Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet
by
by William Henry Knight
Part 1 out of 5
This Etext Created by Jeroen Hellingman
Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet.
Captain Knight
To those for whose perusal the following pages were originally written
they are affectionately dedicated.
Preface.
With the fullest sense of the responsibility incurred by the addition
of another volume to the countless numbers already existing, and daily
appearing in the world, the following Diary has been committed to the
press, trusting that, as it was not written WITH INTENT to publication,
the unpremeditated nature of the offence may be its extenuation, and
that as a faithful picture of travel in regions where excursion trains
are still unknown, and Travellers' Guides unpublished, the book may
not be found altogether devoid of interest or amusement. Its object
is simply to bring before the reader's imagination those scenes and
incidents of travel which have already been a source of enjoyment to
the writer, and to impart, perhaps, by their description, some portion
of the gratification which has been derived from their reality. With
this view, the original Diary has undergone as little alteration of
form or matter as possible, and is laid before the reader as it was
sketched and written during the leisure moments of a wandering life,
hoping that faithfulness of detail may atone in it for faults and
failings in a literary and artistic point of view.
Although the journey it describes was written without the advantages
of a previous acquaintance with the writings of those who had already
gone over the same ground, subsequent research has added much to the
interest of the narrative, and information thus obtained has been
added either in the form of Notes or Appendix. Under the latter head,
acknowledgment is principally due to an able and interesting essay
on the architecture of Cashmere, by Capt. Cunningham, and also to a
paper by M. Klaproth, both of whom appear to have treated more fully
than any other writers the subjects to which they refer.
As differences will be found to occur in the names of places,
&c. between the parts thus added and the remainder of the book,
it may be well to explain that in the former only are they spelt
according to the usually received method of rendering words of Eastern
origin in the Roman character. By this system the letters A, E, I,
O, and U, are given the sounds of the corresponding Italian vowels;
I and U are pronounced as in "hit" and "put;" and the letter A is
made to represent the short U in the word "cut." In this way it is
that Cashmere, correctly pronounced Cushmere, comes to be written
Kashmir, and Mutun, pronounced as the English word "mutton,"[1] is
written Matan, both of which, to the initiated, represent the true
sound of the words. Those who have adopted the system, however, have
not always employed it throughout, nor given with it the key by which
it alone becomes intelligible; and the result has been that in many
ways, but principally from the un-English use made of the letter A,
it has tended quite as much to mislead and confuse, as to direct.
In the narrative, therefore, wherever custom has not already
established a particular form of spelling, the explanation of the
sound has been attempted in the manner which seemed least liable to
misconception, and, except as regards the letters A and U no particular
system has been followed. These have been invariably given the sounds
they possess in the words "path" and "cut" respectively, a circumflex
being placed over the latter to denote the short U in the word "put."
Such names, therefore, as Cushmere, Tibbut, Muhummud, Hijra, &c. have
been left as custom has ruled them, and will appear in their more
well-known costume of Cashmere, Thibet, Mahomet, and Hegira.
The concluding sketch was originally intended to accompany a series
of brightly-coloured Cashmerian designs illustrative of the life of
"Krishna;" and the reproduction of these, in their integrity, not
having been found feasible, the sketch itself may appear DE TROP.
It has, however, been retained on the possibility of the translations
which occur in it being of interest to those who may not be acquainted
with the style of Eastern religious literature; while the outline it
presents of some of the religions of the East, bare and simple as
it is, may be acceptable to such as are not inclined to search out
and study for themselves the necessarily voluminous and complicated
details.
London.
Contents.
Illustrations.
Ladak
View in Sirinugger
Solomon's Throne
Hurree Purbut
Martund
Pandreton
Lamieroo
Road to Egnemo
Rajah's Palace, Ladak
Monastery of Hemis
Seventh Bridge, Sirinugger
Hindoo Temple in the Himalayas
Gunesh
Birth of Krishna
Temple Decoration, Himalayas
Ancient Jain Temple
Chubootra, or Resting-place in the Himalayas
The Head of Affairs
An Unpropitious Moment
Kismut
Crossing the Sutlej
A Halting-place in Cashmere
Latticed Window, Sirinugger
Sacred Tank, Islamabad
Painting VERSUS Poetry
Love-lighted Eyes
Vernagh
Cashmerian Temple Sculpture
Patrun
Roadside Monument, Thibet
Road to Moulwee
Rock Sculpture
Thibetian Monument
Natives and Lama
Thibetian Religious Literature
Inscribed Stones
Inscribed Stones
Monument at Hemis
Painted Stone
Buddha
Snow Bridge
Kangree
Ancient Hindoo Temple
Fukeer of Solomon's Throne
Erratum.
Page 116, line 5, FOR A.D. 1612, READ A.D. 1619.
"Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere,
With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave,
Its temples, and grottoes, and fountains as clear
As the love-lighted eyes that hang over their wave?"
Introduction.
More than a year and a half had been spent in the hottest parts of the
plains of India, and another dreaded hot season was rapidly making its
approach, when, together with a brother officer, I applied for and
obtained six months' leave of absence for the purpose of travelling
in Cashmere and the Himalayas, otherwise called by Anglo-Indians
"The Hills."
We had been long enough in the country to have discovered that the
gorgeous East of our imagination, as shadowed forth in the delectable
pages of the "Arabian Nights," had little or no connexion with the
East of our experience -- the dry and dusty East called India, as it
appeared, wasted and dilapidated, in its first convalescence from the
fever into which it had been thrown by the Mutiny of 1857 -- 58. We
were not long, therefore, in making our arrangements for escaping from
Allahabad, with the prospect before us of exchanging the discomforts
of another hot season in the plains, for the pleasures of a sojourn in
the far-famed valley of Cashmere, and a tramp through the mountains of
the Himalayas -- the mountains, whose very name breathes of comfort and
consolation to the parched up dweller in the plains. The mountains of
"the abode of snow!"
Our expeditionary force consisted at starting of but one besides the
brother officer above alluded to -- the F. of the following pages
-- and myself. This was my Hindoo bearer, Mr. Rajoo, whose duty
it was to make all the necessary arrangements for our transport
and general welfare, and upon whose shoulders devolved the entire
management of our affairs. He acted to the expedition in the capacity
of quartermaster-general, adjutant-general, commissary-general,
and paymaster to the forces; and, as he will figure largely in the
following pages, under the title of the "Q.M.G.," and comes, moreover,
under the head of "a naturally dark subject," a few words devoted to
his especial description and illumination may not be out of place.
With the highest admiration for England, and a respect for the
Englishman, which extended to the very lining of their pockets,
Mr. Rajoo possessed, together with many of the faults of his race,
a certain humour, and an amount of energy most unusual among the
family of the mild Hindoo. He had, moreover, travelled much with
various masters, in what are, in his own country, deemed "far lands;"
and having been wounded before Delhi, he had become among the rest of
his people an authority, and to the Englishman in India an invaluable
medium for their coercion and general management.
To us he proved a most efficient incumbent of the several offices
we selected him to fill. His administration no doubt did display an
occasional weakness; and his conduct as paymaster to the forces was
decidedly open to animadversion; for, in this capacity, he seemed to
be under the impression that payments, like charity, began at home,
and he also laboured under a constitutional and hereditary infirmity,
which prevented him in small matters from discerning any difference
between MEUM and TUUM.
Having been employed collectively, however, it would be unfair to judge
of his performances in detail; and from his satisfactory management
of the expedition, occasionally under such trying circumstances as a
break-down in the land transport, or an utter failure in his tobacco
supply, we had every reason to be satisfied with our choice. The
latter misfortune was the only one which really interfered at any time
with his efficiency, or upset his equanimity, and it unfortunately
occurred always at the most inopportune seasons, and at a time when
he was undergoing his greatest hardships.
As long as the supply lasted, the mysterious gurglings of his "Hubble
Bubble," or cocoa-nut water-pipe, might be heard at almost any hour of
the day or night. "Hubble bubble, toil and trouble," was the natural
order of his existence; and when in some peculiarly uncivilised region
of our wanderings, the compound of dirt, sugar, and tobacco, in which
his soul delighted, was not forthcoming, he and his pipe seemed at
once to lose their vitality, and to become useless together. The
temporary separation which ensued, being in its way a MENSA ET THORO,
was a source of trouble and inconvenience to all concerned, and we had,
more than once, cause to regret not having given the tobacco question
that forethought and consideration to which it would be well entitled
by any one undertaking a similar expedition.
Overlooking these weaknesses, Mr. Rajoo's character was beyond
reproach, and for the particular work he had to perform, his
combination of efficiency, portability, and rascality, rendered him
in every respect "the right man in the right place."
Such was our "head of affairs," and such the small force he had at
first to provide for. As we passed out of India, and got further from
regions of comparative civilisation, his cares increased: cellar,
kitchen, larder, farm-yard, tents, &c. had then to accompany our
wandering steps, and the expedition gradually increased in size,
until it attained its maximum of nearly forty. From this it again as
gradually decreased, and as one by one our retainers disappeared, it
dwindled in dimensions until it finally reached its original limited
proportions, and then "we three met again," once more upon the plains
of India.
All our necessary preparations having been completed, and a sacrifice
of three precious weeks having been duly offered to the inexorable
genius who presides over public correspondence, we reduced our
impedimenta to the smallest possible compass, and with about a
hundred pounds to commence life with, all in two shilling pieces,
that being the only available coin of the realm in this our second
century of British administration, we took our departure by railway for
Cawnpore. Here we found ourselves located and hospitably entertained in
the house in which our unfortunate fellow-countrywomen were confined
on their recapture from the river by the Nana Sahib, one of the few
mementos of the mutiny still left standing at Cawnpore.
Next day we laid our dak for Simla, and about six o'clock in
the evening, with the Q.M.G. on the roof, and ourselves and our
possessions stowed away in the innumerable holes and corners of
the rude wooden construction called a "Dak garee," or post coach,
we took our departure. After a few mishaps with our steed, involving
the necessity of getting out to shove behind, we entered upon the
Grand Trunk Road, and with a refreshing sense of freedom and relief,
soon left Cawnpore in all its native dust and dreariness behind us.
The Pleasures of the Plains.
MAY 21, 1860. -- Being fairly under weigh, our first attention was
directed towards the machine which was to be, in a great measure, our
home for many days to come. Not overburdened with springs, and not much
to look at, though decidedly an extraordinary one to go, our conveyance
was by no means uncomfortable; and, stretched upon a mattress extending
its entire length, F. and I chatted over our plans and projects, and
star-gazed, and soon fell asleep, in spite of the ruts on the road
and the wild discordant bugling of our ragged coachman, who seemed
to consider that, however inferior in other respects, in a matter
of music we were not to be outdone, not even by Her Majesty's own
royal mail. At first sight, the necessity of trying to clear such
lonely roads as we were travelling was not altogether apparent;
but a slight acquaintance with the general principles and laws of
progression of the national Indian institution called a bullock-cart,
or "beil-garee," soon clears up the difficulty. Built entirely of wood,
and held together by scraps of ropes and cord, a more hopeless-looking
machine cannot exist; and drivers and bullocks alike share in the
general woodenness and impassibility of the structure. The animals,
too, having probably lost all the better feelings of their nature
in such a service, are appealed to entirely through the medium of
their tails, and the operation occasionally results in the whole
creaking mass being safely deposited in some capacious rut, there to
remain until "the Fates" -- assuming, perhaps, the appearance of three
additional bullocks -- arrive to draw it out again. Occasionally, too,
the institution comes to a halt for the night, comfortably drawn up
in the centre of the line of traffic, with a delightful disregard
for aught but the present, and an air of supreme contempt for the
most eloquent music of all the ragged coachmen on the Grand Trunk Road.
Every five miles we stopped to change our horse, and miserable
indeed was the raw-boned little animal that made his appearance on
every occasion. Still the pace was kept up in spite of appearances,
and at seven A.M. we reached "Ghoorsahagunge" -- more generally known
as GOOSEYGUNGE -- sixty miles from Cawnpore, and 197 from Delhi.
Here we slept in peace until eleven o'clock, and awoke from dreams
of Cashmere to the unpleasant realities of a violent dust-storm. The
usual "Khus-khus tatties," or screens of fragrant grass, which are
kept in a continual state of moisture at door and window, and convert
the dust-charged scorching blast into a comparative coolness, were
not forthcoming, and our halt was not a pleasant one by any means:
still our faces were towards the mountains, and the pleasures of hope
enabled us to take our misfortunes with entire philosophy. We started
again about five P.M., when the power of the sun was somewhat abated,
and encountered the usual difficulties with refractory horses at every
change. A start was in no case effected without much management and
exertion. A half-naked black generally attaches himself to each wheel;
the driver, from a post of vantage, belabours the miserable horse with
all his might and main; the Q.M.G. takes a firm hold of the rails on
the roof; and all shouting, grunting, and using bad language together,
away we go at full gallop, if we are in unusual luck, for about 300
yards. Then comes a dead stop: the same operation commences again,
and so on, until the animal is sufficiently far from his last stable
to be able to look forward with some confidence to the one ahead,
and resigns himself to circumstances accordingly. One peculiarity in
this peculiar country we found to be, that in putting our steed-to,
the English custom is reversed. The cart is "put-to," not the horse;
and the latter being left standing anywhere on the road, the lumbering
"garee" is dragged up to his tail, and fastened up with a combination
of straps and ropes, marvellous to behold.
MAY 23. -- To-day we arrived at "Etawah," where we found a very
comfortable little staging bungalow, but no supplies of either beer
or butter procurable. On the road in the early morning there were
herds of deer and antelope in sight, but time being precious we left
them unmolested.
As yet very little change makes its appearance in the character of
the country. Level plains, with patches of trees, mango and palm,
as far as the eye can reach, and everywhere dust, dust, dust! The
palm-trees, however, with toddy parties scattered about among them,
serve to make the scene look cheerful, and, for an eastern one,
comparatively lively. In the evening we again took the road, with a hot
wind blowing strongly and steadily, and before long we were overtaken
by a dust-storm, which completely enveloped us in its murky folds,
and interfered with our happiness a good deal. Got through the night
much as usual, with the addition of a midnight vocal entertainment,
which some hundreds of wolves and jackals treated us to, while the
"authorities" were looking to our welfare, by taking off and greasing
our wheels. Of travellers we meet but few, generally bullock-train
parties, with soldiers, &c., return daks, and an occasional old
Mussulman, or other native, taking advantage of the early morning
for his journey, and wrapped and swaddled up as if afraid of being
congealed by the coolness of the morning air.
Every day's journey leaves one more and more at a loss to discover the
sources of the wealth of this enormous country. The soil, for miles
and miles a dead flat, is now barren as a desert, and we meet hardly
a sign of active traffic. During the night we certainly did encounter
a long train of heavily-laden bullock-waggons; but the merchandize
was gunpowder, and its destination was up, instead of down the road.
MAY 24. -- Arrived at "Kurga," where we found neither bread nor butter
forthcoming -- nothing but -- "plenty fowl, Sahib!" In the evening
we again encountered a heavy dust-storm, the worst of the season;
the whole night it continued to blow in our teeth; and between
the fierce dryness of the wind and the searching particles of dust,
which visited us without ceremony, we spent anything but an agreeable
night. At three A.M. we reached the "Hingus Nuddee," or river; and
changing our solitary horse for two fat bullocks, we crossed its
sandy bed, and over a bridge of boats -- not so genteelly, perhaps,
but much more securely, than we could have otherwise done. There were
the remains here of a handsome suspension bridge; but the chains had
been cut by the rebel Sepoys, and nothing but the pillars now remained.
MAY 25. -- At four A.M. we crossed the bridge of boats over the Jumna,
and found ourselves under the gloomy battlements of the Fort of Delhi.
Entering by the Calcutta Gate, we drove through large suburbs, lighted
up with rows of oil lamps, reminding one, in the dim light, a good
deal of Cairo. Arriving at the dak bungalow, we found it such a dirty
looking deserted building, and the interior so much of a piece with
the exterior, that we mounted again, and set off to try the Hotel, or
"Pahunch Ghur," -- a name originally intended to convey the meaning
"An arriving house," but neatly and appropriately corrupted into the
term "Punch Gur," which speaks for itself, and troubles no one much
about its derivation. We were rather disappointed with the general
appearance of the city: dirt and grandeur were closely combined,
and the combination gave the usual impression of shabby genteelness
in general, not at first sight prepossessing. After driving through
what might have been an Eastern Sebastopol, from the amount of ruin
about, we reached a cut-throat-looking archway; and the coachman, here
pointing to a dirty board, above his head, triumphantly announced the
"Punch Gur!" Hot and thirsty, we got out, with visions of rest and
cooling sherbets, too soon to be dispelled. Passing through long dirty
halls, and up unsavoury steps, we at last reached a sort of court,
with beds of sickly flowers, never known to bloom, and from thence
issued to a suite of musty hot Moorish-looking rooms, with gold-inlaid
dust-covered tables, and a heavily-draped four-post bedstead, the
very sight of which, in such a climate, was almost enough to deprive
one of sleep for ever. Our speech forsook us, and without waiting to
remark whether the lady of the house was an ogress, or possessed of a
"rose-coloured body" and face like the full moon, we fairly turned
tail, and drove in all haste to our despised dak bungalow, where,
meekly and with softened feelings towards that edifice, we were
glad to deposit ourselves on a couple of charpoys, or "four-legs,"
as the bedstead of India is called, and endeavour to sleep the best
way we could. "Delhi," we found, quite kept up its reputation of being
the hottest place in India. All idea of sight-seeing was out of the
question, and the whole of our energies we were obliged to expend in
endeavouring to keep moderately cool.
After enjoying the two first of blessings in a hot climate -- viz. a
plentiful supply of cold water and a change of raiment, we felt
ourselves able to undergo the exertion of meeting the traditional
grilled fowl at breakfast, and of inspecting the curiosities from the
bazaars. At the first wish on the latter subject, we were invaded by
a crowd of bundle-carrying, yellow-turbaned, rascally merchants, who,
in half a minute, had the whole of their goods on the floor -- rings,
brooches, ivory ornaments, and inutilities of all sorts and kinds,
all of them exorbitantly dear, and none of any real value.
We left Delhi again at about six P.M., after loitering about the
city for a short time, among the teeming bazaars, some parts of
which were picturesque and "Eastern" enough. Outside the city walls,
the country was ruined and dilapidated in the extreme; demolished
houses and wasted gardens telling their tale of the loss of Delhi,
and our struggle for its recapture.
MAY 26. -- During the night, we got over seventy-three miles, and
reached "Kurnaul" at seven A.M. The bungalow we found unusually
comfortable, being a remnant of the old regime, and one of the few
which escaped from the hands of the rebels during the mutiny.
The country here begins to improve in appearance -- more trees and
cultivation on all sides; and the natives appear finer specimens
than their more southern relations. The irrigation, too, seems to be
carried on with more systematic appliances than further south -- the
water being raised by the Persian wheel, and bullock-power introduced
in aid of manual labour.
MAY 27. -- Arrived at Umballa at three A.M., and found the staging
bungalow full. The only available accommodation being a spare
charpoy in the verandah, F. took a lease of it, while I revelled in
the unaccustomed roominess of the entire carriage, and slept till
six, when we got into our lodgings. Although so near the foot of
the Himalayas, the weather was so oppressive here that exploring
was out of the question; and at six P.M., changing our carriage for
palankeens, or dolies, we commenced a tedious and dusty journey to
the village of "Kalka," the veritable "foot of the hills," where we
were met by a string of deputies from the different "DRY-LODGINGS" in
the neighbourhood, soliciting custom. The first house we came to was
guarded by an unmistakeable English hotel-keeper, of some eighteen
stone; and so terrible was the appearance she presented, with her
arms akimbo, rejoicing in her mountain air, that in our down-country
and dilapidated condition, we felt quite unequal to the exertion of
stepping into HER little parlour; and passing her establishment --
something in the small bathingplace-style of architecture -- we went
on to the next, very much of the same order, and called the "Brahminee
Bull." Here, to my dismay however, standing in the selfsame position,
weighing the same number of stone, and equally confident in the
purity of her air as her neighbour, stood another female "Briton,"
with the come-into-my-parlour expression of countenance, regarding us
as prey. Under the circumstances, exhausted nature gave in; though
saved from Scylla, our destiny was Charybdis, and we accordingly
surrendered ourselves to a wash, breakfast, and the Brahminee
Bull. During the day, we had a visit from a friend and ex-brother
officer, whom we had promised to stay with, at "Kussowlie," on our
road up. Kalka was not HOT, but GRILLING, so that a speedy ascent to
the station was soon agreed upon. Not caring to risk a sun-stroke,
I resigned myself to the traditional conveyance of the country, a
"jhampan," while the other two rode up; but here, for the second
time, it was "out of the fryingpan into the fire." Such an infernal
machine as my new conveyance turned out never could have existed in
the palmiest days of the Inquisition. It was a sort of child's cradle,
long enough for a creature of some five or six summers, made like a
tray, and hung after the fashion of a miniature four-post bedstead,
with goat's-hair curtains. The structure is suspended, something in the
fashion of a sedan-chair which has been stunted in its growth, between
two poles; between the projections of these again, before and behind,
connected by a stout strap, are two shorter bars, each supported, when
in travelling order, on the shoulders of two bearers. When the machine
is in motion, therefore, there are four men in line between the shafts.
The pace is always rather fast, and down a declivity the torturers
go at a run; the result is, that prominent parts of one's body are
continually in collision with the seat or sides of the machine,
coming down from various altitudes, according to the nature of the
ground and the humour of the inquisitors. After getting over about
six miles in this graceful and pleasing manner, we reached the first
of the fir-trees, and as we rose still higher a delicious breeze came
over the hills, as precious to the parched and travel-stained pilgrim
from the plains as a drop of water to the thirstiest wanderer in the
desert. Kussowlie appeared a picturesque little station, perched at
the summit of one of the first of the hilly ranges, and here I found
my two companions, burnt and red in the face as if they, too, had had
their sufferings on the road, occupied in looking over the goods of a
strolling Cashmere merchant; luckily for themselves, however, it was
under the protecting superintendence of our hostess. Our friends were
living on a miniature estate commanding a magnificent view of the
mountain ranges on one side, and, on the, other, the plains of the
Punjab, the scorching country from which we had just made our escape
lying stretched out before us like an enormous map in relief. Towards
the mountains were the military stations of "Dugshai" and "Subathoo,"
and the boys' asylum of "Senore," the latter rather marring the face
of nature by the workhouse order of its architecture. "Simla" we could
just distinguish, nestled among the blue mountains in the far distance.
Here we spent a couple of days very pleasantly with our hospitable
entertainers, and satisfactorily pulled up all arrears of sleep --
a luxury none can really appreciate who have not travelled for six
days and nights in the different local conveniences I have mentioned.
Before leaving we had an opportunity of seeing how England in the
Himalayas makes its morning calls. Walking, which amounts almost to an
impossibility in "the plains," seems to be voted INFRA DIG. in "the
hills," and Mrs. Kussowlie according made her appearance seated in
state in a jhampan, and borne on the shoulders of four of her slaves.
These were active, wiry-looking natives, dressed in long green coats,
bound with broad, red, tight-fitting pantaloons, and with small turbans
of red and green on their heads. Altogether, a more startling-looking
apparition to the uninitiated than this Himalayan morning visitor
could hardly be imagined, even in a tour through the remotest regions
of the earth.
MAY 29. -- About six o'clock in the evening we remounted our
instruments of torture and took the road to Simla. For about seven
miles the path was down hill, and the bearers being fresh, they
huddled us along at a pace calculated to outrage our feelings most
considerably, and, at the same time, with no more consideration
for our welfare than if we were so many sacks of coal. In spite of
the sufferings of the principal performers, the procession was most
amusing; and as we jolted, bumped, and bundled along, it was impossible
to keep from laughing, although crying, perhaps, would, under the
circumstances, have been more appropriate. My machine led the way,
four of the inquisition being in the shafts, and four in waiting,
running along at the side with pipes, bundles, sticks, &c. Then came
F. similarly attended, and finally the Q.M.G., hubble bubble in hand,
and attired in a gold embroidered cap, surrounded by a lilac turban:
seated in a sort of tray, and reclining at his case in full enjoyment
of his high position, he looked the priest of the procession, and
managed to retain his dignity in spite of the rapid and unceremonious
way in which he was being whirled along. As the moon went down we had
the additional effect of torchlight to the scene, three bearers having
the special duty of running along to show the pathway to the rest. This
seemed a service of some danger, and our torch-bearers at times verged
upon places where a stumble would have apparently extinguished both
themselves and their torches for ever. About half way we stopped for
about an hour for the bearers to partake of a light entertainment of
"ghee and chupatties" -- otherwise, rancid butter and cakes of flour
and water. This was their only rest and only meal, from the time they
left Kussowlie at six P.M. until they reached Simla at eight A.M. The
same set of bearers took us the entire distance, about thirty-five
miles; and the four men who were not actually in the shafts used to
rest themselves by running, ahead and up precipitous short cuts, so as
to insure a few minutes' pull at the pipe of consolation before their
turn arrived again. To us, supposed to be the OTIUM CUM DIG. part of
the procession, the road seemed perfectly endless. No sooner were we
up one ascent than we were down again on the other side; and when we
thought Simla must be in sight round the next turn, it seemed suddenly
to become more hid than ever. In one of these ups and downs of life
my machine, during a heavy lurch, fairly gave way to its feelings,
and with a loud crash the pole broke, and down we both came, much to
my temporary satisfaction and relief. A supply of ropes and lashings,
however, formed part of the inquisitors' stores, and we were soon
under weigh again to fulfil the remainder of our destiny.
The entrance to Simla led us through a fine forest of oaks, firs,
cedars, and other large trees; and winding along through these we
could, every now and then, discern, towering over the backs of endless
ranges of blue and hazy mountains, ridge upon ridge of glittering snow,
which cast its icy breath upon us even where we were, helping us to
forget the horrors of the night, and giving us a renewal of our lease
of existence. Simla itself soon opened on our view, a scattered and
picturesque settlement of houses of the most varied patterns perched
about over the mountain top, just as an eligible spot presented
itself for building purposes. It is situated 8,000 feet above the
level of the sea and 7,000 over the average level of "the plains,"
Umballa, which is near the foot of the range, being 1,000 above the
sea-level. From our halting-place we could discern the scene of
our night's journey, with Kussowlie looking like a mere speck in
the distance, and we felt a proud sort of consciousness of having
accomplished a desperate undertaking in very good style. Passive
endurance was, under the circumstances quite as worthy of praise
as the more active virtues displayed by those who were the cause of
our sufferings. After the first good breakfast I had eaten for three
months, we pulled up arrears of sleep till four P.M. and found, on
awaking, that our much expected letters had arrived from the post,
and among them the necessary permission from the Punjab Government
to travel in Cashmere, and instructions for our guidance while in
the territory. From among the routes laid down in the latter we chose
No. 1.[2] The direct line across the mountains from Simla would have
entailed additional delay and permission, and as time was precious
we decided upon descending again to the plains and making our way
through Lahore, not, however, without a severe pang at leaving so
soon the terrestrial paradise of which we had got a glimpse. After
arranging our movements with the "authorities," we sallied out to see
fashionable Simla airing itself, which, as far as dress is concerned,
it appeared to do very much in the fashionable watering-place style at
home. The jhampans, palkies, dandies,[3] &c. which took up the entire
road, however, loudly proclaimed India, Simla being much too dainty
to touch the ground with its pretty feet, and too lazy to use its own
legs for purposes of out-door locomotion. The station seems a curious
combination of many styles and places; the scenery and houses, Swiss;
the people Anglo Indians, Affghans, Cashmeeries, &c.; the conveyances,
Inquisito-Spanish; and the bazaars, in their native dirt, pure Indian.
MAY 31. -- After making our leave secure, we made up our minds for a
plunge into the plains again and a forced march to Lahore, being rather
expedited in the determination by hearing that several travellers had
been recalled from leave in consequence of there being a scarcity of
officers with their regiments.
With a fine moonlight night in our favour we again took the road; and
practice slightly assuaging our sufferings, we got on smoothly enough
till within a few hours from Hureepore Bungalow, when my machine again
broke with a crash, and the nature of the fracture being compound,
I walked on and left the executioners to repair the instrument at
their leisure.
JUNE 1. -- Reached Hureepore at four A.M., and found the place in
possession of a crowd of monkeys of all sorts and sizes, taking an
early breakfast. Here, chicken and eggs being again written in our
destiny, we halted for an hour or two, and at eleven again took the
road with our cast-iron bearers, and hurried along in the noonday sun,
up hill and down dale, through Kussowlie, and on and on till we were
once more fairly deposited at the feet of "Mrs. Charybdis." A slight
dinner here, and at 8.30 P.M. we were again in train, shuffling along
through several feet of dust, which the bearers, and torch-carriers,
and the rest of our numerous train, kicked up about us, in clouds
nearly dense enough to cause suffocation.
JUNE 2. -- At 8.30 A.M. we arrived again at Umballa, and with
nothing to comfort us in our dusty and worried condition but the
reflection that our start from Simla was a magnificent triumph of
stern determination over present enjoyment and unwonted luxury, we
again resumed our forced march. At six P.M. we took our departure,
in a very magnificent coach, but in an "unpropitious moment," for the
horse was unusually averse to an advance of any sort, and when we did
get clear of the station his opinions were borne out by a terrific
storm of dust, with a thunder, lightning, and rain accompaniment,
which effectually put a stop to all further progress. The horse
for once had his wish, and was brought to a regular stand. The
wind howled about us, and the dusty atmosphere assumed a dull red
appearance, such as I had only once before seen at Cawnpore, and the
like of which might possibly have prevailed during the last days of
Pompeii. After getting through the worst of the storm, we pushed along,
and had reached the twentieth mile-stone, when, catching a flavour of
burning wood, I looked out and found the wheel at an angle of some 30
degrees, and rubbing against the side preparatory to taking its leave
altogether. Here was another effect of starting in an unpropitious
moment. The interruption in the great forced march preyed heavily upon
our minds, but, on the principle of doing as "Rome does," we took
a lesson from the religion of "Islam," and concurring in the views
expressed by our attendant blacks, viz. that "whatever is written in
a man's destiny that will be accomplished," we ejaculated "Kismut"
with the rest, and resignedly adapted ourselves to the writings in
our own particular page of fate. Having sent back to Umballa the news
of our distress, a new conveyance in a few hours made its appearance;
and hauling it alongside the wreck, we unshipped the stores, reloaded,
and eventually reached "Thikanmajura" at eight A.M.
JUNE 3. -- Starting at about three o'clock P.M., we found the
unpropitious moment still hanging over us: first a violent dust-storm,
and then a refractory horse, which bolted completely off the road,
and nearly upset us down a steep bank, proved to demonstration that
our star was still obscured.
About midnight we reached the river "Sutlej," and exchanged our horse
for four fat and humpy bullocks, who managed, with very great labour
and difficulty, to drag us through the heavy sands of the river-bed
down to the edge of the water. Here we were shipped on board a
flat-bottomed boat, with a high peaked bow; and, after an immensity
of hauling and grunting, we were fairly launched into the stream, and
poled across to the opposite shore. The water appeared quite shallow,
and the coolies were most of the time in the water; but its width,
including the sands forming its bed, could not have been less than two
miles and a half. It was altogether a wild and dreary-looking scene,
as we paddled along -- the wild ducks and jackals, &c. keeping up a
concert on their own account, and the patient old bullocks ruminating
quietly on their prospects at our feet.
On arriving at what appeared to be the opposite bank, we were taken
out, and again pulled and hauled through the deep sand, only to be
reshipped again on what seemed a respectable river in its own right;
and here, getting out of patience with a stream that had no opposite
bank, I fell asleep, and left the bullocks to their sorrows and
their destiny.
JUNE 4. -- Arrived at Jullundur, where we had to share the bungalow
with another traveller and a rising family, who kept us alive by
howling vigorously all day. The road from this being "Kucha," literally
UNCOOKED, but here meant to express "unmetalled," we had yet another
form of conveyance to make acquaintance with. It was a palkee, rudely
strapped upon the body of a worn-out "Dak garee;" and although a more
unpromising-looking locomotive perhaps never was placed upon wheels,
the actual reality proved even worse than the appearance foreboded.
Anybody who has happened to have been run away with in a dust-cart
through Fenchurch Street, or some other London pavement, the gas pipes
being up at the time, might form some idea of our sensations as we
pounded along, at full gallop, over some thirty miles of uneven,
UNCOOKED road; but to anybody who has not had this advantage,
description would be impossible. About half way, it appeared that
it was written in my miserable destiny that the off fore-wheel of my
shay was to come off, and off it came accordingly; so that once more
I became an involuntary disciple of Islam, and went to sleep among
the ruins, with rather a feeling of gratitude for the respite than
otherwise. On awaking, I found myself again under way; and effecting
a junction with my companion, we had a light supper off half a
water-melon; and, after crossing the River Beas by a bridge of boats,
and being lugged through another waste of sand by bullocks, we once
again reached a "cooked" road, and arrived at "Umritsur" at six A.M.
JUNE 5. -- Found the heat so great here that we were unable to
stir out.
As a consolation, we received a visit from four "Sikh Padres," who
rushed in and squatted themselves down without ceremony, previously
placing a small ball of candied sugar on the table as a votive and
suggestive offering. The spokesman, a lively little rascal, with a
black beard tied up under his red turban, immediately opened fire, by
hurling at us all the names of all the officers he had ever met or read
of. The volley was in this style: First, the number of the regiment,
then Brown Sahib, Jones Sahib, Robinson Sahib, Smith Sahib, Tomkins
Sahib, Green Sahib, and so on, regiment after regiment and name after
name, his brother Padres occasionally chiming in in corroboration
of their friend's veracity and in admiration of his vast stock of
military information. After much trouble, we got rid of the pack,
at the price of one rupee, which was cheap for the amount of relief
afforded by their departure.
JUNE 6. -- Reached Lahore at ten P.M. and had a night in bed, for
the third time only since leaving Cawnpore. The Q.M.G. being at once
set to work to make the necessary arrangements for our final start
for Cashmere, we paid a hurried visit to the Tomb of Runjeet Singh
and the Fort and City of Lahore. These were worth seeing, but they
abounded in sights and perfumes, which rendered the operation rather
a trying one, considering the very high temperature of the weather.
JUNE 7. -- Drove out in a dilapidated buggy, and with an incorrigible
horse, to Mean Meer, the cantonments of Lahore. The place looked
burnt up and glaring like its fellows, and a fierce hot wind swept
over it, which made us glad enough to turn our backs on it and hurry
home again as fast as our obstinate animal would take us. The Q.M.G.,
we found, had collected our staff of servants together, and was
otherwise pushing on our preparations as fast as the dignity and
importance of the undertaking would admit.
The staff consisted of khidmutgar, bawurchie, bhistie, dhobie, and
mihtar; or, in plain English, butler, cook, water-carrier, washerman,
and sweeper.
Of these, the washing department only brought with it its insignia and
badge of office. This was an enormous smoothing-iron, highly ornamented
with brass, decorated with Gothic apertures, and made to contain an
amount of charcoal that would have kept an entire family warm in the
coldest depths of winter. Being of great weight, we rather objected
to such an addition to our stores -- the more so as our linen was
not likely to require much GETTING-UP. The DHOBIE, however, declared
himself unable to get on without it, and it accordingly had to be
engaged with its master.
JUNE 8. -- To-day Rajoo is still hard at work laying in stores from
the bazaars and arranging means of transport for them; the weather hot
beyond measure; and as neither our food nor quarters are very good,
we begin to forget our lessons of resignation, more especially as
the mosquitoes begin to form a very aggravating item in our destiny.
JUNE 9. -- About four P.M. the Q.M.G. came in triumphantly with about
sixteen tall baskets covered with leather, which he called "khiltas;"
and having ranged them about the room like the oil-jars of "Ali Baba,"
he proceeded to cram them with potatoes, tea, clothes, brandy, and the
whole stock of our earthly goods, in a marvellous and miscellaneous
manner, very trying to contemplate, and suggestive of their entire
separation from us and our heirs for ever.
Coolies not being procurable in sufficient numbers to carry away
all our stores together, F. and I agreed to start in the morning,
leaving the head of affairs with the rearguard to follow at his
leisure. Got away at last in two "palkees," with four "banghy
wallahs," or baggage-bearers, carrying our immediate possessions,
guns, &c. Spent the night wretchedly enough, the roads being of the
worst, and covered nearly a foot deep everywhere with fine dust,
which our bearers very soon stirred up into an impenetrable cloud,
enveloping us in its folds to the verge of suffocation.
The sensation is strange enough, travelling in this way along a lonely
road at dead of night, closely shut up in an oblong box, and surrounded
by some twenty or more dusky savages, who could quietly tap one on
the head at any time, and appropriate the bag of rupees -- inseparable
from Indian travelling -- without the slightest difficulty. That they
do not do so is probably from the knowledge they possess that with
the bag of rupees there is generally to be found a revolver, and that
an English traveller is of so generous a disposition that he seldom
parts from his money without giving a little lead in with the silver.
JUNE 10. -- After a dusty jolt of forty miles, we reached "Gugerwalla"
at eight A.M., and felt the change from Lahore most refreshing. The
village seemed a quiet little settlement, very little visited by
Englishmen, and the inhabitants, probably on that account, appeared
of a different stamp from those we had hitherto met. The women, in
particular, were more gaily dressed, and not so frightened at a white
face as more south. The rearguard not having come up at six P.M. we
started off without it. Crossed the Chenab during the night. The
fords, by torchlight, were most picturesque, and rather exciting,
in consequence of the water at times taking it into its head to see
what was inside the "palkee." The Chenab makes the fourth out of the
"five waters" from which the "Punjab" takes its name. The Jhelum only
remains -- the ancient Hydaspes of Alexandrian notoriety.
JUNE 11. -- Reached "Goojerat" at five A.M. and enjoyed a few hours
of quiet sleep in a very comfortable bungalow. The "khiltas" not
making their appearance, we halt here for the night. In the evening
we explored the city -- a straggling rabbit-barrow settlement,
inclosed by a mud wall, and boasting the narrowest streets I had
ever seen. In an open space we came upon a marvellously-ornamented
"mundir," or Hindoo temple, painted in the most florid style, with
effigies of dark gentlemen in coloured pants riding on peacocks,
antelopes, and other beasts of burden common in the country. It seemed
the centre of attraction to a numerous concourse of strangers from the
north; among others, a bevy of young ladies with loose trousers and
fair complexions, evidently "Cashmeeries," who seemed to regard the
"heathen temple" as one of the wonders of the world. In the middle
of the night the rearguard came in with the supplies, and we at
once turned it into an advanced-guard, and packed it off to make
preparations for our arrival at "Bimber."
JUNE 12. -- Spent a very hot day at Goojerat, and amused ourselves by
inspecting the gold-inlaid work for which the place is famous. At 5.30
P.M. we started for our last night's journey in British territory;
and thus terminated, for the present, our experiences of all the hot
and dusty "pleasure of the Plains."
Cashmere.
JUNE 13. -- About two A.M. we passed out of India into the territory
of His Highness the Maharajah of Cashmere, and halted at Bimber. The
accommodation here turned out to be most indifferent, although
in our route the edifice for travellers was called a "Baraduree,"
which sounded grandly. It means a summer-house with twelve doors;
but beyond the facilities it afforded of rapid egress, we found it
to possess but few advantages.
Putting a couple of charpoys outside, we managed a few hours' sleep
AL FRESCO, in spite of the flies and mosquitoes innumerable, who lost
no time in taking possession of their new property. On being able
to discern the face of the country, we found ourselves at the foot
of a range of hills of no great height, but still veritable hills;
and although the sun was nearly as hot as in the plains, we felt
that we were emancipated from India, and that all our real travelling
troubles were over. In the evening we inspected the Maharajah's troops,
consisting of eight curiously-dressed and mysteriously-accoutred sepoys
under a serjeant. These same troops had rather astonished us in the
morning by filing up in stage style in front of our two charpoys just
as we awoke, and delivering a "Present arms" with great unction as we
sat up in a half-sleepy and dishevelled condition, rubbing our eyes,
and not exactly in the style of costume in which such a salute is
usually received. We now found the "army" in the domestic employment
of cooking their victuals, so that we were unable to have much of a
review. However, we looked at their arms and accoutrements; ammunition
they had none; and saw them perform the "manual and platoon." Their
arms had been matchlocks, but had been converted, these stirring
times, into flintlocks! In addition to these, which were about
as long as a respectable spear, they had each a sword and shield,
together with a belt and powder-horn, all clumsy in the extreme. In
loading, we found an improvement on the English fashion, for, after
putting the imaginary charge in with the hand, they BLEW playfully
down the muzzle to obviate the difficulty of the powder sticking to
the sides. After presenting the troops with "bukhshish," we strolled
through the village and met the "thanadar," or head man, coming out
to meet us, arrayed in glorious apparel and very tight inexpressibles,
and mounted on a caparisoned steed. Dismounting, he advanced towards us
salaaming, and holding out a piece of money in the palm of his hand;
and not exactly knowing the etiquette of the proceeding, we touched
it and left it where we found it, which appeared to be a relief to
his mind, for he immediately put it in his pocket again.
His chief conversation was on the subject of the Maharajah and the
delights of Cashmere, and anxiety as to our having got all supplies,
&c. which we required, as he had been appointed expressly for the
purpose of looking after the comfort of the English visitors. What
with our friend and his train, and the detachment of "THE ARMY" which
had accompanied us, our retinue began to assume the appearance of
a procession; and it was with great difficulty that we induced them
all to leave us, which they did at last after we had expressed our
full satisfaction at the courtesy displayed by the Maharajah's very
intelligent selection of a "thanadar."
JUNE 14. -- Broke up our camp about three A.M. and started our
possessions at four o'clock, after some difficulty in prevailing upon
the coolies to walk off with their loads. On mustering our forces, we
found that they numbered thirty-seven, including ourselves. Of these
twenty-four were coolies, carrying our possessions -- beer, brandy,
potatoes, &c.; our servants were six more; then there were four ponies,
entailing a native each to look after them; and, last of all, one of
the redoubtable "army" as a guard, who paraded in the light marching
order of a sword, shield, bag of melons, and an umbrella. F. and I
travelled on "yaboos," or native ponies -- unlikely to look at, but
wonderful to go. Mine was more like a hatchet than anything else,
and yet the places he went over and the rate he travelled up smooth
faces of rock was marvellous to behold.
About eight o'clock we found ourselves once more among the pine-trees;
and, although the sun was very powerful, we had enough of the freshness
of the mountain air to take away the remembrance of the dusty plains
from our minds. No rain having fallen as yet, the springs and rivers
were all nearly dry; but we saw several rocky beds, which gave good
promise of fly-fishing, should they receive a further supply of water.
About nine A.M. we reached our halting-place, "Serai Saidabad," a
ruined old place, with a mud tenement overlooking, at some elevation,
the banks of a river.
Here we were again received with a salute, by a detachment of
warriors drawn up in full dress -- viz. red and yellow turbans,
and blue trousers with a red stripe.
After undergoing a refreshing bath of a skin of water, taken in our
drawing-room, we got our artist to work at breakfast, and shortly
after found, with considerable satisfaction, that we were in for the
first of the rains. This welcome fact first proclaimed itself by the
reverberation of distant thunder from among the mountains to the north;
then an ominous black cloud gradually spread itself over us, and,
with a storm of dust, down came the rain in torrents, making the air,
in a few minutes, cool and delicious as possible, and entirely altering
the sultry temperature which had previously prevailed. The thirsty
ground soaked up the moisture as if it had never tasted rain, and the
trees came out as if retouched by Nature's brush; while as, for F. and
myself, we turned the unwonted coolness to the best account we could,
by setting ourselves to work to pull up all arrears of sleep forthwith.
JUNE 15. -- Started at four A.M., with our numerous train, and found
the road all the pleasanter for the rain of the previous evening,
and all things looking green and fresh after the storm. Our path led
us up a rocky valley, with its accompanying dashing stream, in the
bed of which we could see traces of what the brawler had been in his
wilder days, in huge and polished boulders and water-worn rocks, which
had been hurled about in all directions. We afterwards went straight
up a precipitous mountain, wooded with pine, which was no light work
for the coolies, heavily laden as they were. No sooner, however,
were we on the top of this than down we went on the other side; and
how the ponies managed their ups-and-downs of life was best known
to themselves; certainly, nothing but a cat or a Cashmere pony could
have got over the ground. About nine A.M. we reached "Nowshera," under
another salute, where we found an indifferent-looking "Baraduree,"
completely suffocated among the trees of a garden called the "Bauli
Bagh," or "Reservoir Garden," from a deep stone well in the centre of
it. Here we got on indifferently well, the weather being close after
the rain, and the place thickly inhabited by crowds of sparrows,
all with large families, who made an incessant uproar all day long;
besides an army of occupation of small game, which interfered sadly
with our sleeping arrangements at night. In the evening we made the
acquaintance of a loquacious and free-and-easy gardener, entirely
innocent of clothes, who came and seated himself between F. and myself,
as we were perched upon a rock enjoying the prospect. According to his
account, the Maharajah's tenants pay about seven rupees, or fourteen
shillings, per annum for some five acres of land. In the middle of
the night we came in for another storm of thunder and lightning,
which took a good many liberties with our house, but cooled the air;
and only for the mosquitoes, and other holders of the property, whose
excessive attentions were rather embarrassing, we would have got
on very well. As it was, however, I hardly closed an eye all night,
and spent the greater part of it in meandering about the Bauli Bagh,
VESTITO DA NOTTE -- in which operation I rejoice to think that, like
the Russians at the burning of Moscow, I at least put the enemy to
very considerable inconvenience, even at the expense of my own comfort.
JUNE 16. -- About half-past four A.M. we got under weigh again,
heartily delighted to leave the sparrows and their allies in undisputed
possession of their property.
The "kotwal," and other authorities, who had been extremely civil in
providing supplies, coolies, &c., according to the Maharajah's order,
took very good care not to let us depart without a due sense of the
fact, for they bothered us for "bukhshish" just as keenly as the lowest
muleteer; and when I gave the kotwal twelve annas, or one shilling and
sixpence, as all the change I had, he assured me that the khidmutgar
had more, and ran back to prove it by bringing me two rupees. I gave
the scoundrel one, and regretted it for three miles, for he had robbed
the coolies in the morning, either on his own or his master's account,
of one anna, or three-halfpence each, out of their hardly-earned
wages. To-day we find ourselves once more among the rocks and pines,
and as we progressed nothing could exceed the beauty of the views
which opened upon us right and left. A mountain stream attended our
steps the whole way sometimes smoothly and placidly, sometimes dancing
about like a mad thing, and teasing the sturdy old battered rocks and
stones which long ago had settled down in life along its path, and
which, from the amount of polish they displayed, must themselves have
been finely knocked about the world in their day. Rounding a turn of
the river, where it ran deeply under its rocky bank, we came suddenly
upon the ghastly figure of a man carefully suspended in chains from a
prominent tree. His feet had been torn off by the wolves and jackals,
but the upper part of the body remained together, and there he swung
to and fro in the breeze, a ghastly warning to all evildoers, and
a not very pleasing monument of the justice of the country. He was
a sepoy of the Maharajah's army, who had drowned his comrade in the
stream below the place where he thus had expiated his crime. Not far
from this spot we discovered traces of another marauder, in the shape
of a fresh footprint of a tiger or a leopard, just as he had prowled
shortly before along the very path we were pursuing.
From this we gradually got into a region of fruit-trees, interspersed
with pines; and sometimes we came upon a group of scented palms, which
looked strangely enough in such unusual company. Through clustering
pomegranates, figs, plums, peach-trees, wild but bearing fruit, we
journeyed on and on; and, as new beauties arose around us, we could
not help indulging in castles in the air, and forming visions of
earthly paradises, where, with the addition only of such importations
as are inseparable from all ideas of paradise, either in Cashmere or
elsewhere, one might live in uninterrupted enjoyment of existence,
and, at least, bury in oblivion all remembrance of such regions as the
"Plains of India."
About ten A.M., after a continuous series of ups-and-downs of varied
scenery, we arrived at "Chungas," a picturesque old serai, perched
upon a hill over the river. It was marked off in our route as having no
accommodation, but, located among the mouldering remnants of grandeur
of an old temple in the centre of the serai, we managed to make
ourselves very comfortable, and thought our "accommodation" a most
decided improvement upon our late fashionable but rather overcrowded
halting-place. From the serai we can see, for the first time, the
snowy range of the Himalayas, trending northwards, towards the Peer
Punjal Pass, through which our route leads into the Valley of Cashmere.
JUNE 17. -- Another ride through hill and dale to "Rajaori," or
"Rampore," a most picturesque-looking town, built in every possible
style of architecture, and flanked at one extremity by a ruined
castle. Our halting-place was in an ancient serai, with a dilapidated
garden, containing the remains of some rather handsome fountains. It
was situated on a rock, several hundred feet above the river which
separated us from the town; and, from our elevated position, we had
a fine view of the whole place, and got an insight into the manners
and customs of the inhabitants, without their being at all aware of
our proximity.
The women and children appeared to be dressed quite in the Tartar
style: the women with little red square-cornered fez caps, with a
long strip of cloth thrown gracefully over them, and either pyjamas
of blue stuff with a red stripe, or a long loose toga of greyish
cloth, reaching nearly to the feet. The little girls were quite of
the bullet-headed Tartar pattern, of Crimean recollection, but wore
rather less decoration. The Crimean young ladies generally had a three
cornered charm suspended round their necks, while the youthful fashion
of Rajaori, scorning all artificial adornment, selected nature only
as their mantua-maker, and wore their dresses strictly according to
her book of patterns. After enjoying a delightfully cool night in
our elevated bedroom, we started for "Thanna."
Our path led through a gradually ascending valley, cultivated, for
the rice crop, in terraces, and irrigated by a complicated net-work
of channels, cut off from the mountain streams, and branching off
in every direction to the different elevations. The ground was so
saturated in these terraces that ploughing was carried on by means of
a large scraper, like a fender, which was dragged along by bullocks,
the ploughman standing up in the machine as it floundered and wallowed
about, and guiding it through the sea of mud.
JUNE 18. -- Reached Thanna at nine A.M. and came to a halt in a shady
spot outside the village. There was an old serai about half a mile
off, but it was full of merchants and their belongings, and savoured
so strongly of fleas and dirt, that we gave it up as impracticable.
This was the first instance of our finding no shelter; and, as ill
luck would have it, our tents took the opportunity of pitching
themselves on the road, a number of coolies broke down, and one
abandoned our property and took himself off altogether. Under these
interesting circumstances, we were obliged to spend the day completely
AL FRESCO, and to wait patiently for breakfast until the fashionable
hour of half-past two P.M. The inhabitants took our misfortunes very
philosophically, and stopped to stare at us to their heart's content
as they went by for water, wondering, no doubt, at that restless
nature of the crazy Englishman, which drives him out of his own
country for the sole purpose, apparently, of being uncomfortable in
other people's. Our position, although at the foot of the grander
range of mountains, we found very hot, and a good deal of ingenuity
was required in order to find continued shelter from the scorching
rays of the sun. The natives here, seemed to suffer to a great extent
from goitre, and one of our coolies in particular had three enormous
swellings on his neck, horrible to look at. During the night, Rajoo
came in with the missing baggage, except two khiltas, for which no
carriage could be procured, and which he was in consequence obliged
to abandon on the road until assistance could be sent to them.
JUNE 19. -- Started at daybreak from our unsatisfactory quarters, and
enjoyed some of the finest scenery we had yet encountered. The road
ascended pretty sharply into what might be called the REAL mountains,
and finding our spirits rise with the ground, we abandoned our ponies
and resolved to perform the remainder of our wanderings on foot. As we
reached the summit of our first ascent, and our range of view enlarged,
mountain upon mountain rose before us, richly clothed with forest
trees; while, overtopping all, peeped up the glistening summits of
the snowy range, everything around seems cool and pleasant, in spite
of the hot sun's rays, which still poured down upon us. Our road from
this, descending, lay among the nooks and dells of the shady side of
the mountain; and the wild rose and the heliotrope perfumed the air
at every step as we walked along in full enjoyment of the morning
breeze. Our sepoy guide of to-day was not of the educated branch of
the army. He was the stupidest specimen of his race I had ever met;
and as his language was such a jargon as to be nearly unintelligible,
we failed signally in obtaining much information from him.
Among other questions, I made inquiries as to woodcock, the cover
being just suited to them, and after a great deal of difficulty
in explaining the bird to him, he declared that he knew the kind
of creature perfectly, and that there were plenty of them. By way
of convincing us, however, of his sporting knowledge, he added that
they were in the habit of living entirely on fruit; and he was sadly
put out when F. and I both burst into laughter at the idea of an old
woodcock with his bill stuck into a juicy pear, or perhaps enjoying a
pomegranate for breakfast. Shortly after, we came suddenly upon quite
a new feature in the scene -- a strange innovation of liveliness in
the midst of solitude.
At a bend in the road, what should appear almost over our heads but
a troop of about a hundred monkeys, crashing through the firs and
chestnuts, and bounding in eager haste from tree to tree, in their
desire to escape from a party of natives coming from the opposite
direction. They were large brown monkeys, of the kind called lungoors,
standing, some of them, three feet high, and having tails considerably
longer than themselves. Their faces were jet black, fringed with
light grey whiskers, which gave them a most comical appearance.; and
as they jumped along from tree to tree, sometimes thirty and forty
feet, through the air, with their small families following as best
they could, they made the whole forest resound with the crashing of
the branches, and amused us not a little by their aerial line of march.
After crossing a dashing mountain-torrent by a rude bridge of trees
thrown across it, we arrived at the village of Burrumgulla. Here our
guide wanted us to halt in a mud-built native serai, but, with the
recollection of past experience fresh upon us, we declined, preferring
to choose our own ground and pitch our first encampment. The ground
we selected was almost at the foot of a noble waterfall, formed by a
huge cleft in a mass of rugged rock. The water, dashing headlong down,
was hidden in the recess of rock below, but the spray, as it rose up
like vapour and again fell around us, plainly told the history of its
birth and education. Even had we not seen the snowy peaks before us
from the mountain top, there was no mistaking, from its icy breath,
the nursery in which its infant form had been cradled. Just at our
feet was one of the frail and picturesque-looking pine bridges spanning
the torrent; while just below it another mountain river came tumbling
down, and, joining with its dashing friend, they both rolled on in
life together. As soon as our traps arrived, F. and I had a souse in
the quietest pool we could find, and anything so cold I never felt;
it was almost as if one was turned into stone, and stopping in it
more than a second was out of the question. After breakfast and a
SIESTA, we sallied out to try and explore the head of the cataract
above us. After rather a perilous ascent over loose moss and mould,
and clutching at roots of shrubs and trees, we were brought to a
stand by a huge mass of perpendicular rock, which effectually barred
us from the spot through which the water took its final leap. The
upper course of the torrent, however, amply repaid us for our labour,
for it ran through the most lovely dell I ever saw; and as it bounded
down from rock to rock, and roared and splashed along, it seemed to
know what there was before it, and to be rejoicing at the prospect
of its mighty jump. Torrent as it seemed, it was evidently nothing
to what it could swell to when in a rage, for here and there, far
out of its present reach, and scattered all about, were torn and
tattered corpses of forest trees, which had evidently been sucked up
and carried along until some rock more abrupt than its neighbours,
had brought them to a stand and left them, bleached and rotting, in
the summer's sun. At night we found ourselves glad to exchange our
usual covering of a single sheet for a heavy complement of blankets,
and found our encampment not the least too warm. The authorities here
were particularly civil and obliging, and supplied us with the best
of butter, eggs, and milk. The latter was particularly good, and,
not having often tasted cow's milk in the Plains, we did it ample
justice here.
JUNE 20. -- Found it rather hard to turn out this morning, in
consequence of the great change in the temperature, but got under weigh
very well considering. Our path led us up the main torrent towards the
snow, and in the first three miles we crossed about twenty pine-tree
bridges thrown across the stream, some of them consisting of a single
tree, and all in the rudest style of manufacture. Near one of these,
under an immense mass of rock, we passed our first snow. It looked,
however, so strange and unexpected, that we both took it for a block of
stone; and being thatched, as it were, with leaves and small sticks,
&c., and discoloured on all sides, it certainly bore no outward
resemblance to what it really was.
After an almost perpendicular ascent up natural flights of steps, we
reached our next stage, Poshana -- a little mud-built, flat-roofed
settlement on the mountain-side. Here we engaged a couple of
"shikarees," or native sportsmen, and made preparations for a DETOUR
into the snows of the Peer Punjal in search of game.
JUNE 21. -- Having made a division of our property, and sent the
Q.M.G. with an advanced guard two stages on to Heerpore, F. and
I started at daybreak for a five-days' shooting expedition in the
mountains.
We took with us a khidmutgar and bhistie -- both capital servants,
but unfortunately not accustomed to cold, much less to snow. Besides
these, we had ten coolies to carry our baggage, consisting of two
small tents, bedding, guns, and cooking utensils, &c.; and our two
shikarees with their two assistants. The two former wore named Khandari
Khan and Baz Khan, -- both bare-legged, lightly clothed, sharp-eyed,
hardy-looking mountaineers, and well acquainted with the haunts of
game, and passes through the snow.
For the first time we had now to put on grass shoes or sandals;
and though they felt strange at first, we soon found that they were
absolutely necessary for the work we had before us. Our shoemaker
charged us six annas, or ninepence, for eight pairs, and that was
thirty per cent. over the proper price. However, as one good day's
work runs through a new pair, they are all the better for being rather
cheap. Along the road in all directions one comes across cast-off
remains of shoes, where the wearer has thrown off his worn-out ones
and refitted from his travelling stock; and in this way the needy
proprietor of a very indifferent pair of shoes may, perchance, make
a favourable exchange with the cast-off pair of a more affluent
pedestrian; but, to judge from the specimens we saw, he must be
very needy indeed in order to benefit by the transaction. On leaving
Poshana, we immediately wound up the precipitous side of a mountain
above us, and soon found that, from the rarification of the air, and
the want of practice, we felt the necessity of calling a halt very
frequently, for the purpose, of course, of admiring the scenery and
expatiating upon the beauties of nature. About two miles on the way
we came to a slip in the mountain-side, and just as we scrambled,
with some difficulty, across this, our foremost shikaree suddenly
dropped down like a stone, and motioning us to follow his example,
he stealthily pointed us out four little animals, which he called
"markore," grazing at the bottom of a ravine. Putting our sights to
about 250 yards, we fired both together, with the best intentions, but
indifferent results; for they all scampered off apparently untouched,
and we again resumed our march.
Our encamping ground we found situated among a shady grove of
fir-trees, with a mountain-torrent running beneath, bridged over, as
far as we could see, with dingy-looking fields of snow and ice. Here,
in the middle of June; with snow at our feet, above us, and around
us, we pitched our tent, and had breakfast, and laid our plans for a
search for game to-morrow. Though the wind blew cold and chilly off the
snows, we soon found that the midday sun still asserted his supremacy,
and our faces and hands soon bore witness to the fierceness of the
trial of strength between the two. Our camp, although so high up,
was not more than six miles from Poshana, and from thence we drew all
our supplies, such as milk, eggs, and fowls, &c., the coolies' and
shikarees' subsistence being deducted from their pay. Our own living
was not expensive: fowls, threepence each for large, three-halfpence
small; milk, three-halfpence per quart, and eggs, twelve for the
like amount, or one anna. For the rest, we lived upon chupatties, or
unleavened cakes of flour -- very good hot, but "gutta-percha" cold --
potatoes from Lahore, and, in the liquid line, tea and brandy. At night
we slept upon the ground -- pretty hard it was while one was awake to
feel it -- and not having any lamp, we turned in shortly after dark,
while in the morning we were up and dressed before the nightingales
had cleared their voices. These latter abounded all about us, and
formed a most agreeable addition to our establishment.
JUNE 22. -- Left our camp before sunrise, and crossing a large field
of snow over the main torrent, we clambered up the precipitous side
of our opposite mountain. The snow at first felt piercingly cold as
it penetrated our snow-shoes, but before we reached the top, we had
little to complain of in the way of chilliness. Our sharp-sighted
guides soon detected game on the rocks above us, and off we went on
a stalk, over rocks and chasms of snow -- now running, now crawling
along, more like serpents than respectable Christians, and all
in a style that would have astonished nobody more than ourselves,
could we have regarded the performance in the cool light of reason,
and not influenced by the excitement of chasing horned cattle of such
rare and curious proportions.
The markore, however, were quite as interested in the sport as we were,
and after an arduous and protracted stalk, they finally gave us the
slip, and we called a halt at the summit of a hill for breakfast and a
rest during the heat of the day. The former we enjoyed as we deserved,
but for the latter I can't say much : occasionally a cold blast from
off the snow would run right through us, while the sun bore down upon
our heads with scorching power, making havoc with whatever part of us
it found exposed to its rays, and blistering our hands and legs. The
guides helped us out by building up a most ricketty-looking shanty
with sticks and pieces of their garments and our own, and under this
apology for shelter, with our feet almost in the snow, we passed the
day, until it was cool enough again to look for game. In the evening
we came suddenly upon a kustura, a sort of half goat, half sheep,
with long teeth like a wolf. He was, however, in such thick cover,
that we were unable to get a shot at him.
Our camp, we found, moved, according to order, some three miles higher
up, to facilitate the shooting on that side: it was still, however,
among the firs and nightingales.
JUNE 23. -- Up again before sunrise, and off to the tops of the
mountains in search of game. The pull-up took us about an hour and a
half, and on reaching the summit, we found ourselves above the pass
of the Peer Punjal, the rocky and snow-covered ranges of mountain
around us gradually trending off on all sides, and losing themselves in
pine-covered slopes, till they finally blended with the blue outlines
of the ranges of Pills we had crossed on our route from Bimber. While
taking a sharp look around us for a herd of some twenty animals which
we had seen the day previously, we suddenly found ourselves close
to a party of five markore, but they scampered off so fast over rock
and snowdrift, that they gave us no opportunity of getting a shot.
Following them up, we came, while clinging to an overhanging ledge of
rock, upon one solitary gentleman standing about 150 yards below. We
both fired together, but the pace we had come, and the ground we had
crossed, had unsteadied our aim, and though my second bullet parted
the wool on his back, it was not written that our first markore
was to fall so easily. After this we tracked the first herd for
a long distance over the snow, until they scampered down an almost
perpendicular face of snow and ice, and here we gave them up, halting
on a spur of the mountain for a repast of chicken, eggs, chupatties,
and cold tea. During our morning's work we had come across some
most break-neck places, and had one or two narrow escapes, which,
at the time, one was hardly conscious of. The snow was wedged into
the ravines like sheets of ice, and being most precipitous, and
continuing to the very foot of the mountains, terminating in the
numerous torrents which they fed, a single false step in crossing
would have sent one rolling down, without a chance of stopping, to be
dashed to pieces at the bottom. In this way, a couple of years before,
two coolies and a shikaree had been killed, while shooting with an
officer. F. and I generally crossed these places in the footsteps
of the guides, or in holes cut by them for our feet with a hatchet;
but the men themselves passed them with a dash, which only long
practice and complete confidence could have imitated. During our halt
we suffered a good deal from the sun, although the snow was only six
inches off. In spite of the shade which our guides constructed for
us out of mysterious portions of their dress, both our wrists and
ankles were completely swollen and blistered before evening, while
our faces and noses in particular began to assume the appearance so
generally suggestive of Port wine and good living.
Our descent to the camp was a good march in itself, and we arrived
there about five P.M. hot and tired, 'but quite ready for our mountain
fare. On our road, we luckily discovered a quantity of young rhubarb,
growing in nature's kitchen-garden, and pouncing on it, we devoted it
to the celebration of our Sunday dinner.[4] We also saw a number of
minaur, or jungle-fowl, something of the pheasant tribe; but they were
so wild that nothing but slugs would secure them, and they entirely
declined the honour of an invitation to our Sunday entertainment.
JUNE 24. -- We were not at all sorry to remember this morning,
as the sun rose, that it was a day of rest, for after our last
few days of work we were fully able to enjoy it. Amused ourselves
exploring all about us, and picking wild flowers in memory of our
camp. The commonest were wild pansy and forget-me-not, and the
rhododendron grew in quantities. In the afternoon we made a muster
of our standing provisions, having only brought four days' supply,
and seeing little chance of getting back for ten. The result was.,
that tea was reported low, potatoes on their last legs, and brandy
in a declining state. Under these melancholy circumstances, we
agreed to stop another day for shooting, and then march over the
snows for Aliabad and Heerpore, to join our main body at the latter
place. A road by Cheta Panee was declared impracticable for coolies,
in consequence of the hardness of the snow; so we gave it up.
JUNE 25. -- All over the mountains again this morning before daybreak,
and up to breakfast-time without seeing game. However, one of our
sharp-sighted guides then detected markore, grazing at a long distance
up the mountains; even through the glasses they were mere specks,
and, to our unpractised eyes, very like the tufts and stones around
them; but in all faith that our guides were right, off we started in
pursuit. The first step was to lose all our morning's toil by plunging
for a mile or so down a steep descent. After that being accomplished,
up we went again, up and up an apparently interminable bank of snow, at
an angle of about sixty degrees, and slippery as glass. At the summit,
exhausted and completely out of breath, we did at last arrive, and from
this our friends of the morning were expected to be within shot. Not a
sign of a living creature appeared, however, to enliven the solitude
around us, and we began to think that our guides were a little TOO
clear-sighted this time, when what should suddenly come upon us but
a solitary old markore, slowly and leisurely rounding a rugged point
of rock below. We were all squatted in a bunch upon a space about as
large as a good-sized towel; but, hidden as we thought ourselves,
I could discern that our friend had evidently caught a glimpse of
something which displeased him in his morning cogitations. Still,
on he came, and just as he crossed a small field of snow, F. opened
fire at him across the ravine: the ball struck just below his body,
and, as he plunged forward, I followed with both barrels. On he went,
however, and before another shot could be fired he was coolly looking
down upon us from a terrace of inaccessible rocks, completely out of
range. Nothing remained but to descend again, and this we accomplished
very much more speedily, though perhaps not quite in such a graceful
style as we had ascended. The shikarees merely sat down on the inclined
plane, and with a hatchet or a stick firmly pressed under the arm as
a lever to regulate the pace, or a rudder to steer clear of rocks as
occasion might require, down they went at a tremendous pace, until
the slope was not sufficient to propel them further.
Our own wardrobe being limited in dimensions we declined adopting this
mode of locomotion, and slipping and sliding along, soon accomplished
the descent, in a less business-like but equally satisfactory
manner. While taking the direction of our camp, we espied seven more
animals, perched apparently upon a smooth face of rock; and after a
short council of war off we started on a fresh stalk, down another
descent, over more fields of snow, and up a place where a cat would
have found walking difficult.
While accomplishing this latter movement, our guides detected two
huge red bears, an enormous distance off, enjoying themselves in
the evening air, and feeding and scratching themselves alternately,
as they sauntered about in the breeze. Abandoning our present stalk,
which was not promising, down we went again, and crossing about a
mile and a half of broken ground, snow, rocks, &c., we reached a wood
close to the whereabouts of our new game. F. and I, separating, had
made the place by different routes, and just as I had caught sight of
one enormous monster, F. and the shikaree appeared, just on the point
of walking into his jaws. Having, by great exertion, prevented this
catastrophe, we massed our forces, and taking off our hats, just as if
we were stalking an unpopular landed proprietor in Tipperary, we crept
up to within sixty yards of the unsuspicious monster, and fired both
together. With a howl and a grunt, the huge mass doubled himself up,
and rolled into the cover badly wounded. Being too dangerous a looking
customer to follow directly, we reloaded and made a circuit above him;
and after a short search, discovered him with his paws firmly clasped
round a young tree. By way of finishing him, I gave him the contents of
my rifle behind the ear, and we then rolled him down a ravine on to the
snow beneath, where, a heavy storm of rain, hail, and thunder coming
on, we left him alone in his glory. Putting our best legs foremost,
we made for our camp, amid a pelting shower of hail like bullets and
an incessant play of lightning around us, as we pushed our way along
the frozen torrent. About five P.M., tired and drenched, we reached
the camp, when we discovered that our tents, though extremely handy
for mountain work, were not intended to keep out much rain, and that
all our rugs, and other comforts, were almost in as moist a state as
ourselves. During the entire night it continued to hail, rain, thunder,
and lighten; and with the exception of the exact spots we were each
lying on, there was not a dry place in the tent to take refuge in.
JUNE 26. -- After an exceedingly moist night, we made the most of a
little sunshine by turning out all our property, and hanging it around
us on stones and bushes to dry. After we had distinguished ourselves in
this way, for a couple of hours, down came the rain again; and after
stowing our half-dried goods, we assembled under a tree, and held a
council of war as to our future movements. The rain had swelled the
mountain torrents considerably, and the hail, lying on the old snow,
had made it slippery as glass, so that we were obliged to give up
the mountain pass we had agreed upon, and decided on a retreat to
"Poshana," our present ground being fairly untenable. Sending off
our tents and traps, and half-drowned servants, who were completely
out of their element, we remained behind under the pines till the
rain a little abated, and having secured the bear-skin for curing, we
started off with our rear-guard for Poshana. The road was so slippery,
that even with grass-shoes we could hardly keep from falling; and
the snow we found as hard as ice, and proportionately difficult to
cross. The consequence was, that in passing a steep incline with the
guide, he slipped, and I followed his example, and down we both went
like an engine and tender, the guide fishing about with his legs for
obstacles, and I above him, endeavouring to use my pole as an anchor
to bring us to.
Luckily, we both reached TERRA FIRMA safely, after a perilous run,
though at the same side we started from, and a long distance from our
point of previous departure. On at length reaching the opposite side,
we found a disconsolate coolie bemoaning himself and reckoning his
bones, having also fallen down the snow, while a little further on we
came upon the bhistie lamenting over a similar disaster. The latter
functionary had also lost a valuable pot of virgin honey, which had
only come up from Poshana the day before, and which we had not had
time to see the inside of even, ere it was thus lost to us for ever,
and made over as a poetical reparation to the bears of the country for
the ruthless murder we had committed on one of their number. Found the
hut at Poshana empty, and were glad to get into its shelter again. The
rain seeming quite set in, we determined to discharge our shikarees,
and after paying them three rupees each for their week's work, we
sent them away perfectly happy, with a few copper caps and a good
character apiece.
JUNE 27. -- Left Poshana at five A.M., and made for the Peer
Punjal pass. A sharp struggle brought us to the summit, where we
found a polygon tower erected, apparently as a landmark and also
a resting-place for travellers to recover themselves after their
exertions.[5] At the Cashmere side of the pass I had expected to see
something of the far-famed valley, but nothing met the eye but a wild
waste of land, bounded on all sides by snow, while a few straggling
coolies toiled up towards us with some itinerant Englishman's baggage
like our own.
This turned out to belong to a party returning to Sealkote, and
we were rather elated by seeing among their possessions several
enormous antlers, which promised well for sport at the other side
of the valley. They turned out, however, to have been bought, and,
as their owners informed us, there was no chance of meeting such game
until October or November. About two miles down the pass we reached
the old serai of Aliabad, and found the only habitable part of it
in possession of a clergyman and a young Bengal artilleryman bound
for the shooting-grounds we had just left. With much difficulty we
obtained a few eggs, and a little milk with which we washed down the
chupatties we had brought with us; but the coolies were so long getting
over the path, that no signs of breakfast made their appearance until
about two o'clock. At mid-day it came on to rain heavily, and we took
up our quarters in a miserable den, with a flooring of damp rubbish
and a finely carved stone window not very much in keeping with the
rest of the establishment. Here we spent the day drearily enough,
the prospect being confined to a green pool of water in the middle
of the serai, around which the Pariah dogs contended with the crows
for the dainties of offal scattered about. As soon as it was dark,
we were glad enough to spread our waterproof sheets on the ground,
and sleep as well as the thousands of tenants already in possession
would allow us.
JUNE 28. -- Up at sunrise, and packed off our things down the mountain
for Heerpore, where the main body of our possessions were concentrated.
Shortly after their departure it began to rain an Irish and Scotch
combined mist, and after warming our toes and blinding our eyes over a
wood fire for about three hours, in hopes of its clearing, we donned
grass-shoes and, putting our best legs foremost, accomplished about
thirteen miles of a most slippery path without a halt, except for
the occasional purpose of adjusting our dilapidated shoes.
After the first five or six miles the path entered a beautifully-wooded
valley, and at one spot, where two torrents joined their foaming waters
at the foot of a picturesque old ivy-grown serai, the landscape was
almost perfection. Passing this, we entered a thickly-shaded wood,
studded with roses and jessamine, and peopled with wood-pigeons
and nightingales, who favoured us with a morning concert as we
passed. Crossing a wooden bridge over the torrent, we reached a fine
grass country, and here the presence of a herd of cows told us we were
near our destination. At Heerpore we found Mr. Rajoo located with all
our belongings in a little wooden sort of squatter's cabin, where we
were glad to take shelter out of the dripping rain. It reminded one
strongly of Captain Cuttle's habitation and a ship's cabin together,
and made one feel inclined to go on deck occasionally. It was on
the whole, however, very comfortable, and seemed, after our late
indifferent quarters, to be a perfect palace. After breakfast, we
made inquiries as to our worldly affairs, and found that all were
thriving with the exception of the potatoes, which had been taken
worse on the road, and were already decimated by sickness. We added
a sheep to our stock, for which we paid three shillings, and laid
in a welcome supply of butter. The khidmutgar and bhistie, we found,
had retailed the history of their many sorrows to the other servants,
and, having expatiated most fully on the horrors they had endured
among the snows and thunderstorms of the mountains, were promising
themselves a speedy end to all their woes among the peace and plenty
of the promised land of Cashmere.
JUNE 29. -- After some trouble in procuring coolies, we started at
eleven in a shower of rain, and found ourselves gradually passing
into the valley, and exchanging rocks and firs for groves of walnut;
and moss and fern for the more civilized strawberry and the wild
carnation. The strawberries, though small, had a delicious flavour,
and we whiled away the time by gathering them as we passed. About
two o'clock we reached the village of Shupayon, and here began to
perceive a considerable change in the style of architecture from what
we had been accustomed to; the flat mudden roof giving place to the
sharply-pitched wooden one, thatched with straw, or coarsely TILED
with wood.
Our halting-place we found, for the first time, to possess a staircase
and upper story. A little square habitation it was, with a verandah all
round it, and built entirely of wood. From this, as the clouds lifted
from the mountain-tops around, a most lovely view opened out before us.
Wherever the eye rested toward the mountains, the snow-capped peaks
raised themselves up into the clear blue sky; while at our feet lay
the far-famed valley, reaching towards the north, to the very base
of the mountain range, and rising gradually and by a gentle slope
to our halting-place, and so back to the pass from which we had
just descended.
As the sun appeared to have come out again permanently, we took the
opportunity of getting our tents and other property which had suffered
from the wet out for a general airing.
JUNE 30. -- Marched about nine miles through fertile slopes of
rice-fields, shaded by walnuts and sycamores, and found our
halting-place situated in a serai, shrouded in mulberry and
cherry trees, and with a charming little rivulet running through
it, discoursing sweet music night and day. Our habitation was a
baraduree, or summer-house, of wood, and having an upper room with
trellised windows, where we spent the day very pleasantly. At dinner
we had the first instalment of the land of promise, in the shape of
a roly-poly pudding of fresh cherries, a thing to date from in our
hitherto puddingless circumstances.
JULY 1. -- Started at daybreak for our last march into the
capital. The first appearance of the low part of the valley was rather
disappointing, for there was nothing striking in the view; still, the
country was extremely fertile, and its tameness was redeemed by the
glorious mountain range, which bounded the valley in every direction,
with its pure unsullied fringe of snow. Our path was occasionally
studded with the most superb sycamores and lime-trees; and as we
approached the town we entered a long avenue of poplars, planted as
closely together as possible, and completely hiding all the buildings
until close upon them. Passing through the grand parade-ground, we
found a bustling throng of about four hundred Cashmeeries, with heavy
packs beside them, waiting for an escort to take out supplies to the
Maharajah's army, now on active service at a place called Girgit,
in the mountains. The said army seemed to be fighting with nobody
knew who, about nobody knew what; but report says that his Highness,
having a number of troops wanting arrears of pay, sends them out
periodically to contend with the hill tribes, by way of settlement
in full of all demands.
Having engaged a boat's crew at Ramoon, we were, on arriving at the
River Jhelum, which runs through the city, immediately inducted to the
manners and customs of the place; and being safely deposited in a long
flat-bottomed boat, with a mat roof and a prow about twelve feet out of
the water, we were paddled across by our six new servants, and landed
among a number of bungalows on the right bank, which were erected by
the Maharajah for the reception of his English visitors. These are
entirely of wood, of the rudest construction, and are built along
the very edge of the river, which is here about a hundred yards broad.
We were received on landing by the Baboo and Moonshee, the native
authorities retained by the Maharajah for the convenience of his
visitors; and learning from them that there were no bungalows vacant,
we pitched our little camp under a shady grove of trees close by; and
thus, in the capital of the land of poetry and promise, the far-famed
paradise of the Hindoo, we brought our wanderings to an end for the
present, and gave ourselves and our retainers a rest from all the
toils and troubles of the road.
A Halt in the Valley.
Being fairly settled in our quarters, we were not long in putting our
new staff of dependants into requisition; and, taking to our boat,
sallied forth to get a general view of the city of Sirinugger.[6]
Finding, however, a review of the army going on, we stopped at the
parade-ground to witness the interesting ceremony. The troops we found
drawn up in lines, forming the sides of a large square, and dressed in
what his Highness Rumbeer Singh believes confidently to be the ENGLISH
COSTUME. As far as one could see, however, the sole foundation for
this belief lay in the fact of their all wearing trousers! These were
certainly the only articles of their equipment that could in any way
be called English in style; and they bore, after all, but a slender
resemblance to the corresponding habiliments of the true Briton.
The head-dress, generally speaking, was a turban. One regiment,
however, had actually perpetrated a parody on the English shako --
a feat which I had always hitherto considered absolutely impossible.
The cavalry were mounted upon tattoos, or native ponies, and wore
white trousers, with tight straps, which rendered them for the time
being the most miserable of their race.
A few of them had imitations of Lancer caps, some had boots, some
slippers, some spurs, others none; some had wondrous straps of tape
and cord, others wore their trousers up to their knees; but one and
all were entirely uniform in looking completely ill at ease and out
of their element in their borrowed would-be-English plumage. Just
as we had finished taking a general view of the army, the Maharajah
appeared upon the stage, dressed in a green-and-gold embroidered gown
and turban and tight silk pantaloons, mounted on a grey caparisoned
Arab steed. After riding round the lines with his retinue, he came up,
and we were presented in due form; and after asking us if we had come
from Allahabad, and expressing his opinion that it was a long way off,
in which we entirely concurred with him, he shook hands in English
style; and, taking his seat in a chair which was placed for him, we
collected ourselves around, and, similarly seated, prepared to inspect
the marching past of his highness's redoubtables. Before this began,
however, the Maharajah's little son made his appearance, dressed in all
respects like his papa, with miniature sword and embroidered raiment;
and to him we were also introduced in form. During the marching past,
I congratulated myself upon being several seats distant from his
highness's chair, for the effect was so absurd that it was almost
impossible to preserve that dignity and composure which the occasion
demanded.
The marching was in slow time, and the step being fully thirty-six
inches the fat little dumpy officers nearly upset themselves in their
efforts to keep time, and at the same time prevent their slippers
from deserting on the line of march; while, in bringing their swords
to the salute, they did it with a swing which was suggestive of
their throwing away their arms altogether. Besides artillery, five
regiments of infantry and two of cavalry marched past -- in all,
little over 2,000 men -- colours flying and bands playing "Home,
sweet home!" After this the irregulars began to appear; and although
the first part of the army might have almost deserved the name, these
put them completely in the shade. One colonel had a pair of enormous
English gold epaulettes and a turban; another a black embroidered suit,
with white tape straps, and slippers; and as for the men, there were
no two of them dressed alike, while in the way of arms, each pleased
his own particular fancy also. A long gun over the shoulder was the
most popular weapon; but each had, in addition, a perfect armoury
fastened in his girdle: pistols with stocks like guns, daggers and
even blunderbusses made their appearance; and the general effect, as
the crowd galloped independently past, dressed in their many-coloured
turbans, and flowing apparel, was most picturesque. As soon as the
last of the flags and banners and prancing horses had gone past, the
Maharajah set us the example of rising, and mounting his grey steed,
cantered off in state, surrounded by the crowd of dusky parasites,
arrayed in gold and jewels, who formed his court.
His Highness appeared to be about thirty-eight years old, and was as
handsome a specimen of a native as I had ever seen. He wore a short,
jet-black beard, and mustachios, turned up from the corners of his
mouth, and reaching, in two long twists, nearly to his eyes. He
appeared absent and thoughtful which, considering the low state of
his exchequer, was perhaps not to be wondered at.[7] His English
visitors spend a good deal of money every summer in his kingdom;
and for this reason alone, he is anxious enough to cultivate their
acquaintance, and gives naches, or native dances, and champagne
dinners periodically to amuse them. He presents, also, an offering to
each traveller that arrives, and we in due course received two sheep,
two fowls, and about fourteen little earthen dishes containing rice,
butter, spices, eggs, flour, fruit, honey, sugar, tea, &c., all of
which were laid at the door of our tent, with great pomp and ceremony,
by a host of attendants.
After the review, we took boat again and paddled down the stream to
look at the town, and a quainter and more picturesque-looking old
place it would be hard to conceive. The, houses are built entirely
of wood, of five and six stories, and overhanging the river, and
are as close as possible to each other, except where here and there
interspersed with trees. Communication is kept up between the banks
by means of wooden rustic bridges, built on enormous piles of timber,
laid in entire trees, crossing each other at equal distances. Not a
single straight line is to be seen in any direction -- the houses being
dilapidated and generally out of the perpendicular; and everywhere the
river view is bounded by the snow-capped ranges of mountain, which,
towards the north, appear to rise almost from the very water's edge.
JULY 2. -- Taking the Q.M.G. as a guide, we sallied out
immediately after breakfast to explore the land part of this Eastern
Venice. Entering at the city gate, on the left bank of the river, near
the Maharajah's palace, we walked past a row of trumpery pop-guns, on
green and red carriages, and so through the most filthy and odoriferous
bazaar I ever met with, till we reached the residence of Saifula Baba,
the great shawl merchant of Sirinugger. Here we found a noted shawl
fancier inspecting the stock, and were inducted to the mysteries of
the different fabrics. Some that we saw were of beautiful workmanship,
but dangerous to an uninitiated purchaser. They ranged from 300 to
1,000 rupees generally, but could be ordered to an almost unlimited
extent of price. After inspecting a quantity of Pushmeena and other
local manufactures, Mr. Saifula Baba handed us tea and sweetmeats,
after the fashion of his country; and we adjourned to the abode of a
worker in papier mache, where we underwent a second edition of tea
and sweetmeats, and inspected a number of curiosities. The chief
and only beauty of the work was in the strangeness of the design;
and some of the shawl patterns, reproduced on boxes, &c., were
pretty in their way, but as manufacturers of papier mache simply,
the Cashmeeries were a long way behind the age.
On reaching home, we found that the Maharajah had sent his salaam,
together with the information that he was going to give a nach and
dinner, to which we were invited.
JULY 3. -- After continuing our explorations of Sirinugger, we
repaired, about seven o'clock, to the Maharajah's palace, where we
were received by a guard of honour of sixty men and four officers.,
the latter in gold embroidered dresses, and hung all over with
ear-rings and finery of divers sorts and kinds.
Ascending the stairs, we were met by the DEEWAN, or prime minister,
who conducted us into an open sort of terrace over the river, where
we found the Maharajah with the few English officers already arrived
seated on either side of him, and the nach-girls, about twenty in
number, squatted in a semicircle opposite them. Standing behind his
Highness were colonels of regiments and native dignitaries of all
sorts, dressed in cloth of gold and jewels, and in every variety
and hue of turban and appointments. A number of these were Sikhs;
and magnificent-looking men they were, with their flowing dress and
fiercely-twisted whiskers and mustachios. The nach-girls, too --
a motley group -- were attired in all the hues of the rainbow, and
with the white-robed musicians behind them, awaited in patience the
signal to commence. In singular contrast to this glittering throng,
which formed the court, were the guests whom the Maharajah, on this
occasion, delighted to honour. The British officer appeared generally
in the national but uncourtly costume of a shooting jacket! and
though some few had donned their uniform, and one rejoiced in the
traditional swallow-tail of unmistakeable civilization, neither the
one nor the other contrasted favourably in point of grace with the
Cashmerian rank and fashion.
After shaking hands with his Highness, who prides himself upon his
English way of accomplishing that ceremony, and does it by slipping
into one's hand what might be taken for a dying flat fish, we took
our seats, and the dancing began shortly afterwards. Though on a
more magnificent scale than anything I had seen of the kind before,
the programme was flat and insipid enough. The ladies came out two and
two, and went through a monotonous die-away movement, acting, dancing,
and singing all at the same time, and showing off their red-stained
palms and the soles of their feet to the best advantage. Some of the
women were very pretty, but very properly they modified their charms
by dressing in the most unbecoming manner possible. Their head-dress
was a little cloth of gold and silver cap hung all round with pendent
ornaments, and these were becoming enough, but the remainder of the
dress was much more trying. A short body of shot silk was separated
by a natural border from a gauze skirt, which hung down perfectly
straight and innocent of fulness, and allowed a pair of white pyjamas
to appear beneath. These were fastened tightly round the ancles,
which were encircled by little bunches of the tinkling bells, which
the ladies make such use of in the dance. Round the shoulders comes
a filmy scarf of various colours, which also plays a prominent part
in all their movements, and answers in its way to the fan of more
accomplished Western belles.
After each couple had gone through the whole of their performances,
they used to squat themselves down suddenly in the most ungraceful
style imaginable, and were then relieved by another pair of artistes
from the group.
One lady, in addition to the dance, favoured us with "the Marseillaise"
with the French words, being occasionally prompted by the head
of the orchestra, who nearly worked himself into a frenzy while
accompanying the dancers with both vocal and instrumental music at
the same time. The Maharajah himself was plainly dressed in white
robes, with a pair of pale-green striped silk pantaloons fitting his
legs like stockings from the knee down, and terminating in a pair of
English socks, of which he seemed immensely proud. His turban was of
the palest shade of green, and (in strong contrast to the rest of his
court) without any ornament whatever. The little heir to the throne --
a nice little blackamoor of about eight years of age -- was, like his
father, perched upon a chair, and arrayed in a green and gold turban,
pants, and socks, with the addition of a velvet gold-embroidered coat,
while round his neck were three or four valuable necklaces, one of
pear-shaped emeralds of great size and beauty. After a few dances the
doors of the banqueting-room were thrown open, and his Highness led
the way into dinner with the commissioner. On entering, we found a
capital dinner laid out English fashion, and with a formidable army
of black bottles ranged along the table. The Maharajah, however, had
disappeared, and we were left to feed without a host. The grandees,
meanwhile, remained outside, and still enjoyed the dances, ranging
themselves upon their haunches in front of the rows of chairs which
not one among them would have dared to trust himself in for either
love or money. Considering that our entertainer was a Hindoo, and
that his dinner-giving appliances were limited, each person having
to bring his own knife, fork, spoon, and chair, we fared very well,
and after having drunk his health, again assembled in the court,
where we found Rumbeer Singh still occupied with the wearisome nach,
and reattired in a gorgeous dress of green velvet and gold. After a
short stay he got up, and we all followed his example, glad enough
to bring the entertainment to an end, and betake ourselves to our
boats. At the stairs there was a desperate encounter with innumerable
boatmen, each boat having six, eight, or ten sailors, and all being
equally anxious to uphold the credit of their craft by being the
first to land their masters safe, at home. We were fortunate enough to
reach our own at once, and, with a shouting crew, away we dashed up
the river, leaving the others struggling, fighting, and flourishing
their paddles in the air, in a way which was more suggestive of an
insurrection scene in Masaniello than the departure of guests from
a peaceable gentleman's own hall door on the night of an evening party.
On the stairs there was an extraordinary assemblage of slippers, which
seemed to hold the same relative position that hats and cloaks do in
more enlightened communities -- that is, the good ones were taken by
the owners of the bad, and the proprietors of the bad ones were fain
to make the best of the exchange. Next morning our khidmutgar came up
with a most doleful countenance and presented to our notice a pair of
certainly most ill-favoured slippers, which a fellow true-believer had
INADVERTENTLY substituted for a pair of later date. The lost ones had,
in fact, only recently been received from the boot-maker; and the
blow was difficult to bear with resignation, even by the saintliest
follower of Islam -- a reputation which our retainer came short of
by a very long way indeed.
JULY 4. -- Having an accumulation of letters to answer, we devoted the
day to writing -- merely enjoying a little OTIUM CUM DIG. -- in the
evening, reclining in our boat while serenaded by the crew of boatmen.
JULY 5. -- Walked up, before daybreak, to the Tukht e Suleeman,
or Solomon's throne, "the mountainous Portal," which Moore speaks
of in LALLA ROOKH, and which forms the most striking landmark in
the valley.[8]
From the summit there was a curious view of the multitudinous wooden
houses and the sinuous windings of the river, which could alone be
obtained from such a bird's-eye point of inspection. An old temple
at the top was in the hands of the Hindoo faction, being dedicated
to the goddess Mahadewee, and in charge of it I found two of the
dirtiest fukeers, or religious mendicants, I ever had the pleasure
of meeting. One was lying asleep, with his feet in a heap of dust and
ashes, and the other was listlessly sitting, without moving a muscle,
warming himself in the morning sun. Both were almost naked, and had
their bodies and faces smeared with ashes and their hair long and
matted. They appeared to have arrived at a state of almost entire
abstraction, and neither of them even raised his eyes or seemed to
be in the slightest degree aware of my presence, although I took a
sketch of one of them, and stared at both, very much as I would have
done at some new arrival of animals in the Zoological Gardens.
In the evening we went again to Saifula Baba's and visited the
workrooms, where we were much astonished by the quickness with which
the people worked the intricate shawl patterns with a simple needle,
and no copy to guide them.
The first stages of the work are not very promising, but the finished
result, when pressed and rolled and duly exhibited by that true
believer Saifula Baba, in his snowy gown and turban, was certainly
in every way worthy of its reputation.
Returning home, we visited a garden where any of the English visitors
who die in the valley are buried -- the Maharajah presenting a
Cashmere shawl, in some instances, to wrap the body in. There were
about eight or ten monuments built of plaster, with small square
slabs for inscriptions. One of these was turned topsy-turvey, which
was not to be wondered at, for a native almost always holds English
characters upside-down when either trying to decipher them himself
or when holding them to be read by others.
JULY 6. -- In the early morning I ascended to the throne of Solomon,
in order to get a sketch of the Fort of Hurree Purbut, and in the
afternoon we repaired to the lake behind the town, where there was a
grand Mela or fair, on the water, to which the Maharajah and all his
court went in state. The lake is beautifully situated at the foot of
the mountains, and was covered so densely in many parts with weed and
water-plants that it bore quite the appearance of a floating garden;
and as the innumerable boats paddled about, with their bright and
sunny cargoes, talking and laughing and enjoying themselves to their
heart's content, the scene began to identify itself in some measure
with Moore's description of the "Sunny lake of cool Cashmere," and
its "Plane-tree isle reflected clear," although the poet's eyes had
never rested on either lake or isle. Putting poetry on one side,
however, for the present, we made our way to the extremity of the
lake, in order to pay a visit to his Highness's gaol, where we were
received by a very civil gaoler, equipped with a massive sword and
dilapidated shield. We found 110 prisoners in the place, employed
generally in converting dhan into chawul, or, in other words,
clearing the rice-crop. There was also a mill for mustard oil, and
the most primitive machine for boring fire-arms ever invented, both
worked by water-power. The prison dress was uniform in the extreme:
it consisted simply of a suit of heavy leg-irons and nothing more!
After seeing the fair, we paddled across through a perfect water-meadow
to the Shalimar gardens, where we found the Rajah and his suite
just taking their departure. The vista on entering the gardens was
extremely pretty: four waterfalls appear at the same moment, sending
a clear sheet of crystal water over a broad stone slab, and gradually
receding from sight in the wooded distance. A broad canal runs right
through the gardens, bridged at intervals by summer-houses and crossed
by carved and quaintly-fashioned stepping stones. At the extremity
there is a magnificent baradurree of black marble, which looks as if
it had been many centuries in existence, and had originally figured in
some very different situation. The pillars were entire to a length of
seven feet, and were highly polished from the people leaning against
them. Around this, in reservoirs of water, were about two hundred
fountains, all spouting away together, and on one side a sheet of
the most perfectly still water I ever saw. It appeared exactly like
a large looking-glass, and it was impossible to discern where the
artificial bank which inclosed it either began or terminated.
In these gardens it was that Selim, or Jehangeer the son of Akbar,
used to spend so many of his days with the far-famed Noor Jehan in the
beginning of the seventeenth century, and here was the scene of their
reconciliation, as related by Feramorz to Lalla Rookh ere he revealed
himself to her as her future lord, the king of Bucharia. From these
founts and streams it was that the fair Persian sought to entice her
lord, with "Fly to the desert, fly with me!"
"When breathing, as she did, a tone
To earthly lutes and lips unknown;
With every chord fresh from the touch
Of Music's spirit, -- 'twas too much!"
"The light of the universe" overcomes even the "conqueror of the
world." Thinking it, after all, wiser to kiss and be friends than be
sulky, he surrenders at discretion: --
"And, happier now for all their sighs,
As on his arm her head reposes,
She whispers him with laughing eyes,
'Remember, love, the Feast of Roses!' "
Leaving the favourite haunts of the "magnificent son of Akbar," we
crossed the lake again to see the Maharajah inspect a party of about
2,000 soldiers, who were departing for the war at Girgit. Nothing
in the way of supplies being procurable near the scene of action,
the greater part of the review was taken up by the marching past of a
horde of Cashmeree and mountain porters, heavily laden with the sinews
of war. According to report, the pay of the army here is about five
shillings per mensem, with a ration of two pounds of rice per diem.
In the evening, the number of boats congregated on the lake
was marvellous. All were perfectly crammed with Cashmerian
pleasure-seekers; but the turbaned faithful, in spite of the pressure,
in no way lost their dignity, but with pipes and coffee enjoyed
themselves in apparently entire unconsciousness of there being a soul
on the lake beside themselves. The most wonderful sight, however,
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