The Rest
Of The Force Also Appreciated The Day Of Rest, And Made Themselves
Comfortable After Their Fashion Under Our Grove Of Trees.
In the afternoon I ascended the mountain opposite to reconnoitre and
inspect the curious formation of strata, which formed the principal
feature of the place.
The ascent I found at first to be over a soft crumbling small stone,
resembling ashes, but of various colours, and in distinctly-marked
strata. These were generally of pinkish red and grey, and from them
in large masses, rose enormous blocks of concrete, in all manner
of forms and shapes, some like towers and fortifications, and
others standing out boldly by themselves, worn by the weather into
holes and ridges. After a considerably difficult ascent, from the
crumbling nature of the stones, I reached the summit of the mountain,
and climbing a concrete monster which capped it, had a magnificent
survey of the mountain ranges and country around. In every direction
the eye rested on snowy summits, and the wind from them fell coolly
and refreshingly after the toil of ascent under a hot sun.
Returning through the village, I found the natives hard at work
collecting their crops of wheat and barley, and stowing them away,
generally upon the flat tops of their houses. They seemed altogether
a peaceful, primitive race; but, although their ground appears in
first-rate order, they themselves are uncultivated and dirty in the
extreme. The ladies, I am sorry to say, are even rather worse in this
matter than the gentlemen. The female costume consists generally of
robes of sheep and goat skins thrown across the shoulders; while
a long tail of twisted worsted plaits, looking like a collection
of old-fashioned bell-ropes, forms the chief decoration. This is
attached to the back hair, and hangs down quite to the heels, where it
terminates in a large tuft, with tassels and divers balls of worsted
attached to it. On a hill overhanging the village were the remains
of a mud fort, which had been pulled down by Gulab Singh in one of
his excursions to Thibet, with a view to bringing the inhabitants
to a proper sense of their position, and enforcing the payment of
his tribute.
The number of battered and deserted huts about the village is accounted
for by the erratic habits of the people, which induce them never to
stay long in one set of houses, but to flit from one side of the valley
and from one settlement to another as the fancy strikes them. That the
large increase of the flea population among such a race, however, may
have something to do with their restlessness, seems more than probable.
Except when impressed for government employ, they seldom leave the
vicinity of their villages, and one old gentleman told me he had
never been even as far as a place called Lotzum, which is only two kos
off! The religion seems to be a mixture of Buddhism and Mahomedanism -
the latter on the decrease as we get farther into the country.
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