The View Was Beautiful The Whole Way;
But We Had Been So Gorged With Scenery Of All Sorts And Kinds,
That Rugged Passes, Shady Dells, Waterfalls, &C., However Precious
They May Become In Future Recollection, Were Almost Thrown Away
Upon Us For The Time Being.
Breakfasted under the pine trees, near
an ancient temple, and halted at Uree, where there was a baraduree
for travellers.
Except, however, to very dirty travellers indeed,
it would be of little use. While descending a very steep part of
the road, my saddle suddenly slipped over the pony's round little
carcase on to his neck, and, NOLENS VOLENS, I came to the ground,
the pony remaining in a position very nearly perpendicular, with
his tail towards the heavens and his head between my legs, in which
predicament he luckily remained perfectly quiet, until the bhistie,
coming up behind, set us both on our proper extremities once more.
OCTOBER 5. - Started for Chukothee, and thinking, in an evil moment,
to walk off the effects of my late mishap, I essayed the fifteen
miles on foot.
Long before reaching half way, however, I began to look about for
anything in the shape of a pony, that might appear in sight; but,
none being forthcoming, I was obliged to finish as I had begun, and
at last reached our destination, a snug little village, buried in
fields of yellow rice upon the hill-side. On the way, I fell in with
a fine old Mussulman Zemindar, trudging along on his return to Delhi,
from paying a visit to Sirinugger.
Being an unusually talkative old gentleman, we fraternized by the way,
and he told me that he had been to see the civil commissioner of his
district, now acting as commissioner in the valley, to make his salaam,
relative to a "jageer," or Government grant of certain villages to the
amount of some three thousand rupees per annum, which he had succeeded
in obtaining on account of his loyalty during the recent mutiny.
Of this three thousand rupees, it appeared that only one thousand
would come into his own pocket, the remainder being payable as rent,
&c. to Government.
His son had also a jageer of twelve thousand rupees, so that both he
and his family were loyal and well to do in the world. His ideas of
Cashmere were rather amusing. He appeared to think it a miserable spot
enough, compared to his own land, and the only advantage he could hit
upon, was, in my estimation, quite the reverse, viz: THAT SIRINUGGER
WAS VERY HOT IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER.
The rice he had a supreme contempt for. It was not to be compared
with the Indian rice, and the Cashmeeries he pooh-poohed, as being
no judges whatever of its qualities, and, in fact; not fit to eat
rice at all. He seemed quite unable to understand my walking when I
could ride; or, indeed, why I should leave such a charming country
as India to be uncomfortable in Cashmere, without even having any
jageer business to transact as an excuse.
Our coolies, being an unusually miserable crew, we got breakfast about
two P.M. To-day our tent lamp finished its erratic life, according to
the Dhobie's account, by self-destruction! That good for nothing piece
of charcoal had, however, doubtless dashed the solid cut-glass globe,
which formed the chief glory of the instrument, against a rock, while
thinking of his hubble bubble, and his little blackamoors at home.
The lamp had got over all the difficulties of the road from Lahore to
Ladak and back, and had been quite a peep-show to half the natives of
Thibet, who were never tired of regarding their multiplied countenances
in the numerous cut circles of the glass shade, so that we felt quite
grieved at its melancholy loss. Our water bottle also to-day finished
its existence, and the table came into camp a bundle of sticks;
so that everything seemed to betoken the approaching dissolution of
the expedition. The farm-yard consists of five ducks, all strangers,
and a pet sheep, and the khiltas look haggard and dilapidated in the
extreme. The musical cock, alone, of old friends still survives,
but he appears in weak health, and his constitution is evidently
undermined by the changes of climate it has undergone. We were here
worried by a party of strolling mountebanks from the Punjab, who
persisted in horrifying us by making two young girls and three boys,
all apparently entirely destitute of bones, stand upon their heads,
and go through similar performances on the grass. The girl actually
pattered a measure with her feet upon the back of her head, and
the proprietors seemed utterly unable to account for our apathetic
disregard of so extremely talented and interesting a performance.
OCTOBER 6. - Left for Hutteian, about fifteen miles off. Ponies
being scarce, I had to walk part of the way; but the sepoy, pitching
by chance upon our friends, the Punjabees, triumphantly carried
off a stout little animal of theirs for my use. Before mounting,
however, I was mobbed by the tumbling family, EN MASSE, who went on
their knees in their solicitations to be exempt from the seizure
of their property. Finding me obdurate in retaining the pony at a
fair valuation, with "the army" to bear me out, they proceeded to
diplomatic measures to gain their end. First, a very small child,
choosing a stony place in the path, suddenly stood upon her head,
and proceeded to form black knots with her body. Finding that this
only caused me to threaten her father with a stick, they produced
a blind girl, who threw herself half naked at my feet and cried
by order. The poor creature had lost her sight by the small-pox,
and I had remarked her the day before patiently toiling over rocks
and broken paths with one little child in her arms, and another half
leading, half obstructing her, endeavouring to guide her footsteps
down the rocks.
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