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.
The crops around consisted chiefly of bearded wheat (kanuk), barley
(jow), anik, tronba, and gunhar, all otherwise nameless; and also a
small quantity of tobacco, turnips, and radishes.
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