wild
+garden. Columbines, potentillas--yellow, bronze, and crimson--primulas,
+anemones, gentian, arnica, and quantities of unknown blossoms gave us
+ample excuse for lingering panting in the rarefied air, as we struggled
+through brushwood first, and then over loose rocks and finally slopes of
+shelving snow, before we found ourselves on the crest of the mountain,
+shivering slightly in the raw, foggy air.
+
+Our view was narrowed down to the bleak slopes of rock and snow that
+immediately surrounded us, for our hope that we should get above the cloud
+belt was not fulfilled, and beyond a dismal tarn, lying just below us, in
+whose black waters forlorn little bergs of rotten snow floated, and a very
+much circumscribed view of dull tops swathed in flying mist, we saw
+nothing.
+
+Had the sky been clear, I am told that the view would have been
+magnificent, but I should think probably no better than that from
+Killanmarg, as it is a mistake to suppose that a high, or at least too
+high, elevation "lends enchantment." As a rule the view is finer when seen
+half-way up a lofty mountain than that obtained from the summit.
+
+We did not stay long upon the top of Apharwat discussing the best point of
+view, because Cardew sagaciously remarked that if it grew much thicker he
+wouldn't be answerable for finding the way down, and as I have a holy
+horror of rambling about strange (and possibly precipitous) mountains in a
+fog, we set about retracing our own footsteps in the snow until we
+regained the ridge we had come up by.
+
+A remarkably wet couple we were when we presented ourselves at our
+respective front doors, just in time for a "rub down" before lunch!
+
+The golf at Gulmarg is very good, the 18-hole course being exceedingly
+sporting, and tricky enough to defeat the very elect. Jane and I had
+conveyed our clubs out to Kashmir, knowing that they were likely to prove
+useful. I had also taken the precaution to pack up a box or two of balls,
+but I found my labour all in vain, as "Haskells" and "Kemshall-Arlingtons"
+were supplied by the club at precisely the same price as in England--viz.,
+1 r. 8 an., or two shillings.
+
+New clubs are also cheap and in plenty, but repairs to old favourites are
+not always satisfactory. My pet driver, having been damaged, was very
+evilly treated by the native craftsman, who bound up its wounds with large
+screws!
+
+The mountains of Kashmir have been a constant joy to us. Varying with
+every change of light and shade, custom cannot stale their infinite
+variety; but as yet I had not seen the great monarch of Chilas, Nanga
+Parbat.
+
+In July and early August he is rarely visible from Gulmarg, owing to the
+haziness of the atmosphere. One clear morning, however, towards the end of
+July, after a night of rain and storm, I was strolling along the Circular
+Road when, lo! far away in the north-west, soaring ethereal above the blue
+ranges that overlook Gurais, above the cloud-banks floating beyond their
+summits, the great mountain, unapproachable in his glory, stood revealed.
+
+The early morning sun struck full on his untrodden snows, making it hard
+to realise that eighty-five miles of air separated me from that clear-cut
+peak. Soon, very soon, a light cloud clung to his eastern face, and within
+ten minutes the whole vision had faded into an up-piled tower of seething
+clouds.
+
+Later in the season, as the air grew clearer, Jane and I made almost daily
+pilgrimages to the point, only a few minutes' walk from our hut, whence,
+framed by a foreground of columnar pines, Nanga Parbat could generally be
+seen for a time in the morning.
+
+_Tuesday, August_ 1.--Society in Gulmarg is particularly cheery, as indeed
+might be expected where two or three hundred English men and women are
+gathered together to amuse themselves and lay in a fresh store of health
+and energy before returning to the routine of duty in the plains.
+
+There have been many picnics lately, the little glades or margs, which are
+frequent in the forest slopes, being ideal places of rendezvous for
+merrymakers on horse or foot. Picnics of all sorts and sizes, from the
+little impromptu gatherings of half-a-dozen congenial young souls (always
+an even number, please), who ride off into the romantic shades to nibble
+biscuits and make tea, to the dainty repasts provided by a hospitable lady,
+whose official hut overlooks the Ferozepore Nullah, and who, in turn,
+overlooks her cook, to the great gratification of her guests.
+
+How small a thing will upset the best-laid plans of hospitality! It is
+said that a most carefully planned picnic, where all the little tables,
+set for two, were discreetly screened apart among the bushes, was entirely
+ruined by a piratical damsel undertaking a cutting-out expedition for the
+capture of the hostess' best young man.
+
+Our evenings are by no means dull. On many a starlit night has Jane
+mounted the noble steed which, through the kindness of the Resident, we
+have hired from the "State," and ridden across the marg attended by her
+slaves (her husband and the ancient shikari, to wit), to dine and play
+bridge in some hospitable hut, or dance or see theatricals at Nedou's
+Hotel.
+
+Last week we tore ourselves away from our daily golf, and joined the
+Smithsons in a futile expedition to the foot of the Ferozepore Nullah for
+bear. Three days we spent in vain endeavour to find "baloo," and on the
+fourth we wended our toilsome way up the hill again to Gulmarg.
+
+_Monday, August_ 27.--There are drawbacks as well as advantages in being
+perched, as it were, just above the bazaar. Its proximity enables our good
+Sabz Ali to sally forth each morning and secure the earliest consignment
+of "butter and eggs and a pound of cheese," which has come up from
+Srinagar, and select the best of the fruit and vegetables. It affords also
+an interesting promenade for the geese, who solemnly march down the main
+street daily for recreation and such stray articles of food as may be
+found in the heterogeneous rubbish-heaps.
+
+It possesses, however, a superabundance of pi-dogs, who gather together on
+the slope in front of our hut in the watches of the night, and serenade us
+to a maddening extent.
+
+The natives, too, have a sinful habit of chattering and shouting at an
+hour when all well-conducted persons should be steeped in their beauty
+sleep.
+
+A few nights ago this culminated in what Keats would have called a "purple
+riot." The sweeper and his friends were holding a meeting for the purpose
+of conversation and the consumption of apple brandy.
+
+Having fruitlessly sent the shikari to try and stop the insufferable noise,
+I was fain to sally forth myself to investigate matters.
+
+Then to a happy and light-hearted party seated chattering round a blazing
+fire there came suddenly the unwelcome apparition of an exceedingly irate
+sahib, in evening dress and pumps, brandishing a khudstick.
+
+A wild scurry, in which the bonfire was scattered, a few remarks in
+forcible English, a whack which just missed the hindmost reveller, and the
+place became a deserted village.
+
+Next morning Sabz Ali came to me in a towering rage to report that the
+sweeper--that unclean outcast--had dared to say most opprobrious things to
+him, being inspired thereto by the devil and apple brandy. Nothing less
+than the immediate execution of the culprit by hanging, drawing, and
+quartering would satisfy the outraged feelings of our henchman.
+
+I promised a yet severer punishment. I said I would "cut" the wretched
+minion's pay that month to the amount of a rupee. Vengeance was satisfied,
+and the victim reduced to tears.
+
+It is good to hear Jane--who for many years has been accustomed to having
+her own way in all household matters--ordering breakfast.
+
+"Well, Sabz Ali--what shall we have for breakfast to-morrow?"
+
+"Jessa mem-sahib arder!"--with a friendly grin.
+
+"Then I shall have kidneys."'
+
+"No kidney, mem-sahib! Kidney plenty money--two annas six pice ek. Oh,
+plenty dear!"
+
+"I'm tired of eggs. Is there any cold chicken you
+could grill?"
+
+"Chota murghi one egg lay, mem-sahib, anda poach. Sahib, chicken grill
+laike!"
+
+"Oh, all right! But I thought of a mutton-chop for the major sahib."
+
+"Muttony stup" (mutton's tough). "Sahib no laike!"
+
+"Very well, that will do--a poached egg for me and grilled chicken for the
+sahib."
+
+"No, mem-sahib--no 'nuf. Sahib plenty 'ungry--chicken grill, peechy
+ramble-tamble egg!"
+
+"Have it your own way. I daresay the major sahib _would_ like scrambled
+eggs, and we'll have coffee--not tea."
+
+"No, mem-sahib. No coffee--coffee finish!"
+
+"Send the shikari down to the bazaar, then, for a tin of coffee from
+Nusserwanjee."
+
+"Shikari saaf kuro lakri ke major sahib" (cleaning the golf-clubs). "Tea
+breakfast, coffee kal" (to-morrow).
+
+And, utterly routed on every point, Jane gives in gracefully, and makes an
+excellent breakfast as prearranged by Sabz Ali!
+
+The news is spread that there will be an exhibition of pictures held in
+Srinagar in September. Every second person is a--more or less--heaven-born
+artist out here, so there promises to be no lack of exhibits. I dreamed a
+dream last night, and in my dream I was walking along the bund and came
+upon an elderly gentleman laying Naples yellow on a canvas with a trowel.
+The river was smooth and golden, and reflected the sensuous golden tones
+of the sky. Trees arose from golden puddles, half screening a ziarat which,
+upon the glowing canvas, appeared remarkably like a village church. "How
+beautiful!" I cried, "how gloriously oleographic!" and the painter,
+removing a brush from his mouth, smiled, well pleased, and said, "I am a
+Leader among Victorian artists and the public adores me!" and I left him
+vigorously painting pot-boilers. Then in a damp dell among the willows of
+the Dal I found a foreigner in spectacles, and the light upon his pictures
+was the light that never was on sea or land; but through a silvery mist
+the willows showed ghostly grey, and a shadowy group of classic nymphs
+were ringed in the dance, and I cried "O Corot! lend me your spectacles. I
+fain, like you, would see crude nature dimmed to a silvery perpetual
+twilight." And Corot replied: "Mon ami moi je ne vois jamais le soleil, je
+me plonge toujours, dans les ombres bleuatres et les rayons pales de
+l'aube."
+
+Then upward I fared till, treading the clear heights, I found one
+frantically painting the peaks and pinnacles of the mountains in weird
+stipples of alternate red and blue.
+
+"Great heavens!" I exclaimed, "what disordered manner is this!"
+
+The artist glanced swiftly at me, and said disdainfully: "I am a modern of
+the moderns, and if you cannot see that mountains are like that, it is
+your fault--not mine. Go back, you stand too close."
+
+And as I went back I looked over my shoulder, and, truly, the flaring
+rose-colour had blended amicably with the blue, and I admitted that
+perhaps Segantini was not so mad as he looked.
+
+A little lower down a stout Scotchman painted a flowery valley. The
+flowers were many and bright, but not so garish as they appeared to him,
+and I hinted as much; but he scorned my criticism.
+
+"Mon," he shouted, "I painted the Three Graces, an' they made me an
+Academeesian. I painted a flowery glen in the Tyrol (dearie me, but thae
+flowers cost me a fortune in blue paint), and it was coft for the Chantry
+Bequest, and hoo daur _you_ talk to me?"
+
+Then I departed hurriedly and came upon four men, two of them with long
+beards, and all with unkempt hair, laboriously depicting a blue pine,
+needle by needle, and every one in its proper place. I asked them if
+theirs was not a very troublesome way of painting.
+
+They looked at one another with earnest blue eyes, and remarked that here
+was evidently a Philistine who knew not Cimabue and cared not a jot for
+Giotto; and the first said: "Sir, methinks he who would climb the golden
+stairs should do so step by step;" and the second said, sadly: "We are but
+scapegoats, truly, being cast forth by the vindictive Victorians of our
+day."
+
+The third murmured in somewhat broken English.
+
+  "Victoria Victrix,
+  Beata Beatrix,"
+
+whereby I recognised him to be a poet, if not a painter.
+
+But the fourth--an energetic-looking man with a somewhat arrogant
+manner--said briskly: "Perchance the ass is right; these pine needles are
+becoming monotonous, and I have seventeen million four hundred and
+sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven more to do. Beshrew me if I do
+not take to pot-boiling!"
+
+Down by the water-side a lady sat, sketching in water-colours for dear
+life; around her lay a litter of half-finished works, scattered like
+autumn leaves in Vallombrosa. I approached her, quite friendly, and
+offered to gather them up for her--at least some of them, saying
+soothingly, for I saw she was in a temper--
+
+"Dear, dear, Clara, why, what _is_ the matter?"
+
+"I am painting the Venice of the East," she cried petulantly, "but for the
+life of me I can't see a campanile, and how can I possibly paint a picture
+without a campanile?"
+
+I understood that, of course, she couldn't, so I stole away softly on
+tip-toe, leaving her turning doungas into gondolas for all she was worth.
+
+A dark, dapper man, with an alert air and an eyeglass, sat near the
+seventh bridge, writing. Beside him stood an easel and other painting-gear.
+I asked him what he was doing, and he answered, with a fine smile, "I am
+gently making enemies;" so, to turn the subject, I picked up a large
+canvas, smeared over with invisible grey, like the broadside of a modern
+battleship, and sprinkled here and there with pale yellow blobs.
+
+"What have we here, James?" I inquired cheerfully, and he, staying his
+claw-like hand in mid-air, made reply--
+
+"A chromatic in tones of sad colour, with golden accidentals--Kashmir
+night-lights."
+
+"Ah! quite so," I exclaimed; "but have I got it right side up?"
+
+He looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then, pointing to a remarkable
+butterfly (_Vanessa Sifflerius_) depicted in the corner, cried: "It's all
+right; you'll never make a mistake if you keep this insect in the _right
+bottom corner_. It is put there on purpose."
+
+Lastly, on an eminence I saw a man like an eagle, sitting facing full the
+sun, and upon his glowing canvas was portrayed the heavens above and the
+earth beneath and the waters under the earth, and behind him sat one who
+patted him upon the back, and looked at intervals over his shoulder at the
+glorious work, and then wrote in a book a eulogy thereof; and I, too, came
+and looked over the painter's shoulder, and I muttered, with Oliver
+Wendell Holmes,
+
+  "The foreground golden dirt,
+  The sunshine painted with a squirt."
+
+Then the man who patted the painter on the back turned upon me
+aggressively, and said: "This is the only painter who ever was, or will be,
+and if you don't agree with me you are a fool." The painter, smiling a sly
+Monna-Lisan smile of triumph, remarked: "Right you are, John. I rather
+think this _will_ knock that rascal Claude," and I laughed so that I awoke;
+but the memory of the dream remained with me, and it seemed to me that,
+perhaps, we poor amateurs might not be any better able to compass aught
+but caricatures of this marvellous scenery than the ghostly limners of my
+dream!
+
+The hut just above ours was tenanted by a party of three young Lancers on
+leave from Rawal Pindi, a gramophone, and a few dogs.
+
+One of the soldiers was laid up with a bad ankle, and it soon became a
+daily custom for Jane or me to play a game of chess or piquet with the
+invalid.
+
+Later on, when leave had expired for the hale, when the dogs had departed,
+and the voice of the gramophone was no more heard in the land, we came to
+see a great deal of the wounded warrior, and finally arranged to
+personally conduct him off the premises, and return him, in time for
+medical survey, to Rawal Pindi.
+
+Many years ago I read a delightful poem called _The Paradise of Birds_--I
+believe it was by Mortimer Collins,[1] but I am not sure. Now the Poet
+(who, together with Windbag, sailed to this very paradise of birds) deemed
+that this happy asylum of the feathered fowls was somewhere at the back of
+the North Pole. He cannot have known of Kashmir, or he would assuredly
+have sent the persecuted birds thither, and placed the "Roc's Egg" as
+janitor, somewhere by the portals of the Jhelum Valley. Kashmir is truly
+and indeed the paradise of birds, for there no man molests them, and no
+schoolboy collects eggs, and the result is a fascinating fearlessness, the
+result of perpetual peace and plenty.
+
+I regret exceedingly that my ornithological knowledge is extremely limited.
+I could find no books to help me,[2] and, as I did not care to kill any
+birds merely to enable me to identify their species, my notes were merely
+"popular" and not "scientific."
+
+Shall I confess that I began an erudite work on the birds of Kashmir, but
+got no further than the Hoopoe? It began as follows:--
+
+THE HOOPOE
+
+_Early history of_.--Tereus, King of Thrace, annoyed his wife Procne so
+much by the very marked attention which he paid to her sister Philomela,
+that she lost her temper so far as to chop up her son Itylus, and present
+him to his papa in the form of a ragout.
+
+This, naturally, disgusted Tereus very much, and he "fell upon" the ladies
+with a sword, but, just as he was about to stab them to the heart, he was
+changed into a Hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow,
+while Itylus became a pheasant.
+
+  "Vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristae
+  Prominet immodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;
+  Nomen epops volucri."
+
+OVID, _Metam_. lib. vi.
+
+_His crest and patent of nobility_.--Once upon a time, King Solomon, while
+making a royal progress, was much, incommoded by the powerful rays of the
+sun, and as he had ascendency over the birds, and knew their language, he
+called upon the vultures to come and fly betwixt the sun and his nobility,
+but the vultures refused. Then the kindly Hoopoes assembled, and flew in
+close mass above his head, thus forming a shade under which he proceeded
+on his journey in ease and comfort.
+
+At sundown the monarch sent for the King of the Hoopoes, and desired him
+to name a reward for the service which he and his followers had rendered.
+
+Then the King of the Hoopoes answered that nothing could be more glorious
+than the golden crown of King Solomon; and so Solomon decreed that the
+Hoopoes should thenceforward wear golden crowns as a mark of his favour.
+But alas! when men found the Hoopoes all adorned with golden crowns, they
+pursued and slew them in great multitudes for greed of the precious metal,
+until the King of the Hoopoes, in heavy sorrow, hied hastily to King
+Solomon, and begged that the gift of the golden crowns might be rescinded,
+ere every Hoopoe was slain.
+
+Then Solomon, seeing the misery they had brought upon themselves by their
+presumption, transformed their crowns of gold to crowns of feathers, which
+no man coveted (for the Eastern ladies didn't wear hats), and the Hoopoes
+wear them to this day as a mark of royal favour, but all the feathers fell
+off the necks of the disobliging vultures.
+
+_His amazing talent_.--In those dark ages ... the Hoopoe was considered as
+prodigiously skilful in defeating the machinations of witches, wizards,
+and hobgoblins. The female, in consequence of this art, could preserve her
+offspring from these dreaded injuries.
+
+She knew all the plants which defeat fascinations, those which give sight
+to the blind; and, more wondrous still, those which open gates or doors,
+locked, bolted, or barred.
+
+Aelian relates that a man having three times successively closed the nest
+of a Hoopoe, and having remarked the herb with which the bird, as often,
+opened it, applied the same herb, and _with the same success_, to charm
+the locks off the strongest coffer.--_Naturalists' Magazine_ (about 1805).
+
+_His personal appearance_.--The beak is bent, convex and sub-compressed,
+and in some degree obtuse; the tongue is obtuse, triangular and very short,
+and the feet are ambulatory. As this bird has a great abundance of
+feathers, it appears considerably thicker than it is. It is, in fact,
+about the size of a mistletoe thrush, but looks, while in its feathers, to
+be as large as a common pigeon.--_Naturalists' Magazine_.
+
+I had got _no_ further in my _magnum opus_, when I unfortunately showed my
+notes to Colonel--well, I will not mention his name, but he is the
+greatest authority on the birds and beasts of Kashmir. He besought me to
+spare him, pathetically remarking that I should cut the ground from under
+his feet, and take the bread out of his mouth, and the wind out of his
+sails, if I went any further with my monograph on the Hoopoe. He saw at a
+glance that I was conversant with authorities whom he had never consulted,
+and possessed a knowledge of my subject to which he could hardly aspire,
+so I gracefully agreed to leave the field to him, and relinquished my
+_magnum opus_ in its very inception.
+
+One of the chiefest charms of Kashmir, and one which is apt to be
+overlooked, is the entirely unspoilt freshness of its scenery. No locust
+horde of personally-conducted "trippers" pollutes its ways and byways, nor
+has the khansamah of the dak bungalow as yet felt constrained to add
+sauerkraut and German sausage to his bill of fare--for which Allah be
+praised!
+
+The world is growing very small, and the globe-trotter rushes round it in
+eighty days. The trail of the cheap excursionist is all over Europe, from
+the North Cape to Tarifa, from the highest Alpine summit (which he attains
+in comfort by a funicular railway) to the deepest mines of Cornwall. Egypt
+has become his footstool, and the shores of the Mediterranean his wash-pot.
+Niagara is mapped and labelled for his benefit, and the Yosemite is his
+happy hunting-ground. He "does" the West Indies in "sixty days for sixty
+pounds," and he is now arranging a special cheap excursion from the Cape
+to Cairo. "But," it may be remarked, "what were Jane and I but
+globe-trotters'? and am I not trying to sing the praises of Kashmir with
+the avowed object of inducing people to go out and see it for themselves?"
+
+By all manner of means let us travel. Far be it from me to wish folks to
+stay dully at home, while the wonders and beauties of the wide world lie
+open for the admiration and education of its inhabitants.
+
+But there are globe-trotters and globe-trotters. My objection is only to
+those--alas! too numerous--vagrants who cannot go abroad without casting
+shame on the country which bred them; whose vulgarity causes offence in
+church and picture-gallery; who cannot see a monument or a statue without
+desiring to chip off a fragment, or at least scrawl their insignificant
+names upon it.
+
+From these, and such as these, Kashmir is as yet free; but some day, I
+suppose, it will be "opened up," when the railway, which is already
+contemplated, is in going order between Pindi and Srinagar, and cheap
+excursion tickets are issued from Berlin and Birmingham.
+
+Here is a specimen page of the Guide Book (bound in red) for 19--(?):
+
+"Ascend Apharwat by the funicular railway. The neat little station,
+with its red corrugated-iron roof, makes a picturesque spot of colour near
+the Dobie's Ghat. Fares, 4 an. 6 pi., all the way."
+
+"A local guide should on no account be omitted (several are always to be
+found near the station leaning on their khudsticks, and discussing
+controversial theology in the sweet low tones so noticeable in the
+Kashmiri). See that he be provided with a horn, to the hooting of which
+the Echo Lake will be found responsive."
+
+"From the balcony of the * Hotel Baloo an unrivalled view of Nanga Parbat
+should be obtained. Glasses can be procured from the anna-in-the-slot
+machines which are dotted about."
+
+"This veritable king of the Himal--" (here follows a pageful of regulation
+guide-book gush).
+
+"Good sport is to be obtained from the obliging and enterprising manager
+of the hotel, Herr Baer. A few rupees will purchase the privilege of
+shooting at that monarch of the mountains, the markhor. Start not, fair
+tourist, for no danger lurks in the sport. No icy precipices need be
+scaled, no giddy gulfs explored, and the only danger which menaces the
+bold hunter in the mimic stalk, is that which menaces his shins in the
+broken soda-water bottles and sharp-edged sardine tins with which the
+summit of Apharwat is strewn."
+
+"As a matter of fact, the consumption of mutton is considerable in the
+Hotel Baloo in the tourist season, and the worthy Baer conceived the
+brilliant and financially sound scheme of attaching some old ibex and
+markhor horns (bought cheap when the old library at Srinagar was swept
+away in the last flood) to his live stock, and turning his decorated flock
+loose on the mountain's brow, where the sportsman saves him the trouble of
+slaughter while enjoying all the excitement and none of the difficulty of
+a veritable stalk."
+
+"Another brilliant invention of the good Baer is his 'sunset spectacles.'
+These are made with the glasses in two halves--the upper part orange and
+the lower one purple. These are simply invaluable to those who have only a
+brief half-hour in which to 'do' Apharwat before darting down to catch the
+3.15 express for Leh (_via_ the newly opened Zoji La tunnel), since for
+the modest sum of 8 a. a superb sunset can be enjoyed at any time of the
+day."
+
+"Should, however, the leisured globe-trotter have unlimited time at his
+disposal, he would do well to lunch at the Hotel Baloo, in order to taste
+the celebrated Kashmir sauerkraut (made of wild rhubarb) and Gujar pie
+(composed of the most tempting tit-bits of the water buffalo), before
+returning to the 'Savoy' at Srinagar by the turbine tram from Tangmarg, or
+by the pneumatic launch which leaves Palhallan Pier every ten minutes,
+weather permitting."
+
+"Should the tourist be a naturalist he can hardly fail to observe, and be
+interested in, the mosquitoes of this charming and picturesque locality.
+He will note that they rival the song-thrush in magnitude and the Bengal
+tiger in ferocity. A coating of tar laid with a trowel over the exposed
+parts of the body will be found the best protection, especially as the new
+Armour Company's patent hermetically sealed bear-proof visor will be found
+too hot for comfort in summer."
+
+"The environs of Srinagar are charming. Notice the picturesque 'furnished
+apartments' for paying guests all along the water-side, and the mixed
+bathing establishments, crowded daily by the Smart Set, whose jewelled
+pyjamas flash in rivalry of the heliographic oil-tins which deck the
+neighbouring temples."
+
+"By a visit to the Museum, and an inspection by eye and nose of the quaint
+specimens of antique clothing exhibited there, the intelligent and
+imaginative traveller may conjure up a mental picture of the unpolished
+appearance of the old-time Mangi and his lady before he adopted the tall
+hat and frock coat of civilisation, or she had discovered the 'swanbill'!"
+
+
+[1] It is by Courthope, not Collins.
+
+[2] See Appendix II.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE FLOOD
+
+Tuesday, _September_ 12.--A second edition of the Noachian deluge is upon
+us! It began to rain on Saturday, at the close of a hot and stuffy week,
+and, having succeeded in thoroughly soaking the unfortunate ladies who
+were engaged in a golf competition that day, it proceeded to rain
+abundantly all through Sunday and Monday.
+
+The outlook from our hut is dispiriting; through a thick grey veil of
+vapour the gleam of water shines over the swamp that was the polo-ground.
+The little muddy stream in which so many erring golf-balls lie low is up
+and out for a ramble over its banks. The lower golf-greens resemble
+paddy-fields, and round the marg the spires of dull grey pines stand
+dripping in a steadfast shower-bath.
+
+Sometimes the heavy cloud folds everything in its leaden wing, blotting
+out even the streaming village at our feet, and reducing our view to the
+immediate slope below us where the wilted ragwort and rank weeds bend
+before the tiny torrents which trickle everywhere. Then comes a break,
+falsely suggestive of an improvement, and lo! soaring above the cloudy
+boil, the lofty shoulders of Apharwat sheeted in new-fallen snow!
+
+After the somewhat oppressive heat of last week, the sudden raw cold
+strikes home, and Jane and I take a great interest in the fire, the "Old
+Snake"[1] is an accomplished fire-master, and it is pleasant to watch him
+squatting like an ungainly frog in front of the hearth, and sagaciously
+feeding the flame with damp and spitting logs.
+
+It is amazing what lavish expenditure of fuel one will indulge in when it
+costs nothing a ton!
+
+We are just beginning to find out the exact spots where chairs may be
+planted so as to avoid the searching draughts which go far to make our
+happy home like a very airy sort of bird-cage.
+
+Well! we might have been worrying through all this in a sodden tent, where
+even a boarded floor would barely have kept out rheumatism, and where one
+would have been liable to alarms and excursions at all sorts of untoward
+times when drains wanted deepening and guys slackening. The mere thought
+of such things sent us into a truly thankful state of mind, and we
+discussed from our cosy chairs the probable condition of the party from
+the Residency which set forth, full of high hope, on Saturday morning to
+attack the markhor of Poonch.
+
+Here it has rained with vehemence ever since they left; up in the high
+ground it has doubtless snowed; and although they were well armed with
+cards and whisky, yet it would appear but a poor business to play bridge
+all day in a snow-bound tent on the top of the Pir Panjal! Nothing short
+of a hundred aces every few minutes could make the game worth the candle!
+
+This spell of bad weather has greatly interfered with the movements of a
+large number of the folks who were to leave Gulmarg early this week. Many
+got away betimes on Saturday, and a few faced the elements on Sunday, and
+a painful experience they must have had.
+
+We had intended to leave next Thursday, and had ordered boats to meet us
+at Parana Chauni, but the road will be so bad that I wired this morning to
+put off our transport till further orders.
+
+The end of the season at Gulmarg sees the bazaar stock at low water. Eggs,
+fowls, cherry brandy, and spirits of wine are "off," also butter, but the
+latter scarcity does not affect us, as we make our own in a pickle jar.
+The bazaar butter became very bad, probably because the large numbers of
+visitors to Gulmarg caused an additional supply to be got from uncleanly
+Gujars, so we, by the kindness of the Assistant Resident, had a special
+cow detailed to supply us daily with milk at our own door.
+
+That cow was very friendly; I first made its acquaintance one forenoon.
+While I was sitting below the verandah sketching, with a dozen lovely
+peaches spread by me on the hoards to obtain their final touch of
+perfection in the sun before lunch, the cow strolled up. I was much
+interested in the sketch, and believed that the cow was too; but when I
+looked up at last, expecting to see its eye fixed upon the work in silent
+approbation,
+
+  "The 'cow' was still there, but the 'peaches' were gone."
+
+In the afternoon the weather showed signs of a desire to amend its ways.
+The clouds broke here and there, and, though it still rained heavily, it
+became apparent that the clerk of the weather had done his worst, and the
+supply of rain was running short. Clad in aquascutic garments, and
+surmounted by an ungainly two-rupee bazaar umbrella (my dapper British one
+having been annexed by a covetous Mangi)--
+
+  "Ombrifuge, Lord love you, case o' rain,
+  I flopped forth 'sbuddikins on my own ten toes."
+
+The whole slope in front of the hut was a trickle of water, threading the
+dying stalks of dock and ragwort, and hurrying down to add its dirty
+pittance to the small yellow torrent rushing along the greasy strip of
+clay that in happier days was the path.
+
+The whole marg was become lake or stream--lake over the polo-ground and
+half the golf-links--fed by the weeping slopes on every side, whence
+innumerable rills rioted over the grass, emulating in ferocity and haste,
+if not in size, the tawny torrents which drained the sides of Apharwat.
+
+The road from the bazaar to the club was all but impassable, but as it had
+still a few inches of freeboard, I followed it to the foot of the church
+slope, and, skirting the hill, inspected the desolation which had been
+wrought at the Kotal hole, where the stream had torn through its banks and
+wrecked the green.
+
+During a visit of condolence to Mrs. Smithson, whose unfortunate husband
+is pursuing markhor in Poonch, the sky cleared--a splendid effort in the
+way of a "clearing shower" being followed by a decided break-up of the
+pall of wet cloud in which we have been too long immersed. Not without a
+severe struggle did Jupiter Pluvius consent to turn off the tap, but at
+length the sun broke through the hanging clouds and sent their sodden grey
+fragments swirling up the Ferozepore Nullah to break in foamy wreaths
+round the ragged cliffs of Kulan.
+
+Finding the road across to the post-office altogether under water for some
+distance--a lake extending from the twelfth hole for nearly a quarter of a
+mile to the main road--I wandered back towards the higher ground, joining
+a waterproof figure, a member of the Green Committee, who was sadly
+regarding the water-logged links with the disconsolate air of the raven let
+loose from the ark! We agreed that this was a remarkably good opportunity
+for observing the drainage system, and taking notes for future guidance,
+and in company we went over as much of the links as possible, finishing
+below the second hole, where the cross stream which comes down from the
+higher ground had torn away the bridge and cut off the huts beyond from
+civilisation.
+
+The homeward stroll at sunset was perfectly beautiful, and showed Gulmarg
+in an absolutely new guise. The lower part of the marg, being all lake,
+reflected the lustrous golden sky and rich dark pine-woods in a faithful
+mirror. Flying fragments of cloud, fleeces of gold and crimson, clung to
+the mountain-sides or sailed above the forests, while beyond Apharwat,
+coldly clad in a pure white mantle of snow, new fallen, rose silhouetted
+against the darkening sky.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 16.--After the Deluge came the Exodus, everybody
+trying to leave Gulmarg at once. We had always intended to go down to
+Srinagar about the 15th, but, finding that the Residency party meant to
+move on that day, we arranged to migrate a day earlier in order to avoid
+the pony and coolie famine which a Residential progress entails on the
+ordinary traveller.
+
+On Wednesday afternoon the ten ponies, carefully ordered a week before
+from the outlying villages, were congregated on the weedy slope which
+falls away from our verandah, picking up a scanty sustenance from decaying
+ragwort and such like.
+
+Secure in the possession of the necessary transport, Jane and I strolled
+forth for a last look at Nanga Parbat, should he haply deign to be on view.
+He did not deign, however, preferring to remain, like Achilles, when
+bereft of Briseis, sulking in his cloudy tent. So we consoled ourselves
+with an exceedingly fine view of the snow-crowned heights at the head of
+the Ferozepore Nullah. Upon returning to our beloved log cabin we were met
+by Sabz Ali--almost speechless with wrath--who broke to us the distressing
+news that six of our ten weight-carriers had departed from the compound.
+The entire staff, with the exception of our factotum, were away in pursuit,
+and there was nothing for it but to possess our souls in what patience we
+might until they returned.
+
+As we had arranged for a four o'clock start next morning, it was most
+disconcerting to have all our transport desert so late in the evening. An
+urgent note to the Assistant Resident, and some pressure on the Tehsildhar,
+produced promise of assistance.
+
+Early on Thursday morning came an indignant chit from an irate General,
+complaining that my servants were trying to seize his ponies, for which he
+had paid an advance of two rupees, and would I be good enough to
+investigate the affair. Here was the murder out. His chuprassie had
+obviously bribed my pony wallahs, and a letter, stating my case pretty
+clearly, produced the ponies and an apology.
+
+This delay kept us till after midday, when, stowing our invalid snugly in
+a dandy, we left Gulmarg and began the descent to Srinagar. I remained
+behind to see the hut clear and make a sketch, and then hurried down the
+direct path, which drops some 2000 feet to Tangmarg. Here I found Jane and
+the invalid comfortably disposed in a landau, but the baggage spread about
+anywhere, and the usual clamour of coolies uprising in the heated and
+dust-laden air.
+
+No ekka--the one which had been ordered with the landau having apparently
+got another job and departed. Presently a stray ekka, drawn by a sorely
+weary-looking mule, appeared on the scene, and we seized upon it instantly,
+loaded it up with most of the baggage, and despatched coolies with the
+rest.
+
+After the storm came a holy calm, and we settled down to a light but
+welcome lunch before starting down the long slope into the valley.
+
+We had heard most disquieting tales of floods; the water had burst the
+bund at Srinagar, and there was said to be ten feet over the polo-ground.
+The occupants of Nedou's Hotel were going in and out by boat, and Srinagar
+itself was said to be quite cut off from all access by road.
+
+The Residency party have countermanded their intended move to-morrow.
+
+At the post-office I was told that only a small part of the mail had been
+brought into Srinagar, the road being "bund" between Baramula and that
+place, while an unusual number of landslips and bridges have come down in
+the Jhelum Valley.
+
+Nevertheless, we had made a push to get on; things in Kashmir are often
+less gloomy than their reports would make one believe, and so we bowled
+quite cheerfully down the road from Tangmarg, basking in the hot and sunny
+air, which seemed to us really delicious after the raw cheerlessness of
+the last few days at Gulmarg.
+
+From Tangmarg to the dak bungalow at Margam, a steady descent is
+maintained by an excellent road over the sloping Karewa, for about ten
+miles, of which we had just about travelled half when a series of yells
+from the syce behind, a wild swerve, and a heavy plump brought us up just
+on the edge of the steep and rocky bank, which fell sharply from the
+roadside.
+
+Alas! the axle of the off hind wheel had snapped, and the wheel itself was
+hopelessly lying in the thick white dust, and our landau looked like an
+ancient three-decker in a squall.
+
+The horses being unharnessed, we sent the drivers with one of them forward
+to look for help, and Hesketh and Jane proceeded to make tea while I sat
+by the roadside and sketched.
+
+Presently an empty dandy came "dribbling by" on its return journey to
+Gulmarg, and it was immediately impressed for the benefit of the lame.
+Hardly had we packed him in, when a wandering tonga hove in sight, and,
+being promptly requisitioned, we rattled off the five miles which lay
+between us and Margam in no time.
+
+Here we found a large party assembled in the little rest-house. Colonel
+and Mrs. Maxwell (who had kindly sent us back the tonga on hearing of the
+breakdown); Mr. and Mrs. Allen Baines, whose dandy had been the means of
+bringing Hesketh along; and Sadleir-Jackson, and Edwards of the 9th
+Lancers.
+
+The bungalow was full, but I found out that one room was appropriated by a
+coming event, who had cast his shadow before him in the guise of a bearer.
+This being contrary to the etiquette as observed in dak bungalows, I
+gently but firmly cleared out the neatly arranged toilet things and
+ready-made bed; while Hesketh was taken over, somewhat shattered by his
+tedious though exciting day, by his fellow Lancers.
+
+The resources of the little place were severely strained; dinner was a
+scanty meal, and soda-water gave out almost immediately: nevertheless, a
+cheroot and a rubber of bridge sent us contented to bed.
+
+Yesterday (Friday) the question of how to proceed arose. The road was
+reported to be impassable after about five miles, the remaining ten being
+under water.
+
+We set out after breakfast, Jane perched on a pony which Sabz Ali had
+raised or stolen, Hesketh in the dandy, and I on foot. After a warm five
+miles' march we came upon signs of a block. Vehicles of many and strange
+sorts were drawn up in the shade of a chenar, under whose wide branches
+the Baines family was faring sumptuously on biscuits and brandy and water.
+
+Horses, goats, and cattle strayed around, and a chattering mob of natives,
+busily engaged, as usual, in doing nothing, completed the picture.
+
+Hesketh was reduced to despair; after two months in bed, this could not
+but be a trying journey under the most favourable circumstances, and the
+prospect as held out by his pessimistic bearer was pretty gloomy--no boats
+available, and no signs of our doungas.
+
+I pushed on to the break in search of my shikari, whom I had sent on by
+pony early in the morning, and soon found that estimable person, who is
+not really the blithering idiot he looks!
+
+In the first place, he had appropriated the only two shikaras he could
+find, and our baggage was already being stowed in them; secondly, he had
+discovered both Juma and Ismala, our Mangis, who reported the doungas
+moored below Parana Chaum, about four miles away over the flooded fields.
+
+This was good news, and we ate a cheerful lunch under a tree densely
+populated by jackdaws.
+
+The Maxwells got away somehow in search of their house-boat, which was
+supposed to have left Baramula some days ago. They started cheerfully, but
+vaguely, down the Spill Canal, and we trust they found their ark somewhere!
+
+Promising to send back a boat for the Baines, we paid and dismissed
+coolies and ponies, and paddled away over the flood water. The country was
+simply a vast lake, the main road merely marked by a dense row of poplars.
+Trees rose promiscuously out of the calm and sunlit water, wisps of maize
+and wreckage clinging to their lower boughs. Presently the road showed in
+patches, a broad waterfall breaking it every here and there as the
+imprisoned waters from above sought the slightly lower channel of the
+Jhelum.
+
+We passed a party of natives bivouacking near the roof and upper storey of
+their wooden hut, which, floating from above, was held up by the Baramula
+road. Sounding now and then with our khudsticks, we found no bottom over
+the submerged rice crops, though we could see plainly the laden ears
+waving dismally down below. This is nothing less than a great calamity for
+the owners, as the rice was just ready for gathering.
+
+Towards dusk we arrived at our ships, calmly lying moored to poplar trees
+by the roadside, and right gladly did we clamber on board, for our invalid
+was pretty well fagged out.
+
+This morning we cast loose from our poplars, and brought the fleet up to
+within half a mile of the seventh bridge, or, rather, of the spot where
+the seventh bridge used to be, for all but a fragment has been washed away!
+The strong current prevented us from getting any higher up the river in
+our doungas. Jane and I, however, were anxious to see what appearance
+Srinagar presented, so we manned the shikara with five able-bodied
+paddlers and pushed our way upwards. Turning into a side canal we passed a
+demolished bridge, and tried to force our way up a small but swift stream.
+
+Failing to make anything of it, we landed and had the boat carried over
+into a wider channel. Three times we were obliged to get out and leave our
+stalwart crew to force the boat on somehow, and they did it well--hauling,
+paddling, and shouting invocations to various saints, particularly the one
+whose name sounds like "jam paws!"
+
+The water had already fallen some four or five feet, but there was plenty
+left. A great break in the bund between Nusserwanjee's shop and the Punjab
+Bank allowed us to paddle into the flooded European quarter, past the
+telegraph office, standing knee-deep in muddy water, up over the main road
+to Nedou's Hotel, where boats lay moored outside the dining-room windows,
+then across the lagoon, lightly rippled by a tiny breeze, beneath which
+lay the polo-ground, to the Residency, where we landed to inspect damages.
+
+The water had been all over the lower storey, but a muddy deposit on the
+wooden floor, and a brown slimy high-water mark on the door jambs, alone
+remained to show what had happened. The piano had been hoisted upon a
+table, carpets and curtains bundled upstairs, and everything, apparently,
+saved. The poor garden, with its slime-daubed shrubs, broken palings and
+torn creepers, trailing wisps of draggled foliage in the oozy brown pools,
+was a sad and pitiful sight, especially when mentally contrasted with the
+glowing glory of asters and zinneas which it should have been.
+
+The flood has been nearly as bad as the great one of 1903. Fortunately the
+Spill Canal, cut above Srinagar to carry off the flood water, took off
+some of the pressure; the bund, also, is three feet higher than it was
+then, but it gave way in two places--one somewhere near the top, and the
+other just below the Bank, letting in the river to a depth of ten feet
+over the low-lying quarter. The stream is now falling fast, and, after
+doing a little shopping and visiting the post-office, which is temporarily
+established on the bund in the midst of an amazing litter of desks, boxes,
+and queer pigeon-holes admirably adapted to lose letters by the score, we
+spun swiftly down the rushing stream to tea and our cosy dounga.
+
+_Monday, September_ 18.--It was impossible to get our boats up the river
+yesterday, so I spent the day sketching amidst the most picturesque, but
+horribly smelly, part of the town; much quinine in the evening seemed
+desirable as a counterblast to possible malaria.
+
+The sunsets lately have been really magnificent; the poplars and chenars,
+darkly olive, reflected in the flooded fields against a red gold sky, in
+the foreground the black silhouettes of the armada.
+
+The days are almost too hot, but the nights are cool and delicious, and
+the mosquitoes are only noticeable for a brief period of sinful activity
+about sundown, after which the wicked cease from troubling and the weary
+are at rest.
+
+At half-past ten this morning we set sail; that is to say, we hired nine
+extra coolies and a second shikara to tow, and advanced on Srinagar.
+Hesketh's boat, being the lighter, kept well ahead (here let me note that
+"bow" in that boat is quite the prettiest girl we have seen in Kashmir,
+and the minx knows it!), but we had good men, and worked along slowly and
+steadily up the main river, the side canals being all choked by broken
+bridges and such like. We crept past the Amira Kadal, or first bridge,
+about two o'clock, and tied up for lunch, revelling in the most perfect
+pears, peaches, and walnuts. As a rule the Kashmir fruit is disappointing;
+abundant and cheap certainly, but not by any means of first-rate quality.
+
+Strawberries, cherries, apricots, melons, and grapes might all be far
+better if properly cultivated, and scientifically improved from European
+stock.
+
+The pears alone defy criticism, and the apples, I am told, are excellent
+also.
+
+Vegetables are in great plenty, but, like the fruit, would be much
+improved by good cultivation.
+
+_Wednesday, September_ 25.--The abomination of desolation wrought by the
+flood is borne in upon one more and more as an inspection of the town
+reveals the damage done more fully--the houses standing empty, their lower
+storeys dank and slimy, the ruined gardens, and muddy, slippery roads. The
+wrecked garden of the Punjab Bank is one of the saddest sights, and must
+be a painful spectacle to Mr. Harrison, whose joy it was to spend time and
+money on importing exotic and improving indigenous plants.
+
+One cannot help reflecting how desperately depressed Noah, and the
+probably more impressionable Mrs. Noah, must have been when, discarding
+their aquascutums for the first time, they sallied forth, a primeval party,
+to observe the emerging country.
+
+Mrs. Noah, tucking up the curious straight garment that is a memory of our
+childhood, went ahead with feminine curiosity; Noah, bare-legged,
+slithering along in the rear and beseeching the ladies to note the
+slipperiness of the alluvial deposit, and for goodness' sake not to make a
+glissade down the side of Ararat.
+
+I feel confident they must have taken great precautions, for Sabz Ali
+slipped up on the shelving bank of the Jhelum, and, had he not caught the
+gunwale of our dounga in his descent, would most certainly have had to
+swim for his life--which I doubt if he can do!
+
+Now, Shem and Co. were as valuable to Noah as Sabz Ali is to us, and I
+should not be surprised if he made them travel on all-fours in the risky
+places. Fathers were very dictatorial in those days, and there was nobody
+about to make them consider their dignity.
+
+One can imagine the scene. Ararat, a muddy pyramid dotted here and there
+with olive trees--curious, by the way, to find olives so high!--in the
+receding waters the vagrant raven cheerfully picking out the eye of a
+defunct pterodactyl. The heavy clouds rolling off the sodden world--they
+must have indeed been heavy clouds, nimbus of the first water--as they had
+raised the world's water-level 250 feet per day during "the flood" ...
+surely a record output!
+
+The primeval family party, sadly poking about along the expanding margin
+of the world, noting how Abel Brown's tall chimney was beginning to show,
+and how Cain Jones' wigwam was clean gone. Mrs. Shem said she knew it
+would, the mortar work had been so terribly scamped.
+
+And Naboth Robinson's vineyard--well, _it_ was in a pretty mess, to be
+sure, and serve him right, for Mrs. Noah had frequently offered him two of
+her (second) best milch mammoths for it; yet he had held on to his nasty
+sour grapes, like the mean old curmudgeon that he was.
+
+And now Hammy must set to work and tidy it up; and oh! what lots of nice
+manure was floating about, all for nothing the cartload ... And so the
+primeval family felt better, and went back to the ark to tea, feeling
+almost cheerful, but rather lonesome.
+
+Fortunately this great flood did little injury to life or limb. A certain
+amount of destruction of crops and other property was inevitable, but on
+the whole the loss was not so great as was at one time feared, and much
+was saved that at first seemed irreparable.
+
+A well-known lady artist came near to giving the note of tragedy to the
+British community, and losing the number of her mess (to use a nautical,
+and therefore appropriate expression) by reason of a big willow tree,
+beneath whose shady boughs she had moored her floating studio. This
+hapless tree, having all its sustenance swept from beneath by the greedy
+water, came down with a crash in the night upon the confiding house-boat,
+and all but swamped it.
+
+The cook-boat, occupied as usual by a pair of prolific Mangis and their
+large small family, was saved by the proverbial "acid drop"--the children
+crawling out somehow or anyhow from among the branches of the fallen tree.
+
+The fair artist, having with shrieks invoked the aid of a neighbour, he
+promptly descended from his roof or other temporary camp, and helped her
+with basins and chatties to bale out the half-swamped boat. The lady is
+now safely moored to the mudbank on the other side of the river where
+willow trees do not grow.
+
+The whole bund is in a very unsafe state: it was raised three feet after
+the last flood, but its width was not increased correspondingly. Now that
+the water has fallen, great fissures and subsidences have appeared, and in
+many places large portions of the bank have fallen away, carrying big
+trees with them.
+
+
+[1] Our pet name for Shikari Mark II., who reigns in the stead of Ahmed
+    Bot, sacked for expensive inefficiency.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MACHIPURA
+
+Wednesday, _September_ 27.--We left Srinagar yesterday, very sorry indeed
+to part from the many good friends we have made and left there. Truly
+Kashmir is a hospitable country, and we have met with more kind
+friendliness in the last six months than we could have believed possible,
+coming as we did, strangers and pilgrims into a strange land. Our
+consolation is that every one comes "Home" sooner or later, so that we can
+look forward to meeting most of our friends again ere very long, and
+recalling with them memories of this happy summer with those who have done
+so much to make it so.
+
+Farewell, Srinagar! Your foulness and inward evilness were lost in the
+background behind your picturesque and tumble-down houses as we floated for
+the last time down Jhelum's olive waters, where the sharp-nosed boats lay
+moored along the margin or, poled by their sturdy Mangis and guided by the
+chappars of their wives and daughters, shot athwart the eddying flood,
+breaking the long reflections of the storeyed banks.
+
+Past the Palace of the Maharajah, its fantastic mixture of ancient
+fairness and modern ugliness blending into a homogeneous beauty as
+distance lent it enchantment.
+
+Past the temples, their tin-coated roofs refulgent in the brilliant
+sunlight; under the queer wooden bridges, their solid stone piers parting
+the suave flow of water into noisy swirl and gurgle.
+
+Past the familiar groups of grave, white-robed men solemnly washing
+themselves, then scooping up and drinking the noisome fluid; past their
+ladies squatting like frogs by the river-side, washing away at clothes
+which never seem a whit the cleanlier for all their talk and trouble.
+
+Past the children and fowls, and cows and crows, all hob-nobbing together
+as usual.
+
+Past all these sights--so strange to us at first and now so strangely
+familiar--we floated, till the broken remnant of the seventh bridge lay
+behind us, and the lofty poplars that hem in the Baramula road stood stark
+and solemn in their endless perspective.
+
+Here a jangling note, out of tune and harsh, was struck by the dobie, with
+whom we had a grave difference of opinion regarding the washing.
+
+That gentleman having "lost by neglect" certain articles of my kit--to wit
+sundry shirts and other garments--and having rendered others completely
+_hors de combat_ by reason of his sinful method of washing, I decided to
+"cut" three rupees off his remuneration.
+
+This decision seemed to have taken from him all that life held of worth,
+and he implored me to spare his wife, children, and home, all of whom
+would be broken up and ruined if I were cruel enough, to enforce my awful
+threat. Seeing that I was obdurate, being well backed by the infuriated
+Jane, whose underwear showed far more lace and open work than nature
+intended, the wretched dobie melted into loud and tearful lamentation, and
+perched himself howling in the prow. This soon became so boresome that I
+deported him to Hesketh's boat, where he underwent another defeat at the
+hands of that irate Lancer, whose shirts and temper had suffered together;
+finally the woeful washerman, still howling lugubriously, was landed on
+the river bank, and we saw and heard him no more!
+
+Down the gentle river we swiftly glided all day, while the Takht and Hari
+Parbat grew smaller and bluer, and Srinagar lay below them invisible in
+its swathing greenery.
+
+Reaching Sumbal at sunset, we turned to the left down a narrow canal, and
+soon the Wular lay--a sheet of molten gold--upon our right; and by the
+time we had moored alongside a low strip of reedy bank, the glorious rosy
+lights had faded from the snows of the Pir Panjal, and their royal purple
+and gold had turned to soft ebony against the primrose of the sky.
+
+A few hungry mosquitoes worried us somewhat before sunset, promising worse
+to follow; but the sharp little breeze that came flickering over the Wular
+after dark seemed to upset their plans, and send them shivering and hungry
+to shelter among the reeds and rushes.
+
+This morning we crossed the Wular, starting as the first pale dawn showed
+over the eastern hills.
+
+Before the sun rose over Apharwat, his shafts struck the higher snows and
+turned them rosy; while the lower slopes, their distant pines suffused
+with strong purple, stood reflected in the placid mirror of the lake.
+
+  "Full many a glorious morning have I seen
+  Flatter the mountain tops with sovran eye,"
+
+but seldom a more lovely one than this--our last on the Wular Lake.
+
+The active figures of the propellent Mangis, and the quiet ones of their
+ladies at the helm, completed a picture to be recalled with a sigh when we
+are parted by thousands of miles from this entrancing valley.
+
+Sopor we had understood to be but an uninteresting place, but we were,
+perhaps, inclined to regard things Kashmirian through somewhat rosy
+spectacles. Anyhow, we rather liked Sopor. Mooring close alongside a
+remarkably picturesque building standing in the midst of a smooth green
+lawn, which was once, I believe, a dak bungalow, we halted to make
+arrangements for the hire of coolies and ponies to take us inland, and I
+went off to the post-office for letters and to make inquiries as to the
+probable depth of water in the river Pohru.
+
+Our skipper, Juma, affirmed that there was no water to speak of; but Juma
+probably--nay, certainly--prefers the _otium_ of a sojourn at Sopor to the
+toil of punting up the Pohru.
+
+The postmaster declared that there was lots of water, but qualified his
+optimism by saying that it was falling fast. So we arranged for our land
+transport of ponies for ourselves, and a dandy for Hesketh, to meet us one
+march up the river at Nopura, while we ourselves set forward in our boats
+to Dubgam, three or four miles down the Jhelum, where the Pohru joins it.
+At the entrance are large stores of timber, principally deodar, which is
+floated down from the Lolab, stored at Dubgam, and sent thence down
+country and otherwhere for sale. The great boom across the river to catch
+the floating logs had been carried away in the flood, and merely showed a
+few melancholy and ineffectual spikes of wood sticking up above the now
+calm and sluggish river.
+
+We towed up easily enough, through a quiet and peaceful country, which
+only became gorgeous under the alchemy of sunset, reaching Nopura in good
+time to tie up before dinner.
+
+_Friday, September 29_.--On Thursday morning we started, as usual, at dawn,
+and proceeded to pole and haul our way up the devious channel of the Pohru.
+Some four or five miles we accomplished successfully, although there were
+ominous signs of a gradual lack of water, until we came upon a hopeless
+shallow, where the river, instead of concentrating its energies on one
+deep and narrow channel, had run to waste over a wide bed, where the
+wrinkling wavelets showed the golden brown of the gravel just below the
+surface. Our big dounga stuck hard and fast at once, and Captain Jurna
+promptly gave up all hope of getting farther. He was, in fact, greatly
+gratified to find his prophesies come true, and an insufferable air of "I
+told you so" overspread his face as he wagged his head with mock sorrow,
+and gently poked the bottom with his pole to show how firmly fixed we were.
+
+Having an invalid with us, however, it was important to gain every easy
+mile we could, and it was not until all the fleet in turn had attempted to
+cross the shallow, and failed, that we made up our minds to take to our
+land transport. It was uncommonly hot in the full glare of the sun as
+Hesketh in his dandy, Jane on her "tattoo," and I on foot set forward for
+the forest house at Harwan, which lay some five miles away across the
+fields, where the rice is now being busily cut.
+
+At the foot of a very brown and parched-looking hill stood the little
+wooden hut, facing the valley of the Pohru and the Kaj-nag range. Hot and
+thirsty, we blessed the good Mr. Blunt, the kindly forest officer, who had
+so courteously given us permission to use the forest huts of the Lolab and
+the Machipura. Our blessings of Blunt turned swiftly to curses directed
+towards the chowkidar, who was not to be seen, and who had left the hut
+firmly fastened from within. An attempt to force the door brought upon us
+the resentment of a highly irritable swarm of big red wasps, who plainly
+regarded us as objectionable intruders; and Jane was really getting quite
+cross (she says--she always does--that it was I who lost my
+temper)--before the bold sweeper, prying round the back premises, found an
+unbarred window, and the joy bells rang once more.
+
+The Colonel turned up from the Malingam direction, and pitched his tent in
+the rest-house compound; and, as the afternoon grew cooler, he and I
+sallied forth to select a few chikor for the pot.
+
+The chikor is extremely like the ordinary European redleg or Barbary
+partridge, not only in colouring, but in habit, loving the same dry,
+scrub-covered country, and preferring, like him, to run rather than fly
+when pursued. The chikor, however, is certainly far superior in the
+capacity of what fowl fanciers call "a table bird," being, in fact, truly
+excellent eating.
+
+He is not an altogether easy bird to shoot, owing to his annoying
+predilection for the steepest and rockiest hillsides, and those most
+densely clothed in spiny jungle, wherein lurking, he chooses the
+inopportune moment when the sportsman is hopelessly entangled, like
+Isaac's ram, to rise chuckling and flee away to another hiding-place.
+
+Without dogs, he would be often extremely hard to find; but unluckily for
+himself, being a true Kashmiri bird, he cannot help making a noise, and
+thereby betraying his presence. His corpse, when dead, is hard to find in
+the jungle, and a runner is, of course, hopeless without canine help. It
+is well, therefore, to kill him as dead as possible, and to that end I
+used No. 4 shot, with, I think, a certain advantage over Walter, who shot
+with No. 6, and who, in consequence, lost several birds.
+
+The friendliness and sociability of the beasts and birds of Kashmir has
+been a great joy to us. The thing can be overdone, though, and both the
+wasps and the rats of Harwan were inclined to overstep the bounds of
+decorum.
+
+The latter were obviously overjoyed to see visitors, and visions of
+unlimited plunder from our festive board would, of course, put them
+somewhat above themselves. Still, they should have refrained from rioting
+so openly around our beds as soon as the lights were out, and Jane was
+naturally indignant when a large one ran over her feet!
+
+On Friday morning we left Harwan, pretty early, as usual, for it is still
+somewhat too warm to travel comfortably in the middle of the day. The
+Colonel (always an early bird) got away first, followed by our invalid in
+his dandy, while Jane and I remained to hunt the loiterers out of camp. A
+glorious morning, and the cheering knowledge that breakfast was in front
+of us, sent us merrily along for a mile or two, until branching paths led
+us to inquire of an intelligent Kashmiri, who appeared to be busily
+engaged in reaping rice with a penknife, as to the road taken by our
+precursors, especially the tiffin coolie!
+
+The industrious one had seen no sahibs at all pass by. This was a blow,
+and Jane and I sat down to review the situation. We finally decided that
+the son of the soil was indulging in what the great and good Winston
+Churchill has called a "terminological inexactitude," as the others must
+have gone by one of the two roads; so, putting our fortunes to the touch,
+we took the left-hand path, and were in due time rewarded by reaching
+Sogul, and there finding our pioneers peacefully seated under a tree, and
+breakfast ready.
+
+Leaving Sogul, we skirted for some miles a bare ridge which rose on the
+right, and which looked an ideal ground for chikor, and then turned into a
+beautiful valley drained by the Pohru, now quite a small and insignificant
+stream.
+
+Drogmulla, our objective, lies about fourteen miles from Harwan, and the
+forest house is a full mile beyond the village, at the end of a somewhat
+steep and winding path.
+
+A welcome sight was the snug rest-house, perched upon a hillock above a
+fussy little stream and surrounded by a fine clump of deodars.
+
+A tiny lawn in front was decorated with an artificial tank full of
+water-plants, and through the opening, among the trees, we saw the snowy
+crest of Shambrywa and the Kaj-nag rising over the deeply-wooded foothills.
+
+Drogmulla was so fascinating a spot, and the weather was so remarkably
+fine, that we made up our minds to remain here for a few days. That old
+red-bearded snake, the shikari, has sent the Colonel into a seventh heaven
+of anticipation by pointing to the encircling forest with promise of
+"pul-lenty baloo, sahib, this pul-lace." We straightway ordained a honk.
+
+Our sick soldier is so much better since leaving Gulmarg that he is able
+to hop "around" with considerable activity on his crutches.
+
+_Saturday, September_ 30, 4 P.M.--Walter and I have been bear-honking all
+day in a district reputed to be simply crawling with bears. I love
+bear-honking; it is such a peaceful occupation.
+
+After a stiff and very hot scramble up a rugged hillside covered with the
+infuriating scrub through which nothing but a reptile could crawl easily,
+the spot is reached within short range of which (in the opinion of the
+"oldest inhabitant," backed up by the "Snake") the bear _must_ pass.
+
+Here the battery of rifles and guns is carefully arranged, and I proceed
+to wipe my heated brow and settle down to the calm enjoyment of the honk.
+Drawing forth my cigar-case, I am soon wreathed in the fragrant clouds
+engendered by the incineration of a halfpenny cheroot, and, with a sigh of
+satisfaction, I spread out my writing or sketching materials and proceed
+to scribble or paint, calm in the knowledge that nothing on earth is in
+the least likely to disturb the flow of ideas, or interrupt the laying on
+of a broad flat wash. Now and again, lazily, I lean back to watch the
+witless hoverings of a big butterfly, or sleepily listen to the increasing
+sound of the tom-toms and the yells of the beaters, whose voices, as those
+of demons of the pit, rend the peaceful air and add to my sense of
+Olympian aloofness!
+
+A feeling of drowsiness steals over me; that succulent cold chikor,
+followed by a generous slice of cake upon which I so nobly lunched, clouds
+somewhat my active faculties, and the article--"A Bear Battue in the
+Himalayas"--which I am engaged in writing for the _Field_--seems to flag a
+little.
+
+Come, come! Begone dull sloth--let me continue--
+
+"As the sound of the beaters swells upon the ear, and the thunder of the
+tom-toms grows more insistent, the keen-eyed sportsman grasps more firmly
+the lever of his four-barrelled Nordenfeldt and prepares to play upon the
+bears his hail of stinging missiles. Hark! The plot is thickening, behind
+yon dense screen at the end of the cover the ph---- bears are beginning to
+crowd, the pattering of their feet upon the dead leaves sends a thrill
+through the beating heart of the expectant sportsman. A few bears break
+back amid wild yells from the coolies. One or two odd ones dart out here
+and there at angles of the covert. Steady! Steady! Here they are,
+following the lead of yon fine old cock; with a whirr and a rush the
+bouquet is upon us. The shikari, mad with excitement, presses the second
+Gatling and the light Howitzer into our hands as he screams: 'Bear to
+right, sahib!--Bear over!!--Bear behind!!! Bang--bang!'"
+
+"Eh? What? Oh, all right, shikari. Honk finished? Is it? Saw nothing? Dear
+me! how very odd. Very well, then gather up my guns and things, and we'll
+go on to the next beat."
+
+_Sunday, October 1_.--To-day being Sunday, we have been idle and
+happy--sketching, loafing, and enjoying the scenery and the glorious
+weather. Our bear-honk yesterday was only productive of annas to the
+beaters, but we picked up some chikor on the way home, and we have found
+mushrooms growing close to the hut, so that our lower natures are also
+satisfied. After lunch I mustered up energy sufficient to take me down to
+the village to sketch a native hut which, surrounded by a patch of flaming
+millet, had struck me on Friday as an extraordinary bit of colour. Jane
+and Walter, after many "prave 'orts" about climbing the ridge behind
+Drogmulla, contented themselves with a minor ascent of a knoll about fifty
+feet high, while the Lancer, reckless in his increasing activity, managed
+to trip over his crutches and give himself an extremely unfortunate fall.
+
+_Monday, October 2_.--There was a man who, during our bear-honk on
+Saturday, rendered himself conspicuous, partly by reason of his likeness
+to my shikari, and also because of his complete knowledge of the
+whereabouts of all bears for many miles around. He was quite glad to
+impart much information to us, and so won upon the sporting but too
+trustful heart of the brave Colonel, that he was retained by that officer
+in order that he might show sport to the Philistines, and annas and even
+rupees were bestowed upon him; and he and the old original "Snake" were
+sent forward on Saturday evening, as Joshua and Caleb, to spy out the
+promised land in the neighbourhood of Tregam.
+
+Lured by rumours of many bears, Walter and I set forth at daylight for
+Tregam, leaving Jane and the youthful Lancer (once more, alas! reduced to
+stiff bandages and a painful relapse) in possession of the hut. We "hadna
+gane a mile--a mile but barely twa," when the old shikari met us with the
+painful intelligence that two sahibs were already at Tregam, and had
+killed many bears there, grievously wounding the rest; so we altered
+course eight points to port, crossed the Pohru, and made for Rainawari.
+
+A sharp climb over a wooded ridge (on the top of which we halted for
+breakfast), followed by a steep descent, brought us into a flat and
+well-cultivated plain, which sloped gently from the foothills of the
+Kaj-nag to the bed of the Pohru. Everywhere, in the glowing sunlight, the
+villagers were busily engaged in reaping the rice, which lay in ripe brown
+swathes along the little fields. The walnuts, of which there are a great
+plenty in this district, have been lately gathered, some few trees only
+still remaining, loaded with a heavy crop, but the main produce lay drying
+in heaps in the villages as we rode through.
+
+The road to Rainawari seemed curiously devious. A Kashmiri track seldom
+shies at a hill, but pursues its way, heedless of gradient, for its
+objective; but this path imitated a corkscrew in its windings, and reduced
+us to the utmost limit of our patience before, passing through a small
+village whose dull-coloured houses were enlivened with gorgeous festoons
+of scarlet chilies, we climbed a steep little hill and found ourselves
+upon a park-like lawn or clearing, and facing the cluster of rough wooden
+shanties which compose the Rainawari forest bungalow and its outhouses.
+Behind the huts the densely-wooded hill drops sharply to where a stream of
+good and pure water riots among the maidenhair and mosses.
+
+A large and inquisitive company of apes came up from the wood to take
+stock of us, and I sat for a long time watching them as they played about
+quite close to me, feeding, chattering, and quarrelling, entirely
+unconcerned by the presence of their human spectator.
+
+_Friday, October 6_.--All Tuesday was spent in honking bear in the lower
+woods which stretch far towards the Pohru. The high hills which rise above,
+covered with jungle, are said to be too large to work, and I can well
+believe it! For the first drive I was posted on a steep bank overlooking a
+most lovely little hollow, where the shafts of sunlight fell athwart the
+grey trunks and heavy green masses of the pines, lighting up the yellow
+leaves of the sumachs till they glowed like gold, and casting a flickering
+network of strong lights and shadows among the tangled mazes of
+undergrowth. A happy family of magpies, grey-blue above, with barred tails
+and yellow beaks, flitted about in restless quest, their constant cries
+being the only sound which broke the peaceful stillness, until the faint
+and distant sound of shouts and tom-toms showed that the first act of the
+farce had begun.
+
+Towards the end of the third beat, while I was drowsily digesting tiffin,
+and, truly, not far from napping, I was electrified by the report of a
+rifle, followed by yells and a second shot! The beaters redoubled their
+shouts, and the tom-tommers seemed like to burst their drums.
+
+My shikari, writhing with extreme excitement, hissed, "Baloo, sahib,
+baloo!" and began aimlessly running to and fro, apparently hoping to meet
+the bear somewhere. It was truly gay for a few minutes, but as nothing
+further occurred, and the beaters grew very hoarse with their prodigious
+efforts, I hurried on to Walter's post to learn what had happened.
+
+A bear had suddenly come out of the cover some 40 yards off, and stood to
+look. The Colonel missed it, whereupon it dashed forward, passing within a
+few yards of him, and he missed it again. It departed at top speed across
+some open ground behind him, and gained the great woods which stretch away
+to the Kaj-nag, and never shall we see that bear again! The Colonel was
+much disgusted, and if language--hot, strong, and plenty of it--could
+have slain that bear, he would have dropped dead in his tracks.
+
+The beaters brought up a wonderful tale of how another bear, badly wounded
+in the leg, had charged through their lines and gone back. They stuck to
+their story, and either a second bear actually existed or they are
+colossal liars. I incline to the latter theory.
+
+We had wasted all our luck. No more bears came to look at us, and so, late
+in the afternoon, we sought the rest-house and consolation from Jane and
+Hesketh, who had arrived from Drogmulla.
+
+I had occasion to deplore the bad manners of the rats at Harwan, but their
+conduct was exemplary compared with that of the rats of Rainawari! I had
+been writing my journal, according to my custom, before going to sleep,
+and hardly had "lights out" been sounded than a rat went off with my
+candle, literally from below my very nose. Then, from the inadequately
+partitioned chamber where the invalid vainly sought repose, came sounds of
+strife--boots and curses flying--followed by an extraordinary scraping and
+scuffling. A large rat, having fallen into the big tin bath, was making
+bids for freedom by ineffectually leaping up the slippery sides. At last
+he contrived to get out, and peace reigned until we managed to get to
+sleep.
+
+Wednesday was spent honking in the forlorn hope of a bear, I have now
+spent more than fourteen days in pursuit of black bear, and I have only
+seen one. Every one said to me in spring, "Oh, go to the Lolab, it's full
+of bear," I went, and was informed that it was a late season and I was too
+early--the bears were not yet awake. I was consoled by learning that later
+on, when the mulberries were ripe, the berry-loving beasts jostled one
+another in the pursuit of the delicacy so much, that they were no sport I
+went down from Gulmarg for three days, honking among the mulberries, but
+saw none. Then I was told the maize season was undoubtedly the best. Now
+the maize is full ripe; the maize fields are tempting in their golden
+glory, and the only thing wanting to complete the picture is a big, black
+bear.
+
+Either my luck has been particularly bad (and I think it has, as the
+Colonel got a fine bear below Gulmarg, and had another chance at
+Rainawari), or else there are not so many bears in real life as exist in
+the imaginations of those who know. My own theory is, that, unless he has
+remarkable luck, a stranger, in the hands of an ignorant shikari, and
+knowing nothing of the language, has but a remote chance of sport. If the
+shikari does not happen to know the district thoroughly, he is necessarily
+in the hands of the villagers, and has to trust to them to arrange the
+beats and place the guns. The villagers want their four annas for a day's
+shouting, but do not know or care if a bear is in the neighbourhood, so,
+having planted the gun (and shikari with him), they proceed to beat after
+their own fashion, in other words to stroll, in Indian file, like geese
+across a common, along the line of least resistance, instead of spreading
+out and searching all the thickest jungle.
+
+Much yelling serves both to cheer the sahib, and frighten away any bear
+which might otherwise haply frighten them.
+
+I cannot say I regret the time I have spent looking for bear. The scenery
+has always been fine--sometimes magnificent, and there has always been a
+certain cheering hope, which sustained me as I lay hour after hour in the
+Malingam Nullah, or sat expectant amid ever varying and always beautiful
+glades and passes, watching the bird life, and storing up scenes and
+memories which I know I shall never forget.
+
+Alas! we have but a very few days yet before us in Kashmir, and it is
+lamentable, for now the climate is simply perfect, the air clear and clean,
+and without the haze of summer; the first crispness of coming autumn
+making itself felt most distinctly in the early hours of morning ere
+
+  "Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
+  The glorious sun uprist;"
+
+and each dawn saw us up and out to watch these sunrises, whose splendour
+cannot be expressed on paper. This morning it was more than usually
+wonderful, the whole flank of Nanga Parbat and his lesser peaks, turning
+from clear lemon to softest rose, stood radiant above the purple shades of
+the great range which lies around Gurais. In the middle distance, rising
+above the level yellow of the plain, still dim and shadowy below the
+morning light, rolled wave upon wave of the blue hills which hold in their
+embrace the fruitful Lolab. At our feet the deodars, still dark with the
+shadow of night, crept up the dewy slope upon whose top we stood. Then
+suddenly
+
+  "The sanguine sunrise, with his meteor eyes,"
+
+flamed over the eastern ridges, and in a flood of glory the soft shadows
+and pallid lights of the dawn became merged in the brilliance of a Kashmir
+autumn day.
+
+Our march yesterday from Rainawari to Kitardaji was charming. I had no
+idea that this Machipura country, which is not much visited by summer
+sojourners in Kashmir, was so fine. The district lies along the lower
+shoulders and foothills of the Kaj-nag, and, while lacking the savage
+grandeur of the Lidar or Upper Sind, yet possesses the charm of infinite
+variety and, in this early autumn, a climate in which it is a pure joy to
+live. On leaving Rainawari we followed up a river valley for some distance,
+and then wound through richly cultivated hollows and past well-wooded
+hills, where the dark silver firs and the deodars were lit up by splashes
+of scarlet and orange, and the deciduous sumach and thorn-bushes hung out
+their autumn flags. Walnuts--the trees in many places turning yellow--were
+being gathered into heaps, and the apple trees, reddening in the autumn
+glow, hung heavy with abundant fruit.
+
+Turning into a narrow gorge, where the trees overhung the path and shaded
+the wanderer with many an interlaced bough; where ferns grew in great
+green clumps, and the friendly magpies chattered in the luminous shade, I
+hurried on, having stayed behind the others to sketch. Up and up, till
+only pines waved over me, and the track, leading along the edge of a deep
+khud, opened out at last upon a plateau, hot and sunlit; here an
+entrancing panorama of Nanga Parbat and the whole range of mountains round
+Haramok caused me to stop "at gaze" until a mundane desire for breakfast
+sent me scurrying down the dusty and slippery descent to Larch, where I
+found, as I had hoped, the rest of the party assembled expectant around
+the tiffin basket, while the necromancer, Sabz Ali, had just succeeded in
+producing the most delightful stew, omelette, and coffee from the usual
+native toy kitchen, made, apparently, in a few minutes with a couple of
+stones and a dab of mud!
+
+It has been an unfailing marvel to us how, in storm or calm, rain or fine,
+the native cook seems always able to produce a hot meal with such
+apparently inadequate materials as he has at his command. Give him a fire
+in the open, screened by stones and a mud wall, a _batterie de cuisine_
+limited to one or two war-worn "degchies," and let him have a village fowl
+and half-a-dozen tiny eggs, and he will in due time serve up, with modest
+pride, a most excellent repast.
+
+The remaining half of our twelve-mile march lay along a continually rising
+track, which finally brought us to Kitardaji, a cosy pine-built hut,
+perched upon a hill clothed with deodars, at the foot of which ran the
+inevitable stream.
+
+This, alas! is our last Kashmir camping-ground, and it is one of the most
+charming of all.
+
+At 8.15 this morning we bade farewell to Kitardaji. We had got up before
+dawn to see the sunrise, but afterwards took things leisurely, as the
+march is short to Baramula, and our boats were to be in waiting there, and
+we had made all arrangements for a landau and ekkas to be in readiness to
+take us down to Rawal Pindi, while the Colonel returned up the Jhelum for
+more shooting before rejoining his wife at Bandipur.
+
+The march of about thirteen miles from Kitardaji to Baramula is fine--the
+views of Nanga Parbat in the early hours, before the sun's full strength
+cast a golden glow over the distance, were magnificent, and long we
+lingered upon the last ridge, gazing over the great valley, ringed with
+its guardian mountains, ere we sadly turned our backs for the last time on
+the scene, and wended our way downward to Baramula and our boats.
+
+Kashmir seems to be as difficult to get out of as to get into! What was
+our amazement and disgust to find neither landau nor ekkas, nor,
+apparently, any chance of getting them!
+
+Baramula was in a ferment, and wild confusion reigned because the Viceroy,
+having somewhat suddenly determined to come to Jammu, the Maharajah and
+all his suite, together with the Resident and his belongings, were to
+start down the road at once, and all transport was commandeered by the
+State. Here was a coil! Officers innumerable, who had stayed in Kashmir
+until the limit of their leave, were struggling vainly to get on, and had
+got to Baramula only to find all transport in the hands of the State
+officials. Some few had, by fair means or foul, got hold of an ekka or two
+and hidden them; others had seized ponies, but nothing to harness them to.
+A few of the younger men set forth on foot, and others had their servants
+out in ambush on the roads to try and collect transport.
+
+It was most important that we should get on, as Hesketh had to be in Pindi
+to go before a medical board on the 14th, in order to be invalided home to
+England; and as he was most anxious to catch a steamer sailing on the 25th,
+he had no time to spare.
+
+I telegraphed to Sir Amar Singh for authority to engage ekkas, and I sent
+for the Tehsildhar of Baramulla to complain of my ekkas being taken. He
+appeared in due course--a somewhat pert little person--who promised to do
+what he could, which I knew would be nothing. A farewell dinner on board
+Walter's ship concluded a fairly busy day.
+
+_Saturday, October 7_.--A strenuous day, to say the least of it. Sir Amar
+Singh most courteously met my wishes, and himself directed the local
+authorities to assist me. Armed with this power, I again sent for the
+Tehsildhar, who promised many ekkas, but appeared to have some difficulty
+in fulfilling his promises. I spent the forenoon in hunting transport,
+sending out my servants also in pursuit. The Tehsildhar produced one ekka
+with great pomp, as earnest of what he could and would do later on.
+
+During the afternoon the landau turned up from Srinagar, and at 6 P.M. one
+of my myrmidons rushed in to say that two ekkas had arrived at the dak
+bungalow.
+
+It was but a few yards away, and in a couple of minutes I was on the spot.
+The ekkas had come up from Pindi, and the sahib who had lured them to
+Baramula seemed astonished at my method of taking them over. In an
+uncommonly short while the ekkas were parked, with the landau, close to
+the boats and under strict watch, while all harness was brought on board
+my dounga, just in time, as native officials of some sort romped up and
+claimed the ekkas, and threatened to beat my servants. It was explained to
+them gently, but firmly, that if they touched my ekkas or landau they
+would taste the waters of the Jhelum. We were then left in peaceful
+possession.
+
+_Tuesday, October 10_.--On Sunday morning we really saw our way to making
+a start. We had three ekkas collected, and the Tehsildhar produced a
+fourth with a great flourish, as though in expectation of a heavy tip. The
+landau was being piled with odds and ends while the last bits of business
+were being got through. Juma and his crew were paid and tipped (grumbling,
+of course, for the Kashmiri is a lineal descendant of the horse-leech).
+The shikari went to Smithson, and the sweeper and permanent coolie were
+transferred to the assistant forest officer, while Ayata (in charge of
+Freddie, the blackbird) scrambled into the leading ekka.
+
+By noon all was ready, and amid the rattle and jingle of many harness
+bells and the salaams of the domestics, we bowled out of Baramula, and set
+forward down the valley of the Jhelum.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DELHI AND AGRA
+
+The journey down was uneventful, and quite unlike the journey up, when we
+had been briskly occupied in dodging landslips for days. A good road,
+white and dry, and sloping steadily downward; a good pair of ponies,
+strong and willing; a roomy landau, wherein Hesketh--still suffering from
+his fall at Drogmulla--could stretch himself in comparative comfort,
+combined to bring us to Kohala this afternoon in a state of excellent
+preservation. Here we crossed the bridge, which brought us to the right
+bank of the river--from Kashmir to British territory.
+
+Kohala is the proud possessor of one of the very worst dak bungalows yet
+discovered. This seems disappointing when stepping under the folds of the
+Union Jack full of high hope and confidence.
+
+Climbing up through a particularly noisome bazaar to the bungalow, I was
+met with the information that it was already full. I said that was a pity,
+but that room must be found for my party.
+
+Room was got somehow, a dak bungalow being an extraordinarily elastic
+dwelling. Hesketh was stored in a little tent. I lodged in the dining-room,
+and Jane took up her quarters in a sort of dressing-room kindly given up
+by a lady, who bravely sought asylum with a sister-in-law and a remarkably
+strong-lunged baby. I believe more travellers arrived later,
+for--although, thanks to Sir Amax Singh and good luck, we gained a good
+start at Baramula--now the tongas are beginning to roll in and the plot to
+thicken.
+
+I cannot think where the last arrivals bestowed themselves--not on the
+roof, I trust, for a thunderstorm, accompanied by the usual vigorous
+squall of wind, fell upon us during the night, and raged so furiously that
+I was greatly relieved to see the Lancer's little tent still braving the
+battle and the breeze in the morning.
+
+We had a long day before us, so started in good time to make the tedious
+ascent to Murree. It rained steadily, and a cold wind swept down the river
+valley as we began to make our slow way up the long, long hill.
+
+I never knew milestones so extraordinarily far apart as those which mark
+the distance between Kohala and Murree. There are twenty-five of them,
+distributed along a weary winding road which extends without an apparent
+variation of gradient from Kohala to the Murree cemetery. The rise from
+the river level to Murree is 5000 feet, and this, in a heavy landau over a
+road often deep in red mud, is a heavy strain on equine endurance and
+human patience.
+
+We had a fresh pair of horses waiting for us half-way up the hill, but they
+proved absolutely useless, being obviously already dead tired and quite
+unable to drag the carriage through any of the muddier places even with
+every one but the invalid on foot. So we apologetically put the gallant
+greys in again, poor beasties, and they took us up well.
+
+From the cemetery the road runs fairly level to where, upon rounding a
+sharp corner, the hill station of Murree comes into sight, clinging to its
+hill-tops and overlooking the far flat plains beyond Pindi.
+
+I cannot imagine how anybody would willingly abide in Murree who could go
+anywhere else for the hot weather. There being no level ground, there is
+no polo, no cricket, and no golf. There is no river to fish in, and I do
+not think that there is anything at all to shoot. Doubtless, however, it
+has its compensations. Probably it abounds in pretty mem-sahibs, who with
+bridge and Badminton combine to oil the wheels of life, and make it merry
+on the Murree hills.
+
+Leaving the station high on the left, we dipped in a most puzzling manner
+down a slope through a fine wood giving magnificent views towards the
+hills of our beloved Kashmir, and presently came to "Sunny Bank," whence a
+steep road seemed to run sharply hack and up to Murree itself. It was late,
+and both we and our unfortunate horses were tired, but a hasty peep into
+the little inn showed it to be quite impossible as a lodging, and a biting
+wind sent us shivering down the hill as fast as might be to seek rest and
+warmth at Tret.
+
+The good greys took us down the eleven miles in a very short time, and we
+pulled up at the dak bungalow at 7.30, having been just twelve hours doing
+the forty miles from Kohala.
+
+The dak bungalow and all the compound in front was crowded, detachments
+_en route_, from Murree to Pindi having halted here for the night. Hesketh
+was lucky enough to share a room with a brother Lancer, and a mixed bag of
+Gunners and Hussars made up a cheery dinner-table.
+
+The only member of the party showing signs of collapse was the unfortunate
+Freddie, who, shaken up in his small cage for three days in an ekka,
+seemed in piteous plight, feathers (what there were of them) ruffled and
+unkempt, and eyes dim and half closed. Poor dear, it was only sleep he
+wanted, for next morning he showed up, as his fond owner remarked, "bright
+as a button!"
+
+_12th_.--The road from Tret to Pindi seemed tame to us, but probably
+charming to the horses, first down a few gently sloping hills, and then
+for the remainder of its six-and-twenty miles it wound its dull and dusty
+length along the level.
+
+We halted for our last picnic lunch in a roadside garden full of loquat
+trees and big purple hibiscus. The only curious thing here was a pi-dog
+which refused to eat cold duck! Certainly it was a _very_ tough duck, but
+still, I do not think a pi-dog should he so fastidious.
+
+A few more level dusty miles, and we rattled into Rawal Pindi, where,
+after depositing our sick man safely in his own mess precincts, we
+proceeded to ensconce ourselves in Flashman's Hotel, which is certainly
+far better than the Lime Tree, where we stayed before. Indian hotels are
+about the worst in the world. We have sampled rough dens in Spain, in
+Tetuan, and in Corsica--especially in Corsica, but then they are
+unpretentious inns in unfrequented villages, whereas in India you find in
+world-famous cities such as Agra or Delhi the most comfortless dens
+calling themselves hotels--hotels where you hardly dare eat half the food
+for fear of typhoid, and will not eat the rest because it is so unsavoury!
+
+It may be argued that the hotels, if bad, are cheap, and that one cannot
+reasonably expect much in return for five or six rupees per day; it seems,
+however, that in a country where food and labour cost next to nothing, a
+good landlord should be able to "do" his customers well upon five rupees,
+and make a substantial profit into the bargain.
+
+Probably, as the facilities for travel are rapidly increasing, and India
+is now as easy to reach as Italy was in days not so long by, the hotels
+will soon improve. Hospitality, which is still to-day greater in the East
+than in our more selfish Western regions, and which has, until quite
+recently, obviated for strangers and pilgrims the necessity for hotels, is
+now unable to cope with the increasing flood of visitors and wanderers; as
+the need becomes more pressing, so will the supply, consequent upon the
+demand, improve both in quality and quantity; and we have already heard of
+the new Taj Mahal Hotel at Bombay, the fame of which has been trumpeted
+through India, and which is said to rival in luxury the palaces of Ritz!
+
+The real and serious difficulty, and one which at present seems
+insurmountable, is to secure cleanliness and safety in that Augean
+stable--the cook-house. Until the native can be brought to understand the
+inadvisability of using tainted water and unclean utensils, and of
+permitting the ubiquitous fly to pervade the larder--until, I say, that
+millennium can be attained, the danger of enteric and other ills will
+always be very great in Indian hotels.
+
+_Friday, October_ 13.--Lunch with Dr. Munro, who surprised us somewhat by
+having married a wife since we played golf and bridge together at Gulmarg
+only a few weeks ago. Tea, a farewell repast with our invalid--who goes
+before a medical board in a few days, and who will then be doubtless sent
+home on long sick leave--and the despatch of our heavy luggage direct to
+Bombay, occupied us pretty fully for the day; and in the evening, after
+dinner, we took up our residence in a carriage drawn up in a siding to be
+attached to the 6.30 mail in the morning. Our last recollection of Pindi
+was a vision of the faithful Ayata, paid, tipped, and provided with a
+flaming "chit," flapping along the road in the bright moonlight, with all
+his worldly possessions, _en route_ for Abbotabad and home.
+
+_Saturday, October_ 14.--A prodigious amount of banging, whistling, and
+yelling seemed to be necessary before we could be coupled up to the early
+train, and sent flying towards Lahore. It was impossible to sleep, and I
+was peacefully watching the landscape as it slid past, first in the pink
+flush of early dawn, and gradually losing colour as the sun, gaining in
+strength, reduced everything to a white hot glow, when, scraping and
+bumping into a wayside station, we were suddenly informed that, owing to
+hot bearings or heated axles or something, we must quit our carriage at
+once, and so, half dressed and wholly wrathful, we were shot out on a hot
+and exceedingly gritty platform, with our hand luggage and bedding all of
+a heap, and with the whole length of the train to traverse to attain our
+new carriage. Sabz Ali being curled up asleep in an "intermediate," was
+all unwitting of this upheaval. The officials were impatient, and so Jane
+and I were in a thoroughly unchristian frame of mind by the time we were
+stowed, hot and greatly fussed, into a stifling compartment, whose
+dust-begrimed windows long withstood all endeavours to open them.
+
+We reached Lahore about noon, and, having some six hours to dispose of
+there, we spent them in calm contemplation, sitting on the verandah of
+Nedou's Hotel. It was really too hot to think of sight-seeing.
+
+_Thursday, October 19_.--Another night in the train brought us to Delhi at
+dawn, and we drove up to the execrable caravansary of Mr. Maiden. I do not
+propose to write much about Delhi. Every one who has been in India has
+visited the capital of the Moguls, whose wealth of splendid buildings
+would alone have rendered it a supreme attraction for the sight-seer, even
+had it not played the part it did in the Mutiny, and been memorable as the
+scene of the storming of the Kashmir Gate and the death of John Nicholson.
+
+We, personally, carried away from Delhi an uncomfortable sense of
+disappointment. It was very hot, and Jane fell a victim to the heat or
+something, and took to her bed in the comfortless hotel, while I prowled
+sadly about the baking streets, and tried to work up an enthusiasm which I
+did not feel.
+
+As soon as Jane was fit, we joined forces with a young fellow-countryman
+and his sister, who were the only other English people in the hotel, and
+drove out to see the Kutab Minar. On arrival we found a comfortable dak
+bungalow, and, having made an excellent breakfast, sallied forth to view
+the Kutab. May I confess that I was again a little disappointed? I do not
+really know exactly why, but the great tower, whose fluted shaft, dark red
+in the sunglow, shoots up some 270 feet into the air, did not appeal to me.
+It is like no other column--it is unique, marvellous,--but it leaves me
+cold.
+
+The splendid arch of the screen of the old temple, and the lovely columns
+of the Jain temple opposite, attracted me far more than the Kutab Minar.
+
+Jane and young Buxton went off to see a native jump down a well fifty feet
+deep for four annas. The performance sounded curious, but unpleasant. The
+sightseers were much impressed! Meanwhile, Miss Buxton and I discovered a
+very modern and exceedingly hideous little Hindu temple, painted in the
+most appalling manner--altogether a gem of grotesqueness, and truly
+delightful and refreshing.
+
+Tea in front of the dak bungalow, in a corner blazing with "gold mohurs"
+and rosy oleanders, while the driver and the syce harnessed the lean pair
+of horses, a final visit to the Kutab and the great arch, and we fared
+back over the eleven bumpy miles that lay between us and Delhi.
+
+A good deal of my spare time, while Jane was _hors de combat_, was spent
+in the jewellers' shops of the Chandni chowk, the principal merchants'
+quarter of Delhi. I do not think that anything very special in the way of
+a "bargain" is to be obtained by the amateur, although stones are
+undoubtedly cheaper than in London. I saw little really fine jewellery,
+probably because I was obviously unlikely to be a big buyer, but many good
+spinels, dark topaz, and rough emeralds. The stones I wanted I failed to
+get. Alexandrites were not, and pink topaz scarce and dear. The dealers
+generally tried to sell pale spinels as pink topaz. Peridot are cheaper, I
+think, at home, and certainly in Cairo, and the only amethysts worth
+looking at are sent out from Germany. The pale ones of the country come
+from Jaipur. By-the-bye, the best-coloured amethysts I ever remember
+seeing were in Clermont Ferrand.
+
+Delhi has always been connected with gems in my mind. I am not certain why.
+Partly, perhaps, because the famous Peacock Throne of Shah Jehan stood in
+the Palace here. I cannot resist giving the description of it in the words
+of Tavernier, who saw it about 1655, and who describes it as follows:--
+
+"This is the largest throne; it is in form like one of our field-beds, six
+foot long and four broad. The cushion at the back is round like a bolster;
+the cushions on the sides are flat. I counted about a hundred and eight
+pale rubies in collets about this throne, the least whereof weighed a
+hundred carats. Emeralds I counted about a hundred and forty."
+
+"The under part of the canopy is all embroidered with pearls and diamonds,
+with a fringe of pearls round about. Upon the top of the canopy, which is
+made like an arch with four paws, stands a peacock with his tail spread,
+consisting entirely of sapphires and other proper-coloured stones;[1] the
+body is of beaten gold enchased with several jewels; and a great RUBY upon
+his breast, to which hangs a pearl that weighs fifty carats. On each aide
+of the peacock stand two nosegays as high as the bird, consisting of
+various sorts of flowers, all of beaten gold enamelled."
+
+"When the king seats himself upon the throne there is a transparent jewel,
+with a diamond appendant of eighty or ninety carats weight, encompassed
+with rubies and emeralds, so hung that it is always in his eye. The twelve
+pillars also, that uphold the canopy, are set with rows of fair pearl,
+round, and of an excellent water, that weigh from six to ten carats
+apiece."
+
+"At the distance of four feet, upon each side of the throne, are placed
+two umbrellas, the handles of which are about eight feet high, covered
+with diamonds, the umbrellas themselves being of crimson velvet,
+embroidered and fringed with pearl."
+
+"This is the famous throne which Tamerlane began and Shah Jehan finished;
+and is really reported to have cost a hundred and sixty millions and five
+hundred thousand livres of our money."
+
+One can picture the enraptured diamond merchant examining this masterpiece
+of Oriental luxury with awe-struck eye, appraising the size and lustre of
+each gem, and taking the fullest notes with which to dazzle his countrymen
+on returning to the more prosaic Europe from what was then indeed the
+"Gorgeous East!" This world-famous throne was seized by Nadir Shah, when
+he sacked Delhi in 1739, and carried away (together with our Koh-i-noor
+diamond) into Persia. Dow, who saw the famous throne some twenty years
+before Tavernier, describes _two_ peacocks standing behind it with their
+tails expanded, which were studded with jewels. Between the peacocks stood
+a parrot, life size, cut out of a single emerald!
+
+_Friday, October_ 20.--Yesterday at 6 A.M. we spurned the dust of Delhi,
+hot and blinding, from our feet and clambered into the train, which
+whirled us across the sun-baked plain to Agra.
+
+There has been a woeful shortage of rain in the Punjab and Rajputana, and
+a famine seems imminent--not a great and universal famine, as, the monsoon
+having been irregular, only some districts have suffered to a serious
+extent, and they can be supplied from elsewhere, whereas in the great
+famine of 1901 the drought parched the whole land, and no help could be
+given by one State to another, all lying equally under the sun's curse.
+Not a great famine, perhaps; yet, to one accustomed to the genial
+juiciness of the West, the miles and miles of waterless hot plains,
+stretching away to where the horizon flickered in the glare, the brown and
+parched vegetation, the lean and hungry-looking cattle, tended by equally
+lean and famished herds, caused the monotonous view from the carriage
+windows to be strangely depressing.
+
+This is the very battle-ground of Nature and the British Raj. We have
+given peace and, to a certain extent, prosperity to the teeming millions
+of India, and they have increased and multiplied until the land is
+overburthened, and Nature, with relentless will, bids Famine and
+Pestilence lay waste the cities and the plains. Then Science, with
+irrigation works and improved hygiene, strives hard to gain a victory, but
+still the struggle rages doubtfully.
+
+Agra we liked as much as we disliked Delhi. To begin with creature
+comforts (and the well-being of the body produces a pair of _couleur de
+rose_ spectacles for the mental eye), Laurie's Hotel at Agra is very much
+more comfortable than the den we abode in at Delhi, and after a good
+tiffin we set forth with light hearts to see the Fort.
+
+This, the accumulated achievement of the greatest of the Mogul Emperors,
+is a magnificent monument of their power and pride. The earliest part,
+built by Akbar, is all of rich red sandstone. The great hall of audience
+and other portions show his broad-minded tolerance and catholicity of
+taste in being almost pure Hindu in style and decoration. Later, with
+Jehangir and Shah Jehan, the high-water mark of sumptuousness was attained
+in the use of pure white marble, lavishly inlaid with coloured stones.
+
+As we wandered through halls and corridors of marble most richly wrought,
+while the sun-glare outside did but emphasise the cool shade within, or
+filter softly through the lace-like tracery of pierced white-marble
+screens, one longed to reclothe these glorious skeletons with all the pomp
+of their dead magnificence--for one magic moment replace the Great Mogul
+upon his peacock throne, surround him with a glittering crowd of courtiers
+and attendants, clothe the wide marble floors upon which they stand with
+richest carpets from the looms of Persia and the North, and drape the tall
+white columns with rustling canopies of silk.
+
+Before the great audience hall let the bare garden-court again glow with a
+million blooms; there let the peacocks sun themselves, their living jewels
+putting to shame the gems that burn back from aigrette and from sword-hilt;
+see and hear the cool waters sparkling once again from their long-dried
+founts, flashing in the white sunlight, and flowing over ducts cunningly
+inlaid with zigzag bands to imitate the ripple of the mountain stream.
+
+The dead frame alone is left of all this gorgeous picture. The
+imperishable marble glows white in the sunlight as it did in the days of
+Shah Jehan. The great red bastions of the Fort frown over the same placid
+Jumna, and watch each morning the pearly dome of the Taj Mahal rise like a
+moon in the dawn-glow, shimmer through the parching glare of an Indian day,
+and at eve sink, rosy, into the purple shadows of swiftly-falling night,
+as they did when Shah Jehan sat "in the sunset-lighted balcony with his
+eyes fixed on the snow-white pile at the bend of the river, and his heart
+full of consolation of having wrought for her he loved, through the span
+of twenty years, a work that she had surely accepted at the last."[2]
+
+We spent a long afternoon in the Fort, and drove out finally through the
+monstrous gateway in a little Victoria, feeling all the time that none but
+elephants in all their glory of barbaric caparison could pass through such
+a portal worthily.
+
+The moon was full almost a week ago, unfortunately, so we determined that,
+failing moonlight, our first visit to the Taj should be at sunset.
+
+The two miles' drive along an excellent road was delightful, and the
+approach to the Taj has been laid out with much skill as a beautiful bit
+of landscape garden. This care is due to Lord Curzon, who has taken Agra
+and its monuments into his especial keeping.
+
+A very small golf-course has been laid out, and the familiar form of the
+enthusiast could be seen, blind to everything but the flight of time and
+his Haskell, hurrying round to save the last of the daylight.
+
+Beneath a tree was laid out a tea equipage, and a few ladies indolently
+putting showed that, after all, the game was not taken too seriously.
+
+I have no intention of trying to describe the Taj Mahal. The attempt has
+already been made a thousand times. I may merely remark that the
+detestable Indian miniatures, and little ivory or marble models that are,
+alas! so common, are incapable of giving an idea, otherwise than
+misleading, of this wonderful building, which is not--as they would vainly
+show it--glaring, staring, and hard, nor does its formality seem other
+than just what it should be.
+
+As we saw it first--opalescent in the soft, clear light of sunset--the
+chief impression it made upon us was that of size; for this we were quite
+unprepared.
+
+As we approached it from the great red entrance arch, along a smooth path
+bordering the central stretch of still, translucent water, the lovely dome
+rose fairy-like from the masses of trees that, in their turn, formed a
+background of solemn green for gorgeous patches of colour, in bloom and
+leaf, which glowed on either side as we advanced.
+
+Ascending a flight of steps to the wide terrace, all of whitest marble,
+upon which the Taj is raised, we realised that the detail of carving and
+of inlay was as perfect as the general effect of the whole.
+
+High as my expectations had been raised, I was not disappointed in the Taj,
+and that is saying much, for one's pre-formed ideas are apt to soar beyond
+bounds and to suffer the fate of Icarus. At the same time, I cannot agree
+with Fergusson that the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building in the
+world. I do not admit that it is possible to compare structures of such
+widely divergent types as the Parthenon, the Cathedral of Chartres, the
+Campanile of Giotto, and the Taj Mahal, and pronounce in favour of any one
+of them. It is as vain as to contend that the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
+is a finer poem than Keats' "Eve of St. Agnes," or that the "Erl Konig" is
+better music than "The Moonlight Sonata."
+
+Perhaps it is not too much to say that it is the loveliest tomb in the
+world, and the finest specimen of Mohammedan architecture in existence. If
+I dared to criticise what would appear to be faultless, I should humbly
+suggest that the four corner minarets are not worthy of the centre
+building, reminding one rather of lighthouses.
+
+We spent a second day in Agra, revisiting the Fort and the Taj rather than
+seeing anything new. We could have hired a motor and rushed out for a
+hurried visit to Fatehpur-Sighri, and there was temptation in the idea;
+but we decided to content ourselves with the abundant food for eye and
+mind which we had in these two wonderful buildings, and in the evening we
+took the train for Jaipur.
+
+_Saturday, October 21._--One is apt to be cross and fussed and generally
+upset on being landed on a strange platform in the dark at 5.30 A.M., as
+we were at Jaipur, but much solace lay in the fact that a comfortable
+carriage stood waiting us and a most kind and genial host received us on
+the broad verandah of his bungalow, and the cheering fact was borne in
+upon us that we shall have henceforward but little to do with Indian
+hotels.
+
+How one appreciates a large, cool room, good servants, good food, and last,
+but not least, the society of one's kind, after two or three weeks of
+racket and discomfort by road and rail.
+
+A restful morning enlivened us sufficiently to enjoy a garden party at the
+Residency in the afternoon, where not only the English society, but a
+large number of native gentlemen, were playing lawn-tennis with laudable
+energy.
+
+After Kashmir, where Sir Amar Singh is the only native who mixes at all
+with the English, it was interesting to see and meet on terms of
+good-fellowship these Rajput aristocrats.
+
+_Sunday, October_ 22.--The city of Jaipur is, I think, principally
+interesting as being modern and enlightened among those of the native
+states.
+
+When the ancient city of Amber was abandoned, principally on account of
+its scanty water-supply, Jaipur was built upon a regular and prearranged
+plan, having a great wide street down the centre, crossed by two large
+thoroughfares at right angles, thus dividing the town into six rectangular
+blocks.
+
+We drove into the city in the afternoon, and were much impressed by its
+airiness and cleanliness. The houses are all coated with pink stucco,
+picked out with white, which, in the bright atmosphere, has, at a little
+distance, a charming effect. On closer inspection the real tawdriness and
+want of solidity of the work become painfully apparent, and the designs in
+white upon the pink, in which the wayward fancy of each householder runs
+riot, generally leave much to be desired, both in design and execution.
+
+The broad, clean main streets were a perfect kaleidoscope of colour and
+movement. Men in pink pugarees--in lemon-coloured--in emerald green; women
+in blood-red saris, bearing shining brass pots upon their heads, all
+talking, shouting, jostling--a large family of monkeys on a neighbouring
+roof added their quota of conversation--calm oxen, often with red-painted
+horns and pink-streaked bodies, camels, asses, horses, strolled about or
+pushed their way through the throng. No Hindu cow would ever dream of
+making way for anybody. Yes, though! Here comes an elephant rolling along,
+and the holy ones with humps discreetly retire aside, covering their
+retreat before a _force majeure_ by stepping up to the nearest
+greengrocer's stall and abstracting a generous mouthful of the most
+succulent of his wares.
+
+Rising in the midst of a lovely garden, just outside the city, is the
+Albert Hall, a remarkably fine structure, built in accordance with the
+best traditions of Mohammedan architecture adapted to modern requirements
+by our host, the designer. It contains both a museum of the products of
+Rajputana, and also an instructive collection of objects of art and
+science, gathered together for the edification of the intelligent native.
+
+We would willingly have spent hours examining the pottery and brass work
+for which Jaipur is famous, or in making friends with the denizens of the
+great aviary in the garden, but time is short, and even the baby panther
+could only claim a few minutes of our devotion.
+
+The Palace of the Maharajah is neither particularly interesting nor
+beautiful, and we did not visit it further than to inspect the ancient
+observatory built by Jey Singh, with its huge sundial, whose gnomon stands
+80 feet above the ground! What we are pleased to call a superstitious
+attention to times lucky or unlucky has given to astronomical observations
+in the East an unscientific importance which they have not had for
+centuries in Europe.[3] A slight attack of fever prevented me from going
+to Amber; so I stayed at home, peacefully absorbing quinine, subsequently
+extracting the following from Jane's diary:--
+
+    "'Tea ready, mem-sahib.' The familiar and somewhat
+    plaintive sound of Sabz Ali's voice roused me,
+    as it so often has in tent, forest hut, or matted dounga;"
+
+but this time I was really puzzled for a moment, on awaking, to find
+myself in a real comfortable spring bed, white-enamelled and
+mosquito-netted, while for roof I only saw the clear, pale, Indian sky.
+Then it was I remembered that, at my host's suggestion, my bed had been
+carried out into the shrubbery, and that I had fallen asleep, lulled by
+the howling of the jackals and the rustle of the flying squirrels in the
+gold mohur-tree overhead.
+
+"Springing on to the cool, grassy carpet, and dressing quickly, to gain as
+much time as possible before the rising of the hot October sun, I was soon
+ready for breakfast, which Miss Macgregor and I had in the garden among
+the parrots and the pigeons, and the dear little squirrels. We were ready
+for the road before seven, and were soon trotting along between dusty
+hedges of gaunt-fingered cactus, shaded here and there by neem trees and
+peepuls."
+
+"Our smart victoria was lent by a Rajput friend of Sir Swinton's, and he
+had also sent us his private secretary as guide and escort--a very thin
+young man in a black sateen coat and gay-flowered waistcoat."
+
+"Through the pink-stuccoed streets of Jaipur we threaded our way--slowly,
+on account of the holy pigeons breakfasting in thousands on the road, and
+the sacred bulls, who barely deigned to move aside to let us pass."
+
+"It appears to be the custom, when a man dies, for his relatives to let
+loose a bull _in memoriam_, and the happy beast forthwith sets out to live
+a life of sloth and luxury. The city is his, and every green-grocer in it
+is only too much honoured if the fastidious animal will condescend to make
+free with his cabbages."
+
+"Once clear of the crowded streets, we got on quicker, and about six miles
+out we found the elephant which had been sent out from the royal stable to
+carry us to Amber. We climbed upon her (it was a lady elephant) in a great
+hurry, by means of a rickety sort of ladder, as we were told that an
+elephant, if 'fresh,' was apt to rise up suddenly, to the great detriment
+of the passenger who had 'not arrived.' She was a very friendly-looking
+creature though, and her little eyes twinkled most affably; her face was
+decorated in a scheme of red and green, and her saddle was a sort of big
+mattress surrounded by a railing."
+
+"I am no judge of the paces of elephants, but this one seemed uncommonly
+rough; and we held on vigorously to the railing until we reached a ridge
+and saw the dead city of Amber before us, dominated by the white marble
+palace, standing on a steep cliff, and reflected in the water of the lake
+which laps its base."
+
+"Up a steep and narrow path we mounted until we reached the courtyard of
+the ancient palace of the ruler of Amber, and there we alighted from our
+steed, and set out to explore the ruins. First we came to a small temple,
+ugly enough, but interesting, for here a goat is sacrificed every morning
+to Kali--a particularly hideous goddess, if the frescoes on the walls and
+the golden image in the sanctuary are in any way truthful! Formerly a
+human sacrifice was customary, but the unfortunate goat is found to fulfil
+modern requirements, since goddesses are more easily pleased or less
+pampered than of yore."
+
+"The Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is chiefly
+remarkable for its magnificent situation, and for its court and hall of
+audience of marble and red sandstone."
+
+"This work was so fine as to excite the jealousy of the Mogul Emperor, so
+the Prince of Amber had it promptly whitewashed--and whitewashed it
+remains to this day. Some of the brazen doors are remarkably fine, as also
+those of sandal-wood, inlaid with ivory, in the women's quarters."
+
+"We climbed to the marble court on the roof, where, canopied only by the
+sky and lighted by the moon, nocturnal durbars were held. Now, in the
+glare of the noonday sun, we fully appreciated the value of an evening
+sitting, for it was impossible to remain grilling there, even though the
+view of the silent city below, falling in tier after tier to the lake--the
+glare only broken here and there by patches of green garden--was superb.
+On either side rose the bare, rocky ridges, fort-crowned and looking
+formidable even in decay, while in front the dusty road stretched away
+into the haze of the dusty plains below. Of course, we should have visited
+the great Jain temples and other things worthy of note; but, alas! a green
+garden, whose palms overhung the lake, proved more attractive than even
+Jain temples, and a charming picnic on fruits and cool drinks strengthened
+us sufficiently to enable us to face the hot road home, buoyed up each
+mile by the nearer prospect of a tub."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Jaipur is celebrated for its enamelling on gold, so our host kindly sent
+for an eminent jeweller to come and show us some trifles. Expectant of a
+humble native carrying the usual bundle, we were much impressed when, in
+due time, a dignitary drove up in a remarkably well turned out carriage
+and pair. His servants were clad in a smart livery, and he himself was
+resplendent, with uncut emerald earrings, and the general appearance of a
+certain Savoy favourite as the "Rajah of Bong"!
+
+Our spirits sank as he spread himself and his goods out upon the
+drawing-room floor, which speedily became a glittering chaos of gold and
+jewelled cups, umbrella handles, boxes, scent-bottles, and necklaces. Jane
+divided her admiration between a rope of fat pearls and a necklace of
+uncut emeralds, either of which might have been hers at the trifling price
+of some 7000 rupees, but we finally restricted our acquisitions to very
+modest proportions, and the stout jeweller departed, apparently no whit
+less cheerful than when he came.
+
+The modern brass-work of Jaipur is somewhat attractive, and we bought
+various articles--a tall lamp-stand, an elephant bell, and a few ordinary
+bowls of excellent shape.
+
+I have remarked before on the extreme tameness of, and the confidence
+shown by, wild creatures out here. A titmouse came and perched on the arm
+of my chair while sitting reading on the verandah at Gulmarg.
+
+The rats and mice, who own the forest houses in the Machipura, have to be
+kicked off the beds at night. But the little grey squirrels in Sir Swinton
+Jacob's garden are--_facile princeps_--the boldest wild-fowl we have yet
+encountered.
+
+Every afternoon about three, when tea was toward, the squirrels gathered
+on the gravel path, and prepared to receive bread and butter.
+
+After a few nervous darts and tail whiskings, a bold squirrel would skip
+up close, and, after eating a little ground bait, would boldly come up and
+nibble out of a motionless hand. In two minutes half-a-dozen pretty little
+creatures would be fidgeting round, eating bread and butter daintily,
+neatly holding the morsel in their little forepaws and nuzzling into one's
+fingers for more.
+
+A handsome magpie, and, of course, a contingent of crows, made up the
+fascinating party; while in the background, among the neem trees and the
+flaming "gold mohurs," the minahs and green parrots sustained an incessant
+and riotous conversation.
+
+_Wednesday, October 25_.--Gladly would we have accepted the Jacobs'
+invitation to stay longer at Jaipur. We would have liked nothing better,
+but time was flying, and the 5th November--our day of departure from
+Bombay--was drawing rapidly near. So yesterday evening we took the 6.30
+train for Ajmere, and, reaching there at 10.30, changed into the
+narrow-gauge railway for Chitor. We are becoming well accustomed to
+sleeping in an Indian train, and Sabz Ali had our beds unrolled and our
+innumerable hand luggage stowed away in no time, including four bottles of
+soda-water, which he has carefully garnered in the washstand, and which no
+hints, however broad, will induce him to relinquish.
+
+
+[1] "Au dessus du ciel qui est faite en voute a quatre pans on voit un
+    Paon, qui a la queue relevee fait de Saphirs bleus et autres pierres
+    de couleur."--TAVERNIER, livre ii. chap. viii.
+
+[2] _The Web of Indian Life_
+
+[3] I fear this is somewhat misleading. Jey Singh was, _par excellence_,
+    an astronomer, not an astrologer,--T. R. S.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+UDAIPUR
+
+We arrived, very sleepy and gritty, at Chitor at 5.30 A.M., to find an
+unprecedented mob of first-class passengers _en route_ for Udaipur, and
+only one very minute compartment in which to stow them.
+
+The station-master--a solemn Baboo, full of his own importance, becomingly
+clad in a waving white petticoat, with bare legs and elastic-sided boots,
+surmounted by a long cutaway frock-coat, topped by a black skull-cap, and
+finally decorated by a pen behind his ear--seemed totally unable to cope
+with the terrible problem he was set to solve.
+
+I suggested that another carriage should be put on, but he had none, nor
+any solution to offer; so we cleared a second-class compartment and
+divided the party out, and then, with five people in our tiny compartment,
+we set out on the fifty-mile run to Udaipur.
+
+Five people in a carriage in Europe is nowise unusual, but five people in
+an Indian one (and that a narrow, very narrow gauge), accompanied by rolls
+of bedding, tiffin-baskets, and all the quantity of personal luggage which
+is absolutely necessary, not to speak of a large-sized bird-cage (which
+cannot, strictly speaking, be classed as a necessary), requires the
+ingenuity of a professional packer of herrings or figs to adjust nicely!
+
+By cramming the toilet place with bedding, khudsticks, a five-foot brass
+lamp-stand, and the four soda-water bottles, we made shift to stow
+portmanteaux, bags, tiffin-baskets, &c., under the seats and ourselves
+upon them, and then arranged a sort of centre-piece of Jane's big tin
+bonnet-box, surmounted by Freddy in his cage. The other passengers were
+very amiably disposed, and not fat, and they even went so far as to
+pretend to admire Freddy--a feat of some difficulty, as he is still very
+bald and of an altogether forbidding aspect. This admiration so won upon
+the heart of Jane, that in the fulness thereof she served out biscuits and
+a little tinned butter all round, while Freddy cheerfully spattered food
+and water upon all indiscriminately.
+
+About eighteen miles from Udaipur we passed the ruins of Ontala. Here, in
+the stormy time when Jehangir had seized Chitor, there happened a
+desperate deed.
+
+The Rana of Mewar, expelled from his capital, determined to attack and
+retake Ontala. Now, the Rajputs were divided into clans as fiery as any of
+those whose fatal pride went far to ruin Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden.
+The Chondawats and the Saktawats both claimed the right of forming the
+vanguard, and the Rana, unable to pronounce in favour of either, subtly
+decided that the van should be given to the clan which should first enter
+Ontala.
+
+The Saktawats then made straight for the one and only gateway to the
+fortress, and, reaching it as day broke, almost surprised the place, but
+the walls were quickly manned and defended. Foiled for a moment, the
+leader of the Saktawats threw himself from his elephant, and, placing
+himself before the great spikes with which the gate was protected against
+the assault of the beast, ordered the mahout to charge; and so a crushed
+and mangled corpse was forced into the city on the brow of the living
+battering-ram, in whose wake the assailants rushed to battle.
+
+Alas! his sacrifice was in vain. The Chondawat chief was already in Ontala.
+First of the stormers with scaling-ladders, he was shot dead by the
+defenders ere reaching the top of the rampart, and his corpse fell back
+among his dismayed followers. Then the chief of Deogurh, rolling the body
+in his scarf, tied it upon his back, fought his way to the crest of the
+battlements, and hurled the gory body of his chieftain into the city,
+shouting, "The vanguard to the Chondawat!"
+
+It is further told how, when the attack began, two Mogul chiefs of note
+were engaged within upon a game of chess. Confident of the strength of the
+defence, they continued their game, unheeding the din of battle. Suddenly
+the foe broke in upon them, upon which they calmly asked for leave to
+finish their interesting match. The request was granted by the courtly
+Rajputs, but upon its termination they were both put to death.
+
+Udaipur lies in a well-cultivated basin, shut in by a ring of arid hills.
+After skirting the flanks of some of the outlying spurs, we bustled
+through a tunnel and drew up at a bright little station, draped with great
+blue and pink convolvulus. And this was Udaipur.
+
+We were picked out of the usual jabbering, jostling, gibbering crowd of
+natives by our host, who, looking most enviably cool and clean, took his
+heated, dishevelled, and unbarbered guests off to a comfortable carriage,
+and we were quickly sped towards tiffin and a bath.
+
+The station is a long way from the town, as the Maharana, a most staunch
+conservative of the old school, having the railway more or less forced
+upon him, drew the line at three miles from his capital, and fixed the
+terminus there. One cannot help being glad that the prosaic steam-engine,
+crowned with foul smoke and heralded by ear-piercing whistles, has not
+been allowed to trespass in Udaipur, wherein no discordant note is struck
+by train line or factory chimney, and where everything and every one is as
+when the city was newly built on the final abandonment of Chitor, the
+ancient capital of Mewar.
+
+Here in the heart of the most conservative of native States, whose ruler,
+the Maharana, Sir Fateh Singh, claims descent from that ancient luminary
+the Sun, we found novelty and interest in every yard of the three miles
+that stretch between the station and the capital. The scrub-covered desert
+has given place to a wooded and cultivated valley, ringed by a chain of
+hills, sterile and steep. The white ribbon of the road, through whose dust
+plough stolid buffaloes and strings of creaking bullock-carts, is bordered
+by tall cactus and yellow-flowered mimosa on either side. Among the trees
+rise countless half-ruined temples and chatries; on whose whitewashed
+walls are frequent frescoes of tigers or elephants rampant, and of
+wonderful Rajput heroes wearing the curious bell-shaped skirt, which was
+their distinctive dress.
+
+The people too, their descendants, who crowd the road to-day, are
+remarkable--the men fine-looking, with beards brushed ferociously upwards,
+and all but the mere peasants carrying swords; the women, dark-eyed, and
+singularly graceful in their red or orange saris, and very full
+bell-shaped petticoats. Upright as darts, they walk with slightly swaying
+gesture, a slender brown arm upraised to support the big brass chatties on
+their heads, revealing an incredible collection of bangles on arms and
+ankles. These women are the descendants of those who, in the stormy days
+of the sixteenth century, while the Rajput princes still struggled
+heroically with the all-powerful Mogul emperors, preferred death to shame,
+and, led by Kurnavati (mother of Oodi Singh, the founder of Udaipur),
+accepted the "Johur," or death by fire and suffocation, to the number of
+13,000, while their husbands and brothers threw open the city gates and
+went forth to fight and fall.
+
+As we drew near our destination the towers of the Maharana's Palace rose
+up above the trees, gleaming snowy in the cloudless blue. The brown
+crenellated walls of the city appeared on our left, and, suddenly sweeping
+round a curve, we found ourselves by the border of a lovely lake, whose
+blue-rippled waters lapped the very walls of the town. In the foreground a
+glorious note of colour was struck by a group of "scarlet women" washing
+themselves and their clothes by the margin.
+
+Up a steep incline, and we found ourselves before a verandah, blazing
+overhead with bougainvillea, and our hostess waiting to receive us beneath
+its cool shade.
+
+In the afternoon, refreshed and rested, we went down to the shore, where
+our host had arranged for a state-owned boat and four rowers to be in
+waiting. Armed with rods and fishing tackle, we proceeded to see Udaipur
+from the lake which washes its northern side. First crossing a small
+landlocked bay bordered on the left by a long and picturesque crenellated
+wall, and passing through a narrow opening, we found ourselves in a second
+division of the water; on the left, still the wall, with a
+delightful-looking summer-house perched at a salient angle; on the right,
+small wooded islands, the haunt of innumerable cormorants, who, with snaky
+necks outstretched, watched us suspiciously from their eyrie.
+
+A curious white bridge, very high in the centre, barred the view of the
+main lake till, passing through the central arch, we found ourselves in a
+scene of perfect enchantment. Before us the level sheet of molten silver
+lay spread, reflecting the snowy palaces and summer-houses that stood amid
+the palms and greenery of many tiny islands. On the left the city rose
+from the water in a succession of temples and wide-terraced buildings,
+culminating in the lofty pile of the Palace of the Maharana. Here, on this
+enchanted lake, we rowed to and fro until the sun sank swiftly in the west
+and the red gold glowed on temple and turret.
+
+Then, with our catch, about 15 lbs. weight of most excellent fish, we
+rowed back past the white city to the landing-place, and, in the gathering
+dark, climbed the hillock upon which stood our host's bungalow.
+
+We spent a week at Udaipur--a happy week, whose short days flew by far too
+quickly. The weather was splendid; hot in the middle of the day--for the
+season is late, and the monsoon has greatly failed in its cooling
+duty--but delightful in morning and evening.
+
+Rising one morning at early dawn, before the sun leaped above the eastern
+hills, we took boat and rowed to one of the island palaces, where, after
+fishing for mahseer, we breakfasted on a marble balcony overlooking the
+ripples of the Pichola Lake, which lapped the feet of a group of great
+marble elephants.
+
+Not the least interesting expedition was to the south end of the lake one
+afternoon to see the wild pigs fed. Traversing the whole length of the
+Pichola, past the marble ghats where the crimson-clad women washed and
+chattered, while above them rose the roofs and temple domes of the fairy
+city culminating in the walls and pinnacles of the palace--past the fleet
+of queer green barges wherein the Maharana disports himself when
+aquatically inclined, we left the many islands marble-crowned on our right;
+and finally landed at a little jutting ledge of rock, whence a jungle
+track led us in a few minutes to a terrace overlooking a rocky and steep
+slope which fell away from the building near which we stood. The scene was
+surprising! Hundreds of swine of all sorts and sizes, from grim slab-sided,
+gaunt-headed old boars, whose ancient tusks showed menacing, to the
+liveliest and sprightliest of little pigs playing hide-and-seek among
+their staid relatives, were collected from the neighbouring jungle to
+scramble for the daily dole of grain spread for them by the Maharana.
+
+A cloud of dust rose thick in the air, stirred up by the busy feet and
+snouts of the multitude, and grunts and squeals were loud and frequent as
+a frisky party of younglings in their play would heedlessly bump up
+against some short-tempered old boar, who in his turn would angrily butt a
+too venturesome rival in the wind and send him, expostulating noisily,
+down the hill!
+
+Beyond the crowd of swine on the edge of the clearing, a few peacocks,
+attracted by the prospect of a meal, held themselves strictly aloof from
+the vulgar herd.
+
+The whole city of Udaipur is a paradise for the artist--not a corner, not
+a creature which does not seem to cry aloud to be painted. The only
+difficulty in such _embarras de richesses_ of subject and such scantiness
+of time, is to decide what not to do.
+
+Hardly has the enthusiastic amateur sat down to delineate the stately pile
+of the palace, soaring aloft amid its enveloping greenery, than he is
+attracted by a fascinating glimpse of the lake, where, perhaps, a royal
+elephant comes down to drink, or a crimson-clad bevy of Rajputni lasses
+stoop to fill their brazen chatties with much chatter and laughter.
+
+Bewildered by such wealth of subject, one is but too apt to sit at gaze,
+and finally go home with merely a dozen pages of scribbles added to the
+little canvas jotting-book!
+
+The Palace of the Maharana is a very splendid pile of buildings, as seen
+from some little distance crowning the ridge which rises to the south of
+the lake, but it loses much of its beauty when closely viewed. It is, of
+course, not to be compared architecturally with the master-works of Agra
+and Delhi, and the internal decorations are usually tawdry and
+uninteresting. The entrance is fine; the visitor ascends the steep street
+to the principal gate, a massive portal, strengthened against the
+battering of elephants by huge spikes, and decorated by a pair of these
+animals in fresco-rampant. Beyond the first gate rises a second or inner
+gate. On the right are huge stables where the royal elephants are kept,
+and on the left stand a row of curious arches, beneath one of which the
+Maharanas of old were wont to be weighed against bullion after a victory,
+the equivalent to the royal avoirdupois being distributed as largesse to
+his people!
+
+Within the gates, a long and wide terrace stretches along the entire front
+of the Palace, on the face of which is emblazoned the Sun of Mewar, the
+emblem of the Sesodias. This terrace was evidently the happy home of a
+great number of cows, peacocks, geese, and pigeons, which stalked calmly
+enough, among the motley crowd of natives, and gave one the impression of
+a glorified farmyard. The building itself, like most Indian palaces, is
+composed of a heterogeneous agglomeration in all sorts of sizes and styles.
+Each successive Maharana having apparently added a bit here and a bit
+there as his capricious fancy prompted.
+
+Jane visited the armoury to-day with the Resident, who went to choose a
+shield to be presented by the Maharana to the Victoria Museum at Calcutta.
+I chose to go sketching, and was derided by Jane for missing such a chance
+of seeing what is not shown to visitors as a rule. She whisked away in
+great pomp in the Residential chariot, preceded by two prancing sowars on
+horseback, and subsequently thus related her experiences:--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"We really drove up far too fast to the Palace, I was so much interested
+in the delightful streets; and we just whizzed past the innumerable
+shrines and queer shops, and frescoed walls, where extraordinary lions and
+tigers, and Rajput warriors, riding in wide petticoats on prancing steeds,
+were depicted in flaming colours. I wanted, too, to gaze at the native
+women, in their accordion-pleated, dancing frocks of crimson or dark blue;
+but it seemed to be the correct thing for a 'Personage' to drive as fast
+as possible, and try to run over a few people just to show them what
+unconsidered trifles they were. Well, we were received at the entrance to
+the Palace by one of the Prime Ministers. There are two Prime
+Ministers--one to criticise and frustrate the schemes of the other; the
+result being, as the Resident remarked, that it is not easy to get any
+business done. Our Prime Minister was dressed in a coat of royal purple
+velvet, on his head was wound a big green turban, and round his neck hung
+a lovely necklet of pearls and emeralds, with a pendant of the same, he
+had also earrings to match. It was truly pitiful to see such ornaments
+wasted on a fat old man."
+
+"Going up a narrow and rather steep staircase, we came to a small hall
+full of retainers of his Highness, waiting until it should please him to
+appear and breakfast with them, for it is the custom of the Maharana to
+make that meal a sort of public function. In the middle of the hall
+reposed a big bull, evidently very much at ease and quite at home!"
+
+"A few more steps brought us to the door of the armoury. This is small and
+badly arranged, which seems a pity, as there were some lovely things.
+Chain armour and inlaid suits lay about the floor in heaps; and we were
+shown the saddle used by Akbar during the last siege of Chitor. The most
+remarkable things, however, were the Rajput shields, of which there were
+some beautiful specimens. They are circular, not large, and made, some of
+tortoiseshell, some of polished hippo hide, &c. One was inlaid with great
+emeralds, a second had bosses of turquoise, and a really lovely one was
+inlaid with fine Jaipur enamel in blue and green. There were swords simply
+encrusted with jewels--one with a hilt of carved crystal; another was a
+curiously-modelled dog's head in smooth silver, and I noticed a beauty in
+pale jade. Altogether it was a most fascinating collection, different from,
+but in its way quite as interesting, as the fine armoury at Madrid."
+
+Thus did Jane triumph over me with her description of what she had seen
+and what I had missed; and I had been trying to delineate the Temple of
+Jagganath, and had been disastrously defeated, for it is indeed a
+complicated piece of drawing, and the children, both large and small,
+crowded round me to my great hindrance. Therefore, it was not until I had
+been soothed with an excellent lunch, and the contents of a very long
+tumbler, that I felt strong enough to take an intelligent interest in the
+contents of the Maharana's curiosity-shop!
+
+_Monday, October_ 30.--The more we see of Udaipur the more we are charmed
+with it. The whole place is so absolutely unspoilt by modernism, is so
+purely Eastern--and ancient Eastern at that--that we feel as though we
+were in a little world far apart from the great one where steam and
+electricity shatter the nerves, and drive their victims through life at
+high pressure.
+
+Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered
+desert stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded in
+an oasis, whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the
+Maharana rules in feudal state, and, like Aytoun's Scottish Cavalier,
+
+  "A thousand vassals dwelt around--all of his kindred they,
+  And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray
+  For the royal race he loves so well."
+
+For to his subjects the Maharana is little less than a divinity, for is he
+not a direct descendant of the Sun? Likewise is he not the chief of the
+only royal house of Rajputana, who disdained to purchase Mogul friendship
+at the price of giving a daughter in marriage to the Mohammedan?
+
+There are greater personages among the ruling Princes of India, according
+to British ruling--Hyderabad, for instance. And in the matter of
+precedence and the number of guns for ceremonial salutation, the Chief of
+Mewar--like other poor but proud nobles--is treated rather according to
+his actual power than the cloudless blue of his blood. Hence he is
+extremely unwilling to put himself in a position where he might fail to
+obtain the honour which he considers due to him. He was most averse from
+attending the Delhi Durbar, but such pressure was put upon him that he was
+induced to proceed thither in his special train running, as far as
+Chitorgarh, upon his own special railway. He reached Delhi, and his
+sponsors rejoiced that they had indeed got him to the water, although they
+had not exactly induced him to drink. As a matter of fact, the Maharana,
+having gone to Delhi to please the British authorities, promptly returned
+to Udaipur to please himself, alleging a terrific headache as reason for
+instant departure from the capital, without his having left his very own
+specially reserved first-class compartment!
+
+He may not be a willing guest, but he is evidently disposed to be an
+excellent host, for great preparations are toward for the reception of the
+Prince of Wales, who is expected in the course of a fortnight or so.
+
+The Residency, too, is being swept and garnished, the garden already
+looking like a miniature camp, with tents for the suite all among the
+flower-beds.
+
+_Tuesday, October_ 31.--A day or two ago we arose betimes, and before
+sunrise embarked in the State gig (which was always, apparently, placed at
+our host's disposal on demand), and set forth to catch fish for our
+breakfast, and then proceed to eat the same on one of the island palaces
+on the lake. We did not catch many fish--the mahseer were shy that
+morning--but fortunately we did not entirely depend on the caprices of the
+mahseer for our sustenance, and a remarkably well-fed and contented
+quartette we were when we got into the gig while the day was yet young,
+and rowed home as quickly as might be in order to escape the heat which at
+noonday is still great.
+
+This afternoon we went for a (to us) novel tea picnic. A State elephant
+appeared by request, and we climbed upon him with ladders, and he
+proceeded to roll leisurely along at the rate of about two and a half
+miles an hour towards the foot of a hill, on the top of which stood a
+small summer palace.
+
+The afternoon was warm, and the rhythmic pace drowsy, but our steed was
+determined to amuse us and benefit himself. So he blew great blasts of
+spray at his own forelegs and chest to cool himself, and now and then made
+shocking bad shots at so large a target, and, getting a trifle too much
+elevation, nearly swept us from our lofty perch.
+
+Fortunately his stock of spray gave out ere long, or he found that the
+increasing gradient of the hill took all his breath, for we were left at
+leisure to admire the widening view until we reached the top.
+
+Here we had tea in one of the cool halls, and then sat watching the sun
+sink towards the hills that stretch to Mount Aboo.
+
+To the south-east lay Udaipur, milk-white along the margin of its "marled"
+waters.
+
+On our way home we met with an adventure. While prattling to my hostess, I
+observed that our toes were rising unduly, the saddle or howdah being
+seated somewhat after the fashion of an outside car. Glancing over my
+shoulder I descried Jane and her partner far below their proper level. The
+howdah was coming round, and our steed was eleven feet high! Agonised
+yells to the gentleman who guided the deliberate steps of the pachyderm
+from a coign of vantage on the back of his neck, awoke him to an
+appreciation of the situation. The elephant was "hove to" with all
+possible despatch, and we crawled off his back with the greatest celerity.
+We then sat down by the roadside and superintended the righting of the
+saddle and the tautening of the girths by several natives, who "took in
+the slack" with an energy that must have made the poor elephant very
+"uncomfy" about the waist! I secretly hoped it was hurting him horribly,
+as I had not forgiven him for his practical jokes on the way up.
+
+We had no more thrills. Resuming our motor 'bus, in due course, we were
+landed opposite the top of our host's verandah, whereupon the beast shut
+himself up like a three-foot rule, and we got to ground.
+
+The inexorable flight of time brought us all too soon to the limit of our
+stay at Udaipur. Early on Wednesday the 1st November, therefore, we bade
+adieu to the capital of the State of Mewar, and, accompanied by our kind
+host and hostess, set out to spend a day in exploring the ruined city of
+Chitor before taking train for Bombay.
+
+As we drove to the station, we passed the group of ancient "chatries" or
+tombs of dead and gone Ranas of Mewar, and halted for a short inspection,
+as, the train by which we were to travel to Chitorgarh being a "special,"
+we were not bound to a precise moment for our appearance on the platform.
+
+Jane, who is perfectly Athenian in her passion for novelty, decided to
+travel on the engine, and proceeded to do so; until, at the first
+halting-place, a grimy and somewhat dishevelled female climbed into our
+carriage, and the next half-hour was fully occupied in scooping smuts out
+of her eyes with teaspoons.
+
+It had been arranged that an elephant should await our arrival at
+Chitorgarh to take us up to the ancient city, but a careful search into
+every nook and cranny failed to reveal the missing animal.
+
+So my host and I set out on foot to cross a mile or so of plain which
+spread in deceptive smoothness between us and the ascent to the city. What
+seemed a serene and level track became quickly entangled in a maze of
+rough little knobs and nullahs, and we took a vast amount of exercise
+before arriving at the old bridge which spans the Gamberi River.
+
+Meanwhile, towering over the scrubby bushes and surrounded by a dusty halo,
+the dilatory pachyderm bore down upon us, and, after the mahout had been
+interviewed in unmeasured terms by my host, went rolling slowly to the
+station to pick up the ladies.
+
+The ancient city of Chitor lies crumbling and desolate on the back of a
+long, level-topped hill, which rises solitary to the height of some five
+hundred feet above the far-stretching plain. Kipling likens it to a great
+ship, up the sides of which the steep road slopes like a gangway. At the
+foot lies the modern village, squalid but picturesque.
+
+As we toil, perspiring, up the long ramp which for a weary mile slopes
+sidelong up the scarped flank of the mountain, and pass through the seven
+gates which guarded the way, and every one of which was the scene of many
+a grim and bloody struggle, I will try to sketch the outline of the
+history of the famous fort, for many centuries the headquarters of the
+royal race of Mewar.
+
+The Gehlotes, or (as they were afterwards styled) the Sesodias, claim
+descent from the Sun through Manu, Icshwaca, and Rama Chandra, as indeed
+do the other Rajput potentates of Jaipur, Marwar, and Bikanir, the Rana of
+Mewar, however, taking precedence owing to his descent from Lava, the
+eldest son of Rama.
+
+The ancient dynasty of Mewar has fallen from its high estate, but the
+history of its rise is lost in the mists of grey antiquity.
+
+"We can trace the losses of Mewar, but with difficulty her acquisitions....
+She was an old-established dynasty when all the other States were in
+embryo." Long before Richard of the Lion-heart fared to Palestine to wrest
+the Holy City from the infidel, "a hundred kings, its (Mewar's) allies and
+dependants, had their thrones raised in Chitor," to defend it against the
+sword of the Mohammedan; while overhead floated the banner displaying the
+golden sun of Mewar on a crimson field.
+
+Some centuries later the Crusaders brought to Europe from the plains of
+Palestine the novel device of armorial bearings.
+
+Chitor itself appears to have been in possession of the Mori princes until,
+in A.D. 728, it was taken by Bappa, who, though of royal race, was brought
+up in obscurity by the Bhils as an attendant on the sacred kine. This
+shepherd prince, ancestor of the present Rana of Mewar, became a national
+hero, and many legends are still current concerning him and his romantic
+deeds. The story of his "amazing marriage," by which he succeeded in
+wedding six hundred damsels all at once, is one of the most curious. Bappa,
+while still a youth, was appealed to, one holiday, by the frolicsome
+maidens of a neighbouring village, who, led by the daughter of the
+Solankini chief of Nagda, in accordance with the custom upon this
+particular saint's day, had come out to indulge in swinging, but who had
+forgotten to supply themselves with a swinging-rope. Bappa agreed to get
+them one if they would play his game first. This the young ladies readily
+agreed to do; whereupon, all joining hands, he danced with them a certain
+mystic number of times round a sacred tree.
+
+  "Regardless of their doom, the little victims played,"
+
+and finally dispersed to their homes, entirely unconscious that they were
+all as securely married to Bappa as though they had visited Gretna Green
+with him.
+
+Some time afterwards, upon the engagement of the Solankini maiden to an
+eligible young man, the soothsayer, to whom application had been made with
+regard to fixing a favourable and auspicious wedding-day, discovered from
+certain lines in her hand that the girl was already married! Thus the
+whole story came out, and no less than six hundred brides assumed the
+title of Mrs. Bappa.
+
+He seems to have had a passion for matrimony, for when an old man he left
+his children and his country, and carried his arms west to Khorassan,
+where he wedded new wives and had a numerous offspring. He died at the age
+of a hundred!
+
+From the days of the very much married Bappa, until the time of Samarsi,
+who was Prince of Chitor in the thirteenth century, the city continued to
+flourish and increase in power and importance. Samarsi, having married
+Pirtha, sister of Prithi Raj, the lord of Delhi, joined his brother-in-law
+against Shabudin. For three days the battle raged, until the scale fell
+finally in favour of Shabudin, and the combined forces of Delhi and Chitor
+were almost annihilated. "Pirtha, on hearing of the loss of the battle,
+her husband slain, her brother captive, and all the heroes of Delhi and
+Cheetore 'asleep on the banks of the Caggar in a wave of the steel,'
+joined her lord through the flames."
+
+From that time forward the history of Chitor is but a tale of sack and
+slaughter, relieved in its murkiest days by flashes of brilliant heroism
+and self-sacrificing devotion while the chivalrous Rajputs struggled
+vainly against the successive waves of the Mohammedan invasions, which in
+a fierce flood for centuries swept over India, and deluged it with blood.
+
+In the year 1275 Lakumsi became Rana of Chitor. His uncle Bheemsi had
+married Padmani, a fair daughter of Ceylon, and her beauty was such that
+the fame of it came to the ears of Alla-o-din, the Pathan Emperor.
+
+He promptly attacked the fortress, but without success for a long period,
+until he agreed to a compromise, declaring that if he could merely see the
+Lady Padmani in a mirror he would be contented and raise the siege.
+
+His request was granted, and, trusting to the honour of a Rajput, he
+entered the city unattended, and was rewarded by a sight of this Eastern
+Helen reflected in a mirror. Desirous of showing equal faith in a noble
+enemy, Bheemsi accompanied Alla back to his lines, but there he was
+captured and held to ransom, Padmani being the price.
+
+Word was now sent to the Emperor that Padmani would be delivered to him,
+and seven hundred covered litters were prepared to convey her and her
+ladies to Delhi, but each litter was borne by six armed bearers, and
+contained no "silver-bodied damsels with musky tresses," but only
+steel-clad warriors, who, upon arrival in the Moslem camp, sprang from
+their concealment as surprisingly as Pallas from the head of Zeus.
+
+Alla-o-din was, however, not to be caught napping, and, being prepared for
+all contingencies, a fierce combat took place, and the warriors of Chitor
+were hard put to it to stand their ground until Bheemsi had escaped to the
+stronghold on a fleet horse. Then the devoted remnant retreated, pursued
+to the very gates by their foes. The flower of Chitor had perished, but
+they had achieved their object. This was called the "half sack" of
+Chitor.[1]
+
+Fifteen years later, Alla-o-din once more attacked Chitor, and this time
+the assaults were so deadly that the garrison was decimated and utter
+annihilation stared the survivors in the face. Then to the Rana appeared
+the guardian goddess of the city, who warned him that "if twelve who wear
+the diadem bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass from the line." Now
+the prince had twelve sons, and, in obedience to the goddess and in hope
+of eventually saving their dynasty, eleven of them cheerfully headed
+sorties on eleven following days, and were slain, until only Ajeysi, the
+youngest, was left alive. Then the Kana prepared for the end. He sent the
+boy Ajeysi with a small band by a secret way, and he escaped to Kailwarra,
+so that the royal race of Chitor should not become extinct. Then the women
+of the city, with the noble Padmani at their head, accepted the Johur;
+"the funeral pyre being lighted within the great subterranean retreat,"
+they steadfastly marched into the living grave rather than yield
+themselves to the will of the conqueror. All being now ready for the last
+act of the hideous drama, the Rana caused the gates to be opened, and with
+his valiant remnant of an army fell upon the foe only to perish to a man,
+and then, and not till then, did the victorious Alla set foot of a
+conqueror within Chitor, where now no living thing remained to stay him
+from razing her deserted temples to the ground. The palace of Padmani
+alone was spared in this, the first "saka" of Chitor.[2]
+
+The wrecked stronghold remained an appanage of the Mogul until Hamir, who,
+though not the direct heir of Ajeysi, had gained the chieftainship through
+his valour, and who, having married a ward of the Hindu governor of Chitor,
+by her help regained possession of the fortress.
+
+Defeating the Emperor Mahmoud, Hamir entered Chitor in triumph, and once
+again the standard of the Sun floated over its blood-stained rocks. The
+Emperor Mahmoud himself was led captive into Chitor, and kept prisoner
+there for three months until he regained his liberty by surrendering
+Ajmere, Rinthumbore, Nagore, and Sooe Sopoor, with fifty lacs of rupees
+and a hundred elephants. By this victory Hamir became the sole Hindu
+prince of power in India; and the ancestors of the present lords of Marwar
+and Jaipur brought their levies and paid homage, together with the chiefs
+of Boondi, Abu, and Gwalior.
+
+Then ensued for Chitor a period of splendid prosperity, during which rose
+many noble buildings, amongst the ruins of which the great Tower of
+Victory still soars supreme. This splendid monument[3] was raised to
+commemorate the victory gained by Koombho over Mahmoud, King of Malwa, and
+the Prince of Guzzerat, who in A.D. 1440 had formed a league against
+Chitor. The Rana met them at the head of 100,000 troops and 1400 elephants,
+and overthrew them, and the commemorative tower was begun in 1451 and
+finished in ten years.
+
+The State of Mewar reached the zenith of her glory in 1509, when 80,000
+horse, seven rajas of the highest rank, nine raos, and 104 chiefs bearing
+titles of rawul or sawut, with 500 elephants, followed Rana Sanga of
+Chitor into the field.
+
+The Mogul Baber, who captured Delhi in 1527, was yet unwilling to face the
+ordeal of battle with the warlike Rajputs, but in the following year Sanga
+marched against him at the head of the princes of Rajast'han. A terrible
+battle ensued, which long inclined in favour of the Rajputs, until,
+through the treachery of a Tuar chief, they were defeated, and the star of
+Mewar began to decline, although so severe had been the struggle that
+Baber dared not follow up his victory.
+
+In 1533 Chitor suffered her second "saka" at the hands of Buhadoor or
+Bajazet, Sultan of Guzzerat, who, after a grim struggle, obtained a
+footing at the "Beeka" rock, and, springing a mine there, blew up 45
+cubits of rampart and killed the Prince of the Haras, with five hundred of
+his kin. Then the Queen-Mother, Jowahir Bae, clad in armour, headed a
+sally, and was slain before the eyes of all.
+
+The entrance to the city being forced, the heir of the Sesodias, the
+infant Oodi Singh, son of Sanga, was placed in safety, while Bagh-ji,
+Prince of Deola, assuming royalty, prepared to die, for Chitor could only
+be retained by the Rajput princes while guarded by royalty.
+
+The horrible Johur was decreed, and 13,000 women, headed by Kurnavati, the
+mother of Oodi Singh,[4] marched to death and honour through the "Gau
+Mukh," or entrance to the subterranean tomb; while the city gates were
+thrown open, and the defenders sallied forth. "Every clan lost its chief,"
+and 32,000 Rajputs were slain during the siege and storm.
+
+Now Kurnavati had bound Hamayoun, the son of Baber, to her cause by a
+curious ceremony: she having sent him the Rakhi (bracelet), and he having
+bestowed on her the Katchli (corselet), he was bound, in consequence of
+this bond, to assist the lady in any time of need. Too late to save Chitor,
+he retook it, and restored Bikramajit to the throne; but the guardian
+goddess had turned her face from the doomed city, and its final fall was
+at hand. The Emperor Akbar, having laid almost all India at his feet,
+determined to bring the proud princes of Rajputana into subjection. He
+attacked Chitor, but was foiled by the masculine courage of the Rana's
+concubine queen.
+
+Again, in 1568, the Emperor Akbar attacked, and this time he found the
+fated city in evil case, for Oodi Singh,[5] the Rana, for whom in infancy
+his nurse had sacrificed her own child, was a degenerate son of his race.
+He left Chitor to be defended by his lieutenants Jeimul and Putta.
+
+In the first "saka" by Alla, twelve crowned heads defended the "crimson
+banner" to the death. In the second, when conquest, at the hand of Bahadur,
+came from the south, the chieftain of Deola, a noble scion of Mewar,
+claimed the crown of glory and of martyrdom. But on this, the third and
+greatest struggle, no royal victim appeared to appease the Cybele of
+Chitor and win her to retain its battlements as her coronet.
+
+When Jeimul fell at the Gate of the Sun, the command devolved upon Putta
+of Kailwa, a lad of sixteen. His mother commanded him to don "the saffron
+robe," then, with him and his young bride, she fell full armed upon the
+foe, and the heroic trio died before the eyes of the war-worn garrison.
+
+Once more was the Johur commanded, while 8000 Rajputs ate the last "beera"
+together, and put on their saffron robes. The gates were thrown open, "and
+few survived to stain the yellow mantle by inglorious surrender."
+
+Thus in the blood-red cloud of battle sank for ever the Sun of Chitor; for
+from this, the third and last "saka," the ruined city never rose. Her doom
+has been as the doom of Babylon, of which Isaiah declared: "It shall never
+be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
+generation ... but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their
+houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there....
+And the wild beasts ... shall cry in their desolate houses, and ... in
+their pleasant palaces:... Her days shall not be prolonged."
+
+The top of the long ascent being reached, the last gate, the Hathi Pol, is
+passed, and the wayfarer finds himself in the midst of the great dead city,
+which lies in ruins for three miles along the bastioned brow of the
+mountain.
+
+Just beyond the first group of stately ruins, we came on the building
+which was probably the palace built by Lakha Rana in 1373. Here we sat and
+rested until the elephant, bearing the ladies and the lunch, stalked
+sedately round the jutting angle of a decayed fort, and then we wended our
+way along a road lined with many a half-fallen temple, until we reached
+the ancient palace where, six hundred years ago, dwelt the ill-starred
+Padmani, whose loveliness brought such woe upon Chitor. Here, in a cool
+chamber overlooking the tank, upon the brink of which the palace stands,
+we lunched; afterwards threading our way among the fallen fragments of
+many a stately shrine and palace towards the high point on which the great
+Jain Tower of Fame rears its deeply-sculptured shaft into the sky.
+
+For a thousand years the innumerable stone gods which encircle the tower
+in endless profusion have watched with sightless eyes over the city. Grey
+already with age were they when they saw, raised in pristine beauty, the
+shattered domes and broken columns which now lie prone in the brushwood
+far beneath their feet. What ghastly scenes those stony faces have
+surveyed, when, swept by the scathing steel, the city has run red with
+blood, and her defenders have fallen to the last man. One crowning horror,
+though, they have been always spared, for no maid or matron of Chitor ever
+deigned to bow her neck beneath the yoke of the Mogul, but rather dared to
+face a fiery death in the bowels of the great cavern beneath the city than
+yield her honour to the conqueror.
+
+The Tower of Fame is being repaired by the present Rana, under the
+superintendence of our host and a party of native workmen. Masons and most
+skilful carvers in stone were busily engaged in the restoration of parts
+that had fallen into dangerous decay--an extremely flimsy-looking
+scaffolding, made apparently of light bamboos, tied together in wisps, and
+forming a fragile-looking ramp, wound spirally up the outside of the tower.
+My host seemed to consider it a perfectly safe means of ascent, and as the
+workmen did not appear to slip off in any appreciable numbers I felt
+constrained to go up. I should like to have done it on all fours! The
+climb was well worth undertaking, as it enabled one to inspect the
+astonishing and finely-carved figures which encrust the whole exterior of
+the column.
+
+From the Tower of Fame we made our way to the other great landmark of
+Chitor--the Tower of Victory.
+
+Passing and examining _en route_ many elaborately-carved temples, whose
+domes rose amid the strangling masses of desert tree and shrub, we came to
+the base of the red tower, whose shaft, four-square and in perfect
+preservation, has, with its more venerable brother of Fame, watched for so
+many centuries over the fallen fortress of Chitor.
+
+Not far away, the rocky wall on which the city stands is shattered into a
+gloomy chasm, half-hidden in rank vegetation, which, clinging with knotted
+root to ledge and crevice, hangs darkly over a stagnant pool. Here was the
+awful portal, "the Gau Mukh," or "cow's mouth," by which, when all was
+lost to Chitor save honour, her women entered the subterranean cavern
+while the fuel was heaped high, and an honourable death by suffocation
+awaited them.
+
+The burning Indian day was over, and the sun blazed red in the west, as we
+mounted our elephant and paced along the road towards the Hathi Pol.
+Darker grew the ghostly domes and shattered battlements against a golden
+sky, and the swift southern night fell, dark yet luminous, as we turned
+down the hill and left the dead city, splendid in its loneliness and
+isolation, asleep within its crumbling walls.
+
+Our dinner-table was set out on the platform of the station at Chitorgarh,
+and our bedrooms were close by, our host and hostess sleeping in the
+"special" by which they were to return to Udaipur in the morning, while we
+slept in a siding, ready to be coupled up to the early train from Bombay.
+
+Late into the warm and balmy night we paced the platform; for there seemed
+to be always something still to say, and we found it hard to part from our
+charming friends; realising, too, that this was the end of our holiday,
+and that before us lay merely the toil and bustle of a return to
+commonplace, everyday life. At last, though, the final fag-end of a
+cheroot was thrown away, the last hand-grips given, and the parting came.
+
+There is little more to say.
+
+All Thursday we rushed through the wide landscape; saw the parched plains
+stretch far into the dusty horizon; saw the lean men and leaner cattle, to
+whom the grim spectre of famine is already foreshadowed; flew past
+populous villages and creaking water-wheels, noting every phase of a scene
+now familiar, yet always delightful.
+
+Late in the evening we changed at Baroda, and dawn next morning saw us
+speeding across the swamps and inlets, which gave place ere long to the
+palm groves and clustering houses which marked the farther limits of the
+suburbs of Bombay.
+
+We found the heat--damp and oppressive--very trying after the drier air of
+Rajputana, and the Taj Mahal Hotel below our expectations in all respects
+save price. It is undoubtedly better than most Indian hotels, but yet it
+is not good!
+
+Bombay is chiefly connected in our minds with the inevitable fuss and
+worry of packing and departure.
+
+As we left the Taj Mahal Hotel, in a conveyance piled high with
+miscellaneous baggage, we saw the last of our faithful and indispensable
+Sabz Ali, as he hurriedly quitted the hostelry in our wake, fearful lest
+undue delay should jeopardise the possession of the spoils he was carrying
+off, wrapped in bulging bundles of goodly size.
+
+Jane and I were sorrier, I think, to part with him than he with us. After
+all, we were but troublesome charges, for whose well-being he had to
+answer to "General 'Oon Sahib,"--charges who had not been quite so lavish
+with their incalculable riches as they should have been, and who doled out
+rupees, and even annas, with a sorely grudging hand; still I think Sabz
+Ali, as he made his way to the station, with many rupees lining his inmost
+garments, and a flaming "chit" carefully stowed away, felt a certain
+regret at parting from the "sahibs," who had really shown a very fine
+appreciation of his merit, and were sending him back with much honour to
+his own country.
+
+Late in the afternoon, as the spires and roofs of the city stood dark
+against the sky, and the many steamers and native dhows showed black upon
+a flood of liquid gold, the _Persia_ got under way, and we slowly left the
+anchorage, steaming out into the fading light.
+
+We stood long, leaning over the bulwarks and watching the lights of Bombay,
+at first so distinct, melt gradually into a line of tiny stars as the gulf
+widened that separated us from the land where we had spent so many happy
+days.
+
+I wonder if we shall ever revisit it? I trust so ... and yet----
+
+"As a rule it is better to revisit only in imagination the places which
+have greatly charmed us ... for it was not merely the sights that one
+beheld which were the cause of joy and peace. However lovely the spot,
+however gracious the sky, these things external would not have availed but
+for contributory movements of mind and heart and blood--the essentials of
+the man as then he was."[6]
+
+
+[1] These notes on the history of Chitor are taken, it need hardly be said,
+    from Tod's _Rajast'han_, he being _the_ authority on Rajputana. An
+    account of the above incident is given somewhat differently by Maurice
+    in his _Modern History of Hindostan_ (1803), who also relates that
+    Akbar used the same trick to enter Rhotas in Behar, after being long
+    baffled by the apparent impregnability of that fortress.
+
+[2] The Jain Tower of Fame was also left standing, it dates from about
+    A.D. 900.
+
+[3] It is also attributed to Lakha Rana, A.D. 1373.
+
+[4] And sister of the Rahtore queen, Jowahir Bae.
+
+[5] The infant Oodi Singh being threatened with death by conspirators, his
+    Rajputni nurse hid him in a fruit-basket, and, covering it with leaves,
+    had it conveyed out of the fort, substituting her own child just as
+    Bimbir, the usurper, entered the room and asked for the prince. Her
+    pallid lips refused to utter sound, but she pointed to the cradle and
+    saw the swift steel plunged into the heart of her child.
+
+[6] "Henry Ryecroft"
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I
+
+BIG GAME LICENSE No. I,
+Price Rs. 60 (sixty only).
+
+This license will remain in force from the 15th of March 190  to the 15th
+November 190, and is subject to the Kashmir Stata Game Laws; it permits
+the Licensee to shoot the undermentioned game in the Districts and Nullahs
+open to sportsmen, and, subject to Rules 8 and 9 of these Laws, small game
+between the above dates.
+
+----------------------+---------------+--------------+---------+---------
+                      | No. permitted | No. actually | Size of |District.
+  Name of Animal.     | to be         | shot.        | heads.  |
+                      | shot.         |              |         |
+----------------------+---------------+--------------+---------+---------
+Markhor of any variety|      2        |              |         |
+Ibex                  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon) |      1        |              |         |
+Ovis Vignei (Sharpu)  |      4        |              |         |
+Ovis Nahura (Burhal)  |      6        |              |         |
+Thibetan Antelope     |      6        |              |         |
+  Do. Gazelle         |      1        |              |         |
+Kashmir Stag          |      2        |              |         |
+Serow                 |      1        |              |         |
+Brown Bears           |      2        |              |         |
+Tehr                  |      6        |              |         |
+Goral                 |      6        |              |         |
+Pigs, Black Bears and |  No limit.    |              |         |
+  Leopards            |               |              |         |
+----------------------+---------------+--------------+---------+---------
+
+_Name of Licensee____________________________________________
+_Address_____________________________________________________
+_Signature of Licensee on returning License__________________
+
+N.B.--This portion of the License to be returned to the Secretary,
+Game Preservation Department.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+                      NAME OF SHIKARIES, &c., EMPLOYED
+------+-------+--------+-------+-----------------------------------------
+      |Name of|        |Nature |    _Place of Residence_.    |
+Serial|Shikari|Father's|  of   +---------+--------+----------+ REMARKS.
+ No.  |  or   |  Name. |employ-| Village | Tehail | District |
+      |Coolie.|        | ment. |         |        |          |
+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-----------
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+      |       |        |       |         |        |          |
+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+--------+----------+-----------
+
+This License does not permit the Licensee to shoot in any of the closed
+tracts or preserves mentioned in Rules 2 and 10, Kashmir State Game Laws,
+nor in the Gilgit district, nor in the Astor or Kaj-nag districts,
+without the special permit laid down under Rule 2.
+
+
+_Dated_ ____ (Sd.) AMAR SINGH, GENERAL, RAJA,
+_The_ ______ _Vice-President of Council, Jammu and Kashmir State_.
+
+I certify that a copy of Kashmir State Game Laws, 190, has been issued
+herewith,
+
+_Signature of Official granting License_ ___________________
+
+NOTE--This License will be shown on demand and is not transferable.
+A fee of Re. 1 will be charged for a duplicate copy.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II
+
+From the earliest times the Kashmiris have been objects of contempt and
+derision, whilst the women have been--perhaps unduly--lauded for their
+looks and general excellence.
+
+The Kashmiris themselves are of opinion that "once upon a time" they were
+an honourable and valiant folk, brought gradually to their present
+condition by foreign oppression.
+
+To a certain extent this is probably true, but, according to the
+_Rajatarangini Kulan_, they were noted for dishonesty and cunning long
+before the evil days of conquest and adversity. Bernier speaks well of the
+men, calling them witty and industrious. Doubtless the Kashmiri character,
+originally none too good, was ruined during the long years of cruelty and
+injustice to which he was subjected by the Tartars, Afghans, and Sikhs,
+who, from the day when Akbar put him into women's clothes, treated him as
+something lower than a brute.
+
+Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as
+"endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain." He speaks of the
+vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the Pathans,
+observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking them with a
+hatchet, but, he concludes, "I even judged them worthy of their adverse
+fortune."
+
+Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that "the men are excessively addicted to
+pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and cunning;"
+and again, "The Cashmerians are of no account as soldiers."
+
+"Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin it,"
+says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri character,
+and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for great artistic
+feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from crime against the
+person. He considers the last merit, though, to be due to cowardice and
+the state of espionage which exists in every village!
+
+I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who, during
+the great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his brother
+being swept down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly disintegrating
+roof. The following painful conversation ensued:--
+
+"Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine
+ancestral roof?"
+
+"Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!"
+
+"Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?"
+
+"All I have in the world, brother--two lovely rupees."
+
+"Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth,
+for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life."
+
+"Three, then, three, carissimo--'tis all I have--and make haste, for I
+feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim."
+
+"Farewell, oh, dearest brother! I could not possibly think of taking so
+much trouble for three rupees, especially as, now I come to think of it, I
+can borrow a singhara pole, and, in due time, will prod for thy corpse in
+the Wular! Mind thou wrappest the lucre snugly in thy cummerbund, that it
+be not lost--farewell, little brother!"
+
+While the gentlemen of the Happy Valley have been lashed by the tongue and
+pen of every traveller, the ladies, on the contrary, have been rather
+overrated.
+
+In all communities where the men are invertebrate the women become the
+real heads of the family, doing not only most of the actual work, but also
+taking the dominant position in affairs generally. This I have observed
+strikingly in the case of the three "slackest" male races I know--the
+Fantis of the Gold Coast, the Kashmiri, and the crofters of the West
+Highlands.
+
+Opinion is divided on the question of female loveliness in Kashmir.
+
+Marco Polo (who probably only got his ideas of "Kesmur" from hearsay)
+echoed the prevalent opinion by saying, "The women although dark are very
+comely" (ch. xxvii.). Bernier is enthusiastic: "Les femmes surtout y sont
+tres-belles," and hints at their popularity among the Moguls.
+
+Moorcroft, Vigne, and others swelled the laudatory chorus until Forster,
+"having been prepossessed with an opinion of their charms, suffered a
+sensible disappointment," and even was so rude as to criticise the ladies'
+legs, which he considered thick!
+
+Lawrence saw "thousands of women in the villages, and could not remember,
+save one or two exceptions, ever seeing a really beautiful face;" but the
+heaviest blow was dealt them by Jacquemont, who, as a gay Frenchman,
+should have been an excellent judge: "Je n'avais jamais vu auparavant
+d'aussi affreuses sorcieres!"
+
+
+
+APPENDIX III
+
+I had hoped to have given, through the kindness of Colonel Ward, a full
+list of the birds of Kashmir. Up to the time of going to press, however,
+the complete list has not been made out. A very large proportion, however,
+has been published in the _Journal of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Society_. I
+would refer those desirous of a knowledge of the birds of Kashmir to the
+above Journal for 23rd April and 20th Sept. 1906, and 15th Feb. 1907. Also
+to Hume and Henderson's _Lahore to Yarkand_, and to Le Mesurier's _Game,
+Shore, and Water Birds of India_, to which I am indebted for the
+following:--
+
+"In Kashmir, out of 116 genera of land birds, 34 have a wide range, 32 are
+characteristic of the Palar Arctic, 29 of the Indian, and 21 of the
+Himalo-Chinese sub-region. Only one species is peculiar to Kashmir, a very
+normal bullfinch (pyrula)."
+
+The flora, which is most interesting, has yet (as far as I know) to be
+treated independently of the neighbouring regions. Royle is scientific but
+antiquated, and I know of no better list than that given by Lawrence in
+his _Valley of Kashmir_.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX IV
+
+It may interest any one intending a trip to Kashmir to see a note of
+reasonable expenses as incurred by two people during a nine-month absence
+from England. Therefore I append a precis of ours.
+
+It is to be remembered that a saving might be effected in many particulars
+by any one knowing something of the country. We had to buy our experience.
+Fully L10 or L12 could be saved in wages, as at first we had a fighting
+tail like "Ta Phairson" of "four-and-twenty men and five-and-thirty
+pipers"--and pipers have to be paid! We also hired tents when we did not
+really require them. Against these outgoings, however, it should be borne
+in mind that, thanks to the kindness of friends, we paid a merely nominal
+rent for a "State" hut at Gulmarg. At Abbotabad, Jaipur, and Udaipur, also,
+we had no hotel bills to meet.
+
+
+PRECIS OF EXPENSES--TWO PERSONS
+
+LONDON TO KARACHI (25 Days)
+                                                   L   s.  d.  L   s.  d.
+Half-Return fares, 1st class, London to Trieste,
+  and thence by Austrian Lloyd (unaccelerated)    60   0   0
+Hotels, sleeping-car, gratuities, wine bills, &c. 16  15   0
+Baggage expenses                                   8  15   7
+                                                  ----------  85  10   7
+
+BOMBAY TO LONDON (25 Days)
+Share of fares                                    60   0   0
+Hotel expenses and sundries, as before            10   6   8
+Baggage expenses, dock dues, &c.                  17  11   4
+                                                  ----------  87  18   0
+
+KARACHI TO SRINAGAR (16 Days)
+Rail and baggage expenses to Pindi                12   6   8
+Landau and two ekkas to Srinagar, inclusive of
+   gratuities, tolls, &c.                         10  10   8
+Hotels, Dak bungalows, &c.                        13  18   9
+Duty on firearms (repayable on leaving)            1  16   8
+Resais, waterproof for luggage, kettles, &c.       1  19   3
+Servant's fare to Karachi, wages, &c.              2  12   8
+                                                  ----------  43   4   8
+                                                            -------------
+                            _Carry forward_                  216  13   3
+
+EXPENSES IN KASHMIR (6 Months)
+                                                   L   s.  d.  L   s.  d.
+            _Brought forward_                                216  13   3
+
+Food, wine, washing, cigars, &c.                  72   7   3
+Wages, inclusive of various clothes               42   9   9
+Amusements, golf and tennis subscriptions, &c.    11   7   2
+Hire of boats, tents and equipment                17   6   5
+Transport coolies and ponies                      33  14  11
+Hire of hut at Gulmarg                             5   6   8
+Sundry furniture, cooking gear, yakdans, &c.       9   0   8
+                                                 ----------- 191  12  10
+
+BARAMULA TO BOMBAY (1 Month)
+
+Landau and four ekkas, with gratuities and tolls. 13  14   0
+Dak bungalows, hotels, &c.                        18   5   8
+Wages, inclusive of gratuities                     6  14   0
+Rail, Pindi to Bombay (_via_ Udaipur)             16  17   0
+Baggage                                            5   2   8
+Hire of carriages, &c.                             1   4  11
+                                                  ----------  61  18   3
+Loss by exchange on cheques.                                   5  19   7
+                                                            ------------
+                                      Total                  476   3  11
+                                                            ============
+
+
+
+INDEX AND NOTES
+
+ABBOTABAD, A frontier station garrisoned by a mobile force of Gurkhas and
+  Royal Artillery, whence any descent from the Black Mountain or Chilas
+  country can be checked. Named after Lieutenant Abbot, who reduced the
+  neighbourhood to order in 1845-48.
+Aden, Occupying a warm corner just outside the straits of Babol-Mandeb;
+  was the first addition made to the British dominions in the reign of
+  Queen Victoria, having been taken from the Arabs in 1839.
+Agates,
+Agra, Rose to importance under the Moguls, becoming their seat of
+  government after Akbar quitted the city he had built, Fatehpur-Sighri,
+  until Aurungzeb removed the seat of government to Delhi.
+Akbar, The third, and in many ways the greatest, of the six "Great Mogul"
+  Emperors of India. A warrior first, he consolidated his conquests with
+  the genius of an enlightened statesman.
+Alsu, A small village on the north-west shore of the Wular Lake.
+Amar Singh (General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I.), Brother of His
+  Highness Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir; is
+  Vice-President of the States Council and owner of much land in Kashmir,
+  the prosperity of which he has done much to promote.
+Amber, The ancient capital of Jaipur; was built in the eleventh century,
+  its Rajput rulers being the powerful allies of Chitor during her
+  struggles against the Mohammedan invasion. The Palace was built by Raja
+  Maun, _circa_ 1600, in the days of Akbar, whose cousin he was by
+  marriage ( _comp_. ). Amber was deserted in 1728 by Jey Singh for his
+  new city of Jaipur.
+Amethyst, This stone should be much worn in Scotland, particularly on New
+  Year's Day, it having been (according to the Greek derivation of the
+  name) an antidote to drunkenness!
+Amira Kadal, The highest of the seven bridges at Srinagar; a fine modern
+  structure, replacing that built by Amir Khan Jawan Sher, the Pathan, who
+  also built Sher Garhi.
+Anda, Egg.
+Anna, the sixteenth part of a rupee, value one penny.
+Apharwat, One of the Pir Panjal range, which rises above Gulmarg, height
+  14,500 feet.
+Aru, A small village, beautifully situated about seven miles above Pahlgam.
+Asti, "Go slow."
+Astor, A district on the main route from Kashmir to Gilgit, the village is
+  about ninety-two miles from Bandipur. Two passes (the Rajdiangan, or
+  Tragbal, 11,800 feet, and the Boorzil, 13,500 feet) have to be crossed.
+  About ten passes are issued each season to sportsmen, markhor and ibex
+  being the game.
+Atchibal, A village seven miles from Islamabad, where many springs burst
+  out from the rocks. Atchibal was a favourite pleasure-garden of the
+  Mogul Emperors, the remains of which still exist.
+Aurungzeb, The last of the six "Great Moguls"; deposed and imprisoned his
+  predecessor Shah Jehan in 1658, and reigned until 1707. Bigoted and
+  intolerant, he shares with Sikander the odium of having destroyed many
+  of the ancient Hindu temples of Kashmir.
+Avantipura, The modern village is near the extensive ruins named after
+  King Avanti Verma, which formed once the capital of Kashmir.
+
+Bahamarishi, (_Baba-pam-Rishi=_Father Smoothbeard.) A village some three
+  miles below Gulmarg; the ziarat is named after a rishi, or ascetic, of
+  the sixteenth century.
+Baloo, (Kashmiri, _Harpat_) "Rara avis in terras, nigroque similima
+  cignis." _Anglice_, a bear.
+Bandipur, An important village on the north shore of the Wular Lake, the
+  starting-point for Gilgit, &c. Oddly enough, Bandipur is not marked on
+  the Ordnance Map.
+Bandobast, A bargain or arrangement.
+Bappa, An eighth-century Rajput hero, and ancestor of the present chiefs
+  of Mewar; appears to have had strong Mormon proclivities.
+Baramula, The third town in Kashmir, having some 900 houses, is built on
+  the Jhelum at its outflow from the Kashmir Valley: it is also built on
+  the west focus of seismic disturbance in Kashmir, and was destroyed by
+  an earthquake in 1885, when 3000 Baramulans were killed. We were unaware
+  of these interesting facts on the morning of April 4! The "Palms of
+  Baramoule," which Moore sang of, are like snakes in Iceland--they do
+  not exist.
+Bara singh, The Kashmir stag.
+Bawan,
+Beera,
+Bejbehara, The ancient Vijayasvara, a picturesque village and bridge about
+  four miles below Islamabad.
+Bernier, F., a Frenchman attached to the court of Aurungzeb as medical
+  adviser; wrote _Voyage a Kachemire_.
+Bhanyar,
+Bheostie, The Indian Aquarius--the water-bearer.
+Bhils,
+Birch, (Kashmiri, _Burza_) The bark used in making the paper for which
+  Kashmir was noted, also for roofing, it being strong and impervious to
+  water.
+Blue pine, _Pinus Excelsa_, (Kashmiri, _Yar_.)
+Bombay,
+Books on Kashmir:(1) Bernier, _Voyage a Kachemire_ (Utrecht, 1724);
+  (2) Forster's (G) _Journey from Bengal to England_ (London, 1798);
+  (3) Moorcroft, _Travels in Kashmir, &c._ edited by Wilson, 1841;
+  (4) Jacquomont (V), _Voyage dans l'Inde_ (Paris, 1841);
+  (5) Vigne (G. T.), _Travels in Kashmir, &c._, 1844;
+  (6) Hugel's _Travels_, 1845;
+  (7) Drew, _Jummoo and, Ktishmir Territories_; and
+  (8) Lawrence's _Valley of Kashmir_ 1895.
+Budmash, A scoundrel.
+Bund, An embankment or dyke to bank a river.
+Burra, Big, or great.
+
+Carnelian, "Flesh-stone"--for origin read Marryat's _Pacha of Many Tales_
+Chakhoti,
+Chandni Chowk,
+Chaplies,
+Chappar, Paddle with heart-shaped blade.
+Chatris, The cenotaphs of the Maharanas of Mewar; they stand in a walled
+  enclosure between Udaipur and the railway station.
+Chonar, _Plaianus Orientals_ or Oriental plane. This magnificent tree is
+  supposed to have been introduced into Kashmir by the Mogul Emperors. It
+  grows to a great size, one measured by Lawrence being sixty-three feet
+  five inches in circumference at five feet above the ground! There is a
+  very fair specimen in Kew Gardens, between the pond and the "herbaceous
+  border."
+Chilas,
+Chit, A note or letter, and also a character or recommendation, Every man
+  collects something, from pictures to tram tickets--the native collects
+  "chits." Like other collectors he will beg, borrow, or steal to improve
+  his store, and life is made a burden by the perpetual writing and
+  reading of these mendacious documents.
+Chitor,
+Chittagul Nullah, The next nullah to the south-west of the Wangat. The
+  village of Wangat is wrongly placed in it, according to the Ordnance Map.
+Chondawats, A Rajput clan.
+Chota, Little, _Chota Hazm = petit dejeuner_ or early breakfast.
+Chowkidar, A functionary whose principal duty seems to be to snore in the
+  verandah at night and scare other robbers away.
+Chupatty, A flabby sort of scone.
+Chuprassie,
+Cockburn's Agency, The nearest approach to "Whiteley's" in Kashmir.
+
+Dak, Post. _Dak Bungalow_=posting station.
+Dal Lake, _Dal_ means lake (in a plain), while _nag_ is a mountain tarn.
+Dandy, A sort of enclosed chair with four projecting arms, wherein pretty
+  ladies are carried when it doesn't suit them to walk.
+Degchies, Cooking utensils--best made of aluminium, owing to the unclean
+  ways of native scullions.
+Dekho, See, look!
+Delhi, The capital of the Mogul Emperors, dating from 1638, when Shah
+  Jehan commenced to build the great fort. The ancient city lies some
+  miles to the south. Delhi was taken by General Lake in 1803.
+Deodar, (Kashmiri, _Diar.) Cedrus Lebani_, var. _Deodara_. The most
+  valuable tree in Kashmir, where it was formerly abundant. It is now
+  chiefly found in the north-west districts, and it is carefully cherished
+  by the "Jungly Sahib" and his myrmidons.
+Dobie, The thing that ruins all your shirts and causes you to shatter the
+  Third Commandment.
+Domel, Village with Dak Bungalow, at the confluence of the Jhelum and the
+  Kishenganga.
+Doolie,
+Doras,
+Dounga, "The boats of Kashmir are very long and narrow, and are rowed with
+  paddles from the stern, which is a little elevated, to the centre; a
+  tilt of mats is extended for the shelter of passengers or merchandize"
+  (Forster); the mats are made of "pits" (reed mace), a swamp plant.
+Drogmulla,
+Dubgam, A village at junction of the Pohru with the Jhelum, about seven
+  miles above Baramula.
+
+EARTHQUAKE, An upsetting event of too frequent occurrence in Kashmir.
+  Particularly severe visitations occurred in 1827 and 1885 (_see_
+  Baramula).
+Echo Lake, A small tarn on the top of Apharwat.
+Ek, One. (_Ek dam_=immediately.)
+Ekka,
+Embroidery,
+Erin Nullah,
+Eshmakam, =_Eysh Makam_("the delightful halting-place") Above the village
+  stands the shrine of Zyn-u-din, one of the four disciples of the Kashmir
+  patron saint, Shah Nur-u-din.
+
+FATERPUR-SIGHRI,
+Ferozepore Nullah,
+Floating Gardens,
+
+GANESBAL, The boulder, red-stained and extremely sacred, which lies in the
+  middle of the Lidar; bears some fancied likeness to Ganesh (the
+  elephant-headed god).
+Gangabal, A sacred lake, lying under the north glaciers of Haramok at the
+  elevation of 12,000 feet. It is said to be a source of the Ganges(!)
+  and is an object of pilgrimage
+Ghari,
+Ghari Habibullah,
+Ghari Wallah, The Jehu of these parts.
+Ghat,
+Gold mohur,
+Golf,
+Gram,
+Grass shoes,
+Gujar, Is not a Kashmiri, being a member of the semi-nomad tribes which
+  graze buffaloes and goats upon the hills. He speaks Parimu or Hindki.
+Gulmarg, (The Rose Marg.) The most frequented resort of the English in
+  Kashmir during July and August; stands some 8500 feet above the sea,
+  wherefore some people find the air too rarefied. Gulmarg was first
+  mentioned by Yusaf Khan in 1580.
+Gunderbal, A village placed where the Sind River debouches into the plain.
+  The starting-point for Leh and Thibet.
+Gupkar, Town of Gopaditya(?). A wine-manufacturing suburb of Srinagar,
+  overlooking the Dal.
+Gurais, A large village on the Bandipur-Gilgit route, lying on the right
+  bank of the Kishenganga, about forty-two miles from Bandipur.
+
+HARAMOK, The predominating mountain (16,903 feet) of the valley, from
+  almost every part of which his square-headed bulk is visible; hence the
+  name, which means "all faces" or "all mouths." A legend holds that a
+  vein of emerald lies near the summit, and that within view of this gem
+  no snake can live
+Harbagwan,
+Hari Parbat, ("The Green Hill") So named on account of the gardens and
+  vineyards which clothed its sides. Became the residence of Akbar, who
+  built the wall round foot of hill in 1597. The fort on top was the work
+  of the Pathan, Atta Mohamad Khan.
+Haripur,
+Harwan,
+Hasrat Bal Mosque, (The Prophet's Hair.) Various fairs and festivals are
+  held here, the principal one being held upon the day that the Prophet
+  rode up to Heaven on his mule Al Barak (the Thunderer). This mule,
+  by-the-bye, is one of the five favoured beasts which the Mohammedans
+  believe destined to immortality; the others are (1) Abraham's Ram, (2)
+  Balaam's Ass, (3) the one upon which Christ rode on Palm Sunday, and (4)
+  the dog which guarded the seven sleepers.
+Hassanabad Mosque, Built by Nur Jehan Begum (Nourmahal), and destroyed by
+  the Sikhs.
+Hassan Abdal, (_Abdal=_fanatic).
+Hoopoe, Un-natural history of.
+
+INSECTS, Of benign insects such as butterflies there are singularly few.
+  Both mosquitoes and flies are very troublesome during the hot weather in
+  the valley. Visits to native huts will probably lead to an introduction
+  to other insects. In India ants become a nuisance: I met with a foraging
+  party of extremely large and well-nourished ones as I entered my bath
+  place one morning. I recognised them for the descendants--decadent
+  somewhat--of the famous fellows who played Alberich to the Gold of
+  Hindostan and regarding which Herodotus (commonly known as the Father of
+  History, or of Lies, I forget which) asserted that they were of the
+  bigness of foxes and ran with incredible swiftness. He evidently got
+  this yarn from Pliny--
+
+    "Indicae Formicae.
+    Aurum ex cavernus egerunt terrae
+    Ipsis autem color Fehum magnitudo Aegypti Luporum"
+    (Lib. xi. ch. 31)--
+
+  and passed it on to Sir J. Maundevil, who swallowed it greedily. "Theise
+  pissmyres ben grete as houndes; so that no man dar come to the hilles,
+  for the pissmyres wolde assaylen hem and devouren hem" (ch. xxx) For the
+  wily method of catching the ants napping, together with other _contes
+  drolatiques_, read Maundevil's _Travels_.
+Iris, (Kashmiri, _Krishm_) Succeeds the tulip and precedes the rose as
+  typical of Kashmirian Flora, is used as fodder, and the fibre makes
+  ropes, which are, however, not durable.
+Islamabad, (Or Anant Nag, the "Place of Countless Springs.") Is the second
+  city in Kashmir, having about 9000 inhabitants; stands at the head of
+  the navigable Jhelum, fifty miles by water and thirty-two by land above
+  Srinagar.
+
+Jade,
+Jagganath,
+Jain, A small sect founded by Mahavera, a contemporary of Gautama. The
+  Jains were great temple-builders.
+Jehangir,
+Jeimal, With Putta, one of the national heroes of the Rajputs. They fell,
+  while mere boys, in the heroic defence of Chitor against Akbar.
+Jey Singh, (Sowar Jey Singh.) Succeeded to the throne of Amber in 1699,
+  founded Jaipur in 1728. He wrote the following, which I had not read
+  when I visited his observatory at Jaipur "Let us devote ourselves at the
+  altar of the King of Kings, hallowed be his name! In the book of the
+  register of whose power the lofty orbs of Heaven are but a few leaves,
+  and the stars, and that heavenly courser the sun, small pieces of money
+  in the treasury of the Most High."
+Jheel, A small lake, or pond.
+Jhelum, (Kashmiri, _Veth_, Hindu, _Vetasta_, the ancient _Hydaspes_.)
+  Rises at Vernag, becomes navigable at Kanbal, and is so for 120 miles,
+  when it forms rapids below Baramula. Average breadth at Srinagar in
+  December 210 feet, average depth 9 feet.
+Johur,
+
+Kaj-nag,
+Kali, ("The Terrible.") Wife of Shiva or Mahadeva.
+Kanbal,
+Karachi,
+Karewas, "Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections,
+  with flat, arid tops, and bare of trees, run out towards the valley"
+  (Lawrence)
+Kashmir=Kashuf-mir (the country of Kashuf). Was ruled by Tartar princes
+  from about 150-100 B.C. for several centuries; conquered after a year's
+  struggle by Mahmoud of Guznee (1014-1015 A.D.). Invaded by Baber and
+  Humayun, and finally conquered by latter in 1543, and formally annexed
+  by Akbar in 1588. After the fall of Delhi (Nadir Shah) in 1739, Kashmir
+  fell into the hands of Amirs of Cabul in 1753. It was captured by the
+  Sikhs under Ranjit Singh in 1819, and, after the defeat of the Sikhs at
+  the hands of the British, was handed over to Gulab Singh of Jammu for
+  twenty-five lacs of rupees "Kailasa is the best place in the three
+  worlds, Himalaya the best part of Kailasa, and Kashmir the best place in
+  Himalaya" _(Rajatarangini Kulan_).
+Kastoora, Merula Boulboul (the grey-winged ousel). Jane
+  bought "Freddie" one day in Srinagar, and he has been our friend
+  and companion ever since--being at this present (August 1907)
+  in rude health.
+Khansamah, A Cook.
+Khubbar, News--usually untrustworthy.
+Khud, A steep slope or precipice.
+Khudstick, An alpenstock made of tough wood, usually of Cotoneaster
+  baccillaris (lun); should be well tested before purchase, as life may
+  depend on its strength.
+Killanmarg, A wide sloping marg above Gulmarg, just above the pine forest
+  on the slopes of Apharwat.
+Kilta, Creel made of the pliant withes of the Wych Hazel, _Parrotia_
+  _Jacquemontiana_ (Chob-i-poh).
+Kishenganga, A large affluent of the Jhelum which drains the Tilail Valley,
+  passes Gurais, and joins the Jhelum below Muzafferabad.
+Kitardaji, Forest house in the Machipura.
+Kitmaghar, Bearer.
+Kobala,
+Kohinar,
+Kolahoi, or Gwash Brari, 17,800 ft. The loftiest peak in Kashmir proper.
+  It has not yet been ascended.
+Koolan,
+Kralpura,
+Kulan, A peak of the Pir Panjal, at the head of the Ferozepore Nullah.
+Kulgam, or Kuligam.
+Kunis,
+Kurnavati,
+Kutab Minar,
+
+Lacquer,
+Lahore, Capital of the Punjab. An ancient and interesting city, which
+  (like Agra and Delhi) only attained its zenith of prosperity in the days
+  of Akbar.
+Lakri, A stick (at Gulmarg also a golf-club).
+Lalpura, A charming village in the Lolab.
+Larch,
+Lidar, Liddar, or Lambodri, Drains the Kolahoi district, and forms the
+  first substantial affluent of the Jhelum, which it joins below Islamabad.
+Lidarwat, A small Grujar village fifteen miles above Pahlgam, on the left
+  bank of the river, about 10,000 ft. above sea-level.
+Logue or Log, Folk.
+Lumbadhar, The headman of a village.
+
+Machipura, "The Place of Fish"--why, I cannot imagine! The district lying
+  along the east foothills of the Kaj-nag.
+Mahadeo, (Mahadeva or Shiva) A sacred mountain and object of pilgrimage,
+  north of Srinagar, 13,500 feet high.
+Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, H.H. Sir Pratab Singh, G.C.S.I., succeeded
+  his father Ranbir Singh (who was third son of Gulah Singh) in 1885. The
+  family is of the Rajput Dogras. "His kindness to all classes has won him
+  the affection of his people" (Lawrence).
+Maharana, H.H. the Maharana Dhiraj Sir Fateh Singh, G.C.S.I., of Udaipur,
+  is head of the Rajput princes in point of blood, being descended from the
+  Suryabansi, or Children of the Sun.
+Mahseer,
+Malingam,
+Manji or Hanji, A Kashmiri water-thief or boatman.
+Manserah,
+Mar (snake) Canal. A dirty but most picturesque waterway between the Dal
+  and the Anchar Lakes.
+Marg,(Margh?) Persian for a garden abounding in plants.
+Margam,
+Martand, The principal temple in Kashmir--stands on a high karewa some few
+  miles from Islamabad.
+Metal-work,
+Mewar,
+Mogul, The Moguls were a warlike people of Central Asia, who, under Timur
+  (Tamerlane) their chief, sacked Delhi in 1398. At the great battle of
+  Panipat, in 1524, Baber the Mogul (direct descendant of Timur) defeated
+  the Sultans of Delhi. He was the first of the six "Great" Moguls (the
+  others being Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jehan, and Aurungzeb), who
+  ruled India with unparalleled magnificence for 150 years.
+Mulberry, (_Morus sp_. Kashmiri _Tul_) A very precious tree in Kashmir, on
+  account of the silk industry. It grows to a great size, attaining a girth
+  of 25 feet.
+Murghi, A fowl.
+Murree, A hill station and sanatorium, 37 miles from Rawal Pindi, on a
+  hill 7500 feet above the sea. Its importance dates from 1850. Forster
+  speaks of it as a small village in 1786.
+Musafferabad, ("The Place of Victory") Built by Masufer Khan, Rajah of
+  Chikri.
+Mussick, Water-skin.
+
+NAG, A mountain lake or tarn.
+Nagas, Human-bodied, snake-tailed gods.
+Nagmarg,
+Nanga Parbat, A great mountain in the Chilas country, 26,620 feet high
+  (the fourth in point of height in the world), Mommery and two guides were
+  destroyed in 1895, probably by an avalanche, while attempting the ascent.
+Nassim Bagh, ("The Garden of Delicious Breezes") A favourite spot in the
+  days of the Mogul Emperors. Akbar planted 1200 chenars.
+Neem tree.
+Neve, Dr. A. He and his brother are surgeons to the Kashmir Medical
+  Mission, where for many years they have carried on the somewhat
+  thankless task of benefiting the natives.
+Nishat Bagh, ("The Garden of Drink")
+Nopura, A village on the Pohru.
+Nourmahal, ("Light of the Palace"), or, more properly, Nur Jehan Begum
+  ("Light of the World"), was the wife of Jehaugir, celebrated in Mooree's
+  _Lalla Rookh_. Her life story was very curious. See Forster's _Journey
+  from Bengal to England_, London, 1798.
+Nullah, A valley or ravine.
+Numdah,
+
+ONTALA,
+Oodi Singh,
+
+PADMANI, "The Lotus-lovely Lady."
+Pagdandy, A short cut.
+Pahlgam, "The Shepherd's Village," A Kashmiri summer resort for those who
+  like quiet. It is 27 miles from Islamabad up the Lidar Valley, and is
+  somewhat over 7000 feet above the sea.
+Pampur, (Padma-pur, city of Vishnu, or Padmun-pur, "the place of beauty"),
+  principally noted now for its Pampur roti or bread, a speciality of the
+  place.
+Pandrettan, or Pandrenthan, =Puranadhisthana, "the old capital." Was built
+  in the time of Partha by his Prime Minister, Meru.
+Parana Chauni,
+Patan. "The City" or "Ferry," the ancient Sankarapura, Sankaravarma having
+  built two temples there at the end of the eighth century.
+Peechy, Afterwards, later, by-and-bye
+Peri Mahal, "The Abode of the Fairies." Built on the hill above Gupkar by
+  Prince Dara Shikoh, probably for astronomical purposes
+Piasse, The onion.
+Pice, See Rupee.
+Pichola Lake,
+Pir Panjab, Pir=Dogri for peak Pantzal, Kashmiri for ditto Pir also meant
+  a saint, particularly one who lived in the pass in the days of Shah
+  Jehan and Aurungzeb and who was interviewed by Bernier. The Pir Panjal
+  was the route followed by the Moguls when coming to Kashmir, and, rough
+  as it is, they sent elephants along it. The highest peak of the Pir
+  Panjal is Tatakuti, 15,500 feet.
+Pohru,
+Poonch, A native state lying south-west of Kashmir, to which it is
+  tributary. The Raja Buldeo Singh is cousin to the Maharajah of Kashmir.
+Poplar. There are two varieties of Poplar in Kashmir, the Italian or
+  Black Poplar, and the White, the latter attains a great size, one near
+  Gurais measuring 127 feet in height and 14-1/2 feet in girth.
+Porcelain,
+Port Said,
+Puttoo, Native cloth.
+
+RAINAWARI,
+Rajput, The brave and chivalrous inhabitants of Rajputana. Bernier,
+  probably influenced by Mogul opinion, attributes much of their valour to
+  opium, as the following curious extract shows "Ils sont grands preneurs
+  d'opium, et je me suis quelque fois etonne de la quantite que je leur
+  en voiois prendre; aussi ils s'y accoutumerent des la jeunesse; le jour
+  d'une bataille ils ne s'oublient pas de doubler la dose; cette drogue
+  les anime ou plutot les enyvre, et les rend insensibles an danger, de
+  sorte quils se jettant dans le combat comma des betes furieuses, ne
+  sachant ce que c'est de fuir ... c'est un plaisir de les voir ainsi avec
+  leur fumee d'opium dans la tete s'entre embrasser quand on est pret de
+  combattre et se dire adieu les uns aux autres, comme gens qui sont
+  resolus de mourir."--Vol. i. p. 54.
+Ramble-tamble egg, Scrambled eggs.
+Ram chikor, The great snow partridge (_Tetragallus Himalayensis_).
+Rampur. A small village in the Jhelum Valley, and a village on the way
+  into the Lolab _via_ Kunis.
+Rawal Pindi,
+Rassad, "Field Allowance" or extra rations given to coolies when doing any
+  mountain work or away from supplies.
+Resai,
+Roorkhee chair, An extremely comfortable and portable chair made by the
+  R.E. at Roorkhee.
+Rope bridge,
+Rupee=one fifteenth of a sovereign, or 1s. and 4d.
+  12 pice (or pies)= 4 paisa = 1 anna = 1 penny
+  16 annas = 1 rupee.
+
+SAAF kuro, "Make clean."
+Saktawats, A Rapjut clan.
+Sari, A woman's garment, usually brilliant in colour, blood-red and dark
+  blue being favoured.
+Sekwas,
+Sellar,
+Serow, _Nemorhaidus bubalerius_.
+Sesodia, The ruling family of Udaipur, formerly known as Gehlote.
+Shadipur, "The Place of Marriage"--probably with reference to the junction
+  of the Sind and Jhelum rivers.
+Shah Jehan, The greatest builder of the Mogul Emperors. Ruled from 1627 to
+  1658, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Aurungzeb.
+Shalimar,
+Shalimar Bagh,
+Shambrywa, One of the peaks of the Kaj-nag.
+Shiah, A Mohammedan sect, usually much at variance with those of Sunni
+  persuasion.
+Shikara, A light sort of canoe.
+Shikari, A necessary joint in the "fighting tail" of the sportive visitor
+  to Kashmir. Usually a fraud, but, if not too proud, makes quite a good
+  golf caddy.
+Shisha Nag, "The Glassy or Leaden Lake."
+Silver fir, _Abies Webbiana_ (Kashmiri, _Sungal_). Grows to a great height,
+  being known 110 feet high and 16 feet in girth.
+Sind Desert,
+Sind Valley,
+Singhara, Meaning "horned nut," the water chestnut _(Trapa bispinosa_).
+  An article of diet much prized by the Kashmiri.
+Sogul,
+Sonamarg, "The Golden Marg." A summer station high up the Sind Valley on
+  the route to Leh and Ladak.
+Sopor, =Sonapur, or the Golden City. A somewhat unclean little town of
+  some 600 houses on the Jhelum, about eight miles by road and twelve by
+  water above Baramula.
+Spill Canal, Cut in 1904, after the Great Flood of 1903, to carry some of
+  the river clear of Srinagar and ease the pressure on the bund.
+Spruce, _Picca, Morunda_. (Kashmiri, _Kachal_.)
+Srinagar, _Surga Nagur_, City of the Sun. Has a population of 120,000.
+  Became capital in 960 A.D., when the ancient city of Pandrettan was burnt
+  in the reign of Abimanyu. The city was called Kashmir until recently,
+  Martand being called Sringar by Jacquemont.
+Sultanpur,
+Sumbal, Said to be the site of the ancient city Jayapura.
+Sunt-i-kul = "Apple-tree Canal."
+
+TAJ MAHAL, The magnificent tomb of Mumtez Mahal, favourite wife of Shah
+  Jehan.
+Takht-i-Suleiman, A steep isolated hill rising nearly 1000 feet above
+  Srinagar, crowned by a temple which is built on the ruins of a very
+  ancient edifice. The Takht or Throne of Solomon is, according to the
+  legend, the place which Solomon occupied during his mythical visit to
+  Kashmir.
+Tangmarg, "The Open Marg". Is the village about 1500 foot below Gulmarg,
+  which is the nearest point to Gulmarg attainable by wheeled conveyance.
+Tattoo, A pony.
+Tehsildhar, The functionary who has jurisdiction over a tehsil.
+Temples, For full description read Lawrence _(Valley of Kashmir_, chap.
+  vi.) Their ruined state is partly due to earthquakes, but probably still
+  more to the iconoclastic activity of Sikandar (_d._ 1416) and Aurungzeb.
+Tilail,
+Tonga,
+Topaz, Name derived from the Greek "to conjecture"--because no one knew
+  whence they came!
+Tower of Fame,
+Tower of Victory,
+Tragbal,
+Tragam, A large village south-west of the Lolab, whence a route leads to
+  Musafferabad.
+Tret, A station at the foot of the Murree hills on the road to Rawal Pindi.
+Trieste,
+Tronkol,
+Turquoise,
+
+UDAIPUR, The capital of the ancient and powerful Rajput State of Mewar,
+  founded by Oodi Singh after the fall of Chitor.
+Uri,
+
+VERNABOUG,
+Vernag,
+
+WALNUT, A valuable tree in Kashmir, where its fruit and timber are both
+  greatly esteemed; grows to a very large size, one in the Lolab having a
+  girth of 18 feet 10 inches.
+Wangat,
+Wardwan, The mountainous district on the east of Kashmir.
+Water buffalo, An ungainly and "sneevish" beast beloved of Gujars and
+  nobody else.
+Weights 2 lbs. (English)=1 seer. 40 seers = 1 maund.
+Wood carving,
+Wular, Means "cave". The largest lake in India, being 12-1/2 x 5 miles in
+  average extent. In floods it covers much extra space.
+Wych hazel, _See_ Kilta.
+
+YAKDAN,
+
+ZIARAT, A Mohammedan shrine.
+Zoji La, The pass at the head of the Sind Valley which is crossed on going
+  to Leh, height 11,300 feet.
+
+
+
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