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CLIMBING AND EXPLORATION
IN THE KARAKORAM-HIMALAYAS
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CLIMBING AND EXPLORATION
Karakoram- Himalayas
WILLIAM MARTIN CONWAY
M.A., F,S.A., F,R.G.S.
Viet-Fresidtnt of tht Alpint Club ; fermtrly Rescoe Professor of Art in
UnivcTsily Collect Livtrfoel, Vidoria UniversUy
With Three Hundred Illustrations by A. D, McCORMICK
AND A MAP
T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
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In a hundred ages of the youd, I could not tell the
yloriea of Himtichal. As the dew is dried up by
the morning sun, so are the sins of vtankind by
the sitjht of Eivuichal.
Manas-khanda PubAna
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PREFACE.
IT is now tirm for me to take leave of this book. The
journey which it commemorates was throughout delightful,
and the revival of so many pleasant rejniniscences has made
the work of writing a continual enjoyment. It has recalled
to mind pleasant hours spent with friendly companions, and
the charming acquaintances we were privileged to vmke with
our fellow-countrymen on the frontiers of India — tlie men
■who are there maintaining and extending so worthily the
prestige of England's imperial power and the honour of her
name. In the course of my story I have mentioned from
time to time the kindnesses and the help received from various
personSf to whom our thanks are due and are heartily rendered.
I desire also to thank Mr. J. F. Duthie, the head of the
Botanical Department at Saharanpur, for bringing my
collection of plants safely down from Gilgit and for other
valuable assistance. To Mr. John Eliot, Meteorological
Reporter to the Indian Government, my thanks are also
due for much valuable information ivillingly supplied. If
I have omitted to acknowledge any oilier help rendered to
m£, I trust that such omission, which is assuredly accidental,
will not be recorded against me.
A portion of the cost of the expedition was covered by
grants from the Boyal Geographical Society, the Royal
Society, and the British Association. Such material help
deserves warm recognition at my hands. The expedition
was much more expensive than it need have been, but ex-
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X PREFACE.
perience lias to he purchased; mine is at the service of any
future traveller who chooses to apply for it.
There were only two previous explorers of any part of the
snowy regions, visited by us, whose work calls for mention in
thisplace. They were Colonel Godwin-Austen, F.B.8., and
Captain Younghushand. The former, when Assistant in
the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, visited the
Karakoram mountains in the years 1860 and 1861. He
has described his journeys in a paper, read before the Royal
Geographical Society on the llth of January, 1864, and
published in the Journal of the Society for that year {p. 19,
et sqc|.)> Se crossed the Skoro La, ascended the Baltoro
glacier to the neighbourhood of where our "Hollow Camp "
was situated, and the Punmah glacier to one of the Mustagh
passes. From the foot of the Biafo glacier he mounted the
east hank for about five miles and there ascended " a low
knoh," whence he could look straight up towards the snow-
field at the glacier's head. He then descended the Braldo
river, turned up the Basha valley, and reached the Nushik
La from the south, returning by the same route to Arundo,
and so to Shigar and Skardo. During this journey lie was
occupied in making a plane-table survey of the mountain
regions. It must be remembered that Vie best then existing
mountain-map was Dufour's Siviss Atlas. It was ?iot, of
course, the intention of the Indian Government to rival even
that, but merely to indicate the position of watersheds, peaks,
and main ridges, and the limits of glaciers. Colonel Godwin-
Austen accomplished the work thus required of him. The
draughtsman, who prepared his survey for the engravei;
unfortunately had no conception of the aspect of snowy
mountains, and altogether failed to distinguish between
rock and snow aretes and faces, tvith the result that, in the
finished map, the glaciers appear to fill the bottoms of
ditches between rounded and, as it were, grassy ridges.
Colonel Godwin-Austen tells me that all the area of the
Nobujidi Sobundi and Choktoi tributaries of the Punmah
glacier is practically snow- covered, with here and there a
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crest of rock standing out from the white mantle. The map,
as drawn by the draughtsman and engraved, gives no such
impression.
It was the extraordinary appearance of the Karakoram
glaciers, as thus represented, that first drew my attention to
this region and made me desire to explore it. Before starting,
I had an opportunity, through Colonel Godwin- Austen's
kindness, of mseting him; and he gave me many useful
hints. About the same tim^ I was likewise fortunate enough
to meet Captain Younghushand, who, in the year 1887,
reopened the disused Mustagh pass, which gives access from
the north to the basin of tlie Baltoro by way of the Piale
tributary. Tlie account of Ms adventurous passage of this
pass will be found in the Alpine Joamal (xiv. 50).
The expedition made by the brothers Mobert and Adolph
Schlagintweit in 1854-56 into Nepal and other portions of
tlie Sim^layas was not properly a mountaineering expedi-
tion, though some mountains were climbed and a Jieigkt
of 22,239 feet was reached. But Mr. W. W. Graham's
expedition in 1883 to the mountains of Kumaon and Sikkim
was a mountaineering expedition, because Mr. Graham was
a trai7ied climber ; he was accompanied by two Swiss guides
of repute. Emit Boss and Ulrich Kauffmann ; and themaking
of ascents was his object. Unfortunately he was not
acquainted with the use of instruments, did not take
photographs, and was thus without means for fixing his
positions with certainty or for measuring the appi-oximate
altitudes of points reached by him. He believed that he
ascended Kabru, a peak of about 24,000 feet, but his
experiences differ so widely from those of Dr. Gilssfeldt, Mr.
Whymper, Captain Bower, and all the members of my party
at altitudes of 19,000 feet and upwards, that it is more than
likely he was mistaken as to the point he climbed. Though
hereafter he may he proved to have accomplished what lie
thought he accomplished, his ascent cannot for the present
be accepted as authentic.
Mr. Edward Whymper, in his famous expedition made
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in the years 1879-80 to the Great Andes of Ecquador,
showed how a scientific mountaineering expedition should he
organised, and- what work it may attempt to do. I set him
before Tne as a model for imitation, and, though I am con-
scious of having fallen below Jdm in many important respects,
and more especially as a collector, we should not have accom-
plished wlwi we did without his example to spur its on.
The chief results of my work are the map and the present
volume. How much of the former covers new ground or
modifies in important respects tJie representation of physical
features may he easily perceived by comparing it with the
corresponding sheets of the Indian atlas, which are readily
accessible. Tlie two sheets of my map are too large for
incorporation in the ordinary edition of this work, hat tltey
are issued with the Edition de hue. The expense of
engraving this map, as well as tliat of developing my many
photographs, was borne by the Boyal Geographical Society.
It is scarcely necessary to add that my survey does not
pretend to he more than a sketch survey. It was made
under all the disadvantages of rapid travelling and in
almost continuous had weather. The parts were fitted
together by kelp of the points trigononietrically determined
by the Indian Survey.
Though an important part of my work, the viaptoas only a
part. The organisation of the expedition, the collections, and'
the journals occupied most of my time. I wrote every day a
full account of the day's proceedings ; in fact full notes were
jotted down from hour to hour as we went along and carefully
rewritten every evening. The journals thus prepared have
been printed with feiv additions and little more than verbal
changes. What the story thus loses in balance and smooth-
ness, I hope it will gain in truth to themonienfary impression
of fact. Frequent references to and comparisons tvith effects
observed in tlte Alps and elsewhere will he found throughout
these pages. They loHl, I hope, serve to bring before tlie eyes
of European climbers a more vivid notion of Himalayan
scenery than I could otherwise hope to convey. The first
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PREFACE. xiii
few chapters of tite book have been written in a more
flaviboyatit style than the remainder, of set purpose, in tlie
hojje thus to emphasise tJie contrast between tlie luxury of
the plains and tlie barrenness of the hills.
In the matter of mountain nomenclature I have adhered
to Alpine and Caucasian custom. Wliere a pealc has a
native name I use it. Where a peak rises from an alp or
valley with a recognised name, the same name belongs to
the peak. Native names take precedence of and exclude all
others. Mountains that have no names I have named
m,yself, for tlie purposes of this book and map, applying
desci'iptive designations to them and never the names of
persons. I have not called " K. 2" Mount Godwin- Austen,
greatly though I apipreciate that officer's work. I wished
to name the mountain the Watclitowerj but as any alter-
native designation seemed to give offence, where none was
intended, I have confined myself to the letter and number
of the Indian Atlas.
The total result of the expedition can be estimated by the
reader of this volume and of the reports and scientific
mevioranda to be published, in a separate volume with my
maps in the autumn of this year. The length of our journey
and the area of the survey can he estimated by a glance at
the map. The list of altitudes measured will show the
heights we attained. We spent, in all, 84 days on snow
or glacier; we traversed from end to end, for the first
time, tlie three longest known glaciers in tlie world outside
the polar regions; and- we climbed to the top of a peak
approximately 23,000 feet high. The present volume is tlie
literary record of our doings. The collections made include
a series of sphygmograph tracings, which will form the subject
of a paper by Professor Soy, of Cambridge. The collection of
minerals has been reported on by Professor Bonney and Miss
G. A. Baisin. The plants and seeds have been studied and
named at Kew by Mr. W. B. Hemsley luider the direction of
Mr. Thiselton-Dyer. The butterflies were named by Mr. W. F.
Kirhy, of the British Museum, and the moths by Dr. A. G.
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Butler, of the British Museum. The human skulls have
formed the subject of a paper by Mr. W. L. H. Duckworth,
of Cambridge. To all these men of science I return my best
thanks. In addition to these collections I brought home
about a thousand photograplis, and Mr. McGormick made
some three hundred water-colour drawings, and filled five
volumes with pencil sketches.
It only remains for me now to recall tlie friends who went
vnth me, and whose companionship and help made labour
pleasant and work easy. No traveller was ever accompanied
by a better artist than Mr. McCormick, whose illustrations
adorn this volume and wlwse water-colour sketches, some of
which were recently exhibited, liave received on all hands
praise, both high and well merited. No better travelling
guide has ever been found than Mattias Zurbriggen, of
Macugnaga, to wJiose energy so much of our success was
due. Lieut, the Hon. C. G. Bruce (Fifth G-urkhas) and
the four Gurkhas he brought with him were essential to all
we accomplished, and I cannot now take leave of tltem
vnthout again expressing my hearty recognition of all tliey
did for us, and my hope that, as tliey look back on the time
passed in our company, they will not consider that their
labours were spent in vain.
W. M. CONWAY.
LoMDOK, AprU 12f A, 1694.
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CONTENTS.
LONDOH TO AbBOTTABAD
Abbottabad to Srinaoar
In the Vale of Kashuib
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
Bandipub to Burzil Kothi
CHAPTER V.
Thk GROBsma of the Bubzii. Pass to Astor
ASTOB TO GiLOIT
GlLOIT TO DlBBAK .
DtBRAN TO GABCKT
Oarod to Giloit
CHAPTER VII.
OH*PTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
GiLGIT TO TaSHOT
Tashot to Naoyr .
chapter xu.
Naoyr to Baltit and Sauaiyab...
The Sauaiyab Valley
Nagyr to Mir
MlB TO HiSPAB
HiSPAR to Haioutuu
The Nushik La
The Hibpar Pass
The Biafo Glacier
ASKOLE TO BaLTORO
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTEB XIV.
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTEB XVI.
CHAPTEB XVII.
CHAPTEB XVm.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHAPTER XX.
chapteb xxl
Ascent of the Baltoro Glacier
chapteb xxh
Fan Haddle and Throne Glacier
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CONTENTS.
chapteb xxiii.
The Ascent op Pioneer Peak
chapter xxiv.
Footstool Camp to Asrole
CHAPTEB XXV.
ASKOLE TO SkABDO ...
chapter xxvi.
Skabdo to Kaboil
CHAPTEB XXVII.
Kaboil to Leh
chapter xxviii.
Leh and Himis
chapter xxix.
Leh to the Zoji La
chapteb xxx.
Over the Zoji La to Srinagak
Glossary ...
Index
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LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS.
*'He swung bound with the Bope, like t
OF A Pendulum "
Entrance to Pokt Said
Appboaobino Egypt
Coaling at Port Said
At Aden
The Hour of Prayer, Karachi Railway Station
Street Scene, Lahob . .
Street in Lahob ...
Banoit Singh's Sauadh, Labor...
£kka
Auab Sing Thapa, of the Fifth Gurkhas
GuBKHA Dancing at Tandiani
Bhinoino in Dinner at Bagnota
BouDEBusH Starts in an Ekka
LoADiNO THE Mules
Bahim Ali
On the Boad to Gahari Habibulla
Teuple of Bhaniyar
After the Squall
Houses opposite the Chinab Bagh, Sbinaoab ...
The Munbbi Bagh, Sbihagab ...
Temple on the Top of the Takht-i-Suliman
Martand
Pandbethan
Weight on the end
Frontispiece
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Shah Hamadan Mosque, Srinaoab
The Maharaja's Paij.ce from the Jhelam, Sbinaqab
On the Dal Lake
The Shalimab Baqh
On the Dal Lake
GoiNo DOWN tBe Jhglau thbouoh Srinaoar
The Start frou Bandipur
BOATB AT THE ChINAR BaOH
GuRAis Bridge
Traobal Camp
Pabbib's Gbeetino
At Gorais
Looking down the Valley from Banola
Palaver at Bangla
The Me8B Tent
Coolie Smoking an Excavated Pipe
Looking Northwards frou Burzil Camp
Coolies at Bubzil
BuBziL Camp ...
Making a Snow Bust
Mess in the Burzil Hut
Crossing the Burzil Pass ...
Camp on the Boof of Chilang Hut
Pitching Camp at Mikiel ...
Mountains rehind Mikiel
Looking up the Valley from Astor Polo-qround
The Fourth Danceb at Abtor ...
Hut at Earrim
Hauamosh from Bunji ...
Dashkin ...
The Great Dichell Peak
View from Doian Camp
One of the Gundai Peaks, (16,200 Feet)
57
60
76
77
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LIST OF ILLU8TBATI0NS. xxi
On thb Boad to Bunji ... ... ... ... ... 125
Nanoa Pabbat (26,630 Fbbt) fkom Btjnji ... .. 131
"Salaam! I Know Nothino " ... ... ... ... 138
"Bbuce Sahib kk Wasti ! " ... ... ... ... 139
The Baebee at Giloit ... ... ... ... ... 140
GlLQIT FOBT PROM THB NoRTH-WB8T ... ... ... 141
Looking up the Valley fbou Gilgit ... ... ... 142
^^ DaINTOB BoPE-BBtDOB ... ... ... ... ... 146
Sinakab ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 149
The BuLCHi Band ... ... ... ... ... 152
Looking down the Baqbot Valley pbom Bulchi ... ... 154
^ DuBAHNi (20,168 Feet) pbom Dibbuj ... ... ... 157
From Hinabchi Mobaihe ... ... ... ... ... 160
Kabbib Thapa... ... ... ... ... ... 162
Uchubagan Camp ... ... ... ... ... ... 163
Uchubaqan Pass and Sbbpbnt'b Tooth fbou Gabgo ... 168
The Descent from 8bbpbnt'« Tooth ... ... ... 171
Palaver at Dirran ... ... ... ... ... 173
Baeipusbi and Chiring Ghish fbou Oaboo ... ... ... 161
i^Kakipushi pbom Gabgo ... ... ... ... 184
Upper Burchi Peak from Gabgo ... ... ... ... 186
lBonfibe at Eamab ... ... ... ... ... 189
Uobaine at Gabgo... ... ... ... ... ... 190
Upper and Lower Burchi Peaks and Emerald Peak fbom
BEHIND Gabgo ... ... ... ... ... 192
Going Subyeydjg ... ... ... ... ... 196
Bunninq fbom the Dubt Avalanche ... ... ... 198
Auab Sing's Glissade ... ... ... ... ... 202
A Heavy Load ... ... ... ... ... 204
Pbisti and the Thief ... ... ... ... ... 213
Under the Chinabs at Gulmet „, ... ... ... 214
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xsii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
GuLMBT Baoh ... ... ... ... ... ... 221
Call to Pkayeb at Gulmet ... ... ... ... 224
Outside Gulmet Gate... ... ... ... ... 226
PiSAN ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 229
Looking down the Hunza Valcey from Tashot , ... 231
Coolie as S. Giovanni ... ... ... ... ... 233
Looking West over Naqtb from the Housetofb ... 234
bubuli mutin ... ... ... ... ... ... 238
Tee Gorge below Nag^b tboh the Bubial-oround ... 239
Naqyr Pool from the Polo-ground ... ... ... 240
A NioHT ViBiT TO Naqyr Cemetery ... ... ... 244
The Junction of the Hibpar and Hopar Valleys ... ... 246
MuNBHi Sher Ahmed ... ... ... ... ... 247
Baltit prom Camp... ... ... ... ... ... 248
Karbir ... ... ... ... ... ... 251
The Wazir of Hunza ... ... ... ... ... 254
The Thum of Hunza ... ... ... ... ... 255
In the Me8B-Hut at Baltit ... ... ... ... 257
The Feathers of Hunza from the Hill behind Naoyr ... 262
From Samaiyar ... ... ... ... ... ... 263
Sahaisar ... ... ... ... ... ... 264
Yoked to a Mill-btone ... ... ... ... ... 266
Boiohaourdoanas from the Samaiyar Valley ... ... 268
Tying on Pabbus ... ... ... ... ... ... 271
Naqyr ... ... ... ... ... ... 274
The Polo-ground at Naqyr ... ... ... ... 278
Interior of the Matam Sara, Naoyr ... ... ... 279
The Golden Parbi from Naqyr Burial-oround ... ... 281
Interview with the Raja of Naqyr ... ... ... 283
Nagyb. The Palace from the Main Street ... ... 285
The Samaiyar Bar and Shallihuru Glaciers from Bash Bidoe 266
Calling the Coolibb ... ... ... ... ... 287
Babh from Rattallo ... ... ... ... ... 290
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
f^iOHTENED Natives at Hopab ...
S0N8BT pBOM Wn,D Rose Camp
On the Barpu Glacier
Meb Cahp...
Babfu...
Gbooo and Saddle Peaks fbom Dasskabam Needle ...
Shai^ihubu Sebacs
LooKtNO DOWN the Shallihdbu Glacieb fbom the Sebacs
In the Shallihubu Sebacs
Coolies on the Shallihubu Glacieb
LOOKINQ UP THE SaUAIYAR Bab GlACIER FBOM THE SoUTH SLOPE
OF Bash Bidge
Bakipushi Banoe from neab the Upper Bash Pass
A Sand Glissade ...
M CD- a V AL ANGHB
In the Hispab 'Valley
Looking up the Hispab Glacieb fbom Haioutum Camp ...
Stome-man on Shukubbi
Looking up towabds the Hispab Pass from Shukubbi
Shab Mubat
Ice-cave of the Hispab Glacier
Looking up the Hispar Glacier fbom above Chokutens
HtSPAR Pass fbom Gandab Camp
Building Huts at Haigutum
Sunset fboh Haigutum
The Nushik La from Kanibasar Camp
Looking up the Hispab Glacier from the Foot of the
Nushik La ...
Fbom Hispar Snow field Camp, looking down the Glacier
towards the Nubhik La
The Nushik La pboh Kamibabab Gamp ...
"The Boad is Bad I "
The Bidqe Peak fbom Kanibasab Camp ...
316
319
322
324
825
326
327
329
330
332
335
340
344
348
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xxiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Bidqb Peak fboh Hibpab Snowfield Gamp ... ... 367
Junction of the Labt Obeat Sidb-olacier with the Hispar
Glacier, from above Snowfield Camp ... ... 371
Hisfar 6nowfield near the Pass ... ... ... 375
EOCK-TOOTH near THE HlBPAR PA88 ... ... ... ... 377
View to the East from Top of the Hibpar Pasb ... 378
Halt cm the Top of the Hisfar Pass ... ... ... 380
The Descent from the Hispab Pass ... ... ... 384
Peaks ok the East op the Bufo Snowpieij) ... ... 388
Ogre's Fikoebb from Ogre's Camp ... ... ... 389
The Oobe from Oobb's Camp ... ... ... ... 391
. The Biafo Snowpibiji, looking back from near Ogre's Camp 395
Building a STONE-BtAN at Boggy Camp ... ... ... 397
Peaks Webt of the Biafo Glacier... ... ... ... 399
A False Step... ... ... ... ... ... 405
Mango Gubor from the End of the Biafo Glacier... ... 406
Foot of Biafo Glacier from Labeam Zigzags ... ... 409
The GaBBN Parbi ... ... ... ... ... ... 410
Askole ... ... ... ... ... ... 412
In Camp at Askole ... ... ... ... ... 4J3
ExAuiNiHo Wazir Nazab Ali ... ... ... ... 415
Gbobbing the Streams below the Biafo Glacier ... ... 418
Coolies at Korofon ... ... ... ... ... 420
Mango Gdsor from the Bope-bbidge ... ... ... 423
Crossing a Flooded Torrent in the Punmah Valley ... 425
BOOHESTEB ObAGB FROM THE BaLTOBO VaLLEY ... ... 431
Foot of the Baltobo Glacier. — I. ... ... ... 434
II. 436
The Bio Stone from Baltobo Camp ... ... ... 436
In Camp, Baltobo ... ... ... ... ... ... 437
Masberbruu from the Slopes of Crybtal Peak ... 438
Looking up Baltoro Glacier, Peaks by the North Bank ... 439
Peaks North of the Baltoro Glacier ... ... ... 442
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxv
Ice-cave ok the Baltoro Glacier ... ... ... ... iii
The Durki Glaciee fbom the Baltobo ... ... ... 446
Mabhebbbum frou Stobaqe Gaup ... ... ... ... 450
The Mitre fbou the Foot op Ceystai. Peak ... ... 454
FntBT View of the Golden Throne from the Foot of Crtstaii
Peak ... ... ... ... ... ... 455
LOOKINO ACE038 THE BaLTOBO GlACIBB FBOM THE FoOT OF
Crystal Peak ... ... ... ... ... 456
LOOKINO ACROSS THE BaLTOBO GlACIER FROM THE SLOPES OF
Crwtal Peak ... ... ... ... ... 458
' MusTAOH Tower from the Ar±te of Crystal Peak ... ... 459
GUSHERBRUM FROM NEAR WhITE FaN CaUP ... ... 464
Peak opposite White Fan Camp ... ... ... ... 466
LooEiNQ ACROSS FROM White Fak Camp ... ... ... 467
LooKiNQ South from Fan Saddle ... ... ... ... 468
K. 2 FBOM Fa.\ Saddle ... ... ... ... 469
Broad Peak fbom Fan Saddle .,. ... ... ... 471
CODLOIB ABOVE Fan Saddle ... ... ... ... 473
Golden Thbose pbom Junction Camp ... ... ... 475
K, 2 FROM Junction Camp ... ... ... ... 478
Crags at the Foot of Gushebbrum from Junction Camp ... 480
In Junction Camp ... ... ... ... ... 481
Golden Throne from Junction Camp ... ... ... 489
K. 2 FROM Junction Camp ... ... ... ... 484
K. 2 FROM Throne Glacier ... ... ... ... 487
The Golden Throne from Throne Glacier ... ... 492
Glacier Lake-basin near Footstool Camp ... ... ... 495
The Mitre from Footstool Camp ... ... ... 497
The Hidden Peak from Footstool Camp ... ... ... 499
At the Tacheoueter .. ... ... ... ... 501
The Bride from the As^te of Pioneer Peak ... ... 502
New Snow amonost the Sebacs ... ... ... 504
The Lower Plateau fbom Sebac Camp ... ... ... 507
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xxvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Golden Throne and Pioneer Peak fbou Sebac Camp ... o08
Snowy Pyramid above Footstool. Camp ... ... - ... 511
Lower Plateau Camp ... ... ... ... ... 513
Pioneer Peak from between the First and Second Points 518
Pioneer Peak from the Second Point ... ... ... 519
The Bride frou the Summit of Pioneer Peak ... ... 531
On the Top of Pioneer Peak ... ... ... ... 523
View looking West fbou Pioneer Peak ... ... ... 525
LOOKINQ FROM THE BiDQE OF PlONEEB pEAK ... ... 526
Looking down the Side Glacier from the Ar£te of Pioneer
Peak ... ... ... ., ... ... 527
After the Climb ... ... ... ... .. 532
The Mustaoh Toweb from Footstool Camp ... ... 533
Starting down from Footstool Camp ... ... ... 534
Mitre Peak from Junction Camp .. ... ... ... 535
The ViGNE Glacibr from J^Snction Camp ... ... 636
The Mitke from Goats' Delight Camp ... ... ... 538
Goats' Delight Camp ... ... ... ... ... 539
"This holds!" ... ... ... ... ... ... 540
" No, IT dobsn'tI " ... ... ... ... ... 540
Bock-peaks on the Nohth Side of the Baltoro Glacieb 543
Uli Biaho Peaks fkom the Baltoro Glacieb . . ... 545
Glacier Lake on the Baltobo... ... ... ... 546
Looking down the Askole Valley from the Foot of the
BiAFo Glacier ... ... ... ... ... 550
Near Askole, looking up the Valley ... ... ... 552
Mango Gusor from Askole ... ... ... ... 553
The Piale Glacier from Cohneb Camp ... ... ... 554
In the Shigar Valley ... ... ... ... 555
.\ Askole Eope-bridge from the South Bank... ... ... 556
A Falling Rock fbom Mangjong ... ... ... 557
Villagers Dancing at Thla Bbok ... ... ... ... 559
The Skoro Pass from the Noeth ... ... ... 562
Digilizod by Google
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
GOBSE IN THE SkORO VaIJiEY
Looking up the Shiqar Vallet
Main Boad in the Shigab Valley ...
In the Shigab Valley...
M08QUB AT Shigab
Shigab
PBEF-UtlNO THE ZuK
Skardo
Ziakat at Sbigar
Fbou Kabgii, Camp
The Tehsild.ar's House at Skabdo
Fort on the Indus Boad neab Skabdo
GoL Mosque ...
The Fakir of Tolti
Kashmiri Sepoys Encamped at Khurmang
Looking up the Indus Valley between GmiAOHDo
KUTTI
The Indus Boad above Tarkutti
BiLARGO : LOOKING UP THE DrAS
.^^Dras Bridge above Hardab
The Indus Boad
Maidan above Kabgil
Chohtens AT Shakgol ...
Laua-yuru
LOOKINa DOWN THE V ALLEY FRO&I LaMA-YURU
Gorge below Laua-yuru
Looking up the Indus from the Corner
Staged Chorten at Bazgo ..
y Indus Bridge at Khalsi
Leh Bazaab
The Yabkand Sebai at Leh
Entrance to Himis
572
574
575
576
577
578
580
583
596
600
602
604
Digilizod by Google
xxviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
HiMiB 637
In Himib Gonpa ... ... ... ... ... ... 641
Entkance to the Second Temple ... ... ... 643
At Himib ... ... ... ... ... . . ... 646
Neab HtMie GoNPA ... ... ... ... ... 649
Leh Bazaar ... ... ... ... ... ... 651
CoBN£B OF Leh Bazaar ... ... ... ... 653
Wall- PAINTING at HiMia ... ... ... ... ... 654
On the Road to Ijeh ... ... ... ... ... 655
Bazoo Gate ... ... ... ... ... ... 656
EaBTH -PYRAMIDS NEAB LaMA-YUBU ... ... ... 663
Faru m THE Waksha Valley ... ... ... ... 668
LOOKINO UP THE DRAS VaLLEY OVER THE I'lELDS OF PaLA... 673
LOOKINQ UP THE DrAS FROM BELOW TaSHOOM... ... ... 676
The Head of the Sind Valley from near the Top of the
ZoJi La ... ... ... ... ... 677
Affboachino the Zoji La ... ... ... ... ... 678
LOOKINQ BACK FROM SONAMERO ... ... ... ... 683
Temfle at Wanoat ... ... ... ... ... 688
On the Jhelah, Sbinaoar ... ... ... ... 693
In SRraAQAB ... ... ... ... ... ... 694
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
Gooi^le '
V»if%«.
KHTIUNCB TO PORT SUD,
CHAPTER I.
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD.
On the evening of Friday, February 5th, 1892, most of
our party left Fenchurch Street station and started on
the journey which it is the object of this volume to
describe. We were six in number — to wit, Mr. A. D.
McCormick, the well-known artist ; his friend and mine, Mr.
J. H. Roudebush ; Mr. 0. Eckenstein ; Mattias Zurbriggen,
the Alpine guide of Macugnaga; Parbir Thapa, a sepoy of the
first battalion of the Fifth Gurkhas ; and myself. The train
hurried us through the glare and darkness of the East
End, the beauty of which revealed itself by being in
harmony with our mood, a. product of the pain of part-
ing and the thrill of hope. We descended at the Albert
Docks and felt our way through deserted sheds, out on to
the quay beyond. The electric moons emphasised the lone-
liness of the place. A line of P. and O. giants seemed to lie
asleep beside the white pavement, and our little ship, the
Ocampo, behind them, was like one of their children,
Digilizod by Google
2 FEBRUARY 6—21.
short and low in the water, beneath their empty towering
huUe.
We sailed early nest morning (Feb. 6th) in dull and
chilly weather. About three o'clock we came-to off Dover,
in rain and mist, and put the pilot ashore ; then we turned
to the ffrey west and felt the sea begin to heave and the cold
wind to blow. Our poor boat was slow, and not till three
days had passed did we find the satisfaction of southern
airs and sunny skies. On Feb. 11th we rounded Cape St.
Vincent, and a wonderful moonlight night followed, the fresh
air fragrant as with the perfume of oriental gardens. The
bright sky and breeze, just crisping the water and scatter-
ing diamonds above the waves, made laughter over the sea.
But next day, as we were strugghng through the Straits of
Gibraltar against a gale of wind, which for a time almost
neutralised our vessel's steaming powers, there was some-
thing grim and warlike in the ocean's mirth. The waves
were big and strong, and the spray drifted in sheets off
their crests. The wind roared in the rigging, and the water
rolled noisily along. The sun, bright as ever, made the
foam like snow and struck rainbows across the spray
between us and the bare blue hills of Spain. Africa lay in
the light under the smi. There the coast was lower, tho
sky-line softer, the hills more gentle than to the north.
The water mirrored the sun like glass. The graceful form
of a gull was the only black spot between me and the
bright sky. Spain-wards the view appeared over the
dazzling bulwarks, above which from time to time shining
water leaped into the air. In the evening, when the setting
sun Imng for a moment tangent to the horizon, its red
splendour was midway between the Pillars of Hercules,
and the westward path was paved with gold. At dawn next
day the pink light, that had travelled round the world,
decked the snowfields of the long Sierra Nevada, whilst in
the afternoon the African hills lifted the graceful outlines
of their highest paints above the southern horizon. We
approached them gradually and saw their sides dotted over
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 3
with splashes of sunlight through holes in the hurrying
olouds. Broken lines of sparkling glory enlivened the
margin of the sea and looked as though, beyond it, must
be the very land of gold. Presently the first heave of a
swell came upon us from the Gulf of Lyons, and before
long we were rolling 3S°, and everything was rattling about
on the ship. Three iron pails and two balls (used for cor-
recting compass errors) got loose and went waltzing about
together, and so continued through the night. The long
unlovely swell did not leave us till late on the 15th, when
we passed by moonlight between the Galita islands, which,
as we first saw them, rose like white cumulus clouds out
APPKO ACHING EOT FT.
of the sea. Next day brought us near graceful, many-
terraced Panteilaria, which so many travellers have seen
and so few visited, and then we passed Malta in the night,
and lost sight of land once more. A little wind, a little
swell, a little rippling of the water, a few flecks of cloud
in the sky, a bright sun and a pleasant warmth — such were
the characteristics of the simple conditions which accom-
panied us to Port Said, where, in the evening of Feb. 21st,
we were at last able to land and feel the joy of solid earth
beneath our feet, and the freedom of the shore. Some of us,
to whom the sordid place was new, went to see the sights,
buy mementoes, and what not. I overheard one bargaining
Digilizod by Google
4 FBBBUARY 21.
with a photograph seller. " Excuse me, sir," the man
urged, " yoiir fingers not all alike, one big, one little. My
photographs some a shilling, some sixpence."
Meantime I watched the coaling of a big liner, which is
the only thing worth seeing at Port Said. My journal of
the year 1888 gives the following description of such a
scene in the same place : —
" As I write, the moon, & little past full, ia endeavouring to flood the
haibotir with its beams, but there is a blackneaa about the place that
nothing can lighten. Moreover, we are coaling, and the sight is one to be
reniemhered. Aa night closed in, many black bargea, caating shadows
towards us, came gliding over the water. Each one was lit hy amoky
beacons of coal^ burning in iron basketa ; and black ghosts with cowled
heads and wiry arma kept flitting hither and thither across the ill-
omened-Iooking lighta. Shouta and atrange voices arose from the hulks
with more frequency and distinctness as those destined for our ship came
alongside and moored to her. Presently fearful creatures began labouring
together to raise long planks, in pairs for going and returning, as gang-
ways to the ship. As they worked they chaunted, or rather shrieked, a
piercing refrain of indistinguishable words — dH re da, do re da. Then
began a whirling and hurrying of the blEu:k ghostly forms, as of ants on a
disturbed heap, a seemingly aimless shouting and running to and fro ; but
visible order ultimately emerged, and a continuons stream of soot-black
humanity, noiseless and naked of foot, now pours from each hulk up one
of the planks. Every man carries on his head a'basket, foul as himself,
containing some half sackful of coals. Close on the heels of one another
tbey vanish, shrilly shrieking, into the bowels of the ship. Presently they
reappear with baskets empty, race down the return plank, and leap into
the sn)oke and confusion of their bulk. There is no moment's pause till
the barge is cleared, no cessation of their crie:). As they begin to descend
they cast their baskets down into the hulk below, and when they get down
themselves they separate in haste to different comers, where they instantly
pick up and hear off on their heads other baskets, filled meantime by
other ghosts, working ceaselessly with clicking spades. It is impossible
to follow the distribution of the returning stream. Again and again have I
fixed my eyes upon one man, determined to watch his complete orbit, but
in a moment he melts into the night and another takes his place. There
is no pause nor check in the double current of upward and downward
movement. The smoke from the flaring beacons drifts and eddies over
all, and now the scene is engulfed iu the deeper blackness of a cloud
of fine coal-dust, rising like steam from every labourer, tossed up hy the
heavers and scattered from the baskets. The flaring beacons only fitfully
illumine one side of the forms close to them ; the other side is buried in
Digilizod by Google
COALIHO AT POST SAID.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 7
darkness. The c&lm moon shines; beyond lies the still water; and en-
shronding all is the silent night."
We only stayed about ten hours at Port Said. At 3 a.m.
on February 22nd we entered the canal, our ship carrying
the usual electric search-light at her bow. Its great beam
shining along the water and over the desert is always
a beautiful object. There was a school of dolphins in the
canal before us, and when they leaped out of the water the
hght turned them into silver fish. We passed a vessel
moored against the bank, and again all its ropes and
spars were tnmed to silver. When the sun had risen over
the desert in its accustomed grand simplicity, so different
from the complex glories of the northern dawn,, I went to
bed, and only came on deck again as we passed Ism^lia with
its pleasant woods. The sun set when we were in the midst
of the Bitter Lake, whose beauties of brightness and colour
await the praise that is their due. Suez was passed in the
night, and the morning of February 23rd saw ns steaming
down the gulf with a strong breeze in our favour. We
threaded an avenue of finely-formed mountains, golden in
colour and barren as the moon. But for the width of the
water, its blueness, and the absence of the belt of green, we
might have been in the Nile valley. At one point the
western hills mimicked the forms of those over against
Thebes. When the sun set behind them the sea was purple,
the shore and hills a lighter tone of the same, and the sky
brilliant yellow, fading upwards through amethyst into blue.
Northwards the tones were richer. In the east the outliers
of Sinai were dipped in rose. They faded away iu the pink-
grey mist that made magic around them, and were finidly
transformed into seemingly insubstantial mirages on the
verge of night.
The following day (February 24th) was again perfection,
a clear sky, a fresh breeze from the north blowing us along,
and the temperature exactly right. The sun set after
the Egyptian manner, pale and delicate in colouring at
Digilizod by Google
8 FEBBUABY iS^MABCH 1.
first, then blazing with all the splendours of Nefer-Tum's
richest raiment. A hazy, grey day followed, such as the
English Channel mostly knows ; the north wind dropped,
and a damp, warm air made us all feel languid and
heavy. On the 28th we encountered the usual south
wind that belongs to the lower part of the Eed Sea, and
all awnings and loose canvas flapped about and robbed
us of repose. Not till the morning of the 29th did our
lazy craft reveal, far over the level gulf, the ruined craters
that look down upon Great and Little Aden. They rise
like islands out of the sand-flats around, and form the
portal of the bay. Precipitous, broken, barren, and utterly
desolate, with a purple roof of heavy cloud poised above
them, they were the most melancholy mountains we had
ever beheld, I climbed on to the fo'csle-head the better to
watch the development of the view as we entered the
harbour. The water through which we cleft our way was
full of brilliant jellyfish, like purple passion-flowers floating
within trembling gossamer cups. A shark made eddies not
far away. Rag-encircled Somali boys presently surrounded
us in their frail dug-out canoes ; amphibious creatures they
were, equally at home in or out of the water. We hastened
ashore as soon as possible, delighted to quit for a few
hours the restless surface of the hateful sea.
Everything we saw pleased us ; we were surrounded
by the wondrous Orient. For Aden is the East, as Port
Said is not. Port Said is Levantine. Aden is Arab.
The life of Aden is the life of Arabia. Europe goes for
nothing in the native quarter and upon the roads. Arab
and Somali vagabonds are everywhere in sight, riding
their camels and their donkeys in all the elegance of a
free costume. The yellow rocks gave the tone to the
landscape, and bright raiment harmonised with it. After
driving for a mile or two along the shore, where native
seamen were mending their cumbrous boats and coloured
sails, we mounted the outside of the crater by zigzags to
the notch giving access to Aden town that lies within
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 9
the cup. It was like climbing a cinder. Vesuvius seems
less volcanic than this long extinct volcano. A steep hill
led down between walls of yellow rock, upon which the
Bun shone, and upon a caravan of camel-riding Arabs
coming towards us, as per-
fectly adapted to the place
as if they had been set there
to complete the scene. We
passed through the town,
and reached the opening
of the narrow and wild
gorge, with precipitous
Bides of cinder-like rock,
in which the famous -.
Tanks are situated, ""^y-"
From stage to stage ^
the gorge is arti- -.^.
ficially dammed *•«»
across, and the pools ii adeh.
thus formed are
lined with cement. Though the arrangement ia an ancient
one, it presents no appearance of antiquity. In the afternoon
we drove hack to the harbour by another route, which took
lis out of the crater through a tunnel ; we reached the
ship as she was weighing anchor. An hour or so later Aden
hill was massed in purple oii the western horizon against a
golden sky, and we were speeding eastwards. During the
days that followed, a level sea was our portion. I once
only found energy to write a note. It was about noon on
March 1st.
"The sea, juet crisped over witb a pretty rippling, oould scarcely be
flatter than it is to-day, though a trifling undulation of the ship from
stem to stem shows that there is a faint swell passing under it. The
clear outline of the far horizon is adorned by the same graceful move-
ment, the heaving of drowsy Neptune's breast. A soft air comes from
the north-eaet and lazily flaps the awning. Fleecy cloudlets float in the
eby, which is grey with the presence of a delicate mist. Far off to the
north a studious and concentrated yision can just discern the dim forms
Digilizod by Google
10 MARCH 6-8.
of the mountain forehead of Arabia. Porpoises arouse my envy by their
delicious gambolB in the water, and white-breasted golle rest upon it,
careless about our passing. On board all the passengers are reoambent
and every face expresses satisfaction and dreamy repose. No one speaks.
Most sleep. A few make pretence to read."
The night (March 6th) before we reached Karachi the
Bea was smooth, the moon near the zenith, and there was ■
a gorgeous display of phosphorescence. Its quality was
more remarkable than its quantity. The ship's bows
clove a wondrous break of fire through the water, and
the spreading waves swept back from them like a swan's
wings, but of light. The foam drifted into the hollows as
smoke from flame. All else was utterly black, and the
light was fretted out upon it. Now and again some shark
or other fish darted away from the ship and made lightnings
in his wake.
At dawn next morning (March 7th) land was seen
ahead, and presently a line of desert hills appeared in the
north. A few strange-shaped rocks and a headland with
a beacon guided ns into port, and we finally lauded on
the modem and well-machined quay of Karachi by eleven
o'clock. I drove to the town at once to make various
necessary arrangements.
The first impression received was one of breadth. The
land was all flat — tidal mud-swamps and areas recently re-
claimed. The houses stood widely apart, each in its own
considerable and usually bare compound. There was a
general look of newness and well-to-doness. The houses
of business were veritable stone palaces, in which arches
and columns were freely introduced. I noticed several
examples of praiseworthy architecture, such as Bombay
does not possess. Where wealth and a warm climate meet,
architecture is liable to flourish. The living East was
around us, but Indian humanity hereabouts is certainly
less picturesque than an Arab or Egyptian crowd. Light
reigned supreme and ennobled everything; details vanished
into Ught, not, as at home, into shadow. The value
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABSOTTABAD. 11
of colour was extraordinary. No wonder that it has been
perceived by all the peoples of the East as far back as
wfi can follow them.
EetumiDg to the
ip to dine and bid
'ewell to our fellow-
yagers, we found
irbriggen in dispute
th a cab-driver. He
pealed to me. " Ich
1 mit Ihm accordirt,
hab Ihm das (a
coin) gezeigt und
jetzt will Er mehr
— ja ! zum Teu-
fell" In due time
we reached the
station and en-
countered our first
babu at the tickqt-
office, where I had
iign eome papers,
ite little plainer,
he said ; "excuse
resumptions ! "
Dost before the train
oucwtid I was asleep, and
THE BOUR OF PE4IER, KARACBI a: 1 > i .'il 1.1
RAILWAY statIon. Old not wake till tb^e
were signs of dawn {March
8fch). "We were rounding the foot of some barren hills, where
they abut on the Indus nearLaki. The railroad is cut along
a slope of detritus brought down in the rains in the form
of mud avalanches. This desert foreground dipped down
to the river, and, from the best point of view, the hills
curved round and bounded the landscape on the right.
The plain lay in purple darkness, and the Indus decorated
it with a silver band. Presently, and long before the
Digilizod by Google
colour in the heavens wonld have snggested to a European
eye that the sun was so near, a line of fire defined the far
horizon, and quickly grew into a dome, A spark of light
appeared ahove it, widened, and so joined itself downwards
to the waxing orb. The seriea of changes followed, which
are here suggested, before the completed circle of the sun
finally soared aloft.
As the day advanced the foreground became golden.
Detail of bush and shrub appeared all over the flat, with
here and there a tree or two, and the outlines of rice fields
awaiting their season to grow green. We left the hills
behind and, hour after hour, travelled through the plain,
now and again coming across a patch that might have been
in England, but for the most part seeing no detail that was
not novel, no sight (whether of man, or beast, or vegetation,
or architecture) that was not strange. After we had lunched
at Sakkar the train carried ub, by the big cantilever
bridge, over the Indus to Eohri. We caught fascinating
glimpses of the river, with its charming banks and islands,
and of the picturesque town, with blue-domed mosques,
palaces, and other buildings, whole or in ruins, delight-
fully grouped together. The afternoon was sufficiently
hot for the time of year (90° Fahr. in the carriage), but
the night that followed seemed bitterly cold, and we
were glad of our warmest wraps. After crossing the
Sutlej and passing through Mixltan, we entered a tract of
worse and flatter desert than before, and along this lay the
remainder of the journey (March 9th). We were getting
perceptibly further north, and the noon temperature sank
to 85<* Fahr. About one o'clock we entered a richly
cultivated area, and it presently became apparent that a
great and ancient Mussulmnn city was near at hand. We
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 13
passed the domes and minarets of the tombs of mighty
men, and before four o'clock we were driving through
the streets of Labor. Roudebush and I determined to
have a day's rest at the hotel. The others made a halt
of a few hours, and took the evening train for Hasan
Abdal.
Without delay we visited the old native town, anxious
to come at last into contact with the unaltered East. A
few paces within the gate, and Europe was no more. The
old streets of irregular houses with carved and latticed
windows, lurking portals, crowded stalls, many-coloured
wares, the narrow alleys, the dust, the sunlight, and
everywhere the abounding and indescribable population —
these were the rough elements that immediately impressed
us. They dazed McCormick at the first glance. We met
him an hour later in a speechless and limp condition. He
fell a-murmuring platitudes of wonderment, but gave it up
and roved away as though walking in his sleep. We visited
various buildings, but it was the light and the people that
held our eyes. The Holi festival was going on, and the
streets were fuller than usual. The men had smeared their
white garments with pink dye, and the town was generally
" painted red," both literally and metaphorically. A narrow
street of pot and pan, vegetable and meat shops, with carved
nodding house fronts above, was so packed with folk that we
were brought to a halt. Large turbans, white, pink, amber-
coloured, dark purple, and I know not what other tints,
made a moving, mosaic over the crowd. The air was full of
dust, and the golden evening sunshine struck through it
and made a permeating radiance everywhere. Strips of
cotton, dyed blue or crimson, hung overhead from cords
stretched across the lane ; they waved gently to and fro
above the fluttering of coloured raiment, the flashing of
dark eyes, the glint of metal, and the going of men — ever
changing, ever moving, fresh combinations, fresh con-
trasts : all as effective for background, grouping, and colour,
as if they had been - designed for a stage on some grand
Digilizod by Google
14 MARCH 10.
occasion when the payments were high and the audience
select.
We followed this road through an archway that, in the
evening light and the glamour of the moment, seemed to be
a fine work of architecture; we went on, past many a mosque
and praying-place, many a decorated well and sculptured
facade, through the palace square to the palace itself. We
entered within its massive walls, and cUmbed about sunset
on to the roof of its highest chamber.
What a view I The palace courtyard at our feet and
its pavilions of marble inlaid with precious stones ; the city
and the great mosque beyond, with
marble domes shining silvery above
the pink stone walls ; the vast plain
spread around, rich with trees and all
fertility, like a park to look upon;
atmosphere and colour everywhere ;
here a drift of purple wood-smoke,
there a cloud of golden dust ; over
all the broad, bright sunshine,
streaming out of the west and flashed
back in points of brIlHance from the
distant domes and minarets of tree-
embowered tombs; the clear, repose-
ful sky overhead, and repeated at
STREET BCENB, LAHoR. our feet ou thc calm bosom of the
silent Ravi flowing from the hills
that were our not forgotten goal.
Next day (March 10th) we visited the various monuments
in soberer mood. The glamour was gone from the streets,
but their interest was as great as ever. We went to the
Mosque of Vazir Khan, a collection of cubical masses of
brick building decorated with large areas of beautiful tiles in
the Persian manner, and arranged about a courtyard, with
a fine pavilion for entrance gate, and a dome-covered liwan
across the further side. Each component cube is entered
by a well proportioned arch. Admirable are the level out-
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 16
lines, the simple fonns, and the harmony of the whole.
The lucidity of the artistic ideal of Islam finds perfect
expression in this type of building. We went on to the
great mosque whose larger area and lighter forms are cha-
racteristic of the Moghal epoch. We cast a glance at the
Golden Mosque,
but did not
linger over it,
for, though its
marble walls and
gilt domes look
picturesque from
the street, its
forms are heavy,
its proportions
bad, and its de-
coration vulgar.
We spent an
hour in the
shade of a
marble pavilion
in the old garden
near the palace,
a graceful edi-
fice enough,
about a century
old. The heavy
splendours of
carving and gilt ^
of the Sikh BTILEEI IN LAHOB.
monuments
close by did not long delay us, nor, save the materials
of which they were built, was there much to admire
in the pavilions of the palace, which we visited again
under the guidance of a British soldier. I would have
Bwom that he was Ortheris in the flesh, but his con-
versation was in a dialect I little understood. Why
Digilizod by Google
wert thou not there in thine own city to interpret it,
Bubicunde Laudator Mulvanii 1 where every bookstall
proclaimed thee, and thy name was in every mouth ?
Finally we went to the museum to hunt up the few
and shattered remains of the Gandhara school of decora-
tive sculpture, which can better be studied here than
elsewhere in the world. It presents a strange mingling
of Hellenistic, Boman, Byzantine, and Persian elements
succeeding one another, and all swiftly levelled by the
Hindu capacity for absorbing the externals without receiving
the spirit of the West. Historians of art as a rule declare
that the influence of the East has been nil upon Western
art, whereas the East has constantly been influenced by
the West. The exact contrary is the case. The West
throughout all the centuries has continually been touched by
the decorative Eastern tendencies, whereas the East has
as continually swallowed whole the forms of the West,
but never failed, in doing so, to destroy the spirit that
animated them, and to retain unaltered her own pecu-
liar idiosyncrasies. When we returned to the hotel the
usual crowd of petty dealers surroiinded us and made
the floor of the veranda gay with drifts and piles of
embroideries and stuffs that we did not want ; but I liked
to see the crouching people amongst their gay wares,
which they seemed to find pleasure in displaying, and a
volatile globe-trotting Gaul presently made it worth their
while.
The evening saw us once more in the train speeding
northwards towards the hills, and, when we awoke nest
day (March 11th), it was clear that the end of our journey
by rail was at hand. We were still in the plains, about
half way between Jhelam and Rawal Pindi, but the
rampart of the north was visible, and the sun presently
rose from behind the hills and shone down their hither
slopes, revealing snow-beds and crests as of everlasting ice.
The foreground was a strange maze of twisting gullies cut
about in all directions by torrents of the rains, and leaving
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 17
little of the level floor of the plain unbroken. But further
away the edges of the gullies were foreshortened against
one another, and an effect of flatness was produced,
stretching to the purple foot-hills, over whose crests and
through their gaps the higher snowy outlines of the
Pir Panjal Himalayas were revealed. Heje and there
cloud cataracts poured over the cold ridges, but only to
melt away in the warm southern air. It was a fine
scene, but not comparable to the view of the Alps
from Lombardy. The southern slopes of the foot-hills
are absolutely barren; but a line of trees along their
crest indicates the existence of forests beyond. We
were passing over historic ground. The ruins of Taxila
were not far distant. Well-directed eyes might have
discovered the broken mounds of ancient topes, with
which the country, trodden by the feet of Buddha,
is strewn. Our long and heavy train crawled slowly
up the successive inclines. " Look there," said a tra-
velling companion; "that is Pindi; and there, on that
rather pointed hill, is Marri. In two hours you will be at
Hasan Abdal."
We, in feet, arrived there about noon and joyfully ex-
changed the train for a tonga.* The seats are as in a
dog-cart, and the thing is covered by a white barrel-vaulted
awning. Instead of shafts there is a pole with an iron
yoke at the end of it, to which the horses are rapidly
attached. The animals, thus untrammelled in their
movements, go off at a canter, rattling the iron yoke
against the pole and splitting off minute metallic fragments
liable to get into one's eyes if one sits facing the horses.
We quitted the plain almost at once, and entered a
gradually narrowing valley. Purple-coloured barren hills
of simple form shut us in on both sides. There were
trees planted along the road. The fields were being
* The toiiga is the carpeittum of the Eomans and of Gaul, practically
unchanged, such as we see it in a bas-relief at Tri'ves. The same form
of vehicle euryivee in the bros of Aquitaine.
Digilizod by Google
ploughed. The villages were at first of mud-built hovels ;
higher up the walls became stonier and seemed to partake
of the mountain nature where they stood in mountain
fastnesses. Picturesque figures animated the road, and
there were always plenty in sight. My attention was
specially attracted by one, draped in a skuii of palest blue,
the superfluous length of which was daintily girt about
a slender waist, revealing small feet and neatly turned
ankles. The head was enveloped in a coloured hand-
kerchief, tied bonnet-wise under the chin, and this
hid the profile from me ; presently a turn of the neck
revealed to me a pair of merry eyes indeed, but also
a well-grown beard and moustache. The thing was a
man.
There were vistas on all sides of hUls swathed in winter
snow, but as we advanced we came to where spring
was reigning in the valley, manifested by the budding
green on the bare trees, the blossoms of hawthorn, or
what appeared to be hawthorn, and the shooting of
barley and wheat. The valley narrowed and the hills
came together, with always the same bare slopes, like
those about Assisi, where St. Francis beheld the wonder
of the seraph and received the mystic wounds. When
three -fourths of the way were left behind, the valley
divided, and we went up its western branch, along what
was in places a striking gorge, the walls being cut
down straight through the deep alluvium. Then we
came among trees into a French-looking region, and so
reached the col at the top of the valley and beheld
Abbottabad and all its pleasant houses, dotted about
over tree-covered slopes by the side of an ancient lake-
basin, in the midst of considerable hills. We halted at
the dak bangla to learn of the safe arrival of Lieut.-
Colonel Lloyd-Dickiu, who was to join us as a col-
lector of birds, and then we proceeded to our desti-
nation. This was the bangla of the last member of our
party that remains to be mentioned, but by no means
Digilizod by Google
LONDON TO ABBOTTABAD. 19
the least important, Lieut, the Hon. C, G. Bruce, of the
first battalion of the Fifth Gurkha Rifles. He presently
came in, and thus our party was completed without failure
or miBhap. We slept in peace under Brnce's hospitable
roof. Across the brow of the morrow's dawn were inscribed
the words
Incipit Vita Nuova.
KANOIT SIMOH'S SAUADB, LAnOB.
Digilizod by Google
CHAPTER IL
ABBOTTABAD TO SRINAGAR.
I REMAINED at Abbottabad from the 11th till the 28th of
March. This long halt was caused by delay in the arrival
of the heavy baggage from Karachi, We found life in the
headquarters of the Frontier Force extremely interesting,
and the kindness extended to us on all hands made it more
than usually agreeable. We were being admitted into one
of the workshops, the like of which have fashioned and are
fashioning the British Empire. That astonishing outcome
of organised energy and effort became less incomprehensible
to us the more intimately we associated with the kind of
men who have made it. The wisdom and capacity of the
seniors were felt to be the natural fruit of the strenuous
vigour, the esprit de corps, the perfect discipline, the alert
intelligence of their earlier years ; and the self-same pro-
mising qualities now belong to the present generation of
juniors, who are following with not unequal steps nor less
heroic temper, and will, in their turn, occupy and succeed
in high positions of responsibility and command. The
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SRINAOAR. 2X
intimate and pleasant relations existing between officers
and men of the native, especially the Gurkha, regiments
were delightful to watch. It is hardly necessary to add
that we were made debtors in all directions for benefits
received, and that the memory of them will not soon pass
away.
During our stay the Indian Government gave its approval
to the general outline of our plans, and I was put in
possession of such information likely to be serviceable
as official sources could supply. Sir William Loekhart,
amongst bis
numerous acts
of kindness,
used his influ-
ence in our fa-
vour. Bruce
was allowed to
accompany us
on duty, and to
bring with him
four Gurkha
sepoys belong-
ing to the first
battalion of the
Fifth Gurkhas.
Colonel Qaselee
permitted us to
have four first- «4e;,8ing thapa, of th« fipth ouKXHAa.
rate men out of ;
his regiment, in which individual ei^cellence averages so
high. Of these men I shall hereafter' have much to say.
They were invaluable to us, and the reader will have ample
opportunity to discover that such was the case.
Abbottabad is situated in the midst of the belt of hilly
country between the Indus and Jhelam rivers. The scenery
of the complex valley system around it is not unhke that of
the Italian lakes, except that the water is missing. There are
Digilizod by Google
i22 MABCH 11—28.
lake-basios, but no lakes. " The life of the place, native and
European, has been so well described in Prof. James
Darmesteter's book,' that I need do no more than refer the
reader to its pages. During our stay we made a variety of
minor excursions, but I was too busy to take part in most
of them. Oue day a wolf was reported, and a great drive
over the hills was organised by Bruce. The Gurkhas
entered thoroughly into the sport, and beat the hillsides in
a broad line, but only jackals were bagged. Another time
Rnin.p t^nnk Mr.flnrmick
he
m,
deei
The
5,00
to 1
gem
soon made itself apparent. ourma dancing at tabduni.
The novices had to be hoisted
up the final slopes, and swore that hillsides were made to
be painted but not climbed. They passed a merry night
or two in the deserted huts, enlivened by the exhaustless
mirth of their Gurkha companions. The energetic Bruce
next carried McCormick off to Bagnota, another hill-station
* " Lettres but I'lnde " (Paris, 1888), pp. 195-237.
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SBINAGAli. 23
to the eastwards. They arrived there in the dark and
found the whole place deserted. The Gurkhas went a
long distance with a bath to fetch water, A tree was cut
down for firewood, a sheep killed and cut up. The flesh
was cooked in Homeric fashion, and brought in by torch-
bearers to be consumed within the hut.
When the endless writing, that I had daily to get
through, was done, I used to wander up the little slate hill
behind Bruce's bangla. It
is called the Brigade Cir-
cular, and has been planted
with trees — I suppose by
the same wise man who
made the whole place so
green. The summit is only
about 750 feet above the
cantonments, and a good
path has been made to it ;
but the view is superb. I
used to watch the sunset
sweeping a broad purple
shadow across the empty
lake- basin, and colouring
the opposing front of Tan-
diani a wondrous crimson
with rich blue shadows in
the gullies. Away to the
west, just on this side the ^
Indus, was the Black Moun- ^„^^,„^ „ ^,„„^^ ^, j,^^„„*.
tain, with whose turbulent
tribes the Ahbofctabad troops have so often been engaged.
Further off a long line of snowy peaks, the mountains of
Chakesar, led the eye northwards to regions almost un-
known.* Range succeeded range on every side. There
* A nearer peak, at this time deeply snow-clad, called Mouasa-ka-Maaala,
was climbed in 1889 by Captain J. 0. S. Fayrer and Mr. Davies, of the
Fifth Gurkhas, with some of their mea.
Digilizod by Google
24 MARCH 11—28.
was no tiring of the complexity of the fonns and the wealth
of the colours in this noble panorama.
The aspect of the landscape confirmed the information
we received to the effect that the preceding winter had been
an exceptionally mild one. There was far less than the
normal amount of snow on the hUls. Moreover the season
was unusually advanced. The heat was of the kind proper
to the end of April. The spring avalanches were reported
to be already falling in Kashmir. Such conditions were
favourable to our journey.
On two different days we all crossed the valley and
climbed a ridge on the opposite side, named Serban. By
going round to the back of it we found a wall of crags that
afforded respectable scrambling of the Welsh sort. We
were parched with thirst on the ascent, but discovered a
charming well in the midst of a little grove of trees close to
a village on the crest where we drank deep draughts of
clearest water. The summit waa about 2,000 feet above
Abbottabad, and commanded a view similar to but more
extensive than that from the Brigade Circular. We saw
Bengra in Tanawal, the Machai Peak of the Black Moun-
tain, the snows of Chakesar, the Moussa-ka-Masala group,
and Kafir Khan at the end of the Kaj Nag.
On the 17th of March Diokin and Roudebush started off
for the Lolab valley in Kashmir. They never got there.
They had various adventures, losing their way by night on a
hillside, and having to sleep in a water-mill, where the
miller found them, and, mistaking them for robbers, was
on the point of turning on the water and grinding them up.
They met us again at Srinagar.
Our heavy baggage reached Abbottabad on the 22nd, but
not till the 28th was it all prepared for the final start. It
was loaded up by twenty regimental transport mules, kindly
placed at our disposal by Lieutenant Phillips, with the
approval of Colonel Gaselee and Colonel MoUoy, and we
had no further trouble with it till it had been carried over
the eleven intervening marches to Srinagar, where it was
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SBINAGAB. 25
delivered to us on April 7th. McCormiok, Eckenstein,
Znrbriggen, and I, with Brace's bearer, Rahim Ali, who
was to be our chief servant throughout the journey, started
the 8ame afternoon in an ekka apiece.
The ekka is the ordinary one-horse, two-wheeled, spring-
less native vehicle. It is a sort of hansom cab with a floor
on a level with the top of where a hansom's doors are, and
without any seat for the driver behind. The driver sits on
the shaft or anywhere he can hitch himself in. The super-
structure, above the floor on which one has to squat, con-
KOUDEBUSH STARTS IN AH BKKA.
sbts of a dome supported on four poles. Ekkas are never
new, nor is the harness new. The thing seems to be tied
together with string at all points; the strings are always
coming loose, and the driver spends most of his time tying
them up. When the wheels come oS they have to be tied
on with string wound about the end of the axle. The tires
are fastened round the wheels with wooden wedges, which
must be kept wet. If they dry the tire comes off'. An ekka
horse is a mere anatomy. He is born very old, but he will
jog along for ever.
We doubled ourselves into our five ekkas, bade farewell
Digilizod by Google
26 MARCH 11—28.
to Bruce, who was to follow us in a few days, and
started away about three o'clock in the afternoon.
Bruce's dog, Pristi, who was to be our faithful com-
panion, had gone on ahead with the Gurkhas and the
mule-train. The road was good enough, but the heat of
the sun oppressed us as we crossed the bare lake-basin,
so often referred to. We were surrounded by fine hills,
whose lower slopes were diversitied with terraced j^fields,
and patched
compUcated valley system, formed by intermittent streams
cutting deep nalaa into the alluvial deposits. These devious
gorges we had constantly to descend into and cross. Most
of them were dry. Whence they come, whither they go,
the traveller in his haste cannot discover. Ahead were
always the snowy hills we saw from the slopes around
Abbpttabad. The foreground presented much variety, and
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SRINAGAR. 27
the twisting of the road made constant changes in the view.
We passed near two or three camps of Europeans engaged,
I believe, in surveying for a proposed line of railway. In
about two hours and a half we reached the crest of a gentle
rise, and saw at our feet a deeper little valley than usual, and
the picturesque village of Manaera climbing up its opposite
slope. We passed the merry mule-train as we dipped down
to the river, and, after traversing the populous and slummiy
street, we reached the wooded compound of the d&k bangla.*
Our first experience of these Indian rest-houses, so much
abused, was decidedly
favourable. We had the
place to ourselves. The
house was good, the rooms
clean and sufficiently fur-
nished. There were even
books to read. There were
armchairs in the veranda
and a lawn in front of it.
Teawaaservedafewminutes
after our arrival, and then
I wandered forth to enjoy 'i
the pleasant evening and
the charming views. Before
ua was a low ridge covered
with granite boulders and ^^^^ ^^
looking like a moraine.
Beyond it was another considerable old lake-basin. I knew
that one of the boulders bears an Asoka inscription, and
was all eagerness to find it ; but no one could direct me to
it, and my search was fruitless. There was clearly an ancient
trade-route through the valley in remote times, and the in-
scription must be in the neighbourhood of the old road. On
examination the granite blocks were proved to form no part
of a moraine. They had merely rotted into boulder form
^ A drik bangla ie a public post-house. There is one at the end of each
march or parao.
Digilizod by Google
in situ, just' as they have done in the neighbourhood of the
first cataract of the 'Nile. The tail end of a Panjab dust-
storm came up towards evening and softened the landscape.
It blotted out the bases of the further hills so that only
their fa-iat crests, in every grade of evanescence, appeared,
not against but in the sky. When the sun set, faint glim-
merings of pink on snow-slope and cloud were here and
there revealed, concealed, and revealed again behind the
dusty curtain. I walked back to the bangla through the
green corn-fields and past a Moslem graveyard strewn
with palls of white and purple iris in full flower. Before
dinner we all sat under the veranda and watched the night
come on.
March l^th. — "When we started again in our ekkas at
8.30 a.m., the air was still milky with the dust-fog, and the
hills were blotted out. We crossed the granite ridge and
traversed the slopes along the east side of the old lake-
basin. The alluvium is here hundreds of feet thick and
frequently cut down into deep nalas. Occasionally even
the water-worn rock below it is revealed. A vast vein of
quartz, some 40 feet thick, crosses the country, tilted up
edgeways like a wall and supporting softer accumulations
on its flanks. It thus forms a sort of fence of low hills,
through which streams have broken their ways. Our
journey was diversified from time to time by the breaking
down of MoCormick's ekka. All its prehistoric harness
had been replaced by generations of bits of cord, and the
last representatives of these were now rotten in their turn.
The sun was less broihng than on the previous day, for the
dust-fog took the anger out of it. After an hour or two the
road began to mount over the hills on our right in order to
cross the watershed into the Khaghan valley. We ascended
amongst trees on the boulder-strewn slopes. The scenery
improved and the trees increased in size. About eleven
o'clock we reached the pass. The road on the other side
wound down through admirably wooded valleys, in which
the faint dust-fog still lingered. Flowers and shrubs
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SBINAGAB. 29
blossomed on every side. The woods consisted of a pleasant
variety of trees. The descent was not unlike ways down
into the Val d'Aosta. In about an hour and a half we
crossed the foot of the deep Doga nala, and then, following
the avenued road southwards along the bed of the Khaghan
valley for about a mile, we came at one o'clock to the dak
OK THB BOAD TO GAHAKI HABIBDLLA. thc COOUeS ap-
peared, and ten
of them shouldered our baggage for the four hours' walk
that the afternoon had in store. We had come into the
Khaghan valley over its western ridge, and were now to get
out of it over the eastern and descend into the Jhelam
valley at Domel. Reference to the map will show that
the shortest way to Gilgit would have been straight up
Digilizod by Google
Khaghan * to the Babu Sar pass at its head, then down to
the Indus and up its bank to Bunji. By this route Gilgit
would only have been fourteen marches from Abbottabad.
But the road lies through Chilas, which was then an inde-
pendent robbers' state, where our lives would not have been
worth an hour's purchase. Had we come a year later this
route would have been opened. It is now pacified and
secure. As it was we had no choice but to go round by the
Vale of Kashmir and the new Gilgit road over the Burzil
pass. There are two ways to Domel. I took one of them
on the outward journey and the other on the return seven
months later. Both command fine views.
We started at three o'clock. Crossed the new bridge and
went away down the valley by a path along the left hank of
the stream — a narrow footpath of native make, never flat,
never straight, and never the same in inclination or direc-
tion for ten yards together. We followed it for some six or
seven miles till we reached a deep-lying bend of the river.
We now turned to the east up a side valley, and came to a
spring of clear water. The nala led to a low pass on
which we halted at six o'clock. This is the firontier
between British territory and the kingdom of Kashmir.
The view was superb. We were looking down into a deep
basin within which the Jhelam made two noble bends.
Mountains surrounded the grand enclosure, and a lower
range divided it, enabling us to discover where Kishanganga
and Jhelam join. Evening colours tinged the opposing Kaj
Nag ridge, j]he ruddy substance of which grew purple above
the shadows of the valley. This wonderful prospect, under-
going every change that purples, violets, and greys can
combine to produce, was before us throughout our traversing
descent. Down we went as fast as possible, first over slates,
then over their alluvial covering, and lastly in the bed of
" I comiiientl this valley to the attention of Anglo- Indiau mouniaineers.
It is easily accessible, givus access to peaks of IR.OOO feet, superbly placed
for views and not too difficult, and offers a chance of sport as well as
climbing.
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SBINAGAR. 31
the inevitable nala with precipitous sides cut deep into the
alluvium. A winding, wandering nala it. was, disclosing at
every bend some new glimpse of sunlit peaks framed
between the steep walls. We reached the fields at dusk,
crossed the Kishanganga by a new bridge near Mozufferabad,
and, leaving that place on our left, came in a few minutes
to the fine Jhelam bridge (since destroyed), slung high up
over a gorge, and adorned with pavilions at either end.
Crossing this we entered Domel, and found accommoda-
tion in the palatial diik bangia (since destroyed) which stood
by the meeting of the waters.
March 30^7*. — Domel is situated on the new military
road which leads into the Vale of Kashmir from Rawal
Pindi by way of Marri and Kohala. The road from Kohala
was begun about the year 1876, and the first fifty miloa
were constructed in the following twelve years, the upper
and more difficult portion not being commenced. The
Government of India, considering the progress of the work
too slow, decided on hastening it forward, and they accepted
the offer of the energetic contractors, Spedding and Co., to
finish it in two years and a half. The contract was ap-
proved by the Kashmir durbar, and duly carried out. The
road is 18 feet wide with a ruling gradient of 1 in 60. The
work on the upper portion was very difficult, owing to the
extraordinarily heavy rock-cuttings required to get the
gradient. Some of the cuttings are over 200 feet high, and
expensive breast and retaining walls were necessary to keep
the road up, in consequence of the avalanches which fall
at many points between Chakoti and Barramula. From
Domel to Barramula there are six marches : (1) To Garhi,
13 miles ; (2) to Hatti, 10 miles ; (3) to Chakoti, 15 miles ;
(4) to Uri, 16 miles; (5) to Rampur, 10 miles; (6) to
Barramula, 13 miles. No tongas being available, we made
the journey in ekkas in two days.
With much difficulty our ekka train was started by ten
o'clock, but I had been out and about long before, sitting
in the veranda behind a terrace of rose-trees in full bloom.
Digilizod by Google
32 MARCH 30, 31.
or in the pavilion at the end of a pretty pier that jutted
oat into the river, and was built by the Maharaja for the
pleasure of travellers. It commanded a charming circle of
views. You could look across the sweeping slopes of the Kaj
Nag and the fertile terraced plain that spreads from their
base and drops down to where Kishanganga and Jhelam
meet, not more than a quarter of a mile away ; or you could
gaze down-stream towards the cirque of hills into which -we
looked from our col the evening before. The water of the
combined streams sweeps past you round the bend, smooth
flowing and swift, then breaks into a thousand ripples over
a steeper shallow, and thus, laughing gaily in the morning
light, turns the comer, under an alluvial bank, and is gone
for the hot plains and the hated sea. Logs were floating
down it when we were there. Five months later its
burden was to be the unburied and unbumt bodies of men,
destroyed by the cholera.
When we started the sun was shining like an enemy
ahead, and we felt his power, for Domel is only 2,000 feet
above sea-level. The road follows the Jhelam fairly closely
all the way to Barramula, only diverging far from it in three
places. In the first hour we were greeted by a fine series
of views, ennobled by the all-enveloping blaze of day. The
light struck broadly over the sweeping buttresses of the Kaj
Nag and dappled our side of the valley, making the young
foliage of every tree transparent in green or red according
to its kind. Below were the sinuous forms of the sunken
river, and far ahead soft visions of larger hills buried in
bright air. Nor were the details of the roadside lacking
in charm ; now a picturesque peasant, anon some flush of
ostentatious blossom, or butterfly displaying its glories of
iridescent blue, flaming gold, or dappled grey. After a
halt for lunch at Garhi we entered tamer scenery, till an
encroaching side-ridge forced an ascent to a col in it,
about half a mile south of the main stream. A series of
cirques followed, and the highest point of the Kaj Nag
appeared m front, white with snow. Above Hatti the
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SRINAGAR. 33
scenery was on a grander scale. The valley narrowed and
the river flowed through a gorge, the road being cut in the
steep face high above the water. We only passed one
waterfall, and it was eniaU, but beautiful in form and richly
moss-embroidered. We halted for the night at the dak
bangla of Chakoti, planted on a jutting angle about 100 feet
above the road, and close to the outlet of an old lake-basin.
The house was old, and, I sbonld judge, full of scorpions ;
at all events one fell from the roof of the veranda almost
on to my head. All our bones were aching from the jolting
of the sprjngless carts, and our heads from the power of the
sun, but a night's rest set us all right.
March 'Ust. — We started at seven o'clock in tlie cool
morning air, and drove through to Uri before the sun
gained power to annoy. I was always on the look-out for
signs of ancient ice-action, but found none. Foniierly the
valley seems to have consisted of a series of lake-basins.
These were filled, sometimes 1,000 feet deep, with immense
masses of alluvium, brought down by floods and mud-
avalanches, as the bedded structure shows. The river has
cut, into this alluvium, a gorge of varying depth, according
to local conditions. The normal valley section is as here
represented. Where possible, the road
follows tlie top of the alluvium, so that
the characteristic view is of boldly"^
sloping and rounded hillsides above,
a dark gorge below, with a shelf or
shelves of cultivable ground inter-
vening between the two. Sometimes the sides of tlie gorge
are not precipices, but slopes bearing a thick tangle of trees,
through whose young foliage the sunlight played as through
stained-glass windows. The gorge winds about in majestic
curves, and when the eye can plunge down into one of
these, and can also be raised to some fine peak above, there
are the elements of remarkable views.
The longer reaches of the river follow the strike of the
strata. Shorter reaches cut through the strata at right
Digilizod by Google
angles to the strike, thus maintaining in this region of lower
hills the habit of Himalayan rivers through all the higher
ranges. The bones of the mountains here consist of a dark,
hard, rather impure limestone, with indications of cleavage,
in beds usually about 40 feet thick. The flesh is formed
of thicker alternating beds of a softer, purplish red, slaty
rock, which is more easily eaten away. In some narrows,
about five miles below Uri, a wall of the limestone has been
cut through by the river. I have called it a wall, because
it looked like one. It was a compact stratum heaved up
edgeways, and just at right angles to the direction of the
river. The waters and the weather have sloped away the
face of the softer rock, but contented themselves with
removing a minimum of the harder, so that it now stands
like the piers for some fallen-in bridge.
In a wild and rocky angle near this spot was the flag-
bedecked shelter of a fakir. It consisted of some stone
walls breast high, with a roof supported on posts above
them. The man's head appeared over the wall, and his
boy crouched at the door. His face bore the impress of
mildness, piety, and perhaps madness. The ekka walas
gave him of their coppers, and received bis blessing and
lighted charcoal for their pipe, nor deemed themselves
defrauded. One fellow told me that the fakir's words
warmed the cockles of a man's heart. The bit of a hut,
hitched in amongst precipitous rocks, between the roadway
and the deep, and bright with little red flags — 7iot of liberty
— was a picturesque addition to the landscape, and well in
keeping with it.
Ziirbriggen did not get himself blessed by the fakir, and
soon found out his mistake by an accident, which fortunately
happened where the road was flat and bordered by meadows
a few feet below on either side. His machine toppled
over, so that horse, dri^'er, and Zurbriggen all rolled in a
confused heap together into the iield, with the crazy ruin
on top of them. Various Swiss expletives arose from the,
wreck, but presently Zurbriggen emerged uninjured.
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ABBOTTABAD fO SBII^AGAR. 35
The road sweeps in a tine curve up to the high-placed
serai of Uri, which stands on the brow of a step in the
valley, and can be seen from afar. The dak bangla is a
short way behind the old serai, and there we halted for
breakfast. Uri occupies the site of a very ancient city, and
there are ruins and sculptures in the neighbourhood.* At
Uri the Jhelam river comes in by breaking its way through
from the north, the true head of the valley we had thus far
followed being ^^^-^ "'""
which leads to thi
pass, and over t
During the next
the journey,
therefore, we
were confined
within a region
where the
struggle be-
tween water
and rock was
more energetic
than before, the
river as often
cutting across
as flowing along
the strata, mak-
ing the scenery
° •' TEHPLE OF BBANITAR.
more varied and
magnificent. Before reaching Eampur, where we stopped
an hour for lunch, we passed under a precipice dignified
by the vertically ruled lines of stratification and their upward
prolongation into a fringe of mighty firs on the steep slope
above. The road led by some pleasant copses, and over
a meadow at the mouth of the pretty Harpatkai nala ;
* See s, paper read before the Eoyal Asiatic Society by Dr. Stein, Nov. 14,
1S93. This paper also contains the most recent notes on the ancient
ruins in Kashmir.
Digilizod by Google
it then took us through a wood along the flat alluvial shelf
in a narrow part of the valley.
In this romantic spot stands the well-preserved and
ancient temple of Bhaniyar. It is a good example of the
interesting series of pre-MuasuIman Kashmiri temples. They
are all of this simple type — a courtyard, entered by a
massive gate-pavilion, with a shrine standing isolated in
the midst. The character of the parts is sufficiently dis-
coverable from the illustration on the previous page. Some of
these temples are believed to date from the very beginning
of the Christian era, and the sculptures found in connection
with them show the influence of the Gandhara school. The
imprint of Western classical traditions upon this style of
architecture is unmistakable. The ordinary North Indian
type of mosque, with its cubical entrance pavilion and its
colonnaded courtyard, is doubtless connected with this
earlier type of religious edifice ; both at any rate descend
from the same common ancestry, which is easily discover-
able in the historic regions between the Persian Gulf and
the Mediterranean.*
Above the temple the valley became more open, and
was delightful with the luxury of blossoming trees, fertile
meadows, and a general aspect of well-being. Log huts,
that might almost have been Swiss, replaced the stone-
walled hovels of the lower country. The slopes were
gentler and better clad with earth and debris. There were
no more rock sections. The alluvial valley bed, wider in
extent, was divided into little fields, terraced a few inches
one above another for irrigation purposes. The water was
upon them, and reflected the evening lights from the
opposing hills. The most beautiful lake-basin of all had
'~ For the high porch and courtyard endless ancient Mesopotamian
and Assyrian examples might be cited, such as the Palace of Sargon
at KboFsabad. The elevated shrine in the midst of a courtyard, which
may have always been, and certainly sometimes was, filled with a pool
of water {like the modern Golden Temple at Amritsar), bears a remark-
able resemblance to the Phoenician Maabed at Amrith, described and
figured in Kenan's " Mission de Fh^nicie," pp. 62-68, plates viii. and x.
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTASAD TO SBINAOAR. 37
yet to be traverBed. Low striking Bunlight lay like a
fesse across it, and made its poplars and other trees glisten
against the darker slopes. The flat ground was covered
with iris plants not yet in blossom. Just as the evening
closed in we were led, by one more cutting of the river
across the strata, into the last reach. It is a stately
avenue of entrance to the fair Vale of Kashmir. As
we approached Barramula there was still light enough
to show faint visions of snowy peaks rising from the fax
side of the plain. The river, no longer a tortured torrent,
was flowing silently beside us. A line of storeyed houses,
with laden barges beneath them, stretched for a mile along
the further bank. The road was smoother, and our progress
became peaceful. But peace was rudely interrupted when
we came to a halt in the midst of a howhng mob of chit-
waving* boatmen, clamouring to be hired. In half an hour
the turmoil was over ; the ekkas were dismissed, boats
engaged, the baggage all stowed, and ourselves punted
away &om the landing - place and moored iu a quiet
corner. Then indeed we realised what rest was, with the
soft rocking of the river, the cool breeze of night, and the
lapping of ripples on the shore ; whilst overhead, in the
silent sky, the old moon slept in the young moon's arms,
and Jupiter blazed beside them, the brightest jewel of the
heavens.
April 1st. — The Vale of Kashmir is an old lake-basin,
drained almost dry by the cutting down of the rock barrier
which formerly existed at Barramula, and through which
the Jhelam now flows. The Wulah Lake is the only
remaining portion of this ancient sheet of water. The vale
is shut in on both sides by branches of the Himalayas, that
to the south being the Pir Panjal range, whose southern
front we saw from the railway near Eawal Pindi. Over
the northern range lay our road to Gilgit.
* A " chit " 18 any kind of letter, character, or testimonial. Every
native's ambitioD is to be possessed of a quantity of these, which he
prodaoes and trieB to add to on every possible occasion.
Digilizod by Google
Our boatmoD, Sobhana, Goftira, and Aziza, with their
families and men, were early at work, and towed us up-
stream at a leisurely pace. The neighbourhood of the
river might almost have been Holland — smooth water,
steep mud banks, a fair bordering of trees, sufficiently like
elms to deceive an unobservant eye, here and there a
village, and here and there a barn, cattle grazing in the
fields, and a boat or two drifting down-stream — such
simple elements of peaceful landscape are common in many
parts of the world. But what was not common was
the encircling chain of snow-clad hills visible all around.
Behind was the gateway of the vale through which we
entered — a blue hollow, cut deeply back into the hills and
having the mass of the Kaj Nag for northern side-post.
The scenery was finest when we had left the river and
entered the Wulah Lake, three aides of which are enclosed
by such mountains as look down upon the Lake of Uri.
As the sun was setting, its beams seemed to flow like liquid
fire into the vale through every western passage;, and the
sky was all aflame with wreathed clouds, that carried up
to the very zenith the splendours of the west. We were
in a mere daze of helpless delight, knowing that neither
brush nor pen could avail to depict one thousandth part of
what each glance conveyed.
April 2nd. — I know not at what early hour the boatmen
started from Naid Khai, the village by a canal's bank
where we tied up for the night. This canal was a short
cut leading from the Wulah Lake back into the Jhelam, a
little way below Manasbal. The day was duU and cool
and misty, the mountains being scarcely visible save as a
faint suggestion under the clouds. In the afternoon we
passed the mouth of the Sind valley down which we were
to come, six months or so later, on our return from the
highlands. Towards evening we approached Srinagar, and
looked forward to a pleasant dinner with Roudebush and
Dickin, but the fates had otherwise ordered.
Our boats were the usual flat-bottomed Kashmiri punts,
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SBINAGAB. 39
with roof and walls of matting supported on a gable-ended
framework of posts. The hanging side-mats can be rolled
up to enable the voyager to see the views or feel the breeze.
It so happened that a squall suddenly sprang up, and
one of the boats lay broadside on to it. For a moment it
seemed as though it would be blown over, but something
giving way, the heavy matting roof and walls were lifted
bodily oflf into the air and cast into the water, carrying a
kilta and spinning-wheel with them. Then arose crying
and confusion amongst the natives in the after-part. An
old hag lifted up her voice and wept, partly for her spinning-
wheel, but more because of the scolding she got from her
sons for bad steering, for she was at the stern paddle.
Rahim AH was at the time on shore, but he promptly
boarded the wreck, stowed all our loose things together
under a blanket, and calmly went on cooking, with a grin
on his face and observant eyes turning all ways at once.
A small girl and her blind sister landed during the tumult,
and the little one plucked a nosegay of yellow flowers
which she archly presented to one of us. Sad it was to see
the blind maiden carrying the baby about, and feeling her
way down the precipitous mud-hank to the narrow shore.
Not for her were the sunset glories which the heavens now
revealed between the storms. The piled majesty of the
Digilizod by Google
40 APRIL 3.
clouds stalked across the west to the Wulah Lake. The
sunlight burnt holes through them and fired beneath them,
pouring a stream of golden splendour through the gateway
of the vale. The enforced delay belated us, and we had
to come-to for the night below the first houses of
Srinagar.
April 3rd. — It was unfortunate that we were obUged to
enter Srinagar and ascend the river, through all the length
of the town to the European quarter above it, in the
unromantic light of morning. I had so often heard of the
beauties of the so-called "Venice of Kashmir" that I was
prepared to approach it in the most sympathetic humour.
But it is the shabbiest and filthiest Venice conceivable,
picturesque no doubt, hut with the picturesqueness of a
dirty Alpine village— a mere Zermatt, extended for miles
along the banks of a big sewer. There is no architecture
visible from the water highway, if one excepts the fine
mosque of Shah Hamadan, a second-rate Hindu temple or
two, and a ruined tomb-mosque. The rest is a mere patch-
work of eraay wooden houses and ugly palaces. There is
plenteous interest about the life on the river, the boats and
barges, the cries of the rowers, the people washing by the
dirty shore, the glimpses up foul alleys and what not ; but
there is no art in all this, only materials from which
the artist can rend forth beauty by educated skill. After
reaching the palace we turned to the left up a side canal
which leads past the Chinar Bagh to the neighbouring
Dal Lake. We tied up at the Chinar Bagh, the British
bachelors' cam pie g- ground, and there breakfasted, whilst
the crowd of merchants, who had followed us up-stream in
their boats, a regular bazaar on the shore and
displayed the products of their industry in papier-mache,
beaten copper-work, guns, silver, third-rate precious stones,
leather-work, portable furniture, pashmiiia stuffs, and what-
not. Presently Koudebush arrived, and we walked with
him to the banglas in the Munshi Bagh, which had been
placed at our disposal by the Assistant Eesident, Captain
Digilizod by Google
ABBOTTABAD TO SBINAGAR. 41
Chenevix Trench, while the boats went round to the palace
again and then up the river for a mile or two to meet us.
Our banglas were in a row with many more, all of them
built by the Maharaja for the convenience of European
visitors. They are usually reserved for married people.
Fine trees shade them, and only a high bank intervenes
between them and the river. We soon settled down and
made ourselves comfortable. In the evening we walked out
to see the ruined temple of Pandrethan.
4 OPFOHITE THB CBIMAR B&OB,
Digilizod by Google
THE HUHSBI BAOB,
CHAPTER III.
IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR.
April 4:th. — The Munshi Bagh lies on the right bank of the
river Jhelam, at the foot of the hill called Takht-i-Stiliman.
Before breakfast we made the ascent of this hill to the
temple on the top, reputed to be the oldest building in
Kashmir, but probably, in its present form at any rate, built
in Mussulman times. The view from it cannot but be fine,
for the vale spreads abroad on one side, and the Dal Lake is
on the other, with mountains rising from its further shores.
The town of Srinagar is spread about between lake and plain.
The river winds in serpentine curves at one's feet, before
stretching backwards with definite intention towards the
hills of its origin. When we arrived, the ring of distant
mountains was already dissolving into the bright Athenian
mist, which seems to be as frequent a feature in the sky of
Digilizod by Google
IN TSE VALE OF KASHMIR. 43
Kashmir as of Greece. The little shrine has lost its
original roof and has been patched about at various dates,
the gate and steps leading up to it being comparatively
modern. There are remnants of other buildings near,
which would repay excavation. The door of the shrine was
locked, hut we climbed in over the top. The existing roof
is supported on two stone beams carried by four eight-sided
pillars, cut from square or rectangular piers. The capitals
of these pillars have been restored with cement, and one
cannot see their original form. The four pillars stand at
the angles of a square stone platform, in the midst of which
is the lingam. This is made from the rock of which Martand
is built, and is placed in a kind of stone saucer for carrying
off the oil wherewith the faithful anoint it. The interior
of the building is circular on plan. The triangle-headed
door is [in the east side. There are rough Arabic inscrip-
* tions about, showing that
uilding was em-
for Mussulman
iiring the Moghal
An eight-sided
, which surrounds
ine, is bounded by
a stone parapet,
whose inner face
consists of a
series of small
round-headed
recesses, appa-
rently for sculp-
ture, depressed
within oblong
frames.
We had much
work to aecom-
TEMPLB ON THE TOP OF THB TAKHT-I-SULIUAN. pllSU QUnng tllC
day, but iu the.
Digilizod by Google
44 APlilL 5, 6.
afternoon I found time to walk with Dickin through the
eol between the Takht-i-Suliman and the last of the hills,
and so down to the Dal Lake. The views were lovely
over tlie water and the slopes of the mountains in the soft
grey afternoon. All things far off were lost in mist. Many
of the fresh green trees about us were bright with blossoms.
We ultimately turned out of the road that runs by the lake,
and mounted through vineyards to the ChaBbmah Shabi, a
Moghal garden of the usual Persian type, with a spring of
clear water and pavilious about it. In the garden, cherries,
apples, pears, plums, and lilacs were all in bloom, and
framed the most charming vistas of lake, hillside, and plain.
The simple native gardener showed us round, and seemed
to enjoy our pleasure. A. black pet lamb followed him
everywhere, even to the upper storeys of the pavihons.
When the subdued light of evening was playing magic with
the dainty views, we turned our steps homewards. McCor-
mick, Roudebush, and I slept on the boats preparatory to
an early start up-stream tlie following day.
Ajnil 5th. — We did not awake till our boat had been for
some time on its way, and had passed most of the long
loops which intervene between Srinagar and Pandrethan.
The remainder of the day we were content to lazily loll iu
the boat, or stroll along the bank with a gun, to which
now and again a wild-duck was good enough to fell. The
shining haze hid from us the distant hills ; but towards
evening the crest of the Pir Paujal became visible as an
ethereal apparition behind the veil, and, later, was cut
out in dark silhouette against the silver sky. Towing
continued far into the night, and we were fast asleep
before the boat came-to off Islamabad.
Ajiril Gth. — After an early breakfast we walked through
the outskirts of the town, and along a field-road. In
about half an hour we began mounting to the right, and
swiftly attained the level of the upper valley plateau
(one of the Kareivas of Kashmir). We crossed the bare
flat for about an hour to the foot of the slopes, where,
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR 47
jnst on the hem of the skirt of the hills, stands the
famoua ruin of Martand, looking purple from the distance
in the grey day. The Pir Panjal coiild be seen outlined
against the sky, but the plain vanished into mist at our
feet.
The temple is oi the usual Kashmiri type— a shrine in a
court. The shrine in this case has been added to at various
dates, and stands behind the transverse middle line of the
enclosure, which is not square, but oblong. The enclosure
is surrounded by the usual series of cells built against the
wall. It was entered by a chief portal on the west, and
there appear to have been two minor portals (or perhaps
only larger cells) in the middle of the side walls. They
were one course higher than the rest of the enceinte. The
whole is buUt of the local blue limestone, in which are
many red veins. The temple itself consisted originally of
a single shrine of the usual type, with a stone roof imitated
from thatch. It appears to have been open on all four
sides, or at least on three sides, the openings being large
and trefoil- headed. The building may have shown signs of
weakness at an early time, and was strengthened with a
stone wall lining on three sides and part of the fourth,
which thus blocked up the side openings and narrowed the
Iront one. A. pronaos was afterwards added, in keeping
with the rest, and two separate little shrines were built in
alignment with the new facade, near, but not attached to
it. Each of them was double, and contained an elevated
open shrine facing to the front, and another to the
rear. The whole was at some time shaken into ruin,
possibly by an earthquake. The building is formed of
horizontally-bedded stones of rather large size. The trefoil-
headed arches are false, being merely cut out of the hori-
zontal courses. The later additions to the lucid original
edifice seem to correspond with some change of ritual.
The sculptured decoration is almost destroyed; it was
contained within trefoil-headed frames enclosed beneath
triangular pediments. All the sculpture on the naos is
Digilizod by Google
confined to the eight angle buttresses, and may not be so
old as the building.
Mounting a short distance up the hill behind, one gets b.
picturesque view of the ruins projected against the Pir
Panjal. They are not to be reckoned amongst the great
ruins of the world ; they are not comparable to a small
Egyptian temple (such as the small temple, say, at Medinet
Abu), nor to an English abbey. To mention them in the
same breath with the Parthenon is absurd. In situation
they are doubtless remarkable. On the last dip of a hill-
side, a hundred yards before it spreads into the upper level
of the Kashmir plain, and with the snow-capped range
around them, they enjoy an exceptional advantage. It
must, however, be remembered that the Pir Panjal is itself
third-rate as an example of mountain form. Most of it is
as flat along the top as the ridge of a roof, and the remainder
is merely serrated into teeth, pleasant, indeed, by com-
parison with the level crest, but poor by the side of even
ordinary mountains. The peaks, seen between south and
east as one approaches the ruins, but not visible from them
nor from most of the vale, are finer in form. After all,
Kashmir is not comparable to the Italian lake district for
natural beauty. It is a country in which Nature awaits the
help of man. The views become admirable when employed
as backgrounds for architecture, or at least horticulture.
Gardens' are needed to enframe them, pavilions to command
them. But Nature at once accepts and blesses such works
of man, and the commonest painted wooden erection, if of
good proportion, looks finer amongst the orchards by the
Dal Lake than palaces of marble could appear in London.
Pour the wealth of a metropolis into Kashmir, and you
might make a paradise impossible elsewhere.
We descended direct to the plain, and visited a modem
Hindu temple, with the usual pool fuU of sacred fish. In
the lingam enclosure there was a fine fragment of ancient
sculpture — the lower half of a female figure seated on a
lion, with one knee drawn up — as good as anything I
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IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 49
saw in India. Faint with hunger, we straggled back to
Islamabad, and visited two Hindu temples that presented
no points of novelty. We hastened from them to the
boat, and at once started away down-stream. The day
closed calmly ; but at night the storm, which seemed to
have been brewing for weeks, burst upon us in thunder,
lightning, and a deluge of rain. We moored at a late hour
off Avantipur.
April 7th. — The morning was cold, wet, and windy ;
but we were able to land between the showers, and to
visit the two ruined temples. Both appear to be later
in date than the oldest part of Martand, but possibly con-
temporary with the pronaos. The porch leading to the
enclosure of the upper temple, which is named Avantis-
wami, was flanked by wings of some sort, supported on
columns, which stood on the roof of the cells. The remark-
able feature is the quantity of decoration applied to flat
surfaces, mouldings, and the pilasters supporting canopies
above the trefoils of the cells. What remains of the
sculpture is better than at Martand, but does not rival the
decorative detail. The enclosure appears to have been
oblong, and the shrine to have stood in the midst of it;
but this has fallen into absolute ruin.
The second temple, named Avantiswara, is situated about
a mile further down the river. The bulk of the porch
remains standing, and is a prominent object. The lintels
of its front and rear were carried on a pair of columns, as at
Bhaniyar. The sculptured decoration was never finished;
much of it was only roughed out. The rain of the central
shrine is a complicated heap. It appears to have been the
most elaborate in Kashmir, consisting of a central chamber,
with a projecting porch on each face, and a pair of small
chambers at each angle, the whole planted on an elevated
base. The decorative details were rich, the mouldings
numerous and deeply cut. The temple was probably the
latest in date that we saw. Its position between the river
and an advanced hill is magnificent. Sombre thunder-
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50 APEIL 7.
oloads and a threatening sky added to the effect of the
landscape.
Another storm sent us back to the boat, and once more
down-8treara. When it cleared o£E, the wild-duck were for
a time approachable, and a few were secured as we went
along. About four o'clock we quitted the boat at Pan-
drethan, leaving it to meander round the bends whilst we
visited the
temple and
walked to the
bangla.
The shrine of
Pandrethan " is
one of the most
perfect, but by
no means the
most ancient in
Kashmir. The
enclosure is
gone, but its
position is
marked by the
pool of water
in which the
shrine stands.
The shrine re-
tains most of its
TANDRKTHAN. Original StOUG
roof, and proves
that, however much the details of pilasters and mould-
ings may have been suggested by Western traditions, the
actual form of the building was a copy in stone of a type of
edifice previously developed in wood and other perishable
materials. The ends of wooden beams are imitated in
- It is oriented 23° south of west. Martand and the two Avantipur
temples face from 5° to 15" south of west. The door of the Takht-l-Suliman
faces in the contrary direction, 10° north of east.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 53
stone, and the slopes of the roof are decorated with the
blind similitude of dormer-windows. The four facades
resemble one another ; over each is a large pediment above
a trefoil-headed recess, within which is another pediment
and smaller recess, originally containing a seated figure in
the attitude associated by Europeans with Buddha. One
of these figures still remains — a rare chance. There is a
decorative frieze under the eaves, apparently consisting of
a row of arch-headed niches, each of which may have held
a small seated figure. Behind the temple on the hillside
are scanty remains of an ancient city.
We walked home in time to escape yet another downpour,
and were pleased to find, on our arrival, that the baggage
had come in, and was ready to be finally repacked.
April 8tk to 10th. — Most of the work of packing de-
volved upon Eckenstein, as had been the case in London
and at Abbottabad. He accompUshed the undertaking well,
and nothing was broken. The things had now to be taken
out of the cases they came in, and to be recatalogued and
deposited in leather-covered baskets, or kiltas* the ordinary
cooHe packs of the country. Twenty-six kiltas and six other
pieces of baggage had to be prepared and handed over to
the Kashmir authorities to be sent by way of Skardo to
Askole, there to await our arrival. The apparatus of civi-
lised life wa3 to be left behind at Srinagar. All else was to
come with us. A load was not supposed to exceed 50 lbs.,
so everything had to be weighed. A quantity of stores
remained to be bought, and we were all busy enough.
Every day I had to go down to the shops in the town to
make purchases. Sometimes it was to Samad Shah's over
against the great mosque, sometimes to the New Bazaar.
One day we went into the mosque of Shah Hamadan, the
type of all later up-country mosques. It is wholly built of
" Eiltos are generally made io a roughly cyliodrical form — the worst
shape for pocking ioto. A traveller will be well advised to have them
made of the ordinary bos shape and somewhat larger than the regulation
mo. He shoald get these for from 2 to 2| rupees each.
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64 APRIL 8—10.
wood. From a courtyard, surrounded by a two-storeyed
portico of excellent proportions and carved decoration,
we passed, amidst a crowd of apparently not unfriendly
onlookers, iuto the mosque. Few buildings produce a
more soothing and agreeable impression. The subdued
light enriches the dark-toned wood wherewith the in-
terior is wholly lined. Walls and roof are intricately
panelled, though the ceiling is only here and there visible
between the coloured canopies that hang from it. Four
great decorated wooden columns support the roof. Their
capitals are foliated and resemble the palm-leaf capitals of
THB MAHiBAJA'B PALACE FROU TBE J
certain Ptolemaic columns. The wall panels are tastefully
carved or inlaid. In one corner is the saint's enclosure, and
beyond it a door decorated witJi engraved looking-glasses,
the only tawdry thing visible. The exterior with its por-
ticoes and porticocd balconies, its well-proportioned roof
and charming central spire, is the most elegant piece of
architecture in Kashmir, and one of the most elegant I have
anywhere seen. It stands well by the river bank, and makes
the Hindu buildings ridiculous by contrast.
We cannot take leave of Srinagar without mentioning
the picturesqueness of the so-called New Bazaar. We went
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IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 55
down to it by boat one afternoon, and, landing on the right
bank, ascended a flight of steps and entered a narrow pas-
sage with shops on either hand. Craftsmen were work-
ing in the open rooms on the ground floor ; most of the
shops were upstairs. We were at once surrounded by a
crowd, crying, "I sell you this!" "I make you this!"
" Come and see my worrrk ! " " You not buy from me ; you
buy from other man ; see my things ; I do good worrrk ;
this is my shop ! " and so on. We climbed crazy stairs and
entered a small room wherein were tables covered with
silver, copper, and brass inlaid with gay enamel. The
dealer and his friends stood or squatted around ; no one in
particular seemed to own the shop. There were some rude
paintings and a diploma flrom the Colonial Exhibition on
the wall. Tea was at once eerred. Where should they put
the milk ? The first silver bowl that came to hand was
good enough. A harlequin set of Chinese cups were pro-
duced. In pouring out the tea they upset most of it. The
sugar was like biscuit, but sweet enough. Then they
produced their curios. Everything unusual was said to
come from Yarkand ; Bokhara was second favourite, then
Badakhshan. They demanded at first extortionate prices,
and backed their demands by showing their everlasting book
of chits, containing the prices supposed to have been paid
by other sahibs. As the things became strewn about the
room, picturesque effects were produced. We visited the
papier-mache man, and noticed that Enghsh purchasers were
steadily ruining his art by preferring his worst designs. He
thought to capture us with one in particular. "Last year
I sold great many of these, every gentleman one pair, two
pairs, mostly devil pattern — I sold great many devil pattern
— devil pattern very much admired." Thus do the English
befoul the world's art. They all took an embarrassing fancy
to my stylographio pen. " I like this pen ; you give me
this pen ; I show it to gentlemen, and I show your name ;
then your name go best."
When the light became dim indoors we started to return.
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56 APRIL 11.
How wonderful was the coming out ! From the top of the
bazaEir steps we looked down the dark, narrow street, full
of men, across the river and away to the distant mountains
on fire with the sunset. A rich haze of blue wood-smoke
enveloped everything, for it was the month of Ramadan,
and the cooking of the evening meal was a more important
matter than usual. A few steps forward, and the views opened
up and down the river, now for the first time seen by us in
its true splendour. All meanness of detail was blotted out
in the wondrous haze and evening glow : up-stream the
nearer hills with the moon rising over them ; down-stream
a bridge and the orauge west flaming above and below it.
The sight even stilled the noisy crowd for a moment, and
all gazed at it in silence. As we glided over the waters
the moon took its sceptre from the sun, and the whole city
became etherealised. The houses seemed of a gossamer
fairy substance, and when we reached our bangla in the
night the long lines of poplars lay black upon the silent
stream.
April 11th. — This day Dickiu invited us to a picnic on
the Dal Lake. It was one of the red-letter days in the
calendar of our journey. Starting in boats from the Chinar
Bagh, we paddled up umbrageous reaches of the narrow
stream and entered the water-gates by which the lake can
be closed, then glided along pleasant canals, all alive with
boats fall of folk going a-holidaying (for it was the Hindu
New Year's Day). A contrary stream of peasants was
bringing vegetables and garden produce to the city market.
Every view was charming, and all the air was sweet.
Ducks animated the surface of the water; flowers fringed
the low banks, along which cottages alternated with clumps
of pollarded willows, lines of poplars, and orchards of
blossoming fruit-trees. We passed a village or two and
a Hindu temple with glittering roof; then under an old
bridge showing its ragged bricks naked to the sun.
Presently the water-way widened and our men forced the
flat-bottomed craft with bolder stroke over the calm lake.
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m THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 59
Floating fields, moored to the bottom by stakes, replaced
the canal banks on either hand. It was delicious to lie and
silently watch the hUla mirrored in the lake and the band
of firesh green between them, or backwards to look over the
line of trees to mountains blue as the sky crested with
snowfields bright and ethereal as clouds. The water
gurgled beneath the rhythmic stroke of the paddles, which
was now quick and gentle, anon, after word of command
given, slower but stronger, and making the boat advance
by bounds with a pleasant quiver through all her fi-ame.
There were lotus plants floating in the water, and
the paddles of the boats we passed twinkled in the sun-
light.
We landed at Hazratbal Mosque, where the Feast of
Boses was yearly held, at one of which Jehangir and Nur
Mahal had their lovers' quarrel. Steps lead up from the
lake to a green square, shaded by chinar trees, beyond
which is the two-storeyed facade of the mosque. The
larger part of it is an addition imitated from Shah Hama-
dan, but behind is the original stone building, a small
chamber of graceful proportions and simple but good
decoration. The pattern on the ceiling is akin to that
of some old carpet designs.
A short row carried us to the Nasim Bagh, an enclosure
planted with well-grown chinar trees, which we were to
revisit under other circumstances that day six months.
Like all the parks and gardens around the Dal Lake, it
was planted by the great Moghal Emperors of Delhi, whose
summer resort was Kashmir. A row across the lake, past
the Island of the Four Cbinars, where once a temple
stood, brought us to the mouth of the narrow canal that
leads to the Shalimar Bagh. We had to make our way up
it along with many more boats. The natives in them wore
their whitest robes and gayest turbans. They seemed
thoroughly happy and offered us lilacs and other flowers.
The plan of the Shalimar gardens, like that of the
Chashmah Shahi, resembles the design of many Persian
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carpet.' Water from a fountain flows down the midst of
it in a stone bed, which is frequently broken into
slopes, with the face of the stone so engraved that the
rushing water is shivered into a patterned fabric as of
crystal. The stream is conducted through, or round, a
series of pavilions, and many jets of water dance about
them. There are also pools in which bathers might frolic.
Paths, parterres, and trees are symmetrically arranged
beside the stream and about the pavilions. In an upper
chamber in the highest pavilion, the secret place of Nur
Mahal's pleasaunce.f carpets were spread, and lunch was
served upon the floor. The view from the window extended
over the garden and the lake to the snowy hills. Surely
they must have been set in their place by the man who did
the landscape gardening in Kashmir. The maker of moun-
tains obviously built most of them to be climbed, but the
Pir Panjal is useless for that purpose. Its use is purely
BBsthetio, its ridge a mere foundation for the sky ; the snow-
* See an illustrated article by the author in the Art Journal for
December, 1891, p. 871.
t The Taj Mahal at Agra is Nur Mahal's tomb.
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IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 61
fields upon it are fine-weather clouds, and the slopes below
a canvas for the sun to paint on.
When the whim took ub we returned to the boats, as the
sun was lowering to the west, the plain darkened by the
shadow of the clouds, and the hills dressing for the evening
pageant. The sun had not set before we again landed
through a crowd of holiday-makers to mount the many-
terraced Garden of Bliss (Nishat Bagh), which has a stream,
parterres, and pavilions like the rest. We stayed there but
a short time and put out again into the lake as the sun was
departing in a blaze of glory. The hour of colour came
on — the hour of Kashmir's pride, when Iter battlements are
outlined against the wondrous sky, and cloud-flags wave
above their crests. The boatmen started against another
returning punt a merry race, which we ultimately won
amidst much polyglot chaff. As we approached the Takht-i-
Suliman the night enveloped us and draped the mountains
with a purple darkness, full not of gloom, but peace, which
the brightly rising moon emphasised rather than dis-
pelled. On reaching the bangla we found that Bruce had
duly arrived.
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April 13^7i.— The whole of the 12th and the morning of
the 13th were devoted to packing. The Askole baggage
was then ready to be handed over to the Kashmir autho-
rities, who provided me with a parwana and all needful
documents. After completing our preparations we feted
our approaching departure with a cereraonious dinner, and
drank success to the expedition in the rather indifferent
wines of Kashmir. Immediately afterwards we went on
board our four boats with the three Gurkhas and the five
servants. A few minutes before nine o'clock we began
drifting down the river in the still moonlight. We were all
aaisa down the jhelau tbbougs BniNAQAB.
in fine spirits, scarcely harmonious, however, with the mood
of the night. We sang, too rowdily, I fear, the poplar
avenue having to echo back the strains of " Ta-ra-ra-
boom-de-ay," and I know not what other ribald ditties.
Parbir excited the envy of his comrades, Lila Ram and
Amar Sing, with " Two Lovely Black Eyes," which he
picked up in England. Zurbriggen contributed his native
jodel to the general din. Our enthusiasm wore itself out as
we entered the city. Lila Eam summed up his impres-
sions of Srinagar in a brief sentence, " A good big place, but
damned dirty." Parbir remarked, " Me, Nepal, say, Kash-
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IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 65
mir woman good, Kashmir houae good, Kashmir dirty." By
the moonhght, however, the dirt was not visible. The
mosque of Shah Hamadan, around which natives were
singing, arose stately against the sky. Lower down, the
steep, metal-plated roofs of the five towers of a Hindu
temple shone like silver as we passed. But soon all the
bridges and the town were left behind, and we were in the
open country between the sky and the sky-reflecting waters.
I lay on my side, with head raised by a pillow above the
low gunwale, watching the panorama pass, as the stream
bore us silently along. At what time the visionary land-
scape gave place to the world of dreams I know not ; the
reality was already dreamland.
April 14:th. — When we awoke in the flat country near
Manasbal the whole valley was roofed with clouds resting
on hills of an intense blue colour. Only in the west a broad
snowfield caught the sunlight and ehone with startling
brilliancy. As the sleepers awoke they began to call to one
another from boat to boat. Parbir and Zurbriggen ex-
changed chaff in such English as they possessed in common,
and sang snatches of English songs. The four boats
drifted down together in all attitudes, and there was a con-
stant passing and repassing from one to another as our morn-
ing calls were paid. About nine o'clock we entered the Wulah
Lake, and there the boatmen worked their best, for they
fear storms, and the waters were, at the time, quite calm.
The passage to the northern shore only took three-quarters
of an hour. We exchanged the lake for a narrow canal,
and tied up at the landing-place for Bandipur, where
120 coolies were awaiting our arrival. They loaded
up our goods at once and started off with them for Saner-
wain, a village some four miles away, whence our regular
marches were to commence. I finished my writing, paid
the boatmen, and followed the caravan about three hours
later. The actual foot of the first hill was covered with
masses of iris, humming with bees. After brushing through
them and passing massed blossoms of the larger sort, in
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glory of purple and white, I came to the be^nning of the
new Gilgit mule-road, and, in an hour, reached the camping-
ground of Sanerwain, where the Gurkhas were struggling to
set up our tente, the form of which was new to them.
There was a mud-walled bangla close by, and as the night
promised to be wet we preferred sleeping under a roof when
the chance offered.
There were sis tents in all — to wit Roudebush's 80-lb.
Cabul tent, a glorified form of the same thing belonging
to Dickin, and two Whymper and two Mummery tents
for the mountaineers. The Mummery tents were of the
form described in the Alpine Club Report on Equipment
(p. 26). • The Whymper tents were of the ordinary pattern
as made by Edgington, but had I to go anotber journey
in the mountains of India I should make the following
alterations in the design. The tent, it must be premised,
is seven feet square on the base, and the bottom is of one
piece with the sides. The transverse section of it, when
set up, is an equilateral triangle. It is upheld by four
light bamboo poles, which are crossed in pairs at the top
of the ends, and a single rope serves for ridge and to
support the tent by being carried to pegs or stones before
and behind. Both ends should be made to open, and
the doors should overlap one another, and be so arranged
that either of them can be closed first. The floor should
be carried up at least six inches at the door, and should
be fastened there to the sides of the tent, so that it
cannot lie down, A fairly thick extra fly should be
adjusted over the whole tent. This is essential in
Kashmir. The sides of the tent soon begin to belly
inwards. They can be kept out by thin strings (weak
enough to break in a gale) attached to buttons at the
seams. For a long journey there ought to be one of these
tents for each traveller who has any work to do. The
fabric must, of course, be Willesden canvas. Our two
Whymper tents, in their cases, with complement of poles
~' Alpine Journal, vol. xvi. The report is also published separately.
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IN THE VALE OF KASHMIB. 67
and two extra ones, complete, weighed togebher 52 lbs.
The two Mummery tents weighed together 7 lbs., 8o that
at a pinch one man could carry all four — the accommoda-
tion for fourteen men for climbing purposes.
I shall hereafter have a good deal to say, &om time to
time, about our equipment. A few general remarks may
here be in place and will save repetition. We brought a
considerable quantity of food with us from England. I
should not do so on another occasion, for sheep, flour,
milk, and often eggs and chickens can be purchased,
even in the remotest villages, and sheep and goats can
usually be driven to a height of 16,000 feet. It is well
to be provided with a few kiltas full of luxuries. Silver's
self-cooking tins should, of course, be taken at the rate of
at least one for each European for every day to be spent
above coolje-level — that is to say (roughly speaking), above
17,000 feet. We found a quantity of boxes of Peek, Frean
& Co.'s Garibaldi biscuits most excellent. Kola biscuits
will be mentioned later on. A quantity of chocolate is
also vahiable. Such things as tea, candles, salt, and the
like can be bought in Srinagar, but it is better to bring out
tinned meats fresh from home. A few squares of condensed
Chelsea jelly will be found most comforting after hot
days in the high regions. Our clothes were altogether of
wool bought from the Jager Company, and they answered
admirably. Anglo-Indians, however, know that excellent
woollen clothes can be bought in Srinagar at a remarkably
cheap rate. We had a certain number of gay Kashmiri
namdahs (a kind of felt rug), with which we carpeted the
tents over the mackintosh floors ; they also served as covers
for bundles of clothes and bedding, and their bright colours
were grateful to eyes tired with everlasting snow and rocks.
We slept on the ground, in sleeping-bags, some made of
Jiiger's fleece, others of eider-down quilts. The latter are
very light, but costly. It is best for each man to have a
quilt bag filled with IJ lbs. of eider-down and a warm
woollen bag ; with one or both, according to circum-
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stances, he can adapt himself to various temperatures.
The native blankets are as good as plaids, and very
cheap. Another time I should certainly carry a light
wooden charpoi (bedstead) of the Elliot pattern, and a low
camp-chair of the Blood pattern — that is to say, if I conld
persuade the superintendent of the Sapper workshops at
Rurki (where they have the designs) to kindly cause them
to be made for me. I should also carry a dooble-up table
of convenient size and the right height to match the chair.
BOATS AT THE CHINAB BAOB.
As it was, I only took a tiny camp-stool (or rather,
MeCormick brought it, and I stole it from hira) and a wooden
stool which carried my dispatch-box, and served as table.
The two together weighed 5 lbs., and sufficed, but the
combination was trying to the small of one's back. An
air-cushion is not a bad thing to have for sitting on the
snow, but this is a counsel of perfection.
The mountain traveller will have to camp for weeks
together on snow, and in bad weather may have to spend a
whole day at a time in or about his tent. Under such
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IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. 69
circumBtancea it is above all things important to keep the
interior of the tent dry and clean. This is not so easy to
accomplish as might appear. It is constantly necessary
to leave the tent and tramp about in the snow to see after
instruments, baggage, meals, servants, coolies, and what
not. Some foot-covering must be put on for the purpose,
and left outside afterwards. . Moreover, when the day's
march is done boots must be changed for something else.
The best tent boots seemed to us to be the long felt
overalls that are made in Kashmir. If a pair of thin
mackintosh stockings, loose enough to be pulled over these,
are also carried, the desired result of domestic dryness will
be attained. This matter is of the utmost importance in
any serious journey. Papers, instruments, pressed-plants,
and all manner of things have to lie on the tent floor, and
moisture nuist be kept hrom them.
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QUBAIK BBIUOK.
CHAPTER IV.
BANDIPUIi TO BUBZIL KOTHI.
April 15th. — During the night there was much thunder
with heavy rain and wind. In the bangla there were lively
times of an even less agreeable sort, so that by 4.30 a.m.
we were all awake and impatient to be moving. Nearly
two hours were occupied in loading the coolies and break-
fasting, for we had not settled down into the habit of doing
these things in a routine fashion. A few days later the
last man seldom started more than an hour after we
were first called.
Our caravan was composed as follows. There were
seven Europeans — Bruce, Dickin, McCormick, Eoudebush,
Bckenstein, Zurbriggen, and myself; three Gurkhas — Parbir,
Lila Ram, and Amar Sing; three servants — Rahim Ali (the
head-man), Habiba (Roudebush's bearer), and Jumma Khan
(Dickin's bearer) ; two shikaris — Salama (Roudebush's) and
Shahbana (Bruce's) ; seven naukars (coolies who carried
light loads and made themselves generally useful) ; forty-
five expedition coolies ; sixteen coohes for Dickin's things ;
sixteen coolies for Roudebush's ; and five coolies carrying
Government stores for the Gilgit garrison — total 104
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BANDIPUB TO BUBZIL KOTHI. 71
men. To get this miscellaneoas assemblage, including
as it did represeutatives of seven nationalities, imper-
fectly acquainted with each other's languages, to work
harmoniously together without loss of time or waste of
energy, was not an easy task ; but with good will on all
hands the result was soon attained.
The morning was fine, and the view back towards the
lake admirable, not unlike that of Bellagio promontoiy
from Cadenabbia. We crossed a little bridge and struck
to the right up a mountain rib by which the new road
ascends in gentle zigzags.
This new Gllgit road was commenced in 1890, but
for various reasons the progress was at first slow, only
twenty miles being completed in the year. In 1891,
Spedding and Co., who had been so successful with the
Jhelam Valley road, offered to undertake the work and to
complete it within two years, carrying it over both the
Tragbal and Burzil passes, and the Hatu Pir. The road is
ten feet wide, with a ruling gradient of one in ten. When
we travelled along it, the first year of the contract had
not expired, but the bulk of the heavy work was already
accomplished.
As we ascended the hillside the meadows became richer
in flowers and the trees better developed. The view over
the lake, the vale, and the Pir Panjal was so increasingly
lovely that we were constrained to keep halting to look at
it. We could not fail to observe from above how the river
steadily encroaches on the lake to its ultimate obliteration.
In three hours we cUmbed four thousand feet and reached
a charming gap in the ridge we were ascending. Five
minutes further on was the camping-ground of Tragbal,
situated in the midst of a wood beside a picturesque but
stagnant pool. It might have been in the Black Forest.
The ground was covered with strawberry and other plants
about to blossom. A month later the place would be a
garden. We, however, had no cause to complain of our
luck, for at this date in most years the ground is still deep
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72 APBIL 16.
in snow almost as far down indeed as Bandlpur. The only
snow to be seen was upon the high mountains. Sacred
Haramok, for instance, shone beautifully through the trees,
and so did masses of cumulus clouds, which kept forming
and changing in all directions during the day, and occasion-
ally dropping a httle rain upon us.
An hour or two had to be spent awaiting the arrival of
the coolies, but the delay was enlivened by the arrival
of Mr. W. Mitchell and Mr. Lennard, the latter from
Kashgar, the Pamirs, and such-like remote regions. They
submitted to a detailed cross-examination from which we
profited. We were lunching when they left us, and our
camp was being pitched, the most picturesque camp we ever
had. When night came on we sat round a huge bonfire,
and the coolies sang after their kind.
Aj)rU 16th. — Bruce and Zurbriggen went ofE in the
dark, intending to push on a day ahead and spend it
looking for a bear. The rest of us started before six
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BANDIPUR TO BUEZIL EOTHI. 73
o'clock on a fine, cold, Eiffel sort of morning. We con-
tinued mounting the same spur as before, but cut ofi
the zigzags. The steep slope was covered with trees,
blossoming shrubs, and flowers. The flush of dawn lay on
the opposing wooded crest. The Gurkhas rushed greedily
upon the first Himalayan primroses we saw ; they gathered
bunches of them and stuck them in their turbans. The
flower ie a favourite in Nepal, where it is named toglia.
They talked much about Nepal this morning, emphasising
especially the fact that it is a land of good houses. The
view back over Kashmir steadily developed. In half an
hour we had risen above the trees and reached the snow
patches and hard-firozen ground ; the path itself remained
for some distance further clear of snow. A cold wind blew
in our faces. The sky was brilliantly clear, and the view
towards Haramok most striking, but westwards there was
nothing worth looking at, the enowy range in that direction
being poor in form and seen over two dull ridges. A long
traverse on hard snow brought us to the Tragbal pass
(11,850 ft.), when the view was again fine towards the east,
but poor in the other direction. Just before reaching, and
again just after quitting the col, there were disappointing
glimpses of the peak of Nanga Parbat, or one of its great
satellites.
We crossed an exposed upland in the fi-eezing wind, and
then descended zigzag down another rib. There was a
gully on our right full of snow, down which we might have
glissaded for 1,600 feet, but we were advised by the natives
not to do so, for the snow was said to be getting thin in
places and full of concealed holes, into which, if a man falls,
he is killed. The neighbourhood of the track was bordered
with skeletons of beasts of burden, and I daresay human
remains might easily have been discovered, for more than
a hundred men met their death from exposure on the
upper level not many months before we passed. The
track plunged into a wood, and so reached the spot called
Gurai (still under snow), where two streams meet, the
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valley commences, and the march ends.* I waited more
than an hour there for the others to come up. They
were all pitying themselves for the way the sua had
burnt them. Eoudebush suflfered most ; he had taken off
his pattis and walked all day with legs bare below his
loose breeches, which did not reach down to the knee. At
night his scorched skin hardened upon him, and whenever
he moved the sensation was as though a million tweezers
were pulling out every hair on his legs. His howls of rage
were not musical !
From G-urai we did a second march, following the left
bank of the stream down the valley, whose dulness was
only relieved by the purple shadows amongst the firs, and
occasional pretty reaches of the brook. Keeping along the
old track, and, ultimately crossing a bridge and traversing
a shady wood, we reached, at 1.30 p.m., the village and
camping-ground of Kanzalwan (7,800 feet), close to the left
bank of the Kishanganga river, the same that, on March
30th, we saw flowing into the Jhelam, opposite Domel.
April nth. — At 6 a.m. we crossed the Kishanganga by a
rickety bridge, and took the old path, eastwards, up its
right bank. The scenery was not remarkable ; slopes bftre
and grassy to the north, wooded to the south, but with trees
so tall that, to an eye educated in the Alps, they dwarf
the hills on which they grow. After an hour's marching we
crossed to the left bank and joined the sketched-in Gilgit
road. The valley presently narrowed ; the scenery became
grander. A rocky peak appeared ahead, and a fine reach of
river, brightly reflecting the sunlight, hurried along below
steep cliffs. The southern wall is seamed by a series of
couloirs, each of which had yielded a monstrous avalanche
of snow, over whose icy fans we carefully picked our
way. The slopes were often steep and the footing most
'■ Granite blocks, fallen from above, were lying about, but the limestone
was still in silii around, either slaty or of a hard blue sort with little
bedding or cleavage. The strike is approximately east and west, the
dip 70° to the south.
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BANDIPUB TO BUBZIL EOTEI. 75
insecure. A Pathan slipped off one of them a few days
before, and was not aeen again. Beyond the gorge came a
flat-bottomed lake bed, wherein was an old conglomerate of
water-rolled stuff deposited on the limestone foundation.
This lake bed extends as far as Gurais, where the day's walk
ended. The road wanders pleasantly along the flat floor
through woods and beneath imposing mountains. The
coolies straggled about in their leisurely fashion, frequently
halting for a moment and resting their packs on the cross-
topped stick they carry for that purpose. They were poor
uncomplaining creatures, into whose faces one could read a
world of imaginary pathos. Once in every march they
would take a long rest to eat their frugal meal of chapaitis,
and pass around a pipe. The Gurkhas also halted for their
food — merrily enough, they ; the others for the most part in
silence. When they started again Parbir came along
wearing Zurbriggen's tope.
He took it off to us in
best European fashion, re-
vealing his little wagging
pig-tail beneath, with a
" How dee do " and a
grin that seemed to spread
beyond the ample area
of his broad face. He has
an extraordinary fancy for
variety in head-coverings.
He had nine different sorts
at the start, and during
the journey accumulated
several more.
I stopped for a time at
Gurais to visit the little
mosque, to which the natives ascribe a great antiquity. It
clearly occupies the site of some earlier place of worship. A
rough wall or pile of rounded stones encloses the square pre-
cinct in the midst of which is a raised area similarly banked
PAKBIB'a ORBBTINO.
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70 APBIL 17.
around, and on that are two small wooden buildings. Of
these the southern is in the nature of a porch, consisting
of a passage with a divan down each side. The other is a
square chamber with lattice windows, containing the pall-
covered tomb of the local Moslem saint. A quantity of
the usual flags
were leaning up
against the wall
outside. The
arrangement of
the two build-
ings corresponds
with that of the
old temples of
Kashmir rather
than with any
mosque. There
is no structural
tnihrah ; the
kibleh is on one
side and not in
front of a man
entering.
Some quarter
of an hour's
walk beyond the
mosque stands
the tumble-
down fort of
4T ouRAia. Gurais, consist-
ing of four
angle towers with flat walls between. It is planted on an
apparently artificial mound, and defends the old bridge — a
remarkable piece of native engineering, over which goes the
road to the north. Here our camp was pitched, when the
coolies at last came in. The afternoon was devoted to
taking and reducing observations to find local time, compass
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BANDIPUR TO BURZIL KOTHJ. 77
deviation, and the like, and to paying off the coolies, who
presently set out for their homes. Later on came Bruce
and Zurbriggen, having had a blank day.
April \Qth. — We crossed the bridge before six o'clock,
and started up the right bank to where the Burzil and
Kishanganga streams join. Between the valleys rose the
fine rock precipices of Habakhotan, crested with snow. We
inow turned up the right bank of the Burzil stream, and, at
DOWS THE VALLET F
seven o'clock, were opposite Chewal, a group of log-huts
with a barking dog, which might have deceived a man into
thinking for a moment that he waa in the Alps, but for the
sparseness of the population, and the poverty of the agri-
culture. A nobly wooded cirque behind the village and
rocky Habakhotan above formed a strikiug view. The
camping-ground of Bangla, where we halted, is on a pro-
tuberance overhanging the stream, and commands a view
up the many-ribbed valley. The lines of the suctreeding
Digilizod by Google
slopes seem to be knotted together into the rugged rocks
above them. The new lot of coolies, who had started from
their homes with the usual delay on such occasions, did not
come in till three hours after us, and then only because we
went back and hurried them up.
After tifl5n, Bruce, Zurbriggen, Amar Sing, and Shah-
bana, started away with two coolies for Astor. Their plan
was to hasten over the Kumri pass, and get some shooting
in one of the nalas below Nanga Parbat. They were not,
however, destined to have any sport. We ultimately
rejoined them at Bunji.
When the bulk of the day's work was done I called the
coolies together, and, by help of Dickin and an interpreter,
held the following conversation with them.
" Now, coolies, I want to ask you about your temple at
Gurais. Of wliat sort is it ? Tou are Mohammedans, are
you not ?"
"Yes ; but the place is not a Masjid ; it is a Ziarat. It
is the Ziarat of Baba Darbesh."
" And who was Baba Darbesh ? "
" Baba Darbesh was a Sayd. Baba Darbesh was a
fiikhir. He came from Yaghistan, one day's journey from
Gilgit."
" Was he born in Yaghistan ? "
" He came to Gurais from Yaghistan. We don't know
where he was bom ; perhaps at Mecca or Medina. He
settled down at Gurais. Before he came the men of Gurais
were some Hindus, some bad Mussulmans. He brought tik
Islam to Gurais. That was a long time ago, perhaps five
hundred years ago."
" In your Ziarat there are two buildings, the one you first
come to ; and another behind it. What is the one you first
come to ? "
" That is the Masjid; the people say their prayers there,
and the mullah lives there and uses it for a school to teach
the boys in."
" Why was it all locked up when I was there ? "
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BANDIPUR TO BVRZIL KOTHI. 79
" Because the mullah was out. He locks it up to keep
out the dogs and chickens."
"On the inner door of the oxiter building there hung a
PALAVER AT BANHLA.
piece of wood with writing on it. What does the writing
aay ? Is it Koran ? "
" No ! It is writing that says, if any mullah comes there,
will he write down his name, aud where he comes from."
" And what is the inner building ? "
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" That is where Baba DarbeSh is buried. He was a very
holy man. He died and was buried at Gurals."
"Inside I saw what looked like a bier, covered with a
white pall, edged with black. Was that Baba Darbesh's
tomb ? "
" Yes ; that is where he slept the night he first came to
Gurais. No one may go in there, nor may any one alter
anything. If they did, it would bring evil on the folk of
Gurais. They would lose their goods and suffer mnch
harm."
" I only looked in ; I did not go in."
" What you did was no harm. Durand Sahib pitched
his tent within the wall, and he too looked in, and he gave
the village much bakshish, and no one minded at &J1 " — a
pretty broad hint.
" Now tell me, what is your Jciblek * here ? "
" Just to the right of that high hill."
" That is wrong ; it should be in that direction, where
the Bun is shining."
"It is hard for us always to know where the right hihleh
is in every place, because the valleys bend this way and
that. Tell us, is the kiblek we use at the Ziarat the true
Icibleh ? This (drawing with a stick on the ground) is tlie
road you came by ; this is the Ziarat. The kibleh is to the
left hand of one entering. Is that right ? "
" Yes, that is about right as well as I can remember."
" Listen ! He says your hihhli is the right hbhh. Do
you hear? that is what he says." Therewith our conver-
sation ended.
It was followed by a taninsha in honour of some sheep I
gave them. They sat themselves down in a semicircle
three deep and sang one of their long ballads, such as have
been lately published and translated by Dr. Leitner in the
Asiatic Quarterly. This was the tune : —
* Direction of Mecca.
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BANDIPnE TO BOBZIL KOTEI. 81
The chorus sometimes repeated the whole air, and some-
times merely sang —
There was much in the words about Yaghistan and Baba
Darbesh. They sang briskly to the accompaniment of
vigorous dramming. The chief singer stood or danced in
the midst, waving a scarf, fixing his eyes upon the chorus,
as they on him, and working his features into exaggerated
expressions. Many of the chorus sang in falsetto, which
made them look as though they were smiling. The whole
affair was, however, earnest, and seemed to produce an
exciting effect upon the men. The leader sang as loud as
he could, and also directed the drumming and the hand-
clapping.
An elderly man was the first to lead. When he
retired a bashful youth was forced into his place, amidst
much applause, and began a kind of Merhn dance, " of
woven paces and of waving hands." He sang at first in
a low tone, but gained confidence as he proceeded. Then
a third supplanted him, and so excited the original leader
that he again jumped forward and danced beside him. As
the night came on, and the blazing logs were the only
source of light, the strong chiaroscuro ennobled the effect
of the whole, saving the onlooker from the trouble of
avoiding to notice mean details, and itself acoompUshing
that process of selection which is the secret of art. The
folk sat around in monumental attitudes muffled up in
their blankets and eager with excitement. The drum
sounded, the logs crackled, the river went booming past,
and clouds swept over the sky. It was a picturesque
scene, the like of which we were often to behold in the
ensuing months.
April 19ife. — The method of our march had by now
settled down into a matter of daily routine. About 4.30
a.m. the men began to awake, fires were lit, and the coolies
7
Digilizod by Google
cooked their bread. Presently we, in the tents, packed
up our private baggage, and opened the doors. The
Gurkhas were always waiting outside to tie up the bundles
and give their willing help. The coolies, meanwhile, were
loading up the packs and starting off one by one, or in
groups, as they were able. My private loads were four
in number — a bolster bag containing clothes and the like,
my tent tied up with a bundle of bedding roUed round the
despatch-box and the stools, and two kiltas in which were
the instruments, the photographic apparatus, and the
coUections. The Gurkhas struck and roUed up the tents.
They grew so nimble at this work that it ultimately came
to occupy only two minutes. They pitched the tents in
less than five minutes. While this was going on, and
the camp was all animation, we collected together round
the cook's fire, and were served with a well enough prepared
breakfast. Between 5.30 and 6 the servants and the mess
coolies finally got away, after washing up plates and dishes.
It was their duty to forge ahead and arrive in camp before
the more heavily laden men who had started in front of
them. The morning was always bitterly cold, and we did
not hnger on the road. No two of us ever walked together
for long, bat we, as it were, paid visits to one another by
the way. I had constantly to stop to write a note, secure
a specimen (whether flower, butterfly, insect, or rock),
measure strike and dip, or take a photograph. Every
specimen or photograph had, of course, to be at once
registered in the note-book, which took time. The baro-
meter and boiling-point apparatus had also sometimes to
be read, not that the observations were needed in the
first part of the journey, but it was well to pretend that
they were, so that one might become perfectly famihar with
the instruments, and quick in the use of them against the
time that the survey should commence.
As soon as the sun reached us he made his power felt,
aud the labour of the rough marching was increased." The
path at this time was everywhere bad, for the new road
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BANDIPOB TO BORZlL KOTHI. 83
was not ready, or was buried under avalanches. We might,
indeed, have ridden most of the way, but I would not
permit that. It was the business of all to get into con-
dition, and marching was invaluable to that end. The
inarches; moreover, were short, averaging about twelve miles
each, that being considered enough for coolies to cover in
a day, when carrying heavy packs. As a rule, therefore,
the new camping-ground was reached between nine and ten
o'clock, when the worst hours followed, for there was seldom
any shade, and we had to sit in the sun till the coolies
E NESS TBKT.
came dribbling in somewhere before noon. All the camp-
ing-grounds are near water, well marked, and usually
possess a log-hut or two for the coolies to shelter in. The
tents were then set up, the baggage distributed, and in
twenty minutes everything was in order. The instruments
■were now read, and presently came the summons to tiffin in
the mess tent. We elected Dickin mess-president because
he was so good a caterer, and Roudebush's the mess tent
because it was the largest and he had nothing particular
to do.
After a smoke and half an hour's chat I returned to
Digilizod by Google
84 APBJL 19. 20.
my own den for a too short afternoon. The journals had
to be written up, flowers pressed and catalogued, other
specimens labelled, catalogued, and put away in their
places, the list of the day*s photographs written up, and the
rough notes made on the march drawn out fiiirly. There
were also sometimes observations to be reduced, and at
a later stage of the journey there was the engrossing
survey, but by then McCormick had relieved me of the work
of pressing the flowers, which was a great help. The
whole question of provisions had next to be considered with
Bahim Ali, and orders given. The lambadhar of the nearest
village had probably to be interviewed, and there was always
some complaint on the part of one or other of the coolies or
servants that must be attended to. The future had to be
considered, letters wntten and sent ahead asking for a new
lot of coolies, and for a supply of food to be collected at a
certain place by a certain day. Meantime the sick and
infirm for miles round came to show their sores and ask
rehef. They were turned over to Eckenstein, but they
pervaded the whole place. Dinner was served with the
approach of evening, and after it, as soon as darkness came
on, I had the photographic stuff * to attend to — new films
to be put into the cameras, exposed ones to be properly
packed, and everything made ready for the next day so
that the minimum of packing should remain to be done
before the early start. By nine o'clock every one was
asleep.
On this particular morning (April 19th) the views were
charming, the air cool, the march short, and the coolies lazy,
so we were able to take our ease and enjoy it. After an
horn's going we reached the poiut where the valley makes
a considerable bend, and displays the contortions of the
quartz-seamed rock. It is bent in all directions and reduced
to a finely laminated mass. Half-way between Bangla and
Mapntm we passed the bridge where the Kumri route turns
" Almost all the photographs I took between Brinagar and Hanza
were loit or deetroyed.
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BANDIPUR TO BURZIL KOTHI. 85
off. The left side of the valley is diversified by graceful
ridges crested with fine trees, by notable avalanche gullies,
and by considerable cliffs. An eagle floating round and
round caught my eye by the brilliancy of the light flashed
back from the upper sides of its wings. We rested awhile
at the opening of the Jeshat nala, where a noisy stream for
once rivalled the waters of the Alps. Parbir pointed out
veins of quartz, calling them "money istone." Fire and
water he said gets money out of such took. We passed a
number of Spedding's Pathans at work on the road. " Stir
a mush up," * I said, and they answered me with a grin.
" Bah ! " said Salama, " they are all thieves," drawing
his hand across his throat. We walked on opposite to a
great mountain knee clothed in forest, and with deep ava-
lanche gullies on both sides, and so came to a point whence
we looked down upon our camping-ground, close beside the
hamlet of Mapnun. The tents were pitched a few yards
from the rushing stream, and over against a craggy wooded
slope, that it would have been pleasant to He and watch all
the afternoon ; but leisure is a charm that a studious traveller
can seldom enjoy. The river banks were littered with frag-
ments of a beautiful and very hard conglomerate, a frag-
ment of which we ultimately secured with the greatest
difficulty.
April 20ih. — Roudebush went off early hoping to shoot.
The rest of us started at 6.30. The interesting feature of
the valley during the march was the number of debris fens,
which then seemed to us great, abutting one against another,
and each at the foot of an avalanche gully. The fans jut out
to the river and make it wind round them in graceful curves.
This phenomenon was observed on a much vaster scale near
Gilgit and in Ladak. The scenery was in other respects
dull till we approached the opening of the Nagai valley, the
true continuation to that of Mapnun. Here, turning our
backs on a fine mountain mass, the finest yet seen, we
went northwards up a side valley, which, however, retains
^ A Fashtu salutation sounds something like this.
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the name of Burzil and gives it to the pass at its head (also,
though leas generally, called the Dorikun pass), by which we
were to cross the Himalayas to Astor and the Indus valley.
Soon after leaving behind the Minimarg village, which is at
the junction of the valleys, we quitted the limestone, and
entered the granite region. But the views were not yet in
any sense Alpine ; rather Scotch on a big scale. The lower
slopes were plentifully dotted with birch trees, which yield
to the avalanches and are bent about by them but not
destroyed. Their white leafless branches gave a weird cha-
racter to the scene, well in harmony with the nature of the
ground, covered as it was by a withered mass of last year's
plants from which the snow had but recently melted away.
A noble mountain stood up behind us, and was still a con-
spicuous object from our Burzil camp. Deep valleys isolated
it from its neighbours. We always talked of it as the
Arrow Peak, from its resemblance in form to a Neolithic
arrow-head.
As we plodded along, the only flowers enterprising enough
to salute us with a promise of summer were a few yellow
crocuses and clustered primroses. We should nevertheless
have advanced happily enough but for ominous gatherings
of storm in the south. We kept the tent coolie with us, and
were able to pitch a tent the moment we reached the sloping
and uncomfortable camping-ground beside the wretched hut
called Burzil Kothi, after three hours and a half of leisurely
marching. It was none too soon. Clouds enveloped all
the hills, snow had begun to fall, and the wind whistled
amongst the birches, almost drowning the noise of the brook.
It was a wild scene.
We gave the coolie some strong shag tobacco, for which
he promptly made a pipe by rolling up a bit of birch-bark.
He took a deep inhalation of the smoke, which set him
coughing and spouting like a volcano. The weather kept
getting worse as the coolies came in, and it was no easy
matter to pitch the tents and stow the baggage. Small
electrical discharges were heard in the upper rocks, an^
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BANDIPUIi TO BURZIL KOTHI. 87
masses of snow came rolling down the slopes. The dak
hut was not empty on our arrival, for there were coolies
in it awaiting the Gilgit mail, and a lot of ragged Pathans
on their way to work at Spedding's road. When the hut
was as full as it could hold there were half the coolies with-
out shelter, and the night was going to be bad. We made
tents for some of them oat of blankets, for others out of
mackintosh sheets, stretched on the birches. Others again
were stowed under the flies of Roudebush's tent, but there
were still twenty over, so he decided that, as his tent was
the only one without a floor in it, they should have that,
and in they all gratefully crowded. We packed ourselves
into the Willesden tents. As darkness closed in, the snow
settled down into a steady fall, and we felt certain that the
pass wonld be closed for a few days at least.
CDOLIR SUOKINQ AN EXCAVATED PIPE.
Digilizod by Google
LOOKING HOKTHWABDS FROM B
CHAPTER V.
THE CBOSSING OF THE BUBZIL PASS TO ASTOB.
April 21sf. — Morning broke, sombre and cold, with five
inches of fresh snow on the ground, and every birch twig
edged with a snowy blade. At breakfast-time the sun
ebone feebly, and all went forth to see the parting of the
mists. Glimpses of bright snow-slopes and silvery fields
appeared in various directions, and jagged rooks jutted out
here and there. The scene was as wonderful as it was un-
promising. Rain, sleet, snow, and hail soon resumed their
falling. The temperature, however, rose ; indeed, a steady
thaw prevailed during most of the day ; but we were
miserable enough.
The lambadhar of Minimarg, who considers himself a
kind of captain of the pass, came to say that we could
not cross for some time, and urged us to go down to his
village. We declined to do this, but ordered the hulk of
the coolies to descend to pleasanter levels. The inde-
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THE CROSSING OF THE BURZIL PASS TO ASTOR. 89
fatigable Thekedar of Gurais, who had watched carefully
over our welfare since the time we entered his country,
came up to see us and do what he could for us. Picturesque
it was to watch the poor coolies grouped about their little
shelters, and making shift to get their food before starting
down. I visited them all, and was greeted with pleasant
coouEs AT BURZIL. fine effects of
cloud, snow,
and rock, witli our frail tents and picturesque camp-fol-
lowers for foreground.
Our meaJs were taken at the dak hut, where the cooking
was done. There were plenty of holes between the stones
of its walls and the birch thatching of its roof. In this
and other respects its interior, with a wood fire burning and
the smoke following the draughts about, so resembled that
Digilizod by Google
90 AFBIL 22, 23.
of many a cheese-maker's hut on the upper alps that it
was hard to believe ourselves far from Switzerland. We
sat on lumps of wood and other protuberances, and Roude-
bush considered himself the luckiest, because he appro-
priated a bundle of some size, combining softness with
solidity, and covered up in a new blanket. Not till he had
finished his meal did the bundle wake up. It was a sleeping
coolie.
April Q,2nd. — A grand sunrise, in a clear sky and over the
white landscape, raised our hopes and made us regret our
kindness to the coolies. Possibly, as things turned out, we
might have forced the pass this day, but it would have
been desperate work for laden men. We spent the hours
cleaning up ourselves, our things, and the tents, which were
invaded by slush. I worked for some time at the instru-
ments, and in so doing unconsciously served as model
for McCormick. Clouds came up again in the afternoon,
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THE CROSSING OF THE BURZIL PASS TO ASTOB. 91
and snow began to fall as thickly as ever, but I felt the
need of exercise, and so wandered forth and ascended a
neighbouring knoll* about 500 feet in height. I slept in
Roiidebush's tent, aud gave up mine to the Gurkhas, but
they found it cold, and preferred to retire to the dak hut.
April 1-Ard.—
Another wretched
morning dawned,
and was followed
by a wretched
day. Clouds en-
veloped us almost
all the time,
and snow fell
savagely. Our
fingers were so
cold that it was
difficult to hold a
pen. Eoudebush
and McCormick
had accumulated
so painftil a stock
of energy that
they were obliged
to work it off.
They faced the
storm and mo-
delled a bust of
me in snow, plant-
ing it upon a well-
p rop ortioned makiko a snow bust
snow pedestal
with cherubs climbing up the angles ! They played
various pranks with it, crowued it with a Pathan cap or
turned it into a Roman Emperor with a pipe in his mouth.
A thaw then took it in hand, and treated it in an im-
pressionist manner. The head bent slowly over back-
Digilizod by Google
wards, and the last remaining eye gazed stupidly at the
zenith.
Two of US went out for a ramble before dusk, and found
the 8U0W deep on the way to the pass. The evening closed in
miserably, but, hoping against hope, I sent down a message
for the coolies to come up at break of day. They could go
down again if it was still impossible to cross the pass.
April 24i/f. — Snow fell heavily all night, but the cold was
not intense (min. 29° Fahr.). The morning was altogether
unpromising, and I did not expect that the coolies would
] IH THB BURZIL HUT.
-arrive. At seven o'clock, however, in they came, and, as
the sky IJghtoaod Just then, I resisted the advice of the
local wiseacres, and ga;veiiEdfirsX3rcamp to be struck and
a start made. We breakfasted hastily — far too hastily as it
turned out — and the last man was off by 8.30 a.m. Mirza
Khan offered to come and guide us, but I sent him back, as
he clearly had no heart for the work. Snow was felhng
gently ; there was some wind and the threat of a bitter day.
We packed ourselves up in warm clothing and prepared for
the worst. It was, however, from heat that trouble was
to come, and we soon began to shed our wraps.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
CROBSINO THI BURZIL PASS.
Digilizod by Google
TBE CROSSING OF THE BUB2IL PASS TO ASTOB. 95
We followed the tracks of the coolies, and presently
caught them up. They clustered around us and desired
to torn back. When they found that was not to he,
they hegan malingering. One youth was clearly ill, so
I dispatched him home. The remainder were sent for-
ward in a long line. Eoudebush, McCormick, Eckenstein,
and the Gurkhas were arranged along it to keep the men
going, whilst I went ahead with two lightly-laden coolies to
select and tread down the way. The depth of the soft
snow was my only difficulty, but the others had a severe
task. The coolies were an unwilling lot, always throwing
down their loads and attempting to bolt. When brought
back to their work, they would advance fifty yards and then
sit down ; or they would say, *' No ! we will die here ; it is
as easy as on the top." They had to be carefully watched
and kept from straggling about. If they had been per-
mitted "to wander and loiter about, some would have
bolted, and others would have so delayed that they would
have been benighted and probably frozen on the upper
levels.
Our way was up a sinuous white valley, which gradually
narrowed and steepened. There was a definite point
where it became clear that the climb and struggle of
the pass commenced. From end to end of the long line
of coolies arose the cry, " Allah ! Allah ! " We toiled
steadily up the twisting trough. There was always a bend
ahead which we hoped might be the last, but another
awaited us round the corner. Sometimes the sun came
out for a moment and shone with scorching heat, but
clouds and mist soon enveloped us once more. We could
seldom see further than a quarter of a mile in any direction;
this was of the less consequence, as the form of the pass
excludes distant views. The nearer views at this time of
year are of dull snow-slopes and an occasional craggy sky-
line.
In the midst of this dreary solitude, after three hours'
toil, a long halt was called, and the men sat in a group on
Digilizod by Google
the snow. They began to sing, in verse and reBpond, to
this refrain : —
Their droning song sounded weird in the cold thin air
and the mist.
As we rose the weather grew thicker and the landmarks
were all blotted out. I kept my eye on the compass, and
concluded that the leader had lost his way. We were in
the neighbourhood of the final slope, but if we attacked it
at the wrong point we should be carried 1,000 feet or more
too high, and the coolies could not accomplish any such
superfluities. I called a halt, and was informed that there
was a di'ik wala (or post-runner) amongst the extra coolies
taken on for the day. I caused him to be relieved of his
load, and he bounded forward with alacrity. He turned off at
right angles to the left for some distance, then, resuming
onr previous direction, brought us to the top of the pass,
which is 13,500 feet high. The ascent had taken ue five hours.
The dak wala sat down, and I thought he was laughing, but
he was sobbing aloud, " I'm not a coolie ; I'm a Mk wala;
boo, hoo." He recovered his former good spirits in a few
minutes, and was the merriest of the crowd for the rest of
the day. All the coolies arrived in about half an hour, and
we rested a while on the snow.
The fog presently lifted and disclosed around us a poor
set of granite peaks,* neither imposing in size nor dignified
in form. They and the valley below were buried in a white
mantle, and it seemed impossible to believe that the cre-
vassed and crackiag snowfield over which we had been
marching was not true neve, but mere winter snow which
would be entirely melted away by the end of July. In an
ordinary year the pass is clear of snow for six weeks at
least. It is always liable to storms, and people have
" From Minimarg to Gbilang tha rook varieB between fairly coarse
hornblendic granite and diorite.
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THE CBOSSINO OF THE BURZIL PASS TO ASTOB. 97
perished on it in most months of the year, and in most
years.
We halted for an hour, took ephygmograph tracings of
onr pulses and boiling-point ohservations for altitude.
Several of the men were in rather a bad way. Some had
sore eyes, and were destined to suffer for a few days in con-
sequence. Kahim Ali was mountain-sick, and had to be
supported by two men during the last hour of the ascent.
We began the descent at a quarter-past two o'clock, with
only about three hours of daylight before us. The valley
was wider than the one we came up, and a few httle
avalanches fell down the slopes. We gradually left the
deep and relatively firm snowfields behind, and came to a
more troublesome and fatiguing area. The surface was of
varying strength. Three or four paces might be taken on it,
but at the fifth it would give way and let us in up to the
thigh. With much labour we would struggle out, only to
be similarly dropped a yard further on. No more tedious
method of progression can be imagiued. In two hours from
the pass we reached the ruins of the Sirdar ka Kothi, or old
dfik hut,* which used to be the end of the march. It was
buried in deep snow, and we had to turn our backs to it and
hasten on.
A few minutes later we beheld the sickly sun balanced
on the crest of the western hills. An hour below the hut a
patch of the new road clear of snow was reached, but it was
so slushy and slippery that the change was no improvement.
The snow soon resumed its supremacy, and we went
floundering through it, or treading daintily upon its brittle
crust as before. The scenery was dull, but I saw one fine
effect, and rested to look at it. A rocky peak (U 1), with
a dehcate snow-saddle beside it and a skirt of snow beneath,
waved a cloud streamer from its crest. The valley below
* Later in the year new and strong stone hute were, I underBtand,
built here, on the top of the pass, and at Burzil. These huts, if kept in
order, should greatly facilitate the ciOBsing of the pass in winter or bad
weather.
Digilizod by Google
was wrapped in shadow, but peak and cloud reflected the
brilliant light. Another bright peak appeared behind a
transparent veil of mist. One could but look a moment
and hasten on; there was no time for contemplation. Before
us, as we went, the scene was the bleakest possible. A
dark roof of cloud covered everything, and plunged the
btjuuiuiiiti H.UJLIUUS max,
" CAMP ON THE EOOF OF CHII.AHa HOT.
night and possibly
storm should overtake us in these inhospitable regions, but
anxiety did not help matters, so I amused myself by
watching Jumma Khan, with his round turbaned head, his
long coat unbuttoned down the front, his hands_deep in the
pockets, and his twinkling little legs wrapped in green pattis
—always an amusing figure. It was apparently a matter
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THE CROSSING OF THE BUBZIL PASS TO ASTOB. 99
of principle with him not to take his hands out of his
pockets. He might fell deep into the snow; it was of no
consequence ; he would plunge and roll around with a
laughably distorted countenance and the funniest antics
till he was on his feet again.
The darkness was growing upon us, and there were no
signs of a margin to the soft snow or of any habitation.
I hurried ahead of the men to make a track that they might
at least feel their way along, and thus about seven o'clock
reached the miserable hut called Chilang. It was as
wretched a goal as hope ever led to. Its flat mud roof,
measuring about five yards by seven, was the only spot
anywhere about that was clear of snow. Upon it in due
season the two Whymper tents were pitched. Dickin chose
for his what, when the snow was swept away, proved to be
a mud swamp. The hut itself was low, smoky, and black ;
the servants and some of the coolies crowded into it ; the
remainder were offered tents, but did not care to put them
up. We were all tired and miserably cold. The stniggles
of pitching camp and arranging for the night, with every
rug and sleeping-bag jnore or less damp, and only the con-
fined roof-area for our evolutions, were almost too much for
our tried tempers. Breakfest before starting had been our
last meal. Most of us were too hungry to eat, and too
uncomfortable to sleep. We rested, however, and were
thankful that the chief difficulty of the Gilgit road was
now overcome.
The pass in the condition in which we found it was not
like an Alpine pass. It presented no mountaineering diffi-
culties and no dangers except from storm or loss of way in
fog. But it was most fatiguing. Almost every step was
upon soft snow, and this grew from bad at the start to worse
in the middle and worst at the end. For the few moments
when the sun shone upon us through a clear sky the
heat was intolerable. It was not like ordinary severe heat.
It was scorching and furious. We were nl! badly sunburnt.
Observers have often noticed that the worst cases of sun-
I bv Google
100 APRIL 25.
burn occur on cloudy days when there is fresh fEilIen snow
on the ground. This was suoh an occasion. Bahim All
and Lila Bam suffered from mountain sickness. As there
were not enough dark glasses to go round, many were
more or less snow-blinded. Bad headaches and tempers
were likewise not uncommon, but a good night's rest
removed them.
April 25th. — The watershed of the Himalayas was now
passed, and we had entered the basin of the Upper Indus.
Its further side is embanked by the Karakoram Himalayas
which we were journeying to see. No physical dilficulty
of importance any longer intervened between us and our
goal.
There was no mention of an early start this morning.
Nine o'clock was the hour fixed for break&st, and some
were even late for that. What miserable wrecks we all
looked, with burnt and swollen faces, bloodshot eyes, and
clothes draggled, dirty, and damp! On the other hand,
we were in high spirits, and so were the coolies after
their hard work. By balf-past nine the last man had
started, over snow again, and that soft, but it presently
broke up into patches which tended to decrease in number
and size as we advanced. For some time the valley
remained as dull as ever. We crossed the mouth of a
gorge leading to the Chuehor La and the Deosai plateau.
As we approached Das, the mountains ahead (U 4 and U 5)
mimicked the Mischabel homer in outline. There came also
a cessation of the continuous granite or diorite, through
which we had been passing, and with this the lumpy forms
of the mountains gave place to splintered and fantastic
rocks, planted high aloft, and whose debris* mingled with
diorite fragments in the fans and at our feet.
When the last snow was left behind we sat down in the
shadow of some big boulders and were thankful, for the sun
was hot, and the previous day had fatigued us all. A little
further on we came to the Das hamlet in two hours' walking
" Bather compact greenstone.
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THE CROSSING OF THE BVRZIL PASS TO ASTOli. 101
from Chilang. We expected to change coolies at this
place, but none had come up to meet us. The obvious
conclusion was that we had to go on as before. Jumma
Khan, planted on widespread legs in the midst of a ring
of servants, arrived at this result, apparently by a series of
syllogisms. He checked each in turn upon a finger, and
threw out all ten to emphasise the final concluBion. The
villagers brought bowls of fresh milk, which we drank
before proceeding on our way. The mouths of the side
valleys below Das were for the most part flanked by ancient
moraines, at first small, afterwards very large. The valley
below Khakau turns towards the west, and discloses one
of the true Himalayan giants, apparently the peak 22,368
feet, an easterly outlier of Nanga Farbat. Its chisel-shaped
snow-crest shot above the clouds and dwarfed into in-
significance the hills around us, masquerading as giants in
their cheap winter snows. The valley increased in beauty,
and groups of firs invited us to rest iu their shadow beside
the clear and babbling stream. There were plenty of
junipers on the hills, but patched about in an ugly fashion.
Only the birches held together, keepiug themselves in the
avalanche galhes, where their suppleness enables them to
flourish.
The miserable huts of Karrim (10,500 feet) were the end
of the march. Camp was pitched on terraced fields in a
shadeless spot. "When Parbir had leisure he surveyed the
resources of the hamlet. Returning to us, and plunging his
hands deep into his pockets, he thus soliloquised: "Astor
woman good ; Hunza woman good ; Skardo woman good ;
here woman no good. Me go cooking."
Meanwhile Zurbriggen, at the other end of camp, was
raising the echoes with a fragment of song, the rest of
which we never heard : —
" Aoh I meine Mutter iBt ein altas Weib
Sie sagt za mir
Ein WeibBbild sei
Bin wiHes Thier."
I bv Google
102 APBIL 26.
April 26iA. — The youngest member of our party took
this opportunity of coming of age, and all day long im-
posed an atmosphere of festivity upon us in celebration of
the event. The weather would not enter into the spirit
of the occasion. It was already raining when we started at
six o'clock, and so it continued at intervals throughout
the day ; but for this we were thankful, preferring wet
to scorching. The clouds, moreover, improved the look of
the mountains.
We soon came to where a fan of granite debris, at the
foot of an avalanche gully, stretches across the valley and
blocks it up. The river is cutting a Uttle gorge through it,
and silting up the lake-bed behind, an operation which,
repeated on a larger scale all over the mountain region, has
determined many of the minor valley-forms.
The season was less advanced than iu the fertile
Gurais valley. The rose-bushes were not in blossom, and
there were few flowers discoverable. Wormwood began to
be the commonest plant. Lower down the valley there
were a few flowering shrubs. The scenery was finer
than anywhere before, the mountain-forms nobler, the
ribs bent into nodding brows that overhung the valley.
Fallen blocks beside the path assumed large dimensions,
and grouped well with the increasing variety and number
of trees. The islands in the clear river were covfjred
with willows, and thus provided diversified foregrounds,
such as were not to be found in valleys south of the
Burzil pass. Signs of human industry were more numerous,
and made the landscape less dreary and deserted.
Two hours' walking brought us to the prettily-situated
Godhai hut {9,100 ft.). The men there were on the look-out
for us, and greeted us as a fawn might greet a tiger. They
stood with hands joined, Hke a priest going to the altar, and
answered our questions, unhampered by prejudice in favour of
veracity. Had coolies been sent to meet us? No, none
had come. Provisions, then — had they been sent ? Oh, yes!
plenty of provisions. How many sheep ? As many as the
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THE CROSSING OF THE BURZIL PASS TO ASTOB. 103
sahib pleases. Eggs and chickens ? Yes t as many as the
sahib pleases.
" Well, show ns the sheep."
" There are no sheep."
" Why did you say there were ? Bring the chickens,
then."
" May the sahib be merciful ! There are no chickens."
" Nor eggs either ? "
" No ! no eggs. Nothing has come."
" Then why the deuce did you say it had ? Have you got
nothing to sell ? Some milk, perhaps ? "
Milk was ultimately produced, and they were paid double .
the proper price for it, whereupon tbey loudly clamoured to
be paid fourfold. After lunch we crossed the stream from
the Dicbell nala, a valley leading in six marches to Astor
over the Alumpi La. Old moraines at the mouth of this
and other valleys from the east assumed large proportions,
yet there were no visible signs of glaciation on naked sur-
faces of rock. We walked briskly along the road, delight-
ing in the novel softness and fragrance of the air and the
growing grandeur of the views. A man met us with a
pony that had been sent for me, but I preferred to go on
my own feet. The others tried him, but found his saddle
an exquisite instrument of torture. A charming Hat
meadow and polo-ground at Bilame was suggested to us as
a good camping-ground, and an exhibition game of polo was
offered as an inducement to make us stop. But Eahim Ali
had heard that Mikiel, a little further on, was a land of
flowers, chickens, and sheep, so we only halted a brief space
for a "putting the weight" competition (Parbir 1, Roude-
bush 2, the rest nowhere), and to pour stuff into the eyes of
those who were still sufiering from partial snow-blindness.
"Both my eyes are melted," one coolie said, "and when
I open them they pour out."
We pitched camp at Mikiel about 2.30 p.m., and settled
down for a pleasant afternoon between the showers. Stony
places surrounded the grassy patch, and willows and blossom-
Digilizod by Google
ing shrubs shaded the tents, which Parbir adorned with
flowers, to his own huge amusement. Then, as night came
on, he was for starting a bonfire ; but rain began to fall.
He looked around and took in the situation. '* All right ;
rain come; fire no good; me go sleep." Therewith we
all followed his example.
April 27th. — Rain fell heavily all night, and clouds were
low upon the peaks when we looked out in the early morn-
ing. Clearly moisture was being precipitated above; but,
as the day warmed the valley, rain ceased to &11 into it.
We started at eight o'clock, the temperature being pleasant
for a march. McCormick and I walked away together, the
others loitering behind to shoot birds, a great variety of
which reUeved the lonelinesB of the road. On rounding
the high old moraine, that blocked the view down the
valley from Mikiel, we entered splendid scenery. The
grand lines of a debris fan, whose magnitude was felt by the
eye, led up over against us for some 2,000 feet to the
mouth of the gully through which all its parts had faUen.
We could track the winding couloir high above into the
riven complexity of what, even then, was only the outer
buttressing of a minor mountain mass. It was here, for the
first time, that the scales of the Alps fell from my eyes ;
the mightier magnitude of these regions was revealed to
me, and Nature took on a vaster if not a nobler mag-
nificence.
We were approaching the mouth of the gorge through
which our river enters the Astor valley. Gate-posts of
granite stand on either side of the stream, and every avail-
able level is occupied by debris fallen from above, left behind
by old glaciers, or deposited by running water. Each frag-
ment plainly tells its own history, and so the traveller as
he goes perceives the succession of processes and agents
whereby the valley has been sculptured into its impressive
form. Kent granite masses, scarred precipices, scattered
debris combine to produce a scene of grandeur, which is
redeemed from savagery by not infrequent trees and even
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TSE CROSSING OF TSE BOBZIL PASS TO ASTOB. 105
flowering shrubs and plants growing in crevices of the
rock or on little shelves and plateaus.
The new road was laid out towards a bridge not then
built, so we had to follow the old path, and not unwillingly,
for it passes through the depth of the gorge and makes
intimate fellowship with the roaring torrent. Elsewhere it
mounts aloft and circles round a jutting angle, so obviously
intended by Nature for a point of view that Parbir halted
there as instinctively as ourselves, and we found his merry
person adapted to a rock, and the ice-axes he was carrying
planted in the
ground like flag-
staves beside him.
We paused for a
last look back at
the valley which
a few steps would
close against us.
High aloft were the
finest peaks we
had yet seen, but-
tressed by a shaggy
rock-arete of for- pitching camp at mikiel.
bidding length, and-
sending down from their ample lap the broken ice-stream
of the Mikiel glacier.
The spirit of a climber awoke in me, and I longed to be
aloft, wrestling with ice and rock, and triumphing in the
wide vistas which the blind crags have commanded through
uncounted ages. But not to-day when every peak was
roofed with cloud, and some were veiled in mist, and some
utterly blotted out : to-day the valley was best — the valley
full of transparent vapour that softened every outline, and
through whose gossamer lightness the solid hills were
transfigured into celestial apparitions. As we stood,
entranced, a silent lammergeier floated past us, so near
that the wide span of his wings seemed to be an appre-
Digilizod by Google
ciable fraction of the breadth of the gorge. Stray rays of
sunlight down below dappled the old moraines and made of
terraced fields, new sown, a magic patchwork counterpane
for the debris fan below the glacier's foot.
Another half-hour's loitering walk brought us to the outer
gates of the gorge. They
are narrower than those
within, and a rude stone
hut, built at the foot of
the eastern rocks, adds
not a little to their ap-
parent scale by its dwarf
proportions. A few steps
took us beyond the nar-
rows and into a new
world. The river flowed
no longer between rocks,
but between steep banks
of delicately bedded
sand, divided at intervals
of about 40 feet by seams
of water-rolled stones.
The sand must have been
deposited by still waters,
and the stones washed
over them by floods.
A Uttle before ten
o'clock we crossed a
rough bridge (9,183 ft.)
to the left bank, and the
MOUNrilNS BEHIND HIKIEL. . , ,. . , i
Astor valley began to be
visible. We noticed large moraines and fons protruding
into it from side nalas. Such were the obstacles by which
it has been more than once dammed across and turned into
lake-basins at different levels, as the terraced formation of
the deep alluvial filling also seemed to imply. We turned
our bucks on the Burzil stream and Astor, and proceeded
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TBE CROSSING OF TEE BOBZIL PASS TO ASTOR. 107
to mount the right hank of the Astor river towards the
bridge. We were strolling along casually enough, thinking
of I know not what low-lying trifles, when, on a sudden,
high aloft, a great white throne was set in heaven before
our bewildered eyes. Nothing was ever more astounding ;
nothing more sublime. It was a group of the snowy but-
tresses of Nanga Parbat filUng the end of the valley and
shining in the sunlight through a misty veil. We advanced
towards it. Our long line of coolies was level with us on
the other side of the river, with Dickin at their head
waving his hat at us. Once over the bridge and on the
left bank a good path led towards Astor, but steadily
ascending away from the stream. The wide valley, the
great slopes of its sides, the walnut trees and what-not
reminded me of the Val d'Aosta, and the mountain mass
over against Astor of Mont Emilius. I meant to ascend
it and behold all the glory of Nanga Parbat from its top,
bat weather forbad.
An hour's walk brought us back opposite to the mouth of
the Mikiel valley, just when Roudebush was emerging from
it. We were now separated from Astor by huge moraines de-
posited by some ancient glacier that descended from the west.
Their crests are as much as 2,000 feet above the bed of the
Astor river. They have been cut through by the torrent,
and the face so displayed is broken up into earth-pyramids
and blades of astonishing thinness. To pass this obstacle
we had to mount some 600 feet. Its wilderness of dry
mounds overgrown with wormwood was like a tiny Brianza
with all the lakelets dried up. The slope on the opposite
side of the valley was cut across by a large irrigation canal,
bordered by vegetation, like some wasserUitung of the Alps,
and it was with a pleasant feeUng of familiarity that we
found our path adjusting itself to, and for some time follow-
ing, a similar artificial brook. In former days artificial irriga-
tion was much more developed in this region, but Chilasi
raids rendered life and property insecure, and agriculture is
onJy DOW beginning to recover under the Pax Britannica.
Digilizod by Google
108 APlilL 27, 28.
A long traverse over barren slopes brought us, about two
o'clock, to a terraced series of fair level swai'da, shaded by
walnut trees. Here is the European camping-ground, and
above it the palace of the petty Raja of Astor. The lowest
and largest of the terraces is the polo-ground. Whilst we
were awaiting the belated coolies, the Raja and his son
visited us, with gifts of dried apricots, walnuts, and eggs.
The native commanding officer of the garrison, the tehsildar,
and a number of their hangers-on also came and paid their
P THX VALLEY FBOM ASTOB P
respects. The coolies were paid on their anival and started
off homewards almost at once. They were an indifferent
lot, considered as coohes, but they were decent fellows, and
I was sorry to part with them. They took life with
alternate gaiety and seriousness, and in their sad moods
they looked Uke so many lamenting Jeremiahs. Plentifully
bakshished, they went away happy enough. The servants
begged for two days' rest. The first was necessary ; the
second could not well be avoided, for it marked the close of
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THE CROSSING OF THE BUB2IL PASS TO ASTOR. 109
Ramadan, and though nobody had observed the month of
fasting, all desired to celebrate its ending with the
customary feast and tamaslia. We had a taviasha of our
own that evening, with the help of our only bottle of
whiskey. The valley resounded with all the songs we knew,
and it was late before the echoes were allowed to rest.
April 9,8th. — Roudebush was to start early and go for-
ward by forced marches to get some shooting before rejoin-
ing us at Gilgit, but, when he was called at four o'clock and
informed that his coolies had not put in an appearance, he
appeared to receive his respite with joy. He was oflf before
six, and no sooner was he gone than heavy rain began to
fall. The rest of us were not moving much before nine, and
very dissipated we felt. After lunch the sun came out, and
the clouds began to part upon the lower hills ; there was no
real clearance, however, and the remainder of the day was
dull, chilly, and gusty. I went out in a fine interval to
visit the town. The well-made path led for about a mile
up a gentle slope and brought us unexpectedly to the edge
of a deep, steep-sided ravine, cut down by a glacier torrent
into the alluvium. The town (7,838 ft.) stands on the brink
of the opposite cliff, a picturesque group of houses in a
picturesijue position. The mud-brick hovels are fitted in
amongst big boulders and the like unevennesses, and a crazy
old fort stands beside them on an admirable site. There are
many poplar trees planted about. We descended into and
crossed the nala, passing close to an immense boulder in the
bed of the stream. The ascent on the far side goes along
the foot of some large earth-pyramids surmounted by nodding
rocks. The postmaster met us, eager to show off his
Babu-English. He said the post-office was the chief sight
of Astor. It was a jumble of small mud chambers and
verandas, with prints from English illustrated journals
stuck over all the walls. The bazaar was close by— a
collection of half a dozen tiny shops. The whole contents
of the richest of them would not have filled three kUtas.
The goods on sale consisted chiefly of salt, spices, cotton
Digilizod by Google
110 APRIL 29.
atiiiis, Blippera, pots, and blankets. We bought two
blankets, and of course were swindled over them. All the
bazaar houses are the same in plan. The outer door opens
into the square shop, the rear half of which consists of a
raised divan with a cupboard behind it. Under the divan
is the residence of the chickens. On the right hand of one
entering are niches in the mud wall and a place for an oil
lamp. A door on the left opens into an oblong inner
chamber containing beds, a hearth, and in the wall more
niches. A finer hovel has also a door on the right leading
to another chamber. The ceilings are low and formed of
logs blackened by wood-smoke. The roof of beaten earth
lies directly on the logs.
The fort was the only other thing there, was to see. Its
walls are of wood and stones plastered with mud. The
place was foully dirty, bat the men's rifles were well kept.
The heavy armament of the place consisted of three brass
guns which the eoubardar explained were only used for
salanming. The bunks and holes in which the men slept
were incredibly filthy. We chmbed to the roof to survey
the splendid view, and then, casting a glance at the mean
wooden box which serves for mosque, and the mud chamber
with wooden veranda beside a tank, which is the Hindu
temple, we left the place amidst the salaams of our atten-
dant crowd of postmaster, munshi, soubardar, havildar,
sepoys, and tradesmen, and started for the walk of a mile
and a half back to camp. When the chilly night came on
we turned in and went to sleep, to the tunefiillest tremolo
frog-croaking that I ever heard.
April 29th, — During the course of a busy morning the Raja
interrupted us with a visit. He was accompanied by his two
sons all dressed in their freshest linen with bright green and
red garments over it, and brilliant turbans — the best dressed
Raja-folk we met in Kashmir, and apparently the most
intelligent. The last hour of the morning was enlivened by
the soimd of guns, drums, and pipes, and the various noises
that denoted the coming togetber of people, either to the
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THE CROSSING OF THE BUBZIL PASS TO ASTOB. Ill
Raja's house above, or to the polo-ground below.. When all
was ready for the game an assemblage of sach notables as
the place produced came to fetch us to the ground. The
Raja-folk seated us in their state-box, that is to say
on a carpeted piece of stone wall opposite the midst of
the long, narrow strip of field. The populace seated them-
selves along the two walls, and at a signal the game
began.
The technicalities of the Kashmir form of polo have
often been described, and need not be repeated. The
opening bad all the appearance of a race, the players of
both sides riding together full gallop from the same end of
the ground, and the leader holding the ball in his hand
and striking it in the air with his stick just when he passed
the Baja's seat. Then commenced the normal struggle to
urge the ball through the opponents' goal, and the progress
of the game could be readily followed. The dozen horsemen
engaged played with much spirit. Their ponies were none
of the best, their saddles and harness were as ramshackle as
you please, their clothes were of all sorts and colours, but
together, in their swift movements and eager attitudes, they
formed themselves into admirable pictures, and assuredly
few polo-groands in the world could afford a more splendid
setting for horses and men.
Amir Khan, the Macadam of Astor, was the boldest
player; the Raja's son was the handsomest and best
dressed, but he was a beginner at the game. The people
took the keenest interest in it, and the band of three drums,
one kettle-drum, and a pipe played a running commentary
upon it. They encouraged the players with cheerful strains
at the onset, and celebrated every rally and every goal
with a triumphant ffoarish.
" How long do they go on playing ? " I asked.
" As long as your honour pleases," was the polite fonnula
of the reply.
" Do you have a fixed number of goals for a game ? "
" As many as your honour pleases."
Digilizcd by Google
/
" Well, how long do they hke to play ? "
" It will delight them to play till your honour gives the
order for them to etop."
" And then will they go home ? "
" Then there will be a nautch if your honour pleases to
order it."
When we thought the ponies bad had about enough we
called for the nautch, and the players came in and formed a
ring before us with the bulk of the people ; but a new lot
of riders borrowed the ponies, and the game went on in the
background, whilst the boys of the place also played one of
their own on foot.
The nautch was much like that of the Gurais coolies, only
TRR FOURTH DANCEB AT ASTOB.
with tbe band instead of a singer and chorus. Some half-
dozen men took their turn at amusing the company. They
were all bashful, and had to be forcibly dragged into the
midst before they would begin. Each opened with a slow
step, and came close to the band, to which he gesticulated
and postured with exaggerated distortions of countenance
and gestures intentionally comic. The players never moved
their eyes from the dancer's face, and took their expression
from him, so that music and dance were entirely in accord
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i-SE CROSSING OF THE BURZiL PASS TO ASTOE. 115
one with another. The fourth dancer, a tall wiry man well
past middle hfe, was evidently the most popular. His
coming was greeted with applause. He saluted the hand
from a distance with the air of an old acquaintance, certain
of a good reception. He first expressed surprise by face
and gesture, as who should say, " Well, I never expected to
see you here." He paused, as though hesitating, then
approached the band and entered into close relations with
them. He became humorous, struck strange attitudes,
and, keeping his head erect, moved it from side to side
between his shoulders as though it slid along a slot. The
crowd delighted in him and all his ways ; tliey shouted their
applause. Then he turned his back on the players and
danced towards us, with a face full of laughter, arms raised
aloft, and a birdish jerkiness in his movements. Rahim Ali
looked on from a distance with the greatest contempt, but
Jumma Khan, bound to be well in it on every occasion, had
climbed on to the wall close behind the Eaja, and was
observing with much satisfaction.
A good-looking boy was next cast neck and crop into the
midst and set a-dancing. He leapt forward like an entering
ballet-girl and pirouetted around in large circles. His
performance was more of a real dance than that of the
others. He was coquettishly dressed in parti-colonred
garments, and his white turban was carefully put on.
We presently made our excuses and went oflF to lunch,
but we had to witness more tamasha of the same kind in
the afternoon. When twilight came on, McCormick and I
walked to the top of the mound behind the camp and
watched the view fading away. The landscape was bathed
in the exceptional haze that had lasted since we came from
the pass, and was destined to endure for a week or two
longer. A patchwork of fields lay at our feet, some fi-esh
ploughed and violet in tint, others bright with young green
shoots. Violet and green played together all over the
view. Eocks and distant slopes were violet ; the valley
bottom was green. A violet tint even overspread the
Digilizod by Google
114 APEIL 29.
distant snows. The soft air was motionless. The Only
sound was the muffled murmur of the river far below. We
paused till darkness was at hand, and then descended to
prepare, by a good night's sleep, for an early start on the
morrow.
I AT KABKIM.
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HARAMOSH FBOU BUtML
CHAPTER VI.
ASTOB TO GILGIT.
April 30th. — The new set of coolies, starting from their
homes, again displayed the usual dilatoriness, and wasted
a couple of hours of the cool morning air. The men were
shorter of stature, feebler of frame, more ragged and dirty,
and altogether worse than those of Gurais. We had been
led to expect the contrary. The Raja came and bade us
farewell, and the tehsildar and his underlings accompanied
lis to Aster. There our corU-ge was increased by the officers
of the garrison, the postmaster, and others. They salaamed
on reaching the border of the country, and most of
dbyGoogle ,
them begged for chits, from the Raja's son down to the
headmen of the Uttle villages we had passed through on our
way from Mikiel. It was thus nearly ten o'clock before our
march was properly begun.
The path, at first bigh above the river, opened a view
over great moraines and up the notable valley that leads
by way of the Bannok La to Skardo. The dusty haze
continued to fill the atmosphere, and all but obliterated the
highest peaks within the range of vision. A precipitous
hillside, or ])arri, forced the path to descend to the river's
brink. We entered a striking gorge and followed it, with
the water close at hand. The clifTs in some places rose so
directly from the torrent that the path had to be carried on
wooden galleries. This enjoyable portion of our walk ended
at Harcho, where we rested awhile under a shady walnut
tree, and wished we had arranged to lunch. We gave the
coolies wherewithal to smoke. They made a hole in the
ground for pipe, and contrived a tiny tunnel to it, through
which they drew the fumes.
At Harcho commences the long traversing ascent which
lasts during a march and a half, and finally lands the
traveller on the Hatu Pir at a height of about 10,000 feet,
a moat discouraging method of going down a valley. Of
course the slope was by no means continuous. The
Liscomb valley mouth involved a descent, which it re-
warded with the view of a pretty waterfall, but after that
the way was all uphill to Dashkin, which is higher than
Astor. As we mounted we reached the opener, wider
sweeping slopes above the gorge, but what we gained in
breadth we lost in picturesqueness and impending mass.
Rj degrees the grandeur of the scenery impressed itself
upon us, and ultimately I realised such a consciousness of
size as I never experienced before.
Alpine roads often command views into valley-deeps a
few hundreds of feet plumb, and Swiss footpaths are
frequently forced by mountain-shoulders (in India they
would be called jmrrts) to ascend five or six hundred feet
Digilizod by Google
ASTOR TO GILGIT. 117
before the obstacle is overcome. But in the Astor valley
the stream is 2,000 feet and more below the road, and yet
the traveller's position is not appreciably nearer the skyline
of the lower heights. The valley is correspondingly wider,
and this width, like the depth, soon becomes measurable by
the trained eye. Any one so familiar with mountains as to
understand the necessary proportion of parts to the whole
will be able at once to appraise the scale at its proper size,
if he can discover the measure of any one component
feature of the view. Such measurable features are the
fans of taluB at the feet of gullies. When experience has
been gathered of the nature of the rock, the rapidity of
atmospheric denudation, and the sort of normal size of the
average fallen stone, a mere glance at one of these fans
reveals its magnitude. The length of the gully follows,
and thence the scale of the mountain mass in which it is
furrowed. Thus it was that, as we kept ascending the
western slopes of the valley, we came to perceive the
magnitude of the eastward hills, and so of the entire
mountain panorama. A titanic mass was over against us ;
a buttress of what I shall call the Bannok group, from
the well-known pass that traverses it.* Its roots spread
abroad from opposite Dashkin as far as Astor, and it was
visible at one time in all its breadth and height. Its rocky
slopes are not specially steep, but they are utterly barren,
and its summit is a needle point.
How hungry we were when at four o'clock we reached
the rank and fly-infested camping-ground of Dashkin !
Most of the coolies were far behind, but Eahim Ali promised
a swift meal of tea, eggs, chapattis, and jam. Never was
anything more acceptable. The instruments being read,
and the tents pitched, we fell upon the food. Jumma
* This group of moantaine is bounded on the north and east by the
Indus, on the west by the Astor river; the Alumpi La and valleys leading
to it may be adopted as its approximate southern limit. Its highest point
is apparently the Diohell peak (U 27), at the head of the Dichell nala—
a mountain over 19,000 feet high.
Digilizod by Google
Khan thrust a salt-box into my hand. " What is this ? " I
said. " Protector of the poor ! for the eggs." The after-
noon was over almost at once, and when the flies went to
sleep so did we.
May Xst. — The coolies were as ready to start this morning
as they had before been slow. We were accordingly on
the way by half-past five, and continued to traverse the
valley at a great height, and constantly to increase our
distance from the stream. The fliick haze haunted us as
before, spoiling all distant views Mid blotting colom- out of
the landscape. Clouds rested upon the summits, which
was the more
untimely, as
this march
commands no-
table views, not
only over the
Bannok group,
but also back
in the Nanga
Parbat direc-
tion. The
slopes we had
to traverse were
„, „.™ covered with
maasesof debris^
and stones are always falling across them. The path is
in constant danger of obliteration, and has to be frequently
repaired. Sometimes, I was told, the whole hillside seems
to be on the move. It is for this reason that the road
must be carried so high. The mountain is rotten. From
the west side of this same mass (three miles south-west
of Hatu Pir), the great fall took place in 1841, whereby
the Indus was dammed up for about six months, and the
Banji valley was turned into a lake. When the dam broke,
ruin rushed with the waters down the Indus, and spread
abroad over the plains far away,
Digilizod by Google
ASTOB TO GILGIT. 119
For a mile or two the debris slopes yielded to a charming,
region, clad with a forest of the edible pine, and, later in
the year, carpeted with flowers. Wild strawberry plants
abounded, and there were rose-bushes on every side. We
surveyed with interest the famous sporting nalas — Dichell,
Bardicha, and Shaltar — opening on the far side of the Astor
river. As we left the forest and rounded the nest spur, the
great Dichell peak was disclosed to the eastward, and we
could have looked up at it in long content from our lunching
ground at Trubyling, if the clouds had but consented to
roll away. As it was, we saw it only by pieces at a time.
After an hour's halt
we continued mount- |
ing and traversing as [
before to the angle of *
the next rib, which
should have rewarded
us with a finer pano-
rama than any pre-
vious station. We 't-
just caught a glimpse \.
of the Indus for below
near Bunji, and round
to the left surveyed
an amphitheatre of
slopes, resting against the Hatu Fir to the north, and
with the Doiau villages and fort in its centre. Rakipushi
(25,5-50 feet) ahead, and Nanga Parbat behind, were alike
blotted out by clouds. Hatu Pir is the name for the
last point of the mountain promontory which juts north-
wards from Nanga Parbat, and divides the Astor from the
Indus valley. Our road from Astor traversed the eastern
slopes of this prommitory.
A rapid descent of some 300 feet brought us to Doian
Fort, beside which the tents were already pitched when we
arrived at one o'clock. The long afternoon was all too short
for the arrears of writing I had to work through. We were
THB QRSIT DICHBU. PBAK.
Digilizod by Google
visited by Mr. Appleford, who was in charge of the difficult
road-making operations going forward in the neighbourhood.
The new road from Doian descends to the Astor river by
zigzags, and all the lower part must be blasted out of the
rock.* Sis hundred Pathans were engaged on this portion
of the work. Appleford took part in the Hunza cam-
paign, and gave us an interesting account of it. He
said that the haze which ho annoyed us had prevailed
for more than three weeks at Doian. It was regarded
by the inhabitants of the country as quite unusual. They
affirmed that the season was the moat advanced that
I any one could re-
I member. There
was no snow for
I some thousands
' of feet above our
camp, though in
ordinary seasons
beds of snow re-
main even below
Doian till the
month of May.
Appleford, who
viBw FBoif DoiAK CAMP. ^pcut thc prevlous
hot weather in
this district, stated that, from what he had seen or been told,
it seemed a general rule that there were repeated intervals of
fine weather in the Nanga Parbat neighbourhood during the
rainy season. Probably, therefore, this mountain and its
neighbours can be as well attacked by mountaineers in July
or August as in the unbroken fine weather of the two or
three months of shorter days and cold nights that follow.
■^^ The following plants were gathered between Aator and Doian : —
Tiilipa chrysantlui, Mertensia echioides, Asperiego prociimbens, Androsace
roliindi/olia var. Thoiiuoni, Scnccio coronopifoliits, Valeriana Jaschkei,
Jiihes orientale, Cntoiieaster niimmularia, Cerasits Griffilhil, Viola
I'dlrinii, Chorhpora sibirica, and Dniha stenocarpa.
Digilizod by Google
ASTOR TO GILGIT. 121
Astor can be reached by the Gilgit road in a month from
Xiondon.
May '2nd. — The path from Doian could not at once forsake
its long habit of mounting the hill by way of going down
the valley, but we had only a short traverse to make, and
by half-past eight o'clock readied the little col, close to the
point called Hatn Pir (10,254 feet). On our way we noticed
several subsidence hollows of considerable size, and some
grassy shelves likewise formed by the internal yielding of
the mountain. The ground was fissured and irregular, and
signs of disintegration on a large scale were everywhere
apparent. Some day there will be a big landslip here, and
perhaps the Indus will be blocked up again. Near the top
flowers became more frequent, and we stopped to press
them.* Whilst McCormick and I were thus engaged Parbir
passed by, gaily whistHng. His. coat was hitched through
the belt of his forage sack, the wings of his waistcoat
flapped about in the breeze, Bruce's gun was slung across
his back, his blue umbrella was tucked under his arm, and
he carried an ice-axe on his shoulder ; his head was crowned
with his own cap, and Zurbriggen's tope above it. There
was always a cheery moment when Parbir came along.
When We emerged on the crest of the ridge a wonderful
view burst upon our gaze, and that notwithstanding the
mist that swallowed up the distance, and the clouds cover-
ing Bakipushi, Nanga Parbat, and the Dichell peak. The
notable feature was the Indus valley, coming end on
towards us from the north, bent at right angles, when, after
receiving the waters of the Astor river, it had swerved
past us, and so going away westwards into Chilas. I
had never seen any valley that compared to it either in
kind or dimensions. It was barren as an Arabian wady ;
it was floored with the strewn ruin of countless floods,
"• The following plants were collected near the top of the Hatu Pir : —
Physochlaina preealla, Artemisia maritinta, Valeriana diotca, Saxtfraga
Stracheyi, a variety of Caragana tra^acantlioiJes, Caiiparis spinosa, Cock-
learia Conwayi.
Digilizod by Google
bleached and blasted by the suns of countless summers ; it
was walled along by rocky cliffs, a maze of precipices and
gullies, untrodden of human foot, bare of vegetation and
almost of debris. The river wound through it in a gorge,
cut down into the alluvium. The waters resembled a
twisted blue ribbon, dusted with white here and there
where there were rapids. It was hard to beUeve that we
were gazing at a rushing river two hundred yards wide,
so far was it below us. It looked like a sluggish stream
that a horse might have leapt. The scale of things had
taken another increase, and our eyes required a further
adjustment. The beautiful Dubanni, on the whole the
most beautiful group of snowy mountains we ever saw,
blocked np the end of the valley. We marked where the
way to G-ilgit branched off to the left. Through the faint
mist, now that the sun was shiniug, the elemental rocks
glowed with every tint of purple and grey — the colouring of
Egypt with the sky of Greece. Only two patches of green
could the eye discover in all its mde range — the tiny oasis
of Bunji far away and the few fields of Taliche, like a little
carpet, forgotten on the rocks by the border of Chilas at
our feet.
McCormick and I spent an hour and a half examining
and photographing the remarkable scene. Then we turned
our backs on the world of life and plunged downwards into
the desert. For two hours we bumped and sUd and tnmbled
over the broken path. A loud whiz passed close to my
ear ; I dodged and looked for a falling stone, but the thing
had been a lammergeier plunging from the upper air on
business of importance. It vanished round the corner
below, like a flash of black lightning, and we saw it no
more. The new road will avoid the top of the Hatu Pir
and the steep descent, but it will also rob travellers of one
of the most marvellous prospects to be seen in the moun-
tains of Kashmir.
Our swift descent brought us up with the rest of the
caravan before we reached the bridge spanning the Astor
Digilizod by Google
ASTOB TO OILGIT. 123
river at Bamghat. The Kashmiri sepoys stationed at
the fort entertained us with all the hospitality within
their power, and we rested for awhile with them till the
coolies came up. Then we crossed the bridge, and walked
a mile to the camping-ground by the bank of the stream
that drains the Dachkot nala. We lunched whilst the
tents were being pitched. I said good-bye to the others,
and rode off for Bunji on a pony, kindly sent for me by
Captain Kemball, of the 5th Gurkhas.
I rounded the comer in a few yards and was out of sight
of my people and of every trace of man, save the track along
which I was riding. A moment or two later I entered
the Indus valley, and was traversing the foot of its eastern
slopes. Wastes of stone and sand surrounded me ; in front
was the "sunburnt and sorrowful" valley, going away
to the veiled mountains of Nagyr ; debris reached up to
a rocky skyline on my right hand; on my left was the
flowing Indus, and beyond it the rock-wall of Guudai, ten
thousand feet in height from stony foot to splintered crest.
It was like riding alone among the mountains of the moon.
Now and again I passed the mouth of some uninhabited
valley leading to unnamed fastnesses and watched by un-
storied peaks. I felt no eagerness to climb these elemental
lumps. No human being ever cared for them. No home-
stead ever timed its risings and its restings by the pink
sunUght on their crests. No tales were ever told about
them. Unnoticed, unnumbered, and unnamed, they have
performed their function in the balance of the world, but
without awakening the imagination of man or kindling his
emotions.
One striking peak almost engaged my fancy. It was
a mere 16,200 feet high. An undulating snowfield leads
to its easy summit, but this white plateau is cut off
on all visible sides by plumb-vertical walls, 2,000 feet
high at the smallest computation. A rock arete, broken
into a series of mighty teeth, alone leads up to it, and where
arete and plateau join there stands a pinnacle of rock, the
Digilizod by Google
sharpest and most uncompromising I have ever beheld.
Yet who would care to reach this well-guarded summit?
It is low for these regions. It is nameless, of course, one
amongst thousands of the like unknown. The very in-
habitants of Bunji have not noticed it, though it stares
down upon them. It is the goal of no one's aims. It looks
abroad over a region mostly uninhabited and almost wholly
barren.
A man coming into a land so new and strange is stricken
and overpowered by tlte impression of the whole. He has
no time to contem-
plate details with the
lingering attention that
makes the attainment
of this or the other
point seem desirable.
It was the broad wes-
tern wall in its entirety
— the vastness and
nakedness of the thing
— that imposed itself
upon my imagination.
Here was Nature work-
ing out her own will
unhindered and un-
BT. helped by man. Few
piles of debris veiled
even the bases of the rocks ; no earth or grass found
lodgment upon their ledges. The naked skeleton of the
world stood forth, with every stratum displayed and every
mark of the sculpturing chisel undisguised. Effort was
not needed to trace the contortions of the rocks or the
thick veins of quartz that knit their cracks together,
A band of lighter colour, more than 1,000 feet thick,
was bent like a bow by the pressure of the world. At one
end it stood up vertically, and its edges jutted into the air
as the crest of a peak ; the other end reached the skyline
Digilizod by Google
S OVSDAl PEAKS, :
ASTOR TO GILGIT. 125
lower down some three miles away. Further on was a
slope of rock. Smooth it seemed like a schoolboy's slate.
It was tilted up at a high angle, and measured perhaps
1,500 feet from bottom to top. The remnants of a landslip
lay against its base, and slightly turned the course of the
river. What a fall it must have been ! The waters, how-
ever, are carrying off the rocks, and the place will some
day be swept clear of the mighty ruin.
As I rode alone musing on the wonders of this solitude,
two weird figures turned a corner and stood before me.
One carried on his shoulder an Afghan sword and an
umbrella ; the other had a double-barrelled gun aud
followed a pace or two in rear of his comrade. Their
clothes were dust colour, and thev
wore purple turba
and surveyed me.
as in a dream, for
they lent to the 1
the whole into a
was a fine un-
friendliness in
their look. "With
one consent we
paused and gazed
at each other in
silence, as
though mutually
m e smerised.
The n we re-
sumed our re-
spective ways,
they to the south,
northwards I, to-
wards our respec-
tive Infinities,
which, maybe, ''
will hereafter o« thr koad to bu-sji.
Digilizod by Google
prove to be the same. Another mile and I was in the
midst of, a gang of Pathans working on the road. They
paused in their stone-heaving to inspect me, and responded
to my salutation with friendly grins and uncomprehended
greetings. A liking for the fellows sprang up within me ;
heart had spoken to heart, and the senseless rocks were
forgotten. Assuredly few or none are they who love Nature
for herself. The true quickener of emotion and awakener
of thought is Nature the background and abode of man;
Nature the vehicle or subject of human intercourse ; Nature
the analyser of the human mind.
Absorbed in such reflections I found myself on the verge
of a wall-sided nala which had to be crossed. The only ap-
proach to its depths was by a narrow and stony path, steep as
a staircase. Beyond the nala stood Bunji (4,631 feet) amongst
mulberry-trees ; a bugle was sounding a familiar call. Fresh
breezes swept up the valley and raised a pillar of dust high
into the air where an eddy of cloud descended to meet it.
The pony picked his way easily down the forbidding track ;
then of his own accord galloped across the flat, gaining an
impetus which carried him some way up the ascending
path on the other side. Fields and burial grounds remained
to be traversed. The Kashmiri sepoys were just dismissed
from parade, and one of them led me to the mulberry grove
surrounding Kemball's bangla where my tent was to be
pitched. Bruce and Koudebush were awaiting me. A glass
of foaming beer was placed in my hand. Oh, shade of
Borrow ! surely in that bhssful moment thou wast not far
away !
" But Zurbriggen — where's Zurbriggen ? "
" Gone off shooting in the Damot uala. He'U soon be
back now."
" Which way will he come ? "
" Up the hill there. Why, there's some one coming now.
Perhaps it's he."
"No, it's a native carrying something. By Jove ! it's a
head — a tine pair of horns 1 — a marker I "
Digilizod by Google
ASTOB TO GILGIT. 127
The coolie deposited the trophy at our feet, a very fair
head of this much sought wUd goat. The horns were 40
inches long and well curved — a good average pair such
as anyhody might consider himself lucky to get in his first
half-day's shooting. Ten minutes latei: Ztrrbriggen himself
came in, radiant with aatisfection. He was wearing a soft
woollen turhan that suited him admirably. We spent the
rest of the day talking and eating mulberries. I went early
to sleep in my tree-embowered tent.
May Srd. — The Indus valley in the Bunji reach is to be
pictured as broad and flat-bottomed. Its western side is
a mighty wall of rock. On the east it is bordered by steep
slopes. The slopes and the wall must meet not less than
500 feet, and probably as much as 2,000 feet below the
level of the surface of the debris accumulations which
fill the valley. By what processes were these vast debris
accumulations brought together ? The problem is of
general interest, for the Bunji valley may be regarded as
typical of Central Asian valleys generally, and what ia true
of it is true also of the Pamir valleys and of those in the
regions of Western Tibet and Eastern Turkestan.
In the milder regions of the world it is correct to regard
the river that flows through a valley as the principal
agent both in cutting it down and in filling it up. The
waters, moving gently, deposit upon their beds the stuff
they carry. Banks are formed, and the river from time to
time changes its course. By such processes the bed of
the Nile is being continuously raised, but the features
of Asiatic mountain valleys cannot be thus accounted for.
The component elements of the debris are too large to have
been thus habitually transported from afar. A bursting lake
may occasionally carry to great distances enormous masses
of ruin, but such events are rare, and it is clear that the
valleys have not been filled by the agency of bursting lakes.
The gentle dip of the bedding of the debris towards the river
proves that the stuff came from the side slopes. Now and
again, no doubt, mountain falls, or upheavals and depressions
Digilizod by Google
on a large scale, have produced lake-basins in the valleys.
Such basins tend to be silted up. The mud, which swiftly-
flowing water can carry, soon settles to the bottom when
the water enters the broad area of a lake ; banks are formed
near the point of inflow, and the length of the lake diminishes
tUl such time as the whole is filled up or till the barrier
that causes the accumulation of waters is cut away.
Deposits of this kind are to be seen in many places
throughout the Central Asian valley area, but they are
seldom large or indicative of any long duration of the
conditions under which they were formed.
Regarding, then, as certain that the debris, filling such
valleys, came from the side slopes, the question arises — How
was such a quantity formed, and caused to descend? Here
the reader must bear in mind the nature of the climate
in the regions under consideration. It possesses two main
qualities— extraordinai'y dryness and extreme and rapid
variation of temperature. The rainfall is trifling over the
whole area, except where the mountains reach great altitude,
and there snow is precipitated in considerable quantities.
The alternations of temperature are remarkable. The ther-
mometer at heights of 15,000 feet ranges as high as 80° Fahr.
iu the shade during daytime, and will descend at night to
freezing-point. Very low temperatures doubtless occur in
winter. Such changes break up rocks with extreme rapidity,
as has been noticed all over the world. Keane * and other
Arabian travellers have described how, on a cold night
following a hot day, rocks are often heard loudly cracking
and splitting up. Alternate expansion and contraction of
ingredients of different qualities not only break large
masses of rock, but tend to disintegra.te their parts.
Thus, throughout all the region we are considering, there
is continually being provided a mass of loosened debris
such as is never found in the better-known mountains
of Europe. The traveller constantly sees and oftener hears
the falling of stones down slopes, and, when one of them
* }. F. Keaiie, " Six Mouths in the Hejaz."
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ASTOR TO GILGIT. 129
starts, it does not long parsue its headlong career without
making fellows to accompany it.
The reader will have seen railway embankments in
process of construction. Trucks succeeding one another
cast stones down the advancing slope, which always
maintains the same angle with the horizon, an angle
determined by the nature of the stones composing
the bank. If the slope were steeper than the angle of
repose the stones would be in more or less unstable
equihbrium, and they would ultimately fall about till the
slope became reduced to the proper angle. It is impossible
by merely allowing stones to fall down from the top of
the slope to diminish its angle. Similarly it is with debris
fans. If the debris falls dry from the hillside it will lie at
a given angle below, and no less. If a debris slope is found,
whose surface makes a less angle with the horizon than the
normal slope of fallen mountain material, the conclusion
follows that something else than the mere tumbling of dry
stones has been at work.
Let us assume that dry stone debris will not adjust them-
selves, by falling, to a less angle than one of 15'* with the
horizon. They can yet be carried down a gentler slope
by the flowing of water. A fan, therefore, that is formed
by water-borne stones may have a surface inclination of less
than 15°. The angle of such a slope, however, cannot
be less than some minimum, and we shall be well within
the mark if (for ordinary stone debris) we put this minimum
at ICP. But the great debris fans and valley accumulations
of the area under consideration have a surface slope far less
than this. The slope of the lowest four miles of the fan at
Leh — that is to say, between the town and the Indus
bridge — makes an angle of only 2° 43' with the horizon.
Stone debris cannot be systematically carried by mere
water down so trifling a slope as that ; another carrying
agent must be sought. That agent was doubtless mud.
I maintain that the debris accumulations which fill up to
so remarkable a depth — sometimes as far possibly as 10,000
10
Digilizod by Google
130 MAY 3.
feet — the desert valleys of the Central Asian mouutains,
have been deposited by mud-avalanches. One such
avalanche we saw falling on Jidy 8th, as the reader will
hereafter find. Sir William Loekhart described to me
another that he saw crawling over a fan close to Baltit, the
capital of Hunza. Colonel Godwin-Austen saw one below
the Skoro La. Such frequent phenomena in these regions
are they that it may be broadly asserted of every gully,
reaching up to the snow level and traversing a suitable slope
of dry rocks below, that it disgorges one of them annually.
If they fall faster than the main valley torrent can carry them
away, they raise its bed and begin the filling of the valley.
They soon force the river into a gorge. The process then
continues with increased rapidity, the avalanches piling
themselves up on the sides of the gorge. As the drbris
accumulations increase in depth, the slopes, from which the
supply of rubbish comes, are gradually covered up, tlie
supply thus ultimately diminishes, and finally becomes
insignificant. This is the stage which has been reached in
the broad, almost fiUed-up valleys, misnamed plateaus, of
the Pamirs and Western Tibet.*
Owing to the structure of the mountains forming the
sides of the Bunji reach of the Indus valley, the mud-
avalancbe supply has come chiefly down the eastern slopes.
To the west are mere precipices of rock on which neither
snow nor debris accumulates. The river has therefore been
forced over to the west, and the debris flat is along the east
margm of the stream. Here the waters of a side nala have
been captured and led into a system of irrigation canals,
whereby a portion of the desert area — some square mile
in extent — is made to fiourish exceedingly. This is the
oasis of Bunji. As, under English rule, the country
becomes more settled, and all fear of Chilasi raids is done
* The higher beds of the upper tertiary Sinalik series of rocks, which
flank the south foot of the Himalayas, coosist of coarse conglomerates
near the places where the rivers emerge from the hilla. Those con-
glomeratcB were doubtless formed out of luud- avalanche (Ubris.
Digilizod by Google
ASTOB TO GILGIT. 131
away with, the number of these artificial oases will be
greatly increased between the Hatu Pir and Gilgit, as well
as in various minor valleys. A large population may
then be supported in what is now an almost uninterrupted
desert.
Such were some of the reflections that occurred to
me during a quiet day spent under the hospitable roof
of Captain A. Keraball, of the 6th Gurkhas, and Messrs.
pushi, Uffcing high his "*«■'* '^-^^ (2^'^ ''^"'i ™°'' ^""^^
silver spear, with the many-pointed mass of beauteous
Dubanni on his eastern flank, and a white outlier of Hara-
mosh further to the right. But southward was the great
view. There the clouds played at hide-and-seek with
majestic Nanga Parbat, and presently ran away, disclosing
the whole wonderful mountain from its then unexplored
base in Chilas, which the hidden Indus washes, to its long
and splintered crest. To sit and watch the evening light
upon 16,000 feet of ice and snow was a pleasure granted
Digilizod by Google
to few; we enjoyed it to the full in silence and amaze-
ment.
One thing, however, we were not permitted to behold —
the crystal castle on Nanga Parbat's crest. The natives
say that it can be seen from afar, and they call it Shal-
batte-k&t' Did not a certain shikari once climb to it, on
the very summit of the peak ; and did he not find therein
countless snakes ? * Let the man that doubts go and repeat
the ascent and bring down word, that all may know the
truth.
May 4th. — This day our recently united party had again
to break up. Bruce, J^urbriggen, aud I started for Gilgit,
Roudebush went to pursue markor in the Bunue nala, the
others remained behind at Bunji till they should be sent
for. It was nearly seven o'clock before we were on the
way, but the morning was cool and clear, and Nanga Parbat
saluted us in unclouded splendour. The desert foreground
was an admirable setting to the brilliant mountain mass,
which looked so glorious in robes of white that for a
moment we were half inclined to change all our plans
and go back to attempt the ascent. No extraordinary
difficulties other than those pertaining to the altitude and
the state of the snow appear to bar the way. The best
line of attack would probably be to reach the snow
col west of the point 22,360 feet, which we named the
Sphinx ; pass over, or round, the south side of the shoulder
23,170 feet, and mount an easy snowfield or slope to the
east end of the long but gentle rocky arete which ends in
the summit.
We walked for nearly two hours in the cool air and
shadows of the hills. Then Boudebush left us and bent
away to the right, and we, going leftwards, entered the
broiling sunshine and approached the Indus at the point
where the bridge was being built. We met Johnson riding
back &om the works with his dog behind him, and a
cloud of dust kicked up from the soft deep sand which we
* " Aualand," 1875, p. 689.
d by Google
I
ASTOB TO aiLQIT. 133
were already tired of wading. He halted to bid us good-
bye, and the dog bolted into the shadow of a rook, from
which, when his master rode off, he hesitated to stir, but
sat on whining and howUng at the heat till he dared wait
no longer.
It was nearly ten o'clock before we reached the splendid
gorge which the bridge is to span. We were met by Mr.
Maynard, the resident engineer, who invited us to his
tent, where, with the generosity of our countrymen on the
frontier, he poured out for us what we afterwards dis-
covered was his very last bottle of divine nectar. The
temperature in the shade was already 88** Fahr. ; in the
sun it was anything you please, so we naturally prolonged
our halt on easy excuses. We discussed the work at the
bridge, and the difficulties which carriage of materials over
the passes — ^great chains and what-not — was destined to
present. We talked of the mixed crew of workmen em-
ployed on the excavating and masonry, and their high
rate of wages. Maynard told us that, though the masons
came &om the Punjab, the heat at Bnnji during the three
hottest months was too much for them, and work had to
cease. The time for closing was near at hand.
It was no use to blink the fact that we had to be
moving on, so about eleven o'clock we started off again into
the blazing heat. We were only 4,600 feet above sea-
level. At every step we sank into the sand or stumbled
over stones. We descended to the river and were ferried
over it by Captain Aylmer's floating-bridge. We were
surprised to £nd the water so broad and deep, and flowing
with such silent and impressive speed in the wild gorge.
A toilsome ascent on the other side reduced us to feeble-
ness in half an hour. The snn blazed on us from the right,
and hot rocks roasted us on the left. It was a relief to
turn the comer and enter the Gilgit valley, whose green
stream joined the brown Indus at our feet.
For the remaining three hours and a half of the march
we plodded along through a region as barren as the one
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juet left and as hot as fury. Before uB stood a distant
snowy peak ; behind, I know not what, for memory and
observation were blotted out. We waded through the sand
and endured, thinking only of water, longing unutterably
for it, but there was not a drop to be had save from the
dirty river flowing inaccessible below in a gorge 300 feet
deep.
We halted awhile in the welcome shadow of a great
rock which others had used before us, for the loose stones
were removed from the shadowed area and piled about
it. Two natives were already in occupation, travellers
from Kohistan on their way to Gilgit, " How far is
Damot?" they asked; "this side or that side of the
river ? How for Bunji ? Are there Baltis at Bunji ?
Many of them ? " and so forth. And we, " Where does
the sahib (Wilkinson) live? Is it far on?" We sent the
younger man down to the river to fill my bottle with
muddy water, which we eagerly drank. The elder then
borrowed the bottle and sent it for a drink for himself
They seemed decent fellows enough ; they had fine, cha-
racteristic faces and long taper finger nails.
The brilliant sunshine and clear air cast a blue mantle
about the hills the like of which we had not lately beheld.
The local colours of the various beds of naked rock in the
nearer slopes were plainly manifested by the bright light.
We could observe these things whilst we rested, but, once
on the way, observation ceased. We wished we could go
like Brace's dog Pristi, a cross between a retriever and a
Gordon setter. He had already picked up the trick of
Johnson's dog and went bolting from the shadow of one
stone to that of the nest ; but there were no rooks big
enough to cast shadow over a man.
At last, about half-past three o'clock, we reached the
place called Big Stone and found Mr. Wilkinson, the road
engineer. He received us hospitably in his tent, the
only shaded place about, and served at once the water
we craved for and thereafter the food. The shade tem-
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ASTOB TO GILGIT. 135
perature was 90°. We rejoiced when the sua went behind
a hill and the myriad flies ceased from their excessive
tronbling. As night came on we were called to Wilkin-
son's hospitable board, bat the food would have tasted
of another sauce than it did if we had known, what was
the fact, that he was clearing out for us his entire re-
serve of tinned provisions. The moon shone brilliantly,
and the larger stars twinkled around her. Such perfect
stillness reigned that the naked candle did not flicker in
the open air. The only sound wa,3 the mu£Bed murmur
of the river's flow. How tired we were from the stony
and sandy ways and the blistering heat ! The needful
work of instrument reading and photograph-fllm changing
was quickly got through, and I followed the others into
dreamland at an early hour.
May 5th. — The lesson of the previous day was not lost
upon us. We were off by half-past four o'clock and found
the first two hours of our walk most agreeable ; nor was it
with any feelings of apprehension that we watched the
dawn, for its beauty made us forget all else. The tip of
the Bunji peak, away behind us, glowed like a mass of
iron newly drawn from a ftimace. From time to time we
gained impressive glimpses up side valleys ; but soon the
heat was upon us, and, with the rotten path, occupied
all our attention. The longing for water grew in ub again,
and everything else was forgotten. The river below
was swollen by the rapid melting of the snows. It was
blackened with mud, and a wineglassful would have been
opaque. At ten o'clock we approached the green oasis
of Minawar and passed a resolution to rest there till the
cool of the afternoon. To get to it we had to cross a
nala, and its fonj pools seemed full of nectar to our de-
praved taste. We drank deep draughts from them and filled
ourselves with mud. Then we sought the delicious shelter
of the mulberry trees. There was grass to lie upon, and a
runlet of poisonous irrigating water from which to drink.
The temperature seemed chilly by contrast ; it was &i° Fahr..
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136 MAY 5.
The servants made tea, and the natives brought us about
eight gallons of mulberries, which we devoured by hand-
fuls. Then we lay down, covering our faces to keep off the
flies, and so went to sleep.
The Minawar oasis, like all the others, is formed by
irrigating an old mud-avalanche fan with the stream that
made it. The gentle slope up one side of a fan and
down the other forms an unsuspected element in the
toil of a journey on foot through these regions. From a
distance the fans look so flat that one is surprised to find
how much the labour of walking in sand and loose pebbles
is increased by a slope scarcely perceptible to the eye. All
the fans in the Gilgit valley might be, and some day will
be, rendered fertife by irrigation.
About four o'clock, when the cool of the day should have
been beginning, but when, as a matter of fact, the heat
attained its maximum, we set off to accomplish the rest of
our march. We leapt down from one terraced field to
another, and so reached the edge of the oasis and emerged
on the sand again. Down one long slope, up another, then
down its further side, hot rock walls on either hand — thus
we journeyed at our slow, best pace, leaving the long miles
(never were miles so long I) one by one behind. At
length the sun went behind a hill, and we could look about
once more with alert intelligence. Eakipushi (25,550 feet)
was displaying his southern face at the head of the Dainyor
nala. The aouth-south-west arete seemed to offer an easy
route to the summit, but we presently discovered that all
access to the ridge was cut off by an unbroken series of
avalanche slopes, which, however, may become safe enough
in August. Our hopes of beginning with this ascent were
thus not a little damped, but the brilliant colouring lavished
on the high peaks by the settiug sun was for the time satis-
faction enough, ^d with renewed delight we discovered,
away to the east, the sharp point of great Haramosh flaming
like a gilded spear-tip above the rampart of the nearer
ridges.
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ASTOB TO GILGIT. 137
The moonlit, star-bespangled night enveloped our ap-
proach to the fields and scented groves of Gilgit. How
glad we were to feel cultivated land once more under our
feet, and to tread paths not deep in sand nor littered
with painfiil stones ! We burrowed into the dark shadow
of mulberry trees, but still the fort and houses of Gilgit
lingered. We left cottage after cottage and field after field
behind, but there was no sign of a sahib's bangla, only
fields, and evermore fields, and groves before us. We
encountered a witless native.
" Where does the Colonel Sahib live ? "
"Don't know."
" The Colonel Sahib — Durand Sahib ? "
"Don't know."
We shook him by the shoulders.
" Salaam ! " he said.
" The Colonel Sahib — where does he live ? Are you
asleep ? "
" Salaam ! "
" Where are the tents of the sahibs ? the English ? "
" Salaam ! "
" Ass of gilgit I Where is the fort ? "
" I have never seen a fort or sahibs. Salaam ! I know
nothing."
A few minutes later another native was found.
" Where does the Colonel Sahib live ? "
" That way."
"How far off?"
" Not far. A little way."
"A mile?"
" Yes, a mile."
" Perhaps two miles ? "
" Yes, two miles.
" Out with it, man ! how many miles ? "
"As many as the sahib pleases."
At last we saw lights ahead, then tents on the one hand
and a bangla on the other. We turned to the left through
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a field of growing corn and found ourselves at the door of
the mess. Friendly hands and voices greeted us. Our
" SALAAM ! I KNOW NOTHING."
fatigues were at an end. Food and drink were placed
before us, and we dined with keenest satisfaction. We
soon betook ourselves to the tents prepared for us, and
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ASTOR TO GILGIT. 139
had only time to notice that trees were rustling over-
head, blighted or over-ripe mulberries pattering on the roof,
and water rippling close by, before kind sleep descended
and blotted out the moonlit grove and its phantom
inhabitants.
BRUCB HABIB K
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CHAPTER VII.
GILGIT TO DIBBAN.
May etJi to 10tk.—We remainedfive days atGilgit(4,890feet),
five delightful days, enjoying the kindness of our hosts, the
novelty of our surroundings, and the satisfaction of repose
They were not days of idleness. Our plans had to be over-
hauled in the light of such esperience as we had acquired,
and of the valuable infonnation willingly placed at our dis-
posal. Some of us were entertained by the Residency,
others by the GarriBon Mess ; and let the reader understand
that, in the narrowness of their remaining supplies, such
entertainment was no small matter to them or us.
On the morning after our arrival I called on Colonel A.
G. Durand, the British Agent. It was dehghtful to be in
a house again and in one bo artistically adorned. Few
English homes manifest a more harmonious arrangement of
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GILQIT TO DIRBAN. 141
colour than did the Gilgifc Residency at the time of my
visit. The iinexpectednesB of such an effect added to its
charm. The only officer of the Agency in residence, beside
Colonel Durand, was Surgeon -Captain Roberts, an old
acquaintance of mine. Captain Twigg left the day we
arrived. The officers of the garrison were Lieut. Boisragon
(whom I afterwards saw invested with the V.C. for his
bravery at Nilt) and Lieut. Badcock, of the 5th Gurkha
Colonel Durand; and Lieut. P. Duncan, who was acting
as transport officer. The bulk of the garrison consisted of
the Maharaja of Kashmir's Imperial Service troops — a fine
body of men.
We remained encamped in the Bagh near the grave of
the murdered Hayward.* The Residency and Mess were
* G. W, Haywanl ; killed at Darkut ii» Vaaiu, .Tuly 18, 1870, Bee
Drew's " Jummoo and Kashmir," p. 455.
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close at hand. I believe there was much playing at hockey,
polo, and the like, but of all thia I saw nothing, for a day's
illness of a violent and peculiar sort, that came and went
away with extraordinary suddenness, filled up all the time
left over from necessary business.
Gilgit had been described to us, and on the whole justly,
as an almost rainless place. Nevertheless, the day after we
arrived, the sky was thickly covered with clouds ; heavy
rain fell at* intervals during our stay. There was then no
proper Government meteorological observatory at Gilgit,
but Roberts was doing what he could with such equipment
as was available. He measured the rain&ll from Sep-
tember 18th,
1891, to May
10th, 1893. It
wa82'65 inches.
The only rain-
less months
were Novem-
ber, December,
and January.
He has since
been instru-
mental in es-
tablishing a
properly equipped observatory, which will form another
important meteorological outpost towards Central Asia.
To our three Gurkhas from Abbottahad was now added
a fourth, Karbir Thapa by name, also a sepoy of the first
battalion of the 5th Gurkha Rifles. One or two details of
their equipment were missing, and Bruce endeavoured to
supply them from the stores. The Babu's answer to his
application is worth record : —
" Siu, — The bearer has looked in the stores. He says
they are all worst and into pieces. I have, &c. (signature
illegible)."
The mountains we were going to explore had not escaped
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GILGIT TO DIBBAN. 143
the attentiou of the Kashmir Government. It particu-
larly desired to investigate the Nushik pass, which leads to
Nagyr from Baltistan. Explorations of this pass were
more than once attempted; the most serious being under-
taken by their officer, Major Devi Singh. It was con-
sidered advisable that he should meet us, and we ultimately
arranged for him to have an opportunity of doing so. If I
remember right illness prevented him from accompanying
us any part of the way. Wazir Nazar Ali of Kapalu was
another native who was believed to possess some knowledge
of the Baltistan mountains, and to be the depository of tra-
ditions with respect to them. He was sent for to join us,
and ultimately accompanied us to Hispar and went over
the Nushik pass with Bruce. I met him again at Askole,
but found his information valueless when put to the test.
Notwithstanding the relatively advanced state of the
season, it was evident that the high mountains would not
come into a condition suitable for serious ascents for a
month or more. Still it seemed not impossible that
passes might be crossed. There was a saddle marked on
the map, which attracted my attention in England. It
is situated on the main chain east of Eakipushi, and is
about 17,500 feet high. If we could force a passage over
this it would take us to Nagyr by a direct route, and
would enable us to make intimate acquaintance with great
peaks. The glacier leading to the pass lies at the head
of the Bagrot nala. We determined, therefore, to begin
our explorations by ascending that valley, and at all
events surveying the glacier area within it. That would
give useful occupation for two or three weeks without
taking us any great distance from a well-furnished base.
We spent the last day of our visit in seeing such sights as
Gilgit affords. Truth to tell they are but few. There is au
ancient figure of Buddhist origin carved in relief on a rock
wall in the neighbourhood, but the photograph of it, which
I saw, sufficed to deprive me of any anxiety to see the thing
itself. It is the feeblest example of sculpture, and not
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necessarily of any great antiquity. The situation of Gilgit
has always rendered it an important point, for so many
ancient routes converge upon it. Travellers and traders
coming from Central Asia, whether from the east or west
sides of the Pamirs, are naturally led to this place. The
several passes that converge upon Hunza lead ultimately
to Gilgit, and so do those that give access from the north-
west to Yasin. If, therefore, at any time there should
come a period of peaceful industry and of good fellowship
between the peoples of Central Asia, Kashmir, and the
Indus valley — and who shall say that these happy results
may not be brought about, even in the near future? — Gilgit
must grow to be an important trade centre, and possibly,
to take a wild leap of imagination, a railway junction on
the line from India to Kashgar, where the Samarkand
branch will turn off I At present there is practically no
commerce passing through the place, and its chief interest
to India hes in its strategic importance, which cannot well
be oven-ated. If lawless Hunza-Nagyr, Yasin and Chitral,
Chilas, and the Indus States are to be kept in order, the
power that undertakes, or has the work forced upon it, must
hold Gilgit.
May 11th. — We packed only twenty light coolie-loads of
baggage for Bagrot, and those went off the previous even-
ing. After a night, which was of the shortest, we rose at
four o'clock, and prepared for the way. Every one had been
ill during our stay at Gilgit, and Eckenstein was too bad to
start, so we left him in Roberts' hands. Zurbriggen was
about equally ill, but he insisted npon hastening into better
air, and was permitted to accompany us. Dickin had
already gone off to shoot in a neighbouring nala. Durand
and Roberts kindly placed ponies at our disposal, and we
rode away about half-past five o'clock. The morning was
dull and grey ; ail the higher summits were covered with
clouds, which, in a European sky, would have threatened
every kind of storm and evil weather.
We reached the bank of the Gilgit river in a few
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GILGIT TO DIBBAN. 146
minutes. The only way of crossing it was by a long
rope-bridge, till Captain Aylmer spanned it with a sus-
pension bridge, cleverly contrived of wire and wood. It
was unfortunately destroyed by the summer floods, but
has doubtless since been renewed. Once over on the far
side, we turned down the left bank. The sure-footed ponies,
bred in all manner of places from Yarkand to Peshawar,
cantered briskly over the stony and sandy track, and soon
caught up the rear of a column of some 150 laden mules
belonging to the mountain battery. They were on the way
to the Niltar pastures, forage being scarce at Gilgit. We
ultimately got by them, not without danger of being kicked,
and came up with Gorton, who was riding at their head ;
but we could not accompany him far, for our ways soon
parted. We watched the gunners wind off up the Hunza
vaUey, and then, bending away to the right, we descended
a steep and narrow path, down the face of the Gilgit river's
alluvial chfF, to the beach of the stream. A few minutes
later we traversed the sands to the right bank of the
Hunza river, whence the long rope-bridge, or jhula, which
had to be crossed, stretched away before us. We regretfully
quitted the ponies, for a laborious march was beginning,
and we were all out of condition, pulled down by the heats
and malarious vapours of hospitable Bunji and Gilgit.
The rope-bridge, though rather long (some 75 yards,
perhaps), was a very good specimen of its class, which may
be described as the usual type of bridge in this region of
the world. Jhulas are formed of cables of twisted birch or
other suitable twigs, each cable having a diameter • of from
two to three inches. Three of these cables, hanging in
close contact side by side, and here and there tied together,
formed the floor of the bridge. There is a hand-rope at a
suitable level on each side, hanging in a similar curve to
that of the floor cable. Each of the hand-ropes is formed
" In the best jhulas the cables are thinner, and there are more of
them. The floor of the best one we saw, the Askole bridge, consisted of
nine small cables.
U
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of a couple of cables twisted ronnd one another. They are
nncomfortable things to hold, being too thick to grasp, and
spiked all along with the sharp projecting ends of the birch-
twigs, whose points keep catching the sleeve at awkward
moments. The gaping void between the hand-ropes and
of
II
J
ropes, and passing ,
under and partly sup-
porting the fioor-rope.
At intervals of twelve
yards or eo there is, or should be, a horizontal crosa-piece
of wood, firmly tied to the two hand-ropes, to keep them
apart and to prevent them from spreading too wide. The
cross-pieces are about at the level of the waist of a man
standing on the bridge. These have to be cUmbed over as
they occur.
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QILOIT TO DIBBAN. 147
A jhula is thas a cleverly constructed suspension bridge.
It follows that it must hang over a gorge or from artificially
constructed piers. The flatter it is, the greater will be the
strain upon it, but the pleasanter it will be to cross. This
bridge was carried over piers, rudely, though strongly, built of
piled stones, plenty of which were lying about. It was pulled
very flat, yet its lowest point came close to the raging
torrent, and, when we crossed it again about a month later,
it was actually in the water. The bridges that hang, more
loosely than this one, over a gorge swing about greatly
in a wind. The natives let them get into a rotten condition
before they mend them, and the reader will readily perceive
that a rotten, swaying, giddy jhula, with one or two of its
cables broken, no cross-ties, and very few V's, is about as
nasty a thing for a landsman to cross as may well be
imagined. I have no hesitation in confessing tbat I hate
all forms of moving water. At the beet they remind me of
the loathsome sea, and tbey always make me giddy. Our
bridge, however, was new and strong, and the novelty of
the situation was exciting ; so that I crossed the thing
without discomfort, and in a merely inquisitive frame of
mind, such as one might have on a first occasion of dying.
To be quite truthful, it should be added that, when I
reached the swiftest part of the current, the situation was
none of the pleasantest ; for the deceived eye deluded the
imagination, and made believe that the water was standing
still, and the bridge itself swinging furiously up-stream.
When all were comfortably over, and Pristi had been
carried across, we mounted to the green fields of Dainyor,
where our servants and the coolies had spent the night,
and we hoped to find breakfast awaiting us. Our hopes
were disappointed ; but we bought some tiny chickens,
and spitted their limbs over a wood-fire. Goats' milk
and raw eggs completed the banquet, which was spread in
the shade of mulberry trees grasped by thick-armed vines.
An attentive crowd of squatting villagers, with amiable and
not unintelligent countenances, watched our proceedings,
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and, when we had finished, the lamhadhar came forward
and demanded a chit. We left the pleasant place reluc-
tantly, and the work of the day began.
Slowly, silently, persistently, we plodded along the heavy
patn, sometimes sinking into sand, sometimes siubbing out
toes against unnoticed stones, but always thankful that tlie
day was cool and the sun veiled. Now and again we
glanced across the Gilgit river at the fans traversed so
painfully in our upward march. We measured our rate
of progress by the position of Minawar, which had to be left
behind before the mouth of the Bagrot valley would be
reached. The way led sometimes over sand-flats, some-
times amongst great fallen rocks, near one of which we
discovered an echo that gave us an excuse to halt. Above
us on the left was, for a couple of miles, the edge of a high-
planted mud-avalanche fan, cut into earth-pyramids at its
edge — a remarkable object to behold. It looked Uke a hang-
ing mud-glacier. When this was passed we came to the end
of an ancient moraine, forming the continuation of the west
wall of the Bagrot valley. Only the crest of this moraine
emerges above the deep alluvium, wherewith the Gilgit
valley has been filled since the time of the glacier maximum.
Many other moraines and traces of glacier action are doubt-
less wholly buried beneath debris accumulations.
After rounding the moraine we turned northward up the
right bank of the nala, cut deep into the alluvium, at the
bottom of which flows the Bagrot stream. As we ap-
proached the gates of the valley the naked mountain, high
on our left, displayed its steep-tilted lines of stratification
in slate-like parallelism, far as the eye could see. This
formation lasted on either hand of us during the remainder
of the uneventful march. In other respects the scenery
we were entering resembled that of the valley we were
leaving. The Bagrot valley is, of course, narrower, but in
its lower part it is no less barren than the Gilgit valley.
There are the same accumulations of mud-avalanche debris
below and of mud-avalanche fans planted high aloft on the
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GILGIT TO DIBRAN. 149
edge of cliffs. Formerly, indeed, there used to be more
irrigated fields towards the valley's mouth ; but these, and
others higher up, are deprived of their life-giving waters by
reason of the streams having deepened their beds and left
the old water-channels high and dry.
The path mounted gradually for some time, then entered
a region of great fallen rocks, and sloped upwards more
boldly. Turning a sharp corner, it revealed a view of
green places ahead, which we were glad to hear belonged to
Sinakar (0,920
feet),andwerein
the neighbour-
hood of our
camp. We pre-
sently overtook
the last of our
slow coolies; we
plunged into the
bowels of a deep
lateral nala,
quitted it by
clambering up a
stepped water-
gully, and so
came abreast of
the fields and
ruinous fort.
We observed
with surprise how admirably the land was cultivated, and
how thick and healthy were the growing crops — the best
we had seen. The villagers were bright and cheerful. One
of them hurried forward to guide us to the camping-ground.
A noble group of chinars, rising above mulberries and wal-
nuts, attracted our attention. Pleasant it was to find our
tents ready pitched in' a well-swept area close to them.
An admirable lunch, smoking hot, awaited oiu* eager appe-
tites. When the physical labours of the day were ended it
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was 3.16 p.m. There was plenty to occupy me during the
rest of the daylight. When I went to sleep the rain was
again pattering on the roofs of the tents.
May IWi. — It was still rainy and disagreeable when
morning dawned, so that our unwilling start did not take
place till 6.30 a.m., and even then the cooHeB, availing
themselves of local knowledge, hid behind some bushes and
there remained half an hour longer, whilst we believed that
they were on ahead of us. I fortunately discovered the
fraud in time, and caused the loiterers to be hurried up.
The path led uphill for some distance to surmount an
obstacle, and then descended the picturesque windings of
a lateral nala. At its highest point we ought to have
enjoyed a view of the Dirran peaks, but rain-clouds oblite-
rated all the upper regions. Still the view over successive
cultivated fans, with a stony tract beyond, leading to the
dark end of the crag-bound Bagrot glacier, called up re-
miniscences of many a Swiss scene.
I did not scan my watch too closely when, on reaching a
shaded meadow with water rippling by and the sun shining
after the showers, some one suggested that there were
sardines and biscuits in a kilta just being carried past us.
Nor do I know how long we may have lain upon the grass
refreshing ourselves, and occasionally glancing up a narrow
valley to the north-west, which, when clouds permitted,
gave a pretty glimpse of a peak named, I believe, Uchu-
bagan. At all events at ten o'clock we went forward
again, and almost immediately entered the thriving village
of Datuchi. A wall of rough stones, crested with dried
branches of a thorny shrub, surrounds the oasis.
The whole of the Bagrot valley bed must at one time
have been filled with glaciers, as the moraines at its moutli
prove. It was surprising, therefore, to find no traces of
glacier action visible from the path. The slopes which
should show such traces are formed either of rocks, from
which stones constantly fall, or of the accumulations of such
fallen stones. Apparently there is no surface left that is as
old as the time of glacier expansion.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
GILGIT TO DIBBAN. 153
I made these observations on the road between Datuchi
and the next cultivated fan, Bulchi by name. They were
suddenly put a stop to when we rounded a corner and came
within th& range of vision of the expectant villagers, whose
pipe and drum band * of five performers set the echoes
ringing with the most hideous noise, intended in our
honour. The chief peasants came to greet us, and led us,
with the band in front, to the village forum, a tiny green,
roofed by the arms of walnut trees. A charpoi (bedstead)
had been prepared for us to sit upon, and we were expected
to pause and enjoy the concert. Pipers and drummers,
squatting on the ground, blew and beat with praiseworthy
vigour, and a dancer stepped into the ring and performed.
One of Eoudebuah's Kashmiri coolies became infected
with the local enthusiasm, and displayed his agiUty by
prancing around with a kind of polka step, and brandishing
a quarter-staff. He was one of the most vigorous men
we had, but cholera destroyed him about three months
'later.
We quitted our hosts as soon as possible, aud pushed on
towards camp. On leaving Bulchi we passed a tree with a
built-up prayer platform at its foot — a common arrange-
ment in this Moslem country, doubtless a relic from pagan
days. Instead of crossing the bridge to Chira, below the
village, and so going round by Sat (which would have been
a good way), we kept ou up the right bank of the Bagrot
stream. The path soon failed us, but we continued to
advance easily over a flat region of rounded debris, and, in
about half an hour, at one o'clock, we found a sufficiently
good camping-ground (8,110 feet) on an old moraine, close to
a big boulder, and not far from the foot of the glacier. After
lunch, Bruce, Zurbriggen, and the Gurkhas went off for an
excursion on the ice, whilst I remained in camp hard at
* The reed-pipe, or suranai, is almost exactly like the Scotch bag-pipe
chanter. So Boberta told me at Gilgit. It has a scale of nine notes of
the same intervala as the bag-pipe, except that the three upper notes are
flat. Those remarks apply to all the reed-pipea o! the country.
Digilizod by Google
154 MAT 13.
work. A heavy storm in the afternoon tested the tents to
our satis&iction.
May IBth, — When we started at seven o'clock it was
admittedly late, but we had only a short distance to go,
and the weather was moist and unpleasant. We picked
up a fragment
of old path
which once led
between the
right margin of
the glacier and
a rock-wall to
Kamar. Now
theice is against
the wall, and the
path is blocked.
A few days later
we found other
indications that
the Bagrot gla-
cier 18 advan-
cing. In half an
hoiur we reached
the margin of
the ice, at a
point about half
a mile above the
snout. Some
hiindred steps
had to be cut
LOOKIKO DOWN THB BAOHOT VALLBT FROM BUICHI, l^P ^ StCep ICB-
wall to take us
on to the glacier. Our object was to cross over to the
left bank and there camp. The coolies were sent round
by the bridges at Bulchi and Bat, and were to join us
without touching the ice. We had to find a devious way
among crevasses and seracs large and small. It was a
Digilizod by Google
GILGIT TO DIRBAN. 155
little disappointiDg to observe that, far as the eye could
reach, the whole glacier was thus broken up, and did not
appear to be at all an easy highway to the upper regions.
Brace took the Gurkhas off for a longer ramble, to let them
cut steps and feel their feet on the ice. Shahbana followed
me, and we presently came to a fairly broken passage in the
" Here," said Shahbana, " the coolies could not be
brought. Are you," he aeked, "going up there into the
snow ? "
"Yes."
"And the tents? "
"No ; only the little tents."
" Well, you go ; Gurkhas go ; I not go."
As a matter of fact he did afterwards come with us to a
considerable height, and chmbed fairly well, but, like all
Shikaris, he went much better on ground at the game level
than higher up on ice. McCormick and Roudebush fol-
lowed Zurbriggen on the rope. It was their first experience
of glacier-walking. They amused me by pulling one
another, unintentionally, out of the steps, and exchanging
mutual recriminations with utmost volubility. " So ist es
immer mit Anfinger," commented Zurbriggen, " zuerst ist
AUes Scandal ; nachher aind Sie eins."
We found some difficulty in getting off on to the left bank
of the glacier, for the ice had shrunk away from the moraine
and left a cliff not easily negotiated. On the other side of
the moraine are fir-woods and a shady valley. We mounted
along the moraine tiU we came opposite the hamlet and
fields of Dirran. We searched for the cooUes in vain. At
length one of them appeared without his load. He had
been sent on by the others to see if we really did cross the
glacier, whilst they stayed below and awaited definite in-
telligence.
Our position being fairly elevated, we were able to scan
the opposite side of the valley, and to see how much better
it would have been if we bad taken a high path fi'om Bulchi
Digilizod by Google
and gone round the shoulder of the hill to Kamar (where
we afterwards camped). We should have reached it on the
previous evening, and been a day to the good. Moreover
from Kamar a sheep track leads up alongside the glacier
to a high summer alp — an excellent point to start from for
our proposed col. Such improvements in a route always
suggest themselves when one has adopted another way.
One learns by degrees to perceive them without regret,
content on every occasion to do the best suggested by such
knowledge as is at the moment available.
When the coolies arrived we pitched camp in a delightful
position (9,500 feet), on an ancient fan, abutting against the
moraine, and not far below a watei'fall. Firs and junipers
shaded us, and the ground was carpeted red with the dried
spines of last year's foliation. A stream ran between the
tents, and the ground drooped away westwards to the
valley. There were at the time mere suggestions of mighty
peaks in various directions, but that was all the clouds
permitted. Between us and the glacier, in a breach of
the old moraine, was a lake with icebergs floating on
it ; a dab-chick was shimming about amongst them when
we arrived. A staircase had been hacked out down the
steep mud-slope leading to it, and a little stone man at the
top of the slope showed where the staircase was to be found
— a thoroughly Alpine arrangement.
Later in the afternoon there was a little breaking in the
clouds, and we caught glimpses of a tremendous peak right
opposite to us, whilst, looking down the valley over the
foot of the glacier, we were startled to behold the white
curtain rolled aside from Dubanni, revealing a series of
beautiful but hardly cUmbable peaks. The white slopes of
the mountain are swept by avalanches on all sides. They
surround two glacial amphitheatres, the snowy contents of
the upper of which are tumbled by an icefall into the lower,
aud from that by another icefall into the Gosona glacier
beneath. Later in the season the avalanche-slopes may
change their character and become accessible, but I hardly
Digilizod by Google
QILGIT TO DIRBAN. 157
think 80. The peak must be attacked from some other
side.
May l^tJi. — If we had come into the Bagrot valley at the
close, insteatl of the commencement, of our mountaineer-
ing season, we should have been more impressed by it
than we were. The effect of scenery upon a man largely
depends upon what he has seen before and lately come
from. It is for this reason that I have written the story of
DUBANNi (20,1C6 fbbt) fboh dibean,
our whole journey, from London out, so that the reader
may learn how the contrasts struck us and how we came to
see things as we did see them. Between the desert valleys
of Bunji and Gilgit and wooded grassy Dirran the contrast
was of course great ; we expected that it would be so, and
the fact did not surprise us. If from Gilgit we bad passed
round to Hunza, we should have seen no woods and, save
where there was irrigation, no grass— only glacier and rocks,
with vegetatjon so scanty near their meeting as not even to
Digilizod by Google
168 MAY 14.
colour the view. But around the glaciers of Bagrot there
are flowery swards and pretty woods, and higher up grassy
alps that kiue might graze. We nowhere else saw anything
like it. Dirran and Gargo might perfectly well be in
Switzerland, only that the peaks are larger than the Alps.
There is nothing Swiss in the appearance of the great
glaciers and strange regions visited by us in the months of
July and August.
The rain, that so persistently followed- us, continued
falling all night, alid, when we awoke, the high peaks were
draped in a still deeper covering of fresh snow than before.
It would eVidentlybe impossible to climb anyof them for days.
After breakfast Bruce and I took the Gurkhas to practise
step-cutting on the glacier, and to learn the use of the rope
and of their climbing-irons. The glacier opposite camp was
broken into a chaos of pinnacles and crests, which stood out
beautifully, when the sun shone on them, against the green
hill. We cut our way into the midst of the labyrinth, and
I was delighted with the men, they went so freely along
edges of ice and across steep slopes beside deep crevasses.
Their habits of discipline made them easy to teach. They
at once picked up the idea of how to use the rope, and
thereafter always handled it with right intention, swiftly
developing into skill. Presently we put the four men on
one rope and set Parbir to lead and cut the steps which it
was the business of the others to enlarge. Now and again
I observed that a step was cut in an already flat place, after
the manner of beginners, but few novices that I ever saw
stood with such ease in the steps or cut with so free a swing.
Amar Sing clambered up and down seracs as though to the
manner born. When Lila Ram approached a difficulty his
face became a maze of wrinkles, which gradually flattened
out into a smooth triumphant moon as the obstacle was
overcome. All four worked with so much vigour that they
smashed two of the axes, but fortunately there were a dozen
to fall back on.
Zurbriggen returned at lunch-time with a story about
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GILGIT TO VIBBAN. 159
three giant ibex he had seen, but was unable to approach.
He was busy all the afternoon mending things, and more
especially nailing and mending boots. His skill with tools
was invaluable to us throughout the journey, and I shall
have occasion to refer to it hereafter more than once. The
ideal mountain-traveller's guide should be a clever workman.
Zurbriggen is the only man of the kind I have yet discovered.
Towards evening there was again a breaking in the clouds.
Dubanni reappeared in fascinating splendour ; but our eyes
were attracted in the other direction, where, across the
glacier, the veil was being partially withdrawn from
Rakipushi's great rock buttress, Chiring Chish. Not till
the sun had quite set did the head of the peak become bare,
cleaving the sky to a wondrous height, so that we mistook it
for Rakipushi himself. Details were lost in the gathering
gloom, but the impofling mass of the thing impressed us all
with a new sense of power and grandeur.
May 15th. — ^At last a £ne day came bringing hope. The
sky and all the peaks were clear, and the nobility of our sur-
roundings became apparent. I began my survey of the
district, and worked at it all day, whilst Bruce, Zurbriggeu,
and the Gurkhas ascended a rocky peak, about 16,000 feet
high, immediately behind our camp. It was a south-westerly
outlier of the Spear of Dirran, and we named it the Ibex
peak. It afforded, so Zurbriggen said, some very difficult
rock-climbing, and the Gurkhas again did excellently.
As the day advanced " drying " clouds hung about the
flanks of the mountains, and often hid their summits, but
the silver brilliancy of the snow was not dimmed, the cloud
shadows only serving to manifest it by helpful contrast.
The ceaseless hum of distant avalanches mingled a solemn
note with the rippling of the glacier streams, the rattle of
falling stones, and the soughing of wind in the trees.
I returned to camp by a track that kept beside a little
Wasserleitung (in Skina called JJ). At one place a baby
landslip had faMen into it and blocked it up, forming a
lake-basin — a tiny repetition of the Hatu Pir fall into the
Digilizod by Google
Indus. The rivnlet was busy cutting a channel through, or
rather round, the outer edge of the fallen fan, and I amused
myself for an hour watching its toil and sometimes lending
a helping hand. The chief trouble the stream had was, not
80 much to cut down its gully as to deepen its channel just
within the lake at the entrance to the gully. If one removed
some soil at that point the banks of the fan were quickly
Digilizod by Google
GILGIT TO DIBBAN. l6t
cut away, the gully was widened, and the debris carried off
by the water.
Whilst we sat over dinner, discussing the events of the
day with our returned mountaineers, light from the setting
Biin struck through a level gap between a belt of clouds and
a ridge, and cast a red band across Dubanni's silver shield.
It was the first Alpine glow that we had seen, and we
heralded it as an omeu of good luck. The light presently
faded from all the hills ; our camp-fire blazed beneath the
trees ; its glare smote upon bronzed faces and reddened the
trees, dark against the yet blue sky.
Maij 16th. — The morning being again fine I started off
for a day's surveying with Bruce, McCorinick, and Zur-
briggen. We kept up the left bank of the glacier, along
the crest of the great moraine, and enjoyed every step of the
way. Later in the season this glacier edge must be a
perfect flower and fruit garden. It is shaded by many firs
and plentifully adorned with wild roses. Currant bushes
are common, and there are numerous beds of strawberries, of
which here and there one timidly displayed an early flower.
The views were of course superb — the vertically stratified
precipices of the Ibex peak on our right, the mounded
glacier on our left, and beyond the astonishing crags and
precipices of Chiring Chish that hid liakipushi's peak from
view. In front, closing in the head of the valley, was the
watershed ridge which descends eastwards from Rakipushi,
and over which our pass should lie. Behind, the glacier
drooped away and opened a beauteous view of the snow-
peaks of Chilas with soft clouds floating above them.
All day Chiring shook the new snow off his flanks, and
some of the avalanches were enormous. They filled the air
with snow-dust, that hung about like the smoke of big
guns, aud, rising high aloft, mingled with the circle of clouds
girdling the peak about and smothering his crest. I hoped
to reach the angle, where the neve basin sweeps back to
Rakipushi's final cliff, but the survey work that had to be
done took too long. We gained a good view of the saddle
Digilizod by Google
162 MAY 16.
we desired to crosa, and made a earefiil study of its
approaches. There is nothing impracticable about the
moderately steep wall of rocks and snow-slopes leading up
to it, but at present they were overburdened with new snow
and continually swept by avalanches. The fiu-thest point
readied — and we never again were so far in this direction
— was an angle of the moraine, covered with birches. To
arrive at it a mighty avalanche, recently fallen from the
Ibex peak, had to be crossed. Here I worked for about an
hour, almost distracted by flies, which seemed to exist in
millions at this spot. A cloud of them followed us back to
camp and made our lives wearisome for the rest of the day."
* The following plante were found near Dirran Camp : — Gagea luiea, a
Salix, Scrophiilaria variegata, BolhTiospermam, Androsace scpteiitrhnalh,
Androsace rotundifoUa, var. Tkomsoni, Sedum fastigiatum, Chesncya
caneata, liiita Gilesii, Chorhpora sibirica.
Digilizod by Google
UCHVBACIAN C
CHAPTER VI ir.
DIRRAN TO GAllGO.
May mil. — At 5.30 a.m. Ziirbriggen and I, witli M(;Cor-
iiiick and Koudebush, left Dirrau Camp and trudged for
about lialf an liour up the valley path beside tlie moraine.
We were going to camp for a night or two at Kamar, and
Bruce was to see about moving the baggage during the day.
An hour and a half was spent iu zigzagging about on the
glacier ; ultimately we came to land on the far side, at the
foot of a long stone-shoot, descending from a saddle on the
south-east rock-ridge of Chiring Chish. The remainder of
the ridge, from the col down to Kamar, is grassy and wooded,
and is called the Bar! Rung.*
Zurbriggen and I now parted company witli the others,
and deposited our heavy packs, which the coolies were to
^ Hung = alp, Of liigli pasiuve ; dest^rt. rocky, oi- snowy liigli plates are
called CkUh.
Digilizod by Google
164 MAY 17.
fetch. We started up the etone-shoot, with a rock-wall on
our left hand and the cra.ggy chaos of the great peak on our
right. The sun began to attain power, and the distance up
to the saddle seemed to lengthen before us the higher we
climbed. Ziirbriggea carried a rifle, and was on the alert
for ibex ; my burden was a camera and a water-bottle ;
the liquid did not last a thousand feet. We saw plenty
of ibex ; but on stalking them they always turned out
to be the shadows of stones ! Still, we nourished a hope
that, if the saddle were ever reached, there would be an
astonishing flock browsing just over the edge on the other
side. After three hours and a quarter the expected moment
came, and we peeped over with every precaution : there was
not a head in sight. Zurbriggen, with the hopefulness
of an old chamois-hunter, went off to continue the search,
whilst I set up the plane-table and prepared for work.
The morning was glorious, and the view superb — far finer,
said Zurbriggen, than that from the Ibex peak. W^e were
not, as we expected to find ourselves, on a narrow ridge, but
at the edge of a broad plateau (13,980 feet), traversed by a
path, and evidently in former yeais grazed by sheep and even
cattle, though of late abandoned. Behind us were the but-
tresses of Chiriug Chish, rising with a sudden spring into the
clouds. Never have I seen a grander mountain mass than
this, and we were standing at the very point whence it makes
its splendid upward strike. The Kamar glacier was at our
feet on the one hand and the Bagrot glacier on the other,
both enclosed by dazzling, snow-draped walls. Before us
was many-plateaued Dubanni, father of icefalls, cleaving the
distant view into two parts. In the midst of one reigned
Nanga Parbat, above the bewildering intricacy of many
ranges, and looking abroad over the snows of Chilas. To
the left of Dubaimi stretched a ridge, joining the main
range at the Emerald peak, and dividing the basins of Gargo
and Khaltar. But what were the two giants that lifted
their heads so iuiposJugly beyond ? Could one of them be
Haramosh ? and, if so, what was the other? The plane-
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DIEBAN TO GABGO. 165
table set these doubts at rest. We mounted and dnly oriented
the map on it, found our own position accumtely, and then
laid the sight upon the right-hand peak ; the edge of the
ruler passed over the point of Haramosh. The other peak
was in its turn identified as the high mountain that guards
the head of Nagyr and looks down all the length of the
Chogo glacier. A long ridge joined these mountains, and
over it we caught glimpses of the white wall that divides
the Ghogo basin from the lodiis. Haramosh appeared to
be accessible by its northern ridge. The Chogo giant can
be climbed by its long south arete.
We lunched and filled our minds with the delight of the
panorama. I took photographs of every interesting point,
then set the camera on the ground and went to work at
the plane-table — a more fascinating occupation than most
climbers suspect. Alas ! this time it was fatally fascina-
ting. The nature of the ground cramped my movements,
and I inadvertently touched the camera with my foot.
Away it slid in its leather bos, then bounded like a wild
thing, and crashed madly down the slope. I saw it well on
its way, and, turning, continued my work, unwilling to
see the thing smashed up before my eyes. Zurbriggen
went after it, aud found it caught by its strap in the stump
of a tree about a thousand feet below. Its sides were
cracked, and its brass angles wrenched awry. The glory
went from the view, and we turned to descend.
It may be imagined that I pondered not a Uttle on the
greatness of my misfortune. I had brought three cameras
with me from England: first, a small "Luzo" hand-camera,
with which I had done good work in the Alps ; secondly, a
larger hand-camera, specially made for me on the " Luzo "
lines, with a Dallmeyer wide-angle rectihnear lens; thirdly,
a still larger camera of a common type. The small " Luzo "
was in good condition ; but all the films I brought to fit
it were bad — wholly lacking in sensitiveness to light. My
second and, as I intended, principal mountaineering and
surveying camera, was now ruined. The third did not
I bv Google
resist the great variations of climate through which it had
been carried, and let in some light by the flange of the
lens, so that good photographs conld not be taken with it ;
moreover, it was cumbrous and unsuited for high mountain
expeditions. When I found that the small "Luzo" had
failed me, owing to the badness of the spools of film, and
that the large camera had not stood the voyage — dis-
coveries made at Srinagar — I telegraphed to England for a
" Key" camera and one thousand quarter-plates, to be sent
to meet me at Askole. What was to be done in the mean-
time? That was the problem I inwardly discussed through-
out the descent.
As we advanced down the ridge of the Bari Rung, keeping
to the traces of a good old path, a(;tion quickly restored our
tone ; and when, after half an hour's brisk walk, we came to
a point of admirable vantage, and the plane-table was again
set up, we recovered our faculties of observation, and even
delight. The remainder of the descent brought us in con-
tact with no less of beauty than what had gone before.
The great mountains, one by one, sank out of sight ; but
there was ample compensation in the firs, the cedars, the
junipers, and the wild roses decking both slopes, and even
the crest down which the good path led.
At length we reached the foot of the slope, close to
Kamar, where the two glacier valleys join. A short walk
through a tangled wood, which fills the dip between the
Bagrot glacier's moraine and the hillside, led to the open
fields of Kamar, now uncultivated and waste. Sheep were
grazing the wild grass on the abandoned threshing-floors,
and the shy shepherd boys directed us to our friends.
We found them encamped beside the Karaar glacier's tor-
rent (9,400 feet). They had built themselves a shelter out
of pine branches, and were luxuriously reposing on a bed of
leaves. Near at hand was a bright fire, and the scent of
cooking was in the air. Shortly afterwards, Bruce came
in from piloting the coolies over the glacier — no easy task —
and we settled down for the night.
Digilizod by Google
DIRRAN TO GARGO. 167
When darkness prevailed, a great bonfire was lit; the
flames leapt aloft, and licked the branches of the trees.
One began to catch tire ; but a man rushed forward with a
pole, and levered the blazing mass into a freer space, him-
self cut out in vigorous silhouette against the flaming back-
ground. Some half-dozen coolies, labouring together, broke
down an old dry tree over the fire ; and so bright a burning
arose, that it seemed as though the very mountains must
redden in light, which made day for us in the tents, and
smouldered tiU the morrow.
May \QtK — The morning destroyed our hopes for any
such continued spell of fine weather as might clear the
mountains of their burden of fresh snow and open a way to
ooT pass. To make matters worse, Bruce was overtaken by
one of his recurrent attacks of Burmese fever, and could
not leave the tent. When we had passed half the day in
idleness, time began to hang heavy on our hands, so
McCormick, Zurbriggen, and I loaded up a couple of
coohes, shouldered burdens ourselves, and started off for
a high bivouac, as near as we could come to the head
of the southern branch of the Kamar valley.
We experienced considerable difficulty in crossing the
glacier torrent to its right bank, which we followed up to
the junction of -the streams. The main Kamar valley leads
to a glacier basin at the foot of Chiring's cliffs; the southern
branch, called Uchubagan, is narrower aud steeper, a gently
sloping couloir, in fact, filled at this time of the year,
from the col at its head (Uchubagan pass) to its very foot,
with one continuous body of avalanche snow. We reached
the snout of the sinuous couloir in half an hour from camp,
and at once began to mount the snow. The barefooted
coolies followed us without hesitation, but, wherever possible,
they took to the rocky sides of the couloir. We advanced
straight ahead for about two hours, over snow that was
pounded and frozen into an icy mass. It was in many
places necessary to keep a sharp look-out for the stones,
which frequently fell, with the speed of cannon balls, from
Digilizod by Google
168 MAY 18.
the ridge high on our left, and crashed against the opposite
wall, starring it all over by their impact, and covering the
snow with their dehris.
We foiuid a good place for our bivouac (12,700 feet) close to
a point where the main couloir was joined by a smaller one. A
rock jutted out from the mountain-side and formed a shelter.
Shepherds had used it before ua, and fashioned a platform
beneath it. There was a convenient spring of water close
at hand, and
plenty of brush-
wood to burn.
We did not then
know how rare
are such luxuries
in the Karako-
rams. Tlie snow
that cluttered up
the place had to
be dug out, a
fire lit, and the
Mummery tent
pitched. When
all was done we
sat down to ad-
mire the play of
clouds on the
cirque of moun-
VCHUBAOAN PA8« AND SERPENT. TOOTH FROM «ARO0, ^^"^^ ^^"^ ^U-
banni to Dirran,
and the sweep of the snow-besoms over the purple Gargo
valley and its stone-covered glacier. Our foreground was
a bleak slope, half covered with winter snow, through which
the birches stood out naked. The sounds we could hear
were the soughing of wind, the crash of falling stones, and
the weird cry of chukor amongst the neighbouring rocks.
We soon crept into our little tent, turned over once or
twice, and went to sleep.
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DISSAN TO GABGO. 169
May 19th. — The night was warm, and we were comfort-
able in our sleeping-bags, bnt Zurbriggen, always attentive
to business, began striking matches and consulting his watch
at two o'clock. We persuaded him to give us an extra half-
hour's rest, but that was the limit of his indulgence. Aa
we were cooling our thin soup in the open air, the morning
star rose behind the faintly moonlit mountains. We packed
the baggage for the coolies to take down, and at a quarter
to four started upwards. The warm night rendered the
snow soft, and we now had to pay for our past comfort. It
took us four hours to pound up to the pass (16,280 feet), the
slopes becoming continuously steeper and the snow softer
aa we advanced. The last hundred feet must have occupied
almost a quarter of the whole time, for we had to push
ourselves waist deep through the snow. An interesting
though not specially beautiful view rewarded us.
The glacier at the head of the Dainyor valley was at our
feet, and we might have glissaded down to it. On its far
side was a range of snowy peaks and walls, leading from the
mass of hills over Gilgit on our left, up to the highest point
of Rakipushi on our right. We noticed that the great,
though, from here, strangely insignificant-looking, peak,
could be ascended by this arete, which is a long and gentle
snow crest, apparently not corniced. The only difficulty is
to get on to it. The wall leading to it, when we were there,
was entirely avalanche-swept from end to end. Later in the
season this might not be the case. Of course, for all I know,
it may be easily accessible from the Jaglot nala on the west.
A corniced snow arete led from our col to the Uchubagan
peak on the one hand, and a rock arete led on the other to
the higher peak, whence descends the ridge that divides the
Kamar basin into two parts.
After an hour's halt we turned to ascend the rock arete.
It was encumbered with rotten snow, which curled over
into heavy cornices wherever opportunity offered. The
cUmb, under ordinary circumstances, would be an easy and
pleasant one, for, though the rocks are steep, they are firm
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and rough. Ab we found them they presented considerable
difficulties. We made but slow progress, and after three
hours of hard work had only ascended 1,300 feet to the
summit of a prominent tooth (17,680 feet). The top of the
mountain was still at least two hours higher. Clouds now
covered the summits of the opposite ridge, so that no
survey work could be accompUshed from the peak if we
reached it. Zurbriggen stated that, in his opinion, unless
we turned back, we should have to spend the night among
the highest rocks. As we were considering the question,
the weather went from bad to worse, so we named the
place in disgust the Serpent's Tooth, and turned down to
try and regain the col before the gathering storm should
break.
During the quarter of an hour we spent on the point, our
attention was for the most part concentrated on the one
clear patch in the view, the mountains of Darel behind
Gilgit. Beyond them, in the exceeding far distance, bearing
approximately 25° south of west, was one much loftier mass.
It may have been in the neighbourhood of the Dodargali
pass, but I imagine it to have been further off in Kohistan,
and not impossibly a part of the snowy range we saw from
the Brigade Circular at Abbottabad. Eastwards there were
no mountains clear, but we caught an unexpected ghmpse
of the hot Indus valley near Bunji sweltering in sunshine.
Our descent to the col had to be made with great circum-
spection, for it must be remembered that the rocks were
very steep, successive slabs set up on end and divided from
one another by narrow ledges. Moreover, as the day
advanced the snow became more rotten than ever, and
avalanches kept falling, not only down the face of Uchu-
bagan, but from our immediate neighbourhood. Two hours
of careful scrambling brought us again to Uchnbagan pass.
We emptied the last atom of food out of the sack we had
left there, and started away. Floundering and glissading
brought us down to the place of our bivouac, and, in half
an hour more of standing glissades, we reached the foot of
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DIBBAN TO GARGO.
171
the long couloir, and crossed to the left bank of the stream.
A few minutes later we were in Kamar camp.
We were pleased to find that Roberts had arrived from
Gilgit to pay us a visit. He could not have come at a more
opportune moment. Bruce was still down with fever at
Kamar ; Eckenstein was ill at Dirran. The returned
climbers devoured two or ..
three nondescript meals in
rapid succession, ending up
with a brew of soup, and
we all retired to sleep in a
variety of shelters.
May 20^7f.— For commis-
sariat reasons we could not
remain at Kamar. Bruce
was getting over his fever all
right, so, leaving with him
Koberfcs' hospital orderly, two
servants, two Gurkhas, and
all the food and spare wraps,
we started at nine o'clock for
Dirran. The moniing was
fine, and we had an agreeable
passage across the broken
glacier. I was interested to
observe how weU the
Gurkhas had learnt
their way through the
maze of crevasses, and
with how ready a cer-
tainty they retraced
the steps of previous journeys. There were long arrears
of work to be written up in camp, and I was busy during
the remainder of the day.
In course of the morning Koberts' coolies arrived from
Gilgit with his baggage. When his tent was pitched, and
we had lunched, I gathered the natives together, and,
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with Roberts' help, held a conversation with them. They
stood at first shyly with hands joined in humble attitude,
but as their confidence increased they seated themselves iu
a circle on the ground, all except one brawny fellow with
half-naked chest and open countenance, who led the talk
and took much interest in all that went forward.
" I want you to tell me," I began, " the names of moun-
tains and places hereabouts. Have you names for these
snowy hills?"
" This place here is Dirran ; all this hill is Dirran."
" Yes, I know that ; but have you a name for that high
white mountain there '? "
" Where the goats go in summer there are names."
" You have no names, then, for places to which no one
ever goes ? "
" No, no names."
"Do goats go further up this nala than where we now
are ? "
" Yes, they go far up. They go to Hinarchi. Those are
the goats of Bulchi that go to Hinarchi. All the inside of
this nala is Hinarchi."
"Look up there," pointing to the Bari Rung at the foot
of the Chiring * buttress of Rakipushi ; " do not the goats
go up there ? and has not that place got a name ? "
"Oh! that is Pushi."
'■ No, I don't mean that high mountain in the clouds, but
that green place below it. Don't the goats go there ? "
" Yes. That is Bari Riing."
" And what does Bari Rung mean ? "
" There is a white maidan (flat place) there, and that is
why it is called Bari Rung."
" Does hari in your tongue mean ' white ' ? "
"No. Bari Rung is the name of the place. It means
nothing. It is just the name."
* The name Chiring Chiah comes from the people of the Chiring village
ia Dainyor. They see Chiring Chish and Bakipushi like two different
mouDtainB.
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DlRBAn TO GARGO. 175
" Now what is tLat nala over there ? '*
" That nala is Sat."
" Tell me, can you not go over those hills behind Sat to
Haramosh {i.e., to the Khaltar valley)? "
" Yes ; there is a way there."
" Have you been that way? "
" Yes ; long ago I came that way from Haramosh. I am
a Haramosh wala."
" I want to know about that way to Haramosh. Is it a
hard road ? "
" No, it is quite easy."
" Do you go over snow to get to Haramosh ? "
*' Now you must go over snow, but when the apricots are
ripe (end of June) there will be no snow."
"You start from Sat to go that way, do you not? What
is the next place you come to? "
"Burchi. If a man walks from morning till noon up this
side {right bank) of the valley he comes to Burchi.".
" And then what do you come to next ? "
" Gargo, where the goats and cattle go. It is a fine
inaidan."
" You must go through Gargo, then, to reach Haramosh ? "
"Yes, you go up a nala and over the mountain."
" How far is it from Gargo to Haramosh ? "
" It is near." *
" You say that from Sat to Gargo is one march. Is
Gargo to Haramosh more or less than Sat to Gargo ? "
" Sat to Gargo, Gargo to Haramosh, same thing."
" Now tell me about Eakipushi. Which is Eakipushi?"
"All together; that, there!" pointing to the Ohiring
buttress, whose top was buried in clouds.
" What does Eakipushi mean ? Why is it called Eaki-
pushi ? "
" It used to be called Pushi ; but the day Eaki died, and
-' By naziiik (near) they generally meant not inoio than one gooil day's
march. Anything less than a punw (day's march) was always nieiely
vaz'iik.
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176 MAY 20.
for many days after, it made great burstings and noises, and
went Bum, Bum."
" And who was Kaki ? "
" He was the grandfather of Safer Khan, the shikari of
Bulchi. He was a Hindu winebibber. That was before we
were Mohammedans here. He came from Chilas way —
from Eakiot. He came to Belchar, up there. My ancestors
gave him land there, but he came down saying, ' The land
is bad,' and then he settled in Bulchi. That was in
the time of the Raja (Sekunder Khan), before Gohr
Aman." *
" Where did he die ? "
" We don't know."
" Is there no Ziarat of bis hereabouts ■/ "
" Of course not. He was a Hindu. He was not buried ;
they burnt his body."
" Well, so when Raki died Pushi made noises, and tliat
is why you call the mountain Rakipushi? "
" Yes, that is so. There are fairies living there. When
the sun shines hotly it smokes up there, and that shows
when the fairies are cooking their bread. At noon every
fine day it always smokes there — every day."
" What does Pushi mean ?"
"Pushi is this," showing the remains of a boil on bis
arm; *' it was called Pushi because the white smoke comes
out of it like stuff out of a boil."
'■■ Gobi- Aman, Raja of Yasin, established himself at Gilgit in 1841.
" Like many of the Khushwakte family, he seems to have possessed
considerable energy and ability, but hia bloodthirsty cruelty, whicb
seemed to be directed especially against the people ot Gilgit, threatened
to depopulate the country. Whole villages were driven into slavery, and
whole districts ruined, apparently to gratify his resentment. The miserj-
inflicted by this man is almost beyond belief, and his ntime is still never
mentioned without horror. ... It was therefore with much gratitude
that the people welcomed a Sikh force . . . which had been despatebed
by the Governor of Cashmere. They were at first repulsed, but advancing
a second time they defeated Gohr Aman, and installed Karim Khan as
Ka of Gilgit, under their protection, in September, 1842 " (Biddulph's
'' Tribes of the Hindu Koosh," p. 138).
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DIRRAN TO GATtGO. Ill
" Are there names for those hills there ? " pointing to the
Uchubagan pass.
" Yes, up that way there used to be little fields, called
Uchubagan, and we call all that hill (south of Uchubagan
pass) Uchubagan. You can see it from Sinakar."
" And have you any other names ? "
"Yes, that hill there behind Sat, that is called Atara.
All that hill with the trees on it is Atara."
" And the great snow behind Atara, has it a name ? "
" Yes, it is Dubanni."
" Do fairies live there too ? "
"On all the snowy peaks where clouds come, there the
fairies live."
" We have come here to make the acquaintance of your
fairies."
" That is very dangerous. The idiots and madmen at
Bnlchi are possessed by the fairies that live on the tops
of all the snow."
" Now I want to know about your valley. Why are so
many fields waste and uncultivated? "
" It ie because we have so much else to do, carrying wood
and things to Gilgit."
" When did you last have war in the valley ? "
" When the men of Sinakar fought with Raja Gohr Aman
of GiJgit. He came against them and besieged Sinakar for
many "months and could not take the fort. The men of
Sinakar held out against him till they had eaten the shoes
off their feet, and only then did he take the fort and lay
it waste. That was a long, long time ago."
This conversation occupied an hour or more ; the whole
of it would be far too long to report. I still had a great
deal of writing to do, and the map to ink in, so was forced
to arrange for one more day's halt in camp. I went early
to sleep and was presently awakened by a noise, as of a cat
and dog fight, to which Pristi added his barking. What
the animals engaged may have been I know not, but there
are said to be lynxes in the Dirran woods.
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178 MAY 21, 22. •
Mai/ 21st. — I worked in camp all day, and it turned ont
well that I arranged to do so, for the weather became
hopelessly bad again, rain fell in the camp, and plenty of
fresh snow above the level of 13,000 feet. I detennined,
wisely, as events proved, to abandon the attempt to force
a passage over the Bagrot pass nnder existing circum-
stancea. The time could be better employed in surveying
the Gargo glaciers, so I sent for coolies to come up at an
early hour next morning and carry our things across to the
other side of the valley.
May 22?id. — Koberts, McCormick, Roudebush, Zur-
briggen, and I, with Habiba, Salama, and eight coolies, left
camp at 7.15 a.m. in weather that was far from promising.
Eckenstein was still unwell at Dirran, and Bruce at Kamar,
so we left Rahim Ali, the Gurkhas, and the other servants
with them to come on when they could. My intention was
to camp at Gargo and to sketch a surrey of the mountains
and glaciers up to the frontiers of Nagyr and Khaltar. I
noticed from the Bari Rung that the Emerald peak seemed
to be accessible, and that there was a promising saddle west
of it, which miglit be traversable to Nagyr or one of its
tributary valleys.
We descended stony ways between the left moraine of the
Bagrot glacier and the Dirran hillside. Three-quarters
of an hour brought us to the village of Sat,* where we
caught up the coolies, and halted for a while, continuing
yesterday's talk with a knot of villagers, all decent folk,
anxious to please. They gave us the names of localities,
whicli will be found upon the map. They said that the
men of Bulchi are about half Shina, half Yeshkun, but
that the population of the rest of the valley is Yeshkun,
and so are the people of Dainyor valley. Raki, they
* The following plants were collected near Sat : — Potenlilla desertomm,
a Bpeciea oi Aslraijalm, Astragalus Boylcanus, Draba stenocarpa, Callian-
themum cachemirianiim. Anemone alhaim, Androsace septeHtrionalis,
Clwrispora sihirica, a epecies of Poli/hichiim, Daphne oleoules, Rosa
macrophylUi, and Myricaria eleijaiis.
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DIRRAN TO GARGO. 179
said, was a Shin, and the founder of an important local
family.
We quitted the pleasant fields of Sat with regret and
began ascending the right side of the valley ; we walked
slowly and kept the excellent coolies in front of us. They
were the best lot we ever had. Half an hour or so further
on we crossed the torrent from the Dirran glacier, and a
little before ten o'clock reached the foot of the stone-covered
Gargo glacier. Our way led right over this. An uninitiated
person would probably not have suspected that the debris
under hia feet covered a river of ice, for there was a well-
marked track, with stone-men at intervals to point the way,
and there were plants growing wherever sufficient soil had
accumulated. Karely, a small crevasse made the ice
beneath visible. The debris consisted of fragments of a
great variety of rocks and quantities of water-rolled
pebbles.
The crossing of this gently inclined wilderness was
tedious. We wondered at the pace maintained by the
burdened coolies. After three hours of stumbling and
halting progress we approached the mouth of the grassy,
wooded side valley, up which lies the route to the Gargo
pass. The end of our march was at hand. A quarter
of an hour later we had clambered on to the left lateral
moraine," from which the glacier has considerably shrunk
away. At one time the mouth of the Gargo valley was
blocked across by this moraine, and a considerable lake was
formed behind it. The lake is now silted up, and the
flat meadow thus formed is the maidan of Gargo. A rem-
nant of the lake, decked with icebergs, still lingers between
the glacier and the hillside.
No sooner was our little camp pitched in a liollow of the
moraine (11,335 feet) than heavy rain began to fall and
thunder rolled amongst the surrounding hills. Thunder is
" The (ollowing plants were found on the moraine near Gargo Camp : —
PoientUla deserlorum, Astragalus near A. oxyodon. Sisymbrium fnollinsi-
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i
180 MAY 22.
a rare phenomenon north of the Burzil pass ; in fact, we
were informed that it was unknown. We heard it several
times whilBt we were at Gargo, but never again as long as
we were in India.
When the rain stopped, the afternoon was wearing to
a close. Roberts and I wandered over to the maidan to
see if it would be a suitable place for measuring a base line.
We strolled up a knoll behind it when the clouds began
to grow thin. Ghosts of white mountains shone in sunlight
through veils of mist. Strange revelations of icefalls
appeared where we thought to find the sky. A long ice-
clad ridge slowly became visible, stretching up from deep-
lying Sat and Dirran to a snowy crowu that overlooks
Hunza-Nagyr and the bewildering north. Finest of all
were the unfoldings of the raiment that clad Pusbi's fairies.
By almost imperceptible degrees the clouds were wrapped
away. First we beheld, all white \Yith new-fallen snow
down to Bari Rung, the cliffed buttresses of Chiring, and
then — was that faint vision behind it peak or cloud ? — we
could not tell. At last the whole intervening curtain was
drawn aside, and Kakipushi stood forth in all his majesty
clear cut against the blue.
As we stood astonished our dreams were interiiipted by
a wliispered call from Zurbriggen : " Herr Conway ! Kom-
men Sie ! aber schnell, komnien Sie ! " I rushed over lo
liim and grovelled on the ground as he indicated. We
peeped over a mound and saw a big red bear steadily
crawling up a snow couloir near at baud. Zurbriggeu gave
me the glass and besought me to keep the beast in view
wliilst he ran back to camp for a rifle. The bear mean-
while advanced steadily upwards, turned off into a birch
and fir jungle by its side, and was lost to view at tlie
moment Zurbriggen and Salama returned. They followed
up the tracks till darkness came on, but the bear had heard
Boudebush shooting birds, and was oflf on his travels to
a quieter neighbourhood. He was not seen again.
May 237(/. — Roudebush was early astir. He returned to
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DIIiRAN TO GARGO. 183
camp, when we were all breakfesting, bringing with him a
new-won bearakin and a story which I cannot hope to re-
produce. I sent Znrbriggen off up the glacier to prospect
for a higher camp, and he too had his bear adventure.
He followed the moraine for some distance, took to the
glacier, and returned to the moraine at the angle where we
afterwards pitched Windy Camp. Coming over the crest
of the moraine he suddenly found himself face to face with
a bear. The beast stood and looked at Kim with open
mouth, and, said Zurbriggen, " I thought he was coming for
me, but I shouted and waved my axe, and, when he saw
that, he turned and ran. Donnerioetter ! Without a rifle
I will not wander far again."
When Zurbriggen returned he tackled the wreck of the
camera, to which Eckenstein had already done something.
With the help of cobbler's wax he made it serviceable once
more. It leaked, indeed, and let in a little light through
some of its many chinks, but most of them were stopped
up, and I was again enabled to take photographs, useful for
topographical purposes, though often spoilt for effect by
patches of fog. Unfortunately all the negatives I took, up
to the time we were leaving Nagyr, were sent down with
my spare luggage to Gilgit, and shared its evil fortunes, of
which more anon.
I was busy all the morning, laying out a base-line with
the kind help of Roberts, McCormick, and lloudebusb. A
cuckoo kept mocking us at our work. When the line was
finished all the peaks were buried in clouds, so observations
coxdd not be taken ; still there was plenty of work for me to
do in camp. A considerable fall in temperature occurred in
the afternoon, and the weather began to improve. I was
thus enabled, though with half-frozen fingers, to take a
round of angles from one of the base stations. My hands
ultimately became so cold that I could no longer turn the
screws of the theodolite, and it was with difficulty that
I got it off its legs, and back into its box.
The clouds melted away even more wonderfully than on
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184
MAY i
the previous day, for a north wind was prevailing. The
sun went down behind a wing of Rakipushi, and made a
wonder of the western sky. An arch of mist, over a space
of clear yellow patched with iridescent clouds, like
flakes of Eoman glass, spanned the gap between the peak
and Uchubagan. The solid shadow of Rakipushi was cast
up into the mist. Swiftly changing lights and colours
played magic in the air. The snowy wall around, rising
11,000 feet above our heads, and cleared of every film of
vapour, stood
out in appalling
sharpness of de-
tail. Never did
anything look
more hopelessly
inaccessible ,
save at a single
breach, named
by lis Emerald
Saddle, than this
rampart o f
Nagyr. The kit-
I the fairies were
and their smoke
When the cold
BAKIPUSBI FROM OA800. ■ i . ' ■ ■! J 1 1
night east a mantle of darkness
over the scene we turned away to dine and sleep.
Ma^ 2-itk. — After a bitterly cold night a fine day fol-
lowed. I spent it in surveying. Roberts took some
admirable photographs with his large camera, the only
photographs of the Bagrot nala that I possess. He was
obliged to leave us for Gilgit in the afternoon, but went,
promising to return. The sunset repeated the glories of its
predecessor. I sat up far iuto tlie night trying to over-
take my endless work. I noticed that the temperature was
mild again, and augured ill for the morrow.
May 25t/i. — By ten o'clock the sky clouded over, and
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DlRJiAN TO GABGO. 185
thenceforward the conditions grew steadily worse. We
gave up hopes of ever having any settled fine weather, such
as the mountains required before they could he climbed. I
determined, liowever, to look closely at the Emerald peak,
and make one assault upon it before going back to Gilgit.
I accordingly sent Zurhriggen up the glacier to recon-
noitre. He took for companion a local cooHe, who, when
he reached a bit of broken ice, fell a-weepiug and begged
permission to return, so Zurhriggen went forward alone.
The storm fell upon him, but he pushed ou to a height of
about 13,000 feet ; he came back to camp wet through. The
weather made surveying impossible.
Towards evening the clouds lifted somewhat, and re-
vealed a mantle of fresh snow reaching down to the tents.
Snow also fell in camp, so that we were miserable enough.
Provisions began to run short, till we luckily found a
forgotten kilta full of delicacies. In the late afternoon
McCormick went forth to survey the laud. He noticed
two dark objects moving, and called to me for the glasses
that he might see what they were. I misunderstood hitn,
and shouted to Boudebush, " Two bears ! " Before the mis-
take was discovered the whole camp was in commotion.
Grass shoes were put on, guns got ready, and off went
Roude'bush, Gofara, Habiba, and the coolies to hunt. They
returned at dinner-time somewhat crestfallen. The hears
were oows !
-l/rt// 'IGtli. — When I arose at seven o'clock the sky was
heavily overcast at a great altitude, but the whole cirque of
mountains was sulkily clear. Presently a band of cloud
formed across the slopes at a height of about 12,500 feet,
and soon developed into an all-obliterating mass. Rain and
snow began to fall, and the worst weather prevailed. A
hunting party that went forth early returned empty-handed
and wet.
About noon the variable heavens seemed to promise
better things. I took a hasty lunch, and started with
McCormick and a coolie. We mounted the hill behind
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Gargo maidan, but took a bad line of route, and had
to fight our way through a tangled birch-wood, which
gave us infinite trouble. At last we emerged on a ridge,
and made our way up to a commanding point of view
(13,470 feet). But there was no view to be seen. Tlie
ascent cost us two hours, and we spent three hours more
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DIRRAN TO GARGO. 187
sheltering under a rock from driving snow showers. We
could do DO surveying, but saw some glorious cloud-
effects ; as once, when the snow was falling heavily, and
yet bright sunlight pervaded it, the only soUd thing in
sight was the birch-pricked snow-slope, enveloped by the
sun-illumined suow-fog. We might have been in the midst
of a glowing nebula, watching the birth of a world. Though
we never saw the mountains around us, the glacier basin
below was at times well displayed. We noticed that, where
the Gargo and Burchi glaciers unite, at the foot of the
Biircbi promontory, the medial moraine between them has
been broken througli at two points by the superior energy
of the waxing Bnrchi tributary, which now flows over the
obstacle and on to the surface of its neighbour ice-stream.
I hung a thermometer in the shade at the time of our
arrival, and watched with interest its remarkable leaps and
falls. At first it settled at 52° Fahr. A gust of cold wind
sent it down to 47". In a lull it rose to 52° again, but wlien
snow began to fall it sank to freezing-point, only to rise
rapidly when the snow stopped.
At six o'clock we started down and chose a better way,
keeping clear of the birch scrub, and following an avalanche
track over grass slopes. Grass grew more strongly, and
plants were more numerous in the line of the avalanche
than on either side. A green streak with sharply defined
edges marked the route taken by the falling snow and dihris.
It was snowing steadily, so we had no bribe to linger. Half
an hour took us down to the footpath in the Gargo valley.
The rapid descent warmed us and renewed in us the capacity
for enjoyment. Then it was that I first noticed the young
green, just beginning to deck the silver and red skeletons of
the birches. Zurbriggen met us near camp. " I have good
news," he said, " for my feot are cold. You must know
tJiat when in damp weather I have cold feet, fine weatlier is
at hand."
May 21tli. — Notwithstanding Zurbriggeii's cold feet, we
had again to endure a thoroughly bad day, constant snow
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showers in camp, ami a heavy fall on the heights. I am, of
set purpose, minute and particular in recording the weather,
because, as all mountaineers know, this is the matter about
which it is hardest to get information from non-climbing
folk. We were promised a rainless and snowless season
in these parts by men who had spent long periods of time
shooting over them. Yet the number of fine days allotted
to us was few, and they were so interlarded with bad
weather as to be useless for mountaineering purposes. All
the time, however, Gilgit was sweltering under cloudless
skies, and our friends there thought that we were having
perfect weather.
We discussed plans in the morning, and arranged that
Roudebush and McCormick should go to Dirran Camp, and
take every one thence down to Gilgit, sending up to us a
few necessaries, and especially the tools which were needed
for mending our boots. Zurbriggen and I were to leave
next day for Windy Camp, in order to make a final attempt
to cross the Emerald pass to Nagyr. After lunch there
was accordingly a break-up. Zurbriggen went off to shoot,
I to survey, the rest downward. A thunderutorm with all
concomitant miseries soon drove me back, and I had no
more than set myself down to sorting flowers when Roude-
bush and McCormick returned with Pristi, the obvious
herald of the Dirran contingent, who all presently came
in, and our party re-assembled instead of scattering.
A clearance in the weather sent McCormick and me oif
to survey. We went a mile up the glacier, found a suitable
station, and set up the plane-table. Promptly the snow
came down again, and the landscape was blotted out. We
cast a waterproof sheet over the table and crawled beneath
it. We sat there in cramped attitudes for two hours, with
our feet freezing and our clothes getting wetted in patches
by rivers flowing down our wretched roof. We tried stand-
ing and holding tlie sheet aloft with extended arms, but the
position was fatiguing, and the results not commensurate
with the labour. Ultimately the weather once more cleared,
Digilizod by Google
DmnAN TO GARGO. 189
SO we went further ou, and accomplished some work before
snow began to fall yet again. We returned to the nearest
point of the moraine, and found the glacier flush with it,
and not shrunk away as it was at camp. This would seem
to indicate that the glacier is filling again, and that the
snout will begin to advance in a few years' time. The
Bagrot glacier, as before remarked, shows corresponding
indications.
We followed the moraine down to camp. It is the home
of innltitndes of plants, not then in blossom, and of various
trees — firs, birches, mountain ash, and willows — all of which,
except the firs, are found up to a height of about 12,000 feet.
The existence of so much vegetation proves that the rainfall
in the upper part of the Bagrot valley must be considerable.
There is no artificial irrigation even in the maidan at Gargo,
and that is a perfectly green meadow. Our companion b.ick
to camp w(is a babbhng brook, which drains the small
glaciers of the side valleys, and flows along the foot of
the moraine.
Digilizod by Google
CHAPTER IX.
GAEGO TO GILGIT.
May 28th. — On this day we were to abandon Gargo ; the
morning was accordingly devoted to packing and other
needful preparations. Some baggage was given over into the
charge of the lambadhar of Bulchi, some was sent dowQ to
Gilgit, some was made ready for the high camp. The utter
badness of the weather was our only encouragement; worse
it couhl not become. It snowed, hailed, and thundered
all night, and there were two inches of fresh snow around
the camp. The clouds showed no immediate intention of
dispersing. They hung low on the glacier and covered
the hills. At 10.30 McCormick, Houdebush, and Ecken-
stein started for Gilgit, taldng all the spare men with them.
By noon Bruce, Zurbriggen, and I, with the Gurkhas and
twelve coolies, were ready to push upwards.
"We were familiar with the aspect of the mountains
towards which our route lay. They stretched across before
us^a mighty wall — from the Emerald peak on the right to
Rakipushi. Left of the Emerald peak was the pass of our
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizcdb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
fiARGO TO CrIUilT. 193
desires, towards which various parallel aretes led. Then
came the lower and the upper Burcbi peaks, aud from the
last mentioned descended the great Burchi ridge, which
formed the right limit of the Gargo glacier. Beyond the
Burchi peak was the Crown of Dirran, the point where
the Dirran ridge joins the watershed; between the Dirran
and Burchi ridges was the deep-lying Burchi glacier, to
which reference will hereafter be made. Beyond the ridge
and Crown of Dirran were the glacier and saddle of Bagrot,
and then Rakipushi, with all which the reader is now
sufficiently acquainted.
As we advanced up the moraine, we had, therefore, before
us the Emerald pass and its glacier curtain falling into the
Gargo glacier. The main upper basin of the Gargo glacier
was not in sight. It bent away eastwards, round the corner
where we were going to camp, and its final amphitheatre,
as we afterwards discovered, was backed, not against the
Smerald peak, but the ridge dividing Gargo from Khaltar.
We soon quitted the moraine for the ice, and, making a long
zigzag, crossed to the right hank and back to the afore-men-
tioned angle. We climbed onto the moraine again, and in a
few minutes reached Windy Camp (12,610 feet), the place of
Zurbriggen's bear adventure, and the situation selected by
him for our tents. It was a small flat meadow of rank
grass, surrounded by winter enow, wherein bears had trodden
their tracks. All the glacier we traversed was moraine-
covered, very tedious aud difficult for the coolies. A snow-
storm overtook us on the road, to the manifest disgust of
Zurbriggen. " Bah ! " he said, " the weather is not here as
it is in my country. There, when it has been bad all the
week, it usually cleare up on Saturday, but here Saturdays
are the worst of all."
We noticed that the tributary glaciers to the east were
greatly shrunken, after the manner of Alpine glaciers ; but
the main ice-stream at the Windy angle was filling up and
washing right over the moraine it had deposited in its re-
pent reduced condition. In former days, as other moraines
Digilizod by Google
proved, it was piled against the neighbouring rock wall, yet
that bore neither ecratchings nor polishings such as one
usually observes where glaciers have been. Doubtless, rapid
aerial denudation has removed the ice-worn surface of the
rock.
We found no plants in blossom at the angle, but there
were plenty that would brighten the hillside in a month's
time. The coolies arrived one by one, thanks to the energy
of the Gurkhas, who worked the more admirably the more
their energies were called upon, and the less usual the con-
ditions by which they were surrounded. Another storm
threatened to burst, so we pitched the tents in haste ; but
the alarm was false. The weather began to mend from the
moment of our arrival, and one by one the great peaks
looked forth. The Burchi peaks appeared first, then the
fine Emerald mountain, which we had come to woo. Close
before us were the seracs of the Gaigo glacier ; beyond them
the mighty wall swept grandly aloft to a height of upwards
of 20,000 feet. The only visible outlet to the deep basin in
which we lay was a narrow glimpse down the valley to the
west.
A change was taking place in the upper air, accompanied
by strange writhings and whirlings of the mists. The cloud
procession from the south-west, which had been defiling so
persistently across the heavens, was now turned back, and
a strong cold wind from the north-west cleared the sky and
lifted the new-fallen snow in sheets from the high ridges.
Temperature fell, and the air became crisp. The sun went
down ; the hilltops grew first golden, then pink ; the
clouds in the west caught fire. The new moon peeped over
the crest of the mountains, and the auguries were favour-
able. As the frost obtained power, enormous avalanches
began to fall in quick succession, not merely down their
orthodox couloirs, but enveloping all the width of the hills,
burying the minor ridges out of sight, and sending up clouds
of dust that were carried two miles and more before they
dispersed. I reckoned that one of these avalanches fell
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GARGO TO GILGIT. 195
8,000 feet, and that its solid part was a quarter of a mile
broad at the base. The solid part, however, was hidden out
of sight, as it fell, hy a monstrous dust cloud, like a vast
downward rolling puff of steam, which muffled the noise
and turned it into a fine booming thunder. Such titanic
artillery continued to salute till far into the night.
May 29th. — The survey was, of course, my day's work.
The others were to begin the assault on the peak or pass by
carrying up a store of provisions to as high a point as they
could reach. We were all early on the move, quickened to
action by a gale of wind, which sprang up suddenly, and so
violently agitated the tents that it seemed as though they
must be blown away. The quickly running stream, that on
the previous evening made music through the camp, was
bound in icy bonds by frost. The minimum temperature
duing the night was 16° Fahr. At six o'clock, when the
others started, the gale was at its height. The tents flapped
and bulged and strained, snow was whirling off the heights,
and all the air was darkened by it. In one instant the wind
ceased, the sun came over the edge of the hill and drove the
frost away, the brook began to tinkle again, a cuckoo called
from the birch scrub across the glacier, and a bumble-bee
droned round the tents. A more sudden change it would
be impossible to imagine. The sun was soon too hot, and
within two hours the temperature in the tent was 80° Fahr.
I waded up the hill behind Windy Camp through soft
new 8Q0W, found a good station, and did my work. The
riven floor of the upper basin of the Gargo glacier was at my
feet, and the great snowy wall was before me clear from top
to bottom, a mass of steep aretes and couloirs, of ice-slopes,
hanging glaciers, and precipitous icefalls, here and there
broken by islands of rock.
After a solitary lunch in camp I went on to the glacier,
and crossed it through an intricate maze of crevasses till I
reached a position that commanded a view up to the col at
its head, leading to the upper basin of Khaltar. The ica
descends in a chaos of seraca from the highest plateau of
Digilizcd by Google
196 MAY 29t 30.
neve ix) within a mile of Windy Camp. It would be easy
to find a way up tbe side of this icefall to the saddle, which
would make a splendid pass. A gossamer veil of glittering
ice-thread, extraordinarily lovely, and formed doubtless by
wind and frost, covered the surface of the glacier where I
crossed it. This soon melted away.*
We all arrived in camp
together. Zurbriggen was
.satisfied that the peak
would be ours if one day
of fine weather was
granted to free it of the
fresh snow and two more
for the climb. The north
wind was holdiug and the
sky remained clear. Frost
set in as soon as the
Burchi ridge hid tbe sun.
The mountains seemed to
grow in the twilight ; their
grandeur astounded and
overwhelmed me. Tbe
new moon, Venus, and
the Twins were like jewels
upon their crest. We
turned in late, as there was
time to spare. One more
fine day was needed to
make our proposed ascent
safe, and all the boots of
the party required mend-
ing before we cut ourselves adrift from the tool-chest. A
long ni<rht was therefore before us, but the flapping of
tbe tents in another gtile, and the ceaseless booming of
avalancbes, kept sleep away for many hours.
Mni/ SOth.—The tents were still flapping, and the ropes
* On the morttine I gathered Cluiianthtis himalaiciis.
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GABGO TO GILGIT. 197
and poles groaning and creaking when we awoke, but, as
naual, the gale suddenly dropped, and peace and frost
reigoed together. Pleasant it was to look forward to a day
of rest with superb weather, and the mountains coming
rapidly into condition. Now at length, we said, the good
time has come. We lapsed into repose. Two coolies
arrived bringing kiltae of luxuries, sent up by Roberts
from Gilgit. They also brought newspapers and letters
from home, so that time did not hang heavy on our hands.
Zurbriggen established his shoe-meudiug stall in the midst
of a ring of G-urkhas. The hammering of nails was accom-
panied by a merry conversation in such broken English as
they possessed in common. Meanwhile the glaciers were
hard at work, seracs tumbled, and great avalanches swept
the slopes. I observed that the noise of a fall was not
proportional to the volume of snow, hut depended on the
steepness of the track. Vertical precipices caused the great
booms, and of such there were plenty on the Burchi peak.
Couloirs growled as the snow rushed down them ; the
slopes at the bottom hissed. Clouds of snow-dust filled
the air all day. The hours fled too rapidly, and night wiis
upon us before we were half ready for it.
May Zlst. — The new day damped onr hopes of fine
weather. The northerly wind ceased to blow, and the
south-west again won the sky. Snow and storm, I felt
sure, would overtake as and drive us down. Nevertheless
we refused to turn back without a final effort. Zurbriggen
and I left camp a few minutes before five o'clock ; Bruce,
Shahbana, and the four Ourkhas followed at a short
interval. We crossed the glacier to the foot of the great
icefall from the Emerald pass, and in three-quarters of an
hour we were close to the edge of a meadow from which our
buttress sprang. Zurbriggen and I had no more than set
foot upon the grass, when we beheld a huge avalanche-
cloud deBcending over the whole width of the icefall,
utterly enveloping both it and a small rock-rib and couloir
besid© it- Bruce and the Gurkhas were below the rib, and
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198 MA7 31.
could only see up the (Jouloir. They thought the avalanche
was a sniiill one confined to it, and so they turned back
and ran towards the foot of the icefall. This was no im-
provement in position, and there was nothing for them
to do then but to run straight away from it, and get
as far out on to the flat glacier as they could. The fall
started from the very top of the Lower Burchi peak, and
tumbled on to the plateau above the icefall ; it flowed over
this, and came down
the icefall itselt We
saw the cloud before
we heard the noise, and
then it only reached us
as a distant rumble.
We had no means of
guessing the amount of
solid snow and ice that
there might be in the
heart of the cloud. The
rumble increased in
loudness, and was soon
a thunder that swal-
lowed up our puny
shouts, so that Bruce
could not hear our
RUNNING FROM THE DUST AVALANCBE. ■ TT 3 L T, 3
warning. Had he heard
he could easily have reached the sheltered position we
gained before the cloud came on him. Zurbriggen and
I cast ourselves upon our faces, but only the edge of the
cloud and an ordinary strong wind reached us. Our com-
panions were entirely enveloped in it. They afterwards
described to us how they raced away like wild men, jumping
crevasses which they could not have cleared in cold blood.
When the snow dust enveloped them, the wind raised by
it cast them headlong on the ice. This, however, was the
worst that happened. The snow peppered them all over,
and soaked them to the skin, but the solid part of the
Digilizod by Google
GABGO TO GILGIT. 199
avalanche was happily arrested in the midst of the icefall,
and never came in sight. When the fog cleared they were
all so out of breath that for some minutes they could only
stand and regard one another in panting silence. They
presently rejoined ua, and we halted for a time on the
pleasant grass.
The musical cry of chukor reached our ears &om all
directions. The ground we lay on was covered with matted
vegetation and withered leaves, pressed and pounded
together by winter avalanches, lately melted away. Young
shoots were just forcing up their heads here and there. We
found edelweiss on this buttress up to 14,000 feet. Sedum
was common to 13,800 feet. Flocks of a bird that flew like
a fieldfare darted about not far away. Spring had come
even to the heart of this icy kingdom. But the weather was
growing hourly worse. The air was not fresh ; the sun
shone sickly in the leaden sky. The view up the wilder-
ness of seracs towards the head of the glacier attracted our
attention, and the more so that we thought it would soon
be blotted out. There were indications that, though the
basin might be fuller of snow than it recently had been,
it once was very much more full.
We started on again at 6.15, and continued mounting
and traversing grass-slopes for twenty minutes, to the
coidoir* beyond them and the buttress rising from them.
We put on our climbing-irons, and commenced the steep
ascent. The snow was firm. We plodded steadily and
toilsomely up it, keeping close to the rocks t of the rib
on our left, so as to be able to take refuge amongst them
from the avalanches for which the couloir is a highway.
In three-quarters of an hour we reached the cleft (1-5,370
feet), where Bruce had hidden the provisions. Naturally
we halted to sample them and curse the weather. In
* A couUnr is a more or less steeply inclined gully, usually witli a stripe
or floor of snow down it. Couloirs are generally, at some time of year,
the track of snow or ioe-aTalanohes, sometimes only of falling stones.
t Mertensia primuloidea was found growing here.
Digilizod by Google
the south-west we could see the storm brewing. It
was evidently not worth while to climb much higher.
Twenty minutes further up we found a fairly good shelf,
safe from avalanches, and there we determined to stop at
a height of 15,680 feet. Zurbriggen was permitted to go
aloft and explore the further route. He went on about
1,000 feet, found no difficulty, and returned.
Meanwhile we were all busy, levelling and building up
the tent platform, cutting away icicles, and setting up the
little tent. A place had also to be made for the Gurkhas,
and a wall of snow and atones built round it. They had
a mackintosh sheet for a floor and another for a roof. With
their blankets and their mutual warmth they were com-
fortable enough, and a merry time they seemed to have of
it. We called the place Sulphur Camp, from some yellow
stuff found in the rocks.
When everything was in order we began taking our
observations. Bruce's temperature and mine were both
normal, notwithstanding that we plaiuly felt, and continued
to feel all the time we remained at this camp, discomfort
from the reduced atmospheric pressure. Every man of the
party suffered from headache. Our pulses beat with more
than usual rapidity, and the tracings of them made with the
sphygmograph differed from tracings made at lower levels."
Zurbriggen found that during his last 1,000 feet of ascent
he had to travel more slowly than he was accustomed. W^e
all felt a disinclination to do anything that involved change
of position, and it required an effort of will to get up and
read the barometer and other instruments. We had a ten-
dency to place ourselves in such attitudes as left the chest
most free, and I obsei-ved that during the latter part of the
ascent I walked more easily with my hands resting on my
hips than hanging by my sides. Bruce desired to take
occasional deep iuspiratious. My fatigue, and the feeling of
weight in the legs, was immediately diminished if, in walking
* I sent these and twenty other tracings home by post from Gil^t, but
thejr never reached England,
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GABOO TO GILGIT. 201
nphill, I breathed more deeply and rapidly than usual ; but
to keep this up one'a breathing muscles musfc be got into
training, which takes time. "We never afterwards experi-
enced so much discomfort at so low a level.
The sky became overcast with ever denser cumuli, but, as
yet, they floated at a high altitude, clear over Dubanni'a
20,000 feet. The view was still splendid, though not wide
in extent. The couloir, some 200 yards broad, swept
grandly past us, and spread its white skirt on the glacier
below. The highest of the Gargo peaks, a greater Lya-
kamm, Hned the far aide of the neve basin and shut out all
the prospect in the direction of Haramosh ; to the right of
it was the cluster of Dubanni's sharp-edged peaks, the
brilliant Brand, which used to look down upon us at Gargo,
standing out before them. Still further to the right a
glimpse was caught of the moraine-covered glacier, and
beyond it the intersecting slopes that rise above Gilgit,
whilst further off was the opening of the Karga nala and
the snowy peaks of Darel, whence came the hateful,
moisture-laden current that threatened us with defeat.
As we were discussing the future we heard a crash high
up in the couloir, followed by the boom of an approachiug
avalanche. A mass of ice had fallen from the cliff at the
top, and was ploughing its way down to the glacier. It
seemed ages before it came in sight. It passed in two
streams of mighty flow. Suddenly one of the Gurkhas
jumped up, crying, " Ibex ! Ibex ! " and sure enough there
was one poor beast carried down in the resistless torrent.
"Another! another! Two! Three! Four!" There
was in fact a whole small herd of them, all dead. They
must have been passing under the ice-clifi' when the fall
occurred. One of them was ultimately pitched out of the
side of the avalanche and left upon the snow-slope, but the
others were carried to the foot of the couloir and buried,
hopelessly beyond discovery.
Zurbriggen, Parbir, and Amar Sing started down after
(he de^d animal, all headaches notwithstanding. Amar
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202 MAY 31. JUNE 1.
Sing in his haste tried to glissade, but being iinfamihar
with the ways of oouloira, he got into the icy trough of the
avalanche, lost his footing and his axe, and went rattUng
down at an accelerating pace. He turned over on to his
face, and clutched wildly at the ice, thereby breaking all
his nails and filing off the ends of his fingers. Fortunately
some bulge in the surface of the ice tossed Mm out of
the trough into a heap
of soft snow, where he
stuck, after falling 200
feet or more. His sorry
plight did not prevent
him from continuing
the descent, but he and
his fellows had leamt a
lesson and went more
carefully in future. This
little accident gave
them a respect for
mountains, which in-
creased with their ex-
perience and their grow-
ing skill.
They found the car-
case of the doe and cut
it up, delighted with
3t of joints. They packed
' in a marked place and
_o camp. The short re-
AMAR BiNo'g GLISSADE. maiuder of the day was soon over.
At six o'clock we tucked ourselves
up for the night. From time to time we heard Amar
Sing chuckling with laughter as he thought of his adventure,
and for the next few days he could not look at his fingers
without giving vocal expression to his amusement.
Jvne 1st. — All night long it snowed with persistence of
ill intent. In the morning a white mantle enveloped the
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GARGO TO GJLGIT. 203
mountain ; and the new snow was four inches thick about
the camp. The temperature had not fallen below 22" Fahr.
We perceived that the possibility of making an ascent was
for the time removed. We decided to wait a while and see
how the weather behaved. We thought that there were
fligns of improvement. Dabanni presently looked forth at
us, with silver flanks all ablaze in the sunlight. But our
hopes were soon dashed. Banks of dark cloud came rolling
up from Gilgit, and the landscape was blotted out again.
We said nothing to one another, and with a common
understanding, all began to pack. It seemed even possible
that, if avalanches began to fall, our retreat might be cut
off.
After a hasty breakfast we pitched our soft baggage into
the couloir and sent the bundles rolling down. One reached
the glacier, the other stuck near the ibex. About nine
o'clock we quitted our platform, and between running
and glissading reached the level ice in forty minutes. We
left two Gurkhas behind to search for the other carcases,
and Prist! came up and joined them. Shahbana brought
him a little way from Windy Camp, when he caught sight
of us far aloft and came across the glacier and up the
slope, all on his own account. The united intelligences
of men and dog failed to discover the buried beasts, but,
as the Gurkhas were nearly overwhelmed by an avalanche,
which fell while they were searching, they considered the
day not altogether wasted. Drenched to the skin, they
followed us to camp.
Bruce, whose carrying capacity is about equal to that of
a goods train, loaded up three heavy rucksacks and bore
them over the glacier. Shahbana met us on the bank
(13,400 feet) with a coolie or two, and lightened our
burdens. We kept meeting coolies every hundred yards
or so, and shedding our bundles one by one. Scarcely had
we reached Windy Camp again, and been served with the
hot meal that Bahim Ali prepared for us when he saw us
coming, than all the miseries of the skies began to be
Digilizod by Google
V.
poured ont. Sleet, snow, rain, hail took their turns, and
the angriest gusts of chilly wind drove them about. We
kept under shelter for some three hours till the gale had
blown itself off, and then we packed everything up and
hurried away to a less inclement neighbourhood.
We retraced our steps for half an hour, as though
ri II .1, .— -,^^-, 8oing back to Gargo,
X, ^^^^^m then struck across the
X , -.V, MeWBr??] glacier to its right
bank, where we
climbed on to the
great moraine, depo-
sited round the curve
of the glacier's turn-
ing, and at some dis-
tance from the foot of
the hill-slope. This
interval is filled with
wood, and, further on,
with an open grassy
maidan, belonging to
the summer settle-
ment of Burchi
(11,075 feet). Horses
and cattle were graz-
ing on it, and the
L, vegetation looked
J fresh and vigorous
"" A HEAVS LOAIl. '^^ ^^'^^^ ^^ ^aiU. WO
reached this point
after an honr and three-quarter's walking. The situation
was magnificent, close to the foot of the Burchi glacier,*
which alone remained to be added to the map in order to
'■' The following plants were found in the immediate neighbourhood ot
Burchi: — C'/cer soomjarica, Astraijaliis slriclus, Fragaria vesca, Myosotis
syh-atica, AmJrosncc villosa, (ientiana argeniea. Polygonum viviparum, and
Otbers,
Digilizcd by Google
OARGO TO alLGIT. 205
make it complete. Caiiip was accordingly pitched, and
thereupon the rain once more descended in such torrents
that we could not but congratulate ourselves on our de-
cision to retreat from the inhospitable snows.
June 2nd. — A so-called " idle " day in camp. Bruce and
Zurbriggen at an early hour reconsidered their decision to
go forth after ibex or bear, and thus it came to pass that
all breakfasted together at the late hour of seven. Our
rugs, clothes, bags, and everything that could hold moisture
were in a wet condition, and had to be dried in the intervals
between showers. After breakfast I availed myself of a
temporary clearing to take a round of angles with the theo-
dolite and. to set np the plane-table. Kain drove me into
the tent, where I worked at inking in the map. Then I
catalogued and packed the geological specimens, changed
the paper between the flowers that were being pressed,
varnished the sphygmograph tracings made at Sulphur
Camp, and took a new series. A hot bath followed, and
then lunch, to which Bruce came with a specimen of the
rocks from a precipice 500 feet above us. After lunch we
talked awhile before sitting down to three hours of journal-
writing, during which the rain poured steadily. At half-
past five the weather cleared, and I mounted to the top of
the left lateral moraine of the Burchi glacier and worked
for an hour at the .plane-table, taking advantage of varying
gaps in the clouds. The moraine is a very high one (about
500 feet), and the ascent of it took about half an hour.
From it (11,560 feet) we could look up into the heart of the
deep-lying Burchi ice-stream and see, at its head, the grand
cirque of snow walls which support the Crown of Dirran
and the Burchi peak. Precipitous buttresses hem the glacier
in. A great icefall cuts it in half with a cliff of ice 100 feet
high and reaching from side to side. The seracs below
this cliff were enormous. The plateau above the icefall
is the dumping-ground of avalanches from three sides. It
appeared to be inaccessible from below, and on every yard
of it one would be in danger of burial under falling masses
Digilizod by Google
206 JUNE 3.
of enow. It would bo hard to find a more enclosed sanc-
tuary or one where Nature nurses sterner moods.
As evening came on the clouds closed in once more. We
returned to camp and found dinner awaiting us.
June Srd. — Rain was falling heavily at four o'clock, bo
we postponed our departure till 6.30. We bmshed our way
through damp grass and climbed the moraine at a lower
point than on the previous day, forcing a path through a
tangle of thorny barberries, amongst which little birds, like
redstarts, fluttered about. The Burchi glacier, like that of
Gargo, is wholly covered with moraine over its lower half.
We climbed on to its right lateral moraine and halted to
survey, but the view was everywhere obscured. We now
descended into a lovely wood, whose foliage was varnished
with wet. We found and followed an admirable path
through it to the village of Dar, near the mouth of the
side-valley descending from the Dome of Dirran. The
good path continued to Sat, which we reached shortly
before nine o'clock.
We had now seen the whole of the lovely basin at the
head of the Bagrot valley, and had been the first to pene-
trate its imposing recesses. In spite of ill luck we felt that
something had been accomplished. Content at heart, there-
fore, we started away and wandered amougat blossoming
rose-bushes and other fragrant shrubs. The air became
wanner; the damp was being absorbed from our gannents,
but the matches in our pockets were still too moist to
light when struck. Indian matches, however, are the
worst in the world. They are of the sulphur sort, tipped
with inefBcient pink points. Sometimes they refuse to
burn even when thrown into the fire.
Ten minutes beyond Sat we crossed the bridge over the
Gargo stream, opposite the foot of the left moraine of the
Bagrot glacier. Another ten minutes and we were in
the narrows, between the ice of the glacier's snout aud the
augle of the Gargo valley. A serac had fallen across the
path a few days before, but since then the glacier had
Digilizod by Google
GARGO TO GILGIT. 207
shrunk away as much as 40 feet. Zurbriggen was as-
tounded at the changes that had taken place in the ice
since he was at this spot on the day of our arrival. He
said that the place was not recoguisably the same. The
Gargo stream here passes through a tunnel under the ice.
All the flowers we found near Sat (except the flowering
shrubs) were the same that grow in greater profusion at
Burchi and Gargo. They appeared to be stragglers from
above and not climbers from below. It was only after
passing Bulchi that we met the valley flora and left the
mountain flora behind.* At 10.30 we crossed a crazy
bridge spanning the united Bagrot river. It was formed of
three slender trees, which bent like bows under our alternate
feet and made onr equilibrium unstable. ' The rushing waters
beneath added to my own mental disturbance.
A few minutes beyond the bridge, Zurbriggen and I
reached Bulchi, where we found Bruce reclining on a
carpet under the walnut trees and luxuriously banqueting
on dried apricots and milk. The villagers were come to-
gether, the children wearing garlands of flowers round their
caps. We seized the occasion to make formal presentation
of a Peshawar lungki to Rnstem Khan, the helpful lam-
badhar, or village headman, who so well looked after our
wants. Hahim All swathed the man's head in the long
folds. For the remainder of the day he was grinning with
delight. There was of course music and the usual tamasha.
All the sick people came in, but, fortunately for them, there
was nothing left in the kilfcas that we could pretend was
medicine.
We lunched wisely and well. At noon the hot part of
our walk began. Shady Bulchi was left behind and the
desert valley entered. There was no loitering on the way.
Thirst came upon us, and the hateful sun, which hid
itself when we needed it, now intruded its unwelcome
presence. How we rushed at the water when we reached
a cool stream which crossed the path at Datuchi ; and
* Sophora alojtecurides was common between Sat and Sinakar.
Digilizod by Google
208 JUNE 4.
how we regretted . not to have drunk more of it, as we
-climbed the long uphill between that oasis and the high
point whence one descends upon Sinakar ! Pristi suffered
most. He again took to bolting from one shady stone to
another, panting the while so that he could be heard a
hundred yards off. When he ultimately found a muddy
patch at the edge of Sinakar he wallowed in it like a hog.
The villagers led us to the south border of the place,
where, on an uncultivated field, I was sorry to find Roberts
encamped. He was coming up to join us, and had now
accomplished the first horrible march, all to no purpose.
When camp was .pitched beside him, a wind sprang np
aud blew dust into our tents and eyes, making everything
gritty. Flies came upon us in their thousands, heralding
the hot lowlands. The sky was black with impending
clouds ; thunder rumbled in the distance ; but the rain
passed by, and the air was not cooled. We separated
early to rest, looking forward with dislike to the morrow's
odious march.
June 4:th. — We started, none too early, at 5.30 a.m., the
morning being dull, aud, so far, kindly towards us. I passed
a native, who looked like a fifteenth century Florentine S.
Giovanni, standing in an attitude suitable for a " Holy Con-
versation." He asked me to be good enough to order him
about, but I could conceive of no better use for him than
to go on standing where he was. In an hour we reached
a place of rocks and boulders called Bidili Giri, where the
coolies are wont to halt. Another hour brought us to the
little Ziarat, amongst the traces of long- abandoned fields at
the opening into the Gilgit valley and between the almost
buried moraines.
The morning had thus far been cool (73° Fahr. at 8.15
a.m.), but now the sun became unclouded and the sandy
pathway filed before us. We toiled over it for almost two
hours, sometimes halting in thirsty misery, but not darjng
to linger, as each hour was hotter and thirstier thau'the
one that went before. At ten o'clock we gained the oasis
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GARGO TO GILGIT. 209
of Dainyor and the abade. The sun, finding he could
annoy us no more, went behind clouds, and the temperature
again sank to 73° Fahr. We sat for three-quarters of an
hour under the mulberries and walnuts and on the trail-
ing vine-trunks where we rested on our upward way. A
quarter of an hour took us to the rope-bridge, and half an
hour later we were all over it. This crossing was less
pleasant than the former. The bridge dipped into the
roaring torrent, so that the water came up to the calf of
one's leg. The cables had thus been strained and some of
them broken, and the gaps patched up with goat-hair
cord. Fristi crossed last ; he was rolled up in a blanket on
a coolie's back and patiently abode his discomforts.
By Roberts' kind arrangement ponies met us at the
bridge. The one I rode was brought over the Pamirs in
Littledale's caravan. We cantered the rest of the way.
Roberts led, and I blindly followed him, wondering from
moment to moment why my neck was not broken, for the
path lay, for the most part, over a chaos of big stones, and
was never straight or level for five yards together in the
stony places. We reached the Gilgit bridge iu twenty-fiv«
minutes, passed McCormick and Koudebush just beyond it,
and were at the Residency five minutes later. I changed
into some of the old clothes left behind by Lennard when
he came from Yarkand, lit my pipe with Russian matches
brought by Younghusband from Kashgar, and spent the
rest of the day in pleasant idleness. Colonel Duraud had
gone down to Simla. His place was taken by Dr. Robert-
son, whose wonderful journey to, and residence iu, Kafiristan
excited my most enthusiastic admiration. The pleasure of
dining at his table was one of the greatest I experienced
in Asia.
June 5th to 1th. — We stayed three whole days at Gilgit.
The first was devoted to finishing the Bagrot map, which
Roberts kindly photographed for me. Thereupon succeeded
twenty-four hours of some strange illness, similar to that
which overcame me on the second day of my previous visit.
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It came oq suddenly, and as suddeuly went away. The
time it lasted is a blank in my memory, save for a general
reminiscence of Roberts' constant kindnesa, to which my
rapid recovery was doubtless due.
On the 7th, Eckenstein came in from the Dainyor valley,
which he visited for the purpose of a prismatic compass
Burvey. Clouds impeded his work, so that his observa-
tions could not be incorporated in the map. Dickin left
us during my illness. He hired fifteen Balti coolies by
the month, and went away towards the Kilik pass, hoping
to collect birds. He had been, and still was, unwell. He
ultimately reached Ovis Poli ground, hut was entirely
prostrated by sciatica, and could only pick up some heads
and return. We did not see him again till we met in London.
I was busy all day classifying and packing the baggage,
now reduced to forty-four loads. There were also six loads
to be left behind at Gilgit till our return, or sent to meet
us in Srinagar. Lieut. Duncan, the transport officer, ex-
plained to me that the supply of provisions in Hunza-
Nagyr was running short, and that the natives were averse
to carrying, so that our baggage and servants miiBt be
reduced to a minimum. Our intention was to go to the
foot of the Hispar glacier, and (here divide into two parties,
one of which should cross the Nushik, the other the Hispar
pass; we were to reunite at Askole in Baltistan. Some of
our baggage, therefore, might be sent direct to Askole by
way of the Indus valley. That would, at all events, save
the Nagyr coolies at the expense of inconvenience to
ourselves. The shikaris and all but one of the servants
could also be spared. I understood that there were, at the
time, no Balti coolies left at Gilgit, but I also understood,
wrongly as I have since been informed, that arrangements
would unfailingly be made to send the baggage in time to
meet us (there was plenty of time to spare), and I accord-
ingly set to work to diminish the amount to be taken
through Nagyr to a degree that, as things turned out,
seriously interfered with the expedition.
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GAEGO TO GILQIT. 211
I am obliged to be fchus particular with respect to this
matter, because the faihire of the baggage to meet me gave
rise to miaunderstandings, which, I hope, have sioce been
satisfactorily set at rest. It is necessary to tell the whole
story, and get rid of it once for all.
Roudebush's baggage was ruthlessly sacrificed. His tent,
his clothes, bis stores were all left behind. Our kitchen
utensils were reduced to a minimum. I left a heavy weight
of rupees, spare instruments, the legs of the developing
tent,* warm wraps, clothes, all appliances for comfort, the
photograph films that had been exposed, the collection of
plants \ and insects made in Bagrot, and the geological
specimens. I also sent back from Nagyr a load of things
no longer needed, or collected between Gilgit and that
place.
Hearing, at Baltit, on the 18th of June, that neither
servants nor baggage had left Gilgit, and discovering that
the natives of Nagyr were willing to carry all our things
over the Nushik pass, I wrote down to Gilgit for every-
thing to come up, except one of the shikaris, who was to
go to Rondu and turn back the Srinagar-Askole baggage
which, contrary to written orders, the tehsildar of Skardo
was forwarding to Gilgit instead of Askole. Rahim Ali and
two servants accordingly came up and met us at Mir, but
they only brought a few loads with them ; the bulk still
remained behind. I wrote urging that it should be sent
off, if not to Askole, at least to Skardo, whence, if neces-
sary, coolies could be telegraphed for to fetch it.
On July 13th Eoudebush was sent with all our spare
baggage over the Nushik La ; he had orders to proceed to
" These were brought as duplicates for the theodolite and plane-
table. The tent itself went from Srinagar to Askole. The non-arrival of
these legs at Askolo rendered the tent useless, and prevented me from
testing my films by development. I thus did not discover the serious
depreciation of the hand camera. About five hundred negatives vrere
spoiled in consequence, many of them of high importance.
\ These Mr. Dathie kindly brought down with him to Saharanpur'and
sent on to Kew, where they arrived safely.
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Skardo and see about the baggage. He wrote that it had
not arrived, and that he could get no answer to his
telegrams about it.* I repHed to him to keep on tele-
graphing, and wrote to the Gilgit Agency saying that it
was now too late for the things to be of any use to me
in Baltistan, and asking for them to be sent to Srinagar.
This letter appears never to have been delivered. We were
beyond reach of news from July Slst till September 10th,
when we reached Skardo. There were no answers to our
letters or telegrams, and no news about the baggage. I
again telegraphed twice, and wrote three letters to Gilgit
friends. The second telegram was carried from Gilgit to
Dr. Robertson, who was at Baltit. He at once gave
orders to have the things sent ofT, and they went over the
Burzil and Tragbal passes to Bandipur, where they stuck.
Of this I knew nothing. I reached Srinagar on October
11th. The baggage was not there, nor was there a word
of information about it.
Colonel Durand had just left Srinagar for Gilgit. I
wrote to him, therefore, and received his answer by swiftest
return to the effect that the tilings were sent off six
weeks before. They were ultimately found at Bandipnr in
a ruinous condition, having been broken into and pillaged.
All the things (beetles, negatives, and other small objects)
that had been packed in tins were stolen for the sake of the
boxes ; stolen also were such objects as a few pieces of
Hunza embroidery, which the natives could retain without
fear of discovery. Roberts, with great foresight, had taken
out of the kiltas and sent by parcel post McCormick's
sketches and the musical instruments bought in Nagyr.
These reached me safely in Bombay.
I naturally thought, and probably said, that I had been
badly treated. But there was another side to the story.
* The telegraph wire between Skardo and Oilgit was often not id
working order. The telegraph Babu nevertheless accepted telegranis,
and said nothing about the interruption of comnmnicationB. We were
ignorant of this state of things.
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GABGO TO GILGIT. 213
I was wrong in supposing that there was any guarantee
that the things would be sent ; this, of course, is a mere
formal matter; there is a comity on such occasions which
overrides all guarautees, formal or informal. Only one of
my letters or telegrams reached Gilgit, and to that a
reply was sent, and thereupon action was taken. But the
real reason for all the miscarriage was the fact that the
Gilgit road was, during the summer, the scene of an im-
mense and pressing undertaking. The whole victualling of
the Gilgit garrison for a year, and the carriage of materials
over it for the Bunji and other bridges, had to be completed
during the few months that the Burzil pass was open. This
employed every man's entire energies. The organisation
was excellent for loads going in the Gilgit direction. But,
though each squad of coolies returned daily unburdened to
their morning start-point, transportation in that direction
was worse than rowing against wind and tide. Had I been
aware of all the engrossing preoccupations of my friends, I
could have sent men from Skardo to bring the things away.
But I was not aware, and every one was too busy to tell me.
We were the victims of misfortune rather than of neglect,,
and have long ago wiped from our memories the temporary
annoyance which our rather heavy losses not unnaturally
caused. There remains to us only the pleasant reminiscence
of kindnesses received and help rendered : this will not soon
fade away.
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CHAPTER X.
GILGIT TO TASHOT.
June 8th. — All oni- four Gurkhas proved satisfoctory in
a high degree, but Lila Eaui was unfortunately in poor
health, and it was considered advisable to take another man
in his stead. Bruce's choice fell upon Harkbir Thapa, a
sepoy of his regiment, who earned distinction at Nilt and
was rewarded with the Order of Merit. A better choice
could not have been made. He attached himself particularly
to me, and always walked with me, carrying the plane-table
and photographic things. He was remarkably intelligent ; he
taught himself, by mere observation, how to set up, level,
and orient the table, and the tricks of the various cameras.
He was an admirable companion, and we soon became the
best and most iuseparable of friends. I can find no words
too high to express my appreciation of him. He lacked
Parbir'e joyous spirits, but he possessed a fund of quiet
good sense and excellent feehng, rare among men of any
nationality. Like all Gurkhas he was perfectly brave, but
he was likewise humane. He was the first to notice if
a coolie was ill and to give him a helping hand or reUeve
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GILGIT TO TASHOT. 215
him of his burden. In snowy regions he would deprive ine
of my waterproof tent floor to make the coohea comfortable
— a duty I leamt to leave to him. But they never imposed
upon hiin by shamming. He did his duty aud expected
other men to do theirs.
Now that we were to miirch for a few days up a hot
valley the sky, of course, cleared and the heat became
intolerable. At eight o'clock McCormick, Eoudebush, and
Eckenatein, with Habiba, two Gurkhas, and twenty coolies,
started off for Nagyr. Bruce and I were to ride after them
later in the day
when my arrears
of writing were
finished. But he
had premoni-
tions of return-
ing fever, and
wisely decided to
wait a day or
two and fight it
through. Rahim
AH, Salama,
Shahbana, and
the twenty-four
loads of baggage
were left behind.
I had a final cup
of afternoon tea with Dr. Robertson at the Residency, and
spent a delightful hour looking at the unique photographs
he took amongst strange people and in previously unex-
plored regions, but such pleasures had to come to an end,
and about half-past three I rode away alone on Roberts'
pony.
The march to Nomal took me tbreq hours and a quarter,
riding leisurely. I retraced the track we had already twice
traversed to the mouth of the Hunzii gorge, wherein flows
the energetic river that haa cut through the main range
Digilizod by Google
close by its highest 'point, Rakipushi. Up this gorge I
turned ; the desolation became more complete, and the
scenery wilder than ever. There was no house, no bit of
cultivation, not a blade of grass by the way. Yet the road
was not deserted. I constantly passed travellers — now a
Hunza man with his wife and babe, driving two goats, anon
some laden villagers, then a party of coolies carrying up
grain for the troops at Hunza.
There were fine sandy reaches for an occasional free gallop,
but between tbem horrible stony tracts, or a narrow and rotten
pathway skirting the face of some precipitous parri. The
path was destroyed in many places by falls of the hillside.
Once I missed the right track and got into difficulties, but
on the whole preserved the even tenor of my way. From
the lower part of the valley there is a fine view back to the
fanged peak of Bungi, which, with its attendant summits,
mimicks Nanga Parbat. Ahead there was also a fine snow
dome (19,320 feet) supported by a series of serrated ridges,
all picked out with new fallen snow. Presently the view
opened further up the valley to the north, and through a
narrow gorge there was a prospect to distant mountains of
sharp and difficult outline. The slopes to right and left
were all rocky and bare, but none of them led visibly up to
the giants so near at hand. All the rocks were disintegra-
ting rapidly and piling their bases with naked debris. Now
and again there was a yellow or light green stratum crum-
bling more rapidly than the rest, and staining the lower
slopes with bright streaks of colour, visible for miles. I was
not sorry, when the last long parri was passed, to see the
wide green fan of Nomal (5,340 feet) spreading before me.
The pony recognised that he was approaching the close of
his stage, and put all his heart into a final gallop over the
broad, dry plain and the field paths beyond. At last we
reached the camping-ground, and I found the tents plea-
santly pitclied in a shady place, close to a little canal of
excellent water, whilst the blue smoke of a camp fire
showed that cooking operations were in progress. A few
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GILGIT TO TASIIOT. 217
lagging coolies had even then not arrived, but they came
in with the moonhght and gladly laid their burdens down
after one of the longest and worst marches this country
provides. Zurbriggen was down with a sun headache, but
the others did not suffer. When the lights were out, we lay
and watched the moon-casfc leaf shadows dappling the roof
of the tent, and the bright light streaming through tiie
trees upon the ground.
Jvne 9th. — This day we had a most disagreeable march,
for which the magnificent scenery was, however, no wise
to blame. Bare precipitous rock walls shut us in on either
hand and formed constantly changing prospects of the
sternest gran-
deur. But as soon
as the sun looked
over upon us the
heat became ter-
rible, and the
pathway was the
worst possible —
always either
over deep soft
sand or loose
stones. We went
sinking and ""*"""
Btumbhng along in the shadeless wilderness so that fatigue
and hunger came early upon us. Moreover the hour of
our start, 6.15, was too late, and the heat of the day caught
us before we had advanced many miles ; finally disappoint-
ment was added to our other griefs, for we had been mis-
informed as to the length of the march. It occupied
five and a half hours' hard walking, amid which we dis-
persed three and three-quarter hours of rest under the
shadows of various rocks. The neighbouring high peaks
are almost entirely hidden fiom the road. Bad as the
track was, it had recently been much improved, and
the worst parris were avoided by blasted and galleried
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gangways of rough but skilfiil coustractiou. The first
glimpse of tho green oasis of Chalt was a joy for
all. We had still a considerable tract to traverse, but we
advanced with renewed hope. At last we reached an old
avalanche, whose unmelted part was still some two hundred
yards wide at the base, where it approached within a few
yards of the river — a remarkable fact considering the low
elevation and the time of year. This avalanche drained a
long steep uala descending (say a mile north of the Shai
Char) from a fine craggy satellite of the peak 19,320 feet,
a prominent feature in the view from Chalt fort. The fields
of Chalt occupy the united fans at the mouths of the
Chaprot and Tutu Unsor Gararasir valleys. Chalt is thus
an important centre, for both the tributary nalas are fertile
and support a considerable population. Here, moreover, the
Hunza valley makes its great bend round the north-west
foot of Rakipushi, and the grand angle about which it
turns is immediately opposite the fort. The place itself is
poor and scattered, blessed with but few trees, and dotted
over with many deserted groups of houses and abandoned
fields. Wherever cultivation is attended to, fine crops are
raised, so that it is man, not Nature, that is at fault.
Doubtless, under the new regime, with peace secured and
extortion suppressed, a better state of things will gradually
arise.
The camping-ground (G,340 feet) near the fort was dusty
and shadeless, and the wind made it intolerable till the dust
was laid with water. Still, when all was done, the place
was unsatisfactory, and we were glad not to have long to
spend there.
At dinner-time it was amusing to watch Pristi's behaviour
to a village dog. Pristi gave a warning bark to make him
understand that the remnants of our feast were not for him.
The stranger contented himself witli lying down and
watching. Presently, when Pristi was fully occupied with
a bone, he crept forward and secured a morsel unperceived,
but attempting to repeat the process he was pounced upon
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GILGIT TO TASHOT. 219
with much uproar.. He thereupon rolled over on his back
in an apoloj^etic manner, and was contemptuously forgiven.
The same tactics were repeated two or three times till all
the bones had been consumed. Ultimately we threw the
stranger a bone, but, seeing a missile hurtling through the
air towards him, he concluded that it was coming with
hostile intent and beat a hasty retreat.
June 10th. — We started away at 6 a.m. To reach
Aylmer's bridge over the river we had to descend several
hundred feet down the Chalt fan, and then to go round the
remarkable isolated ruck-mass that rises in the- midst of the
valley. We reached the bridge in thirty-five minutes from
camp, and crossed the level maidan beyond it in twenty
minutes to the foot of a steep slope. Here one of the
westernmost libs of the western extension of Rakipushi
thrusts itself northwards to the river's brink. A way was,
at the time, being cut round the obstruction, but, pending
its completion, it was necessary to follow the old track, and
to surmount the ridge by a col some 1,100 feet above the
level of the stream. The ascent to this col took half an
hour, and we were well rewarded for the detour by the
glorious view and shady resting-places on the top.
Eastwards we looked straight up the Hunza valley, and
had on our right hand a fine glimpse of Rakipushi's sweep-
ing ice-slopes and chiselled top. Westwards we faced a
ridge of ijameless and not difficult nor very lofty peaks,
which encircle the head of the Chaprot valley and its
branches and neighbours. After a long halt we raced in
ten minutes down the debris slope to the bed of the level
valley. Harkbir, who carried my plane-table and stayed
with me all day, was full of accounts of the Hunza cam-
paign, in which he greatly distinguished himself. He had
something to tell, in his modest fashion, about every turn
of the road.
We descended into the depths of a precipitous nala,
mounted the narrow track up its opposite vertical wall, and
approached the cultivated fan of Nilt. This is terminated
Digilizod by Google
on the far side by another deep, straight-sided nala, and by
a precipice towards the river. The farthest angle of the
fan is small, as the river-front there rune up to the foot of
the hill, and in this confined space the fort of Nilt is planted,
so that every one going up the valley must pass close under
its walls. Prom a distance you can see the fort ; but, as
you approach, it becomes hidden behind a protmding angle
of the hill, and wben you round the angle, and come face to
face with the thing itself, you are only some 200 yards from
its gate. It was here that Colonel Durand received his
wound.
We were taken over the position and into and around
the fort, which was stormed and captured on December 2,
1891.* Its walls are of stone, 8 feet or more thick. Within
them is a maze of little huts, thickly populated, when we
passed through, with women and children. Behind the
fort is a nala, similar to those we had passed ; the far
side of it looks down upon the fort. When our troops
captured the fort the enemy retreated to this strong posi-
tion beyond the nala, which they had previously fortified
with sangars. Moreover, they turned water over the rocks,
and thus coated them with ice, so that the second line of
defence was even stronger than the first. Ultimately, on
December 20th, the position was turned by a party led by
Captain Manners Smith, and of which Harkbir was one.
They ascended some distance up the nala, climbed a difiicult
wall of rock by a stone shoot on its east bank, and so
attained the ridge beyond. They cleared out the sangars at
the top of the shoot, and then, descending the ridge north-
wards, they took the main lot of sangars in the rear. This
plucky action decided the campaign.
Fortunately we had not to follow Manners Smith's
route, but, passing through the fort, went down into the
nala by a good path, and reascended the opposite side.
Here we saw the ruined saugars, and the bullet marks on
"^ A full account of this gallant campaign, written by a combatant, is
given by Mr. E. F. Knight in " Where Three Empires Meet."
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GILOIT TO TASBOT. 221
the rocks. " My rifle made those," said Harkbir, pointing
to two blue patches on a hard simbumt boulder. A little
further we came upon the graves of natives who were killed,
and there we left the last traces of war behind. We traversed
another large fan, and came to another fort backed against
another nala, just like the Nilt fort, only far less difficult of
approach from the west. We crossed this nala and entered
upon a desert tract, but hopefully, for there was the green
fen of Guimet (6,410 feet) not far ahead, and we were pro-
mised I know not how luxurious a camping-ground under
its shady trees. At 1.15 p.m. the promised paradise waa
reached after three
hours' walking from the
col on the ridge.
The place was pretty
enough to look at — a
field of grass and clover
thickly studded with
iris and shaded by mul-
berry trees. Near at
hand were little
mosques, prayer-plat-
forms, and ziarats. But
' 1 i- OULMET BAOH.
there was a plague oi
flies in possession, and they made the afternoon hideous,
notwithstanding the pleasant shade of the trees and the
white clouds that, at an early hour, blotted out the sun.
The Hunza valley thus far divides itself naturally into
two parts of totally distinct character. From Gilgit to
Chalt the Hunza stream has cut its gorge almost at right
angles to the strike of the strata. The valley is therefore
narrow with barren floor and precipitous sides. Above
Chalt the Hunza valley runs parallel to the strata ; it has
open sloping flanks and a broad floor deeply encumbered
with debris, and accommodating numerous fertile fans.
Above Nilt they succeed one another on the south or Nagyr
side at such brief intervals that the desert patches may
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222 JUNE 11.
almost be neglected, and with a little more skill in irrigation
they might be wholly blotted ont.
Here and there the river makes a bend to the south, and
cuts through a vertical stratum of rock. One such place
is a short distance below Giilmet. The stratum cut through
being a thick wall, apparently of quartz, the river has to be
content with a narrow gate. The side-posts of this gate
are utilised as points of suspension for a rope-bridge, which
looks wonderfully frail as one gazes down on it from the
distant Jields.
We spent a quietly busy afternoon in camp. As twilight
came on the tmitezzin called to prayer, and a horn was
blown to carry the message far afield. The people flocked
into the mosque, and filled it and the neighbouring plat-
forms. McConnick, returning from this assembly, passed
the group of Gurkhas, seated under a tree around the
remnants of their meal. " Well, Parbir," said he, " have
you (lone your prayers?" "Oh, yes!" he replied, "me
pray — chapalU," making with his hands the motion as if
flattening ont dampers. Soon afterwards night came on
with a heavy dew, and we retreated into our tents and
sleepiug-bags to a long and well-earned slumber.
June mil. — In an interval of a morning of writing and
other work I paid a visit to the village forum, under the
chinar trees. It is most picturesque. About it are gathered
the mosque, a number of platforms for prayer, with water-
cisterns under most of them, and several fakira' graves
surrounded by stepped, cnide-brick walls, like Assyrian
battlements. One of the graves was decorated with a
new patchwork flag, like those captured in Nilt fort, and
which now adorn the mess at Gilgit. The trunk of one of
the old chinars is covered with various incised outlines
representing hands and feet. " The hands of Iskander,"
said my native cicerone.
The mosque is more architectural than any building we
had seen since leaving Srinagar. It is about square on
plan, elevated on a platform, and with an open arcade on
Digilizod by Google
QILGIT TO TASEOT. 223
three sides. It is built of beams, laid horizontally, alterna-
ting with layers of pebbles imbedded in mud. Its roof is
formed of beams laid side by side, but there is a kind of
dwarf dome or recessed star in the centre, formed by placing
beams in dififerent layers, anglewise over one another. We
entered the mosque by a log with notches cut in it for steps.
There was no mikrab in the place, its west side (like those
on the south and east) opening to the view. There was,
however, a divan on the west side to serve for pulpit. The
window heads were originally filled with a couple of planks
roughly cut out into the form of a multicusped arch, but most
of these have fallen from their places. The log columns
caiTy bracket-capitals, of the form usual in wood construc-
tion, but with a curved outline below, roughly but not unde-
corativelycut. There were no bases. On the north side of
the mosque are a couple of extensions, one being a chamber
and the other a sort of veranda, probably used as a school.
They told me the chamber was a ziarat, but there is no kind
of tomb in it, and it is entirely bare, though there is a small
mihrab in its west wall. I asked the name of the mosque.
"The mosque of Iskander," my friend replied. He then
opened the Koran and showed it to me — a common block-
printed copy with woodcut borders, for all the world like
the borders of one of Simon Yosfcre's or Thielman Kerver's
French " Hor« " of the fifteenth century. There was also
another book which I asked to see. I thought the man
showed it with some reluctance. It contained a miscel-
laneous collection of things written and printed, and many
loose leaves. There were a quantity of unfilled-iu English
army medical forms for returns of sick and wounded. They
were scribbled over with charms, magic squares, and the
like — intended for sale by the imam, I suppose, to the
zemindars. I purchased one of them as a raemeato.
In the afternoon Zurbriggen and I went for a stroll up
the valley path. We were followed by two Gulmet walas
and a man on his way to Pisan. All the villagers we met
greeted us in the friendliest fashion. We walked as far as
Digilizod by Google
224 JUNE 11.
the opening of the nest valley to the south, and enjoyed a
noble view of the wide icefall that fills it, somewhat after
the fashion of the Bies glacier ahove Randa, though on a
threefold scale. We asked our native companions the name
of the valley,
and they said
Domani Chish.
On our way
back they kept
telling me their
names for this
object and that,
and asking the
Enghsh name.
They repeated
my answers to
one another
twenty or thirty
times. As we
approached the
trees of the vil-
lage a wonderful
effect appeared
in the western
sky, where })eaks
and clouds were
mingled to-
gether in strange
confusion, and
the sunlight
pierced the
CALL TO PRAYBB AT ouLusT. hcavcnly ave-
nues with wild
streaks of light. Arrived in camp we found McConnick
and Roudebush in a fatuous condition, throwing unripe
apricots about for lack of better occupation. To this state
of things dinner put a favourable conclusion.
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DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
GILGIT TO TASHOT. 227
When it was over, and the pipe of digestion smoked, we
wandered out to the neighbourhood of the mosque, and saw
the muezzin standing within, and nearly cracking his throat
as he called to prayer. Two men came forward and drew
rams' horns out of a niche contrived for them in the wall.
Upon these they blew in unison three notes twice repeated.
Then one came forward with an oil lamp and placed it on
the fakir's tomb that bears the flag. He knelt down behind
it on a platform and began his prayers. The villagers
meanwhile assembled in no great niimber. They did not
enter the mosque, but visited the platforms over the cis-
tema, said a brief prayer or two, and so went their ways.
The women and girls came to the cisterns with their gourds,
and, after drawing water, hurried back to their homep.
In the progress of our stroll we passed the gateway of the
fort or rather of the walled village, for all the houses are
gathered within it. The gate is situated in an angle of the
wall, and is flanked by rough stone benches, whereon the
elders of the place were seated, discussing the events of
the day and watching their fellows and the tired cattle
returning from the fields ; for at night every living tiling
appears to be gathered within the fort — a fair commentary
on the former condition of things in these parts. All the
men rose as we approached, and received us with smiles.
The light was fading from the hills, and a dark mass of
clouds hung heavy in the west. The bare sweep of the
Hunza slope of the valley put on, in the twilight, a majesty
and greatness such as in the daytime it cannot wear. We
gazed long upon it before slowly retracing our steps, and
retiring into our tents for the night.
June i2th. — We started from Gulmet at 6.16 with a set
of admirable coolies, who showed us a clean set of heels,
much to our satisfaction. The coolie method here is
different from that in the lower valleys, for the men only
carry from their own village to the next. This day we
had three lots of coolies, but the changes were so rapidly
accomplished that there was no waiting, and we had no
Digilizod by Google
trouble whatever, nor indeed were present at the chanffe.
We merely encountered from time to time a smiling and
intelligent body of men waiting to be paid. They appeared
to underatand the value of money, and did not hold the
coins in their hands with a doubtful expression of counte-
nance as though wondering what in the world such stuff
might be good for. As a consequence of this more intelligent
attitude of mind, a little balishish had an admirable efTect.
We were delighted with these men of Nagyr ; they were
far and away the beet in all senses that we encountered in
Kashmir — bright, cheerful fellows, and apparently friendly.
They seemed to take an intelligent interest in all we did,
and even a plane-table, as will be seen, was not an incom-
prehensible mystery to them.
This day I recommenced the plane-table survey, whilst
Eckensteiri paced and recorded the distances traversed.
We built a big stone-man at the starting-point, and some
Giilmet men seeing us thus employed brought stones along
in their hands to add to the pile. The result was a famous
monument, which the Gurkhasi finally decorated with a
bunch of fresh' green. Its situation is close to the path on
the left bank of the nala that drains the Gulmet glacier.
After crossing the nala we continued to traverse a cultivated
fan, then passed for half a mile across a steep and barren
slope with a fine gorge on our left hand and big cliffs on the
right. We thus reached the next fertile patch, beautifully
situated between old moraines and the hillside. I ascended
to the crest of the old moraine for survey purposes, and
should have enjoyed a superb prospect of Eakipushi had not
the clouds concealed his slopes ; as it was we did have a
fine glimpse of him up the Gulmet glacier valley and again
up the Pisan valley, bat his peak was never clear.
Pisan is a pretty village, walled and fortified about, of
course, but with picturesque terraced fields and a promi-
nently placed four-square ziarat, ou the outside of which
simple geometrical patterns in bright eolonrs were painted
for ornament. We could not fail to notice on all hands
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GILGIT TO TASIIOT. 229
evidsDces of agricultural activity and prosperity. The
paths are good, the fields trim ; there are patches of land
laboriously and recently brought into cultivation ; there are
plenty of young trees carefully planted and tended. The
aijueducts are well kept in order, and new ones abound.
Beside the path are frequent cisterns for the glacier water
to settle and clear itself in ; and there is almost always a
wooden cup on a stick for dipping up the water. The strong
positions and fortified state of the tillages, making the
ordinary native raiding impossible, and thus securing life
[T^X.
and property, are doubtless answerable for this state of
things, but it is highly creditable to the capacity of the
natives for organisation. Undoubtedly much could be done
with these men.
A pleasant walk through the fields of Pisan brought ua to
a strongly built native bridge, which crosses the consider-
able glacier torrent of Minappon. Though the peaks above
were clouded, we yet had sufficient glimpses of them to
perceive that they encircle a glacier basin of much import-
ance. We gathered that the highest crest rises somewhat
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precipifcously from the nev6. The glacier, though diversi-
fied with icefalls, is quite practicable. It has retreated
considerably, like its neighbours, but all of them may now
be advancing.
Tlie village of Minappon resembles its neighbours, ajid
calls for no special remark. Its fields are extended by
skilful irrigation to nearly a mile in width. Beyond them
the path, after crossing a steep uala, traverses another
desert tract. It passes below an old watch-tower, an outpost
of the high-placed village of Miachar, and then descends by
a kind of stairway to the stony niaidan along the side of the
Hunza river (6,580 feet). This was the most fatiguing part
of our march, and lasted for over a mile. It brought us to
a wild region where a nala, descending i&-om the south,
joined the main valley in the centre of a great bend. Here
the ancient Nagyr glacier was for a long time kept back
by a jutting ridge from the north. Vast moraines were
deposited, behind this point, over square miles of country.
The river has now cut a deep gorge for itself, and the cliffs
that overhang it on the Hunza side are of surprising dimen-
sions and steepness — utterly bare of any fragment of vegeta-
tion. Looking off to our left we could see, up the gorge,
the new bridge over which went the road to Hunza. It was
swept away by a flood a few weeks later. Our route led
across the side nala and up its east bank, the ascent being
made by steep zigzags, well laid out. It brought us to the
village of Tashot (6,980 feet), in the public place of which
our tents were already being pitched under a fly-infested,
but otherwise pleasant, cluster of trees.
I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon of surveying
and writing, and had taken refuge in my tent from the flies
to get forward with my work, when I was hastily summoned
to meet the great men of Nagyr who were come down to
see us. There was Secunder Khan of the Kaja family of
Nagyr, whose photograph I saw at Gilgit, and his son and a
Wazir and a lot of followers; with them were, of course, a
crowd of villagers from the surrotmding country, come to
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GILGIT TO ^ASHOT. 231
See the show. Secunder Khan is a young man of easy
manners and bright expression of countenance. He and
the "Wazir appear to be intelUgent, and we found them
interesting and interested. After greetings had been ex-
changed we caused the red carpet to be spread under the
trees, for the best glory we could produce, and seats to be
arranged about it. We discussed their recent visit to India,
praised their country and people (they said they were cattle,
but good cattle), asked about the shooting in their parts,
and tried to get information about the pass to Askole.
They all said they knew nothing of the existence of any
such pass, and had never been farther than Hispar. They
asked to see our guns, and the Eaja showed us a double-
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barrelled express rifle that had been given him at Calcutta,
and with which he was going shikaring. Then we showed
them our climbing apparatus — ice-axes, claws, and the like.
A stylographic pen interested them ; they at once grasped
its structure and working, and Secunder told me how in
Calcutta he had seen a machine with which you could write
by playing with the fingera — a type-writer in fact. They
said that India was very hot, and that they drank ice-
water there all day long. They cannot stand great heat.
Musicians came upon the ground, and the usual drum aud
pipe performance began. Presently the Wazir danced, and
then others followed his example, but without the childish
verve of the Gurais and Astor folk. This performauce
continued for about half an hour, and tben I terminated the
interview.
Zurbriggen aud I wended our way up the steep clelt that
leads direct to Fakkar. We were, of course, accompanied by
some interested natives, who insisted upon carrying the in-
struments for us. When we emerged {7,480 feet) on the hilly
region above, we were astonished at the size of the moraine-
covered area, now almost wholly brought under cultivation.
The crests, of course, are barren, for they cannot be irrigated.
We clambered up one of the highest of these. The ridge
was protected every two or three hundred yards by little
stone forts, and it was crowned with a larger one, built iu
three steps like an old three-decker pulpit. Certainly these
natives are adepts at fortification. I set up the plane-table
on the flat roof of the fort — an admirable situation. Many
natives assembled to watch my doings, and they almost
immediately grasped the idea of what was going on. The
man who carried the plane-table case put back the various
parts in their proper places, taking care to turn the glass
face of the compass inwards for protection. They answered
all my questions intelligently, but they took no interest what-
ever in the snow mountains. The grand row of Himza
peaks were to them so many " Huuza walas," and there was.
not a name to be gathered for any one of them. These
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GILOIT TO TASHOT. 233
peaks were partially enveloped in clouds, but they showed
their glorious sumtuits from time to time. Not bo Raki-
pushi and his comxadea ; they drew their mantles about
them and obstinately hid themselves. Down the valley a
stonn was brewing, so as soon as our work was done we
hastened to retrace oar steps, and returned to camp and a
long evening of work.
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WEST OV8B ^
CHAPTER XI.
TASHOT TO NAGYR.
June ISth.—We left the Tashot camping-ground (6,980 feet)
at six o'clock, with twenty-two coolies ; and at once pro-
ceeded to retrace our steps of the previous afternoon,
mountiug the slope of debris dust and the gully above
it, and traversing the meadows on the large moraine area,
to the fort and village of Fakkar. The paths through
this cultivated area, and all the others like it in the upper
part of the valley, are very good. Often they follow the
gentle gradients of irrigation channels. Generally they
are shut in on either hand by well-built breast-high walls
of undressed stones, cleared from the adjoining fields.
Fakkar is a picturesque village which has overflowed its
walls. The gate is a prominent object, and opens on to
the long, narrow polo-ground, as is customary in these
piirts. Opposite the gate is a wooden luosque, like that
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TASHOT TO NAGYB. 235
at Gulmet, only more ornate and decoratively dilapidated.
Ail about the large cultivated area that surrounds this
village there are cottages built of Btone and mud, single or
in groups, and mostly shaded by mulberry or walnut trees.
The landscape thus acquires a rich and civilised appear-
ance, grateful to an eye wearied with barren rocks and '
sandy valley- bottoms. We carried the plane-table to the
cemetery, which occupies the crown of a hill, useless for
purposes of cultivation. A startling view revealed itself
suddenly before us. The high area upon which we stood
ceased at our feet, and a slope, that was in places a preci-
pice, dropped away to the river gorge some 1,500 feet below.
The gorge could be traced, winding its sinuous way up the
valley. An abrupt mountain rose on the right, whilst afwr
off were cloud-given glimpses of the needle points ol rock
and blades of snow that rise behind Baltit to heights of
some 23,000 feet. Keluctantly turning our backs on this
great prospect — lo ! the white wonder of Eakipushi flash-
ing the sunshine through a veil of mist !
We had to descend steep zigzags and to cross a wide
slope of dust and fine debris, formed by the unusually
complete ^disintegration of the rocks above. It would
appear that the burning heat of the sun is as powerful an
agent in breaking up rocks as any other, alternating, as it
does, with frost and occasional rain. In no part of the Alps
is there anything like the amount of rock ruin, even in pro-
portion to the size of the mountains, that one finds in these
dry districts of the Karakoram. Beyond the barren slope we
reached the fields of Shaiyar {7,370 feet), which occupy a
shelf between the edge of the river gorge and the foot of a
rock precipice. I had fixed the north angle of the fortified
enclosure as my next plane-table station, and fortunately
found an open postern at that point. We crawled in
through it and entered the deserted village, for all the folk
were awaiting our arrival at the gate. We climbed a log-
ladder to the roof of one house, and thence to that of
another, which occupied the chosen angle. I seized the
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chance to investigate the domestic architecture of Nagyr.
The whole place is built of undressed stones and pebbles
imbedded in mud. Crude bricks are rarely employed. The
roofs are flat and formed of thin branches, laid across beams
and covered with mud. Most houses seem to consist of
but a single room, shaped as the site may dictate. The
front door is as often as not a square hole in the roof ! A few
of the best houses have an open chamber or gallery, built of
dressed wood and with some attempt at picturesque effect.
It was not long before the natives found us oat. When
our work was finished they suggested that the best way
out was back by the postern, but I preferred to walk right
through the place, and they accordingly led me on. The
main street is never more than a yard wide, and neither
straight nor level for two consecutive yards. It goes up
steps and down slides. It is here and there roofed over by
houses built across it. Small public latrines stand beside
it. I gathered that there are no sanitary inspectors. Just
within the gate the street opens out somewhat, and there is
a small public divan. Outside are stone benches, a polo-
ground of the usual long, narrow form, and a dilapidated
wooden mosque, built, like the village, on roches moutonnees.
From Shaiyar it is a mile to Askordas {7,310 feet), and a
short distance beyond comes a mass of old moraine. All this
part of the way lies through fields, and is a charming walk.
The path is never straight ; it meanders about as the con-
figuration of levels and fields dictates. The foreground ot
the view constantly changes, and is always picturesque.
The edges of the fields on the slope side are supported by
dry-stone walls, skilfully put together. There are plenteous
trees. Water flows along tiny channels on all hands, and
the fields are divided by low ridges into yard-square patches
for the distribution of the irrigating flood. The crops,
when we passed, were growing strongly and green.
Wherever corn could not he cultivated, there were fine
fields or slopes of fodder. Every now and again there was
an undershot watei-niill, of simple constniction.
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TAi^HOT TO NAGYR. 237
A stray cottage or two under a clump of mulberry trees
and a fortified village every mile enlivened the way with
interest and charm. About a mile beyond the moraine
station we quitted the path and mounted to a more com-
manding position on the slope above, juat at the edge of the
deep Samaiyar nala, which we ascended a few days later.
Various valleys radiated from this point. Near us was
the junction of the Gujal and Nagyr valleys, and we
could look up both of them. Across the river were the
fields of Hunza itself, and the great mound of houses of
Baltit,* the capital, with the oblong mass of the Thum's
palace crowning the pile. But the superb feature of the
view was the Boiohagurdoanas moimtain, about the head
of the short XJltar valley that debouches through a narrow
gorge close behind Baltit. There were many clouds on the
peaks, but enough was visible to give a good idea of the
whole. The mountain is buttressed by sharp aiguilles, after
the manner of Mont Blanc, but there is no snow dome above
them. Every ridge is serrated and every face precipitous.
One tooth, named Bubuli Mutin, is bo remarkable that it
hag attracted the attention of every traveller who has
passed this way. It is like the Pic Sans Nom between the
Aiguille du Dru and the Aiguille Verte, only vastly larger.
Though a heavy fall of snow had recently taken place,
scarcely a speck clung on any of its visible flanks In all
this extraordinary cirque of mountains the snow descends
in avalanches from stage to stage, and forms overhanging
glaciers on the shelves. These finally drain into a single
narrow cataract of ice, wedged in a deep gully, which one
can only see into for a short distance. It is not till near
the foot of this gully that the steepness of the slope
* The legend runa that a Thum of Hunza once wanted to inarry the
daughter of the Baja of Baltistan. The Raja eent an embaeay to see
Hunza, and they reported that the houses were badly built and the place
wae not fit for a Baiti lady. So a number of Baltis were sent to Hunza
to build the Thum's palace and lay out the town, which was called
Baltit, after them. The tradition that the men of Samaiyar are of Balti
descent appears to he connected with this atory.
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238 JVNE 13.
leBBens and the Ultar glacier has leisure to form a black
snout, which Comes to an end about 1,000 feet above the
town of Baltit.
After croBsing the Samaiyar stream, and mounting the
opposite bank of the nala, we walked through fields for
another three-quarters of a mile and entered a desert area.
On the opposite side of the deep-lying Nagyr river wa^
the tongue of land separating it from the Gojal valley.
The depressed extremity of this tongue is encumbered with
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TASHOT TO NAGYB. 239
ancient moraines, deposited by the glaciers which came
down the two valleys and united at this point." The united
glacier halted for a long time at Fakkar, and left the great
moraines there. When it retreated the valley between
Samaiyar and Fakkar may for a time have been a lake basin
till the Fakkar barrier was cut through by the Tashot
gorge. The lake basin is
now filled to a great depth
by mud-avalanche debris
on both sides of the alluvial
gorge in which the Hnnza
river flows, and the large
surface of the debris,
largest on the Hunza side,
forms the most consider-
able and the best cultivated
fertile area we had seen
since quitting the vale of
Kashmir. The husbani
and irrigation are admira
and seem almost incapable
improvement. Every inch
space is turned to accon
The fields are surrounded t
supported by excellent wa
imd even closed by nea
platted wattle gates. If
people of this valley w
dreaded and succesBful r
bers abroad, at home tL^^
were evidently capable of
inventing and maintaining
through a long series of centnries an efficient communal
organisation.
We reluctantly left the pleasant region behind, and
plunged into the bare and desolate wilderness with which
the Nagyr valley opens. Kxcept for the view behind us,
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there was little to delij,'lit fclie eye — bare rock-slopes on
the one side and th'hris shdes on the other — save at one
point where a thousand-foot cliS, in places overhanging,
rises immediately above the path. Tired and faint we
watched the distance diminishing that separated us from
the large oasis by Nagyr town. We had been nine hours
marching and surveying without a morsel of food, and
our senses were dulled. The moments passed like hours,
and the heat was blistering. At last we trod on watered
soil again, and the town was close at hand. It is built
on the west end of the crest of an enormous ancient
moraine, which marks a long halting-place of the united
HoparandHis-
par glaciers,
after they had
separated from
the Gujal ice-
stream. The
Nagyr river
flows in a deep
gorge on the
north side of
the moraine,
HAavB POOL FBOU TBB POLO-aROUND whUst SOUth of
it a high nar-
row valley is caught between the moraine and the hill-
side. In this valley is the lake and polo-gi'onnd of Nagyr,
which we presently came to know so well. The gate of
the town is at the foot of the moraine beside the lake.
The earth-built houses rise in irregular tiers, and the
Thum's palace is on the top, overlooking all, just like the
palace of Baltit, the situation of which, however, far sur-
passes that of the capital of the rival state.
A number of natives were gathered about the gate, awiiit-
iug our arrival. They greeted us cordially, and led us along
the side of the town between the wall and the lake. " Arc
the tents near?" I asked. "Oh, no, they are not near.
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TASHOT TO NAGYB. ail
They are here ! " The lake was pretty, but rauk with
weeds. I inwardly miirmured " mosquitoes," and in due
time they put in an appearance. At tlie end of the lake the
old Wazir Nadlu and the relations of the crippled Thum were
gathered to meet us. They conducted us to the tents,
pitched beside the polo ground (7,790 feet) on the platform
whence the Thum watches the game. Not being in a mood
for interviewing, I sent every one away till our hunger
was satisfied ; but at fiVe o'clock the crowd returned,
headed by Nadlu. He was an aged man, in appearance
almost infinitely old. He was little better dressed than the
ordinary zemindars, but he had excellent manners, and was
treated by the others with an easy respect. I questioned
them about routes out of the Hispar valley — old passes to
Yarkand and Baltistan. Of the Yarkand route they
acknowledged some dim traditions, but knew nothing
definite about it. They knew nothing of the Hispar pass,
but the Nushik La they had all heard of — the Aruudo road,
they called it. It was frequently crossed in former days,
they said, and some of them had been over it, but of late
years it had become impossible. They pretended never to
have heard of Askole.
I sent them away after an hour's talk, and the promise of
much bakshish to the coolies who should accompany me
to Baltistan ; we then settled down to a second dinner.
"What kind of Mussulmans," I asked Habiba, "are the
people here?" "They are Shiahs." "And what are the
Hunzas ? " " They are Maulais.* I am Sunni. The Nagyr
folk are a low lot. Only think ! they will drink out of your
glass, but not out of mine ! They don't send me proper
rations, because they are Shiahs. They are low folk,
beasts ! "
After sunset we wandered up the polo-ground, and watched
the cold western light coming over the distant ridges and
cutting out the poplars and chinars in black silhouette. It
was a still and beautiful evening, but the roof of the sky was
* See Biddulph'B " Tribes of the Hindu Kush," p. 1 19.
17
Digilizod by Google
242 JUNE 14, 15.
heavy with cloud, aud the weather in all respects contrarj
to our needs. As we returned to camp and considered in
how glorious a place we were, we could not find it in our
hearts to complain because some days might elapse before
it would be possible to start on the more adventurous stage
of our journey.
Jvne 14th, 15tk. — Two busy aud pleasant days were spent
at Nagyr. Most of the time was devoted to talking with
the natives and cross-examining them on various matters. I
set down the infonnation they gave me without comment.
It is in some points at variance with statements in Bid-
dulph's " Tribes of the Hindu Kush," and the probability
of correctness is on Biddulph's side. I picked up but
little of the local language, and had to communicate with
the people for the most part through the medium of an
interpreter. I used to sit for hours on a camp stool at the
door of ray tent under the shady chinar trees, surrounded
by a picturesque group of villagers, all intently watching me-
At first they would stand about respectfully. By degrees
abandoning their shyness they would come nearer and squat
on the ground in all manner of easy attitudes, grouping
themselves together into the most delightful compositions.
The Thum's Munshi, who was specially attached to us, was
always to the fore ; and he and one or other of the Wazirs
did most of the talking, only now and again appealing to the
crowd for some fact or for confirmation of their story. The
Muushi generally knelt in the attitude of the Scribe of
Gizeh, to whom he in other respects bore a considerable
resemblance. He had the same humble way with him, and
the same mild and expectant countenance. The boys and
youths of tlie Thum's family meanwhile pervaded the camp.
Each of them had his particular followiug of ragamuffins,
and kept his court with them. They were inquisitive to the
last degree, and were always asking for this and that to be
given to them.
They called their language (hash) Yeshkun, and did not
know of it as Burishki. I made them tell me a number of
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TASHOT TO mCrYR. 243
common words,* likely to be useful, but found most of them
afterwards, when I got down to India, in Biddulph. I also
learned from them the names and relationships of all the
members of the Thum's family, but they would not be likely
to interest the reader, and all these facts are duly recorded
elsewhere. They told me that the people of Nagyr, the
Nagyri, are about half and half Yeshkun and Shiua, whilst
the Hunza folk (Hanzakuts, they called them) are chiefly
Yeshkun, with but few Shinas amongst thera. They said
their castes, in Nagyr, were five — the Raja folk, the Yesh-
kuns, Shinas, Berichu (or Dom), and Shoti. The Beriohu
are pipers and drummers, the Shoti leather- workers ;
both being regarded as very low folk. There are no Shoti
in Hunza. In their opinion the Shinas were in the
country flrst, and the Yeshkuns came in upon them from
Wakhau. The group of three villages called Samaiyar is
inhabited by people of the Balti race, immigrants who came
over the mountains long ago ; they now talk only Yeshkun
like the rest. The Raja families of Hunza, Nagyr, Gilgit,
and Baltistan are all allied and of the same heavenly race.
They are descended, so they said, from one Iskander (Alex-
ander the Great), who was a great Raja of Iran, but that was
long ago— perhaps five hundred years ago. Who can re-
member so far back as that and be certain ? The winters
at Nagyr are e«ld, very cold. All the people, who now were
scattered over the alps, come into the town for winter, and
then the place is full of men. The snow lies on the ground
and about the houses for four months, but at Hunza it
hardly lies at all, for Hunza is much warmer and gets
more sim. We fell to discussing the various routes from
Gujiil to Yarkand, but that country does not come within
* They gave me the following, which are not included in Biddulph's
vocabulary : Alp, rung. Avalanche, sliel. Boots, 7iuiiissa. Bread, chajiik.
Canal, (jotstl. Csip, parziii. Chinar, bit<:k. Cloud, Itaralt. Couloir, hark.
Glacier, gama. Grey, guro. Leaf, tap. Mist, lish. Mountains, Msh.
Poplar, burpir. Quickly, tsor. Eope-bridge, yal. Sheep, knrelo. Shoes,
huchu. Snow, gye. Tent (or house), hah. To-day, kiiltu. Villager,
giramkiits.
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S44 JVNP, 14, 15.
the purview of the present volume. " Now," they said,
" we are going down to get food" (chamini amanum chajiik
chitravi nichum).
In the afternoon of the first day I went out for a stroll,
r TO KAOVB CBMBTBKY.
and climbed the steep face of the moraine above the polo-
ground, and so c-anie out on tlje open space east of the
town. It is riddled and biurowed into with graves of all
ages. The ends, sides, or roofs of many of them are fallen
Digilizod by Google
TASHOT TO NAGYB. 245
in, and bones protruded constantly. I noted down two such
open graves in what seemed to be the oldest part of the
burial-ground ; there were skulls in them. Two of these
skulls arrived safely in England, and are now in the
museum at Cambridge.
The view from the burial-gronnd is striking. Precipitous
slopes, cut out into earth-pyramids and blades, lead down to
the river below. A rocky mountain, bare of vegetation and
broken into precipices, rises on the opposite side to the crest
far overhead. Turning one's back on the quaintly straggling
houses of the town, the polo-ground and lake are below on
one's right, and a broad green hill-slope rises beyond them.
But for us all the interest lay ahead, where the valleys
divide towards the unknown complex of mountains whose
recesses we were going so soon to penetrate. One great
peak stood out prominently amongst them. The natives
called it Ghenish Chish, or the Golden Parri. We looked
along the strike of the strata towards it, and saw the
vertically tilted layers ot rock cutting straight into it
like steel blades, whilst their continuation behind us
towards the west cut similarly into the Budlas peaks.
We wandered down to the polo-groimd valley, and
along it eastwards for a mile or so, passing through fertile
fields and by a succession of prosperous-looking villages.
Narrow canals, full of babbling water, were always near
at hand, cleverly contrived about the uneven ground, some-
times curving round humps of earth, sometimes carried on
well-built embankments across some irregular valley or
depression. We came out at the village of Birkat, which
stands on the edge of the moraine and overlooks the deep
hollow where once the Hispar and Hopar glaciers joined.
The view was already familiar to me from an excellent
photograph taken by Colonel Durand.* A more unusual
* An engraving of this photograph ^as published in the Geographical
Journal for February, 1893 (p. 133), where it was misnamed " Foot ot the
Hispar Glacier." It shows the Hispar valley on the left, the Hopar valley,
glacier, and Golden Parri on the right, and the end of the Bash ridge be-
tween the two. The great ruined moraines are seen in the middle distance.
Digilizod by Google
246 JUNE 14, 15.
prospect it would be difficult to imagine. It was not the
bare mountains and valleys behind that attracted our
attention, but the beds of the retreated glaciers at our feet
and the vast ruined moraines they have left behind them.
These stand up so bare and steep, with faces such as the ice
might only the other day have shrank away from. When-
ever the glaciers began to retire they must have shrunk
with continuous rapidity, for these are no minor moraines
such as would be formed at stages of arrested shrinking.
When we reached Hopar we found this judgment con-
firmed.
The following morning {15th) was again dull, with clouds
upon the peaks. I wandered forth, with McCormick, Roude-
bush, and tlie plane-table, to the shoulder of the ridge over-
looking Samaiyar. We went by a path that leads through
the village of Hamari and then up to Gortkushal. We lay
about for some time on a pleasant alp, watching the clouds
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TASHOT TO NAGYlt. _ 247
change and wave about the wondrous peaks of Boiohaf^nr-
doanas. In the afternoon we were again visited by the
young Raja folk, a pestilent crew, who came begging for
old boots, revolvers, and everything they could see. The
children had round faces, with pointed chins hung on below
them, very Diireresque. The Thum's wife sent us eggs, red
pepper, and roses — a curious group of presents. We responded
with cakes of chocolate.
The weather being continually unpropitious we determined
to visit Baltit, and, if better conditions aro.^e, to attempt
thence the ascent of Boioliagurdoanas, which offered a
promising arete. The evening was accordingly devoted to
packing and otlier needful arrangements. A deluge of rain
fell during the night.
HUNSRI SBKB AHaXD,
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CHAPTER XII.
NAGYH TO BALTIT AND SAMAIYAR.
June 16tJi. — When the rain censed in the early morning
we started away from Nagyr with a dozen coolies, leaving
Parliir and Anjar Sing to look after the rest of the baggage,
lioiidebuflh preferred to go round by way of Tashot and the
wooden bridf,'e. He accomplislied his long walk in seven
hours (he was far the best of us on the flat), and arrived at
Baltit only three hours after us. We went down a steep
path, and in half an hour reached the rope-hridge (7,090
feet), which communicates with the barren right bank of the
Nagyr river. The bridge was taut and in good condition, but
the water, rushing swiftly beneath, turned me so dizzy that I
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NAGYR TO BALTIT AND SAMAITAR. 249
hardly reached the other side. McCormick, the yachtsman,
simply waltzed over. A very rough track now led, aoross
slopes and gullies much swept by falling stones, to the
united bands of ancient moraine which overlook the junction
of the Gujal and Nagyr rivers. We reiiched the point of
the peninsula in about an hour from the bridge. It com-
mands an admirable view of the Hunza-Nagyr valley, and
of numerous distant peaks and radiating nalas, but unfor-
tunately the clouds were low on the hills, and no summits
could be seen.
After a long halt we ran down a steep slope, and scrambled
across some rocks to the second rope-bridge, which is carried
over the broader and swifter Gujal river. It was a new
bridge, but I hated the sight of it, after my recent experi-
ence, for it hangs high above the water, dips in a deep
catenary, and is very long. Its supports are two cliffs. It
had no cross-ties to keep the side-ropes apart, so that one
had to push them asuoder to force one's away along. I put
on the rope, as for a snow-bridge, gave Zurbriggen one end
of it, and so got over well enough. On the far side there
was a little rook scramble down to a level place by the river-
side, whence a path mounted up the face of the gorge's
alluvial cliflf and brought us almost immediately under the
walls of Ganish. They are like the walls of Constantinople
on a small scale, but with towers, relatively closer together,
grouping picturesquely in the landscape. We passed round
the village and came to a pond before the gate. It was
shaded by willows and a fine chinar, and backed by a group
of small wooden mosques and ziarats with much carved
decoration, admirably eSective. I passed through the gate
and found, immediately within it, as usual in these villages,
a portico of decorated wooden columns. The natives
received us with pleasant salutations.
The path that leads up towards Baltit is bordered on
either aide by a wall of dry cyclopean masonry, the un-
dressed component parts of which are very large and excel-
lently fitted together, Where the slope steepens these
Digilizod by Google
walls are placed further apart, and short zigzags are built
up between them — a monumental piece of simple engineer-
ing. We walked slowly, for there was much to look at, the
cultivation being everywhere admirable, and each step
disclosing some new detail of beauty or interest. The
whole of this side of the debris-Siled floor of the valley,
between the cliflfe and the edge of the river's gor:ge, is
covered with terraced fields. They are terraced because
they must be flat in order that the irrigating water may lie
on them. The downward edge of each terrace must be
supported by a strong stone wall, and every one of these
walls is of Cyclopean work like those just described. The
cultivated area of the oasis is some five square miles in
extent. When it is remembered that the individual fields
average often as many as twenty to au acre, it will
be seen what a stupendous mass of work was involved in
the building of these walls, and the collection of earth to
fill them. The walls have every appearance of great
antiquity, and alone sufiice to prove the long existence in
this remote valley of an organised and industrious com-
munity. People who have been thus educated by nature
are assuredly capable of a higher development under the
happier conditions, now introduced amongst them. Philan-
thropic persons might start a school in Hunza with every
chance of good results.
To build these fields was the smaller part of the difficul-
ties that husbandmen had to face in Hunza. The fields
had also to be irrigated. For this purpose there was but
one perennial supply of water — the torrent from the Ultar
glacier. The snout of that glacier, as has been stated, lies
deep in a rock-bound gorge, whose sides are, for a space,
perpendicular cliffs. The torrent had to be tapped, and a
canal, of sufficient volume to irrigate so large an area, had
to be carried across the face of one of these precipices.
The Alps contain ]no Wasscrldtung which for volume and
boldness of position can be compared to the Hunza canal. It
is a wonderftil work for such tooUess people as the Huuzakuts
DigtodbyGOOgle-
NAGYR TO BALTIT AND SAMAIYAR. 251
to have accomplished, and it must have been done many
centuries ago, and maintained ever since, for it is the hfe's
blood of the valley. It excited Zurbriggen's warmest
admiration.
Still more difficult for a serai-civilised people must have
been the elaboration and enforcement of the laws regulating
the distribution of the water over the land. They were a
necessity of the situation, and the
existence of the fields proves that
such laws were evolved and main-
tained. Hunza must have been
civilised by its canal as ancient
Egypt was civilised by the Nile.
A strong central power, wielded
of course by a single hand, was
the inevitable result. The Thums
of Hunza were powerful despots,
and the stories about bad Thums
show them to have been dreadful
tyrants. Internal order was, how-
ever, on the whole, maintained,
for whoever held the head waters
of the canal could instantly com-
pel the submission of the folk.
The country was therefore well
cultivated , and population in-
creased to tLe extreme limits ,
which the land could support. The ""* "~" 1m^.
smallest shrinkage in the food
supply brought on famine, and then the only resource
of the people was war for the sake of plunder. Hence
the Hunzakuts were forced to become a robber tribe. Their
very virtues compelled them to it. They occupied an im-
pregnable valley which commanded all manner of passes.
They could descend upon Gilgit ; they had access to the
Taghdumbash Pamir ; they could get over the Shimshal
and cut into the caravan route from India to Yarkand,
Digilizcd by Google
The Nagyri, on the other hand, were more firmly enclosed
by snowy ranges. The pinch of hunger had to be tight
upon them before they were driven to face the perils of the
Hispar or Nushik passes, or the still longer and more
dangerous passages that may have admitted them into the
Yarkand basin. Thus the Hunzakuts became more experi-
enced warriors than the Nagyri, and still believe themselves
to be superior to them.*
Now that the British Government is responsible for the
weli-beiag of these peoples, and that their raiding is put an
end to, a problem has been created which it may not be
easy to solve. The population of the valley will increase to
starvation point, and some outlet will have to be found for
the surplus folk. Onr engineers are already helping the
people to dig more canals, and so to irrigate new areas of
desert, and make them fertile. If this process is carried
forward, not only in Hunza-Nagyr, but in all the neigh-
bouring valleys, a large population will ultimately fill this
region, and the whole face of the country will be changed.
New industries will arise ; the mineral resources of the
mountains will be developed; and who knows what will be
the ultimate outcome?
Three-quarters of an hour above Ganish we met a Kashmiri
sentry, and came upon a pleasant grassy slope, broken into
level patches. It was the camping-ground {7,940 feet) of
the English officers. We were kindly received by Captain
L. Bradshaw and Lieut. J. McD. Baird. They were pre-
sently joined by Lieut. P. H. Taylor, who came in from
Gujal. They entertained us with the utmost hospitality in
the rough stone hut they caused to be built for their mess.
We did not know at the time how little a propos was our
coming. They shared their last pipes of tobacco with
us, and their dwindling supplies of sugar, salt, jam, and
things in tins, and never let us suspect the low ebb to which
'' In the year 1893, when Bruce was stationed on duty in these parts,
he organised some sports for the Hunzakuts and Nagyri. All the events
were won by Hun^a men,
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NAGYR TO SALTIT AlfD SAMAiyAB. 25^
their luxuries and even their necessaries were reduced. It
was only after we left that we accidentally came in posses-
sion of the facts. This kind of hospitality in remote regions
is the sort of thing one remembers.
If there was little to eat in Hunza there was plenty to
look at, and the view from the camping-groimd was superb.
Close behind us rose Baltit, piled on a moraine mound, with
the castle on the top and the deep glacier nala behind it,
leading up to giddy peaks. Before us opened the Samaiyar
valley with its great glacier descending from the Bagrot
pass that wu vainly endeavoured to reach from the south
a month before. The Crown of Dirran rose splendidly to
the left of it, and formed the constant object of our praise.
To our left wp could look up the bare Gujal valley, and see
it bending round and passing away into the wild regions of
the north ; whilst to our right the Hunza valley, with its
fertile floor, led the eye to the mighty wall, which culmi-
nates in Rakipushi towering over all the land. The hours
that I spent at Baltit were chiefly devoted to these won
derful prospects. They impressed themselves on the memory
with indelible force.
June 17th and IStk. — These were two days of hopelessly
bad weather. Bain fell from time to time. Clouds en-
veloped the mountains, and new snow spread itself deeply
over them. There was nothing for a mountaineer to set
his foot to. Now and then there were temporary and
picturesque clearances, but they never lasted for more than
a brief interval. I spent much of my time questioning
the Wazir Humayon Beg, who came with the Raja
Mohammad Nazim Khan to see us. He talked Persian,
and Baird kindly acted as interpreter. We started on
the castes and clans of the valley, how many they were,
and what were their names.
" They are first Aiesho," replied Humayon Beg, " that is
the Raja family ; next Tarao, that is the family of the
Wazirs, my family ; then come Gulwal and Melua. These
four are only in Hunza. After them there are, in Gujal,
Digilizod by Google
Budule at Gulmet, Eafizkator (kator means clan in the
Wakhan language) at Gircha, Kulikator at Pasu and Golken,
and Burikator also at Gulmet. Most of the people are
Yeshkans, but there are Shinas, especially at Hini, opposite
Gulmet in Nagyr. There are also Berichu as in KagjT."
" Are not the Raja-folk of Nagyr also Aiesho ? "
" No ! they Moghloto, but Moghloto and Aiesho descended
from the same father and mother, and so did the Raja
families of Gilgit and Baltistan,"
We then embarked on a genealogical discussion, and
the Wazir rained fortli names and generations, marriages
and murders, till I became utterly at sea. The whole
iinestion of the genealogies of these Rajas has, however,
been gone into by Biddiilpli, and need not be repeated
here. Passing to the question of language, Humayon Beg
affirmed that they called their tongue Yeshkun. " There
were some later immigrants whose language was Tarmanuno,
and even now in Aliabad and Hyderabad there are about
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NAGYB TO BALTIT AND SAMAITAB. 265
twenty people who still speak Tarmanum. They came
from Badakhshaa and Wakhaa. To this day the people of
Giijal intermarry with Wakhan and Sariko!." Of course
we discussed the question of passes at much length, but the
country through which they lead is outside the range of the
present work and its maps.
"What do you know about sorcerers in this valley?"
I asked.
" There used to be sorcerers, but that wa3 long ago. I
will tell you about one. You must know that Aiesho was
the daughter of Maiuri Thum.* She had four sons — Bukha,
Shab, Noni, and Lali, who governed different parts of
Hunza. They had numbers of children, but all of them
were murdered by Kisro Khan, who made himself Thum.
'■^' Biddulph says she was daughter of Girkia, first Thum of Htinza, the
tfon, with Moghlot, of Muivni Khan.
Digilizod by Google
256 JUNE 16.
One womau, the wife of one of these descendants, aloue
escaped. She was the wife of Dashman Khorduk, who was
my ancestor. She was pregnant. She escaped across the
river to Satnaiyar, and the Samaiyar people took care of her
and gave her food. Her child was bom in Samaiyar. After
the maseacre the valley became barren. Seeds brought
forth no fruit for three years. Now a sorceress named
Shungukor, a Hunza woman, exercised her spells over
Kisro. Colonel Duraiid knows that there were sorceresses
in Bagrot ; ask him and he will tell you."
" At Bagrot," I said, '* they told me stories about people
who dwelt with the fairies in the mountains, but I heard
nothing about sorceresses."
" Well, there is a tradition in my family that this par-
ticular sorcerer (here he changed her sex) was, in his youth,
carried off from his mother by the mountain fairies, and
that be stayed four years up in the snow with them, and
learnt his witchcraft from them. He afterwards remained
one year in Hunza. Kisro asked him why the country had
become barren. He replied, ' Because you have destroyed
the offspring of Shah Thum. Prosperity will not return till
one of his descendants is brought to light. I cau tell you
no more. Search, it perchance you may find a child, for
there is one somewhere alive.' So a search was instituted
throughout all the Hunza villages, but no royal infant coidd
anywhere be discovered. Then they sent across to Samai-
yar, and asked the people of Samaiyar, ' Have you a child
of the family of Shah Thum ? ' And the people of Samaiyar
answered, ' If we give you the child you seek, will you swear
to us that it shall not be killed by Kisro Khan ? ' So they
swore to the men of Samaiyar. Then the men of Samaiyar
said, ' Through us your country will be made fertile again.
As a token, therefore, of your good feith you must promise to
give us a carpet every year as tribute ; ' and they promised,
and yearly the carpet is sent across from us to Samaiyar.
One was sent only the day before yesterday, and another
will be sent next year."
Digilizod by Google
NAGYR TO BALTIT AND SAMAIYAB. 26?
" Was the child made Thum ? " I asked.
" No, not Thum. Kisro Khan remained Thum, but
when the child came of age be made a bargam with Kisro
Khan that Kisro Khan and his descendants should be
Thums, and that he and his descendants should be Wazirs,
and that is how I am Wazir. How many generations ago
that happened I don't know. A great many generations —
past reckoning."
"Buttellus the end of the story about the child's coming."
IN THE MKss-HUT AT BALTIT. a handful of grain
and scattered it
over the country, and plenty returned at once. So it has
ever since been the custom for the Wazir, every year, to
cast the first handful of seed at the time of seed-sowing."
"After the war," said Baird, "all the bouses were
messed about with flour. What was the meaning of that ? "
" It is a custom derived from tlie same sorcerer. He told
Kisro Khan that, if he desired to maintain plenty in the
land, he should cause his people to do thus : when any
one returned home from a journey his house-folk should
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258 JUNE IS.
dip their Lands in flour and scatter it on the traveller's
head and on his right shoulder, and on the walls and door-
posts of the house ; and they should also make bread of
the flour in which hands had been dipped, and put a lump
of ghi upon the bread and offer it to the traveller, and he
should eat it, and only then should he enter the house.
This must have been what you saw, because after the war
there were so many returning to their homes." *
" You spoke about the sorcerer and the fairies," I said,
" have any of you ever seen the mountain fairies ? "
" Oh, no ! There are no mountain fairies now; they are
only in the old stories. We don't believe in them nowa-
days."
" Now, I want you to tell me about your mountains.
Have any of them been climbed by your people, and have
any of them names ? "
" That point up there is called Barshu Muts. A man
is said to have gone to the top of it. He was hunting, and
he came near the top and so cUmbed to it. He went up it
hrom the other side, not from this side. Such is the story.
The man Hved in the time of this Thum's grandfather.
That very sharp peak next to the right of Barshu Muts is
called Bubuli Mutin, No man will ever stand on the top
of it, I think. The great mountain above here — all the
snow — is called Boiohagurdoanas. The name means ' figure
of a galloping horse.' Why is it called that ? I suppose
because God only could gallop a horse up it."
" Have you anywhere about here any old stone figures,
or carvings on rocks, or any ancient ruins firom the days
before Islam came here ? " ■•
" No ; Kisro Khan, who was the first Mussulman Thuin,
destroyed all idols and such rubbish. The old idols were
lingams of stone, like those the Hindus have. You must
* As to supposed influence of chiefa on the weather and crops, aee J. G.
Frazer's " Golden Bough," vol. i. chap, i, 5 3, and chap. iii. 5 1. As to
cuBtoms connected with the return of travellers to their homes, see the
same book, vol. i. p. 157.
Digilizod by Google
NA07B TO BALTIT AND SAMAIYAE. 259
have seen the little old tower near Nilt. That is very old.
About it we know nothing. There are no others like it in
our country."
In the afternoon, after this conversation, there was a
great game of polo on the ground at the immediate foot of
the town. All the natives came to watch it, and every one
played who could get a pony. The Chinese Envoy from
Kashgar went on to Gilgit the day before our coming,
but some of his followers remained at Baltit and added to
the picturesqueness of the crowd by their bright costumes.
There was much drumming and blowing of pipes and a
great deal of applause for the players. After watching the
game for a time, I wandered off through the deserted fields,
and marked the evolutions of the clouds upon the hills and
their shadows over the slopes and floor of the wonderful valley.
June 19tk. — We could not remain indefinitely, even at
pleasant Baltit, waiting for propitious skies. Boiohagur-
doanas is a difficult mountain, and it clearly would not
soon be in any sort of condition for climbing. We accord-
ingly determined to make an expedition up the Samaiyar
valley and see if anything could be done there. When the
morning broke, such heavy and seemingly settled rain was
falling, that we contentedly turned over and went to sleep
again. After breakfast the rain stopped and we were soon
upon our way. I was anxious to see the whole of the
Hunza side of the valley, so decided to go round by Tashot.
McCormick and Koudebush came to keep me company. The
others convoyed the baggage over the rope-bridges by the
shorter route. For the first part of the way I rode one of
the Ttum's ponies. Riding at the slow pace of a native
pony is better for looking about than walking, but it mili-
tates against collecting. The saddle of my beast was an
importation from Yarkand, and was of the usual peaked,
oriental type.
The horsemen of Asia seem to have developed in very
ancient times their method of riding on a high saddle
with short stirrups and with a curb bit. Early European
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riders adopted a different principle. They were essentially
bare-back riders, such as one sees depicted on the Par-
thenon frieze. The European saddle was a mere cloth to
protect the horse's back, and by no means a seat to raise
the rider. The snaffle is the European bit. Low saddle
and snaffle versus high saddle and curb — such were the
principles opposed to one another in the battles of the
Crusades. It was the high saddle that won. The high
saddle and a superior method of breaking-in horses were
the power that carried Islam across Africa to Spain, and
ultimately across Asia Minor to Constantinople. Wherever
Islam went the high saddle was adopted. It became the
saddle of Spain and Portugal, and was taken by Iberian
adventurers to the New World, where, as the Mexican
saddle, it has maintained itself. Boberts had an admirable
Mexican saddle which he lent to me whilst I was with him.
Thus at Gilgit, perhaps for the first time, the form of
saddle that started from Asia came home again, modified
and improved, after its wanderings half way round the
world during a score of centuries.'
Shortly after leaving the camp-meadow we struck into
an admirable broad flat path, that followed the windings of
a main artery of the irrigation system. The water flowed
along in considerable volimie on our right hand. Canal and
path were shaded by willows, apricots, and mulberries, vrith
here and there a poplar lancing itself aloft. Now and
again some huge boulder woTild intrude into the varying
picture and cause a sudden diversion in the always winding
course of the canal. At many a turn I was reminded of
the well-known path beside the canal that leads to Valle
Crucis. "Oh, Inn of Llangollen," I murmured, "would
that our way might be leading us to a board as well
furnished as thine ! "
'^- These reflections were suggested to ine by the torn fragmeut of a book
I picked up in a hotel at Athens some years ago. All the first part of the
book was gone, and eo was the end. I know therefore neither its name
nor that of its author.
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NAOTB TO BALTIT AND SAMAIYAB. 261
No view, however, that fair Llangollen can boast
compares for a moment with the choice landscape — one of
the world's choicest — ^that now arose before ns or was
revealed, bit by bit, between the bending trees. The wide
Hunza-Nagyr valley with its terraced fields, dressed in
fresh green by the recent rain and brightened by the newly-
opening sunshine, spread itself abroad between the brown
basements of the hills. Fascinating glimpses of snowy
giants opened amongst the fleecy clonds. Away to the
left we looked up the Samaiyar valley that was our goal,
and could study the wide icefall by which the great
mountains at its head pour down their perennially renewed
deposit of snow.
After passing through much well-cultivated land, and
near the walls of several villages, we approached the edge
of the Choshi nala, into whose depths we must descend to
cross the stream and mount the further bank. Here we
met Bruce, recovered from his fever at Gilgit, and on
hie way to Baltit to join us. We advised him, as he was
still weak, to continue his journey and come over to us
by the rope-bridges after a night's rest. We halted for
an hour to exchange newB and then parted in opposite
directions.
Beyond the Choshi nala there Is still a little cultivation
in suitable places amongst the ancient moraines collected
on the valley shelf. Three or four villages support a pre-
carious existence in this rock-bound region, where the
mountain walls approach. We soon passed them and
entered the desert. On our left, across the river, was
the precipice, above which we knew, but could not see,
that fertile Fakkar stands. .On our right were bare slopes
of rock and debris, becoming steeper as we advanced. We
plunged down to the river's brink, by a very bad path,
and entered a wild gorge — one of the wildest and barest I
ever saw. Where its walls are most high, and its waters
rage most fiercely, it was spanned by what appeared to be
a bridge of great strength, built by a native engineer with
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maBomy and wood. The bridge was entirely swept away a
month later.
We blessed the guard at the bridge for the fresh water
they gave us to drink. On the far side we mounted to
THB FEATHERS OF HUNZA FBOH THE HIIJ. BRBIin) NAQTB.
the village green of Tashot by the route we followed a
few days before. The Kashmiri Major Makkan came to
meet us and offered us excellent chapattis, with a kind ot
salad and some tea and ripe mulberries — a repast for which
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NAGTB TO BALTIT AND SAMAIYAR. 263
we thankfully remember him. The ascent to Fakkar pre-
sented no feature of novelty, but Rakipushi in one direction
and the Hunza peaks in the other, with their bridal cover-
ings of fresh snow, were displayed by clouds and sun in
unusual glory, and alone sufficed to repay us for our detour.
During the rest of the march there was always some great
mountain in view, so that we did not become weary of the
way, nor deem the journey over long, though twilight was
almost departing before we reached Samaiyar (7,350 feet),
and beheld our camp pitched and the camp-fires gaily
burning.
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CHAPTER XIII.
THE SAMAIYAR VALLEY.
June 20t7i. — At last v,-e awoke to a glorious morning — peaks
clear, sky bright, air crisp. For an hour we flattered our-
selves that our luck had turned, though Roudebush was
taken suddenly ill and had to be left behind with McCor-
mick to look after him. It was a small party that started
at seven o'clock with ten coolies to moinit the valley behind
Samaiyar. We followed the noisy torrent and presently
crossed by a good bridge (7,475 feet) to its left bank. The
grand view of the Hunza peaks behind was cause of
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THE SAMAIYAIi VALLEY. 265
frequent halts. We marked with concern how clouds were
again beginning to form about the summits, both in that
direction and over the Bagrot mountains ahead of us. The
Samaiyar valley was not altogether barren. About a mile
up it we came to a cluster of fields on an irrigated fan, but
there was no village. To our left mighty buttresses and
jutting blades of rock rose abruptly into the air. The rocks
on onr right, though less astonishing, presented many
picturesque outlines. When we had mounted some 2,000 feet
and penetrated about two and a half miles into the valley,
I observed Zurbriggen stop with gestures of excitement.
I came up with him, where he was crouching behind a stone.
" Ah ! " said he, " you are a moment too late ! Such an
animal it was as in all my lifetime I never saw ! About as
big as a cat, with a head like a mouse, and no tail. Its
rear was like a marmot, and it hopped like one. All its legs
were short, and it was the colour of that grey stone. If we
hide and stay still perhaps it will come out again."
Quiet we accordingly kept, and presently out came a
young marmot. It gazed at us with its keen little black
eyes and concluded that it could bolt across into the
parental hole without harm from us. It crept up cautiously
and then hurried by and reached its place of safety amongst
some big rocks. I could have caught it with the butterfly
net. We saw others like it afterwards, all very small com-
pared with those of Switzerland.
From this point to the foot of the glacier I was busy
collecting flowers* and catching butterflies. We observed
that the ice must have retreated about half a mile in re-
cent times, for its streams used to irrigate two sets of
fields which are now left high and dry and have gone out of
" The following plants were found, chiefly on the moraine, between
10,000 feet and Strawberry Camp : — Hedysamm Falconeri, PotentiUa
argyTOphylla, Astragalus con/ertits, a speciea of CrepU, AUardia
StoUcskai, Allardia tomentosa, Erigeron amJryaloides, OTi/ria digyna
Aster libeticus, Crepis fiexuosa. Thymus Serpyllum, Anaplialis nubigena
PotentiUa SibbaMi, Polygonum affine, Privmla farinoia var. caucasica.
Digilizcd by Google
cultivation, but their appearance suffices to show that they
were not abandoned very long ago. We halted for lunch
between the moraine and a convenient stream, fed by a
waterfall from the rocks on our right.
Whilst we were waiting for the coolies four natives came
along, lugging aroughly-dressed mill-stone over the moraine.
They had it harnessed be-
scend. No stone was yoked to a mill-btonr,
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THE SAUAITAR VALLEY. 267
ever more thoroughly possessed with the spirit of a pig.
When the men saw ub they let the thing lie, and came
to salaam. They asked whether we had any orders for them,
and then whether they had our permission to proceed on
their way. About as humble a folk as are made, I should
think ; there must have been Balti blood in them.
When the coohes joined us we proceeded up the moraine
and across a large snow-avalanche fan to a pleasant green
meadow, dotted over with blossoming strawberry plants.
Cattle and goats were grazing on it, and a clear brook
traversed the slope. The laden coolies appeared to have
done enough, so we determined to halt. We named the
place Strawberry Camp. Its altitude is 11,210 feet. It
is only about four hours of easy walking from Samaiyar.
As soon as the tents were pitched, down came the rain
again. It continued to fall for some hours. The weather
was in fact as bad for a mountaineer in a difficult country
as weather could be ; but shortly before midnight the
clouds magically cleared away, and all the sky was bright
with stars.
June 21si. — Eckenstein, Zurbriggen, and I, with two
Gurkhas, started from Strawberry Camp at 4.15 a.m.
We intended to start sooner and to take two coolies
and the light camp with us and to spend the night
at a higher elevation, but the morning was most un-
promising, and so we devoted the day to reconnoitring.
The south wind again obtained the mastery, and clouds
were forming over Bagrot. It was a fair enough morn-
ing from the picturesque point of view. The Hunza peaks
were unclouded and grand in the dim light. The cres-
cent of the waning moon was rising in the east, and the
brighter stars still held their own against the growing
dawn. The seracs of the neighbouring icefall seemed to
cover an incredible expanse, and looked more like a frozen
river than ever. As we were gazing at them a huge tower
of ice lost its balance and came crashing down, breaking
away a number of others in its impetuous descent. We
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mounted the grass-slopes, moraine, and ice-worn rocks,
which form the left bank of the glacier. We made rapid
progress, being lightly loaded, and in two hours reached
the top of the moraine (14,300 feet) and entered into the
sunlight. To our mingled joy and regret the day turned out
magnificently, and the threatening cloudH all melted away.
We could not only see in unveiled splendour all the height
of Boiohagurdoanas and his immediate neighbours, but other
I THB SAHAIYAR VALLBY.
great peaks began to disclose themselves further to the west
in the Budlas nala direction, and of these we never before
gained more than a momentary glimpse. While we were
gazing at the glorious view, framed in between the rocky
and precipitous sides of our valley, we beheld, as it were, a
puff of smoke arising in the higher regions of the Hunza
peaks. It grew and descended rapidly; evidently it was
an avalanche of extraordinary size. Its dust cloud filled the
whole Ultar nala, and seemed to be about to envelop the
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THE SAMAIYAB VALLEY. 269
town of Baltit itself, but it reached no farther than the
stone-covered snout of the Ultar glacier, which it whitened
from side to side. After half an hour's halt, devoted to
plane-tabling, we put on the rope and continued our ascent,
keeping over steep avalanche snow by the left side of the
glacier. We thus {in three-quarters of an hour) emerged
upon the plateau, separating the lower from the upper ice-
fall, and here we again made a halt for purposes of obser-
vation. Everywhere there were accumulations of deep new
snow, and not a peak, that we could see, was approachable.
As the sunlight waxed in power the slopes awoke and began
to toss off their white mantles. In particular a peak, or
rather the culminating portion of the long ridge west of
the Samaiyar glacier, resembling the Lyskamm, and very
conspicuous from Baltit, sent down avalanches of all sizes
one after another ; the growling of its batteries became
continuous, and remained so for several hours. We called
it the Growling Peak.
It was evident that the only way to get past the upper
icefall was close to the rocks that shut it in on the right.
This involved crossing the whole width of the plateau
between the icefalls. The plateau was a mass of great
Bchrunds, for the most part, at this time of year, bridged
over with snow, and only yawning in places ; later in
the season it would doubtless give much trouble. Zur-
briggen led us over it in something less than an hour.
But for the great heat of the sun and the softness of the
snow this would have been a delightful traverse, for we
were in the midst of grand scenery. Ahead of us was a
side valley of gentlest inclination (the Trough) leading to
the Daranshi pass, to which we afterwards ascended. On
our right was the upper icefall — a magnificent display of
neve serac — with the top of the Crown of Dirran peeping
.above it. On our left the glacier bent over and disappeared,
but above it were all the Hunza peaks, and the others
further away (to which I have already alluded), visible from
base to summit. One of them is a specially grand peak — a
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vaster Weisshom. This fine group of moontains has never
been surveyed and scarcely approached by any traveller.
At the opening of the valley leading to the pass we found
the object of our search — a suitable place for camping. We
determined to go no further, but to reserve our forces for
the morrow and the day following. Accordingly we spread
a mackintosh sheet on the snow and spent two hours lying
upon it. Our height was about 15,130 feet. During the
last portion of our ascent I suffered from shortness of
breath. Intentionally quickening my rate of breathing to
38 to the minute, I experienced immediate relief. I was
then not only able to advance faster than before, hot
without fatigue or any discomfort, and the unpleasant
sensations did not return. After finishing my work at
the plane-table my rate of breathing had diminished to
20 to the minute; an hour later it had sunk to 15 to
the minute, when I was making no exertion.
At 11.20 we started to retrace our steps and reached the
unroping pla43e at the top of the moraine in an hour and a
quarter's walking. We were able to go at a steady pace,
for all the view was blotted out by clouds, and there was
nothing to tempt us to linger in these elevated regions.
We brought up almost no provisions and nothing to drink,
so that camp possessed powerful attractions. I collected
several plants on the way down the moraine, but could not
find some that I noticed in the morning and left to be
gathered on the descent.* So is it always. The flora here
seems to be practically identical with that of Bagrot, and
there seemed to be no plant that we had not previously met
with on the south side of the range.
June 22ra(i. — At 5.45 a.m. we left camp, with three coolies to
carry our light tents and a kilta of pro^asions. Habiba with
the rest of the things was sent down to McCormick and
Roudebush at Samaiyar. They went on with them next day
* The following plants were eiIbo fouDd on the naoraine above Strawben?
Camp : — Draba incana, Dracocephalum nutans, Saxifraga sibirica, Potm-
tilla gelida, Viola canina, Thlaspi alpestre, Sedum asiaticum.
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TSE SAMAIYAB VALLEY. 271
to join Bruce at Nagyr. We followed our route of yester-
day, though going at a more leisurely pace, for the coolie8
were heavily laden and had hard work before them, which,
truth to tell, they appeared to relish little. They wore
rough pieces of untanned sheep-skin with the woolly side
inwards, fastened on their feet with infinite windings of
weak leather thongs. The thongs were always breaking,
and they tied the ends together
in a " single sheet bend."
As we went up the moraine
and approached the snow we
heard the cry of chukor answered
from across the hill by a con-
tinual cuckoo, whose voice reached
us at a height of over 13,000 feet.
Many specimens of a white butter-
fly with green stripes on its wings
{Pieris callidice) flittered over the
moraine, but they were wary and
swift of wing and defied my -
panting efforts to catch them. It
took us two hours to reach the \
top of the moraine and half an \
hour more to the glacier plateau
between the icefalls. The snow .v
was already soft when we turned \
to the left and began to cross \
towards our proposed camp. '^X
The state of tension of the
whole mass was manifested by
the loud reports with which it cracked under our weight.
The same thing happened on the previous day and greatly
surprised the Gurkhas. The phenomenon is common
in the Alps, but I never heard it so frequently, nor the
noise so loud, as on this occasion. It comes unexpectedly
upon the silence of the snowfield, and is accompanied by
no visible movement of anything. It is like the whiz of
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272 JUNE 2-2.
a thing flying through the air close to one's head, rather
than a noise under one's feet. The cracks we caused on
the preceding day had already widened to an inch, and
would widen to a foot in course of a week or so. In an hour
we reached our former halting- place, and a stray moth
fluttered down amongst us, carried thus far from its wonted
haunts by wayward caprice or irresistible air currents.
We were at the opening of the side glacier which I named
the Trough. Looking straight up it there was a ridge on
either hand. That on our right is the one over which the
main Samaiyar glacier is obliged to tumble in its upper fall.
It was at the base of the ridge on our left that I proposed
to camp. We crossed to the selected spot in about half an
hour, and the coolies soon afterwards brought in their loads.
When the little Mummery tents were pitched at Trough
Camp (15,400 feet) snow began to fall, so I crawled xmder
cover and slept for two hours or more.
These little tents are all very well to sleep in with fine
weather, but when it is wet, and two or three men have
to struggle together in the confined area of six feet by
three, and there is only head room for the middle one
to sit up, a more comfortable day-shelter may be imagined.
Moreover they let in damp everywhere, and one introduces
a certain amount of snow on crawling through the de-
pressed door, so that soon enough, do what one may, every-
thing gets more or less moist and clammy.
Fortunately, the weather cleared again in the middle
of the afternoon, and one by one we took to the rocks
above our tents and began, rather aimlessly, scrambling up
them. These rocks are of a hard conglomerate, and the
fragments are angular and of every size. The broken por-
tions of our ridge must of necessity find their way down
the right bank of the Samaiyar glacier, but the ridge con-
tinues under the lower ieefall, aud the conglomerate crops
out on the other side, for I found fragments of it common on
the left moraine. As we were scrambling in different direc-
tions over the rocks we found a number of plants already in
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THE SAMAITAR VALLEY. 273
flower. There waa Edelweiss and Sedum, and of course the
irrepressible rhubarb, just beginning to sprout.* Thus, climb-
ing and collecting, we all wandered upwards, I for the most
part following Zurbriggen. In due time we reached the crest
of the ridge. Not far away from us was a white dome whose
attractions were irresistible, for the clouds were opening on
all hands, and wondrous views might soon be expected. We
waded through soft snow to the summit (about 300 feet above
camp), and were well rewarded for our pains. The upper
basin of the great glacier was now before us, no longer
hidden by the wall of seracs. We could estimate its extent,
and could follow it up to the wide Bagrot saddle. We
eagerly scanned the icefall and discovered a route up its
right side which would be practicable with good snow.
Unfortunately the snow was as bad as bad could be. There
was no other way by which the obstruction could be turned.
^Eastwards the long Trough lay before us with an attrac-
tive col at its head. Some two and a half miles of- gently
inclined snow led to it between the bounding ridges. But
it was to the north and north-west that our eyes were most
drawn, for there the great mountains of Hunza, Muchi-
cbul, and Choshi, were playing at hide-and-seek amidst the
changefal clouds. The rapid appearings and disappearings
of great peaks that we wanted to recognise, the tantalising
part-revelations, the clouds that seemed to be dividing but
only gathered the more, the unexpected clearings where the
mists were thickest, the un-Alpine veils through which far-
off ranges could be traced, gave to this view a character best
described as exciting.
How long we may have stayed to watch its varying
phases I know not, but by six o'clock we had glissaded and
Borambled down to our camp, wishing for an axe in not
a few places where there was hard ice under the rotten
snow. As we were seated at our evening meal the snn
* The following were also found on the rocks behind Trough Camp : —
Jjeontopodium alpinum, Saxifraga tmbricata, Cheirantkus himalaicus,
Isopyrum grandifolium.
19
Digilizod by Google
went behind Growling Peak, and frost instantly set in.
The sky assumed in turn all the glories that the departing
day is wont to fling behind him, but we were too cold to
watch them for long, and before darkness prevailed we
were in our sleeping-bags, settled down for the night. For
Bome reason sleep would not come to me, and, hour
after hour, I lay awake, listening to the silence. There
, ;^ j ; '=^'«:>|L'i'
-<^>-
was no faintest hum of glacier torrent, no most distant
echo of falling stone or rushing avalanche. Not a serac
cracked. Not a breeze brushed the surface of the snow, nor
whistled how quietly soever across the rocks. At last there
came a faint pattering on the roof of the tent, and snow
began to fall. It broke the strain of my wakefulness, and I
passed through the gate of sleep into the happy land of dreams.
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THE SAMAITAB VALLEY. 275
June 2Srd. — At 2.30 a.m. Eckenstein's alarum watch
(hitohed somehow into his cap) began rattling about his
head, and we were ail duly awakened, but alas ! to no good
tidings. He looked out, informed me that the weather
was had, and advised against starting. At four o'clock
conditions were, if anything, worse, and snow was falling.
At six we rose in considerable disgust. The night had not
been cold (minimum 23° Fahr.), and there was much new
snow. It was clearly impossible to get up the icefall.
After breakfast I determined to do something, so, to the
disgust of some of the party, I had the rope put on, filled our
pockets with biscuits, and started off up the Trough towards
the col at its head.
We were soon in cloud and snowstorm, and had, as it
were, to feel our way up the narrow glacier, which fortu-
nately was only broken into schrunds for a short portion
of its length. When we reached the plateau above the
schrunds the snow became very soft, and we had to wade
knee-deep the rest of the way ; but at last, after three hours
and a half, we got to the col, which 1 named the Daranshi
Saddle (17,940 feet). To our delight the weather cleared up
most unexpectedly, and we again enjoyed a magnificent
view. Behind us there was little to expect, save a vista
of the ungraceful Growler, seen down the monotonous
Trough, but on the other side the slope fell steeply away
for some 7,000 feet, and the vision plunged into a glacier
basin of extraordinary size and grandeur.
The Hopar valley, which joins the Hispar valley about
two miles above the town of Nagyr, soon itself divides into
two branches named Barpu and Bualtar. Both are filled
with tortured ice-streams which unite at Hopar. We were
looking straight down on to the Bualtar glacier, and across
to the fan-like arrangement of ridges beyond it. We
could see on our extreme right the Crown of Dirran, which
stands at one angle of the Bualtar nev^-basin. Now and
again, as the wayward clouds permitted, we could trace the
line of the watershed going eastwards for several miles to
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the Emerald Peak at the furthest angle of the basin. We
could watch the tumultuous and serpentine course of the
glacier's many branches, and behold their final union at our
feet, and we could see that, save for a few lofty plateaus of
nev6, edged around with cliffs, over which the whole was
ultimately tumbled, the vast area of ice was a riven cata-
ract from end to end. I doubt if a man could cut his
way up it in a year. Grand and interesting as was this
portion of the view, and topographically of special impor-
tance to me, I found it hard to fix my attention long upon
it, for away to the north was another and a mightier inass
of mountains, unexpected, unexplored, unnamed. They
rose beyond the relatively low furrow which marks the
course of the Gujal river. Three giants there were amongst
them, noble in form and fine in grouping. Senseless out-
lookers upon a world of ice, monarchs of a kingdom un-
travelled and unknown. Things wasting their splendour
where there is none to admire, flashing back sunrises and
sunsets only upon their fellows sightless as themselves.
" Why this waste of magnificence ? " I asked, with some
feeling of bitterness, and the clouds, for answer, closed it
from my view.
The lateness of the hour of our starting, the softness of
the snow, and the re-gatheriug about us of the clouds, ren-
dered it nselesB to attempt the ascent of a peak south of the
pass, which would otherwise have been an easy promenade.
Accordingly, when there was nothing more to be seen we
turned to descend, and ploughed our way back to camp
with an expenditure of labour almost as great as that
involved in the ascent. We reached the tents in fog and
falling snow after two hours and a half, and devoured our
lunch while sheltering miserably under sheets of mackintosh.
We then crawled up the neighbouring rooks and crowded
ourselves into a comfortless cranny, which served to protect
us from the unceasing snow till we could persuade ourselves
that evening was come and we might decently retire to our
bags for the night.
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THE SAMAIYAB VALLEY. 277
JuTie 24th. — With slight intermission the snow kept
falling all night, and when the morning dawned there were
four more inches of powdery white spread everywhere around
us. The temperature had not been low (minimum 20° Fahr.),
but low enough to freeze the tents as hard as a board.
Further climbing was out of the question for at least two
days, even if the weather should prove fine, and fine it had
no appearance of becoming, so we packed up our traps and
started down about half-past seven, the two Gurkhas man-
fully shouldering loads of about 60 lbs. each, and cheerfully
wading with them across the heavy snowfields. Arrived
at the top of the moraine on the far aide I bade them
leave the things and send back the coolies to fetch them ;
but this they would in no wise hear of, insisting, first of all,
upon carrying them to our old camping-place, then upon
taking them to the huts by the highest fields. When they
found no men there, they finally carried the whole down to
the village of Samaiyar, where they were at last relieved by
three coolies. They accomplished this severe piece of work
with the utmost good-humour. Nest day they allowed that
they were a little stiff in the limbs, but this did not prevent
them from violently playing hockey from morning to night.
On reaching Samaiyar we found that the rest of our
party had gone on to join Bruce at Nagyr, so the tifSn, to
which we were looking forward, had to be postponed, and
its place taken by a five-mile walk over a rough up-and-
down hill-track. At Nagyr our party was once more united,
and we settled down for a couple of days before starting
towards Hispar.
June 25th and 26th. — These two days were, of course, the
finest we had seen in the mountains. The weather was
faultless, and so continued till we approached our climb-
ing-ground once more, when it duly broke up. However,
fine days, wherever they come, mean fine views ; and
Nagyr is, as I have stated, nobly situated, though less
nobly than Baltit. I was busy all the time making inquiries
about the way, discussing the question of provisions, seeing
Digilizod by Google
278 JUNE 25, 26.
to the packing and distribution of the baggage, some of
which was to go back to Gilgit, some over the Nushik pass
to Skardo or Askole, and the rest to come with me over the
Hispar pass. Into the Gilgit kiltas I packed all the nega*
tives taken thus far, my collection of insects, and other
small but precious objects, all enclosed in tin boxes. I
was, as the reader knows, destined never to see them
again.*
During the day the old Raja was carried down to visit us.
We planted him on the ground on a blue rug. A couple of
i
TUB poLo-oKouND AT NAOYR. little better than an ordinary
coolie. The villagers sat
round at a respectfol distance, Munshi Sher Amad kneel-
ing in the Egyptian scribe manner, as was his wont.
Zawara, the big lambadhar, sat somewhat in front of the
rest, wearing a blue shawl. The inferior folk gathered
at a distance on a grass slope, content to see, without
being able to hear. The boys of the village played hockey
up and down the polo-ground before us. Every one was
* Since this was in type (October, 1893) the negative films have arrived
in London ; but ill-luck pursued them. They were opened at the Custom
House, and hght was admitted to them.
Digilizod by Google
THE SAMAIYAB VALLEY. 279
quite at his ease. There was a soft inovemeut in the
fresh air, and the chinar trees enveloped us in a pleasant
shade. We talked chiefly of the country and the passes.
The old Thum afiected utter ignorance about them, advised
us not to venture on the snow, and complained of his age
and infirmities. He asked about our visit to Hunza, and
confirmed the names of the peaks that had been given us
there. Occasionally he took a pinch of snuff and rubbed it
on his gums : two men im-
mediately ran forward and
held forth their shawls for
him to wipe his fingers on.
There was rather a race for
this honour. We promised
to come and visit the old
man next morning in his
palace, and so took our
leave.
McCormick and I wan-
dered off up into the town,
accompanied by the Munshi
and a miscellaneous follow-
ing. We went into what I
supposed to be the mosque, / ,
but Sher Amad said it was f^^
a Matam Sara, or Place of ' ■ !
Moummg. I did not at ,«tbrioe of the matam sara, kaoyr.
first understand what they
meant by this, so they showed me in pantomime. The
Munshi sat on the mimhar, and explained that he was
preaching about Hasan and Husain, whilst the people
■were weeping and mourning for them, deeply moved by
his words — in fact, the ordinary Moharram business of the
Shias. All the architectural features of the building are
of wood, and it is, in its general plan, imitated from the
Shah Hamadan mosque in Srinagar. Through one of
the windows we caught a beautiful glimpse of the Golden
Digilizod by Google
Farri and its neighbours. The whole place was in bad
lepair. They said it was built by the Thum Kamal Khan,
that Madu was the architect's name, and that Kashmiri
workmen were employed upon it.
We wandered through the dirty alleys of the town, and
climbed on to the roofs of some of the houses. Formerly
there must have been a larger population, for many houses
are in ruins. On the side towards the river there is aa
appalling precipice, up to the very edge of which dwellings
are built. My companions seemed eager to do the honours
of their city and to tell me everything I could possibly want
to know. When they found that I was interested in their
names for things, they pointed to this and that, and said,
" Name — so-and-so." *
Just below the Thum's palace there is an open space, and
by it is a wooden portico with pretty arches and carving.
This, they said, was made for the present Thum by a Gilgit
workman, named Sonno. As we were returning to the polo-
ground, by way of the town gate, we met a man with a sort
of mandoline, which he was willing to sell. It was strung
with four wires, all tuned to the same note. Its belly was
decorated with a gaudily-coloured label, which formerly
adorned some packet of Bussiau goods. This instrument is
now mute in London.
Next morning we fulfilled our promise, and went in a
body to visit the Thum in his palace. There were men
posted on the look-out for us all the way up, so that he
might know when we were going to arrive, and be ready to
receive us. The exterior of the palace is rather imposing,
in a rough-and-tumble sort of way, and so, too, is the
entrance, which leads into a small courtyard between the
palace and Matam Sara ; but once yon have crossed the
* The following may be worth record : — Crude brick, dishtik. Stone,
dan. Wall, bal. Wall built of stones with horizontal layers of wooden
beams, hunniwashi bal. The town wall, godar. The thomy staff with
which the walls are surmounted, chush. Door, hivg. Door-frame, saran.
Door-look, aerik. Key, che. ]Jock-pin, imekus. Square hole in the
middle of the roof, sam.
Digilizod by Google
S aOU>EK PARRI FItOH HAOYR BURIAL-OBOVNI).
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DiBiiizodb, Google
THE SAMAIYAB VALLEY. 283
threshold of the actual door of the house, all etyle ends.
You plunge into a dark hole, like a cow-stable, from which
you climb by notches cut in the sloping semi-cylinder of
half a tree-trunk to another dingy, irregular, and empty
chamber or passage. How they hoist the old Thum up and
down there, Heaven only knows ! No wonder he finds his
infirmities burdensome ! Then you get out on the roof, and
climb another notched tree to another roof, which gives
access to the Eaja's reception-room. This is a chamber
IKTEEVIEW WITB>TBE KAJA 0
on the top of the palace, about 18 feet square (if I re-
member right), with a sort of loggia on one side, freely
admitting the air, and commanding a fine view southwards
over the town and fields. It is only roofed in round the
sides. Tbe inner beams, that carry the roof, are supported
on wooden posts at the four comers. The room is, in fact,
a kind of diminutive cloister. The Raja was sitting in an
old English leather-covered arm-chair, which looked as
though it might have come out of a London club smoking-
Digilizod by Google
284 JUNE 26, 26.
room. It was a present from Gilgit. There were also seats
for OS. The natives squatted round the waits in regular
order, every man according to his rank. I photographed
the group as well as circumstances permitted.
I forget what we talked about — passes, I suppose, with
the usual failure in getting information. The old maa
asked for medicine for his bad 1^ — he was troubled by
rheumatism of many years' standing. He would not believe
that I had nothing for him, so, to set his mind at rest, I
gave him a tube of lanoline, and told him to make the
MuDshi rub his leg with it for an hour every morning !
He said he had ordered a great tamasha in our honour,
to be held on the polo-ground that afternoon.
Before the tamasha came off, Parbir and Amar Sing got
hold of the heads of two recently decapitated rams, and fell
a-butting one another with them, making strange sounds
the while. They fought with such good will (on all-fours,
of course), that one of Parbir's horns made a bleeding hole
in Amar Sing's head, to the inexpressible delight of both
men. After that they took to hockey again, and Bruce
with them. I forget who was wounded in that game —
probably Bruce.
I had an immense amount of writing to get through
before night, tamasha or not. Accordingly, after watching
the dancing and drumming for a short time, I sat down to
work. The centre of the din was just in front of my tent,
where for three hours or so it was as though all the fiends
had been let loose at once. Years ago, whilst travelling
about Europe, I wrote a book, chiefly in the waiting-rooms
of railway-stations. That experience now stood me in good
stead. After a few minutes of effort the noise ceased from
troubling, and the needful work was done.
Ultimately the sun went down, and the people wandered
off and left us at peace. The evening light cast magio over
the trees and pretty mosques and ziarata by the polo-ground.
When night came on, the only sound that broke the perfect
stillness was a gentle breeze, stealing through the tops of
Digilizod by Google
THE SAMAIYAB VALLEY. 285
the poplars. I lay for hours listening to it. The sleepless-
ness that overtook me at Trough Camp maintained its hold,
I suppose I was a little overworked.*
* The following plants were found in the neighbourhood of Nagyr
town : — Tklaspi alpestre, Orepis fiexuosa, Campanula colorata, Malcolmia
africana, PotentilUi bifurca, Potentilla multifida, a species of Crepit,
Erigeron monticolus, a speciea of Potentilla, Carum Carui, Genliatta squar-
rosa, Medkago lupulina, Myosotis sylvalica, Gynoglossum denticulaUim,
Hieracium umbellalum var. lanceolatum, Capsella Bursa-pastoris, Con-
volvulus arvensis, Stackps tibetica var. pinnatifida.
NAQTB. THE PAUCE FROM TEE UAIH STREET.
Digilizod by Google
BAB AND BBALLmUBU OLACISBS TBOH RASH BIDOE.
CHAPTER XIV.
NAGYR TO MIR.
June 2.1th. — The coolies, who understand nothing about
hours, were ordered to be on hand " at break of day."
When I awoke at six o'clock none bad arrived, so I set a
man to hunt them up, but he contented himself with
standing in tlie middle of the polo-ground and howling at
the town. Another, despatched after him, merely added to
the din ; but the method seems to have been the correct
one, for ultimately the needed carriers turned up. They
were strong, willing fellows, and gave no trouble. Our
march was to be short, for which I was thankful, as there
was a complicated bit of surveying to be accomplished by
the way. Knowing the path as far as Birkat, where there
is a remarkable canal carried on a high wall, I enjoyed it
the more, for the morning was grand, with perfectly clear
skies, and wondrous views over the trees and fields rich
with strongly-growing com. From Birkat one commands
a view of the great division of the valleys, and this was
said to be the last point to which any European previously
penetrated in this direction.
Digilizod by Google
NAaYB TO MIB. 287
This place of division is both grand and interesting, but
more interesting than grand. The bare range on the left
atad the desert Hispar valley up which one looks are almost
ugly in them-
selves, but they
serve as striking
contrasts to the
fruitful areas so
numerous on the
hillsides to the
right, and there
are fine snow-
mountains a-
head. The cha-
racteristic fea-
ture in the view
is, however, the
enormous old
moraines with
which the broad
area at the
mouth of- the
Hopar valley is
filled, and the
black, broken,
shrunken, but
still vast ice-
s tream that
comes down
amongst them,
almost to the
Hispar river. ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^
We descended
from the Nagyr slopes, and, bending round to the right,
reached the bottom of the Hopar valley and advanced
leisurely up it. It is, in a sense, the most remarkable
valley we saw. Right and left of ns were great moraines
Digilizod by Google
and all the fomiture of a well-appointed glacier, bnt
glacier there was none in eight. The moraine (some 500
feet high and quite precipitous) on our left hid the snont
of the Hopar glacier from us, at the same time sup-
porting on its broad back the village and fields of Shekd-
mati, a dependency of Hopar. Where the lost glacier
should have been was a gently sloping, half-mile wide
floor of valley, all green with corn and meadow. The
ice from the Sepultar valley formerly came down here and
joined the other glaciers. We wandered up through the
fields in the bright morning light, chasing gay butterflies,
which refused to be caught, and gathering flowers.
We soon came to the top of the hollow way, where once
two glaciers joined, and there I left the others and mounted
to the summit of a high moraine mound. Hence I could
see straight down the cultivated glacier bed we had come
up, or, turning round, could look up a similar but smaller
and quite barren trough, like a huge curved railway cutting,
from which the glacier that made it might only have retreated
a year or two ago, so fresh are its traces. A more puzzling
bit of topographical detail it would be hard to invent. The
larger view that surrounded me was of surprising grandeur,
and the eye wandered from the wall of the Hunza peaks
round to the Golden Parri and its fine neighbours, and then
on to minor, but still great, snow-peaks, which stood out at
the heads of various smaller valleys. The day was per-
fectly clear, and the sun's heat intense. Never was the
labour of surveying more laborious, and there was so much
new ground to be plotted in, so much to be done. For two
hours I stood in the frying-pan, smrounded by sand and
rocks and graves. A single pole, with a bit of white rag
flapping from it, marked the neighbourhood of the bones
of some forgotten fakir. It was too hot to smoke, but I
kept a coolie busy fetching me muddy glacier water from
a canal not far away. Ultimately the work was done, and
I continued my journey. A few minutes took me down to
cultivated land, and the broad green basin of Hopar lay
Digilizod by Google
I^AGYB TO Mm. S69
before me. The Nagyr valley, and the way to ifc, were shnt
out from view, and I was in a new region.*
The basin is about a mile wide and nearly two miles long.
On two sides it is encircled by admirably irrigated skirts of
high hills, and on two sides it is enclosed by glacier, which,
however, cannot be seen. A wall of moraine shuts it out
from view, and it is only by looking up the tributary valleys
that one perceives what vast icy streams are in existence
close at hand.
Hopar consists of five villages — Hakalshal, Rattallo,
Boroshal, Ghoshoshal, and Holshal. We passed below the
first of tliese, and a few hundred yards beyond it came
near the walls of Rattallo.
On approaching the village I was met by the returning
coolies. The lambadhar decreed that two annas was
the right pay to each man for their rather toilsome five
miles march. When they saw me they came, in the best
of tempers, and barred the way before me, locking their
arms together. " I have no tongue," said a leader, " but
this," showing me a chilki, "for us," pointing to himself
and three companions. I agreed that it was small pay, and
promised them bakshish at the tents. I almost regretted
my complaisance, for they immediately swarmed about me,
seizing my hands and kissing them with vigorous smacks.
They are a pleasing folk, these men of Nagyr. Of course
the camp overflowed with them. They watched our doings
with unflagging interest. They brought in what we needed,
but begged us not to ask for much flour, as their stock
was getting low ; their little sheep were amongst the
plumpest and tenderest we encountered, nor did they try
to palm off the invalids of their flocks.
All the Hopar villages are pretty, and Rattallo is no
* The following plants were found on the march from Nagyr to Eat-
tallo; — Capselta Buraa-pastoTis, Campanula colorata, Hyosci/amns nigcr.
Geranium collinum, Arenaria iwhsteoides, Lactuca d'lssecta, Medicago sativa,
Potentilla anaerina. Orchis lati/oUa, Conringia planiailiqaa, Flectrantkua
ruyoeus, Stackys iibeiica.
Digilizod by Google
290 JUNE 27.
exception. A decent mosque greets one at the outskirts,
close to the polo-ground. Near it is the veranda-surrounded
dwelling of the Trangpa (lambadhar) and a pond of greenish
water, perhaps, like others hereabouts, a rehc of pre-Moslem
days. McCormick chose an admirable site for our camp,
on a narrow terraced field (9,220 feet), shaded by fruit
trees. It commanded a grand view of all the Hunza
peaks, and the junction of the great glaciers of Barpu
and Bualtar. Noon was past when I arrived, tired and
hungry. The tents were already pitched, and tiffin was
prepared. What more could a weary traveller desire ?
In the after-
noon I wandered
ofi with Bruce
to the edge of
the Ho par
glacier's left
moraine, and
learnt the secret
of that barren
glacier trough,
like a railway
cutting. For-
merly the Ho-
par glacier,
when it was full
to the brim, used, of its superabundance, to throw off an
arm to the left, which made the trough. Now the ice has
so shrunk that the straight course more than suffices to
carry its still considerable volume. In its shrinking the
surface sank some 400 feet, so that the crests of the old
side moraines look down upon it from that height.
When we returned to camp I discussed plans with
Bruce. We were short of all manner of necessary stores,
such as salt, sugar, and tobacco. It seemed best, therefore,
that he and Eckenstein should hiisten away over the
Nushik La and relieve us, for there are none of these things
Digilizod by Google
NAGYB TO MIR. 291
to be had in Huuza. This dGciBion involved a good deal of
arrangement in details, and the evening had to be devoted
to getting together the needful supplies for their journey,
ordering coolies, and the like preparations. As I eat writing
in the tent at night beautiful little green moths (Nemoria
(jelida) flew in, attracted by the candle. We only saw
them in this district, between Nagyr and Hopar.
Jiuie QSth. — Bruce and Eckenstein, with Parbir, Amar
Sing, Wazir Nazar Ali, and their coolies left camp at an
early hour. When they were gone Zurbriggen and I started
for a surveying scramble. We went out at the back of this
camp and followed the path a few yards, round to the mouth
of the Sepultar nala. There we struck an admirable cow-
track which led us diagonally over the north face of the hill
called Hunnuno. After following it steadily upwards for a
couple of hours, we turned a corner and gained some sort
of a view up the Bnaltar glacier. To see it properly we
had to scramble to the crest of the east ridge of Hunnuno,
a narrow arete of rocks and grass. There we were about
2,500 feet above camp, and in a central and commanding
position.
Unfortunately clouds veiled the summits of many of
the highest peaks and destroyed the fulness of the hoped-
for view. Still, there was enough to be seen. We looked
straight up the Bualtar glacier and eoidd identify the flanks
of the Crown of Dirran, the two Burchi peaks, and the
Emerald pass. The way down from it on this side ap-
peared easy, and, if we had reached the col, we could have
descended to Hopar. The summit of the Emerald peak was
never disclosed. Round to the north-east we had before us,
one above another, the many parallel ridges that cut up the
country between Gujal and Hispar. Most interesting to us
and most conspicuous was the long line of high snow-peaks
which bound the Hispar valley on the north, and under
which we must go to reach the Hispar pass. Behind them
were the giants of Gujal ; next, in clouded splendour,
round to the left, came the wondrous mass of Hunza, and
Digilizod by Google
292 JUNE 28.
further rouud the nameless mountains of Budlas, which
we never beheld unclouded. Where so much was visible
there was of course plenty of work for a surveyor, and the
two hours of our halt passed rapidly. The others collected
flowers for me, and generally hunted around, but probably
found the time somewhat long.*
In our descent we left the cow-track about two-thirds of
the way down, and crossed to some tields on a juttiug
- -. . . _ _ __ buttress of rock at
' the mouth of the
j' ■ "'^ ^- ~''^ fcJepultar nala. We
, __^^_- ' " •"" ; wanted to look up
1 ._ ^ . ■ • the nala to the small
i '■t^&^/k^ ^- ■ ^^'"l "'■ "' .*""?'
I ,- >^'^^RaB»S*>«. ^ I and to mvestigate
.^u.v J ("■;'■■• '■^"'.' -■■':''^''-'?'^ "I the castle or watch-
*'"' ^ ' tower which
- stands on the
"■ '■_; point of the
Vv>^,. jut. The
/-^ natives in-
formed me that
the castle was built
ages back to pro-
tect the grass. It
has no name. The
canal that waters
FBltiUTENKD NATIVES AT HOfAR.
these fields is a
fine bit of work. It is carried along the precipitous
face of the Sepultar gorge for a great distance, and then
it crosses to the otber side of its ridge through a deep
cutting or jag, artificially made and carefully maintained.
" The following plants were taken at the highest point reached on
HunnuQo: — Cotykdoit Lievcnii, AcanthoUmon lycf^jmiioitlcx, Erigeron
amlrijahUUs, Valeriana divica. Aster tibeticus, Leontoj>odium alphium,
Anaphulis cinjata, Ast raijalim (nh'smue/oUus, e.nother species of Aslragalia,
Malcatmia ufricuna, Ocntiana dctonsa.
Digilizod by Google
NAGYR TO MIR. 293
We reached camp in time for tiffin, and ready for it as
it for us.
After a short rest McCorraick and I sallied forth to visit
again the left moraine of the Hopar glacier. We wandered
leisurely by a winding path, through fields of green corn
and blossoming beans, amongst which there was a quantity
of mint in flower. Here, as elsewhere, whenever we ap-
proached women or children, they bolted away from us
or tried to hide themselves. If their houses were near at
hand, they ran for them like rabbits into their holes. If
the familiar shelter was too far away, they hurried into
the cornfields and cast themselves down amongst the com,
by which they were completely concealed. These people
have the habit o£ war deeply ingrained. A stranger in
their fields, who is not a prisoner, is a conqueror. They
are utterly unaccustomed to strangers. Their attitude
towards one who travels freely amongst them is thus an
attitude of fear, which, however, i£ you come close to
them, is easily dispelled, and then they become the
friendliest folk in the world, and will do anything for yon.
We halted a moment by the ziarat at the gate of Holshai
to talk to the loitering men. The women do the bulk of
the field-work in these parts, and the men do the loitering
and gossiping. These were a shy set. " We have no
tongue," they said.
I tried a little Yeshknn on them, and they gradually
brightened up. " What is the name of the fort behind your
village?"
" It has no name."
" Who built it ? "
" We don't know. Perhaps Gohr Aman."
" No," said one ; " it was Gohr Aman's shikari ! "
We walked on to the fort (9,340 feet), which interested me
very much. It is visibly old, and has long been in ruins.
It must have been in rains in Gohr Aman's time. Its object
is to block the ascent from the glacier to the fields. The
moraine's precipitous face towards the glacier can only be
Digilizod by Google
ascended at this point, and the fort was built to block
the way. But against whom ? At the foot of the chief
moraine precipice there is a chaos of smaller moraines,
marking varions changes in the level of the ice, hut the
main moraine marks a single epoch of glacier contraction.
We climbed to the highest point of the moraine ridge
at its angle, and withstood the rising wind for some minutes
while we inspected the fine broken surface of ice at our feet,
looked up towards its sources, and noticed the series of
parallel dirtbands that decorate its surface. At this
moment the whole Bualtar valley became filled from side
to side with a dense cloud, carried along swiftly by the
wind. It was a dust-cloud, caused by some great stone
avalanche fallen in the recesses of the hills, but the faintest
echo of its thunder did not reach us. The cloud passed
by, filling our eyes with sand, and dispersed not far from
Nagyr. The glacier-ward face of the great moraine is
constantly falling in, and pufTs of dust may always be seen
arising from it at some point or another, but the sound
of these falls is not audible from the fields. The visibiUty
of the action of Nature's forces and their apparent sound-
lessness does more to impress the size of these mountain
regions upon one's senses than anything else.
We proceeded downwards, along the moraine, towards the
point I visited on the pre^dous day with Bruce. There
were quantities of large brick-red butterflies, which we
chased for more than an hour without even nearly catching
one — so swift and jiggery was their aimless flight. They
were most of them flirting in couples, and would dart into
the air, plunge down towards the glacier, or fly away over
the fields in wayward happiness.
As we were returning through the fields to camp, a
man rushed frantically amongst the growing corn and
seized two kids. He broke their backs, one after another,
and cast the carcases on to the path. His act was seen by
the owner of the kids, a peasant belonging to the nest
village, who cried aloud and summoned his friends. In
Digilizod by Google
NAGYR TO MIR. 295
a few moments the population of both villages came
together and drew up opposite each other, gesticulating
and shouting in great anger. A peasant war seemed on
the point of breaking out. We thus had experience of
the moods to which the villages of these parts owe their
strong hattlemented walls.
Towards evening our messenger returned from Hunza,
whither we had despatched him to beg for sugar and salt.
Captain Bradshaw sent us all his remaining store, but he
was without either salt or tobacco. He also sent three
negatives of views from Hunza, which unfortunately arrived
in time to go with the Gilgit baggage, and so were lost.*
June 29th, — Our proposed early start was postponed
because of heavy rain which fell about the time of sun-
rise. Moreover, there were all our accounts to be settled
with the natives, and some packing still to be finished,
so that it was 7.30 a.m. when we left the village behind.
The four things one has to pay for are flour, gJii (clarified
and usually rancid butter), wood, and milk. One seer
(2 lbs.) of flour a day, and two ounces of ghi for each of the
sepoys and native servants, and the other things for the
mess in varying quantity. But, heavens I the struggles
involved in making up the accounts, when every addition
has to be done on the fingers, and every division is an in-
soluble enigma even to the Raja's Munshi, who was supposed
to be a medium for adjusting accounts between us and the
villagers.
'* Well, what have I to pay for ? "
" There is dudy atar, gJii — yes, and there is wood, too."
" How much atar ? "
The Munshi, looking hopeless — "Oh! you have had atar;
let us say for ten rupees."
" Nonsense ! How much ? How many seers ? "
"Why, hazor, these are poor people, and have little ntar;
let us say eight rupees ! "
* The following were found at Hopar: — Glaux maritbiui, Pnrnassia
Qvata, Silene conoidea, Geiiliana detonsa.
Digilizod by Google
296 JVNE 29.
Habiba and the Gurkhas are called, and inform me
of the exact number of seers each has had. Eleven seers
for us, twenty-four for the Gurkhas, thirty-three to carry
away.
" Yes, that is quite right," says the Munshi.
" But that is not worth eight rupees."
" Well, how much does it come to, hazor? Tell me, for
I da not know." And so on.
*' Now how many seers of milk ? "
" Well, the Khansama knows ; how many would you
say ? "
" Fifteen."
" All right ; fifteen is right."
And so the bill is added up, and then they want a little
added on for luck, and then a little more so that the total
may be easily divided by three — I suppose for the three
lambadhars. Ultimately every one is satisfied, and off we go.
We retrace our steps of yesterday afternoon to Holshal
and the fort ; then plunge down the zigzag path to the
foot of the moraine precipice, and thus reach the wide
expanse of concentric smaller moraines that intervene
between the great one and the glacier. Here I encountered
a very stupid or very frightened native, and began to cross-
examine him about local names.
" What do you call that valley ? "
" I have no tongue."
" That valley — is it Bualtar? "
" Ah ! Bualtar."
" And that hill — is it Shaltar ? "
" Ah ! Shaltar— Shaltar i Chish."
" Good ! now that village — what's its name ? "
" Ah ! village."
" No. Begin again. The name of that is Bualtar ? "
" Ah! Bualtar."
" And that Shaltar? "
"Ah! Shaltar."
" And that village — what is it ? "
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NAGTR TO MIR. 297
"Ah ! village."
After about twenty minutes of this kind of examination
I discovered that the village was called Shaltar, and the
mountain Shaltar mountain, which I might have guessed to
start with. There was no distant view anywhere, thanks
to the heavy clouds ; but if there had been, every hill would
have been juat Chish, or the Chish of the nearest village or
pasture.
We struck straight across the glacier, which is much
moraine-covered at this point and easily traversed, the
only difficulty being to find a way off through two or
three seracs at the far side {9,000 feet). There we found
an obviously ancient track, which led us first up the right
bank of the glacier, and then into the moraine chaos
which fills the obtuse angle between the Hopar glacier
and the foot of the Barpu glacier. It is clear that the
main features of this wild region of piled stones were
formed centuries ago, and have not been much modified
by the smaller glacial changes of recent years.*
In due time we entered the level valley bottom intervening
between the left moraine of the Barpu glacier and the hillside;
we followed this trench for the remainder of our way. Some-
times its bottom was broad, level, and green ; sometimes it
was narrow and stony. Now it expanded into lake-basins,
filled with water at the melting of the snows, but dank and
muddy for the rest of the year. Again it was covered with
bushes of wild-rose in full blossom, mixed with the almost
olive-green Bik {Salix oxycarpa) shrub,t the stream winding
amongst them, and big stones here and there showing above
* It should be mentioned that the supply of ice which now comes
down the Barpu glacier only just euffices to carry the enout of it against
the side of the Bualtar glacier. The two iee-atreams do not really join,
and if there were to be any further shrinkage the Barpu glacier would
retreat up its own valley, and would become visibly separated from the
Hopar glacier system, as that has become separated from the Hispar.
t These plants were found along the right bank of the Barpu glacier : —
Erigeron atidryaloides, Orchis latifolia, Banuncuhis hifberboretis var,
natam, HippurU vulgaris, Euphrasia officinalis.
Digilizod by Google
298 JUNE 29.
the foliage. On the one hand was always the bare hillside,
on the other the bare moraine. Clouds hid every trace of
distant view in front and behind. Not content with this
odious ftinction, they presently poured rain npon our heads,
and drenched U8 to the skin. In such condition we arrived
at our camping-ground, situated at the base of some steep
rocks, edged with blossoming rose-bushes, and by the side
of an open maidan which here intervened between the rock
wall and the moraine. We called the place Wild Rose
Camp (10,400 feet). All the grass land in this Barpu
trough is the Raja of Nagyr's alp, and hither in the
summer time he sends his horses, bullocks, and goats to
graze.
Zurbriggen and I sheltered from the rain in a cleft
of the rocks, awaiting the coming of the coolies and
tents. A better ledge offering itself a few feet higher
up, Zurbriggen climbed there, and was almost knocked
down by a big bird which Hew in his face. It was a
hen chukor (Caccabis chuhor) that he disturbed from
her nest. We found thirteen hard-set eggs in the rough
straw cup. In due time camp was pitched beside a
spring of clear water, and the rain, finding it could harm
us no more, presently ceased to fall. As the evening
came on the sky cleared, and a magnificent sunset made
amends for our past discomforts. Up and down and across
the valley grand mountains revealed themselves. The
southward extension of the Golden Pan-i was ahead of us ;
the big peaks of the Chogo Lumba and Khaltar watersheds
showed their summits over the crests of their imposing
buttresses, which extended down towards us, enclosing the
basins of snow which feed the Barpu glacier. Far away
to the west, a foundation for the glorious sky, were the
massive mountains of Budlas, daily gatherers of cloud. It
was certainly the finest sunset we had yet seen, and as
grand as any I ever saw over alp, desert, or ocean, but
for colour it was inferior to the sunsets of the Alps.
June SOlh. — About 7.30, on a glorious morning, McCor-
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NAGYB TO MIR. 299
raick, Znrbriggen, and I left the cold shadow of our wall
of rock and commenced ascending northwards towards
the crest of the ridge, called Rash, which separated us
from the Hispar valley. The ascent was steep and stony,
but we reached the top in about an hour, and were rewarded
by an all but perfectly clear view. The watershed to the
south now displayed almost its whole extent from the
Crown of Dirran to the Chogo peak, and we were enabled
to reconnoitre the peak between them which we came
up this valley to climb.
We used to speak of
it as the Saddle peak.
On the other side we
looked up the long,
dull Hispar valley, and
could see the straight
row of peaks north of it
standing up like spikes
on the top of a wall.
Some of them are in-
dividually fine, but col-
lectively they produce
the poorest impression.
After spending an
hour or so in work at
this point we followed
the crest of our ridge, sunset fkom wiu) bose camp.
and mountedfor another
1,800 feet to a knoll some 3,000 feet above Wild Rose
Camp. The view from it was similar to the one just
seen, but rather more extensive, the great peaks to the
south being better displayed. Moreover the glacier below
was visible in greater extent, and we could follow it from
its rise in the Saddle peak to the point where it abuts
against the Bualtar glacier. It is, throughout, as noble an
ice-stream as one might wish to see, bending with all
imaginable grace. For some time it has been in retreat,
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but it will presently advance, for in the neighbourhood of
our camp, and higher up, it is bulging over its lateral
moraines, sending continual small ice- avalanches down their
outer sides, and in more than one place attempting to
thrust out an arm into the Raja's alp. We spent a delight-
ful hour on this highest point of our morning's excursion,
and then raced down a slope of loose stuff in twenty-five
minutes to the side of the glacier, by which we walked for
a mile or more to camp and tiffin.*
Jnln \st. — After a night that was far too warm (rain.
47°) came a dull morning and visible threatenings of
rain. There were compensations, however, in the cool-
ness of the air and the absence of a burning sun. Various
accounts had to be settled and arrangements made, kiltas
to be sent off to Hispar, and the like, before we could start on
our day's march. At 7.30 we were off, and for an hour and a
half we walked straight up the valley between the moraine and
the hillside, till we approached the point where they meet.
Before that meeting takes place the valley opens out into a
charming little plain of sand dotted over with numerous
rugged Bih trees, looking for all the world like olives. This
is called Paipering Maidan (10,990 feet), and here we turned
to the right up the moraine-slope and took to the ice. We
were opposite the point where the two main tributaries
of the Barpu glacier unite. One of them comes down the
Samaiyar Bar from the Golden Parri. The other, which is
the larger of the two, descends from the Khaltar watershed,
and, sweeping back to the west at its head, rests against a
transverse ridge dividing it from the highest level of the
Bualtar glacier. Our route lay up the latter of these
branches, locally known as the Shallihuru glacier, a name
which the natives could not explain. Hum must clearly
* The following were found on the crest of Bash ridge (c. 18,400
feet) : — Malcohnia afrkana, Sediim tibeticum, MacTotomia perennts, Pfdi-
cularls pi/cnantha, Kphcilra jiionosper ma or E. Gerardiana v&i. Wallicliiiina,
Veronica liiloha, Thi/miis Serpijlliim, Dracocephalum near D. pabnatum,
Androsacc villosa, Thlatpi alpestre, Echbutspermum barbalum
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NAGYR TO MIR. 30l
have some meaning, for it is the designation of the first
village up the Hispar valley. The ridge dividing the Shalli-
huru from the Samaiyar Bar glacier is called Awkbassa.
We did not at once cross the united glacier, but struck
almost straight up the middle of the Shallihuru branch
under the precipices of Awkbassa. We had much medial
morain e to
cross before jwe
trod upon the
undulating ice,
which stretched
away before us
to the foot of
the great ice-
fall we were de-
stined to make
intimate ac-
quaintance
with. Zurbrig-
gen piloted the
coolies over the
region, so
strange to
them, whilst
Boudebush and
I remained far
behind, busy
with such sur-
veying as the
tniCKatmo- os the baepu olacibr,
sphere allowed.
We ran after the others later on, and, bearing to the right,
entered the region of seracs. We crossed some of these and
came to a giddy short cut, which Koudebusb preferred to cir-
cumvent by following the route of the coolies. After passing
the narrow passage, I was about to tread on a broad mass
of ice which bridged a chasm, and over which the caravan
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went a few minutes before, when I heard what seemed
to be a shrill whistle in Eoudebush's neighbourhood. I
paused, and at that instant the mass of ice I was going
to have stepped on cracked up and tumbled into the
crevasse it had bridged, making thunder in its descent. I
sent Roudebush's coolie and a Gurkha to see what he
wanted and show him the route ; they found him half way
down a crevasse into which he had been knocked by a
sliding stone. He was caught with a shoulder against one
side and a knee against the other, and was thus suspended
about twenty feet above a rushing torrent of water, close
to a niouHn. He could not extricate himself, but they
pulled him out by aid of the coohe's long shawl. He
lost his hat and stick, but was not hurt. He did not
whistle, but shouted. I certainly heard no shouts.
We now made for the left bank of the glacier, and struck
it where a good path led over it into the trough behind.
Here are situated the goatherds' huts, named Mir, close to
the upper end of a considerable pool of water. We left them
behind us and mounted the moraine valley for fifteen
minutes to an admirable camping-ground (11,630 feet),
where there was a streamlet of clear water flowing out of a
pretty pool, the hill-slope behind being bright with flowere,
and dotted over with wild-rose and other bushes. Not far
off were a few stunted trees, but high up on the slopes
of Awkbassa, caught as it were amongst precipices, tliere
were many well-grown trees. We noticed, on the highest
point which we reached of the Eash ridge, the dead roots
of several considerable trees, so that clearly many barren
slopes in these parts might be afforested, to the great
benefit of the country, if attention were given to the matter.
Now trees only exist on slopes inaccessible to the natives ;
all others having been cut down. As in so many mountain
regions, the inhabitants have themselves to thank for a
scarcity of timber which causes them much discomfort.
On our arrival we found camp pitched and a tire lit, so
that tiffin could not be far off. It was just noon. The
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NAGYIi TO MIB. 303
rain had thus far considerately held off, but it now began
to descend in a steady stream, and continued to pour, with
more or less persistence. Towards sunset it cleared up,
and the mountains gradually cast off their shrouds and
stood out hke pallid ghosts, when the cold light of the moon
supplanted the last rays of day. The Saddle peak at the
glacier's head resembled the ghost of a bride, trailing her
white veil over the snowfield. It was pleasant to he
relieved from our cloud prison even thus late, but the aspect
of the heavens was not promising, and, though I packed
and made all arrangements for an early start next morning,
I turned in,
fully assured
that along
night's sleep
and a day of
writing and
drawing in camp
were in store for
me.
Jidi/ 2nd. —
My confidence
was not ill-
placed. The ^j^ ^^^^
n igh t soon
clouded over again, and by two in the morning rain was
once more falling. Our proposed expedition up the glacier
had to be postponed, as indeed the state of Zurbrig-
gen'a eye would in any case have necessitated. The pre-
vious day, while he was nailing boots, or doiug the like
work, some metal splinters leapt into his right eye. He
removed three of them, but one remained under the lid and
tormented him all night. If, now and again, he chanced to
fall asleep, it was only to dream of going to doctors, who
failed to cure him of his pain. " Dniuierwcttcr 1 " he cried
to them in turn; " what sort of a cha rogue doctor Rve you? "
and thereupon awoke to fresh torments. In the morning
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304 JULY 2.
his eye was badly swollen, but, with the help of daylight, I
was able to find the offending mote, high up under the
lid, and to extract it, whereupon the pain ceased, and our
guide began to be himself again.
What a miserable day it was outside the tents, to be
sure ! But the rest and the rare leisure were delightful.
If only our larder had been better stocked ! Flour was giving
out, and the Raja of Nagyr sent a letter saying that there
was none to be had there. The bottom of the tin was
visible through our last spoonful of salt. We had at the
outside sugar enough for two days, and but six pipes of
tobacco. Such was our condition when a dak wala was
seen approaching with a box upon his back. " Stores from
Gilgit ! " was the immediate cry ; nor were we disappointed.
We prised the box open, and found untold treasures sent us
by the admirable lioberts, whom we fell to blessing in all the
languages — salt, lots of it — sugar, a whole bag — tobacco—
and, great Scott t jam ! The rain might go on falling, we
rather liked it — we could smoke, we were independent of
external miseries. Heavens ! how we dined ! Then I
turned in and read "Les Trois \fou8quetaires," and listened,
not without a tinge of satisfaction, to the rain steadily
pattering on the roof of my tent. It was the first half-
holiday I took since leaving Abbottabad.
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a 3ADDLS PEAKS FBOH DA3SKABAU h
CHAPTER XV.
MIB TO HISFAli.
July Srd. — The coutinuing bad weather prevented our start-
ing for a climb, so I prolonged my holiday. I lay upon the
ground and did nothing, Ustened to the rain and watched
the drifting clouds. It was delightful. Towards evening
there was a breaking overhead, and tlie sunset was line,
though not comparable to the sunsets of the Alps. We
never saw either the deep gold or brilliant rose which one
expects from a snow mountain in the evening. The sky
became gloriously clear, and a bright moon silvered all the
peaks and slopes at the valley's head, and struck dark belts
of shadow across the great glacier and its cataract of ice.*
* Found at Mir: — Cerastium trigynum, Anaphalh nubigena, Eanun-
ciilus hyperboreus var. natam, Potavwgeton pectinatus, Stellaria Webbiana,
Gentiana argentea. Thymus ScTpylliim, Polygonnvt ajffine, Hcdysarum
Falconeri.
21
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Early, therefore, and hopefully we retired to our bags for
the night.
Jvly ■itk. — At last the weather promised well. The
night was fairly cotd, and things actually on the ground
were frozen, though the thermometer four feet above it
only registered a minimum of 34^ Fahr. Zurbriggen and I,
with Harkbir, Karbir, and five coolies, accordingly started
away at 6 a.m. and walked alongside the glacier's left
moraine. The route soon became very rough, and iu some
places bad. We had to cross below and over the foot of
the steep little Mir glacier, and after that several couloirs
in succession, all of them descending from the jagged mass
of the Dasskaram Needles. About seven o'clock we heard
the voice of a cuckoo far above us. Several times we passed
broods of young birds of various sorts, especially chukor.
The old birds were calling on all sides.
The great glacier to our left was in many places invading
its moraine. We were thus forced up the hill to the right,
and had to cross several steep places where the footing was
none of the best. Here the coolies went fairly well, but
when they had to traverse the snow couloirs, three of them
went abominably, and that notwithstanding the huge steps
cut for them. One was so unutterably stupid as caltaly to
tread on the slope instead of iu a step the size of a joint-dish.
Down, of course, he went, with his kilta rattling about hijn —
fortunately not the one containing the instruments. They
made straight for a big crevasse, and we thought they were
done for, but a bump of snow turned them aside and they
landed comfortably in a small one. Meanwhile two of the
other coolies sat down on the snow and cried like children,
boohooing aloud. After this incident they all went more
carefully, and we had less trouble with them.
We mounted close beside the icefall, the most com-
plete chaos of jumbled blocks it was ever my chance to
behold. Its entire height is about 4,000 feet, and at no
point was it possible to find a way through it. At 10.30
we at last got the cooUes to the place where it is neces-
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MIE TO mSPAR. 307
sary to take to the ice if one is to advance further. Here
the Dasskaram glacier comes down a steep gully from
the right, and the crags of a ridge from the highest Dass-
karam needle abut vertically against the left bank of the
ShalKhuru icefall. Obviously the ■wretched coolies could
no fiirther go, so we ordered camp to be pitched. To find
a place for it was not easy, for the slopes were all raked by
continual falls of stones, besides being everywhere too
steep for a tent. At length a tolerable spot was found at
the foot of a sheltering rock wall, and there the men pro-
ceeded to build
a tent platform
(13,960 feet). I
admired the
skill with which
they made, of
the rough
stones lying
about, a strong
wall to support
the platform.
They built up
a place for the
Gurkhas' tent,
and dug a jhole
for themselves. shallihuru sBR*ca.
These traces of
our presence will doubtless remain for many years, and the
story of our journey is not likely to lose much by the coolies'
telling.
After Zurbriggen and I had lunched, he went off with the
Gurkhas to find a way through the seracs, while I set to
work in the tent. I observed the instruments, set up the
plane-table and sketched in the surroundings, catalogued
and labelled the objects collected on the march,* and
* These were found along the moraine between Mir and Dasskaram
Camp : — Sednm aaiutieum, Attragalns frigidus, Potentilla argyrophylla.
Digilizod by Google
took a sphygmograph tracing of my pulse, not without a
good deal of difficulty.
During all the day the cloud phenomena were singularly
interesting. In the early morning umbrella clouds, usually
prophets of bad weather, formed on the highest peaks of
the watershed, but they dispersed without damage. Later,
a strange haze overspread all the sky at a height of from
22,000 to 23,000 feet. This haze I observed locally
before, at about the same altitude, but not so widely dis-
tributed. It was a glaring haze, that seemed to multiply
the intensity of the sun's heat. By degrees it thickened
into cloud and, over Hispar way, great cumuli, in ascending
air currents, bor^an to mount into the heavens, their level
bases being at about 18,000 feet, and their summits reaching
from 7,000 to 10,000 feet higher. At 1.15 p.m. a little hail
or snow fell on our camp. At 2.30 the whole sky was com-
Digilizod by Google
Mir to iiispar. m
pletely overcast, and the weather was threatening, bat
presently the south wind began to fail before a dry current
from the north. The cloud mantle of tbe heavens was rent
in various places, and towards evening every shred of it was
carried away.
After my work waa done I lay for an hour on the tent
floor, sometimes dozing, sometimes listening to the hum
of the rushing glacier stream and the tinkle of the little
brook that passed close to the tent door. There was always
the crash and boom of falling stones, near at hand or far away.
The thunder of tumbling ice in the icefall resounded every
few moments. I could also hear the click of Zurbriggen's
axe, though unable to see bun on the glacier.
About four o'clock he returned with unwelcome intelligence
of defeat. There was our intended peak clearly visible
from base to summit at the head of the snowfield before us.
Once on the neve basin no difficulty barred our way. We
had but to climb an easy ridge to the pommel, follow the
crest of the saddle, and pound our way up a gentle snow
arete to the top. About three miles of broken glacier
separated us from the neve basin, but through all of it we
saw a way if once we could reach the middle of the glacier.
We were separated from that by a fringe of horribly
broken ice, and it was in this fringe that Zurbriggen was
working all the afternoon. He described it in the strongest
language he could muster up, and his expressions are not
usually lacking in force. Nowhere in the Alps did he
ever behold the like. It was not merely crevassed, but
pounded into round loose lumps of ice, wedged anyhow in
the jaws of vast abysses, and overhung by tottering masses.
The whole thing was loose and trembliug. If a fall occurred
a hundred yards off, the ice under Zurbriggen's feet shook
about with the vibration. This kind of thing extended up
and down for some couple of thousand feet, and in its
narrowest part was a quai-ter of a mile wide. It was frankly
impassable, even at this time of year, when considerable
beds of winter snow remained to bind it together. Later
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in the season it might become even more impracticable.
Our proposed expedition therefore had to be abandoned.
We often asked ourselves why it is that the Kara-
koram glaciers are bo much more crevassed than those
of the Alps. They are not on the average steeper. Even
when they are almost level their surfaces are fissured like
an icefall, and their true icefalls are simple chaos. The
reason, I imagine, must be sought in the nature of iheii
IN THE SHALLIHUBU SKBAUa.
beds. Throughout all our journey we observed the rarity of
roclies moutonnces. The vertical stratification of the rocks
all over this country makes the formation of rocJies mouton-
nees unusual. A glacier moving over such rocks does not
round and polish them, but simply snaps off their edges.
The beds of all the glaciers I surveyed are formed of the
successive edges of strata set up on end. Over these the
ice has to force its hampered way, and in doing so it gets
split up. The peculiarity is a moat unfortunate one for a
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^m TO HISPAIi. 3il
mountaineer. The glaciers which run along the strike of tlie
strata are not so contorted.
July 5th. — At an early hour the sky was again overcast,
and so, having no plan, we awaited the dawn to see what
kind of weather might be expected. Matters improving, we
packed np our tents and kiltas and sent them down with
the coolies to Mir Camp, we ourselves with the two Gurkhas
starting at 6.45 up the left moraine of the steep Dasskaram
glacier to make an exploration into the hidden recesses
above. There was a stiff scramble up the loose stones for
nearly an hour, and then, as clouds threatened to gather,
we halted to set up the plane-table and draw in the upper
hasin of the Shallihuru glacier which now lay at our feet.
We turned upwards again, not well knowing whither, but
vaguely tending towards the col at the glacier's head.
The glacier is nowhere anything but narrow, and is entirely
fed by the avalanches which pour upon it from the steep
walls and down the couloirs around it. We reached the
branching of the first couloir to our right and climbed up
beside it for a short distance, then crossed it and mounted
to the back of the rib of rock on its further {or true right)
side.
This committed us to our course. Once on this arete,
there was nothing to do but to follow it, for on one side
it was vertical, and on the other extremely steep. The
strata were of course upright, and the lamince very sharp,
so that we had' to advance with care, for the least slip
would cut one to pieces. It was like climbing on knife
edges. There was much fresh snow among the slaty
rock, but everywhere good footing could ultimately be
found. Up we went along the steep arete, now climbing
over a pinnacle, now traversing a saddle, now descending
into a gap, the abysses always on either hand. It was a
good scramble, and became harder the higher we went. If
only we had started earlier ! The great aiguille was not so far
off, perhaps we might still reach it, late as it was — but no 1
Just after noon ill-luck again awaited us behind a comer,
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and cairied off Zurbriggen's axe ; down it rattled into the
couloir on our right, aud mine was the only axe left in the
party. The Gurkhas had none with them ; two of theirs
were broken at Bagrot, and the other two were gone with
Bruce over the Nushik La ! Need was, therefore, for us to
be content with less than the highest. We were close to
the top of one of the needles, and at a quarter to one
o'clock we stood on its summit.*
All the Shallihuru glacier, with the great peaks around
its head, was displayed, and we could see, away to the
north, range after range of mighty mountains, with which
future marches were to make us better acquainted. I was
disturbed from my reveries by the cry of "Ibex! Ibex! "
I turned and beheld four of them looking surprisingly big,
especially one great doe attended by a nimble young
one. They stood on the rocks about 300 yards off and
watched us with apparent surprise. Ultimately they con-
cluded to leave the neighbourhood, and thereupon started
to cross a wall of the mountain which was heavily encum-
bered with snow in a dangerously loose condition. It was
most interesting to watch their clever manceuvres, and to
see how carefully they avoided cutting a furrow across the
snow. They jumped from spot to spot, taking advantage
of every rock that protruded through the surfcice. Now
they would go straight uphill and now straight down to
secure a safer passage. The little one was hard pressed to get
across. Its mother watched it over the worst part and then
composedly went on her way. One hard place stopped the
kid for about a quarter of an hour aud almost ended its
career, for in its desperate struggles it started an avalanche
from which it barely escaped. Ultimately all reached less
steep ground, and, passing round a corner, were lost to view.
We stopped an hour and a half on the top and enjoyed
* The following were found on Dasskaram Needle up to 16,500 feet: —
Sedum tibeticum, Farrya cxscufa, Astraijaltis confertus, Leotttopodium
aijpinum, Cheiranthua hivtalaiciis. At 17,000 feet we found Saxifraga
oppositifolia and Potetitilla Inglhii.
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Mir to sisPAii. 313
every moment of our repose. The altitude of our needle is
17,660 feet. The descent to the foot of the difficult part of
the arete took us two hours and a quarter, and was most
delightful and ioteresting. There Zurbriggen left us, and,
going into the couloir, mounted it for an hour and
recovered his beloved axe, the loss of which he had not
ceased to bomoan. We went leisurely down, catching on
our way a brood of youug chukor, which we presently
liberated. In thirty-five minutes we reached the tent
platform, and Zurbriggen caught ns up. How enjoyable
was our rest there, and the pipes we smoked ! We were
in a humour in which it was easy to forgive, and we
eveu ceased to revile the icefall that barred us from the
Saddle peak of our disappointment. I suppose we must
have halted an hour at this spot : when we turned to
descend the sun was already low and the shadows were
climbing the snowy flanks of Awkbassa. We were delayed
by no slow coolies, and our packs were light ; we did not
linger on the road. Rapidly we retraced the steps of the
preceding day, and, in an hour and thirty-five minutes,
regained the camp at Mir, where not only were McCormick
and Koudebush awaiting us, with dinner ready cooked, but
the incomparable Rahim Ali, newly come up from Gilgit,
with I know not what Insuries of stores in his kiltas. He
also brought a letter firom Roberts telling me that he was
unable to carry out his plan of accompanying us over the
Hispar pass. A reference to an old diary shows me that,
curiously enough, exactly that day fourteen years before,
Roberts was prevented from starting with me for a climbing
trip in the Alps.
There was one point of interest in connection with the
climb which has not been mentioned. I made myself
during the day the subject of experiment in the matter of
food. The chief difficulty in any great ascent, requiring
two or three days, is carriage. Food is the heavy item.
If one could lay in a good foundation before starting in the
morning, that would help ; but few men can eat a heavy
Digilizod by Google
314 JULY 6.
meal at 3 a.m. On this occasion my breakfast conBisted of
two chapattis and a piece of chocolate. I carried for the day
seven small Kola biecnite • and two fingers of chocolate, and
was surprised to find that this was even more than was
needed. I did not sufi'er from hunger nor from &intnees, and
arrived in camp without headache or any of the troubles of
digestion which arise so readily at high altitudes. In tbe
evening I ate only a moderate meal, slept well, and awoke
next morning in perfect condition.
July Gth. — The weather this day was magnificent. A
strong north wind blew and carried the light snow in
white streamers off all the sharper peaks. It was hard
to remember that, but for a short bit of icefall, this
perfect day would have been granted to us for the ascent
of the Saddle peak. Mere existence became, however,
delightful at whatever altitude and with almost any occu-
pation. McCormick spent the morning stalking butter-
flies. Roudebiish whiled it away, blowing on a hideous
cacophonical instrument of his own construction : at its
best it might have been about half as melodious as a
jew's-harp, but, like the rest of us, it failed to attain its
ideal. Zurbriggen got out the tools and mended things,
whilst I was immersed in filthy lucre, paying all manner of
persons infinitesimally small sums for their various more
or less inefficient services. There was, moreover, much
writing and cataloguing to be done, and so the morning
At thi'ee in the afternoon we struck camp and turned our
backs on the pretty pool and its croaking fi-ogs. We retraced
our steps to Paiperiug Maidan (10,990 feet), which it took
the coolies an hour and a half to reach. The effects of
light on the mountains, especially on the Hunza peaks, the
wonderful blueness that pervaded the air and enriched the
shadows, the foreground of white glacier like a turbid sea,
all combined to produce a delightful series of pictures,
* Kola biecntts are tnanufactured at Marseilles, and can be obtained
at Silver's.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
MIR TO HISPAR. 317
amidst which I wandered in deHght. Our camping-ground
was a charming flat lake-basin, dotted over with Gamun
plants for grass, shaded by stunted BiJc trees, and embel-
lished with wild rose-bushes and the pretty flowering shrub
called Baahkar*
We pitched our tents under a clump of Biks. The
coolies scattered themselves in three groups around camp
fires. The servants, with their tent, formed another group,
whilst our attendant local authorities — munshi, two
lambadhars, and a few miscellaneous followers of theirs —
lit a separate fire for themselves, as also did the Gurkhas.
When night came on, and the Hunza peaks were cut out
in dark silhouette against the west, the bright fires,
illuminating the quaint groups squatting about them,
produced the most picturesque effects. To watch these
and the moonlight was our evening entertainment, but the
chilly air cooled our ardour, and drove us in early for the
night. The soughing of the wind amongst trees was the
unwonted sound that mingled with my opening dreams.
July 1th.— y^G separated at starting from our pleasant
camp, Roudebush with most of the men going down the
valley a short distance and then turning to the right and
crossing the Kash ridge at a lower point (10,930 feet) ;
McCormick, Zurbriggen, and I going up the valley and over
the same ridge higher up. All started at 5.45 a.m. We
followed a path between the moraine and the hillside
for about half an hour, and then struck to the left up
some good cow-made zigzags which we noticed on the
previous day. The hill was of gentle slope and covered
with vegetation. It was pleasant to ascend, but somewhat
monotonous. Now and again, bearing gradually to our
right, we had to cross slopes of large stone dihris, but
usually the ground was dotted with herbs doing duty for
grass, and fiowers were plentiful though of few kinds.
There are scattered trees on the hillside, and the whole
* Found at Paiperiug Maidan : — Artemisia socrorum (Ganiun), Lonicera
micTopkylla (Baehkar), Salix oxycarpa (Bik), Rosa macrophylla (Shau).
Digilizod by Google
might be afforested. As we ascended, the view behind
us continually developed. We were evidently about to
enjoy a marvellous prospect. The point we were making
for is splendidly situated, as was foreseen, and I looked
forward to the most illuminating topographical revelations.
About 300 feet below the crest of the ridge is a level
plateau (15,630 feet), where we halted to lunch and rest our
five coolies, who, lightly burdened though they were, show^ed
signs of fatigue.*
. OLACIBR FBOM THE SOUTH BLOPB OF RASH SIDOE
The whole range south of the Hunza valley was now
displayed before us, from Eakipushi at one end to the Chogo
peak at the other. There was not a cloud in any direction,
unless a pecuHur transparent haze, rising like a pillar near
" Found on the southward slope leading to the upper Eash pass : —
Bcrbcris vulgaris, Echinospennum barbatnm, Pedicutaris pycnatUha,
Lychnis brachypelala, Thcsiiim himaknse, Lonicera glanca. Primula
■purpurea, Saxi/raga fiagelUiris, Draba incompta, Draba glacialis, Braya
rosea, Saitssurca ( ?), and Juiiiperiis yseudosabiiia.
Digilizod by Google
MIR TO mSPAR. 319
Rakipushi, should be 3o described. We noticed it there
on several occasions. It resembled a dust cloud, and was
doubtless caused by some continuing &,U of stones in the
recesses of the hills. Was Pushi going "Boom ! boom! "
again for Eaki dead ?
We reached our plateau at 10.30. McOormick and I
remained there for two hours and a quarter, taking a
round of angles with the theodolite and working at the
plane-table, whilst Zurbriggen went on with the coolies
to find a good camping-ground on the other side. What a
view it was, to
be sure ! Each
mountain mani-
fested all the
dignity of its
form, and rose
above us in the
full majesty of
its vast dimen-
sions. The only
drawback was
theblazingheat
of the sun. I
felt it the more
keenly, as I was bukipushi rakob from near thb uppkr rash pass'
foolish enough
to send away my pith helmet with the coolies, a pith
helmet and a theodolite being an inconvenient combination.
When we started away from our plateau we bore con-
siderably to the right and entered a high, broad valley or
trough, which here traverses the wide back of the ridge.
In the midst of this trough is a lake, still covered,
when we passed it, with a thick coat of ice and a mantle
of melting snow. A gentle slope behind led to the ridge
(three-quarters of an hour from plateau ; height 15,930
feet), and there a new view burst upon our gaze. Rakipushi
was still in sight on our extreme left, then all the Budlas
Digilizod by Google
and Hunza peaks, and the long avenue of great mountains
that border the Hispar valley. The sun shone straight on
these Hispar peaks and made them look flat and uninterest-
ing. We set up the instruments, hut the heat was too
great for work. The ground was bad, and it was only with
infinite patience that I got the theodolite level ; then my
admirable Gurkha, Harkbir, accidentally kicked one of the
legs, and the work had all to be done again. I began to feel
pains in the head and back. So, to avoid worse troubles, we
hurried into the shade of a great rock and rested under it for
an hour or more. We saw Zurbriggen and the coolies far
below, and were horrified to observe them bearing to the left
instead of well to the right. This error on their part bore
horrible frait next day.
As the sun went slowly to tlie west the view in that
direction waxed in beauty. The dry air, perhaps filled with
fine dust, caught a rich blue glow and painted all the valley
depths and shadows with its lovely tint. The mountains,
far away, became like transparent crystals against the sky.
We saw the fertile fields and slopes of both Hunza and
Nagyr, and discovered the towns themselves, with the
castles that crown them, nestling at the foot of the great
mountains.
After two hours and a quarter spent on this col we
packed up our things and commenced the descent, follow-
ing, perforce, the direction taken by Zurbriggen and the
coolies. We went down piles of big stones and a steep
damp slope of rank herbage, below which there was a
pleasant alp grazed by cattle and goats. The sun had
greatly fatigued us, and made the descent seem endless.
But, after an hour and a half of walking, we rounded a fold
of the hillside and saw below the shepherds' huts, named
Eash (12,140 feet), and, near them, our camp pitched and a
fire blazing. A few moments later we were sheltering in
the tent from the still burning sun, and Zurbriggen was
serving us with tea and other acceptable comforts. He was
not at all happy in the bottom of his heart at losing such
Digilizod by Google
MIR TO mSPAR. 321
grand climbing weather, but his boots having finally given
out, climbing was for the time impossible. "To be on
the mountains is to me," he said, " an unspeakable de-
light ; and then, besides, I Hke earning money."
As the sun departed, the glory in the west became in-
describable, but it was a glory of the atmosphere, not of the
peaks. Floods of golden or crimson light streamed through
every pass and almost blotted out with their opaq^ue bril-
hancy the peak beside each. From moment to moment
the scene changed, but every change was a new revelation.
At length night came on. The bright moonlight spread
above us from a hidden source and silvered all the white
hills across th.e valley. Satiated with so much loveliness we
retired to rest. " Farewell, Selene, bright and fair; farewell,
ye other stars that follow the wheels of qniet Night I "
Jul// 8f/i.— The night was warm (min. 47'' Fahr.), and the
day opened with a burning sun. We were tired after our
clamber of yesterday, and did not start till 8 a.m. We
found ourselves, as we feared, still pushed to the left in
our descent, so that almost all the advantage gained by
crossing the ridge high up was lost. At first we went
down steep grass ; by degrees the herbage became rarer,
and at length we entered a sloping desert of sand and
stones. Finally we ran down a stone-shoot into mere
Sahara, the valley bottom being barren as at Bunji, and the
hillsides walls of stone, set up at an angle suitable to catch
and concentrate the rays of the broiling sun on the unfor-
tunate traveller between them. The descent to the river
took one hour and ten minutes of very rapid going.
The intermittent track led us over a difficult parri by
means of a steep slope, raked everywhere by falling stones.
If one of these were to strike the traveller he would in-
evitably be precipitated into the raging torrent below. We
hastened on our way as fast as the heat would allow,
greatly aided by steps which Zurbriggeu cut on his passage
shortly before us. After three-quarters of an hour of this
kind of thing we reached a bridge (8,620 feet) of two planks
Digilizod by Google
spanning the violent river. Down I plumped and went
over it on all fours — a proceeding which set McCormick
and Harkbir laughing so immoderately that they almost
tumbled off the
path. Most of
the remainder
of our way lay
■ up the right
bank of the
river. We
passed through
a patch of high
grass jungle,
diversified with
rose-bushes in
full blossom,
and then we
entered the
stony desert
again. We often
rested under the
shadow of great
stones. At first
the gorge was
narrow and a
trifle breezy,
but presently it
opened out and
the heat became
worse than ever.
The slopes on
A SAND OLIdSADB. „„_ t^a.
our left were
long, and reached unbroken to the crest of the ridge ; those
on our right were invisible above and precipitous below.
The river boiled and thundered in flood, the exaot colour
of its sandy banks.
I remember little about the way. We passed through
Digilizod by Google
Min TO HISPAR. 323
a clump of miserable hnts, called Arpi Harrar, where
Boudebnsh and the others spent the night and left visible
traces behind them. We halted for half an hour by two
great rocks, with a lovely draught between them (temp. 83"
Fahr.). Close at hand was a tiny fertile patch, all pink with
roses. Thus far we had been two hours and a half walking
from the bridge and one hour and a quarter resting.
Half an hour further on we were approaching the mouth
of a deep narrow side nala, that crossed our path, when we
heard a noise as of thunder, and beheld a vast black wave
advancing down it at a rapid pace. Some glacier-take had
broken high above, and the waters were bringing down the
hill. When we reached the edge of the nala the main mass
of the stuff had gone by, and only a thick black stream of
mud was rushing swiftly past. This became by degrees more
liquid, until it was no longer mud, but blat;k water. We
waited for some time till the waters subsided and the
coolies caught up with us. Harkbir found a way across the
torrent by leaping from stone to stone, and we were about
to follow him when Karbir, who was looking up the nala,
shouted to us to come back. We obeyed with tlie nimblest
feet, and were not more than out of the ditch when another
huge mud-avalanche came sweeping down.
It was a horrid sight. The weight of the mud rolled
masses of rock down the gully, turning them over and
over like so many pebbles, and they dammed back the
muddy torrent and kept it moving slowly but with accumu-
lating volume. Each of the big rocks that formed the
vanguard of this avalanche weighed many tons ; the largest
were about ten-foot cubes. The stuff that followed them
filled the nala to a width of about forty and a depth of about
fifteen feet. The thing moved down at a rate of perhaps
seven miles an hour. When the froot of the avalanche
was gone, and the moving mass became shallower, the
mixture was about half mud, half rocks, and flowed faster.
Now and again a bigger rock than the average would bar
the way ; the mud would pile up behind it, and presently
Digilizod by Google
sweep it on. Looking up the nata we saw the sides of it
constantly falling in, and their ruins carried down. Half
the river was hlackened by the precipitation of so much
mud into its browu waters, and went thundering along with
added violence.
Three tiroes did
.he uala yield
I frightful off-
ipring of this
and, and each
lime it found a
lew exit into
ihe main river
)elow, and en-
lirely changed
he shape of its
an. The third
Lvalanche was
he largest of
,11,* and fortu-
lately left a
way of stones
almost across
the nala at
our very feet.
Some big fall
must pre-
sently have
taken place
higher up
and dammed
back the
waters, for the stream ran almost dry, and we were enabled
* In "Proceedings" B. G. S., 1864 (p. 27), Colonel Godwin-Aosten
describes a mud -avalanche (shivii) which he saw near Kutzah (12,553 feet),
Bouth of the Skoro La, on the 29th or 30th of July, 1861. It was 30 yards
wide and 15 feet deep.
Digilizod by Google
MIR TO mSPAE. 325
to cross the gully without difficulty, coolies and all. The
obstruction delayed us for two hours and three-quarters.
In ten minutes we reached the second bridge {9,390 feet)
over the Hiepar torrent and traversed it to the left bank.
Going very slowly we mounted in an hour to a fertile area."
We entered it through sangars and by a watch-tower or
small fort. The first group of fields is named Darapo.
They are stony and badly cultivated, a great contrast to
Hopar. A deep nala, that made the fan, divides Darapo
from Hispar. In its bowels some half-dozen mills fiud a
footing. The path goes round by these and mounts to
the fairer fields of Hispar. A few steps led to the mud-
roofed group of houses. We rounded a corner and beheld
with satisfaction the camp pitched close at band, on a
shadeless but level field (10,320 feet). Alas ! we were again
down in the domain of flies ; but the sun was already near
its setting on our arrival at 6.45, and we could eat our
dinner and retire to rest in peace.
* Between the two bridges in the Hispar valley there were found
Phragmites comviunis,, Colutea arborescem, Cnicut arvcnsis, and Lactuca
tatarica.
IN THE HI»PAR V
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LOOKINU UP TBB HISPAU ULACIBR fROH HIIOUTUH CAHP.
CHAPTER XVI.
HISPAH TO HAIGUTUM.
July Wi. — Whilst waiting by the mud- avalanche, the pre-
vious afternoon, I noticed two or three tiny flecks of cloud
drifting across the sky from the southward. This morning
a high southerly current carried with it a continuous stream
of cirrus clear over the tops of the highest peaks. As the
day advanced the fine silver threads lost their crispuess and
faded into one another, thus overcasting the sky more com-
pletely, but not perceptibly diminishing the burning heat of
the sun, which, with the flies, made the tents intolerable.
I spent the whole morniag at my desk in great discomfort.
The afternoon was also devoted to work; and, when
evening came, I was tired out, and yet neither the corre-
spondence nor the packing had been attended to. It
was needful therefore to remain another day. We arrived
at this conclusion reluctantly, not only because of the
flies and the heat, but forasmuch as we were now with-
out tobacco. We had to fall back on the horrible native
stuff carried by the servants. McCormick and Roudebush
retired to bed, smoking cigarettes of this tilth rolled in thin
Digilizod by Google
HISPAR TO HAIGUTVM. 327
paper, which I shall always believe they found in the candle
July loth. — Zurbriggen and I were np and off at 5 a.m.,
he to try his luck with the rifle, I to work at the plane-
table. The hill at the back of Hispar is called Shukurri,
and its middle slopes afford good grazing for large flocks of
sheep and goats.
Our intention was
to climb about
3,000 feet to a
point on its west
arete, whence Zur-
briggen hoped to
reconnoitre game
in the valley be-
hind.
The sky was
early overcast with
a layer of high
mist. All peaks of
less altitude than
21,000 feet were
clear beneath it.
The effect was ex-
traordinary and
depressing. There
was a sense of
weight overhead.
The air was soft
HI Ti 8T0NE-MAN ON SBUKUBEI.
and heavy. It
produced all the sensations that accompany an approaching
thunderstorm. But the high mist never thickened into
real cloud, and only sufficed to blot out the sunlight, so that
the day, though close, was a pleasant one for exercise.
At nay first halt Zurbriggen went his way. The day
passed, as far as I was concerned, without incident. I
reached four admirable stations in succession, and was
Digilizod by Google
enabled to clear up my ideas about the geography of the
district.* The side valley that opens behind Hispar Tvas
specially interesting to me. It contains an easy glacier,
descending from a low col between the Golden Parri and the
next mountain on the west. Over this col, had we known
of its existence, we might easily and quickly have come, in
one long day, from Paipering. Any mountaineer, approaching
or leaving Hispar, would find this the most agreeable route,
and would thereby avoid all the horrible desert valley.
Of chief interest to me was the view up the great Hispar
glacier towards our pass. From camp we could only see
the broad stony foot of the ice, and above that, far away, a
group of distant peaks. Eight and left, indeed, there were
the long ridges, bounding the abnormally straight valley,
and singularly uninteresting from their monotony of form,
one transverse ridge sticking out beyond another with
perfect regularity. But frooi the high position now
attained, I beheld the broad snow col itself and the long
majestic glacier, descending all its forty miles in one
grand sweep to my feet. The aide peaks, too, with their
many aiguilles, no longer looked monotonous or uniform.
They were seen to be merely the buttresses of ridges :
the successive attendants of a nameless aristocracy of
peaks.
The all-enveloping cloud-shadow solemnised the scene,
and emphasised the grand character which this \ievi
possesses above all others I have ever beheld. Not only
could I clearly perceive the whole length and breadth of the
mighty Hispar glacier and the perfect series of peaks
bounding it on the north, but there were still more distant
mouutaius peering over our pass from an excessive remote-
ness. And if I turned to the west and surveyed the region
whence we had come, there were all the mountains of
Budlas, fur away as Chalt, and the Huuza peaks joining on
* Tho following were gathered ou Sbukurri : — ilacrotomia perennis,
l!i)i'li'iiriiin I'tiliiilum var. HitjnHiirjiiim, Erilrk-biiiin slriclum, ilcrletisin
Digilizod by Google
mSPAB TO HAIGVTUM, 329
to them, so that from west to east the great range was
stretched out before me, peak beside peak, for a length of at
least ninety miles. And it looked ninety miles. There was
no doubt nor mistake about the scale of the thing. There
was the glacier to measure by in one direction ; in the
other, the mountains were well known to us ; we had seen
them from close at hand, and learned to wonder at the
grandeur of each alone.
After long gazing at the whole view the eye finally rested
upon the glacier — so vast a thing ; so much vaster than
was far away. The whole sur-
face looked level, and the:
were evidently no icefalls to be
surmounted. Many tributary glaciers swept round corners
to join the main stream, but they appeared neither to add
to its volume nor to disturb its tranquillity. There was
nowhere any visible trace of life or man. It was a glimpse
into a world that knows him not. Grand, solemn, un-
utterably lonely — such, imder the soft grey light, the great
Hispar glacier revealed itself.
I descended from my highest point in one hour to camp,
nmning rapidly down loose slopes of stones and sand, which
Digilizod by Google
330
JULY 11.
in many places permitted a glissade. On the way I found
some new flowers, and I missed many which had up to the
present been common on all such hillsides. Butterflies
were not numerous, save for the little blue sort which
enlivened the whole hillside with its iridescent wings. I
failed in my attempts to capture specimens, and could not
find it in my heart to regret the faihire ; the tiny creatures
were so fair. As I descended, the mist thickened in the
west, so as almost to blot out
r^'tl'k XTt ~' '^"^"^'^ the distant peaks. The atmo-
/30nni'IOF''^T sphere might have been im-
ported from the banks of the
Thames, so utterly un-Alpine
did it look. 1 reached camp
at 11.30, in time for tiffin, and
spent the remainder of the
day making the necessary ar-
rangements for our further
journey.
Jiili/ IKh. — The time was
at last ripe for our starting
to attempt the passage of the
great pass. But when the
iiiornmg cajne Zurbriggen was
discovered to be temporarily
indisposed, and our coolies
had not arrived. I never-
theless determined to start,
leaving Habiba and two men
I called the village together
and enhsted as many men as could be spared from
the fields. There were, in all, eighteen, enough to carry
the bulk of the baggage. The rest was left behind to be
brought on by Zurbriggen. At 9 a.m. we were ready.
I noticed two fresh individuals added to our company,
and on inquiry it turned out that they were guides, one for
the Nushik La, the other for the Hispar pass. The former
to look after Zurbriggen.
Digilizod by Google
MlSPAB TO BAIGOTUM. 331
was an old man; the latter, Shah Murat by name, looked,
though he was not, a competent kind of fellow. Short of
stature, with long black hair, a large mouth, teeth that
individually forced themselves on your notice, a prominent
hooked nose, and keen eyes. He wore thick knicker-
bockers and pattis on his active legs, whilst his body
was enveloped in a loose black European coat. He pro-
ftsssed to be a Yeshkun of Hispar, and to know no language
but his own. Koudebush would have it that he was a
Kussian Jew I He shouldered a couple of sheepskins, full
of flour, and a warm blanket, and therewith was prepared
to face the snowy regions for a fortnight or more. Balti-
stan, Yarkand, or Badakhshan — it was all one to him which
way he went.
A quarter of an hour after leaving Hispar we reached
and crossed a moraine, thus entering the basin (about
one mile long by from a quarter to three-quarters of a
mile wide) from which the glacier has retired compara-
tively recently. Such a small oscillation is of no importance,
so that practically the Hispar glacier may be considered to
have been stationary during the historic period, for the culti-
vated Hispar fan has been deposited since tbe main retreat
of the ice. In half an hour more we were level with the
glacier's foot and close to the black ice cave, from which the
river flows. Here two well-marked patbs divide. One leads
immediately on to and across the glacier, and is used by
cattle, sheep, and goats in their amiual migration to the
Bitermal and other north bank alps. The other is the way
to the alps on the south bank. We followed the latter,
tbough for the Hispar pass the Bitermal way would have
been the better and more direct. I did not wish to divide
the party before it was necessary to do so. In five minutes
we came to a set of sangais, recently and strongly built of
large stones. They contained cells for something more than
a dozen sharpshooters, and entirely commanded the path,
the glacier being on the one side, with a steep face that
would require time to descend, and a precipice of rock on
Digilizod by Google
asa JULY 11.
the other. These sangars were doubtless built last year,
when the Nagyr folk thought that they might be invaded by
way of the Nushik, at the time the expedition was attacking
Nilt.
In twenty minutes, walking sometimes on the stone-
covered ice, sometimes by the side of it on places equally
stony, we came to the mouth of the Garum Bar (or Garum-
bar Bar). There nmst be a glacier of considerable size
in this nala, for the stream draining it is large. It is
lost to view under the main glacier, as are all the other
tributaries on both sides. We left the ice and took to
the left bank, which was followed for the rest of the march
Digilizod by Google
mSPAR TO HAIGUTUM. 333
with only a few short intermissions. The sky was all
day cloudy, for which mercy we were thankful, but now a
strong wind began to blow up the valley, and with it came
rain in large drops ; but neither rain nor wind lasted long.
We had to cross a number of stone shoots and fans down
which the wind brought numberless missiles, which it was
both necessary and amusing to dodge. " Jaldijao ! " cried
our guide — like many a Tommy Atkins, it was all the
Hindustani he knew — and jaldi we went.
In half an hour we reached a sheltered place under a small
precipice between two gullies, and there a brief halt was
made. The stone-shoots and the wind soon afterwards,
ceased. Our path traversed grassy declivities rich in flowera
and butterflies, a crimson flower, a hedysarum, called Jiolchi
in these parts, being specially common, and spreading
itself in masses over the lower slopes.* In an hour we
reached a pleasant maidan, which seemed well suited for a
halting-place, so there I set up the plane-table and awaited
the coming of our caravan. In due time all the men
arrived ; a fire was lit, and tiffin was served. We made a
long halt and thoroughly enjoyed the rest.
At three o'clock we started off again, and passed below
a fine waterfeU. Eoudebush and McCormick, who went
shortly before me, arrived at this point in time to see a
fine avalanche come over the fall. Its white ruins were
lying on the fan of old avalanche debris which we had
to traverse. Shortly after we were over, another avalanche
came down in sight of us all. A quarter of an hour
later we crossed another nala, and then followed a good high
path, in some places carefully and massively built up, across
the slopes called Main Chiush. In favourable situations
there were many rose-bushes in full blossom, and now and
* The following were gathered along the left bank of the Hispar glacier,
between Hispar and Chokutens : — Crepis ftexvosa, Juncus membranaceus,
Macrotomia endochromia, Tanacetum Senecionis, Spiraa hyperici/olia,
Sedum Ewersii, Cicer soongartca, Chrysantkemvm Sloliczkai, Galium
verum, Nepela discolor.
Digilizod by Google
again a white hawthorn, here called cliam. In three-
quarters of an hour from the hmching-place we came to
the opening of a considerable side-valley, which is extremely
steep and filled with a splendid glacier. Its upper level is
surrounded by ice-cliffs and aiguilles incredibly steep and
sharp, whilst below, it descends in a steep icefall, divided
into two parts at the foot by a protruding rock, resembling,
for all the world, the Bies glacier above Randa.
At one point of the march I wanted to light my pipe, but
had no match to set the filthy native tobacco smoulder-
ing. I appealed to one of our so-called guides, who swiftly
supplied the deficiency. He picked up a hard stone with
which to strike a spark from his knife, and he searched for
and soon found a plant which he called hapldnas. It has
large leaves like a dock, and the flower grows on a thick
stem like rhubarb. He chose a dry dead stem and used it
for tinder — ^a purpose which it admirably served.
Ten minutes beyond the stream from the steep glacier we
came to some empty stone liuts by a small maidau. This
was the alp named Cbokutens (11,770 feet) — the end of the
first inarch. Our camp was already pitched, and we were
glad enough to see it, for there was much work still to be
done before the day closed.
Our position was very fine. ' Immediately behind us
were the remarkable points at the head of the steep glacier.
Right and left the great valley stretched away, its western
end being still closed by the everlasting Biidlas peaks, over
which the setting sun nightly played wondrous effects. The
range opposite was no longer the dull avenue it seemed
when we looked along it from below, but broken up into
grand mountain masses, one of especial majesty almost
over against us, culminated in a peak upwards of 24,000
feet high. We could see it from base to summit, and
observed, not without a tantalising emotion, that its south
arete affords a practicable route to the summit. For
expeditions of this kind, however, time, provisions, and
boots failed us, so that we could only take note of the
Digilizod by Google
LOOEINa UP THE BISFAB OLACIBB FBOH ABOVB CHOKUTBNR.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
niSPAE TO HAIGUTUM. 337
fact for future climbera and prepare to advance along the
straight line of our march. When we sat down to dinner
the sun was setting in great glory, and, as twilight ap-
proached and the flics ceased from troubling, a whistling,
which we knew to be Zurbriggen'a, came from the west.
He presently appeared on the scene, restored to his usual
health and glad to be with companions once more, after
hie few hours of unwelcome aolitnde.
J'uly 12th. — Marching, as we did, thus far up the left
bank of the glacier, there had been no opportunity of map-
ping the peaks and ridges immediately over our heads.
Accordingly this morning I started shortly after 5 a.m.
and spent a few hours on the glacier, crossing over nearly to
its centre. It is a wonderful sight — everywhere swollen
into great stone-covered inounds, broken by a black icy cliff
here and there, and dotted "with lakes. The thing is ou so
vast a scale that it takes time to realise its immensity. There
were several areas of stony and earthy surface which had
evidently remained undisturbed by crevasse convulsions for
many years. Soil had formed, and grass and numerous
plants had taken root and were flourishing. The stones that
cover the glacier are practically all of one sort, differing
in this respect from the stone covering of the Gargo glacier.
The whole surface was one mounded grey expanse, more
resembling the mid-Atlantic on a grey stormy day than any-
thing else in the world. The stone-avalanches that kept
pouring down the slopes of the mounds were not unlike the
breaking of waves.
I reached camp again shortly before eight and found break-
fast ready. An hour later everything was packed up and
we started for the day's march. We again followed the
left bank of the glacier, till our course was interrupted
by a considerable stream of ice, which joined the main
stream from the south. It precipitated itself from its
upper reservoir, between walls of rock, in two fine ice-cas-
cades. We crossed immediately below its foot, following a
curious curved groove, wliich Tnarked the junction of the
Digilizod by Google
&3B ^ULY i2.
tributary with the main glacier. A stony path awaited us
on leaving the ice once more. It led across a flowery
slope where the wild currant (Shatii) was in blossom, and the
ground was gay with sheets of a purple flower and of light
blue forget-me-not. We pushed through a small wood of
stunted hawthorn, and then the path took us uphill, high
above the glacier, and again brought us down to the
ice.
We crossed a snow - avalanche fan under a pretty
group of high waterfalls, tumbling over a rock precipice.
Shortly afterwards we came to a smaller side glacier, across
whose foot we had to pass by ways stony and crevassed.
Zurbriggen carefully watched the coolies to see which were
the best. Whenever he noticed a good one he gave hiiu
a ticket for the Hispar pass, the less good ones being told
off for the Nushik La. The reception of these tickets was
not desired ; each and all declared that their hearts
beat fast, that they had pains in the chest, and made all
manner of malingering excuses. " Go on, go on, animal !
charogne ! " was all the answer they got from Zurbriggen,
and this was received with much laughter by their
fellows.
Beyond the side glacier the path was better than any-
where before. It mounted high above the ice and traversed
slopes that were covered with sheets of flowers of every
sort and hue. Twice it led through shoulder-high copses of
stunted birch, fatiguing to fight against. The well-marked
nature of the path, and its overgrown condition, seemed to
indicate that it had formerly been more used than of late
years.
We now came opposite the opening of the Lak valley,
which contributes a large icy tributary to the Hispar
glacier. We had perceived, since the previous day, that
this side valley must be a considerable one, but we were
surprised to find how large it actually is. It cuts back,
through the range of mountains bounding the Hispai
glacier on the north, and it drains a snow basin and
Digilizod by Google
UlSPAIl TO HAIGVTUAt. 33d
some yet loftier mountains behind, themselves the con-
tinuation of the north ridge of the Gualtar nala. Clouds
covered the summits of this hinder range of peaks, but
we saw enough to prove that it ia loftier and more
important than the line we thus far imagined to be the
northern watershed of the Hispar basin. The Lak glacier
has greatly shrunk in volume of recent years (or centuries) ;
when it was in its fulness it used to push the Hispar
glacier up against its left bank, but now it is too feeble for
any such giant effort. The Hispar has therefore left a
grey stony moraine slope, which the path we traversed
mounts high to avoid. It seemed to me not impossible
that the path was formed in the days when the glacier was
thus expanded, for it would certainly now be possible, and
probably more natural, to find a way (as lower down the
valley) close to the edge of the ice, and so to avoid an
unnecessary ascent of from 400 to 500 feet ; but the path
being in existence, it is of course easier to follow it.
Three-quarters of an hour after leaving the second side
glacier we came to some very rude stone huts, and this
was the end of our march.* The place is planted on a
jutting shoulder, and commands a splendid view, not only
of the Lak tributary and its peaks, but of the whole upper
stretch of the Hispar glacier, and of our col at its head.
We had only been two hours and a half walking, and as
many resting, but the coolies took much longer, for the way
was horribly rough. The name of the camping-ground is
Gandar (13,070 feet).
The afternoon was cloudily picturesque. The view
towards the col was always a delight to watch, for the sake
* The following were collected along the left bank of the Hispar glacier,
between Cbokutena and Gandar : — Bryum caspilicium, Senecio chryaaii-
themoides, Leonlopodium alpinum, Astragalus frigidua, Allardia tontentosa,
Pcdicuiaris pectinata, Jiinciis •nievibranaceus, Salix hastata, Papacer
tiiidicaide, Corydalis Govaniaiia, a variety of Polentilla scricea, PotentiUa
hi/urea, Sed/tm tibctkum, Macrotomia perenniii, Saj:ifraga flagellar ia, Silies
/lintidrnse, Druba near D. alpina.
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340 JULY 12.
of the shadows of the clouds that striped the glacier and
manifested its extent, and the bright gleams of sunlight
that now shone upon some distant peak, now spread them-
selves abroad over some wide expanse of snowfield or
terraced icefall. Still I could hardly forgive the cloud
mantle for hiding from us the upper portion of the great
Lak ridge, which we shall not have a chance of beholding
again. We were enabled to discover that there is in. it a
giant peak, which should have been completely visible from
base to summit, and that the south face of this peak is an
exaggerated copy of the Macagnaga face of Monte Rosa —
1
HI8PAR PASS FEOM OANDAH CAMP. beheld the golden glories of
the west, poured out as usual
over the Hunza and Budlas peaks. When we turned in
a strong wind began to blow in gusts that flapped the tents
about. The crashing of avalanches and of falling stones
on the glacier mingled not inharmoniously with the
music of the air, and did not interfere with our early
slumbers.
July 13/7/. — Tlie night was boisterous, but not cold, the
Digilizod by Google
hispah to haigutum. 341
miniraum temperature registered in the tent being only
47° Fahr. The wind blew in gusts, rattling the canvas
and howling amongst the rocks. Towards morning rain
fell, and made bed seem by far the best place, so that it
was a quarter-past eight before we were ready to start.
The day was not a promising one. All the summits of
the highest peaks were enveloped in clouds, and appeared
content so to remain. It was thus with difficulty and only
approximately that I was able to fix the position of the
various plane-table stations. The first half-hour of our
march was most unpleasant, for Shah Mnrat led across
steep slopes of grass and gravel, and occasionally through
copses of low scrub that seemed to fight against us. We
arrived, with ruflled tempers, at the angle of the foot of
a small side glacier descending precipitously from a fine
cirque of aiguilles. We crossed it in the usual ten minutes,
and five minutes further on reached a group of goat-pens
called Makorum. This is the place where, but for the
laziness of the lambadhars, we ought to have encamped
the previous night.
A good path led hence to the foot of the Makonim valley
and glacier, at whose head is an easy col, which should give
access to the Chogo Lumba. We crossed the stony maze
at the junction of the two ice-streams, and noticed on the
far side a remarkable lake, caught in the angle between the
glaciers. Stones kept falling into its dirty waters with an
ominous splash, sending rings of ripples all around. The
path next led to the Chiring alp, near whose ruined
huts we found traces of a recent encampment, which
we concluded to have been Bruce's. We rested here for
lunch, in a fine position, raised well above the glacier,
whose grey billowy surface impressed us with its capacities
for picturesqueness.
Hereabouts are numerous lakes in the ice, not mere
round or oval ponds, but elaborate lagoons, with many
bays and straits and islands, and with ice-cliffa for shores,
and always stones tumbling over them and plashing into
Digilizod by Google
the waters. Opposite, a large tributary glacier, Chnr
Gaiiin by name, came in from the north. It is remarkable
that whereas the Lak glacier has so greatly shrunk of late
years, this Chur glacier, its immediate neighbour, and which
drains another flank of the self-same mountains, should, on
the contrary, have greatly swollen. It now overflows all its
moraines and pours in a broken spreading wave on to tlie
surface of the Hispar. The reason is no doubt that the Lak
glacier is much longer than the Chur, and that the accu-
mulation of ice, consequent on greater snowfall a score of
years or more ago, has had time to reach the mouth of
the one, whilst it is as yet only half-way or so down the
other.
We started off again at 1.45, and soon reached the left
foot of the Chiring Chish glacier. The crossing of this
gave more trouble than we experienced with the others,
and forced us to make a detour to the left on to the
main glacier in order to turn some large crevasses. At tbe
far angle of the side glacier's foot we found another lake of
imprisoned waters, pent up against the hillside ; and liere
too we passed close by the end of a picturesque tunnel in
the ice, which penetrated far through the glacier, and opened
into a sunlit crevasse beyond. It was filled with water
below, and a constant rain fell from the melting roof into
the dark pool. I advanced as far as possible within this
weird and chilly solitude, but was glad to retreat to
brighter and less solemn regions.
We continued for some distance along the main glacier's
stony floor before returning to its left bank. This all
our coolies with one consent objected to do. They said
that that was the way for Eoudebush and the men going
to the Nushik La, but that the route to the Braldo
pass, as they call it, here crosses to the right bank
of the glacier. We were amused to hear this unanimous
testimony from men who had been for weeks declaring
upon their heads that they had indeed heard tell of a
Braldo pass in ancient and almost forgotten days, but
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DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
HI SPAR TO HAIGUTUM. 345
that no man living knew anything whatever about it. As
we did not wish to part from our companions any sooner
than yras necessary we continued along the Nushik route,
and took to the left bank of the glacier again.*
We mounted gradually over the grassy and flowery
slopes of the Haigutum alp, which bronght us to what
seemed to me a good camping-ground (13,880 feet) at
4 p.m. The tents were pitched on a little plateau com-
manding a glorious view. The coolies dispersed to collect
wood, and dinner was swiftly served. They then set to
work, and in little more than an hour built for them-
selves eight admirable stone huts, which they cleverly
roofed over with slaty slabs of stone. They patched up
the chinks in the walls with sods, and covered the roofs
with earth, and were ready to face whatever weather might
arise.
At six o'clock Roudebush and Zurbriggen went off with
some of the servants to sleep out at a higher elevation
for the Nushik La, which they intended to cross next day.
McCormick and I sallied forth to watch the cloud-
enveloped sunset and the drifting of the high and heavy
mists from the south-west — the fatal quarter so prolific of
bad weather to us all the year. Standing on the edge of
our plateau I noticed in the midst of the glacier a narrow
band of clear ice. It started a mile or two lower down
than our camp, and stretched, widening upwards, without
intermission, back to the snowfield. Thus we had at last
reached the limit of the wholly stone-covered ice, and our
next advauce would be, not upon loose and. angular stones,
as heretofore, but upon a good and fairly even surface of ice,
over which progress might be expected to become more
rapid.
* Found along the left bank of the Hispar glacier, between Gandar
and Haigutum: — lianuncitliis nibmailyx, Carex Moorcm/tii, Taraxacum
officinale, Eriijeron aljiirnis, var. unijloras, Polijijonuni viripanim, Lijchnis
braaktjpetala, Lknjdia scrotina, Poteiitilla fnitkosa var. pumila, Pletiro-
spcnnuin Candollei, Chorispara sabnlosa.
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July \Ath. — The night was warm and wet, and it rained
at intervals all the morning. Between whiles there were
wonderful breaks and clearings in the clonds, which kept onr
attention continually on the alert. Early in the day our
pass could be seen at the end of the long glacier ahead
of us, and sometimes we could distinguish most of the peaks
that line the avenue of approach to it, but presently
clouds settled down upon the snowfield, and made the stone-
covered glacier area the limit of vision. This was one of
the finest effects we saw : the grey billowy surface below
and the grey sky ahove, with just a suggestion on
either hand of slopes vanishing iuto the invisible. Then
the sun burst through and cast golden patches on to
the glacier, or gilded the edges of some row of stony
mounds at the verge of the view. Here and there a
peak's head would stand out for a moment, incredibly high,
framed in cloud, a vignette from another world ; but
soon the rain would come on again and drive us into the
tents.
I had a long morning's work, inking in the map and
fulfilling other duties.* Before it was over the sun shone
fitfully, and when it shone we wished the rain would
return, for its coming was the signal for the outnish and
onslaught of hundi-eds of winged creatures upon us. There
was the common or garden fly, with his usual wariness ;
but he was far outnumbered and outnuisanced by a
smaller thing of his sort, an ignorant, imsophisticated,
inquisitive creature, who made straight for one's face
and settled firmly upon one's cheek, or burrowed and
buzzed in one's ear. He was fortunately slow, for a fly,
and ridiculously easy to kill, but the slaughter of one everj'
moment diminished neither the number nor the zeal of the
rest. We slapped onr faces and ears till they were red and
tingling, but in the end had no remedy save patience —
a thing denied to us both. Besides flies there were num-
berless mosquitoes, which settled on our legs and bit us
'■' Jianunculus rithrocalyx was growing near our camp.
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HISPAB TO HAIGUTUM. 347
through the stockings till we hopped again. The poor
things had probably not tasted human blood for many
generations. They made the best of a rare opportunity
in spite of a terrible slaughter. My ink-pot was the only
diversion, and into this all the winged things with one
consent endeavoured to plunge ; they thickened the liquid
with their corpses, till the pen dipped into it always brought
up one or two transfixed on the nibs.
Every one in camp had a busy time, for there were ten
days' provisions to be cooked, sheep to be killed and dressed,
and all final arrangements to be attended to. In the after-
noon I was able to set up the plane-table, and work at it
in the intervals between hailstorms. "Talso caused the
coolies to build a monster stone-man of the strong square
sort they make in these parts, on the site where the table
stood. They worked at it with a will, crying out in their
shrill voices, " Konawei Sahib ke Tamerei." McCormick
sketched whenever he had a chance, which was not often,
so that in mid-afternoon he became horribly bored. He
lounged into my tent, and lay on the carpet in a state of
demoralisation. " Give us a bit of advertisements to read,"
he prayed : truth to tell, that was all the literature we
had left. We missed Roudebush greatly, for he was full
occupation for all his neighbours, and could kill any
quantity of time for himself and them \vithout the smallest
difficulty. The local guide, who was to have piloted hiui
over the Nushik La, returned to camp at dinner-time in
a state of exhaustion. His party left him for behind, and,
as he could not catch them up, he chose the better part
and came downhill again.
After sunset there was a real clearing of the weather.
The wind, which had for some days been south-west,
veered round to the west, and then blew with a point
or two of north in it. The temperature fell rapidly, the
sky became splendidly transparent, and there were all the
signs of good weather to come. Accordingly we turned in
early with steadfast and hopeful hearts, notwithstanding
Digilizod by Google
the arrival of a diik wala from Nngyr, the bearer of yet a
third letter from the old Raja, urging us to give up
our intended journey because of the dreadfril dangers of
the way.
SCSSET FBOM HAIODTUM.
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TUK NUHHIK U t
CHA3.*TER XVII.
THE NUSllIK LA.
Before continuing the account of our passage of the Hispar
pass, it will be well to relate the doings of our companions
who crossed the Nushik.
It has long been kuown that there was a route over the
mountains, not unfrequently followed in former days by
natives travelling between Skardo, the capital of Baltistan,
and Nagyr. The pass was believed not to present any
extraordinary difficulties, and even cattle were stated to
have been taken over it. Of late years, however, the
natives admit that they have rarely crossed it, if at all.
They state that the road became buried in snow, and that
it ceased to exist as a practicable route from their point of
view.
Nevertheless, efforts were repeatedly made on behalf of
the Indian or Kashmir authorities to discover the Nushik
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350 THE NUSHIK LA.
route, and a few of the expeditions to this eud have been
more or less publicly recorded. The most important were
two. The first was made in September, 1861, by Colonel
God win- Austen, and is described in the Journal of the
Eoyal Geographical Society for 1864. The second was
undertaken by Major Cunningham, not many years ago.
Both officers started from the Shigar valley, ascended to
Arundo, at the foot of the Chogo Lumba, and then
mounted the Kero Lumba and its glacier to the Nushik
pass at its head. They found the pass to be corniced with
an overhanging wave of snow, and the snow-slope below
it, leading down to Haigutum, seemed dangerously steep.
Colonel Godwin-Austen had no intention of crossing the
pass ; Major Cunningham did not try the descent towards
Haigutum, but returned in his steps. Native explorers were
not likely to succeed where Englishmen failed, and accord-
ingly the pass, though occasionally visited from the south,
remained uncrossed by any party capable of recording its
experiences.
It was part of our plan to attack this pass from tlie
north, and accordingly, as has been related, I sent Bruce
and Eckenstein off from Hopar to make the attempt.
The following private letter is Bruce's account of his
experiences : —
'■ASKARDO, Julij 11, 1892.
" Here I am, arrived by the Nushik pass. I ought to
have been back with Conway five days ago, but, as you will
see, appointments at a certain time in a virtually unknown
mountain country cannot always be kept. Here is a brief
account of the passage. From Hopar, above Nagyr, on the
way to the Hispar pass, or Biafo glacier, Conway and I
arranged that I should cross the Nushik — which had been
tried but never crossed by a European— and bring him back
from Baltistan, salt, grain, and twenty-five to thirty coolies.
Accordingly, I set out on June 27th for Hispar, whicb,
we were told, we could reach in a day ; as we did in a
hard day of tliirteen hours, scrambling over a vile road.
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THE NUSHIK LA. 351
The next day at Hispar I arranged for men to cross the
pass with me, and got seven first-rate men, the best as a
lot I have seeo at all. On the 29th I left Hispar for
Makoruin (which is placed too near Hispar on the map),
and arrived there in eleven hours — at least nine being on
moraine or moraine- covered glacier — a most tiring amuse-
ment. The following day, in breaking weather, we reached
Haigutum (marked on the map Hyoukuru), at the mouth
of the Nnshik. Here we arrived in snow at three o'clock
I msViR OLACIEB FROM THK f
in the afternoon. It then proceeded to snow for forty
hours, during which I had to make an expedition down for
three hours to cook. July 2nd was fine after seven o'clock,
w^ith a brilliant sun, so on July 3rd we started for the
pass at 4 a.m. We were originally told that the pass was
good enough for ponies, but no one had been over it for
twenty years. An old man, who accompanied us, had been
over in his youth, however, and knew the general direction
of tbe way. We left the huts at Haigutum, and descended
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332 THE SlSIilK LA.
on to the small Haigutum glacier, which is a tributary of the
great Hispar glacier. The glacier is a good deal crevassed,
and I found it necessary, within half an hour from leaving
camp, to put the rope on to the four leading men. In
twenty minutes more we turned to the left on to steepish
slopes of snow-covered glacier. The snow was occasionall}'
just sufficiently hard frozen to let us in suddenly over the
knees. After a rise of about 700 feet we bore right, diagonally
across the mountaiu, crossing two or three large crevasses.
After about three hours we came to a place which made me
stop and consider. Directly in front, along the way that
the old man with us remembered, was a steep snow-slope,
which measured 52°* of steepness, and terminated in an ice-
precipice. Across this lay the direct route to the col. To
the left, and immediately above us, were steep snow-slopes,
and a great crevasse, crossed by a doubtful bridge — a much
longer but rather better way, with no fear of startiug an
avalanche. The snow on the first-named steep slopes did
'- Eckenstein says 52J° (see below). This is probably a mistake tor
424". 'The iiieasureiiient, Brace informs me, was made by Eckenstein
witli the clinometer I lent hini, which was only graduated up to 45°, and
tould measure no steeper slope.
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THE NUSIIIK LA. 353
not please me. I was afraid of the whole surface coming
away with so many men as we were ; bat two of the
Hispar men knew better than I, and, roping themselves
together, afad taking my axe, they trod and cut steps
right across the face." These meii are quite at home on
snow, and understand the use of the rope and axe very well,
though our European axe is very much better than their
own style. We all crossed after them, keeping good in-
tervals, so as not to put too many men together. From
here to the col we went over some more crevasses and
steep slopes with rather shaky snow, and along a short but
unpleasant way under the great cornice, which follows the
whole ridge. Parbir cut through the cornice and let us oat
on to the top of the col, 16,800 feet above the sea. Time
9.45 a.m. From here to our camping-ground, which we
reached at 3.30 p.m., was easy, and we travelled rapidly.
The next day, long and tedious, with much moraine, took
us to Arundo, which we were very glad to reach, as for two
days we had been on very short commons indeed.
" At Arundo we stopped for one day, to eat chiefly, and
then were oDliged to go off to Askardo to get boots mended,
stores of several sorts, &c. I had to give up recrossing
the Nushik for several reasons — the distance to go from
Askardo, the difficulty of arriving at the ridge in the early
morning from this side, and the danger of crossing, owing
to the whole of the pass being greatly exposed to avalanches,
unless the weather is very certain.
"When we arrived at Molto, near the junction of the
Basha and Braldo rivers, I gave up walking, and took to a
small skin-raft of inflated goatskins fastened together with
withes and managed by four men with poles. It is a wet
and exciting mode of progression, as one is curried at from
nine to ten miles an hour, and occasionally nmch faster in
the great rapids, down the river."
■^ Very few of the natives, only the shikaris, possess this kind of rudi-
mentary knowledge of luountaiiieering. The ordinary villagers are
hopelessly useless on ice. — W. M. C.
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354 THE WSHIK LA.
EckenBtein's acconnt of the Nashik pass, extracted from
his diary, is likewise appended for completeness' sake.
" We started at 4.15 a.m. in beaatifully clear weather.
The way went first along the top of the old moraine (on
the end of which Haigutum is situated) and then down to
the Haigatum glacier, which is reached in ten minutes.
This is crossed diagonally in half an hour to the foot of the
slope opposite (i.e., the north-west slope of the mountain
east of the pass), which is struck at a point considerably
to the left of and below the pass, the part below the pass
being steep and raked by avalanches. From here to the
top of the pass took four hours and a half. The whole
way up is on steep snow-slopes, cut up by many schrunds,
and it is impossible to go without traversing some places
where there is danger from falling ice. The slope is of
a considerable average steepness, the bit which was steepest
(about 150 feet high) being at an angle of 52j°." Bruce,
the two Gurkhas, and old Shersi went roped together in
front, and I brought up the rear. The dog acted like a true
mountaineer. When the slope got too steep for him to run
about on, he gave up frolicking around, and followed
soberly and properly in the steps. At the beginning
the snow was somewhat soft, and for a short time un-
pleasantly so. Our progress was regular and uneventful
for rather more than half-way up. The place we then got
to presented two alternatives : either to go over a schrund
via a very shady snow-bridge, which would have been
followed by a fair snow-slope ; or to avoid the schrund by
going to the right. This was very much the more direct
way, but involved going up the steep slope mentioned
above, and a slip on this would certainly have been fatal, as
it terminated in an ice-precipice below. The slope was ice
underneath, covered by about a foot of not over-good snow.
I abstained from saying anything, and asked Bruce to let
the natives settle it between themselves, and their sub-
secjuent perforniiince proved full of interest. Two of them
* See footnote, p. 352.
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THE NUSaiK LA. 855
put down their loads and took off the goat-hair rope they
use for carrying. They took a double length of this, and one
tied it rouad his waist in true orthodox style. They then
borrowed one of our axes (which so far had not been used).
The first man {who was tied round the waist) started ahead
with the axe, cutting steps, followed by the second man,
who held the two ends of the doubled rope tied round bis
stick, which he drove in as he went along. And so they
went along till the easier slope above was reached. Then
the others followed, and subsequently three went hack to
bring up the two loads that had been left behind. Jt was
really a capital performance, and would have done credit to
any men. Altogether their performance, and that of the
other five natives as well, was one that not every Swiss
guide would care to imitate under similar conditions. None
of the loads were much above 30 lbs., but were all arranged
to be inside this limit as far as possible. Just below the
top of the pass there was a rather nasty piece of slope,
with snow that was very rotten. Our natives all stopped,
and each said his prayers before going on to it. The top
was all corniced, and we did not go over quite the lowest
point of the pass, but at a point about 50 feet higher to
the east. Amar Sing and Parbir (the two Gurkhas) cut
through the cornice, the passage of which required the use
of the rope in the case of every member of the party. We
reached the top at 9.40 a.m., and the view from there
is truly splendid."
When we reached Haigutum on July 13th we had
no idea that the pass presented the difficulties described
in the foregoing passages. The Nagyr men all preferred
the Nushik to the Hispar pass, and we believed it to be
much the easier of the two. There is no danger from
avalanches or falling ice on the Hispar, but much from fog
and bad weather. The cooUes who crossed the Nushik and
those who came with me over the Hispar, when they were
paid off at Askole, preferred to return to Nagyr by way of
the Nushik.
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356 THE NUSfflK LA.
At Haigutum I accordingly divided the baggage, taking
with me only the things that were absolutely necessary
for McCormick, Zurbriggen, and myself. The rest I handed
over to Roudebuah. His instructions were to convoy the
things, over the Nushik, down to the Shigar valley, and
thence to send them up the Braldo valley to Askole,
whilst he went on to Skardo and established himself there
till the Gilgit luggage arrived. Zurbriggen was to accom-
pany him for two marches, and then to return and join nie
again higher up the Hispar glacier.
After dinner we bade each other farewell, and off Roude-
bush and Zurbriggen went to spend the night at some
wretched huts round the corner, near the foot of the left
bank of the Haigutum glacier. The route they followed
next day at first coincided with Bruce's, and then ascended
east of and parallel to it. They avoided the overhanging
ice by crossing the watershed about 500 feet higher than
the true col, and then descending rocks to the platean
beliind it. But Roudebush shall tell the story in bis own
words. The letters were not intended for publication.
"July 15th.
" After I left you the other evening we went about a mile over the worst
road you ever saw. It would have been easier lower dovra, but longer.
We came to a sort of maidan, with any number of huts. I foi^et its
name, We slept there ; it was where Bruce slept. Next morning, the
weather being bad, we did not get off till 4.30. Then we crossed the
glacier and started up the mountain. Ali Shah would not go with us.
but up his own road (the way Bruce went). After toiling through bad
anow for two hours we saw all the coolies in a tearful place. They would
go with Ali Shah, and he insisted on going straight up an icefall, then
under a lot of overhanging ice. I can't explain all the difficulties of the
way, but Zurbriggen will tell you. Anyway, that fool, Ali Shah, gave us
a lot of trouble. Zurbriggen worked like a nigger. All the last part of
the way we were either in cloud or driving snow. We got to the col at
eleven o'clock with the coolies. They kissed Zurhrif^en's boots and curstil
Ali Shah, who, by the byu, is on the mountain yet, unless he got back lo
you. Don't pay biiu a cent. If he bad not been there we should havt-
done much better.
"We began down the other side with some rather bad rocks. Thu
coolies could not get down them, so Zurbriggen went back and fetched
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THE NUSHTK LA. 357
tliera one by one. Then we went down a smooth glacier for about a mile
or more to an old sleeping-place. No aigna of Bruce. The coolies didn't
want to stop, so we went on down the glacier, which must have changed
a great deal since Godwin-Austen was here, for it is an impassable icefall
where his track is marlted. We got into awful difficulties hy trying to
follow that. There is an easy way on the other side. When we got out
of the broken ice we came to another flattish spell, and that brought ua
over to where we are now — the coolies don't know the name— in all fifteen
hours, and most part in very bad snow. We came the only way possible.
Even I could see that. How the people went before I can't imagine.
Things must have changed. Bruce won't come back to you, I know.
Zurbriggen starts back at two this afternoon, and I down. It looks about
two miles of good glacier for me, and then moraine all the rest of the way,
with perhaps a small side glacier to cross here and there. The coolies
won't go back over the pass, but round by Gilgit. One goes with
Zurbriggen. But for Zurbrlggen you would never have seen me again,
I am certain ; I shall never forget his services to me ; be worked wonder-
fully. I shall go on hence as fast as I can. All the coolies are blind.
Tell Mac I've been higher than he has. Good-bye 1 Good luck !
" P.S. — The Hispar coolies are much the best we've had — splendid
chaps. I saw very little from the col, worse luck I It only cleared for
a moment. My face is a sight to behold, and I can't open my mouth.
The bearer only gave me one cup of sugar, so to-day we have none — please
slang him for me. So long t "
" Skardo, July 18th.
" I arrived here yesterday, and glad I was to get in ; it is a most lovely
place. The pass over, I said good-bye to Zurbriggen and started down
the glacier, crossed three side glaciers, and went on to a most beautiful
meadow. In three and a half hours reached a bakri place — no end of
cattle ; about a thousand head of cows and steers, as many sheep, and
twice as many goats. I wish Mac had been there when they drove them
in at night ; it was most picturesque. Slept there. Next morning went
on to Arundo — three hours over some good and some awful road. There
changed coolies and marched on four and a half hours more to — (forget
nEune). Slept.
" Next day marched seven and a half hours to Dalpur (or some such
name). There was one place on the road like the rigging of a ship —
horrid. Slept.
" Next day went down the river to Shigar on a skin raft in two hours.
Good sport shooting rapids. Got a pony at Shigar and rode to Skardo
over a sand desert; vile rOB.d and hot. I am now staying with Townshend.
My leg is pretty bad, and the doctor says it must have rest, so I can't
come to Askole. I will stop here and pull up, and then ' march down
with the army ' to Srinagar. I am sending on all your things and the
mail. Anything you want done here or from here I can do for you. Send
me some cigarette papers, and keep Salama for the next two weeks if he's
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368 THE NDSHIK LA.
any use. There is no tobacco here, so I cao't send any. Write me how
things are going on."
Zurbriggen's account now only remains to be given. I
took it down from his lips the day after he rejoined me on
the Hispar glacier.
"We started," he said, "after four o'clock, coolies and
all together. It was a bad morning, but we could not wait.
We traversed down to the glacier and crossed it. Then AH
Shah would turn to the right and go on up the glacier,
right under some seracs. He is a fool. I would not go
that way, and called to him to come back; but he went on,
and the coolies after him. They went under a dangerous
overhanging glacier, and might have all been killed at any
moment.
" Roudebush and I turned straight up a snow-slope that
got steeper as we went on. Snow began to fall, and the
weather was horrible. We got up to a flat place— a snow
plateau — and there we sat down and waited two hours for
the coolies, but could see nothing of them. So I went
down again for half an hour and kept calling for the coohes.
At last I found them in a bad place, and cut steps for them
and brought them through — all except Ali Shah. I don't
know what happened to him. In this way we were all
together again on the upper plateau. Looking upwards
from here, the pass was away to our right, and there was
a mound of snow on the ridge above us. When we started
up again the coolies haben furchtharer Scandal gemacht.
They swore and threw down their loads. So I went back
and boxed the ears of two of them, and then they said they
would come on. I kept a sharp watch on them, though.
Ultimately I got them all to the top. We reached the
ridge by way of the mound, and the pass was then some
distance below us. Between us and the pass were some
rocks. We went down to them in a quarter of an hour,
and there we sat down and ate.
" Presently Eoudebush and I scrambled down the rocks
to the snowfield, a Httle way below the pass. We told
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THE NUSHIK LA. 359
the coolies to follow us. Eoudebush said nothing, but did
as I told him, and took great care. He hated the work,
but went all right, and I would take him anywhere. He
does what one tells him, and that's the great thing iti
the mountains. We waited an hour for the coolies, but
they did not come, so I went to the col, and then up the
corniced snow-ridge to the coolies. They had not moved ;
they said they would not ; they said they would die there.
Of course if we had left them they would have died, for they
could not get down the way they came up. I swore at
them. At last, one way and another, I got them to move.
I helped the first man that started, and, when the others
saw that I helped him, and that he got along all right, they
came too, and I helped them all, one after another. I had
to keep on going up and down. It was terribly hard work.
The rest of the day they followed me like sheep.
"When we reached the level snowfield we went down
it, following the track marked on the map. That brought
us into great difficulties in the midst of some of the
worst seracs I ever got through. If we had kept hard
to the left (as I did on the way back) it would have been
easy enough. I had to help the coolies, one by one, down
the steps I cut amongst the seracs, going up and down to
do so. It was very tiring. At last we got out on level
glacier again, and presently reached the place where they
sleep. It was half-past seven o'clock, and we all slept till
eight o'clock next morning. We stayed where we were till
two in the afternoon, and then Itoudebush started down
with eleven coolies, and I started up again with the twelfth.
'* I came back the better way, got to the col in three hours,
and up to the crossing-place in three-quarters of an hour
more. We put on the rope and hurried down to the foot of
the steep slope. That took us an hour and a half. We
had to light the lantern then, and go stumbling across the
Haigutum glacier. Instead of half an houTj it took us an
hour and a quarter to reach the huts where we slept before.
Their name is Bapo Ding Malik Bakanz. To-day I made
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360 THE NUSHIK LA.
the long march up the glacier to you, and now I am dog
tired. I thought I was tiever going to come up with you
this evening." *
* If I were writing a "Climber's Guide to the Karakorams," the
following would be the directions in it for the Nushik pass : —
From Haigutum, go round the corner low down, below the stone-man,
in 1 h. to a group of huta, called Bapo Ding Malik Bakanz, on the
left bank of the Haigutum gl. There are about a dozen little stone
huts with earth-covered and grass-grown roofs, difficult to see. Traverse
the hillside in 20 m. to the gl. Cross the gl. in 30 m. Zigzag up snow
and avalanche slopes, traverse gentle snowfields, and finally climb a
steep snow-slope to the top of the conspicuous snow-mound east of the
actual col. The ascent from the gl. takes 3 h.
Descend westwards over snow followed by rocks to the n«-^ by the eol,
which you strike just below the bergschrtind. At the top of the rocks is
the rough wall of an old sleeping shelter. The descent to the bergschruud
takes J h. From the col go down the level snowfield for 1 h., making
for its left angle. Turn the angle to the left, and you come to moraine
and four or five old sleeping shelters, called Stiatbu Brangsa. Go down
the 1. moraine for 1 h. (big seracs on your r.) to the level gl. Descend
this, bearing gradually across it to the r., and in 1 h. reach the top
end of the r. moraine, down the orest of which an old path leads you
tor about J h. Here there is a little brushwood. Cross the mouth of a
side gl. in \ h., and take to the main r. moraine again. Beside that, a
little lower down, is Kutche Brangsa — a good camping-ground with brush-
wood. The remainder of the way is con-ectly marked on the map.
THR NUSHIK LA FROM KAHIBASAR CAMP.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
THE HISPAR PASS.
July l&tli. — The night temperature was not low (min.
35° F.), yet we suffered from cold, owing to the damp.
The morning did not fulfil the promise of the sunset, for
there were many clouds about. However, they left the
summits of the high peaks discreetly clear till the middle of
the day, and then, though for a while they thickened, there
was no rain. In the evening they all cleared away once
more. St. Swithin was propitious. We started off at 5.30
a.m., and, after traversing the stony slopes of Haigutum for
a few minutes, turned down to the glacier and began to
traverse diagonally, over all its horrible stones, to a narrow
strip of clear ice far away in its centre. "We had not gone
far before the Haigutum valley on our right began to open
Digilizod by Google
up and disclosed to our interested gaze the Nushik La and
slopes leading up to it. We were surprised to find it so
much of a mountaineer's pass, and by no means the pony
track it had been described to us. The whole pass is
Mnged with a considerable cornice, overhanging dangeronsly
steep slopes. We were unable to detect any trace of the
tracks of Roudebush and bis caravan of coohes. The
passage of the stony belt along the left side of the glacier
took three-quarters of an hour. How delightful it was
to tread once again on a surface free from stones, and to be
able to step out, unrestrained by the necessity of constantly
selecting a footing ! We promised ourselves a long and easy
march, and strode happily ahead.
But the glacier was not going to let us off so easily. It
does everything on a large scale. What on smaller glaciers
are mere mounded elevations and depressions, up and down
which one runs unheeding, are here hills fifty or more
feet high, with slopes that one has to negotiate carefully.
The surface streams that we are accustomed to step over in
the Alps were here rivers that could rarely be crossed.
Moreover, they meandered so widely about the free part of
the glacier that we were by no means able to choose our
route as we pleased, but must follow their mighty sinuosi-
ties. Thus our progress, though pleasanter than on previous
days, was far from being swift or easy. There was a con-
stant going up and down hill, many steps to be cut, and other
fatiguing work to be done, besides a great deal of plane-
tabling. A peculiarity about the surface streams of this
glacier is worth notice. For some reason or another they
always undercut one of their hanks. They constantly
change their courses, and so the whole glacier is intersected
by stream beds, each with one overhanging bank. The
overhanging banks generally face up the glacier, so that they
do not so greatly incommode the traveller going towards the
col, but they might be a serious impediment to one descend-
ing from it.
In the course of the afternoon we came opposite the
Digilizod by Google
THE HISPAR PASS. 363
opening of the largest tributary glacier we had yet en-
countered. It cornea in from the north, and is called the
Kanibasar glacier. One of its upper reservoirs bends con-
siderably back to the west. It drains a vast basin, sur-
rounded by high peaks, whose summits were unfortunately
buried in cloud, but we were kindly permitted to see a. series
of snowy peaks, belonging to a range yet further to the
north, peeping over a portion of the ridge that bounds the
snowfield in that direction. Thus it is in this country —
northwards the high mountains seem to have no end. Ridge
behind ridge, crest behind crest, glacier behind glacier, they
stretch away in monotonous parallelism, through regions
uninhabited and even unvisited by man.
The march was a hard one for the coolies. They hate ice,
and whenever they could get the chance they rushed for the
stone-covered surface, the stones being less cold than the
ice for their insufficiently covered feet. Early in the after-
noon they began to show signs of fatigue, so I gave the
signal for pitching camp as soon as a suitable place could be
found. We turned accordingly towards the right bank of
the glacier and forced our way for half an hour through a
crevassed and stony tract. There was some difficulty in
getting ou to the hiUside, for not only was the glacier's
edge precipitous, but it was fringed with a series of deep
pools into which stones were being constantly discharged.
Once on the bank we reached a good camping-ground in ten
minutes — a little meadow (14,110 feet) moderately bright
with flowers, and possessing a sufficiency of stunted bushes
to supply us with fire for the night. The remainder of the
afternoon passed busily away, and then the setting sun was
rarely generous to us. After clearing away the clouds and
striking blue shadows from every one of the countless
sharp snow aretes that rib the white wall of peaks to
the south of us, he retired beyond the far valley end
and hid himself from our eyes, but poured such a flood
of amethyst light along the valley's furrow that all the
peaks around became like violet crystals, glimmering against
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364 JULY 16.
a golden bed. We feasted upon the glorioiiB sight as long
as it lasted, and then, full of delight, retired to om- tents.
Later on, before going to sleep, I looked out of the tent
door and beheld an arcli of silver light spanning the sky.
I thought it was the rising moon shining upon some
band of vapour, but discovered it to be the Milky Way,
thus unusually brilliant in the clear altitudes. All night
long stones kept tumbling oflf the glacier's side and plashing
into the pools.
July 16th. — The night was cold, and so was the early
morning ; the
minimum teui-
perature regis-
tered was 28",
but on the gla-
cier it must
have been much
colder, for all
the streams
were frozen
hard, and the
lakes were co-
vered with an
inch of ice. On
THB RmOE PEAK FROM KAKIBABAR CAMP. SUCh HlOmingS
it requires an
effort to quit the warmth of one's tent and to pack and start
before the coming of the sun. However, facing our
troubles, to avoid worse, we were ofif at 5.30. The coolies took
the route over the slopes on the right bank of the glacier.
McCormick and I struck straight out on the ice, and in
three-quarters of an hour reached the clean surface somewhat
beyond the middle of the stream. It was a glorious morning,
and all the peaks were clear. We could see to the head of
the great Kanibasar tributary and observe the grand peaks
that shut it in. The col before us and all the peaks
around it were also clear, and some new and wonderfiilly
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THE HISFAR PASS. 365
formed mouutains stood out beyond it, piercing the sky.
On our way there was a crevasse covered with a roof of
ice of the kind described in Whymper's " Andes." It
appeared to have been burrowed under by a stream ; the
covering was very thin in some parts.
We were forced, by the tendency of the glacier's ridges
and moraines, to keep far away from the right bank where
were all our people and provisions, so that tiffin time found
us altogether out of tiffin's range. We were just entering
the domain of snow, frequent patches of which began
to cover the ice. As we advanced, the snow became thicker
and more frequent, and the crevasses began to be bridged
by it. Being without a rope we were forced to move with
circumspection, and the more so as we were entering a
region in which crevasses were numerous. We were
opposite the mouth of another great tributary glacier enter-
ing from the north, larger even than the Kanibasar
which so astonished us the previous day. For our new
acquaintance there appeared to be no name. Guides and
coolies declared that none of them had ever come so far
as this, and that if the glacier had a name they never
heard it. Eight at its head rises a splendid snowy
mountain, a mighty pyramid buttressed with fine ribs of
rock and crested with overhanging masses of ice. The
peak might possibly be ascended by its west arete ; at
all events it looked more promising than most of the
peaks in these parts, but the journey to its base would
be long and difficult. Clouds presently wreathed its summit
and added to its grandeur. We could not but pause long to
enjoy the only sight of it that we shall probably ever be-
hold, a sight, however, that has become a life-possession, one
of the finest jewels of a mountain lover's memory.
For an hour or more we fought our way through the
crevasses till we became too hungry to continue the com-
bat. So we turned sharp to our left and, following a ridge
between two schrunds, reached the right bank once more
close to the west angle of the meeting of the glaciers.
Digilizod by Google
Half-way across the side glacier we found the coolies
awaiting us with our food, and while we devoured it
they traversed the remaining part of the side glacier and
climbed to a finely situated terrace at the opposite angle
of junction (Snowfield Camp; 15,S140 feet). There they
pitched the tents and made all ready against our coining.
Shortly after we arrived at camp a row of coolies stood
before me with hands joined and melancholy faces. " The
road is bad," they said, " have pity upon us, and let us
all go back." They stood patiently but not hopefully
before me repeating these words. " The road is bad, 8ahib,
alaa! the road is bad." I was sorry for the poor fellows,
but could do nothing for them except promise endless
sheep, bakshish, and general tamasha, as a compensation
for their troubles when once we got to Askole.
Presently word was brought that there was a man coming
up the glacier towards us. " A letter from the Kaja ! " aaid
some ; " perhaps we shall go back after all ! " I hoped it
was Zurbriggen, and so, in fact, it proved to be. He had
done the incredible, as I have already recorded. He arrived
in camp an hour later, sufficiently fatigued.
We were now above the limits of fuel. It was all that
could be done to bring together enough dry roots, withered
grass, and other indifferent stuff to cook a dish of soup and
a cup of tea. But the Gurkhas and coolies had, notwith-
standing my orders, reckoned on being able to cook their
bread for the pass at this camp. We were thus obliged
to arrange for a day's halt here, in order that the coolies
might go and collect wood a couple of hours' march down
the glacier, and bring it into camp for the needful cooking.
We scarcely regretted the necessity, for the last two days
had been most fatiguing to us all. When the cooUes heard
that two nights were to be spent at this spot they set to work
and built a set of beehive stone huts as at Haigutum, fitting
them into the clefts of the rocks above our camp. The
little village was soon finished, and (who knows ?) may here-
after be of service to future travellers. In the evening the
Digilizod by Google
THE BIDOB PEAK FROM BIHPAB SNOWKIBLD CAMP,
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
THE HISPAli PASS. 369
sky became thickly covered with clouds, which descended low
upon the mountains, and evil-omened gusts of wind afforded
small promise of fine weather on the morrow.
July 17i/i.— The promise of bad weather was graciously
belied. The night turned crisp and cold, the sky cleared ;
in the morning everything was frozen hard, and the sun
rose upon an unclouded world. Ten coolies went off to
fetch wood for their bread cooking. I spent the whole day
in camp working at all manner of needful things. A new
sheet of paper had to be stretched and adjusted on the plane-
table and a series of rays drawn upon it. A round of angles
were taken with the theodolite. There was much writing to
be done. Zurbriggen had to relate his experiences and obser-
vations, which he did with admirable clearness, and I took
them down, as far as possible in his own words. Then there
were clothes to be clouted — a laborious and lingering opera-
tion that came to be done far too often. Meanwhile Zur-
briggen mended our wretched boots by the only means
possible, clamping patches of leather upon them with copper
rivets.
The view, spread before our eyes, was indeed superb. Be-
tween Hispar and Haigutum tlie glacier receives numerous
tributaries both from north and south. Above Haigutum
the northern tributary glaciers become more numerous and
larger, but the Haigutum glacier is the last tributary from
the south. The ridge, that runs from the Nusbik to the
Hispar pass, rises in a mighty wall direct from the surface
of the glacier, and it was this wall that was ever before
our eyes during the day of our halt. It is draped from end
to end in shining white. Nowhere could I discover a point,
east of the Nushik La, at which an ascent would be possible.
The whole face is swept from end to end by avalanches, and
their furrows engrave all its slopes. There are many ice
precipices and hanging glaciers. Falls of ice and snow
were constantly taking place, and the boom and rattle of
avalanches was almost continuous. The average height of
the ridge is considerable, but there are a few noticeable
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370 Jri.Y 17-
peaks rising above the rest. Opp-^site to r.s was the
finest of these — a hoarj" jnaiit. the Ki-Ige peak. Further
on to the left, two or three needles of rock stood or.
the crest in daring isolation, forernnners of the group -jf
towers with which the Biafo jrlat-i-r was to make us
acquainted.
All day long the mountains displayed their wonderful
variety ; and in the west there appeared distant giants whit h
the clouds previously hid from our view. At dinner-
time we enjoyed an interval of rest. The sun dropped
low towards the Budlas range, and presently sank behind
a near ridge, but its light swept up the glacier vallej- for a
long time and painted wondrous harmonies of colour on
the face of the magnificent wall of snow over against us.
The mountain pillar that bounds our col on the south was
the centre of the view from our tent door. It grew at first
faintly golden in the evening light, just when the eastern
8ky was becoming pale and losing the intensity of its mid-
day blue. Gradually the warmth £Etded out of the hght, and
the peak stood pale against a purple background, all the
shadows upon its snow-slopes being blue, whilst the sweeping
cur\-es of the main glacier were defined by harmonious
shades of soft blue-grey.
The piouB coolies stood here and there amongst the
snow, praying towards the west in those picturesque atti-
tudes wherewith Islam has endowed the world. ilcCormick
and I salhed forth to our work — he to paint the glorious
west and I to whirl a sling thermometer round and round
over my head and to set up and read the other instru-
ments. Meanwhile the splendid display of whatever is
most beautiful in subtle harmony of tones was being con-
tinued on tlie snowy face over against us. But who shall
tell these things in words or bind such loveliness in lan-
guage ? We watched the fading, changing, mellowing
glories of earth and heaven, till the cold air made inaction
painful, and we reluctantly turned away and shut ourselves
into the tents for the night.
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THE HISPAB PASS. 373
Jul// 18th.~0n awaking in the morning we found the
south-west wind drifting, swiftly and high overhead, a Hat
layer of thin cloud. It moved like a rigid sheet, without
any internal commotion or visihle change of form. Tliis
presently dispersed and left the most brilliantly fine morn^
ing behind that it was ever my lot to enjoy. We in-
tended making only a short march, and camping as near
tlie foot of the final ascent to the col as possible, so as
to reduce the labour of the coolies. Accordingly we started
at 5.40, sending the coolies under Karbir's direction up
the left hank of the glacier, whilst we struck straight out
into the midst of it for mapping purposes. When we were
well out we found the snow in admirable condition, and
the pass was also nearer than we supposed. " Why," we
all said^" oh, why did we not start three hours ago and
cross the pass to-day?"
We watched the line of coolies traversing the foot of
the hillside — " like a Swiss procession going to some hill
shrine," said 2urbriggen, " to pray for rain or fine weather."
Presently they reached the junction of a side glacier with
the main stream, and, by good luck, the crevasses forced
them out on to the ice and close to us. Not knowing what
else to do they shaped their course towards us, and with
one consent we all cried out, " The pass ! the pass ! we
will go for it at once ! " We accordingly called to the
coolies to follow, and made straight for the foot of the
series of great schrnnds that intervened between the level
surface of the glacier we were on and the upper plateau
that slopes gradually to the col. These could be passed
at two places : either far to the right, close under the
slopes on the left side of the glacier — a course somewhat
exposed to the danger of avalanches — or else near their
centre, where a way could he found by a good leader. Zur-
briggen boldly chose the latter course and went ahead to
take the coolies up.
There was no trouble with them now. - They knew they
must go over, and each set himself to do his best. In and
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374 JULY 18.
out amongst the beautiful schrunds we went, meeting with
no poiut of either difficulty or danger, and in due time we
emerged on the upper plateau, with nothing but a gentle
snowfield between us and our pass.
Here I made a long halt to take a last view over the
country from which we had come, and which we should
probably behold never again. What a glorious sight it was !
The glacier, cut across by the curved outlines of deep
crevasses, showing near their hps just a suggestion of blue,
dropped steeply away from our feet, leaving for foreground a
single tower of ice fringed with icicles and tinted blue on
its steepest face. Below tbe first slope the glacier swept
grandly from us in the gracefullest curves, turning oue
jutting headland after another, and then putting on its dark
cloak of moraine and vanishing under it iu the far distance.
The last tongue of white ice between the mounded begin-
nings of the moraines looked singularly decorative, and
served to connect the upper levels of snow with the
lower regions of purple rock and alp. On either hand
was a long line of peaks, each stretcbiug an arm down
to the glacier, and reariug its crest proudly aloft. The
sky was absolutely clear and calm. There was not a
inovement in the air. Oue tiny cloud, alone in the
blue, floated motionless over the mighty head of Gandar
Chish.
We drank in with deUght this perfect prospect, with every
feature of which the last weeks had been rendering us
familiar, and then we turned our backs upon it towards the
unknown that would soon be revealed. A long suow-
slope was before us, wide and gentle, terminated abo%'e by
an almost flat line. Beyond this there was the sky, but
not the sky alone. Oue magnificent peak, a pinnacled
rock-tower, reared its sharp summit aloft ; cliff above
chflF, ridge above ridge, sharp, graceful, defiant, and ap-
parently inaccessible. As we advanced the courtiers of
this king of mountains appeared supporting him on either
hand.
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THE HlSI'AJt PASS. 377
We coukl not properly enjoy the wonder and magnificence
of this sight. The toil was too great, for the snow was
becoming soft, and the plateau up whose gentle slope we
had to wade was apparently endless. Wave after wave of
long imdulating neve was in turn snrmoiuited, but each
only made place for auother, as long and monotonous as
itself. Perhaps the diminished density of the air reduced
our forces. We certainly had to breathe faster, or rather
more deeply and fully, but we were not conscious of any
distinct diminution of strength resulting from this cause.
At last we saw the group of coolies seated on the very top
of the pass, not far away. On the point of noon we stood
beside them and beheld the slope bending down before
our feet.
The view ahead absorbed all our attention, for our
fate lay in its grasp. It was beyond all comparison the
finest view of mountains it has ever been my lot to behold,
nor do I believe the world can hold a iiner. We expected
to look down a long valley such as we had come up, but
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there was no valley in
sight. Before us lay a
basin or lake of snow.
This lake was bounded
to the north and east bj'
white ridges, and to the
south by the splendid
row of needle-peaks, the
highest of which, the
Ogre, had looked at us
over the pass two days
before. From the midst
of the snowy lake rose a
series of mountain islands
white like the snow that
buried their bases, and
there were endless bays
and straits as of white
water nestling amongst
them. It was the vast
blank plain that gave so
extraordinary a character
to the scene, and the con-
trast between this and the
splintered needles that
jutted their 10,000 feet of
precipice into the air and
almost touched the flat
roof of threatening clouds
that spread above them.
I forgot headache, food,
everything, in the over-
whelming impression this
majestic scene produced
upon me, and the hour
and a quarter we were
privileged to gaze upon it
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THE HISPAR PASS. 381
passed like the dream of a moment. I did not notice
what was going on around. The coolies were seated on
the snow, and there was eating of food, and the like
occupations, in which I mechanically joined. I am in-
formed that no one consciously suffered from the rare-
faction of the air, not even Eahim AJi, a man past middle
age, and whose home has been in the Punjab and at
Abbottabad. He served tiffin with his usual precision,
and took his own food as at lower levels. It should be
remembered, perhaps, that on the much lower Burzil pass
he showed signs of discomfort from the altitude, and had
almost to be carried over the upper part of it. The
height of the Hispar pass is 17,050 feet.
The heavy gathering of the clouds warned us to descend.
At 1.16 we resumed our course, not without anxiety. I
have said that the outlet of the great snow lake was not
visible from the col; it was hidden from us by the low
ridge close on our right hand. But we could see where it
must lie, and there were slight indications of schrunds,
which suggested that we might probably find a giant ice-
fall blocking the way against us. We remembered how
in all parts of this mountain range there had evidently,
in recent years, been a vast increase in the store of
anow at high levels. We recalled the various reports that
had reached us, of a mysterious blocking of this Hiapar
pass by some change in the glaciers. We asked one
another whether perhaps the level of the lake had not
been raised by this means, and an impassable icefall formed
at its outlet. Whatever was in sight seemed to favour this
supposition, BO that I gave the order for advance with no
little misgiving.
The heavy clouds now descending upon the mountains
had a foreboding appearance, which further tended to depress
our spirits. The snowy range away to the north remained
white against a belt of blue, but all the other mountains
were enveloped in gloomy shadows cast by the smoky
clouds. For ten minutes we walked rapidly down a gentle
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Ruow-slope to the top of a series of enormous sclirunds,
through which Zurbriggen struck an adinirable route, dis-
covering, by means of his educated intelligence, a diagonal
slope, which led us past them without the necessity of
crossing more than one snow-bridge. In fifteen minutes we
were on the gently inclined floor of one of the bays of the
great lake, and the drooping end of the long ridge, that
had been on our right hand ever since we rounded the
base of Rakipnahi at Chalt, was close beside us. For
twenty-five minutes we plodded along through the still
excellent snow, then rounded the end of this ridge, and
lo ! before our delighted eyes there sloped away, broad,
even, and almost straight, the grand stream of the Biafo
glacier.
There was no icefall to bar its opening, no break or
interruption in its majestic flow. Onr forebodings were
instantly dispelled, and we cried aloud with satisfaction. I
paused to set up the plane-table and sent the others on to
look for a camping-place. They found an admirable plateau
at a distance of five minutes' walk, sheltered by a precipice
from falling stones, and with many cracks and crannies iu
which the coolies could hide themselves for the night.* \Ve
called the place Snow Lake Camp (16,300 feet). When my
work was done I hastened to the tents and found everything
prepared with its usual precision. But I had to pay a
penalty for such a day. The sun caught me in the morn-
ing at the plane-table and burnt its heat into my back.
A terrible headache prostrated me. Though it was only
3.1.') when we arrived, I crawled into my sleeping-bag,
and fortunately passed in a couple of hours into a land
of dreams, from which I did not emerge till the following
morning.
Jithj 19lJi. — What the minimum temperature may have
been during the night I do not know, for I was utterly
unable to get out and set up the thermometer on the
previous afternoon. It cannot have been very cold, for I
* Poli-nlilla Iij'jlisil was flowering on these rocks.
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TSE HISPAR PASS. 885
was warm in the tent without any extra wraps. Still the
night was a trying one for the coolies, as it snowed
heavily during many hours ; fortunately there was no wind.
Some of the coolies roosted in a rock cranny close to my
tent, and in the morning they called to me with a plaintive
refrain, " Oh, Sahib gi 1 the cooliea are dying ! " They
were not really in any such miserahle plight, and a few
kindly words and nods put them in a good humour. On
this, as ou several other occasions, I felt the need of light
bivouac tents for the coolies. With thera we could
now have halted at this point for two or three days
and explored the Snow Lake. As it was, the men were
eager to stai-t down ; but that was impossible till the
clouds should lift and permit me to make the necessary
observations for carrying on the map. .Gradually the
obscurity that surrounded us diminished, and one snow-
crested headland of rock- appeared after another, so that
about half-past nine I ordered camp to be struck, and at
ten we started on our downward way. The old snow
was still good under the fresh-fallen mantle, so that we
walked at a rapid pace down the easy slope. Away on our
left hand was the great lake, looming vaster than ever
under the low-lying roof of cloud. Above, to the right,
were many wonderful juts and precipices of rock that lost
their summits in mist, and became all the more impressive
in consequence.
When we had finally left the open lake behind and
entered the broad corridor of the Biafo glacier the clouds
began to disperse, and we discovered new developments
of mountain grandeur about us for which we were not
prepared. The glacier swept straight away, broader,
leveller, more impressive than its. neighbour of Hispar,
away to the far distance, where the clouds all but rested
on its brown floor, leaving a purple band between.
** What a fine maidan!" said Harkbir; and all the men
responded, "Bara acha maidan!" But the level snow-
field would have possessed little beauty, for all its majesty
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386 JULY 19.
of size and sweep of form, had it not been the floor of
as wonderful an avenue of peaks as exists amongst the
moimtains of the world. On both sides of the glacier
for some fifteen miles they rise, one beyond another, a
series of spires, needle-sharp, walled about with precipices,
on which no snow can rest, and separated from one another
by broken couloirs, wherein tottering masses of snow are
for a while caught till they fall in overwhelming masses
on the elopes at their feet. The aiguilles of Chamonis are
wonderful, and possess a grace of outline all their own ;
but these needles outjut them in steepness, outnumber
them in multitude, and outreach them in size. The
highest of them flings its royal summit more than 23,000
feet into the air, and looks abroad over a field of moun-
tains that finds no superior in the world. I named the
ridge on the north the Ogre's Fingers, and the great peak
the Ogre.
After two hours' pleasant walking and some halts for work
we felt inclined to lunch. When, after a long halt, we set
forth again, we entered on the unpleasant stage of the
day's expedition. The snow was thus far in fine condition,
but now an occasional foot slipped through the hard cnist,
and when this kind of thing begins there is always worse
in store. It was not merely tbat we sank into the
snow ; that is bad enough ; but what we sank into was
freezing water. The glacier hereabouts is so absolutely
unbroken that there is no outlet for its melting. Later in
the season the ice may be bare, and then the water will
gather into visible pools ; but at this time it rendered
the snow a soaking sponge. Sometimes there were pools
of water ten or more inches deep loosely crusted over
with an inch or so of a honeycombed something that was
neither snow nor ice. It was useless trying to find a dry
track ; the thing had to be tramped straight through, aud
for an hour aud a quarter we waded the icy slush in angry
misery. The Gurkhas took their troubles with their usual
good temper, and only laughed when they sank in deeper
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THE HISPAB PASS. 387
than usual. " Bara acha rasta!" they said, and plash!
on they went.
At last we came to crevasses, and, for the first time in
our lives, were delighted to meet with them, for they
swallowed up the water and took it down into the bowels
of the ice. About the same time an incipient medial
moraine appeared, and we climbed on to it and warmed our
feet in the sun. The neve was drawing to an end, and
the clear ice was not far away. The coolies, now willing
carriers, eager to get down to a region of wood and camp
fires, were sent on ahead while map-making was in pro-
gress. They were almost out of sight on the far horizon.
We began to wonder whether they had not gone too far,
for the evening was advancing apace, and the sunlight was
becoming tinged with gold.
We put our best foot foremost and hastened over the
crisp ice. As we went the most glorious lights and
colours played on the peaks and clouds in the east and
made us long to linger and enjoy. For weeks the sun
had set for us at the foot of the valley we were in ;
now it set at the valley's head and sent its brilliant light
sweeping downwards from behind our backs. Our long
shadows marched before us as though they would hasten
towards the wondrous east which served as canvas for the
sun's bold painting. AH the mountains and the clouds,
that curled over them like a long breaking wave, were
coloured with the richest gold. Shortly after the sun
actually set, the foot of the valley was bathed in purple, and
the snowy mountain at the end, barred with light stripes of
cloud, was grey against a band of bluest heaven. The
blue melted into red, which faded upwards to a violet
zenith. There was no time to halt, and poor McCormick
was almost mad with rage at losing the most pictorial sub-
ject that our whole journey had thus far offered. Darkness
advanced apace, and we were still far out upon the glacier,
nor did we know where the coolies had settled dowu for the
night. At length a voice was heard responding to our calls,
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and we steered towards it through a maze of big crevasses.
We stumbled over a band of moraine, mounted a short grass-
elope, and reached onr tents {Ogre's Camp ; 14,230 feet) just
as the first stars begao to glimmer in the darkening heavens.
I dined at once and sat writing until midnight.
V THE DI4P0 3H0WFIEU).
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CHAPTER XIX.
THE BIAFO GLACIER.
July IQth. — I awoke, fally refreshed, before sunrise, and
was able to go on with the arrears of work that still
remained to be done. The sun came up in a cloudless sky
and at once began to manifest his power. As I opened the
tent door the first fly of Baltistan greeted me with an
unwelcome visit, and presently a white butterfly fluttered
past. The night had been pleasantly cold, the minimum
only 29° Fahr. After breakfast I set up the plane-table and
worked at the Ogre's compUcated Fingers for about two
hours. All the time I suffered more from the rarefaction of
the air than on any previous occasion. Nor was I the only
one affected. We all felt a slight difficulty in getting enough
air into our lungs. We noticed that, when the power
of the sun is great, the effect of diminished pressure is
more perceptible than on a cloudy day at the same altitude.
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I set the men to build a big stone-man above the camp, and
by eleven o'clock this and all our other work was accom-
plished, and we were able to lunch preparatory to a short
march.
While the packing was going forward I wandered up the
rocks behind to the stone-man. The little fertile patch
around it was like a garden. Two sorts of tiny gentians
brought the blue sky down amidst the grass ; there were
quantities of Edelweiss and forget-me-nots, of buttercups
too, and of other flowers. There were violet Marguerites
with yellow eyes, and a tiny white flower, and a little
white bell, and Sedums with red or yellow heads, which
are never absent from the flowering places at high
altitudes; and there were other Utile plants not yet come
to their blossoming.* White butterflies flittered about,
and one orange fellow with a brown border to his wings
came hurrying past. The troublesome little flies that
made life tedious at Haigutum were here again, and one
or two big bumbling creatures made the air hum as they
hurried about in their apparently aimless flight. All
nature was in motion, and it behoved us to fall in wath
the general activity. The place was just at the right
height for a mountaineer's permanent camp in these
regions. Wood for fire was within reach. The air was
crisp. There were plenty of good camping-grounds about,
the mountains were near at hand, and we were high enough
to escape the desperate activity of the flies.
At noon we started away: Zurbriggen and I, for a few
hours' surveying on the glacier, McCormick with the coolies
to find a camping-ground five miles lower down on the
glacier's right bank. I struck straight out across the level
ice, and in three-quarters of an hour reached the medial
moraine, which is about two-thirds of the way over.
Here we were just beneath the glorious precipices of the
Ogre, and never did rocks seem to me more magnificent.
* Near Ogre's Gamp we found Mertensia primvimdes and Oentiana
cariiiata.
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iHB OOBB raoH oorb's camp.
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THE BIAFO GLACIER. 393
I expected to suffer from the broiling heat of the sun
which made the tents iotolerable, but the air was cool
(45' Fahr.), and a pleasant breeze blowing, so that I found
my thickest coat a comfort.
After an hour's halt we went down the glacier by the
moraine's side for three-quarters of an hour more and again
set up the plane-table. We were opposite the opening
of an unexpectedly great fan of valleys that spreads in
behind the Ogre and is named Latok. It is split up
by jutting ridges into a series of gullies and couloirs, filled
with overhanging masses of ice. These ridges contain five
great peaks that possess amongst them a wondrous series
of true precipices. They are walled about at their bases
and various higher stages, the walls, in many instances, ap-
pearing to be as smooth as a city paving-stone from bottom
to top. The peaks are all of the Meije type, but, reckoned
from the glacier up, at least double its size. One of them
could be climbed by a remarkable shelf of snow that curls
spirally around its broad straight flanks, and seems to give
access to a kind of Glacier Carr6, whence a possible, but
difficult, series of couloirs would conduct to a sharp arete
and so to the top. I called these peaks the Five Virgins.
At half-past three we put away work and started off for
the new camp. We descended the glacier, gradually
traversing it to the right, and constantly crossing streams
of water, crystal clear, flowing between snow-white banks.
Never have I seen so pure a glacier as this. The ice is as
clear as that which freezes on the surface of a still pool of
water in an English park. Thus the beds of the little
streams were all blue and transparent, and made the water
look like a blue ribbon twining about the glacier's white
surface. Stream united with stream in babbling descent
till they formed rivers thirty feet wide or more. One of
these I was forced to follow for some half-mile, becaiise I
could not cross it and join Zurbriggen on the opposite side.
Its channel gradually deepened, and its banks grew to be
about twenty feet high. At length it met its fate in the
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form of a small crevaBse into which it must fall ; but, in fiill-
ing, the rush of waters had hollowed out a great well (or
moulin, as it is properly called) for themselves, and down
this they plunged with headlong turmoil. The walls of the
well were of purest ice and shimmered with, as it were, a
blue phosphorescence, so beautiful that I think its loveli-
ness cannot have been made to be for ever wasted on the
sightless stones that alone are privileged to behold it before
they tumble into its awful depths.
But where was the camp ? That was the question we
kept asking one another. Not apptirently on this headland,
and certainly not on the next, for there was no wood there.
We climbed the crest of one of the numerous moraines that
now divided us from the glacier's right bank, but could
not see further than the next moraine ridge, and the
same was the case when we mounted that. We shouted
aloud, but who could hear us in the midst of these im-
mensities ? Then we started wandering further down
the glacier, only to halt and shout and hear nothing, and
wander on and halt and shout again. The sun was lowering
to the west, and caused us to wonder whether we might not
be cojnpelled to spend the night out, with no tents to cover
us and no food to eat. I was becoming tired and rather
unwell, while the difficulty of breathing was worse than ever,
the fact being that I was a little overworked, and so less
able to adapt myself to the strenuous surroundings. At
last we sat down on a stone to smoke and sent Harkbir
ahead to look for the camp. He entered the broad and
much crevassed moraine band, and disappeared from view.
Presently we thought we saw him far away on a stony
mound, but the glasses showed that it was a coolie planted
on the look-out.
We hurried oflf as fast as the difficult nature of the
ice would permit, and at 0.15 reached the tents. They
were pitched at the foot of a theatre of grass-slope on the
flowery bed of what had been a lake, and with two pretty
lakes close by, caught between the ridges of two old moraines .
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THE BIAFO GLACIER. 397
The placo looked charmiug, and we were for calling it Twin
Lake Camp, but on further experience of its demerits we
called it Boggy Camp (13,570 feet), for damp and hoggy
it was. At sunset I caught a chill und retired early and
miserable for a night of little sleep. As I tossed about, the
glacier's thousand rivulets sang their ceaseless soothing song.
The contrast was great between this habitable region and
the unspeakable silence of my midnight waking in the
solemn level of the great Snow Lake above."
July %id. — It is sometimes a man's duty to do nothing,
and that duty this day was McCormick's and mine. We
lay in our tents from morning till night, our nearest
• We found at Boggj* Caiiap Doronicitm Falconeri, Pol yjon ii m ijc/-
jiariim, Steltaria M'ebbiaiut, Gentiaiia cunnata, Cenisliiim triijijnum
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approach to occupation being to read the adTertisements in
an ancient number of the Field. We should doubtless
have been bored, notwithstanding the splendour of our
surroundings, but for the flies. These gave us ceaseless
occupation, and our ears grew red with self-inflicted boxings.
At an early hour we sent Zurbriggen off to Askole for
tobacco and the other necessaries of the simplest existence.
He reached the village late the same evening. The day's
rest did us both infinite good and restored our tone, for I
was overworked in an entirely London-like fashion. Towards
evening we felt as though we had taken a six- weeks' holiday,
and we turned in early to prepare for an active morrow.
July 22rtrf.— McCormick and I started at C a.m. for a
day's surveying on the glacier. We crossed the belt of
moraine in twenty minutes, and walked straight up the
smooth ice for an hour and a quarter, till we came in
sight of our stone-man at Ogre's Camp. We made a long
halt and did a good deal of work. Unfortunately clouds
were gathering on the summits of all the higher peaks, so
that the map suffered considerably, but one has to be content
with doing the best that circumstances permit. We next
steered towards the mouth of the Latok glacier, and in
about an hour became involved in the crevasses and
moraine accumulations that cover a large area where the
two glaciers join. We ultimately reached the left bank of
the Latok glacier and climbed on to a delightful grass-slope,
a portion of a splendid alp, which, I believe, is called Angorosa
Blok. Here we settled down for lunch.
The Latok glacier divides into two branches a very short
way up. One of these branches leads round behind the Ogre,
and is bounded on the north by splendid peaks, which have an
ecclesiastical appearance and reminded us of ruined G-othic
cathedrals. In front of one of them stands a perfect apse of
gigantic proportions, with a white roof and a rounded back
of smooth vertical rock. The other branch of the glacier
bends to the east behind the low ridge that was opposite to
us at Boggy Camp. Its end is backed up against the
Digilizod by Google
THE BIAFO GLACIER. 399
Dumulter glacier. The last we could see of it was the
lower portion of a huge icefall curling round the ooruer.
After lunch we went to the angle of junction of the Latok
and Biafo glaciers, and there found a ruined and ancient
stone-man, coTcred with brilliant orange lichens.* Whilst
I was working at the plane-table the others searched for
game, and presently descried bears, which, however, on
closer examina-
tion, proved to be
men. They were
apparently rest-
ing by the side of
a lake between
the left moraine
of the Biafo gla-
cier and the hill-
side. When my
work was done we
started towards
them, and, by fol-
lowing a well-
marked path,
came up with
them in three-
quarters of an hour,
proved to be Bruce
coolies, sent up
couple of. strapping JtJaltis
. '■ . . >m. T. It- PSAKS WBaT OP THE BIAFO OLACIKa
to assist us. The Balfcis
told me that the lake place was called Gomun, and they
applied the name Kdzong, or Fortress, to the upper regions
of the Biafo glacer.
We set off together to return across the glacier, by way
of a huge glacier table which I observed phmted on the
" The following were found near the stone-man at the angle of the
Latok glacier : — S<uij'ra(ja ftatjelUiih, Seiiipervivuni acHminaliiin, Gentlana
borealis, AllanUa glabra.
Digilizod by Google
very top of the chief medial moraine. We reached it without
incident in hall an hour, and I again did some work at its
foot. Then we made for camp. Both McConnick and
I were feehng feeble and unwell, for some unaccountahle
reason, and on reaching camp we found Eahim Ali and his
help in a prostrate condition. Kain began to fall soon
after our arrival. Whilst we were on the glacier it was
raining or snowing on the upper levels, and great misty
besoms were sweeping over the icy flat between us and
the craggy peaks, producing wonderful effects in the fitful
sunshine. As the evening closed in, clouds and damp
miasmas gathered about us, and we retired miserably to our
tents for the night.
July ^drd. — There was no question about the weather
to-day. It was unspeakably bad. A warm night {min. 41")
was followed by persistent rain, which was falling when I
awoke, and continued falling all the forenoon. As I would
not leave without getting sights to certain points, which
had thus far been continuously hidden, there was nothing
for it but to lie idle in our tents. At last, by seizing
favourable moments, I was enabled to accomplish my
task in an indifferent sort of fashion, and at 3.15 p.m.
we started. I ordered the coolies to cross the glacier
and pitch camp a short way down the other side. We
again traversed the wretched band of moraine in the usual
twenty minutes and halted some distance beyond on the
open ice to take a round of angles, for the clouds were
threatening to blot oiit everything once more. A quarter
of an hour further on new and important points came into
view, which had to be seized before they were overwhelmed
in mist. About five o'clock we reached a point whence we
expected to at least descry a coolie on the look-out near
camp ; but none was in sight, and there was no answer to our
call. We continued the descent of the glacier, therefore,
keeping a sharp look-out on the left bank.
Thus far, from the level of the great Snow Lake, the
glacier had been broad, even, and of gentle slope. Its
Digilizod by Google
THE BIAFO GLACIER. 401
noticeable peculiarity is the regular way in which it is
stratified longitudinally. One can walk for hundreds of
yards along one of the edges of its upright strata as along
a board. We were now approaching the point where the
glacier is narrowed and its slope steepens. The narrowing
does not interfere with the regularity of the stratification,
but the strata are squeezed together, and they rise in undu-
lating longitudinal ridges or sink into ruts, making yet more
emphatic the glacier's peculiarity. The lateral moraines
here begin to make inroads on the white ice. The space
between them is not only rendered uneven in the manner
described, but is broken transversely into great waves (not
crevasses), about 20 or 30 feet in height from hollow to crest,
and very regular. The slope of the wave facing the foot of
the valley is gentle; the other face is steep and often vertical,
60 that progress becomes difficult and fatiguing.
We went forward as fast as possible, getting more and
more angry with our men for going so far beyond the
appointed distance. It was useless stopping to survey.
We should be benighted if we did. The only thing was
to gain cftm^ quickly and return up the glacier on the
morrow. At last two men answered our shouts and came
hesitatingly towards us. They almost fled when they saw
our angry faces. They proved to be messengers from Askole
with a letter for me. They told us that our camp was
pitched on the other bank and about three miles lower down.
When they observed the effect of their remarks upon us
they turned and fled. We followed them as fast as legs
would carry us, and presently we met two more coolies,
also coming from Askole, laden with stores for us. Heaven
knows whither they thought they were going, for they had
passed the camp and were wandering in a general way
upwards, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left.
Down we went, faster and faster, skurrying through the
crevasses in our anger. At last we saw the smoke of the
camp fire and discovered with disgust that we were separated
from it by more than a mile of stone-covered and crevassed
Digilizod by Google
403 JOLY 24.
ice. We set ourselves to cross the hateful area with all
possible dispatch, breathing out threateuings and slaughter
as we went. For now the sun was painting the glorious
mountains in the east with a splendour of rich colour
that made McCormick furious. His colours and his blocks
and all his apparatus were with the tents, and he was for a
second time deprived of a golden opportunity by the stupid
haste of our servants to get down to their luxuries. "VS'e
swore that every man of them should to-morrow retrace
each step of the stony way and bow his face to the earth in
the place where the camp ought to have been. At last oui
hateful march came to an end. We scrambled up a slope
of moraine and came to a flat, damp maidan, called Mango
Brangsa (12,600 feet), the usual old pond basin, where at 7.15
we found the tents pitched and every one delighted to see
us and eager to make us comfortable. Tobacco had come,
sheep had come, she-goats were there to give us milk, and
flour to make bread for us. Our ill-temper dissolved away,
as morning clouds in the mountains seldom dissolve, and
after dining on chickens and other dainties, not out of tins,
we went to bed at peace with the servants, the cooUes, and
all the world. Zurbriggen is reported to have said in London
that I never lost my temper in the mountains ; he did not
see me on this occasion.
July '2Ath. — ^An unpromising morning, which folly justified
its evil look as the day advanced. Being tired after the
fatigues of yesterday, we did not leave camp till eight
o'clock. We crossed the band of moraine to the clear
ice, which we mounted by a better route than we had
followed in the descent, avoiding the largest series of waves
and traversing only gentle undulations. In three-quarters
of an hour we reached our first station, and, after a sufiicient
halt, we ascended to a second in twenty minutes more.
Further than this it was not necessary to retrace our steps.
Near us on every side were an extraordinary number of
glacier tables of all shapes and sizes, recently fallen from
their pedestals of ice. It looked as though the glacier had
Digilizod by Google
TBE BIAFO GLACIER. 403
shakea itself and upset them all at once. There must have
been some hundreds of them thus overthrown.
When we started from camp the clouds were gathering in
the sky. They joined themselves together and formed a
roof, which slowly descended and enveloped the summits of
peak after peak in the order of their altitude. The Five
Virgins were early hidden, and it was only by much hurry^
ing that I was able to get my work done at all. Presently
a dark veil of rain and cloud came sweeping down the
glacier, and we saw that all views were over for some hours.
So we turned to retrace our steps. When we were in the
midst of the glacier's stony border the rain came down and
urged us to still greater rapidity. In a few minutes we
reached the camp's welcome shelter. On and off for all
the rest of the day the rain continued to fall, and the clouds
blotted out the peaks, so that it was impossible to continue
our downward journey.
After lunch I called the Balti coohes to the tents
and began questioning them as to the names of points
by the side of the Biafo glacier. One of them was a
remarkable-looking fellow, the same that we met by
Gomun Brangsa Lake. His square, dark face, with the
black hair standing up above it in spires, like a terrier's
cropped ears, and his powerful peasant form, haunted me
since first I met him. Where had I seen the man before?
At last I recalled the place, as in a vision of the night. He
is one of the attendant shepherds in a picture of the Nativity,
by the great Bramantino, which hangs in the Ambrosiana
Gallery at Milan. I was glad to make his acquaintance in
the flesh, and to find him altogether a decent kind of person.
The inking in of the map, the writing up of diaries and
letters, the arranging and cataloguing of specimens filled
the remainder of the gloomy afternoon. From hour to
hour a cuckoo kept calling from the rocks above camp,
and great stones were continually booming down the hill-
side or rattling off the glacier's surface into the crevasses.
The wind, sometimes bearing, sometimes opposing the sound
Digilizod by Google
of the streams that flow about the ice, made a soughing, as
among the trees of a forest. Little birds were chirping
from the rocks ; so that though there was not much to be
seen in any direction, Nature's music was not hushed.* After
sunset we hoped that the weather would cleiir, but our hopes
were doomed to disappointment. Swirling wreaths of soft
grey cloud wandered around all the peaks, and filled the
valley with a purple gloom. The naked rocks of the
many ridges, that jut out one beyond another down the
opposite aide of the valley, with their clearly marked strati-
fication and various tinted bands, assumed all manner of
rich colours, and compensated for the loss of the clear
view of precipitous peaks and needles, to which we were
looking forward. Eventually darkness and rain returning
together, drove us early into the tents and extinguished
the smouldering remnants of our camp fire.
July 25th. — It was a horribly wet night, and the morning
that followed was so cloudy that I was not at first able to
take the needful sights. Eventually, however, the clouds
lifted here and there, and at a quarter to ten we started
on our downward way. We walked for a few minutes
between the moraine and the hillside. At the inevitable
side glacier we had to cross the stone shoot below its
foot. To our delight, however, there was a trodden
track among the stones, and all went well till we came to
the foaming torrent. One of the coolies, in trying to help
me over this, landed me thigh deep in the water, and it was
hours before I dried. Our party was much larger than when
we crossed the pass, for we not only hud onr own men with
us, but there were the Balti coolies, and others sent up by
Bruce, and there was a flock of eleven goats and some sheep
(already dwindled to two) and the shepherd that drove them,
• The following were found at Mango Brang$a: — Gentiana (letonsa,
I'lciiriyyiie cariiilliinca, Gentiana horealis, AcoiiilumNiqiethis var. rvtiiiuli-
foUiiiii, AUiioii bland im, Tuiiiicel II III Senecioiiis, Sulix near S. Jiabelhri!,.
Tdraxiu-itiit officinale was found a little lower down on the right bank of
the Biafo glacier.
Digilizod by Google
THE BIAFO GLACIER. 405
the shepherd of the Nativity — I knew he must be a shepherd,
but only now found evidence of the fact. In the evening he
divided the sheep from the goats, but killed the sheep, con-
trary to precedent. The goats formed a charming addition
to our camp. They were confident, friendly little creatures,
who never got in the way and were always picturesque,
They trotted along before the coolies, nibbling a herb if
they had the chance, or leaping from stone to stone with
the leisurehest certainty of foot. In camp they browsed
between tlie tents or lay on grass-patches among the
rocks.
During the morning a batch of Briice's coolies met us.
They were on their way back to Nagyr, and had been told to
cross by our pass, bnt when thoy saw us tliey ran almost
weeping towards us. "We don't know the way! we don't
know the way!" they cried; so we added them to our swelling
numbers and took them back to Askole, whence in due time
they returned home with their fellows.
At the next side valley we quitted the right bank of the
Digilizod by Google
glacier, again foUowiag the indications of a path, and
struck out towards the fast narrowing strip of clear ice
in the midst. The stony surface to be crossed was not
so bad as it might have been ; besides, much practice had
rendered ua indifferent to moraine-covered ice, and had
given a facility in hopping from rock to rock. There
was a strong stream of water flowing along the edge of the
clear ice. We followed it till it reached its end, where it
phmged into a grand moulin, of perfectly spiral form.
The water curled round and disappeared down the blue
funnel, leaving a slender spire of ice upright in the
midst.
After walking for an hour and a half, and spending two
hours in halts for surveying, we came to a convenient tiffin
place. When we started oflf again a gentle rain was falling,
but fortunately it did not last long. We caine to a point
where the glacier has to hend.roimd a corner, and in doing
so is forced over a headland on the right bauk and thereby
broken up into great crevasses. These were avoided by a
(IHour to the left, after which the strip of clear ice we were
on ended, and we had to incline to the right and make for
the bank. We were all tired, and welcomed the sight of
a flat shelf of grass, close to the foot of a protecting
precipice of rock, which offered an admirable camping-
ground. We sent the men on to pitch" the tents, and
foimd everything ready when we arrived, shortly after four
o'clock. The name of our camping-place was Nambla
Brangsa (11,700 feet).
The view from the tents was superb, and aroused
our warmest admiration, jaded though we were with the
appalling splendours of the scenery we had been passing
through. The mountains that border the upper stretch of
the Biafo glacier are, as has been stated, characterised by
an extraordinary uprightness of form. As one descends the
glacier those on the right become snowy and rounded,
though with many a needle gracing their sides and crests ;
but those on the left preserve their steepness. ■ When the
Digilizod by Google
THE BIAFO GLACIER. 407
group of the Five Virgins recedes from the immediate
Deighbourhood of the main glacier, a low and rounded grass
ridge at first takes its place, but this soon puts on more
emphatic forms, and presently juts into the air with the
same abruptness as its greater fellows, further within the
sanctuMy of snow.
Our camp was opposite the boldest front of this lower
ridge, and its splendid walls and crags, its blades and
pinnacles of rock, its deeply recessed couloirs and glaciers,
hanging with apparent insecurity on giddy shelves, were all
displayed right over against us. The rocks were for the most
part too steep to hold snow, and there was not a scrap of
earth or debris accumulated anywhere about them. Every
loose fragment seemed to come tumbling down at once
on to the glacier, which carried it steadily away. The
rocks were striped with a many-coloured stratification,
cutting through the mountain from ridge to ridge. All
around their base, for perhaps 1,000 feet, they were
polished smooth by the once much deeper glacier. The
whole of this mountain pile, thus wonderfully built and
decorated, shone golden before our eyes in the light of the
lowering sun, and was projected against a clear, blue sky. A
few soft clouds played about the hood of snow that crowned
the actual peak, and now and then became caught in one of
its deep cut gullies, thus adding to the changefulness and
mystery of the scene. Presently there was a feast of colour
on the mountains in the east which withdrew our attention
from the precipices opposite, and then the night came on
and the spangled canopy above gave a final salutation before
we closed the world out behind the frail drapery of our
tents."
J^dy Q&th. — The morning was again cloudy, but this
mattered Httle, for we were nearing the foot of the glacier,
and all we actually needed to observe was the lower pro-
montories that plant their feet in the Braldo valley, and
~ At Nambla Brangsa we found Sikne Moorcro/tiana and Sedum
Eweraii.
Digilizod by Google
whose summits the clouds usually disdain. Starting a
few minutes before eight, we struck diagonally across the
glacier towards the thin remaining band of clear ice that
offered the best downward route, for the right bank again
became precipitous, and the glacier near it, wrenched around
another comer,
was broken into
bigcrevasses. We
reached the clear
ice in half an
hour, and then
turned down it,
but it rapidly
narrowed and be-
came the mere
course and banks
of a stream;
stones protruded
through it with
increasing fre-
quency, until we
were walking
from stone to
stone, with ice
between. At
length the waters
found their fate
in a deep moulin,
and the last bit
of ice disappeared
under a mantle
of moraine.
SIAMOO OUSOR FROM THE KKD OF THE BIAFO OLACIEB, Thfl rOolieS
went ahead and set up little stone-meu as guides to lead
us through the wilderness. At one place they came across
a great boulder, poised on the top of a glacier ridge,
and on it they built a large Tamarei, doubtless intendicg
Digilizod by Google
THE BIAFO GLACIER. 409
it to endure for eternity ; but the moving ice, though
they knew it not, will soon overturn it, and the memory
of it will not long endure. At last, after an hour and
a half 8 walking, we left the glacier for its right bank,
and there, by the side of a httle stream, found our men
awaiting ub with tiffin. We were praotically at the foot of
the great glacier, and our long expedition was nearing its
close.
The Biafo glacier opens out at its end into a kind
of fan. No longer imprisoned between the walls of its
gorge, the ice spreads to right and left over the flat sur-
FOOT OP BIAFO Ot^CIEE FEOY I.A9KAU ZIOZAns>.
face of the Braldo valley. At one point only is the free
action of its failing strength impeded. A mound of
rock, a detached portion of the right bank, stands up
in the way of the ice and bars its passage. Formerly
the glacier calmly flowed over the impediment, but now
it must stop behind it and content itself with pushing
a feeble arm between it and the mountain side. It
was by this arm that we quitted the ice, and it was
on the bank of the stream from it that we sat down to
lunch.
When our repast was over we mounted (it only took ten
Digilizod by Google
minutes) to the top of the intrusive rock,* and took a last view
up towards the cloudy regions which had been the scene of
our hopes and fears for two weeks. The avenue of precipices,
with its floor of stone-covered ice, sloping up to the white
fields behind, and a dark
cloud over all, had
t impressive appear-
Each crag and bend
;ht recalled some
it of our adventu-
ray. But we could
use long in the mere
of memory : the
was before us with
eds for action. Be-
fore quitting the
point I set up a
wooden post in the
remains of a ruined
stone-man, which
we repaired.
We ran down
into the gully
again, and descen-
ded it towards the
plain. As we trod
its rough floor, on
stones of every
form and descrip-
tion, I could not
but meditate on
THE OEBEN PABW. (jIjq yahoUS plECCS
whence they had
come. This one perhaps formed the proud summit of
a lofty aiguille, and gazed far abroad over the mighty
* We called it The Nose. Anaphalis virgata was growing among the
debris on it.
Digilizod by Google
TBE BIAFO GLACIER. 411
lake of snow. That came crashing down some steep gully,
or over some frowning brow at which we had gazed in
admiration. All in their turn certainly fell from aloft,
and made brief thunder in their descent; then, buried
in the bosom of the ice or poised on its surface, travelled
their slow journey down to its foot and were cast over
into this narrow trough, there in due time to be ground
to powder and carried away by the river. Past Skardo
and Bunji they would go, and through Chilas, down
and down, till some day their dust would be spread by
flood over the fields of the Punjab, and would help to
make fertile low-lying fields and laads cultivated by busy
men.
The descent of the gully only took ten minutes to the
flat pebbly ground by the right bank of the Biafo stream.
And now that we were in a barren valley once more the
evilly- disposed sun scorched us, and, as below Hispar, made
our lives burdensome. We passed through a gap in a
transverse wall between the river and the hillside, built,
I suppose, to keep the cattle from straying, and in half an
hour we came to the place where the Biafo stream joins the
waters from Baltoro and Punmah. The combined rivers
flow at once against the foot of a precipice on our side of the
valley, and this precipice had to be surmounted by a cleverly
constructed but giddy path. The rock is a beautiful green
serpentine. The passage of the parri took about fifteen
minutes, the path descending on the other side, but not
quite to the river bed. Half an hour further on we crossed
the foot of a fine waterfall, over which a mud-avalanche had
recently fallen. We drank deep draughts of the dirty
waters and went forward refreshed.
The cultivated fan of Askole was before us ; we bent
all our energies to traversing the desert tract that inter-
vened between us and its promise of shade. We soon
came to the edge of cultivation, where two old watch-
towers guard the approaches to Askole from the east.
The only use they can ever have been was, like the fortified
Digilizod by Google
■parti, to protect the village from invading parties coniiiifr
over either the Hispar or the Mustagh passes. Ten luiuutes
later we reached camp in the hagh (10,300 feet), and foimd
Bnice and Ziirbriggen awaiting us, and our extra baggage
safely arrived from Srinagar.
Digilizod by Google
CHAPTER XX.
ASKOLE TO BALTOEO.
July 27th-30th.—O{ our four days' halt at Askole little need
be said. For most of lis it was a very busy time. There
was a large mail to be made up and sent home (it ne%'er
arrived) ; there was the baggage which came direct from
Srinagar to be overhauled ; there were many things no
longer needed to he packed and sent away ; and there were
all the arrangements to be made, and supplies to be laid in,
for a five weeks' expedition up the Biiltoro glacier. Quantities
of things had to be mended, and Zurbriggen was fully em-
ployed. A detail of his work was to nail and clout some
twenty pairs of boots and shoes.
Bruce had been for some days at Askole, employing
part of his leisure in attempting to stalk ibex, but he
found no big heads and so shot nothing. He came with
Eckenstein from Skurdo by way of Shigar and the Skoro
pass — a route we afterwards took, and which will be described
Digilizod by Google
in a later chapter. Bruce found all the streanis in Hood, and
had much difficulty in fording them.
Since leaving Kagyr we had seen no trees of any size, and
we had not encamped in a hagh since Gulmet. Askole
therefore seemed a very paradise, for our tents were pitched
within a walled enclosure and shaded hy willows and popt-
lars, which framed beautifol views. Graceful Mango Gusor
between the trees was a particularly charming object. The
green foreground of cultivated fields soon drove out of our
minds the hot desert and the stony glaciers.*
The day after our arrival, Mr. Douglas Churcher (87th
Fusiliers) came in from the Punmah valley, where he had
been shooting. He pitched his tent beside ours, and gave
us the unwonted pleasure of company. With banjo and
song he graced our evening palaver, but I think that, wlieu
the rest of us howled in chorus, the mountains must have
prepared avalanches for revenge. When we sang —
" We love you all,
Fetites or tall,
Whate'er your beauty or your grade is,
Coy or coquettes.
Blondes or brunettes,
We love you all, bewitching ladies,"
a mental reservation had certainly to be made with respect to
the hags of Askole — a most ill-looking lot, so far as we could
judge. Churcher only stayed one night with us. He went
off down the valley to fresh hunting groimds, where, by good
luck and skill combined, he put together the best set of
trophies that fell to any sportsman in Kashmir daring the
season of 1892. I saw and admired them at Ambala a few
months later.
I held several conversations about passes and topography
with the natives of Askole and with Wazir Nazar Ali, who
* About Askole we found Mcdictiijo Itipuliiia, Medicago falcata, Urassica
campestris, Fiujopyrum tataricum, Siletie conoidea, Sapottaria vaccariti, a
epeciee of AtripUx, and a epecies of Artemisia.
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO BALTOBO. il5
was to leave us at this point. Their information was
worthless when put to the test.
Colonel Godwin-Ausben, writing in 1864, says of the
Hiepar pass, " It was by this way that the Nagyr men used
to come into the Braldoh and loot the villages ; their last
raid was some twenty-four years since {i.e., about 1840),
when a body of from seven hundred to eight hundred crossed
over, and carried off about one hundred men and women,
together with all the cows, sheep, and goats they could
collect." I inquired about this story every day I was
in Askole, and
was informed
as follows:
The last time
there is any
memory of the
pass having
been crossed
was in the days
of the father
of the very old
man in whose
house our bag-
gage was
stowed. He
1 , BXAMININO WAZIR NAZAB AU.
does not re-
member the event, but he remembers his father telling him
about it. The leader of the band that crossed from Nagyr
was Wazir Hollo. They came late in the year, three months
later than now. The harvest in Nagyr had been bad, and the
Nagyr folk needed provisions. The band did not attempt to
attack Askole, said the old man, but the Baltis gave them
ibex skins and flour. The Nagyr people invited some of the
Baltis to go back with them, but they refused, fearing the
cold. The Nagyr men started to return by the way they
came, but all perished in the snow except Wazir Hollo, who
alone reached home to tell the tale. There is, perhaps, a
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fragment or two of trath in this story, but the actual facts
will probably never be discovered.
The Askole men also said that long before Hollo's expedi-
tion the Nagyr people came over the Hispar pass and
brought with them a Shoti, who built the stone hut called
Lancum i Brangsa,* and decorated its roof with ibex horns,
or made the roof of them. The hut still exists somewhere
by the Biafo glacier.
Our camp was a perfect Babel for languages. Besides
English and Hindustani of sorts, Zurbriggen communicated
with Bruce in French and with me, as the humour took him,
sometimes in German, sometimes in Itahan, for he lives
asti-ide of the linguistic frontier. In addition to these there
were spoken amongst our followers Gurkhali (of two sorts),
Persian, Pasbtu, Kashmiri, Fanjabi, Yeshkun, Shina, and
Baiti. At least five of these tongues were always going at
one and the same time.f
Eckenstein had never been weU since reaching Gilgifc. It
was evidently useless for him to come further with ns, so
I decided that he had better return to England. The
winding up of my arrangements with him delayed us an
extra day.
July 31s^ — After four days in a stationary camp it is not
easy to start on the wander once more. The first day,
with new coolies, is always something of a compromise
between staying and going; at all events it was so on
this occasion. We did not feel inclined to wake early ;
the packing was slowly finished; we Ungered over break-
fast, and the coolies loitered about the adjustment of their
burdens, protesting against the weight of this and that. So
it was 8.35 a.m. before the last man left Askole Bagh.
It was a wonderfully fine morning, and I for the first time
" Lancum uiea^ns " leather -worker " in B<i. The ShotiB are leather-
workers in Nagyr, ae has been stated above.
t The following are a few mountain words aB need at Aekole : Valley,
ajHjorosa, liimha or luntjma. Alp, brok. Camping-ground, brangsa. Glacier,
gang or yans. Snow, ka. High mountain, ri. Precipice, ding.
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO BALTOBO. 417
had leisure and mood to discover the elements of grandeur
in the situation of this remote village. The sun was well
up, but did not yet look over the steep western faces of the
hills, and left dark the precipitous eastern wall, lined all
over with the many-coloured edges of folded strata. All
the shadows on the much-ravined hills were deepest blue.
The grand pyramid of Mango Gusor flew a white flag of
cloud towards the south, whilst in the foreground the tiny
bright leaves of many poplars glittered in the sunlight, as
Corot would have loved to see. A cool breeze played up
the valley, so we retraced our steps to the foot of the Biafo
glacier without the miserable discomfort that attended us
down. In two hours' walking from camp the end of the gully
was reached, by which, five days before, we quitted the Biafo
glacier. We passed under the precipitous southern face of
the Nose, which McCormick and I had climbed, and so we
reached the edge of the glacier (10,230 feet) in ten minutes.
We scrambled on to its stony surface and proceeded to
traverse it in a direction parallel to its foot ; but we found
that a mere abstinence from moraine walking for only four
days had deprived us of much of our recently acquired
facility of progression over this kind of rough ground. For
three-quarters of an hour we traversed the stones and then
stepped on to a level place at the foot of the ice (10,120
feet), where there was a lake separated from the tumbling
waters of the Biaho by a narrow rib of half-formed moraine.
The place for our camp was but a short distance ahead, and
so, like fools, we sat down for a tolerably long halt and
shelter from the sun.
A few yards further on, as we found out when we started
again, there were a couple of rushing torrents to be crossed,
an overflow from the Biaho river, which pours into and
again out of the lake. We must either wade these torrents,
or retrace our steps and go all the way round by the stony
glacier, which meant not only a long ditour, but a consider-
able ascent. There was no time for hesitation ; the river
was rising visibly from moment to moment, and submerging
Digilizod by Google
418 JULY 31.
stone after stone that might have been used for jumping
from. Bruce, the lightest clad, at once took to the water
and got over. He had to push hard against the current
BBLOW THB BUFO OLACIBR.
in the middle, where it was' up to his waist. He said he
would carry me over, and came back to do so ; but when
we were in the deepest part a stone turned under his foot
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO BALTOEO. 419
and down we both plumped, so I had to wade after all.
McCormick followed, and the Gnrkhas and Bruce made
two or three other journeys to bring the instruments over
without risk of wetting. Arrived at the far side we sat
down to dry ourselves, and, what with the hot sun and the
wind, soon became comfortable enough. But on starting
to go forward again we came almost at once to a second
stream, which was broader and icier than the first. We
plunged through it, and then through two smaller ones
before the whole series was done with.
While the drying process was being performed over
again, Zurbriggen joined ua, having taken nearly an hour to
make the necessary detour. He was dry, but he was not
happy, for he had just made an unpleasant discovery. His
only tobacco-pouch was left behind at the edge of the
furthest torrent. Bruce at once volunteered to go back and
fetch it. Off he ran through ail the streams, but the water
was now breast-high in the deepest places, and it was all he
could do to fight his way back.
Twenty minutes beyond the last stream we found the
huge smooth-sided boulder which is the recognised camping-
ground of the stony waste called Korofon {10,360 feet), a
triangular slope of glacial and water-rolled debris that fills
the space between the left bank of the glacier and the hill-
side. We dried our clothes on the hot stooes, in the
hungry period that intervened between our arrival and that
of the slow, heavily-laden coolies.'
When Godwin-Austen was here in 1861 the Biafo glacier
abutted against the rocky foot of the mountain mass called
Mango, and the Biaho river flowed beneath it. Now the
glacier has so far retreated that the river flows in open day-
light, and has stony plains exposed on either bank, the foot
of the glacier being about a quarter of a mile short of its old
* The following were gathered betwoon Askole and Korofon : — Echinops
comigerus. Cotyledon leucantlm, and a apGcies of Cijnoglossum. At
Korofon we found Acanlkolimon lycopodiouhs, Ephedra vioiwsperma, and
Orobanche Hansii.
Digilizod by Google
420 JULY 31.
position. I could discover no clear signs of the ice advan-
cing again ; indeed, the contrary seemed rather to be the
case. These trifling variations in the length of a huge
COOUBS AT
glacier like the Biafo are, however, of little acconnt. The
Biafo glacier is, under any circumstances, small compared
with the mighty system of ice-rivers that once flowed down
these valleys. There are visible traces of ancient glaciatiou
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO BALTOliO. 421
all the way up the north slopes of Mango to a height of at
least ;-l,000 feet above the present level of the valley. The
glacier that made them must have been an affluent of that
large ice-river, which once drained all the high snowfields
of the south side of the range of mountains we had been
visiting, and, reaching as far as Skardo, there deposited
the famous hills of moraine by which all travellers are
astonished.
During the march I unwisely walked without my coat,
and with the sleeves of my jersey turned up. The sun
found out both weak points, and burnt the skin of my arms
and touched me in the spine, so that I suffered in the
evening both from a smarting sunburn and a slight sun-
fever and headache. I could not sleep, and found the air
stiflingly hot. The thermometer showed it to be only
62° Fahr. at 11 p.m., which indeed is sufficiently warm for
a place over 10,000 feet above sea level, and within a quarter
of a mile of a glacier. I wandered out from my tent, and
was drawn on by the loveliness of the night. All the camp
was still — the seventy coolies, ten lambadhars, four
Gurkhas, three servants, Bruce, McCormick, Zurbriggen,
all seemed to be asleep. Pristi moved about from time
to time to see that all was right. The twenty sheep and
twelve goats were lying down in their pen. No breath
of air was stirriug. The thunder of river and glacier rolled
on in constant volume of sound. The young moon, low in
the west, whitened the rock wall of Laskam (up which lay
my morrow's route), and cast upon it the black shadow
of Mango's stately pyramid. Eastwards, as it were caught
in the valley's notch, Jupiter blazed bright between the
hills. Presently a haze spread itself abroad over the sky,
betokening further heat rather than bad weather, and with
it at last came the promise of sleep, followed by swift
fruition.
August 1st. — We started at 7 a.m., the object of our
day's march being merely to reach and cross the Ghore-
saraakar rope-bridge in the Punmah valley. The direct way
Digilizod by Google
422 AUGUST 1.
to this point would naturally be to walk round the foot
of the hill called Laskam, that fills the angle between the
Funmah and Biaho streams. But, except in winter, the
track round this angle is difficult, and involves rock
scrambling too difficult for laden coolies ; so the summer
way is over a col in the Laskam ridge, reached by au
ascent of about 2,400 feet, and a descent of almost as
much. McCormick and I chose this route for the sake
of the view and the chance of adding to the collections.'
Bruce and Zurbriggen preferred the lower road, by which
they reached the bridge in three hours of easy walking.
The day was an excessively toilsome one for me, as I was
still suffering from the sun, and, though the early morning
was hazy, mid-day and afternoon were frightfully hot.
McCormick and I crossed in ten minutes to the foot of the
west wall of rock that supports the rounded greenish slopes
of the Laekam ridge. We mounted the wall by Gemiui-
like zigzags in three-quartere of an hour, and we strolled
leisurely over the slopes above, catching many butterflies t
and finding some flowers. We reached the Laskam pass
(12,730 feet) in about two hours from the tents. From the
high alp we enjoyed interesting views, first over the foot of the
Biatb glacier, and then up various side valleys, and towards
sundry minor peaks of various ridges ; but there was only
one object of striking grandeur worth special mention, and
that was Mango Gusor. From the Biafo glacier and from
Askole we learnt to know this peak as a grand pyramid,
formed, as it were, out of three great slabs of rock lying on
one another, tilted up at a high angle. Now, however, we
looked along the axis of the mountain and beheld its un-
expected narrowness. It was not a pyramid, but a fiuig,
sharp, upright on both sides, and apparently, though uot
really, inaccessible. The descent to the bridge was down
a sandy slope, and occupied little time. We reached the
* On the Laskam elopes wo found Morhta 2>ersica and Orobanchc
itulica.
t E}]iiui]}hih jiulckcUa, Hipparchia lebaiia, and Ilipparchia jiarkatis.
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO BALTOJiO. i'23
foot in three-quarters of an hoar, and found Bruce and
Zurbriggen awaiting us. Bruce had been here a few days
before and found the bridge in so bad a condition that
one of his coolies fell through it, and only saved himself
by ah agile grip. The thing bad been well patched up in
the meantime. It still hung unpleasantly loose, and there-
fore steep at the two ends, while the water flowed fast
beneath, but it could not be called a bad bridge. We were
all soon over. Half an hour later the coolies arrived, in
number now re-
duced to seventy,
for the ten lam-
badhars were all
sent back to their
villages this
moruiiig. As the
sheep and goats
and the dog had
to be carried over
on men's backs
one by one, there
were in all 103
loads to be
brought across.
Only one cooUe
carrying a kilta,
or any o£ the more important pieces of baggage, was
allowed to be on the bridge at a time, and we found
that the passage of a laden coolie took five minutes.
Later on two or even three used tlie bridge at once,
otherwise the afternoon would not have been long enough
to get everything over. As it was it took four hours
and a half before the work was done. We pitched camp
(10,700 feet) a couple of hundred yards lower down the
left bank of the Punmah river, and then existed in misery
and enforced idleness till the sun went behind the western
hill. As soon as his hateful beams were withdrawn tlie
Digilizod by Google
temperature sank, in the tents, from 85° to 75°- Bnt it
was not the air temperature that hurt us, it was the blazing
and scorching of the sun's direct rays. The very moment
they are withdrawn relief is felt, but unfortunately our
single-fly tents were too thin for protection against our
great enemy.
August 2}id. — We left camp near the Ghoreaamakar rope-
hridge at 6.20 a.m., and, going down the left side of the
Pnumah valley, came in five minutes to the edge of a side
torrent. The previous night this was an insignificant
stream, which could be crossed by hopping from one stone
to another ; to-day it was in flood. We set the coolies to
cast stones into its deepest parts, but the waters carried
them away as fast as they were thrown in. Zurbriggen
then got out the climbing rope, and Bruce, McCormiek, and
a Gurkha succeeded in carrying the end across. With this
fastened from bank to bank, and the Gurkhas, and often
Bruce, standing thigh-deep in the icy stream to help, we
succeeded in convoying all the coolies over. The stream
was still rising, and the last coolies, when they did not fell
down, were at least waist-deep in the swift torrent. Bruce
was here, there, and everywhere, manifesting his nsual
abundance of energy. He carried over about half the sheep,
taking thera one by one under his right arm, while with the
left he grasped the rope in the deeper places. At first he
carried two sheep, but the rising waters prevented any
further exploits of that kind. We marched ten minutes and
came to another, but fortunately unswoUen, torrent, beyond
which were the usual sandy and stony wastes. Travelling
for an hour over them, we gained the junction of the
Punmah and Biaho valleys.
Every one was glad to be at this point, for there were no
more ribs to be climbed over or big rivers to be crossed. We
were counting the hours to the foot of the Baltoro glacier
and the pleasant regions of ice and snow. Our two and a
half days of marching had thus far brought ub no more
than eight miles from Askole, as the crow flies, and we
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DiBiiizodb, Google
ASKOLE TO BALTORO. 427
were only about two miles from Korofou, so that it was
a relief to have a straight valley before us and no special
difficulties to encounter.
We advanced up the Biaho valley very slowly, for there
were many plants in seed, and we had to gather our little
botanical harvest. Moreover, a tantalising profusion of
butterflies tempted us on all hands, but I fear we were not
nimble butterfly catchers, for most of them eluded the net.
One big fellow, striped yellow and black, with black-tailed
wings, was not uncommon. We knew him well, having
seen him often in Nagyr, and even as high as Mir Camp.
He flies as fast as a bird, and appears never to alight — at all
events he never did in our neighbourhood.
For the first hour in the Biaho valley the track led over
stony maidan. The sun was growing powerful, and we
deeply regretted the time lost in crossing the flooded
torrent. The coolies walked incredibly slowly, so whenever
there was a shady rock we halted beneath it. After the
maidan came a fan from a gully above on the left. This
fan was ploughed up by a score of small, straight-sided, dry
gullies which bore marks of a mud-avalanche having come
down and about them not long before.
It may here be mentioned that almost every gully, not
actually filled with glacier, passed by us since leaving
Hopar bore similar traces of a mud-avalanche fallen this
season, and I have little doubt that, just as down every
couloir, that reaches to the level where snow lies deep
in winter, there fells in spring at least one snow-avalanche,
80 down every steep gully that is, for part of the warm
season, at any rate, the course of a rapidly flowing torrent,
there comes, and must come, a mud-avalanche. Nor is the
reason far to seek. The lower slopes of this mountain
district consist of great precipices or slopes of bare rock
with vast accumulations of debris against or upon them.
The heat of summer and the cold of winter annually
loosen a certain thickness of the debris by the sides of the
gullies, cut in the debris slopes by the torrents, that drain
Digilizod by Google
the high snow patches and come rushing down over the
naked rocks above. Many of these torrents run dry before
the summer is half over, but in June and the first part of
July they are active. On specially warm days these
torrents are in flood, raging against the banks that bold
them in, and deepening their courses. Then it is that the
stuff loosened by the frosts and heats falls into the foaming
waters from either side (as we saw in the gully below
Hispar), and a mud-avalanche is formed. The day the
Hispar niud-avalanche fell we also saw the wet traces
of others in every gully we crossed, and, not impossibly, it
was on or about July 8th that all the similar gullies in this
range of mountains were the tracks of similar descending
masses of mud and rocks.
Beyond the first fan there was a second, equally tire-
some to cross, and then another stony tract, after which
we came to a stream of delicious water. It descended firom
above, in the narrowest possible cleft, cut, by what once was
a waterfall, deep into the face of a cliff of rock that rounded
away out of sight under the sky. There was still a cascade
at its foot, and shelter from the heat in a cool grotto
hollowed out by the waters.
Beyond this point there was no longer any, or only the
narrowest, space between the hill-slope on our left and the
river on our right. Above was the cliff, or rather a steep
and exceptionally smooth slope of naked rock, surmounted
by a threatening mass of dihris, now rapidly being dis-
integrated and cut up into earth-pyramids. In springtime,
or during wet weather, these must pour showers of fi*agments
over the cliff and into the river below, and then the route we
followed must be dangerous or almost necessarily fatal to a
traveller; but, when we passed, everything was baked as dry
as an old crude brick.
For a time the way was merely rough and impleasant. A
point came where we had to choose whether to follow the
river's edge or to mount shghtly and traverse the steep
slope above. We selected the former alternative, and were
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO BALTORO. 429
thereby kept hopping from stone to stone, or scrambling
roirnd corners, till a scramble upwards became a relief. On
the slope we struck a faintly marked track, which was bad
enough, and by it at noon we reached the overhanging rock
and the little stone shelters which go by the name of
Bardomal (11,000 feet). Slow as our progress had been,
and often as we halted, we knew that the coolies must still
be far behind, and that a hungry waiting was before us.
They did not, in fact, arrive for a full two hours. We
crawled into the shadow of the big rock and passed the
time as patiently as we could.*
There was no view to delight the eye, for the valley thus
far is probably the ugliest in the world. The hills that
border it have no beauty of form, and are bare. We
noticed a few high alps, and observed with interest that
wherever there was a patch of grass there was also a track
leading up to it. Over against us was the opening of the
Shinkan valley, across whose end stretched a long rounded
spur, thickly covered with graes-grown dihi-is. Behind this
spur must once have been a lake, but the Shinkan river has
cut a gate through it, and this gate was the most striking
object in sight. But the view lost all its dulness when the
coolies with the provision kiltas at last began to appear
round the corner.
The usual lunch and hot afternoon followed, and then the
sun took his welcome departure, and the cool air was
revealed. In the evening I sat outside the tents in the
lightest attire, and found satisfaction in the grandeur of the
wide darkness of tlie valley under the bright moon, poised
above the edge of the mountain to the south. The valley
bottom, a level expanse of rushing rivers and broad wet
sandy islands and banks, from which the waters had just
retired, cast the moonlight back towards me from a million
changing facets. With renewed faith in the everlasting and
all-pervading beauty of Nature I retired for the night, early
and content.
' Lactuca tatarica was growing here.
Digilizod by Google
480 AUGUST 3.
Augu.it drd. — We started at 6.20 a.m., determined to
reach tlie foot of the Baltoro glacier and have done with
hot and hateful valleys. The sun was already streaming
upon the path when we left the tents, but the air was
delicious. The path was bad from the very beginning, and
led across a steep rubbish slope, where the eyes had to
be unceasingly fixed upon the nest step. What with the
peak of one's pith helmet in front, cutting o£f all the upper
part of the view, and the need for constant attention to the
foothold, the changing views could receive little attention.
Fortunately they were worthy of little, till we tamed a
comer and beheld ahead mountains of fine form, ghostly
bright in the eastern radiance. The sunlight glanced
off a hit of ice-slope here and there as from a mirror.
The whole mass was enveloped in a dazzling haze that
softened every form.
From a stony maidan that followed we beheld, high
above us to the left, a sharp row of rock peaks, whose
outline was like that of Eocheater Castle. The end of
the great Baltoro glacier lies at their foot. We pounded
steadily along while the cool of the morning lasted, some-
times traversing steep slopes of dry debris that crumbled
under oiu* feet and slid down to the roaring flood below,
sometimes striding from stone to stone by the water's edge,
sometimes traversing soft plains of sand and pebbles, or
crossing rough fans of debris and dry mud, formed and
deeply furrowed by the spring torrents from the gullies
above. In two hours we reached the first considerable side
stream, where we rested a while. Ten minutes further on
we crossed another. A bit of glacier, which was evidently
part of a tributary of the Baltoro, came in sight far ahead,
hut it was not till 9.35 a.m. that the foot of the great
glacier appeared.
We traversed more sandy maidans and scrambled over a
steep parri, from the top of which the view of the glacier
was extremely fine. Width was its noticeable feature, and
the row of precipitous peaks behind it, looking down on its
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DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizcdb, Google
ASKOLE TO BALTOnO. 433
curving right bank. The visible sides of all of them seemed
hopelessly inaccessible. Opposite, ou the south side of the
valley, were also fine snowy peaks sending white icefalls
down the side nalas. Beyond the jmrri we descended once
more to the riverside and reached a charming island of
uncultivated fertility.
Clearly at some time there was a settlement here. I
questioned the coolies about it when they came up. The
Urst I asked replied that as this was not his grazing valley
he knew nothing about the places in it, but he would fetch
a man who did. From hira I learnt that the place is called
Poiu, and that it was a summer settlement where the people
came to wash gold out of the river, but they ceased to come
when the river changed its course. The abandoned patch,
with its degraded, self-sown corn, its old fruitless apricot
trees, its ragged willows and rose-bushes, and other fiowering
shrubs, all tangled together, made a charming shady wilder-
ness. We enjoyed the unwonted luxury of lying on grass
beneath trees, and hearing the tinkle of a brook close at
hand. The main body of the river at this point flows a
luile off along the far side of the valley's flat.
We started on at noon, crossed another parri, and de-
scended to the last maidan, which reaches as far as the
j^lacier's foot. It was the usual sandy and stony plain, but
not wholly barren. There were several clumps of rose-
bushes, a few lines of low trees, and some patches of
grass out of which the Gurkhas put up a couple of hares.
At the far end of the maidan, close to the glacier's foot,
were two more oases of grass and trees, and it was in one of
these, under shelter of a great rock {11,580 feet), that we
chose aplace for Baltoro Camp. We reached it at 1.15 p.m.,
and the coolies were only an hour behind.*
I went forward to reconnoitre the foot of the glacier, and
* The following were found between Bardunial and the foot of the
Baltoro glacier : — Eiirotia cerato'tdex, Ilipixrphaf rliamnoiilcs, Antcbia
hispidissima, PotentUla Salcssovii, Allardia nwea. Hcractenm jnnnatnvt,
Lactnca tiecipiens, and a variety of Allium settesceiis.
Digilizod by Google
to Bee the thundering river {bigger than the Rhone at Visp)
coming out of the black ioe-cave. The foot of the Baltoro
glacier ia unlike that of any other known to me. Most
glaciers seem to lose all their energy at their foot, where,
if they have space, they spread out into a sort of jelly-fish
termination. This, for instance, is the way with the Biafo;
but the Baltoro is busy to its close. It consists of three
longitudinal divisions, of which the most northerly is white
and crevassed, the central covered with light grey moraine
matter, and the southern with dark greyieh-brown moraine.
FOOT OF TBK BALTOKO OLACIBK.— I.
These colours arise not from any single kind of rock, but
from the mixtures. The central division, sweeping round to
the north, cuts off its white neighbour, or rather squeezes it
into insignificance, but the southern division is the most
important and energetic. It is thicker than the others,
and its high rounded surface looks down upon them. It
descends in vastly greater volume, and protrudes more than
half II mile beyond the rest into the valley, spreading out
aud threatening in its turn to bar across the end of tLe
central division as that does the end of the right. In
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ASEOLE TO BALTOIiO. 435
recent years the two smaller affluents may have, and pro-
bably have, retreated somewhat, but the southern division
keeps its snout steady, just touching the edge of a fan
below the mouth of a side valley. If it advanced it must
invade this fan and leave marks of its presence, but the
fan, which is an old one, shows no traces of any such
disturbance. I made a careful observation of the present
position of the glacier's extreme snout, and painted the
prismatic compass bearing on the rock by which we
camped."
OLACIBB. — 11.
August 4:th. — The coolies asked for a day for sewing ^aiiws
to protect their feet from the ice, and I was not sorry for a
little repose after my failure to get any at Askole. Early in the
morning, however, the coolies sent a deputation to say that
it was one of their " great days," and might they go down
the valley to say their prayers ? — a request instantly refused
as far too likely to be an excuse for bolting. The morning
was hot, but enjoyable, for there was long grass to lie
in, trees to cast shade, and cool air blowing from the glacier ;
we extended ourselves on the ground in perfect idleness,
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listening to the noise of the rushing waters and letting the
hours flow by.
A loud crash aroused us from our lethargy. We scrambled
up a mound and saw that a hiige mass of ice, hundreds of
tons, had fallen from the end of the glacier into the river.
It dammed back the waters for a moment before breakin<;
up into many icebergs, which the swollen waters tried to
carry away, but soon left stranded in the shallows of the
various streams, into which the river early divides. The
largest block remained at the mouth of the cavern where it
fell ; about a
hundred minor
blocks were
stranded about,
all of theiii too
heavy to float in
a raging torrent
at least 2^ feet
deep. This will
give some idea
of the size of the
original fall. Tlif
Gurkhas said
that a similar
THE BIO 8T0NE FKOU BALTOKO CAMP ^^^^ OCCUnTed lu
the night, and
that, after it, a great wave came down the river and nearly
swamped their sleeping-place, whicli was ten feet above
the level of the stream. That fall changed the course of
the waters and swept away a large sandbank near our
camp, on which we had been able to walk in the evening
of our arrival.
After breakfast Bruce and two Gurkhas summoned up
energy to go and explore the way on to the ice. The other
Gurkhas made their bread for two days. They amused
themselves by baking iu the Haiti fashion, fii-at heating in the
tire a lot ol" rounded stones the size of cricket-balls then
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ASKOLE TO BALTOnO. 437
covering them with a layer of dough, and rolling them into
the wood embers till the cooking was finished.
At noon, when Brace returned from the glacier, the heat
was intense, the thermometer registerng lOO Fahr. in the
shade of the big rock under which the tents were pitched ;
but perhaps a little reflected sunlight may have reached the
instrument and made the reading a trifle too high. About
hinch-time a thick curtain of clouds overspread the sky, and
a few drops of rain fell, necessitating a hurried gathering of
our possessions, which were spread about on the grass in
picturesque confusion for a sun-bath. I slept most of the
delightful afternoon away, and only aroused myself at tea-
time to go on with the endless task of writing.
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IfASHBBBBUH FBOH THE SLOPK9 OF CBYSTAI. PEAK.
CHAPTER XXI.
ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIEB.
August 5th. — Starting at 5.35 a.m., iu ten minutes we
reached the foot of the glacier, where it rises from a 6at
debris expanse, at a slope of 27°. The coolies were pat in
charge of Parbir aud Amar Sing, who led them well. Parbir,
always eager to experiment on novelties in clothes, was this
day shod with Baiti pabbus, to which he gave a qualified
approval, but he did not use them again. We scrambled iu
five minutes up the steep end of the ice, and at once began
the pounding xip and down over stone-covered and very
mounded glacier, which was to be our work for many
days. Of course we outwalked the coolies, and were
obliged to make (not that we minded) plenteous halts for
them. We first followed the grey or central division of
the glacier, but after twenty-five minutes bore to the right
and took to the brown or southern division. The grey
moraine was all large and much tumbled about, but the
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ASCENT OF THE BALTOIiO GLACIER. 439
brown was stabler, mucb of it broken very flue, almost
pounded up, and there were a few flowers growing amongst
it. Tlie mistake here made was in not bearing over to the
advanced,
blue sky be-
gan to predominate and the clouds became soft and bright
in the sunlight. They hung lazily about the steep peaks
and rocks on the north, and bent gracefully over from the
southern ridge.
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440 AUGUST 5.
I have spoken of the peaks to the north as steep. They
consist of a series of precipices and terminate aloft in needles.
We were becoining accustomed to this build of mountain,
but had not seen such fine specimens, for form, as these.
They are built of the same rock and in the same style as
the Five Virgins of Latok. Perhaps some of them might
be climbed by the remarkable galleries that surround them
and may afford communication between accessible gullies
at different stages. The slopes on the south of the glacier
are rounded and in many places grassy. They are not
precipitous nor even steep.
After an hour's walking we considered ourselves well
on the glacier. We were opposite the middle of the first
side glacier coming in from the north, a clear mass of ice,
little encumbered with moraine and descending in a fine
ice&ll &om a clifE-bound basin. The nature of the work
that was before us and the kind of glacier to be tackled
were now revealed. The Baltoro glacier is narrower than the
Biafo {except where precipices crowd that thi'ough straits),
and not so wide even as the Hispar. In many respects it
resembles the Hispar more than the Biafo. Like the
Hispar it is very stony, broken into vast mounds (one I
roughly measured was about 200 feet high) and pitted with
many lakes. It is therefore extremely troublesome to mount,
for one cannot go up either of its banks, but must traverse
the wearisome surface.
Wandering up by devious ways we were soon out of
sight of one another. Shouts and jodelings resounded over
the ice, aud Pristi busied himself hurrying fi*om one to
another as though to bring his flock together. McCormick
and I had good reason for not wanting Zurbriggen out of
our sight, for we were again short of tobacco and de-
pended upon him for an occasional smoke. Once we
suggested a cigarette when he was not smoking himself.
"Ah ! " he said, " I am like the St. Bernard dog, at Simplon
Hospice, that used to carry a basket down over the snow in
winter to the village of Simpeln, and bring it back with
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ASCENT OF THE BALTOBO GLACIER. 441
meat in it. One day a great many other doga of Simpeln
saw him going oS with the meat, and they followed him
and attacked him for it. And when he saw that they
■were too many for him, and would certainly get and
eat the meat, he said to himself, ' Nay, if my master's
meat is going to be eaten by these dogs, I too will have a
share of it ! ' and therewith he and the other dogs set to
and devoured the whole. And so," said Zurbriggen, " if you
will smoke my tobacco, I must smoke also." I have since
found the same story in Lather's "Table Talk " and in
Mademoiselle Vacaresco's " Roumanian Folk Songs."
From the time we were opposite the first (nameless)
glacier from the north we walked two hours before coming
opposite the second, called the Uli Biaho. It is a flat
glacier, enveloped in moraine for the six miles or so of its
visible course. At its head is a low and apparently easy col,
which, from the map, should lead to the Feriole branch of
the Panmah glacier. We went pounding along up and down
over the endless stones and in and out among the big
mounds. Resignation was the only possible attitude of
mind, for there were days of this sort of work before us.
"In Switzerland," reflected Zurbriggen, "if one has to
go for an hour over moraine so fluclit Mann, but here one
walks over it the whole day and says nothing."
At 11.30 we climbed over the top of a very big mound and
descended to a lake on the other side, where we halted to
await the coolies and eat some lunch. The Gurkhas set to
playing ducks and drakes {Dunga terni, " a crossing stone,"
they call it) with bits of flat stone lying about. We spent
the time in talking about the mountains we hoped to ascend.
Zurbriggen was full of expectation. He was in the anecdotic
humour. He related an incident which occurred when he
was once crossing the Adler pass with an Englishman,
in bad weather. A well-known Zermatt guide, noted for
his plain-spoken rudeness to any bad walker that has the
misfortune to engage him, was crossing the pass the same
day, and the two parties came together. The Herrs were
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both English and fell into conversatioD, and the other saiii
to Zurbriggen's — " I'm not afraid of the weather, or the
pass, or the new snow, or of avalanches on the final slope.
PEAKS HOBTB C
but only of my terrible guide." "I tell you this," said
Zurhriggen, " that you may tell young climbers that they
need not be afraid of me."
After waiting about an hour and a half we were at last
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ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 443
joined by the coolies, and at 2.30 they were able to start
again. We only walked about an hour further and then
were all quite tired out. We thought of making for the
left bank of the glacier to camp, but on turning to do so
found that it would involve another good hour's work, and
we wrongly thought that we should have to retrace our
steps the following morning ; so, as the coolies were carrying
enough wood for one night, we determined to camp where
we were (13,010 feet). The Gurkhas found a gravelly spot
ia a sheltered place for the tents. It was about 5 p.m. when
they were set up ; an hour later rain began to fall, and the
evening closed in miserably enough.
While we were waiting for the coolies we sat on a high
mound and surveyed the view up the glacier. The peaks
immediately on our left were impressive, with their bare
straight sides on which neither snow nor loose stones can
rest. But ahead was the object that riveted oar atten-
tion— the great mass of Gusherbrum butt end on towards
us. Zurbriggen curtly pronounced the nearest peak (26,016
feet) utterly inaccessible, as far as could be seen ; it might
" go " by the south arete if that could be reached by some
route hidden from our point of view, but no visible part was
climbable. The hinder peak was a graceful snow-pyramid
(26,378 feet), of which, however, only the highest portion
was visible ; but the base of the pyramid must be approached
from the valley of the Oprang river.
The rain, which began as a drizzling shower, soon settled
down to business. The wind rose, and the first part of the
night was wretched for the fireless and shelterless coohes.
The Gturkhas had Zurbriggen's small tent, and he slept in
mine. About midnight the rain ceased, but cold set in,
though fortunately not frost. What with the noise of wind
and rain I found it hard to sleep, and passed a restless night.
August Qth. — We started at 7.20 a.m. for what proved to
be a wretched walk. The morning was fairly fine and the
clouds were picturesque enough, but once on our way we
had eyes only for our footing on the horrible stone-covered
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444 ACaUST G.
ice. We marched for five hours and a half, always over
stones, going up a glacier mound and then down its far
side, or carefully winding around its slope on treacherously
loose stones, which often gave way and displayed the
sloping ice beneath when we were least prepared to maiu-
tain our balance. Undoubtedly this glacier far surpasses in
ff - ■
discomfort, and in the size of its mounds, both the Hispar
and the Biafo. They are a Piccadilly promenade to it.
There can scarcely be in the world anything more loath-
somely monotonous and fatiguing to travel over. And what
made matters worse was that, when we had climbed to the
top of an exceptionally high mound, and could see from it
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ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 445
about two days' journey up the glacier, there was still nothing
bwt stones in sight, so that the hope of better things deserted,
us, though even then we did not know the worst.
We made many halts and pauses to take note of our sur-
roundings, which were always striking, and to photograph
the various side valleys with their glaciers, as we came
abreast of each in turn. Gusherbrum showed itself now
and again far ahead, and once he was barred across with
some half-dozen lines of white cloud, through which tlie
outlines of his form could still be perceived. When half the
march was over we encountered such undercutting streams
as delayed our progress on the Hispar glacier. The crossing
of one of them gave us much trouble, hut it had to he
accomplished, for our camping-place was on the far side.
Bruce struck out a route for himself early in the day, and
the coolies made for the right bank and were lost to our sight.
AVhen opposite the mouth of tlie Piale glacier, up which
lies the route to Youngh us band's Mustagh pass, we were
fairly worn out, as well as faint with hunger. We could
see no promise of a good camping-ground anywhere on the
right bank of the glacier, but ultimately we set off and
crossed in that direction, hoping to intercept the coohes
and at least get something to eat. Fortune was, however,
kinder than we expected, and had reserved for us a sandy
camping-ground in the bed of a partially dry torrent,
at the west angle of junction of the Piale and Baltoro
glaciers (14,120 feet). We were informed that there are
some old huts at the east angle and intended to push over
to them, but it seemed donbtfiJ whether there would be
any brushwood there, whereas there was a sufficiency, at
least for one night, at the west angle.
When the tents were pitched, a stonn of rain and wind
came sweeping up the valley, as on the previous night, but
lying on our backs in the tents, we were in no humour to
complain of what might go on outside. Towards sunset
there was a clearing among the clouds, and, right opposite
to us across the glacier, the veil was swiftly drawn aside and
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disclosed the glorious form of Masherbrum (25,676 feet), his
summit rocks golden in the sunlight, and grand skirts of
snow sweeping down to the glacier beneath. The highest
poiut stood'' out like a jutting buttress towards us and ap-
peared inaccessible from this side. The long arete descendiii^'
to the east is likewise impracticable, for it would iuvolve
climbing over a whole range of peaks ; but all that we could
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ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 447
see of the north-west arete might he olimhed. It does not
descend immediately from the highest point, hut from the
weat shoulder (25,627 feet), which is connected with the
summit by a feirly level ridge. As the sun set the clouds
gathered about the peak again and we saw it no more.
August 1th. — At last I had a good night's sleep, the first
for a fortnight or more, the fact being that we only now
reached again a decent level for human beings to live at
in these regions in the hot weather. It rained on and o&
all night, and was raining when I awoke in the morning, so
that our start was delayed and we did not get off till a few
minutes before eight. We went directly over the foot of the
Piale glacier to its other angle, where there is a mud maidan
and a glacier lake. We could find no trace of the old huta
there, which I understood from Younghusband that he had
seen. Clouds were everywhere low down, so that we had
no view of the Mustagh pass. For the rest of our march,
which was only foiu: hours in all, we followed the edge of the
main glacier, going sometimes along the foot of the hill, and
sometimes on the edge of the stone-covered ice, or the rare
ridges of moraine it has found space to deposit. We were
now and again exposed to the possibility of being raked by
falling stones from the glacier, but on the other aide the
rocks were perfectly firm — a long, almost unbroken slope of
crag reaching up at the angle of the dip of the strata as far
as the eye could follow.
At the angle of the Piale glacier the scenery of the Bal-
toro changes. From Baltoro to Piale Camp we marched up
a deep and gloomy trough, with appalling precipices on our
left hand, and, on our right, broken slopes, named Zazur,
with their hanging glaciers, falling from the north-west
outliers of Masherbrum. But at this point we entered an
opener region. There were no more impending needles
to the north, whilst southwards a magnificent snow-faced
mountain-mass of great breadth, and gloriously decorated
with avalanche slopes, steep couloirs, and hanging glaciers,
looked down upon us. Further on, .this snow faced massif
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448 AUGUST 7.
18 divided into a series of deep couloirs by monstrous blades
of smooth rock edged with needles.
In twenty minutes from the Piale glacier's east angle we
reached the foot of a little gorge which disclosed, a few-
hundred feet up, the snout of a small glacier. A short
way further on came a grassy maidan, where we found
numbers of little blue butterflies {Pohjommatus pheretes,
atrvpJiissa, and sp. near hylas) sleeping till the sun should
shine again. Here a torrent of considerable volume flows
between the hillside and the glacier. It drains the next
side glacier we were coming to, and, after running beside
the main glacier for a certain distance, it finds its way on
to it. This was the stream that impeded us so nnich the
previous day. Its end is dramatic. It flows into a vast
amphitheatre of ice, about JOO yards or more in diameter
and at least 200 feet deep, and at the bottom of this it
plunges into a moulin and is heard apd seen no more.
We had to choose which side of this stream wo would
take, and, hating the stone-covered ice with a deadly hatred,
we chose the hill side, and chose wrong. We soon came to
a place where a rock precipice abutted against the stream
and had to be climbed over. This was followed by another,
and then by a third, and the last could not be passed. So,
after all, we had to wade through the water and take
to the stone-covered ice, just at the west angle of the
foot of the valley containing the next considerable side
glacier. It was hereabouts that we saw, for the first time,
a specimen of a lovely little bird ; he was apparently black
in colour, with red wings edged with black, which, when
opened for flight, appeared to be of a semicircular form.
We scrambled on for an hour more, till heavy rain began
to fall, and then we took shelter from it under a big rock,
in crouched positions, the pavement of our resting-place
consisting of large pointed stones of the most uncom-
promising character. Above it was the foot of a guUy
affording accommodation both for a waterfall and for occa-
sional avalanches, one of which had recently fallen. As
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DiBiiizodb, Google
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ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 451
soon as the weather lifted a little we walked on over similar
ground for an hour, and thus, about 1 p.m., reached the
mouth of the nest glacier valley, where we determined
to pitch the tents. The glacier ends a few hundred feet
higher up, but sends its stones down almost to the edge of
the main ice-Btream. The space between the stone-shoot
and the Baltoro glacier is occupied by a lake-basin, part of
which was fairly dry. When the coolies came up we caused
the tents to be pitched on this damp sandy flat (Storage
Camp ; 14,210 feet) and gladly took refuge in them from the
showers that never left ub alone for more than half an hour
at a time.
This was the place we appointed for storing our extra
kiltas and loads of provisions. Unfortunately there was
little wood about, so I was only able to discharge twenty
coolies on their arrival, keeping other twenty for an extra
day to scour the surrounding slopes for fuel. Of the twenty
sent down, fifteen were to load up with flour at Askole
and return at once. We spent the whole of the next day
(August 8th) in camp busied about many matters of arrange-
ment that needed attention. It rained heavily from morning
till night.
August 9tk. — The continual rain and bad weather of the
8th did not* by any means exhaust the waters of the skies,
Rain continued to fall during much of the night, and when
our usual waking time — if we can be said to have had one-
arrived, there were all the conditions prepared outside to
make a longer stay in bed seem far the wisest course. Thus
it was eight o'clock before the day's march began. We
took to the glacier immediately, and found a fairly level
way up it, following a stone-covered belt that descended from
Younghusband glacier. A large medial moraine comes down
this glacier and makes a wide sweep out into the Baltoro.
We climbed to the top of this, and I set up the plane-table,
beginning once again the survey work which had been sus-
pended since we left Askole. I continued the survey to a
much lower point on our way down the glacier.
Digilizod by Google
Many fiowere were growing on the medial moraine, and
more were found yet further up the main glacier. From our
position on the medial moraine we could look fax up to the
base of Gusherbnmi, and beyond it towards the Golden
Throne, which was not yet in sight. As far as we could
see, the ice was stone-covered. Its average slope waa only
1° 22', After completing the traverse of the foot of Young-
husband glacier (there is an easy col at its head) we quitted
the ice and took to the north bank, which, as below, abuts
against the glacier at a steep angle, leaving no vacant
flat space. Every now and then there is a lake caught
between the hillside and the ice, but the slopes on both
sides are always steep, and travelling across them is not a
rapid process. In this neighbourhood I noticed that the
glacier has in recent years sHghtly shrunk, but not enough
to leave a moraine-rib for the convenience of climbers.
We passed below the feet of two small glaciers and
clambered over the fans from one or more avalanche
gullies. Amongst the debris_ at the foot of these were
two tolerably good ibex heads, with the skin still clinging to
them, and in one case the skeleton close at hand. Shortly
after noon we reached a place flat enough to camp on, just
at the end of a pool of water (Pool Camp; 14,480 feet).
There was grass near at hand for our flock, and a few roots
of brushwood for fuel.* Here we awaited the coohes, who
did not make their appearance for more than two hours.
As soon as they deposited their loads we sent them off to
return to the last camp and bring up the things left there
and several loads of wood. We had now only twenty-five
coolies. Henceforward, therefore, double journeys had to
be made, and the marches reduced in length.
In my diary I poured out our griefe as follows : — " This
glacier is altogether the most inhospitable we have seen.
* Between Storage Camp and Pool Camp we found, on the right
bank, Corydalis crassi/olia and Sedtim Eieerm. _ Near Pool Camp the
following plants were collected : — Delphinium Bruwmianum, Lychnis
apetala, and Draba tibetica.
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ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 453
Not only is its surface wholly stone-covered and horribly
mounded, but its sides are steep and always diflBcult to
traverse ; they are exceptionally barren, with little grass and
almost no fuel. Thus we are put on short commons at a
level where we might expect to enjoy tolerable comfort, and
we caunot make a base-camp with the ease that we might
on any other glacier we have seen. This adds greatly to
our difficulties. The badness of the weather is a further
annoyance, but to-day there has been visible a tendency to
clear up, and, as I write, the sun is at last shining brightly,
and appears to he driving the clouds away."
August 10th. — The fine sunset of the previous evening
and the bright moonlight that followed proved to be har-
bingers of good. The weather steadily bettered, and, when
2 a.m. came, we decided to carry out the plan formed on
the previous evening, and to start for a climb. We were
weary of trough-wandering and pined for peaks. There was
frost on the ground, and the air was crisp. At three o'clock we
left camp — Bruce, Zurbriggen, and I, with Harkbir, Amar
Sing, and Parbir. McCormick remained behind to try and
get back a little of the rest, of which toothache and other
misfortunes had deprived him for some days. Karbir also
stayed in camp to cook provisions for his companions. He
was the only bachelor among the Gurkhas, and they have
some superstition about cooking being done by an unmarried
man.
The brilliant moonlight enabled us to dispense with a
lantern. We started straight up the slope of grass and
stone debris behind camp, and advanced at a fairly rapid
pace. It will be remembered that west of our camp and
between it and Younghusband glacier there are two small
side glaciers below the feet of which we passed on our last
march. East of us was another small side glacier. Beyond
that there were more small side glaciers which we had not
yet seen. These glaciers are divided from one anotlier by
long straight ribs of rock which spread out below into debris
and grass slopes. All these ribs descend from the crest of
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454 AUGUST 10.
the great ridge that divides the K. 2 glacier from the
Baltoro. Oar route led straight up the rib at the foot of
which Pool Camp was situated, and our intended peak was
the highest point on this rib.
The grass and scattered stone slopes, up which we
started, soon gave way to a steep slope of large debris, a
kind of prolonged and exaggerated Rimpfischwange. The
dawn seemed to linger, but the moonlight sufficed to
make even such unpleasant ground, as we had to travel
j;^...—^. ,^ .^.-. — -_._ ..„ — _-™ over, visible in all its details.
1 I When we had climbed for
1 ' "' — *■ -" hour the view be-
I was greatly de-
t'eloped. We could
look up the various
iide glaciers to the
iouth, and discover
the order and ar-
rangement of the
peaks at their
heads, but it was
not these that
startled our inte-
rest and made us
halt thus early
in the cold morn-
ing. A far more
THE MITRE FROM THE FOOT OF CRYSTAL PEAK. . , , , . ,
miportant object
was in sight fifteen miles away to the south-east.
The great Baltoro glacier is formed by the union, at
the west foot of Gusherbrum, of three chief affluents. I
named them Godwin-Austen glacier, Throne glacier, and
Vigne glacier. The Godwin-Austen glacier descends from
K. 2. The Vigne glacier comes in from the south, and is
fed by tlie snows ot the Chogolisa peaks. The Throne
glacier divides, about eight miles above the great crossing,
or Flace de la Concorde (as a similar place at the head
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ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 455
of Ihe Aletsch glacier is called), into two branches, and
between them rises a rounded mountain mass. To it I
gave the name Golden Throne (23,000 feet), for it is throne-
like in form, and there are traces of gold in its volcanic
substance.
It was this, the most brilliant of all the mountains we
saw, that had been rising into view with our ascent, and
we turned
round. With
one consent we cried out, "That is the peak for us; we
will go that way and no other."
The chief object of our day's expedition was thus early
accomplished, for we had come forth to see the great peaks
and make our choice from amongst their virgin array ; and
now, though we had seen but one, we were captive to its
charms, and our choice was made. We lialted, as I have
said, for half an hour to fix the lineaments of the great p'eak
once for all in our memory, fearing lest the envious clouds,
which enveloped Gusherbmm and Maslierbnim, should
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456 AUGUST 10.
hasten to wrap away our beauty from our sight. But in
this matter, as in many others, the Fates were generous
this day; and though at times the sky was heavily be-
clouded, and the great mountains were for the most part
deeply buried in misty folds, the peak of our desires re-
mained almost always visible, from side to side and from
base to summit.
We went forward in a happy frame of mind, and tbe
stones no longer seemed so hateful. When tbe dawn broke
we halted to photograph the Golden Throne, and shortly
afterwards we reached firm rocks, which led us to a charm-
ingly situ-
ated plateau
{17,480 feet),
apparently
intended by
nature for a
plane - table
station, and
promptly uti-
lised by me as
such. Above
this plateau
the ridge nar-
LOOHINO ACROSS THK BALTORO OLACtBR FEOM TBB rn-nraA fn a
FOOT OF CRYSTAL PEAK. TUfttJU tO U
sharp rock
arete, which we followed for the remaining four hours of
our ascent. It is an arete with many gaps and decorated
with many points, shoulders, and teeth. It consists almost
entirely of one kind of rock, whose rather rotten strata,
inclined but little from the vertical, cut approximately at
right angles to the direction of the ridge. Resulting from
this formation, there are frequent walls of rock across the
ridge presenting steep faces to be climbed.
Sometimes we scrambled along knife-edges of rock, some-
times we went over the very top of jutting pinnacles, some-
times we were forced on lo the steep face, one side or
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ASCENT OF THE BALTOIiO GLACIER. 457
the other of the ridge, and clambered along little ledges till
we could get into a gully and climb back by it to the arete
again, thus evading a difficalty presented by the crest of the
ridge itself. Below, on the left, at the foot of a precipitous
rock-ribbed slope, was a narrow glacier, broken from side to
side by deep and impassable schrunds. Below, on the
right, was another glacier at the foot of a slope less steep,
but still steep enough for a stone, loosened by our feet, to
bound down it, taking an avalanche of its fellows along, to
the icy plain.
On leaving the station I roped between Zurbriggen and the
admirable Harkbiv, who carried the instruments ; Bruce and
the other two Gurkhas followed unroped for three-quarters of
an hour as far as the breakfast place (18,600 feet). Bruce
climbed excellently throughout the day. All the Gurkhas
went very well indeed. Harkbir showed the best mountain-
eering ability. Besides climbing as well as the others he
picked up the mountain craft more rapidly, and already
began to handle rope and axe in a promising manner.
Before the end of the season he was as good as a good Swiss
porter, and if he could work for three years under a first-rate
Swiss guide, he would become a good guide himself. Karbir
could also be made into a good guide in the same time, and
Amar Sing was only a little less promising than these two.
Parbir scrambles well enough, but will always remain an
amateur.
I have mentioned our breakfast place, but the breakfast
there eaten was not a mighty meal. We were again experi-
menting on the Kola biscuits. Before starting we each
drank a quart of soup made of meat-peptone, and ate a few
Garibaldi biscuits. On the mountain we ate nothing but
Kola biscuits (one for each man every hour), and a little
chocolate. We drank only water or snow, but we had a
small pocket-flask of liqueur brandy with us — for use in
case of an emergency, which was always invented sooner
or later. On this light food we climbed the whole day,
without suffering the least discomfort or feeling the slightest
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458 AUGUST 10.
paugs of hunger or exhaustion, and when we returned to
camp in the evening we ate a small supper, slept well, and
awoke next morning perfectly refreshed. Then it was that
hunger came upon us and we made up at every meal for the
drain upon our reserve stock of energy which, I suppose, the
Kola had enabled us to effect.
We halted for an hour (6.30 to 7.30) at the breakfast place,
enjoying and photographing the gorgeous view that was
displayed all aroimd. Bruce and his Gurkhas put on their
LODKINO ACE0S8 THE BALTOKO GI.ACIEB FROM THB SLOPBa OF CBVST&L PBAK.
rope. Parbir amused himself by roping Amar Sing in a
slip-knot and almost rolled over a precipice in shrieks of
laughter. The sun was shining brightly on the eastward
face of the arete, but the other side remained in frosty shade,
and the delicate spiculfe of ice, with which the rocks were
furred over, remained crisp and unmelted till the direct
sunlight actually struck upou them and dissolved and dried
them away simultaneously.
Though we had already reached a height of over 18,000
feet, we felt little inconvenience from the rarity of the air, as
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ASCENT OF THE BALTOBO GLACIER. 459
long as we advanced at a steady pace, and were not obliged
to take up cramped positions or to hold the breath. If one
keeps one's chest free, so that it may expand to its utmost
limits, the lungs supply themselves with air enough ; but if
the man in front tugs at the rope and thus constricts the
chest, or if at the moment of making an unusual effort one
holds one's breath, as one naturally will, a slight sensation
of giddiness . supervenes ; but this is immediately dissipated
by a few deep
breaths.
A quarter be-
fore noon we
finally stood on
the summit of
our peak, which
we named Cry-
stal peak irom
some quartz
crystals disco-
vered near the
top. We were
disappointed to
find that it was
not situated on
the crest of the
ridge dividingthe
Godwin - Austen mustaoh tower pkom the arete of cryhtai. peak,
ajid Baltoro gla-
ciers, but that a deep gap separated us from that ridge. We
could look over it at many points, but a narrow pyramid of
rock, about 22,000 feet high, stood exactly between us
and K. 2, whose buttresses only could be seen. Imme-
diately on our arrival I photographed the whole panorama
round, and set up the mercurial barometer, which read
14-84 inches, its temperature and that of the air being 45°
Fahr. Our altitude was 19,400 feet above sea-level. I
worked for half an hour at the plane-table, and was then
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460 AUGUST 10.
able, with good conscience, to sit down and enjoy the
glorious prospects which saluted the eyes in whatever
direction they were turned.
The two small glacier basins on either hand, and the
pinnacled wall to the north, behind them, were like the
elements of high mountain scenery in all parts of the world.
I therefore turned my back on them, the more willingly
because they shut out the very mountain we most wanted
to see. Southwards the view was similar to that from the
Zermatt Gorner Grat, though on a larger scale. The
Baltoro took the place of the Gorner glacier, sweeping
down from left to right, and fed on the side opposite to
us by a series of affluents, each of large dimensions and
descending from giant peaks. The Golden Throne occupied
the position,and, though far surpassing it in beauty, mimicked
the form of Monte Rosa. We could trace the stony route we
had followed all the way up the Baltoro glacier, which was
visible almost to its foot, and we were able to discover the
mistakes we had made. Slender threads of white ice come
down as far as opposite Pool Camp, the compressed remnants
of tributary glaciers from above, but these are all lumpy,
and do not afford a practicable route. Such lumpy lines of
melting, attenuated, and laterally compressed mounds form
a characteristic feature of the Baltoro glacier and its upper
affluents. Of the great mountains, K. 2 and Gusherhrmu
were both hidden, the Golden Throne was gloriously dis-
played with a white icefall stretching up behind it to the
broad Kondus saddle which we half hoped to cross. Further
round to the right was a mass of peaks, brilliantly white and
striped by an astonishing number of sharp snow aretes and
ribs. This mass culminates in the Bride (K. 6 ; 25,119 feet),
but clouds were drifting about it, and we could never be
certain which was its highest point. - Then came a series
of lower, but still fine, snow-peaks whose glaciers descended
towards us. The white-faced many-bladed mass, I have
before mentioned, was amongst these, and, over its right
shoulder, Masherbnmi reared itself imposingly aloft. The
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ASCENT OF TEE BALTORO GLACIER. 461
outlines of the many ridges of the white mass and of Masher-
brum swept down to the glacier, one beyond another, in
similar ctirvea of admirable grace, like the ribs of an acan-
thus leaf; and these emphatic lines, thus flowing together,
bound the view into a mighty unity, which imposed itself
upon the eye and fastened on the memory. Beyond Masher-
brum were countless minor peaks away to Mango Gusor and
the ridge opposite Ajskole, but clouds rested upon them and
shut out any ghmpse to the great distances which this, the
only gap in the giant amphitheatre that surrounded us,
might have permitted.
We remained an hour and a quarter on the summit in
perfect comfort, eating our biscuits, and, by no disagreeable
sensation whatever, feeling, so long as we sat quite still, that
we were a foot above sea level. We smoked our pipes without
labour. Such absence of conscious discomfort, however, must
not be taken to imply that diminished atmospheric pressure
was producing no effect upon us. Even at 10,000 feet dimin-
ished pressure reduces the powers. The relative slowness of
our march up the stony glacier from Baltoro, and the ex-
treme fatigue daily experienced after only five or six hours
of toilsome advance, were due quite as much, no doubt, to
the thinness of the atmosphere as to the difficulty of the
■way. Our ascent to Crystal peak was done at a fair pace,
when the distance of the peak from camp is considered, but
the pace was chiefly made over the lower slopes. The sen-
sations of comfort experienced on the top were probably
more due to the cessation of discomforts that immediately
preceded than to an absolute condition of well-being. If
we could have been suddenly transported from Crystal peak
to sea-level, I imagine that there would have been a marked
change in our sensations. I was the only one of the
party who had work to do on the summit, and it re-
quired a far greater effort of will to face and accomphsh
the work, than mere fatigue, of which I felt little, would
account for.
At length, at 1 p.m., we reluctantly turned to descend.
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469 AUGUST 10.
We retraced our Bteps for a few yards along the deeply
corniced snow ridge, crept through a gap in it, and struck
straight down a snow-crested rib on the east. It was a
steep rib, and the snow was rather soft ; besides, it rested
upon ice which now and again came too near the surface to
be comfortable, but there were always rocks close at hand,
to which we could take if need arose ; so we advanced
without anxiety. We followed the rib for about an hour
and twenty minutes, and then got off it into the couloir on
our left hand, by which we reached the snowfield at the
head of the glacier below, in one hour and three-quarters from
the top of the peak. We ran down easy snow-slopes for a
quarter of an hour to the edge of the stone-covered portion
of the ice (16,900 feet). The remainder of our descent to
camp took three-quarters of an hour, and was over moraines
and slopes of big stone di-bns.
Camp was reached at 4.15 p.m. We were rewarded by
finding that in our absence a mail and various needful
things had arrived from Skardo. Nothing lacked to perfect
our satis&ction. McOormick saw us coming, and had a
brew of lemonade ready for us. Dinner quickly followed.
We presently turned in to rest, and Zurbriggen tells me
that all night long I was mountaineering in my sleep, crying
out to him, " Ja ! Es geht; " and again, " Es geM nicitt ;
proberen wir anderswo." But what a gorgeous climb it
was, and, for the matter of that, a memorable one, for no
peak of such altitude, in which there was any considerable
mountaineering difficulty, had ever before been climbed, and
the climbing on the Crystal peak was at least as hard as the
climbing on the Matterhorn, though that is not saying much
in these days.
August Wth. — A brilliantly cloudless day, filling all our
hearts with content and our spirits with hope. I spent the
morning and the first part of the afternoon writing dJarv
and letters. Never were we fuller of vigour and animal
strength. At 4 p.m. the tents were struck, and off we
started for a short march to another camp. We scrambled
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizcdb, Google
ODSHERBBUM FBOU NE&B WHITB FAN CAMP.
Digilizod by Google
ASCENT OF THE BALTORO GLACIER. 465
straight up the glacier's stony side-slope, down which for
the last forty-eight hours rocks had heen clattering to our
constant annoyance ; this brought us to the edge of the
glacier, which was followed for half an hour. We quitted it
for the right bank, where there was a deep-lying dry lake-
basin at the foot of an avalanche gully, and here we found
a third pair of ibex horns. We walked fast and left the
coolies far behind ; so, coming to a shady place, we sat down
till they caught us up.
We employed ourselves during this halt, as on so many
others, by throwing stones for Pristi to fetch. A peculiar
dog is Pristi ! Throw a stick for him, and if he does not
realise the nature of the object thrown he will run after it,
but when he finds it is a stick he gives you such a look of
utter contempt and disgust as should make yon quail.
Cast a stone for him and his delight is unbounded ; if it is
a mass of a hundredweight, prised out of the mountain-side
and sent flying down the khad, he will pursue it, and, when
it comes to rest, dance around it in an agony of delight and
despair. If he can persuade no human being to heave stones
for liim he will run after odd ones started by goats, or
which chance to slide down the face of the glacier. He
broke a tooth by trying to catch in the air a sheep-started
stone, and another time he put his nose in the way
of some flying iragment and got it handsomely bruised ;
but small contretemps like these in no wise diminish his
enthusiasm for the one pursuit which he regards as worthy
of a dog.
At this point we came upon a new set of rocks, which give
a fresh character to the remainder of the ridge, separating
the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers. They are granites
and hard limestones, in colour light grey, buff, and white.
There were seams of them amongst the golden-toned masses
lower down, but here they constitute the mass of the moun-
tains. They disintegrate easily, and look, at a first glance,
like recent sandstones, in places where they have been sub-
mitted to the action of water. These light-tinted and
Digilizod by Google
466 AUGUST 11.
rounded rocks, in the midst of snow, produce a delicate
effect, and one which was grateful to our eyes after the
weeks spent amidst the uncompromising grandeur of dark
splintered needles.
At five o'clock the coolies came up with us, and we started
on our stony way once more. We took to the glacier for
another half-hour, and got off it at the west edge of the foot
of the nest great gully, where there is the large fan of debris
cast down by a considerable side glacier with which we were
destined to make closer
acquaintance. This fan is
almost wholly composed
of pure white limestone
dihris, and from a dis-
tance looks like the re-
mains of snow avalan-
j ches. The effect is pecu-
I liar where it abuts against
j the black glacier below.
''*^~^^lK.i, \ We climbed on to the top
" j^v:_-' l^-tt 1 of the fan and halted to
Oi^ admire the glorious view
PEAK OPPOSITE WHITE FAN CA«P. (,f Gusherbrum, shining
warm, in the evening
light, above the already shadowed surface of the stone-
covered Baltoro. Just beyond the fen is a large dry lake-
basin, shut in by the high glacier-cliff on one side, and
surrounded on the others by white debris slopes, with a
glimpse of the foot of the White Fan glacier visible behind.
The sandy flat invited us to camp, and the more temptingly
because we presently discovered in it a few pools of clear
water, which took the colour of their basins, and so were
overlooked at a first glance. But what finally decided us to
make this our halting-place was the seductive appearance of
the valley of the White Fan glacier. It lay so deep that
obviously there must be a low col at its head, and this col
ought to command the view we wanted of K. 2. I at once
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ASCENT OF TEE BALTOBO GLAGIEB.
467
determined to visit the col on the morrow, and McCormick
agreed to come with me. We therefore caused camp to be
pitched (Fan Camp ; 15,100 feet), and spent the CTening
making plans. We decided that Bruce and Zurbriggen
should go on up the Throne glacier, to fix a place for our
final heavy camp, and to explore the route to the Goldeu
Throne, while we ascended to the White Fan col. This
settled we retired early to rest.
•#^^l^_.
DiBiiizodb, Google
BOUTB PBOM FAS SADDLE.
CHAPTER XXII.
FAN SADDLE AND THIiONE GLACIER.
August 12th. — Both parties left camp at 6.30 a.m. on a
clear frosty morning, but our ways immediately divided.
McGormick and I, with Harkbir and Amar Sing, Btruck
straight up the stoue slopes behind camp. Brace and
Zurbriggen, with the other Gurkhas and three coolies, took
at once ho the glacier, andmade their way diagonally xip it.
We maintained communications for a few minutes by
jiideling to one another, but soon had other things to
occupy our attention.
The stone slopes, over which we bore to our right, led
us to the foot of the left lateral moraine of the Fan glacier.
This moraine is a well-marked rib after the Swiss fashion,
and between it and the hillside there is a convenient valley.
We went up the valley till it became too stony, and then took
to the crest of the moraine, which we followed to its top end,
three-quarters of an hour above camp. Here the ice was
broken by so complicated a system of schrands that we
looked to see whether we could not rather traverse the foot
of the debris slopes on our right. They were easy enough.
DigtodbyGoOgle
FAN SADDLE AND THBONE GLACIER. 469
though steep, but they were scored by falls of stones. The
night had, however, been cold, and frost still reigned. The
waterfalls that decorate the many gnlHes on this steep and
rocky hillside were for the moment ice-bound, and the stones
were held firm. We therefore committed ourselves to the
slope, and followed it for an hour to the gentle plateau of
snowfield above the schrunds. Even then we still enjoyed
ten minutes' walk in the shade, over crisp snow, before the
sun finally topped the crest on our right, and made it neces-
sary for us to put on our spectacles and the rope.
We halted for an hour to photograph and enjoy the
glorious view that had been developing behind us. It
was practically the same ^^,
as from the col; wider ,^<^^;*, -^ .
but less deep. On start- ^^.
ing again we had only aLS'"^ — '^'
to mount a few easy , j
snow-slopes, find our way v ^^
over an unexpectedly ' . '
large bergschrund, and
ascend to the pass by a short steep
slope of snow resting on ice. The lowest
point on the ridge proved to be de-
corated with a large cornice, so we
turned aside from it, and, mounting "' ™**" "*" ^f^^^'^'^-
below the ridge for a hundred feet to the right, gained a
convenient rock tooth, and clambered on to it at 10.30 a.m.
Its altitude was 18,760 feet.
There was an exciting moment before we topped the
ridge. A glance at the old map will show what we expected
to see. Below should have been a vast amphitheatre of
snow, with the mass of K. 2 beyond it, visible from base
to summit. Ever since I decided to come to these remote
regions this was the scene that haunted my imagination,
and raised my greatest hopes. Now the long expected
moment was at hand. Only a frail wall of snow separated us
from the wondrous sight. The suspense became almost too
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great, and finally, when one more step would raise our eyes
above the intervening wall, I almost hesitated to take it.
For a moment only ; then with a hound I was on the ridge,
and floods of disappointment poured over my soul.
There was no great basin of snow ; no vast peak rising
majestically out of it to awe-compelling heights. Opposite
to and level with us was a mean suow-ridge, separated from
us by a relatively narrow glacier, and above the ridge there
rose into the air an ugly mass of rock, without nobility of
form or grandeur of mass, broken up into a number of little
precipices, separated from one another by small masses of
snow. McCormick, with his bag of blocks and colours, cried
out in disgust, " What have I brought these here for ? " and
down we both sat in comfortless positions on angular
rocks, and lit our pipes for solace.
Still, matters were only bad by comparison with our
expectations. K. 3 and the great basin were frauds, but
there were other things that were not frauds. There was a
fine breadth of mountain splendour displaying itself on the
right of our view — a huge Breithorn, as it were, filling the
space between K. 2 and the hidden Gusherbnim. Along
its foot swept the Godwin-Austen glacier, stone-covered
over half its width by several big medial moraines, between
some of which were lines of laterally compressed ice-waves,
such as have already been described. To our left, at the
head of the branch glacier below, there was a noble
cirque of peaks, whose further flank falls to the glaciers
descending &om the Mustagh pass. Immediately at our
feet a grand wall of snow plunged, with that deceptive ap-
pearance of perpendicularity which the steepest snow-walls
occasionally assume. It resembled the eastern face of Monte
Kosa looked down upon from the Grenz Battel ; steep as
that, and quite as long.
But it was not till we turned our backs on K. 2 that we
were fully rewarded for our toils. Southwards lies the view
that is worth having from this saddle, and indeed from
every point on this ridge. It was a mountain prospect,
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FAN SADDLE AND THRONE GLACIEB. 471
perfect in all respects, and beheld under every advantage of
brilliant oblique light and absolute atmospheric clearness.
For foreground there was the fairest snowfield, bending to
its hollow with every grace of curve. For frame there were
the delicately-coloured walls of two mighty mountains,
boldly piercing the sky on either hand to an overpowering
height. The Baltoro glacier swept across below, acting as
base and broad foundation for an infinite complex of
tulS temple OI broad peak pbom fan saddle.
Nature, two
spires of dark rock reared themselves aloft, with a glacier
flowing out between them firom a low pass. Over this pass
there came ridge behind ridge, peak behind peak, higher and
higher, tier above tier, with ribs of rock and crests of enow,
and deep-lying valleys of ice-bound splendom', till the eye,
bewildered by so much magnificence, ceased attempting to
unravel the mountain maze, and was content to rest upon
the whole as an impression, single and complete.
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472 AUGUST 12.
We stopped for two hours on the saddle, hasy with
the usual occupations of photographing, plane-tabling,
instrument reading, eating, and smoking. In the descent
we kept on the glacier to the head of the moraine rib, and
had plenty of work to find a way through the schrunds.
We looked longingly at the slope on onr left, but the stones
pouring down it warned us away. In an hour and a quarter
from the pass we took off the rope on the moraine, and
thence in twenty minutes we rattled down horrible stone-
slopes to camp, which was reached shortly after 2 p.m.
The tent had beeu closed in our absence, and was as hot
and stuffy as an oven ; but, by admitting what little breeze
there was, and loading the roof with blankets, we made the
place endurable. Two hours of sound sleep removed all
traces of such headache as one generally brings down from
a mountain. I awoke to watch the play of fine gossamer
clouds drifting up from the south-west, at a height of at
least 30,000 feet, on the bosom of a swift air current. They
appeared to be descending, and as they did so they lost
their crisp outlines, and melted together into a high mist.
This thickened into a black and threatening pall of cloud,
and blotted out the blue from the sky, but cast it into the
mountain shadows. McConnick perched himself some-
where aloft, and painted like fury. At dinner-time he came
to the tent, inarticulate and intoxicated with the beauty be
had just been beholding — I know not what rare glories
of colour, charging from moment to moment, which had
been decking the peaks on all sides at once, and driving
him nearly frantic.
The evening was devoted to the usual work. When that
was done, how excellent was the rest that followed !
Aiiguat 13(/t.— McCormick and I, with the Gurkhas and
coolies, started at 7.30 a.m. The night had been warm,
and the morning was cloudy and unpromising for views of
the higher peaks. We took at once to the glacier, and
made over it inwards, crossing various moraines. Fifty
minutes of quick going brought us opposite the foot of the
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FAN SADDLE AND THRONE GLACIER. 473
last glacier in the ridge dividing the Baltoro and Godwin-
Austen glaciers. It descends from a basin, held iu the lap
of the angle peak, the same peak that was immediately
above us when we were on Fan Saddle. We halted to set
up the plane-table, for rain threatened, and we feared lest
all the view should at once be blotted out. We were sur-
rounded by a pie-
bald set of moun-
tains. All are
uaked of grass,
and support little
<Icbris, so that
the alternate beds
of black and light
grey rock, gneiss,
granite, and lime-
stone, of which
they are com-
posed, stand out
in striking dis-
tinctness, espe-
cially on a sun-
less day, when
local colour is
not subordi-
nated to light
and shade.
During our 1
Harkbir examined me
surface of the stone-
covered glacier, and presently called out that be had
found the footsteps of Bruce's party. He showed us the
print of Pristi's foot, and thenceforward he followed the
faintly- marked tracks of our predecessors, and led us to the
place where they lunched. We were the more thankful for
this helpfulness on his part as a mysterious note from Bruce,
received on the previous day, left us very much in the dark
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as to bis wbereaboutB and plans. Climbers have often
expressed afitonisbment at tbe success with wbicb guides,
sbikaris, and mountain men in general follow, over long
distances, a faintly marked track. Tbey usually refer tbe
power of doing this to some special intelligence, whereas it
is really due to absence of intelligence. If a man's mind is
nearly a blank, be can keep bis attention fixed on the dull
minutia of the stones in tbe way. Tbe thoughtful and
generally observant traveller, occupied by all objects of
interest surrounding him, and on the alert to take notice
of whatever may come in sight that is worth notice,
cannot fix his attention on such barren details. A good
climber can dispense with the services of a guide, but if he
does so be locks up his mind. He must regard the details
as well as the general line of the way, and his mind cannot
remain free for those larger and more important observa-
tions, which are the chief preoccupation of an explorer.
Having once told Zurbriggen the line be was to take, I
washed my mind clear of all matters of detail. A guide is
essential to an exploring mountaineer to enable him to do
this.
A further spurt of twenty minutes, during which snow
fell (or was it hail ?), brought us beyond the comer of the
ridge on our left, and permitted us to look straight up the
Godwin-Austen glacier to the base of the great peak.
Here, if anywhere, we thought the mountain should look
grand. But clouds veiled all its upper part, so that we
could only see the bases of the spreading buttresses that
support it. During the remainder of the march these were
always in sight, and now and again we had glimpses of
upper parts through rifts in the clouds ; but the whole
mass was never clear, nor did we receive any pleasure from
such views as the clouds permitted. Far finer, on the other
hand, was Gusberbrum, though his head too was always
clouded. His great mass is penetrated by profound gorges,
down which glaciers find their steep descent. The roof of
clouds above these lonely rifts rendered them unusually
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DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
FAN SADDLE AND THRONE GLACIEH. 477
solemn. Iq fact, iinder almost aiiy circumstances of light
and weather, Gusherbrum is a finer mountain from this side
than his loftier neighbour. The north face of K. 2 appears
to be its best front.
We bore steadily away to the right, for we were come to
the division of tho glaciers. The Godwin-Ausfcen affluent
sweeps up at a right angle to the north, whilst the more
important branch from behind the Golden Throne comes to
the place of junction from a direction somewhat south of
west. We could look straight up the ice-stream as far as
the foot of our peak, and observed with satisfaction that,
though the medial moraines were still numerous and wide,
they were on the whole flat. As we advanced, the Vigne
glacier began to open out, draining a basin surrounded by
grand white walls and lofty peaks.
When, at 1 p.m., we were opposite the middle of the
mouth of this glacier, and could still look straight up the
Godwin-Austen valley, we came to the place on the moraine
where Bruce and Zurbriggen made a long halt and built a
rough shelter. We took this to have been their camping-
ground. Up to that moment we were expecting to find
their Whymper tent in position, and thought that they had
merely gone ahead for the day to explore the farther route ;
but now the meaning of their note dawned upon us. They
had gone forward a second march, intending to leave the
big tent at the foot of the Golden Throne, and thence to
begin cutting a way through the seracs which there inter-
rupt the even course of the glacier. We had only half the
baggage with us, and were not prepared to abandon the
hope of at least seeing K. 2 before the bend of the glacier
shut it out from us. So we decided to camp at once, and
send the coolies back for the rest of the baggage. We
levelled a place amongst the stones and set up the tent, and
the Gurkhas built themselves a hut. No sooner was every-
thing snug than the clouds abandoned their intention of
clearing off, and settled down upon the glacier. Rain began
to fall steadily. We spent the afternoon over our usual
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camp operations, and hoped against hope for better weather.
The height of Junction or Concordia Camp wa8 15,870 feet.
Towards dinner-time I salhed forth, hearing from McCor-
mick that there was a hreaking in the clouds. K. 2's
south-western flank was shining through a rift, and there
were flue effects of delicate light upon the snow, both
towards our peak and up the Vigne glacier. For a long
K. 2 FBOU JUNCTION CAHP.
time we hoped that the sky would clear, but there was
never more than a breaking. The misty drama that was
played in the theatre of the Godwin-Austen glacier riveted
all our attention, and we watched it till the darkness of
night settled down upon us. The peak kept showing
through the clouds, now revealing one portion of his ample
tower and now another. Across his base were always
stretched soft scarves or drifts of grey mist, and over his
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FAN SADDLE AND THRONE GLACIER. 479
hoary head hovered chaogefal clouds that still borrowed a
rosy light from the farthest west. A bold rock peak before
him pnffed coils of dark smoke across his flanks. The light
faded as we watched, and everything grew softer and more
ethereal. A white drift of mist came creeping up the
Baltoro valley, slowly, and, as it were, from stone to stone.
All form melted out of the clouds above, and at last the
top of the great peak, a splendid black mass, looked down
upon us through a vaguely defined oval opening in them.
Then the drifting mist reached us, and hail came pricking
over the roof of the tent.
August lAtJir-nth. — Wo little supposed, when we pitched
our camp on the moraine by the great open area where the
glaciers meet, that we were destined to spend five nights at
this inhospitable spot. The fates fought against us in a
variety of ways. It snowed heavily throughout the night of
our arrival, and there were between three and four inches of
snow on the ground about us when we awoke the following
morning. The mountains were buried from our sight in
dense clouds.
One of the chief things McCormick came from England
to do was to paint a picture of K. 2 from near at hand.
There is no picture of Gaurisankar, none of Kinchinjanga
save from great distances. Nanga Farbat alone among
the giants has, I believe, been painted from the glaciers
at its foot. I was determined that, if we had to wait till
winter, we should not move till this portion of our pro-
gramme was accomplished.
' The jiecessities of porterage also delayed us. We could
not plunge into neve regions and leave the organisation
of our supplies incomplete. Our previous march was as
much as laden coolies could accomplish in one day. I sent
them back to Fan Camp on the evening of the 13th ; it was
noon on the 14th before they joined us again with their
loads. The position of affairs was then as follows : — There
were a tent and three loads with Bruce at the foot of the
Golden Throne. The cooHes that carried them had
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4S0 AUGUST 14.
returned to me. There were about forty loads at Junction
Camp. At Storage Camp (14,210 feet) there were a few
loads of reserve things that we did not expect to need, or at
any rate not till our return. There also were our sheep and
goats, for the mountain slopes higher up produced neither
food for them nor fuel. The coolies and servants ate
nearly a load a day. They required daily about three
loads of fuel. The coolies who brought it took a day to
eo down for it, half a day
lect it, and a day
half to bring it up
ction Camp, or two
10 Footstool Camp.
Each day a party
arrived and one
went down. A
man came up
daily, driving one
or two sheep and
carrying goats'
milk. The sheep
in camp fed on
the green of the
fuel till their time
came. These ar-
rangements were
not made without
trouble. The first
set of fuel coolies
that arrived burnt almost all their loads on the way np.
They were not enthusiastically received hy any one, and
least of all by the Gurkhas, whose cooking could not
be done with the Defries petroleum cooking-stove which
we had to fall back on.
Unfortunately there were only three bottles of petroleum.
Rnhim Ali found the stove such a comfort in his tent that
he burnt all three in twenty-four hours ! Fortunately ftiel
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FAN SADDLE AND TBRONE GLACIER. 481
arrived just when the oil was gone.' We had also a Rob
Boy cooking apparatus and a httle spirit, but that was kept
for the big mountain.
It seemed to be a point of honour with Rahim Ali to feed
us best when we were in the worst places. On the 14th it
snowed all day, so he kept serving us with hot meals and
continual supplies of soup or tea at intervals to fill up the
time. "Where the fresh milk came from I could not dis-
cover, unless he had a goat up his sleeve, and the fresh eggs
were even more of a mystery. He gave us hot fresh
herrings for
breakfast, chops i
and a sweet
omelette for
lunch, soup, a
j oint , and
scrambled eggs
for dinner. He
dish with a grin
like a conjurer.
He always had
a way of com-
inff to me and
° IS JUNCTION cAire,
asking, " When
would you like to have dinner?" In the early days of the
journey I used to answer, as suited our convenience, " In
half an hour," or " In an hour." I soon noticed that such
answers depressed him, and were not what he expected.
I was intended to answer, "Now." Then he would smile
and say, " It's quite ready," as though the dinner were
cooked by magic at one's command, through his skilful
instrumentality. During our halt at Junction Camp he
seemed to be always at the tent door with his " When
will you have lunch?" "When will you have soup?"
"When will you have tea?"
The first night of our halt was uncomfortable enough,
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482 AUGUST 14.
considered from the point of view of the coolies, who had to
sleep out in the open rolled up in their hiankets. The
second night promised to he even worse. The Baltis, who
were not sent off for wood, sat down and boohoo'd alond,
having nothing else to do. Harkbir meanwhile was devising
arrangements for their comfort. He made them all get up
and build the walls of a set of httle huts for themselves.
But there were no flat stones to cover them, so he
came to the tents and took away our mackintosh floors,
aOLDEH THBOKB FEOM JUNCTION CAMP.
which he made into roofs. We had to sleep on carpets of
broken stones like a new-made road over the ice. I don't
know how the others found it, but I slept comfortably
enough. The afternoon was so wretched and cold that
we went to bed in the middle of it and did not get up
again that day.
It snowed or rained almost all the night, hut the minimum
temperature was only 31'5° Fahr. The suu came out in
a sickly fashion about ten o'clock in the morning, and
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. *i FBOU JUNCTION CAUP.
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FAN SADDLE AND THBONE GLACIER. 485
melted the new snow away, but the clouds never lifted, and
it kept snowing or raining at intervals till iax into the fol-
lowing night. The coolies visited me in the morning and
knelt in a ring before the tent door, saying nothing. I sent
fifteen of them down for wood, so that they might spend the
bad weather in more hospitable regions.
We expected that Bruce and Zurbriggen would pay xm
a visit, and prepared lunch for them. They duly arrived
to eat both it and ours. Their provisions were all ex-
hausted the previous day, and they appeared in a famishing
state. Brace's account of their doings was as follows : —
The day we climbed to the Fan Saddle they made a
long march to Footstool Camp (16,430 feet), at the foot
of the Golden Throne. They lunched at Junction Camp
on the way. Next day (13th) they attacked the icefall
of the branch of the Throne glacier descending from the
Kondus Saddle. They cut their way up through about
1,800 feet of it, making large steps for future use. They
also carried up some stores and left them at their highest
point. The snow that fell that night and on the 14th
obliterated all their work. Seeing that the weather re-
mained bad, and that we should be delayed, they came
down to feed and replenish their exhausted stores. We
were deUghted to see them. Four in a 7-foot tent is
rather close packing, but in miserable weather this does not
matter. I spent the day reducing observations of all sorts,
and especially making out rough approximations to the
altitudes of the points we had ascended.
On the morning of the 17th the tents were again buried
in fresh snow, and the weather still looked unsettled. The
minimum temperature in the night was 16° Pahr., and the
morning was cold. Bruce and Zurbriggen started off for
Footstool Camp at 10.30 a.m., carrying plenty of self-cook-
ing tins and other provisions. With McCormick's help I
laid out a base-line, 1,203 yards in length, and prepared
to take theodolite observations. K. 2 showed himself
from time to time, but not in a picturesque fashion.
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486 AUGUST 18.
McCormick painted it, whilst I measured the angle of
elevation of its summit and that of the Golden Throne.
When my observations were reduced it appeared that K. 2
is 11,880 feet above Junction Camp, and the Golden Throne
7,720 feet. The height of Junction Camp, as given by the
mean of the barometric observations, is 15,870 feet. The
resulting height of K. 2 was therefore 27,750 feet, and of the
Golden Throne 23,600 feet. The height of K. 2, derived
from the mean of nine, closely agreeing, determinations
made by the officers of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of
India, is 28,250 feet. Probably, therefore. Junction Camp
is 500 feet higher than our barometric observations made
it. If 80, the Golden Throne will be 24,100 feet high, and
Pioneer Peak over 23,000 feet.*
In the afternoon clouds came down and snow began to
fall again. Eight coolies returned from Bruce, and I sent
nine up to him with loads.
August IStli: — At last the baggage arrangements and the
weather permitted us to start upwards once more. The
night had again been cold (min. 20° Fahr.), and some snow
fell. There being no occasion for an early start, we lay
in our sleeping-bags till the sun came out. The coming
of the Bun, in these clear altitudes, produces a sudden and
immediately perceptible effect. The thermometer leaps up
some 15°, and all Nature shows signs of awakening. The
tent, covered with snow, and previously dark, becomes im-
mediately transparent, and casts a green light upon everj'
object within. The snow lying upon its roof begins to melt
the moment the sun strikes it. A slight crepitation is heard
as the ice-crystals break up, and little rivulets of water rain
down the simny elope. Now and again a baby avalanche
falls, leaving a brighter green stripe in its track. In half an
bout the snow is all gone, and then the tent becomes un-
bearably hot. The flaps must be flung open, and every
" This question is discussed at length in the Alpine Journal for
February and May, 1894 (vol. xvii. p. 33).
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FAN SADDLE AND THEONE GLACIER- 489
breath of the cool air from without that can he enticed to
wander in is a welcome visitor.
It was a grand morning, beyond a doubt. Clouds were
hovering about the peaks, hut most of the great mountains
were clear. K. 2 looked down upon us. A few ribbon
mists curled about its base, though all else of its imposing
front was unclouded. The Golden Throne, up the valley,
displayed all its white-draped breadth in inviting splen-
dour. With so much to attract, we soon left the shelter
of the tents, and by 8.30 a.m. all were ready for a start.
There were only ten coolies at hand, so we could take no
more than that number of loads with us, but they were
amply sufScient for present needs. We retraced our steps
in twenty-five minutes to the theodolite station of the
previous day, and there set up the plane-table. The sun
melted the snow from before our feet as we advanced —
not, as in lower regions, turning it into water or slush, but
drying it up into the thirsty air. The stones lay upon the
gently undulating glacier like a pavement, almost pleasant
to tread upon, so that the first half-hour of our walk was a
real delight.
Beyond the theodolite station the snow began to lie over
the stones, but there was a path through it, as though care-
fally brushed for us. This was the track made by Bruce
and the various parties of coolies. The snow of previous
days was melted under the pressure of their passing feet,
whilst it remained uamelted on either side. The fresh fall
of last night was cleared off by the morning warmth, where
it lay thinly on stones, and so the track of the previous day
was disclosed. A quarter of an hour above the theodolite
station we came to one of the coolies' camps, the posi-
tion of which was marked by a stone hut, likely to remain
standing for a year or so, till the motion of the glacier over-
throws it.
We followed the moraine for another forty minutes to a
place where the tracks divided. One route continued up
the moraine ; the other, which bad been taken by Zur-
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490 AUGUST 18.
briggea and Fristi, led on to the ice-band to our right.
Coolies always stick to moraine as long as possible, partly
because they have an indefinite dread of ice, but more
because the stones are less cold for their indifferently
coveted feet. We decided to follow Zurbriggen's way, and
go on the ice — a decision we soon regretted. The whole
surface was thickly covered with fresh-fallen snow, and
looked delightfully smooth ; but we had not gone far over
it before crack ! went some one's footing, and he was ankle-
deep in icy water. A step or two more, and in went
another, and then another. The holes were shallow, but
each sufficed to wet a foot and make the owner of it miser-
able till the water in his boot and the foot had been brought
up and down to a common temperature. The fact was that
the glacier hereabouts is scored over with rivulet channels.
These had been blocked by the new snow and turned into a
series of puddles, each of which was frozen over, and the
whole evenly covered up with six inches of snow. A more
admirable set of booby-traps could not have been constructed
by the most diabolic human skill. To make matters worse
the holes trodden by our predecessors were in many cases
treated in the same fashion. They had filled with water,
been crusted with ice, and dusted over by the snowfall of
the previous night. They were inviting to tread in, but
every few steps one would go through and plunge a few
inches deep into water at the freezing-point.
We were obliged during about half an hour to stick to the
evil path we had chosen, for we were separated by a deep
stream on our left from the moraine. When we climbed on
to the moraine once more we halted to set up the plane-
table and get a little dryness and warmth into our feet. The
coohes came up with us, and we all went on together. The
moraine became very undulating, but by keeping along its
south edge we managed to avoid the worst of the ups and
downs.
The whole of the day's march led through splendid
scenery, but this part of it was finest. The foreground was
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FAN SADDLE AND THRONE GLACIER. 49a
of a rare and peculiar ddscription, for close on our left hand
stretched an avenue of icy mounds or pinnacles, which
come out of the Secret glacier as big waves. Here they
rose from a flat band of moraine, mounds of white out of a
fairly level black base. They are a peculiarity of the
Baltoro glacier, and are supphed to it, not only by the
Secret glacier, but by several other side branches. As they
descend they become more and more slender, and in their
roost attenuated form they are the first pieces of white ice
that a traveller meets with as he mounts the main stone-
covered ice-sfcream from Askole.
These brilliant pinnacles formed the foreground of our view.
Straight ahead was the imposing Throne, now broadening
before us. Eight and left large side glaciers were opening
out, with the Hidden peak (26,483 feet) partly disclosed at
the head of one, and the Bride (25,119 feet) at the head of
the other. The Secret glacier, on our left, interested me
greatly. It is of vast dimensions, and must clearly drain a
large area of snowfield. I found that it divides into three
main branches. One of these sweeps back behind the out-
liers of Gusherbrum. One bends away eastwards to some
hidden pass. The third runs northwards between the other
two.
We should have more enjoyed the splendid scenery if we
had not been faint with hunger, nor suffered from a diffi-
culty of getting enough air into our lungs. Here, at
an altitude of about 16,000 feet, we found greater diffi-
culty in breathing than at any time in the ascent of the
Crystal peak. Nor were we alone in thus suffering. Bruce
and Zurbriggen warned us that we should feel these dis-
agreeable sensations on the day's march, for they were
similarly incommoded on the three occasions they passed
this way. On comparing notes it appeared that all had
felt alike. The difficulty in breathing was clearly con-
nected with the stagnation of the air in the enclosed valley
and with the heat of the sun. It disappeared to a great
extent when the sun was covered by tolerably thick cloud,
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494 AUGUST 18.
Of if there was a wind. It utterly disappeared the moment
we sat down. I was reminded of the experiences of persons
who ascended Mont Blanc in the first half of this century.
They spoke of the stagnation of the air and the misery
caused by it, especially in the hollow way or corridor above
the Grand Plateau. I now understood what they meant,
but was even further from being able to accomit for our
common sensations than they thought they were.
Clearly, however, the lack of food was the chief annoyance
from which we were suffering, and the thing to do was to
push on steadily towards camp. We only made one more
plane-table halt, and then struck across the snow-covered
ice to avoid a long bend made by the moraine. After
toiling for nearly an hour we were led by the track
into an icy basin shaped like a saucepan. It was once
filled with water. We entered it by way of the cleft
that the waters cut in their exit. Another narrower cleft,
by which the waters entered, was our way out. This
opened into a second deep basin, which was long and
narrow, and that communicated by another cleft with yet
another basin like itself, and beyond these was again a
fourth. So large and complicated a system of deep reser-
voirs I never saw on any other glacier. There are donbt-
less plenty of the same kind in this neighbonrhood.
They are caused by the fact that the surface of the ice
here is very undulating, but not broken by crevasses, and
therefore moulins cannot be formed, so that there is no
access to sub-glacial drainage channels for the water
melted off the top of the ice. If the glacier were flat
instead of undulating there would here be a large area of
slush, such as is met with in the upper regions of the
Biafo.
At last, at 3 p.m., we were back on our moraine again, and
approached Footstool Camp (16,430 feet). The base of the
Golden Throne reared itself over our heads, and what had
seemed its mere foundation-stone became a noble precipice
overhung by an ice-cliff. As we came near, a series of ice
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FAN SADDLE AND TSEONE QLAOIEB. 495
avalanches thundered oue after another in rapid succes-
sion over the rocky wall. It was at once the mountain's
salute and its defiance. We found Bruce, Zurbriggen, the
■■' -.--.TVT-rr^
t< . ' ■' "■■■'■ ?.'!'.;'. ■■■."■
i-;
: <i^J
.i^Afll't .
^M
GLACIRB I^KE-BASW HEAB FOOTSTOOL CAMP.
Gurkhas, and Pristi awaiting us in camp. We had marched
three hours and a half and plane-tabled for three hours.
We were as hungry as men could be. Food was at once
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496 ' AUGUST 18.
set before us, and while eating it we were entertained by the
account of our companions' doings.*
Two days had passed since they left us to return to this
camp, in weather that was altogether horrible. The
second day was £ne in the morning, and they intended
to go and work in the seracs after lunch, but then, as with
us, snow came on and confined them to the tents. This
morning, however, they started early and went up the seracs
for about 1,300 feet. They found them in a much worse
condition than when attacking them on the 15th of
August. Then they were able to go up unroped for some
distance, but now everything was thickly cluttered up with
bad, new snow, which lightly covered deep abysses and dis-
guised the snow bridges. The new snow was in places waist
deep and had to be waded with infinite exertion and care.
Of course all the steps had to be cut afiresh. Bruce suffered
much fi:om cold in the ascent, but not consciously from lack
of air, as long as the sun was hidden. The hard work told
on one of the Gurkhas who had been badly fed for two days,
through lack of firewood to cook cbapattis. They returned
to camp shortly after noon. The upper part of the mountain,
as far as they saw it, presented no difilculties beyond those
inherent in length, altitude, and softness of snow.
Pristi was also half-starved — a condition which produced
in him an exceptionally insinuating and affectionate manner.
The two meagre sheep we drove up with us were also ex-
hausted. They were put out of their fetigue at once, and
soon Fristi's pangs of appetite and affection were allayed
together.
August 12th. — This morning Bruce, Zurbriggen, and the
four Gurkhas started up the seracs carrying loads of pro-
visions to be deposited as high up the icefall as possible.
They took one coolie with them as an experiment, but he
soon came back. McCormick and I remained in camp
to write up diaries and go on with the map. The morn-
ing was cold till the sun climbed over the Throne, .but
* Lychnis apctala ^as the only plant collected at Footetool Camp.
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FAN SADDLE AND THRONE GLACIER. 497
the eky was in the main clear, and the weather seemed
to be settling fine. The position of Footstool Camp was
superb — the great precipice behind it, the two grand
mountain walls leading westwards on either hand, and, in
the distance, the mighty south' ridge from K. 2 and the fine
peak thatj^rises over the Mustagh pass, in form and mass
doubtless the finest of all the rock mountains in this region.
Fleecy clouds hovered over most of the high peaks, but
THB mTRE PBOH FOOTSTOOL CAMP.
gaily, and not as though about to descend upon them~and
blot out the landscape. Midges came out with the sun.
They left us alone, but settled on the snow and seemed to
suck their food out of it. They were the only living things
to be seen.
By luuch-time moat of my work was done. Bruce's
party returned at 1.30 with a tale of partial success. The
cooHe proved useless. Before he had crossed two crevasses
he was pale as a sheet with fright, and his knees were
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knockiiig togetiier. Even vithoat a load it was all he
coald do to stand. " ilais quel race de coolies I *' said Znr-
briggen, "lis ne peuvent pas se ienir dehoui rides." TLe
man was accordingly sent back. Harkbir sbonldered hh
pack and Bruce took Harkbir's. The snow was hard frozen,
and yesterday's tracks were in first-rate condition, so that
the highest point of the previous day was reached rapidly
and without trouble.
A narrow band of seracs, a conple of stone-throws wide.
now seemed to be all that separated them from the plateau
above. This was not expected to give much trouble.
When they came close up to it, however, it turned out a
very serious matter. It was the Shallihnm seracs over
again, only with this difference, that these were masked by
soft fresh enow, waist deep. For three hours they worked,
heavily laden as they all were, to cross this narrow place.
Bruce describes Zurbriggen's performance as incredible. He
says he never conceived that it was possible for a man to
do the things Zurbriggen did. He describes him as having
to all appearance, on more than one occasion, jnmped
across a great chasm and stuck on a steep face of thinly
snow-covered ice on the far side. Zurbriggen said the
seracs were as bad as any he ever saw. After trying to get
through them in several places the attempt was given up
for the day. The baggage was deposited below them, and
the party came down to camp.
After dinner we turned out just in time to see the glorious
sunset. All the peaks were clear, save a few in the west
which flew light streamers from their summits towards the
south. The finest was the Mustagh Matterhom. The red
light refracted from the hidden sun made all these streamers
flame against the sky, crimson banners flying from black
towers. The effect lasted a few moments and was gone ;
it was one of the finest visions of colour that the summer
yielded us.
August 20iA. — The sky at sunrise was absolutely cloudless,
and so remained throughout the day. It was one of the
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FAN SADDLE AND TEBONE GLACIER. 499
rarest sort of clear days, the like of which is seldom seen in
any mountain region. The night was the coldest we had yet
experienced (min. 14° Fahr.), and the air remained at the
freezing-point for some time after the direct rays of the sun
were burning upon us. A white butterfly (Picru callidice)
fluttered about the tents, doubtless driven up to these so
inhospitable regions by some unkind wind. We saw another
later in the day on the glacier about a mile away from camp.
As soon as the sun appeared, the usual swarm of snow-gnats
began to dance in its brightness, but long before noon they
all departed. It was only in the earliest morning that we
used to see them. In the afternoon a bee came searching
about my tent, but I coixld not catch him, and had no good
look at him. A crow also visited us, and he completes the
catalogue of the fauna of Footstool Camp.
A little before eleven o'clock we started out to measure
a base and take observations for the altitudes of the sur-
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500 AUGUST 20.
roundiog peaks. We went south-eastwards over the glacier,
passing under the foot of the splendid icefall that vrn?;
causing us so much delay. Pristi, seeing that a walk was
coming off, manifested hie usual enthusiasm, and went
ahead to show his idea of a route. It was somewhat de-
vious. Whenever he found a suitable snow-slope he rolled
over and over down it, delighting in tlie cold snow, whicli
counteracted the blazing heat of the sun on his black back.
In soft places he would crawl along on his belly. He
investigated every crevasse and put his nose into every
runlet of water, and altogether had the best sort of a time.
When we halted and threw snowballs for him, he ran after
them and brought them back in his mouth like stones,
though he scorns to pay any attention to empty jam tins or
the like miscellaneous objects. When he was chasing one
snowball we would throw others at him, and he tried to
pursue each in turn, till he finally discovered that another
game was being played, in which his part was not altogether
to his liking.
After an hour's walking we reached a suitable station
(17,110 feet) for the theodolite, whence the Throne peak was
in sight as well as the top of K. 2, and two of the highest
summits of Gusherbrum. An hour was spent in the blazing
heat taking a round of angles, and then two of the party went
off to plant themselves at the other end of the base-line.
They were to choose a point whence both the Throne peak
and the first station were visible. Unfortunately there was
some misunderstanding, and they halted where they could
indeed see us, but not the Throne peak. The range was
then measured, and I packed i;p the instruments and de-
scended to join the others at the second station, but only to
find, when I got there, that it was useless for the purposes
of my survey, and that the morning's work was thrown
away. We were fe,r too wearied and scorched by the sun
to dream of going back to the fii'st station and sending the
others on to a suitable position, so that the only thing to
be done was to return to tlie tents and there endeavour
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FAN SADDLE AND TEBONE GLACIER. 501
to get rid of the headaches from which wo were all
suffering.
It was a quarter to three when we reached the shelter of
camp. Lunch was served at once and swiftly smoothed
our ruffled tempers. The remainder, of the bright afternoon
passed in repose.
:3^ii-^l
r TBE TACHBOMBTEB,
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CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK.
August iXst. — The dawn broke, lurid and threatening. An
ominous orange glow rested on the higher peaks, and
illumined the wild clouds that curled about them. A
horizontal drift of mist at a high altitude cut off the
summits of the loftiest mountains, and cast dark shadows
about their bases. The wind was again coming from the
south, and the night had not been cold (min. 21° Fahr.).
With 80 much to discourage us, we started in low spirits
at 6.15 a.m. We followed the well-trodden track to the foot
of the seracs, and zigzag up amongst them. The morning
was close, and all experienced some difficulty in breathiug,
so that we made four short halts in the first hour and
a half s walking, which brought us to the place where the
provisions had been stored, and above which the difficult
seracs began. The fresh snow had been reduced, by a series
of hot days and cold nights, to admirable condition, so
that the work before us was not so hard as two days
earlier it would have been. Instead of turning to the left,
as Bruce and Zurbriggen did previously, when they failed
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THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 505
to get through, we bore to the right and then back to
the left, thus finding a good bridge which carried lis over
the main chasm in thirty-five minutes (18,050 feet). Above
this point the route was easier to find, and we presently
emerged on a sloping plateau of fairly even snow, but
divided about by a labyrinth of big crevasses.
The glacier here is divided longitudinally into three main
sections. The northern section is fed by the slopes of the
Throne peak. The central section, upon which we stood,
comes fi-om the col at the head of the glacier. The
south section comes from the Bride and other mountains
on the south, and is a mass of seracs. The south section
is divided from the central by an arete of snow, with a
buttress of rocks at its foot. This snow ridge at its upper
end sticks like a plough into the glacier, and breaks the
descending ice into monstrous towers and spires. The
central division lies on a lower level than the northern, and
the latter presents its side to the former as a steep slope or
wall of ice. The edge of this wall is much broken, and
so is the lower glacier along the foot of the wall. Our busi-
ness now was to find a way from the central division up to
the smooth level of the northern, and to do this we had to
pass through another, though short, series of schrunds and
to climb the broken ice-wall.
We chose what seemed a promising point of attack, and
were within two yards of turning over on to the upper
level, when a final crevasse, insufficiently bridged, stopped
further progress. There was nothing for it but to
return to the level central division again and make a
fresh attempt. We got down, not without consider-
able difficulty, and then discovered that we must go
further up the glacier before the envious wall could be
turned. But it was now noon, and all the men were tired
with the heat and the heaviness of their packs. Moreover,
there were still the loads of provisions to be brought up.
So we determined to camp where we were, and leave the
next stage of the advance till the morrow. The tents
Digilizod by Google
were accordingly set up, and Zurbriggen and the Gurkhas
went down and fetched the provisions— a matter of two
hours' work. When they returned we took our meal, and
settled in for the night. We calJed the place Serac Camp
{18,200 feet).
We were in a by no means happy frame of mind. The
weather was not good, and looked as if it meant to
become worse. Our camping-ground was mere open
snowfield, and, do what we would, snow insisted npou
creeping into the tent and making everything damp. Our
store of provisions was scanty, and there was nothing to
drink but snow that refused to melt. At noon the sky had
been altogether overcast. After noon the sun shone fitfrilly.
Just as we were settling down to sleep, at sunset, we
caught a glimpse, through a chink in the tent door, of a
delicate piak light, and faint blue shadows on the highest
snowfield of the Throne peak. We hurried out to look
towards the west, and beheld a sky of liquid gold, line
beyond line of golden clouds in a bed of blue, just resting
on the highest peaks — a wondrous and indeed an an'ful
sight, beautiful but threatening. As the darkness closed
in, and the night grew cold, we did our best to sleep. The
heat and toil of the day left me with a dreadful headache,
which did not take its departure till the early hours of the
morning,
August 22nd. — The night seemed cold, but was by no
means so cold as we expected. The minimum was only
30° Fahr. All the axes were needed to hold up the tents,
so the thermometer had to be content with sharing one of
them, and may have been shaken during the night. The
reading therefore cannot be relied on. Our circulation
being already enfeebled, a moderate cold seemed severe.
We all slept fairly well, considering our respective circum-
stances and conditions. At an early hour Zurbriggen and
Bruce went oflf and found the way through to the plateau
at the foot of the south-west arete which appeared to lead so
easily to our peak. They shouted their success to us, aud
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEEB PEAK. 507
then returned to camp for breakfast. Clouds covered all
the sky, and threatened every evil. There were still more
things to come up from the lower camp : Bruce's sleeping-
bag, methylated spirit and cooking stove, the Gurkhas'
food for another three days, and so on. In view of the
probability of bad weather setting in, and of our being
shut up for some days in these evil regions, it was necessary
to attend to the question of supplies at once. Bruce there-
fore decided to go down with two Gurkhas to the lower
camp at once
and to return
early the follow-
ing day, bring-
ing all needful
things with him.
He set off
about nine
o'clock, and at
the same time
2urbriggen and
M c Cormi ck
started upwards ^he lowkb puteau from sbhac camp.
with loads to be
left on the plateau above the seracs. I remained behind
in camp to write up diaries and the record of obser-
vations. When McCormick and Zurbriggen returned we
debated the question of lunch. At this altitude, even
were food plenteous, which it was far from being, a man
could not wisely eat heavy meals. We were forced to restrict
ourselves to one self-cooking tin each per day, hot tea once,
chocolate and Garibaldi biscuits ad lib., the whole to be
supplemented with meat lozenges if required. In a fit of
wild extravagance we determined to take our tea and our
tins together for lunch.
The Rob Roy lamp was filled with spirit to boil the
water, and instantly began to roar and rage so that we
all ran out of the tent as fast as we could. It requires
Digilizod by Google
508 AUGUST 22.
some skill to work these lamps smoothly at high eleva-
tions. At home tliey burn as kindly as can be, but
at 18,000 feet they put ou ail sorts of airs and graces.
Perhaps Kashmir spirit is none of the best — at all events it
does not boil water, even at the low boiling-points of high
altitudes, anything like so fast as lower down. Then the
spirit seems always to be watching its opportianity to go
out. Once well alight, however, it fumes and frets and
OOLDEN THRONE AKD PIONEER PEAK PROM BER&C CAHF.
sputters, scatters burning drops all around, and oozes out
alight from any chink in the apparatus it can find, till
the whole tent seems fuU of flame, and everything is more
or less alight. Cooking under these circumstances has its
excitements.
After lunch tliere was nothing more to occupy us, but
mere existence at these altitudes was already work enough.
While it was cold, or snowing, or night, we were com-
fortable enough as long as we were doing nothing. One
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 509
can lie on one's back and not be able by any conscious
discomfort to realise that one is not at sea-level. But let a
single gleam of sunlight fall upon the tent and everything
is changed. A headache probably appears upon the scene.
In any case one pants for breath if one moves ; and, if
one involuntarily catches one's breath in the act of doing
something, one instantly becomes dizzy.
The day was for the most part cloudy, but often the
clouds seemed to be transparent to the heat rays, and
then, as far as we were concerned, the sky might as well
have been clear. The connection between heat, still
air, and human discomfort at high altitudes is a close
cue, and calls for explanation. A climber is forced to
take account of it. In attempting the ascent of a high
peak he should, if possible, approach it by a north and
south valley, so as to win as much shade as possible, and
then he should endeavour to climb by an exposed ridge
rather than by gullies or snow-slopes, for thus he will the
more probably avoid stagnant air. Finally, he should work
in bad. weather and by night as much as possible, and
should avoid a route which will expose his back to the
sun for any considerable length of time.
We frittered away the afternoon pleasantly enough. The
weather was the main topic of conversation, and about this
Zurbriggen had plenty of ideas. He produced a sort of
Italian Zadkiel's Almanack, called II Doppio Pescatore
di Chiaravalle, and we proceeded to observe the omens.
This day was not only the birthday of the new moon, but
the sun entered the sign of Virgo, and Zurbriggen informed
me that both Leo and Virgo are known to be good signs.
On the whole he concluded that a few hours would settle
the matter, and that the next week would either be very fine
or very bad. But what about the prophecies of the second
Pescatore di Chiaravalle ? Ah ! fine days promised, every
one. It appears that there are two fishermen of Chiaravalle,
the original one, who goes on from father to son, and has
published an almanack these hundred years, and a new
Digilizod by Google
510 AUGUST 22.
Upstart, II Doppio, in whose prognoBtications Zurbriggen has
more confidence. When it was settled that the weather
would be fine, snow began to fall with some steadiness,
so we turned over to try and sleep, and I remembered
the lovely Lombard village, whence the fisherman takes
his name, and the beautiful cloister and church, with its
Gothic dome, perhaps frescoed by Giotto himself, and in
one of the chapels a picture of the Man of Sorrows, which
on a fair Italian day of spring I had wandered forth &om
Milan to see. Between those surroundings and these what
a difference 1 Yet the element of beauty linked them to-
gether, and made of both a playground for the spirit of
man.
We then fell to discussing boots. "Boots!" said Zur-
briggen ; " I know something about them. How many
pairs do you suppose I mended or nailed at Askole ?
Seventeen, besides six pairs of chapplis. These of mine
are the right sort of boots. They are the best."
" And pray-where do you get them ? "
" I get them at Zermatt from Fridolin Andenmatten.
He makes the best boots. He was a poor handicrafts-
man, and now he is quite well oflF. He employs sis
journeymen, and has more work to do than he knows
how to get through. Why, he makes shoes for all the
Seiler femily, and you know what that means. He bought
a vineyard the other day for 10,000 francs, and that shows
he is well-to-do; and he came to Zermatt quite poor. But
he wastes no hour in the year in any drinkiag-shop. Day
and night he works."
" And how much do you pay for your boots ? "
" Well, I pay 20 francs ; but then they are good boots.
Most guides pay 17 francs. The first pair he made for me
cost 17 francs, but afterwards I said to him, 'I will pay
you always 20 francs, and you shall use the very best
leather for me.' You see he is rich enough to keep a big
stock of leather on hand of all sorts, so that if he wants
the best leather he always has it ; other shoemakers only
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 511
buy (and that on credit) enough for two or three pairs
at a time, and of course they can't get the best. Besides,
look here ! this toe-cap is three-fold, and the lower leather
round the foot is double, and the sole and heel right along
are all one piece of leather in three layers ; there is no join
under the foot. Of course there are the two extra thick-
nesses that go to finish the heel, but under those the rest is
in one piece with the sole. Oh I they are good boots ; one
pair lasts me a
whole year.
They are better
boots than
yoiu^, and if
they are dear
they are worth
the money.
There is another
point about
them : the
edges of the
thin part of the
sole under the
instep in Eng-
lish boots are
sewn together;
they ought to
be pegged .
Snow rots the snowy pyramid above footstool camp.
sewing, and
then the soles separate and water gets in ; but pegs swell
with the wet, and only hold all the firmer. I have never
seen a good pair of English climbing boots. They are all
bad in different ways."
While we were talking, the weather cleared up wonder-
fully ; the air was fresh and the sky blue, with a few
white clouds sweeping across it. I hurried out and set up
the plane-table in order to fix our position before the cold
Digilizod by Google
612 AUGUST 23.
night came on. I had scarcely finished when the sun sank
behind the western ridge, and a sharp frost immediately set
in. We did not wait to watch for evening effects, splendid
though they no douht may have been, bat with all haste
gat us into our sleeping-bags and closed &st the doors of
the tent. By good fortune we settled down most comfort-
ably, and passed an hour or so in talk till the night was
dark. Then I lit the photographic lamp and put a new film
into the camera, and when that was done we went to sleep.
But for poor McCormick there was little rest in store.
Violent toothache laid hold upon him, and made the long
hours wakeful and miserable, bo that when the morning
dawned he was terribly pulled down and fit for little work.
August 23rd. — The morning felt terribly cold, though
the minimum had only been 24° Fahr. We delayed our
start till 6.30, and then went off with such loads as we
could carry, the tent, instruments, and warm wraps re-
ceiving the preference. The weather was really magnifi-
cent, and only a few light clouds drifted, as usual from the
south-west, over the peaks in the immediate neighbourhood
of the Mustagh pass, which never seem able to keep clear
for many hours together. The trudge across the hard frozen
snow was delightful, except for our feet, which felt the cold
severely. McCormick alone failed to participate in our
enjoyment. We were not conscious of inconvenience fix)m
the altitude, and thought we could march for hours with
pleasure. Oar business was to get the camp on to the plateau
at the foot of the arete, whither some of the things had
been carried over the previous day. A series of long snow
bridges had to be crossed before the sun weakened them.
In forty minutes we reached the plateau, and then Zur-
briggen and the Gurkhas returned to bring up the rest of
the baggage.
McCormick and I set up the tent and put the things
into it before discovering that our feet were numbed.
We piiUed off boots and stockings, and found ourselves
possessed of livid and senseless toes. We instantly fell
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 513
to rubbing them with snow, and in about half an hour
sensation slowly and painfully returned. Thus occupied,
the time passed rapidly, and it was hard to believe
that an hour and a half had intervened between Zur-
briggen's departure and his arrival with the rest of the
baggage and the news that Bruce was close at hand with
one Gurkha and four laden coolies. Presently Pristi ap-
peared upon the scene and greeted us, and half an hour
later he was followed by his master, convoying and partly
carrying on his broad back certain notable additions to our
comforts. We were now able to set up all three tents and to
enclose ourselves in room enough to turn round. We called
the place Lower Plateau Camp. Its altitude was 19,000
feet. Bruce related how he had a good deal of trouble
with the coolies. They shammed all manner of ailments,
threw themselves and their loads on to the ground, and tried
every trick of passive resistance, but, seeing that they
must go, they plucked up heart, and, following the now
well-trodden route, reached our plateau without mishap.
When the camp was finally constituted, and the coolies
had been started down with the unwilling Pristi in tow,
Digilizod by Google
5U AUGUST 23.
we turned to our cooking and set the fretful spirit lamp
ablaze. Hot chocolate was our exceeding great reward.
Then we lay on our backs in the tents and sweltered in
the heat. A thermometer hung inside the tent registered
at noon 103° Pahr. We debated our future plans, and
watched, not without anxiety, the persistent re-gathering
of clouds in the west. Now and again the glacier under
us cracked and grumbled. In the afliemoon a haze,
transparent to heat, overspread the sky above us, and
presently thickened into cloud. Snow began to fall lightly,
and the thermometer in the tent went down to 70°. I
said to 2urbriggen that, for lack of anything better to
do, I would try and sleep. " Sleep," he said, " for the
man that sleeps does not sin ; but then the Itahaus have
another proverb, 'The man that sleeps catches no fish.'"
But I could not sleep. The sun presently burst out upon
the tent, again bringing hateful headaches in its train, so
that the afternoon passed burdensomely, save in this re-
spect, that the clearing of the weather promised well for
the furtherance of our plans.
When the sun, after playing hide-and-seek behind a series
of small clouds, finally dipped his hateful disc beyond the
mountain wall, we lit our self-cooking tins, rejoicing to find
that they contained Irish stew, or some jorum of meat and
fresh vegetables, which is by far the best thing for dining
purposes aloft, where vegetables are not. Some cold meat
which Bruce brought up also offered itself, lying on a
sheet of the Daily Graphic for February 18, 1892. " The
Pamirs — Lecture by Captain Younghusband," caught my
eye — a curious coincidence that the report of a lecture by
our predecessor on the Baltoro glacier should find its way
to the very region he helped to explore. After concluding
the frugal meal we soon went to bed, and all slept well —
the best night's rest we had for a week or more. The
minimum temperature was 23° Fahr.
Augud 24i/i. — Mindful of the cold aud the peril from it
on the previous morning, we determined not to start so
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCEh'T OF PIONEER PEAK. 515
early again. As usual, Zurbriggen was the first to be stir-
ring, and he made tt fine brew of chocolate for us to start the
day on. His idea is that when the sun first rises it drives
away the cold into all the shady places, which thus become
colder thau before. Bruce was not well, and determined to
spend the day in camp ; and Harkbir was also ill with cold, so
that, with Karhir ill down at the lower camp, there were
three on the sick list. By seven o'clock our chilly prepara-
tions were made, and we started. There was only a long
snow-slope to be climbed to the foot of the arete, and the
snow was as hard as a board. But for our climbJng-irons
we must have cut steps all the way up. As it was
we walked without a halt from bottom to top in fifty-five
minutes. Both McCormick's toes and mine again lost all
sensation, notwithstanding that we had been in the sun-
shine for the last half of the way ; it took twenty
minutes' hard rubbing to bring back life into them.
We set up the tent, whilst Zurbriggen and the two
effective Gurkhas returned to Bruce's camp to bring up
the rest of the baggage. The descent took them twenty-
seven minutes, the re-ascent one hour and three-quarters,
though the snow remained perfectly hard, the difference
in time being solely due to enervation caused by the
heat of the sun. When all our work of arranging was
completed (and that was pumping enough) we lay on
the floor of the tent. We called the place Upper Plateau
Camp. Its altitude was 20,000 feet. I gave up smoking
till we should return to lower levels, because I found it
caused a flutter at the heart, but Zurbriggen contentedly
smoked away, hour after hour. When he arrived,
speechless and fatigued, from his second upward journey,
I inquired after our invalids, and received good news.
" Bruce is getting all right; he is eating, as usual, all the
time. Harkbir is better, and will come up to us this
evening if he can. Anyhow, two Gurkhas will start up
at six o'clock to-morrow morning, and Bruce with them
if he's well enough,"
Digilizod by Google
Sl6 AUGUST 24.
As we lay in the tent, the sun sometimes blazed upon it.
und sometimes snow fell thickly all around. Nothing lastf d.
The weather changed every few minutes, the drift of clouds
from the west being the only constant thing. Our chief
trouble was that there was hardly anj'thing to drink. For
months we had unluckily, to our no small detriment, been
enforced teetotalers. We only had with us for the whole
journey a couple of dozen quarter-bottles of the finest
liqueur brandy, presented to me, just before starting, by my
excellent friend and fellow-collector of old works of art, Mr.
Henry Pfungst. Unfortunately, during the packing of my
equipment, some thief got at the little bottles, and sub-
stituted in many of them the ghastliest fire-water — an
atrocity not discovered till the little case was opened at
Askole. But this day, as we lay in our tent, we found one
of the genuine bottles ; and didn't we enjoy it ! and didn't
it do us good ! and shouldn't we have liked more ! It was
the one interesting feature in the otherwise dull and idle
hours, well worth record, with all circumstance, in this
minute and veracious history !
The position of our camp was in all respects a fine one.
The south-west snow arete, descending, as we thought, from
the summit of the Golden Throne, but in reality only from
the outlying Pioneer peak, broadens below into a steep
snow-slope, at the foot of which is a snow plateau. Beyond
and on both sides of this plateau snow-slopes lead do-vra to
the glacier, which is seen stretching away to the north-west,
till it joins the main Throne glacier stream, and passes round
a coiner out of sight. The tent was pitched on the flat
plateau, and had we cared to turn its door in the direction
of the sun, we might have enjoyed noble views. The upper
part of the Throne glacier was in our immediate neighbour-
hood, and never have I seen a snowfield so broken by
enormous schrunds, or so encumbered with monstrous seracs.
almost up to the cols in its encircling ridge. It would
doubtless be possible for a party of trained mountaineers to
get over these cola, but they would have hard work with
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 517
coolies. Ou the other side is a desolate country, to which
provisions for the party must be carried, sufBcient for
many days ; so that if coohes cannot be taken over,
neither can travellers go without them. We had to choose
between the peak and a pass, and the pass was finally
abandoned, not without regrets.
August 25th. — The night was bitterly cold> and sleep
by no means easily wooed. The minimum was 16" Fahr.
Poor McCormick was again troubled with a combina-
tion of headache and toothache, which only slumber could
remove. About half-past two, when all were finally,
settled down, the clink of axes was heard on the hard
snow without, and Bruce, with three Gurkhas, appeared
upon the scene. It was far too early for a start, and far too
cold for us to let them remain outside ; so all seven of us
crowded into the tent, and sleep was no longer possible
for any.
By five o'clock Zurbriggen was stirring. His was the
laborious duty of preparing a warm drink of chocolate, with
indifferent spirit to burn, and no space to manoeuvre the
apparatus in. The Russian lamp began to roar like a
falling avalanche ; and, while the chocolate was cooking, we
struggled out of our bags and into our boots, and wound
the pattis round our legs, first greasing our feet with
marmot fat, for protection against the cold. The needful
preparations occupied a long time, for every movement
was a toil. After lacing a boot, one had to lie down and
take breath before one could lace the next. At five minutes
to six all were ready, and, with a farewell to McCormick,
we left the tents and started upwards.
There was a long snow-slope before us ; this had to be
mounted to the ridge along which the rest of our way was to
lie. For an hour we plodded steadily upwards in the bitter
cold. The risen sun left us still in shadow, and moment by
moment our limbs grew colder and our strength seemed to
be evaporating. Gradually the severe exercise warmed our
bodies ; but our feet lost all sensation. We crunched our
Digilizod by Google
618 AUGUST 25.
toes inside our boots with every step, and stamped our feet
upon the ground ; but nothing gave the smallest relief.
At last it became necessary to halt and pull off our boots,
to bring life back to our feet by rubbing. We were all on
the point of being frost-bitten, and only saved ourselves by
the most vigorous measures. During our halt the sun came
upon us ; and though our feet remained numbed for the rest
of the day, our
bodies were
soon far too hot
to be comfort-
able. These
variations be-
tween biting
cold and grill-
ing heat are
one of the great
impediments to
mountaineer-
ing at high
altitudes in
these parts.
Not only are
the cold and the
hard to endure,
nge from the one
--" to tne otner seems to weaken
"'''■Fr^/Y™TcoND''p™ ™^ ^^^ ^o^''^^ *"*^ *■« render the
whole body feeble.
A quarter of an hour's walk along the ridge brought us
to the first peak (-20,700 feet). We halted to read the
barometer and take some photographs of the glorious
scenery by which we were siuTounded, especially striking, as
it appeared in the early morning, with the blue shadows
filling all the hollows of the hills. The opportunity was
also taken to eat our ration of Kola biscuits and chocolate,
the only provisions we carried with us for the day. All
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 519
began to suflfer from thirst, but as yet the sun was not
powerful enough to melt snow for our drinking.
Beyond the first point there was a small depression, which
had to be reached by a rather difficult rock- scramble. On
either hand steep slopes or walls of ice descended to
the glaciers below, and obliged us to keep to the very
crest of the narrow ridge. Here our climbing-irons were
of the greatest assistance ; for the rocks were fissured
over with tiny cracks, too small to catch boot-nails,
but affording securest
anchorage for the f
pointed claws. Be
the little col, whid
reached in about
minutes, the slop
our right hand
came rounding
forwards, and pre-
sented to us a
steep face of min-
gled ice and rocks,
which had to be
surmounted before
we could again tra-
vel along the main
arete. We had a ^ _ ,„,„,_
scramble of it for a quarter
of an hour, and then we expected better things. To our
horror we found that the ridge leading to the second peak
was not of snow, but of hard ice covered with a thin layer of
snow. Every step taken had to be cut through the snow
into the ice. The snow would have clogged the climbing-
irons, and prevented them from taking firm hold of the ice,
had it not been cleared away ; and the ice beneath was, in
any case, too hard for the steel points to penetrate until it
had been prepared by a stroke or two of the axe. Small
steps sufficed ; but if we had been without climbing-irons,
Digilizod by Google
630 AUGUST 25.
very large ones would have been necessary for safety, the
work would have been greatly increased, and our rate of
progress diminished. As it was, Zurbriggen found the
labour of step-cutting, severe at any time, incomparably
more fatiguing than at the ordinary Swiss levels.
From the top of our rock-scramble to the second peak on
the ridge (21,350 feet) took an hour and ten minutes,
but we were rewarded, when we got there, by finding, under
a kindly rock, a little pool of clear water, more precious to
us than gold. Amar Sing was overtaken by mountain sick-
ness at this point, and could proceed no further, so we left
him behind in a sheltered nook, and, after a tolerably long
halt, continued our upward way.
As far as climbing was concerned, the remainder of the
ascent was altogether monotonous. The white ridge led up
straight before us, and had to be followed. It was of ice
thinly covered with snow, and every step had to be hewn
with the axe. We sent Parbir ahead for a short time, but
though he worked with admirable good-will, he lacked the
skill of Zurbriggen, who presently took the lead once more.
Our party, now reduced to five, was grouped on two ropes,
Bruce with Parbir being on one, Zurbriggen, Harkbir, and
I on the other. Harkbir's carefulness and steadiness were
admirable, though he alone was without climbing-irons ;
Zurbriggen was full of commendations for him.
The arete, which we now mounted for two hours and
three-quarters, was heavily corniced on our left hand,
so that we were forced to keep well on to the right
slope, and remained in ignorance of the development of
the view in the other direction. Our advance was neces-
sarily slow, and the terrible heat which the burning
rays of the sun poured upon our heads did not add to its
rapidity. There was plenty of air upon the actual ridge,
and now and again a puflf would come down upon us and
quicken us into a little life ; but for the most part we were
in the midst of utter aerial stagnation which made life
intolerable. Such conditions dull the observing faculties.
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 521
I heard the click! click! of Zurbriggen's axe, making the
long striding steps, and I mechanically struggled from one to
another. I was dimly conscious of a vast depth down below
on the right, filled with tortured glacier and gaping cre-
vasses of monstrous size. Sometimes I would picture the
frail ice-steps giving way, and the whole party falling down
the precipitous slope. I asked myself upon which of the
rocks projecting below should we meet with our final
smash ; and I inspected the schrunds for the one that
THE BBIDE FROU THK BDMHIT Of PIONEBB PEAK.
might be our last not unwelcome resting-place. Then
there would come a reaction, and for a moment the
grandeur of the scenery would make itself felt. There
were three passes at tlie head of the glacier, between the
Throne peak and the noble white pyramid, the Bride,
opposite to it on the south-west. We were far above one
of these, slightly above the second, and level with the third.
Mountain masses of extraordinary grandeur were showing
over the cols, but unfortunately the summits of the highest
peaks were cut off by a level layer of cloud. At length the
slope we were climbing became less steep. To avoid a
larger mass of cornice than usual we kept away horizontally
Digilizod by Google
to the right, and prescDtlj discoTered that the cornice was
the actual summit of the third peak on the ridge. We
held the rope tight with all imaginable precantious whilst
Kurbriggen climbed to the top. He found a firm place
where all conld cut out seats for themselves, and there at
2.45 p.m. we entered upon well-earned repose.
The moment we looked round we saw that the peak we
were on was the highest point of onr ridge. Beyond it
was a deep depression, on the other side of which a
long face of snow led up to the south ridge of the Golden
Throne. From the Throne, therefore, we were utterly
cut oif. Ours was a separate mountain, a satellite of
its greater neighbour, whose summit still looked down
upon us from a height of 1,000 feet, and whose broad ex-
tended arms shnt out the view to the north-east which
I so ardently desired to behold. Framed in the passes
I have mentioned there were glorious mountain pictures :
that to the south, looking straight down the great Kondus
valley and away over the bewildering intricacy of the
lower Ladak ranges, being especially fine, and rendered all
the more solemn by the still roof of cloud poised above it
at a height of about 25,000 feet. When one beholds a small
portion of Nature near at hand, the action of avalanches,
rivers, and winds seems tremendous, but in a deep ex-
tending view over range after range of mountains, and
valley beyond valley, Nature's forces are reduced to a mere
trembling insignificance, and the effect of the whole is
majestic repose. The clouds seemed stationary above the
mountain kingdom ; not a sound broke the utter stillness of
the air. We ceased to pant for breath the moment the
need for exertion was withdrawn, and a delicious lassitude
and forgetfulness of past labour supervened upon our over-
wrought frames. All felt weak and ill, like men just
lifted from beds of sickness, but Zurbriggen was able to
smoke a cigar.
The moments were precious, and each must be used
to the best advantage. Owing to the sickness of two of the
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEEB PEAK. 523
Gurkhas, the number of instnirnents that could be carried
up was fewer than I intended. The theodolite had to be
left below, and its place taken by a light clinometer and a
ON THK TOP OF PIONEEE P
prismatic compass, which could be carried in the pocket.
"With these I took a round of angles as carefully as I could.
Then I photographed the panorama twice round. The turn
Digilizod by Google
of the plane-table caroe next, and I was able to sketch in
an important addition to the glacier survey. Meantime
the barometer, which had been set op, had accommodated
its temperature to that of the surrounding air (-54'' Fahr.).
It stood at 13*30 inches, which gave for our altitude
22,000 feet. The summit of the Golden Throne was about
800 yards distant horizontally, and elevated at an angle
of 25°. "We were therefore approximately 1,100 feet
below it. If the G. T. S. value for the height of K. 2
is correct, the Golden Throne must be 24,100 feet high,
and the height of Pioneer peak is over 23,000 feet.
Finally I took tracings with the sphygmograph of Zur-
briggen's pulse and mine ; and here the damaging effect
of altitude made itself apparent. Our breathing apparatus
was working well enough, but our hearts were being
sorely tried, and mine was in a parlous state. We had
all practically reached the limit of our powers. We
might have climbed a thousand feet higher, or even
more, if the climbing had been easy, but Zurbriggen said
that another step he could not cut. If we could have
had tents and warm wraps and spent the night at this
point, we might perhaps have been able to restore our
forces, and to have climbed 3,000 feet or more on the
following day ; but I doubt it. We were all weakened,
not so much by the work of the previous hours as by the
continued strain of the last three weeks. There was no
debate about what was to be done next. All recognised
that the greatest we were going to accomplish was done,
and that henceforward nothing remained for us but down-
wards and homewards.
We remained on the top till nearly four o'clock, for it
was hard to give over repose, and harder still to tear oar-
selves away from a scene so magnificent and so rare. The
southward vistas, which were wholly new to us, of course
chiefly arrested our attention on the moment of arrival
on the summit, but it was westwards, down the valley we
had mounted, and far far away to the north-west that tlie
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCEHT OF PIONFEli PEAK. 526
vastest area, was displayed to our wondering gaze. Gusher-
brum, the Broad peak, and K. 2 showed their clouded
heads over the north ridge of the Throne, and were by no
means striking objects. Further round we looked straight
down the Throne glacier to its junction with the Baltoro,
right above
which rose in all
its constant ma-
jesty the finest
mountain of this
district, second
only to the un-
surpassable Mat-
terhorn for ma-
jesty of form,
the Mustagh
Tower. It is a
peak of great
height. Beyond
this and the
neighbouring
Mustagh peaks
came the Biafo
mountains, and
those that sur-
round the Pim-
mah glacier.
This was but
the foregroimd.
Away the eye vi
wandered to the
infinite distance, behind the mountains of Hunza, possibly
as far as the remote Pamir. This incomparable view was
before us during all our descent, with the evening lights
waxing in brilliancy upon it, and the veil of air becoming
warmer over it. The high clouds that overhung it became
golden as the sun went down, and every grade of pearly
Digilizod by Google
mystery, changing from moment to moment, enwrapped
the marahalled mountain ranges that form the piled centre
of Asia and send their waters to the remotest seas.
A few minutes before four o'clock we started on our
downward way, and in little more than half an hour
reached the rocks of the second peak, and were able to
satisfy our thirst with draughts of fresh water from the
generous little pool. Amar Sing was quite well again,
and able to make the descent without assistance. As
we were going do^Ti the
■wall, just above the
ocks near the col by
peak, we narrowly
escaped an accident.
Harkbir was lead-
ing, I was second,
Zurbriggenwas last.
Bruce and Amar
Sing were some way
behind. Harkbir, as
I have said, had no
climbing-irons, and
to make matters
worse, the nails of
his boots were quite
LOOKINO FROM THE RIDGE OF PIONEER PEAK. rOUUdcd aud
smooth. He is not
at all to blame for what happened. The ice-steps, small to
start with, were worn by use and half melted off. The time
came when, as I expected, one gave way, and Harkbir went
flying forwards. I was holding the rope tight and was firm on
my claws, and Zurbriggen had the rope tight behind me.
The slope was very steep, but we easily held Harkbir. We
were not descending straight down the slope, but traversing
it diagonally. As soon, therefore, as Harkbir had fallen, he
Kwung round with the rope, like a weight on the end of a
pendulum, and catiie to rest, spread-eagled against the icy
Digilizod by Google
THE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 527
face. Now came the advantage of having a cool-headed
and discipliued man to deal with. He did not lose his axe
or become flustered, but went quietly to work, and after a
time cut a hole for one foot and another for the other ; then
be got on his lega and returned to the track, and we con-
tinued the descent. At the time the whole incident seemed
quite unexciting and
ordinary, but I have
often shivered since to
think of it. The ice-
slope below us where
the slip happened was
fully 2,000 feet long.
It took fifty min-
utes to reach the first
peak, and then our
work was practically
finished, for only a long
snow - slope separated
us from the tent. Mc-
Cormick heard our
shouts and came forth
to greet us. After a
final look round, we
sat upon the steep
snow and slid down it.
The evening frost had
already seized upon its
surface and made it as
„i; , , V LOOKING DOWN THE BIDE (ILACtBR FROM
slippery as could be the arete of piokebb feak.
wished, so that our glis-
sade was rapid and uninterrupted. We shot the berg-
schrund at the foot without a care, and landed on the
level snow about a hundred yards from the tent. The
frost having already come on, there was no attraction
to loiter about. Bruce and the Gurkhas were a few
minutes behind us, and only waited at the tent long enough
Digilizod by Google
to pick up whatever spare luggage they could shoulder before
hurrying off to their tents on the lower plateau, which
they reached as darkness set in.
Our supper was a poor affair. We had no more spirit to
heat anything with, and cold bacon was our most inviting
food. We ate sparingly of it. McCormick thoughtfully
spent most of the day in saving melted snow for us to
drink, and of this we quaffed large goblets, in haste lest the
frost should withhold it from us. Then we turned over,
content at heart, and wooed sleep. But to me sleep
refused to come. My heart raced like a screw out of
water, and all my nerves throbbed. Towards morning I
slept a little, but longed for the dawn to break, that we
might quit the high regions and get down to the comforts
of our well-furnished camp on the moraine below.
August 26th. — The night was the coldest we experienced
(min. 10° Fahr.), so that we were in no hurry to strike
camp before the coming of the sun. Everything had to
be packed, and each had his burden to carry. There
also remained two loads which the Gurkhas were to come
up and fetch. We started down at half-past nine and met
Amar Sing and Harkbir a minute or two later. The morning
was magnificently clear, the snow hard as a board, and the
air deliciously crisp. We trotted happily down the upper
slope and glissaded as soon as it became steep enough. So
rapid was our progress that we reached Bruce's camp, on
the lower plateau, in only twelve minutes. There we found
a store of water, won by spreading out a thin layer of snow
to melt in the sunshine on the surface of a mackintosh
sheet. We ate a light breakfast, and while thus employed
the Gurkhas with our loads appeared on the top of the
steep slope. Harkbir sat down to glissade with a kilta on his
back, whilst Amar Sing, carrying the tent, ran beside him.
The race ended in an easy victory for Harkbir, who came
down a mere chaos of extended limbs enveloped in a cloud
of flying snow. The Gurkhas tlien had to make their
breakfast, aud afterwards we all pottered about in a reckless
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TBE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 529
manner, regardless of the fact; that the day was becoming
furiously hot, and that there was a long stretch of difficult
seracs to descend.
When at last we did start down, at ten minutes past
eleven, we paid for our loitering. The snow was horribly
soft, the sun burnt upon our backs, and all were carrying
heavy burdens. Even laden as we were, there were still
four loads of baggage, with no backs for them, which had
to be left behind. The greatest care had continually to
be taken, for our whole course lay over hidden crevasses
and rotten snow-bridges. We followed for half an hour a
narrow ice-valley between the central and northern divisions
of the glacier. Not a breath of air moved in it ; the sun
shone mercilessly upon us, and its light was reflected
from the white walls on either hand. When we came
out of this valley to the open glacier, where Serac Camp
was pitched, all were exhausted, and something was said
about camping again ; but what we most needed was to
reach lower levels, and with a groan we started down once
more.
Now followed two hours of perfect misery. The seracs
were in a terrible condition ; the bridges were of the frailest
nature, and had to be negotiated by heavily laden men with
the greatest care. Worst of all, one of the most important
of them had fallen in, and we found ourselves face to face
with the widest of the schrunds, and no visible means of
getting over it. A new way had to be sought out amongst
rotten snow and tumbled ice-blocks, loosely wedged in
the jaws of icy abysses, and buried in snow that was as
soft as water. Ultimately, after more than half an
hour's hard work, we succeeded in passing the few yards
which had threatened to keep us prisoners in the upper
regions. Great was our joy on leaving the last bad serac
behind and reaching the spot where the store of provisions
was left on the occasion of Bruce's first ascent. Here
oar difficulties were over, but not our toils. We had still a
considerable distance to descend amongst the ruins of the
Digilizod by Google
530 AVGCSTil.
seracs and the soft accnmtilations of snow embedded about
them. The lower we came the nastier was the going, for the
snow became wetter with every step, till it could scarcely be
called snow at all,btit mere stiffened water resting npoa ice.
After an hour of this kind of thing we gained the edge of
the medial moraine, whose great length we had mounted all
the way from the glacier's distant foot. How we had come
to loathe the stones on our ascent ! How delightful they
now seemed after the seracs and the slnsh ! We cast off the
rope with joy and hurried forward to where the smoke of a
fire showed that our servants were awaiting us, and that
food, such as we had lacked for many days, was iu prepara-
tion. We reached the camping-place at four o'clock, and
dinner was served with delightful rapidity. The sun went
behind a cloud and permitted us to rest and eat in peace.
Tor the remainder of the day we enjoyed such content as is
given to few, and to them seldom in any lifetime.
August 27th. — I was too lazy to put out the minimnm
thermometer on the previous evening, but left it lying on
the top of a kilta within the tent. It registered 24*5'* Fahr.
in the morning, so that the night must have been a cold
one. It was delightful to awake and know that there was a
day's rest before us, and that the bulk of our work was
BucceBsfuUy finished. Henceforward only a homeward way
remained to be trodden. We had accomplished what we
set out to do and earned content.
Karbir, now quite well again, and Gofara, with the four
best Balti coolies, started at peep of day and went up
tluoiigh the hard frozen seracs, following our footsteps, to
fetch down the baggage we left behind. They did their
work well and rapidly, and were back in camp with all the
things before the sun made much impression on the snow.
Now that there was a better supply of air to breathe we
discovered how miserable we had been aloft. Discomfort
came on us so gradually in the ascent that the mere
cessation of our worst miseries was comfort.
All the morning I sat writing at the door of the tent.
Digilizod by Google
TEE ASCENT OF PIONEER PEAK. 531
Clouds hung heavily around, and it seemed evident that the
fine weather with which we had been blessed was about to
break. Little cared we whether it broke or not. In the
earlier hours of the day a veil of mist overspread the sky,
but let the softened sunshine through. Bight opposite
me a glacier curtain, broken into hanging ice-precipices,
covered the end of the great buttress of the Bride peak.
Never have I seen anything more softly shaded than this
white mass in the misty sunlight. But I was too jaded
with grandeur to look out for effects this day. To be in
one's tent, to have water to wash in and clothes to change,
food to eat and a rug to lie upon, were satisfactions enoiigh,
and I enjoyed them to the full. Rahim Ali exhausted his
ingenuities to feed us well, and we praised all his efforts,
and did utmost justice to them. From time to time I
smoked a long hubble-bubble pipe, of the native pattern,
which Roudebush sent up for me from Skardo, and which
arrived with the English mail during our absence aloft,
and was actually delivered at Footstool Camp. For the
previous three days I had found no pleasure in smoking,
owing to its action on the heart, and not at all from any
lack of breath to smoke with. Now the tobacco appetite
returned, and with it came the means of giving it satis-
faction.
The ascent of Pioneer peak was accomplished. If it
had not been necessary to take into account Zurbriggen's
very natural desire to climb a big peak, I should have
forced a passage over the Kondus saddle at its south foot.
This, however, would not have taken us across the great
watershed, but only into the head of the Kondus valley,
which, running due south, joins the valley of the Saltoro
river, whose waters flow into the Shyok at Kapalu. The
Hidden peak (K. ; 26,483 feet) stands upon the watershed,
but there is no pass over the main ridge out of the upper
basin of the Baltoro glacier, unless there should prove to be
one between the Broad peak and K. 2 ; and that I doubt.
At the east side of the watershed is the valley of the Oprang
Digilizod by Google
river, into which only Younghusband has penetrated. The
Oprang river rises in a great glacier descending northwards
from the Saltoro pass. I was informed by the natives that
there is a pass leading up the southernmost of the main
easterly branches of the Kondus valley, and another out of
the Khokun valley, both giving access to the Oprang glacier.
The Oprang river receives tributaries from the glaciers of
the Hidden peak and Gusherbnim as well as from the Broad
peak and K. 2. It flows at first in a north-westerly direc-
tion and then westward till it receives the Sarpolaggo river
from the Musfcagh pass glaciers. Then it turns north-west
again till the Af-di-gar stream from the 8himshal pass joins
it, after which it makes a great turn and finally flows into
the Yarkand river. The Oprang river is, in all, about 130
miles long. The bottom of the Oprang valley is described
as from half a mile to a mile wide. It is flat and stony
with occasional patches of jungle and grass. The mountain-
sides are bare and precipitous. The face of the Mustagh
range towards the Oprang valley would form a magnificent
subject for a mountaineer's explorations.
AFT KB THK cut! a
Digilizod by Google
E HUSTADH TOWER FROM FOOTDTOOL C
CHAPTER XXIV.
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLE.
August 28th. — The indifferent capacity for sleep, which
troubled me at the higher camps, was not yet amended.
Our tent was pitched, for shelter, close to a considerable
ice-mound, covered with large moraine blocks. I satisfied
myself that none of these would fall in the direction of the
tent, and in particular that a big block at the top was firm.
Right and left stones kept falhng, but towards the tent
they could not fall. Nevertheless, when once I was in bed
I could think of nothing but these stones. Had I been
correct in my estimate ? Crash ! went a lump down the
side ; I was across the tent as though shot by a catapult.
I settled down again and began to doze. Crash ! went
another lump, and I again awoke at the far end of the tent
as before. This continued all night, to so horribly nervous
a condition had I descended. In the morning the moun-
tains shone brightly in a deep covering of fresh snow. The
veiled Bride looked specially grand. As we gazed at her,
an enormous avalanche, enveloped in a cloud of snow-dust,
such as we had not seen since leaving Bagrot, came pouring
down her white skirt.
About a quarter-past nine all our things were packed, and,
Digilizod by Google
634 AUGUST W.
to the delight of every one, we started on our downward
way. The ice, whose snow covering so annoyed us on the
ascent, was now bare, and we walked down its criep surface
for an hour, before the undulations compelled us to take to
the flatter moraine. These nndulations start where the
glacier narrows and are the result of lateral compression.
Snow began to fall, driven before a strong southern gale,
the strongest wind we had yet experienced. An hour's
BTASTmO DOWN FBOU FOOTSTOOL CAHF.
walk along the moraine brought us to the big stone that
marked my old theodolite station, and under it we took
shelter from the inclemencies of the weather. We had to
wait there for nearly two hours before the coolies became
visible in the distance, then we walked on to the site of
Junction Camp and chose new positions for the tents in a
sheltered hollow. The coolies' delay seemed endless, hut
at last the tents were set up and cooking was toward. As
the day drew to its close, the weather grew steadily worse,
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLE. 635
and snow fell with yet angrier persistence. It was horrible
to think of the coolies exposed to such a night, but they
built shelters, and huddled together into a tightly packed
group. In the morning they were none the worse and
seemed not to have suffered any particular discomfort. The
minimum temperature was 18"5° Fahr.
August 29i/i. — To make up for the horrors of the night
thft son 9^»,in Rhone hnVht.lv
i FBOU JUKcnON CAMP.
more than a foot deep about the tents, but the advan-
tage of snow is that the thicker it lies on the tents
and piles itself up about them the warmer they become.
We waited in camp till after lunch to let the sun have
time to thin the snow. ' By two o'clock the moraines
reappeared and we stttrted downwards again. For an hour
Digilizod by Google
536 AUG0ST2Q.
we retraced our old route before turning towards the left
bank of the glacier, where we hoped to be able to get off the
ice and traverse slopes of snow-avalanche debris. This
was, however, impossible, but the glacier on the left side is
flattor, and the stone covering far less troublesome than on
the other, and such we found to be the case all the way down.
We passed under the base of the imposing Mitre peak,
at the angle of the Place de la Concorde, and ultimately
encamped on the glacier near the foot of one of its
buttresses, on whose ledges was a little grass. The goats
£ OI^CIER PROM JCNCTIOH CAMP.
that bad been driven up to Footstool Camp were able to
feed on this, and had their first good meal for several days,
so we named the camp "Goats' Delight" (15,090 feet).
Our march only lasted two hours and a half, but the coolies
in their eagerness to get down for once came quickly along
and kept up with us. All the afternoon I felt more oppres-
sion at the heart and a greater difficulty in breathing than
at any other time during the journey. We sent a few
coolies across the glacier to Fan Camp to bring in the
things that had been fetched up there from Storage Camp.
They joined us again the following day.
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLB. 537
August 30iA. — During the night snow again fell (min.
23'5° Fahr.), but not heavily at the level we had now
reached. As the Bun showed signs of coming out, we
awaited his arrival and did not start till eleven o'clock.
After marching a short distance over the stones we ex-
changed them for an avalanche bed by the left bank. Pristi
exhibited transports of delight, rushing aronnd in circles,
leaping the crevasses, and rolling himself in the snow. The
clouds dividing showed Gusherbrum, all white from peak
to base, and surpassingly grand. The day was a most
picturesque one in every sense, and all the great mountains
we were leaving looked their best. The pleasant bit of
snow-walking did not last long ; we were soon on the stones
again,* but we were able several times to escape from them
on to the clear ice of a side tributary which juts far into
the main glacier and preserves its purity to a remarkable
distance for these parts.
The foolish coolies greatly prefer stones to ice. They
seem to have no sort of idea of looking where they are
going, once they have quitted their beloved moraines. One
of them, fortunately burdened only with flour, walked
straight into an open crevasse, and fell some ten feet down
it before the sides held him. Then arose a great crying
and cackling of the other coolies, who cast down their
loads and rushed to the rescue. The unfortunate was soon
hauled out, pack and all, and went his way. His comrades
one by one came up and shook hands with him and touched
their foreheads. I suppose they thought he had been
rescued from the jaws of death. A few minutes later, in
descending the sloping face of one of the ice-waves, down
which Zurbriggen cut huge steps, another coohe calmly
stepped on to the slope, and down he went to the flat
bottom below. The Gurkhas laughed at the dazed porter,
and presently the rest of the coolies, seeing the man unhurt,
joined in, for which I was thankful. Two or three incidents
of this kind might have established a scare amongst the
" Barbula rigida was found growing amongst the Btones.
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538 AUGUST 31.
timid Baltis. A little before four o'clock it became eWdent
tbat the men had worked enongh, so we camped on the
moraine-covered ice (Hollow Camp ; 14,480 feet).
Late in the evening I looked out and saw the moon, now
at her first quarter, struggling to shine through the wild
clouds. A little cold light still lingered in the west, and
against it stood out the jutting peaks of Bardmnal like a
row of smoking volcanoes.
August Bist. — At a quarter-past nine camp was broken
UD and the coolies started ofiT,
at work with the
on the top of a
nd. The position of
jpears to have about
_ coincided with the
1 highest point
I reached by Colonel
Godwin-Austen in
I 1861. We wan-
dered down the
stony glacier, and
our way was for
long devoid of in-
cident. For the
first time I felt my
p strength returned
and the atmo-
sphere sufficiently supporting. The coolies' enthusiasm
of descent was likewise diminished; they no longer kept
up with us, but dropped far behind. We passed along
under the broad white face of the great mountain that
looked so fine from the other side of the glacier. On
a stone island in a glacier pool we saw a Uttle sparrow-
like bird and felt that we were reaching the regions of
life. Presently a sort of blue-bottle fly buzzed around us,
and hia hum seemed exquisite music. Smaller flies came to
inspect us, and even their attentions were not resented.
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLE. 539
With many halts for the cooHes and sharp bnrsts of pro-
gress between, we at last came opposite the foot of the most
westerly buttress of the broad white mountain. It was
grass covered, and we hoped to camp upon it, but we
found that for a mile or more the glacier was cut off from
the mountain foot, first by a band of intricate crevasses, and
beyond them by a series of large lakes, into the chief of
which protrudes a remarkable shattered ridge. A flock of
some thirty or more dab-chicks were swimming on one of
these lakes,
and seemed to
regard our pre-
sence with indif-
ference— as well
they might, for
therewasnogun
with us. The
last of the lakes
is at the angle
where the Sta-
chikyungme
glacier, which
comes down
from the sup-
posed Masher-
brum pass, joins
the Baltoro.
We had to keep
far out on the white ice of the tributary in order to round this
angle. Then we struck across the moraine-covered surface,
and at last stepped on to a grassy bank once more. The
sensation was delightful. Amongst the grass were multi-
tudes of plants, some still in flower.* Butterflies were
fluttering about. There were plenty of stunted shrubs for
fuel, and there was admirable shelter between the glacier and
* At Coroer Canp we found, in flower, Doronicum Falconeri and
Gentiana tenella.
Digilizod by Google
the hillside for coohes. The only tronble was that we could
find no flat place for the
tents. The grassy slope
-'^„- covered an ancient mo-
raine, deposited when the
Baltoro glacier was 100 feet
deeper than at present. Ulti-
mately we climbed on to the
; of it and had that flattened
the tents pitched there, after a
rs' march. We called the place
lamp (14,500 feet).
' The position commanded a glorious view,
/ notwithstanding that all the higher peaks
" THIS HOLDS ! " were clouded. We could discover the broad
base of Masherbrnm and could see that both
K. 2 and its neighbour, the Broad peak, ought to have been
visible above the Crystal ridge. '''''"
spent the afternoon busily, divi
the baggage that we needec
take over the Masherbrnm pa
from that which might
go down with Bruce to -^
Skardo, making up ac-
counts for the past month, and
generally taking stock. Now
and again gusts of wind played
pranks with the tents, but they
soon died away. In the night,
however, a serious gale arose.
It tried the tents severely, and f
hour or more made sleep impossible, i
Our forward rope came loose from the
stone that should have held it, and
McCormick and I had to support
the poles from inside till Harkbir could
make things fast again. The gale did not last long, and
accomplished no damage.
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL OAMP TO ASKOLE. 541
September 1st. — While we were breakfesting in Bnice's
tent I oaused all the coolies to dig out a solid platform, big
enough for both tents, from the north-facing hilUide, in
order that our day of repose and the night to follow might
be spent in some comfort. The work was quickly and well
done, and we regretted not having put it in hand on the pre-
vious day. I completed my arrears of writing, and, having
made up a heavy mail for Bruce to take down and post at
Abbottabad (where the post can be trasted), I dispatched
eleven coolies with loads to be carried direct to Skardo, and
there left in charge of the tehsildar. The coolies that
remained behind presently began to quarrel loudly, and
almost to fight. The Gurkhas were delighted and sat on
the bank above them shouting Shakbash! but the whole
thing only ended in noise. Baltis have not the pluck to go
further than that.
Zurbriggen, in the afternoon, climbed southwards a
couple of thousand feet to the crest of the lowest ridge.
There he built a cairn, visible from the glacier. Before he
returned, a coolie came back with a note from Bruce to
say that he had fallen upon the glacier and hurt his leg.
A stone slipped under his too hasty foot. He said he should
be delayed for a day or two, and that he was encamped at the
west angle of junction of the Stachikyungme and Baltoro
glaciers. He said he was all right and wanted nothing.
The hill behind his camping-place is the one whose north
slope was climbed by Colonel Godwin- Austen. It is the end
of a long ridge from Masherbrum. Its sharp peak is bored
through with a hole like the Nadelhom.
September 2nd. — The morning was again cloudy and un-
promising, so that we soon determined not to start. We
had been most unfortunate in our weather since leaving
Footstool Camp. In the two days and a half we spent at
Corner Camp the mountains were not once clear. Masher-
brum was especially retiring, and the most we saw of him
was up to the col in his north-west ridge. Once or twice
just the top of K. 2 showed over Crystal ridge. The Broad
Digilizod by Google
542 SEPTEMBER 2.
peak was oftener visible. From the tents we looked
straight up the narrow winding valley leading towards the
Mustagh pass. Unfortunately the head of the Mustagh, or
Piale valley was never clear. The description of the Mus-
tagh Tower as standing above the pass is correct. Its
extremely precipitous appearance from the upper reaches of
the Baltoro glacier is deceptive. It is a thin but wide peak,
and its south-west arete appears quite accessible. It is the
peak we ought to have climbed, for its position is superb.
During the morning Zurbriggen made an expedition up
the Stachikyungme glacier to inspect the approaches to the
Masherbrum pass. He found two cols, one facing north
and south, the other east and west. The former he pro-
nounced now and at all times absolutely impracticable.
The other, he said, we might get over, but it was cer-
tain that the coolies could not. It was evident that
the east and west col wojild not lead over the water-
shed, but merely back into the side valley whose foot we
had passed. Under the circumstances of the lateness of
the season aud the difficulty of the way, there was nothing
for it but to change our plans once more and go down as
we came up — a disappointment to all. When this decision
had been come to, it was communicated to the coolies, who
were all radiant with delight. Snow passes are not to their
liking. I spent the afternoon in utter idleness, resting for
the long forced march arranged for the morrow.
September Brd. — We awoke to as unpleasant a morning
as these mountains can well provide. Snow fell during
the night, and the air was raw. We bundled our baggage
quickly together, and started off at 6.16, not at all sorry to
be on our way once again for some definite place. We ran
down to the moraine edge, crossed the wearisome stones,
and reached the clear ice of the Stachikyungme glacier,
which we proceeded to cross towards the angle of Bruce 's
encampment. We unfortunately took too direct a line, and
got involved in great icy waves and some crevasses, which
impeded our advance. On approaching the farther bank
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL OAMP TO ASKOLE. 643
we came in view of the depression at the head of the glacier,
and saw how hopelessly impossible it waa, regarded as
a col.
Our shouts hrought responsive cries, and, whilst I set up
the plane-table for almost the last time, the others went to
see Bruce. He was nearer than we supposed, and, when I
i BALTOBO OLACIBB.
had done my work as well as the clouds permitted, I visited
and spent an hour with him, while the coolies made their
way downwards. It appears that he jumped on to a big
stone that was balanced between two others and gave way
imder him. He fell " all of a heap," and for a moment or two
lost consciousness. On coming to, he found his ankle
Digilizod by Google
644 SEPTEMBER 3.
twisted, leg bruised, and the like minor injuries. He hopped
to the place where we found him, with a rough wall built
about him for shelter among the big rocks. We left him
food, men, and a tent, and went our ways. He had already
sent Aniar Sing down to Askole for supplies. He said he
intended to lie by for two or three days and then come on.
When we started off again the coolies were out of sight
far ahead. There was no dawdling or malingering about
them to-day. " Heute," said Zurbriggen, " die Coolies gelien
ivie's Donnerwetter ; ' ' and so in fact they did. We had hard
work to keep up with them. We all walked our best, hoping
to get off the hated glacier by night. There was little
looking about, and seldom did we pause on our way. Our
feet required all our attention. Once we sat down for a
pipe, and then a gaudy bee paid us a visit. He sat upon
a particular stone. McCormick threw pebbles at him and
frightened him off, but he always returned to exactly the
same spot — for what reason we could not discover. He sat
ua out.
We kept towards the left side of the glacier and found
the going much better than anything we had struck on the
way up, but the coolies were always for swerving to the
right, and had to be continually brought back by shouts
into the true way.
Down we went, hammer and plunge. Now and again there
was a bit of clear ice from the snout of a side glacier, but
such relief was short. Stones were the regular thing —
stones becoming thicker over the ice, and consequently
looser every step. We slipped and tumbled on them, but
even our tumbles were downwards. " Hinab" said Zur-
briggen, " helfen alle Heiligen; kinauf nur Einer nnd Er
heisst Muhsam." At length hunger seized upon ua and we
halted for lunch and a good rest. The coolies were far
away to the right, and had to be fetched by much shouting,
but eventually they joined us, bringing food and fuel to
heat it with. After lunch we slept an hour away amongst
the stones ; then off once more, down the narrowing
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASEOLE. 545
glacier with the precipitous granite peaks on the right, and
curving round ahead to where we knew the glacier's end
to be. The sun began to be hot upon us, and the air
felt thick and heavy. A big lake in the ice barred our way.
We went around it to the left, and so came to the bank
of the glacier, which afforded for a time comparatively
excellent going. The foot of the wonderfully shrunken
Liligua glacier had to be crossed and its angle lake rounded
before we could again take to the left bank and continue
our rapid progress.
At four o'clock we were opposite the XJli Biaho glacier,
and promised our-
selves to be off th
ice in less than tw
hours. A few yard
further on we turne
a comer and foun
to our disgust
that the gully ^
between the '''
glacier and the
hillside became
the bed of a tor- _,
rent. On to the uu biaho peaks fbou the baltobo oLAaBB.
stone-covered
ice once more then I In and out among the lakes, up and
down over the mounds ; but down, thank goodness ! more
than up. We struck the track of the coolies, and, to
our misfortune, followed it. Away it went to the right,
where the mounds were bigger and the stones looser. We
pounded after it, and in course of time got on to the foot
of the last tributary glacier from the north. Crevasses
and all manner of impediments came in the way, and our
progress grew slower and slower. It was past sis o'clock,
and the darkness was approaching. Should we after all
have to spend the night on the ice ? How we regretted
that hour's sleep, and still more a certain ten minutes
Digilizod by Google
546 SEPTEMBER i.
recently devoted to a pipe I We rounded a bend in the
glacier, and there far below were the camp fires burning.
We hurried on towards them, tumbling rather than going.
At last we got into a kind of gorge in the ice, between two
glacier folds. We knew it for the way off. The stones
were looser than ever, for they fall from both sides into this
trough, but little cared we. It would not last long now.
Down, down, amongst the eliding rocks. Then the final
slope came, and men and stones went over it together in a
confused slide. Exactly as the night came on, at seven
o'clock, we tiod upon ground once more, and ten minutes
latfir we were in Baltoro
where dinner was
us, and the tents
idy pitched under
the very rock they
had nestled
against that day
month previously.
The moon began
bine over the hills
to cast a glitter of
3 upon the long
es of grass. It was
passing beautiful, but
we were too weary to do more than glance at it before
turning in for a long night's repose.
September 4tJi. — We slept our sleep out, and were late in
starting. It was nearly ten o'clock before we got off. On
the previous day it seemed as though to be off the hated
glacier would be delight enough, but now we remembered the
loathsome valley that still lay between ue and Askole. Once
started along it we determined to have done with it quickly.
The first part of the way was not so bad. We noticed
that the position of the snout of the glacier had not
altered much during the last month. If anything, the ice
had slightly advanced. The river had greatly decreased
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLE. B47
in volume. Its channels were fewer and the water was
shallower. We could walk in what had been the stream's
had, thus avoiding long detours.
We had not gone far before we came to a little side-
stream, in which were a number of fish. Harkbir jumped
into the water and caught one with his hands. This was
the occasion of a halt ; but we were not in a mood for lin-
gering, and made up for the delay by extra speed. Some-
times we had to take to the sloping hillside, but oftenest
we could follow the level, amongst the rounded stones and
soft sand, scarcely dried from the recently retreated waters.
It was a toilsome walk, sinking ankle deep in sand, stum-
bling over stones, jumping waters, scrambling up banks,
or sliding down them; but the sun hid his hated counten-
ance behind a thick wall of clouds, and we were spared
the enervating heat that made our upward journey so
wearisome.
Shortly after one o'clock we voted that lunch-time had
come, and accordingly halted beside a stream of clear water,
flowing down a trough in the midst of a fan of debris.
There was brushwood growing beside it, and all the needful
conveniences. An hour and a half we rested, and those
slept to whom sleep was kind. But the worst part of the
way was yet before us, and the time was short. The valley
mouth, opposite Bardumal, had long been in sight, but it
would not come nearer. We walked and walked, and still it
seemed to keep its distance. When at last we forgot to
think about it, it suddenly shifted itself to the rear. Some
one said, "There is Bardumal," We looked up and saw,
close above us, the place where we uncomfortably camped.
We passed it without halt or blessing. Half an hour further
we crossed a well-remembered waterfeJl aiid entered the
region of the great fans.
The worst we had to expect was now upon us. Those
evil fans I All fans are bad enough, with their long, slow
slopes, that look so flat; but these are the very climax of
all abominations. They are cut up by endless rayed ditches,
Digilizod by Google
648 SEPTEMBER 4.
made by the changefal stream. The sides of the ditches
are nearly vertical, and there is no way over them but up
and down, up and down. It seemed to our tired imagina-
tions as though we must have crossed a hundred of these
ditches, varying in depth from sis to thirty feet. At
last they too were left behind, and fairly level ground
took their place. We were approaching the angle of
junction of the Funmah and Baltoro streams. At a
quarter to six we turned the comer and began to go
northwards.
The wearier we became the faster we walked. We
began to hope we might make the rope-bridge after all.
To camp where we were was impossible, for there was
no water. We hurried forward, and were well into the
Punmah valley. The rocks of the hills were close on our
right hand, the river across its stony flat far away to
the left. We were going along the raised ground above
it. All of a sudden McCormick cast himself on to the
ground in a wretched comer, where was neither wood
nor water, and said, "I'm going to stop here. I won't
go any further. Here I'm going to spend the night."
We wished him luck and went forward. A httle further
on, finding a suitable camping-ground, we pitched the
tents. Zurbriggen went back and fetched McCormick,
and all were soon settled in for the night (Dreary Camp ;
10,630 feet).
September 5th. — By an implied rather than uttered agree-
ment, it was understood that Askole should be reached
to-day. The cooHes' protest was easily overmled by an offer
of bakshish, which was gladly accepted. They were sent
off at an early hour to get themselves and the animals over
the rope-bridgl before our arrival. They killed and ate a
couple of the goats, to hghten their labours, so that the
returning flock was, I believe, finally reduced to two beasts.
Pristi was also sent on with the first coolies. The ad-
vance party was seen mounting the opposite hill when we
struck the tents and started at 8.30. . In half an hour we
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL GAMP TO ASKOLE. 549
reached the rope-bridge. The water under it had shrunk to
a quarter of its volume, and half the bridge spanned dry
ground. I found it much less disagreeable to cross in con-
sequence, as the thing that makes rope-bridgea unpleasant
to me is the rush of water below.
There was no longer any occasion for taking the upper
road, as we had seen the view from it. Moreover, the ascent
from the Punmah side, up soft, gravelly, and sandy slopes,
is a thing to be avoided. The coolies seemed to think so
too, and chose the lower track. It keeps as near the water
as it can, but is thrice forced upwards by parris. The
middle parri, at the angle of the rivers, is the only one
that involves anything like climbing. There the strata
are almost vertical, and the ascent is made by a crack
between two adjacent beds. Stones have been wedged
into this crack in the steeper places to give footing, but
there remain one or two striding traverses higher up, which
must be difficult for laden oooHes. The rock-scramble
only lasts twenty-five minutes, and then one descends to
the edge of the united rivers. Ou our way down we knocked
over a couple of butterflies, but a fine black fellow with
tails to his striped wings, and one of a brilliant chrome-
yellow colour probably Colias erate or C sareptensis), defied
all efforts to catch them.
We walked for a few minutes along the dry bed of the
river before mounting the third parri. Where the ascent
commences, there is a ferruginous spring, and, close to it, a
dripping flow of lime-laden water, that petrifies the grass
and sticks that happen in its way. Just beyond the parri a
small round stone came flying down through the air like
a bullet and passed between my legs. It was the quickest
stone I ever saw, and would have inflicted a serious
wound.
A few minutes after noon we reached the big stone at
Korofon and halted for lunch. When it was over we burnt
our ships by sending ofE the coolies with orders not to halt till
they reached Askole Camp ; food being thus advanced, there
Digilizod by Google
650 SEPTEMBER 5.
was nothing for it but to follow till the village waa gained.
At two o'clock we started on, and in a few minutes reached
the stony borders of the Biafo glacier's foot. There were no
streams to wade, so rapid progress was made. The end
of the glacier had altered wonderfully in our absence.
DOWN THB ASKOLB VAU^y FBOU THK FOOT OF THK BIAFO OLACIXIL
The level of the ice was visibly lower, and its edge had
retreated, as I thought, as much as a quarter of a mile.
We could not tell when we got on to the glacier, comiug
at it from the side. There was nothing to show the
difference between the stony flat, from under which the
ice was gone, and that which was still supported by
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLE. 551
ice. Both were alike earth- covered and flower-grown in
places.
We had to bear up to the right to get over tho cave
whence the river issues. This is not at the foot of the
glacier, but round to one side, close under the rock which I
named the Nose. The cave itself had changed since our
former visit. "We quitted the glacier between the cave and
the Nose at 3.20, and then the vale of Askole was before us.
A mild afternoon sun shone upon the landscape, and did not
bum us. For once its rays were tender, and its light not
blinding. The ripening fields of a village on the south side
of the river greeted us, and the grass slopes above it, just
beginning to yellow under the touch of coming autumn.
The sunlight brightened them, or the shadows lay purple
upon them. It was a feast of rich colour that we were in a
mood to enjoy, had there been time to bestow upon it ; but
all our thoughts were to get forward. We hurried over
the stony flat and through the gap in the wall. We soon
reached a stream of clear water, hurrying down a deep
trough, one of whose sides gave a welcome shadow. Water
and shade together I the temptation was too strong. We
halted a quarter of an hour to smoke, and take a last look
back towards the regions we were leaving, before the bend-
ing valley shut off the view of them from our eyes for ever.
Hated Baltoro, beauteous Biafo, farewell I The memory
of you both will dwell with us long, but you we shall never
more behold.
A few minutes further on came the big stone which was
used as a plane-table station on the way up. The Green
Parri followed ten minutes later, and then the hot desert,
with the huge fallen blocks scattered over it, turning their
shadowed sides towards us, and all bathed in glowing atmo-
sphere, such as in the clear regions above we had not seen
for many a day. It was here that the great rock fell a few
days later. Beside the stones grew numbers of thistles
{Echinops cornigerus) with big round balls of blossom armed
with angry spikes. Before the desert was wholly crossed
Digilizod by Google
553 SEPTEMBER 5.
Askole came in sight, looking farther off than it really was.
We passed under the waterfall. A moment's halt was
permissible, for the end was now near. There was only the
angle of a rocky buttress to be rounded, and the tumble-
down watch-tower would be reached.
Here the fields commenced, now filled with com just
ready for the cutting. How gladly we saluted them ! \Ve
entered the path between the stone walls and felt as though
we were coming home. The group of houses was ahead,
with the many willow trees above it, looking so fertile
■ACT"'
HEAR ASKOLB, LOOKINO UP THE VALLBt.
by contrast with the bare regions from which we had come.
There was something almost European-looking about it, we
said; and as we were discussing what this element might
be, we were already amongst the houses, and the villagers
were greeting us. One held a plateful of eggs — ye bountiful
gods ! another was slaughtering chickens — oh, beauteous
sight ! " For us, for us I " we cried, as we entered the walled
baffh and found our tents ready and all comfortable things
prepared.
How beautiful it was to lie after dinner under the rustling
trees in the warm night, and to watch the glint of moonlight
Digilizod by Google
FOOTSTOOL CAMP TO ASKOLE. 553
on their polished leaves, while the white clouds drifted over
the hills and dappled the fields with their dark shadows !
But not for long. Fatigue hung heavy upon us, and of all
fair things sleep seemed by far the fairest to our weary
frames.
September 6th. — Our day's halt at Askole was so much
mere bagatelle and frolic. The village was enfete, and so were
we. The musical resources of the place — two drums and
two Buranais — were put forth to their utmost. There was
UANOO OUSOB 7B0M ASKOLB.
dancing and singing ; even the Kashmiri sepoy danced.
General iantoiha was the order of the day. Everybody in
the place got pay or bakshish for having done or pretended
to do something. Sheep were killed and cooked and eaten,
and the entire population had a merry time, and. forgot all
their troubles.
Some of us, of course, had to work, for there were journals
to be written up, and all the baggage to be prepared ; but
we were in the mood in which work is done easily. With
Digilizod by Google
664 SEPTEMBER 6.
night came peace. An incredible soilness pervaded the valley.
The distances receded behind one another in tenderest tones.
The silent moon rose, incomparably majestic, behind a jet
black mountain mass ; and the willows, with their lace-like
foliage, Aretted the silver sky.
E PIALB 0I.AC1BS FROM C
Digilizod by Google
IN THB SBIOAB VALLBV.
CHAPTER XXV.
ASKOLE TO SKARDO.
September 7th. — Yet another day's repose would have been
welcome to all, but the impelling force that makes men
. wander would not permit it, so off we started, leaving the
bagh shortly before 8 a.m. We had a new lot of coolies,
who were rather troublesome at starting, for they tried to
lighten their burdens by surreptitiously casting aside this
and the other small object. They were out-manoeuvred, and
then things went all right. The morning was neither fair
nor foul ; cloud-shadows dappled the landscape, and some-
times the sky was overcast ; but, on the whole, the day was
good both for marching and for picturesque effect.
We strolled leisurely through terraced fields of ripening
corn, and down a steep nala to the rope-bridge, which
is only some twenty minutes below the village. It is a very
long bridge, and of necessity high above the water at the
ends, but it is kept strong and in good repair. A gusty wind
swayed it about. I crossed it at once behind Zurbriggen,
and was right glad to be over. We sat down at the far side
and watched the coolies crossing two by two. Many of
Digilizod by Google
556 SEPTEMBEB 7.
them found the steep southern end hard to climb. A few
minutes before ten o'clock all were safely over.
We followed a field path up the left bank of the river for
a short distance, till we struck a small nala, the course of
a clear-flowing stream. Here a band of drums and suranais
met us, and accompanied us on our way, now and again
making music of sorts to beguile the tedium of the march.
I hope the coolies enjoyed the diversion. Soon after crossing
the nala we came to the village of Mangjong, whose 1am-
badhar came forth to
salute us, aud added
himself to our com-
pany. He is a fine,
Jewish-looking man,
Ismail by name. He
had a royal air abont
him, and made every
stone he sat upon look
like a throne.
As we were entering
Mangjong there was a
crash, which seemed
near at baud, but, on
looking up, we found
»4^ that it was caused by
Y" the falling of a huge
ASKOLE RopE-BKiooE FBou THE SOUTH BAHK. mass of rocU dowu the
mountain on the op-
posite side of the valley. The thing raised a cloud of dust
that enveloped all the hillside and rose high into the air.
It finally came to rest near the footpath we traversed on
the 5th, amongst the other big fallen blocks that deck the
desert near the waterfall. I photographed it falling.
Mangjong looked a fairly thriving village, for these parts.
I noticed that portions of the walls of many of the cabins
were made of thick wattle fencing, such as our ancient
British forefathers used for their round huts. A minute or
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ASKOLE TO SKARDO. 557
two after leaving the village we began definitely to ascend,
always steadily traversing to the west, in order to reach the
entrance to the high valley in which we were to camp.
There was a well-marked track, which one could not miss,
and beside it, where there was anything to eat, great black
yaks were grazing, hideously ugly brutes that firightened all
the pluck out of Pristi — which, however, is not saying much.
I was slack all the morning, and soon became faint with
hunger, so that we went slowly. In three-quarters of an
hour we reached a comer, where the path goes close to a
bier stone on a brow of the
sed to take a last
e — a green patch
[ a valley of rocks,
i, and stones. *' It
is well enough
to have come
and seen it,"
said Zurbriggen,
" but here one
would not oh oose
to live." Up the
valley the broad
end of the Biafo
A pALLiKa BOCK FEOM MANOjoNo. glacier was a
prominent ob-
ject, and, behind it, various minor peaks ; but the view was
not specially remarkable, and, if we sat for some time
looking at it, it was more out of laziness than anything else.
On the way up we passed quantities of butterflies, the
commonest being of the same kind as those caught at
the angle of the Baltoro and Punmah valleys. There were
also many speckled black and white ones, only a single
specimen of which could we secure, and that after infinite
trouble. The chrome-yellow butterfly {Colias eogene and
C. sareptensis) was also not uncommon. A single great
red fellow of gorgeous beauty flew past me like a bird. As
Digilizod by Google
668 SEPTEMBER 7.
we sat by the big stone a hawk came slowly swooping by,
and many swallows were darting about ; otherwise there
were few birds, and of new flowers we found none.
At last we summoned np courage to start onwards once
more. One of the coolies was ill, so Harkbir shouldered his
pack. We advanced for over an hour, going very slowly;
we rounded a comer and entered the upland valley.
The scenery changed completely. The valley was almost
flat and delightfiilly green. Cattle tracks scored it in all
directions. Streams of clear water came down from unseen
sources. There was plenty of grass and scrub everywhere.
Crags led up to the sky-line, and a group of snowy peaks of
moderate altitude closed in the end of the hollow. It was
like Switzerland, and ultimately we agreed that the place
reminded us of the Tasch alp.
At the comer was a ruined stone cattle-shelter. A fairly
level path leads thence in about half an hour to the collec-
tion of huts called Thla Brok, a veritable Swiss alp to all
appearance. Just beyond the houses, amongst some big
stones, we found the coolies halted and tiffin in an advanced
stage of preparation. During lunch the band discoursed
such music as it could, and the coolies took it in turn to
dance their slow, monotonous measures. The musicians
asked leave to descend, which was gladly granted to them,
and, the lambadhar having likewise been dismissed, and
the cooKes sent forward, a pleasant hour might have
been spent in perfect repose but for a gusty wind that
found us out and incessantly eddied the dust into our
faces.
When we had smoked enough we started on again,
following the same valley path as before. The scenery
became wilder and more monotonous, and the Biafo moun-
tains were gradually narrowed out from view by the closing
of the valley's portals. Ahead, the glacier we were to
mount, and the col at the end of a short side branch came
in sight, and did not inspire us either with admiration or
respect. An hour's walk brought us to the last flat maidan,
Digilizod by Google
AT TULA BROK.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
ASKOLE TO SKARDO. 561
where the coolies were already halted and the pitchmg of
camp taken in hand. The wind was angrier than ever,
and we were glad to enter the shelter of the tents. The
name of the camping-ground, they said, was Darso Brok
(13,810 feet).
September 8th. — There was no reason why we should
have been specially lazy this morning, but in fact we were.
Perhaps the uninviting nature of the weather had something
to do with it, and the bleak cheerlessness of our surround-
ings. The grey clouds lay lower than we had ever seen
them, and now and again a little snow fell. We sent
off most of the coohes early, and ourselves started
shortly after half-past seven. We followed a fair track up
the left bank of the valley, and in half an hour were level
with the glacier's dirty snout. Twenty-five minutes later
we climbed on to the stone-covered surface, and presently
reached the end of a tongue of clear ice, coming down from
tlie branch glacier leading to our col. The whole thing was
intensely Tyrolese, mountains, glacier, and all. The glacier
was broken by few crevasses, and those were easily
turned. We advanced slowly up it, bub without halts, and
in due time came to a slope of brown snow that gave access
to the upper level of the side valley. The snow all over
these mountains, after a continuance of warm weather,
become^ brown, or at least dirty, on the surface. This is
the result of the great amount of dust produced by stone
avalanches and carried by the continual south-west winds
that sweep over the peaks.
As we rounded over into the side valley our col became
visible at the head of it. Three rock peaks stand out of the
saddle, and a fourth mass of rock, overhanging on all four
sides, marks the eastern end of the depression. The pass
(17,320 feet) lies just under this overhanging rock. We
could see torn mists hurried by the wind through gaps
in the ridge, and httle comfort appeared to await us
on the top. The summits of the surrounding peaks were
hidden in cloud, and it was only northwards, where the
Digilizod by Google
662 SEPTEMBER 8.
lower peaks of the Biafo valley were mostly clear, that there
was any view worth mentioning. We toiled up a few easy
snow-slopes and a final pile of broken rockg, and so reached
the pass in three hours' walking from camp.
Looking over the other side we beheld little except a roof
of cloud, cutting off all the higher regions and permitting us
only to discover the position of the Shigar and Indus valleys.
A blue gUmpse towards the Indus was the only picturesque
thing visible. We halted under shelter of the rocks for
three-quarters of an hour, more out of habit than anything
else, for the temperature
was only a few degrees
above freezing, and the
wind hurried round every
comer and left us no
peace.*
At 11.30 there was a
moment's luU in the gale,
and we seized the oppor-
tunity to scramble through
the pass and commence
the descent. There was
• -Itf' '-' practically no snow on the
■:^^'^'3j^ " ' south side, except a little
'"" "^ .f" '' in the great couloir. The
THE 8K0BO PAB8 FBOM THB NORTH. cooUcs wefo alfcady fsx be-
low. A fairly well-marked
track indicated the beat route. It led for a few yards
horizontally to the left, then down a gully of rotten rock,
and the rib on the right of it to its foot. Here one has to
traverse some distance to reach the back of the next rib on
the right, just where it is decorated by a shattered tooth of
rock, a landmark visible, as we afterwards discovered, from
far below. This rib is grass-grown, and its crest affords easy
going. There are numerous bivouac platforms dug out upon
• Near the top o£ the Skoro La Saxifraga Hirculus was found to be
very common.
Digilizod by Google
ASEOLB TO SEARDO. 563
it at different levels. The grass was all brown or golden,
and the plants amongst it were withering away. Large
patches of Sedum, turned crimson or yellow, made a fine
play of colour upon it. We hurried down, as fast as pos-
sible, to reach the warmer regions below, and eventually
were off the foot of the rib in five minutes over an hour
from the pass — fairly quick time for a descent of 4,000
feet. A ten minutes' stroll through an open cirque amongst
the mountains, with the end of a glacier or two showing
out of the clouds above, and several waterfalls tumbling over
the cliffs, brought us to a walled enclosure and camping-
ground which the Baltic called Shoata. We halted there
for lunch.
The character of the scenery had wholly changed. On
all sides there were grass slopes and waters. We seemed to
have left the barren regions. Eain began to fall, and we
were soundly wetted. It was not a heavy kind of rain, but
that sort of intermittent varying fall that comes dribbling
down, and is specially characteristic of the British Isles. I
could almost have believed myself in a Durham dale. The
visible part of the scenery was quite in keeping with the
illusion.
Below our luncheon place the valley became a gorge.
We crossed to the right bank of the stream and followed a
good path, which traversed the hillside at a high altitude,
before plunging down to the water's edge. It took us into
the deepest part of the gorge, between fine precipitous
cliffs, just where the stream makes two or three sharp turns.
We had to cross the torrent at this point, and did so with
difficulty. We recrossed to the right bank near some
stone huts, and, twenty minutes later, crossed back to the
left bank again. Two more crossings followed in quick
succession. We thus reached a walled enclosure and a flat
bit of ground adorned with some trees — a pleasant camping-
place enough, named Doksam. Here a considerable side
valley comes in from the east, and the main valley changes
its character, opens out, and bends away to the west. We
Digilizod by Google
564 SEPTEMBER 8.
were preparing to camp when Rahim Ali came up and said
that the village of Slcoro was at no great distance, and
that he hoped we should camp there, as he was in need of
supplies.
I was delighted to find an excuse for going further and
getting out of the inhospitable regions of which we were
tired. I longed for trees and fields and the luxuriance
of cultivated lands. The coolies were not unwilling to
finish their
work, so off we
started once
more. Over the
stream again,
hopping from
stone to stone,
and then back
to the left bank.
The valley w-as
no longer a
gorge. Its great
sloping sides, ut-
terly barren, af-
forded easy
passage, and
away at the far
end was an in-
viting gUmpse
ooROE iH THE sKOEo VAU^Y. 0^ bluencss that
seemed to pro-
mise better things if we hastened forward. We did not
linger. Traversing slopes, or stumbling over the valley's
stony bed, we urged one another on. Comer after comer
was turned, but never a village came in sight — nothing
but dreary desert slopes leading up to craggy crests. At
last we beheld the promise of the end. A final comer
revealed to us a slope of cultivation and umbirageons trees
overshadowing the desired village. Nor were these attrae-
Digilizod by Google
ASEOLE TO SKARDO. 565
tive objects far distant. One more struggle through the
now widened stream and we were amongst the cornfields.
A shady path led, between irrigating canals of babbling
water and under apricot trees that had yielded their fruit,
to the pretty enclosure beside the village of Skoro (7,930
feet), where our tents were to be set up. The coolies
arrived a few moments after us, and, before dark, our camp
was pitched upon the grassy sward and the great mountains
of Baltistan were finally left behind. We were to sleep in
the lowlands once again, and the prospect was good.
September 9ih. — This was a day of pure delight to .
all. We were so well tired the previous evening that we
planned a late breakfast and a leisurely start ; but a good
night's sleep and the fresh morning air brought wakeful-
ness, and we were ready for our meal an hour earlier thwi
it had been ordered. The camp looked charming when we
came out of the tents. The eastern hills hid the sun from
us, but its light shone abroad on the rocky flank of the
range along the far side of the Shigar valley. The little
village close at hand, the healthy trees, the fields burdened
with approaching harvest, enriched our pleasant surround-
ings. By eight o'clock the coolies were at hand, and a few
minutes later all were briskly under way.
We had to begin by a final crossing of the Skoro river,
but this time the path was carried over a log bridge, from
which the eager Pristi tumbled into the water. Beyond
the torrent's stony bed we turned out of the Skoro into the
Shigar valley. North and south its fertile expanse opened
before us, watched by fine hills on either hand, over whose
broad slopes played bright sunlight and shadows incredibly
blue. There were snow-topped mountains visible in both
directions to give completeness to the picture, but they
were not specially lofty nor out of keeping with the general
luxuriance of the foreground. The thickness and rich
azure of the atmosphere smote emphatically upon our
eyes. Never did distances seem bluer. White cloud-
islands dappled the sky, clouds that were free and seemed
Digilizod by Google
566 SEPTEMBER 9.
to wander at their own sweet will, instead of being tied
to the flanks of peaks.
In the Shigar valley the harvest was already half reaped,
and the fields were aHve with busy husbandmen. Shep-
herds were leading their flocks to pasture. Oxen were
treading out the com on village threshing-floors. Men
were carrying off the straw in baskets. We soon stmck
into the main valley-road, a broad lave! track that one
l SHIOAR VALLBV,
might drive along without discomfort. So delightfully
level it appeared ; and one could actually walk without look-
ing at one's feet. How long it seemed since that had been
possible ! It was wide enough, too, for all to go abreast
like good companions. Trees bordered the way on both
sides — poplars, willows, or apricots. Now that the sun was
peeping over the eastern hills the shade of trees was grate-
ful. How beautiful the blue hills looked beyond the yellow
fields and through the green foliage ! We passed a copse of
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO SKABDO. 567
young fruit trees already scarlet and golden in their autumn
glory. Dragon-fliea darted around us. Frank-faced peasants
passed us on the way, with flowers in their hair^garden
flowers that had been grown and tended for delight.
The road led through or near one village after another
in quick succession. The houses were relatively large, and
built, for the most part, of big crude bricks. Many of them
had verandas ; some had little wooden summer-houses on
their flat roofe. There was a look of well-being abroad that
entered into our hearts and harmonised with our satisfac-
tion. Each vil-
lage ha>d its
mosque, square
built, with a
wooden portico
to the east. The
mosques are not
built like the
houses, but their
frames and an-
gles are of wood,
filled in with
rubble, mud, or
crude brick. We
saw one in pro-
cess of building, „^„ „„^ ,„ ^^„ 3„„^^ ^^^^
the timber
framework alone being as yet set up. The mosque archi-
tecture here is substantially the same as in Hunza. The
Shah Hamadan mosque in Srinagar is the completed type
towards which they all tend. This is clearly seen in the
case of the fine Shigar mosque, which is a by no means
ignoble copy.
We walked briskly along, but as in a dream. The coolies
kept always near us, and carried their packs willingly and
without needless halts. After about an hour and a half's
going we came to a particularly pretty village, with a
Digilizod by Google
568 SEPTEMBER 9.
larger mosque than usual, which I entered and photo-
graphed. We sat down to Bmoke by the babbhng canal,
and the lambadhar came to see us, bringing a tray of
ripe fruit (melons, grapes, and apricots), beautiful to look
upon as they lay heaped up on the copper trencher. We
must have loitered an hour there, watohhag the villagers as
they passed and repassed, singly, or in groups following
some peasant of consequence. Many were fine-looking
men, and all walked with a healthy freedom of gait.
" How far is it to Shigar ? " we asked the lambadhar.
" But this is
Shigar," said
he. And so it
was, a suburb of
Shigar, Sejong
by name. He
was reluctant to
accept the pre-
sent we made
him as we
started to pur-
sue our journey.
There was a
short interval of
IN THE ssioAB viixBY. fields before we
entered a street
of low houses and shops, forming the Shigar bazaar. The
great mosque detained us for a while ; then we crossed
the river that comes down a grand rocky gorge from the
back of Mango Gusor and the Tusserpo La. A few yards
further we were upon the grassy polo-ground, broad enough
for cricket and admirably flat, with a clump of splendid
chinars shading a raised platform on one side.
The coolies were grouped in the shadow of the chinars,
awaiting our arrival, and Rahim AH and Samadju, the
courtly tkanadar, met us with the request that we would
be content to camp in this pleasant spot and continue our
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO SKABDO. 569
journey to Skardo early on the morrow. The zuJc (goat-
skin raft), they said, would take some hours to prepare.
There were paslimina merchants who had goods to show,
a new set of coolies must be collected, and all this
would take time. We not unwiUingly agreed to the sug-
gestion, and the tents were soon pitched (7,760 feet).
The moment the coolies were paid off they started back
for their homes, and we were left in peace, save for a few
flies that found us out, but gave little trouble compared
to the battalions of Grilgit and Nagyr. Our watches showed
the time of our arrival to be 10.45.
The pashmina men presently surrounded the tents, but
their goods were not of the first quality and their prices
were exorbitant, so we did not come to terms. The
thanadar brought us dishes of sweet finiit. They all then
left us alone, to lie down and enjoy the sensation of
living, the surprise of fertility being still upon us. Zur-
briggen tersely summed up the facts of the situation : " It
may be that some men are as well off as we now are, but
it is certain that none are better." Oh! friends and
beloved ones far away, had you but been there too !
" Never the time and the place and the loved one all together."
September lOtk. — We sent off the coolies at seven o'clock,
and ourselves half an hour later left the fine chinars that
gave us shade. We wandered down towards the river,
under the broad mountain shadow, passing through fields
newly ploughed or where the people were threshing out the
grain. A pleasant sub-consciousness of a new sensation
to be experienced was upon us as we walked along, and
many were our furtive glances riverward to see whether the
strange craft that was to carry us to Skardo was in readi-
ness and what it might be Hke. At last we dipped down
from the cultivated terraces to the stony margin of the
waters, where the boatmen met us.
The goatskin raft, or zuJcj was lying bottom upwards on
Digilizod by Google
570 SEPTEMBER 10.
the bank, and the men were giving it the needful finishing
touches. It was a strange -looking object, and at a first
glance resembled a collection of sheep's carcases. Thirty
distended sheepskins were tied close together against a
framework of poles, like a large hurdle. One of the hind
legs of each skin stuck out, reproachfully or comically (as
one pleased to take it), and this was used as mouthpiece
for inflating the skiu.
The end of the leg was
tied up with a bit of
grass or fi*esh willow
bark. Only one or two
enjoyed the luxury of
string. The whole ap-
paratus had the frailest
appearance. Many of the
skins leaked, and needed
a final tightening before
the start,
len everything was ready the
as turned over and set afloat.
1 were five passengers —
•rmick, Zurbriggen, and I,
Harkbir and Rahim Ah. To
ate the thing there were five
len, each armed with a pole;
^_j.v5^" to be used for punting or as a
paddle, the thick end held in the
MOBQUB AT sHioAB. haud aud the thin end put into
the water. A zuk is not a per-
manent or even a durable thing. It is specially made for
each occasion, and its size varies according to the number
of persons to be carried. Like a 'Varsity boat, each ztik
is built for its intended crew.
The five passengers and Pristi were arranged in a row
down the middle, seated in orientally uncomfortable
positions on the hurdle, with the skins pushing through.
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO SKABDO. 571
When the water splashed, it came up from below and
wetted us. The boatmen squatted three on one side and
two on the other. A push from shore launched us on our
swift and, at first, smooth passage. We passed close to
some big undulations, and were glad not to make so
immediate an acquaintance with broken water. All were
silent and observant. Pristi looked the picture of abject
misery as he crouched against us. The boatmen made up
for our reserve by loud and continual chattering. They
had to keep a sharp look-out ahead for the shoals and
rapids that are never many hours together in the same
place. Every one had his opinion as to what should be
done, and expressed it, but ultimately all obeyed the word
of their leader. From time to time he would stand up to
look into the future. In quiet stretches of the water all
the men gave attention to the skins, blowing out those that
a prod showed to be getting slack. Everywhere the current
was rapid, and the banks seemed to hiu:ry by at a spinning
rate. From time to time the men rowed violently to bring
their unwieldy craft to this side or the other of a succes-
sion of big waves or breakers. All the rowers on one
Digilizod by Google
572 SEPTEMBEB 10.
side kept time in their stroke, but the two sides were
at variance, and for the most part rowed alternately.
Once or twice we had to fight through such a series,
and then the raft rocked and the water splashed about
us. The experience, if exciting, was not entirely pleasant.
Now and again there was water that was a mere chaos
\
PBBPARINa THK ZUIf.
of waves tumbUng in all directions— a general bewilder-
ment and fluster of motion. Then we would come into
smooth water, and silence would reign till the roar of an
approaching rapid broke upon our ears. By degrees we
gained confidence in the men. They evidently understood
their business, and managed their clumsy craft with skill
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO SKABDO. 673
When the novelty of the Diotiou wore off we had time to
look about us. We were passing through magnificent
scenery in magnificent weather. The sun was hot upon us
and bright on the broad western hillsides. Islands of white
cloud diversified the clear sky and cast blue shadow-patches
ou to the mountains. The slopes near at hand looked
desert and bare, but the rich atmosphere enveloped all the
distant ranges and made them fair as hope. Here and
there high stripes and carpotings of reddened grass beauti-
fied the hillsides. A flock of wild ducks trailed away before
us, re-started by our repeated approach.
We swept round the great bend of the river at a splendid
pace, and then fought our way across to the left bank,
under a rocky mound called Blukro, which looks down
upon the junction of the Indus and Shigar. At this time
of year, when the waters are getting low, a broad sandy
fiat lies under the south face of Blukro, and here our raft
was brought to shore, and we were asked to land. The
voyage thus far took two hours. We walked across
the spit of sand, while the men carried the raft on their
shoulders — a light burden. In a quarter of an hour we
were by the Indus' bank, a short distance above the junc-
tion of the rivers. The lightly-clad boatmen, as they stood
on the shore, were bright against the smooth dark waters,
which cast back the shadows from the shadowed eastern
hills. The flat sand was burning bright, and the light air
enveloped all things in its glow. Grand mountain groups
surrounded us. The imposing valley swept nobly up
towards Tibet. Look where we might, every vista was
sublime.
We seated ourselves on the raft again, and the men,
walking on the bank or wading in the shallow waters,
towed it laboriously up-stream. Bank and bed were full
of quicksands, into which they sank to the knee at
every step. When the bank became good we again dis-
embarked to Ughten their labour, till they brought the
raft high enough for their purposes. Then we started away
Digilizod by Google
574 SEPTEMBER 10.
and rowed hard for the opposite shore. In seven minutes
we came to land almost over against the mouth of the
Shigar river. It was just half an hour after noon. "We
paid the boatmen, and left them to ferry their craft back
and carry its materials home by the hot road.
A stretch of sand lay before us, and beyond it the green
surroundings of a village, nestling at the base of the great
crag which rises between many-levelled Skardo and the
junction of the rivers. Not knowing which way round
fort planted on a V^ ' \0 l
shelf at its east end, we chose that ■' — ' — - ' '
direction, and for once chose right.
Beyond the sand flat we came to rough herbage beside a clear
backwater. The whole place was full of life. Butterflies in
thousands fluttered around us, the commonest being Sip-
parchia parisatis, the same that was caught at the Punmah
angle parri. Flyiug grasshoppers sprang away from us,
displaying the brightest blue wings. A hoopoe got up under
our feet. All Nature was gay in the blazing noon.
A track brought us to the end of the rock, where it
juts into the river, and a carved-out staircase led up
round the parri. At the foot of it, in the shadow of a
cleft, close to the pathway, was a buff-coloured speckled
Digilizod by Google
ASKOLE TO SKARDO. 575
owl, with long ears, fast asleep. He let us come within
three yards of him before he could persuade himself to
move, and then he flew but a short distance, a golden
object in the sunlight. As we mounted above the river
the view developed, and the broad waters seemed to
spread away from our feet. Turning a comer, Skardo was
before us, not picturesque, though gorgeously surrounded
by bare mountains of admirable outline. Its fields and
house clumps are patched about at various levels. No-
where does it concentrate into a village. The cultivated
lands are afiT)aTn.tftd from ftnoh othftr
by desert i
lake depo
old moral
divide the
country
without
diversify -
ing it.
But if Sk
do is noth:
to look at,
splendid t(
from. Every '"'
. , - SKARDO.
point commands
a view that holds the eye. Nowhere are more numerous and
varied mountain pictures brought together. Nowhere do so
many near hills break the panorama more kindly. Nowhere
is the atmosphere more rich, or the colouring more superb.
Our first visit was to the post-office, where an accumu-
lated mail awaited us ; our next to the house of the
tehsildar, in whose precincts we took up our quarters
(7,470 feet). We paid a visit to the hearty official, and
entered at once into amicable relations with him. We
were whiling away with him some of the hungry waiting
time till the coolies should come, when we suddenly remem-
Digilizod by Google
576 SEPTEMBER 10.
bered that there wpre our own provision stores in his cellars.
We caused them to be produced, and extemporised a Innch.
The afternoon was devoted to the baggage and to writing.
Towards evening I went to the polo-ground and watched
the game. Close to the ground is a built-up platform round
a ehinar tree, and amongst the stones I noticed some frag-
ments of old Kashmiri carving, doubtless brought from a
destroyed temple hereabouts. I could learn nothing about
them. We settled down for the night in a room, with walls
around ns and a roof once more over our heads, but the
change from our airy tents was not specially agreeable,
though for purposes of packing it was convenient. The
night was too hot and close, and the air seemed to press
upon us like a leaden weight. A. gale of wind roared
through the bending trees. We slept on bedsteads and felt
that our mountain wanderings were over.
ZlARAT AT SBIOAB.
Digilizod by Google
CHAPTER XXVI.
SKARDO TO KABGIL.
September 13th. — This was the day fixed for our depar-
ture from Skardo, but wheu the momiug came it was we
who seemed to be the fixture, owing to the difficulty of
getting a cheque cashed. I paid the tehsildar yet another
visit, and ultimately succeeded in extraoting 200 rupees from
him, or rather through him from the village banias. The
money did not arrive till noon. When it came the twenty
coolies and four ponies with baggage for Srinagar were
promptly sent o9, and we started at the same time with
other twenty coolies. The Srinagar baggage was to go
direct by way of the Deosai passes.
It was a quarter-past one when we mounted our ponies,
and, passing through the tehsildar's temenos, set oflf for Leh.
Digilizod by Google
578 SEPTEMBER 13.
At first the road was a broad avenue, such as might be
found on the outskirts of an Indian city. It led straight
acrosB the alluvial plateau on which Skardo stands. This
plateau seems to contain and almost cover plenteous
moraines, and many large blocks lie upon it. When we
reached its eastern edge the road became bad and descended
steeply to a lower level, likewise of alluvial deposit. A
straight avenue
led over this
flat ground to
the edge of a
large cultivated
fan. Kidiu^'
along at a foot
pace we had
plenty of time
to look about.
Southwards
was the granite
mountain - wall
that forms the
northern face
of the Deosai
region. Behind
us were the
curious Gibral-
lusE AT BKAEiw. tar-Hkc rocks
that rise in the
midst of the old lake-basin of Skardo. They divide the
present from more ancient channels of the Indus, aad
doubtless owe their form in some degree to the action of
ice. The top of Blukro seems to have been planed off by
ice and afterwards to have had a moraine deposited on it.
Before us were new regions of desolate valley, with a green
fan here and there pushing down into it, but these fans,
though actually large, are so small in comparison with tlie
great size of the landscape, that they rather emphasise tbau
Digilizod by Google
SKARDO TO KARGIL. 579
remove the aspect of desolation. Ahead, fine purple moun-
tains plunged their summits into a soft bed of cloud that
covered almost all the sky. Across the Indus the broad
valley-floor was occupied by rolling sand-hills, whose form
showed the direction of the prevalent winds.
An hour after starting we entered the village of the first
fan. Much waste land is mingled amongst the fields, and
the whole lacks the aspect of rich cultivation and fertility
that makes the Hunza and Shigar valleys so deUghtful.
The fields are stony and the gatherings of debris cleared off
them are raggedly put together instead of carefully built
up as in Hunza. Everywhere, as we went along, traces of
former glaciation met the eye, transported blocks were plen-
teous, and so were old moraines, for the most part small, at
the foot of the side valleys. To our surprise the heavy
clouds, which usually mean nothing in these parts, poured
upon us a smart shower of large-dropped rain. The sensa-
tion was agreeable.
The second hour's march closed with the passage of a
steep rock-^nrn, round which passes a road, or rather stair-
case, giddy for horsemen. A block-house stands at the end
of it, and through this the road goes. One has to dismount
to pass it. Its position is highly picturesque. Beyond this
fortified entrance to the basin of Skardo comes another fan,
of smaller dimensions than the preceding, occupied by a
scattered village and stony fields. The stream that feeds
it descends from the hills in a finely-launched waterfall.
Hence, looking across the Indus, we gained an unexpected
glimpse into the Skoro valley, and recognised from afar the
formation of green rock, over whose lower slopes we had
so toilsome a march. Ahead of us a rainbow spanned
the face of the jutting mountain promontory, round which
the Indus makes one of its great bends. We began to
wonder where our camping-ground was to be, and whether
we must camp in the desert. A bend in the ground soon
dissolved the doubt by disclosing yet another and smaller
fan, greener than its predecessors, that was awaiting
Digilizod by Google
580 SEPTEMBER 13.
us at no great distance. We entered its pleasant fields, and
at four o'clock dismounted in the flat and shady bagh of
Thurgon (7,530 feet). We had two hours to wait before
the coolies came in.
Towards sunset I wandered down to the Indus' bank,
across the desert of sand and rounded stones, which formed
ite boulders ^"^^"^ ^^ ^^^ ihdus road hear bkabdo.
hereabouts.
In one place three of them are grouped together form-
ing a sort of cave. These boulders seem to have attracted
the attention of the ancient inhabitants of the valley,
for they are inscribed all over with rude outline figures
of ibex, adorned with extravagantly large horns. There
were also some designs resembling ladders with a pair
Digilizod by Google
SKABDO TO EABGIL. 681
of homs on top, or something like them. One ladder
seemed to be surmounted by flames. There was a single
representation of a formal tree, but the ibex figures were
more numerous than anything else. The age of these
outlines was obvious ; they were of the same dark sunburnt
brown as the rock. In places where the brown surface
had come away the figures had also gone, and only faint
traces could here and there be perceived of their former
existence. They reminded me of the prehistoric outline
figures on the rocks at El Kab, near the Nile. Pre-Islamitic
they certainly are. The villagers call the boulders Ordohush,
which appears to mean "carved " or " cut stone." I could
not find that they had any legend about them ; they denied
having any, and said that they were very old, and that the
memory of anything about them had passed away.
September 14.th. — We started comfortably at eight o'clock,
riding the same ponies as on the previous day. The road
followed the telegraph line, which looks out of place in the
wilderness. Numerous stone men decorated such summits
of the lower hills as are visible from the valley. On many
big fallen blocks were collections of stones obviously
placed there by human hands for the mere fun of the thing,
and with no utilitarian object. They were often arranged
in lines following the contours of the rock. The road lay as
usual through utter desert, and the desolation iuoreased as
we approached the bend of the river. In an hour we came
to a big parri round which the road was well carried. This
brought us to a stony maidan at the river's bend. On the
opposite bank there were the long stretching fields and shady
places of Nurr, spreading between the river bank and the
bare hillside for a mile or more. When we had well turned
the comer we looked out for the fakir's hut marked on the
map, but the place knows him no more. In his stead there
reigns the useful and ubiquitous dak wala.
Here we caught up the coolies, one of the best lot of men
we employed. They were going at a great pace, and the
man who carried the two tents ran beside my pony for a
Digilizod by Google
582 SEPTEMBER 14.
long distance, and kept up a voluble conversation with me.
Beyond the end of Nurr the valley becomes altogether
barren. On our side of the river fallen blocks of great size
were numerous, and many little stone huts were built against
them — travellers' shelters of all dates. Several such huts
clustered around one block of extra large dimensions almost
opposite the village of Ghoro, which we came over against
in two hours and a balf from starting. Ghoro is a cluster
of cultivated plateaus, strikingly situated at the mouth of
a narrow side valley. Many of the carefully terraced fields
on the outskirts of the group had gone out of cultivation,
apparently quite recently, for their walls were trim and neat.
There was a similar retrenchment of the cultivated area at
the edge of all the villages we passed through this day. It may
have been the result of the previous winter's alight snowfall.
We looked out anxiously for Gol, the end of the morning
paraOj and presently it came in sight, but we did not per-
ceive how large a place it is until we were close on to it, for
it is sheltered from the north by debris and moraine accumu-
lations. Amongst the great blocks of stone, between which
the road passes as it enters the cultivation, we again noticed
quantities of ibex engraved on the biggest stones. All of
them were old. A few drops of rain began to fall, and several
smart showers descended during the middle part of the
day, an especially heavy one coming while we were seated
at lunch. The fields of Gol are patched about amongst
large ancient moraines in a way that at once reminded us
of Fakkar in Nagyr. The whole place is picturesque and
admirably tilled. We reached the mosque at noon, and
halted for an hour till the coolies came up.
We were now come to a country in which the mosque
type is different from that found north of Skardo. The Gol
mosque may be taken as an example of the change. It is
relatively lower and flatter than the Shigar-Nagyr mosque.
Its walls are built of mud. Its roof is carried on long beams
transverse to the axis of the building, and each beam is sup-
ported on a row of columns. There is no emphasised central
Digilizod by Google
SKABDO TO KARGIL. §83
square with four columne round it and a lantern above, as
in the other type; here the centre is occupied by a colnmn
more ornamental than the rest, and standing right between
the door and the mihrah. The other columns are of all
sorts, oi)long and polygonal in section. Cap, column, and
base are carved from one log. There ia a portico along
the east wall. For external finish there is a kind of double
corbelled arrangement of beam ends and beams, where roof
and walls join. The carving about doors, capitals, and the
like is of a style
that was new to
us. It a£fects
foliation and
flowers rather
than geometri-
cal designs.
Outside the
mosque, on the
east, is the mey-
dah, a collec-
tion of round
walled latrines
— numerous,
obvious, and
large.
We lunched
iu the pleasant ^^^ „„^„^
bagh and left
again, with a new lot of coolies and ponies, at two o'clock.
For a considerable distance we continued amongst the fields
of Gol, before re-entering the desert with its crop of round-
beaded prickly thistles {EcMnops coniigerus). Where the
valley bends to the east there was a fine view back towards
Gol and Nurr. Forwards we saw straight up to Kins on the
Shyok, nor was it easy to discover where the course of the
Indus lay. Presently we noted the cleft on the right, through
which the river has broken an entrance into the valley,
Digilizcd by Google
584 SEPTEMBER 14.
orograpbically belonging to the Shyok. A little more than
an hour's march from Gol took us to the angle of jnnctioD
and we again turned due south and mounted a precipitous
parri by a well-built staircase road. From the top of it there
was a glorious view over the meeting of the rivers where a
party of natives were crossing on a skin-raft.
The Indus, above the junction, is a conspicuously smaller
river than below, and its diminished waters flow through a
narrow goi^e, so that the effect of the whole is of a stream
no larger than the Braldo at Askole. The valley, too, is on
a reduced scale ; it is narrower, and the visible hill-crests on
either side are lower than is the case with the Shyok valley.
In the gorge above the junction there remain the piers of an
old native bridge which used to span the waters, here flowing
with a smooth, swift current. The road passed under the face
of a recent sand deposit-, such as is common all the way from
Skardo to this point. The sand cliff is covered in many
parts with modem graffiti — roughly outlined hands and
Koranic phrases — but there are neither ibex nor ladders.
Another parri was in waiting for us, over against a big
ancient moraine, and then we came to the large collection of
villages and aJl the long terraced fields of Sermi. Entering
the place among the big granite boulders and shady walnut
trees, with rippling canals running amongst the Little fields,
was like entering many a north Italian Alpine village. To
each group of houses belongs a mosque of the type above
described, and there is one good ziarat with wooden lattice
windows and a portico all round the building. This is the
tegular local type of ziarat, and is wholly different from the
local mosque type.
We must have been more than half an hour passing
through Sermi and the poplar avenue that leads from it
into the desert. Not &r beyond we came to a fertile
enclosure, walled high about and surrounded with poplar
trees. There was something of circumstance about its large
wooden porticoed gateway. Within, it was planted with
many trees, but contained no house. Between it and the
Digilizod by Google
SKARDO TO KABGIL. 585
river was a fine grown poplar avenue, that lives on the spare
waters of the garden. Then came desert again and parris,
and, after an interval, the village of Kuzburthang,* whose
fields were almost all barren and uncultivated for evident
lack of water. The canal was supplying a mere dribble, only
Bufflcient for a small central oasis. Desolation swallowed
up the rest, and the people were gone elsewhere.
Not far beyond this melancholy place we came, when the
sun was already set, to fertile Sahling, which is the northern
portion of Parkutta. It is backed by great old moraines
from the long gone Katicho glacier. We crossed its well-
tended polo-ground and wound about amongst fields to the
bridge over the side stream. A five minutes' pull uphill,
under the water- and ice-worn granite rook, on which the
village of Parkutta is so finely situated, brought us to the
chinar tree where the village elders meet. Instead of camping
there we followed the advice of our local hosts and went five
minutes further to a flat and shady bagh (7,870 feet), where,
at seven o'clock, we settled down, as night was coming on,
to await the arrival of the coolies. They came in late, one
by one, but ultimately all arrived and we were able to begin
and do our evening work in peace. In the night there was
a great storm, accompanied by thunder — a rare phenomenon
here. Bain descended in sheets upon the tents, and fresh
snow was low down on the hills. The temperature sank to
39° Fahr., the lowest we had experienced since leaving the
glaciers.
September I5tk. — The freshness of the bright morning aiter
the stormy night made us all alert at an early hour, but we
did not quit the camping-ground till past half-past seven.
We had a charming ride through the long cultivation of
Parkutta before entering the desert beyond. About a mile
to the south the valley bends eastwards, and all around the
bend the enclosing hills are, in their upper portions, much
grassier than any we had seen for a long time. In an hour
we reached the edge of the fields of Mantoka, and ten
* This name is taken from the map, and is probably wroDg.
Digilizod by Google
686 SEPTEMBER 15.
minutes later the first of the series of villages that thrive on
its large and well-watered strip of fertile land. The colour-
ing all the way was moat beautiful. A charming light
played over trees and fields, and for backgronnd there
was always the blue wall of the shadowed mountains that
overhang the gorge beyond. In the first village there was
a small new wooden Matam Sara of the Shigar-Hunza type.
The houses were built with more wood than is common in
the villages of this valley, and several had pretty lattice
windows of patterned fretwork. In the midst of the main
village tliere are two mosques, one small and aged, with a
central column, the other new and lofty with four high
columns in the midst and a lantern above — a building, there-
fore, of the Shah Hamadan type. Both, of course, have
porches on the east, and both are corniced with double
corbelling.
As I was inspecting these mosques a small bright boy
joined himself to me and preceded me during my passage
of his oasis. He led me through the village and its fields
and pointed out the position of the ford over the side
stream that forms the local wealth. Five minutes further
on we came to the hamlet of Charok. A quarter of an hour
later we reached Ghahori and the end of the cultivation, and
there my young companion took leave of me. I galloped
across a plain of sand to catch up my companions, who were
far in advance. The valley rapidly narrowed and became
increasingly impressive, closely shut in as it was by lofty
slopes of rock dignified with purple shadows. The road has
recently been much improved, and some cutting of the rocks
has enabled it to be carried low down by the water, thus
avoiding the great di-tour that here used to be necessary.
One long parri alone remains which has to be cUmbed over
by a series of staircases. Beyond it the river again bends
to the east, and thus a fine vista is obtained at the angle
both eastwards and northwards. The sun was now high and
the shadows fewer and less rich, but the water, green herp,
grey there, compensated with its colour for the lost tones of
Digilizod by Google
SKAEDO TO KAEGIL. 587
shade, and the mountain-sides were likewise beautiful with
all manner of ochreous tints, besides being grand in form.
The river was no longer so dirty as earlier in the season ; a
single cup of its water was, as we found, apparently clear.
A cup of Gilgit river water used to deposit half an inch of
mud.
A quarter of an hour before noon we halted under the
chinars by the two old mosques of Kumango. Near at
hand is a newly built mosque of the Hamadan type,
which is evidently becoming fashionable hereabouts. After
a brief halt we pursued
our journey, climbing
over the usual parri,
and thus in an hour
approaching the village
of Tolti (8,450 feet)
where the parao ends.
The petty local raja's
new-built house, on
the summit of a rock,
was visible from afar.
It is fitted with old lat-
tice windows. There
is a kind of summer-
house or portico on the
roof at one end, pro- ^^^ ^""^ °^ ^'"•"•
jecting far outwards, and the beams were in place to carry
another like it. At one o'clock we halted under the chinar
of assembly before the old mosque. It is of the low central
columned type, and appears to be no longer used. A fakir
was asleep in its veranda, and over his body I entered the
building. There was a grave in the floor. As we were
unable to get a fresh supply of coolies at Tolti, because the
men were all at work in the hills, there was no choice but to
pitch camp and await their return. We lunched while the
tents were being set up, and the little fakir, foully ragged and
dirty, crouched near us on his haunches and hoped rather
Digilizod by Google
588 SEPTEMBER 16.
than asked for alms. The villagers seemed to be proud
of him, but he wholly failed to excite the respect of our
Moslem servants, who ordered him o£f ia the most infidel
manner.
It was pleasant to have an afternoon's rest in the tent,
pitched on a platform overhanging a noisy stream of clear
water, with the mountains rising up boldly beyond, and the
white clouds drifting across the blue sky. Doubtless the
pleasure was not confined to ourselves, for the Gurkhas
must have been tired after the forced marches of the
last two days. The Eaja came to call in the evening ; he
was not a bright specimen of humanity. He inquired of
the way from Kapalu to Yarkand, about which he heard
that Nazar Ali had told us. He asked to have his photo-
graph taken, but it was then too late, twilight having
already come on. I told him to call again before we started
next morning.
September IGth. — We left Raja Mohammad Ali Khan and
the chinars a Kttle before half-past seven o'clock. There
are two routes from Tolti, one along either bank of the
river, which is spanned by a rope-bridge both at Tolti and
at Khurmang, the other end of the parao. The right bank
route is much the more level and apparently the best, but of
course the ponies could not take it because of the jhulas.
We preferred to stick to our beasts.
We started up the steep hillside above Tolti, and mounted
rapidly for half an hour, thus reaching a point about
1,000 feet above the river, where we were able to mount
our ponies. During the ascent the view developed behind
us. We overlooked the whole of Tolti and its ruined forts.
The cultivation extends in a narrow strip far up the side
valley of Kusuru, where it is lost to sight between lofty cliffs
in a wild corner. As we rounded over on to the leveller ground
above, the breadth of the valley expanded, and we experi-
enced relief from the sensation of being shut in by impend-
ing cliffs. The valley, however narrow in its hidden gorge
below, was wide and airy in its upper regions. Throughout
Digilizod by Google
SKARDO TO KARGIL. 589
all the ascent we passed over nothing but beds of water-
rolled stones mixed with fallen and water-worn masses of
rock. Now we emerged on the higher hillside and began to
traverse a sort of moorland region, sparsely covered with
herbage. On our right was the hillslope, on our left the
rounded and worn-down crest of what looked like an ancient
moraine, similar to others we passed during the day. A
peppering of fresh snow covered the highest visible crests
of rock to the north. We followed the undulating upland
and the narrowing and steepening slopes beyond it for an
hour, the path being in many places nothing but a giddy
staircase. Towards the end we had to make a yet higher
ascent, and then came the zigzags downwards to the river-
side. The descent took forty minutes to the level ground
at the little village and few fields of Dochu. A saiBWparri
and short stretch of desert separated them from the larger
oasis of Gamba Do, which was crossed in twenty minutes.
We exchanged this pleasantly green and shady land for a
gorge, more savage than usual, and utterly barren along the
left bank, but the opposite side was diversified by a series of
large and prosperous villages which succeeded one another
as far as Khurmang. Near the second of them a many-
branching waterfikll, the most copious we saw in Kash-
mir, tumbles into the Indus, and at its foot the Indus
itself plunges in a single white wave over a drop of about
twenty feet, and then races down a rapid. It is a striking
scene. After more than an hour of toilsome and now
hungry advance over a wilderness of immense fallen blocks,
interspersed with sand, we came in sight of the rope-bridge
over against Khurmang. A single tree and an overhanging
rock, with a flattened area below them and sheltering
walls, invited a halt. McOormick and I awaited the others
for more than an hour. When they came up we went on
together for the remaining ten minutes of the way, to the
proper camping-ground at the end of the long rope-bridge
(8,340 feet).
It was a sandy flat amongst large fallen debris, already
Digilizod by Google
590 SEPTEMBER 17.
occupied by a detachment of Kashmiri sepoys on their way
to Skardo. EavenooBly hungry, we had to wait for a whole
hour before the tired coohes came in. We found that it
was then too late to do a second j^arao before dark, so pitched
camp and prepared for a lazy afternoon. Daring the course
of it I went out to photograph. A young Kashmiri officer,
a mere boy, came with me, and prattled by my side. He bad
his opinions about everything, knew where all the best
points of view were to be found, and gave me his ideas with
the utmost generosity and unreserve. He had all the airs
and ways of a French lad of his age. The adjutant sent
us presents of apples and vegetable-marrows, and made
such arrangements as he could for our comfort in the
vicinity of his men. The evening was enlivened by many
a bugle call. When I turned in, the camp fires were blazing
merrily and the men were picturesquely grouped about
them.
September llth. — At dawn, after a cold and cloudy night,
we found fresh snow fallen on the heights. The mantle
of mist was still heavy over the sky, and a few drops
of rain fell at intervals, and so continued during most of
the day. The soldiers were up early, preparing to move,
and the noise they made would have awakened the dead.
They started on their day's march about half-past six,
and we left our camping-ground a few minutes later. We
were able to tell the adjutant before he left that he had
an evil bit of road before him, and he retorted vrith similar
unwelcome information. At starting, things were not so
bad. The road led through a stony tract along the river's
bank. The air felt heavy, and the sky had a threatening
appearance, so that a feeling of gloom settled upon me, and
the barren precipitous cliffs that shut us io did not tend to
remove it.
There is a monotony of bare grandeur about this Indus
valley with its great mountain-sides, all of one kind, its
succession of precipices, its steep stone slopes and side
gullies, its wilderuesses of broken and fallen rocks, and the
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
SKARDO TO KABGIL. 593
booming river always sweeping along below in changeless
dignity. The fertile oases are all much alike, and so are the
parris that one after another have to be surmounted. Now
and again we came across a green pool of water left under
some cliff by the autumnal shrinkage of the river, bat such
gems of bright colour were rare in the desert reaches, where
nothing disturbs the monotony of the grey sand below, the
ocbreous granite on either hand, and the purple hills ahead
and behind.
The first half-mile of the march took us opposite the
residence of the local Eaja, boldly planted on the top of
a precipitous rock, the approach to which is guarded by
a fort and ancient walls. In former times this must have
been a strong place. Now the Eaja has built himself a
modern and commodious habitation on the flat land by the
river's bank, where, too, he has a garden and pavilions, and
no doubt enjoys life after the manner of the Orientals. The
old house on the rock's top seems to be going to ruin. It
resembles the Raja's palaces at Baltit and Nagyr, and
belongs to a bygone day of local independence.
It is not necessary to describe the succession of 2^arris,
sand-fiats, and occasional fans that were traversed in the
day's march. They were similar to those we had already
passed over, and to those that were to come. The parria
were perhaps the worst we met with. They presented pre-
cipitous faces to the river, and were mounted or traversed
by giddy paths, galleries, and staircases. The galleries
often overhung the river at great heights, and the waters far
down below could be seen through chinks between the
logs and the stones loosely placed upon them. The stair-
cases, utterly irregular, of course, were carried in spirals
round sharp comers. It was a surprise to us to observe
the skill with which the ponies deliberately ascended
or descended them. Often enough a single post or tree
stem, balanced, as it were, on its point on some crack of
rock, was the sole angle support for a complex of beams
carrying one of these galleries or staircases round some
Digilizod by Google
594 SEPTEMBEB 17.
awkward comer. It sometimes made me uncomfortable to
look back at the places we had come over, though the actual
passage was generally matter-of-fact enough.
The ponies were good for their work. They seemed to
know the road well, and always halted where they were
accustomed to have their riders dismount. They went
jauntily down
staircases that it
seems incredible
they should be
able to pass at
all, and one of
them literally
trotted down
with the line of
his back appa-
rently vertical.
They are not
speedy beasts,
and can with dif-
ficulty be urged
into a trot, but
on anything like
a flat plain of
sand the least
suggestion will
set them off into
LOOKING UP THE INIILS VALLEY BETWEEN OIDIAOHDO SUddeU gallopS
AND TARKUTTI. ; ■ 1 . v
— a tnck they
have acquired from being constantly ridden for polo.
After passing the little fan of Banduko, the larger oasis
of Bagicha, and laboriously terraced Gidiaghdo, we made
a long ascent in order to pass above a wall of cliff. At the
highest point of the ascent is Shiriting village at the mouth
of the Torgun Lumba. The Shiriting plateau is covered
with a deep alluvial deposit, and the slopes up to it consist
of water-rolled stones, washed out probably from beds of the
Digilizod by Google
SKARDO TO KARGIL. 595
same deposit, which formerly extended widely over this
area, but have in process of time been degraded and carried
off by the river. Such is apparently the origin of the many
slopes (1,000 feet long or more) covered and embedded with
rounded water-rolled and water-worn stones of all sizes
which are so common hereabouts. The Hunza valley in
its present condition shows the intermediate stage through
which the Indus valley has passed. The Hunza river flows
down a gorge between alluvial clifl^s. The ancient alluvial
cliffs of the Indus practically exist no more. It is only here
and there at high altitudes that a fragment of them remains.
A long descent and another ^;ar/'i intervene between Shi-
riting and Tarkutti, where the march ends. We came to the
camping-ground (8,640 feet) shortly before noon, and hoped
to aecompUsh another parao after a halt for lunch ; but, on
inquiry, we found that the soldiers had swept the country-
side clear of coolies and ponies, and when our men came in
they were tired, and had evidently done as much as could
be expected of them in a day. There was nothing for it,
therefore, but to pitch the tents and hope to make better
progress on the morrow.
In the afternoon, as usual, we slept heavily. There seemed
to be no end to our capacity for sleep since reaching lower
levels and heavier air. A compulsion appeared to be upon
us which there was no resisting. But for sleep, these long
afternoons of enforced inaction would be very dull. There
was none of the work on hand which used to make the
days pass quickly and to fill every hour with its duty.
I began to experience the tedium which must hang so
heavily over the mere sporting traveller.
A plague of midges made our sojourn uncomfortable.
We met with them the previous day for the first time.
They began to trouble us as soon as it was daylight, and
continued their fiendish attentions, especially to eyes and
ears, till the sun set. At night they fortunately slept.
September 18th. — We started, shortly after seven o'clock,
for what proved to be the worst of all the marches up the
Digilizod by Google
596 SEPTEMBER 18.
Indus valley. It began by ascending zigzags for twenty
minutes to the upper level of the deep alluvial or mud-
avalanche deposit which hangs on the hillside. Masses
of similar deposit are frequent hereabouts, worn down to
different levels ; over these wandered our dedous and
uneven way. It was not that there were parris to be
surmounted, the whole thing was parri, and the path was
often abominable,
too steep for the
weak grass -fed
ponies to carry ns
up, and too steep
for us to ride down.
There were gal-
leries, even more
kety than usual, to
got round, and in
ill the disagreeables
ndus path were con-
into the day's ex-
ift Bultrj' air hung
us. The sky was
vith clouds. Bain-
ils. There was fresh
Dwn on all the hills.
^„ „ ^ , the distances were
ABo\-E dyed with the richest purples of all
TARKUTTi. varieties of tone. After two hours' tra-
velling we were again not far above the river's bank, amongst
the trees and barren fields of Mangsang, which, like so many
other plaeoa in the valley, suffered this year from the drying
up of the stream that is its life. Mangsang is a collection
of miserable hovels, and does not appear to be properly
a village. It is an appendage to one of the neighbouring
villages, and is only temporarily inhabited when the fields
are being cultivated.
Digilizod by Google
SKABDO TO KABGIL. 597
From Maagsang the road steadily rises to pass at a high
level roimd the angle into the Dras valley. It commands
some splendid views both up and down stream. Immediately
beneath this great j^at'''^ there is a ridge of rock, curiously
like a monstrous crocodile, rising in the midst o£ the valley.
It separates the present from an ancient channel of the
Indus, and lies below the large village of llaroll on the
right bank. Not far above the Crocodile's snout the Dras
and Indus rivers meet. When we passed, the Dras was
bringing down the larger volume of water. The Indus was
in colour a muddy grey, the Dras river a delightful blue ;
just at the angle of junction, there were two sapphire pools,
lurking under a precipice. Not far off were similar pools
formed by the Indus, but they were bluish green, and not
comparable to the others for richness of colour.
An hour and a half from Mangsang we turned the comer
and began journeying up the Dras valley's left bank. The
valley opened before us and was of little beauty. Its
granite sides are hke those of the Indus valley, only less
bold in slope, and the mountains on either hand and ahead
are less noble in form. A glance backward, up the main
trench amongst the hills, manifested the superiority of the
scenery we were leaving ; but it was consoling to ob-
serve that there were fewer parris ahead, whilst they in-
creased in number and rapidity of succession in the upper
reach of the Indus. An undulating path, along which we
could ride in fair comfort, with only a few short staircases
here and there, led in an hour to the large fan of Olding-
thang, where there is a mud-built serai (9,270 feet), like those
at Tarkutti and Khurmang. As usual there were no coolies
in readiness, all the men being up with their goats in the
mountains, so we had to arrange for camping. It was well
we did so, for not only were our men two hours behind,
but a heavy storm of rain broke soon after our arrival, and
a continuous downpour set in, so that, when our tents
came, their shelter was welcome. The villagers brought
out frame bedsteads, laced with goat-hair cords, for us to sit
Digilizod by Google
598 SEPTEMBER 19.
upon, and we borrowed them for the night. Such unwonted
luxury reconciled us to the enforced dUatoriuess of our
journey, but we continued to hope, each day, that the next
would see more rapid progress.
September 19M. — The previous day's rain-storm had the
effect of clearing the sky for the first time during many
days. When the morning broke there was sunlight on the
hills, and, up the valley, we caught a gUmpse of a snowy
peak, bright in the morning light. Clouds soon settled
down upon it, but they never covered the sky, and only
served by their whiteness to emphasise the blue. We
sent as many coolies off early as we could, and ourselves
started shortly before seven. A rough path led us down to
the river, where the granite wilderness aud parris began
again ; but they were not bad parris, nor high, and we
knew that they were soon destined to come to an end, so
endured them patiently. With the new lot of ponies it was
hard to be patient. They were slow, stubborn, and of
uneven gait — the worst we had yet struck. The saddles
in this country are always old. About a hundred years ago
there must have been a great saddle-making or importation,
but since then the supply seems to have absolutely ceased.
All saddles, therefore, are in various stages of decay, and
manifest their anatomy more or less completely. First the
beast's back is covered with a much folded namdah, or
blanket, which shifts its position willingly, and often slips
out unexpectedly from under the saddle. The saddle itself
is formed of two pieces of wood running longitudinally and
sloping to fit the beast's back. One sits on the edges of
these, when the stuflBng is (as frequently) a thing of the
past. Two transverse members fonn the pommel and the
curved hinder part of the seat. In the absence of stuffing,
there is more or less of blanket tied over the whole. The
stirrup-cords are short and will not lengthen. For bridle
any odd bit of crooked iron does, with a couple of goat-hair
strings for reins. The crupper always breaks, as it has often
broken before. The wood of the saddle sometimes shows
Digilizod by Google
SKARDO TO KARGIL. 599
signs of departed glory, in remnants of inlaid ivory. My
pony this day had the worst saddle we saw. I chose it in
order to avoid hearing the complaints of whoever might be
on it. The animal could only walk, and that slowly. If
one dug one's heels into his sides, after the manner of
the country, his mouth flopped open and he made a noise
like a burst bun-bag. Our progress therefore was not
swift.
A little more than two hours brought us to the end of the
■parris and opposite the steep-rising village of Bilargo. The
sun was just coming over the hill and sending its first rays
amongst the trees that thickly dot the village. Everything
looked fresh and bright ; the waters of the rapids ghnted in
the sunshine ; birds were flying about, and a quantity of
butterflies, yellow, white, and brown, added to the anima-
tion of the scene. Specially notable were numbers of a large
brown butterfly with a white edge {Hipparclda parisatis).
It floats like a bird through the air on wings steadily
outstretched, instead of fluttering in the usual indeterminate
manner of its tribe.
An hour and a half further on we came to G-angan, a
mean village, with Brolmo opposite to it. The sun was
beginning to make its power felt, and only the photographer
of the party wholly approved of its presence. It shone
boldly down the hillside, picking out all the great stones in
sharply defined hght and shadow, and it heated the gentle
slopes of sand and rubble across which our track lay, and
made convection currents dance over them.
We were on the look-out for the junction of the Dras
and Sum rivers, which we knew must be near at hand.
A small bend in the valley presently permitted us to look
up the Suru towards Kargil, and in an hour and a quarter
from Gangan we came to the corner above the junction.
The Suru was rather muddy, the Dras gloriously clear and
blue ; for the rest of the day, as we travelled along its
banks, this colonr was a continual delight to us. In deeps
and shallows it put on every variety of tone, and, where the
Digilizod by Google
600 SEPTEMBER 19.
brown water-worn granite of the banks was thinly covered,
a purple margin framed the sapphire tide.
A trifle more than half an hour beyond the comer was
BtLABOo : LOOKiNa up the i
Hardas, the end of the march. Our tiffin coolie followed
closely, and we were soon settled down for lunch in the
midge-infested shadow of the village bagh. The local band
was turned out in our honour, and made such music as it
Digilizod by Google
SKABDO TO KARGIL. 601
could, whilst the villagers danced one by one, and the rest
clapped their hands in time.
At the end of an hour the new coolies were loaded, the
old ones paid off, and we were ready to start. Just across
the river we saw the Leh road which we were to follow, and
we thought that
the bridge
near at h;
Great was
disappointmi
therefore,
find that
must ascend
Dras river
more than
hour to
bridge, and t
return agai
similar diste
along the
opposite
bank. The
new ponies
were little
better
than the old
they weri
change. We
a number
people on tueir ^,^3 ,„„<,g ^„,.^ ^^^^^^
way to Skardo,
some coming from Yarkand, most from Kashmir. The
Yarkandis were a pleasant-looking lot, quaintly dressed,
and armed with polite salutations. At three o'clock we
descended to the bridge, a frail-looking wooden cantilever,
of the kind common in Switzerland, and most mountain
countries, but without any sides or balustrades at all. It
bent and wobbled as we walked over it.
Digilizod by Google
602 SEPTEMBER 19.
We had now finally shaken the dust of Baltistan from our
feet, and were upon the road between Leh and Srinagar —
one of the chief Central Asian highways. That it is a better
made and better cared-for road than the horrible Skardo
track was immediately apparent. The needful zigzags
opposite Hardas and over the low rock parri at the angle
of the rivers are well gradiented and built. As we approached
the meeting of the waters the sun went behind the hills ; a
cool air came along from the south, and a delicious shadow
from the west. I halted alone at the comer foraquarter of an
hour to listen to the water, babbling over the shallows, and
Digilizod by Google
SKARDO TO KABGIL. 603
to enjoy the views, which, without being grand, were fine
enough (as always in these parts) if one was in the mood
for seeing the fineness in them. A dak boy came by with
his important burden. He was followed by a ragged, light-
hearted native, rushing along with his limbs wide scattered
at all angles, and brandishing a club, wherewith he played
imaginary polo with the stones in his path.
"When I resumed my way the others were far ahead, but
my pony took the strange fancy to canter, so we caught up
with them quickly, and found them resting under a big
stone from the top of which Pristi had just fallen on to
McGormick's head, to the discomfiture of both. All the
way along the opposite or right bank of the Sum river
cultivation extended, broader or narrower, almost to the
river's mouth. It shrunk to a slender green thread round
a corner, and then broadened out into the large area of
Kargil. Round Kargil are the immense remains of lacus-
trine terraces, jutting like vast railway embankments into
the valley. The level surfaces of some of these on the left
bank of the Suru are likewise green with cultivation.
It was almost six o'clock when we reached Kargil bridge,
and the pink evening lights and purple shadows on the
hills, with the grey slopes for foreground, made a lovely
picture. Upwards the valley opens out, and a wide spread-
ing mountain of moderate altitude fills the distance with its
graceful form. Instead of crossing the bridge to the fort,
we mounted a short slope, past the two shops of the village,
and 80 came to the traveller's serai (9,160 feet), where an
of&cial greeted us. It is the best native serai we had seen,
a portico within it having even some slight architectural
merit. We chose a terrace outside for our tents, and when
that had been swept and wood collected for a fire, the coolies
surprised us by coming in. A busy evening closed the busy
day, for we had luggage to leave behind, consisting of such
things as could be dispensed with for the next fortnight.*
'^ The distance from Kargil to Leh ia 117 miles, divided into seven
inarches.
Digilizod by Google
CHAPTER XXVII.
KARGIL TO LEH.
September 20th. — Our moriiiiig start was delayed by baggage
and pony difBculties. We had four packages to prepare
for leaving behind. Henceforward the baggage was to be
earned by ponies, and the loads had to be rearranged.
Ultimately we and our things were successfully started.
Descending the hill and crossing the bridge we were finally
under way by eight o'clock. It was a delightful morning,
the air fresh, the sun bright, all things attractive and
enjoyable. For the third day running we entered a new
valley ; this time it was that of the Wakkha river, a small
tributary of the Suru, Everything about us seemed new.
The valley was wide and open, the scenery of a novel
Digilizod by Google
KARGIL TO LEH. 605
character, and the folk evidently not Baltis. They are, in
fact, Islamite Ladakis, Kargil being the capital of a Bmall
state of such, called Pmik.
The wide valley, in which the Sum and Wakkha join, is
piled to a great height with lacustrine and alluvial debris,
and broad high shelves of mud-avalanche deposit are to be
seen a long way up the Wakkha. Immediately after cross-
ing the Suru, we had to mount a long slope to the level
upper surface of the alluvium. As we were mounting, in
the shadow of the slope, a caravan of mules laden with
Yarkand merchandise came down towards us. The sun
shining behind them jnst caught the cloud of dust they
raised, and surrounded them with a halo of glory. The gold
of Central Asia seemed to be on the way.
When we reached the top of the ascent, a broad rolhng
country lay before us, to the foot of finely coloured moun-
tains of noble form on either hand, and narrowing ahead
into the valley we were about to ascend. The Nikpal
hill, whose beauty so attracted us the previous even-
ing, was a fine object in the southern landscape. Its
many ridges spread grandly down to the plain, and all its
lower slopes are rounded with ancient debris, and lack
the nakedness of the mountains of Baltistan. The soft
modelling of these lower slopes, and of the similar skirts of
other mountains around, gave a finish and grace to the view
of a kind common in most mountain regions, but the like of
which we had not seen for many months. Moreover all
the slopes had the appearance of being covered with at least
a thin garment of vegetation, and there was a carpet of
scanty grass on the rolling moorland traversed by the
path. Every blade was burnt brown or yellow by the
summer heats ; but to our unaccustomed eyes the eflFeet
was nevertheless luxurious. We seemed to have left the
desert valleys behind, and to have arrived in a land of
plenty — an impression exactly the contrary to that usually
received by travellers, who come hither for the most part
from Kashmir. The light lay broad upon the ground ;
Digilizod by Google
«06 SEPTEMBER 20.
there was a fine low mountain outline ahead ; the road was
excellent, and the ponies and saddles fair. We trotte«l
along in admirable spirits, delighting in life. We seemed
to be starting on a journey instead of approaching its close.
All Asia lay before us. The people we naet had, some of
them, come from that Yarkand of which we were always
hearing so much. We were at all events on the road to it.
The highway of Central Asia was under our feet.
As we advanced, the snow-mountains seen from Oldinj,'-
tang came for a time into view to the south. We
regarded them with but a languid interest. They are
western outliers of the Nun Kun peaks, in the neighbour-
hood of the Bhut Kol pass. After a pleasant ride over the
open, there was a descent from the plateau to the banks of
the Wakkha, where the river has worn a large basin, uow
filled with the fertile fields of Tarumsa. The windin;,'
stream, as we looked down upon it, was like a ribbon of
sunlight passing amongst the shaded fields. On the out-
skirts of the village were a group of graves. Over each
was carefuUy built the miniature semblance of a house,
with door, windows, and hole in the corniced roof. Similar
graves were on the outskirts of all the other villages passed
during the day. They reminded me of ancient tombs in
Cilicia and Lycia.
A short gorge separates Tarumsa from Paskiyun, which
occupies a similar open basin amongst the low alluvial
hills. The stream is a babbling brook of clear water,
rushing over shallows and amongst great boulders of hard
rock, which may have been transported by ancient glaciers,
but can eq[ually well have been washed out of the alluvium
into which they may have fallen from cliffs now worn
fiirfcher back. Traces of glacier action we did not see. If
any exist they are buried out of sight by vast recent forma-
tions. All along the banks of the stream there was more or
less of wild vegetation, and, as the oontour of the valley
lends itself to canal-making, the artificially irrigated areas
closely follow one another. We had seen no valley com-
Digilizod by Google
KABGIL TO LES. 607
parable to this for natural fertility since crossing the
Himalayas from Gurais. A second and larger caravan
passed by, and presently, at noon, we came to the village
of Losun. We found a charming little hagh by the side
of the stream, and determined to halt and lunch in its
shade. The pack-beasts kept our hunger waiting for an
hour.
When we started off again, at twenty minutes to two,
the sky was clouded over. A long gorge had to be traversed,
whose barrenness was diversified by frequent patches of
green and many willows, with leaves turning into gold,
growing by the water's edge. The road was everywhere
admirable. An hour and a half of quick travelling brought
us to a dak wala's hut, in front of which was a mani, a wall-
sided, oblong mound, on the top of which were strewn many
stones inscribed with the universal Buddhist formula, Om
mani padmi hum. The traveller who passes by these,
leaving them on his right hand, gets the benefit of the
whole lot of engraved prayers. This was the first clear
evidence I perceived of our arrival at the Buddhist land.*
''• It is more accarate to speak of the religion of Tibet as Lamaism thau
Buddhism. About Lamaism we are only just beginning to know some-
thing. The following letter from Dr. Waddell is quoted from the Academy
of January 13, 1894 :—
" My researches on Lamaism, conducted among Lamas of Central
Tibet, present many of the leading features of that religion ia a new light.
" No one seems to have realised that Lfimaism is essentially a, demoD-
olatry, and only covered imperfectly with a thin varnish of Buddhist
symbolism, through which its monstrous nature everywhere reveals itself.
Even the purest of all the Lamaist sects, the Gelug-pa, are thorough-
paced devil- worshippers, and value Buddhism (the Mahfi,y£na) mainly
because it gives them the whip-hand over the host of malignant demons
which everywhere vex humanity with disease and disaster, and whose
ferocity weighs like a nightmare on all. Even the purest Gelug-pa
L&ma, on awaking every morning, and before going outside his room,
must first of all assume the spiritual guise of his fearful gnardian, the
king of the demons named Viijrabhairava or Sambhara. The Lama, by
uttering certain mantras, culled from the legendary sayings of Buddha
in the Mahfty&na Tantras, coerces this demou-king into investing the
Digilizod by Google
6Q8 SEPTEMBER 20.
We forded the river once or twice and reached the end of
the gorge.
The opening valley displayed undulating hills ahead, one
of which consisted of an extraordinary series of colonred
rocks — bright yellow, red, purple, green, and blue. The
disintegration of these striped the hillside with the like
gay colouring, and where the debris of different sorts mingled
together all manner of intermediate tones were produced.
Opposite this Joseph's coat of a hill opens the short Mul-
bekh valley, and in the mouth of it are the fields and
jungles of Shargol. On rounding the comer and ap-
proaching the village we were struck by the gaUy-painted
chortens* above the cluster of houses. On coining near them
we noticed grinning, straddled human figiues in coloured
relief on their lower storeys, and yellow prancing animals
above. The tops were all whitewashed — gaudy and ugly
erections, but in form not bad. In the face of a precipice
above the town were the windows and painted brick facade
of a small rock-cut goitpa.^ In other respects the village
was like those previously passed, though the honses were
better built than in Baltistan.
It was a quarter to four when we reached the serai, a
mad-built collection of chambers about a courtyard. Along
one side is a veranda facing outwards, with a series of
rooms opening off it. We were once more in the lighter
liHina's person viMh his own dreadful guise. Tbufl, when the Ltoia
emei^ee from his room in the morning, and wherever he travels during
the day, he presents spiritually the appearance of the demon-king. And
the smaller demons, his would-be assailants, ever on the outlook to harm
humanity, are deluded into the belief that the Lftma is indeed their own
vindictive king, from whose dread presence they flee, and leave the lAma
unharmed. The bulk of the Lamaist cults comprise mnch deep-iooted
demon-worship and dark sorcerj-."
~ The proper spelling is Mchodrten. Ladak should be spelt Lmiurags,
and Leh Slel. I may also mention that Einchinjanga should he written
Kalzodchonga, and means the Five Great Storehouses of Snow. I owe
these facts to Dr. Weber, of the Moravian Mission at Leh.
t A gonpa or lamasery is a Buddhist monastery, the abode of one or
more lamas.
Digilizod by Google
KABGIL TO LEE. 609
and cooler air of the higher altitudes, and Edelweiss growing
about the tent platform welcomed us back. The height
of Shargol is
10,600 feet. In
the evening
Captain Myers
came in to camp
and brought
very welcome
news. We eat
up talking till
ten o'clock,
and he left me
a supply of
papers and the
new Badmin-
ton volume on
" Mountaineer-
ing." He was
hastening to
Kashmir at the
rate of two
marches a day —
hard work with
only the local
ponies.
September
2 Isi.— Bidding
good - bye to
Myers, who
went off a little
before us, we
left the serai at
I Ij. , CHORTBNS IT SHABOOL.
tiaii-past seven.
Wo crossed the little brook and returned down its right
bank into the Wakkha valley again. The morning was
dull, the sky being completely overcast. Our way lay in
40
Digilizod by Google
610 SEPTEMBER 21.
the open gently inclined valley near the edge of some low
jungle that borders the river. Beds of recent conglomerate
jut out at the foot of the hills on either side. The slopes
on the right bank are undulating ; bat on the left fine crags
stand up against the sky. Many of the rocks are brlUiantly
coloured, blue or red, and their debris preserve the same
tints and manifest them afar. This remarkable coloaring
may be described as charaoteristic of all the region between
Eargil and Leh. We had not gone far before we descried,
upon our left, a gonpa perched on the summit of a steep
rock. Such positions are constantly occupied in this
manner, and the reason must be sought in superstition,
tradition, or mere aesthetic preference, as much as in a
desire for safety from attack.
On coming nearer the foot of the rocky prominence, we
were struck by the number of cliortens ranged along its base
near the roadside. All are built on the same model, but
most are in an advanced state of decay. In the base
of one I found fragments of broken pottery and two or
three model chortem in hard clay. The Mhes of the
dead are mixed with the clay in them. I brought some of
these home, and they are now in the British Museum.
A little further on we noticed a natural tower of rock,
standing out at the foot of the hill. The road goes between
it and the slope. There were rags on the top fluttering
from sticks, and looking for all the world like clothed
human beings. As we came nearer I saw that there was
a colossal figure of Chamba,* carved in high rehef on the
roadward face of the rook, and I soon recognised it as
the famous figure which has been so frequently and diver-
gently depicted in books of travel. It is a feeble work of
art, and, from the condition of its surface, I should not
judge it to be very old. The lower part of the legs and
feet are hidden by a little temple built beneath it. I
entered this shabby shrine and found that the feet were
badly carved, the right being turned out and toeless, the
• Chamba, is the Sanscrit Maitreya, the coming Baddha.
Digilizod by Google
KARGIL TO LES. 611
left pointing straight forward. There are also five or six
little figures in low relief near or between the feet, but they
are so rough that it is difficalt to discover any identifying
features about them. The figure, or rock, or place, is calle^
Mulbei Chamba. Zurbriggen busied himself in trying to
find a practicable route to the top of the rock, but could
not succeed. In the neighbourhood there are many ruined
houses, and the place has evidently possessed attractions
for religious people through a series of years, but now seems
to be less prosperous.
After about two hours' slow riding we turned to the left,
and quitted the Wakkha valley for the short side branch
that leads at first north and then east to the Namika La.
It is a barren glen, for all the world like some Arabian or
North African wady. Its sides are rounded slopes and ribs
of sandy debris, and its bottom is occupied by the dry bed
of an intermittent torrent. The ground was hard baked and
smooth. As we entered, the sun shone on the sandy
slopes, but a dark purple pall lay over some rugged rocks
behind, producing a noticeable effect. I separated from
my companions, and the windings of the narrowing valley
soon isolated me from the world of men. Desert to right
and left, desert above and below. A little lizard hurrying
across the faintly marked track was the only living
thing in sight. A jackal's bark came faintly to me from
some hidden comer. Ahead a remarkable tower or blade
of rock stood up out of the rounded slopes against the
sky. There was a stone-man on its top. The valley now
narrowed below into a mere trench between the slopes, and
went winding up towards this rock, which, as a matter of
fact, stands immediately over the pass (south of it), and
forms an admirable landmark. My pony climbed on with
his monotonous and slow pace ; the scenery was always
the same. The time seemed long. At last the path
doubled back, and the view rapidly developed. I saw the
crested ridges, that look down on our previous day's march,
ranged against the sky and enriched with such a depth of
Digilizod by Google
612 SEPTEMBER 21.
purple colour as I shall probably never again behold. A
few steps more and at twenty minates to twelve I was on
the Namikii pass (13,000 feet) and an almost exactly similar,
though somewhat wider, view to the eastward spread itself
before me. The others soon came up.
There were rounded debris ridges in front and porple
crests behind, with a sprinkling of fresh snow on a few of
the more distant and lofty heights. A cold wind that was
blowing did not invite us to linger, so, after a quarter of an
hour, we started on our downward course. We descended
in the most dilatory fashion, lootdug out for water and a
place for lunch. The man with us woald not allow that
either the first or the second supplies of water met
with was good, but the third he approved, and by it we
settled down to await the coming of the baggage. After
lanch we descended the rest of the very tame valley to
its junction with the Kharbu. At the angle we were
interested by the glimpse down stream to the north, where
the distant mountain crests were picturesque, and still
more so the jagged rocks boldly grouped in the gorge below.
We turned our backs on this view and proceeded up a wide
valley, with here and there some ragged crest of ancient
rock jutting forth out of the rounded d^'-hiis slopes of its
sides. Plenty of green vegetation was in sight, chiefly
along the river banks ; ahead there were the peaks powdered
with snow that greeted us from the col. A dark storm
swept finely over them, and for a while blotted them out.
The march was long, and grew to be tedious. Harkbir
created a momentary diversion by falling off a pony he
was riding at full gallop. He explained that that was part
of the fun. As we approached the village of Kharbu, a
calf and a goat joined themselves to our company, and
refused to be frightened away. At last the dirty serai
(11,990 feet) came in sight. The village is situated at the
foot of a much broken hill, faced with many precipices.
It also has been a sacred place, for there are ruined gonpas on
all its most lofty and inaccessible protuberances. Another
Digilizod by Google
KABGIL TO LEH. 613
gonpa, mined too, is on a similar but smaller rock peak a
little lower down on the opposite side of the valley. The
neighbourhood seems to have been very pious. There are
plenty of chortem, one new and well built ; the series
of mani heaps is endless, and they are being increased
both in number and length. The baggage arrived almost
as soon as we did. At four o'clock we were able to pitch
our tents on the inhospitably exposed platform before the
serai. The days of our picturesque camps seemed to be
ended. There was no longer any choice ; a gaunt and well-
used level camping-ground, without grass or, usually, trees,
awaited us at the close of every march.
September ^Ind. — The morning was disagreeably raw
and the sky thickly covered with clouds. When we started
at seven o'clock we were all blowing on our Augers to keep
them alive. Our feet soon chilled down to the same dis-
comfort, so that the first hour or so of the ride was far
hrom agreeable. The scenery continued in all respects
similar to what we had passed through on the previous
day. Here and there was a bold precipice, a fine bit of
rock grouping, or a sharp serrated crest jutting forth from
the rounded debris ridges or slopes, which occupied the
major portion of the landscape, and as the day advanced
were sometimes prettily dappled over with sunlight and
cloud-shadows. Flocks of sheep and goats were numerous
and large ; they were being led forth to pasture on the wide
stretches of scant herbage which are to be found in the
dells and along the foot of the hills. The existence of these
flocks is enough to prove that, however barren travellers from
Kashmir may think this district, it is by no means desert,
in the sense that the Indus valley is desert. A traveller's
impressions depend almost as much upon the country he
has come from as upon that through which his journey lies.
After going slowly for two hours we passed the mouth
of a side valley leading up towards the north. Here the
village of Hinaskut attracted attention for a moment by
the boldness of its situation on the summit of a rock in
Digilizod by Google
614 SEPTEMBER 22.
the jaws of the bare ravine. The ascent towards the Fotu
La may be said to have commenced hereabonts. It was
gradual and rather dull, leading always amongst undulating
debris slopes and by a dry water channel. There were some
fine rocks ahead (a mass that looks down upon the pass),
and near them opened to the southward a narrow and
striking gorge. Its sides are broken up by many bladelike
ribs of steep rock, over which the sunlight was kind enough
to play for our delectation. Behind them is a snow-clad
mountain called the Kangi Station ; its proximity 'wa.s
agreeable to us, though it is in all respects a third-rate
peak. After ascending a few easy slopes and passing over
a bend of the hill the pass came in sight. It looked
deceptively far away, after the manner of hills and other
objects in these regions, all of which our eyes, accustomed
of late to such vastness of scale, estimated at about double
their true size. By twenty minutes past eleven we were
standing on the Fotu pass by the side of the chorfen that
picturesquely marks the highest point (13,450 feet).
The views in both directions were similar, and both were
fine, though not specially extensive. On each side a bare
undulating valley, of an ochreous colour, led away to a
distance of purple hills. Eastwards there was a low snowy
peak or two to be seen, but the forms of the crests against
the western horizon were finer. After a halt of half an
hour we continued our journey, and presently came to a
tiny rill, apparently insuflBcient in volume to be used
directly for irrigating purposes. The ingenious natives
therefore built a small pond for it, and the supply, thus
stored up, can be flushed over the neighbouring cultivated
patch at the needful hours and seasons. This was the first
instance of water storage we saw in Kashmir. We halted
for lunch by the brook, and were delighted to find some
springy turf close at hand for our alfresco conch. From the
meadow the way led down the bare valley and then along
its alluvial gorge, between notable walls of earth-pyramids.
It was a monotonous ride With little to attract the eye.
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
Diohzcdb, Google
KABGIL TO LEH. 617
On turning a corner, in no way different from so many
that had preceded it, Rtrange Lama-yuru biu'st upon us
"with a suddenness that was startling. We dismounted
beside a chorten and mani mound to survey the novel
scene. The valley sides were steeper, bat as barren as
before ; the fields in the basin below were already despoiled
of their harvest and prepared for the winter, so that there
was almost nothing green about them. Beyond the basin,
in the valley's hollow, rose the extraordinary town on the
top of a conglomerate plateau, whose precipitous face was
seamed by gullies and, where the upper surface was not
protected, cut into earth-pyramids. For a moment I was
reminded of Assisi, I know not why. There was, perhaps,
something about the grooved precipice semblaut of the
buttressed substructure of the Church of St. Francis, and
the bare hills hereabouts are not unlike those of the stony
country that Francis loved. For background, to set off
the gonpa on the hill, weve the same iine mountains we
beheld from the pass, but now swept over by purple
rain-besoms that had a solemn look amongst the purple
crags. A light yellow sand deposit against the grey hill
on one side, and a blood-red stain of rock and its debris on
the other, were by their unexpectedness well in keeping with
the general peculiarity of the scene. What added to the
effectiveness and sentiment of the view was the obviously
sacred character of the place. Chortens in great number,
ranged in lines, one row behind another, and long ma?ii
mounds were to be seen on every side. There were few
people in the fields, but just below me a man was driving
cattle round and round a threshing-fioor, and as he drove
he kept singing aloud : —
sa
^^^^^
The notes came from his chest, and were carried afar
over the land. It was pleasant to hear such sounds and
intervals once more, for one gets tired of the nasal whining
Digilizod by Google
618 SEPTEMBEB 23.
of the MoBlem folk. I halted to Burrey the scene, as]
then slowly wended my way amongst many chortens down
to the camping-ground (11,760 feet). The tents were
pitched and the people were assembled in some numbers.
regarding them with interest. A friendly enough folk I
found them, though nointeresting ; but the coloured cap>
of some and the bright skirts of a few of the womeu
enlivened the grey fields, and for that I was thankful.
After we were settled in camp, and the wind had begnn
to blow and the rain to pour, a man came down from the
village with a small four-stringed instrument with a bladder
belly. He played it with a sort of fiddle bow, and sang
to it, while his small boy danced. On the head of the
instrument was fixed a little popinjay, once gay, but now
gone to tatters; bis wings, head, and tail worked with a
string after the manner of the toy birds sold for a penny
in London streets. The man held the string with his bow
baud and made the puppet wobble to his masic. Bjs song
was the constant iteration of a brief refrain to which he
fitted many words. The performance was much appreciated
by a crowd that gathered round. The evening was glorionsly
fine and the sunset magnificent. A roof of golden cloud
spread over our heads, and the clearest blue sky imaginable
intervened between it and the rock ridge, created with
needle points, that closed in the horizon.
Septeviber 23rd. — The fine night was followed by a
fine morning. As we left the village at eight o'clock
I noticed inscriptions, doubtless purely religions, on
several rocks by the wayside. The whole Lama-ynru
valley was at one time filled deep with mud-avalanche
deposits of sand and water-roUed pebbles of all sizes. It
was not a lake-basin, for the valley below the open area
shows the same formation, reaching up to the same altitude,
and it is likewise found in the Indus valley where the side
valley joins it. The fact seems to have been that all the
valleys of this region were at one time in the condition
exemplified by the Pamirs, filled to a depth of from one
Digi-izcd by Google
KAEGIL TO LEE. 619
to two thousand feet with mad-avalanche debris. In the
present geological period this deposit has been largely
washed out again, but the depth of the existing valleys is
not much below that of the old ones in which the deposit
was laid. The recent deposits are now in the form of
conglomerates and sandstones. Some of the lowest con-
glomerates are extremely hard, and patches of them,
different in colour from the bulk, look as though they might
be fragments of some yet earlier stage of this filling and
washing out operation. A short distance below Lama-yuru
LOOKINO DOWK THE VALLEY FEOM LAMA-y«EU.
the hillside to the south-east is covered with the ruins of the
alluvium. They are cut up and rounded off by a maze of
little valleys absolutely bare of all trace of vegetation, and
of a uniform yellow colour, presenting the most extra-
ordinary aspect. The formation looks like a quantity of
honey or other thick fluid, arrested whilst slowly crawUng
down the slope.
After passing through the fields of Lama-yuru and
pausing to take a last look at the striking scene, we entered
a gorge cut in the alluvium and came to where the under-
lying rock was exposed and the stream flowing in a bed of
Digilizod by Google
620 SEPTEMBER 23.
it. Lumps of the alluvium, converted into wonderful earth-
pyramids, hung here and there upon the slopes, and a
solitary pillar stood close by the path — a landmark that
none can feil to notice. The gorge presented many fine
points of view, and looked specially well with its trough in
shadow and the
morning sun-
light grazing the
edges of the
many-ribbed
slopes and cliff's
that shut it in.
The Lama-
yaru valley is
only a branch of
the considerable
Tarchik group of
valleys that
drain the snowy
mountain ridge
dividing them ou
the south fironi
Zaskar. After
about an hour's
march we
reached the
junction of our
little brook with
this more
considerable
ooKQE BELOW LAUA-YURu. stream, which
also is small,
considering the area and elevation of the region it drains.
The mountains on either hand became bigger, but at the
same time the valley bottom was broader. Yet a little
lower down and the sides turned into slopes of debris and
lost the grand character of the gorge we had come through.
Digilizcd by Google
EABGIL TO LEE. 621
At the little plantation of Hangru another small side
valley enters from the south-east. We reached it in about
two hours from Lama-yuru, and, as there was a shady rock
near the roadside and the dak wala's hut, we made a short
halt beneath it. The diik wala brought an offering of
ripe apples in a graceful, spoon-shaped wicker basket. At
LOOKIKO UP TBB IKDD3 FBOH THE CORNER.
every village hereabouts they offered apples, and some-
times most excellent they were, large, of a fine red coloor,
and deliciously sweet. The descent of the remainder of
the valley took less than half an hour and was without
incident. Shortly before noon we were by the banks of the
Indus once more. The angle of the road is marked by a
Digilizod by Google
622 SEPTEMBEB 23.
chorten and a lato, the latter being a sort of square box
or tiny chamber, with a hole opening into it. Harkbir
investigated its contents, and found a broken stone with
a painted and engraved Buddha upon it. The Indus was
narrower thaa where we left it, and in colour green like the
sea.
We turned up the left bank and passed over a flat and
stony desert to where the way dipped down to the wooden,
Indus bridge. This spans a narrow gorge. On the far
side it is protected by a picturesque fort, in which a few
guards reside. They turned out to meet us and lead our
horses over. There are many inscriptions on stones near
the bridge, besides outline representations of chortens, in
some cases rather elaborately wrought and of considerable
size. Some of the inscriptions are clearly old, the great
stones having since been broken or built into the walls of
the fort, but none of them are at all comparable for
antiquity of appearance (manifested in the difference be-
tween the colour of the rock surface cut and uncut) with
the ibex figures we saw the first march firom Skatdo. Half
an hour beyond the bridge we came to the village of Khalsi
and halted for lunch. Bahim AH served it with a prompti-
tude which reminded Zurbriggen of a cook he heard about
in Vevey, who takes a live chicken and in five minutes
produces it duly plucked and cooked!
When we proceeded upon our upward way the valley
displayed itself before us in great beauty. It is a barren
desert, as below the Dras, but opener and adorned with
the finely coloured rocks we saw so much of during the
previous days. A broad, lake-Hke reach of the green river
swept slowly round to a rapid, deep below our feet. Debris
slopes of green rook, here and there striped with blue, led
up beyond to fine mountains, purple and red, and the bine
sky above them was flecked with white clouds. For the
remaining two hours and a quarter of our day's ride we
traversed debris slopes, passing no villages or other cultiva-
tion, and no green patches, but many long mani mounds,
Digilizod by Google
KARGIL TO LBH. 628
and meeting several small caravans bringing down the
produce of Jarkand from Leh. At 3.30 we reached Nurla,
and were delighted to find that some new rooms in the serai
(9,520 feet) were fit for habitation. We accordingly settled
down in them for the night, our luggage arriving almost as
soon as we did. The unwonted comforts of a roof over
my head, a bed to lie upon, and a warm night, were too
much for me, and I could not sleep.
September 24th. — We started away at 7.15 in the cool and
cloudy morning. The scenery remained at first like that
of the previous day, the debris slopes being relieved by
boldly jutting crags. After an hour's ride or more we
came to a ridge of rock that divides the present from the
ancient river bed. The road follows the latter, and the
water soon passes out of sight. We traversed a valley
with a bottom of sand and walls of bare rock, absolutely
desert, but very impressive. Here we met Yarkand cara-
vans, which became daily more numerous, and some stray
travellers of noticeable aspect. First there was a well-to-
do merchant, riding alone, a writing-box stuck in his girdle
being his only visible luggage. Presently an aged Asiatic
came along, tottering on thin legs and slippered feet. His
face was haggard, and he looked like an ascetic. The
journey was long for him, poor man ; he seemed as though
to totter a hundred yards were day's work enough. But
on he went, patiently, towards Mecca perhaps, but visibly
towards eternity. He was followed by a stouter fellow,
clothed in rags, and apparently in a hurry. He had recently
been washing his face in sand, and his cheeks were thickly
powdered with it. He came and was gone like a vision of
the night.
In descending to the riverside again we met a drove of
laden donkeys on the zigzags, and had some difficulty in
forcing our way through their vagrant mass. On the
opposite bank of the Indus the hills hereabouts are stratified
with regularity, the strata being tilted up almost vertically
and striking parallel to the river. The weathered edges of
Digilizod by Google
624 SEPTEMBER 24.
the strata stand out like knives from the hillside. Now and
again we caught a glimpse of some distant mountain, and
its utter blueness always came upon us with a fresh surprise.
Such colour is scarcely to be looked for out of the Hebrides.
After a rather shorter march than usual we turned a comer
and came in sight of Saspul, where the parao ends. A new
sort of scenery opened before us. The valley bent away to
the right, and in its stead arose a series of low, nubbly ridges,
one behind another, and of all colours — green, brown, ruddy,
and blue. The river made a fine sweep at our feet and
narrowed to a gorge spanned by a new wooden bridge. We
entered the basin of Saspul through natural rocky gates
which the Indus has with difficulty formed.
Saspul was clearly at one time an important place and
religious centre. The approaches to it are adorned with
a more than ordinary number of ckortens and mani heaps.
There are the ruins of an older village, with one large
building, on the top of the high alluvial plateau, which
hereabouts attains a great development and is really a
series of mud-avalanche fans. A gonpa, apparently modem,
stands near the roadside. Its sloping walls and heavy
cornice give it something of the look of an Egyptian pylon.
The harvest had been reaped from the wide expanse of
fields, and only some threshing remained in hand to be
done. A multitude of beasts of burden, donkeys, ponies,
and a few yaks, were grazing all over the ground, whilst
their loads were lying together in heaps, and the drivers
sat around them eating their mid-day meal. They belonged
to caravans coming from Leh. On entering the desert,
beyond the fields, we passed a large group of chortens,
one of which was raised on two piers and so formed into
a gateway over the path.
We stopped for an hour to lunch, close by a couple of
carefully built ponds, in which the waters of a small brook
are stored. The road here again leaves the Indus and
turns up a side valley to the north-east. It passes a
quantity of chortens and comes to a stony place where
Digilizod by Google
KARGIL TO LEH. 625
there is a perfect battalion of stone-men and many en-
graved and inscribed rocks. After following the aide
stream for a mile I found myself absolutely alone, the
others having gone ahead or lagged behind. Turning
eastwards I was soon out of sight of any trace whatever
(except the foot-track) of the activity of man. The valley
became narrower and wound steeply upwards. A gusty
wind was blowing over the bare earth, overhead was a
lowering sky, through chinks in which a ghastly sunshine
now and again blanched the landscape. At every step the
scene became wilder. The path wound amongst huge
lumps of rock sticking out of dismtegrafcing slopes. Its
turns were so frequent that one could not see more than
fifty yards ahead or behind. It was like being shut into
some Syracusan quarry. At length the walls receded on
either hand, and a short, broad slope led to the col, which
I reached in about one hoiu- from the luncheon place.
A wide and striking view opened before me, over undulating
foregrounds and away to distant peaks unfortunately veiled
in clouds.
Ten minutes further on I topped another col where
the dak walas have a hut. They came out to greet me
and offered apples, which seemed the most deliciously
flavoured I ever ate. Zurbriggen now joined me, and we
set off as fast as our ponies would carry us over the wide
undulating region of stony mud-avalanche fan that lay so
broad before us. There was a sense of freedom in the
unwonted spaciousness of our surroundings. On owi left
were ranges of the more desolate hills, remarkable for the
rich colouring of their rocks, and the scarred crests and faces
that sun and frost have made for them. To our right was
a low ridge against which the foot of the fans abutted, and,
beyond and above it, the hills on the further side of the
Indus valley.
We trotted for a long distance up and down the un-
dulating desert, and so came to the edge of the plateau
where it dips to the Bago Drokpo. The dip came upon
Digilizod by Google
626 SEPTEMBER 24.
US suddenly and revealed the peculiar village of Bazgo. We
caught sight of it through a gap with purple and green
debris slopes for sides. The houses are planted, some on a
cliff of purple debris and some at the cliiFs foot amongst
green trees. They are built of crude hrick made of the purple
and grey mud. There is a bluish debris slope behind with
ruddy rocks above it. A purplish grey sky roofed in the
whole. It was a striking view. We descended steep zig-
zags to the village. At the foot of them is an ancient
group of chortens, one of which stands on a threefold
staged base like a Chaldean zigguratt, with staircases at
the four sides leading into its hemispherical and now mined
dome. As McCormick was not well we decided to halt
in the village, where there is a decent serai (11,050 feet).
Digilizod by Google
KARGIL TO LEH. 627
It was satisfactory to have accomplished something more
than a march and a half before 4.30 p.m.
September 2&tk. — This day's march was entirely de-
lightful. The night was cold ; snow fell low down, and
a few drops of rain pattered on the tent roofs, so that
when we started at 7.15 a.m. the air was cool under the
overcast sky. On leaving the village we passed numerous
aged chortens, one staged, but gone to ruin. It was built of
stone, and, like many others in this dry land, may well have
been ancient. We descended the fertile side valley to the
broad bare stony mud-avalanche slope, which incUnes gently
from the hills to the hidden Indus. Elaborately built mani
mounds stretched their interminable length alongside the
road in endless succession. The ends of the most important
were emphasised by large chortens. In about au hour we
reached the village of Nimo, the end of the parao begun by
us on the previous afternoon. The fields were busy with
people threshing out the corn and singing to their beasts
various varieties of this refrain : —
The rather plaintive sound was heard on all hands, nearer
or fainter, and from the feeble treble of children to the
trembling bass of old men.
Leaving the fields behind, we again turned away frora the
river up a barren side valley, leading to just such a col and
high desert country as we passed over on the previous day.
But here the scenery was yet finer, the hills more complex
in form, the long avalanche slopes of larger extent and more
imposing sweep. We set our ponies to canter over them,
and for once they seemed to go willingly. The sun shone
out fitfully and made the air dance over the stony desert and
haloed with light the figures that moved between us and it.
There were always blue hills in the distance and a fore-
ground of a noble breadth. Rock arms came down from the
hills on our left and thrust us round their successive ends.
Digilizod by Google
628 SEPTEMBER 25.
We made swift progress and left mile after mile of the ■wild
exhilarating country behind. From the rounded back of
the highest undulation the upper Indus valley opened be-
fore us, stretching away to mountain regions unknown to us
even by name. The Leh valley took distincter form as we
approached, and we saw that it waa characterised by long
and desert mud-avalanche fans sweeping down with gentle
slope their three or four miles from the foot of the rocky
Bouthem ridge to the green banks of the river. The line of
these fans led the eye up to bold mountain crests, and
these to the clouds that buried their summits, and the
clouds themselves were whirled by the wind into upward
sweeping spirals to the very zenith.
The way drew us steadily downwards over a gentle slope.
Wo put our ponies to their best pace and devoured the
ground. Shortly after eleven o'clock we dipped into a nala
where water flows, and there found the serai of Fiang
pleasantly situated amongst autumn-gilded trees. We halted
for lunch and had long to wait before the laden ponies
arrived. At one o'clock we were off again, making the best
pace possible to Spittak, where the hills and the river come
together. We passed round the corner, and, to our surprise
and delight, found a considerable area of short turf, nourished
by the river's floods.
Beyond it the desert began again, as we bore away from
the river. We passed through a sandy gap amongst rocks
and over a slight rise at the edge of the vast fan, some five
miles deep, a little portion of which, far up towards the hills,
is green with the fields of Leh. The town itself was visible
in the far distance with its rock-perched castles. A long
straight track across the sands and stones lay towards it.
We urged our tired ponies onwards; the trees came nearer
and the houses grew more distinct. Laden yaks, donkeys,
and ponies, with their peculiar drivers, which were black
specks in the distance, assumed individual form and then
were passed and left behind. At last we reached the
precincts of the place, and entered under a gateway into the
Digilizod by Google
KARGIL TO LEH. 629
long bazaar, which was full of busy merchants. At the far
end of it a tangle of streets had to be threaded and a field or
two crossed before the clean diik bangla received us into
its commodious compound, one hour and a half from the
luncheon place.
Whilst awaiting the coming of the baggage I called on
the Joint Commissioner, Captain Cnbitt, and afterwards on
the kindly Moravian missionary, Dr. Weber, and his wife,
whose German was music in Zurbriggen's ears. Thus the
afternoon passed quickly by, and in the evening we dined
at the Residency and experienced the comforts of table
and chair.
Digilizod by Google
LRH BAZAAK.
CHAPTEE XXVIII.
LEH AND HIMIS.
Ladak is a portion of the upper Indus valley, some one
hundred miles in length, inhabited by Buddhieta of Tibetan
race, called Ladakis. Leh (11,600 feet) is its capital. Ladak
geographically and ethnographically belongs to Tibet, but
politically it forms part of the kingdom of Kashmir. It was
conquered by Golab Singh's army, and the history of the
invasion is told in Cunningham's book on the country.*
Previously it was practically independent, but acknowledged
some sort of shadowy spiritual and temporal connection with
Tibet. Ladak has been frequently visited and described by
* See also Drew's " Jummoo &nd Eashmir."
Digilizod by Google
LEH AND HIMIS. 631
travellers, and its people have been carefully studied, not by
travellers only, but by Europeans residing amongst them
either in official capacities or as missionaries. There is no
occasion, therefore, to set down in this place the crude
observations of a flying visitor.
My object in going to Leh was to compare our barometer
with the standard instrument in the meteorological observa-
tory there. The determination of the altitudes of the various
points reached by us during our journey depends on a com-
parison of the readings of our barometer with simultaneous
readings of the barometers at Gilgit and at Leh. I had
compared our barometer with that at Gilgit ; it was advisable
also to compare it with the Leh instrument. Accordingly
the morning after our arrival (September 26tb) I paid an
early visit to Dr. Weber, the head of the Moravian mission,
which, amongst other useful work, concerns itself with the
supervision of the Government Meteorological Observatory
and the Post Office.
Dr. Weber took me to the observatory at the earliest
possible moment. My barometer was set up beside the
standard, and the two proved to be in agreement. The
object of our long ride from Skardo was thus accomplished
in a fevf moments. It only remained for me to copy the
records of the readings of the barometer and thermometer
taken at Leh during the months of our journey, and, that
done, we were free to turn our faces homewards.
We were unwilling to leave Ladak without availing our-
selves of the opportunity of seeing what was possible of a
country so interesting and so strange. The importance of
Leh consists not so much in the fact that it is the capital of
Ladak as that it is the principal station on the Central Asian
highway from India to Yarkand and Kasbgar by the Kara-
koram pass. The trade that comes along this difficult route,
over passes 18,000 feet above sea-level, is not so extensive
as formerly, but is still considerable. When the caravans
arrive in spring and autumn the town assumes a busy aspect,
and its bazaar is crowded vrith a remarkable assemblage of
Digilizod by Google
632 SEPTEMBER 26.
persons of every Asiatic race. At the time of our visit the
assemblage was less numerous than it had been a week or two
before, but there were still plenty of merchants and much
merchandise. The bazaar was filled with an animated
throng of men and animals wonderfully picturesque to
observe.
I took an early opportunity of visiting the serai where the
Yarkandi merchants are accommodated. It consists of a
two-storeyed building arranged around an irregular square.
Bales of goods are piled about the open space, and the men
in charge of them live in the surrounding chambers.
Digilizod by Google
LEH AND HIMIS. 633
The goods often change hands here, one set of merchants
bringing them from Kashgar, Khotan, Yarkand, and other
places, and another set carrying them down to India and
disposing of them in the bazaars of Srinagar, Labor, or
Aniritzar. Bales are therefore opened and goods exposed to
view, so that the serai looks like a bazaar, and the traveller
has opportunities of making purchases. I bought several
Khotan carpets and coloured felt Yarkandi namdahs, besides
certain skins of show leopards and other animals. The
variety for selection was not large. Most of the namdalis
were plain white. They are impoi-ted thiis into Kashmir
and there dyed and embroidered. The pleasure was in the
process of purchasing rather than in the things purchased,
for better can be found any day in Srinagar. The pic-
turesqueness of the place and of the crowd that assembles
when a bargain is toward, cannot, however, be easily sur-
passed. Nothing draws out more visibly the character of
Asiatics than a bargain, and I could have sat for hours merely
watching the play of light on carpets and people, and listen-
ing to the Babel of excited tongues.
In order to cash a cheque I called on Diwan Aqan Nath,
the Wazir Wazarath of Ladak. The Karakoram pass route
is by treaty placed under the joint management of an English
and a Kashmiri Commissioner. The Biwan is the Kashmiri
Joint-Commissioner as well as the representative of the
Maharaja in Ladak. The British Joint Commissioner is
also British Kesident, and watches the general administration
of the country as well as the ordering of the road. I found
the Diwan surrounded by a crowd of people — clerks, natives,
and hangers-on of all sorts. He is a short, bright, and very
polite person, the living image of an old college friend of
mine of French extraction. I spent half an hour in con-
versation with him and returned to our tents laden with
rupees.
In the afternoon I drank a bottle of wine with the
Moravians, and smoked a pipe with Father Hanlon, of the
Jesuit Mission. The Diwan also returned my call, and
Digilizod by Google
634 SEPTEMBER 27.
we sat together in the bagh of the dak baiigla where owr
tents were pitched under the shade of rustling trees. The
sunlight glinted through between the leaves and fell in
patches ou the gay carpets that were spread about, whilst
a ring of white-robed natives stood or sat around at a
respectful distance.
Ever since leaving Skardo McCormick had been unwell,
and the rapidity of our march did not tend to improve his
condition. He seized the opportunity of resting for a day
or two and putting himself in the hands of the resident
English physician. He spent most of his time in bed,
miserably enough, and was unable to enjoy either the hospi-
talities or the interests of the place ; nor could he take part
in the expedition to the great Buddhist go-npa at Eirais
which I planned for the next two days, and was enabled, by
Cubitt's help, to carry out.
September 27th. — About nine o'clock Zurbriggen and I,
with Rahim Ali and Harkbir, rode off from the dkk bangla.
The Wazir provided good ponies for us, and arranged for
a relay at the half-way halting-place, so we were able to
go fast. We trotted through the busy bazaar and left
the town quickly behind. The road struck at once into the
desert by manis of great length. It wound through a few
small valleys bordered by striking rocks, the summits of
hills deep buried under the alluvial accumulation. The
sky was only dappled with high clouds that left al! the
mountains clear. As we emerged on to the wide long slopes
of desert fan that lead unbroken to the Indus bank, a group
of snowy peaks to the south, of no great difficulty, attracted
our attention and awakened our mountaineering instincts.
We trotted gaily towards the river over the soft sand.
My saddle made a noise hke Harkbir laughing, so that I
seemed to be enveloped in an atmosphere of merriment.
In an hour we reached the Indus bridge, and, crossing over
it, entered the fertile region of Shushot, which appears to
owe its delightful greenness, in part at any rate, to the
river's floods. The whole country is, however, here inter-
Digilizod by Google
LEE AND HIMIS. 636
sected by innumerable little canals, which our ponies kept
jumping in their lumbering way. Village succeeded village
and farm followed farm ; there was no break in the fertile
area. The country was full of active peasant life, and
many travellers and horsemen were on the road. Now and
again a laden yak would come bulging along, then a flock of
goats or some horsemen. Mares with their gambolling foals
were numerous, and a delightfully playful colt accompanied
the aged but active mother whom I rode, a beast of infinite
character, obviously acquainted with every step of the way.
The north side of the valley seemed almost wholly bare,
but there was the considerable village of Shey stretching
its green line along the foot of the hills, whilst a couple of
goTipas planted on the summits of low rocky crests added
to the picturesqueness of the scene. One of them, named
Tikzay, was a convent of considerable importance before
the Dogra invasion.
At Golab Bagh, opposite Tikzay, after two and a half
hours' riding, the relay of ponies was awaiting us. Zur-
briggen chose a mild-looking beast and rode off at once.
The moment he touched it with the new sensation of a
whip it jumped over a high mud wall by the roadside,
knocking half of it down in its surprise. A few hundred
yards further on we came to a pleasant bagk and halted for
the baggage ponies to come up with our lunch. The con-
tinuing route took us some way further through excellent
flat meadows, with the fine bare mountains, many ribbed,
many crested, always displaying their rich colouring on
every side, and the sunlight dappling their slopes. But the
fields ultimately came to an end, and the wide desert was
before us once more, with its sand and its stones, and the
air dancing over it when the sun shone.
After an hour's going we came again to a little greenness,
where a servant of th« Hiinis gonpa was waiting, to see
that we took the right turn at the division of the roads.
We bent southward towards the mouth of a side valley
and mounted the steady slope of the fan leading up to it.
Digilizod by Google
636 SEPTEMBER 27.
At the angle was the first of the nsual mani mounds
(about a quarter of a mile long), which for the rest of the
way followed one another in quick succession. Turning the
corner we entered the side valley, whose desolation, under
EHTRAHCB TO HIMIa.
a heavy roof of cloud, seemed to be emphasised by the
plantation of autumn-tinted trees that lined the base of the
hills. The slopes were bare of debris^ and showed all the
edges of their tilted strata along their naked sides. On
every point against the skyline were poles with prayer
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LEH AND HIMIS.
637
papers fluttering from them. The chortens thickened on
either aide as we advanced ; most of them were more
elaborate in architectural detail than any we had before
seen. We passed under one, supported on piers. Turning
a comer the femous gonpa was before us.
We were surprised at its good condition, its many
balconies, and its general aspect of well-being. It was not
unlike a collection of ItaUan lake hotels. It rather
resembled a watering-place of many houses, clustered
together on the inequalities of a hillside, than a single
building. We rode up its main street, greeted by various
lamas who were expecting us, and thus we arrived at the
spot, where we were invited to dismount. The superinten-
dent of the gonpa came forward to greet us, an aged man
like Van Eyck's portrait of the "Man with the Pink," at
Berlin. He led us to a cleanly swept place under the shade
of trees, where a Khotan carpet was spread and two chairs
were set up. Dried dates and currants were brought forth,
and a bottle of liquor that looked like white wine and tasted
hke a feeble sort of beer. It was about the colour of glacier
water. When our hosts learnt that we had not brought
tents they led us into the interior of the place to their
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638 SEPTEMBER 27.
newly built and clean guest-chambers. The Ehotan carpets
and the chairs were brought up and set out upon a balcony,
and presently tea was served, and we were left to ourselves.
We arrived at about four in the afternoon, and sat on
the balcony till evening, watching the play of light upon
the northern hills, framed between the bare rugged ridges
near at hand, and with the convent buildings and neatly
kept gardens for foreground. It was hard to believe that
we were in a Buddhist Vihara. There seemed nothing
strange or unusual in our surroundings. On the contrary,
there was a European though not an English feeUng about
it all. I thought of a night I spent years ago in the great
monastery of Gottweih, in Austria, and the memories thus
aroused harmonised admirably with the sensations of the
moment. Presently, in response to somo question of mine,
Zurbriggen began to tell me the varied and romantic story
of his life, and the interest of that, related in his bold,
free style, so caught upon me that I sat listening for an
hour or more, fearing lest he should stop. Then dinner
and night came together. We fastened a hanging over so
much of the uuglazed windows as we could, and the hours
before sleep were devoted to the usual occupations of
changing photographic plates and writing diary.
September 28iA. — After breakfast the superintendent
came to take us over the place. The morning was bright,
and the sunlight made all the painted decoration gay. The
kernel of the buildings is a pair of temples side by side,
each with a courtyard before its storied porch.* Our
rooms communicated with a latticed balcony that faces
one of these porches. We first went to the other court-
yard where quantities of howling dogs are kept chained up.
Each storey of the porch has two painted wood columns
supporting the beam on which the next rises. The walls
of this porch are beautifully painted, but the paintings
'^' For an illustrated account of Himis and the myatery-play, see Kni^t's
"Where Three Empires Meet." See also H. H. Godwin- Austen, in
Bengal Asiatic Society Journal, 1865, p. 71.
Digilizod by Google
LEH AND HIMIS. 639
are in a bad condition, and large areas have altogether
fallen away. There is nothing about them that appealed
to my eyes as other than Chinese. All over the door-
wall are seated Buddha-like figures on red lotus flowers,
some of exceeding beauty, drawn and coloured quite con-
ventionally, but with great grace of hne and an admirable
feeling for decorative effect both in arrangement and colour.
On the walls to right and left are two great circles held by
devils ; that to the left, containing a multitude of figure
subjects greatly damaged, being the Wheel of Life.* The
porch of the other large temple is decorated with the same
subjects, but painted at a later date and less good in
style. On each of the doors through which we entered the
building is a fine gilt bronze boss, of pierced Chinese work-
manship, and from each boss hangs a gay tassel of ribbons.
On entering the dimly lit temple f (the chief light came
from the door) the first thing that struck me was the
multitude of hanging strips of coloured silks and banners.
The whole view was confused by them. The interior con-
sists of a central square going up through three storeys to
the top of the building. Round this, on all four sides, are
low aisles supported on a double row of painted wooden
columns. Above the aisles is a gallery, and then a latticed
clerestory. Many of the columns are enveloped in hangings
and banners. The walls have all been painted, those to
left and right entirely with seated figures on lotus flowers,
some large, some small, but all drawn and coloured in the
same good conventional manner. In the midst of the place
opposite the entrance is a large chorten with much silver
and gilt decoration about it. Its lower front silver panel
has quasi-rococo decoration and many inlaid turquoises and
other stones. On the left of this is another smaller clwrten,
and there are more yet smaller ones about. Before them
'■^ Desciibed by Dr. Waddell in Journal Bengal Asiatic Soo., vol. Ixi.
p. 133, Ac.
t As to LamaiBt temples in general, see Dr. Waddell'a " Lamaism in
Sikkim " (Calcutta. 1894), being Part II. of the " Sikkim Gazetteer."
Digilizod by Google
640 SEPTEMBER 28.
are tables of simple offerings — seeds, shells, needles, and an
English threepenny-bit.
Banged in a line with the big cJiortens are many large,
gilded wood seated figures of the usual Buddha type, some
in shrines, and most with coloured silk shawls wrapped
around them. One figure had eyes in the place of stig-
mata; this must have been an image either of Avalokita or
Tara. These figures were in many cases good in plastic
form and of a fine traditional design, but they are covered
with cheap gilding. Some of them, in their eolonred
clothes, had an extraordinarily realistic efiect, and reminded
me of the work of Tabacchetti and Enrico at Varallo. Xear
the chorten was a huge dish full of butter with a small ever-
burning hght in the midst of it. Against the wall behind
was a big gilt Buddha of poor quality, and near him were a
multitude of manuscripts on a set of shelves made after the
fashion of frameworks to carry wine-bottles.
All the wooden architecture — columns, capitals, beams,
and cornices — was effectively painted with seated figures
wherever there was room for them. In the neighbourhood
of the main row of chortens and figures were many small
objects perched on the tables or any ledge that woidd
accommodate them. One of the small figures, cast in sohd
bronze, gilt, and finished with the tool, was admirable. The
superintendent told me that it was not of Chinese, but
Lhasa workmanship. Most of the things — the pots, lamps,
basins, and vases — he admitted to be Chinese; some were
&om Kashmir. I could not get near the little figures in the
niches of the chortens, but from the distance one of them
appeared to be good. The building and the painted decora-
tion of it were, according to the superintendent, made in
the reign of Kaja Lamba Tsho-kye Dorj6.
On leaving the temple we went round to the back of it
and then upstairs to another temple, which likewise had
low aisles on either side and across the entering end, the
remainder of it being raised a storey higher. There was
here a row of large and not very good gilt figures of the
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LEH- AND niMIS. 641
usual sort, and there were many old paintings, mounted on
silk like Japanese kakevionos, hanging about, most of them
representing seated figures in decorative vignettes. One was
admirable. Its circular vignette contained a green woman
wenring a red halo, doubtless Tara; there were flowers in
her hair, and she was sitting in gracefully drawn and volu-
minous drapery amongst birds and flowers. The same figure
was many times repeated in simple outline on the gold
ground around
the vignette, and
the whole waa
mounted'TTr the
unual v.*ay on an
old piectiof silk.
'We >^vent out
and again np-
Si;air8 to another
temple, whose
lofty central
portion was sur-
rounded by an
aisle on all four
sides ; above the
aisle was a lat-
ticed clerestory
goiog half-way
round, whilst
feebly painted
decoration filled
the wall of the other half. Against one of the walls on the
ground-floor was a library of books, each between two red
boards, and all neatly arranged in their framework pigeon-
holes. The chief contents of this temple were two large silver
chortens, the principal one being at least eight feet high, not
reckoning its wooden base. These chorten^ were decorated
with quasi-rococo scroll-work, gilding, and inlaid turquoises.
There were fresh-cut flowers in the vases before them.
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642 SEPTEMBER 28.
We were next conducted to a chamber which appears to
be of the nature of a chapter-house. It is divided trans-
versely into three parts equal in depth. The first portion
is a low sort of porch, whose roof is home by two pairs of
columns ; beyond this comes a high central place lit by a
clerestory, arid with its roof borne by two high and rather
elaborately carred and painted columns. Its walls are
decorated with rows of little niches, in each of which is a
coloured statuette of a seated Buddha. The third division
is again low, and its floor is raised above the level of the
others, irom which it is cut off by a carved and painted
screen. The cornice of this screen is decorated with a sort
of rough stalactite decoration cut in squares of increasing
depth — something between stalactites and the nsnal
Assyrian battlement motive. In the midst of it is a
lacquered seat, which they either said was for the incarna-
tion or for some ecclesiastical grandee or inspector who
comes from Lhasa.
We were next conducted downstairs into the courtyard
before our rooms, and from it into the second of the large,
three-storeyed temples.* Its porch is, as I have said,
directly copied from that of the other temple. There are
two storeys of galleries above the aisles that surround the
central high square. The interior is comparatively bare,
most of the floor space being given up to long low divans
for the lamas to sit on, this presumably being their place
of worship or study. There are a good many large seated
gilt figures against the wall, and one of them has a very
living aspect, reminding me of fifth dynasty Egyptian work,
and in particulai- of the Scribe of the Louvre. The wood-
work in this temple was decorated with carved inscriptions
painted black on a red ground.
After seeing these things we were re-conducted to our
chambers, where I rested a while before going forth to
wander in the neighbourhood. Just below our windows is
^' lliie was not properly a temple at all, bnt the assembly-room or
Dii-hhmig.
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XKTKAMCE TO THB SECOKD TBHFLE.
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DiBiiizodb, Google
LEH AND HIMIS. 645
a pretty terraced garden with a pathway up the middle, the
whole cultivated in tiny square plots and full of high-
Btemmed flowers. A stream flows down the valley close
below the garden, and its waters are used to turn some
prayer- wheels. It babbles over many rocks and is shaded
by trees, yellow foliaged at the time of our visit. Large
fallen masses of hard conglomerate form picturesque fore-
grouuds, and there are paths set out amongst them, and
here and there flat platforms artificially built. On top
of the biggest fallen mass of rock a little chapel has
been built, which I scrambled up to see. It contained
a quantity of good old liahemonos. I also wandered a
short way up the valley path and passed groups of chortens,
but notwithstanding the brightness of the day, and the
really striking beauty of the hills, I was not in a mood to
go fur afield.
After an early lunch we were summoned at one o'clock to
see the lama dance, which had been arranged for our
amusement. The two chairs and the carpets were set out
for ua on the balcony overlooking the courtyard in which
the dance was to be. A lama dance forms part of all the
great religious ceremonies, and itself has religious significance
for those who understand it, but in this, as in all the
flummery of the lamaist religion, it is a mistake to confuse
the mere muddiness of complication for symbolic depth.
When we were seated, there was nothing before us but the
vacant square info which the sun shone brilliantly. A dog
strayed into it and was promptly driven forth. Through
the open door of the temple opposite, figures flitting to and
fro in strange attire were faintly discerned. Some one
below us made a remark, but was promptly enjoined to
silence. An absolute stillness then reigned for a perceptible
interval.
It was broken by the soft and solemn beat of a drum,
hidden from our sight. Five costumed dancers descended
the temple steps and ranged themselves in a circle round
a hole or well in the midst of the square. They wore
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646 SEPTEMBER 28.
hats with hroad hrims and high flattering erections rising
out of the crown. Their dresses were of the usual
Chinese sort, coloured silk petticoats and loose jackets
with ample sleeves which they waved about. They
had square aprons of Chinese embroidery, and silk shawls
on their shoulders. There were also other silk tags about
them of various sorts, which fluttered in the air, and they
held fluttering things in their hands. Each wore the
likeness of a skull as a kind of girdle clasp. They danced
slowly round and about to the beating of the drums and
cymbals, and finally retired one by one into the temple, and
silence reigned again.
Presently a kind of droning chant filled the air : it came
from the well in the midst of the courtyard and resembled
nothing so much as monks scrambling through their after- '
noon service in the retrochoir of an Italian church on a hot
summer's afternoon. It was the signal for the appearance.
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LEH AND HIMIS. 647
from the temple of five more dancers, or the fonner five
newly dressed. Their faces were covered with perforated
hrass masks. In one hand they carried a bell, and in the
other a little drum, which was rattled by balls attached to
short strings. They ranged themselves about the well-
mouth and slowly circled round it, every moment or two
at the right point in the chant (in which they, too, tooli
part) they bent forward towards the hole, simultaneously
ringing their bells and rattling their drums. When they
had slowly made a complete circuit of the well, these
dancers also, one by one, retired, and the chant ceased.
The big drums again began to beat, and four men came
out of the temple wearing the same clothes as in the first
dance ; but for headdress a large mask of a devil's head,
with the mouth open showing big teeth. These masks were
respectively white, red, yellow, and green in colour. They
were something like mild Medusa heads of the archaic Greek
type, but with a curious dash of Mrs. Grundy thrown in.
As they danced, the suu played beautifully upon the flutter-
ing silks and the painted porch behind. There was nothing
graceful, but nothing objectionable in their movements, and
the quaint masks did not seem in any way peciiUar or out
of place.
The last entree of this extraordinary ballet again consisted
of four dancers with extravagant masks. One wore the like-
ness of the head of a bull ; another, a devil-head with a
crown of small skulls; the third, a black devil-head with
red, green, and white snakes intertwined for hair and
skulls amongst them; the fourth, yet another devil-head
surmounted by flags that kept falling out, and a three-tier
umbrella above all. This also was a drum and cymbal
dance like the first and third, and concluded as before by
the dancers retiring one by one into the temple, with an
interval between the departure of each.*
" For a fall explanation of these and other lamaist dances and cere-
monials the reader must await the publication of Dr. Waddell's forthcoming
work on " The Buddhism of Tibet."
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648 SEPTEMBEB 29.
The superintendent said that the performauce was
ended. We acknowledged his courtesy by subscribing to
the building fiind of the gonpa, and writiug our names
on a tremendous sealed parchment that was handed to
us by the shabbiest lama we saw, which is saying much.
When we retired to our apartment the chairs and carpets
followed, and the superintendent came and brought a
gift of turnips and potatoes on a dish. This was pre-
sently followed by two bottles, one containing what they
called arrak, a crude sort of spirit, the other chang, a kind
of beer.
For the remainder of the day we were left to our own
devices, but not permitted to wander alone. The moment
we set foot over the threshold some one or other attached
himself politely to us and never let us out of his sight till
we were safe in the guest-chamber again. A beautifaUy
soft sunset closed the day. The long line of mountains
to the north was crested with pink, whilst the bare near
slopes of straight stratified rock, that framed them, were
dyed the softest purple. The cold soon drove us in, and at
an early hour we took refuge in oiur beds from the draughts
that rushed across between the unglazed windows at
either end of the room and the ill-fitting doors at either
side.
September 'iQth. — There was a hard frost in the night,
and all the little streams were thick with ice ; the smaller
were frozen at their sources and quite dried up. As soon as
our breiikfast was over, the superintendent came to ask for
a -razinama to say that he had treated us well ! I sent him
away satisfied. Shortly after eight o'clock we left the
buildings and started on foot down the valley, followed by
tlie ponies which were placed at our disposal. I took a
number of photographs iu the bright morning hght before
reaching the valley's moath. Peasants were at work in the
fields, and near one group a couple of men were seated on
the ground making music with drum and suratuii. We
cantered briskly over the desert by the way we came, and
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LEH AND BIMIS. 649
in less than two hours reached Golab Bagh, where the
relay of ponies ought to have been ready. Only one had
arrived ; we waited half an hour for the rest. They were
a weedy lot; mine utterly refused to stir without a com-
rade ahead of him. We managed, however, to get them
along tolerably fast.
Enormous flocks of sparrows were gleaning in the fields,
and made the air whirr at our approach. Everything seemed
bright and gay
around us, and
overhead the sky
was blue with a
clear quality of
tone that struck
me as unusual.
The novelty pro-
bably lay in the
contrast between
the sky and the
bright purple-
grey mountains
Bhiuiug in the
full sunlight.
Shortly after
noon we found
ourselves in tbe
bazaar of Leh,
and were sur- „^j,^ H„,a oohpa.
prised to see it
decorated with flags and fitted with goals as if for polo.
We learnt that there was to be a tamasha, horse and foot
races, tug of war, and what not, for prizes given by the
Joint Commissioner. McCorrnick was in camp, still an
invalid, but entertaining hopes of ultimate recovery. His
servant provided lunch. Zurbriggen and the Gurkhas went
off to see the tamasha, for which I was unfortunately
too late, having many little things to attend to besides
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650 SEPTEMBER 30.
the seduction of fresh newspapers. I afterwards called at
the Besidenoy and dined there in the evening with Captain
Cabitt.
September SOth. — Leh was so interesting that we allowed
ourselves another day's rest there before starting for Kash-
mir. I spent most of the morning developing photographs
in Dr. Jones's dark room, and sending off money to the
banias of Skardo. In the afternoon there were public races
again, but this time they were held in the open desert between
the town and the Indus. Everybody assembled to watch.
There was a tent pitched for the Europeans. The natives
ranged themselves orderly in rows upon the sand, and all
the horses in the place seemed to be assembled for entry in
one or other of the events. As I walked down to the
course with Cubitt, the air was fall of the sounds of gaiety.
Drums were being beaten and pipers were piping. Folk
were flocking together — merchants, foreigners, and natives
from town and bazaar, and peasants from the surround-
ing villages. The sunlight lay broad and bright upon the
shimmering sands, and striped all the hills. The sky was
clear blue, and the mountains were absolutely sharp
against it, with that soft sharpness which only Segantini
has availed to render in art. The very air seemed to be
instinct with a crisp effervescent quality, stimulating and
invigorating.
The racecourse was straight, throughout almost all its
length, and led up the gentle sandy slope of the desert fan
— a toilsome way. It was outlined with people at intervals
from the starting-post, though the picturesque crowd con-
gregated chiefly round the tent and the goal. The Diwan
hurried about in a superiorly animated fashion, as though
pleased to be visible and active — a spotlessly clean and
cheerful person. The crowd were picturesque, after the
&Bhion of Asiatic assemblages of men, who can always be
relied upon to compose as for a picture.
The polo race was the most popular, and bad to be run
off in several heats. The ponies were a poor lot, and the
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I.&H BAZ4AB.
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DiBiiizodb, Google
LES AND HIMIS. 66S
work was too much for several of them. It was easy for
a man to walk the last hundred yards heside the tottering
winner. A mile uphill through soft sand is hard work for
a grass-fed pony, but the same beast will cany a load at a
foot-pace for more than twenty miles over mountain tracks,
day after day, without suffering. Regarded as a gymkana,
the Leh meeting was not, perhaps, altogether to be counted
of the first order, but as a picturesque scene it would
be difficult to surpass it. As I stood in the midst at the
winning-post and watched
the approaching racers,
with the extraordinary
crowd on either hand,
and the course stretch-
ing away over the bright
desert at my feet, the
horses seemed, each one,
to be borne upon a puff
of golden sand - cloud,
floating on the silver
lake-surfece of a bright
mirage. Tbe setting of
Buddhist manis and
chorienSy elemental crags,
and far-off snowy crests, ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^,^^_
was well in keeping
with the romantic nature of the foreground and its
inhabitants.
I walked back to tbe town with Mr. F. B. Shawe-, the
junior Moravian missionary. He told me much about the
interest and difficulties of his work, which is chiefly
that of a scholar. The Moravians spend their time study-
ing the languages, literature, and folklore of Tibet, and
tbey are gradually piling up a mass of information and
learning which will be of high importance, and deserves
warm encouragement at the hands of all intelligent
persons of whatever religion they may be. At the mission
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664 SEPTEMBER 30.
house Shawe and Weber showed me various manuscripts,
figures, and other artistic objects, which they take every
opportunity of collecting. Some of their treasures were
of the utmost interest and rarity. The pleasant day
was brought to an end by a dinner at the hospitable
Residency.
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CHAPTER XXIX.
LEU TO THE ZOJI LA.
Ocfoler 1st. — Each stage of a journey, like the successive
ideals pursued by a man in life, comes to be regarded as
the mere starting-point for the next. From Skardo wo
looked to Leh as a goal ; now we were in haste to quit
it, and the hours of the last night of our stay were long.
We were once more eager to be on the road; such is the
passion for travel that arises in a man ! I believe that,
with an occasional pause of two or three days, a true
traveller could wander for a whole lifetime and not grow
weary, till the natural forces began to abate.
Nineteen marches separate Leh from Srina^ar. We
intended to accomplish these as swiftly as the baggage
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could be forced along. Shawe came to see us off, aDd it
was half-past eight when we said good-bye to him, and
trotted away through the bazaar. Our ponies displayed
various degrees of badness. Before they had gone a mile
from the town there were no two of thera together. My
beast's paces. were abominable. His canter was au earth-
quake. He went more comfortably at a sort of ambling
trot, so I kept him at that and forged ahead.
The morning was delightful. There had been a hard
frost, and all the little canals were fringed with ice. Never
were the hills, far and
near, more beautiful in
tint nor softer in tone.
The Indus was bluer
and clearer than we had
previously seen it, and
its colour was gloriously
set off by the shining
gold of the sand-fields
around. We advanced
steadily over the
deserts and across the
nalas that were so plea-
santly passed on our
upward journey. Id
just three hours I re-
entered Bazgo, aud led my pony into the serai stable.
Zurbriggen came in about half an hour later, and McCor-
mick an hour and a half after him ; but for the food-bearing
beasts and the servants we had to wait till four o'clock ;
and a hungry waiting it was.
Immediately on my arrival I mounted the hill behind
to visit the gonpa, which Shawe advised me to investigate.
It is a poor little place, and its temple possesses no archi-
tectural merits — a mere bam, and dirty at that. At the
end, opposite the entrance, is a big, bad statue of Chamba,
seated on a chair with his legs straight down in European
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LEH TO THE ZOJI LA, C57
postnre. The figure is made of plates of brass fastened over
a framework. It is about thirty feet high, much too big for
the temple, the head being hidden amongst the rafters.
There is a row of very poor figures of incarnations and goda
in front of the big figure. There was one fairly good brass
figare, and a small well-finished clay figure of Nam-gyal-
na-wang, elaborately painted and gilt, and with a portrait-
like face. The lama declared that it had been made
in the gonpa, and not brought from Lhasa. Along both
sides of the temple were a quantity of books, and amongst
them a mass of old ones written in gold, silver, and copper
letters on a blue ground. They aroused my cupidity, and I
grabbed at random a lump of one hundred leaves and began
bargaining for them. It was a long business, but ulti-
mately, with inexpressible delight, I was enabled to stow
the prize in the keeper's pocket of my climbing coat, and
thus to retiun with hidden treasure through the village.
A long, long waiting followed. It seemed that the
baggage would never oome. The wind rose and howled
amongst the trees, and the warmth of the sun was
swallowed up. At last the animals appeared in the dis-
tance, and a period was put to our suspense. The tents
were pitched in their old places, and the usual round of
camp occupations led the day to an early close. Its last
event was the secret arrival of a man from the gonpa
bringing another well-written blue book. I purchased that
also, and turned in in a satisfied frame of mind. I did not
know the chaos that reigned in the library, and that my
manuscripts, instead of being single works, were samples
of the whole collection — a leaf from this volume, a leaf
from another.
October 2nd. — The morning was again dehghtful after the
frosty night, a clear sun, a bright sky, a merry breeze, and
all Nature at its best for light and colour. As we ascended
the zigzags to the high desert fan, the view back was as
charming as it had been when first seen under the
afternoon sun. The gonpas perched on their crags were
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jnst scraped and touched with light, which lay broad ou
the fielda below, and made the yellow foliaged trees shine
Hke transparent gold. The ruins and the old clioriens in
their long ranges and groups added to the picturesqueness
of the scene, which was of course framed within and beneath
noble bills, and there were white puffs of cloud against the
blue above. Once on the undulating desert nothing can
be imagined more delightful than the gallop with which oar
ride began ; the fresh breeze about us and the flying clouds
above seemed to hasten to keep us company. In two hoiurs
we were down in the lowlands again amongst the fields of
Saspul.
Shawe advised me to visit the old rock-cut chambers in
the hillside under the mined castle, so I appointed the
place for lunch. We first visited the new gonpa by the
roadside. Its temple consists of an outer and an inner
chamber. The former is square ou plan, and has a central
square a storey higher than the four aisles around it. The
upper storey is carried on four pillars. In this chamber
are a few books and the divans for the lamas ; it is the
D'a-khang. In one corner is a stone about four feet
high on which are rude bas-reliefs of human figures, one
seated, the others, patched about, standing. The lower
parts of the standing figures have been destroyed by fracture
of the stone. The work is clearly not of the present period,
but it is wretchedly bad. A higher shallow chamber, con-
taining three colossal mud figures gaily painted, is behind
the first. The central figure, in a niche or apse, is a seated
Chamba. The two others stand, one at the end of each
short transept; they are smaller than the Chamba. The
wall-paiutings are as crude, new, and bad as the figures.
I found a decent statuette of Tsong-kha-pa, which the
lama wilUngly sold me in the presence of many villagers.
He was at the time engaged cutting a wooden block to be
used for printing. The letters were carefully written on
the block with ink, and he had carved about half in rehef,
beginning from the bottom and working up. My old friends.
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LEH TO THE ZOJI LA. 659
the fifteenth century Woodcutters of the Netherlands,
would have recognised a fellow-craftsman in this lama.
Leaving the new gonpa we crossed the fields behind, and
scrambled up to the old rock-cut chambers. The rock is
conglomerate, and the chambers are all of irregular form,
some very tiny — not more than large enough to hold one
seated man. Most of the chambers have their front wall
built, and not left standing by the quarriers. The method
of making all rock-cut gonpas, of which so many traces are
found in Ladak, was everywhere the eame. A number of
chambers of various sizes and shapes were dug out of the
foce of the rock in rows and storeys. A facade of crude
brick was built a short distance in front of them, so that
really the excavations formed only portions of the chambers.
The connecting staircases and galleries were also included
in the built-up part of the structure. Many of the walls
have fallen from the Saspul gonpas, and the place does not
appear to have been inhabited for a long time. The
chambers are scattered about in utmost irregularity over
an area of a quarter of a mile or more. They must have
formed a whole row of gonpas.
The ruins are chiefly interesting for the remarkable wall-
paintings with which several of the larger chambers are
still covered. All the paintings are in the same style of
art, which is strikingly Hindu as opposed to Chinese.
There are hundreds of seated figures (each covering an area
of about three inches square), and amongst them are some
larger ones of gods, devils, aud the like. There was a
seated saint, teaching, surrounded by some fifty or more
minute disciples. There was the figure of Avalokita with
the Thousand Eyes,* so popular hereabouts. The paint-
ings were done on irregularly laid plaster, with which the
nubbly conglomerate walls are covered. In one case ■&
portion of the paintings was on canvas, and a bit of this ,
had fallen from the wall and was blowing about in the
dust, so I carried it off. We visited the small modem
" See Dr. Waddell's paper in the Boyal Asiatic Society's Journal, 1894.
Digilizod by Google
gonpa which takes the place of the collection of ruined
caves, hut it was locked up, and no one was there ; we
looked through the door-chinks and then found a way in,
but there was nothing worth seeing inside.
After a hasty lunch we started away again at 12.15, laden
with apples and a nosegay of A&ican marigolds, which an old
woman gathered for me. The Ladakis are lovers of flowers,
and almost every cottage has its little garden patch. Fresh
plucked blossoms lie on the table of offerings in every decently
cared-for temple. We accomplished our second parao
quickly, and reached Nurla • at three o'clock. After a
dreary waiting for an hour or more I discovered a gonpa on
the hillside, and hastened off to visit it. It was very small,
a mere chamber and portico on top of a farmhouse. The
lama was in the portico, and received me with smiles. The
wall-paintings, hundred-handed figures, books, and all else
were of the poorest sort, but the old fellow had a lot of
copper stuff of good workmanship, which he was ready to
part with. I plundered him, much to his satisfaction,
amongst other things of his rosary, bnt he afterwards
repented, and came down to the tents to get it back, crpng
that he wanted his mani.
October ird. — I slept the sleep of the just to such purpose
that the others were all up, dressed, packed, and striking
their tents before I awoke. The result was that it was past
eight o'clock before we started. As I wanted to have a long
afternoon at Lama-yuru, I stayed behind with the baggage-
mules and kept the men up to their work, which made a
material difference in the pace. We had as road com-
panions three well-to-do Yarkandi merchants on their way
to Calcutta, whither they annually go for the winter
months ; they begin their return journey in April. Going
in the midst of a caravan of men and ponies is not so peace-
* Or Snurla : thus Pittak or Spittak, the initial " a " being a common
addition to Tibetan names. The names Askole, Askardo, Askoro, are the
Indian pronunciations of Skole, Skardo, Skoro, which were originally
Kole, Kardo, Koro,
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LEH TO TEE ZOJI LA. 661
ful a way of travelling as trotting on alone, but there are
more incidents to occupy one's attention. The loads were
for ever coming loose, or slipping too much over to one side ;
the ponies got in one another's way and tangled their
burdens together. Once a dog conceitedly barked at us
from afar, thinking himself safe amongst the rounded
boulders, but a Gurkha cast a stone at him wliich, falling
on a polished rock close by, burst like a shell into a hundred
fragments, and many of them hit him. He uttered a howl
and cowered down in silence, making himself small among
the rocks.
We often noticed, high up on the mountain-sides, stripes
of a different texture, seaming the long debris slopes. They
were usually straight, but sometimes carved round below to
one side or the other, and in this manner two or more
would now and again cross one another. This day we dis-
covered the cause of these path-like lines. It appears that
very high up in the hills, quite out of sight from the valley
bottom, a certain amount of grass grows. This is partly fed
off by the goats and partly cut by the peasants, who make it
into bundles and roll them down to the valley. It is the
rolling down of the bundles that makes the stripes.
After three hours' riding, during which we halted to eat
apples at Khalsi and made another brief stop at the weak
and lofty Indus bridge, we came to the angle of the side
valley that leads to Lama-yuru. We turned round for a
moment to take a last look at the blue river we were
leaving, and the valley in which we had wandered so long.
How blue were the waters ! how desolate the valley ! The
sun was shining straight down into it, and all the slopes
glowed bright from side to side without a shadow. In a
few minutes river and valley were out of sight and we
were rapidly appioaching the Lama-yuru gorge. When
the first dak hut was reached, a Httle before noon, we halted
for lunch, where we halted before.
The remainder of our way was fine, but struck us less
than when we first rode along it, for then the early sun
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662 OCTOBER 3.
brought all the crags oat in bold rehef, whereas now the sky
was heavily overcast and the valley illumined by diffnsed
light. This, however, had one advantage: vre were enabled
to see the local colouring of the rocks which -was before
disguised in bright light and purple shadow. The set of
earth-pyramids (for precipitancy and boldness of position
amongst the most remarkable I ever saw) now proved
to be equally notable for colour, consisting as they do of
the debris of orange, violet, green, and grey rocks. We
did not linger on this portion of our route, but, urging our
ponies forward, made rapid progress. My beast was evi-
dently the property of a pious Buddhist, for he always took
care to leave the mani mounds on my right hand. The
worst of it was that he often mistook any big rock for a
mani, and would make wild dashes away to the left into the
broken stony ground to get the advantage of imaginary
prayers. Shortly before two o'clock we cantered into Lama-
jmra, and our day's march ended.
I immediately inquired the way to the gonpa, and started
oflf with the lambadhar to visit what I imagined to be one
of the most interesting gonpas in the country. It is built
on the top of a mass of conglomerate which has been cut
up into pyramids. Beams have been laid across to bridge
the chasms, and buildings have been raised on these frail
foundations. As we walked up I perceived plenty of old
chambers cut in the conglomerate, and at other parts of the
day's march we also saw the like. Some of these doubtless
belonged to ancient gonpas, and it seems not improbable
that rock-cut gonpas were the earhest in these parts. At
all events it is worthy of remark that the places where now
the largest number of old cliortens, mani mounds, and the
like religious monuments are most numerous are almost
invariably in the neighbourhood of conglomerate deposits,
the only kind of rock in this hard-rocked country that can
be hollowed out for the formation of cave chambers.
The appearance of the upper level was promising. There
was a striking assemblage of painted cliortens, and the
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LEH TO THE ZOJl LA. 663
ineqiialitiea of the ground made the buildings necessarily
irregular and accidentally picturesque. We were first con-
ducted into a temple, whose body consisted of a two-storeyed
square surrounded by a low aisle. At one end was the
portico through which we entered, at the other was a kind
of sanctuary divided from the main square by a screen. In
the square were a few long low divans for the lamas. In a
niche in the middle of the end wall of the sanctuary is a
large and bad figure of Avalokita. There was a row of
other divinities on either side of this, and, mixed up with
them or in front
of them, a lot of
seated saints and
incarnations —
all bad work,
the best being
on Clowan, a
f a V o u r i t e in
these parts. The
walls are pro-
fusely and
wretchedly
painted, with an
multitude of little
Thence we we
out, up and along, through doors eabth-pybamim near lama-
and twisting passages and gal-
leries, hke the Gibraltar casemates, and so at last into a
small square from which the D'u-lihang opened oflP. Here
there were again rows of divans, and in one comer about
a dozen lamas were seated, eating their meal out of httle
cups. This chamber was likewise square, with the usual
two-storeyed middle and aisle round. There was an effect
of good rich colour about the place arising from the quan-
tity of old kakemonos, hits of silk, staged umbrellas, and
other stuffs hanging about from every available point. The
effect was, moreover, increased rather than diminished by
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the dimness that prevailed throughout all the interior, and
especially under the aisles. The statues across the end
were Httle better than those in the temple. Most of them
were of big-hatted fignres, and these had the usual Varallo-
like effect, though poorly and cheaply attained. Along part
of one side of the chamber was the book-case, containing
big volumes, one of which I purchased by night. The book-
case was covered in front by a hanging of printed calico,
which they informed me was made at Machin. The design
printed on it was in two rows of niches, divided by columns,
the upper row being surmounted by canopies. In the upper
niches were small seated figures of the Buddha sort ; in
the lower niches were larger standing figures of the god
and devil kind, wearing much folded drapery, showing Hindu
influence.
I returned to the camping-ground by another route
and found the baggage arrived. Shortly after the tents
were pitched a little snow began to fall, accompanied
by blasts of wind, but as the sun presently shone out,
making thunderous black by contrast the cloud-curtain in
the north, I started up to the gonpa again with the
photographic apparatus, and entered the Dii-khang. There,
to the wonder and delight of the monks, I illuminated
the row of sacred figures with the profane brilliancy of
magnesium wire. We turned in almost immediately after
dinner, and I was the more glad to do so as a chill came
upon me and all the premonitions of an ordinary cold,
caught when, how, and why it was difficult to imagine.
Late in the evening a man came down from the gonpa
with a manuscript, which I bought. He was sent back for
another, and that also came in due season. They were not
large ones, compared to the biggest, but they appeared to
be complete and they retain their original wooden bindings
and leather straps. This successful intrigue consoled me
for my cold. Soon after the treasures were snugly housed
in my tent I went to sleep under a pile of all the wraps
I could gather together.
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LEH TO THE ZOJl LA. 665
October 4th. — We determined to make an effort to do
two long marches over the passes and so to reach
Shargol in one day. We awoke before it was light and
finished our packing, so that the bulk of the baggage could
start well before six o'clock. To get thus early on the way
for mere road travelling on a wintry morning ia a much less
cheerful experience than the habitual early starting in the
high regions during the summer months. I wrapped myself
up well, but, cold without and cold within, felt as good as
naked, and went coughing and sneezing forth into the
shadowed valley and bitter wind. The streams were all
frozen, and sheets of ice here and there covered the path.
Our advance, therefore, was miserable enough, and the more
so that I judged it better to stay behind with the baggage
and urge it forward. We reached the top of the Fotu La in
less than two hours, but even there the cold wind quite
neutralised the sun's warmth. I took shelter under the
sunny lee-side of the chorten for a few minutes and just
succeeded in getting a little sensation into my chapped
hands. The last view towards Ladak might have been
beautiful under other circumstances, for it was clear and
rich in colouring, but I was too miserable to find enjoyment
in any beauty whatsoever. I forged ahead down the
descending valley and came, ultimately, within sight of
Kharbu; but, though going only at a moderate pace, the
wretched baggage ponies and their listless drivers lagged
far behind, so I rode a couple of miles back to meet them,
and took the driving into my own hands. The men, however,
were incompetent to properly load a beast, and the kiltas
kept tumbling off and having to be readjusted. Ultimately
all but one of the ponies were sent quickly ahead, but the
remaining beast shed his load every ten minutes. At last I
abandoned him and sent some men back to bring him and
his burden in. They arrived at Kharbu two hours after the
others.
During the morning Zurbriggen had an adventure
which I shall for ever regret not seeing. He was riding
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666 OCTOBER 4.
quietly along a sandy place with both hands in his
pockets, when the crupper broke; the pony halted, and
Zurbriggen went beautifully to ground over the beast's
bead. A peasant helped him to readjust the saddle, and he
mounted again, but before he bad gone ten yards the
apology for a girth broke, the saddle twisted round, and
down he went again, this time spraining his thumb. His
foot was caught in the stirrup, and the pony started running
away, but fortunately the stirrup leather (probably string)
followed the example of the other parts of the harness and
parted, so that he was not dragged. " Fortunately," he
afterwards said to me, ''I was going very slowly; Wissen
Sie im Galopp, wenn Einer caput geJit so ist Mann aberJ"
After lunching and changing ponies at Kharbu we
started away behind the luggage at 12.45. The new beasts
were a better lot, and so were their drivers. Accordingly
all reached the Namika La together at three o'clock. We
halted a few minutes, rather for form's sake than any-
thing, for the wind was bowling, and the cold was worse
than ever. We then left the baggage behind and hastened
down as fast as possible. McCormick presently smashed
his apology for a whip ; his pony at once perceived the
position of affairs and refused to move out of a walk, so
that Zurbriggen and I left him behind. He ultimately dis-
covered that violently waving his fiur-lined cap about the
animal's eyes scared him into somewhat of activity. Whilst
thus preoccupied McCormick missed his way and arrived in
a village, where his wild appearance and unwonted actions
terrified the population, who all straightway took to the
bills. Ultimately he wooed a woman back within shouting
distance, and she directed him into the right way. Zur-
briggen and I reached the carved figure of Chamba on the
roadside rock in an hour from the pass. We only halted
there for a moment, but I noticed, what had before escaped
me, that the figure used to be covered by a wooden canopy,
the holes and ridge for supporting which remain in the rock.
The Gilgit figure was once similarly protected. The new-
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LEH TO THE ZOJI LA. 667
ness of the surface of the carving, as compared with the
surface of the weather-worn rock about it, also struck me,
and I doubt whether the carving can be more, at an
outside estimate, than two hundred years old. We cantered
all the rest of the way, and reached the Shargol serai in
forty minutes. We had to wait almost two hours before our
baggage came in with the gathering dusk.
In the sera I an amiable Yarkandi merchant was in
possession, with a large caravan of ponies. He was carrying
carpets, namdnhs, and especially cheriss,' to Kashmir and
Amritsar. He said that he had made the journey for many
years, and was instant with inquiries about the Kanjut road,
which he hoped to take for the future. He spread a red
namdah for us in the veranda and served us with tea and
sugar-candy, which were most welcome. Unfortunately our
common stock of language was soon exhausted, or I might
have learnt many interesting experiences from him. As I
knew no Persian, and he but little Hindustani, we had to fall
back on a bargain to fill up the time. The red namdah was
the only thing to bargain about, so I ended by buying that.
October 5th. — After sending off the baggage and seeing
the others started, I went up with Harkbir to visit the little
rock-cut go?ipa, whose whitewashed facade with its red
decorations is visible so far afield in the neighbourhood of
Shargol. A steep path led to the door, which gave access
to the middle storey of the place. The various rooms, of
which there are plenty, are all roughly hollowed out of the
conglomerate and connect with one another by irregular
passages. The top storey is the best finished and is pro-
vided with balconied windows and a terrace above. The
front of the whole is formed by a wall of crude brick. If
this was to fall away the various chambers at their irregular
* Cherhs is a preparation of hemp, a tolerable substitute for opium,
they aay. I tried it, and found it not bad. If the anti-opium people have
their way the demand tor ckeriss, which i3 now falling off, will be revived,
and the Karakoram pasa route will become busier than it has been of late
years.
Digilizod by Google
668 OCTOBER 5.
levels would be disclosed, and no one would suspect that
they were intended to form together a single house. The
temple chamber is the largest, which is not saying much.
It is poorly painted with modern work. The figure of my
favourite lama saint, Tsong-kha-pa, is prominent on the
left wall. Opposite the door is the usual Avalokita one,
and of the usual feebleness and gaudiness. There was
only one seated
statue and no
small objects of
interest, but the
three or four
MSS. were care-
fully and tidily
kept, and the man
utterly refused to
part with any of
them.
Shortly before
nine o'clock I
started to follow
the others and
trotted gaily
down the narrow
valley with its
babbling brook
shaded by a suc-
cession of au-
tumn-tinted
FARM IN TAB wAKKHA VAU^EY. trces. I passed
the long caravan
of my Yarkandi friend, and many other processions of laden
beasts ascending or descending the much-frequented road.
I came up with the others before long, and we left the
luggage far behind. About half-past eleven we reached the
southern edge of Paskiyun, the first of the two large culti-
vated basins through which the Wakkha flows. Here there
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LEB TO THE ZOJI LA. 669
are a bridge and some pleasant trees, under which we rested
on the way up. They again looked so inviting that we
determined to halt for lunch. There was a long wait
before the baggage came in. We beguiled the time in
our usual way by throwing stones for Pristi to run after,
or making them bounce from a smooth rock in the midst
of the stream on to the opposite bank — a game that X
shall not soon forget, for I nearly crushed a finger over it.
After lunch we put our ponies to their beat pace and
cantered over the large desert maidan and down its dusty
edge to the bridge, fort, and serai of Kargil. It was a
bright afternoon, and the march was pleasant, but it lacked
that glamour of novelty, that starting forth into the
unknown, that ideal plunging into the mysteries and
wonders of the heart of the great historic coutineut, which
made for me the upward march over the self-same sands
and stones like a journey through fairyland. To-day
actuality reigned. How vastly preferable is the ideal to
the real I
Late in the afternoon our Yarkandi friend came into
camp. He fulfilled his promise to show us some of his
goods, and we purchased from him, probably at exorbitant
rates, certain Yarkand and Khotan namdahs. It appears
that there is a very good reasou why these men should bring
down so many namdahs with them, bulky and of small value
though they be. A layer of namdahs forms an excellent
pad for the packhorse's back, and weighs little. In fact
something of the kind must be taken to spread the weight
of the ckeriss, which bulks small. The namdalis find a ready
sale in Kashmir, where they are dyed and embroidered.
All the afternoon at Kargil I was possessed by the feel-
ing that our journey was at an end. We telegraphed to
Kashmir for boats to meet us at Gandarbal, and to Roude-
bush to come np the Sind valley towards us. As I looked
round the tent and saw a hole or two that required
attention, instead of setting to work to mend them, I said
to myself, "Holes are of no consequence; in a week we shall
Digilizod by Google
670 OCTOBEB 6.
be living in houses." With this reflection there settled dowii
upon me the melancholy that belongs to the endings of uli
things, and counterbalances the fresh bright hopes with
which they began. The last full moon we should see ia
Kashmir shone over the broad mnidan. The beauteons
scene was so fascinating that we even talked of making h
night parao, but better counsels prevailed, and before Ions:
we were journeying in the featureless land of the dreaiu<>
of the healthily tired.
October 6th. — After seeing every one started at 7.30, I
remained behind to enjoy my pipe under the shelter of a
wall in the bright morning smishine. It was amusing to
watch the place from which the tents were recently
removed. No sooner was all clear than a motley crowd
took possession of it. There were thirteen magpies, a crow,
a lot of goats, and a dog. They left one another in peace,
and all explored diligently for traces of abandoned susten-
ance. I presently trotted after the caravan, as quickly as
my poor pony could manage, and came up with the baggage,
but McCormick and Zurbriggeu, who were well mounted,
left us far behind. They had the fun of waiting two hours
for us at the luncheon place.
I was again struck by the vistas up both the Sum and
Dras valleys from their junction angle. The latter in the
broad morning sunshine had a fine largeness of aspect, due
to the simple dignity of the chief lines in the view, the
single bend of the river below, and the sweeping hillside
that curves down to it and was smitten with one large dash
of shadow from top to bottom. We presently mounted
high above the Dras river and looked down into its clear
waters at various angles. They afforded a rare feast of
colour. In some places their proper blueness was added to
and enforced by reflection of the bright sky. Elsewhere
chance shadows, or the shining through of rocks not deeply
submerged, made the flowing torrent like liquid sapphire.
Anon it was opalescent, and the shallow edges of the stream
were always purple. Nowhere, however, did it manifest the
Digilizod by Google
LEH TO THE ZOJI LA. 671
extraordinary turquoise tints of the upper Indus, but Nature's
storehouse of beauty is filled with an infinite variety of
charms, and I coiild not discover whether Dras or Indus wore
the lovelier colouring. Certainly it would be difficult to
imagine anything more beautiful than the clearness and the
tint of a calm deep stretch of the Dras as I saw it when
looking down fi-om the top of the cliff opposite Hardas. It
was like the greenish-blue flint glass used by DoUand and
the old opticians for the objectives of telescopes, only it
was not glass, but as it were a magic thing with the
gloss and splendour of a woman's hair in it, and the bright-
ness of sky. Such must have been the crystal depths
wherein the poets saw the mermaids play.
Over against Kirkichu is the bridge we crossed on our
upward journey, and here we again entered new ground. A
few rocks, close by the dak walas' hut, are covered with a
number of recently engraved figures of ibex with enormous
horns, well enough drawn, and especially so in contrast with
the human figiu-es scratched beside them. These were
as feeble as the figure of the man with the famous Urus,
drawn on a bone by a paleolithic artist of ancient France.
During the remainder of the march there were some fine
bits of gorge scenery, and here and there some noble crags
and precipices of rock. The efiects, however, would have
been on the whole monotonous, and the more so owing to
the hiding of the sun, but for the astonishing splashes of
autumnal glory dashed here and there on the lower slopes
and congregated in a long procession beside the river banks.
Every mile traversed brought us into less barren land.
There was a little grass even on the lower hillsides, and
shrubs were scattered about them. Nearer to the water,
rose-bushes and other shrubs were always to be seen. A
few junipers here and there appeared, and many willows by
the margin of the stream. The shrubs on the slopes were
all crimson and orange and gold. One blood-red carpet,
on which a ray of sunshine fell, burnt itself for ever into
my memory. But it was Myricatia elegans that displayed
Digilizod by Google
673 OCTOBER 7.
most variety. We saw it first in Bagrot, clothed in fresh
green below and heavy above with an elaborate pink and
white efflorescence. It followed us through Nagyr to
Hispar, We found it again at Askole laden with ripe seeds,
and here by the Dras it came to bid us farewell, still retain-
ing its green below, but passing higher up into purple, or
purple below and crimson above, or the crimson giving
place to a yet brighter red. Clumps of it displaying every
shade of these colours were continually to be seen, rising
out of the dark purple rocks, in contrast to whose solidity
the feathery grace of the branches gained an added
delicacy. At four o'clock I arrived, with the baggage
animals, at the serai and pleasant hagh of Tashgom, the
welcome end of a long and in places somewhat tedious
march.
October 1th. — We started, not without a straggle, by 7.30
in the cold morning air. On these days of deep valley
travelling and belated sunrises the first part of the march
was always a painfully chilly experience, and we looked
anxiously forward to the first bit of road, across which some
gap in the eastward mountains should allow the sun to
strike. The time seemed long till we reached the desired
locality, and an agreeable warmth slowly permeated onr
firames ; but too soon we were plunged once more into the
shadow, and felt the cold by contrast even worse than before.
A longer spell of sunshine would follow, and then a briefer
shadow, till at length the sun climbed high enough to
look over all the hills, and perhaps its heat became even
too oppressive. By the middle of the day the sky was
usually more or less overcast, and in the early afternoon the
blue patches grew smaller and smaller. A cold wind began
to blow, and every afternoon, long before sunset, we were
impatiently awaiting the slow baggage and counting the
moments till we could take shelter within the new pitched
tents.
The scenery through which we passed did not differ in
character from that of the previous day, but the snow-
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LEH TO THE ZOJI LA. 673
powdered peaks ahead, with one or two little glaciers
hanging on their flanks, came nearer to us and more grand
of aspect. When we reached the Dundul angle, where the
Dras valley turns sharply to the west, the character of the
scenery underwent a change. We mounted to a large
alluvial plateau and traversed the area of an old lake-basin,
at the far end of which we quitted the neighbourhood of the
river for its ancient bed, divided from the stream by a con-
siderable rock ridge, of whose existence the map gives no
indication. The lake-basin and old river-bed are large
fertile areas, which herald the approach of rain-blessed
regions. The
harvest was
reaped off
them and the
grass alto-
gether burnt
up, so that the
effect of fer-
tility was not
striking ; but
in springtime
this poor re-
gion must look
bright indeed
to a comer
from the desert world. The sunburnt grass, however, was
a lovely feature in the landscape, for it shone, when the
light fell upon it, like old gold abroad over the hillsides
and valley floor. The proximity of Dras was proclaimed
by two monoliths bearing old Kashmiri carvings set up
by the roadside. They and a recumbent fragment or
two of small artistic merit are obviously the remains
of some ancient Kashmiri temple, a religious outpost to-
wards the wilder lands. Beyond these stones the slope
falls away, and in a few yards the fort and serai of Dras
become visible lying in the midst of an old lake-basin.
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674 OCTOBER 7.
Their, position is fine, and reminded me of the beantifiil
VegHa Alp, one of the most charming and (fortunately) by
tourists most neglected spots in the Alps. A grand series
of mountains surround the hollow, and valleys radiate
from it. The true continuation of the Draa valley is the
Mushki, at the head of which lies a pass to Gurais ; the
upper course of the Uras river and the way to the Zoji La
are in a subsidiary valley, out of which the waters have forced
their way through after much cutting of opposing rocks.
We baited at Dras for lunch at 12.30, and spent a pleasant
hour there in conversation with Colonel Le Messurier,
whom we met on the march the day we arrived at Leh.
After an hour's repose we continued our way, mounted on
fresh and better ponies than the weeds that Tashgom
produced. The river above Dras flows through some fine
bite of rocky gorge into which we looked from the level
land above. The water has worn the rocks smooth, and
their polished surfaces reflected the blue sky and shone
with a startling brilliancy of colour, which admirably
enframed the richly toned water, gliding silently and
unrippled amongst them. Our surroundings, when the
Dras basin was left well behind, became increasingly sab-
lime. Craggy mountains of grand form approached the
river, rock precipices looked down upon us, the area of sky
was narrowed. In the midst of this region we came upon
the picturesque hamlet of Pandras, which seems to grow
out of the rocks, and almost to form part of Nature's own
handiwork. It was curious hereabouts to notice how the
natives perch their piles of new-collected hay upon the
top of jutting rocks as though to invite the havoc of the
wind. Such stations are of course merely temporary, and
we saw many burdened peasants carrying the crop on their
backs to the homestead storehouses. Three of tbem were
actually wading the river, waist-deep, bearing monstrous
loads, the men being entirely hidden in hay and water, so
that the bundles seemed to be progressing miraculously
alone across the stream.
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LEH TO THE ZOJI LA. 675
The road led to a high bridge by which we crossed to
the right bank, where we met a couple of Yarkandis com-
ing in the opposite direction. They asked "the way to
Yarkand " — rather a large inquiry. We showed them the
bridge, told them all we knew of the way, and I hope
Hermes smiled. Over a grassy mound we scrambled, and
then a broad, flat-bottomed valley spread winding away
with wide sweeping hills curving down to it on both
sides and shining with a fine old gold colour in the after-
noon sunlight. It was an ample and generous view that
led the eye upwards and onwards and seemed to sug-
gest a way to lands beyond. We descended to the level
valley-floor and let the ponies canter along it as fast as they
pleased. Snow mountains appeared in front and on either
hand, one in particular attracting our attention by its
graceful white pyramid, a form common in the Alps, though
rare, or indeed entirely absent from the trans-Indus ranges.
We made rapid progress over the long level of the upper
valley, which spreads uninterruptedly from the bridge to the
Zoji pass. In a short time we rounded the end of a small
debris fan and found ourselves close to the bleakly situated
and miserably built serai of Mutain, where we dismounted
at 4.30.
The usual long wait for the baggage followed, and never
was its swift advent more eagerly desired, for the wind was
cold and all our surroondings utterly comfortless. At last,
with the red flush of sunset, it came, and the tents were
swiftly pitched. Simultaneously with it there also arrived
from the opposite direction the Hev. Father Donsen, of the
Ladak Mission, on his way to Leh. We sent at once to
invite him to dinner and turned out our dwindling stores to
entertain him as well as we could. There was only one
tin left, which proved to contain fish. Soup there was
none. The banquet therefore opened with fish. When it
appeared the good father leaped from his seat. "What fish!
Friday ! Are you Catholics, then ? " We spent the evening
together, and in return for what we could tell him of his
Digmzcd by Google
676 OCTOBER 7.
fellow-missionary, Father Hanlon, whom we saw at Leh,
he gave us Dews of the pass, and did not comfort us by
his account. At an early hour we turned in, after takiug
one glance at the glorious moonlight which made silver of
the mountain snows and velvet black the shadows on the
rocks.
P THE DIUS FBOH E
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e THE SIND VALLEY FBOH NEAR THE TOP 0
CHAPTEK XXX.
OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SBINAGAB.
October 8th. — Our pony men and those accompanying
Father Donsen made an arrangement amongst themselves
to exchange employers. We had no objection, but when
the morning came our men were on hand with their ponies,
ready to staxt, whilst Father Donsen's were nowhere visible,
80 we loaded up our baggage and off we went. It was eight
o'clock before we were fairly on the road, and just then the
lazy Kashmiris began to turn up with a pony or two. We
kept behind the caravan all the morning and urged it
steadily forward, so that good progress was made. There
was no change in the scenery as far as the large basin of
Minimerg, where valleys join and fine mountain vistas
radiate. Beyond the basin a valley step has to be mounted
Digilizod by Google
before the upward slope resumes its gentle inclination. The
bare grassy slopes and boggy places, with the ragged rocks
and their -snow drapery above, reminded me of the scenery
AFPBOACHINO THB Z
just over the south side of the Simplon pass. As we
approached the last fork of the valley, fresh snow lay by
the path in shady places, but we had none to cross. On
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OVER THE 20JI LA TO SBINAGAB. 679
the final flat we put up two wild duck, which were swimming
on the diminished stream. A quarter before noon we dis-
covered that the waters were flowing in the opposite direc-
tion from before. We had crossed the watershed without
knowing it, and were already a hundred yards beyond it,
descending into the vale of Kashmir. The height of the
pass is 3sid to he 10,300 feet.
A little way further on we came to a quiet lake, and the
downward slope became perceptible. It was surprising
to find in two or three places the considerable remnants of
spring avalanches. If these abide from year to year it is
hard to understand why small glaciers are not formed.
Possibly the excessive rainfall of the season of 1892 may
have hindered the usual melting. There was one such pile
of avalanche snow only about a mile above Sonamerg — at
a height, that is to say, of 8,500 feet. The main stream
was still bridged in two places by snow accumulations,
thoroughly packed into ice, and over the lower of these
all crossed to the foot of some ascending zigzags, which
brought us again almost to the level of the pass. From
the col itself there was no view worth speaking of, but
every westward step brought us into scenery increasingly
fine. We came almost immediately into the region of the
birch, a forest of which, quite bare of leaves, covered a
slope on our left hand. We passed a pretty little rock-
bound waterfall in a secluded corner close to the pass, but
the first striking view was from the reascending zigzags,
which look down into the gorge with vertical sides, verti-
cally stratified, through which the river seeks the levels of
Baltal. When the snow is thick in winter-time the route
to the pass Ues over it straight up the nala's bottom.
The sun shone graciously, and the sky was clear.
There was a delightful feeling as of spring in the air, and
the burnt grass emitted a faint, hay-like scent. We
traversed slopes of herbage that was not scanty, dotted
over with withering flowers. The bare birches, throwing
back lines of light from their graceful stems, hung like a
Digilizod by Google
gosBamer haze upon the slopes. Travelling thus through
the pleasantest regions, we oame suddenly to the edge of
the steep descent, and saw the fair Sind valley winding
away before us with forests upon its slopes and the wide
grass-lands of Baltal at the opening of the sacred vale
that leads to holy Amamath. A set of snowy mountains,
thoroughly Swiss in form and altitude, crowned the sky-
line of the view. We dismounted from our ponies, and,
quitting the zigzags, struck straight down the mouDtain-
side.
We soon left most of the 2,000 feet above us and were
entering upon the gentler slope when the glory of the
prospect arrested our steps. The foreground was a wide
sloping area, covered with gold and amber of every shade,
the bribe of autumn to the birch woods to let her strip
them bare. Into this golden bed the envious mountains
stretched down their roclqr arms, whose various crests were
emphasised, by long-drawn files of slender pines. In the
blue valley of Amamath the river showed here and there
its silver bends. The blue sky above was pale and clear,
and masses of round white cloud were pushing themselves
aloft into it as though scorning the little snow-peaks at
their feet.
Passing the foot of the deeply shadowed and impressive
couloir, into which we looked from above, and down the
snow of which goes the winter route from the pass, we came
at 1.15 to the miserable huts of Baltal, where we found a
sahib comfortably lunching. He was on his way to Skardo
for a few weeks' shooting. His shikari was the brother of
Roudebush's Shahbana, and the fellow told us all the news.
He had heard that Bruce had sprained his ankle, but was
now well again and gone to Gilgit. He said that Roudebush
was in Srinagar camped in the Chinar Bagh, and that our
baggage had arrived both from Gilgit and from Skardo. He
knew everything we had done and much that we had not.
He told us the names of all the sahibs then in Kashmir,
and where they were all encamped, what each of them had
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OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SRINAGAR. 681
shot, and where he shot it. He said that Dickin went back
to England a month ago. A vessel so fall of gossip I never
before came across, but almost all he had to tell was either
false or inaccurate.
After an hour's halt we started off again down the valley>
expecting great things of its far-famed beauty, but we were
doomed to disappointment. A roof of cioud shut out the
sunhght, which was a disadvantage, but at no time can this
upper part of the Sind valley be of extraordinary beauty.
The forms of the Umestone mountains that bound it are
neither graceful nor grand ; their slopes nowhere compose
very picturesquely. There is, of course, the constant valley
charm, but it is not of a high order. To us, coming from
barren regions, it was delightful to find roots burrowing
across the rough pathway, and to wander amongst shady
trees. The sight of a fallen trunk that no one cared to
carry away was itself remarkable as bespeaking a profusion
of timber. The southern hillsides were clad with forest, and
in one place a withered wood {killed, said Zurbriggen, by
overcrowding on a shallow soil) stood out as a purple mass
amongst the surrounding green and gold.
We followed the stony path at a leisurely pace and
reached the over-vaunted camping-ground of Sonamerg
shortly after four o'clock. It is a pleasant place enough,
but nowise striking, the only exceptional feature in the
surroundings being some remarkable slaty cliffs that form
the face of a peak to the north. These, under some clouds,
crimsoned by the sunset's after-glow, displayed a lovely
scheme of colour, and therewith the day closed for our
October 9th. — McCormick and Zurbriggen started away in
the small hours, when I was fast asleep, to ride through in
the day to Srinagar, a distance of from fifty to sixty miles.
What was left of them dined that afternoon with Roude-
bush. I took my ease in the morning and waited for the
warm sun to come and brush away the hoarfrost. It was
a few minutes after eight when I left the camping-ground.
Digilizod by Google
«82 OGTOBEB 9.
The open valley about Sonamerg, in the morning light, had
a fine ampleness of aspect, but no special beauty, excepting
a pretty glimpse upwards to a bit of snowy crag framed
between graceful ridges. The early stage of the march was
enlivened by the presence of vast flocks of sheep and goats,
not yet scattered to their grazing. The low darting san-
light'touched the fleecy backs of the recnmbent sheep, and
the shepherds picturesquely grouped by them on the grass.
The path traversed a level space on the left bank of the
river and descended through some fine trees, which make a
close foreground to set off charming glimpses of enowj-
peaks, jagged ridges, and the always lovely forested slopes.
From the foot of this descent there was a really wonderfnl
view of blue shadowed valley and shining peaks. The
morning light was just creeping over the middle slopes,
here touching a ridge crested with firs, and there peeping
into a gully full of golden birches. The grassy foreground
was striped with the long shadows of scattered trees.
We crossed again to the right bank and continued the
enjoyment of marvellous prospects, especially backwards
up the valley and across to a group of big peaks that hold
snowfields and cascades of brilliant ice in their bosoms.
Following the riverside we entered the famous gorge, all
too short, the one priceless jewel of the Sind valley. The
ample stream of clear water, glacier-fed but not glacier-
soiled, tumbled merrily along between straight walls of
rock. Two or three beautiful birds flew about amongst
the stones by the bank. Their bodies were of a dark
blue-black, their tails red, the crowns of their heads white.
When we emerged from the gloom of the gorge a sunlit
slope of autumnally tinted birch struck me with renewed
wonder. There is some green in the colour, which I have
called golden, but to my eyes there is always somewhat of
green in dull gold upon which the sun shines. This golden
background gave an added charm to glimpses caught between
the trees of a wood, through which we presently passed.
Then the valley opened wide and became like many others.
Digilizod by Google
BACK FBOM SOKIMBBO
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SBINAGAB. 685
with grassy and wooded slopes rolling upwards on either
hand.
There is method in Nature's distribution of dark firs and
golden birches on the hillside. The firs stick to the ridges,
where avalanches come not ; the birches, which bend un-
harmed beneath falling masses of snow, have the gullies and
snow-swept slopes to themselves. The colouring of the hills
thus emphasises their form. We crossed again to the left
bank, and had not gone far before descrying a tent which
I thought might belong to some shikaring sahib. I rode up
to it and was pleasantly greeted by one Lai Khan, a Woods
and Forests officer of sorts, in the employ of the Kashmir
Government. He caused tea to be made for me and enter-
tained me with talk, recounting the history of bis life and
the names and qualities of the various sahibs whom he was
proud to have served at different times, and in most cases
for long periods of years. He regretted not having his
book of chits to show me. One of them he boasted was
from Lord Dnfferin.
Not long after leaving his little tent I recrossed the river
and continued an uneventful way, delighting in the broad
forest-clad hillside and the twinkling of the leaves near at
hand in the sunlight. I reached Gund, the end of the first
parao, at 1.15, and halted three-quarters of an hour for
lunch.
When we were a mile or two beyond Gund the sun was
already lowered from his midday height, and shadows en-
veloped the face of the south-western hills. Thus a soft
blue depth was formed, against which all manner of lovely
foregrounds passed in turn. I dismounted and walked for a
few miles through a park-like country. Continual batches
of natives going up valley met me, and the sun was always
shining from behind them, making the light cloud of dust
that their feet raised radiant about them. The hills steadily
lessened on either hand, and their slopes became gentler,
but the light of evening's approach was over all, and a great
bed of cumulus cloud, lying on the bigger peaks behind to
Digilizod by Google
686 OCTOBER 9.
the east, caat its soft brilliance aloft and seemed to be trj'-
ing to woo us back to the heights we were leaving so rapidly
behind. The path became broader and more level at every
turn, BO I urged my pony to a canter and completed the
remainder of my way, arriving at Kangan at half-past five,
when the sun had already for some time passed out of view
below the hills.
To sum up, the Sind valley is certainly beautiful, beauti-
ful at any time, but with its autumn colouring specially so.
The forms of its mountains are often fine, and they are
graced with ample drapery of forest and grass. But the
valley as a whole is not comparable with any of the first
rank of beauty. It cannot for a moment stand beside the
Val Maggia or the Val Vigezza. Its fame comes from
people who bring to it eyes tired by the sunburnt plains.
To them must indeed be grateful the sight of " its coppices
of hazel and hawthorn, its tangled thickets of honey-
suckle and wild rose, its picturesque log-built hamlets,
nestling snugly at the foot of the mountains, amidst
groves of walnuts, apples, and mulberries, and grand old
ohinars."
My delight was great when I beheld on the Kangan
camping-ground three large tents, for my own baggage
must, I knew, be far behind. " Here," I said, " are some
sahibs who do themselves well," and visions of possiblj'
even beer arose in my fervid imagination. On inquiry I
found that the inhabitants of the tents were five Mem
Sahibs, unapproachable therefore. For an hour and a half,
tired and cold, I had to wander about the place, till the
night became so pitchy black that I could wander no more.
I heard the merry jangle of plates and knives, but the
far more desired sound of the baggage ponies, tbe most
eager listening could not discover. Some kindly camp
follower gave me pears that he brought from Kashmir. I
hope the Mem Sahibs' dessert did not suffer. " Clearly,"
I said to myself, mindful of the ready hospitalities of Gilgit,
Hunza, and Leh, '* we have come down into the regions of
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OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SEINAQAR. 687
civilisation." At that moment my baggage arrived, and
I made peace with the world.
October 10th. — Awoke with rheumatism, caught, no doubt^
during the previous night's long wait at sunset for the bag-
gage. A note was handed to me from Roudebush, who sent
up a good horse for me with an English saddle. McCormick
and Zurbriggen reached him all right at the Nasim Bagh
by the Dal Lake. I intended to spend the day visiting the
Wangat temples, so sent off the luggage to meet me a little
lower down the valley by the ruinous Parang (or Prang)
Meshid. At eight o'clock I started with Harkbir and a gom
wala to show the road.
The man took us up, what was apparently, from the map,
the wrong nala, but he proved to be right and the map
fatuously wrong. The Wangat nala is the one marked
Kanknai on the map, and the village of Wangat is about
six miles up it, on the right bank, about 400 feet above
the stream. The name Kanknai is unknown to the inhabi-
tants of the valley. The nest nala to the west is the
Chattergul nala, and in it there is no village named Wan-
gat. The route to Gungurbal and Haramok lies up the
Wangat and not the Chattergul nala. In all these points-
the map is wrong ; moreover, it fails even to mark at all
the position of the temples, in some respects one of the
most important sites in Kashmir!
On leaving Kangan we mounted to an elevated level
expanse at the foot of the hills, and traversed it, through
devious little shady lanes for all the world like many a
Surrey footpath. The sky was completely overcast, but it
is on these days of diffused light that the local colour of
things appears with most emphasis. From the plateau there
were beautiful views both up the Wangat and down the Sind
valleys. The lower rounded hills of the Sind, sweeping in
a great curve to the left, were all pink and purple ; the
nearer slopes of Wangat gold and blue. It was a feast
of colour. We dismounted to descend a rugged little
chine, deep embowered in trees that were dropping gold
Digilizod by Google
688 OCTOBER 10.
on to the broken ground. Thus we reached the margin
of the stream that drains the holy lakes, and crossed
it by a crazy bridge to the right bank near Wangat
village.
The remainder of our journey was always beautiful with
the same kind of beauty. The valley is, as it were, in two
stages, a narrow wooded trench below, then, on either side,
a level belt, cultivated here and there, and finally slopes,
wooded or grassy, leading steadily up to the crests of rock
on either hand.
'" ]V/^ /^\ j Below, it often
■ . „1 Jffm^x reminded me
of Wharfedale,
nor should I
have been sur-
prised to come
, : on some feir
I remnant of
Christian mon-
astic architec-
ture in a place
^ ._ which assur-
'^;'--< edly the
■-^,'' ■ monks
would
have loved. Our way
led for the most part
TEaPLB AT WANGAT ,i l_ .1 -i r
through the edge of
the woods, and now and again amongst the few fields. Here
the ground was humpy and broken, with continual ups and
downs and crossings of brooks, the like of which I well re-
member seeing in a delightful three weeks' summer's ride,
years ago, in the Ardennes.
It was on such ground as this that our guide unexpectedly
halted and said, " There are the temples you want to
see." The first group of them was in fact but a few yards
off, overgrown and surrounded by trees in full autumnal
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OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SEINAGAR. 689
glory that admirably set off the cold grey of the little
granite ruins ; the second group was hidden from view.
Beyond the first group the ground drops away, so that the
nearer portion of the enclosure in which they stand had to
be levelled by excavation, the further portion by an embank-
ment supported by a wall of rock. The second enclosure
was levelled with little labour, and parts of its Burrounding
wall are still standing.
The first enclosure had two gateways of the Avantipnr
type, with antte and a pair of columns, both in front and
rear of the actual doorway. The gateway of approach is in
the midst of the wall as one comes up the valley. The
other gateway, which gave exit towards the second enclosure,
is, owing to the configuration of the ground, at the fer left-
hand angle.* The gateways of the second enclosure are on
the axis parallel to the valley. Between the two enclosures
are the foundations of an edifice of uncertain use. It was
square on plan and surrounded by a stately colonnade.
Excavation is needed to reveal further details. Above and
near to the second enclosure is the sacred pond, the
temples in this case certainly not having been surrounded
by water. Beside this pool is apparently yet another
iemple enclosure, in which one little temple still remains,
■waist-deep in soil, but almost perfectly preserved.
To come now to the enclosures themselves. Each con-
tains a central temple, considerably larger than those that
surround it. The central temple in the first enclosure is
well preserved, that in the second is a roofless ruin, as the
first soon will be unless the trees growing on its roof are
■destroyed. The stone roof of the central temple of the first
group is externally a pyramid, internally a dome. For
pendentives there are four massive blocks of stone placed
across the angles of the cube below, and with their edges
■cut into quadrants of a circle and bevelled. The in-
terior walls are plain. There are two doorways with hori-
'' Unfortunately I forgot to take a compasB with me, so could not
observe the beariuga of the enclosures, &c.
„ Google
G90 OCTOBER 10.
zontal architraves, surmounted by triangular pediments.
recessed within trefoil-headed arches. These doors look up
and down the valley. On the other two sides are similar
niches, or blind doorways, which appear to have held
stfttaes. All the temples are of the same type, though
most have bat one door and three niches, and in one or
two cases the door is a ronnd-headed instead of rectangular
opening.
I could discover no symmetry in the arrangement of the
small temples around tbe big one, bnt excavation might
disclose the foundations of others and show that some
method was followed. Their corresponding walls are at any
rate all parallel. The small temples are roofed with three
stages of massive stones, each set laid across the angles of
tbe square below, and with the edges slightly bevelled.
The little buildings are well proportioned after a definite
canon. The granite, of which most are built, is so weathered
that it is not possible to pronounce an opinion on the grace
of the mouldings. I only saw one Uttle bit of carving, a lion
passant, crudely designed and poorly cut, but I am informed
that sculptures of the Gandhara type have been found on
this site. It may well enough be the case that an archi-
tectural decadence had already set in when the temples
were built, but the type was so fixed by long tradition that
the main forms could not be otherwise than good. One
of the little temples in the second enclosure is specially
interesting from the fact that it must have fallen into ruin
at a distant period, or never been finished. A cheap super-
structure of thin fiat stones and thick mud joints was raised
on the old foundations, and a namber of niches were con-
trived in the walls, obviously to hold seated statuettes of
the Buddha sort.
Two kindly natives conducted us over the place and gave
us draughts of delicious milk. I would gladly have stayed
longer, but was so racked with rheumatic pains in hack and
chest that every moment was a misery. I paused, before
leaving, to cast a glance over the whole — the poor little
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OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SBINAGAR. 691
temples embowered in the walnuts, birches, and firs that
are laying them level with the ground ; the richly wooded
valley leading downwards to the fair, invisible plain, upwards
to a rounded, grassy hill, about whose foot the main stream
bends away, where it comes from the upland wilds, clasped
in the great arms of sacred Haramok. The pilgrims' way
to Gungurbal turns from the temples sharply up the hillside
to the left to climb over a shoulder that bars a lower course.
By following it into the upper valley and going north the
Satasam pass is reached. It leads to Tallel and then down
stream to Gurais in the valley of the Kishanganga.
I started away from the place with many regrets, sorrow-
ing most of all that a sunny day for seeing it was not
granted to me. As we retraced the rough and often steep
and stony path through the woods, I noticed quantities of
mistletoe growing in the walnut trees. Arrived at the
bridge we did not cross it, but continued down the right
bank of the stream. Our guide presently led us into a
wrong track, which took uphill, and finally came to mere
nothingness in the midst of steep wood. We had to dis-
mount and fight our way for an hour or more through the
thick growth — a process which frightened my admirable
pony into a lather. I was more than pleased to get back to
the road, though it was fer from good. At last we rounded
over on to a broad spreadiug mountain-foot, covered with
fields. It overlooked the open area of the lower Sind
valley, and I could not but confess that the large gentle
slopes, in the splendour of autumn colouring, and the rich
valley floor, with its river of winding silver, made a prospect
that was lovely indeed. We lost our way several times
more in the maze of little field paths, but finally we
scrambled down a long kind of mud staircase to Parang
Meshid, where our luggage and tent were waiting. It was
half-past four o'clock, ao that my plan of going forward to
Gandarbal was of necessity set aside.
October nth. — The morning was deliciously fresh. It
would have been pleasant to remain an hour or two amongst
Digilizod by Google
692 OCTOBER II.
the trees and fields, enjoying the fragrance of the air and
the charm of the scenery. The little ruinous mosquft, near
which I took my breakfest in the early sunlight, was, I
found, built over a spring of excellent water. It doubtless
occupies the position of some ancient Naga shrine. At
7.30 we started down the fair valley, and soon crossed the
river to its left bank. The path was stony, and unpleasant
for quick going, but I was in no particular hurry, and gladly
permitted the pony to take me at his own pace up a long
slope that mounted amongst the southern woods towards
the shoulder overlooking the comer of the valley near its
opening into the plain. We presently gained the edge of a
canal, and followed it, enjoying the most charming views
through gaps between the trees. At the corner we emerged
on to a large level plateau, splendid with trees in scarlet
and crimson, brown and gold. Here we forged swiftly
ahead, and had not gone far, when lo ! the broad, fair vale
of Kashmir, glittering through a gossamer pall of atmo-
sphere and encircled by a faint blue wall of battlemented
hills, with grey lines of cloxid floating motionless above
them, and a grey-blue sky over all. Again it was the soft-
ness of all visible things that struck me as the keynote in
the charm of Kashmir.
Our plateau gradually dipped to the plain as we left
the forest-clad hills behind. We ceased to look down on
the wide area of cultivated lands, dotted with villages and
trees, spread out like a map before us. Trees and villages
drew together into a dark, broken line, behind which the
hills stood like a wall of air. The mountain world was left
behind ; we were on a flat and cultivated plain. Moreover,
we seemed to have passed from autumn back into summer,
for the trees had scarcely begun to turn from the fulness of
their green, or to drop their leaves. Here and there a chinar
was just a little brown on its southward side. It was a week
or more before the autumn overtook us.
Our ponies were well pleased to have turf beneath their
feet and flat ground before them. They trotted and can-
Digilizod by Google
OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SRIKAGAR. 693
tercd as fast as their stiff little legs could take them. At a
second angle of the hills on oui- left we quitted the flat
estuary of the Sind valley and were on the bed of the
ancient lake. The twin hills that watch Sriuagar stood in
all their soft beauty before us, with their bases lost in bright
mist. " What is the name of this place ? " I asked, as
we halted before some little wooden huts, apparently used
for shops. " It is Gandaibal," replied a villager, offering
me some delicious apples. "This is the place where the
boats come to meet the sahibs when there is more water.
They stop there under those trees ; but now the canals are
dry." We quitted our hospitable friends and trotted along
a winding path
that followed the
very foot of the
hills. Two yards
to our right were
the rice-fields of
the plain, with a
varnish of water
lying brightly upon
them. Two yards
to our left were
the naked rocks oh the jhelah, sbinagab.
of the hUIs, the
foundation-stones of the great Himalaya. I was reminded
of a place in the streets of Brescia, a bit of pavement in
front of the cathedral, where, at the joint between two
flagstones, the slope of the Alps visibly commences.
The slope on our left was continually changing and
revealing new charms, but away to the right, beyond the
rice-fields and the mist that oozed out of them, was ever
the line of dark trees and the PJr Panjal mountains above,
fainter than the clouds. Again we rounded a comer, and the
mouth of the Arra valley was before us. A curving line of
poplars led the eye to it. Fine Mahadeo is its northern
sentinel. To the south a lovely crest of hill looks down on
Digilizod by Google
694 OCTOBER 11.
the Dal Lake and dips at last to the Takht-i-Suliman and
Hariparbat. We quitted the foot of the hills and struck across
the plain, doing our best to follow devious little ways on
ridges between the watery fields. The land resembles the
Egyptian Delta as Herodotus saw it. " Canals occur so
often, and in so many
winding directions, that
to travel on horseback
is disagreeable, but in
carriages impossible "
(ii. 108).
Our winding way led
through many a little
hamlet and past beau-
tifol bits of foreground.
The peasants were glean-
ing in the fields or
building little stacks of
rice-straw in the shape
of English hay-cocka. A
man met us carrying a
paddle, and we knew
that navigable water
could not be far off. A
flock of Mina birds,
harshly chattering,
swooped down close be-
side us on to the backs
of grazing cattle, half
a dozen together on the
IN SKINAQAS. "^ _
same unconcerned cow.
The little black calves licked each other's soft coats. A
faint breeze hummed in my ears and mingled with the
music of water falling out of a rice-field into a channel at
a lower level. Crows were calling " Maud " fi:om the chinar
trees. Everything was peaceful, kindly, and of good omen.
Nature showed her endless generosity.
Digilizod by Google
OVER THE ZOJI LA TO SBINAGAR. 695
" Nitmner, das glaubt mlr, erscheiDen die Gotter,
Nimmer ollein."
Thus, sometimes wading through boggy fields, sometimes
followiog tiny ridges, now jumping little canala, now tracing
the crests of banks, we reached the village of Golab Bagh.
A little way beyond it we met the admirable Salama, sent
forward to welcome us by Roudebush, and fraught with all
manner of interesting gossip. He set us on the right way,
by which we soon entered the chinar-planted park called the
Nasiin Bagh. We raced at full gallcq) down its grand central
avenue. Our shouts were gaily answered. We dashed for
the crest of a low mud-bank on our left ; the smooth waters
of the Dal Lake burst upon our view ; at our feet were the
boats that Roudebush brought from Srinagar to meet us.
I was on board in a moment, drinkiug — elixir divine !
shall I name thee ? — Beer I There were tables to eat at and
chairs to sit on ; objects, too, of fancy cookery, and, better
still, bread and decent butter. But the reader carmot con-
ceive the delight conveyable by such things, unless he has
chanced to be long deprived of them. For the rest of the
day I was content to lie idle in a long chair, alternately
smoking, eating, and drinking, without system and without
thought. The boat at some time got under way, and I now
and then looked out under the matting curtains and saw
that the views were as lovely as they had been precisely
that day six months before, when we spent the bright spring
hours upon the same waters, and, I believe, in the self-same
boat, taking leave of the plains to which all had now
returned in safety.
After spending the days between the Hth and •23rd of
October encamped in the Chinar Bagh* at Srinagar, I
* We were obliged to camp in the Chinar Bagh because the Assistant
Besident would not permit us to occupy one of the many empty banglas
in the MunsM Bagh. In vain I told him that his predecessor had placed
two at my disposal sis months before, and that I had important collec-
tions, which it was inadvisable to repack in the open air. He refused any
accommodation, saying that, according to the rules, the banglas were only
Digilizod by Google
696 OCTOBER St8— DECEMBER 20.
left Eoudebush and McCormick there and proceeded to
Abbottabad, which I reached on the 28th. Tlie Chinar
Bagh was in a damp and fever-giving state, and presentlj'
McCormick fell ill with tj-phoid. I only heard of this when
I was at Simla. Eoudebush nursed him, and Dr. Neve
attended him to a good recovery. He did not arrive in
England, with Koudebush, till January 17th. At Abbott-
abad, Zurhriggen left me to take up an appointment,
which, however, came to nothing; so he hastened on to
Bombay, where, when I rejoined him, he was recovering
from a sunstroke. I was again most hospitably enter-
tained at Abbottabad, and found it hard to tear myself
away from the pleasant place and its kindly garrison.
Captain E. St. C. Pemberton, R.E., joined me there,
having recently arrived from England by way of Russia,
Siberia, Kulja, Chinese Turkestan, the Kilik Pass, Hunza,
Gilgit, and Srinagar. Together we went to Peshawar,
whence we visited the Khyber Pass in company with
Major-General Sir Henry Collett, K.C.B. I left Pemberton
at liawal Pindi and hastened to Simla, to give an account
of myself, stopping by the way at Amritsar and, with
Churcher, at Amballa. Prom Simla I visited Sahaianpur
to look over our botanical collection with Mr. Duthie.
After spending a few days at Delhi, Agra, and Gwalior,
and visiting the Sancbi Tope, I arrived at Bombay on
November 27th. Zurbriggen sailed with me from Bombay
on December 1st. He quitted me in Italy for his home,
and I reached London on December 20th, just in time for
tlie Annual Dinner of the Alpine Club.
for men accompanied by their wives. Tlie rule he was referring to, how-
ever, runs in these words: "Except in special cases the houses in the
Munshi Bagh are for married people." It is Rule No. 17. This
gentleman, whose name I refrain from mentioning, was the only dis-
obliging official, English or native, that I encountered In India. The
result of his action was McCormick's fever, as mentioned above.
Digilizod by Google
GLOSSABY.
Alp. a summer pasturage,
Anna. About one penny.
Arete. A ridge, often narrow.
Arrak. A crude sort of spirit.
Atar. Flour.
Babu. An educated Hindu.
Bakri. Goats.
Bangla. A bouse,
Banias. Shop-keepers,
Bergsckriind. A crevasse, like a
moat, at the foot of a snow
slope. It is often 20 to 50 feet
wide, and of very great depth.
Chamba. The Sanscrit Maltreya,
the coming Buddha.
Vhang. A kind of beer.
Chapattis. A sort of unleavened
bread.
Ckapplis. Sandals.
Charogne. Carrion.
Ckarpoi. Bedstead.
Cham. White hawthorn.
Cheriss. A preparation of hemp.
Chilki. A silver coin.
Chijtar. Plane tree.
Ckish. Desert, rooky, or snowy high
places.
Chit. A writing, letter, character,
or testimonial.
Oiorten. A Tibetan religious monu-
ment.
Climbiiig -irons. A framework with
large spikes to fasten on the
boots.
Clinometer. An instrument for
measuring vertical angles.
Col. A mountain pass.
Cornice Snow or ice projecting
from a ridge and overhanging
the slopes below it.
Couloir. A steep guUy or furrow in
a mountain side.
Crevasse. A reut or crack in a
glacier.
Dak. The mail post.
Diik bangla. A house of rest at the
end of a day's march along auy
of the main roads.
Dak waUts. Post runners.
Ihul. Milk.
D'd-Khang. The assembly-room in
a gonpa.
Ekka. The ordinary one-horse,
two-wheeled, springless, native
vehicle,
Fakib. a religious ascetic, or beggar.
Fan. The conical pile of fallen stuff
at the foot of a gully.
Ghi. Clarified,
butter.
usually rancid
Digilizod by Google
Gi. Sir.
glacier cane. The name of a small
glacier oq the Meije in Dauphiny.
glacier table. A flat stone sup-
ported on a column of ice.
■Gowi wala. Villager.
Gonpa. Buddhist monastery, the
abode of one or more lamas.
-Havildab. a native officer corre-
sponding to sergeant in Euro-
pean regiments.
Hazor. A title of respect.
IcEFAU.. A much torn and crevassed
portion of a glacier, due to a
steep slope in the rocky bed over
which it passes.
Iskander. Alexander.
Jaldi jao. Go quickly !
Jkula. A rope-bridge (for descrip-
tion, see pp. 145-7).
Jiidel. To shout in falsetto, like a
London milk -seller.
Khad. The slope of a hillside.
Kibleh. The direction of Mecca.
Kilta. The ordinary coolie pack of
the country — a leather-covered
Lamasery. A gonpa.
Lambadkar. Headman of a village.
Lammergeier. A vulture. Oypactot
barbatiis.
Lata. A cubical Tibetan moaument.
Lingam. A Hindu religious emblem.
Liwan. The covered-in Meccaward
end of a mosque.
Lunghi. A piece of stuff for vrinding
into a tnrban.
Maidak. a flat place.
Mani. A name applied to almost
any Lamaiet sacred object.
Mosque.
Matam Sara. A Shia place of wor-
ship.
Meydak. Fart of a mosque.
Mihrab. A recess in the wall of a
mosque, to mark the Kibleh.
Mimbar. A pulpit.
Moraine. Stone debris carried by a
glacier.
Moulin. An aperture in a glacier,
caused by water falling down a
crack in its surface, which it
eventually enlarges to a well-
like form.
Muezzin. A Mohammedan crier of
the hour of prayer.
Midldh. An honorary Mohammedau
title, in consideration of purity
of life, or from holding eoine
religious post.
Manshi. A scribe or interpreter.
Nala, A valley.
Navtdah. A Idnd of felt rug, or
blanket.
Naukars. Coolie-servants.
Nautch. A dance.
Nazdik. Near.
Ne/er Turn. An ancient Egyptian
Nevi.
The higher region of a glacier.
On MANI FADUi HUH. Buddhist in-
vocation.
Ovis Poli. The wild sheep of the
Pamirs,
Fabbu. A kind of boot made of raw
sheepskin.
Parao. A day's march.
Parri. A precipice.
Parwana. An official document
giving certain powers to the
bearer.
Pashmina. A fine woollen material.
Digilizod by Google
GLOSSARY.
Pasktu. The langaage of the j
Fathans. |
Pathan. A race common io Afghan- {
istan. j
Pallis. Bandages wound round the |
legs for gaiterfi.
Plane-table. A drawing-board for '
surveying purposes.
Prismatic compass. A compass em- ,
ployed for meaauring horizontal
angles.
Bamadan. The Mohammedan Leat.
Roches moutonnees. Rocks rounded
by ice- action.
Rucksack. A loose bag slung on the I
back with straps like a knap-
sack.
RuTtg. An alp, or high pasture.
Sanoabs. Stone walls to protect
riflemen.
Sckrund. A crevasse.
Serac. An ice tower formed by the
intersection of crevasseB.
Serai. A rest-house for the accom-
modation of travellers.
Shakbash. Good !
Shias. A great Mussnlman sect.
Shikari. A bnnter.
Shina. A tribe of the Hindu Kush.
Soubardar. A native captain.
Sphygmograph. An instrument for
recording the pulse on paper.
Stone-man. A caim of stones.
Suranai. A reed-pipe.
Talus. A sloping heap of rock
fragments lying at the foot of
a precipice.
Tamarei. A stone-man or cairn.
Tainasha. A festivity.
Tekeiidar. A native civil officer.
Temenos. A sacred enclosure.
Tiffin. The mid-day meal, or lunch.
Tonga. A two-horse vehicle.
Tope. A monnment erected over a
Buddhist relic.
Trangpa. Headman of a village.
ViHABA. A Buddhist monasterj'.
Wala. a man,
Wasserleilung. An irrigation canal.
Yak. A species of ox, Poephagus
gninniena.
ZiABAi. The tomb of a Mussulman
saint.
Zigguratt. An ancient Chaldean
temple.
Zuk. Goatskin raft (sec pp. 569-74).
Digilizod by Google
DiBiiizodb, Google
INDEX.
Abbottabad, Start from, 25.
Abbottabad, View from Brigade Cir-
cular. 23. 170.
Abbottabad. 18, 19, 696.
Aden, 8.
Af-di-gar. 532.
Altitudes, Determination of, 631.
Alumpi La, 103.
Amaroath, 680.
Amar Sing Thapa, 21, 158, 202, 284.
355. 438. 520.
Arpi Harrar, 323.
Arra valley. 693.
Arundo, 241, 350, 353, 357.
Askardo. See Skardo.
Aakole, 398, 401, 411 et sqq.. 546,
551, 552, 553, 557.
Aakole bridge, '555.
AskordaB, 236.
Astor, 108 et sqq.
Astor valley, lOi, 106 et sqq.
Atara, 177.
Avalanches, 194, 197, 201, 268, 333,
679.
.\valanche8 of mud. See Mud-ava-
lanche.
.Avalanche of ice, 267, 495.
Avalanche of rock, 555.
Avalokita, 640, 659, 663, 668.
Avantipur templca, 49, 699.
Awkbassa, 301, 313.
B.
Baba Darbesh, 78.
Babu-Sar pass, 30.
Bagicha, 594.
BagQota, 22.
Bago Drokpo, 625.
Bagrot glacier, 154 et sqq.
Bagrot pass, 143, 178, 193, 273.
Bagrot valley, 148 et sqq.
Bagrot valley. Start tor, 144.
Baltal, 679, 680.
Baltia in Nagj^r, 243.
Baltistan, 349, 389 et sqq., 565, 602.
Baltit, capital of Hunza, 235, 237,
249 et sqq.
Baltoro, 483, 546
Baltoro glacier, first camp, 443.
Baltoro glacier. Foot of, 430 et sqq.,
544 et sqq.
Baltoro glacier. Ice-pinnacles on the,
493.
Baltoro glacier. Start up, 438.
Baltoro Needles, 440, 543, 545, 546.
Baltoro valley, 424 et sqq.
Bandipur. 65, 70.
Banduko, 594.
Bangla, 77.
Bannok La, 116.
Bannok mountains, 117.
Bapo Ding Malik Bakanz, 360.
Bardicha nala, 119.
Bardumal, 429, 547.
Digilizod by Google
702
Bari Bang, 163, 164, 166, 172.
Barpu, 298.
Barpa glacier, 297 et sqq.
Barpu valley, 275.
Barramula., 37.
Baraliu Muta, 268.
Basha river, 353.
Bazgo, 626, 656.
Bears, 180, 183, 185.
Berichu, 243.
Bhaniyar, 35, 36.
Bhut Kol pa38, 606.
Biafo glacier, 382 et sqq.
Biafo glacier. Foot of, 409, 417, 419,
422, 434, 550. 557.
Biafo sno^field, 378, 386.
Biaho river, 417, 419, 422, 424,
427.
Biaho valley. See Baltoro valley.
Big Stone Gamp, 134.
Bilargo, 599, 600.
Bilarme, 103.
Birchwood Bidge, 186.
Birkat, 245, 286.
Bitermal, 331.
Black Mountain, 23, 24.
Blukro, 573, 578.
Boggy Camp, 397, 398, 400.
BcHohagurdoanas, 247, 258, 259, 268,
269.
Eoota, 510.
Braldo pass. See Hispar paas.
Braldo valley, 353, 407, 409, 410 et
sqq., 584.
Bride peak, 460, 493, 605, 521, 531,
533.
Bridge over Indus at Bunji, 132, 213.
Broad peak, 470, 471, 525, 531, 532,
540, 541.
Brolmo, 599.
Bruce's sprain, 541, 544.
Bualtar glacier, 291, 294, 296.
Bualtar valley, 275.
Bubuli Mutin, 237, 238, 258.
Buddhist country, 607 et sqq.
Buddhist figure at Gilgit, 143, 666.
Buddhist pamttnge, 639, 640, 65.^1.
659.
Budlas peaks, 268, 269, 292, 298, 31
328, 334, 340, 370.
Bulchi, 153, 154, 165, 207.
Bnnji, 123, 126 et sqq., 130 et sqq.,
170.
Borchi, 175, 204.
Burchi glacier, 187, 205, 206.
Burehi peaks, 193, 197, 198, 205. 291.
Burme uala, 132.
BurzU Gamp, 86 et sqq.
Burzil pass, 71, 86, 88, 96, 99.
Bust in snow, 91.
C.
Camera, Accident to, 165, 183.
Camera, Kinds of, 165, 166.
Gamp furniture, 66.
Chakesar, Mountains of, 33, 24.
Chakoti, 33.
Chalt, 218.
Ghamba, 610, 666, 658, 666.
Chaprot, 318, 219.
Charok, 586.
Ghashmah Shahi garden, 43.
Ghattergul, 687.
Cheriss, 667, 669.
Chiaravalle, II Doppio Pescatore di,
509.
Chilang, 98.
Chilas, 30, 121, 122, 131, 144,161,164.
Ghinar Bagh, Srinagar, 40, 695.
Chiring, 341.
Chiring Ghish, 159, 161, 163, 164.
167, 180.
Chogo peak, 165, 298, 299, 318.
Chogolisa peaks, 454.
Chokutens, 334.
Chortens, 608, 610, 613, 617, 622, 624,
626, 637, 639, 640, 641, 662.
Ghoshi valley, 261.
Ghuchor La, 100.
Chur glacier, 342.
GUmbing-irons, 515, 519, 520, 526.
Clothing, 67.
Digilizod by Google
703;
Cloud phenomenft, 185, 194, 201, 203,
308, 326, 373, 472, 478, 514, 516,
531.
Clowan, 663.
Cooking apparatus, 480, 481, 507.
Comer Camp, 539, 540, 541, 542.
Crystal peak climbed, 463 et sqq.,
540, 541.
Crystal peak. View from, 460.
Dachkot nala, 123.
Dainyor bridge, 146, 209.
Dainyor valley, 136, 169, 178, 210.
Dainyor village, 147, 209.
Dal Lake, 42, 43, 56, 687, 695.
Damot nala, 126.
Dance of Lamas, 645, 646, 647.
Dancing, 81, 112, 558.
Dar, 206.
Daranshi saddle, 269, 275.
Darapo, 325.
Darel, Mountains of, 170, 201.
Darso Brok, 561.
Das, 100.
Dashkin, 116, 117, 118.
Dasskaram Camp, 307.
Dasskaram Needles, 306 et sqq.
Datuohi, 150, 207.
Defries cooking- etove, 480.
Deosai, 100, 577, 578.
Dirran, 155, 156, 167, 163 et sqq.,
171 et sqq.
Dirran peaks, 150.
Dirran, Crown of, 193, 205, 253, 269,
275, 291, 299.
Dirran, Spear of, 159.
Dichell nala, 103, 119.
Dichell peak, 119, 121.
Dochu, 589.
Dodargali pass, 170.
Dog and meat story, 440.
Doian, 119.
Doksam, 563.
Dom, 243.
Domani Chish, 224.
Domel, 29, 31, 32.
Dorikun pass. See Burzil pass.
Drag, 673.
Dras bridge, 601, 671.
Dras valley, 597 et sqq., 670 e( sqq.
Dreary Camp, 548.
Dubanni, 122, 131, 156, 159, 161,
164. 177, 201, 203.
Ducks and drakes, 441.
Dumulter glacier, 399.
Dundul, 673.
Dust-storm, 28.
E.
Eartb-pyramids. 148, 428, 662, 663.
Ekkas, 25.
Emerald peak, 164, 178, 190, 194,
276.
Emerald saddle, 184, 197, 291.
Equipment, 66.
Fairies, 176, 177, 256.
Fakir, 34, 581, 587.
Fakkar, 232, 234, 239, 261, 582.
Fan Camp, 466, 472, 479, 536.
Fan glacier, 466.
Fan saddle climbed, 468 et sqq.
Fans of dkbris. 85, 128, 428, 547,
628.
Feriole glacier, 441.
Fiang, 628.
Fish, 547.
Five Virgins of Latok. 393, 403. 407,
440.
Flooded torrents, 417, 424.
Folk-tales of Hnnza, 256.
Food, Forms of, for mountaineers, 67,
313, 614.
Footstool Camp, 480, 485,. 494 et
sqq., 530, 533, 536.
Fotu La, 614, 665.
Frost-bite, 512, 515, 517.
Gahari HabibuUa, 29.
Digilizod by Google
704
Gabori, 586.
Gamba Do, 589.
Oandar, 339.
GandarChish, 374.
Gandarbal, 669, 691, 693.
Gangan, 599.
Gandhara sculptures, 36, 690.
Ganish, 249.
Gardens of Kashmir, 43, 59, 61.
Gargo, 164, 175, 179 et sqq.
Cargo glacier, 179 et sqq., 193, 195.
Garhi, 32.
Carum Bar, 382.
Ghoresamakar bridge, 421, 423, 424,
549.
Ghoro, 582.
Gidiaghdo, 594.
Gilgit, 137 et sqq., 209.
Gilgit, Bainfall at, 142.
Gilgit road, 29, 30, 37, 71.
Gilgit valley, 122, 133.
Glacier advancing, 189, 546.
Glacier lakes, 337, 546.
Glacier lake-basin, 494.
Glacier retreating, 193, 207, 230,
290, 297. 339, 419, 452, 549.
Glacier tables. 399, 402.
Goats' Delight Camp, 536.
Godhai, 102.
Godwin-Austen glacier, 454, 459,
470, 474, 477, 478.
Gohr Aman, 176, 177, 293.
Col, 582, 583.
Golab Bagh, 635, 649.
Golden Parri, 245, 279, 288, 298, 300,
328.
Golden Throne, 452, 455, 456, 460,
477, 485, 486, 489, 493, 494. 500,
506, 516, 522, 524.
Gomuu. 399.
Gonpa, 608, 610, 612, 617, 624, 634,
638 et sqq., 656. 658, 659, 660, 662.
667.
Gonpa garden, 645.
Gosona glacier, 156.
Green Parri, 411, 551.
Growling peak, 269, 274, 275.
Guide. Use of a, 474.
Gujal peaks, 291.
Gujal valley, 237, 238, 243, 249. 253.
Gulmet, 221 et sqq.
Gund. 685.
Gungurbal, 687. 691.
Gurai, 73.
Gurais, 75. 76, 78, 674, 691.
Gurkhas, 20. 70. 73, 82, 158. 171.
194, 277. 386.
Gusherbrum, 443, 445, 452, 454, 474.
493. 500, 525, 532. 537.
Habakbotan, 77.
Haigutum, 345. 351, 354, 355, 360.
361, 366. 369.
Haigutum glacier, 352. 354, 356, 360.
369.
Haji Pir, 35.
Hangni, 621.
Haramok, 73, 687, 691.
HaramoBh, 131, 136, 164, 165.
Harcho, 116.
Hardas, 600. 602. 671.
Hariparbat, 694.
Harkbir Thapa. 214, 219-21, 323.
457, 482, 526, 528.
Hassan Abdal, 17.
Hatti, 31, 32.
Hatu Pir, 116, 118. 119, 121, 122.
Haze in the air, 116.
Hazratbal mosque, 59.
Hidden peak, 493, 499, 531, 532.
Himalayas, Watershed of, 100.
Himis, 634. 636 el sqq.
Hinarchi, 172.
Hinaskut, 613.
Hispar, 325 ef s^g.. 350.
Hispar glacier, 328 et sqq.
Hispar pass, 361 et sqq.
Hispar pass. Start for, 330,
Hispar pass. History of the, 241.
342. 381, 416.
Hispar pass, Top of the, 377.
Digilizod by Google
Hiapar Snowfield Camp, 366.
Hispar valley, 287, 320, 322 et sqq.
Hollow Camp, 538
Holshttl, 289, 293, 296.
Hopar glacier, 288, 289, 290, 293,
297.
Hopar valley, 276, 287 et sqq.
Hopar yillagea, 289, 360.
Hunnuno, 291.
HuQza civiligation, 261.
Hunza passes, 144.
Hunza peaks, 232, 236, 291, 314,
317, 328.
Hunza tribes, 253.
Ibex, 312.
Ibex, Drawings of, 580, 671.
Ibex peak, 169, 161, 162, 164.
Icefall of the Throne glaoiet. See
Seraca.
Indus valley, 121, 123, 127, 130, 662,
673 et sqq.
Indus valley in Baltistan, Scenery of,
590.
Indus valley in Ladak, 621 et sqq.,
671.
Irrigation, 236, 239, 246, 250, 260,
265.
Islamabad, 44.
Jaglot nalft, 169.
Jesbat nala, 66.
Jbelam valley,30, 32 et sqq.
Jbula. See Bope-bridge.
Junction Camp, 478 et sqq., 534.
K.
" K. 2," 459, 469, 470, 474, 477, 478,
479, 486, 489, 524, 625, 531, 632,
540, 541.
Kafiriatan explored by Dr. Bobert-
son, 209.
Kaj-Nag, 24, 80, 32, 38.
Kamar, 154, 166, 163, 166, 167, 171.
3X 705
Kamar glacier, 164.
Kangao, 686.
Kangi station, 614.
Kanibasar Camp, 363.
Kanibasar glacier, 363, 364, 366.
Kanknai, 687.
Kanzalwan, 74.
Kapalu, 531, 588.
Karachi, 10,
Karakoram pass, 631, 633, 667.
Karakorams, 100.
Karbir Thapa, 142, 162, 251, 323,
373, 453, 467.
Kargil, 599, 602, 604, 605, 669.
Karrim, 101.
Kashgar, 631, 633.
Kashmir, Vale of, 37 et sqq., 692.
Kashmiri boats, 38, 39 et sqq.
Khaghan valley, 28, 29, 30.
Khalsi bridge, 622, 661.
Khaltar, 164, 175, 195, 298.
Kharbu, 612, 666.
Khokun valley, 532.
Khotan, 633, 669.
Khurmang, 588, 589, 697.
Kiltas, 53.
Kiris, 583.
Kirkichu, 671.
Kishanganga, 31, 32, 74, 77, 691.
Kisro Khan, 255.
Kit for climbing, 67.
Kola biscuits, 314, 457, 518.
Kondas saddle, 460, 485, 516, 521,
522, 631.
Kondus vaUey, 522, 531, 632.
Koroton, 419, 549.
Kumango, 687.
Kumri pass, 78, 84.
Kusuru, 588.
Kuzbrn'thang, 586.
Ladak, 630 et sqq.
Labor, 13.
Lak glacier, 338, 340, ;
Lama dance, 645-7.
Digilizod by Google
706
Lamaism, 607.
Lamasery. See Goopa.
Lama-yuru, 617-20, 662.
Lancum i Brangsa, 416.
Laekam, 421, 422.
Lato, 622.
Latok glacier, 393, 398, 399.
Leh, 577, 601, 603, 628 et sqq.,
et sqq.
Lhasa, 640, 642.
Librarj- of a goupa, 641, 657. 664
Lila Ram, 70, 158.
Liligua glacier, 545.
Liscomb, 116.
Loaun, 607.
Lower Plateau Camp, 512, 513, <
M.
Mahadeo, 693.
Main Chiush, 333.
Makorum, 341, 851.
Manasbal, 38.
Mangjong, 556.
Mango Brangsa, 402.
Mango Gusor, 414, 417, 419, i
422, 461, 553, 568.
Molto, 353.
Moraine -covering of Biato glacier.
408 et sqq.
Moraioe -covering of Hispar glacier,
337.
Moraines, Ancient, 103, 104, 193.
228, 236. 239, 290, 585.
Moravian missionaries, 631, 633, 653.
I Mosques, 567, 568. 570, 582, 58:3,
586, 587, 692.
Moulin, 394, 406, 408, 448, 494.
I Moussa-ka-Masala, 23 note, 24.
I Mud-avalanclie, 127. 130, 323, 411.
1 427, 618, 625. 628.
I Mulbei Chamba, 610, 666.
. Mulbekh valley, 608.
Munsbi Bagh, Srinagar, 40, 42.
Muski valley, 674.
Muetagh pass, Yonnghusband's, 445,
I 447, 532, 542.
I Mustagh Tower, 459, 497, 498, 52.5,
I 542.
, Mutain, 675.
Mani mounda, 607, 617, 622,
627, 634, 637, 662.
Manaera, 27.
Mantoka, 585.
Mapnun, 85.
Marching, Method of, 82.
Marmots, 265.
Maroll, 597.
Martand temple, 47.
Masherbrum, 446, 447, 460, 540,
Masherbruni pass, 539, 540,541,
Miachar, 230.
Mikiel. 103, 104, 105, 107.
Miuappon, 229.
Mjnawar, 135, 148.
Minimerg (Burzil), 88.
Minimerg (Zoji). 677.
Mir Camp, 302 ct sqq., 311, 313.
Mitre peak, 497, 536.
I Nagai valley, 85.
I Nagyr bridge, 248.
624, I NagjT town, 240, 277 el sqq.
' Nagyr valley, 237 et sqq.
Nambia Brangsa, 406.
I Namdaha, 633, 667, 669.
I Nam-gj'alna-wang, 657.
Namika La, 611, 612.
i Nanga Parbat, 73, 101, 10
! 120, 121, 131, 132, 479.
j Nasim Bagh. 59, 687, 695.
541. . Nikpal hill, 605.
542. j Nilt, 219, 220.
Niltar, 145.
Nimo. 627.
Nishat Bagh, 61.
Nomal, 216.
. Nomal valley, 215.
I Nose, The, 410. 417, 551.
, Nun Kun peaks, 606.
1 Niiria, 623, 660.
Digilizod by Google
Nurr, 581, 582, 683.
Nuahik La, 143, 332, 345, 349 et aqq.,
362, 369.
Nushik La, History of the, 241, 349.
0.
Ogre peak, 378, 386, 390, 393, 398.
Ogre's Camp, 388, 398.
Ogre's Fiagera, 386, 389.
Oldingthang, 597, 606. •
Oprang valley, 443, 531.
P.
Pahbus, 271, 438.
Paipering Maidan, 300, 314.
Pamirs. 130.
Paadraa,-674.
Paadrethaa temple, 41, 50.
Parang Meshid, 687, 691.
Parbir Thapa, 1, 75, 101, 121, 158,
2a4, 355, 438, 458, 520.
Parkutta, 585.
Pashmina, 569.
Paskiyun, 606, 668.
Piale Camp, 445.
Piale glacier, 445, 447, 542, 554.
Pioneer peak. Ascended, 502 et aqq.
Pioneer peak. Height of, 524.
Pioneer peak, Start for actual climb,
517.
Pioneer peak. Top of, 522.
Pir Panjal, 17, 37, 44, 48, 60, 71,
693.
Pisan, 228.
Place de la Concorde, 454, 536.
Poiu. 433.
Polo, 111, 259.
Pool Camp, 452, 454, 460, 462.
Port Said, 3.
Pressure, Effects of diminished atmo-
spheric, 900. 270, 377, 381, 389,
458, 461, 493, 508, 517, 520, 522,
524, 528, 530, 538.
Pristi, the dog, 26, 134, 208, 209,
218, 354, 421, 465, 473, 496, 500,
557, 571, 602, 669.
Punmab valley, 414, 421 et sqq., 525,
548, 549.
Purik, 606.
B.
Bahim All, 25, 27, 39, 139. 481.
Bajdiangan paas. See Tragbal.
Eaki, 176. 178.
Bakipushi, 119, 121, 131. 136, 159,
161, 169. 172, 184, 218, 219, 228,
283, 235, 263, 318, 319.
Bamghat, 123.
Bampur, 3d.
Bash huts, 320.
Bash ridge and passes, 299, 302,
317 et sqq.
Battallo, 289 et sqq.
Bawal Pindi, 17, 31.
Bdzong, 399.
Bed Sea, 7.
Bidge peak, 370.
Hob Roy cooking apparatus, 481, 507.
Roches moutowUes, 236, 310.
Rochester craga, 430.
Bope-bridge, 145.
S.
Saddle peak, 299, 303, 309, 313.
Saddlea, 259, 598.
Sahling, 585,
Saltoro pasa, 532.
Saltoro river, 531.
Samaiyar, 243, 256, 277, 263, 264.
Samaiyar glacier, 265.
Samaiyar valley, 237, 261, 264 et
sqq.
Samaiyar Bar, 300, 318.
Saner wain, 65.
Sarpolaggo river, 532.
Saspul, 624, 658, 659.
Sat, 153, 154, 175, 178, 206, 207.
Satasam paaa, 691.
Secret glacier, 493.
Sepultar valley, 291, 292.
Serac Camp, 506, 529.
Digilizod by Google
708
Seraca of the Throne glacier, 496,
498, 502 et sqq., 529. .
Serban ascended, 24.
Sermi, 584.
Serpent's Tooth. 170.
Shah Hamadan mosque, 40, 53, 279,
567, 586, 587.
Shaiyar, 235.
Shalimar Bagh, 59.
Sballihuru glacier, 299 et sqq.
Shallihuru icefall, 309.
Shaltat, 296.
Shaltar nala, 119.
Shargol. 608, 609, 667.
Shey, 635.
Shigar, 357, 413, 568.
Shigar valley, 562, 565 et sqq.
Shimshal pass, 532.
8hinas, 176, 243, 254.
Shiokan valley, 429.
Shititing, 594.
Shoata, 663.
Shoti, 243, 416.
Shukorri, 327.
Shushot, 634.
Shyok, 531.583, 584.
Sickness, Moantain, 97.
Sinakar, 149, 177, 208.
Sind valley, 38. 669, 679 et sqq.
Singing, 80. 81, 96.
Skardo, 116, 349. 353, 357, 368, 413,
569, 574 el sqq., 601.
Skin-raft, 353, 357, 569, 570, 672.
Skoro, 564, 565, 579.
Skoto La, 413, 561, 562.
Skulls of Nagyri, 245.
Slel. Sec Leh.
Snow-Lake Camp. 332.
Sonamerg, 681, 682.
Sorcerers, 255.
Spedding and Co., 31, 71, 85, 87.
Spittak. 628.
Srinagar, 40 et sqq., 577, 601, 655,
693, 695.
Srinagar, Start from, 62, 696.
StachikyuDgine glacier, 539, 541, 642.
I Storage Camp, 451, 480, 636.
Stravfberry Gamp. 267 et sqq.
I Suez Canal, 7.
I Sulphur Camp, 200.
I Sunburn, 74, 99, 421.
I Sum river, 599, 602, 604. 670.
Takht-i-Suliman temple and hill, 42,
694.
Taliche, 122.
TaUel, 691.
Tandiani, 22.
Tara, 640, 641.
Tarchik valley, 620.
Tarkutti, 595, 597.
Tammsa, 606.
Tashgom, £72.
Tashot, 230, 234, 262.
Tasbot bridge, 261.
Temples of Kashmir, 36, 42, 47, 49,
50, 576, 673, 687, 688. 692.
Tents, Kinds of, 66, 385.
Tents, Mummery, 272.
Terraced fields. 249.
Thl&Brok, 558.
Throne glacier, 454, 467, 477 et tqq.,
516, 525.
Thunderstorms, 179, 188.
Thm-gon, 580
Tibet, 630,.
Tikzay, 635.
Tolti, 587, 588.
Tonga, 17.
Torgun valley, 594.
Tragbal Camp. 71.
Tragbalpass, 71, 73.
Trough, The. 269. 272, 273.
Trough Camp, 272 et sqq., 276.
TrubyUng, 119.
Tsong-kha-pa, 658, 668.
Tusseipo La, 568.
.U.
Uchubagan, 150, 167, 169. 177.
Uchubagan pass, 167, 169, 170, 177.
Digilizod by Google
Uli Biaho glacier, 441, 545.
Ultar glacier, 237, 238, 250, 2G.-J.
Upper Plateau Camp, 516, 527.
Tj'ri, 33, 34, 35.
"Vigne glacier, 454, 636.
W.
Wakkha valley, 634 et sqq., Q6i
Wangat templea, 688.
Wangat valley, 687 et sqq.
White Fan. See Fan.
Wild Eose Camp, 298.
Windy Camp, 183, 193 et siq.,
Wulah Lake, 37, 38, 65.
605, 606, 633, 631,
Yarkaud,
675.
Yai'kand river, 532.
Yarkand serai at Leb, 632.
Yesbkuna, 178, 242. 243, 254, 331.
Younghusband glacier, 451, 452.
Zoji La, 674 et sqq.
Zoji La, Top of the, 679.
Zuk. See Skin-raft.
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