132 THE PROVINCE OF LADAKH 



between the tenth and eleventh marches. At Shahpur 

 the traveller enters the tea country, and his road leads him 

 through miles of gardens. From Dharamsala to a point 

 several miles beyond Baijnath, a distance of thirty miles, 

 he can hardly travel half a mile without skirting tea- 

 gardens — trim and well cared for if under European 

 management ; the reverse if under the control of the son 

 of the soil. The soothing eftect of these pleasant 

 surroundings is mightily enhanced by the sighing of the 

 wind through the pines and the delicious rose-scented air^ 

 for the bridle-path is hedged in by rose-bushes in full 

 bloom. Palarapiir (sixth stage) is the headquarters of 

 the tea industry in the Kangra district. 



I found my travelling kit and servants awaiting me at 

 Pcilampur, and after a halt of two days made my first 

 onward march. Before going any farther, it may be as 

 well to give some particulars of my arrangements for so 

 long a journey, for the benefit of those who may follow in 

 my footsteps. Be it known, then, that the difficulty of 

 procuring carriage at all stages on the roads in the 

 Kangra district is the most temper-trying obstacle one 

 encounters. The authorities, in their wisdom, have 

 decreed that no carriage of any description shall be 

 available without due notice at each stage, and the re- 

 sponsible suppliers of the same have passed another decree 

 that it shall never be available at the time fixed. Former 

 experience had acquainted me with the innumerable diffi- 

 culties connected with transport, and I was resolved on 

 this occasion to be entirely independent of local carriage. 

 I therefore hired six mules at Amritsar, and sent them on 

 with my travelling kit to Palampiir. I entered into a 

 formal agreement with the owners to carry me right 

 through, from the beginning to the end of my journey ; 

 and in trying, by this arrangement, to avoid one set of 



