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diff --git a/old/11873-0.txt b/old/11873-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..03a3cbf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11873-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10252 @@ +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. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOLIDAY IN THE HAPPY VALLEY WITH PEN AND PENCIL *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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