Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet Part 5

JULY 31. -- Finished up the month by a difficult march of four and twenty miles, encamping at Pandras about eight P.M. and no longer at the FOOT of the mountains. Immediately on leaving our halting-place we commenced the ascent of a steep glacier, and for upwards of four miles our path lay entirely over the snow: so dense and acc.u.mulated was it, that even when the sun came out and burned fiercely into our faces and hands, there was no impression whatever made on its icy surface.

The glacier was surrounded on all sides by peaks of perpetual snow, while parts of it were of such ancient date that, ingrained as it was with bits of stick and stones &c., it bore quite the appearance of rock. The path was in some places so indistinct, that on one occasion I found myself far ahead of the rest of the party, and approximating to the clouds instead of to the direction of Ladak. About five kos on our journey we halted to let the kitchen come up, and had our breakfast on the snow in the company of a select party of marmots. The little creatures appeared to live in great peace and seclusion here, for they let us up, in their ignorance of fire-arms, to within thirty yards of them before scuttling into their habitations. They were all dressed in blackish brown suits of long thick fur, and considering that they live in snow for at least eight months out of twelve, they appeared not the least too warmly clothed. As we went by they used to come out and sit up on their hind legs, with their fore paws hanging helplessly over their paunches, while, with a shrill discordant cry, they bid us good-morning and then hurried back to their houses again. Not having our rifles handy they escaped scot free, otherwise we might have borrowed a coat from one of them as a reminiscence of the country. After another kos or two we began to get clear of the glacier; but occasionally we came upon enormous ma.s.ses of snow jammed up on either side of the torrent, the action of the water having worn away the centre. The path gradually led us through rocky pa.s.ses, over torrents spanned by snow among the magnificent mountain range; and although the march was, rather long for a hill country, we found no fault with it until about the last three kos, when it was getting late in the day, and although fast becoming hungry, we saw no immediate prospect of getting anything to eat.

The last few kos we find invariably longer than their fellows; one kos by DESCRIPTION, at this stage of the proceedings, being generally equal to two in reality. Asking a native, how far we are from a halting-place, is invariably answered in one of two ways: either Th.o.r.eE DOOR, not very far, or NUZDEEK, close. Th.o.r.eE DOOR means generally about four miles, while NUZDEEK may be translated five at least. A kos too, which ought to be from one and a half to two miles, means here anything between one mile and seven. Delaying as much as possible, to let our servants up, we reached Pandras at last, and found all the inhabitants turned out to see our arrival; they were dressed in long woollen coats and sheepskins, and looked something between Russians and Tartars, with a strong flavour of the Esquimaux, as depicted by Polar voyagers. As the sun went down it became bitterly cold, and we found the natives even, shuddering under the influences of the snowy wind, which, setting in from the mountains, appeared to blow from all points of the compa.s.s at one and the same time. What the village of Pandras must be in mid-winter it is hard to imagine, so covered with snow as the mountains around it are even in August, and so bleak and so barren the valley in which it is situated.

In spite of the cold, we astonished the entire swaddled population by taking off our clothes, and bathing in a little crystal stream close by: two operations, in all probability, which they themselves had never perpetrated within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, This feat accomplished, we were much astonished by the arrival of a RARA AVIS, in the shape of a British traveller, from the direction of Ladak. He turned out to be an officer of the Government survey, now being carried on in the mountains, and we took the opportunity of deriving from him all the information we could, relative to the prospect before us. He strongly recommended us to go to the monastery of Hemis, beyond Ladak, and also to the Lakes, but the latter would appear to be beyond the limits of our time. The only natives we had met during our unusually long march to-day, were four hairy-looking savages from the interior, from whom, after much difficulty, I succeeded in purchasing an aboriginal tobacco-pouch, flint, and steel, all combined in one, paying for the same about three times its actual and local value, viz. two rupees. They were dressed in long woollen coats, with thick bands of stuff rolled round their waists; and all four had bunches of yellow flowers stuck in their caps, and pipes, knives, tobacco-pouches, &c. hung round their girdles. Their shoes were of the Esquimaux pattern, the soles sheepskin, coming up all round the front of the foot, where they were joined by woollen continuations -- shoes, socks, and leggings, being thus conveniently amalgamated into one article of apparel.

AUGUST 1. -- On the road a little later than usual, all hands being tired after yesterday's exertions. The path to-day lay among huge boulders of rock, which had come down as specimens from the mountains above, and after a short march of five kos, we reached Dras, a little a.s.semblage of flat-roofed houses, with a mud fort about half a mile from it, in the valley. This was built with four bastions and a ditch scarped with paving-stones, which surrounded it on all sides except one, where it was naturally defended by the torrent. On the road we pa.s.sed a curious bridge, built entirely of rope manufactured from twigs of trees. The cables thus formed were swung across the torrent, from piles of loose stones, in a most scientific way, though not one calculated to inspire confidence in any traveller with weak nerves who might have to trust himself to its support. It appeared, nevertheless, a most serviceable structure, and was decidedly picturesque. At Dras we were able to get all supplies except fowls.

AUGUST 2. -- Having a long and up-hill march before us, we were up and dressed by moonlight. Outside the village, we came upon two curious old stones, standing about six feet high, upright, and carved in the way we had already seen at the ruins of Pandau and elsewhere. These stones were of irregular form, and carved on three sides, and the designs, though much worn, were distinctly traceable. They represented, apparently, a male and female figure, standing about five feet high, and surrounded by three smaller figures each. Like all the other sculptured figures we had seen, they were innocent of clothes, with the exception of the rope, or very scant drapery, which ran across their ancles and up either side to the shoulders.

Leaving these, we pa.s.sed through a wild and rugged valley among the mountains, cultivated in patches, and watered by numerous little sparkling crystal streams. At short intervals, there were little settlements of mud huts, built, Tartar fas.h.i.+on, one on top of another, and peopled by a few miserable-looking natives, who appeared, in their woollen rags, to be cold, even in the middle of this summer's day. The few travellers we met during our march were flat nosed, heavy-looking creatures, with Chinese skull-caps and pig-tails, and were employed in conveying salt to Cashmere, packed in bags of woven hair, and laden on cows and a.s.ses as weird and strange-looking as their owners. About five kos off, we called a halt for breakfast, and reached Tusgam about four P.M.

Here we found a few ARBOR VITAE, and other shrubs, in bad health, the first of the tree species we had encountered since ascending the glacier.

AUGUST 3. -- Struck our camp at sunrise, and crossing the torrent, which still accompanied us, descended the Pa.s.s by a slight decline. During the day we pa.s.sed through numerous gorges, studded with giant ma.s.ses of rock, and bounded on all sides by rugged and inhospitable mountains. We only saw one village, and that some way off the road -- Kurroo, the guide called it. Breakfasted under an overhanging rock on the mountain side, just where our path was, hemmed in by the torrent, and were disturbed during our repast by several volleys of stones which rattled down over us from above. They were set free by the melting of some large ma.s.ses of snow, which, being covered with sticks and dirt, we had not noticed when we chose our breakfast parlour so close to their uncomfortable proximity. To-day we met more salt-carrying parties -- uncouth-looking savages in pig-tails, speaking a language that not one of our party could understand. We also encountered an original-looking gold-was.h.i.+ng a.s.sociation of five, who were wending their way towards the snow with their wooden implements. They were all also weighted with bags of grain, to keep them alive during their search. Their labour consists in sifting the fine sand which comes down in the snow-torrents, charged with minute particles of gold; and the proceeds, from the appearance of "the trade," would not seem to be very great. They say it amounts only to a few annas a day, but would probably not allow to the full amount for fear of being taxed.

At our breakfast-halt we saw the most primitive specimen of a smoking apparatus probably ever invented. It consisted of a dab of mud stuck in a hole of a tree, about five feet from the ground. Two small sticks, inserted in this from above and below and then withdrawn, had evidently served to form the smoke pa.s.sage; while the bowl as evidently had been fas.h.i.+oned by the simple impression of a Thibetian thumb, the whole forming, for the use of needy travellers, as permanent and satisfactory a public pipe as could well have been devised. It had just been in requisition before we pa.s.sed, for a small quant.i.ty of newly-burned tobacco lay in the bowl; and a fresh patch of clay on the mouthpiece had probably been added, either in the way of general repairs or by some extra-fastidious traveller, who preferred having a private mouthpiece of his own. After rather a severe march through rocky mountain gorges, we reached Chungun, a little oasis of about five acres of standing barley, with three or four flat-roofed houses dotted about it in the usual Tartar style of architecture. It also boasted four poplar-trees, standing in a stiff and reserved little row, evidently in proud consciousness of their family importance among such rugged, treeless, iron mountains.

It was altogether a refres.h.i.+ng little spot for a halt, after the savage scenery we had marched through; and pitching our camp in it, we were not long in introducing ourselves to the little brawling stream of clear cold water to which it owed its existence.

AUGUST 4. -- Started this morning in a mountain mist. Just outside the village we pa.s.sed the scene of the fall of an avalanche, which gave one some faint idea of the enormous forces occasionally at work among these mountains. It had taken a small village in its path, and over the place where it had stood we now took our way, among a perfect chaos of ma.s.ses of rock, and uptorn earth, trees, &c. The whole ground was torn and rent, as by the eruption of volcanoes or the explosion of enormous magazines of powder. Pa.s.sing this, our path continued to descend the gorge until about two kos from Chungun, when another torrent came down to join its forces to the one we were accompanying; and leaving our old companion to roar its way down to join the Indus, we proceeded up the valley in the society of our new friend. Pa.s.sing a series of little villages nestled among the rugged rocks, we crossed the stream by a tree bridge and causeway, to the Fort of Kurgil, where, after a long consultation, we breakfasted. The differences of opinion between the guide and the rest of the natives as to the distance of a village ahead, where milk and supplies were forthcoming, were so wide, some saying three kos, others six, &c., that we finally determined upon getting some breakfast before deciding the true distance for ourselves. The village Hundas was another most perfect little oasis. It was only about five or six acres in extent, under the frowning mountain, and was terraced and planted in the neatest and most economical way imaginable. The fields were beautifully clean, and were quaintly adorned in many instances by huge blocks of rock from the mountain above, bigger considerably than the whole of the houses of the village put together. Leaving Kurgil, we made a sharp ascent, and crossed a plateau bounded by some extremely curious formations of rock and sandstone.

The mountains appeared to have been reared on end and cut with a knife, as if for the especial benefit of geologists in general, although the hues of their many-coloured strata were calculated to attract even the most ungeological mind by their brightness. Descending from this plateau, we came to a pa.s.s dotted with three or four little villages, wooded with poplars, and adorned with a few shrubs of different kinds. Here every available inch of ground which the grudging rocks bestowed was cultivated, although all around, the mud-built native huts were broken down and deserted, in such numbers as to give the idea of an Irish settlement whose inhabitants had transplanted themselves to America. At the last of these little villages, called Pushkoom, we pitched our camp, the retainers taking a fancy to the place from the promise it gave of abundant supplies.

AUGUST 5. -- Made our first day's halt, and enjoyed it considerably -- not the least of its advantages being the immunity it gave us from being torn out of bed at grey hours in the morning. The rest of the force also appreciated the day of rest, and made themselves comfortable after their fas.h.i.+on under our grove of trees.

In the afternoon I ascended the mountain opposite to reconnoitre and inspect the curious formation of strata, which formed the princ.i.p.al feature of the place.

The ascent I found at first to be over a soft crumbling small stone, resembling ashes, but of various colours, and in distinctly-marked strata. These were generally of pinkish red and grey, and from them in large ma.s.ses, rose enormous blocks of concrete, in all manner of forms and shapes, some like towers and fortifications, and others standing out boldly by themselves, worn by the weather into holes and ridges. After a considerably difficult ascent, from the crumbling nature of the stones, I reached the summit of the mountain, and climbing a concrete monster which capped it, had a magnificent survey of the mountain ranges and country around. In every direction the eye rested on snowy summits, and the wind from them fell coolly and refres.h.i.+ngly after the toil of ascent under a hot sun.

Returning through the village, I found the natives hard at work collecting their crops of wheat and barley, and stowing them away, generally upon the flat tops of their houses. They seemed altogether a peaceful, primitive race; but, although their ground appears in first-rate order, they themselves are uncultivated and dirty in the extreme. The ladies, I am sorry to say, are even rather worse in this matter than the gentlemen. The female costume consists generally of robes of sheep and goat skins thrown across the shoulders; while a long tail of twisted worsted plaits, looking like a collection of old-fas.h.i.+oned bell-ropes, forms the chief decoration. This is attached to the back hair, and hangs down quite to the heels, where it terminates in a large tuft, with ta.s.sels and divers b.a.l.l.s of worsted attached to it. On a hill overhanging the village were the remains of a mud fort, which had been pulled down by Gulab Singh in one of his excursions to Thibet, with a view to bringing the inhabitants to a proper sense of their position, and enforcing the payment of his tribute.

The number of battered and deserted huts about the village is accounted for by the erratic habits of the people, which induce them never to stay long in one set of houses, but to flit from one side of the valley and from one settlement to another as the fancy strikes them. That the large increase of the flea population among such a race, however, may have something to do with their restlessness, seems more than probable.

Except when impressed for government employ, they seldom leave the vicinity of their villages, and one old gentleman told me he had never been even as far as a place called Lotzum, which is only two kos off! The religion seems to be a mixture of Buddhism and Mahomedanism -- the latter on the decrease as we get farther into the country.

The dress a.s.similates to the Chinese -- pig-tails and little skull-caps being the order of the day. We obtained here good supplies of cow's milk, b.u.t.ter, &c., and among other things, some peas. These enabled us to celebrate our Sunday's dinner by a "duck and green peas," and never since the first invention of ducks could a similar luxury have been so thoroughly appreciated.

AUGUST 6. -- Started early again, and marched five kos, through the little half-deserted settlement of Lotzum to the village of Shergol, where we halted for breakfast. Here we found ourselves fairly among the Buddhists, and saw an entirely new description of monuments connected with religion, from anything we had yet encountered. The most striking objects were a series of tomb-like buildings, without entrances, and adorned on all sides by the most hideous effigies, rudely executed in coloured mud.[17]

Some of these were men, depicted in bright red on a yellow ground, with horrible staring countenances; others women, adorned with numberless necklaces and other ornaments; besides these, there were peac.o.c.ks, griffins with human arms, deer, &c., and all in the most flaring colours and the very rudest designs.

In the perpendicular face of a rock beyond was a very curious monastery, or abode of the Lamas. It was built completely IN the rock, and was reached by a natural cavity on the face of the stone.

Jutting out from the upper part, balconies had been erected overhanging the precipice, and these were decorated with red copings, spotted with white. From the fact of only one of our party knowing the language, it was difficult to ascertain from the natives the history of this curious abode, but they gave us to understand that it was the home of their Lamas, or spiritual preceptors. Here we met another of the race of wandering Englishmen, who was wending his way back to the valley. He was returning from a shooting tour, was all alone, and appeared to have had very hard work indeed of it, if his face and hands and generally dilapidated appearance might taken as a criterion. Not being quite in such light marching order ourselves, we were able to ask him to breakfast, and from his ready acceptance and the entire justice he did to our offer, I don't think he could have had anything to eat for a week.

He appeared to be a thorough sportsman, and had bagged several head of large game, which he showed us. They were princ.i.p.ally a kind of wild sheep with enormous heads and horns, each of his trophies being almost a coolie load in itself. Leaving Shergol, we entered a curious valley with rocks of concrete standing out like towers and fortifications, and on the summits of these again, airy-looking habitations with red streaks adorning them, and entered, as that at Shergol, by holes in the face of the rock. These were, or had been, the abodes of the Lamas; numbers of them now however, as well as the mud settlements at their feet, appeared in ruins, and gave no sign of habitation, beyond having about them a number of little flags stuck on long poles, which fluttered about in the breeze. According to the account of our interpreter, which had to pa.s.s from Thibetian into Hindostanee before it could clothe itself in English, the cause of this dilapidation was the state of wealth and ambition at which the Lamas had arrived, and the consequent interposition of Gulab Singh to take down their pride and ease them of a little of their wealth, both of which he accomplished in the style to which he was so partial, by slaughtering some hundreds of them and reducing their airy habitations to ruins.

At a place called Moulwee we came to a curious block of ma.s.sive rock standing close beside the path, with one of the red-topped houses built into its side. Above this was a colossal figure with four arms, rudely cut on the face of the rock, and above all was perched an implement, something after the fas.h.i.+on of a Mrs. Gamp's umbrella of large proportions, together with sundry sticks and rags, which seem to be the common style of religious decoration in these parts.

The figure was about eighteen feet high, the lower extremities being hidden behind the building at the base of the rock. It resembled in some measure the sculptures occasionally seen among Hindoo temples, but no one appeared to know anything whatever of its origin or history.

Close to this there were an immense number of stones collected together, bearing inscriptions in two different characters, one of which resembled slightly the Devanagree or Sanscrit. Seeing such a profusion about, I appropriated one which happened to be conveniently small, and carried it off in my pocket.

The sun being intensely powerful, we called a halt at a village named Waka, perched among the rocks, where we found a rattletrap of a baradurree, which saved us the trouble of pitching our tents. Opposite to us was a curiously worn ma.s.s of concrete mountain, which might easily have been mistaken for artificial lines of fortification, had not the scale been so large as to preclude the possibility of any but giants or fairies having been the engineers. At the head of the valley there was a fine snow-covered mountain, which helped to keep us cool in an otherwise excessively hot position. The cook having been rather overcome by his exertions to-day, we got our dinner at the fas.h.i.+onable hour of nine P.M.

AUGUST 7. -- Starting from Waka at c.o.c.k-crow, we marched up a steep ascent, through a bleak-looking range of hills, to Khurboo, where we bivouacked under a tree and got breakfast about noon.

Afterwards, I examined more minutely the inscription on the stones, which, as we advanced into the country, appeared to increase considerably in number. They consisted in almost every case of the same word, containing five letters in one character and six in the other, though I occasionally there were additional letters, and sometimes, though very rarely, a stone with a different inscription altogether. After a good deal of difficulty I succeeded in unearthing a Lama from the village to help me in my researches, and a strange-looking dignitary of the Church he turned out to be when he did make his appearance. He was a bloated and fat old gentleman, dressed in a yellowish red garment of no particular shape, and looked altogether more like a moving bundle of red rags than anything else, human or divine.

Finding that nothing was required of him more expensive than information, he appeared delighted to show off his learning, and by means of the sepoy, who was the only one of our party acquainted with both Thibetan and Hindoostanee, I ascertained that the words carved upon the stones were "Um mani panee," and meant, as far as I could make out, "the Supreme Being." As the old gentleman repeated the mystic syllables, he bobbed and sc.r.a.ped towards a strange-looking monument close by, in an abject, deprecatory way, as if in extreme awe of its presence.[18]

On inquiring the origin of this new structure, which was built of stones and plaster, and decorated with red ochre, all we could get out of him was a fresh string of "Um mani panees," and a further series of moppings and mowings, accompanied by a sagacious expression of his fat countenance, indicative of the most entire satisfaction at the clearness of his explanations, and a sense of his own importance as a Lama and an expositor of the doctrines of Buddh.

He also explained the only other inscription which I had seen; and according to the interpretation of the sepoy, it ran thus: -- " As G.o.d can do so none other can."[19]

Not another piece of information could I elicit relative to the religion beyond the continual "Um mani panee, Um mani panee!" which our friend seemed never tired of mumbling; and although the sepoy was, I believe, considerably more adapted for the extraction of reluctant supplies of food for our kitchen than for eliciting such information on the subject of theology as I was in search of, the real cause of failure was more to be attributed to the extreme ignorance of the particular pillar of the Church that we had got hold of, than to any little literary failings of the interpreter. Such were the quant.i.ties of the inscribed stones about this place, that in one long wall I estimated there must have been upwards of 3,000, and this in a country where inhabitants of any sort are few and far between, and where none appear who seem at all capable of executing such inscriptions.

AUGUST 8. -- Having suffered a good deal yesterday from the heat of the sun, we started this morning by a bright moonlight, at about half-past four A.M.

Entering the Pa.s.s of Fotoola, we ascended gradually for some five kos, and reached a considerable elevation, with a good deal of snow lying about on the mountains. A peak on the right was 19,000 feet above the sea level, and few of those in our immediate vicinity were under 17,000 feet. From the summit of this pa.s.s we descended about three kos to Lamieroo, without pa.s.sing a single hut or village on the entire road. The only natives we encountered were a party of three from Ladak, on their way to Cashmere, with a couple of fine native dogs, as a present from the Thanadar to some of his visitors. The pedestrians one generally meets now are old ladies, carrying conical baskets filled with sulphur or saltpetre, in the direction of Cashmere, and so shy are they, that on beholding "the white face" they drop their loads as if shot, and scuttle away among the mountains, so that, if inclined, we could seize upon the Maharajah's munitions of war and carry them off without difficulty. On reaching the vicinity of Lamieroo, the inscribed stones became more frequent than ever. They were placed generally upon long broad walls, the tops of which sloped slightly outwards, like the roof of a house. Supplies of uncut stones were also in many instances collected together in their vicinity, as if for the benefit of any pedestrian who might feel inclined to carve out his future happiness by adding to the collection. Lamieroo, as its name would seem to imply, appears to have been a headquarters of the Lamas and their religion. It contains a curious monastery, or Lamaserai, built upon the extreme top ledge of a precipice of concrete stone, and at its base (some hundred feet below) the habitations which const.i.tute the village are also perched on pinnacles of rock, and scattered about, often in the most unlikely spots imaginable. Entering the bason formed by the valley in which this curious settlement is situated, one opens suddenly by an ascending turn upon the whole scene, and anything more startlingly picturesque it would be hard to conceive. As the view appears, the first objects presented are a host of little monument-like buildings, which line the path and are dotted about in groups of from three to twelve or fourteen together. They stand about seven feet high, and, as far as we could make out from the natives, are erected over the defunct Lamas and other saints of the Buddhist religion, after which they become sacred in the eyes of the living, and are referred to with sc.r.a.pings and bowings and "Um mani panees" innumerable. In the monastery we found twenty Lamas at present domiciled -- fat, comfortable-looking gentlemen they all were, dressed in orange-yellow garments, and not a bit cleaner than the rest of the natives, nor looking by any means more learned. Mounting the side of the bill, and pa.s.sing under one of the red-ring pillared monuments, we entered the precincts of the monastery, and threading some very steep and dark pa.s.sages in the interior of the rock, were received by a deputation of Lamas, with the salutation of "Joo, Joo!"

We were then ushered with great ceremony into their temple, much to the awe and consternation of our guides, who apparently expected to see us as much overcome by the sanct.i.ty of the place as they themselves were. The temple we found a small square room with a gallery round it, from which were suspended dingy-looking Chinese banners, flowers, &c., and at one end were about twenty idols of various designs, seated in a row staring straight before them, and covered with offerings of Indian corn, yellow flowers, b.u.t.ter, &c. They were for the most part dressed in Chinese fas.h.i.+on, and in the dusky light had certainly a queer weird-looking appearance about them, which was quite enough to overawe our village guide; not being accustomed to such saintly society, he could hardly raise his eyes or speak above his breath, but stood with hands joined together and in a supplicating posture, enough to melt the heart of even the very ugliest of idols. The service (by particular desire) began by three of the most unctuous of the Lamas squatting down on some planked s.p.a.ces before the divinities, and raising a not unmusical chaunt, accompanying themselves at the same time with a pair of cymbals, while two large double-sided tom-toms or drums gradually insinuated themselves into the melody. These were each fixed on one long leg and were beaten with a curved stick, m.u.f.fled at the end. The performance of the cymbals was particularly good, and the changes of time they introduced formed the chief feature of the music, and was rather pleasing than otherwise. The service as it drew to a close, was joined by a duett upon two enormous bra.s.s instruments like speaking-trumpets grown out of all decent proportions; they were about five feet long, and were placed on the ground during the performance, and as two of the fattest of the Lamas operated and nearly suffocated themselves in their desperate exertions, the result was the most diabolical uproar that ever could have been produced since the first invention of music.

Not being able to trust the sepoy in such a delicate undertaking, I was unable to get any information from the Lamas on religious subjects; and all signs and suggestive pointings, &c. were immediately and invariably answered by "Um mani panee," so that we left about as wise as we entered. The most interesting object in the place was a library of Thibetian books. It consisted of an upright frame divided into square compartments, each with a word cut deeply into the wood over it, and containing the volumes. These were merely long narrow sheets, collected between two boards, also carved on the outside with a name similar to the one on the shelf. The characters were beautifully formed, and I tried to purchase a small volume, if a thing about two feet long could be called so, but without effect. There were about thirty of these books in the place, ponderous tomes, carefully covered up, and little read, to judge by the quant.i.ty of dust collected on them. They read us, however, a small portion of one, in a drawling, sonorous tone, and with no very great facility.

These books, together with a number of rudely-printed papers, of the nature of tracts, one of which I carried away, containing some of the characters similar to that on the inscribed stones, appear to have been printed at La.s.sa,[20] the capital of Thibet Proper, and from there, the head-quarters of the religion in these parts, all the musical instruments and other paraphernalia belonging to the temples are also sent. One exception, however, I discovered; this was an empty brandy-bottle, bearing a magnificent coloured label, which certainly could not have been issued from the Grand Lama's religious stores. To the English eye, or rather nose, it had but little of the odour of sanct.i.ty about it; but here it evidently held a high position, and was prominently placed among the temporal possessions of "the G.o.ds."

The women here, and those we met on the road during the last two marches, wore a curious head-dress, differing from anything of the kind we had before seen. It consisted of a broad band extending from the forehead to the waist behind, and studded thickly with large coa.r.s.e turquoises. These generally decrease in size from the forehead, where there is a larger turquoise than the others, down to the waist, and where the hair ends, it is joined into a long worsted tail terminating at the heels. Some of these bands must be of considerable value, but the proprietors, although otherwise in complete rags, will not part with them for any consideration. One lady whom I accosted on the subject, thought I was going to murder her, and took to her heels forthwith. In general, however, the fair s.e.x here carefully hide both their charms and their turquoises behind the nearest rock or the most convenient cover that presents itself, and vanish like phantoms whenever they discern a white man in the distance.

The cooking department being delayed by the ascent, we got no breakfast to-day until one o'clock, unless a drink of milk and a biscuit on arrival could be called by courtesy a breakfast.

AUGUST 9. -- Descended from Lamieroo through a precipitous pa.s.s for about three kos and a half, to Kulchee, a tidy little village of fifteen huts, situated in an oasis of apricot and walnut-trees, the first we had encountered since leaving Cashmere.

The people here seemed particularly simple and happy among their waving corn-fields and wild fruit-trees, and they were most anxious to supply us with apricots and milk, and whatever they could produce. The Gopa, or head-man of the village, could speak a little Hindostanee, besides being able to read and write his own language in two characters, and as he seemed unusually sharp and intelligent, I was very glad to have a chat with him while waiting for the commissariat to come up. The character most common on the inscribed stones, and one of those now in actual use, he told me was Romeeque; the other, the square character on the stones, is obsolete, and is called Lantza;[21] while a third character, which was the one he was most conversant with, but which did not appear upon any of the stones, he called Tyeeque.

His explanation of the stones was, that at the last day a certain recording angel, whom he called Khurjidal, would pa.s.s through the land, and inspecting these mounds of inscribed stones, would write down the names of all those who had contributed to the heap. What the inscription was he seemed unable clearly to explain, but believed it to refer in some manner to the Supreme Being. Whatever it was, all those who had contributed their share towards its dissemination, by adding stones to the mounds, were certain of future rewards, while those who had omitted to do so were as equally certain of punishment.[22]

This explanation of the difficulty caused me some qualms of conscience on account of the future prospects of the unfortunate writer whose particular stone I had appropriated; but for fear the Gopa himself might be the sufferer, I thought it better not to confide my emotions to him, but to leave the case in the hands of Khurjidal.

Regarding the state of the people here, he told me that each house paid a tax of seven rupees per annum to the Maharajah. This, for the entire village, would only give 105 rupees per annum towards the enrichment of the Treasury.

The Lamas, who have no ground of their own, appear to be a further burden on the population. They are supplied gratuitously with food, and appear to be somewhat similar to the Hindoo f.u.keer, devoting themselves to religion and remaining unmarried. They, however, are not so violent in their opinions, and are more conversable, to say nothing of being decidedly cleaner.

We breakfasted under the spreading walnuts, among an audience composed of the entire village, who seemed much edified and amused by our novel manners and customs. Some of our English possessions took their fancy immensely. A cut-gla.s.s lantern and the label of a bottle of cherry-brandy in particular, seemed to them the very essence of the rare and curious, and they seemed never tired of admiring them. After breakfast we again took the road, and marched three kos to another little wooded settlement, called Nurila, situated, like Kulchee, upon the Indus, or, as it is here called, the Attock. The noisy, dirty torrent, as it here appears, however, gives little promise of becoming, as it does in after life, one of the largest of the stately Indian rivers.