By The Man's Account Who Found Him, He Was So Weak,
That He Was Unable To Eat The Chupatties Thrown
Across to him; and,
his rescuer accordingly leaving with him some meal, and means to make a
fire, came on
To Sucknez, and from thence sent out a party to carry him
in. Sending a horse and some supplies for him, we looked forward with
some interest to his own account of his most unsought-for adventures.
The villagers here, we found, were in the habit of making regular
expeditions among their crops at night, to keep off the bears who
prowl about in search of food. Armed with torches, they keep up
a tremendous shouting all through the dark hours, during the time
their grain is ripening; and thinking to get a daylight view of the
robbers, I started up the mountain with a native guide and a rifle. My
"sportsman," however, in spite of many promises, failed in showing
me anything more savage than a preserve of wild raspberry-trees,
on which I regaled with much satisfaction.
A curious custom in the valley is that of hanging quantities of hay
up among the branches of trees, and its object puzzled me immensely,
till my guide informed me that in the winter the snow lies five and six
yards in depth, and that the supplies of hay, which now look only meant
for camel-leopards, are then easily reached by the flocks of sheep
which abound in the valley. At present these were all collected among
the mountains, to be out of the way of the harvest, and this accounts
for the enormous herd we had seen while descending from the pass.
SEPTEMBER 9. - Found the sun brightly shining again this morning,
and everything looking fresh and beautiful after the rain. The man
who had gone with supplies to the cook returned with news that he was
ill from the effects of cold and fasting, and not able to come on to
us. While at breakfast, my yesterday's guide brought us in a bowl of
raspberries, which gave pleasant token of the change from the desolate
country we had recently passed through, to the land of plenty we had
reached. We also got about eleven seers (22 lbs.) of virgin honey,
for which we paid three rupees. While trying it for breakfast,
a dense swarm of the original proprietors came looking for their
stores, and the noise they made buzzing about, made one fancy they
contemplated walking off bodily with the jars. In the evening our
long-lost cook again returned to the bosom of his family. The poor
creature looked regularly worn out. From the combined effects of snow
and fire he was quite lame; his turban, most of his clothes, and all
his small possessions, had vanished while struggling through the thick
cover, and he himself had subsisted for two nights and three days,
unsheltered and alone, upon nothing but tobacco and snow! On losing
his way, not thinking of crossing the snow-bridge, he struck right
up the mountain side, in search, first of the path, and afterwards
of some hut or shelter. He then gradually got into thick and almost
impervious cover; not a habitation of any sort was within miles of him,
and thus he wandered about for two days and nights. On the third day
he descended again towards the torrent, and, falling and stumbling,
reached a rock on its bank, and there seating himself, was, by the
merest chance, seen by the passing traveller from the other side
of the torrent. Making signs that he was starving, this man threw
him some chupatties, and these, wonderful to relate, the cook put
in his pocket without touching. Supposing him to be either too weak,
or else, even while starving, too strict a Hindoo to eat cooked food,
his rescuer then threw him across some meal in his turban, and went
off for assistance. The poor creature was rather proud, I think, to
find himself the centre of attraction, as well as of being valued at
twenty rupees; and, as he falteringly related his sorrows and escape
from death, the coolies and the rest of the forces gathered round
him, listening with wide open mouths to the wonderful narrative of
his adventures.
SEPTEMBER 10. - Took another day's rest to give our unfortunate cook
a little time to recover his energies. In the evening, the villagers
produced us a couple of hives of honey, which we packed away in
earthen jars for transport to the plains. The amount was 391/2 seers,
or 79 lbs. for which we paid ten rupees.
The unwillingness of the people to produce their honey the "Invincible
One" accounted for by saying that they were afraid of OUR not paying
them. On inquiry, however, the real cause turned out to be, that the
Sepoy himself was in the habit of exacting a heavy tax on all purchases
on our part, and fear of him, not us, was the true difficulty.
In the evening, we took a tour through the village, and DISCOURSED,
as well as we could, a native Zemindar, whom we found with his
household around him, gathering in his crop of grain, which had been
partially destroyed by the early snow. His land appeared to be about
four acres in extent, and for this, he told us, he paid twelve rupees
per annum to the Maharajah of Cashmere. He failed signally, however,
in explaining how he produced that amount by his little farm. The
produce of his land sufficed only to feed himself and his family,
and the proceeds of the sale of wool, belonging to his twelve sheep,
he estimated at only two rupees. Besides these, he possessed a few
cows, and appeared as cheery and contented a landholder as I ever met,
in spite of his losses by the snows, and his inability to make out,
even by description, his ten rupees of ground-rent to the Maharajah.
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