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7U

TRAVELS

LADAK, TARTARY, AND KASHMIR.

BY

LIEUT.-COLONEL TORRENS,
2

3RD ROYAL WELSH FUSILEERS.

LONDON: SAUNDERS, OTLEY, AND

66,

CO.,

BROOK STREET, HANOVER SQUARE.

1862.
\_T/ie

right ofTranslation

is

reserved.]

LONDON

SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,

COVENT GARDEN.

PREFACE.

FEEL
15

that I owe the public

some apology

for

venturing to intrude on their notice a book

reader,

which must bear marks, evident to every

of hurried

and

careless composition.

Thus conscious
confess that

of

my

audacity,

humbly
had

when I

started

on

my

travels I

formed no intention of ever recounting them

my

notes and

memoranda were

therefore of the

meagrest, although fortunately

my

sketch-book

was pretty well

filled.

A letter from my
weeks
after

publishers, received

some

six

my

return, first suggested to

me

the

idea that possibly an account of

my

wanderings

might not be uninteresting even

reader.

to the general to write,

Upon

this hint I

commenced

and in three short months from the receipt of

my

iv

Preface,

publishers' letter, I

had despatched to them the

of " Travels
in

manuscript

and

illustrations

Ladak, Tartary, and Kashmir."

For enabling me to do
ments of
leisure

this in the scanty

mo-

which
first,

have to thank,

my duties allowed me, I my memory secondly, the

; ;

diary of a fellow-traveller

and

lastly,

the able

and interesting works of Bernier, Jacquemont,

Moor croft,

Gerard, and Cunningham.

sheets will be corrected

The proof

by one of
will be

the companions of
in

my journeyings, who
so
;

England in time to do

and you,

my

readers, will

have yawned or laughed over, been

bored or amused, by the perusal of

long before the publication
eyes.
will

my
its

narrative
author's

meet

Henry D. Torrens.
Simla, in the Himalayas,

Ma/rch 2nd, 1862.

ERRATA.
Page

99, last line, /or " vid6e," read " vider."

100, line

1,

for

"un
''

outre," read "

une outre."

2,

/or

ce petite cascade," read " cette petite

cascade."

107

10,

/or " moeurs Thib^tains," read "mceurs

Tlnbetaines."

179 180

20, ybr
4,
5,

"a
il

la mitre," reac^

"a

la mitre."
il

ybr "

marmonne,"

rea(^ "

marmotte."

/or " resemblance," read " ressemblance."

4".

Y'/i/; ./VrfSSfftr^

SKETCH OF KASHMIR VALLEY FROM SOLEIMAN'S

S EAT TO TH E N ISHAT

BAGH

JSa^A- or (iarri^n^

6.

r/ut/.ti! or<^ujnar.?

or OiaiiJir

/d.

JmiM/ /mAr,

8.

JI/is/uttBofk

WILL
my

commence
to

by introducing

readers the dramatis

tlie

person CB wlio will, for

most

part, figure in the

foregrround of the scenes

am about

to picture to

them.

We
six
'^''

were

white
all,

men

in

Lord

"

Travels in Ladak^

William Hay, Deputy Commissioner of Simla,

and Superintendent of Hill

ized the expedition,
cial

States,

who

organoffi-

and by virtue

of his

position

smoothed away many a

difficulty

from our path, and of whom, in the following

pages, I shall speak as the " official
;

friend
;

Major the Hon. T. de V. Fiennes, 7th Hussars

Captain Clarke,

19th Light Dragoons, photo;

grapher to the party

two gallant young

Eifle-

men. Lieutenant Buckley and Ensign the Hon.

T. Scott
;

and myself.
to

Our intention was

march from Simla due

;

north to Le, the capital of Ladak

thence west-

ward

to

Sreenuggur, the capital of Kashmir;

thence in a south-easterly direction via Chumba,

and Kangra back to Simla,

in

all,

a circuit con-

siderably over one thousand miles.

This scheme was carried out in

its

integrity

by only two of the

party, the

others

being

obliged to leave us at different points along the

route in order to join their regiments before the

1

5th of October, on which day expired their re-

spective leaves of absence.

We

went over no new ground

that

is

to say.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

European energy had before explored every portion of our intended route
;

still it

was known to
{i.e.

but few

to an enterprising
still

shikaree

sports-

man)

or two, a

rarer scientific traveller, or to

the persevering

members

of the Indian Survey

Department.

For
see as

travellers

who,

like us,

were anxious to
months,

much

as possible in three short to

and were not disinclined

ceive

rough

it,

I can con-

no better route, leading us

of

as it did

through
over

every vicissitude

Himalayan

scenery,

the high table-lands of Thibetan Tartary, into the

verdant

vale

of

Kashmir,

and

so back

through

the tamer but scarcely less beautiful

scenery of the lower ranges of the Himalaya, to

the tea-planted slopes of the

Kangra

valley, at

which

point

the

traveller

may

consider

his

wanderings in what has been called the Alpine

Punjab

at

an end.

We

were necessarily hurried, owing to our

absence, and
all

limited leaves of

were

therefore

obliged to forego nearly

notion of sport.
all

For

on the Himalaya, and I believe

world,
it is

over the

a recognised maxim, that in order to B 2

Travels in Ladak,
lialt

bag large game you must

not,

but halt we could

and many was the favourite haunt of ibex

at

and wild sheep

route,

no great distance from our

which we were reluctantly obliged to leave

unexplored.

A sportsman wishing
as

to

make the same tour

we

did,

ought in

four, or still better, in six

months, to make a capital bag without wandering very

far

from the actual track taken by

us.

Our servants were mostly Hill-men, the

ceptions

ex-

being our C/ief de

cuisine^

Ali Bux,

and our " Khitmutgars," or

table servants,
;

all

swarthy Mussaulmen of the plains

also

Mr.

Terrear, or Terrear " sahib," as he was called

his fellow-domestics.

by

curious instance this of

;

the influence of dress, mere dress Terrear to be a

they knew

man

of low birth

of a

caste

which

they

despised

their
;

inferior,

in fact,
carried,

according to native ideas

he fetched and

had

at times to suffer from the wrath of the

like
;

Englishman, performed menial duties

selves,

them-

and worked ten times

cast-off

as

hard

but he

wore his master's

called

garments,

and they

him

"sir."

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

Madrassee by birth, a Christian in creed,

fair

and colloquially a

English scholar, Terrear

too,

was invaluable.

He

was an old campaigner,

officer in

having been servant to an English

the

Crimea, and therefore no stranger to the hardships of cold and wet, or the mysteries of
tents.
life

in

On

this

expedition

he

was

Captain
of

Clarke's factotum, valet-de-chambre, keeper

the privy purse, nay, cook too, on sundry and

not infrequent occasions when his master's appetite

could not brook the long intervals in our (in

his opinion) slowly recurring meals;

least,

and

last,

not

packer

of

chemicals,

and

photographic

assistant in general.

I shall have occasion

now and then

to mention

by name some of the other

describe them.

servants, so will here

first
:"

Bujjoo and Nurput rank

official

in

the

list,

both vassals of the "

friend

the

former, bland and conciliatory, the latter, rude and

energetic, represented in their respective persons

a fair type of the two great principles, siiaviter

in

modo and

foriiter

in

re.

These principles

of action happily combined in the

same man
;

produce,

we

are told,

executive perfection

and

6
so it

Travels in Ladak^

was with them

for actuated

by the same

wish, inspired

by the same

desire

the ensuring
re-

of their master's comfort,

this individuality of

purpose made them, in

sults

fact, one,

and produced
Bujjoo's

as

perfect;

for

when

smooth

entreaties failed to coerce refractory " coolies,"*

or beat

down

extortionate
there

"bunniahs,"f

was

there not

Nurput

Nurput

of the heavy
to

hand and unscrupulous tongue,

submission
?

bully into

and again, when Nurput's violence

far,

had gone too

and

coolies

showed symptoms

of bolting, and bunniahs of sulkily shutting

shop,

up
the
re-

was there not Bujjoo there

Bujjoo

peacemaker, Bujjoo of the

strain, to quiet,
* Coolie,

oily tongue, to

and

cajole into
Coolie
is

good humour?
a term used
all

i.

e.,

labourer.

over

India for

common
this

labourers, as distinguished
all

from

artisans,

and with

exception, includes

those

who by
fact,

the

sweat of their brow earn their bread.

coolies

In
loads

this narrative

invariably

mean

carriers

of

in

our

baggage animals.
t

Bunniahs,

i.e.,

sellers of grain.

These

men form

guild apart, and the food of the natives consisting almost

entirely

of grain,

the Bunniah's shop

is

is

to

be found in

every village, and

infidelity of

the public place of resort, where the

Bam

Buccus, or the levity of conduct of Dil

Jhan,

is

freely canvassed.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
of tents
;

Cliumpa, the pitcher

Noura,

the

king of the coolies

and

my own

head servant,
list

Isree Singh, conclude, I think, the

of sub-

ordinate celebrities worth chronicling.

Our baggage was

*'khiltas/'*

for the

most part packed in

it

and the whole of

carried on men's
to hire

backs, so that

we had

daily

from the

KHILTA CAUKIEKS.
* " Kliiltas" are cone-shaped baskets, covered either with leather or the undressed skins of sheep or goats, carried in

the
for

manner shown

in

the sketch.

Those made expressly

Europeans are flat-bottomed, and have a wooden frameattached, which enables

work

them

to stand upright,

and

8
villages

Travels in Ladak^

on our route some

fifty

or sixty
tlie

men

to

serve as beasts of burden for

A. formidable

day's march.

number

this

for

but scantily

populated country to supply, but thanks to the

"
ofiicial friend,"

and the exertions of the

afore-

said Bujjoo
difficulty in

and Nurput, we had

procuring them.

seldom any

Besides, anticipat-

nig delays of this nature,

we had

wisely provided

ourselves with a reserve of coolies, in the shape of

some

thirty-five

long-haired,

sinewy-limbed,

hardy Ladakhis, who marched with us the whole way, and to whose strong backs were
our stores of provision,
hatterie

confided

de cuisine, &c.

confidence which was never betrayed, for the

munitions de bouche were always

arrivals in

among

the

first

camp, however long the march.

These men formed the able-bodied portion of

the inhabitants of a small village

near Simla,

occupied by emigrants from Lad^k,

who had

been induced to leave their native wilds by the

(comparatively)

high

prices

given

for

coolie

keeps them clear of the

like a T,

damp

ground.

The

sticks

shaped

shown

in the sketch, are used as a

is

support to the

khilta

when

the coolie

standing

still.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

labour in

and about Simla.

Their principal

work consisted

in bringing in from the forests in

the interior, planks, heavy beams,

and rough

timber for building purposes.

as these our burdens

After loads such

were

light,

and they walked

though they

away with our

" khiltas," well filled

were, as if they were knapsacks.

^exactly

Though not
du pays,

suffering

from

the

maladie

nor indeed from any other malady, save perhaps

hydrophobia, as far as regarded water for washing purposes, they
yet

seemed

glad

at

the
as

thought of revisiting

la jjatrie,

especially

they were well paid for going there.

Our
they
six in

tents were of the ridge-pole pattern, or, as

are called

in

India,

pauls.
as

They were
tent, another

number,

one served

mess

housed the

elite

of the servants.
a-piece,

Captain Clarke

and myself had a tent

and our four com-

panions doubled up in the two others.

They

were each of them, when dry, sufficiently light

to be carried

by one man, that

is,

the canvas part

of them, the

bamboo

poles were tied in bundles,

loads.

and formed two or three extra

We

carried with us a supply of iron tent-pegs,

10

Travels in Ladak^

a most necessary precaution, for wooden

pegs

soon

split,

and become useless

;

after a little fair

wear and tear

and in

treeless countries

such as

Ladak

there are no

means of replacing them.

seventh tent there was, of dubious colour

yet
nathless

and uncertain shape,

of Art

shrine

nay,
it

a very

Temple of the Sun

de:

voted as

was to Terrear and photography

here, uncomfortably coiled up, crouched

amid his

chemicals, that

unhappy

pluralist

was wont to

sleep the sleep of the weary.

Having thus attempted

tion,

to depict our expediits materiel,

both as regards

its

physique and
leave,

will,

with the reader's

postpone our

start to the next chapter.

Y^ TEMPLh: OF Y^

SUN

Tai'tary^

and Kashmir.

11

CHAPTER

II.

N a rainy morning
"^

in

the middle of Jul}^, the

" official friend"

and I turn-

ed

OTir

backs on Simla, and

trotting briskly along the

New Eoad,*
fast.

reached Mahasseo in time for break-

We

were in the saddle again at two, p.m.,

and

leisurely proceeded

on our way towards Mat-

tianah, a distance of

some five-and-twenty miles

from Simla.
*

Vide Appendix.

12

Travels in Ladak^

We

thus knocked three marches into

to do the

one;

and purposing

same next day, counted

on overtaking the Major of Hussars and the

photographer, who, together with our servants,

baggage,

and other

impedimenta,

had started

some days previously.

The

rainy season was at

its

height;

dense

clouds of mist clung to the

their

hill- sides,

and clothed
grey,

summits

with

cowls

of

hodden

effectually

concealing the

beauties

which on

brighter days would have tempted us to linger

on our road

and

after

some

five hours' alternate

riding and walking,

we were not

sorry to reach

the Mattianah dak bungalow, or post-house, as

evening was closing

in.

Here we halted

for the night,

and renewed

our march towards Narkundah at daybreak.

Narkundah
nificent

is

justly celebrated for the

magthe

view of the snowy range which

elevated ridge on which the dak

bungalow stands
;

(nine
tearful

thousand

feet)

commands

but on this

18th day of July we were fated to see no

such view.

Thick curtains of cloudy vapour

obscured the snow-white coverlid of the Alps

Tartari/^

and Kashmir,
far

13

wliicli
riglit,

slumbered in the

distance.

On

our

old Huttoo, a pine- clad giant

feet high, at intervals

some twelve
his

thousand
crest,

showed

gloomy

but not liking the look of the weather,

turned in again sharp, like a sensible old sluggard

as he was.

It

was evident they

all

voted the rain

a bore, and had decided on being " not at

to our anxious inquiries.

home

''

On
Eoad

leaving
for

Narkundah we followed the

New
" Pin-

some miles through a

Abies

stately forest of

lofty pine (the

wehhiana,

called

drow" by the
of oak
{ilex)^

natives), of

yew

{taxus haccatd),

and holly
left,

{quercus semicarpifolia)

then turning to our

we commenced a pretty

steep descent towards the valley of the Sutlej,

over which, at a height of about four thousand

feet,

hangs the village of Kotghur, and about

one thousand feet higher the hospitable dwelling

of Mr. Berkeley.

This was our destination, and after about an

hour and a

half's rapid

walking we found ourHere,

too,

selves seated in his spacious verandah.

were our fellow-voyagers

us
;

who

had preceded

the photographer already at work with his

14

Travels in Ladak^

camera, despite clouds and fog.

his lens to bear

He

had brought

on the mountain we had just de-

scended, and was patiently waiting for a ray of

sunshine which wouldnH come.

Mr. Berkeley, or the model

"
official

colonist, as the

friend " called him,

is

a tea-planter, and

the possessor of a considerable tract of country.

He
and

has been settled in the

is

hills for

some

years,

justly sanguine as to the results of his

speculation.

The Government has endowed him

with limited magisterial powers, which he wields

most

judiciously,

and

is

a living proof that the

colonization of the lower hills of the Punjab

by

Europeans

is

not the mere

chimera that

many

deem

it.

His niansion
a

a long two-storied building

is

happy combination of the bungalow* of the

with the imitation of English
at,

plains,

comfort

aimed

but never reached, by

hill architects.

wide

and

lofty

verandah runs

completely

* Bungalow,

Anglo-Indian

for

house, unde
tlie

derivatur,

know not
tlie

but possibly so called from

sad bungles
first

made by

Anglo-Indians of former days when they

dabbled in bricks and mortar.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
and
is

15

round the lower

a
smaller scale.

story,

repeated above on

This in the genial

summer-

time serves him as sitting-room by day and bed-

room by night

and in winter, when he be-

takes himself to the cosy inner rooms, forms an

additional barrier against the cold.

Next morning we sent on our servants and

baggage to where, in the
grey distance,

our

tents, already pitched, dotted the hill-side opposite

some

five

miles off only in appearance, but

in very deed a
rolled,

weary

tw^elve,

for

between us
the
rapid

some thousand
;

feet

below,

Sutlej

and here and

there,

with the aid of a

field-glass,

we

could see the interminable windtortuous

ings

of the

path before us

but I

anticipate.

It

was

busy

morning

for

the

''ofiicial

friend "

a shoal of
fiat.

intricate cases,

beyond Mr.

Berkeley's authority to settle, were awaiting the

burra saJdb's^

The one which appeared

interest

to excite the greatest

;

was a case of rent withheld

a cloud of
say,

dusky witnesses attended, but I must

*
i. e.

very

Great Man, big- wig.

16

Travels in Ladah^

few obtained a hearing.

cision,

The

great man's deat,

most

promptly

arrived

seemed to
their re-

satisfy all parties,

and they went on

spective

ways

rejoicing.

The

said rent

amounted

to one shilling (eight annas) paid triennially .^

The post which came

in ere

we

left

Mr.

Berkeley's hospitable roof brought us a letter

from Buckley and his brother rifleman.

They

had been delayed unavoidably, but would follow

us by forced marches, and overtake us in no time.

Deluded mortals
before them.
It

They

little

knew what was

was now high

time for us to essay the

field-glasses

rugged descent of which our

given us a feeble notion, and
miles of stumbles varied

had
five

after

some
slips

by

slips,

and

by

stumbles,

we reached
ever,

the banks of the Sutlej.

say,

Have you

on the Sussex downs

or

in any chalky country, gazed in

muddy weather
till

from the top of a coach on the road beneath

the brain grew dizzy with the rush, and the roar,

and the whirling motion,

vision
it

till

to your deceived
its

was the road and

*

sickly-coloured

fact.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

17

mud

that was gliding

it ?

away from under you, not

you can
easily call

you over

If you have,

up

the impression produced on

me

as I stood

on the
flood,

narrow wooden bridge which spanned the

and gazed below.

It
is

of a hideous colour (caused

soil of

by the wash-

ings-away of the white

Kunawur, through

which

it

flows

many

miles above), and altogether

;

a most unlovely river

but

it

inspires one with

a strange sense of awe as

its foul

waters seethe

below, fiercely cutting their resistless course the

rocks

between,

for

ever

widening,

for

ever

deepening their appointed way.*

* Sutlej.

The most remote

sources of the Sutlej are the

eastern feeders of the holy lakes of Manasaravora, in N.

latitude 30 35',

and E. longitude 81

35',

from whence

it

flows for

about 280 miles through a country but

little

known,
fall

to its confluence with the Spiti river.

is

The whole

of the Sutlej to this point

It then takes a

9400

feet,

or 33*8 feet per

mile.

W.S.W.
it

direction for 180 miles to

increases to 39 feet per

Belaspore: in this part the

mile.

fall

From

Belaspore

takes a circuitous course of about

hills;

100 miles to Ropar, at the foot of the

from Ropar

it

flows past Loodiana in an easterly direction for 120 miles,

where

it

receives the waters of the Beas river

thence in
it

a south-westerly direction for 400 miles,

the waters of the Chenab
;

when

receives
is

to this point its length

there-


18
Travels in Ladak^

Born

in the holy lakes of Manasaravora, he

early leaps from their secluded lap,

and roves a
steps

truant.

From

earliest

infancy
wilfulness,

his

are

marked by a precocious

and we must

allow that from the cradle he experiences nought

but the harshest treatment.

He

is

soon joined

by other wild young mountain

tutored, uncared-for,

water-sprites, unas himself;

and headstrong

and to him they

spirit,

cleave, recognising a masterslaves,

!

and become his devoted

;

and in him
the headyouth,

lose their very being

and, behold

strong child
swifter

is

become a turbulent
his race of his

and swifter runs

life

louder
he

and louder roars the din of

revelry;

laughs aloud in his new-found strength, crying

for space

more

space,

and

finds it

finds it in

the Punjab's arid plain.

But

this

new phase

of

life

is

intolerable to

fore

1080 miles; after

this the united stream is called the

its

Punjnud, a name derived from

lated

containing the accumu-

waters of the Sutlej,

Chenab, Beas, Jhelum, and

Ravee.

The

Sutlej is considered to be the

Hesudros or Zaradros

of the Greeks, and the Hypanis mentioned by Strabo.

It is the longest

and the

largest of all the

Punjab

rivers.

Tar tary^ and Kashmir,

'

him, always sliallow and superficial, with no great

depth of character or channel, wedded for ever

to

the lean

" ribbed "

sand

of

India,

who,

warmest and most importunate of dames, holds

him, despite his struggles, always, always, in her
yellow arms
:

a sad change, this, from the fun of

his tricksy childhood

the

freedom of his gushcan't stand it

ing youth

the poor
;

young man
death,

any longer
suicide,

bored to

he resolves on

and

dies self-immolated in the waters of

the Indus.

Eeaders of a geographical and matter-of-fact

turn of mind, to

whom

this fancy sketch

full,

may
and

appear unsatisfactory, will find a

particular account of the
note,

true,

mighty

Sutlej in the

which has been compiled from sources the

reliable.

most

The bridge over the

noble one of
its

Sutlej

at this point is a

kind, formed of lengthy deodar^

beams, supported at either end by piers formed

of mighty timbers wedged for half tneir length
in the solid rock
;

the other half stretches out

is

over the gulf below, and

surmounted by other

* Cedrus deodara.

r2

20

Travels in Ladak^

timbers, which overlap those on which they rest

by some two

or three feet; these in turn

are

THE BRIDGE OVER THE

SUTLEJ.

overlapped by

others,

and

so

gradually

and

cautiously the opposite buttresses yearn towards

each other, and seem to strive to

meet

then

come the lengthy deodar beams aforementioned,

and span the length between.

We
for

had some misgivings

as to

whether our

ponies would cross this somewhat perilous arch

though the footing was of a good breadth, the


Tartary^

and Kashmir,

21

low wooden parapet had on one side been stolen

for firewood, I

presume

at

any

rate, there it

was

not,

and the loose timbers creaked and trembled,

entire structure
fears

and the

heaved with our weight.

Our
little

were,

however,

unfounded

the

animals walked over the slippery planks

jib, shy, or

without

stumble

but smelling each

successive

board with a puzzled expression of

walking
" delicately "

countenance,
caution,

and

with

and giving a heartfelt grunt of

satisfac-

tion on reaching terra jlrma.

Here and there the valley opened

showed a
river's

out,

and

strip

of

flat

cultivation

along the
its

bank, where

the rice crop paraded

green,

beautiful

but
;

fever-boding

flourishing

luxuriantly

and near a small village which we

passed grew plantains and other shrubs native to

the plains.

The

contrast

between

the
left,

climate

of

the

valley and that

we had

just

was most

strik-

ing

fever-impregnated and pestilential, with an

close,

atmosphere oppressively
took in crossing
it

the short time

we

was long enough to give more

This, how-

than one of the party a headache.

22

Travels in Ladah^

ever, rapidly left us as the healthful breezes

of

the green

hill- side,

purer, cooler,

and more brac-

ing at every successive zig-zag of the precipitous

ascent, fanned our cheeks.

What

a road

it

was

Stairs ?

Well, they
a
time.

might have been

stairs

once
/

upon
^//

THE EOAD TO MOSCOW.

planned by Titans when " children of a larger

growth " had their being, and finished

utterly

off

and

done

for

by

ages

of

snow-meltings,

torrent-rushings,

and that " constant

dripping

Tartary^ of water which,"

and Kashmir,
are told,

23

we
'*
;

"doth wear away

!

the hardest stone

It

but

it

was a road
road,

road

was
!

the

road

the
!

Jii(/h

toto

to
"a

Mos-

cow

Rien que ga

And

could

we have

foreseen
hill-

and profited by another week's experience of

travelling,

we should have
But I

called

it

fair

mountain road!"

try,

reader, to

give

you
first

my

impressions of Himalayan travel as they

struck me.

We reached the

summit without an

accident,

thanks mainly to the activity of our ponies.

congratulated myself during

the

ascent that

none were there to

see, for

anything more dero-

gatory to the dignity of a lord of the creation,

more humiliating

to one's amour propre, than to

tail

be dragged up a precipice pendant to the

a shaggy mountain pony,
is difficult

of

to conceive.

For further

particulars I refer the reader to the

accompanying sketch.

We

reached our tents about two hours before

;

nightfall

they were pitched close to a large and

tolerably well-built village, called Dilass.

Our

photographer, who, for artistic purposes, had pre-

ceded us by some hours, was there to receive us,


24
Travels in Ladak^
so he said, a fatted

and had caused,

lamb
was

to be
lean,

killed for our evening meal.

The

flesh

indisputably, and the flavour

somewhat rank
kid
it

suggestive of kid of goat

(if

was),

or

rather of a patriarch of that hirsute flock.

We

were too hungry for severe criticism; but one

and

all

arrived tacitly at the determination that

artist order dinner.

not again should our

No

ne sutor
chemicals.

ultra

crepidam

let

him

stick to his

Serious doubts
selves

now began

to suggest

them-

as

to

the probability
riflemen

of

our loitering
up, and at a

friends

the

catching us
after

council

of war held

dinner,

we decided

that, in their favour, a very short

march should
Kot,

be made on
Tchuhai,

the morrow.

Instead of
off,

some seven miles

should be our

resting-place.

After further deliberation,

that a tent should be
left

it

was

finally settled

standing for them,

and that in

it

should be placed some cold viands

of

and

one

bottle
!

beer

Eeader,

we

had

but two dozen

and so to bed, in that state of

gratified self-contentment

which the consciousness

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

25

of

having done something very good-natured

fails

never

to

create.

Bujjoo,

too,

had anall

nounced that " chukor"* had been calling

round the camp
ere our arrival
;

so anticipations

of a good morning's

sport mingled pleasantly

with our dreams.

*

The Francoline

partridge.

26

Travels in LadaTc^

CHAPTEE
iIT,

III.

Pat

on the can!

vas roof
eye,

I open one

and
is

on

the

hand

which

drowsily rubbing
falls,

the other,

cold

and

sudden,
Pitter,

heavy
!

drop.

Patter

I strive

to

remember where

am
!

Pittest, Pat-

test

am

wide

awake
It
is

raining with
!

a vengeance

My

mind

is

soon made

Tartary^
up.

and Kashmir.
is

27
out of

Shooting on a morning like this

;

the question

and

after taking precautions to

prevent

my

being disturbed by any more cold

drops which

my
I,

"

fair,

false" covering of canvas

might

treacherously permit

to

filter

through

unchallenged,

without an

effort,

relapse into

sweet unconsciousness,

return to

the

land of

dreams (whence

my

absence has not been retill

marked), and there abide in peace

the

recalled to

damp

realities of life

by the entrance of the

followed

faithful

Isree,
{i. e.

who appeared
water-carrier),

by
for

"bheestie"

with water

my my

morning

ablutions.

The

" burra sahib"

was up

had

already been

consulting with Ali

fast

Bux on

the subject of break-

the

other

sahibs

showed symptoms of
it

wakefulness

in
had

a word,

was time

to get

up

Such the substance of

tation.

Isree's

morning's salu-

The

rain

ceased,

and we breakfasted in

the open, while our servants struck the tents,

packed the baggage, and dispatched them on

coolie-back towards the next halting-ground.

We

had the day before

us,

and but a short

28

Travels in Ladah^

march, so the ponies had a holiday, and we

lounged

lazily on, luxuriating in the bright sun-

shine, doubly grateful after so

gloomy a morn.

Now

content with the beaten track which

acclivity before us,

wound
lured

up the

now

leaving

it,

by the

defiant call of black partridge or chukor,

hill- side

which abounded wherever the

cover, or the

afforded

narrow terraces of cultivation gave

promise of a meal.

We
at

shortly reached the

summit of the

hill

overhanging Dilass, and turned to take a

last look

Mr. Berkeley's house, now

far

away, but clearly

visible

trim, neat,

and whitewashed

the out-

post of British civilization.

Our route now descended

rapidly for a couple

of miles, and then proceeded along the side of a

well-cultivated valley, dotted thick with villages.

One

of these was the point fixed on as our haltit

ing ground, and towards

we

hurried, for again

was the sky

overcast,

and rain-clouds imminent.

Our

tents were hardly pitched ere

down came

the storm, and from about four o'clock of this

day, the 20th, to the

morning of the 23rd,

an
interval

it

rained

with hardly

of

sunshine

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

29

worth the name.

pared for

This we were, however, pre-

it

was only what we had a right to

expect in the rainy season; and

on the 21st

and 22nd we trudged along wearily but hopefully

through the wet, knowing that in a few

its influence.

marches we should be out of

Our halting-place on the 21st was Kot, a

village beautifully situated

on a rising ground,
be called a moun-

which would anywhere

tain,

else

but compared with

its

surrounding

alp,

appeared to our rapidly enlarging intellects but

a mole-hill

conclusion to

which we arrived

after reaching its

summit, bien entendu.

It tvas a lovely spot, for despite the miseries

of wetted-throughedness,

we yet took pleasure

frowned

in

remarking

how

above

pine-topped

mountains, below stretched grassy glades, broken

here and there into steep rocky declivities
;

and

how around

us the

cedriis

deodora, the cedar of

the Himalaya, bent his lofty crest and waved

his graceful

arms

as

though in

stately courtesy.

Stately courtesy, did I say ?

Aye, so stately as to
for every

be quite chilling in

its

effects,

wave

of those graceful arms sent a shower-bath on the

30

Travels in Ladak^
for

head of the unfortunate who trusted to them

shelter.

It

now blew

a gale, and the tree-tops

rocked before the blast, and we were not sorry to

find

an unoccupied habitation in the

lit

village,

where we

mighty

fire

and essayed to dry

There

our drenched

habiliments.

we

stood,

steaming, dripping, round the crackling flames

there

was no chimney, and the

wood-smoke

gracefully accomplished its exit through the open

door,

mingling with the purer, bluer, curling

rose from our cheroots, circling
till

wave that

round

and round,

an eddy from the leaky roof

it

caught and turned

reeling out into the wet.

!

How
rear,

good those cheroots were

Enter Ter-

wobegone and half drowned, but a twinkle

in his eye shows that there's a deal of

work in

him

yet.

From under
!

his coat he produces a

black bottle

A momentary
!

panic seizes us as

the horrible suspicion suggests itself of some

photographic acid drug

"

Would you honour like some whisky,

sar ?"

simultaneous shout of joy rings through

the

tumble-down shed, startling into animation the

shivering Hindoos outside.

They peer

in,

and


Tartary^
perceive
liorrihile

and Kashmir,

31
friend"

dictu

the
is

"

official

with his

lips

pressed lovingly on the

!

mouth

of

the black bottle

There

no

false

modesty

about

that

black

bottle-ina;

she

sheds her

favours on

all alike,

and

" thrilled our very being."

No, not " with the utterance of a name."

bottle-ina, bless her
!

Poor

is

dumb, though she shows

So we'll
say, if

a proper spirit at
please

all

times.

you

she
our very being, with that sweet, long, mute caress."

" thrilled

Meanwhile, the

coolies

have been arriving one

by

one, slowly but surely toiling

up the

hill,

and

as the tents

came up, dank and sodden with

the constant wet,

Chumpa, stripped
rounded limbs

to his shirt,

which clings to

his

like

an upper
out.

skin, seizes them,

and rapidly spreads them

is

"Puthar, burra, burra puthar,"

serts

his cry as he in-

one end of the stout bamboo pole into their

languid folds.

heave, and

up

it

rises

but

Chumpa

has over-calculated his powers.

Heavy

with wet, the canvas droops and threatens again

to collapse,

when Nurput

to the rescue,

and with

a rush, and a shout, and some very bad language,

that
useful

vagabond

catches

the

tottering

32

Travels in Ladah^

canopy

Two

minutes more, and the

canvas
is

close-

packed mass of helpless

tent
?

a tent.

A home for

a king.

" Puthar, burra, burra puthar/' cries

Chumpa,
;

and another tent

crave

rears its dripping

form

but I

pardon,

reader

you,

happy in your

"blessed ignorance"

of India,

know not

yet

what

" burra, burra puthar," means.

I trust that

" folly" will not be a necessary lien

on the knoweconomical

ledge that friend

varlet,

Chumpa

is

an

and hoards

his tent-pegs as

though they

were golden ingots.

a w^eighty stone
is

tent rope coiled round

as

secure as if attached to a

peg, however well malleted

his precious pegs,

down; and
stones

to save

Chumpa used

when he

could get them.

Now

"burra, burra puthar,"

bring),

means " big, big stone" (subauditur,

so our tents were pitched. It

and

grows
a

late

now, and in spite of whisky and

small voice from somewhere
itself heard,

cheroots,

still

about the digestive organs makes

*'

and

dinner
It

dinner

"

is

what

it says.

was just the very day

:

for

Indian servants to

outdo themselves

surround them with luxuries,

33

Tariary^

and Kashmir.

give tliem fireplaces, grates, ovens, and a park of

haUeries de
cuisine^

with

meat the tenderest,

and you
will

and vegetables the most

rare,

more

than probably starve for want of a wholesome

dish
;

but put them in camp in rainy weather,

with no such appliances,

say

you want dinner,

and you

will get a feast

I do not

mean

to

deny that the enjoyment of

dinner depends greatly on the sense of anticipation;

and that often when the chance of suba very

stantial fare is

shadowy one

when you
off a

begin to think that you will have to dine

cigar,

and

sup

la

belle

etoile

an
;

unex-

pected meal, though intrinsically of villainous

flavour, will delight

your astonished

palate,

simply because
allowing
this,

it

comes

a V improviste
all

but

I will maintain that

especially Ali

Mahom-

medan
under

cooks,

Bux, cook better

difficulties

than in clover.

He
plate.

had

selected from our

Ladakhis a

scullion,

the most ill-favoured menial that ever washed a

It

was strange to

see the

two

at

work

to

watch their antagonistic

;

profiles

bending over

the flesh-pots

Ali

Bux, with his close-shorn

34
classic

Travels in Ladah^

brow; and "

Tom Sayers,"

so
:

we

called him,
tall,

with brutish front and

thin, stately,

elfin locks
;

the one

and

aristocratic

the other dwarfish,

;

thick-set, clumsy,

and low-born

Ali Bux, whose

OUK CHEF AND HIS ASSISTANT.

finely-cut aquiline features

harmonized well with

flowing beard
;

his glossy

moustache and

Tom

Sayers,

whose

plebeian want of nose

equally

well suited his thick, distorted lips, and coarse,

unfruitful chin.

The

imherhis

juvenis

hadn't

chance,

in

point of good looks, with his elderly Mentor

and I fancy

it

was in a great measure

his sense

of inferiority in this respect, which

made him
of

soon

throw

up the

greasy

appointments

scullion-general

and deputy-turnspit,

with the

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

35

pay and

perquisites thereto

appertaining, and

take to "kliilta" carrying again.

cheeky,

He

soon got
ceris

monitorihm
It

asper

prodigus

he

certainly was.

must have taken a

lot of

brass to beard that solemn follower of the Pro-

phet

and,

as

to cereus

in

vitiiim

Jlecti,

he

was

like the rest of us.

We

are all just as

bad

as you,

Tom Sayers.

The dinner bore out

its

my

expectations,

and over
that Ali

hot, savoury fragrance

we vowed

Bux was

the Soyer of the East, forgot

we had

even been wet, and heard not the storm without.

It rained all night,

and the morning broke

ever.

more unpromisingly than

Our road

led us over the

mighty shoulder of

the Jilauri Mountain.

At

this it goes straight,

without a swerve, without an apology for the

extra exertion to which
it is

about to put you.

is

No
the

cunningly-devised zigzag
difficulties of

here

to

mask

the way, and half-persuade you

to lay the flattering unction to your soul that,

after
all,

it

is

only a very gradual slope

long,

perhaps, but very gradual.

stares

The

stern reality

you in the

face

without disguise; there

D 2

36
is

Travels in Ladak^

not the slightest attempt

made

to mitigate the

incontrovertible fact, that

up that

infernal hill

you must
straight.

go,

and what

is

more, you must go

E-ugged,

steep,

and stony in

the

best

of

weather, this uncompromising pathway naturally

appears to the greatest advantage in rain like this

when down

it

pours a very respectable rivulet

(respectable, I

mean, in

size

its

habits are those

it all

of a most hardened vagrant), carrying with

the loose debris

it

has strength to move, laying

all

bare and bringing out into bold relief

stern points of
its

the

channel's character,

and adda

ing to

the

natural

amenities of the route

greasy slipperiness which, as you

may

imagine,

tends greatly to aid the traveller's progress on

his

upward way.
all

But
limit

things have an end, and there

to
this

is

even

interminable
is

climb.

A
of

strangely- wild

spot

the ridge on which you

o'er,

pantingly pause with a sense of labour

battle
still

won

to the

left

stretches

higher and

higher the

continuation of the ridge on

which you stand, blackly frowning througli the

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
wreatlie
Jilauri's

o7
front.

thick

clouds

wliicli

Below you sweep weird masses of grey vapour

fleeing

before

tlie

conquering wind, that ever

blast,

and anon, with a sudden

tatters
;

rends
their

them

to

and peering through

scattered
is

shreds,

down beneath

you,

lo

it

bright

sunshine, and green crops ripen, and flat-roofed

hamlets nestle, snug in the genial warmth, unconscious of the

mighty

strife

that rages so far

above them.
rallies

Once more the

scattered
forces,

spirit of

the mist

his

and

shoulder to

shoulder, in serried rank, again

they dare the

headlong charge of the north wind's dread light

cavalry
;

and the glimpse of peace below

its

is

hid

from you, and in

stead suggests itself a sense

of individual discomfort, for, fascinated

by the
in that

grandeur of the storm, and exulting

strangely-exhilarating sense of height,
for the

you have
are but a

moment

forgotten that

you

miserable pale

face,

laying in a stock of future

rheumatism and neuralgia.

Now

a shiver shud-

dering up from the soles of your laced-up boots

to the
calls

crown of your drenched wideawake,

to

re-

you

your own poor

common-place

in-

38
significant
self,

Travels in Ladak^

and you toddle down the other

with but one idea predominant,

side of Jilauri

and that
cold

is,

a faint hope that you haven't caught

The path down

west,
is,

Jilauri

towards the north-

in comparison with its ascent from the

south-east,

quite

gentlemanlike

means

of

communication, though strongly marked by the

characteristic

straightforward obstinacy
as a
rule,
is

of

all

the

Kulu

roads, which,

ignore the

proverb, "

The

longest

way round

the shortest

way

there

" eschewing all divergence, they

make

straight for their destination, and great indeed

must be the

obstacle that turns

them

aside.

The length

of time which

we took

in reaching
diffi-

the bottom, showed almost more than the

culties of the ascent,

to

what a height we had

11,300 feet above the

lately risen.

(Jilauri is

level of the sea.)

We were
but with a

now

leaving the realm of wind and

It
still

mist further behind at every step.

noiseless,

rained,
as

gentle downfall

not

above, with a spiteful, angry scud.

At

last, too,

the longed-for sun appeared, and at his smile

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

39

Nature dried
welcome.

lier tears,

and laughed liim back a

Avliich

rude wooden bridge,

spanned

a brawling brook, swollen with the late rains,

offered us
railing,

an almost dry seat on

its

moss-grown
and

and there we basked

Jilauri.'
;

in the sunlight

abused
It

was no use going on

coolies,

we had outstripped
all

the

and tents and baggage were

behind, so there
line

we

sat

and watched the long

as

of

''

weight

carriers "

they struggled

down
slow.

the mountain-side, with cautious step and

But who

is

this

coming along
feet ?

at a steady run,

with bent back, but active

The

coolies

one

and

all

make way

for

him

as

he rapidly passes
perceive that he,

them.

As he draws near we
burden

too, has his

small and light one, but

as carefully carried.
us,

carefully packed,

and

He
is

comes straight towards

redoubling his pace,

and makes obeisance

but his panting salaam

official friend,"

rudely interrupted by the "

who,
its

snatching the man's bundle, tears savagely at

wax-cloth covering.

To

our questions he makes

no audible reply, but shies at our heeids jj our

40
toute reponse,

Travels in Ladak^

Pimches, Evening Mails, Saturday

all

Reviews^ and, most welcome of

reservation
in

(with a mental
letters

regard

to

duns),

from

England
It

was the post

Our halting ground, Jibeh, was about three

miles on
aforesaid,
;

the path followed the brawling brook

and our tents were pitched

on.

ere the rain

again came

Our servants crowded under

the shelter of a Deota, or small wooden temple

of picturesque shape, which

stood close to our

DEOTA.

tents

and altogether, the night of the

21st.

23rd
It
if

was an improvement on that of the

still

rained, but
itself.

in

subdued manner, as

ashamed of

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
cloud,

41

The morning dawned without a

tents were struck soon after.

and the

At

the next two

lialts,

Platch and Largi, are

houses for the accommodation of travellers.

is

This

a great advantage, enabling one to send on

the tents independently to Bujoura, a distance

of about
five -and -forty miles.

Two

deep

and

rapid unbridged

rivers

have to be crossed be-

tween Largi and Bujoura, rendering the absence

of tents and
able.
all

such impedimenta highly desir-

The march

to Platch

is

an easy one

the road

continues to follow the brook, which increases

rapidly in
is

volume

till,

after

about nine miles,

it

joined

by a good-sized

mountain

stream,
;

which comes down from the high ground

on

the right their united waters form a stream of

some magnitude, which runs straight down the

valley to Largi.

A well-built bridge
as that over the

of wood, of the
crosses

same kind
tributary

Sutlej,

the

from the right, and the road then follows the

course of the stream to Largi.
at the

Platch

is

situated

summit

of a steep ascent

to the right.

42

Travels in Ladak^
told of

Here stands the house we had been

small, square,

two-roomed

building,

swarming

with

flies.

A funeral
along.

had crossed the road

in

as

we passed

The body was swathed

white cloths,
poles, in not

and

carried

on a rude bier of rough

the most reverential manner.

The

bearers

went

along merrily enough, nothing seemed to delay

their rapid jog-trot, save here

and there where a

for

steep bit of
their

ground made them go warily

own

sakes, or
tired,

when

the shoulders of one of

his share of the
else.

them got

and he heaved

load on to the shoulders of somebody

Three musicians led the procession, which did

not consist of more than a dozen people.
fiddle of three strings, a
fife,"

drum, and " ear-piercing

were their instruments.

The music was

hardly of a solemn character.

The performers

appeared to be on the best of terms with each

other, but their instruments were " at

daggers

drawn."

The

fiddle

could never have scrcqwd

more than a

hoioiyig

acquaintance with the

fife,

who on
slight

his part

must have resented even that

insult, for

attempt at familiarity as an

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
;

43

they were

now

decided cuts

and the drum,

hored and distracted with their jarring notes,

growled an " accompaniment" that was anything

but agreeable.

There was only one mourner, and he a comely

lad,

with an

earnest,
eyes.

melancholy look in his

bearers ran carelessly

large

brown

The

down

the slope towards the river, jolting their

till

ghastly burden

the gaunt limbs were shaken

from their

cere-cloths,

and shocked the eye with

postures.

their stark, unnatural

Then

the boy

with the melancholy eyes seemed to remonstrate

with them, but unseemly jokes were his answer,

and

the

shrill

scream

of

the

fife

drowned

his appeals.

Poor boy!
it

I watched the strange procession as

passed

below, to where a strip of white sand stretched

out into the meeting of the waters.

Here was

prepared a funeral-pile, from which soon arose a

cloud of thick smoke.

"We found on inquiry that the deceased was

a

zemindar, or landholder, in

the
;

neighbourthe bearers,

hood.

The boy,

his youngest son

elder brethren, friends,

and

kinsfolk.

44-

Travels in Ladak^
Platcli

At

we parted from our

ponies, for

whom

the

unbridged rivers in our front were

obstacles insuperable.

They

started for a ford

higher up, and would get,

we were

told,

to

Bujoura before us.

It
is

a weary walk to

Largi

weary

six-

teen miles
either
side

along a narrow gorge shut in on

by high rocky

cliffs,

whose base

stood

in

the

mountain stream which foamed

us.

along beneath
starting,

I looked back shortly after

strip of

and on the small white

still

sand the

zemindar's funeral-pile
tary figure
sat

smouldered.

A
!

soli-

beside

it.

Poor
vigil

boy

he

must have passed an awesome

above,

black

sky

on

this

side

and on that black waters

rushing past, and his sole occupation the some-

what strange one of keeping papa

sun beat
reflected
fiercely

alight.

The
which

down on our stony

path,

back his rays with a furnace-like heat

;

and glare

but

it

was not

as

bad

as the valley of

the Sutlej, for

now and then came

a grateful

breeze fresh from the

snowy peaks which showed

white in the

far distance against the blue sky.

At

Largi,

a long low building, with a rude

Tartary^

and
a
"

Kasliinir.

45

verandah,

guiltless of

door or window, was

our shelter for the night.

We
to bed

had a long day's work before and early

to rise

us.

Early

was the

order,

and

at

five o'clock

next morning

we were

at the river's

bank, superintending the passage of the baggage

by

a "jhula," or rope bridge.

THE JHULA,

Oil

KOPE BRIDGE.

46

Travels in Ladak^

The sketch
a

gives a better idea of the reality of

rope

bridge

than

any word-painting

can.

Every item of our property had

over separately,
in

to be slung

the

manner

depicted,

and

everything reached the opposite bank in safety.

In

fact,

there

is

no danger so long

as the ropes
re-

hold

you

are tied firmly into

your seat and

main passive and powerless during the

operation.

The

sensation

is

not a pleasant one, especially

when you

are kept pendant in the middle to be

photographed, as befell

me

barring the sense of

it

choking, and the wrench to your neck,

must

be very like hanging.

Mi/ Jack Ketch

for

left

me
two

dangling in mid

air

something

like

minutes to give, forsooth, an air of interest to

a photograph. I have sat for
still;

my

portrait,

but

never sat I so

remonstrance I knew was in

vain, for the roar of the torrent beneath

would

have drowned the

cries of a
!

Boanerges.

My

poor goats

they struggled vehemently

for the first

few seconds, but a glance below conEe-

vinced them of the inutility of resistance.

alizing at once the horrors of their helpless position,

fate.

they stoically resigned themselves to their

Tartary^ and Kashmir,

It

47
transit of

was tedious work watching the

other people's baggage, especially

when

there
;

seemed to be no chance of an

accident

so,

having seen our own traps safely deposited on

the right bank of the river, the Major and I
strolled

on up the path you see in the sketch,

find breakfast laid in

to

where we hoped to
spot.

some

shady

We
fore

had now,

as

it

were, left the provinces, and

were rapidly approaching the

metropolis; be-

us spread the fertile valley of Sultanpore,

the capital of Kulu.

Our entrance

into

it

shall

be recorded in the next chapter.

48

Travels in Ladah^

"^
r
'

-' '-.)

CHAPTEE

lY.

?tffiHE Maior and I

Jr
till

strode sturdily on

a sudden turning of

the

pathway displayed
welcome spec-

to us the
tacle

of Ali

Bux and

Tom

Sayers, surrounded

by simmering
kettles,

tea-

breakfast-

cups,

and savoury

odours.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

49
in a

Another minute, and we were reclining

state

of indescribable beatitude, tended on

by

willing slaves,
cigars
;

who

proffered

first,

a light for our

!

next, a hot, fragrant cup of tea

It was,

harring the ladies, a pagan's paradise.

But here

they come, tripping a-down the path before us,

a laughing bevy of
liouris,

women and

children, not
all

exactly,

but country-folk of

ages

And
some

here
six

it strikes

me that though we have

fertile

been

days in this

province of Kulu, not

its

one word have I said anent

inhabitants.

Let

me commence by
is

describing the merry party that

approaching us.

KULU WOMAN.

HEAD-DRESS OF KULU WOMEN.

Their features are good, generally, and of that

type of which the children are pretty, the girls

handsome, the

mammas

sternly featured, and the

50

Travels in Ladak^
positively hideous.
girl,

grandmammas
group

Look
all

at that

child,

matron, hag;

are there,

and yet perhaps not one of them has seen thirty

summers.
There
dress
:

is

one striking peculiarity ahout their

1

they " wear the breeches " whether in

WOMAN

OF KULU.

token of domestic supremacy, I

is

know

not, but it

possible that

no such deep

significance lurks
for

in the

costume,

and that they are worn

purposes simply of warmth, comfort,

cency.

and de-

However, I

feel

that

it is

out of place in

pages professedly

superficial to discuss a question

Tartar])^

and Kashmir,
you

51
please, leave

so grave
it

we

will therefore, if
scientific

for

the

next
let

traveller

to

solve.

Meanwhile,
one and
all

me

impress on you the fact

!

they
silk

wear breeches
nice

And

very

ones

they

are
;

of
the

frequently,

and of a peg-toppy cut

but
till

above, very

voluminous,

contracting

from

knee
slim

downwards,
ankle,

they

fit

tight over the

and end just where a massive anklet of

graceful
limb, thus

white metal confines the

showing the whole of (generally) a very small

foot.

So tight are they

ever get

at the ankle, that

how they
sug-

them on

is

a puzzle.

The Major

gested that
take

perhaps

when once on they never

trust, reader, that

them

off;

but I

you

will,

with me, scout such an idea as an unwarrantable

and malicious

suspicion.

A chemisette with
persons
;

short sleeves, and reaching

below the waist, covers the upper part of their

but
it
is

in the head-dress that most

is

scope for a display of taste

given

their hair,

plaited into one long tress, is

wound round the

head in turban-like

folds,

and looped up over a

E 2

52
little

Travels in Ladah^

black

flat

hat of woollen
pork-pie hat, in
straight,

cloth
fact),

with a

turned-up rim

(a

which

is

worn
on

either

demurely

or coquettishly

one
;

side,

according to

the caprice

of the

wearers

and to give a certain piquancy to the

this little hat, a little tassel is added.

charms of

Picture to yourself a bright-eyed, well-featured,

nut
*'

brown

face

peeping

from

under

this
is

coiffure,"

and agree with

me

that the effect

charming.

The nut-brown complexion

colour, that the

is

a good lasting

sun does not freckle by day nor

it is

the

frosts

chap by night, but

not proof

against the crows' -feet of Father

alas
!

Time

wrinkles,
is

begin to show themselves ere girlhood

past

I regret to say that they are apt to feign a

luxuriance

of hair which

does not exist; but

they do
forgive

it

in so ingenuous a
;

manner that you

them the

skeins of

brown worsted with

which they lengthen

their dark tresses are so un-

mistakeably brown worsted,

pity
for the

that out of sheer of the attempt

at

transparency
it.

imposture you forgive

In

fact,

own

to

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

53
tlius

some

slight

compunction of conscience in
frailties

betraying
sisters.

these

to

their

European
deit

But
it

let

me make amends by
firm opinion that
;

claring

to be

my

they do
as

with no wish to deceive

that

it

is

much

custom with them to wear brown worsted ends

to the glossy tresses, as
it
is

to

wear

silk con-

tinuations of masculine cut.

I also regret to say that nose-rings and goitres

are both very prevalent.

Moorcroft says that " the

poorer classes
is first
is little

common

garb of the

else

than a blanket, which

;

wrapped round

the waist

one end

is

brought over the shoulders, and fastened across

the breast with skewers, and the other
is

passed
;

round the thighs, and secured to the waist

legs

the

and

feet

are bare.*'

Some

of our coolies
it is

answered this description exactly, but

right that I should add that they were

but

all

of the

male

sex.

The
the

well-to-do

men wear

little flat

hats like

women,

woollen

peg-top trousers, and

sort of woollen smock-frock, fastened

round the

waist with a girdle

a most

sensible

and com-

54
fortable

Travels in Ladah^

costume; in cold weather, a blanket

as a great-coafc.

worn as a plaid does duty

But on

seeing us the laughter of the merry

if

group has ceased, and they try to pass as

didn't

they
only

know we were

looking at them
their

it is
!

the

children

bless

honest
stare.

eyes

who

honour us with a good

Our knicker-

bockers, however, are too great a novelty to be

passed quite unnoticed, and I catch one young

lady,

with sidelong glance, taking mentally a

pattern of

my

nether garments, with a view,

doubtless, to an interview with her milliner on

her return home.

Now
cession,

" coolies" begin to pass us in rapid suc-

and soon up come the "

Official

Friend"

and the photographer, Terrear bringing up the

rear, acting for

the nonce as baggage guard, and

stragglers.

whipping up the
Their arrival

is

the signal for breakfast

it is

soon despatched, and Ali

Bux

is

ordered to

hurry on, for we have

many

miles to go and

another river to cross before nightfall.

The

scene before us was a most lovely one

straight

we looked

up a green valley some two

Tartary^
or three miles broad,

and Kashmir,
which stretched away

55
till

the eye could no longer distinguish where

fertile

its

slopes

ended,
it

or
;

where the mountains

above these again rose

which bounded

began

peaks so unearthly in their purity, that but that

they moved not, we should have called them

clouds.

Glittering

down

the centre of the valley rolled

river,

towards us the Beas

placid as a lake

now broad,
left

still,

and

now
fair

confined in a narrower
till

channel, racing on with rush and roar

it

entered a deep gorge on our

so to curtail
difficult to
its

here

it

seemed
it

proportions that

was

persuade oneself that this narrow,

as that
its

dark,
just

smooth stream was the same

to
fill

which
broad

now seemed

the valley with

bosom.
" Still waters run deep ;" such the solution of

the puzzle.

In about another mile or two

the stream

it fell

in with

we had just

crossed,

and turning sud-

denly to the right, swept on towards the plains.

Author,
loq.

(who has evidently been studying

the Friend of India).

"

What

a glorious valley


56
Travels in Ladak^

Where

could Government find a better place to

try the experiment on a grand scale of European

military colonization?"
Official Friend.

" Where, indeed

*

but

first/

as Mrs. Glass says,

is

catch your hare/

The land
I

not Government's to give.

is

Look around you

All available land

every inch of
it

already under cultivation

belongs to native proprietors,

who,

as
is

you

perceive,

make very good

use of

it.

There

not room for the European."

Author.

"

Where

is

the difficulty

Purchase

the land,
native."
Official

offering

ample compensation to the

Friend.

" But the land

upon the

is

not for sale

and

it

would be an

act of arbitrary tyranny, only

to be excelled

by actual ejectment, were Governsale of this people's

ment

to

insist

paternal acres.

No

if

Government wants
done
is

to

colonize, the only thing to be

to pur-

chase from the native proprietors whatever land

there

may be

in the market,

and

to retain for
'

disposal to settlers, as required, all

lawaris!

"

Author
deuce do
!

(completely

puzzled)."
say,

What
what
is

the

pardon meI would

'

the

meaninsT of the term

lawaris ?'

''

Tartary^
Official

and Kashmir,

57

Friend (with a benign smile, and in an

instructive tone).

"

'

Lawaris' means land going

by

default of heirs, to

which Government has

as yet rarely, if ever, asserted its right, being

content to

make over such

title
first

estates to

any one

with the shadow of a

of a claimant, to the
to guarantee the

to them, or, in default

person

who might

offer

Government assessment."
" the

" But," continued the Official Friend,

only land, as far as

my
its

experience goes, thus

available, is forest land, uncleared,

and

at a

high
is

elevation
itself

the fact of

being uncleared

in

a formidable obstacle to the settler, and

its

the fact of

high elevation a
it is

still

more

difficult

one to surmount, for

irrigation.

above the possibility of

"
,

Now

want of water

is

the principal difficulty

which native cultivators in the Himalayas have

to fight against

there

is

a great deficiency of

water at above a certain, and that a very low,

elevation."

Author.

" The cultivation

;

of tea does not re-

quire

much water
Friend.

potatoes, too."
*'

Official

Granted

but the cultiva-

58

Travels in Ladak^

tion of tea requires capital, which your European

military settlers have not got

toes, natives will

and

as for pota-

always be able to undersell a

European who attempts to grow them with a

view to making a livelihood thereby.
see myself

I can't

how

a retired soldier, settled on a

likes

piece

of land

which he may do what he

with,

can make a livelihood;

will

but grant that

it is possible,

he do so

A retired soldier,
Military

freed from the restraint

and

discipline of a regi-

ment,
life

is

not likely to work very hard.

in India tends no doubt to the formation of

idle habits,

and a pensioner

is

man

jealous of

control,

not well disposed towards the natives,

bottle."

and not unfrequently addicted to the

Author (who does not like to hear his cloth

abused by a

civilian
it).

anything about

who cannot

possibly

know
I can
all re-

" Oh, pardon

me

name

instances

look
1"

at So-and-so, &c.

spectable

members

of society, hard-working

and

well-conducted

Official Friend.

"I

do not deny

it.

But the

men you
living far

speak of are not agricultural colonists,

away from the

rest of their country-

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
on

59
thriving

men

they are artisans carrying

trades in

European

stations,

and

themselves

employing a great deal of native labour.

are, besides, exceptional cases.

They

speak of your

average soldier, and I

of him.
"

am

right in

my

estimate

In

fact,

I think myself that

Government

would commit a very serious

goes out of
its

political error if it

way

to induce
;

European

soldiers

to settle as agriculturists

the chances of success

appear to

me

so slight,

the attendant difficulties

is

so great, that

though Government

bound

to

afford every assistance to the

man who

has made
it

up

his

mind

to seek a fortune as a settler,

should be, at the same time, exceedingly cautious

not to encourage hopes which are so unlikely to

be realized.

"Then

the settler must marry

Whom? "Whom
in ten can hope

but a native

woman ?

Not one

to take to wife an English

woman.

Not

a very

pleasant prospect for the philanthropist to contemplate, especially

when he

gives a thought to

the character of the consequent progeny.

*'

What

greater curse can befall a country than

60
to be overrun

Travels in Ladah^

by a race of
bad,

half-breeds

endowed
the

with

all

the

deficient

in

all

good

qualities of the parent stock ?

" Again, suppose the settler married to a white

woman

What

a fatal country

is

this for the

children of

European parents.

We

have been

now one hundred

is

years in the country, yet there

not one recorded instance of a third genera-

tion

the descendants
Friend.

of Europeans."*

Author (shifting his ground).

Official

"

But

in Java ?"

" Java

Oh, I

am

ready to

admit that the system of culture obtaining in

Java would

alter the case

very much, for by

it

Government can compel the native landholders

to devote a certain

portion of their holding to

the cultivation of sugar, tobacco, tea, &c.

This

system has doubtless

its

advantages, and would

unquestionably create a larger demand for com-

mon European

labour
to do

but

then Government
it

must be prepared
bind
*
itself to

what

does in Java

to

purchase a certain portion of the

Vide Dr. Chivers on "

Means

of Preserving Health of
Science^

Europeans in India."

Indian Annals of Medical

January, 1859, page 380.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

produce at a certain

rate, to

make

large advances

without interest to European and native speculators

for the

purchase of machinery, &c. &c.,

without which the said produce would be of no

value.

But such
is

interference with

the native
re-

landholders

opposed to our practice, and

pugnant to English ideas generally."

Author (beaten at
of opinion that
it is

all points).

"

Then you

are

only by the cultivation of

as tea, &c. &c.,

exportable products

such

which

requires a considerable outlay of capital to com-

mence

with, that

European

colonists can thrive

in the hills
Official

"
?

Friend.

''Himalayas^

mind

not Neil-

gherries."

Author.
colonists

" In the Himalayas

have no
is

and

as military

capital,
!

European military

colonization
Official

myth

eh ?"
sententiously).
start
;

Friend (slowly and

" Q.E.D.

But we must make a

it's

time

to be moving."

After a walk of some miles

we ascended

to the
river

bank of the Beas, where another novelty in

transit awaited us.

62

Travels in Ladah^

About

thirty natives, stripped

deri, or

to

the

skin,

each provided with a

inflated

buffalo

DERIS IN THE

WATER

MANNER OF PADDLING.

hide,

were busily paddling our servants and bag-

gage across the stream, here of great breadth,

and running with a current

the paddlers some distance
the opposite bank
;

so rapid as to carry

down ere they reached

then, shouldering their hides.

DERIS OUT OF THE WATER.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

63

they marched up the side to a point a good

above, and entering the water
again,

way

paddled

back for a fresh load.

Such quaint, odd, shapeless things

not without a semblance of the
once kept warm.

and yet
they

live buffalo

Once in the water they

and

lose all

originality of expression,

are so evidently in

their element,

and

at their ease, that

you

trust

yourself to their buoyant backs without hesitation.

But watch them emerging dripping from

DERIS OUT OF THE WATER.

the stream

See the feebly pompous, and help-

lessly inflated air

with which they mount their

Centaurs reversed, pawing the

owners' backs

64
air

Travels in Ladak^

with nerveless stumps of

legs,

and solemnly
as the ferry-

nodding and bowing to each other

men

stop to chat,

and you can hardly persuade

!

yourself that they are not alive

I have never seen anything to compare with

them

in monstrous absurdity

save perhaps the

strange specimens of the insect world that the

microscope discovers in every drop of water.

Poor beasts

It

is

sad to reflect that how-

ever perfect their health

alive, their hides are

may have been when

inevitably to con-

doomed

stantly recurring

and

frightfully severe attacks

of flatulency

Moorcroft gives so good an account of them

that I will quote him.
"

The

skins used for this purpose are those of

bullocks,

which are stripped

off in this

manner.

An
leg,

incision is

made

in the back part of a hind

;

almost the whole length

ofi"

and the skin being

is

flayed

from the hock upwards

turned

for-

wards, the same

management being observed

as

in the process technically termed casing a hare,

except that the skin

is

cut through below and

left

round the knees and hocks, the legs being

Tartary^

and Kashn/ir.

65
then doubled
suffer

adhering to the body.

The

hide

is

up and buried
so

for a

few days, in order to

much decomposition

as will favour the sepais

ration of the hair, which

rubbed

off

by the

hand, or a blunt wooden knife, without abrasion

of the skin.
out,

The

skin

is

then turned inside

eyes, &c.,

and the natural openings of the

stitched

up

it

is

then turned back again, and

the main incision sewed up with thongs of raw

hide.

The open ends

one,

of the
left

limbs are

tied,

except

which

is

open as a tube by

which to

inflate

the skin.

The thin

tar procured
is

from the deodar and other species of pine,

then poured into the skin, and shaken about in

it

until the flesh inside is well charged

it
is

with

it,

and
in

then tanned exteriorly by steeping

it

an infusion of pomegranate husks.

for

When
into
it

required

use the

waterman blows
ties

through the hind tube, and

up the opening.

double thin cord

is

fastened round the inflated

skin, across

which the waterman places himself

holding the string with his
left

on his

chest,

hand, whilst with his right he manages a short

oar,

assisting his passage

with his hands

and

66
feet.

Travels in

Ladak^
stick is tied in
it

Sometimes a piece of

one

of the legs, and left projecting from

for the

waterman
passenger,

to hold instead of the string.

The

with as

much baggage

as

he can with his

carry, sits astride the ferryman's back,

knees bent, and resting on the

skin.

When

heavy and bulky

articles are to

be transported,

two skins are brought together, the ferryman of

each laying hold of one of the projecting legs
of

the

other skin,

and a frame or
lies

raft sup-

porting

the

burden,

across

the backs

of

both

a charpai, or Hindoostanee bedstead, forms

raft.

the most convenient

led over, the

Horses and mules are

waterman holding them by a string

in one hand, whilst he paddles himself and his

human load across

in the

manner above
is

described.

When
nience.

not inflated, the skin

slung over the

back, and carried about

without any inconve-

No

expedient seems equally well adapted

of large bodies of

for the transport

men and
or
so

baggage

over

the most

rapid

rivers,

likely to be serviceable as a

wreck-buoy or

float,
*

to be carried on board ship.

is

The

cost of a

deri'

usually a rupee and a half (three shillings).

Tartar]]^

and Kashmir.

07

and

its

weight not above sixteen pounds.

couple of deri-men usually accompany persons of

rank hunting in the

across

hills, in

order to carry

them

the mountain-streams, the

rapidity and
it

fury, if not the

sible to ford

depth of which, render

impos-

them without such

assistance."

The Major and myself

little

stripped and bathed a

it

higher up.
jolly,

We

told each other that

it

was

very

and that we enjoyed

immensely;

but our shivering limbs and chattering teeth

gave the

lie

direct to our protestations.

its

It

was

snow-water, not long emancipated from

glacier
!

parent

I shudder
a fort

as I write

A few miles
manded by

more and we reached our

tents,

pitched close to Bujoura, a small village com-

now

in ruins

but

it

must

for-

merly have been a place of some consequence.

Moorcroft,

who saw

it

some

forty years before,

calls it " a large

square fort belonging to Kulu.

It consists of square towers connected

curtain, the

by a low

whole built of hewn stone, strengthfir."

ened with beams of

And no

doubt

in

those days, before our occupation of the country,

afforded a great protection to the
F 2

Ladak mer-

68

Travels in Ladak^

chants from robbers and other illegitimate leviers

of black mail,

and

at the

same time checked

smuggling and enforced the payment of the then

Government's
tolls.

Chnmpa met us with

face
;

a broad grin on his honest

but to our inquiries about the ponies he

could give no satisfactory answer

they

hadn't

come

that was
far

all

he could

tell us.

Not

from our encamping ground some

speculator

enterprising

had commenced a

tea-

plantation

a melancholy Baboo,

whose tent was

its

pitched hard by, superintended

cultivation.
affected the

His desponding
plants,

air

seemed to have

which drooped their heads in sickly

guise,

a sad contrast to Mr. Berkeley's healthy shrubs.

That night, fatigued by the long day's work,

the " Official Friend" and our artist retired to
their tents betimes, leaving their

two companions

meditatively smoking the pipe of eve.

"

Do you know,"

said the Author, " those were

colo-

monstrous sensible remarks of Hay's about

nization
;

and though, of

course,

it's

utterly ridi-

culous for a civilian to

halloo

where are you

going


Tartary^

and Kashmir.

69

The Major

(sidling towards the tent door)

"Oh, monstrous
good night
pitately.)
!

sensible

remarks!

ar

ar

mons'ous sensible."

(Exit

preci-

Author

(solus)

''

''

Well,

it is

devilish
little

odd that
rational

whenever a fellow wishes to have a

conversation

(Exit grumbling to bed.)

I trust, reader, that our conversation of this

morning did not bore you

had done the Major.

as

much

as it evidently

"feebly pompous, and hopelessly inflated.

70

Travels in Ladah^

/
^.
rx

X^
^

\^-^

CHAPTER
UJOTJRA
to Le.
"^
is

Y.

situated

on

one of the main roads

By this

route,

Nurpnr,

Umritsar, and Loodiana receive

their shawl- wool,

and by

it

they

send back in return their manufactured shawls and worked

stuffs.

The main road branches

these
at

off

to

manufacturing
place
called

towns

^
^n?J-

'/^^
-'

.vA/v^^_

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
or

Mundi*
city),

(the market),

Mandinagur (marketabout five-and-twenty

on the Beas

river,

miles to the south-west of Bujoura.

From Bujoura
miles

a march of about nine or ten

took us to Sultanpore,

otherwise

called

Kulu, and the capital of the province of that name.

Tlie road
is

a good one, and appears to be kept

It passes between a youthful

in

good

repair.
trees,
is

avenue of
shade, and

which already

afford a grateful

crossed in two places

by branches

of the Serbari river, a considerable feeder of the

Beas.
a
little

At

the confluence of these two streams,

is built,

higher up the valley, Sultanpore

in the angle formed

It
is

by

their uniting waters.

not an imposing metropolis, though pos-

sessing an upper and a lower town, the former

being inhabited mainly by

artisans

and shop-

keepers, while the latter exhibits a few houses of

a more pretentious appearance.

We

were lodged

in the lower town, in a sort of square formed

by

the buildings formerly occupied by the Eajah, in

old days,

when Kulu

possessed one.

I pitched
*

my

tent on the greensward

which

Vide Cunningham's Ladalc, page 153.


72
carpeted the
Travels in Ladak^
little

square

but

my
to

companions

agreed to pass the night in a sort of alcove,

which appeared in

its

palmy days

have served

as a hall of audience,

where the Eajah was wont

his

to

sit

in state

and hold

mimic

court.

Next morning, however, I found

their beds

out in the open, and pitiable was the description

of their night's un-rest, to the truth of which
their blotched faces, half-closed eyes,

and swollen

arms were

silent yet

most

eloquent witnesses.

Directly the lights were out, the

of audience

quondam
little

hall

had

swarmed with
as

visitors,

whose appearance was

entrance

unwelcome

as

their

was

unceremonious.

If their object
;

was

ejection they certainly succeeded

for soon

the beds were ordered out into the verandah

species of half-measure

which was

far

from
their

satisfying

the

conquerors, or
retreat

appeasing

wrath

so orderly a

was

no adequate
stings.

acknowledgment
Bent on a

of

their

victorious

total rout,

down swarmed again

the

insatiable foe,

and again were

my

discomfited

friends forced to seek safety in flight.

We made

an early

start,

and breakfasted

half-

Tartary^ and Kashmir.

73

way, our road

Beas, which
is

still

following the course of the

here confined to a narrow channel

hut as we approached our halting-ground, the

valley

again

opened

out

and gave

it

elbow

room.*

We
side,

camped on the right bank of the stream.

Opposite us, about half-way up the mountain-

was a large building, which we were told

was the summer residence of the Assistant Commissioner of Kulu.

We

were

diffident of
;

taking him by storm with

council of war,

so large a party

and, after a

decided on sending a deputation of one to wait

on him.

The most

eligible for the office of

our

ambassador, or representative, ^d,^,facile princeps,

the Photographer, and for

many

reasons

he was

the

best

dressed

This fact was ascertained

his ward-

beyond a doubt by an inspection of

robe.

He

possessed a vehicle

(a sort of palan''),

quin, called in the hills a "

dandy

and there-

One
its

of the

five

rivers

of
its

the

Punjab.

Ifc

is

the

Hyphasis of the Greeks. From

to

source in the Kotang Pass

at

confluence

with the
miles.

Sutlej

Hariki-Patan,

its

total length is

350

74
fore

Travels in Ladak^

need not walk, to which ignominious mode

of procedure the rest of us were doomed.

And

over and

above certain personal qualifications

fitted

which

eminently

him

for

the

task of

Mercury, he had the honour of a slight previous

acquaintance with the said Assistant Commissioner.

So without a dissentient voice he was

elected our delegate.

After an elaborate
assisted,

toilette,

at

which we

all

our artist departed, deeply impressed

with a sense of the importance of his mission, but

bearing himself bravely, like a
shrink from

man who

did not

its responsibilities, final

instructions
!

ringing in his ears, such as

in a
state

" Now, mind

no
! !

we're
!

of abject

destitution

beer

and

only one bottle of sherry

butter urgently required
!

bread
an

and fresh
you'd

for

invalid,

better say," roared a voice of stentorian

power
will

" in fact, the smallest alimentary

gratefully received, and, only
so,

trifle

be

you needn't say

ravenously devoured," &c. &c.

It

would require a pen dipped

in "imperial

purple
return.

"to

do justice to the triumph of his

him,
seated

Behold

on a borrowed

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

75

pony,

full

of lunch, and the proud consciousness

of having done his duty, loud in praise of the

courtesy of his host
hostess,

and the urbanity of

his
at

and pointing with a pardonable pride

two

slaves

who

followed him, staggering beneath

It

the weight of creature comforts.

was a very
riches

Cornucopia that now poured out

the grass before us.

its

on

Next
ponies.

morning

brought

us tidings

of our

They had

arrived in Sultanpore, but in

so sorry a plight, so battered, bruised,

sore, that

and

foot-

we

did not order

them

to follow us

but,

sending back for our saddles and bridles,

directed the

grooms to remain

at

Sultanpore

till

their poor charges

had recovered from the

travel,

effects

of their

mountain

and then to proceed by

easy marches to Belaspore, on the Sutlej, where

we hoped

to

meet them on our return home-

wards in October.

We
on

called next day,

e7i

route, as in

duty bound,

our

good Samaritans, the Assistant

Comgained
;

missioner and his wife, from

whom we

much
we

valuable information

regarding our road

also petitioned for a repetition of their

good

76
offices in

Travels in Laclak^

favour of our two poor Riflemen,

us.

who

were doing their best to overtake

After a short march of about eight miles

halted at Jug-et-sook, a small village, where

we
is

good-sized bungalow for the accommodation of

travellers.

Since

leaving Sultanpore

we had

been gradually ascending, and now found ourselves at

an elevation of

six

thousand

feet,

and

one march from the foot of the Eotang Pass.

The we had

character of the country through which

for the last

two days been passing was

one of unvarying beauty

the

great feature of

the landscape being the Beas Eiver, which, with

its

frequent tributaries, keeps the valley always

Cultivation
is

green.

pushed up the slopes of

side

the mountains on either

series of terraces

by means of a

supported by rough stone walls,

having the appearance, at a distance, of gigantic

flights

of

stairs.

When

the hill-side becomes

purposes,
its

too

steep for agricultural

green

slopes afford

abundant pasturage to vast

flocks of

sheep and goats.

At

intervals of

two and three

miles, well-built villages appear, surrounded

by
the

orchards of peach, apricot, and walnut trees

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

77

houses are of stone mostly, and two and three

stories in height, of

which the

cattle

occupy the

ground-floor, while the upper stories house the

family.

Soon

after

leaving
;

Jug-et-sook

the
it is,

valley

narrows rapidly
at a
less

the road, such as

incline
;

ascends

more perceptible
and
less,

cultivation

grows
''

and

the

" forest

primeval

encroaches more and more.

On

an eminence to

the right were some hot springs, of the existence

of which our
us,

Hindoo servants were eager

to tell

and

also to ask leave to

make

a pilgrimage

to them.

They

are looked

on as sacred by

all religiously-

minded Hindoos, and a bath

washes away a multitude of

in

their waters

sins.

The Hindoos

of the hills do not indulge in the diurnal ablutions of the

Hindoo
and
so
for

of the plains, at least not on

a journey

our servants to get a good

teynporal blessing

washing was

undoubtedly a

as far as their masters were concerned, that they

easily obtained permission to avail themselves of

the spiritual benefits attendant on a

warm

bath.

We

here saw the curious ceremony of taking

78

Travels in Ladak^

a god out for a promenade, conducting liim, with

much pomp, tom-tomming,

to the sacred springs,

shouting, and music,

offerings are

where

made
and

him

oi gltee
;

i.e.,

clarified butter

fine flour,

sugar

and then,

for fear, I

presume, that these

unaccustomed dainties should interfere with his

divine digestion, he
by,
is

taken to a grass-plot hard

till

and there danced up and down

his

votaries are tired with their exertions,

when they

once more shoulder the object of their adoration

and conduct him back to

his deota or temple.

The

divinity on this occasion was a strange

edifice of
tails,

scraps of

red cloth, feathers, cows'-

and other rubbish

!

very cheap god, in-

deed

When
five

new, he could not have cost more

;

than

shillings

and when we saw him he

for

was

sadly

the

worse

his

promenades,

dancings, and jollifications at the sacred springs.

His dilapidated appearance, however, detracted

in nothing from the veneration of his worship-

pers

he was, in their estimation, as good a god

as ever.

There was only one spring, which flowed into

a small reservoir of cut stone, and was connected

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
size

79

with a second reservoir of the same

little

by a

channel faced with stone.

*'A strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen

escaped with the vapour, and the water had the
taste of

Harrowgate water; but no medicinal

it

qualities are ascribed to

by the

natives."

So

says Moorcroft,
fectly

who

is,

1 have no doubt, per-

right

but being myself

unacquainted

either with the perfume of sulphuretted hydro-

gen, or

with

the

taste

either of

this

or

of

Harrowgate water, I cannot take upon myself

formally to corroborate his statement.

After leaving the hot spring, we scrambled on

by an unfrequented bye-path

to the banks of the

Beas again, here so dwindled that we forded

it

without

difficulty

and two or three miles

to

more of a gradual ascent brought us

village of

the

Bourwa, a

little

beyond which

we

camped.
fully

We

had now reached an elevation of

;

seven thousand feet

;

all

cultivation

had

ceased

the pine, the cypress, and the cedar took

the place of peach, apricot, and walnut tree

and rugged

cliffs

and rocky mountain

sides

met

the eye that so lately had rested on the trim

80
enclosures and
valley.

Travels in Ladak^
carefully irrigated fields of the

To our
tang

riglit

was

tlie

Eotang-ki-joth, or Eo-

Pass,
;

which

we
see
it

were
but

to

scale
it,

on the

morrow

we could

little

of

for thick

rain-clouds draped
little

almost to

its feet,

and what

we did

see looked cold, wet,

dreary,

and
in-

inhospitable.
tentions,

The

villagers,

on learning our

recommended us

to send

on

as

much

of

our baggage as we could spare at once, and in

reply to our

somewhat anxious

inquiries as to

the sort of weather

there,
said,

we were

likely to find

up

" It always rains

on the Eotang-ki-

joth!"

These birds of

ill

omen croaked
clear,

falsely.

The

morrow broke bright and

and we reached

the banks of the Chandra river without a drop

of rain.
miles
It

was a

stiff

walk

good seventeen

in the course
three

of which

we ascended

six^

and descended

thousand

feet.

The

tents were struck, and their late occupants

were shivering outside in the dim grey twilight

ere

day broke.

We

crowded round the smoulderfire

ing embers of the mighty

by

side of

which

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

81

our servants liad bivouacked, gulped down hot

cups of coffee or chocolate,
breath of

and on the dank

morn

floated lingeringly the fragrance

of our morning " weeds."

Soon

all

was packed.

One by one the

tive loads,
fire

coolies started

with their respec-

and no excuse

for loitering

round the

remained.

En

avant I
Ofiifol-

In front strode the stalwart form of the "

cial

Friend," closely waited on by his faithful

lowers, Bujjoo, Nnrput,

and Noura; the

latter

worthy I have

as yet only

mentioned by name,

but he deserves a more detailed description.

costume,
if

His

nothing

else, entitles

him

to a niche

in our portrait gallery.

He

" wears the jacket

it
it

red" of a 93rd Highlander, which, though

must have passed through many hands

reached those of

ere

Noura,

still

preserves

some-

thing of

its pristine

bravery

above this nods a

lofty turban, arranged in imitation evidently of

the " feather-bonnet."

I can trace no further attempt at Highland

costume, however
a strange
step
is
;

his nether limbs are clad in

tatters,

medley of rags and

but his

proud, and his bearing worthy of the

82

Travels in Ladak^
as

"garb of old Gaul,"

he shoulders his master's

fowling-piece and prepares to follow him.

He
them
load.

was the head-man of the Ladakhis who

us,

ac-

companied

and on the condition that he kept

was permitted to march without a
!

in order

Poor Noura

his language

was a most
on
all

unintelligible jargon, yet he put in his oar

occasions,

and was in

his

own

opinion and that

'

of his Ladakhis, an infallible " Sir oracle

subjects.

on

all

Bujjoo and Nurput can, when they please, get

themselves up in the height of
hill

dandyism,

but on the march they wisely appear in gar-

ments more serviceable than costly

to-day they
coolies,

have with them a couple of unladen

a
coil of stout rope,

and
be

with which the

Official

latter will

harnessed to the "

Friend" as the ascent

progress.

gets steep, and so aid his

upward

Close behind comes our artist, walking stoutly

as yet, but within a few yards

may be

seen his

" dandy,"

the
fire,

palanquin

before-mentioned
has been loth

and the Major

to leave the

who, with myself,

unwonted

somewhat maliciously wonders

activity will last
;

how long

this

the

Tartary^
artist
is

and Kashmir.
we,
it

83
is

no great pedestrian, and

best to confess at once, are rather proud of our

walking powers.

Such the order of our march

path
is

at starting
;

our

a rough and slippery one

to our right

roars unseen, at the

bottom of a narrow gorge,

to the limits of a

the Beas,

now reduced

mere

mountain stream, but

channel,
rises

pent

in

that
;

confined

a formidable torrent
cliff,

still

to our left

an overhanging
:

dripping with constant

turning to
is

moisture

now

up,

now down, now

to the
;

the right and

now

left,

there

no end to

our path's vagaries

valley

at last it

debouches on a

in

miniature,

not a quarter of a mile

little
it

broad, and in length but

more

high

cliffs

crowned with pines shut

in on the right

hand

and on the

left,

and from their summits

fall fre-

quent cascades, which form into rivulets at the

bottom, and intersect the valley.
of these cascades, and never
I counted nine
to have

remember

seen a more picturesque spot.

After crossing

the

little

valley

we

arrived at the foot of the

pass proper.

A rough causeway of stones leads up the ascent

g2

; ;

84

Travels in Ladak^

this is a great assistance to the pedestrian, giving

him

a firm footing, but

it is

too steep for cattle

right,

and a winding path stretched away to the

up which

all

four-footed wayfarers are driven.

is

This causeway

nearly four miles in length

and when the

slab,

traveller's foot rests

on

its

topmost

he has the satisfaction of knowing that the

is past.

worst half of his climb

The causeway
called

owes

its

existence to

a priest, or ^uru,

Eillat Bhagt, the religious

head of an

establish-

ment of mendicants."*

The

ascent for

the

next half-mile

is

much

more gradual, and

here, with his usual sagacity, breakfast.

had Ali Bux prepared

A
its

little

to the right of the causeway,

is

and near

summit,
the

a holy spot, sacred to all the gods

calendar.

in

Hindoo

We
after

were again

in-

debted to the religious zeal of our servants for

pointing this out to us
prostration, praying,
;

a good deal of

and

offering

up of handfuls

of flour, and lumps of sugar and ghee, the divi-

nity

at

last

vouchsafed his appearance in the

serpent about two and a half
I.,

shape of a
*

little

Vide Moorcroft, Part

page 188.

Tar tary^ and Kashmir,

feet long,

85

who wriggled about

playfully in the

sunshine, which had probably more to do with

his leaving his

snug hole in the rock than the

;

genuflexions of our followers

their delight, not

unmixed with awe,

at the reptile's appearance,

was unmistakeably genuine

their

credulity

was

no feigned feeling: they believed implicitly in

the presence of the supernatural, and their laith

was
foul

as

pure and unsophisticated as

its

object

was

and erroneous.
told us that sometimes as

They

many as twenty

or thirty of these snakes appear on this spot to

the faithful
"
is

" but that," added they, naively,

generally in the middle of the day,

is

when

the

sun

hot.'
runs,

The legend
before the

that

when the gods

fled

might of the Eakis

(the Titans
for a

of

Hindoo mythology), they took refuge

time

in the snows of the Himalayas, and the serpents

were placed to guard

all

the roads to their abode.

ser-

This was one of the principal outposts of the

pent army, and, from mere force of habit, I suppose, their descendants continue to keep

up the

routine of guard-mounting, &c.

but they must


86
Travels in Ladak^

be sadly degenerate, so trifling a

worm

as that

would have been a ridiculous

triumphant and gigantic Ealds
;

barrier

against

doubtless they

were boa-constrictors in those good old days

when the Olympian

of Kailas
;

court was held on the peaks

it is

they kept better watch, too, then,

to be hoped,

when

ministering spirits went the

rounds, for I will swear before any court-martial

that the sentry was asleep in his box

when we

came up, and that when he was aroused from

his criminal slumbers, he did not turn out the

guard, present /<55;2y5, or ask for the counter-sign

fancy the lamentations of a veteran serpent, of a

meille moustache of the old snake army, could he
rise

from the dead, over their shortcomings

spin,

what a yarn he would

Yishnu,
ear,
sir,"

commencing, "

By

and ending confidentially in your

with an apoplectic sigh deep-drawn from the

his scaly waistcoat,

bottom of
sir

"

it's !"

my

belief,

the service has gone to the devil

The

le^rend goes

on to say that the gods,

presume,

in-

vigorated,

we
or

will

by the

bracing

Alpine
tristesse

air,

driven to

desperation

by the

of their lonely residence, again took the

Tar tary^ and Kashmir.

licld,

87

utterly routed the Eakis,

and slew them to

strewed over

a giant.

The

fossils so plentifully

the Sewalik, or lowest ranges of the Himalayas,

are the bones of the slain Rakis
! !

This was Bujjoo's story.

Breakfast over,
again.

we prepared

to breast the hill

tedious

ascent of about four

miles

more brought us
which

to the source of the Beas river,

trickles, a feeble streamlet,

slate,

from beneath a

vein of

about one hundred feet below the

It
is

crest of the pass.

sides
;

walled round on three

little

and against one of the walls leans a

is

stone slab, on which

sculptured in rude alto-

relievo the figure of the river deity,

Beas Eishi
pil-

withered flowers, the oflerings of Hindoo

grims, lay strewed about.
offering, in the

We,

too,

made our

form of a libation, not poured otd

in

honour of the river-god, but poured down in

for the delectation

honour and

of ourselves

nip of whisky at that altitude, and after that

climb,

was most enjoyable.

before this

About a mile

we had
fifty

crossed a

small glacier, not more than

yards broad,

but of great depth.

The hardened snow of the

88
surface

Travels in Ladak^

was discoloured and muddy, and the

fis-

sures, of

which there were only one or two, were

It filled

but a few inches in depth.

in the side of the mountain,

up a ravine
fast

and was thawing

besides this,

when we passed

over

it;

we saw

only a few patches of snow in sheltered spots.

The
almost
less

pass itself
level,

is

of

a good breadth,

and

the ascent on either side becoming

and

less steep as it
is

approaches the summit.

The

surface

wet and spongy, from the number

of small springs which ooze from the ground in

all directions.

The top

is

marked by a
sticks,

cairn of

stones,

surmounted by a few
This
is

from which

rags of cloth flutter.

erected for the pur-

pose of propitiating the spirit of the mountain,

who, to judge from the terrors of his favourite

haunt, must be an awful bogie indeed.

piercingly

cold

wind blew through

this

broad gap in the mighty ridge, and clouds obscured the mountains on either side.

Moorcroft

computes the height of the Eotang Pass as above

thirteen thousand three hundred feet
ters
;

other wriit

make

it

little

lower, and call

thirteen

thousand.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

89

The Eotang
calls

pass crosses what

Cunningham*

the Lahoul range of the Mid-Himalaya, or

Pir

Panjal chain.

The mean height

of the

peaks of this range he computes at eighteen thou-

sand nine hundred and twenty feet;

and the
close

mean height

of the whole range

feet.

at

on

seventeen thousand

The
comes
tous.

descent, at first very gradual, soon besteep,

and in some places almost

precipi-

It leads
river,

down

to the left

bank of the
at the

Chandra

which foams along

bottom

with great rapidity.

We

crossed

by a suspension

bridge, formed of ropes of birch twigs, about one

hundred

feet

in

length;

this

was the

third

different description of bridge

which had occurred

in the few last marches.

We

had walked

across

the wooden {sango or sJmigzam) bridge,

we had

been slung over by the rope-bridge

(or Jliuld),

we had

sat astride

on

[deris)

inflated skins,

and
the

so been ferried across;

but
all.

now had come

most

ticklish operation of

Pendant

between two ropes of birch twigs,

from
rude

which stretched across the stream

* Tide Cunningliam's Ladak, page 68.

90
piers erected

Travels in Ladak^

on either bank, hung,

cradle-like, a
frail

continuous hurdle of the

attached to the ropes above

same

material,

by a

sort of

open

TWIG BRIDGE.

basket-work

this

was the footway, and the ropes

side.

above served as balustrades on either

This

footway was further supported by two or three

Tartary^

and

Kasliniir.

91
side

smaller birchen ropes laid side

it,

by

beneath

and

stretchins: across the stream in

the same

manner
This,

as the

two upper
is,

ropes.

when new,

I dare say, a safe and a

pleasant
torrent
;

way enough
but
after

of crossing

mountain
has

such a bridge
traffic

been

trodden on by the

of months, and the

large gaps

footway

is

worn and broken, leaving

through which you can see the swirling flood

below when the basket-work
;

sides

have ceased

to do their duty,

and the roadway swings from

with the

side to side, so slight is its connexion

two main ropes

and when their chief supporters,

these guardian banisters, have sunk in the centre

by

their

own weight
itself,

to nearly a level with the

transit
is

footway

the

by no means an

easy one, and

foot to effect

it
it

requires a cool head and a sure

without a certain trepidation.

feet of closely

One hundred

packed birch rods

abroad "

What

a sight for
it

" schoolmaster

He
so
*'

would think
;

a sad waste of material, I

for a schoolboy

fancy

or rather,

what a sight

many thousand

rods of birch hanging, not in

pickle,"

but harmlessly pendant, never to be

92

Travels in Ladak^

taken down for purposes of salutary discipline

or employed in wholesome flagellation

This rude suspension bridge

is

called cJmq-zam

by the
Ladak.

natives,

and

is

common

in

many

parts of

The Chandra

rises in

the Bara Lacha Pass,

it

and has attained by the time

considerable size.

reaches Koksar a

The point
spanned
it

at

which the

sus-

pension bridge
that

was the narrowest

we could

see for

some miles up and down.

At
it

Tandi, about twenty-five miles below Koksar,

receives the waters of the

is

Bhaga

river,

whose

source

also situated in the pass of

Bara Lacha.

After

the confluence

of these two rivers the

called

united

stream
is,

is

Chandra- Ba^ha^

or

Chenab, and
the
five

next to the Sutlej, the largest of

great rivers of the Punjab.

crossed without an accident

The bridge was

a
the

fact

highly satisfactory to the traveller at

time,

but

perfectly

exasperating

to

the
is

book-maker, to
quite appalling

whom
!

the dearth of incident

If

somebody had only

fallen

through, or something belonging to somebody

had only tumbled

in,

what an opportunity

for

J'artary^

and Kashmir.
!

\)6

the author

But no

bag and baggage, masters

and men,
provoking

all

got across, as I said before, in most

safety.

"We
the

left

the province of

Kulu on

the other side

river,

and

were

now

in that of

Lahoul.

With
but

new country
you

shall begin a fresh chapter,

first

shall read, if

you have a mind,

touching trade.
is

something staid and

statistical,

The Chandra

river, at

Koksar,

the principal

obstacle to this line of traffic between the wool-

producing countries of the north and the plains,

and
it

is

so serious a one that it threatens to close

entirely against
is

beasts

of

burden, for the

current
in

too rapid for

them

to be

swum

across

any

safety.

The urgent

necessity of a good bridge at this

point has been frequently urged on the Indian

Government, but

as yet without avail

The

large admixture of inferior wool with the

pure " pushni " (the wool of the shawl-goat), in

the shawls manufactured of late at Umritsar, and
their consequent

depreciation in value,

may

be

mainly attributed to the

perils of the passage of

the river at Koksar, which deter merchants from


94
Travels in Ladak^
in-

taking this line with their merchandize, and

duce them to seek a market in Kashmir in preference, notwithstanding the

heavy dues levied

.

on

all

imports by the Maharajah.

Supplies of

the pure "

pushm "

of

Eudokh,

&c.,

being thus

almost entirely cut

bridge at Koksar
easy), the TJmritsar

off

by the want of a good

the rest of the route
is

(for

merchants become dependent

on the

insufficient quantities

smuggled from the

Chinese frontier through Kunawur, by paths on

which none but lightly-laden sheep and

assisted

goats,

by hardy mountaineers, can

travel.

But
en-

these mountain tracks are only used

terprising adventurers, incited

by a few

by the

fascination

of a lawless pursuit, and the large profits accru-

ing from the evasion of the enormous way-dues

levied

by the Government of Kashmir.

"

The
by

amount of
their

pushm,"

therefore, obtainable
its

means

is

but small, and

the

supply preof the

carious.

Hence

shawl merchants

plains

may

be said to be driven to adulteration

to the admixture of

an inferior description of
their

wool,

in order

to

make

supply of shawls

equal the demand.

Tariary^

and Kashmir.

95

At

present the Governments of

Kashmir and

Cliina appear to play into each other's hands, the

Chinese prohibiting
save

all traffic

from their territory

territory

through

Ladak,

the

of

the

Maharajah, thus enabling the Kashmir ruler to

monopolize almost the entire trade, in which he
is

virtually assisted

by the Indian Government,

which, as I have shown, has done nothing to

facilitate

the transit of merchandize by the main

route, at present available from the wool-produc-

ing countries to Nurpur, Umritsar, and Loodiana,

via Koksar.

The Maharajah's
so

profits
is

by

this

monopoly

are

enormous that

it

hopeless to attempt to in-

duce him to reduce the duties on Chinese merchandize of

his

own

free will,

and until the

Indian Government provides another route for

the transit of merchandize from China to Hindostan,
it

is

useless to urge

on the Chinese

Government

the

repeal

of their present pro-

hibition of all

export save through Ladak, beit

cause through

Ladak

must of necessity come,

save in trifling quantities,

by the smuggling paths

above mentioned.

96

Travels in Ladak^

There being, therefore,

this one route only, it

seems imperative on the Government of India to

render
it

as practicable a

one as

it is

possible to

make

it.

A road which
is

should connect Hindostan with

territory,

China without passing through foreign

of course an

immense desideratum.

This sub-

ject is treated of at

some length in the remarks

Appendix.

on the

New Eoad

to be found in the

CROSSING THE TWIG BKIDGE.


Tar tary^ and Kashmir.
97

CHAPTEE

VI.

^UE slumbers were

deep

and long,

and the sun was shining

l4<^-'

'^^^^^^..^

brightly

when

Isree

and

a cup of chocolate aroused

me from
was
all
!

them.

Such a noisy camp

shrill

as it

such a Babel of
!

tongues chattering

around one

On
and
the

questioning Isree, he laconically answered, " Coolie-logue"

i. e.

"

it's

only the

coolies !"

throwing open the

curtain

fly

of the tent, raised

on

as strange a scene as traveller ever saw.

98

'

Travels in Ladah^
girls, cliildren,

About a hundred women,

and

babies were squabbling, scolding, laughing, joking, talking

little
!

no, not the babies, although they,

!

innocents
could
;

gave tongue too in the only

way they

and a chorus of infantine squalls

gave ample evidence of the soundness of their

little

lungs, greatly, no doubt, to the satisfaction

of their
to care

mammas ;

not, however, that they

seemed

much, their most absorbing pursuit aplifting,

pearing to be examining,

and essaying to

carry each package and " khilta" full of baggage,

as the servants finished packing

them.
feminine vanity
it.

They were

difficult to please

was, I suspect, at the bottom of

"

The

be-

coming" was doubtless their object; and each

one was searching eagerly for a portmanteau
that suited her particular style, or a box calculated to

show

off

her figure to advantage.

Why
art

not

For what we know, they may study the

of deportment with a view to the graceful car-

rying of burdens, and a good deal

may depend
But

on a load put on with regard

to efiect.

while meditating thus, I forget that

is

my

costume
present-

hardly complete enough to

make me


Tartary,
able to ladies.

and Kashmir,

99

Those of Lalioul, however, do

seated in a semicircle,

not appear particular;

about a couple of yards from

my

tent-door, are

some

five

or

six,

who have

evidently set their

hearts on carrying

my

property.

They

are cal-

culating the probable weight of

my

luggage, and
of atten-

the owner receives but a small

tion from their inquisitive

amount

little pig's eyes.

I drop the
gaze.

fly,

and modestly

retire

from their

Soon the sound of a

ears.

frantic splashing falls

on their astonished
from ?"

"

Where can

it
;

come
" im-

From

" inside the tent ?"

it

possible ?"

Yes,

does,

though

No And

at last

the astounding fact slowly breaks on

**

them
!

The Sahib

is

washing himself
!"

Wa

wa

what an extraordinary Sahib

These people wash themselves only once a

year,
says,

and never wash their clothes.*

" L'hydrophobie dans

Jacquemont
est

un peuple

une

affreuse maladie."

"

Un jour
me

qu'il faisait

moins

froid qu'a Tordi-

naire, je

deshabillai pour prendre le bain a la

c'est a dire,

mode Indienne,
*

en

me

faisant videe

Vide Cunningham's Ladak, page 303.

H 2

100

Travels in Ladah^

sur la tete et les epaules

un outre

pleine d'eau;
la

mais aux eclaboussures de ce petite cascade,

foule des Thibetains pressee autour de
fuit

moi

s'en-

epouvantee; et depuis ce jour laje

me

suis

toujours delivre de leurs importunites en mettant

de faction a la porte de
tente,

ma

miserable

petite

mon

porteur d'eau, ou bist6 mussulman,

avec sa grand barbe noire, qui 6tait

un

objet

d'admiration pour ces peuplades imberbes, et son

outre bien remplie qui excitait leur terreur."

My
only
is

operations are expeditious

and soon not

tbe

fly

of the tent thrown open, but the

finish-

tent itself

is

being struck, while I put the

ing touches to
is

my

toilette

in the

open.

It
part.-

a most successful performance

on

my

Never was audience more

attentive, or

panto-

mime more

popular; never was act of legerdeat

main more wonderingly gazed

process of brushing

than the simple

my

hair.

The plunging

my

hands into the basin, and producing them

againj

covered with white lather, caused bewilderment,

only to be exceeded by the merriment created by

my

handling of a tooth-brush.
;

This

last novelty,

was exquisitely funny

and

their laughter only

Tartary^
ceased

and Kashmir,

101

when the

properties were all packed

and

ready to be pounced on, examined, talked over,

lifted,

deliberated upon, and finally heaved on the

off

backs of these female porters and walked

with.

These were the strangest specimens of womankind

it

had yet been

my lot

to

meet

at once the
!

most dressy and the

costume,

ugliest of their sex

Their

how

shall I describe it ? their surpass-

ing ugliness,

how

portray

Their hair, of a rusty black,

is

plaited into a
waist,

number of

tails

which reach to the

and of

which the extremities are collected together and

HEAD-DRESS, LAHOUL WOMEN.

tied

under a small bit of mother-of-pearl

shell,

from which again hang rows of beads and small

Travels in Ladak^

102
bells of

metal

these jingled as they

moved
still

like

the bells of a carrier's team, or perhaps

like that ideal

more

personage of our infancy, to see

whom we

have so often ridden

"

A cockhorse to Banbury Cross,"

and who has

" Bells on her fingers, and bells on her toes,

She

shall

have music wherever she goes."

I had found the ideal of

ings at last

my

infantine imagin-

A band

of red cloth or leather, about

two or

three inches broad, reaches from the forehead

back over the crown of the head, and

as the waist. quoises, large

falls

as far

This

is

studded with rough tur-

but

ill-shaped,

and

full of flaws;

their colour, too, is green, not blue,

and they are

of

little
!

value.

This

is

the fashionable head-

dress

Some

(but these

may

possibly have been

flaps

suiFering

from neuralgia) wore

over
all

of black
in
fact;

sheepskin

the ears

oreilettes,

and they

of

them added

as

many
coral,

beads of
as

amber, of mother-of-pearl, and

could come by.

they

Necklaces of amber, cornelian,

Tartary^
coral,

and Kashmir.

10 9

and

glass (generally the latter),

throats,

hung round

their

tawny

from which depended rude

amulets of
forgotten.

silver,

nor were armlets and earrings

A coarse warm jacket of woollen cloth, a striped

petticoat of divers colours, principally blue, red,

yellow,

and green, and grass shoes or

sandals,

completed the costume

A few
front

of them, too, wore undressed sheepskins

hanging down over the shoulders, and fastened in

across the breast

by skewers

the

most

primitive

of mantles.

They

all

carried small

baskets slung at their backs, ready for a load, and

most of them had a baby in arms, which, when

the
able-bodied

matron

who owned

it

had

decided what

baggage she should

carry,

was

handed over to the

children.

care of one of the bigger

Their
visages,

sunken

features,

broad,

flat,

square

were well worthy of their ignoble setting.

eyes,

The

narrow,

small,

and

twinkling,

seemed eternally endeavouring, but in vain, to

squint over the prominent cheek-bone, and peep
at the flat,

broad nose below.

The mouth, wide

104

Travels in Ladak^
it

and tliick-lipped though

was, was the redeem-

ing feature, for it was generally on the broad grin,

and gave an expression of good-humour to the

otherwise dull, vacant face.

Their

figures, squat, short,

and broad, were the

reverse of graceful, but they walked

away

stoutly

under burdens which the men near Simla would

have grumbled at the weight
It
of.

was quite a jour de fete

for

them, and they

had brought
delights.

their whole family to share in its

far the best coolies

They were by

we

had had, were these sturdy, good-humoured

of Lahoul.

ladies

We

marched

for about ten

miles along the

Chandra

river to a village called Sisoo.

little

Here we
plantation

breakfasted under the shade of a

of willows, the only
trees

we had

seen

since

leaving Koksar.

We

changed

coolies at this place,

and went on

after breakfast to

Gundla.

We

pressed on thus

quickly with the object of making up for time

wasted in short marches in the valley of Sultanpore to allow of our friends, the Eiflemen, catch-

ing us up

but not having heard from them for

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

105

some days, we had come to the conclusion that

they had grown weary of the long " stern chase,"

and had returned

to Simla.

This province of Lahoul was a strange contrast

to that of

Kulu

save where the

hand of man

had been

at work, all

was bare and barren.

e7i

We

passed several villages

stone, plastered with

route

the

houses of

mud,

flat-roofed,

and two
the

and three
cattle

stories in height.

As

in Kulu,

were lodged in the lower story.

To

those

above, the notched stem of a pine-tree formed

the only means of access.

Near each

village

was a carefully-cultivated
pollard trees

willow orchard

all

and

patches

of carefully-irrigated barley and buckwheat.

In

the fields
tops

women were working

stared at us
;

from the house-

women

and women carried our

baggage.

Where, then, were the men ?

all

We
dize

found, on inquiry, that

the able-bodied

males pass the summer in transporting merchan-

between Ladak, Chumba,

and Kulu, and

sometimes further, on strong, well-shaped, surefooted

ponies; and not a few, no doubt, spend

in contraband traffic on their

the

summer months
account.

own

106

Travels in Ladak^

With

the ladies, therefore, the

summer

is

a
to

busy time.
garner
flat
;

They have

to sow, to reap,

and

to stack firewood for the winter on the

house-top, and look after the " childher," and

LAHOUL WOMAN CARRYING A KHILTA.

last,

not

least, to carry

the baggage of a chance

this latter
it

Englishman
occupation
all

for a

march or two (but

is

of so rare occurrence that

has

the charms of novelty for them);

so that

when

the

good men return home

from their

travels,

they have nothing to do but smoke their

Tariary^
pipes,

and Kashmir,

107
ice

and hybernate through the months of

and snow in the enjoyment of the good things

their helpmate has provided for them.

I write good

men

in the plural,

and help-mate
is

in the singular advisedly, for such tion

the propor-

two

husbands are about the usual allow-

ance to one woman, but there are frequent instances of a

much

greater number.
:

Jacquemont writes

"

Un

trait bien singulier

des moeurs Thibetains, que surement vous connaissez,

freres
c'est la

plurality des maris.

Tons

les

nes d'une

meme mere

n'ont qu'une

femme

en commun.

II n'arrive
ses

jamais que

celle-ci ait

pour un de
la paix

epoux une preference qui trouble

de cette nombreuse famille.

Amour

et

jalousie dans leurs formes les plus grossieres sont

done des sentiments inconnus a ce peuple."

Jacquemont was alluding to Thibet proper

when he wrote

this,

but the Botis of Lahoul and

social

Ladak have the same

customs as their

more northern brethren, and polyandry and hydrophobia are just as

rife

among them.

Ponies were procurable in great numbers, but

of these, too, nearly
all

the sires were

away with


108
their masters,

Travels in Ladak^

and only tlie brood mares and

colts

had been

left at

home with the

" Missus."
to

From Gundla we marched

which
is

Guruguntal,

a small village situated near the con-

fluence of the

Chandra and the Bhaga

rivers

two other

villages were in sight at this point

,

Tandi and Gosh a.

The upper

story of one of the largest of the

houses was devoted to religious purposes.

We

climbed up to

it

by

steps cut in the stem of a

pine-tree laid against the outer wall.

There was

PRIMITIVE STAIKCASE.

certainly every excuse for the

good people of

Guruguntal
service.

if

they did not very often attend

low-roofed, dark,

The rooms were

and

small

and in the innermost, lowest, and darkest

of all were arranged a few rude images,

some

Tartary^
flags of

and Kashmir.

109

China

silk

curiously worked in hiero^

glypliic

characters,

and
rice

little

tables

on whi(;h

were set offerings of

cups,

and

flour in real

China
sacri-

which made

my

fingers

itch

most

legiously.

The whole was

presided over

by a

villainous-looking

hoary old priest or

Lam ah,

l^h

LAMAH OF GURUGUNTAL.

with sore eyes and the leer of a satyr.

preacher he
pular,

As

could have been anything but pofather confessor

still

and

as

less so.
of,

"

very ancient and fish-like smell, a kind

not of

110

Travels in Ladak^
sacred

the newest," pervaded the

attributed

apartments,

by the

pious, doubtless, to the odours

loci

of incense and sanctity, and the genius

self

him-

would have made, properly got up, a perfect

Caliban, and looked ready

enough "

to swear
first

upon
Ste-

that bottle to be true subject" to the

phano he might meet with a "

full

butt of sack."

But

breakfast

is

announced, and we hurry

down

the primitive staircase to where, under the

shade of a pollard willow, our morning repast

is

spread.

The bread procured from the

missioner of

hospitable

Com-

Kulu has long

since disappeared,

and we are again reduced to " chupatties," or unleavened cakes, baked on the spot, and brought in

hot and hot

or
soft,

these are

made

thick or thin, crisp

according to

fancy.

Sometimes they
portly in

appeared

mighty in

circumference,

shape, compact in quality,

and of a flabby tex-

ture

this was
;

a sign that there was not

much

else to eat

anon they would take the shape of

spongy "
scons''

delicate little

reminding one of
;

the far distant luxury of a Scotch breakfast

this

but

was only in times of butter and plenty;

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

111

and in general our "

cliupattie"

was of two kinds

as bread

a thin
at dinner
;

crisp wafer,

which did duty

and the

luscious, not to say greasy,

"pirata,"

which invariably formed the

cereal

portion of our breakfast.

The

" pirata"

is

a thin cake of coarse meal,

fried in " ghee," or clarified liquid butter,

and I
to the

seriously

recommend the adoption

of

it

muffin-men at home.

Pardon
BacchOy
Ceres
;

this

long digression, but being sine

we

naturally thought a good deal about

the fact was, that both Bacchus and

John
of

Barleycorn,

much

as

we loved them, were men

too liberal a girth for such a journey as

before us
;

we had
;

we simply

could not carry

them

and

a small store of cognac and

(for

" mountain
all

dew"
could

medicinal purposes only) was

we

take.

Tea, coffee, chocolate, and "

Adam's

ale" were

our beverages.

From Guruguntal

to

Kardong was
left

march of

about six miles up the

river.

bank of the Bhaga

Kardong was the

largest village

we saw

in

112
Lahoiil,

Travels in LadaJc^

and boasts of a two-roomed building (of

see the

which you

verandah in the sketch)

:

caravanserai, or resting-place for travellers

we

found this empty, and took possession.

The

exertions of the inhabitants have

made

the vicinity of
in appearance
;

Kardong

quite green and fertile

is

cultivation

carried to a

good

height on each side of the valley, but directly

irrigation ceases, the bare yellow rock takes its
place.

Down

below

us,

on the other

side the river,

was a low,

neat, whitewashed, two-storied build-

ing, surrounded

by a

little

enclosure

this

was

the Moravian mission-house.

The propagation

of the

gospel

among

the the

Kalmuc

and

Mongol

tribes

inhabiting

steppes of Eussian

and Chinese Tartary, has

long been a pet project of the Moravian Church.

These tribes constitute two branches of the

same family, and speak

language.

dialects

of the

same

The formation
of Sarepta,

of

the

Moravian settlement
so far

on the Wolga, near Czarizin,

first

back as the year 1765, afforded the

favour-

o
<
-J

o
z

O Q
or

< X
u.

O
Ixi

O
<

>


Tartary^
able
tribes

and Kashmir.
113

opportunity for communicating with the

who

lead a nomadic
its

life

on the vast steppes

that skirt

banks.

Nothing, however, resulted from this means of

intercourse
till

the year 1801,

when

Kalmuc
;

prince sent his son to Sarepta for education

it

would seem that the mission made good use of

the opening thus given, for in 1808 four girls of
the Kirghis tribe of Tartars appear to have been
at

Sarepta receiving instruction;

in

1812,

partial translation of the Bible into the

Kalmuc

tongue was printed; and in 1815, we find the

brethren
i.e.,

Moravian missionaries

aided by
their

a grant of 300/. from the

Society, actually living

London Missionary

among and teaching

doctrines to the Torgutsk and Dorpotsk tribes of

the

Kalmuc

nation at a considerable distance

from Sarepta.

The

translated portion of

Holy Writ

was, in

1817, so widely circulated

that
it

among
;

these people

became out of print

and in the same

year the head

Lamah

of the Mongols, and the

prince of the Chorinian Burats

raised a

a Mongol

tribe

sum

of money, amounting to 550/., to

I

; ;

114

Travels in Ladakj

defray the expenses attendant on the translation

of the

Holy

Scriptures into the

Mongol
birth,

dialect

and two men of note and high

by name

Badma and Nomtn, were

The

dispatched to St. Pe-

tersburg to carry out the undertaking.

chiefs translated the

Gospel of

St.

Mat-

thew into

their

own

dialect

under the superin-

tendence of Mr. Schmidt, the Moravian minister

at
St.

Petersburg,
;

and

themselves

embraced

Christianity
Stallybrass

and subsequently, the Rev. Messrs.

and Swan, of the London Missionary and laboured there

Society, settled in Mongolia,

many
Till

years.

1821 the exertions of the missionaries

appear to have been crowned with a partial

success
;

but a reaction took place in that year

the instigation of

and

at

the

L amahs, who

naturally dreaded the effects of Moravian teaching, the missionaries, together with their proselytes,

amounting in number
and

to

twenty-three

persons, of both sexes

all ages,

were driven
they had

out from

among
;

the tribes with

little

whom

lived so long

the

body of

fugitives took

refuge on an island in the Wolga, near Sarepta.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

115

The Eussian Government now

dered
tliat

interposed, or-

the converts should be handed over to

the Greek Church, forbad further efforts on the

part of the Moravians, and so the mission ter-

minated.
Foiled in
its

praiseworthy exertions in behalf

of the hordes of Central Asia from the north,

but

undismayed, the

Moravian Church next

determined to endeavour to penetrate to them

from the south, via Hindostan and Thibet, and

in 1853 missionaries were sent out to Calcutta
for this purpose.

Disappointment, however, awaited them:

Eussia in the north,
so

as

China in the south,

;

barred their further progress

but finding that

Budhism

prevailed in Lahoul, they decided on

in that province; here,
flag,

commencing the work

under the protection of the British

they open their
first parallel

would

against heathenism,

hoping in time to push their trenches farther

and farther

to the north

and west, where dwell

the tribes their predecessors laboured amongst in

the beginning of this century;
east,

to the north,

and south, where the religion of Budh has

I

116
its

Travels in Ladak^

head-quarters

meantime, they would be

working amongst a kindred people, speaking a

dialect of the

same tongue, and holding the same

creed

as

those

Mongolian

tribes

whom

they

hoped one day to reach.

This was the scheme

to which they devoted their lives

as daring

and

ambitious as

it is

simple and earnest.

a native of

They accordingly purchased from

Kyelang a small
erect

plot of
It is

ground on which to

a house.

worthy of mention that

they commenced building in 1857, when the

Sepoy mutiny was

at its height

but,

undaunted

by the news of temporary

reverses

and the pro-

longed siege of Delhi, they proceeded with their

work, having
full

confidence in

the final re-

establishment of British supremacy

confidence,

by-the-bye, which was at one time anything but

general amongst non-military European residents

in India.

In 1859, they found themselves in a position

to
ofier

home

to the ladies
;

who have

since

become

their wives

and

as is the

custom in the

mission, three ladies were sent out to aid

and
of

comfort them in their voluntary

exile.

One

Tartary^
tlieir

and Kashmir,

117

number,

tlie

Eev.

W.

Pagell, proceeded to
tlie

Calcutta to welcome the fair trio to

of India; one of
cutta
;

shores

them became

his wife at Cal-

and Mr. and Mrs. Pagell escorted the two

ladies

remaining adventurous

to

their

future

home

in the Himalaya.

The

missionaries of Lahoul are well acquainted

with the Thibetan language, which they speak,

read,

and write with

facility

they have trans-

lated into the dialect of the people around

them

a portion of the

New

Testament, the "

Harmony

of the Four Gospels," and some other works of a

religious character
;

these have been printed with

the aid of a lithographic press, which they work

themselves, and a
distributed.

number of

copies have been

Amongst
tion,

a people so far

removed from civilizalittle

and who have made but

advance since
is

the earliest ages of man, the language

far

naturally

from being a comprehensive one, and the

missionaries found

much

difficulty

in creating

words to express the figurative and metaphorical

language of Scripture
;

but their labour has been

their translation

amply rewarded by finding that

118

Travels in Ladak,

fully conveys to tlie

minds of the people the

literal

meaning of the

text.*

They have
at

established a school for both sexes,

is

which the attendance

girls are

yearly increasing;

and the

tanght the simple arts of knit-

ting and needlework

by

their exemplary help-

mates.

As

yet they have not met with

much

success

in the shape of actual converts to Christianity

but the people are ready to converse on religious

subjects,

and take pleasure in tracing the many

points of resemblance which exist between our

religion

and

theirs

between Christ and Boodha.f

say, "

* Messrs.

Hue and Gabet

The Thibetan language,

clear-

essentially religious

and mystic, conveys with much

ness and precision all the ideas connected with the

soul

human

and the Divinity."

Vide Travels in Tartary, Thibet,

and China, page 189.

+ One of the many sketches of Budha's
after living in

origin

is,

that

Heaven

as a god for thirty-six million five

hundred thousand

years, being " desirous of saving

men, he

came

to earth

and gave

his

body to a hungry

tiger,

and at
he

length, having amassed the necessary

amount of

virtue,

approached the bosom of his mother on a white elephant.

His destined mother, who was wife

hana
(in

to the

Rajah Ludhoodfilled

Rohilcund), dreams that this elephant

;

the

universe with light

awaking frightened, she

tells

the kiug

her dream, and soothsayers being consulted, predict that

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
at once
;

119

This resemblance

is

an assistance and

a drawback to the missionary

an

assistance, in-

asmuch

as

he finds in the educated Budhist a

to accept the

mind prepared
tion
(it
is

mystery of Incarna-

no new doctrine to the believer on

fact of a partial similarity

Boodh)

and the mere

more
;

of creed excites a curiosity on the part of the

listener to hear
it
is

a drawback, inasmuch as

induces the Budhist to think that Christianity

but another and an inferior form of his

own
but

religion,

which he

feels inclined to tolerate,

never to adopt.

The

practical creed of the

Budhist

is

a very

moral one;
Christ
fulfils

and could he be persuaded that

his idea of a perfect

Boodh, and

let

the

name

of our Saviour be substituted for that

a child shall be born to her

or spiritual greatness."

who

shall attain either

worldly

Vide Life in Ancient India, page

to say

255.

The legend goes on

that a child

is

born,

that holy

men and

sages receive supernatural

intelligence

of his birth, and, guided by a light in

the heavens, find

him out and worship him

tations of earthly

that

the child as
life,

he grows

older renounces the pleasures of this

and the tempof an ascetic,

dominion

lives

the

life

goes

alone

into a forest,

and contends with the powers of

darkness,

<fec.

&c.


120
of

Travels in Ladah^
in his creed,
it

Boodh

will be

found to approxi-

mate

closely to that of a Christian.*

But upon

rich

and poor, on the educated

the doctrine of the transfatally;
it is

and the ignorant

migration of

alike,

souls

acts
is

to

the

Budhist what fatalism

If a Budhist
lence,
is

to the

Mahommedan.
and benevohe

treated with kindness

for

he sees no cause
it

gratitude, because

looks upon

all as

the result of good works

in

performed
existence.

by
If,

him

previous

state

of

on the other hand, misfortune

he considers
it

overtake him,
for sins

as a

punishment

committed by him when existing in

another shape.

The

vastness of the undertaking

i.e.,

the con-

version of the numerous

elevated plains of

tribes inhabiting the

Central Asia

stands

out in

prominent contrast with the simple earnestness of

the three humble

men engaged

have

left

home, house,

men who and kindredwho have

in it
rest of the
is

placed between

them and the

world

a barrier of snow and ice which

of the year impassable
*
;

for six

months

and who are content to

and Mongolia.

Vide Prinsep's Thibet, Tarlary,

;ll -l

-SS^*

.-.5P^-

^*r~e^-,B^

?2iS^'

Ji

>miiJiHi

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
a people alien to

121

spend

tlieir lives

among

them

in language, habits, custom,

belief that in so

and

religion, in the
fulfilling

doing they are but

their duty towards

God

another

duty towards

man.

We

crossed the river, and paid a visit to the

mission next morning en route.

Open the
step inside
!

little

wicket
!

gate
!

take one short

are

Presto
are

pop

You

no longer

in

Thibet

you
the

thousands of miles away

!

back in dear old Deutschland

One

of

Herr

Pastors

comes

forward

courteously to greet you (he has been smoking a

matutinal pipe in the cool spacious verandah)

and asks you

dirt

in.

The sudden

transition from

and squalor to the scrupulous cleanliness of

is

German dwelling-house

utterly bewildering.

Ere you have recovered your presence of mind

you are introduced,

stockings
is

first,

to a lady

who is knitting

by the

stove

and then to another who

in

playing with a baby

ladies

the window- seat.

"The

do not speak

English," says the

grace,

Herr Pastor, on which, taking heart of

you dive down into the depths of your memory,

122
thence
fish

Travels in Ladah^

up some

half- forgotten

words of

German, and proceed to inform the lady in the

window-seat
that

the

baby
its

is

beauteous

creature and the

image of
flatter
!

mammathis
is

with

bow which you

!

yourself

rather telling.

Alas

poor bungler

the lady of the knitting'

! !

needles is the

mamma

but

this bevue causes a laugh,

tion,

and promotes conversait is

and you are quite sorry when

time

to go

To go?

So soon?

But not empty handed!

A basket
bage
is

of garden peas, of beetroot, and cab-

hastily packed

and pressed on our accep-

tance.

And

so,

" with a kind " God speed you

ringing in their ears, exeunt the travellers out of

this little

Eden

of

German

purity and godliness,

dirt.

into the outer world of

heathendom and

The

" OfScial Friend "

had been waited on

native,
called

at

Kardong by an

influential

Tara

Chund, whose dwelling was

halting ground.
in Lahoul, and

close to

our next

He
had

was the largest landowner

been granted by the

lately

Punjab Government certain magisterial powers,

with authority to impose
fines,

I believe, to the


Tartary^

and Kashmir,
i.e.,

123

amount of
this

fifty
is,

rupees

5/.

Forfeiture to

amount

in so poor a country, a grievous

it

penalty, and authority to inflict

invested friend

Tara with ahnost supreme power in the barren

little

principality of

which he was potentate.

active
little

He

was a

stout-built,

man,

of

about forty, with a good deal of shrewdness in

the expression of his ugly face of the true
type.

Mongol

He

accompanied us on the march next day.

Our path on leaving the mission house passed

through a good
deal of
cultivation,

carefully
irri-

fenced-in small enclosures, and abundantly

gated.

It then entered an extensive grove

after

of

the pencil-cedar,

which

it

led through a

barren country, pleasantly interrupted

now and
invariably

then by the patch of green which surrounded

houses.

every village or

small
it

cluster

of

After about twelve miles

plain
;

debouched
village,
differ-

on a

little

here, close to

little

was the paternal mansion of Tara Chund,

ing in nothing save in
the village
;

size

from the houses of

towers

but a few ruined

showed

that once on a time a small fort had stood there.

124

Travels in Ladak^

We
to-day

came across a manufactory of grass shoes

;

some half-dozen women seated by

each,

tlie

way-side,
her,

with a bundle of grass beside

frail

were diligently plaiting the

material

into long strips of different degrees of thickness,

while others rapidly

made

it

up into

sandals.

Of these

latter ladies,

one was really quite

of her features.

pretty, despite the

Mongol type

We

could only account for her comeliness by the

supposition that

we had had

the good fortune to

see her very shortly after her annual wash.

These shoes
out,

are of

course very

soon worn

and

are never

mended, but kicked aside as

soon as they cease to defend the feet from the

roughness of the path.

The road was strewed

with

cast-off sandals.

We
trees

sought the shade of a few pollard willow

our tents should arrive.

till

Tara Chund

and

his

sons came and squatted there as well

of villagers

and a

circle

and

retainers

of the

Lahoulee grandee stood at a respectful distance,

and looked on
interest.

at our

proceedings

with

deep

Soon the

circle

opens

out

and admits

the

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

125

passage of a grave procession, headed by an aged

Tartar, bearing on high a

mighty brass

teapot,

and followed by others with trays of sweetmeats

,and spices.

These are placed in the midst of

to do the

us,

and Tara Chund proceeds

honours.

The beverage flowed from the

thick, deep red stream
late,
;

twisted spout in a

it

tasted like rich choco-

and but
a

for a certain greasiness of flavour,

this tea

la

Tar tare was very palatable.

The

teapot

is

soon empty, and returns for a fresh

supply

but the second brew

is

hardly drinkable,
salt,

for this time the tea has

been seasoned with

not sweetened with sugar.

These are the two approved Tartar methods of

making
"It
is

tea;
first

the process

is

the same in both.

made

into a strong decoction with

soda, then seasoned with salt, or sweetened with

sugar,

according to
it

fancy,

and churned with

butter until

acquires the colour and consistency

of thick rich cocoa or chocolate."*

We

here
is

first

met the yak

{hos grunniens).

The yak

short,

but of immense frame and

short horns, and

strength, with a small head,

*

Tide Cunningham's Ladah, page 305.

126

Travels in Ladak^
tlie

long black hair reacliing to

gronnd, beneath
short soft

which
wool.

is

a sort of undergrowth of
in

The oxen mostly used

Ladak

are

hybrids between the yak and the

common

cow.-

THE YAK.

The progeny, dso

or zho, inherits

much

of the
sire

strength and power of

endurance

of the
is

with the docility of the dam, and

ploughing, as well as

used for

carrying burdens.

The
is

milk of the hybrid cow, dsomo or zhomo,

much

esteemed.

We

made

a short

march next day

to Dartcha,

a hamlet of one or two houses, built in the angle

formed by the confluence of the Dartcha and

Bagha

rivers.

The Dartcha flowed

in from the left

hand

at

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

127

right angles to the Bagha, which received at this

same point a second tributary from the right

hand, flowing in also at right angles, so that look

which way you would

west

north,

south,

east,

or

you

had always the distant

vista before

you of

a rocky valley with its

mountain stream
"four cross-

rushing

down

it

was a

sort of

roads,'' in fact,

only that these watery ways did

not

cross,

but joining company, flowed away in

amicable union towards the south.

At
slip

this

meeting of the waters a striking landplace.

had taken

mountain

has, as

it

were, been cut in two

erect,

one half remains standing

it,

while the other, shivered in pieces by the

force of the

blow which severed

lies

strewn in
it

quaintly- shaped fragments on the ground

once

covered with a graceful slope, and stretches for

acres

beyond,
cliff

grovelling
it

at

the foot
to

of the

mighty

once

helped

support,

and

damming up and changing

stream below.
Curiously enough,
Travels, after

the course of the

when

consulting Moorcroft's

my return, on question of distance,

found the following graphic account of this con-


128
Travels in Ladak^

vulsion of nature, wliicli was actually in progress

when he passed the spot some

"This route has been
years

forty years before

for

obstructed

some

by the gradual subsidence

still

of a mountain,

which was

in progress,

and which we had

therefore an opportunity of witnessing.

About

two-thirds up the acclivity of a mountain about

half a mile distant, a
little

dust was from time to

time seen to arise

this presently increased, until

an immense cloud spread over and concealed the

summit, whilst from underneath
it

huge blocks

of stone were seen rolling and tumbling

down

the steep.

Some

of these buried themselves in

the ground at the foot of the perpendicular face

of the
cliff;

some

slid

along the rubbish of preit

vious debris, grinding

to powder,

and mark-

ing

their

descent

by

line

of dust;

some

bounded along with great

into the river,
spray.

velocity,
its

and plunged

scattering
like

waters about in
artillery

noise

the pealing of
fall.

accompanied every
intervals of a slip,

considerable

In the
dis-

and when the dust was

persed, the face of the descent

was seen broken

into ravines, or scored with deep channels, and

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

129

blackened as

if

with moisture.

Al)out half a

mile beyond, and considerably higher than the

crumbling mountain, was another, whose top was

tufted with snow.
It

was surrounded by

others,

lower and of a more friable nature.

to

It appeared

me

that the melting of the snows

on the
sufficient

principal mountain,

and the want of a

vent for the water, was the cause of the rapid

decay of the mountains which surrounded; for

the water, which in the
fissure

summer

lodges in the

and

clefts

of the latter, becomes frozen

its

again in winter, and in

pieces

expansion tears to
rock.

the

surrounding superincumbent
it

Again melting in the summer,

through the loosened
soil,

percolates

and undermining pro-

jecting portions of the rock, precipitates

into the valley.
lates

them

As, however, rubbish accumu-

on the
fresh

face

and

at the foot

of the

moun-

tain, a

barrier

and buttress are formed,

is

and the work of destruction

season."
It

arrested

for

had been arrested

for a

very long season

when we

passed, for a few stunted shrubs were

debris at the foot of the
cliff,

growing on the

130

Travels in Ladak^

and the route which Moorcroft

being obstructed again took
its

speaks

of as

old line over the

masses which were formerly blocked.

Our

friend Tara

Chund came with

us

to

Darcha, where he and Bujjoo had a busy time of

it,

for

we had now reached

the last village

of

Lahoul, and for the next seven marches must

take with us not only coolies, but food and fuel
for seven days'

consumption.

Koksar
the sea
;

is

ten thousand feet above the level of

since

we

left it,

we had been gradually

mid-day
sun was

ascending, and

though the

hotter than ever, the nights were beginning to

be

very

cold.

Patches

of

snow were now

frequently visible on the crags around us, and

our

Mahommedan

servants

repented
;

them
it

bitterly of ever

having come with us

but

was

too late to turn back now.

We

white

men,

however,

felt

stronger and

cheerier as the cold

became more bracing.

it

The

mere sense of height brings with

buoyancy of
spirits,

strange

an unwonted exhilaration.
too,

We

were in better condition,

;

than when we
side without

started

could

scale

mountain

Tartary^
" turning a hair,"

and Kashmir.

131

and calmly look down from

dizzy heights irom whose edge a fortnight before

we should have shrunk back with awe.

LAHOUL W0MP:N.

K 2

132

Travels in Ladaky

CHAPTER

VIT.

'E pressed on merrily

next day to a

camping

ground

called

Patseo, to reach which

we

had to

cross a rude bridge

of felled trees and slabs of

stone.
early,

But

it

was

still

and though already had Chumpa pitched

a tent or two, the "OfiScial Eriend" gave the

order to strike and pack them, and
en
route

we were soon

again for Zing-Zing-beer, where, said

Tartary^ and Kashmir.

133
level

Tara Chund, was a good piece of

for camping.

ground

The scenery now became wilder

at every step,

bridgp: at patseo.

and we soon entered a rocky

wards
gullies.
its

valley,

which

to-

upper

end divided into

two

deep

It

was up the right-hand one that we

134
toiled.

Travels in Ladak^

Motlier earth had here clothed herself

in armour of proof.
either side
feet,
;

Eock, bare rock, rose on

rocks, sharp rocks, lay under our

clear blue sky,

and above was a

fiercely

from which

poured

down

the rays of the mid-day

in the

sun, melting the

clefts

snow which yet lingered

of the lofty crags into tiny cascades and

rivulets,

which came dancing, leaping, sparkling

down, delighting in their escape from their icy

prison above, while

down

the gorge, keen and

cutting as a knife, drifted a wintry blast fresh

from the eternal snows.

A state
plexion.

of things, this, very trying to the com-

We

were

all

of us pretty well bronzed.

fire

Our cheeks had too

often been exposed to the

of an Indian sun in the plains, to care

its

much

for

rays at this altitude

but when on our hot,

parched skin played this cold wintry breath, the

cuticle

cracked, peeled,

and shrivelled

in fact,

surrendered at discretion.
"

Take with you

lots

of biscuits, goggles, and

cold cream,*' was the advice of a celebrated Hill

sportsman to
latter stood

me ere I
me
in

started.

And now the two

good stead

the

goggles to

Tartary^
sliade

and Kashmir.
on

135
the treeless,
to

my
my

eyes from the glare

bladeless rocks,

and the cold cream wherewith

face.

anoint

chapped and bleeding

is,

mask

of crape or cloth
to wear.

however, the proper thing

A mile
torrent.

or

two more and the gorge widened.

left

Gur path now wound up the

It

bank of a rapid

was

all

"against the collar," and

as

grew steeper and steeper

we

advanced.

We

had commenced the ascent of the Bara Lacha.

We
much
"

had now been walking some hours, and

it

began to think
farther
little
?

high time to
" Thoree

halt.

"

How
"
!

"

door,

maharaj
!"

Only a

way, your Highness

all
is

says Tara

Chund.
"

We

knew

what
to

this

meant.
Scotch

Thoree door "

equivalent

the

" bittock,"

and may be any

distance,

from one

mile to

five.

On

a sudden, turning in the pathway

travelling

we come
had

upon a young

merchant who

passed us in the morning, gazing attentively at

some object on the mountain to our

left.

As we
are

come up, he announces that some "ibex"

136

Travels in Ladak^
if

feeding up there, and that

the Sahibs

like,

they

can go and shoot them.

We
we
see.

stare,

and gaze, and look through

;

field-

glasses,

but to no purpose

no living thing can

is

But

so confident

the fellow that he

is right,

that he at last persuades the " Official

Friend " and myself to place ourselves under his

guidance, and,
rifle

on shoulder,

off

we

start.

The

torrent to our left

we

cross

by a snow-bridge,
steep.

and are soon breasting the opposite

have a long climb before
this wily goat,
for
us,

We

for to

circumvent
;

you must get above him

and so

some two thousand

feet of sheer ascent

lie

we

toil on, till

our guide motions to us to

down
half-

under a vast fragment of rock that lay

imbedded in the mountain-side, while, prone

on the

earth, he wriggles himself forward to peer

over the ledge.

We
it is

wait and wait in breathless

suspense; but

with a downcast look that

;

he returns.

The

birds have flown

we have had

our climb

for nothing.

He shows

us the place, though, where the ibex

had been feeding when he saw them, and proves

^.

''^

.^i

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

137

their late presence on the spot

facts, so

by indisputable

we cannot be angry with him.

dark
ere

It

is

we reach camp
men.
called

that night,

wearier, if not wiser

The Thibetan
natives, is larger

ibex,

" skeen "

by the

than the ibex of Europe, and

to

equally

difficult

approach.

Some
of

of

our

servants disturbed a large

number

them who
at

had ventured down the mountain to drink

the torrent that same evening.

We

set

men

to

watch

for

them

at the

same spot next day, but

the wary creatures had taken fright, and did not

repeat their visit to the stream.

d^k

arrives next

morning before we

are out

of bed.

There

is

a letter from Buckley,

who

is

only three marches behind us, and begs us to

wait for him.

halt

is

ordered in consequence,

and scouts are sent

for ibex.

in all directions to look out

bleak

spot

is

this

Zing-Zing-beer,
It
is

well

worthy of its barbarous appellation.

about half-way up the

situate

Bara Lacha Pass, and

thousand
feet

must be

at least fourteen

above

138

Travels in Ladak^

the level of the sea.

a snow-bridge to onr

Our onward path

left,

led across
pass.

and so up the

These snow-bridges appeared to be formed by

the
fall

of a petty avalanche from the heights

SNOW BRIDGE.

above into the stream below, which for the instant

it

dams up, but the current soon

finds

its

way underneath

the soft substance without disit,

turbing the surface of

and continues

its

course

Tartary^
as before.

and Kashmir.

139

The snow-bed, though thus undergive

mined,

does not

way;

loose

stones and

gravel from the mountain* sides roll

down and
it

cover
for

it,

protecting
as

it

from the sun, and

as

stands

months

good a bridge
of

man

could wish.

The
Buckley

5th
did

August passed

wearily

by

not

make

his

appearance

the
tent

scouts return without

in early,

news of game

we turn
to It

and
!

sleep dull care

see
!

away

" Master

big pheasant near

Lord Sahib

have

gone

to

shoot."

was

Terrear's voice

which roused me, and I tumbled

reports,

out of bed.

In another moment two

told

rapidly following each other,

me

that the

" Official Friend" had fired " right and left."

minute

after

he passed by

my

tent-door, trium-

phant, but very cold and sleepy.

He

had shot a

couple of snow-pheasants, and was going to bed

again.

The snow-pheasant

is

an enormous

bird,

only

found in or near the snow.

sort

Its colour, a dubious

of neutral

tint,

is

hardly distinguishable
it

from the rocks on which

rarely
flies,

loves to

dwell

it

trusting to

its

sturdy legs rather than

140
its

Travels in Ladak^

pinions for

safety

when threatened with

danger.

We breakfasted in
The wild

camp an hour

or

two

later.

cry of the snow-pheasant came shrilly

down from
mother

the mountain on our

left

it

was the

calling her

two

chicks,

who

were, for the

best of reasons, deaf to her entreaties.

She
;

will

not believe that they cannot come to her

her note,

and

now

soft

and

plaintive,

now loud and

till

imperative,

sounds

near

and

nearer,

the

" Official Friend," seizing his gun, strides off in

her direction with bloody intent.

Almost

at the

same moment an excited native rushes

says there
is

in,

and

another big pheasant quite

rival

close,

and burning to

the

deeds

of

the Lord

Sahib, the author hurries to the spot.

I find

Chumpa

shouting, gesticulating, and

is

pointing at something which

running up the

mountain-side well out of shot.

blessings on the wretch

With

fervent

who had

frightened the

bird hovering on
closely followed

my lips,
by
Isree,

I rush off in pursuit,

and

after

a rapid

scramble of a few hundred yards, I catch sight

of a gigantic pheasant

perched

on a ledge of

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

141

rock above me,

" I

looking

down with a shrewd,

sort of

am

young man from the country "

and evidently watching
contempt.

expression,

my

slow pro-

gress with the utmost

I raise

my

gun

for

steady "pot,'*

but

at

the motion

the bird hops

down

the other

side of the rock

out of sight, and a minute after I see

tinuing his rapid flight far out
Isree

him

con-

of range again.

and I decide that there

is

no use following

the brute.
fifty

The exasperating fowl could give us

in a

yards

hundred and beat us up that

steep slope,
state of

and I retrace

my steps

in

no enviable

mind, with the pheasant's cry ringing in

"

my

ears tauntingly.
it

But you

can't

come over

me,"

said distinctly

more than

once.

I must say that I thought the "Official Friend"

most disagreeable

all

that forenoon

the

airs

which he thought proper to give himself on the

strength of having shot a long-legged fowl, more
like a

"cochin china" than a

pheasant, were

positively revolting,

and

his affected sneer at

my

want of success
I confided

offensive in the last degree.

my

sentiments to the Major,

who

perfectly coincided with me.

" Shooting in these

142
''

Travels in Ladak^
(I will

omit the adjectives with which he

strengthened his very sensible remark), " shoot-

ing in these
rot
"
!

hills,"

said the Major, "

is all

Excelsior
till filling

Higher and

still

higher we climb,

up a round basin

in the solid rock, a

clear,

deep lake, of about a mile in circumference,

meets our view.

source
of

This

is

considered to be the portion

of the

the

Surag-bhaga

Chenab.

We

rest awhile

on

its

bank, and talk very

pluckily about bathing, but without the slightest

intention of committing any such imprudence.

An-

other half-hour's walk brought us to the

summit
feet.

of the pass, sixteen thousand five hundred

It

was a beautiful

clear day.

long valley

stretched

away

to our right,

bounded by heights
the surface of the
like that of

covered with thick

snow

ground was wet and spongy

the

Eotang

Pass, but the level space on the top

was
it

much more
might be

extensive

without exaggeration,

called a plain.

I took a hurried sketch of the view, looking

back on the track we had passed over, and the

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

143
It

photographer took two very successful views.

is

probable that photography was never before

practised at such an altitude.

The

result

showed

how admirably
to represent

the process
heights.

is

adapted faithfully

snowy

After

crossing

the

plain
left

we commenced
bank of a

gradual descent along the

rivulet
pass.

which took

its rise

on the summit of the

Frequent torrents now crossed our path,

all flow-

ing into the rivulet on our right, which increased

rapidly in volume,
till

after a

mile or two
stillness,

it

Howed

into a lake of

singular

about

three miles round.

This lake
rivulet
is,

is

called the

Yunam

lake,

and the
side

which flows out again on the other

after his

baptism in the lake's yellow waters,

river.

called the

Yunam

We
river,

skirted the left

bank of

this little lake,

and then, following the course of the

Yunam

commenced a rapid descent through a very

mighty fragments of red
rock,

(ihaos of

which lay

grouped about in grotesque attitudes, and pitched

our tents on a small grassy plain which stretched
below.

144
It

Travels in Ladah^

was on

this little plain that

we
It

first

saw the

marmot

{Arctomys Thibetensis).

was quite a

marmot warren.
whistle,

Their

call is

a peculiar shrill

and they have immense confidence in the

celerity

fancied

with

which they can betake

themselves to their holes on the approach of

danger.

They

will sit

on the mound of earth

let

above their burrow, and

you approach, gun

in

hand, within ten paces, before they take refuge in

it
;

and even then they pause

to utter a

warning

note

a delay which
:

is fatal

to them.

We

shot

two or three
a rich brown,

their fur

is soft

and

thick,

and of

much esteemed by

the natives.

At about
and

four o'clock that afternoon Buckley

his friend

walked into camp.

Their story

did not reflect

much

credit

on their forethought.

They had wasted

had
latterly

precious time at starting, and

pushed on so eagerly that they had

outstripped their followers and tired out themselves.

Their servants and baggage were

still

on

the other side of the Pass.

good dinner and a long night's

" power" of good
;

rest

did

them a

and next morning we

reader

continued our march.

The

may

possibly

Tartary^
recollect the bottle
left for

and Kashmir,

145

of beer so magnanimously

them

at Dilass.
its

They found the

bottle

but not one drop of

precious contents

was
!

fated to pass their lips.

Improvident youths

they did not possess a corkscrew, so seizing the

" DID

NOT POSSESS A CORKSCREW.

bottle in feverish haste they proceed to

knock

its

head

off;

but in his eagerness the headsman

;

fails
ill-

to hit fairly the slender neck

a clumsy,

directed side-stroke smashes the bottle, which, in

revenge for such brutal treatment, cuts the bungler's fingers,

fair

and the liquor

is spilt.

This

is

example of the not wholly undeserved

ill-

luck that pursued

them throughout.

nine-mile march along a plain about half-

a-mile broad brought us to the confines of La-

146
lioul,

Travels in Ladah^

and we encamped near the

left

bank of the
it

Lingtee river

the

boundary between

and

Ladak.

Next day we should

enter the terri-

tory of the Maharajah of Kashmir.

storm of wind and dust arose shortly

after

the tents were pitched, and caused us some inconvenience, for a tent
dust.
hail,
is

no protection against

This was followed by a small shower of

which had the

effect of partially

laying the

dust,

and the evening was calm enough.

delayed starting next day for some hours,

We

in the hope that the baggage of our

new comrade
fatal to

would come up

this delay

was nearly

the precious boxes containing the camera and

other paraphernalia appertaining to photography.

Many

of these mountain streams, fed as they are

almost entirely by the melting of the snow, are

easily fordable in the early

morning, but later in

;

the day become impassable

and again

at night,

when the

frost

checks the thaw (caused by the

mid-day sun, dwindle back into fordable insignificance.

So

it

was with the Lingtee

till

river,

which we
It was

did not cross

nearly eleven o'clock.

Tartary^
as

and Kashmir,

147

much

as the ponies could do to

stem the

current;

and the

coolies

were obliged to join

hands, and, thus linked together, struggle across

in a long chain.

The men carrying the photoline,

fell

graphic boxes were about the centre of the

and when in mid stream they stumbled and

prone in the rushing water
;

the whole line wa-

vered for a moment, then with an effort join-

ing again, minus the two broken links, reeled

on to the opposite bank, regardless of the

their
their

fate of

two

fallen comrades,
safety.

and mindful only of

own

The

feelings of our artist at this

mishap can

be more easily imagined than described.

His

impassioned gestures

for

we could not hear what

he

said,

the roaring of the torrent drowned

every other voice (and perhaps this was as well)

attracted the notice of Nurput, Noura,

and a

few others. The chosen band of Ladakhis, seeing

ISToura,

good at need, about to rush in to the

dropped their loads and ran to the
assist-

rescue,

ance of their leader.

Joining hands, the stalwart

party reach the fallen wretches, and drag them

and their loads by main

force to shore.

They

l2

148

Travels in Ladak^
anotlier

were only just in time

mersion and the

minnte of im-

men would have been drowned,

I,

and (which, between you and

of

the artist thought

much more

consequence) the boxes lost for

ever

Strange to say, nothing was broken, thanks to

Terrear's good packing
;

and thanks to the wellbrass-bound boxes, only

it

fitting lids of the stout

a few plates got wet

but

was long

ere the

photographer recovered his wonted equanimity.

The few

coolies

who yet

lingered on the

wrong

side of the river, preferring toil

by land

to perils

by water, now turned up

its

bank some two or

three miles to where a good bridge promised a

secure transit.

We
it

did not see this bridge, but were told that

was a very good one, built and kept in repair

ruler of

by the

Kashmir

for the

convenience of
to

traders.

Our thoughts naturally recurred

its

Koksar and

wretched bridge of twigs; and

we marvelled

at the

apathy that admitted of a

contrast so unfavourable to our rule.

A little

farther on

we met

a large drove of

sheep and goats, to the number of five or six hun-

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

149

dred, laden with salt, borax,

for

and pnslim, bound

Rampoor on
and

the Sutlej.

few Tartar shep-

herds,

ladies dressed in the height of Thi-

betan fashion, aided by a few sheep-dogs, were in

charge.

We

halted for breakfast on the right bank of

:

the Lingtee river

shortly after the path turned

suddenly to the right, and ascended by steep

zigzags

the

pass

known

as the

Lung

Lacha.
could

We
find,

chose as sheltered a position as

wx

about half way up

it,

and camped.

Shortly after dark arrived the missing baggage

much
selves
;

to the delight of its owners.

The

ser-

vants could not give a good account of them-

but their woebegone appearance and foot-

sore gait told the true story of their dilatoriness.

They

all

complained more or
:

less of pains in

the

head and fever

many

of our

own

followers were

in the same plight, but

we had

as yet escaped all

the usual

ill

effects of

sojourn at such an altitude.

of the

Next day we completed the ascent

Lacha (seventeen thousand
feet)
;

Lung

and descending

gradually for some miles along a narrow and in

many

places very steep defile,

we

at last crossed

150

Travels in Ladah^
little

and camped on the right bank of a

called the Leimgal.

stream

This was a long and weary march, the general

character of the scenery being the same as before

rocky
and
our
left

valleys

overhung by snow- clad

small plains

crags,

at intervals

covered with a

scanty vegetation.

At

starting, the heights

;

on

took most fantastic forms

they appeared

to be

composed of sandstone, deeply caverned in

all directions,

and their summits, broken into

cas-

tellated shapes,

gave the appearance of a long

line of lofty battlements.

We

met a party of merchants

en route

they

had with them about thirty yaks laden with

" churus," and were taking
route
it

to

Mundi by

the

we had

traversed.

We

asked them

how

they intended to cross the Chundra, and they

told us that at that point they

would have

to

leave the yaks, place the churus on coolies, and

so re-cross the twig bridge into

Kulu

a tedious

and expensive operation, which would detract

greatly from their profits.

These were merchants of a wealthy

evidently,

class,

who

did not go beyond Le, but pur-

Tar tary^ and Kashmir.

chased their goods

151

from

the

caravans which

reach that mart from Yarkand; but during the

same march we came across others of a lower

class,

more

like our pedlars, in fact.

The comheavy

plaints of these

men

related mostly to the

duties levied
his

by the Kashmir Maharajah, through

deputy the governor of Le, and the provisions

of the late "

Arms

Act."
the want of their arms in
;

They did not

feel

our territory, said they, or even in Ladak

but

on the frontiers of that province, and beyond,

they found themselves at the mercy of robbers,

whose attacks they were formerly wont to

with success.

resist

The Disarming
is

Act,

as

far

as

regards firearms,
sure,

no doubt a most wise meait is

but

it

is

open to question whether

it

an equally wise policy to make

versally as
as to
it

apply so uni-

does to swords and spears as well

also to all ranks

guns and matchlocks, and

without exception.

of

men

The remarkable

increase in the

number and

audacity of wild beasts since the Disarming Act

has been enforced,

it
;

is

one great argument against

always

wolves,

which

abounded

in

the

152
Punjab,

Travels in LadaJc^

now

positively swarm,

and day by day

brute's

instances

occur

showing
for

the

rapidly

growing

contempt

his

natural

sovereign,

man, now that

of the

his brother
self-defence.

man

has bereft

him

means of
were

We

now

at the foot of the great plain of

loftiest

Kyang, one of the

in

the world

it

stretches for five-and-thirty miles

from the base

of the

Tung Lung Pass

to the heights above

the river on whose bank

we

halted, its breadth

varying from two to

five miles.
it is

In the summer months

inhabited by a

few shepherds, whose flocks delight to browse on

its

scanty but nutritious herbage

but ere the

approach of winter they leave the wild expanse

to its native rulers

the

wild horse, the mon-

strous wild sheep, the hare, and the

marmot.
;

Our

sick list is steadily

is

on the increase

poor

Buckley

beginning to complain of pains in the

head, and the " Official Friend" does not seem

" quite the thing," but they both talk confidently

of slaying a wild horse on the morrow.

Our camp was a most picturesque one; the

tents, pitched

on a narrow

slip of

ground between

Tartary^ and Kashmir.

53

the stream and the steep mountain- side, gleamed

white in the light of the

intervals

fires

which blazed

at

up the

slope, lighting

up with

their

flickering flame the wild faces

around them

and forms grouped

" Just like a scene at the Prin-

cesses," said the

Major

and

so it was.

The reason
was, that the

of all this festive light and heat

hill-side
;

was covered with the

capital fuel,

Thibetan furze

this

makes

and

for

" this night only" our poor fellows were

warm.

A
us

steep ascent of about half a mile brought

next morning on to the plain.

Here we

separate,

and agree to meet again at breakfast in

it

a few hours, at whatever point

might please

Ali

Bux

to give

it us.

We

have no stirring adventure to

tell

of at

our rendezvous.

We

have

all

seen wild horses,

fair

but none have succeeded in getting within

rifle-shot of

them, and, disgusted with our failures

in the stalking line, have returned to seek consolation in breakfast

and

chat.

The Kyang,

or wild horse of Thibet, has been

treated with foul

insist that

calumny by some
ass,

writers,

who
is

he

is

an

not a

liorse

that he

of

154

Travels in Ladah^

the genus asinus, not equus.

Our acquaintance
;

with him was a most distant one

for

he very

wisely never permitted any one of us to approach

near enough to take a certain aim at any vital

part,

so not

wishing merely to wound him^ we

all
:

never fired at

now
him

this procedure

on his

part clearly proves

fact,
is

to be no donkey.

Another
one,

and to
he

my mind
"neighs"

a very

conclusive
clear,

that

shrilly

defiant

" neigh,"

as different

from the nasal " bray" of

the animal they would liken

him

to,

as his erect

and arched neck, and

differ

swift,

out-stepping trot,
'^

from the gait and bearing of the

bray-

ing" creature.

The hunters
in the day
;

of horses pursue their sport later

but when we meet that evening, at

the black tents of Eukchin, nothing has been

bagged but a few hares, which

fell

to

my

gun.

Eukchin
herds,

is

an encampment of Tartar shepgoat's-hair cloth

whose low tents of black

nestle in a little valley

plain.
it

which debouches on the

it,

little

brook flows down

and around

the grass grows thick and green amid large

clumps of furze; thousands of sheep and goats and

11

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

155

a few yaks cover the low hills which

bound

it,

dappled low though they are by frequent broad

patches of snow.

The

flocks are driven

down

into the valley at night,

and a cordon of vigilant

BLACK TENTS OF RUKCHIJN.

sheep-dogs,

whose

baying

makes
straying.

the

night

hideous, prevents

them from

The
tall

chief of this little

nomad

tribe

was a

spare man, well dressed in a long wrapper of

thick woollen cloth, confined at the waist

by a

gay-coloured scarf of Eussian silk

on his head

was a

close-fitting skull-cap of sheepskin,

and

long boots of Eussia -leather clothed his legs to

the knees
;

he was armed with sword and dagger,

and carried in his right hand one of the small

flail-shaped riding- whips invariably used

by the

156
Tartars
;

Travels in Ladah^
in fact, I

had not seen anything

so like

a Cossack of the

Don

since I left the Crimea.

all

He

turned round, and

resemblance vanished

for, pendant

from under the cap of sheepskin hung

a long, tapering, glossy, carefully-plaited genuine

Chinaman's
been proud
" gentle

tail
of.

a
We

tail

a mandarin would have

now

observed that
tails,

all

the

shepherds" wore

though none

could compare in length and glossiness with the

tail of their chief.

Next morning Buckley

of the servants were

felt

worse, and
fever.

more

"down" with

Our
and

camp

is

rapidly becoming a

little hospital,

to give the sick

people

the

rest

they are so

clamorous

for,

we

agree to halt.
as a guide, I
start

Taking a Tartar with me

on an expedition against

the

hares.

Though
shepherd

ignorant of holy writ, this

evidently

sporting

knows that the " rocks

are a refuge for

the conies."
straight

He

took
the

me

for three or four miles

across

plain to where the usual

hills

undulating slope of the low

it

which hemmed
rocky precipice.

in

was broken into a

steep,

Taviary^
This
lie

and Kashmir,

157
peering over

proceeds to

scale, cautiously

every stone, and looking round angrily

less-practised foot
stone.

when my

makes a stumble or dislodges a

At

last

he beckons eagerly and points.

I can see nothing, but guessing his meaning, and

unable to express in pure Thibetan

my

horror

at the notion of shooting a hare sitting, I pick

up a stone and throw

indicating
close to
;

it

in the direction he

is

out jumps a fine big fellow from

where
rolls

my

missile

fell

another second

and he
in

over with a charge of No. 8 shot

him

after this the Tartar evidently conceives

a higher opinion of me, and

sport, returning

we have very

fair

much

heavier laden than

when

we

started.
is

Poor Buckley
ing,

no better
is

his

head

is
;

burnso

he

says,

and he

feverish

and weak

we

halt one

more day and bag more

hares, and, to

our delight, in a rocky glen about three miles

from camp, some more snow pheasants.

soup, roast pheasant, and jugged hare a

Hare

now form

most agreeable change

to the toujours inouton of

our camp dinners.

158

Travels in Ladak^

A
ass,

Ladakhi

calls
its

the hare ribonq, or the

hill

on account of

long

ears,

and

for the

same

reason wont eat him, thinking

him
is

a species of
is

donkey
the ass
fellows

Poor
!

little

hare

it

not he that
fine

Those

we

shot

were

plump

quite

as large as

English hares

and

finely flavoured.

On

the afternoon of the second day the Major

hills

and I rode over the range of

which bound

the plain on the right, to the shores of a large

salt lake called

the Tsho Kar, or

White Lake.
fowl,

We

saw an immense number of wild

but

they were too wary to give us a chance of a shot.

They

sat

pluming

themselves
the

wdthin

about
for

one hundred

yards of

bank,

using

toilette-glass the still surface

of the lake, and,

killed."
its

odd

to say, wouldn't "

is,

come and be
from

The water

to judge

villanous
it

flavour, highly medicinal;

and I recommend
Tartar emetic.

to the faculty as a genuine

thick saline crust covered the shores of the lake.

"

Away to

the south," said our guide, "

is

a small to test

fresh -water lake ;" but

we had not time

Tartary^ and Kashmir.

159

the truth of his story.

is,

This piece of fresh water

however, mentioned by Cunningham,*

it

who
and
five

says that

flows into the

salt-water lake,

he computes the

size of the latter at

about

miles in length and two and a half in breadth.

Vide Cunningham's Laddk, page 140.

160

Travels in Ladah^

CHAPTEE

YIII.

the 13th

August we

bade adieu to the gentle

shepherds and shepherdesses
of the Alpine Arcadia of
chin,

Ruk-

and slowly wended our way over the plain

to the foot of the

for the

Tung Lung
'^

Pass.

I say slowly,

number

of

effectives" in
all

camp was dimi-

nishing daily, and nearly

carried

our baggage was

It

on slow-stepping yaks.

was a

bitterly

cold day, for thick clouds obscured the sun, and

towards evening snow

fell

thick.

Tartary^

and Kashnir.
to the
sick-list

161
to-

Many names

are added

night, including that of the "Official

Friend,"

who, in addition to the tortures of headache produced by the

long been living
rarified
in, is

atmosphere we had so
suffering from severe

now

intermittent fever.

The

climate of this elevated plain

is

certainly

very trying.

To

a solar heat at noon-day

many

degrees hotter than in any part of India, succeeds at night a cold so intense that even during

the

summer months
a day spent, as

it

freezes almost every night.

To

it

were, in

the

desert

of

Sahara, succeeds a night of Arctic frigidity.

I more than once,

of

when

riding over this plain

Kyang,

experienced

the

delusion
fast,

of the

" mirage."

I had ridden far and

enticed on

and on by the distant gambols of a wild horse,

who

every

now and then would

stop,

and paw

the earth, and gaze wonderingly on the strange

creature approaching

him

then, tossing his head

and neighing
dust, so rapid

shrilly,

would vanish in a streak of

;

was

his flight

and when

this dust

had cleared away, would be seen grazing peaceably half-a-mile

off.

I give

up the vain

pursuit,

162

Travels in Ladak^

and turn to retrace

sun's rays beat
balls acbe

my

steps.

It

is

noon
;

the
eye-

down

fiercer

and

fiercer

my

with the glare, and the whole expanse

around

me

seems

to dance

and quiver in the

fervent heat.

Then on the horizon would appear

I reason with myself
fight

cool

sheet of water.
it,

about

and wrestle and

against

the

strange belief in

what I know to be a

cheat,

which
ment.
snare.

still

gains ground despite

it

my

calmer judg-

I cry aloud that

is

a delusion and a
it

But I

lie

my heart believes
now

to be water;

and

my senses

are

revelling in the anticipa-

tion of a cool delight which

is

my intellect

tells

me

unreal

and when the distance that had

lent

its

enchantment to the view was passed, and the

cheat was palpable and evident, though mockery

was on

my

tongue, and a sneer on

my

lips, as

said to them, "

Lo

did I not
senses

tell

ye so ?" yet

on

my

too

credulous

disappointment

weighed

bitterly.

Next morning we mount the Tung Lung

seventeen thousand
five

Pass,
It
is

hundred

feet.

not a long climb, for we camped at an elevation

of at least sixteen thousand feet, but
it is

very

Tartary^
steep

and Kashmir.
fell

163

and the snow which

in the night,

and

now

covers the

path to the depth of three or

our progress
a great deal.

four inches, retards

ON THE MARCH.

But the summit once reached we descend rapidly

for

some

miles,

and

as evening

comes on enter

the picturesque town of Ghya.

164

Travels in Ladak^

Ghya is built on
wliich rises in the

the

left

bank of a small stream,

Pass, and along

Tung Lung
;

which our path had wound

the heights boundrise in a

ing the valley on the town side

slope,
rises a

gradual

but from the right bank of the stream

mighty

precipice of many-coloured rock

there
in

is

a deep cleft in this just opposite the town,

which stands a detached cone-shaped rock of

considerable height, on the very

is

summit of which

perched a Gonpa, or Boodhist monastery.

To all outward seeming Ghya

religious population
;

possesses a

most

its

suburbs are a mass of

saintly edifices,

of " manis " and " Tchoktens,"

of a

much more imposing

we had

appearance than were

the few
*'

as yet seen in

Lahoul.

The

manis " are long, low walls of stone, varying

fifteen

from ten or
length;
in
feet,

feet

to

many

furlongs

ift

breadth

they are

generally about

twelve
flat

and their summits are covered with

stones and slates of various shapes and sizes,

all

but

bearing the same inscription

the mystic
The proper
p. 7.

words,* "

Om

mani padme JwmJ'

translation of this universal prayer of the Boodhist

*

Vide Prinsep's Tibet, Tartary,

and Mongolia,

i^~':-J^^^^^

\:

-:

'^f'i

BUDDHIST IV10NASTERY,"CYA", LADAK

Tartary^
is,

and Kashmir.
!

165
"
!

"0

the jewel in the lotus

Amen

mean-

ing "

Boodh

who

hast been absorbed and in-

corporated in the Divine essence like the jewel-

shaped mark in the lotus flower."

These slabs of

slate

and stone are sold by the

in the

Lamahs
manner

or priests
as

to the pious,

same

" indulgences " are in the

is

Church of
effi-

Home

and mighty indeed

their fancied

cacy, insuring success in all his enterprises to

the believing purchaser, who, on receiving his

slab of stone, lays
it

with

all

due ceremony on

the "

mani

"

nearest his village or house.

The

village mani, therefore, rapidly increases in extent,

and from
prevalence

its

size

a very fair estimate of

feeling

the

of

religious

amongst
star of

the inhabitants

may

be calculated.

The

Boodh

is

setting, to

judge from the antiquated

appearance and dilapidated state of most of the

edifices raised in his

honour.
or "offering receptacle,"

The "Tchoktens"
the "

and

Dungten"

or " bone-holder"

for

they are of

the same shape

are pyramidal structures vary-

ing in size
the latter

the former are shrines for offerings,

monuments

or mausolea, erected in

166

Travels in Ladah^
of some deceased lamah, or grandee.

memory

A
fiery

mythical monster, resembling greatly the

dragon that adorns the " old China/' so valued

by our female relatives of a certain

painted on the outside.

age, is usually

We observed a change in the

here
;

dress of the

men
a

instead

of a

close-fitting

skull-cap,

slouching cap of rough woollen cloth, generally

black,

was worn; grass

shoes,

too,

had

dis-

appeared, and thick soled, square-toed boots, of

which, to use an Irishism,

" the upper leathers

their
place,
;

were of

felt,''

had taken

much
above

apparently to the comfort of the wearer

these, greaves of
felt,

reaching from the knee

downwards, and confined by long garters of black

coarse braid, neatly
still

wound round them, helped

further to protect their nether man.

forced
to to
retract

Next morning we were

the conclusion
before,

we had come
the
of

the

evening
of
in

regarding

serious-mindedness
for,

the

good people
midst
of
of

Ghya;

behold!

the

our
all,

coolies,

the raggedest and

wretchedest

some half-dozen red-robed

1

" lamahs " were squabbling

There must be a

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

167

great tightness in the "

mani " market, but a

with mystic inscripnever have been
fifteen

small

demand

for the stones

tions, or these

holy

men would

reduced to carrying a heavy portmanteau

miles over rough ground, for the small remuneration of a three-penny bit, and in the service of
heretics, too
!

Verily, the sacerdotal profession

must be

at a

low ebb

We had

been studying

Mr. Buckle's second volume, and had serious

thoughts of delighting him by an account of this
priestly degradation.

Let us hope that this augurs well

future
lang.

for the

success of our

worthy friends

at

Eye-

From

Grhya

our road followed the rivulet

through a deep gorge, in parts so narrow that, to

enable travellers to walk dryshod, the path had

with some ingenuity been raised on a kind of

rude causeway above the waters of the stream,

which

filled

up the bottom of the gorge, and but

for this

rough engineering would have covered

the footway.
little

Anon

it

opened out, and here

patches of green sward appear lining either

bank, and willows droop their graceful boughs in


168
Travels in Ladak^

the stream, which here flowed peacefully without

a ripple, and
"

Yellow flowers

For ever gazed on their own drooping eyes

Reflected in the crystal calm."

But always on the

rose a

right

hand and on the

lofty

left

rugged barrier of red rock, so

and

perpendicular that
strip

we could

see but a

narrow

of

the blue sky above.

This lasted for

some

miles, but

we

did not weary of our lateral

prison,

after the

wide expanse of arid plain we

had

so lately traversed.
;

The

sense of confine-

ment was pleasant

were ever varying,
terious,
solid

besides, our

prison walls

l^ow caverned

and mys;

they seemed to invite the explorer

;

now

and impenetrable, they defied escape

face,

and at

times up their

leading from the water's

brink to the summit, cut

sharp

and

clear

as

though with the

graver's

chisel,
;

would run

strange, straight, broad furrows

these were the

channels the melting snow of ages had worn for

itself through

the softer veins of the rock.

last into

The

defile

widened at

a small well-

cultivated valley, on the left of which, built high

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
was a good sized

169
village

on the

face of the

cliff,

called Miru.

Its appearance

was most picturesque.

;

There

was no attempt
architecture

at regularity

the laws of street;

had been utterly ignored

wherever

a ledge of rock afforded a foundation, there stood a flat-roofed, white-washed house, standing out

from

its

red

background with cameo-like

all

dis-

tinctness.

Above

towered the house of the

there,
little

Lamah, and dotted here and

midal
shrines

pyra-

and

monuments

relieved

the

monotony of the

flat roofs.

After Miru the valley again narrowed, but the

character of
its

sides

changed
soil

they were

now

composed of a mass of

with pebbles deeply

embedded in
fact.*
defile

it

a " sort of pudding-stone," in

This was

soft

and

fragile,

and the narrow

was

all

covered with fragments which had

falling in the stream

become detached, and

below

made

its

course

wayward and

tortuous,

and

added greatly to the steepness and

our path.

difficulty of

We

halted at Ugshi, a small village situate in

*

Vide Moorcrofb, page 234.

170

Travels in Ladak^
little

the angle formed by the confluence of the

Glya

river

and the mighty Indus, which, even

at
is

this point,
called

was no inconsiderable stream.

Sinh-kha-bab,

It

the

or

Lion's

mouth,

descended by the Thibetans.

We
about

had, for the last two marches, been rapidly

descending,

and were now

thousand

at

an elevation of

twelve

feet.

The change

of

climate consequent on this difference of altitude

had most

beneficial effects

on our

invalids,

who
to

vowed that nothing should

visit

ever induce

them

the elevated plains of Eukchin again.

for

Next day we journeyed

along the
of our
left

about nine miles

bank of the Indus.

was over a
bare,

The

first

part

march

stony plain,

utterly destitute of green,

bleak,
as

and
;

surrounded by
it

snow-tipped mountains

widened out

we advanced, and

in the distance

began to
off

appear belts of trees, promising from afar

shade and relief from glare and heat.

As we

approached we could distinguish enclosures carefully planted, gardens,

and houses

pleasant

prospect enough, but strikingly suggestive of a

Chinese

drawing, so strangely formal was the

^-4^-^Ji

7-r4^i

INGRAM A OF

LE,

FROM TH E PA LACE ON THE LEFr,TO THE VALLEY OFTHE INDUS ON THE

F!ICH

Tartary^
effect of

and Kashmir.

171

the straight Hnes of green on a yellow

ground, intersecting each other at right angles,

that

we

half doubted the correctness of nature's

own

perspective.

This quaint

air of stiffness

was

caused by the necessity there was of constantly

irrigating that parched soil

for rain is almost

unknown

in

Ladak

and the
affect

cultivation clung

close to the sides of the watercourses,

and ceased
little

altogether

when

the moisture

from the
it.

stream could no longer

So between

these grateful rows of verdure "in the barren

and dry places where no water was," stretched in

its

starveling nudity the famished plain again.

Where

it

got enough to drink, this thirsty soil

;

was by no means ungrateful

on we saw
fields

for a little further

of wheat

that
apricots,

seemed to
too,

promise an ample harvest;

and

apples were brought us in basketfuls, the former,

however,

you must be very hot and

tired

thorouglily to appreciate, and the latter are only

eatable

when stewed

or baked with an " intoler-

able deal " of sugar.

We pitched
and
shortly

our tents in one of these gardens,

after

were waited

upon

by the

172

Travels in Ladah^

Kahlone of Le.

He

was of an old

Ladakhi
in the

family, and at that time the principal

capital
;

man

for the

Governor, Basti Eam, had grown

too old and feeble to hold the reins of Grovern-

ment, and had, some months before, retired to his

home

in the valley of Kishtawar, there to spend

life

the last days of his active

cessor

in peace

a suc-

had not

as

yet been

appointed by the

Maharajah of Kashmir,
the

so this

Ladakhi was in

mean time

the nominal governor.

THE KAHLONE OF LE AND HIS INTERPRETEE.

Kahlone
old days

is

an old Thibetan
the

title,

and

in the

before

Dogra dynasty

signified

BUDDHIST MONASTERY NEAR LE

Tartary^
" Prime

and Kashmir. Our

173

Minister."

new

friend's " brief

authority," however, failed to gain for

respect from the garrison, for he

him much

was accompanied
scant
fact

by a Sikh
courtesy,

officer,

who

treated

him with but

and took no pains to disguise the

that he held

him

in contempt as one of a con-

quered race.

Our

curiosity

had been excited by the

descrip-

tion of a large monastery in the neighbourhood,

and in the afternoon we made a pilgrimage to

It

it.

was about three miles

off,

up

in the recesses of

the mountain range to our

left.

The gorge

in

which

it

was

situate

was completely hid from

sight by a projecting promontory of rock which

formed a natural screen in front

but this once

passed, the convent stood before you.

In front
poplars,

and

close to

you rustled a grove of green

flanked by enormous tchoktens and manis.

right of this the path leads
;

On

the

while above,

on

every projecting piece

of rock, were flat-roofed

buildings surmounted by square towers, white-

washed

for the

most

part,

and painted near the

top with broad bands of red.

The

cliffs

above

were of immense height, but on every peak, as

174
far as
little

Travels in Ladak^

the eye could distinguisli, perclied these

buildings.

We

followed the pathway, and,

passing under a large gateway, stood in the outer

court of the principal edifice, which had been

hid from us by the poplar grove.

TCHOKTENS-AMANI, AND LAMASERY IN THE DISTANCE.

It

was many- windowed, and several

;

stories in

height

square in shape, with an open quadrangle

in its centre.

At each

corner was a square tower,

flags

on the top of which

figures in red robes

waved, and strange

and mitre-like caps walked

sonorous,

solemnly,

and

blew

deep-sounding

trumpets, and beat drums.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
in the

175

Standing in

groups

courtyard were

some sixty or seventy

priests, all clothed in

long

robes of red confined by a red girdle round the waist

their boots even were red.

Most were

bare-

headed, and their hair was either cropped short

or clean shaven
;

but some few wore high hats

A LAMAH.

bulging out towards the top; these,

red,

too,

were

and their wearers appeared to be dignitaries

of the church.

They

told us that the

buildings above were

176

Travels in Ladah^
occupied, and that they were fast
fall-

now not

ing into ruin.

there,

The

fact

was

it

was very cold up

and these degenerate descendants of the

of old"

"monks

had

built for themselves this

warmer, grander place of worship down below.

We
scale.

went over the monastery, which was just

the church of Gurooguntal over again on a larger

Amongst

other things

we were shown with

great pride a monster praying wheel ; the cylinder

was
feet

at least ten feet in height

and

five or six

in diameter,
it.

and

it

was hard work

for

two

priests to turn

These praying cylinders were the great feature

of the place, and were of
all sizes
;

the smallest

were

about the

size

of humming-tops, and reshape.

sembled that toy

chos-khor,

in

They

are

called

and are carried in the lamah's right

axis

hand

the handle being the

at

on which they

revolve.

They turn

the slightest

movement; and
it

as each revolution counts as one prayer,

is

easy to carry on an animated conversation, and

get through any
at the

amount of prayers

to

Boodh

same time.

-^

>

^'

'**'"

VILLAGE OF 8USQO,LADAK

Tartary^
Others, a

and Kashmir,

111

little larger,

were placed in shelves

the height
of a

along
waist.
twirl.

tlie

walls about

man's

The pious

in passing always give these a

perfect

But the most

specimen of this

business-like
duties

way

of getting over their spiritual

practised
little

by the Boodhists of Ladak,

was a
time

water mill which we noticed a short

after,

near a village.

The stream turned the

less

mill-wheel, which

was nothing more or

than

a prayer cylinder, and revolved unceasingly

as

long as the stream flowed on, so long would

devotions
apt to
fall

its

last.

Unlike a " friar of orders grey,"

asleep over his beads,

and to shirk the

number
this

of aves which have been bargained for,

little

charming

mechanical contrivance never

stopped to take breath

off for

never
fool,

slept

never
else

left
all

meals

but prayed continually, and

" free, gratis, for nothing."

He

was certainly no
been,

whatever

he

may have

who invented

the praying wheel

We

now were ushered

into the part of the

;

building set apart for Divine service

.good-sized room, capable of holding

it

was a

two or three
it

hundred people

cushions were laid across

in

178
parallel

Travels in Ladah^

rows for the congregation to kneel on

officiating priests,

and

the

to the

number of

fifteen or

twenty, sat in rows on cushions raised

floor.

little

above the

It

was not the time

for regular service,

but

they made no objection to giving us a private

performance.

The

priest

who

sat

on the right

opened a book, rang a

little bell,

and commenced

intoning in a low voice

the prayer
often.

we

could distinguish

Om

mani padme hom recurring very

His monotonous chant was soon taken

priest next him,

up by the
into

and quickly swelled

instruments
the

a regular chorus;
in,

then the

chimed

and the clashing of cymbals,

tinkling of triangles, the braying of trumpets,

and the

roll of

drums sounded

at

intervals.
all

Suddenly, a deep, prolonged roar drowned

other sound;
it

proceeded from two enormous

stretched along

trumpets

that

the

floor,

the

mouths of these instruments and a few

their length

feet of

were alone

visible

the

performers

being seated in a dark

cloister

beyond.

This

appeared to be the signal for redoubled exertion,

and the intoning, the

clashing, the tinkling, the

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

179

drumming,

tlie

braying pealed louder and louder

in a rapid crescendo. to
last
;

But the pace was too good

of
distress
;"

symptoms

were

soon

apparent after this " grand crash

to our great
off,

and

at last,

relief,
;

the instruments began to drop

one by one

then the intoners began to think

it,

they had had enough of

the monotonous

and soon nought but

of the old lamah on

mumble

the right was audible, and so the service ended,

I fancy that this was

ar

sort of extravaganza,
;

got up for our especial benefit

for apart

from

the more general points of resemblance, such as

the monastic
life,

the tonsured head, and flowing

little

robes of these people, I could trace but

of

that striking similitude in the

service to the

details

of the

customs of the Church of

Rome
carica-

which

is

so insisted

on by

others.

The

ture seemed to
ciated
;

me

too monstrous to be appre:

but Jacquemont writes

"

Le grand lamah de Kanum

il

a la mitr^ et la
ses prelats

Crosse episcopales,

est vetu

comme

un connaisseur

superficiel prendrait, a distance, sa

messe Thibetaine et Boudhiste pour une messe

romaine du meilleur

aloi.

II

fait

alors vingt

N 2

180

Travels in Ladak^

genuflexions a divers intervalles, se tonrne vers

Tautel et vers le peuple tour a tour, agite une

sonnette, boit dans

un

calice d'eau

que

lui verse

un

acolyte
air
;

il

marmonne

des patenotres sur le

meme

de tout point e'est une resemblance

cboquante."*

No

doubt, had

we

seen a grand

mass we should have been equally struck with

the resemblance.

Jacquemont goes on

to say that Christians of

robust faith argue from all this that

Boodhism

is

but a corruption of Christianity

an

argument

which can be maintained on sentimental grounds

only.

One

would

think,

too,

that

such

" robustly " believing Christians would be slow

to admit the possibility of Christianity becoming

corrupted to such an extent.

My friend the
the service

Major of Cavalry declared that

exactly like

we saw performed was

the " Eailway Overture," as performed by the

Ethiopian Serenaders.

Tea a

la

Tartare was

now handed round

in

China cups, and

in the

after it liqueurs
cJiang,

were produced
is

shape

of

Chang

the

only

* Correspondancej page 260.

Tartary^
spirituous beverage

and Kashmir.

181
it

made by the Ladakhis;

owes

its

being to John Barleycorn, and when

straw colour.
It

distilled is of a pale

was not
highly

agreeable

to

the

taste,

and

seemed

deficient in strength.

We
Sikh

mentioned this

latter peculiarity to
it

our

friend,

who

assured us that

was never-

theless within the

bounds of

possibility to get
it.

most outrageously drunk upon

This was

thought a capital joke by the "Kahlone," and

the one

Lamah who
It

understood a
retailed,

little

Hin-

doostanee.

was soon

with additions

of his

own no

doubt, to his brother priests, and

profane laughter shook the walls of Boodh.

The

fact

is,

they are very jolly dogs, these

Botis of Ladakh.

Every domestic event

is

with

them the
chan^
is

signal for

merry-making, of which

the principal feature.

The

clergy are,

as a matter of course, invited to all these feasts,

and enjoy themselves (why should they not?)

as

fully

much

as the laymen.

We
is

marvelled at the number of these monks,

but were told that every family, in which there

more than one

son, devotes a

member

of

it

to

182
the priesthood.

Travels in Ladak^

To judge from
it is

the appearance
tiie

of our monkish friends,

family/' I fear,

the "fool of

who

is

generally selected for the

holy profession.
Before leaving
building,

we were conducted

to an out-

where was a large furnace, above which,

in solid masonry, were

embedded

two monstrous

iron caldrons, of great circumference, but rather

shallow.
are cooked

"

In these," said they, " tea and soup

on grand occasions, and then ladled

out through the door to pilgrims, beggars, and

others."

The door was

in

two parts

the upper

half could be opened for the distribution of the

good things, while the other half remained barred

against the crowd that besieged
hatch, in fact.
it
:

a buttery-

Great expense, they told us, was incurred by

this wholesale giving of food,

and the smallest

subscription towards the convent funds would,

they hinted, be, even from the hands of heretics,

gratefully accepted.
,

It

was two marches

to Le, a little over

twenty

miles; but the

KaJdorie

promised us as

many

Tartary^
coolies

and Kashmir,

183

and ponies
to

as

we could

possibly want, and

we determined

make the double march.

early,

We
left

left

Marchalang

and followed the

bank of the Indus

for

about ten miles to

a village called Chachot, through a valley that

increased in width and fertility at every step.

Chachot was a long straggling hamlet.

The

houses were large and well-built, with balconied

windows, each standing on

farm-land.

its

own

little

piece of

They were

generally whitewashed,

and looked quite comfortable, reminding one of

an English farm-house.

On

the roof of each was

a thick pile of firewood and dry lucerne for

winter use.

We
little

breakfasted in a plantation of poplars

arranged in formal rows.

We

could find but

protection here from the perpendicular rays

of the sun, and about noon continued our march.

Our path

led us

now over broad grazing meadows,

wet
ditches,

intersected with

which supplied the

smaller watercourses used for irrigation. Opposite

us,

on the other

side of the river, built

castle,

on a rocky

eminence, was a

flanked

by towers and

184

Travels in Ladak^
its

surrounded by a battlemented wall, and at

foot a straggling village reached close

up to the
left

walls that protected

villages, farm-houses,

it

while on the

bank

and cultivation grew more

and more frequent.

The sun was very

still

powerful, and Buckley,

who

was

weak,

felt it so

much that he was

and
lie

obliged
in the

to take refuge in a garden

down

shade.

He

had overrated

his powers

and was

quite knocked up, so

for him,

we

contrived a rude litter

and when the sun*s rays sank towards

the west, had

him

carried

on

it

into Le.

The entrance

to the capital is very striking.;

We

crossed the Indus

by a wooden

bridge, then,

leaving the river, and turning off towards the

mountains, which

still

hemmed

in the valley

on

either side, passed over the stoniest road in the

world to where, in a long low range of rocky

hills

about two miles from the

this,

river, a

sudden

dip appeared; through

we were

told,

we

could see Le.

After passing this range of

hills

we came on

two manis^ nearly half a mile in length, and

flanked

by

lofty tchoktens

then came another

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
defile,

185

narrow, steep, and rocky

up which the path

fre-

wound.
quent

It

was now quite dark; hut the

lights, the

hum

of voices, and the barking

in

of dogs told us

we were

Le

at last.

The

tents were pitched in a grove of poplar

city,

trees on the other side of the

and here we
at

found

our

comrades wondering

our non-

appearance, and clamorous for dinner.

It was the 17th August, exactly one
since

month

the

"official

friend" and I rode out of

Simla, during which

layas and

we had

crossed the

Hima-

marched

at least four

hundred miles.

CASTLE AND VILLAGE NEAR LE.

186

Travels in Ladak^

Tartary^
conquerors.

and Kashmir,
tlie

187

Before this

form of government

had been a mild despotism, under rulers who

bore the
title

of Gyalpo.

They

appear, with but

one or two exceptions, to have been

men

of a

weak and indolent

reins of

character, content to leave the

government

entirely in the

hands of the

Kahlone, or prime minister, and as long as the

latter

kept the royal

coffers full, willingly sub-

mitting to be a puppet in his hands.

The

post of Kahlone
still

is,

as

we have

before

observed,

kept up, and held by a Ladakhi

longer the
all-powerful

but he
minister.
is

is

no

prime

All authority, whether real or nominal,

vested in the hands of the Sikh Governor at

Le,

who

represents his master the Maharajah of

Jumnoo.
In the year 1687-88 Ladak was overrun by
the

Kalmuck

Tartars,

and the then Gyalpo, unable

to cope with his daring invaders, implored the

aid

of Kashmir, which at that time formed a

part of the great

Mogul

empire.

Thralim Khan,

the Governor of Kashmir, referred the Gyalpo's

request to Aurungzebe, the emperor,

who

per-

mitted him to march to the aid of the Gyalpo on

188

Travels in Ladak^

the condition that, for the future,

Lad^k should

pay an annual tribute to Kashmir, and that

the Gryalpo himself should

become a Mahom-

medan.

These conditions were readily accepted.

;

The Kashmiris routed the Tartar army

and the

Gyalpo, donning a green turban as became a true

follower of the Prophet, resumed his former
life

of inglorious ease.

From

this date tribute continued to

be paid

annually to the Kashmir Government, notwithstanding the

latter's

change of masters, and in

so apprehensive of the

1822 the Ladakhis were

grasping policy of Eunjeet Singh, and so conscious of their

own

weakness, that, with a view

to

avert the

invasion,

which they knew was

inevitable

by other means, they made a volun-

tary offer of allegiance to the British Government,

and asked Moorcroft,

Le, to become their

at that time residing in

medium

of communication

and to forward their tender of submission to

Calcutta.

Moorcroft, judging that such an offer

could not but be acceptable to the Company,

readily consented to do so; but not only

was

the offer declined, but severe censure was passed

on Moorcroft

for

thus meddling in

politics.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

189

The

invasion, so long dreaded

by the Ladakhis,

took place in 1834,

when the Vuzeer Zorawur

Singh was despatched with an army to conquer

the province.

The Ladakhis made

but in the open
warlike Sikhs,
field

a protracted resistance,

were no match for the

who

treated their opponents with

a contempt not unfounded indeed, but which

was

at times injudicious.

The

victors followed

up each success with energy, but exhibited a want

of precaution in the measures they adopted to
secure
their

newly-acquired

territory.
left

Forts
gar-

taken at the point of the sword were

risoned

by weak detachments, whose very

induced
revolt

insig-

nificance

on the part of the

it

partially

subjugated people of Ladak, and

was nearly a year before the Sikh general could

call

the country his

own.

The length

and

rapidity of

some of the marches made by the

Dogras to check revolt and avenge the massacre

of the small garrisons they
are almost incredible.

had

left

behind them,

The conquest
bitious

of

Ladak completed, the am-

Vuzeer next formed the idea of subju-

190
gating the
north-east

Travels in LadaJc^

province
of Ladak.

of Balti,
Its

situate
is

to

the

capital

Skardo

and traditions

exist to the effect that it

was once

called Iskandaria,
cities

and that

it

was one of the

It
is

founded by Alexander the Great.

watered by the Indus, and the country skirting

its

banks

is

more

fertile

than any part of Ladak,

is

but the climate in winter

rity.

one of great seve-

Of

this latter fact

Zorawur Singh appears

it

to have been unaware, for

was not

till

towards

the close of the year that he commenced his march.

At

the

first

intelligence of the advance of the

Sikhs,
for

Ahmed

Shah, the chief of Balti, prepared

;

an energetic defence

and, to gain time, broke

down the only

bridge across the Indus,

thus
to

confining the operations of the invading

army

the right bank of the river, along which they

marched

for

twenty-five

days in the hope of

finding a practicable crossing-place.

The hope

was a vain one.

his deep

Day

after

day the Indus rolled

on their
left

and rapid

flood along

hand,

an impassable

barrier.

The
visions

Sikh

troops
scarce,

began to

grumble,

pro-

grew

and, as a climax to their

Tdrtary^
misfortunes, a heavy

and Kashmir,
fall

191
in a

of

snow ushered

winter of unusual severity.

Of a

force of five

thousand men, detached from the main body to

collect

supplies

and

reconnoitre,
tell

only

four

hundred men returned to

a disheartening
rout,

tale of surprise, discomfiture,

fifteen

and

and

for

days the Dogra army remained

inert, their

numbers rapidly thinning by starvation and

Discipline was at an end, ruin stared
face,

cold.

them

in the

and death was busy in their ranks.

Balti army,
or

The
river,

camped on the other

in

side the

comfortably housed
its

the

villages

which lined

bank, rejoicing in the cold which

paralysed the Sikhs, watched their invaders dwindling in numbers day

by

day, content to leave

to the elements, which fought so well for them,

the glory of their foes' defeat.

But

it

was fated that in

this very severity

of cold the shivering Sikhs should find, not only

escape from
victory.

their

miseries

but the means of

Mehta Basti Eam, one of the

chief officers of

the expedition, whose resolution seems to have

been undaunted by the

difficulties

which ap-

192
palled the rest,

Travels in Ladak^

had watched with daily

river.

increas-

ing hope the freezing of the

nettle, danger,

"

Out of this

we pluck

the flower safety," he

muttered to himself, or would have muttered

had he ever read Shakespeare; and one dark

night, with only one follower, he examined the
ice

up and down

for miles, while a small party of

about forty Sikhs,

whom his

courage had inspired

with some sparks of their former energy, kept

up a smart

fire

on the Balti people, with a view

to distract their attention from the daring explorer.

After an anxious search, and

trial,

many

a perilous

Basti

Ram

found a place where the river

across.

was completely frozen

sides

The

ice

at the

was firm and strong, but that in the centre

too

weak

to bear a man's weight

as full of resources as

but Basti

Earn was

he was of pluck.

Hastening back to

his firing party,

trees,

he directed

them
river

to cut

down

and carry them to the

bank

these, laid across the

weak

parts of

the

ice,

soon rendered the whole passable.

Ere morning dawned our hero had crossed the

Indus with his
little

party,

now

reduced to

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

193

twelve

men

for ten,

exhausted by their night's

;

work, lay helpless on the ground

others were so

and eighteen

benumbed with

cold and exposure,

that they could neither

move through the snow

nor handle their arms.

The
in

Balti people, perceiving

how

insignificant

numbers was

this resolute little band,

moved

down

rapidly to attack

them

but these thirteen

men

held their

own

until

Zorawur Singh could

arouse a few hundred of his soldiers from their

torpor,

and

cross to their assistance.

general action followed, in which the

men

of Balti were defeated, with a loss of three hun-

dred killed and wounded.

in this affair

The

loss of the Sikhs

was not more than forty

killed

and
frost

wounded, but the casualties caused by the

were much more numerous.

Zorawur Singh followed up

energy, and pursued the

his victory

with

enemy

for nine miles,

slaughtering

many with

the edge of that cruel

tulwar the Sikhs so well

flying foe.

know how

to use on a

No
vance
;

further opposition was

made

to their ad-

the fort of Skardo was surrendered after

194

Travels in Ladak^
;

a mere show of resistance

and thus was Balti

added to

tlie

possessions of the Maharajah of

Jumnoo.

The provinces

of

Eudok and

Garo, abounding

in shawl wool, and studded with richly- endowed

monasteries, next tempted the ambition and cupidity of the Vuzeer.

The

fear of exciting the

wrath of the Chinese Government, to which these

countries are subject, did not deter

him from

car-

rying out his schemes of unscrupulous aggran-

dizement; and in 1841 he marched an army of

five

thousand

men up

the valley of the Indus.

Eudok and Garo submitted almost without a

blow
;

and the conquerors appear to have spread

themselves over the country in small and widelyscattered

detachments.

Zorawur Singh

estaits

blished his head-quarters on the Sutlej, near

rise

in the sacred lakes of Manasravara.

close to the

Basti

Earn was stationed

while an
cially
officer

Nepaul

frontier,

named Ghulam Khan was

spe-

deputed to plunder the monasteries and

desecrate the temples of Boodha.

But a day of retribution was

at

hand

Intel-

ligence of the approach of a Chinese army, ten

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

195

thousand strong, soon readied Zorawur Singh

but flushed with his successes, the Sikh General

had learned

to despise his enemies,

and he had

the audacity to despatch a small force of about

three hundred

men

to check the advance of the

Lhassan army.
pieces,

This handful of

men was

cut to
similar

and hardly a man escaped.

fate attended a second force of six

hundred men,

sent for the same purpose

all his available troops,

on which, collecting

Zorawur Singh marched

in person to attack them.

The two armies met, and kept up a

fire

desultory

on each other

for

two days without much

loss

on either

side

but on the morning of the

third day the Sikh General was struck

by a

ball,

and

fell

from his horse.

Taking advantage of
fall

the confusion caused by the

leader,

of the

Dogra

the Chinese charged and put the Sikh

army

to flight.

The

rout was complete, and the

:

slaughter a most bloody one

ceptions those

with but few ex-

who

escaped the

sword of the

Chinamen

fell

victims to the pitiless frost.

But I cannot wind up

my

brief narrative

without saying a word or two of excuse for what

o 2

196

Travels in Ladah^

may seem
occasion.

the pusillanimity of

tlie

Sikhs on this
it

We

must remember that

was midfif-

winter

that their battle-ground was at least

teen thousand feet above the level of the sea

that the temperature, even in mid-day, was never

above freezing point

serious disadvantages,
under
!

these,

for Indians to ftght

while their

foes,

nu-

merically

much

superior, felt the cold

felt

no more

than their opponents would have

siveness of an Indian sun.

the oppres-

Our plucky
on

friend Basti

Eam, thinking

that

this occasion " discretion

was the better part

of valour," and that he "that fights and runs

away,

may

live to fight

another day," escaped

over the snows of the Himalayas into the British

district of

Kumaon.

Let us not blame him.

He

had well won

his spurs,

and received substantial

;

rewards for his Indus exploit

and

if

urged to

avenge his
that
qui

late leader's fall,

might have said with

" Ibit
eo,

knowing

soldier of

Eome,

quo

vis,

zonam perdidit!'
:

Besides, he

had no choice

in the matter
little

any other course

for

him and

his

garrison to take would have been madness.

He

afterwards succeeded Zorawur Singh

in

Tariary^

and Kaslimir.
;

197

the Governorship of Lacliik

and,

takmg warn-

ing by his predecessor's

fate,

attempted no con-

quests, but abode quietly in his capital, enriching

himself by the arts of peace, and, his calumniators

say,

extortion,

till

feeling

the hand of

Time

pressing heavily on him, and conscious of the

infirmities of age,

he begged permission to

re-

sign

ofiice,

and pass the remainder of his days in

Peace be with him
!

retirement.

Were

that

passage of the Indus his only exploit, he

has

deserved well of his country.

198

Travels in Ladak^

CHAPTEE

X.

^UE
:;0

camp

at

Le
si-

was pleasantly
;

tuated

a thick grove of

poplars shaded us from

the sun, and while

we

were not

sufficiently far

from the city to make a

shopping expedition a weary walk,
Ave

were not

near enough to run the risk of being mobbed by

inquisitive townsfolk.

We

spent three

days at Le, more for the

Tartary^
sake of our servants,
sore,

and Kashmir,

199
footrest,

who were weary and who

sorely

and our

invalids,

wanted

than for sight-seeing purposes.

There

is

but

little

to interest

the traveller
distance, the
it

in the capital of
city has

Ladak; from a

an imposing appearance, which

owes
slight

entirely to the palace, which, built

on a

eminence, possesses a front of two hundred and

fifty feet,

and

is

seven stories in height.

It

towers "like a

tall

bully" over the cluster of

foot,

squalid houses and dirty lanes at its

an

apt symbol of the Dogra rule

too,

its

white walls,

have a slight slant inwards from base to

if

summit, as
cratic disdain

they shrank

back with

aristo-

from contact with the plebeian huts

below.

Proud though

it

be, it

however submits to
;

the supremacy of the church

for

high above
is

it,

on the summit of a rocky mountain,

tery, or lamasery, as

a monas-

Hue more

correctly terms
flags.

them, with

its

painted battlements and

city is a large

In the centre of the

place
:

open marketkhafila,
i.e.,

this

on the arrival of

caravan from Yarkund

and Persia, must be a

200
busy
scene.

Travels in Ladah^

One

of these was

daily expected

while we were there, but on the third morning

of our stay
it

was

still

some marches

off,

and

we could not

afford time to linger there longer.

LE FKOM THE MARKET-PLACE.

1 can therefore only speak of

in

Le

as it appeared

an interval of stagnation, and there certainly

Tartar])^

and Kashmir.

201

was about

as great a dearth of all stir or

move-

ment

in its streets as in a city

of the dead;

no need here of Policeman X, such a functionary

would soon pine away

and even the words "
of his class,

for

want of employment,
on," that shibboleth
disuse,
slip

Muv

would from constant

from his memory.

The absence

of the Governor, too, no doubt

added greatly to the deserted appearance of the

place, for

even the palace was empty.

The

city is situate in a plain of small extent

fall to

which slopes down in a gradual

of Sinh-kha-bab.
feet
it

the banks

Eocky

hills

about two thousand

itself,

above the level of the city

all sides

surround

on

except the south-west, where there

is

a good deal of cultivation on either bank of

little

the

Le

rivulet,

which

falls

into the Indus

city.

about three or four miles from the

rivulet
is

On

this
in-

a small

fort, built

by the Dogra

vaders,
it

and garrisoned with three hundred men

to

commands the approach

its

the

city

from

Kashmir, and

situation

on the bank of the

rivulet ensures a supply of water.

The walls, from the bottom

of the ditch, which

202
is

Travels in Ladak^

scarped and about fifteen feet in breadth as

well as in depth, are about thirty feet in height,

built of large
for

sun-dried bricks.

The barracks
fort,

the garrison are inside the

and the

roof of these buildings forms the terre-plein of

these ramparts.
Its

armament

consists of four

guns of small

calibre,

and appeared to be in

good

order.
city of

The

Le

itself is enclosed

by a low

wall,

with square towers at intervals, which stretches

up the
croft's

slope of the hills

this appears in

Moorit is

time to have been in good order, but

now

in

many

places demolished
built outside

and ruinous,
it.

and houses have been

Plantations of poplar surround the city on

sides
;

all

outside these again are tchoktens and 7nanis

far

without number, extending

rises of the encircling hills.

up the rocky

The

streets

and lanes open out from either

side of the

market-place, and are narrow and

tortuous,

forming a most intricate labyrinth.

are built generally of bricks burnt

The houses

in the sun, and are sometimes three stories in

height; the roofs are

flat,

formed of poles of

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
tlie

203
outer wall;

poplar laid across, resting on

above these, a sort of hurdle of osiers gives support to a layer of straw and earth, a species of

covering but badly calculated to keep out rain.

The houses

are whitewashed on the outside,

is

but the original colour of the material

not inter-

fered with within doors, where a good dirt colour

is

no doubt the most appropriate

tint.

Moorus, that
is

croft spent a winter here,

*'

and informs

the floor serves for chair, table, and bed, and

not unfrequently shared with sheep and goats,

and swarms with more objectionable tenants."

A rude
interior

sort of shutter does

duty both as door

and window, and chimneys are unknown.

The

economy of the palace

itself

was in no
;

way
it is

superior to that of its humbler neighbours

a " whited sepulchre," a

dress of the
people,

mighty sham.
i.e.,

The

Ladakhis pur

sang, differed in

nothing from that of those of

costliness of the material,

Lahoul save in the

but of these noble Thibetans we saw but few.

Kashmiris, on
plenty,

the

contrary,

were

there

in

clad

in

the

long

drab wrapper

and

skull-cap with turban, or skull-cap without tur-

204
ban,

Travels in Ladah^

accordingly

as

the

wearer was

rich

or

poor, smart or slovenly.

Between them and the

called

Ladakhi

ladies a

mixed race has sprung up

Argands or Argons, who have the white parch-

menty complexion

of the

sires,

but are a degene-

rate race in all points save rascality

and ugliness

in these qualities they surpass even the parent stock.

LADAKHIS.

We
faces

observed

many

of the

women

with their
left

smeared with a preparation that

dark

stains

on the

skin,

and gave
;

it

the appearance

of having been varnished

this preparation

would

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
fruit, for

205
a

seem to be

tlie

pulp of some

number

of small seeds remain glued to the cheek after the

operation.

Moorcroft mentions this custom, and gives as

a reason for
its use,

that

it is

thought to improve

the beauty of the female countenance.

But

it

answers so nearly to the description given by the

Eeverend Messrs.

Hue and Gabet

of a portion

of the toilet of the ladies of Lhassa, not willingly

adopted by them as an enhancer of their charms,

but enforced by a stern moralist

rent reason, that I
croft

for a

very

diffe-

am

inclined to think

Moor-

mistaken in his conclusion.

appears

It

from the account of those two

enterprising Frenchmen, that once

upon a time,
ladies

some two hundred

years

ago,

the

of

Lhassa were so charming and

the
in

irresistible,

that

men

of that age were unable to keep

Petticoat

them

obedience under them.

till

influence

spread more and more,

even the holy lamahs

a word, the chronique

were affected by

it; in

scandaleuse of that period

one.

was a very voluminous

check this increasing
a

With

a view
les

to

disregard for

convenances, the then ruler,

206
rigid

Travels in Ladak^

and austere

man, decreed that

for

the

future no

woman

should appear in public with-

out

first

smearing her face " with a sort of black

unlike

glutinous varnish, not that the fair sex

to

currant

jelly;"

should take as

much

pains

make

their faces repulsive, as they

had before

taken to adorn them.

Strange to say, this
ideas,
edict, so galling to

female

was

carried out in its integrity,

is

and

its

observance

to this day strictly attended to in

all ladies

the streets of Lhassa by

with any

re-

gard for their reputation.

The Thibetans say

the part of the

that this

inhuman order on
desired effect.

King had

the

Features the most winning,

when

seen through a
to

smudge
**

of

currant

jelly,

failed

seduce

sweets to the

sweet

superfluous,"

and
to

the

superfluity

palled;

the tempter ceased

be
the

tempting, and by this

unworthy

artifice

" lords of creation " regained their supremacy

over

its

ladies.

But Messrs. Hue and Gabet,

to affirm the contrary
if

though not in a position

with decision, give us to understand that

the

morals of the good people of Lhassa were more

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

207

lax in former days than tliey are now, tliey

must

have been ver^ bad

It

indeed.

was

at

L^

that

we

first

heard the good

news of the existence of a missing note-book of

the adventurous

Adolphe

Schlagentweit.
it

An

account of the steps taken to secure

result will be found in the

and their

Appendix.

I will here quote only one paragraph, which

appears to

me

deserving

of

attention

" Dr.

Hurkishen

states that

he received a

letter

from

Mr. A. Schlagentweit, dated the 14th June,

1857, in which he mentions having sent two dak
parcels for transmission to
circular).

Kangra
came

(see printed

The

parcels never

to

hand

nor
re-

does any inquiry appear to have been

specting their fate.

made
;

This

is

unfortunate

even

now

it is

not too

late.

(Signed) W. Hay."
by us
is

Now

the book recovered

Schlagent-

weit's journal

from the 14th June, 1857, con-

taining his notes and observations from the date

on which he despatched these two parcels

precious

(full

of

matter,

which,

poor fellow,

he had

doubtless every reason to believe would reach its

destination in safety)

up

to the

day of

his death.

208

Travels in Ladah^
to

But they "never came

hand, nor does any

inquiry appear to have been

their fate."

made

respecting

This plain statement of facts needs no com-

ment

let

us hope that " even

now

it is

not too

late," as

Lord

W. Hay

observes.

The recovery of the volume which has been

secured seemed improbable,
if

not impossible.

Adolphe's brothers even seem to have despaired

of ever seeing
it
;

yet

it

has " turned up

''

by a

strange chance

rescued from the

its

snuffy fingers

of a Kashgar tobacconist a vague notion of

by a man who had but

:

value
all

it

belonged to a

murdered sahib
feel sure that

that was

he knew.

And

an authoritative search through the

villages along the route

which the two missing

parcels should have taken,

fully.

would

result success-

Has

the

Dead-Parcel

Office at

Kangra

been rummaged?
I

am happy

to be able to add that a letter

from the two surviving brothers, acknowledging

with joyful
thanks
the
receipt

of

Adolphe

Schlagentweit's last note-book has reached Simla.

Mirza Abdul Wudud, who has rendered un-

Tartary^

and Kaslimir.
tlie

201)

Ivnowingly so great a service to

science,

world of

was a man whose appearance would have

secured

him honourable

notice in any country,

amongst any people.

of
art,

His turban was a miracle

often occurred

and when

(as

when the

march was long and the sun

to
doff its graceful folds,

oppressive) he used

and

seem

to

court

MIRZA ABDUL WUDUD.

*'

sudden death " by exposing his shaven head,

its rays,

covered merely with a thin skull-cap, to

it

was observable that

to

wear a turban properly

you must

be, as it were, " to the

manner born

;"

you must possess a cranium

lofty,

and tapering

almost to a point, a cone-shaped skull, round

which to wreathe

its intricate

drapery.

210

Travels in Ladak^
grave, philosophical calm of his features,

The

the long sleepy eye, the slow dignity of his gait

(about one mile and a half an hour,

he never
and com-

moved

faster),

his tall, portly figure

manding
plexion

presence, his comparatively fair comfor I

have seen

many

a British soldier

with, thanks to an Indian sun, a darker cheek

than his
flurried,

his self-possessed

demeanour,

never
his
dis-

never insolent,
for

never obsequious,

language

he

only

spoke

Persian

tinguished

him most markedly from amongst the

other followers of our camp.

as far as

He

marched with us

Simla, and after receiving the reward

granted him by Government, he bade us a courteous farewell, and started " to see India," so he
said.

He

did not smoke, but was the most inveterate

snuff-taker I ever

met

and to
five

this habit

he un-

doubtedly owes his rupees

it is

hundred.

And to

the world of letters indebted for the recovery

of Adolphe Schlagentweit's last journal

leading

him, as

it

did, straight to the

shop of the dealer

the possessor of

in snuff,

who was unwittingly

such a treasure.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

When
that of a

questioned as to the disguise he had

adopted in the wild countries of Central Asia

hakeem

or

physician
face,

he,

without

changing a muscle of his

told

us that he

was

guiltless of all medicinal

or surgical

know-

ledge, but that his practice

had been an extended

one, even lucrative,

amongst those barbarous and

ignorant races ; but as he came further south, he

found his practice decline, his

suspicious,
his

patients

grow
his

gains

apocryphal.

Hence

destitute state

when he

accosted the "

official

friend " at

Le with

the air of a deposed monarch

rather than that of a wandering mendicant.

It

was from him that we

first

learnt of the

newly established Russian settlement and manufactory at Kashgar.

The

skull

which accompanied the note-book

has been proved by unmistakeable marks not to

be that of a European.
It
is

strange that the two most comprehensive

scientific

works on India and the neighbouring

countries should be the result of the labours and

researches of foreigners

I allude
And

to

Jacquemont
is it

and the Schlagentweits.

p 2

still

stranger

212

Travels in Ladah^

that the collections, mineral and vegetable,

made

by the talented

trio of

Germans should be

at this

moment

in the

Museum

of Berlin, and not in

that of the East India House, although the ex-

pense incurred by the Indian Government in behalf of these

German

savants has been

computed
nil.

at near 30,000/.,

and that incurred by Prussia

add,
is

This, let

me
;

no

fault of the Messrs.

Schlagentweit

they appear to have performed

their task ably

and zealously, leaving the bones

of one of their sense of duty

fault
lies

number
and

in India, a victim to his

spirit

of

adventure.
of
it

The

entirely at

the
;

door

those

who

organized the expedition

and

is

a fault the

more to be

regretted, seeing that

this

on more than

one occasion has

lavish expenditure been

quoted by the India House as an excuse for not

aiding

by pecuniary

advances

the

scientific

labours of others, our

own countrymen.

It seems, too, matter of regret that foreigners,

however

able,

should have been selected for a

task for which the ranks of the then Company's

army contained
officers

so

many admirably

suited

men,

in the scientific branches of the service.

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

213
life,

learned and adventurous, whose habits of

knowledge of native character, and

were
sufficient fully to

tried ability

outweigh the pretensions

even of proteges of the great Humboldt himself.

At Le we were
native,
letter

joined by a sleek, well-dressed

to the
" official friend " a

who brought
of

greeting from

Rumbeer Singh, the

territories

Maharajah of Jumnoo, in whose

we

now

were, and informing

him
the

that

the

sleek,

well-whiskered

moonshee,

bearer

of

the

flowery epistle, written on vellum, stamped with

sprigs of
gold,

and encased in a kincoh cover,

would attend him throughout his journeyings,

and that a small guard of
soldiers

would

also

accompany

us.

While
strength,

the

invalids

were

slowly

gaining

and the photographer was busily taking

views, the
ciously

Major and myself were

to speak verastores

bored to death.

We inspected the
who were

of some Punjab merchants

awaiting
little

the arrival of the Khafila, but there was but

to

tempt us to open

our

purse-strings.

We
could

hunted everywhere
find

for

turquoises,

but

none except the

large,

rough, green -hued,

Travels in Ladak^
tlie

deeply flawed stones worn on

pets
;

women^s
at

lap-

of these

we bought a few
all

a rupee a-

piece.

We

rummaged
it

the shops, saw every;

thing, whether

was worth seeing or not

and

as a last resource,

on the evening of the second

announced that the sahibs

day, caused

it

to be

were anxious to buy ponies.

Next morning we were

beset

by

horsedealers.
;

The Yarkand

ponies are fine powerful animals

they usually arrive at Le sadly out of condition,

footsore skeletons with sore backs, for they are

generally overladen, and the route from

is

Yarkand

a trying one, passing as

it

does over the Kara-

korem range.

The Yarkand merchants never take them

but
sell

back,

them

for

what they

will fetch
fully

the large

profits

on their merchandize
loss

compensating

for

any

they

may

sustain in horseflesh.

The

third day of our sta}^ at

Le was devoted

to selecting montures

from the numerous animals

it

brought

for sale,

and, as

turned out, we had

every reason to be satisfied with our purchases.

The Le
bers of that

horsedealers are no

unworthy mem-

knowing

fraternity.

They invariably

Tartary^

and Kashviir,

215

asked three times the price they were prepared to

take,

and probably

six times the actual value of

the beast;

and

after

you had concluded what

thought a capital bargain,
rascals

you

in your innocence

and paid your money, the

would say with

sir
;

a roguish leer, " Lor' bless ye,

why

I'd a

taken
that

'arf

that

sum

for the 'oss ;" or

words to

effect.

Next day we
out a regret.

left

the capital of

Ladak with-

"Hey

for

Kashmir

!"

Our journey

thither

shall be told in the next chapter.

TIIK riPE.

216

Travels in Ladak^

Tartary^
piirty dallied

and Kashmir,
little

217

with sleep a

longer, postponing

their departure to a
like hour,

more

fitting

and gentleman-

when they

leisurely followed.

Our road

led us along the little

Le

rivulet,

past the fort,

little

down

to the Indus,

and

for
its

some
risfht

distance followed the winding's of

bank;

then

climbing a sandy

hill

up

to

the

right, it traversed

a weary plain of rock and

it

sand for a few miles, when bethinking

green margin of the river
it

of the

had

so foolishly
left,

deserted, it turned suddenly to the

down

steep ravine, which, after turnings

and twistings
led us to be-

without number, each of which

lieve

it

was the

last, finally

debouched on a narrow

plain skirting the river bank.

on, a small plantation of poplars

little

further

tempted us from
here

the path by promises

of shade, and

we

found our avant garde stretched on the ground,

each wdth
a
little

mountain of apricots

and

apples near him, rapidly disappearing before the

vigorous attacks of a convalescent's appetite.

A
was
that
ap-

mighty
being

jar of fresh

milk,

no longer

full,

passed

round with

a pertinacity
it
;

threatened soon to empty

and, as

we

218
proaclied,
full,

Travels in Ladah^

they announced, with their mouths

their firm determination not to stir one inch

further that day.

We

were without

difficulty

persuaded to con-

cur in this resolve, so a halt was ordered.

From

our pleasant poplar grove

we marched

next day to Nikra, about twelve miles, along a

tolerably
cultivated
apple-trees.
level

road,

passing several

villages,

fields,

and orchards of apricot and

villages,
it

Of the

Bazgo
must
at

is

the only

one worth mentioning;

one time
old

have been a place of some note.

The

town

was

built

on the

crest of a

clifi*

of red sandstone,
falling

but was

now

quite deserted

and rapidly

into ruin.
its foot.

A modern

Bazgo had sprung up

at

I was more than once vividly reminded of the

scenery of the south of the Crimea as

we marched

through the Indus

abrupt contrast

valley.

There was the same

luxuriant vegetation

between

and bare rock constantly recurring.

The

villages

were similarly situated, and even the inhabitants

resembled greatly in dress and appearance their

Crim Tartar brethren.

Tariary^

and Kashmir.
a

At Nikra we encamped under

clump of
little

pollard willow-trees, which formed a

oasis

on

tlie

bare brow of a hill overlooking the river.

friend the

Here our

Kahlone of Le reappeared.

He

had just been apprised of the approach from

of

Kashmir

the

newly-appointed Governor of

Ladak, and had ridden out with a small escort

to

meet His Excellency and conduct him with

capital.

all

due honours to his

From Nikra

to

Hemis was

a short

march of

about ten miles, during which we wandered away

from the Indus over a succession of low

hills,

divided by small glens and valleys, each of which

was watered by a

little rivulet

which ran swiftly

its

down

its centre,

eager to cast

mite into the

all-absorbing " Sinh-ka-bab."

We finally pitched
river,

our tents about three miles from the great

under a grove of the sacred " Shukpa," or pencil

cedar.

We

were stretched on the grass beneath the

shade of these venerable trees, Hstlessly dreaming

away the hours, when a sudden commotion

in

camp roused us from our

reverie.

The Kahlone

called for his pony, clambered

up

220

Travels in Ladak^

into the high-peaked saddle, and rode off at speed.

Soon the tramp of advancing cavalry

ears, and,

fell

on our

winding down the steep

defile in front

of us, a brilliant cavalcade of about a hundred

horsemen, armed with sword and spear, wretchedly mounted, but most gaily caparisoned, ap-

peared in sight.

In the midst of the troop,

staff of

attended by a select
the

Sikh

officers,

rode

new

governor.

He was

a nephew of that

Basti Earn of
able mention.

whom

I have before

made honour-

The

procession passed our

little

encampment

without halting, and went on to a village at

some

little

distance near the river-bank, where

for the repre-

accommodation had been prepared

sentative of the

Kashmir Government.
coolies,

An

hour or two afterwards two

the

one bearing the bedding, the other the wardrobe

of the governor, shuffled past.

This was

all

his

baggage.

In

the

afternoon

the

official

friend

was

informed that His Excellency of Le was anxious

to

pay

his respects,

and four o'clock was

fixed

on

as the

hour of interview.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

221

I cannot say that any very great preparations

were

made on our

part for the

great

man's

reception.

rude

cliarpay, or native bedstead,

was the

official

friend's

throne of state;
;

the

cedar-grove his hall of audience

a faded dressing-

gown, thrown over a flannel

his robe of
;

shirt of dubious hue,

ceremony his crown, the grey forage;

cap of the Simla Volunteers

and his courtiers

some three
their
shirt

or

four

sunburnt Englishmen in

sleeves,

with beards of a month's

growth, and the appearance generally of Californian gold-diggers, while all were remarkable
for

that

winning and conciliating demeanour

is

towards foreigners that the Briton

for, especially

so famous

when

those foreigners are, as

we

courteously term

them

niggers

But the Sikh

swell was wonderfully " got up."

small

but beautifully folded turban, of a

delicate pink,

framed his frank, animated,

intel-

ligent countenance.

The

rest of his dress

was

of a

snowy white, save a handsome

girdle, of

"

cummer-

band" or

Kashmir

fabric.

A jewelled

baldric passing over his right shoulder, supported

his

sword

and his moustache and beard were

222

Travels in Ladak^

short and trim, though the former was curled

upwards, giving that air troupier to the face

which the Sikhs

so

much
a.

affect.

He
to set

sat

down on

railway-rug at the " of&cial

friend's" feet,

and then motioned to his followers

the "nuzzer," or gift of ceremony,

down

which consisted of sweetmeats, baskets of apricots

and
apples, of sugar-candy, of sheep, of a brick
little

of tea, and lastly, of a timid

antelope, all

which he prayed the "

official

friend" to accept.
;

The interview was not

our illustrious
visitor's

a long one
departure,

and, after

we

delighted

our coolies and disgusted our

servants

who
the

looked on them as their pecviliar perquisites

by

instituting

grand

scramble

among

former for the sweetmeats, the apples, and the

apricots.

And
old,

a glorious scramble

it

was

men and women,

joined in

it

young and mell

pell
it.

topsy turvey on the grass

The
it

ladies

had by

far the best of

Whether
and
their

was that they were fonder

of sweets,

therefore

more eager to get them, or that

facilities for

garments afforded greater

pocketing.

Tartary^ and Kashmir.

or that the

223

men were

chivalrous enough to let

their fair share, I

them snatch more than

not, but

know

when

the shower of fruit had ceased,

and

all

squatted

down

to feast

on the

spoils,

those of the

women seemed
them

inexhaustible.

In

the

midst of

the
to

life

and soul of the

merry party

sat a lady in a yellow hood,

and
she

clad in a ragged robe of the

same colour

was a nun, and strange

say, the

only one we

saw while in Ladak, though these Lamahs of the

feminine gender are said to be nearly as numerous
as their monastic brethren.

She had been

the
;

leader

of the

Amazons

throughout the fight

ever in the thick of the

fell fastest,

mUee, where the rain of fruit

there

her

yellow garments

were conspicuous amid

the moving mass of drab jackets, of turquoise-

studded lappets, and

striped petticoats.

And

now, when the feasting was nearly over, and her

companions were trying to adjust their somewhat

tousled attire, ever and anon would she dive into

some unexplored corner of the yellow

robe,

and

produce therefrom more, and yet more apricots,

not tempting to the eye indeed, for they were


224
bruised,

Travels in Ladak^

and broken, and mashed into pulp

but

to judge

from tbe gusto with which they were

devoured, very pleasant to the taste.

These nuns are a calumniated

race.

More

than one writer has poked indifferent fun at

them

attempted mild
To judge from
it

facetiousness at their ex-

pense.

the personal appearance

clear that

of these ladies,

was

they had

all

taken the veil for the simple reason that they

were tired of singing

"

Nobody coming

to
to

marry me,

Nobody coming

woo

;"

being

so

hopelessly plain

that even

in

that
aloof!

country of coarse visages,

&c.

suitors held

Now,

I beg leave most emphatically to pro-

test a2:ainst

such a conclusion.

This was the

only nun we saw, and she, though not exactly a

Yenus, was undoubtedly the best-looking

woman
little

we saw

in Lad^k,

always
sat

excepting the

grass-shoemaker

who

by the wayside weav-

ing sandals at Kyelang.

Here

is

her profile

judge

for yourselves.

She was a most

jovial religieuse

but I wonder

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
have
said,

225
could she

what

my Lady Abbess would

have seen the holy maid's

frolics

" her nods, and

becks, and wreathed smiles."

THE NUN.

We
ing,

left

our grove of cedars early next mornfor

and marched

about eight or nine miles,

to a large village
called Nurla.

on the right bank of the Indus,

steep

The road wound round the

sides of a series

and crumbling

of ravines, and

was very narrow in some

a safe
footing.

places, hardly affording

The abode

of a

hermit was

pointed out to us, perched like an eagle's nest on

a rock

many hundred

feet

above

us.

This saintly

personage had been there

his

many

years,

and spent

whole time in mental abstraction, prayer.

226

Travels in Ladak^
" the ten thousand virtues
this

and contemplation of
of Boodha."

He

hoped by a perseverance in

course of training to arrive at last at perfection

meanwhile, the devout in the neighbourhood

gularly supplied

re-

him with

food.

Nurla

is

one of the largest, most populous,

villages that

and thriving

we saw;

it

is

lower

passed and warmer than the country we had plantathrough as yet, and the fruit-trees and
tions of willow

and poplar grew very abundantly.

coolies.

Here we breakfasted and changed

Trom

the course Nurla to Khallach the road followed in on either the Indus, which is here shut
of
side

by lofty

cliffs

of red clay

every

now and

then these recede from the

a
slip

river's

bank, leaving
cultivation.

of

land,

generally

under

the road crosses Shortly before reaching Khallach

then ascends a steep a deep watercourse, and a large clear tank, pitch, on the top of which is
fed

by a

little

aqueduct from the

hill

above
side,

it,

whose waters
help to
villages
;

find

an exit on

its

south

and

make green the

its cool

fields

of the Khallach

depths promised joys unspeak;

able to dusty wayfarers

and without more ado,

Tartary^
regardless of

and Kashmir.
tlie

227
that

publicity, of

fact

they

stood on the
pale-faces

king's

highway, three shameless

stripped,

and plunged them in the

tank.

Our camp was pitched about a quarter

on, just

of a mile

below the

village,

which

is

considerably

above the level of the

river.

swim

in the tank, before starting, braced

toils of

our limbs for the

leaving Khallach

the day.

Shortly after

we

crossed the Indus

by

good
on

wooden
the

bridge,

which the Sikhs have

fortified

Le

side of the stream.

One

or

two

fierce-

looking warriors of that nation were lounging

about,
toll

whose duty
all

it

was to

collect the bridge-

from

passers.

After this

we
left,

left

the

Indus vaUey, and turned up to the

entering
for

a narrow gorge, along which the path

wound

some

miles, continually crossing

and recrossing
it

the stream which flowed through

Indus.

towards the
cliff

sudden and steep ascent up the

one thousand
feet,
;

on the

right, for about

brought

us on to a large bed of yellow clay

after cross-

ing which, the picturesque village and monastery

of

Lama Yurru came

in sight.

q2

228

Travels in Ladak^.
for this strange deposit
it

The Lamalis account

of clay

by the

fact

that

once upon a time

lake.

formed the basin of a large

Their tradi-

tions say that the founder of the

Lama Yurru

monastery, a Lhassan priest,

named Narossa,

cut through the rock a channel for the waters

of the lake,

which

falling into the

left

ravine

up
the

which

we had marched, soon

bare

clayey bed on which the

sheet of water

once

had

lain.

We

camped below the

village,

which was built

itself over-

at a great height above us,

and was

topped by the towers and flags of the monastery.

Next day we
teen thousand

crossed the Photo

feet), after

La Pass

(thir-

an easy and gradual

ascent of about three

miles,

and shortly

after;
little

halted for breakfast,

on the banks of a
of

stream, which came rushing out

defile across

a narrow

our path

a frowning precipice rose

on each

side

the rivulet, and on the summit of

the right hand one was the village of Henasko.

We

pitched our

camp a few

miles further on,

near the dilapidated village

of Kerboo.

The

-i

is

i^^~'

< V

J^^.
'*V..-.

BETWEEN KERBOO AND SURGOl SCE NE ONTHE MARCH

Tartary^
river here

and Kashmir.

229

widened out into a broad but shallow

stream

the

meadows along

its

bank

were

marshy, and abounded in wild fowl, principally

teal,

which afforded us a good afternoon's

crossed the Pass

sport.

Next day we

of Namikar, and

halted at a place called Turgot, situate in a green

valley, shut in

by

lofty

and barren mountains.

enor-

Shortly before camping

we had passed an

mous

figure,

sculptured in rude alto relievo on

the face of an isolated rock that towered high

above the pathway

figure

the
of
di-

was

that

Chamba, a Thibetan
vinity,

and

its

proporit

tions

were colossal;
to

seemed
limit

mark

the
of

of the realms

Boodha

to

say to
"

MaThus

hommedanism.

FIGURE OF CIIAMBA.

230
far,

Travels in Ladak^

and no farther

;"

and

will, doubtless,

stand

sentry here long after the fierce tide of the religion of Islam has swept past
it.

After this
or Manis;

we saw no Lamaseries, Tchoktens,

reached villages where, in defiance

of Boodha,
;

of the laws

poultry

were

reared,

and

killed,

and eaten
of Ali
eggs,

and now, much to the

the delight of the
or

satisfaction
travellers,

Bux and

plain

boiled,

poached,

or

beaten up into savoury omelets, again smoked

upon the board.

There
is

is

no doubt but that Mahommedanism

spreading rapidly in those districts of Ladak

is

and Balti which border on Kashmir, and

changing the habits and
habitants
"
;

character of the init

doing good, inasmuch as

prohibits

chang

''

and checks intoxication

as
it

doing

harm,

inasmuch

brings

with

it

Kashmirian

dissoluteness,

mendacity, and fraud.

or otherwise
decline
is,

Whether
therefore,

its effects are beneficial

a question which I
for,

must

answering;

influenced as I

am by

reminiscences of the

fat

capons and savoury omelets of

Mahommed,

am

not prepared to judge impartially between

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

231
I betliink

liim and Boodha, especially

when

me

wliat atrocious beer the latter brews.

A march of

about eleven miles through a long

is

narrow valley brought us to Paskyun, which

large but ill-built,

and widely scattered hamlet,

all

and

its

inhabitants are

Mahommedans.

We

remarked that Ali Bux here adopted a voluminous

green turban, which he wore throughout the rest
of the
trip;

and now that he had reached a

country of true believers, of brother-followers of

the Prophet, comported himself generally with a dignity and lofty arrogance of demeanour quite
edifying to behold.

After breakfast

we

left

the valley of Paskyun,

left.

and ascended the heights to the

The sum-

mit reached, we found ourselves on a broad plateau,

on whose stony surface not a blade of grass

;

was

visible

it

sloped

down

gradually in front

of us, narrowing as the slope became steeper, and

finally

came
river,

to

an end where the waters of the

Turu

coming from the south-west, meet

with those of the stream, the Wakachu, we had

followed as far as Paskyun.

The view from the

crest of this

plateau, look-

232
ing to the
left

Travels in Ladak^

up the course of the Turu

river,

was one of the most striking I ever saw.

tempted to sketch
give any idea of
it,

1 at-

but

my

brush has

failed to
river,

its

grandeur.

The Turu
the
is

which

at

its

confluence

with

Wakachu
by a

spreads out to a great breadth,

series of

crossed

small wooden bridges and causeways,

and on the tongue of land between the two

rivers is
ciple as

a Sikh

fort,

built

on the same prin-

that of Le.
its

After crossing the river,

left

we encamped on
fort.

bank opposite

to the

We
day

followed the left bank of the

Turu next
mounbank

till it

was joined by the Dras

river, a

tain stream of considerable size,

up the

left

of which our path led us for

of

many

a weary mile

up and down

hill.

Towards evening we

reached a substantial wooden bridge, and soon

after

we encamped
river.

at

Thusgam, on the right

bank of the

This was a long and trying march, especially

for four-footed beasts

and

their riders

the path

was in many places

so

narrow that ponies could

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
a
footing,

23 Q

with

difficulty find

and the white

that had

bones of

many an

ill-fated

animal

slipped and fallen

over caught the

eye

as

it

glanced below
of
to

sight unpleasantly suggestive

fate
:

what your own

would be were your steed

make

a false step

the pedestrians of the party

it.

had much the best of

Our poor
Governor of
said, to

little
Lfe,

antelope,

the

gift

of the

died to-day of fatigue,

it

Noura
;

whose charge

had been confided

;

but

over-eating was probably the real cause

killed it

we had

with kindness.
one of

Misfortunes never come

too,

singly
life

my

milch goats,

departed this
1

during the day's march, and with her, alas

her infant son,

who had

seen the light of day

only a few hours.

The poor

foolish little lady

had shown no signs

of an intention to increase and multiply before

leaving Simla;
teresting but
attracted

but ere we reached Le her in-

most inconvenient condition had

my notice,

and I strongly recommended

her behind at the capital

the goatherd to leave

of Ladak.

But, no

Meliboeus was obstinate

234
lie felt

Travels in Ladak^

convinced that the happy event would not

take place before

we reached Kashmir, where,

urged he, the mother would be sure to obtain the

best medical advice, and our
halt

would be long
suffi-

enough

to

enable the offspring to gather

cient strength to bear the fatigue of our

onward

journey.

His arguments were

mitted myself to

so plausible that I per-

be

overruled,

and

madame

marched out of Le

so cheerily

and with so light

all

a step, considering the weight she carried, that

my

apprehensions of a premature accouchement

vanished.

But
"mutabile semper
FcEmina."

Ladies never
such as
this,

know

their

own minds, even

in cases

when we

naturally feel inclined to

place some
(julation.

little

reliance

on
1

their

powers of

cal-

Poor Meliboeus

" En, ipse capellas

Protenus seger ago

banc etiam vix, Tityre duco."

after.

Such

his plight

some days

The

catas;

trophe had, however, not yet taken place

she

Tariary^

and Kashmir.
till

235

had the sense to wait

the end of the march,

fine

and

at

Kurgyl, at 6.30, p.m., exactly, a

into

kid

came

the world.

At

0,

a.m.,

the next
well.

morning, mother

and child were doing

a

Mamma
of fresh

had
grass,
;

nibbled

mouthful
as

or
as
its

two
could
little

and was
and
baby,

well

be

expected
!

bless

heart

had

already exhibited no contemptible

powers of suction!
sahib,

"Pack 'em

in

khilta,

and order a

coolie to carry 'em," suggested

;

Meliboeus.
in a

No

sooner said than done

wrapped

warm

blanket and pillowed on soft hay, they

were made as comfortable as circumstances would

admit of; but the Milta proved their

place

last resting-

it

was a dead weight that the

into camp.
fell

coolie bore

when he marched

A shower

of rain

that night, and in the

morning the mountains around us were white

with fresh fallen snow
;

but the valley was green

and clothed with luxuriant vegetation.

As we

advanced and came in sight of the hamlet of

Dras, the valley opened out into a
little plain,

which now widening, now narrowing, stretched

236
for

Travels in Ladak^
miles
before us.

We

halted at Dras, and

puslied on next day eagerly, for in front of us,

behind the blue lines of mountains topped by

snowy peaks,

lay

our Promised

Land

the

" terrestrial paradise," Kashmir.

Our road led us

along a succession of green valleys opening into

each other by narrow defiles;
trees as yet, but the

there

were no

ground was covered with a

thick carpet of long grass, shrubs, and flowers.

We
filled

camped that night

close to a glacier

which

up a deep ravine in the mountain-side to

This monstrous
its

our

left.

icicle,

seen in the glare

of day with

thousand streamlets trickling out

from under the cool shadow of the opaque mass,

was a pleasant neighbour enough; but

when

evening came on, and the grateful plash and

murmur

of each tiny rivulet ceased one

by one

as the frost shut

them up

for the night

with his

icy chain,
less,

and

all

around was dark, and motionfarther

;

and
first

cold,

we wished him

and with
far

the

streak of

dawn were up and away

from his frigid

vicinity.

After a walk of a few miles, the valley sud-

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

237

denly ceased, and our path dived headlong into a

deep chasm, o'er which

"

The

crags closed round with black and jagged

arms ;"

the descent was almost precipitous, but happily

not a long one

at the

bottom was a mass of

ice

and hardened snow, in which were embedded

rocks, stones,

and gravel

-,

through
its

this

a small

stream with difficulty worked

way, and a few

yards further on leaped into the black void of an

abyss

beyond.
its

We
spring

could
;

not

see

where

it

lighted after

but the sound of a con-

tinuous splash rose up from the depths below.

A difficult
of

zigzag cut in the face of the rock led

us up the opposite side of the chasm.

forest

stunted

birch-trees

clothed

its

summit,
gradually

through which the path wound

on,

ascending to where, about half a mile ahead,

was the ridge of the

pass.
!

This ridge reached,

Kashmir was
It
first

before us

is

a,

thing not easily to be forgotten, that

glimpse of Kashmir.

The

softer beauties

of the vale proper, indeed, are hid from you.

It


238
is

Travels in Ladak^

one of the

many valleys whose

sides, stretching

from the snows of the Himalaya to the warmth

and

fertility at their base,

seem to bind together

of
in

summer and winter with one mighty wreath

green
forest,

that

lies

before
it

you

and

it is

these valleys, which form as

were the " woods

and
the
to
as

forests" of the
vale,

immense domain of which

the flower-garden

par

excellence, is

that,

my

mind, Kashmir's richest and rarest gems,

as

far

inanimate beauty

goes,

are

to

be

found.

The descent

of the pass into the valley was

;

very steep and rugged

thick forest began as

soon as the ridge was passed, and our path led

through
" One vast mass

Of mingling

shade,

whose brown magnificence

A narrow vale embosoms."

The name
of this valley
is

Sindh, so called
it,

from the river which flows down

and the pass

a conbefore

we had

just crossed was the Seogi-La,

tinuation of the same range which

scaled

we had

by the Bara Lachi

Pass.

This chain of

Tartary^
hills

and Kashmir,

239

forms a natural boundary between India

and Thibet.*

We
pass,
ties

halted for breakfast at the foot of the

and tempted by the unaccustomed beauso long, that at

which surrounded us, lingered

last

we

decided on camping there for the night.

I,

In the afternoon the Major and

hearing

that unmistakeable marks of bears had been seen

in

the

vicinity,

plunged into the jungle in

diiferent directions.

Our expedition

resulted in

our stalking each other with great

skill.

After

walking for about two hours, I distinctly heard

in the jungle

on

my

right

the crashing and

snapping of dried sticks and small twigs, and

the rustling of the larger boughs that bent before

the weight of

some large animal.

;

He

was

coming straight towards me

and crouching
on

down

in the dense underwood, with finger

trigger,

I anxiously waited for the appearance

of the

mass of black fur I

felt

so

sure

of.

But the sounds suddenly

*

ceased.

I crept cau-

Vide Cunniugham's Laddk

240

Travels in Ladak^

tiously towards the spot

whence they had seemed

to

come; I stopped and listened; the rustling

;

had again commenced

I was safe to get him I saw!

he was quite close now

;

and in another moment

gallant

the ruddy
me

face of the

Major

peering at

out of the thick cover, with an

odd expression of blank wonder, of disappoint-

ment not unmingled with disgust; though the

mouth smiled a

smile which tried to be jolly,

tried to be hearty,
!"

and the voice in a tone which

said

"

By

Jove

I thought you were a bear

for

We
course

pushed on

the

next two days at

the rate of twenty miles a day, following the

of
it

the

Sindh river

through a lovely

country;
slight
as

was one continued descent, but so

be hardly perceptible, save here
so

to

and
as

there,

where the glen narrowed

to

much

scarce

give
it

the

stream

a wide enough

channel, and
for

and our road jostled each other

I

right

of

way.

cannot compliment the

Maharajah on

his highways.
soldiers en route ^

We
for

met a number of
the
garrison

bound

Le,

of which they were to

relieve; they straggled for miles along the road

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

241

without an attempt at formation, and each individual warrior appeared to have laid
rate " Dress Eegulations/' to suit his
*

down

sepaparti-

own

cular fancy.

Our moonshee was a

different

man now
and

that

he had reached the happy valley, his whiskers

resumed

their

sleek
;

appearance

curled

proudly upwards

he discarded the unsightly

wraps that had disguised his figure during the

march

a tight pair of cherry-coloured over-alls

encased his slender limbs, and he rode at our

head with a

jaunty swagger,

"witching
!

the

world with noble horsemanship

tened him

"

We

chris-

n on the

spot

Throughout the second day's march, our path

led

through a continuous orchard of walnut,

apple,

and pear

trees

growing wild, mingled

after

with sycamore, horse-chestnut, and ash;

awhile, houses built of logs appeared,

and here

and there land had been reclaimed from the

forest
close

and put under cultivation; towards the

of day

we

crossed the Sindh river

by a
left

good wooden

bridge,

and ascending the

bank, which rose to a considerable height above

242

Travels in Ladak^

the river, came in sight of the famous Vale of

Kashmir, bathed in the warm rays of the setting

sun
;

in the far distance rose the

snowy peaks

of the Pir Punjal, tinted with the rosy light of

eve,

and between stretched a vast expanse of

plain,
lakes,

undulating

which

bore

on

its

broad
as

bosom

cities,

and gardens; but even

sank behind

we looked
range of

the
hills;

sun

the western

and though the snow-crowned

hills
still

brows of the distant

sparkled in the

gleam of his parting ray, over the valley shadows

gathered
It
fast,

and veiled

it

from our

sight.

was dark

ere our tents

were pitched, and

all

the

night was far

spent ere

our

coolies

arrived; but the trusty Ali

Bux was no such

ready ere. the

laggard,

and our
friend "

dinner was

"

official

had made
civil

his appearance.

On

his arrival a
rities

bevy of

and military authoofferings of fruit

came to greet him with

and sweetmeats; we forgave them

their

un-

seasonable intrusion for the sake of the dessert

it

afforded

uspeaches,

grapes, plums, pears,

and

apples!

And

so to bed,

haunted by a vague

suspicion that the natives, liars

though they be


and Kaslimir.
243

Tartary^

generally, were pretty near the truth

called

when they

Kashmir a

" terrestrial Paradise," and that

far

Tom Moore
*'

was not
!

wrong when he sang

And

oh

if

there be an Elysium on earth,

this!"

It

is this lit is

k2

2U

Travels in Ladak^

CHAPTEE
And
o'er the aerial

XII.

" The wild Carmanian waste.

mountains which.

pour down
Indus and Oxus from their icy caves,
In joy and exultation held his way,
Till, in

the Vale of Cachemire, far within

Its loneliest dell,

where odorous plants

rocks a natural

entwine

Beneath the hollow

bower.

Beside a sparkling rivulet he stretched

His

laiJQuid limbs."

Tartary^
''E were

and Kaslimir.

245

now about

twelve miles from Sree-

nuggur, and had the choice of accomplishing that distance either by land or water, for we
Jiad reached the chain

of lake

and

river that

stretches throughout the valley,

and forms the

to

principal
point.

means of communication from point

We chose the former mode

of progression,

much

to the annoyance of the moonshee,

who

would evidently have preferred the " cushioned

ease" of the latter, and at about
ourselves
9, a.m.,

found

some three miles on our way, lying in

the shade of a magnificent chunar-tree, devour-

ing the accumulated results of a

of news
mails,
;

six weeks' dearth

for a "

dak" runner, with three English

us.
is

had that instant met

The

chunar-tree {Platanus orientalis)

a very
;

striking object in a

Kashmir landscape

not-

withstanding their extreme luxuriance of foliage,

and the

stately height to

which they

attain,

they

are said not to be indigenous to the valley, but

to have been introduced

by a governor of the
office

name

of Ali

Mirahan Khan, who held

from

1642 to 1657, under the Mogul dynasty.

the mosques

Of

and garden

palaces,

the

marble

246
founts,

Travels in Ladak^

and sculptured

pillars,

with which a suc-

cession of

Mogul emperors

embellished the valley

intact,

they loved so well, but few remain

and

even these show marks of neglect, dilapidation,

and rapid decay; but the chunars are in the

lusty prime of
life

more

lasting memorials of
all

the magnificence of the Delhi emperors than

the
costlier

monuments,

the

work of men's

hands.

The suburbs
cences of those

of Sreenuggur call

up reminis-

of Constantinople, with their

turbaned tombs of departed Moslems

their green

luxuriance of nature, and squalid penury of art

as

^but

the fancied resemblance grows less and less

city.

you approach the

To

enter

it

you pass
little

no imperial walls or massive gateways, but

by

little

the

houses
at last

huddle themselves closer

together,
dirty

and

form a

street,

narrow and

and stony enough to induce a relapse into

your dreamy memories of Stamboul, while here

and there a high-featured face and stately form,
in ample turban and flowing robe, stalks helps to keep

by and

up the

delusion.

But now a gap

in the wall of houses on your right lets in a


Tartary^

and Kashmir.

247

stream of

warm
it

light on the dark, foul footway,

see close

and through

you

by you, not the broad

bosom of

tlie

breezy Bosphorus or the crowded

waters of the

Golden Horn,

but a

sluggish

stream, glittering in the sunlight, and covered

with

boats of

all

sizes

some,

heavily laden

barges, are

being slowly

punted

up

stream,

while others of lighter build glide past merrily,

propelled

by the rapid
it is

strokes

of half-a-dozen

paddles

a busy scene.

And on

the opposite

side the river

you

see reproduced as in a mirror

a facsimile of the bank you stand on

the
;

same

houses, the same landing-places, the same people

for it is the

Jhelum that you look on

his
left

and on
the

his

right

bank and on

stand

crowded dwellings of the

Sreenuggur.

capital of

Kashmir

We

are here stopped

children,

by a crowd

of boatmen,
it is

women, and

who

assure us that

the proper thing to dismount, and take boat for the rest of the journey;
the sun
ferous,
is

we

are nothing loth, for

hot, the lanes of the city close

and odoriis

and the broad pathway of the Jhelum

decidedly preferable.

We

step into the nearest

248
boat,

Travels in Ladak^

and are soon lying under an awning of rough

matting, leisurely proceeding up-stream, paddled

by one

old

woman, two men, a boy, wlio does

more work than the other three put together,

SREENUGGUR

BRIDGE OVER THE JHELUM.

and a child of tender

years,

who

brandishes a

mimic paddle, which

progress.

retards rather than aids our

We

peep out from under our awning to the

right and to the left on a strange scene.

The

houses on either side stand close to the water's

edge, and some, supported
it
;

by

piles, project

over

every here and there a flight of steps leads

to the river, looking

down

up which you

see a

vista of picturesque lanes opening out into streets

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
and odoriferous

249
as the one

beyond

foul,

dark,

you have just escaped from.

to the picture, sitting

And

as a foreground

on the steps nearest the

water, are groups of straw-coloured

women, with

handsome

features,

and

soft black eyes, clad in

stuff,

long wrappers of maroon- coloured

and en-

gaged in the wholesome occupation of washing

themselves, the somewhat arduous one of washing
their

children,

and the pleasant and congenial

one of talking scandaL

While round and about

surface of the stream the
faces

you bubble up on the

little

black heads

and merry

of urchins

who, though they scarce can walk, can swim, and

dive,

and desport them

in the water like so

many

water-kelpies.

And
wooden
striven,

so on, 'neath the shade of bridges,

whose

piers

for

years
strive,

four

hundred have
that patient

and

still

to goad

stream into fretfulness, but in vain

flows

his current

on calm and placid

as ever,

unmindful of the

interruption their passive resistance causes.

will soon

He
after

have
is

enough knocking about

Baramoola*
* a

passed; besides, he loves Kashmir,

to Mozafarabad, the Beliat (Jhelum)

From Barahraula

250
and reluctant

Travels in Ladak^
to leave

her motherly embrace,

;

dawdles on with lingering step

but once away

from her influence, he dashes on, a raving torrent,

'^

lamenting," say the Kashmirians, "in foam and

his

clamour,

departure

from

their

beautiful

valley ;" soon houses disappear,

and in their place

green banks, planted with rows of poplar-trees,

cast their cool

shadow on the water

little

and here

and there a strange

edifice

meets the eye,

in front of which, lounging in easy-chairs, are the

sort of people

you

see

on Eyde

pier, rather

more
;

hairy, possibly,

and degage in their

attire

but

smoking, and reading the Times and Belts Life,

discussing in the same language the self-same
topics,
air of

and staring

at

you with the self-same

impertinent curiosity, which says as plainly

pursues an easterly course

for.

100 miles.

The

total fall

between these places

is

3500

feet,

or 30 feet per mile, and

the character of the river entirely changes from a placid and

sluggish stream to a raving torrent.

Below Tattamula, and

cliffs rise

about sixteen miles from Baralimula, the rocky

almost perpendicularly from the river to a height of 300 or

400
cliffs

feet

and in some places that I

less

noticed, the bare steep

were not

than 800 feet above the stream."

p. 114.

Cunningham's Laddk,

Tartary^
as if the

and Kashmir,

251
pray,

words were spoken

?'*

"

And

who

the deuce are you

few more strokes of the paddles, and we are

left

moored under the

bank of the

river,

and

mounting the
selves

steps of a landing-place, find our-

on a tolerably broad pathway shaded by

;

the poplars before-mentioned

on

this

pathway,

and overlooking the

river, is a

long row of small,

square, two-storied houses, built of

wood

exagprivate
disre-

gerated sentry-boxes, in
flight of stairs leading

fact,

each with

its

down
(as,

to the water^s edge.

These " bungalows"

gard for truth,
it

with an oriental

is

the fashion to term them,)

have been built by the Maharajah of Kashmir,

expressly
visitors
;

for

the

accommodation

of

British
well-

and although neither spacious nor

their

furnished,

rooms are

pleasant

change

enough from the confined dimensions of a diminutive tent.

The one

opposite which

we had landed
and

had been reserved

in front of
it

for the " official friend,"

we found him and

the rest of our

camarades de voyage seated in arm-chairs, ostensibly receiving

and replying to the complimentary

addresses of a gorgeous assemblage of Sreenuggur

252
swells

Travels in Ladak^
of the citj-

the mayor and corporation

each

but in reality vying with

luscious labour of

other in the

emptying the baskets of grapes

and peaches presented by those worthies, the

fruit of

whose gardens was evidently more

ac-

ceptable to the travellers than the flowers of their

speech.

To

the back of these bungalows stretches a

grassy plain, where tents are pitched and horses

picketed;

and

in

their front rolls the

smooth

waters of the Jhelum, here about two hundred

yards in breadth. Its opposite bank

is

planted with

poplars and other trees, and every here and there

the white canvas of an Englishman's tent peeps

through the green

foliage; while
left

up and down to

the right and to the

stretches the " Visitors'

is

Beach," as this part of the river

scene
fresh
is

called.

The
it is

not a strikingly beautiful one, but

and green, and home-like, reminding one of

and bathing of one's
youth
!

the boating

of

Jerseys, sculling matches,

and four-oars

Three of our party decide on taking up their

quarters in the house the Maharajah

had pro-

vided for us,

but

the

others say they prefer

Tartary^ and Kashmir,

*'

253

dwelling in tents,"-

a difference of taste wliich

bungalows are

is

most opportune,

for the visitors'

not calculated to hold more than three people at

the outside.

One

of the

first

personages
is

who meets you

on,

your arrival in Kashmir

tionary whose duty
it is

the " Baboo," a functo;

to see that all visitors

the valley are

made

as comfortable as possible.
di-,

He

is

your landlord, your upholsterer, the

of your
post-office
fine,

rector

arrangements, 3'our

general agent

in

a most useful fellow; and

he.

one of the

first

things

does

is

to

show you a

book, in which are inscribed

arrivals of the season.

all

the fashionable

Half-an-hour's talk with

him

(he speaks capital English,

and

is

very

civil

and obliging) makes you au fait of

of the
little

all

the doings
;

colony of British visitors

he

is

sort of peripatetic Court Journal "^tA

all in one.

Morning Fost

Of these

visitors,

you

will find that

some are

mighty hunters, and

are ever

away

in the wilds,

only showing their bronzed faces in Sreenuggur

once or twice a month,

when they

return for

more powder and

shot, or

a peep at the home

254
papers.

Travels in Ladak^

Others pursue sport, too, but in a milder

form,
"

and may be seen from early morn to

fisher's gentle art
;

dewy eve" plying the

river
;

on lake

and

others sketch
affect natural

and others in a dephilosophy, and pre-

sultory

way

tend to make collections of flowers or stones,

accordingly as their tastes happen to be botanical
or
geological
;

while

others,

and by

far

the

greater number, do nothing ^ and do that nothing

very well

With

the one exception of the photographer,

indefatigable,

who was

we

all

at once enrolled

ourselves in the ranks of the listless

band of

" do-

nothings," and provided ourselves at once with a

boat a-piece

ment

in that

an indispensable volunteer corps to

article

of equip-

procure which

requires
for

no

effort,

save the mental one of choice

immediately on arrival a swarm of boatmen

cer-

buzz around you, pressing on your perusal

tificates

of industry,

or

the reverse

of

good

conduct, or a general aptitude for rascality (which,

by the bye,

is

with them the best recommen-

dation) from former employers. It

is

not an expensive addition to your estab-

Tartary^
lisliment

and Kashmir,
five

255
shillings

you pay your boatmen

a
it

month
at

a-piece,

and they supply the

boat,

moor

your door, and are always ready to paddle

or

you up
or

down

stream, whither
at

you
;

will

night

day they are

your service

nor are their

avocations strictly confined to lake or river, they

will act in

any capacity, and can turn their hands

;

to anything

could they keep them from picking

and

stealing, they

would be invaluable servants

!

but their honesty, alas

is

not above suspicion

"

De boatman dance, De boatman sing, De boatman him up

to eberj ting

;"

and notwithstanding his want of discrimination

between meum and tuum, the coxswain of a boat
generally succeeds in gaining the entire confi-

dence of his master for the time being.

The boats

are long, narrow,

and flat-bottomed,

built like canoes,

and

at the extremities slightly

;

curved up out of the water

the boatmen

sit

and
skifl"

paddle at either end, while the centre of the

is

reserved for the " Sahib."

Here he

reclines

on

cushions, shaded from the sun

by an awning of

256

Travels in Ladak^
is

matting, and tlms lounging,

object of pity.

by no means an

We

fell

quite naturally into " the even tenor"

;"

of the ways of the " do-nothings

and
first

as the

shadows began to lengthen on the

our
arrival,

day of

we found

ourselves stepping into our

canoes and preparing for our evening pull on the

still

waters of the Jhelum as

if

we had done

so all our lives.

The

river,

from the " Visitors' Eeach" to the

last of the bridges

the

Mall

or

and there are seven forms promenade the Eott en-row of

is

Sreenuggur.

This

the invariable resort of the

"do-nothing" in the cool of the evening; languidly smoking a cigar,

cushions, and
is

he leans back on his

paddled up and down, and

till

down
is

and up again,
paddled
evening
is
off,

it

grows dark, when he

till

and

is

seen no more

the next

for the existence of the "

do-nothing"

not a sociable one.

We

noticed

them passing
the most

and repassing each

other
;

without

distant sign of recognition

they do not attempt

to extend the circle of their acquaintance, that

would be doing something

something, too,

Tartary^ and Kashmir,

that would involve a
still

257

further labour, such as

morning

call,

or

possibly

an invitation to

dinner; and exertions arduous as these are quite

incompatible with the dolce far niente of a " donothing's"

life.

DOLCE FAR NIENTE.

Near the arches of every bridge

fishermen, standing erect in the
boats,

are groups ot

bow

of their

"throwing a
"

fly" with

most commendable
said

perseverance.

That sahib,"

one of

my

boatmen, " has been here for four years, fishing

the whole of the season, and every morning and
every evening has whipped the water under that

very identical arch.

fish 1"

Oh

it's

a great sahib for

Possibly the

man
s

lied,

and no doubt he

258

Travels in Ladak^

exaggerated greatly

but during the ten days we

spent at Sreenuggur, I never passed that bridge,

morning or evening, without finding that devoted

disciple

of Izaak

Walton

at his

post,

rod in

hand, whipping the stream as perseveringly as

ever.

The banks

of the river present

much

the same

appearance as they did in the morning, save that

the bathing machines
discovered some strange
are
fuller

for

such

we

wooden

erections to be,

which, moored at intervals to the shore on either

side

the

river,

seem

to

float

on the water.

These were now in constant

requisition,

and we

should have come away deeply impressed with

the personal cleanliness
of the

inhabitants of

Sreenuggur, had we not remarked that the dirty

old loose wrapper

miris of both sexes

after the operation

of the Kashthe usual was invariably donned again

dress
;

a relapse into which " vile

habit" must militate fatally against the healthful

and cleansing

results of a dip in the

Jhelum.

But now the sun has sunk below the houses

of the city to our
left,

and

its

slanting rays can

no longer annoy you,

so the

boatmen stow away

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

259

the awning, and permit your gaze to wander

upwards from the bathing machines, boats, and

landing-stairs
to

the trellised windows

of the

picturesque houses above you; some of which,

perched on slender

piles, lean

over the water,

and seem
evening

to have serious intentions of taking

an

stroll

on

stilts.

Seen dimly through the

of

delicately -carved
lattice,

woodwork

the

half-open
are lucky,

you

will

now and

then, if

you

catch a glimpse of the graceful form and face of

some

fair

Kashmirian

girl,

with braided

tresses,

and dark bright eyes

crowded river below.
done,

slyly peeping out

on the

And

now, his day's work

the pleasure-loving

Kashmiri begins to

enjoy himself; sounds of mirth and laughter, of

music and merriment, are borne out to you from

those mysterious casements, for there abide the

queens of dance and song

"

Those songs that ne'er so sweetly sound,

a young Kashmirian's mouth,"

As from

and boats freighted with bundles of dim drapery,

whence peep
feet, glide
"

little

jewelled hands and slippered

past you
at the

Youth

helm and pleasure

s

at the prow."

260

Travels in Ladak^
of Sreenuggur has, I regret to
!

The Botten-row

say, its " pretty horsebreakers" too

Eut

it

is

time to turn round, for we have

'tis

reached the seventh bridge, and

a long pull

back

far

up "the dim,
trees.

rich city," to our

home

under the poplar

The
first

delight of a plunge in the river

is

our

waking

thought,

and

attired

simply in

dressing-gown and slippers, we

into our boat, which
is

shufile, half- awake,

paddled into mid-stream.

Then,

after

pausing for one timorous instant on

the gunwale,
float lazily

we throw

ourselves overboard, and

down

stream, exulting in the refreshing

chill of

the water, as yet untouched by the sun

then

coffee or chocolate,

a cigar, a

stroll

up the

river-bank, a leisurely toilette,

and

so to breakfast

about ten of the clock

such the daily programme

of our early morning performances in Kashmir.

And now
of shawls,
,papier

a crowd of Kashmiris, manufacturers

gunmakers, workers in leather, in

jewellers,
tailors,

mach^

shoemakers,

watch-menders, &c.
remarkable
for

&c., besiege us.

They

are

mechanical

talent.

Kashmir

shawls have achieved a world-wide reputation;

Tartary^
their gun, pistol,

and Kashmir.
barrels are

261

and matchlock

much

prized

by

natives, holding a second

rank to those

of Scinde only.

Of

their papier mache, all those

who have
will

the luck to see the Exhibition of 1862

have

an

opportunity of judging.

The

jewellers, shoemakers,

and

tailors
it

only want a

pattern; they wiU imitate

with the minutest

is

accuracy; and

if
it

your watch

out of order, you

may

entrust

without compunction to that

ill-looking fellow in a greasy gaberdine,

who

will

squat

down

in a corner of your
it

room

or tent,
all

deliberately take

to pieces,

and perform

necessary repairs there in your presence.

We
a

sent

word

to the

two great shawl merchants

of Sreenuggur that
visit, if

we would honour them with

they would ^x the day, for the shawls

that are

hawked about by the

natives

who

fre-

quent "Visitors' Eeach" are not worth an inspection.

It

is

a pleasant morning's lounge (though apt

to prove an expensive one) through the show-

rooms of the Kashmir shawl-merchants.

these,

Of

Muktah Shah and

Syf-oolah

Baba

are the

most celebrated, the former

for the shawls

manu-

262

Travels in Ladah^

factured in a loom, the latter for those worked

by hand; though the productions

are

of the

loom

much

the most valued of the two kinds of

manufactures, I had the bad taste to prefer the

others.

They

are

most comfortable
city,

fellows,

and own

the best houses in the

of Kashmir.

these merchant princes

little

After landing at the

wharf

which stretches out into the water from beneath

the shade of their well-built warehouses, you are

shown through a narrow

case,

door,

up a narrow

stair-

and soon

find yourself in a light, airy, well-

carpetted
table

room overhanging the

river; a small

and a few chairs in honour of European

a low divan for the accommodation of

visitors,

Orientals,

form the

sole furniture

of the apart-

ment.

The master

of the house soon

makes

his

appearance.

He

is

tall,

high-featured, wella partially shaven

;

looking

Mahommedan, with

upper

lip,

but long and glossy beard

his

manners
Europe.

are those of a past age

past, at least, for

He

is

an Oriental Sir Charles Grandison.

little

After a

preliminary converse,

during

which

tea,

grapes,

and

biscuits are

brought in

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

263

and

laid out

on the

little

table before you, tlie

as it

topic " shawls,"

by utter chance,
tapis,

seems to

you, comes on the

and then

slaves, bare-

footed and obsequious,

come staggering

in under

mighty
before

bales,

whose contents

are soon spread

you

treasures

of the loom and cunning

hand.

Sir Charles

Grandison

now

seats himself
feet,

will

not say squats

is

at

your

and

as

each marvel of art

in succession displayed,
its

courteously points out to you

cusses
its

beauties, dis;

merits and probable value

in fact, he

begins to bargain, though the word

fails to
is

convey

any notion of

his

manner.

He

not a linen-

draper trying to show off his goods to the best

advantage, but rather a country squire showing
to his guests with a pardonable pride his stable,
his pigs, his fatted bulls of Bashan, or whatever
else

may

be his hobby

The shawl

dealers complained one

and

all

of

the slackness of trade.

The demand

for

Kashmir

shawls has dwindled in extent proportionably as

British supremacy has spread northwards from

Bengal Proper
rather prefer

for

we

are content with

in

fact,

tweeds

and broadcloths, sombre

264

Travels in Ladalc^

suits of dittos, to the

gorgeous colours of

tlie

Kashmir

fabric

Ellwood's patent helmets, or the

folds of

modest wide-awake, to the graceful

embroidered turban;
elastic

an

and are wont,

either

by

braces,

or

often simply

by the nearer

propinquity of button and button-hole, to support

our nether garments, making the costly " cum-

merbund," or girdle, an
for
;

objet de luxe quite uncalled-

and even our

ladies,

much as they prize a real

hundred

Kashmir shawl,

are apt to think that one

pounds can be spent much more profitably than

in the purchase of one
;

whereas in olden days, the

native Courts were an unfailing annual source of

revenue to the Sreenuggur manufacturer.

fall

The

of

Lucknow had been

his last

and

bitterest

blow

Having spent a morning

or

two with Messieurs

Muktah Shah and

Syf-oolah Baba, and paddled

river,

two or three times up and down the

you

may be
but

said to have done Sreenuggur, for there is

little else

to interest the traveller in the city

itself.

There are indeed one or two musjids or mosques

of great antiquity, and not without some claim

Tartar!/,

and Kashmir.

265

to arcliitectural beauty, but in order to get to

them I should have

to lead
will,

you through back

out of a due regard

slums so noisome, that I

for

your comfort, content

me

with assuring you

that they are not worth seeing.

There are in

odd corners remains of walls

of stone,

built of great slabs

mute witnesses

to a past magnificence,

which

offer

a strange contrast to the ricketty

dwellings of half-burnt bricks and

wood

of which

they frequently form the foundation, and on which

the antiquarian would love to ponder, and the
sentimental traveller to moralize, but I lack both
the lore of the one and the sentiment of the
other, so will hold

my

peace.

There

is

the Hurree-purwat Fort, overhanging

is

the town, which, seen from the river,

structure enough, but
its
it

a striking

will not bear inspection

walls are weak, indebted to plaster mainly for

the imposing effect they produce at a distance,

and

its t/iree

cannon are honeycombed.

There

is

the palace of the Maharajah, a long labyrinth of

brick walls

and dingy woodwork skirting the

bank, here and there relieved by a
it

Jhelum's
gilt

left

dome, mounted on a whitewashed tower ;

266

Travels in Ladah^

is

empty now,

for

the

Maliarajah prefers the

dignified retirement

of

Jumnoo
in his

to a residence
capital
1

and no
have his
in-

wonder

It

must be a

horrid bore for such a

potentate to

dominions annually

vaded by a crowd
shooting-coated
terns,

of

subal-

who, as he passes
in
his

them

gilded

HURREE-PURWAT FORT.

Tartary^ and Kashmir,

barge, vouchsafe to acknowledge
liis

267
presence

by

a condescending nod or a patronizing wave of

the hand, notwithstanding that these Goths and

Vandals put indirectly so many Company's rupees

into his Highness's pocket.

The

bridges, too, are picturesque, built entirely

of wood, resting on piers formed of massive blocks

of cedar (deodar), and some have rows of shops

on them, flanking the footway on

either side, re-

minding one of ancient prints of Old London

Bridge
;

but

all

these sights have been sketched

and written about by able pencils and learned

pens, and you, reader, doubtless

know

quite as

much about them

"

as I do

for

Who

has not heard of the vale of Cashmere

"

Let

us, then, pass

away from the crowded path-

way
and

of the Jhelum, leave behind us Sreenuggur

its

busy

traffic,

and

tell
left,

our boatmen to exthe greensward and

thickly-planted

plore that canal to the

overhanging foliage of whose

banks promise a pleasant change to the tumble-

down houses and dark

lanes that have so long

hemmed

us

in.


268
It leads
"

Travels in Ladak^

Through the mountainous portal that opes

Sublime, from that valley of bliss to the world,"

to the " Dal," or lake, behind the city.

To speak

truly, it requires a great

amount of

imagination to recognise

Tom

Moore's " moun-

tainous portal" (of which Feramorz leads us to

form such extravagant notions) when you

see

it.

A pair of
the eye
;

massive wooden folding gates, through

glides, is all that at first

which your boat

meets

and they actually and prosaically form

the entrance to the lake. a considerable eminence,

But away to the

right,

known

as the Tukht-i-

Soliman,* or Solomon's Seat,

rises

from a green

* " The legends of the country assert that Solomon visited

this valley,

and finding

it

covered, except the hill on which

to

some Mahommedan has dedicated a temple

with a noxious water which had no

King Solomon,
he opened a

outlet,

passage in the mountains (at Baramoula), and gave to Kash-

mire

its

beautiful plains."

Forster.

On
which

legends such as these a supposition that the Kashmiris

are descendants of the

is

Jews has been

built

a supposition

borne out by the personal appearance of the race

their garb, the cast of their countenances,

and the form of

the beards.
capital of

There

is

belief, too,
is

that Moses died in the

it.

Kashmire, and that he

buried near

The

Suliraan, or Sulayman, however, of Oriental legend.

o
< 2 Ui X

'

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

269
said,

bed of gardens and orchards, and mai/ be

must not be always supposed
David.
"
to be identical

with the son of

No name

is

more famous

in the East than

Solomon
belief,

he

succeeded his father David, according to their

when
ele-

only twelve years old, at which age Omnipotence placed

under

his obedience not only

mankind, but even the

ments and
nificent

the genii,

good and bad.

His throne was magbeing placed

beyond idea

12,000

seats of gold

on the right for the patriarchs and prophets, and 12,000 on

the
left for

men

learned in every science.

The

birds were

his constant attendants, screening

him

like a

canopy from the

inclemencies of the weather

whilst the zephyrs, wafting

him

wherever he wished to go, rendered horses or any carriage

unnecessary.

All the wonderful traditions, however, relative

to Solomon, are not confined to the son of David.

The

heroic or fabulous ages of the Persians go far beyond those

of the Europeans

the

world, agreeably to their system,

being peopled thousands of years before

Adam

by ethereal

or igneal beings, governed by a succession of seventy-two

Solomons.
"

The supernatural powers supposed

to be vested in these

ante- Adamite monarchs, as well as in the

King

of Judah,

are figured to have been chiefly derived from the curious

talismans they were said to have possessed

is

to which allusion
in

often made, not only in their

poems and romances, but

itself;

their graver works,

and the Koran

'

such as the
the
*

'

Seal,

the

'

flaming sword,' the

impenetrable

cuirass,'

shield'

of Solomon

which

last,

they add, was bequeathed by Jan

biu Jan, one of the ante-Adamite kings, to the father of

mankind, who carried

it

to Sarandib (Ceylon),

where

it

was
first

many

ages afterwards discovered by

Kayumars, the

king of Persia, from whom, descending to his grandson,

270

Travels in Ladak^

poetically'^ speaking, to "

form one side of a grand

for the other

portal to the lake."

But

side

you

THE TUKHT-I-SOLIMAN FROM THE

ISLE

OF CHUNARS.

have to look a long way

far,

as

even,

as

the

height on

which the

fort is built,

which

from Solomon^s Seat must be

some three miles

that this poetical portal
tolerably wide one
Tahmuras,
his
it

distant.

So

is,

to say the least, a

was by that prince employed so successfully in

war with the Dives, that he got the surname of Div-band,

or chainer of demons."

Yide Richardson's Dictionary.

prose. Author.

* Forster says so in sober

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

271

Bat we have

still

a long pull tlirougli a narrow

cliannel ere the broad expanse of lake opens out

in front of us

and then

its

surface

is

so thickly

covered with the broad leaves and rosy flowers of

the lotus, and the tangled green of the sinhara,
or water -nut

its sides so
it

concealed by floating
to

gardens*

that

is diflicult

form any idea of

* "

Another and an important use made of the abundant

is

water-surface of Kashmir,
dens.

the formation of floating gar-

Various aquatic plants spring from the bottom of

the lakes

as water-lilies, confervse, sedges, reeds, &c.;

and as

the boats which traverse these waters take generally the

shortest lines they can pursue to the place of their destination, the lakes are in

some parts cut

In the

as it

were in avenues

amongst the

plants,

which in shallows are separated by beds

latter places the neighbour-

of sedges and of reeds.

ing farmer attempts to establish his cucumber and melon

floats,

by cutting

off"

the roots of the aquatic plants just

mentioned, about two feet under the water, so that they

completely lose
all

connexion with the bottom of the lake,

but retain their former situation in respect to each other.

When

thus detached from the

closer contact,

soil

they are pressed into

somewhat

and formed into beds of about two

yards in breadth, and of an indifferent length.

The heads

of the sedges, reeds, and other plants of the float are

now

cut
of

off"

and

laid

on

its surface,

and covered with a thin coat

mud, which,

at first intercepted in its descent, gradually

sinks into the mass of matted roots.

The bed

floats,

but
it

is

kept in

its

place

by a stake of willow driven through

its rising

at

each end, which admits of

or falling in

accommo-

272
its size.

Travels in Ladak^

The

first

glimpse
its

is,

however, enough

to convince

you of

beauty.

To

the

left,

the eye wanders lingeringly over a

fertile tract

of lake and meadow, to where the

dation to the rise or

pole thrust

fall

of the water.
at the

By means

of a long

among the weeds

bottom of the lake from

the side of a boat, and turned round several times in the

same

direction, a quantity of confervse

and of other plants

is

torn off from the bottom, and carried in the boat to the platform, where the weeds are twisted into conical

mounds about
with fresh

two

feet in diameter at their base,

and of the same height,

is filled

terminating at the top in a hollow, which

soft

mud drawn

from the bottom of the

lake, to

which
fre-

sometimes wood ashes are added, though

quently omitted.

much more

The farmer has

in preparation a large

number of cucumber and melon plants which have been raised under mats, and of these, when they have four leaves,
he places three plants in the basin of every cone or mound,
of which a double

row runs along the edge of every

from each other.

bed, at

about two
"

feet distance
is

No
is

further care

necessary, except that of collecting

the

fruit,

and the expense of preparing the platforms and

is

cones

confined to that of the labour, which altogether

trifling, as

the work

is

very soon done.

" Perhaps a

more economical method of raising cucumbers

yet by their flexible nature

cannot be devised, and though the narrow beds are ordinarily

almost in contact by their
sides,

they are so separable that a small boat may be readily pushed

between the

lines

without injuring their structure, and for

the most part they will bear a man's weight, but generally
the fruit
is

plucked

off

from the boat."

Moorcroft's

Travels.

\.

^,.y^

';

-A

4'

<

'

.,

li

."

'-

VIEW, LOOKING

UPTHESURU RIVER

Tartary^ and Kashmir.

273

Hurree-purwat
against
tlie

Fort shows

castellated line

blue sky.
to
right,

Tlien, ranging the horizon

from

left

you

see

successively

the

Nusseem Bagh,
Breeze
;

or the

Garden of the Mornino-

behind which

rises in the distance a blue

line of hills,

which come nearer and nearer

till

as the

eye travels on to the right,

spring from

they seem to
lake,

the very banks

of the

just

where a thick grove of trees marks the

the

site

of

"magnificent Shahlimar;"
it

and

in

a line

between
called

and you

is

the

little Isle

of Chunars,

by the Kashmiris the Chandee-ke-Cank,

or Silver Island.

To

the right of Shahlimar,

again, are the Grardens of Pleasaunce, the Nishat

Bagh and from thence the gaze

;

rests

on a lovely

prospect

of hills
surface

mirroring themselves in the

of

smooth

the

lake

they

encircle

wherever the lotus will allow them an uninterrupted

view

of

themselves,

past

the

little

"Golden Island,"

or Sonar-ke-Cank, the

Peri

Mahal, or Fairy Castle a picturesque ruin over-

hanging the water

back to the Tukht-i-Soliman,

rise

beyond which again

the snowy peaks that

tower above the passes out of Kashmir.

T


274
Let us
the
isle tell

Travels in Ladak^

our boatmen to paddle slowly on to

of Chunar, which seems to float on the

us.

water about a mile a-head of

It

is

just big

enough

to aflbrd a resting-place to a little ruin

THE ISLE OF CHUNAR.

so dilapidated that the eye fails to trace its ori-

ginal form

and to two

lofty
it,

chunar

trees,

which

completely overshadow

and hide with pious

care its venerable remains from the rude gaze of

the passer-by.

The day
the lake at

is
its

now drawing
best

to a close,

and we

see

" At sunset, when

Its splendour at parting a

warm
when

o'er the lake,

summer eve

throws,

Like a bride

full of blushes,

lingering to take

A last look at her mirror at night when she goes."

1
I


Tartary^ and Kashmir,

275

The boatmen
the scene
for

are quite alive to the beauty of

so

though
they

common

a one to them

they love and are proud of their far-famed

gathering lotus-flowers
as

lake;

they

paddle

homewards,

wreathe

them

round their

turbans, and sing long ballads in praise of the

loveliness of their valley
fair

and the charms of

its

daughters, beating time to their voices with

the pleasant plash of the paddle.

There

is

one

little

drawback to the enjoyment

to say,

of boating on the lake, which, strange

Tom Moore
or

omitted to mention

neither Fera-

morz, nor Lalla Eookh, nor even Fadladeen, say

sing

one word about

it-

and

that

is,

the

mosquitoes, which are as monstrous in size as

they are pertinacious in their attacks.

always in season, too
;

They

are

wild duck migrate, and

the lotus ceases to bloom, but the mosquito of

Kashmir appears
frailties

to

be

quite

above

all

such

he never moults, or
" Fee-fo-fura,

loses his appetite

I smell the blood of an Englishman,"

he hisses in your
takes a fancy to.

ear,

and woe to the Saxon he

T 2


276
Travels in Ladak^

I have purposely omitted to describe the Shahlimar Gardens whilst recounting the beauties of
the lake in the sunshine.
*'

It, like

Melrose, to be

viewed aright," should be visited " by the pale

moonlight."
"

For the gay beams of liglitsome day,

Gild, but to flout, its ruins grey."

This queen of gardens does not look well by

daylight
torches,
;

but at night,

if

properly bedecked with

and crowned with lamps, you do not

remark the ravages Time has made in her complexion,

"

and she

still

has power to charm

fall

Where

the waterfalls gleam like a quick

of stars,

And

the nightingale's

hymn from

the

isle

of Chunars,

Is broken

by laughs and

light echoes of feet."

The proper thing

to do

is

to give orders for a

nautch at Shahlimar

to tell your Ali

Bux

that

you

wdll

dine in the largest

to read

of the

summer
all

palaces

nothing but Lalla Rookh

day,

and towards evening to step into your boat and

glide over the
still

lake to the gardens, doing

your best to

feel
felt

"As
It
is

the magnificent son of Ackbar."

difficult illusion to

by no means a

get up

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
all perfect

277

the accessories to the picture are

the

smooth, rapid motion

the
you

still,

slumbering ex-

panse of water, that wakes and ripples into a

momentary smile
back
into
its

as

pass,

and then sinks

wonted repose

the

sparkling,

diamond-like drops that the quick strokes of the

paddle dash up on to the broad lotus leaves, that

quiver there an instant, and are gone
terious rustle

the mysyour boat

delicate-

of yielding leaves as

presses through

them

in her course

the

hued flowers that bend towards you in courteous

welcome
as

your keel grazes their floating roots

strikes

the laughter which

pass rapidly
of the corps

on your ear

as

you

by boats

freighted with fair

members

de ballet

the

blaze of torches as

you

land,

which makes the sequestered bowers of

the garden seem yet darker and more mysterious

the

constant plash of fountains, sparkling in

the light of the lamps that illumine

better than all (for
it is

them

and,

no phantom form, no

shadowy
fully

spirit

of

air),

the face that peeps playfolds of a half- raised

from under the white

veil, fair

enough to be that
self.

of

Nourmahal, the
" aids to re-

Light of the Harem's

With


278
flection"

Travels in Ladak^

such as these,

it

is

not

difficult

to

imagine yourself for the nonce a " proud lord of

the East."
Bernier,

who

visited

Kashmir

in 1668, thus
:

describes the garden of those days

"

The most

beautiful of all these gardens

is

one belonging to

the King,
lake
is

called Shalimar.

The entrance from the

canal,

through a spacious
turf,

bordered with green

and running

between two rows of poplars.

five

Its length is about

hundred paces, and it leads to a large summer-

house placed in the middle of the garden.

second
canal,
still

A
then

finer

than the

first,

conducts you to another summer-house at the

end of the garden.

large freestone,

This canal
its

is

paved with

and

sloping sides are covered

is

with the same.

jets d'eau,

In the middle

a long

row of

or waterworks, fifteen paces asunder

besides

which there are here and there large

out of which arise

circular basins or reservoirs,

o^hQX jets d'eau, formed into a variety of shapes

and
"

figures.

The summer-houses

are placed in the midst

of the canal, consequently surrounded

by

water,

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

279

and

between the two rows of large poplars

side.

planted on either

They

are built in the

gallery, into

form of a dome, and encircled by a

which four doors open

two looking up or down

the canal, and two leading to bridges which connect the building with both banks.
consist of a large

The houses

room

in the centre, and of four

corner.
;

smaller

apartments, one at each

is

The

whole of the interior

the walls of
all

painted and gilt

and on

the chambers are inscribed certain

sentences, written in splendid Persian characters.

The

four

doors
rare

are

extremely valuable, being

stone,

composed of

and large

and supported
pillars

by two

beautiful pillars.

The doors and

were found in some of the pagan temples demolished by Shah Jehan, and
estimate
their
value.
;

it is

impossible to
describe

cannot
it is

the

nature of the stone

but

far

superior to

porphyry, or any species of marble."

It

has

now

lost

much

of

its

beauty from

neglect.

Gaudy Hindoo

paintings

have here
roofs of the

and there disfigured the walls and

summer-houses.
stick of

Nor has

the

pencil or burnt
idle in

Brown, Jones, and Eobinson been

280
portraying
marble.
its

Travels in Ladak^
familiar
fancies

on stucco

and

But the
it

" pale moonlight" softens

down,

where

does not actually conceal, these bar-

barisms of modern date.

The porphyry
all

pillars
still

and

galleried

summer-houses are

there

and the giant boughs of the graceful chunar

trees (mere shrubs

when Bernier saw them) now

overshadow in their turn the formal poplars, and

lend a charm to the scene
old days
it

never

knew

in those

fully

compensating for the results of

taste,

Hindoo neglect and bad

liness of British frescoes.

and the unsight-

The streams

that fed the canal, and which flow

down from
all

the mountains at the back, are

off for

now

turned
is

purposes of irrigation, and the

;

canal

dry and choked with weeds

the wateras

works are waterless, save on gala nights such

this,

when

at

the bidding of Englishmen the

mountain streams resume their ancient channel,

and seek the well-known path

to Shahlimar, there

to be tortured into waterfalls

and

jets d'eau, to

be forced into pipes and 'prisoned in freestone

reservoirs, while the fields
for

and meadows languish

want of their

fertilizing moisture.

But I am

Tartary^

and Kaslimir.
as that
:

281
last

forgetting; such a sentiment

utterly

was
this

unworthy of a son of Ackbar

and

reminds

me

that

it

would be as well to lay aside

It
is

our assumed character for the present.

dinner time
porter
!

and chicken,

cutlets,

and sherry,
toast,

and roast mutton, anchovy

and

brandy and soda water, are dainties which poor

Selim, though he seems to have liked his glass of

wine, never dreamed

of.

We
to a

dine in a spacious hall, open on one side

lake, bristling

mimic

with water-spouts, and

waterfall,

fed

by a prettily-managed
over
niches
in

whose stream
lamps
are

falls

which

little

gleaming,
veil that

now

brightly,

now

dimly, as the watery

covers

them

varies in its volume.

On

the other side a handsome corridor leads out on

to a stone platform of

some

extent,

whence a

long vista of lamps and sparkling jets (Teau

stretches

away down

to the
till

large lake.

This
it

path of light tapers away

the distance
;

the eye loses

in

the black shadows of the trees and

it

tangled thickets of the garden close

either side,

in

on

and above, in a sea of

the lady moon.

fleecy vapour,

floats serenely

On

this platform

282

Travels in Ladak^

preparations are being

made

for the nautch.

Al-

ready has a white floorcloth been spread, the

orchestra
is

beginning to tune up, and the merrytells

prattle of
artistes

women's voices

us that the

fair

are only awaiting our

their performance.

good pleasure to

commence

Apart from the strange beauty of the scene

around, the nautch
itself

was a vastly superior

performance to any I had yet seen. The orchestra,

of pipes and tabors, guitars and drums, occupied

the back of the stage

in front of
girls
;

them

sat de-

murely about a dozen nautch

and between

the ladies and our arm-chairs stretched the white

floorcloth

on which they were to dance.

side

While

on

either

was

closely-packed

row of

turbaned heads, among which we easily recognise

our friend Syf-oolah-Baba
;

and torch-bearers and

boatmen, mingled with our

own

servants, are

grouped at the back.

The musicians remained

seated

great im-

provement on the habits of their

country,

class

down

who move backwards and

forwards, as

the

dancers advance or recede, singing louder

than the prima donna herself; here, however,

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

283

they contented themselves with playing a low,

soft

accompaniment to the

girls'

voices

and
and

their venerable beards,

finely-cut

features,

picturesque dress, formed a pleasing and appropriate

background to the
ballet

picture.
at

The

commenced

sign from the

Jemadar, or master of the

bright-eyed old man,

revels,

little

wiry,

who seemed

to

rule the

corps de ballet with a rod of iron.

his

Obedient to
rose,

nod,

two

of the

nautch

girls

the

orchestra played a wild prelude, and then began

a somewhat monotonous pantomime of waving

arms and supple forms, in which

(a

strange con-

trast to our notions of dancing) the feet bore the

smallest part.

The two

danseuses

moved slowly

and smoothly towards, and round, and away from

each other, never allowing the feet to leave the
floor;

accompanying their
graceful and

gestures,

which are

certainly

expressive, with a low,

plaintive chant, that at intervals broke forth into

a wild burst of song, whose harshness grated on our ears, but was received with unequivocal signs of approbation

by the

native audience.

Jacquemont says

"

Leur danse

est deja,

pour

284

Travels in Ladah^

moi, la plus gracieuse, et la plus seduisante du

monde.
" Les entrechats et les pirouettes de Topera

me

semblent

comme
et

des gambades de sauvages de la

le

mer du Sud,
negres
;

stupide trepignement

des

au

reste, c'est

dans

le

nord de I'lndustan

que

ces natcli girls sont le plus celebres."

But I

am

not prepared to echo the learned Frenchman's

sentiments.

Of the two
tiful girl, tall

first

performers, one was a beau-

and

svelte,

with a complexion
;

fair

as that of

many

of our

own countrywomen
by her

the

other showed at a disadvantage

side,

and
foil

appeared to have been selected purposely as a

by the proud beauty.

Their costume, with the

little

exception of their head-dress, a

fez-shaped

cap of gold embroidery, from beneath which their

dark hair

fell

in long plaits,

was hideous

clothed
stiff

from chin to foot in a shapeless shroud of

brocade and amber-coloured satin, which
tually concealed
possess,

effec-

any grace of form they might was about

as

their
is

attire

complete a

contrast as

well possible to the maillots etjupes

de ^aze of our figurantes.

Imagine a Quakeress


; ;

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
it is

285
thus

doomed

to array herself in such colours,

she would arrange them.

The

rest of the
first

performance was but a repeti-

tion of the

act

the same monotony of dance

to

and song, varied only by a change of performers

and
o'clock

we begin
it is,

yawn, and wonder what

which the Jemadar perceiving, orders

the

tall

beauty and her dusky companion again

to the front, places long

wands

in their hands,
livelier

and

as the

band

strikes

up a

air

the

Amazons

enact a mimic combat.

This over, we seriously think of going, but

insist,

before

we

actually depart, on
belle

one more

song from " Grhoolabie," the but she

in
fact,
is

of the evening

coy,

and has got a

cold,

and

is

tired

she wants pressing, and

it is

some time

ere she can be prevailed on to lay aside her Dehli

looking-glass, the gift of

some one of her many

admirers, and yield to our entreaties.

At

last

she comes forward and sings, after an affected

little

cough or two, some such words

" Sleep
!

as these

sleep

let

me

sing thee to sleep.

tresses o'er thee

Sleep while

my

Fall in a fragrant caress.

286

Travels in Ladak^
Sleep, for to

watch thee reposing

Is to

me

deep happiness.

Sleep, sleep, let

me

sing thee to sleep.

"

Wake wake let me kiss thee awake. Wake from thy dreams of beauty
!

To the warmth of a

real embrace.
thrall.

Wake Wake

from the chain of night's shadowy

!

see the
let

morn

in

my

face

\Vake, wake,

me

kiss thee awake.

" Stay! stay! let

me

pray thee to stay.

That the red light of returning day

Nay
'Tis

'tis

not sunset yet

but the gleam of his evening ray.

slants

That

through the

lattice still.
!"

Stay, stay, let

me

pray thee to stay


and Kashmir.

Tartary^

287

But the

last stanza fails to stai/ us,

and there

is

now

a general move, for the lamps begin to burn

dimly, and the^V^^ d'eau to give

failure of the

symptoms

of a

water supply

and betaking ouro'er the

selves to our boats

still

we paddle homewards
boatmen enliven

waters, while our

their toil

by repeating snatches
fair
"

of the parting song of the

Kashmirian's

tTTTro^a/zoto,"

which

still

rings in their ears.

288

Travels in Ladak^

CHAPTEE

XIII.

HERE
otlier

was but one

occurrence dur-

ing our ten days' stay in

Sreenuggur worth chronicling,

and that was the

re-

view of the victorious army

of Gilgit,* under its colonels,

Devi Singh and Dooloo Singh.

This occurred one Sunday afternoon just outside the city.

The army

consisted of three regi-

ments of

foot,

the two other branches of the ser*

Vide Appendix.

Tartary^
vice did not put in

and Kashmir,
;

289
the horses of

an appearance
all

the cavalry,
grass,

we

found, had

been sent out to

and

as for the artillery,

we

could get no
it
;

satisfactory replies to our inquiries about

fact,

in

some of the

sceptically inclined
as to

amongst us
it

presumed to form doubts

existed.

whether

really

They marched

past

in

slow

time

steadily

enough, except when they kicked their shoes off

in their strenuous exertions to "

throw the foot

out well."
sight of a ping,

This occurred frequently, and the

man

in the front rank suddenly stop-

backing

on

to

his

rear-rank

man and

shoving him

out of his

place, staring wildly

till

about for a second or two

he caught sight of

the missing article of equipment

in the dust, pouncing on
in time to save its being
it,

his shoe
it

lying
up just

and picking

trampled on by the next

advancing company, and then doubling back into

the ranks again, was one calculated in a measure
to detract from the martial effect of a manoeuvre,

however well
executed.

it

might have

otherwise

been

After marching past they went through a few

290
light infantry

Travels in Ladak^

movements, and to our dismay fired

off at the spectators

an immense amount of blank

re-

ammunition, fortunately without any serious

sult,

and the review was

over.

The uniform
strange

of the Maharajah's troops

was a

mixture of the old British regulation

coatee and the Oriental turban, and their equip-

ment somewhat

similar to that of our

own

sol-

diers in the days of flint-locks, save that they all

wore at their side a sharp-edged " tulwar" in

its

wooden scabbard.
Colonel Devi Singh,

who was introduced

to us,

was one of the handsomest men I ever saw in

life,

my

and looked the

soldier all over

his turban,

small, but beautifully folded,

was

tastefully ar-

ranged

his coatee of red cloth blazed with gold

embroidery, and fitted

him

well

white trousers,

and shoes
costume.

of

Oriental

shape,

completed

his

His colleague in arms was a strange Hudibrastic figure that

Hogarth would have

rejoiced

in

the grotesque efiect of his personal defects

(he

was not an Antinous) was heightened by the

taste

bad

and incongruities of his

dress,

and

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
was,

291
rather

Colonel Devi

Singh

I thought,

ashamed of him, although quite conscious that

his

own appearance gained by

the contrast.

DEVI SINGH AND DOOLOO SINGH.

We

left

Sreenuggur on the morning of the

15th of September; our party

three, for the

now

reduced to

photographer had discovered an old

visitors to the valley,

chum amongst the

prevailed on

who had
Eiflecir-

him

to desert us,

and the two

men

could not afford the time our somewhat

cuitous route

homewards needed.
u 2

292

Travels in Ladak,
first

The

part of our journey was

of going

by water

we had the option

days' sojourn in

by

land, but a ten

the Capua of Hindostan had

served to eradicate

much

of our

Himalaya

be-

THE RIFLEMEN.

gotten energy, and soften our muscles.

It

was on

delightful to watch the smile of contentment

our moonshee's face

when we

told

him

to order

boats for our journey up stream to Islamabad.

We

now

discarded the boats in which

city,

we had

lounged about the environs of the

in their place large barges big
self,

and hired
to carry

enough

bed, baggage,
;

and servants

of these we had
men
another

one a-piece

the moonshee and his

and Ali Bux, with his pots and pans, "khitmutghars," and the rest of the servants, followed

Tartary^
ill

and Kashmir.
little fleet,

293

two more.

It

was quite a

and our

Ladaklii coolies, relieved of their loads, marched

up the

river

bank beside

us.

Our progress was

slow, for

we were towed up the stream by drag

two or three men
;

ropes, harnessed to

but for

people not in a hurry, and blessed with a climate

such as that of Kashmir,

lazy travelling.
lot to enjoy

it

was the perfection of

it falls

It

is

seldom that

to one's

such perfect repose, such freedom

from

care, as

on board one of these barges

one's

sensations are precisely those, I imagine, of an

infant in his cradle rocked

by

kind but deterlet

mined

mamma

so long as

you

her rock the

cradle or pull the

tow

rope, as the case

may

be,

and are content with the narrow precincts of your

temporary abode, you are in
all

other matters the

monarch of

all

you survey.

If you want con-

versation you can hail a friend's craft, for

close together
talk,
;

we keep
his

if solitude,

you can be deaf to

should he be garrulously inclined, and read,

write, draw, or sleep at

your

ease, for

the boat

is

steady as a rock, and hardly a sound disturbs the

completeness of the quiet around.

These barges are similarly arranged to the

294
boats

Travels in Ladah^

we

hired to explore Sreenuggur in; the

all its

centre,

with
is

breadth of beam shaded by an

awning,
aft are

reserved for the traveller, and fore and

the boatmen or boatwomen, as the case

may

be.

My

crew consisted of

sailors

of the

latter sex,

and the privacy of

my

cabin was often

invaded by an urchin, who

was always clam-

bering over the partition and otherwise misbe-

having himself, thereby at times seriously

turbing

dis-

my

repose and exciting

my

wrath

but
the

mamma
little

always begged him

off so ably, that

rascal

more than once received

" back-

sheesh" for his intrusion.

She was so handsom.e

but weather-

a gipsy

face, perfect in its outline,

beaten, and deeply

marked by constant exposure

years, but already a

young, indeed, in
in appearance
;

matron

her complexion gave the strongest

proof of the fairness of the Kashmirees, inasmuch

as
it

was frecJded by the sun, and her cheek

" imbrowning of the fruit,"

glowed with the

contrasting with the white of the

brow which her

long black hair had shaded.

And now
telling

let

me employ

this

hour of ease in

my

readers a few matters of which I shall

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

295

not have an opportunity of speaking

when once
yet said
little its

marching begins

again.

I have

as

nothing about the climate of Kashmir, but

of
its

inhabitants,

and not one word about

government.
but give
fair

am

bent on boring you, reader,

warning of
if

my

intentions

so skip

the next few pages

you

will.
is

The

valley

of

Kashmir
sea,

about 5000 feet

is

above the level of the

so cool as

but the climate

at

not

might be expected

such an altitude.
is

In September, the

weather

what English
Devonshire
at times, I

people would call relaxing,

like a
it is

summer

and in June and July

very hot
;

am

told,

but wood, and water, and the

valley in, alike con-

snowy peaks that gird the

spire to cheat the sojourner into the delusion that

it is

not

so.

There

is

a Persian proverb, a quaint

paradox enough, but which expresses the same

idea in terser language
" Gurmusli nah

gurm

ast

Surdush nah surd

" Heat there
is,

ast."
'tis
'tis

but hot

not
not."

Cold there

is,

but cold

In the winter, the

hills

around are covered with

296
snow, and
it

Travels in Ladak,
lies

in the valley itself in January

and February.
be unrivalled
their

The shooting at

this season
i&c., all

must
find

bears, leopards, deer,

cold,

mountain haunts too

and seek the com-

parative

warmth

of the valley, and as native

shikarees told us, actually mob the villagers.

This

somewhat

startling statement,

though doubtless

a grossly exaggerated one, has yet a fair basis of

truth to rest on.

The magnificently

antlered

" bara-singa," or " stag of twelve tyne,"

may

be

shot close to the habitations of

smaller species

men; and the

are

the antelope and musk-deer

enemy.

equally daring in their approach to the haunts of

their natural
literally

As

to bears they

must

swarm, for during the fruit season the

black bear abounds in the valley itself; and

when

food becomes scarce, the high lands too cold, and

he

is

joined by his brown brother of the moun-

tains, their

number must be formidable indeed

it

but though thus numerous,

does not follow that

Bruin

will help to

fill

the bag of the sportsman in

winter, for at this time of year he retires from the

world, and hybernates in complete seclusion.

this season, however,

At
a

when Kashmir would be

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

297
is

paradise to the British sportsman, the valley

forbidden ground.
It seldom happens that official people in India,

and here

all are

officials,

either of the

sword or

pen, can get

leave

of absence in
it

the winter

months.

Nor, indeed, would

often be applied

for could it be obtained, for leave in winter

would

debar the possibility of leave to enjoy the bracing

air of

the " hills" in the heats of summer.

But

when

the " stamp of the iron horse" resounds

through the length and breadth of the land, when

Calcutta and Mooltan are connected with Lahore

by a

line of rail,

and

facilities for

rapid travel in-

crease, as

day by day they are increasing, we

may

reasonably expect that the British possessions in

India will cease to be a terra incognita to the

tourist
;

and that the lakes and rivers of Kashmir,

and the mighty chain of mountain and valley

from Darjeeling to Murree will be visited by
adventurous sight- seers,

much

as

Switzerland
pioneers

is

now.

Of

these

travellers,

the
it is

will

doubtless be sportsmen, and

to be

hoped that

the pressure

from without which their advent

have the
effect of

will cause, will

doing away with

298
the

Travels in Ladak^

absurd restrictions

now
all

laid

down by the

Maharajah of Jumnoo, on

the approaches to

the valley save two or three, and also with the

prohibition he has thought
against the
fit

to put in force

winter residence of Europeans in

Kashmir.

The people of Kashmir

are a

much-abused race

dishonest
tortioners,

and mendacious, vicious and un-

trustworthy, sullen and disobliging, thieves, ex-

no word

is
is

too bad for

them

and,
as fair

strange to say, this

of them, not only
valley,

the general opinion formed

visitor to the

by the English

who

is

no doubt looked on by them

game, but by the natives of the surrounding

countries^

by

their

own

rulers,

and h^

themselves.

Talk to a Kashmiri on the subject of his countrymen, he will speak of them with abhorrence,

warn you against having aught

to do with them,
is

apparently forgetting that he too

of the race

he would taboo.

The Dogra Dewan abuses the

vice versa;

Hindoo Pundit, and

through

all

ranks

of society extends this amiable feeling of mutual

distrust.

"What everyone says must be

true, to a certain

Tartary^
extent,

and Kashmir.

299

and I

fear that in this

sweeping conis

demnation of the Kashmir character there

large leaven of truth, but
it is

unjust thus to
to account

condemn them, without endeavouring

for this

moral degradation of a race so admirable

in

its

physique, inhabiting a country so blessed

by

nature with beauteous scenery, wondrous

fertility,

and a glorious
There
is

climate.

a native proverb, far from compli-

mentary
valley
"

to

the

inhabitants

of

the

happy

Agar

kulit-ool-rijal ooftad, az eslian

oous

kum

geeree,
;"

Eki Afghan, doum Kumboli, seum badzat Kashmiri

which may be rendered

" Should fate decree a dearth of men,

Then, friend of mine, beware ye

Of Afghan
But worst
That

Kumbo, scoundrel
of
all,

too,

do thou eschew
!"

ill-bred

knave Kashmiri

There

is

no doubt that they were originally of

;

Brahmin

origin

and prosperous must have been and energetic the and legend

the people
rulers

wise, beneficent,

in those old days, if tradition

are to be believed,

and the mighty monuments of

300

Travels in Ladak^

a past grandeur, long anterior to the days

when

Mogul wealth and

taste embellished the valley,

;

are to be looked on as faithful witnesses

but

to

this

golden age succeeded centuries of op-

pression.
Little is

known

of the past history of this

people

till

the year 1315,

when Sheems-ood-deen

ascended the throne, and introduced

danism.

Mahomme-

In 1586, Akbar, the Mogul emperor,

it

conquered the country; in 1752

gated by the Afghan,

was subju-

Ahmed

Shah, and in 1819

race of con-

by the

Sikhs.

Each succeeding

querors seems to have pulled the reins of despotic

rule

and unjust taxation tighter and

tighter,

till,

in 1846, after the Sutlej campaign,

Kashmir was,

under our auspices, handed over to the tender

mercies of Grhoolab Singh, " in consideration of
a pecuniary equivalent," to be his in independent
succession
;

and

its

sovereignty

is

now

a " source

of weakness rather than strength to the great

government which sold

so

five millions

of

men

for

many bags

of silver."*
!

Poor Kashmir

when,

after so

many

vicissi-

* Vide Calcutta Review, Punjab Reports, 1859.

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

301

tudes of slavery to a foreign yoke, the hand of a

powerful, just, and merciful

Government acquired
fair fight,

the territory by force of arms in

and

it

seemed that at
be ameliorated,

last its
its

condition was about to

old ill-luck stuck

by

it

still

That hand had an itching palm, and they were

again sold into the hands of the Philistines.
last
first,

The

state of that country

for

was worse than the

far

Ghoolab Singh went

beyond

his pre-

decessors in the gentle acts of

extortion.

undue taxation and

it is

They had taxed heavily,

true,
;

but
they

he sucked the very life-blood of the people

had

laid violent

hands on a large proportion of

the fruits of the earth, the profits of the loom,

and the work of men's hands, but he skinned

the very
flints to
fill

his coffers.

We
fosters,

must
;

therefore not be too hard

on the

Kashmiri

his faults are those that oppression

his virtues, for he has some, are his

and

industry, his religious toleration, his observance of family ties

and

obligations, while for qualities

is

of head and
race.

hand he

second to no Eastern
pale,

As

artificers,

the

slim,

sneaking

denizens of the crowded lanes of Sreenuggur will

302

Travels in Ladak^

compete with any in the East

and the sturdy,

is

broad-shouldered, large-limbed peasant

a pains-

taking and successful husbandman.

Amongst the many changes

Kashmir has undergone, one

of masters

which
appear

class of

men

not only to have retained the religion of their

Brahmin

forefathers,

but also a high position

I allude to the Kashmiri

among

their fellows.

Pundits

men of lengthy pedigree, of wealth and

who, thanks to their superior educa-

influence,

tion and fitness for business, were largely

em-

ployed by their successive conquerors, placed in

posts of trust, and seemingly exempted from the
forcible conversion

to the creed of

Mahommed,

which was universally imposed on their countrymen.

" Believe or die," such the motto of the Society for Promoting the

Moslem

Knowledge of

the Prophet.

No

Englishman can leave Kashmir without a

sigh of regret that a province so full of promise

should ever have been allowed to

fingers.

slip

through our
as its

It

would now have owned us

rulers for near

upon twenty

years,

and we should
as,

have benefited by the acquisition as much

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

303

hope, the people would have been bettered by our

rule.

What

station

for

troops

An

army,

if

wanted, might be quartered here, and the valley,

as it slopes

upwards to the surrounding

numberless
sites

hills,

would

afford

for

sanitaria of

various temperatures and aspects.

The reign

of the present

Maharajah Eumbeer

Singh, the son of the rapacious Ghoolab Singh,

is

marked by an evident wish

is still

to

govern wisely

but he
regime,

surrounded by advisers of the old

who

use their influence " not wisely, but

too

well ;"

no doubt, however, great improveeffected.

ments have been

ofiicial at

An

intelligent native

Sreenuggur told

us, that

whereas the

father

had been " greedy of pelf, and pelf alone,"

the son, though quite conscious of the advantages of a huge exchequer, was "

hungry

after

organization" (" sherista-ki-bhooka").

There was one circumstance of frequent occurrence during our wanderings in Kashmir, which

would seem to argue an independence of

on the part of the people, and a disregard

feeling
for the

" powers that be," strangely at variance with the

304

Travels in Ladah^

demeanour of men ground down and oppressed,

and groaning under a heavy yoke
the difficulty
;

and that was

we

experienced, not only in pro-

curing coolies to carry our baggage, but also in

making them work when they

Often were our loads
left

at last appeared.

in the middle of the

rustics,

path during a march by these truculent

who would be

off

and away through the jungle

of the forest, with
so

into the tangled shade

fleet

a foot as

to

baffle pursuit, regardless

of

the

pecuniary loss

their

flight

occasioned to

them, for there was of course no day's pay for

the runaway.
It

was not that our burdens were heavy, on

;

the contrary

or that the

men were weak and

stout fellows,
for

unable to carry weight,

of athletic build

they were

and muscular limbs, and

carrying a paltry burden for a few miles would

receive a high rate of wages.

Yet they often

half the distance,
paid, to under-

preferred toiling under

it for

and then bolting without being

going a
little
it.

more labour with a certainty of

reward for

Now, we

travelled with

an agent
to

deputed by the Maharajah to attend

our

Tartar])^

and Kashmir,
soldiers,

305

interests,

were guarded by his

and one

of our

number was a

civil officer of distinction

we marched,

therefore,

as

it

were,

under the

shadow of that rod of iron of which we heard

so

much, but which, when put to the

test,

seemed

powerless to enforce obedience.

With

the

exception

of the
all

Pundits before

mentioned, the Kashmiris are

Mahommedans

and the
their

difference of creed

between them and

Dogra

rulers does not serve to lessen the

unpopularity of the dominant race.

Kumbeer

Singh

is

a strict

Hindoo

his favourite wife is

" serious," and her influence over her lord

and
only
is

master
children
literally

is

increased

by the

fact that

his

two

sons

are

by

her.

Kashmir

overrun by Hindoo faqueers,

detested

by the people they prey upon, but supported and

encouraged by the Government, and their numbers are rapidly increasing.

Their appearance

is

loathsome in the extreme, and they are generally

to be seen stalking about, or basking in the sun,

stark naked, their long hair matted with

filth,

and their bodies smeared with wood-ashes.

state

This

of things

accounts

for

the

neglect

and

306
dilapidation

Travels in Ladah^
visible

in

all
;

the

Mahommedan

buildings in the country

while on every side

Hindoo temples
has

are being erected.

Hindooism
itself;

invaded the

Tuhkt-i-Suliman
site of

and

there,

on the very

Mahommedan

shrine,

has

it

erected a place of worship.

The food
rice

of the Kashmiri consists mainly of

;

and

fish

and a recent order of the Maharajah,

forbidding the people to catch fish or to use

as

them
if

an

article of

consumption

an order which,
is

carried out in its integrity,

would

result in actual

starvation to

many thousands

an instance of

the height of folly to which a weak mind, awed

by

superstition

and swayed by

priestcraft,

can

attain.

When
into the

man

(Hindoo) dies his troubles begin

should he die insolvent, his soul transmigrates

body of an

ass,

doomed

to bear burdens
life
;

and be kicked and bufieted through

he have been, when in

should

human

form, a miserly

hunks, avaricious and niggardly, usurious and a

dun, he becomes a misletoe-bough

parasite
it

that sucks the blood of the tree that gives

branch whereon to fasten

(for

such

is

the misletoe

and Kashmir.

Tartary^
in

307
to

the

Oriental train of thought

him the

misletoe suggests no reminiscences of wine and

wassail, of

merry Christmases and stolen

belief inculcated

kisses).

Such the

by the Pundits, who

what

further profess to be able to divine into

animals, vegetables, &c., the soul of a deceased

man

successively passes.

Now

Ghoolab Singh, instead of becoming a

misletoe, as he richly deserved,

was turned
;

after

death into a bee

so said the Pundits

a decree

went forth in consequence throughout the length

and breadth of the
forth sacred
land, that bees

were hence-

and must not be destroyed (whether

the eating of honey was also forbidden I

am

not

prepared to say).

But

this bee,

though endowed

with the soul of the deceased monarch, lacked his

wary shrewdness;

for

one hot summer's day,

the surface of a cool
fish

when buzzing languidly on

stream, he was snapped

up by a hungry
soul of

poor insect Jonah

could not
scaly
fish
1

But the

Ghoolab

die,

and therefore now inhabited a

tenement.
!

The Maharajah's papa was

The

result of this vile priestly fabrication

was

x2

Travels in Ladak^
for the pious

308

the prohibition of fish as food

son

was

fearful lest

some irreverent Moslem hook,

fish

with sacrilegious bait, should lure this royal

" Great Ghoolab's self

now turned
or boy;"

to fish,

Might haply form a dainty dish

For
fisher

man

a catastrophe that would sadly interfere with the

future transmigrations

of that

restless

spirit.

Fancy the orthodox soul of a deceased Maharajah

dwelling in the heretic body of a
fisherman.

Mahommedan
Moslems
or

What would become

it

of the

soul?

Would

object

to

the

intrusion,

fraternize

and amalgamate with the new comer ?

It is a difficult question,

and one which I suppose

on pre-

puzzled the Pundits

so they decided

venting the possibility of their having ever to

answer
eat fish

it,

and thenceforth

it

was not lawful to

Our boatmen were wont

on this
subject.

to be

most

facetious

The Kashmiris,
fond of
tea,

rich

and poor,

are passionately
as it does the
direct.

which reaches them,

Bussians,

by land transport from China

is

The

" semavar/' or Eussian tea-urn,

a com-

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
furniture;
it,

309
and when I

mon

article

of house

questioned them
that
its

about

they acknowledged

shape had been imitated from a Eussian

model brought by some travelling merchant years

ago from the north.
tea

This " dodge" for keeping

hot had evidently impressed them with a

;

great respect for the Muscovite

and they

may

be said to imbibe with each cup of comfort a

spice of Russian influence.

Muscovite intrigue

may

lurk in the aroma of each domestic teapot

hiss

and methought the very

of the

steaming

" semavar" breathed a covert warning, prophetic

of the future.

Another piece of furniture in common

one which our boatmen said was also an
foreign introduction, was the " kangri"

use,

and

article of

little

earthen vessel encased in basket-work, and

filled

with

live charcoal

this all

who can

afford it are

in the habit of carrying about with them, for its

warmth's sake, in the winter months, hooking

it

on to their persons under their long wrappers.

This
is

a practice which, Moorcroft says, "in-

variably discolours and scars the skin, and not

unfrequently occasions palsy."

310

Travels in Ladah,
Italians
is

The
and
it

have a precisely similar custom

it

quite possible that

may have been

introduced into Kashmir by one of those Jesuit

priests

who were
;

the

first

European wanderers in

these parts

or that, vice versa, the Italian priest

may

have introduced the Kashmiri custom into

Italy on his return.

Our boatmen were possessed of vague notions

of a

happy time,
all

long, long ago,

when

the

men
all

were

brave, hardy, and warlike, the

women
"

virtuous.

"

The Kashmiri,"
'

said

they,
;'

wore

short clothes then, and had no

kangri

but now,

weak and
like a

effeminate, he wears a long wrapper,

for

woman, and crouches

warmth over an

earthen pot."

But

all this

time we have been progressing

slowly but surely up thq sluggish stream.

The

sun has

set,

and the
first
;

little fleet

comes to anchor.

With

the

glimmer of daylight we are in

motion again

and when we awake, the place of

is

our anchorage
afternoon

far

behind

us.

Early in the

we reach
;

a bridge similar to those of

Sreenuggur

the sides of the river are thronged

with boats, and the banks with people.

We

have

; ;

Tartary^

and Kashmir.
boats,

311

reached Islamabad

and leaving our

walk

to the town, situated about half a mile

river.

from the

We

pitch

our tents in a small walled

enclosure, planted

with giant plane-trees, and

clear stream full of fish

through which flows a

over it are built summer-houses, humble imitations

of those of Shahlimar

our "

lines

have fallen in

pleasant places."

We purchase

a few of the patchwork carpets,

for the manufactui'e of

which the town

is

famous
;

dine in one of the cool summer-houses

and so

to bed, full of virtuous resolutions to start on

our march betimes on the morrow.

312

Travels in LoAak^

CHAPTER

XIV.

ROM

Islamabad to
our next

IJcliibal,

halting-ground, was only

about three miles as the

crow

flies

(when

it

flies

straight),

and

as a tra-

veller indiflerent to sight-

seeing would walk, but

the sacred shrine of Muttim,

and the famous

^-'^^v^

Tartary^
ruins of
wliicli

and Kashmir.
to

3J3
a detour,

Martundh tempted us

make

turned our three miles into six or seven.

We breakfasted at Muttun, just outside the lioly

precincts of the shrine,

on the banks of a pleasant

watercourse which flowed through the courtyard

of the saintly building, and although
are continually
its

waters

employed in cleansing, not only

but also from the

from the

spiritual stain of sin,

more material mire of weary

travel, a countless

number of pilgrims, the

little

stream dances along

merrily under the cool shade of the trees whose

youth
age "

it it

helped to mature, and whose " green old

now

still

tends, with a sly little gurgling

laugh, as though absolution was the best fun in

the world, unsaddened by the weight of sin and

sorrow

it

bears away,

undimmed by

the dust

it

washes

ofi*.

Our Hindoo servants were

upon by a crowd
ing them to
of

at once

pounced

hungry Brahmins, summonit

"wash and be clean;"

was

was some

time, however, before a bargain

struck.

Our

people wanted to do their cleansing cheap, to pay

in a lump, to take a family ticket, as
it

were, for

the performance

but this very praiseworthy and

314

Travels in Ladak^

economical desire on their part was fiercely combated by the priests, whose threats and exhortations eventually gained the day.

They made a

very good thing out of our party, with the one

exception of Nurput; to judge from the unfriendly,

not to say stormy conclusion of his interview

with the priests of Muttun, T have every reason

to fear that that big-fisted reprobate "bilked"
his father confessor

The temple

itself is a

small building of

mean
pos-

appearance, and the only point of interest

sesses for a

it

European
its
little

tourist

is

the reservoir in
;

the centre of

courtyard

this is almost

as full of fish as it is of water.

Imagine a barrel

of red herrings, packed as herrings in a barrel usually are, with

its
life

well-salted contents sud-

denly brought to
of the barrel, and

again, all trying to get out

tolerable

you can form a very

idea of the fish at

Muttun
on each

wriggling, shoving,
other's backs, in their
is

clambering

(a fact)

eagerness to snap up the morsels of parched grain

we pitched
the
little

in to them.

This reservoir

fed

by

stream we have before mentioned, which

:

finds

an outlet over a sort of weir

down

this it

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

315

rushes with great rapidity, glad to leave so fishy

a neighbourhood, and woe to the fat carp that

incautiously allows himself to be

drawn within
and struggle
into

the current's influence, flounder,

flap,

though he may, down he must go

the outer " world of waters
;"

down
off"

cut

for

ever

from the cloistered cool of his shady tank, from

the quiet society of his clerical associates, he'll

have to work for his daily bread now, for no one

will pitch

him parched

grain, or

lumps of

flour,

unless indeed with a barbed hook in them, to aid

his digestion
;

and

oh, ye gods

and

little fishes

how

his lay-brothers will bully the gorbellied old

sinner

when they

catch him.

Here, too, was a " Visitors' Book," in charge

of the

Head Brahmin,

containing the signatures

of all the white excursionists

who had found

their

way thither for years, mingled with those

pilgrims of note.
of

of dusky

Among

the former were those

is

many

of our fair compatriotes, for annually

resort of

Kashmir the

an adventurous few, who

sensibly prefer the delights of " roughing it" in

pleasant
its

company

the

glories of its scenery,

and and

" freedom from " crinoline

to the gossip

316

Travels in Ladak^
calls,

morning

the effervescent scandal and

flat

gaieties of a Hill watering-place.

Our path

led

up a steep ascent

for

about three

hundred yards on to a long, narrow plateau, which

stretched out into the valley, and at the extremity

of which were the ruins crowning the declivity,

which sloped in a graceful sweep down to the

level of the vale below.

RUINS OF MARTUNDH.

Though

antiquaries assign to

Martundh
its

a date

nearly as far back as the Christian era,

lith pillars, massive walls,
still

mono-

and imposing gateways

debris that

remain firm amongst the scattered

all

extend

along the plateau, showing that once

Tartary^

and Kashmir,
Thanks

317
to the

upon a time a busy

enormous
size

city stood there.

and weight of the blocks and

it is built,

slabs of

stone of which

Martundh has resisted not

only the slow march of time, the sudden shocks

of earthquakes, but also the efforts
to sap its foundations
;

made by man

for so noble a
fail

monument

of

Hindoo greatness could not

the

to be an eyeplied the

sore to

modern conquerors, who

fire

pickaxe in vain, and found

its solid

of no avail against

strength.

The people

of the country attribute these ruins

to the Pandus, the favourite princes of the heroic

age of Hindoo history, whose exploits and wars

with the rival family of the Kurus constitute

the main subject of the great Sanskrit
epic,

the

Mahabharata.

We lingered here

till

the sun was high in the

heavens, and then strode

down the

slope across

the valley to Uchibal, where

we found our camp

ready pitched.

Uchibal was the scene of

many

an imperial merry-making in the good old days

of

Mogul

rule,

of

Shah Jehan and Jehanguire

now

the gardens are desolate and neglected, a

;

tangled desert of weed and briar

but the stream,

318

Travels in Ladak^

like a true pliilosopher, flows

on calmly and con-

tentedly as ever

liis

low murmurings utter no

complaint, no regret for the

tliat are

pomps and

vanities

no more

tliey are rather, as it were, the

itself,

gentle purring of a spirit at peace with

inclined to be the

and
wel-

same with

all

the world

coming the

solitude of to-day as a pleasing con-

trast to the dust

all

and

noise, stir

and

bustle,

and

the inconceivable nuisances of the imperial

It
is

court of yesterday.

a lovely spot, the lux-

uriance of an ever-present nature

amply consoles

RUINS OF MARTUNDH.

the modern traveller for the want of the past

iMxuriousness of Oriental art.

We here provided ourselves with

" shikarrees,"

Tartary^

and Kashmir,

319

or native trackers of game, and sending the

moonall

shee with most of the tents and servants, and

the heavy baggage, by the direct road over the

pass out of Kashmir, turned off to the left with

a small "flying camp," intending to scale the

wall of Nature's building that shuts in the valley

by a

different route,

unfrequented by man, but of

Bruin the brown, of the bear of the mountains

a favourite haunt, at least so said the "shikarrees,"

and ^^pucha " Kashmiris though they were, they

spoke truth.

Pucka.

I have used

it

at last, that

word of

Hindostanee birth and Anglo-Indian adoption,

the delight of the old inhabitants, but the horror
of

new

arrivals

from home, who watch with very

natural dismay the encroachments the tongue of

the black has

made on the tongue

at the

of the white, and

who shudder

enormous percentage of Hin-

dostanee with which the Indian residents interlard

their speech.

It
;

is

bad

taste,

they say
right.

so tho-

roughly Indian
however,
little

and they are

They,
habit
is

know how

easily the

acquired; and some few months after, you will

hear these very people discoursing, unconsciously

320

Travels in Ladak^

perhaps, but glibly, in the motley language, the

novelty of which had so shocked them on their

first arrival.

There are of course some few exceptions to this

general rule

myself, for instance, reader

have been addressing you continuously for some

hours, and
till

now you have

not once heard the

word " Pucka."

"Pucka"
a road,
it

is

an

adjective,
it is

and when applied to

;

means that
it

a metalled one

when
lath-

to a wall, that

is

of solid masonry
;

no
it is
is

and-plaster erection

to a fruit, that

ripe

to a scoundrel or a Kashmiri, that he

an out-

and-out one, &c. &c.

to everything that
is

It "

is

diametrically opposed
in

Brummagem," which,

the

mouth

of the Anglo-Indian, would be called

for

" kutcha ;" " pucka."

ings,

" "

kutcha "

is

the

antipodes of

But
is

pucka " has many other mean-

and

used as an expletive,

when the Anglo;

Indian wishes to be particularly impressive

instance,
his protege
is

for

a "pucka fine fellow."

Combinations, too, can be made of the two words,

and

it

is

possible for a

man

or a thing to be

" pucka-kutcha," or " kutcha-pucka," as the case

Tartavy^

and Kashmir,

321

may
I
is

be

but the meaning of this last barbarism

it

am

unable to explain, and rejoice to say that

not an epithet of frequent occurrence,

its per-

petrators being usually

men

of a bygone age,

now

rapidly dying out

after-fate,

and whatever may be their

hope that the place of their

we

will

abode

may

be situate at a distance from that of

:

the shade of Lindley Murray

to be sentenced

to hear an eternity of lectures on solecisms

made

by them
doom.

in a former state

would be an awful

I never use the word " pucka" without compunction, for

it

ever calls

up

to

my memory a hot

evening in the courtyard of the King's Palace at

Lucknow.
start,

palanquin, with bearers ready to

yet handsome face, witli

wan and worn,

big, fever-lit eyes that looked beseechingly at

me,

and a

feeble

but earnest voice which

said,

slender
fellow
;

hand wrung mine

you

"Good
country.

as a

bye, dear

are going to be foolish

enough

to

spend some years in this

Now, let
call

me beg of you,

let

nothing ever induce you to

anything 'pucka,' and for

Heaven's sake, old

!

boy, never take beer to anybody else's wine

I"

322

Travels in Ladak^
officer,

These were the parthig words of a brother

who was then

autumn

starting "

homeward bound"

in the

of 1858, for the doctors had said that

air of his native

nothing but the pure

land could

restore health to his enfeebled frame,

worn out

by

climate, exposure,

and the hardships of the

campaign.

Soap and Deuce were the names of our two

next halting-places, names certainly in a manner
appropriate, for to judge from the neutral tint of
dirt that

pervaded everything and everybody, the

deuce of a bit of soap was there to be found in

either.

The
pleasant

track which
little

we

followed led us along

sequestered valleys, well-watered,

and in parts well-cultivated

ness of the
soil is

although
hills

the rich-

premium on
by low

lazy husbandry

and shut in on
dense forest.

all sides

covered with

It

was the perfection of sylvan

began to ascend

scenery. After leaving Deuce, we

the valley rapidly narrowed

apple,

sycamore, walnut,

and pear tree gave place to the lofty pine

of cultivation vanished
-,

all trace

and before us

rose the steep sides of the

mountain ridge on

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

323

which, said our guides,

It

we must

halt that night.

was a steep and weary climb, but the scenery

;

around was magnificent

the low
cance,
hills

and ever

as

we

ascended,

beneath us dwindled into insignifi-

and

no
as

longer

obstructed

the

view

beyond them,

though

at our feet, stretched

the vale of Kashmir.

Soon the
path
;

pine-trees, even, ceased to

shadow our
all

a belt of stunted birch-trees was

that
this

remained between us and the bare

passed, our climb

hill-side:

was nearly
line,

at

an end.

We

were now above the tree

and to the right

and

left
;

stretched the skeleton backbone of the

ridge

in front, a wall of rock rose

;

almost per-

pendicularly

up

this led the track

it

we were

to

follow on the morrow, and beyond

lay the

much'

vaunted hunting-grounds.
It

was

bitterly cold

a keen wind sprung up

far behind,

so

tents, coolies,

and baggage were

we crouched under

a fragment of rock, and

gazed regretfully at the

valley,"

now

far distant "

happy

which shone

like

an emerald in the

warm

light of the evening sun,

whose

rays, alas! reached

not

us.

Soon, however, dim forms begin to appear

Y 2

324

Travels in Ladah^

wearily wending their

birch-trees

upward way

tlirougli the

below

us,

and the welcome sound of

strikes the voice of Ali Bux, raised in wrath,

on

our

ear.

In

due

course

of

time

the

tents are pitched and fires lighted,

and

at last

dinner

is

announced to be ready by the mumbling

voice of

my

khitmutghar, " Busharat"

interpreted,
signifies

(a

name
''good

which,

being

tidings"),
sion)

and never (methought on that occaapt.

was appellation more

The night was

after dinner
first

piercingly cold, and directly

in.

we turned

was roused from my

''

slumber by one of
to tell

my

shikarrees,"

who
a

came

me

that

if

I would start with

him

few hours before dawn he would show

of bears
;

me no end

" but don't tell the other Sahibs," added

the rascal, in a stage whisper.

I grumbled a re-

luctant consent, and turning round, proceeded to

make the most

were
left

of the few hours of sleep that

me.

Between two and three

o'clock

next morning I stole from

less tread,

and started with

It

my tent with a noisemy three shikarrees up

the rocky pass.

was freezing hard, and the

moon threw

a bright but deceptive light on our

Tartary^
path.

and Kashmir,

325

On

reaching the summit, I almost for-

gave

my

attendant Kashmiris for having waked

me

so soon,

and the sluggard regrets I had been

indulging in during the steep climb vanished,

for

"

Lo

the ethereal
icy

cliffs

Of Caucasus, whose

summits shone

Among

the stars like sunlight, and around

Whose caverned
rolled
like

base"

waves the dark indistinct forms of

rounded mountain ridges, mounting higher and

higher,
till

they seemed to break in foam on the

It

shores of perpetual snoAV.

was a scene of

almost unearthly beauty.

clearest

Never even on the

dis-

day have I seen the jagged peaks so

tinctly visible as

on that night, when, crowned

with stars and

lit

up by the moonlight, they

stood out bold and prominent from their dark

background of cloud.

We

now

passed over a wide plain that sloped

;

downwards before us into blue mist

herbage covered
it,

a scanty

and here and there a stunted

bush grew, or a quaintly-shaped mass of rock lay

half buried.

We

were getting very near the

guide.

bear warren, said

my

326

7 ravels in Ladak^
last the

At
ears,

sound of a small stream reached our

and now we must halt and wait for daylight.

this time obscured the

Thick clouds by

moon,

and

cast a black

shadow on

all

around

two of
slept

the shikarrees laid

themselves

down and
peering

while the

other kept watch,

steadily

through the darkness, and I paced briskly up and

down

in the vain endeavour to keep

warm, and

" longed for day."

It
!

seemed
last,

as

though morn

would never come

At

in the eastern horistole

zon, a faint glimmer,

which gradually
its

along

the snowy peaks,

made

welcome appearance

the sleepers are roused, and with cautious step

and slow we move down towards the stream,

which now,
as it

grows
;

lighter,

we can

see

mean-

dering along below us

big boulders of rock, and

its

here and there patches of green grass, cover

banks
feed.

it is

on these patches that Bruin loves to

We

clumsily allowed ourselves to be heard or

first

seen by the

bear

we came upon,

for

he was

shambling

off at a canter, well

;

out of shot ere

we

caught sight of him

but we were afterwards

more

successful,

and about eleven o'clock the

Tartary^

and Kashmir.

327

whole party met at breakfast on the banks of the

stream, very well satisfied with their sport, with

the world in general, and with themselves and

their rifles in particular.

We

pitched

camp

a few miles

down the

stream,

and halted there next day, bent on making the

most of our time.

The number

of bears that

we saw during
!

these

two days was quite surprising

On one occasion,

when

stalking

monstrous fellow who was

grazing a few hundred yards away from me, I

took advantage of a slight inequality in the

ground, which hid
rifle

me from

him, to shoulder

my
eye

and run on towards him, keeping

on the brow of the
little

my

fixed

rise

before me,

over which I every

moment

expected to see his

big form appearing.

Whilst running on thus,

another bear rose from under

my

very feet

had

literally

kicked

him up
as
;

as

one would a hare.

startled at

He

was fortunately quite

much

my

apparition as I was at his

to say, no

evinced, I

am

glad

wish to dispute

my

right to stand
ofl",

on his

'^

native heath," and scampered

rolling
haste.

and tumbling down the slope in ludicrous

328

Travels in Ladah^

I put a bullet into liim as he went

but

it

bad

only the

effect of accelerating

bis

movements,

and of frigbtening tbe bear I bad been bent on

circumventing.
obliged to
leave

And

tbat same evening,

as

when

off shooting,

I was at a
on, there

distance from

camp and night coming

were within sight of

me no

less \hdinfour bears,

little

each peaceably feeding on his

grass.

patch of green

On

the same day, the "

official friend," after

successful

morning's beat,

felt

his

old enemy,

intermittent fever, threatening him, and

his

wended

way back

to camp, not a

little

disgusted at

finding himself obliged to " lay up" at so inoppor-

tune a moment.

His
in

relentless foe followed him,

and folding him

an icy embrace, wrestled with

his

him

there,
fit.

and threw him on

bed shivering in
off,

an ague

After a time this passed

into a doze, from

and

the victim
stir

fell

which an unusual
"

in the
;

little

camp aroused him.

;"

bear,

sahib

a bear close to the tent

and crawling

from under his blankets, he stalked and killed the

animal within sight of camp.
I think I have said enough to show that our


Tartary^
sport

and Kashmir,
is

329
hardly so
less fierce.

was not bad.

The brown bear

large as his black brother,

and much

We

were none of us once charged by a wounded

bear; though more than once they turned round

on us with angry intention, but never summoned

up pluck actually
varies

to

make

a rush.

Their colour
;

from dark brown to almost a dirty white

is

the skins are very handsome, and the fur

long

and

thick.

All

we

shot were in capital condition,

bear's grease

and the amount of

for

which we

left

eagles

and carrion crows to fatten upon

hairdresser.

would make the fortune of a

We
tember

left
;

the land of bears on the 23rd Sep-

and crossing some high ridges, descended

hill-side into

an interminable

warmer

climate,

and halted eventually in a pleasant

to a little village called Cliind.

valley, close

We

next day

followed the windings of the valley, which were

very beautiful, to the village of

Mogul Maidan.

During

this

march we had some good " chukor"

teal

shooting,

and found

in

plenty near the

stream.

From Mogul Maidan

the rest of our

to

Doda, where we found

us, is

camp awaiting

about thirty


330
Travels in Ladak^

miles, to accomplish

which distance took us three

days.

The path

led us over a continuous suc-

cession of lofty
valleys,

mountain ridges divided by deep

forest.

and the whole covered with dense

From

the summits of these ridges magnificent

views of the snowy range are obtained.

the finest and most extensive
is

Of these

the one which

far

shows you in mid distance, but

feet,

below your

the

fertile valley

of Kishtawar.

From

this
still

the

gaze travels up and up,

over range

higher and

higher,

above range of mountain,

sides of

some with scarped

grey granite, others

of red sandstone, casting deeper shadows from

their fissured

and weather-beaten flanks; while

others present a seemingly endless slope of dark

pine forest.

Here the eye would

willingly linger,

sated with the variety of beauty thus ofiered to

its

view, unconscious of the arctic world above

the glaciers and the snowy peaks which, clad in

robes of virgin snow, soar like clouds in heaven's

blue vault.

The

artist looks

and looks in rapt and ever;

increasing

wonderment

then searches for some

object near at hand,

by comparison with which

Tartary^ and Kashmir,

to

331

mete

out, as it were, into a series of views, the

stupcndousness of the scene.

giant pine-tree, withered
bhT-ckened trunk
aloft,

Just below him a

fire,

by

stretches

his

and waves his scathed

arms in space

like
;

a Titan struck
lifeless,

by a thunder-

bolt from heaven

yet in death defiant.

;

This shall be his guide

this

shall

frame his

panorama of height.

Vain

resolve.

The

top-

most branch reaches not the base even of that

ethereal fairyland of

snow

the pine-tree

is

just

one world too short

for his purpose.

We
city

had

at first intended to pass

visit

through the

Kishtawah, and pay a

to the veteran

Baste

Eam

but the valley looked so hot, and

the mountain breezes were so charmingly cool,

that

we took the upper

is

road.
size,

Doda

town of some
friend,

built

on the
It pos-

banks of our old

sesses a fort, in

the

Chenab.

which are imprisoned some State

offenders of royal blood,

are,

whose wives and

cruelty,
is

families

by a refinement of
which

permitted to

reside in a house

clearly visible

from

the prison, but to

its

whom
is

all

communication with

unhappy inmates

denied.

332

Travels in Ladak^
crossed the
;

We

Chenab next day by a swinging

after

rope bridge

and

an easy march of about

eleven miles, halted in a beautiful valley covered

with

rice

and corn

fields,

and orchards of pear

here and there

and apple

trees, intersected

by

strips of as yet

unreclaimed forest-land, jutting

out from the dark belt of foliage that fenced the

valley in.

The town
importance

of

Buddrawah

place

of

some
It is

was

our next halting-place.

;

picturesquely situated

and the pears and apples

grown

in its gardens surpassed in flavour and

excellence those of

Kashmir
is

itself.

conside-

rable shawl manufacture

carried on here, but

the goods are of a very coarse texture.

The Puddree-Dhar Pass

climbing

tried our

powers of

next day;
is

and the
difiicult

descent

on the
Three

opposite side

very

walking.

marches brought us to the banks of the Sion

river

stream of some

magnitude

this

we

crossed

by means of

" deris," or inflated skins

and on the opposite bank found a gay cavalcade

awaiting
us.

The party proved

to be

some of

the retainers of the Eajah of Chumba, a small

Tartary^
hill state, at

and Kashmir.

333
to pass the

whose

capital

we were

night.

His Eajahship, hearing of our approach,

carry,

had sent horses to

us with
all

and servants to

escort,

due honour to his palace.

steep and narrow, and
it

The path was

was not

without grave apprehensions that I mounted a

fat,

pink-nosed white steed of some sixteen hands,

tail

with

and mane dyed

red,

caparisoned

in

native style, with a carcase like a dray horse, but

wdth the longest, thinnest, and most rickety legs

that horse was ever cursed with.

The

catastrophe I dreaded soon occurred

my

fidgety Bucephalus soon got a hind leg over the

precipice,

and

after a vain effort to recover his

hill-side.

footing, fell

backwards down the steep

Fortunately for me, his brief struggle gave

me

time to

slip off his

back on to the footway, before

he took such a very unpleasantly short cut to the

bottom.
After an ascent of some miles
into the valley of the Eavee,
risrht

we descended

and marched up the

till

bank of that beautiful stream

in sight.

the town

of

Chumba came
The town
is

built

on a rock, which towers to a

334

Travels in Ladak^
is

great lieight above the river, and

connected

with the mainland by two bridges of lengthy

deodar beams
;

a broad paved road leads

is built.

up

to

the plateau on which the town

sists of

It con-

about 1000 houses; and a level green-

sward, about five hundred yards long by eighty

broad, has been left unbuilt

upon

in the centre.

Here the young men and boys

are ever playing

sit at

"hockey,"* while the grey-bearded seniors

Hockey

The youth

of

Chumba

play genuine hockey

on

foot,

but the game as practised by their forefathers must

have been a much more exciting one.

Yide Cunningham's
Botis, both of

Ladak, pp. 311, 312.

"

The

favourite

amusement of the
which
all

Ladak

and of

Balti, is Polo, in

parties,

from the highest

to the lowest, can take a part.

saw the game played at

Mulbil, in a

field

400 yards long and 80 yards broad, which

for

was walled round

the

purpose with a stone

side,
all

dyke.

There were twenty players on each

ponies and armed with
sticks

mounted on

about

four feet long, and

bent at the lower end.

One

player took the ball and adfield,

vanced alone into the middle of the

where he threw

np the
The

ball,

and

as it

fell,

struck

it

towards one of the goals.

goals were formed of

two upright stones placed about

twenty-fi.ve or thirty feet apart.

When

the ball was driven

through a

goal,

one of the successful party was obliged to

it

dismount and pick

have driven
count.
it

up, for
it

if

the opposite party should

back before

was picked up, the goal did not

The game

consisted in winning a certain

number

of

Tartary^
their
slio^)

and Kashmir.

335
tlie left

doors and look on.

To

are

some Hindoo temples of great antiquity, and the

Eaj all's palace and gardens, which, though small,
are tastefully laid out.

We

found tents ready

pitched for us in these gardens, and at the request

of our servants,

who wanted

rest,

agreed to halt

there the next day.

Next day we paid

Rajah to thank him

a visit of ceremony to the

for all his courtesies.

He

goals, either five, seven, or nine.

Numerous musicians were

in attendance,

who made

a most lively din whenever a goal

was won
"

and the noise was increased by the cheers of the

a very spirited one, and well calculated for

successful party.

The game

is

the display of bold and active horsemanship.*

Accidental

blows occur frequently, but the poor ponies are the principal
sufferers.

The game was once common

it is

in India

under the

name of Chaogan, but

old chaogan -grounds

now completely

forgotten.

The
in the

still

exist in every large

town

Panjab
pur,

hills; in Bilaspur,

Nadon, Shujanpur, Kangra, Haristill

and Chamba, where the goal-stones are

is

standing.

The game
time
the
it

repeatedly mentioned by Baber; but after his

It

gradually became obsolete.

was introduced by
first

Musalman

conquerors, and the very

killed

king,

Kutb-ud-

din Aibak, was

by a

fall

from

his horse

when playing

* " It

is

well and tersely described by

Vigne

as

'

hockey

on horseback.'
but
it

Mr. Thornton

calls it ^cricket

on horseback;*

has nothing whatever in

common

with cricket."

836
sent his

Travels in Ladak^

own

elephants to convey us in the most

dignified (and uncomfortable)

way

to his palace,

and on

arrival

we were ushered up a

dark, narrow,

winding

staircase, into a little plain

whitewashed
fat,

room, at the door of which we were met by a

uninteresting-looking boy of eighteen,
sisted
prise,

who

in-

on shaking hands with

kept his shoes on.
It

us, and, to

our sur!

was the Eajah

who,

we were

afterwards told, prided himself on his

;

disregard for the formalities of Eastern etiquette

at chaogan in a.d. 1210.*

The

Patlian kings of India

still

continued to join in the game down to the time of Sikander

Lodi, in a.d. 1498,

when 'one

day, while the king and his

court were playing at chaogan, the bat of Haibat

Khan

Shirwani by accident came in contact with the head of

Suliman, the son of Darya
severe

Khan

Lodi,

who

received a

blow.

This was resented

on the spot by Khizr

to Haibat

Khan, the brother of Suliman, who, galloping up Khan, struck him violently over the
in uproar
skull.

In a few
field

minutes both sides joined in the quarrel, and the

was

and confusion.

Mahmud Khan

Lodi and

Khan

Khanan Lodi

interposing, endeavoured to pacify Haibat

Khan, and succeeded in persuading him to go home quietly with them. The king, apprehensive of conspiracy, retired
immediately to the palace; but nothing more transpiring,

he made another party at the same game a few days

after.'

"t

"Briggs's Ferishta,"

I. p.

199.

t " Idem."

p.

574.

Tartar7j^ and Kashmir.

the pert,
place

337

awkward manner he
as offensive as it

affected in their

was

was

ludicrous.

Our host then waddled back

to his arm-chair,

before which was a round table, laid out with

paper, pens, ink, and a most business-like-looking

despatch -box, and pointing to three chairs placed

in a

row on

his right, asked us to be seated. flagged, for the

us,

The conversation soon

w^as

Rajah

not amusing,

till

one of

happening to

look at his watch, the potentate grew suddenly

loquacious
;

watches seemed to be his hobby, and

he examined ours and compared them with his

own with

great seeming interest.

He

could talk

no language but

his own, but told us that

he

regularly took in the English papers, and had

them

translated to him, thus obtaining, said he,

intelligence of all that

was going on

direct

from

England.

We

asked to see one of his latest papers, and

he handed us with great pride a Taranaki Herald^

nine months old.

His English news therefore

came to him

direct via

New Zealand!
five days.

From Chumha

to

Kangra took us

I was, I confess, disappointed with the

z

Kangra

338

Travels in Ladak^

valley; to a person

coming from the plains

it

must

be,

no doubt, a very striking

scene, but to

tbe traveller
its

who marches
for it has

thither from Kashmir,

beauties

many

seem very secondwithout exception

rate.

The town
or,

of

Kangra

is

the cleanest,

more properly speaking, the only

clean Oriental

town I ever saw.

on an oblong rock, isolated

The

fort is built

from, but

commanded by, the surrounding heights.

" a river at all times breast

The Ben Gunga,

deep," washes its base on three sides; on the

fourth a deep dell divides

it

from the neighbour-

ing mountain.
affords

It

is

well supplied with water,

for a large garrison,

accommodation

and

against

an Oriental foe

may

be looked on as

impregnable.

From Kangra
At

to Simla, via Jowalli-mookhi*

little

and Belaspore, but

ing.

occurred worth mention-

the

first

stage

we

said good-bye to the

Major,
plains,

who

started off

by palanquin dik

to the
for

and we pushed on by forced marches,

pressed for time, to Belaspore.

we were

Here we
Thornton

* Jowalli-mooklii.
spells the

Vide Thornton's

Gazetteer.

word

Jewale-m\xkh..

Tartary^
recrossed the Sutlej,

and Kashmir.
into a

339

grown

mighty stream,
its

and

lost

poor Noura, who, while bathing in

waters,

was swept away by the current and seen

;

no more

and on the

6th October, exactly three

months from the date of our departure, the

"
official

friend

'*

and I rode into Simla.

!

Our happy holiday was over

Z.2

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

I.

Extract from

Memorandum drawn up

by the order of

Colonel A. Scott Waugh,

Engineers, Survey or
&c.,

General of India, F.R.S., F.R.G.S.,

on

the

Progress of the

Kashmir

Series of the 0. T. Surlate

vey of India; with Observations on the

of Gilgit,
S. G.

Conquest

and other Incidental Matters, by Captain

&c.,

MontgomeriCy Engineers^ F.G.S.,

in charge

of the Series.

With

reference to

my

last

memorandum on

the great

flood of the river Indus, I

have not as yet been able to

its origin,

obtain any further information as to

though

the expedition against Gilgit has succeeded, as I antici-

pated

it

would.
directed every inquiry to be made,

The Maharajah has

and
I

hope

to

be able to give a correct account of the

344
origin of the flood
territories

Appendix,

when

return to the Maharajah's

next year.

Meantime, the expedition has con-

firmed several important points in the geography of the

countries near Gilgit,
tion itself

and a short account of the expedi-

may be

interesting.

The Maharajah
forts of

laid in a large supply of food at the

Astor and Boonjee during the

summer

of 1859.

Hitherto, one of the

greatest obstacles to

making a

successful attack on Gilgit has

been the

difficulties of

getting supplies.

The

natives are in the habit of using

the old expression, to the effect that a small force going

against Gilgit was sure to be defeated, and a large force
to be starved.

To
of

obviate

this,

a hundred ponies were

put at each

the seventeen halting-places

Astor,

between

Kashmir and Boonjee, via Gurais and

and whilst

the weather permitted, one hundred loads of grain were

delivered daily at Boonjee.

In June

July

of this year, several detachments of

Gilgit,

Sepoys were moved upon

mustering finally at

Boonjee to about 4000 men, under Colonel Devi Singh

and Colonel Dooloo Singh.

vanced upon
boat
;

The whole body then adIndus by means of a

Gilgit, crossing the

further on they crossed a tributary river

by a

wooden bridge.
Gilgit
itself,

No

opposition was

met

before reaching

and there the

Gilgities got inside their fort

and held out

little firing

for a short time,

sides,

during which there was a

on both

ending by the Gilgities sur-

Appendix.
rendering, the Maharajah's force losing one

345

man by

the

bursting of a gun, and the Gilgities leaving one dead

man

in the fort, supposed to have died a natural death

durinor the siege.

Having
further

settled affairs at Gilgit, the force

advanced

up the

valley to Shirni (or Shirwat) fort,

slight resistance,

where

there was

some

ending as before in

capitulation.

The

force

then
river,

advanced on Yasseen,

which

is

on the Gilgit

and not on a separate

fell

tributary of the Indus.

Yasseen

into the

hands of

the force, and the son of the Goraman,

Gilgit in addition to Yasseen,

who had held

over

made

his escape

the mountains to the west and on into Badakhshan.

The Goraman himself died during 1857.

He was

well

known

in the

whole of the country between the Indus

andCabul, and was generally called an Adamkhor,or maneater,

from a habit that he had of catching

all

strangers

that he could, for the purpose of exchanging

them

for

the large dogs so

much

prized in that part of the world.

The Goraman and

and
for

his son

had

till

this year held Yasseen,

a short time Gilgit

also,

though once or twice

In addition from the

driven out from the latter by the Dogras.

to the

main body

of the

Dogra

force advancing

south, an

armed body of

Baltis advanced through Shigar,

valleys, threatening

and thence by the Nagar and Hoonza

Gilgit

on the

east.

Another

force

was

to

have advanced from the west

346

Appendix.

under the instructions of an agent from Dheer and Chitraul,

but

it

was not apparently in time, though possibly

it

the mere talk of

made

the Goraman's son

unhappy

as

to his line of retreat.

This conquest, which

may

be said to have been made

without loss of
rajah,

life,

is

highly creditable to the

carried

Mahait

and

his officers

who planned and

out.

The
tary.

effects are, in

some

respects, likely to be very salu-

In the

first

place, the

mere
in

fact of

having a force

in Gilgit overawes

and keeps

check the robber clans

for years infested the
side,

of

Nagar and Hoonza, who have

roads between Balti and

Ladak on the one

latterly to

and

Yarkund on the other

that those

and

such an extent,

roads in their immediate neighbourhoods,

shortest,

though the
to

have been almost com.pletely closed

anything in the shape of a merchant.

Keeping

pos-

session of Gilgit during the cold weather,

when

all

com-

munication with Kashmir

is

closed, has

always been the

has, however,

most
left

difficult business.

The Maharajah
in the valley,

nearly 3000
it is

men

and consequently
hold their own,
will

in future

to

be hoped that they

will

and that the

asfain

traffic

from Skardo direct to Yarkund

be resumed.

In the second place, this successful expedition has had

a very wholesome effect on
all

the petty tribes lying

between Gilgit and the Cabul

territories,

and ultimately

Appendix.

347
Swat
valley in check,

may be

of assistance in keeping the

still

Swat being
west

one of the recusant tribes on our north-

frontier.

At the durbars

of the

Maharajah during
Swat,
Kholi,

this season,

men from
were

Chitraul, Dheer,

Palus, &c.,

in attendance, as well as those

from Chilas, Nagar,

for

and Hoonza, who have been constant attendants

years.

some

At the

last

durbar held by the Maharajah, Colonel

his salaam,

Devi Sing made

having just returned from

of the Yasseen

the Gilgit expedition.

Some

men were

introduced at the same time.

One long

brass gun, of
his

about 3

lbs.

bore,
it

accompanied the Colonel,

son.

Sepoys

having taken

from the Goraman's

cast,
it

This gun

seemed
it,

to

be well

and had a Persian

inscription

on

to the effect that

was made in Budakshan, or had

belonged to that place.

Among

the minor results of

the expedition was a great influx of presents to the

Maharajah from
Kaiiristan.

all

the

chiefs

between Gilgit and

Perhaps the most valuable in the eyes of

the Curator of the Asiatic Society's

Museum would have

been a splendid

live

male specimen of the markhor, the

This animal

greatest prize of

Himalayan sportsmen.
full

was introduced into the

with guy ropes.
It

durbar, guided by four

men

was really a handsome animal, of a

light fawn-colour, with a capital pair of horns,

and a

line

348
long beard.

Appendix. The top

of the markhor's head was per-

haps 5^ feet from the ground, the horns towering up

above
all

the

men

in attendance.

The keepers

of this

animal evidently held him in the greatest respect, though

he had been a captive

for at least

two months.

This

markhor was a present from the

Palus, on the Indus.

chiefs of

Kholi and

The

Chilasses sent in

some very

fine half-domesticated

goats, a part of

which the Maharajah distributed amongst

the European visitors to Kashmir.

One

of these goats,

now

in

my

possession, has a very fine pair of horns of

the markhor kind.

The country on
British district of

either side of the Indus,

between the
valley of

Huzara and the Maharajah's

Astor, has hitherto been all but impassable.

With Chilas,

Kholi, and Palus all under the orders of the Maharajah,

a very slight pressure ought to open out the remainder,

down to the Huzara district, which might tend to bring the

Akhoon

of

Swat

to reason.

At

the same time, opening

is

out the whole valley of the Indus

in itself no small

advantage,
safety.

if it

will

enable travellers to pass along in

Traffic will

undoubtedly increase, and, moreover, the

will

Punjab Government

have the means of getting

full

information, in case the Indus should again be blocked

up

in

any part of

its course.

In the

latter respect,

the

Appendix.

349

conquest of Gilgit, with Yasseen, Hoonza, and Nagar,

is

really very valuable,

as

it

places

under a friendly

Native

State

the

only great tributary of the Indus

concerning which the British Government has hitherto

been unable to get any

butary, moreover,
is,

reliable information.

This

tri-

in

my opinion, the

one on which the

late great flood of the

Indus was generated.

If these countries are in thorough subjection to the

Maharajah, such a calamity as the cataclysm of 1858

ought not again to befal British subjects on the Indus,

without their having, at any rate,
it

full

warning, even
it

if

were not possible to prevent or mitigate

application
of labour,
as
it

by the

scientific

most probably

would

be.

350

Appendix.

11.

Letter

from

the

Deputy -Commissioner of Simla

Government of
the

to

the Secretary to the

Punjab,

dated the

lUh

September, 1861, relating to the

Murder of the
I

late

A dolphe Schlagentweit

HAVE

the honour to report, for the information of

that I have at

his
this

Honour the Lieutenant-Governor,

moment

in

my

possession
v^ho, his

the Journal of Mr.

Adolphe Schlagentweit,
collects,

Honour

doubtless re-

was

so cruelly
is

murdered at Kashgar in 1857.

I have also
2.

what

alleged to be his skull.

On my

arrival at

Leh

in

August

last,

one Mirza

Abdool Wudud, a man of Herat, presented himself at

my
at

tent,

and stated that in a caravan expected shortly

there was a parcel to his address

Leh from Yarkund

containing a manuscript book, which belonged to the

gentleman who was put to death at Kashgar, as well

as

what he

fully believed to

be his

skull.

The Mirza

represented himself to be entirely without funds, and

despaired of ever recovering the parcel from the

in charge of the caravan. I lost

men

no time in despatching the Mirza with a Tartar

Appendix,

351

servant of mine towards Yarkund, with instructions to

take the parcel, paying for

its

carriage,

and

to follow

me

with as

much

speed as possible to Sreenuggur.

8.

About the eighth march from Leh they met the

caravan.
clined
to

The persons
give

in charge at first positively de-

up the parcel; they then demanded

to take
all

two hundred rupees; eventually they agreed

six gold

mohurs, worth seventeen rupees each,

servant

the

money my
servant at

had with him.

The Mirza and

which they

once started for Sreenuggur,

precious
parcel

reached
myself.
4.

with the

few days after

The

Mirza's

account of himself

is

that he

left

Herat about

five years

ago in consequence of the

dis-

turbed state of the town, and has been wandering ever

since in the countries
in the guise of

between Afghanistan and Yarkund

a Hakeem, or physician.

At Bokhara he

heard of the death of Mr. Schlagentweit.

Aware

of

the value which would be attached by us to any books,

papers, &c., belonging to the unfortunate traveller, the

Mirza, on his arrival at Kashgar, set diligently to work

to search for his property.

For a long time he was

unsuccessful, but about sixteen

months ago he contrived

son- of a

to procure, through one

(or priest) of

Kurreem Khan,

Moolla

Kashgar, a manuscript book which a dealer

for the sake of the paper,

in snuff

had bought

which

852

Appendix.
snuff.*

he used in packing small quantities of

Some-

thing less than one rupee was paid for the book.

Not

loner after,

a cultivator informed the Mirza that

after Mr. Schlagentweit

first

was put

to death, his

head was

suspended over a bridge, and then placed in a tree

under which he happened to grow melons, and that he

buried
it

in his field.

The Mirza dug up the ground,

which was then covered with snow at the spot indicated,

and found a

skull.

The Mirza

is

confident that

it

is

really the skull

of the murdered

man

but I

am

not

very sanguine in the matter, and shall not be certain as

to its genuineness
till

I have submitted

it

to a

com-

petent judge.

The bookf

contains 131 pages of closely

written notes in the

German

language, and

is

Mr. Schla-

gentweit's journal from the 14th of

June

to the 11th of

August, the day he started from Kargalik, a village

fourteen miles on the
5.

Ladak
the

side of

Yarkund.
of his

With regard

to

manner

death, the

Mirza's account agrees in every material point with that

given by Kashmiri Abdulla, and published in Messrs.

H. and

Schlagentweit's printed Circular.

On

arriving near the city of

Yarkund, Mr. Schlagen-

* The Bhoj Patta or Birch bark

snuflf-dealers.

is

generally used

by

retail

t I

shall despatch this

book by Overland Mail to care of

Messrs. H. and E. Schlagentweit's agents in London.

Appendix.
weit found
it

353

closely besieged

by a robber chief or
Dilla

crescentader of

Kokand named

Khan.

By

this

man

Mr. Schlagentweit was made a prisoner.

Almost

immediately after Dilla

Chinese to
fall

Khan was

compelled by the
Chinese town,

back on Kashgar,

also a

but which had been occupied by another " crescentader"

of

Kokand named Khoja

Vulli

Khan, Mr. Schlagent-

weit continued a prisoner in the hands of Dilla Khan,

and was brought

to Kashgar.

On

reaching a spot not

more than two hundred yards from the tents of the

Khoja Vulli Khan, one

went
to inquire of

of Mr.

Schlagentweit's guard
to
is

him what was

be done with the

described to be a

" Feringhee.''

The Khoja, who

man
tion.

of infamous character, at once ordered his execu-

The persons entrusted with

this

work endea-

voured to bind Mr. Schlagentweit's arms, but this indignity he successfully resisted.

A blow

was then struck

ear.

with a sword, which took effect under his right

Another was aimed at the

left side

of his head, but

neither proving fatal his throat was cut with a knife

which one of the

executioners drew from his side.

The head was then

up over a
bridge.

severed from the body and

hung

The Khoja was soon

the Chinese, and
is

after driven out of

Kashgar by
miserable

now wandering about a

drunkard without a single follower.

A A

854
6.

Appendix.
With
reference to the above narrative, I think
it

it

right to mention that

does differ in one or two points

from the account given by intelligent persons at the

time residing in Yarkund.

There the story

friends
his

is

that

Mr. Schlagentweit

made
to

with

Khoja Dilla
against

Khan, and

offered

direct

operations

Yarkund, that he was forced

to fly with the defeated

Khoja, and that he was put to death by Khoja Yulli

Khan

for sitting before

him

in a disrespectful attitude.*

My

informant,

the Mirza,

however, states
the

that

Mr.

Schlagentweit was
Yulli

never in

presence of Khoja
to
his

Khan, while with regard

directing the

operations against

Yarkund

it

is

possible that

he

may
till

have offered to

assist Dilla

Khan, but

certainly not

he was taken prisoner and saw that

danger.
7.

his life w^as in

With

respect to the chances of recovering

any

other articles, the property of Mr. Schlagentweit, I

of opinion that
little

am

or no

hope can reasonably be

entertained of any further success.

The Mirza informs

his search

me

that he left no

stone unturned in

at

Kashgar, but never succeeded in obtaining the trace even of anything besides the book
the less to be regretted,
if it
;

and

this

is,

however,

should prove true that

* That

is,

with the soles of his feet turned towards the Khoja.

Appendix.
Mr. Schlagentweit* sent
all his

355
up
to the 14th

journals

June
8.

to

Kangra.

In conclusion, I have only to express a

warm hope

that Mirza

Abdul

Wudud

will not

be

left

unrewarded.

To

his exertions

we owe the

rescue from destruction

of a valuable manuscript, rendered doubly valuable by

the tragic death of

enterprising,

its writer,

one of the boldest, most

travellers

and accomplished

of

modern

times.

P.S.

avail myself of this opportunity to state with

reference to a repeated assertion to the contrary, which

appears in the printed reports relating to Mr. Schlagentweit's death, that I never to

my

knowledge saw

Mahomed Ameer, and

him
to

certainly never

recommended
he was a

Mr. A. Schlasfentweit.

I believe that

most useful and

faithful servant.

* Dr. Hurkishen states that he received a having sent two

printed circular.)

letter

from Mr. A.

Schlagentweit, dated the 14th June, 1857, in which he mentions

Dak

parcels for transmission to Kangra.

parcels never

(See

The

came

to hand, nor does

any inquiry appear to have been

This
is

made

respecting their fate.

late.

unfortunate

even now

it is

not too

(Signed)

W. Hay.

t Besides defraying the Mirza's expenses from Leh to Cashmere, I have made him an allowance of a rupee a day from

my

private purse.

He

accompanies

me

to Simla.

A A 2

356

Appendix.

Letter No. 1961, dated 2\st September, 1861^

from

Secretary

to

Government, Punjab,

to

Lord W.

Hay, Deputy Commissioner of Simla.

I

am

directed to acknowledge your letter of the

1 4tli

instant,

and

to convey the thanks of the

Honourable

the Lieutenant-Governor for

your

exertions in pro-

curing the manuscript journal of the late Mr. A. Schlagentweit.

2.

His Honour authorizes a reward of 500 rupees

being given to the Mirza on his arriving at Simla,

addition to his expenses being paid from the time he

joined you at Leh, and sanctions the

to the

money advanced

Mirza being reimbursed to yourself.

bill for

You

are

requested to submit a

the whole amount for the

counter-signature of this
3.

office.

am

to

add that a copy of your

letter

and

this

reply will be forwarded to the

Supreme Government,

with a request that they will communicate the same to

the family of the late Mr. Schlagentweit at Berlin, and

with a suggestion that your letter

the Calcutta Gazette.

may be

published in

Appendix,

357

III.

The

"

Hindostan and
the

Thibet*'
''

Road, commonly called

New

Road:'

This

is

a noble, though unfinished work, and bears

powerful testimony to the vigour and prescience of the

Marquis of Dalhousie's Administration

to its vigour, as
skill,

being a striking proof of what engineering

un-

thwarted by a

false

economy, can

effect

to its pre-

science, as being a manifest sign of the great projects,

commercial

in connexion with China, entertained

by that

able Governor-General of India.

The present road was

actually

commenced by Colonel
officers, in

Kennedy, of the Royal army, aided by other

the year 1850, although before this two other attempts

to trace a road

had been made under

different auspices.
it

Both

these,

however, were eventually abandoned,

being evident that the line taken by them was not calculated to combine the two great desiderata of hill

roads

viz., (1)

the avoidance of steep inclines ; (2) the

avoidance of unnecessary detour, or the keeping as

nearly as practicable to the direct
line.

The

first

of

these requisites, indeed, they both succeeded in attaining

358

Appendix.
;

in a remarkable degree
to

but of the second they appear

have

lost
its

sight

altogether.
its

The

old

Hill

Road,

despite

narrowness, despite

rugged descents and

precipitous declivities, would have been preferred

traveller

by the

so preposterously long

were the weary wind-

ings of

its scientifically

laid-out rivals.
it

The New Road,

as

at present exists, reaches

hills,

from

Kalka, at the foot of the

to a

few miles beyond

Serahun, in the
miles.

hill state

of Bussahir, a distance of

I77i

From

this point to

Shipkee, on the western

frontier of

China

to which station the

road was origi;

nally intended to reach

is

a distance of 93 miles

one-

third, therefore, of the great

work remains uncompleted.

The ground has

been, however, surveyed, and the line

of road partly traced.

The events

of 1857, the great

mutiny year, put a stop

to further progress,

and since then Government has not

to

thought

fit

to grant the necessary funds requisite

cover the expense of future operations.

The road from Kalka

level,

to

Simla

is

in

many

parts quite

but in general

rises at

the slight incline of 1 foot

in 33,* save in one place near Dugshai,

where a ridge

* " The
fifths of

maximum

gradient observed was 1 foot in 30, at

which about

one-fifth of Ike distance

was

laid out

over three-

the distance a gradient of 1 foot in 33 was observed,

one-fifth

and the remaining

Report,

remained

level."

Vide Briggs

Appendix.
lias

359
is

to

be surmounted.

Here the ascent

feetj.

compara-

tively steep (9 feet in

100

This ridge Captain Briggs, successor of Kennedy, proposed to tunnel through, and actually commenced the

work

in January, 1855.

It

was continued

till

1858 by

him and

his successors, but,

owing

to

want of funds,

progress since that year has been stopped.

The

total length of the

Dugshai tunnel when com-

pleted will be 1950 feet.

On

the north, or Simla side, 700 feet of tunnelling

is

has already been completed, of which 240 feet

lined

with solid masonry.

On

the south side, a length of

leavino^

400

feet has

been excavated,

850

feet of tunnel

unfinished.

The

cost of this undertaking, as far as it

8s.

has gone, has been 1627^.

this tunnel,

The

distance saved by

when completed,

will

be two miles, two fur-

longs,

and one hundred

is

yards.

There

also another tunnel

on the Upper Road a

is

few miles north of Simla.

This

560

feet in length,

and

is

cut throua;li solid rock.

There are branch roads to the military stations of

Kussowlie,

Subathao, and Dugshai, and at intervals

along the road are commodious staging bungalows, or

houses of
rest, for

the accommodation of travellers.

The

distance from
is

Kalka

to
;

Simla by the Hindostan

and Thibet road

54^ miles

add

to this the

branches

360
to Kussowlie,

Appendix.
Subatlioa, and Dugshai,

and the

total

amount

of fair carriage road, from 14 to 16 feet broad,

with substantial parapets where the precipices are very

abrupt,
is

72

miles.

This was effected at a total cost of

about 32,500Z., including the expenses attendant on the

erection of the staging bungalows.

After leaving Simla, the road ceases to be available

for carriages,

and dwindles

to a breadth of 6 feet

it

is,

however,

much more
and

level,

and

for ponies

and other
on foot or

beasts of burden,

for travellers, either

horseback,

is

a most

safe,

as well as pleasant,

means

of

communication with the

interior.
is

From Simla

to

seven miles beyond Serahun

of this

distance of 123 miles;

perfectly level.
It

at least two-thirds is
cost of about

was constructed at a

25,000^., including twelve

good staging bungalows.

To

give an adequate idea of the difficulties attendant

this description, it is necessary to

on a work of
to

attempt

convey a notion of the shape of the ground over

level road has to

which a nearly

be constructed. system of waterrocky,

The Himalayas

consist of a vast

courses, or river-beds,

now narrow and

and again

spreading out into small valleys, divided by spurs or

ridges of
hills,

more

or less broken or precipitous,

line of the

whose
rills

summits form the watershed

which spring from their

numberless

sides,

and whose drainage feeds

Appendix,
them.
spurs,

361

These small spurs are offshoots again from larger

which
still,

in their turn

stretch out

from mightier

ridges

from the giant

ribs of the

snow-clad back-

bone, which they help to prop up.

It
is

manifest, therefore, that in laying out a tolerably

level road across this interminable succession of hill

and

valley,

the idea of going straight must be abandoned,

unless the employers of the engineer are prepared to

meet the

cost of a road consisting, with but

few excep-

tional intervals,

of

tunoel and viaduct,

viaduct

and

tunnel.

And

for the

same reason

it

becomes evident

that one of the large ribs of mountain before mentioned

must be selected as the base of

operations.

This was the plan adopted by Colonel Kennedy, and

a ridge suitable to his purpose was discovered, which
stretched out from the western extremity of the outer

chain of the Himalayas, forming the watershed of the

rivers Sutlej

and Pubur, and reaching

to the plains in

the vicinity of Kalka.

Along

this ridge the road

winds

until the ridge itself ceases to preserve its identity

amid
loses

the stupendous labyrinth of lofty peaks in which

itself;

it

and

at this point
at

it

was found necessary to cross

the Sutlej
valley of

Wangtoo, and take advantage of the

as the line for further operations.

Kunawur

So much

for the theory of hill

road-making.

It

need
is

hardly be added that to put this theory in practice

no

362

Appendix,
tries to

easy task, but one which

the utmost not only

the professional

skill,

but

the physical strength and

to his scientific

courage of the engineer,

attainments the firm
of the

who must add

foot, cool

head, and muscular power

mountaineer

the

mighty ridge along whose

rugged sides he must lay out his road has not the complaisance to

mount up gradually
it

to the parent chain

from which
grassy slope

springs at an easy incline and with a

it,

on the contrary, puts every possible

of the mathematical line

obstacle in the
trace

way

he must

it

is

for ever

changing

its

character, turning off

to the right

and

left

without apparent cause, and preits

sents a different elevation at every one of

windings.
stratified

It

is

now

of friable sandstone,
it

and again of

rock

now
it is

opposes masses of gneiss,

now

walls of

granite,

and again beds of

argillaceous slate to his pro-

gress

as capricious as a

woman and

as stubborn as

a mule

There are two ways of overcoming these obstacles

by excavation and
avoiding them.
necessarily

blasting, or

by simply going round or

of operation being
latter is

The former mode

the

much

most expensive, the

it

almost invariably adopted, except when

happens

to

involve too great a deviation from the general direct-

ness of the line

and the consequence

is,

that the new,

scientifically-planned

Machiavelian line of level road

Appendix.
from Kalka
steep,
to

3G3

Simla

is

eleven miles longer than the old

up-hill

and

down- dale,

simple-minded,

cross-

country

mode

of communication.

A similar
old road
is is

difference in length

between the new and

;

observable beyond Simla

the disparity of

distance

not, however, quite so great,

being only about

twenty miles in the whole distance of 128.

The Hindostan and Thibet road

and
is

is

in excellent order,
trifling cost.

kept in thorough repair at a most

The expenses attendant on keeping the

carriage-road in
last five

a state of great efficiency have been for the

years only
51.

per mile per annum, including the neces;

sary repairs to the numerous bridges and viaducts

and

the annual repairs to the road north of Simla have

been carried out at a cost of only

21.

per mile

per

annum.
I

am

indebted for the above facts to the kindness of

for

Captain Houchen, who has

some years past held

the responsible appointment of Superintendent of Hill

Roads.

The New

E-oad, in

common
friends

with

all
its

other projects,

great or small, has

its

and

enemies, and
it is

is

advocated by the one party as strongly as

condemned

by the

other. in

The arguments pro and con may be summed up

a few words.

364
If your object
for
far
is

Appendix.
to effect a

communication with China

commercial purposes, say the opposition,

north
?

why go

so

Why
?

not

make Darjeehng
is

or Mussouri

your

starting-point

Darjeeling

nearly equidistant from

Calcutta,

the

metropolis of Bengal, and Lhassa,

the

metropolis of Chinese

Tartary

and the

line

which

would connect these two capital

cities in

the most direct

is

manner
tainly

is

surely the one to choose.

Mussouri

cer-

more out of the way, and

possesses in a

minor

degree the advantages of position which

offers
;

Darjeeling

but a line via Mussouri, over the pass, would

cities of

connect Delhi, one of the richest

the plains,

with China, and

is

clearly preferable
its

to

one farther

north, w^hich, after winding

weary length across the

mountain barrier of the Himalayas, debouches at a point

on the borders of China, hundreds of miles away from
the capital, Lhassa
steppe.

wild, scantily-peopled

waste of

The advocates

of the line

via Simla admit to a

is

certain extent the truth of these objections; that

say,

to

they admit the simple geographical

;

facts,

but they

deny the conclusions drawn from them

they deny that

a more direct communication with Lhassa would prove

of advantage to trade.

The

staples

of our
;

commerce with Chinese Tartary

articles

are wool and borax

and these

come, not from

districts

the vicinity of the capital, Lhassa,

but from

Appendix.
hundreds of miles away
to

3G5

the north-west, from the

wool-producing countries of Gartok and Rudok, and

the salt lakes of

Ladak

from the

wild, scantily-peopled

waste of steppe, in

fact,

which a road debouching at

Shipkee would connect with Hindostan, not with Bengal

Proper only, as would be the case with a line of road
via Darjeeling, but with the populous provinces and

busy

cities

of the
of the

north-west

with

Umritsur,

the

Manchester

Punjab

with

Bombay, via the

Indus and Kurrachee

and with England, via Bombay.

arguments in favour of the Kalka

And when
and Shipkee

to these
route, is

added the

fact,

that of

its

total

length of 270 miles the whole has been surveyed, and

177 miles of good road actually constructed, and that

roads vid Mussouri and Darjeeling have not been even

commenced,*
admit that

its

most strenuous opposers must at

least

it is

worth while to continue the road to

Shipkee, and so to test by actual experience the truth

or fallacy of the views of
uselessness of the scheme.
A. reference to the
its

supporters

the

utility or

map

will

show that the wool

of

* The elevation of the mountain ridges over which a road via Mussouri or Darjeeling would have to cross, is so great
that
it is

to be doubted whether such a line could ever be It

made
a few

available for traflSc.

would probably be only open

for

days in the year, whereas the Simla road never would reach a
greater height than 14,000 feet, and would be open for four

months certain every year.

Author.

366

Appendix,
to

Rudok and Gartok can be brought

Shipkee without

entering the territories of the Rajah of

Kashmir

this

fact alone is sufficient to insure its reaching Shipkee,

even

if

greater obstacles to

its

transit existed

for in-

demnity from the enormous way-dues exacted by the

Kashmir government would amply compensate

drawback of a
than
slightly longer

for the

journey

indeed,
of the

it is

more

probable that a large

find its

portion

wool of

Yarkund would

way

to Shipkee.

The establishment

of large fairs along the line of the

New Road
would

would greatly encourage trade

thither

flock in crowds the shawl-merchants of Noorpoor,

Loodiana, and Umritsur, for then they could purchase

in larger quantities

and at a much smaller outlay than

''

at present, that precious

pushm" which now

reaches

them

in a scanty stream,

and with a value doubled by

its

the imposts consequent on

enforced transit through

capital of Bussahir,

Ladak.

The

fair at

Rampoor, the

situate close to

the line of the Hindostan and Thibet

road,

is

even now a busy scene, despite the obstacles of

rivers;

mountain passes and unbridged

the conclusion

and from

this

may

be safely drawn that the attendance

at fairs established at different points along a level road

in the

same vicinity would be augmented proportionably

as the facilities of communication were increased.

is

Nor

this

somewhat sanguine view of things Utopian

it

Appendix.
is

367

simply the natural result of a good road, as has been

all

proved by experience

over the world.

far

happier state of things as

as

regards our
is

political position with

reference to China,

of course

essential to the

success of the Hindostan

;

and Thibet
restrictions
;

road in a commercial point of view

laid

and the

on
it

traffic
is

with us by that power must be removed

but

not until

we have opened out a

practicable

means
shall

of

communication across the Himalayas that we

be in a position to demand a concession which,

without such means of communication, would be comparatively useless.

At

present

it

would seem that we have sown and

others have reaped

we

have sown with a lavish hand

the seeds of blood and treasure, and the Russians have

gathered into their garners the ripe harvest of amicable

intercourse and' peaceful interchange of

commerce which

we have

failed to realize

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