About The Eleventh March From Srinagar, At
Kargil, A Change For The Worse Occurs, And The Remaining Marches To
The
Capital of Ladakh are over blazing gravel or surfaces of denuded
rock, the singular Caprifolia horrida, with its dark-green
Mass of
wavy ovate leaves on trailing stems, and its fair, white, anemone-
like blossom, and the graceful Clematis orientalis, the only
vegetation.
Crossing a raging affluent of the Dras by a bridge which swayed and
shivered, the top of a steep hill offered a view of a great valley
with branches sloping up into the ravines of a complexity of mountain
ranges, from 18,000 to 21,000 feet in altitude, with glaciers at
times descending as low as 11,000 feet in their hollows. In
consequence of such possibilities of irrigation, the valley is green
with irrigated grass and barley, and villages with flat roofs
scattered among the crops, or perched on the spurs of flame-coloured
mountains, give it a wild cheerfulness. These Dras villages are
inhabited by hardy Dards and Baltis, short, jolly-looking, darker,
and far less handsome than the Kashmiris; but, unlike them, they
showed so much friendliness, as well as interest and curiosity, that
I remained with them for two days, visiting their villages and seeing
the 'sights' they had to show me, chiefly a great Sikh fort, a yak
bull, the zho, a hybrid, the interiors of their houses, a magnificent
view from a hilltop, and a Dard dance to the music of Dard reed
pipes. In return I sketched them individually and collectively as
far as time allowed, presenting them with the results, truthful and
ugly. I bought a sheep for 2s. 3d., and regaled the camp upon it,
the three which were brought for my inspection being ridden by boys
astride.
The evenings in the Dras valley were exquisite. As soon as the sun
went behind the higher mountains, peak above peak, red and snow-
slashed, flamed against a lemon sky, the strong wind moderated into a
pure stiff breeze, bringing up to camp the thunder of the Dras, and
the musical tinkle of streams sparkling in absolute purity. There
was no more need for boiling and filtering. Icy water could be drunk
in safety from every crystal torrent.
Leaving behind the Dras villages and their fertility, the narrow road
passes through a flaming valley above the Dras, walled in by bare,
riven, snow-patched peaks, with steep declivities of stones, huge
boulders, decaying avalanches, walls and spires of rock, some
vermilion, others pink, a few intense orange, some black, and many
plum-coloured, with a vitrified look, only to be represented by
purple madder. Huge red chasms with glacier-fed torrents, occasional
snowfields, intense solar heat radiating from dry and verdureless
rock, a ravine so steep .and narrow that for miles together there is
not space to pitch a five-foot tent, the deafening roar of a river
gathering volume and fury as it goes, rare openings, where willows
are planted with lucerne in their irrigated shade, among which the
traveller camps at night, and over all a sky of pure, intense blue
purpling into starry night, were the features of the next three
marches, noteworthy chiefly for the exchange of the thundering Dras
for the thundering Suru, and for some bad bridges and infamous bits
of road before reaching Kargil, where the mountains swing apart,
giving space to several villages. Miles of alluvium are under
irrigation there, poplars, willows, and apricots abound, and on some
damp sward under their shade at a great height I halted for two days
to enjoy the magnificence of the scenery and the refreshment of the
greenery. These Kargil villages are the capital of the small State
of Purik, under the Governorship of Baltistan or Little Tibet, and
are chiefly inhabited by Ladakhis who have become converts to Islam.
Racial characteristics, dress, and manners are everywhere effaced or
toned down by Mohammedanism, and the chilling aloofness and haughty
bearing of Islam were very pronounced among these converts.
The daily routine of the journey was as follows: By six a.m. I sent
on a coolie carrying the small tent and lunch basket to await me
half-way. Before seven I started myself, with Usman Shah in front of
me, leaving the servants to follow with the caravan. On reaching the
shelter tent I halted for two hours, or till the caravan had got a
good start after passing me. At the end of the march I usually found
the tent pitched on irrigated ground, near a hamlet, the headman of
which provided milk, fuel, fodder, and other necessaries at fixed
prices. 'Afternoon tea' was speedily prepared, and dinner,
consisting of roast meat and boiled rice, was ready two hours later.
After dinner I usually conversed with the headman on local interests,
and was in bed soon after eight. The servants and muleteers fed and
talked till nine, when the sound of their 'hubble-bubbles' indicated
that they were going to sleep, like most Orientals, with their heads
closely covered with their wadded quilts. Before starting each
morning the account was made out, and I paid the headman personally.
The vagaries of the Afghan soldier, when they were not a cause of
annoyance, were a constant amusement, though his ceaseless changes of
finery and the daily growth of his baggage awakened grave suspicions.
The swashbuckler marched four miles an hour in front of me with a
swinging military stride, a large scimitar in a heavily ornamented
scabbard over his shoulder. Tanned socks and sandals, black or white
leggings wound round from ankle to knee with broad bands of orange or
scarlet serge, white cambric knickerbockers, a white cambric shirt,
with a short white muslin frock with hanging sleeves and a leather
girdle over it, a red-peaked cap with a dark-blue pagri wound round
it, with one end hanging over his back, earrings, a necklace,
bracelets, and a profusion of rings, were his ordinary costume; and
in his girdle he wore a dirk and a revolver, and suspended from it a
long tobacco pouch made of the furry skin of some animal, a large
leather purse, and etceteras.
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