The People Were
A Mixture Of Cashmeeries, Chinese, Tartars, Bengalees, And Indians Of
All Sorts And Sects, And More Idle, Good-For-Nothing Looking Scoundrels
I Never Laid Eyes On.
One most amusing group of Mahomedan exquisites
reminded one forcibly of PUNCH'S Noah's ark costumes and Bond Street
specimens of fashion.
They were dressed in exaggerated turbans and
long white Chogas, or loose coats, which reached down to their heels;
and, as arm in arm, with gentle swagger, they sauntered through the
bazaar, they had, in addition to their heavy swellishness, an air of
Eastern listlessness to which the most exquisite of their European
prototypes could never hope to attain. On reaching our camp we found
another traveller had added his little canvas to the scene; it was
one of the Government Survey, whom the natives invariably designate
by the comprehensive title of "the Compass Wallahs." Wallah is,
in Hindostanee, as nearly as possible an equivalent to "fellow,"
and in explaining the character of this particular order of Wallah,
the accent is always strong on the second syllable of the compass. The
Compass Wallah in question we found quite a wild man of the mountains;
his face, from changes of heat and cold and long exposure, was burnt
and blistered into all sorts of colours, and, to make his appearance
more generally striking, he wore as head-dress, a flyaway, puggery,
or turban of blue cotton, of the most voluminous dimensions and
wonderful construction imaginable. He gave us an amusing account
of his operations among the clouds; how he always rode a cow! and
was so much alone that he at times began to doubt the existence of
other white men in creation besides himself; how he was SEA sick at
first, and unable to sleep at night from the great rarification of the
atmosphere, &c. He joined us during dinner, just in time for a triumph
of a plum pudding which our cook had unexpectedly produced, and his
heart was so gladdened and expanded by either the suet, the raisins,
or the brandy, that he chatted away until the dissipated mountain
hour of eleven o'clock, when we sent him off to bed, much pleased
with his entertainment, and again reassured, at least for a time,
of the continued existence, not only of white men in the world, but
of their plum puddings. Among other statistics he gave us the height
of Ladak, as 11,000 feet, and that of the recently discovered monarch
of the mountains, now set at rest as belonging to the Himalayan range,
as being 29,003 feet above the level of the sea.[26]
AUGUST 15. - Employed all the morning in endeavouring to procure
supplies of tea, and after unearthing a queer-looking package
containing seven pounds and a half, we differed about the price,
the proprietor demanding twenty-four shillings, or about twice its
local value.
AUGUST 16. - There being no tidings of the arrival of expected
caravans, we marched for the monastery of Hemis, crossing the Indus
immediately after leaving Ladak, and following it up towards its
source. Outside the town we passed a mound of the inscribed stones,
which must have been nearly a quarter of a mile in length, and probably
contained as many as 30,000. The left bank of the river, which
thus formed our path, was a continuation of detached huts, forming
no regular villages, and affording very little shade or apparent
prospect of shelter for man or beast. The right bank, however, was
studded with picturesque-looking little villages, built generally on
rocky summits, and surrounded by tombs and Mani panees, to an extent
almost to rival the towns themselves in size and importance. About
nine miles on the road we halted for breakfast, on the confines of a
desert of smooth stones, from which the heat ascended like vapour,
and made our eye-balls ache again. There was no shade in sight,
however, and milk was here forthcoming, so we made the best of a bad
situation, and, after our repast, lost no time in getting again under
weigh. After a hot tramp over a perfect desert, we reached the wooded
little village of Chunga, where, as it was getting late, we called
a halt and pitched our camp. All hands being tired by their march,
we got our dinner at nine o'clock.
AUGUST 17. - Started early for Hemis. From the formation of the
mountains in which it is situated, the entrance to the village opens
upon the traveller suddenly and as if by magic; and as we tramped
this morning along the parched and sandy desert, welcome indeed was
the unexpected vision of trees and rushing water which the sharp turn
presented to our astonished gaze.
The entrance to the gorge in which the monastery is situated was, as
usual, quite covered with Mani panees and walls of inscribed stones;
one of the former was studded with human skulls, and otherwise
ornamented, in a way that proved the vicinity of some stronghold of
Lama talent, though not perhaps of the very highest order.
The monastery we found situated in a beautifully-wooded valley,
thickly planted, and having a dashing little torrent foaming through
the centre.
It was built as usual, on the very face of the rock, and towering
above it was an airy fort, ensconced among a number of crows'-nest
habitations, perched about apparently with more regard to effect
than comfort.
While waiting for the kitchen to come up, we inspected the monastery,
and were waited upon by half-a-dozen Lamas, who showed us through the
various temples of the gods. Originally containing some two hundred
Lamas, its numbers had now dwindled down, by their account, to fifteen
or sixteen. We, however, saw actually more than that number ourselves
while wandering through the building.
They owned to having treasure in the monastery to the amount of three
lakhs of rupees ([pound sterling]30,000), but of this we saw small
signs during our inspection.
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