i-,6 THE PROVINCE OF LADAKH 



the gardens during the night, and return before morning to 

 their retreats in the lower parts of the Kangra district — at 

 least fifty miles in a direct line of flight. Human ingenuity 

 has not yet invented means of protecting the fruit from 

 them. It is well known that flying-foxes travel enormous 

 distances in search of food, and this is a case in point. 

 Sterndale, in his Mammalia of India (p. 39), says that these 

 bats are exceedingly strong on the wing. One of these 

 animals boarded the steamer he was on when it was more 

 than two hundred miles from land. Their depredations 

 seriously affect the planters' profits. If nothing can be 

 done to prevent them, the flying-foxes may, in the end, 

 ruin the industry entirely. Another serious drawback is 

 the uncertain climate during the fruit season, w^hen severe 

 storms are frequent. Tlie principal market is in Simla, 

 where Kulii pears, apples, and peaches have established a 

 good reputation for themselves ; but the cost of, and 

 accidents during, carriage over so many miles of mountain 

 road, on the backs of coolies, are grave considerations. In 

 addition to these must be added the very probable con- 

 tingency, that fruit-gardens in and about Simla will so 

 undersell the Kulu fruits that the latter, in the end, will 

 lose its most paying market. If a manufactory of jams 

 and jellies could be started in the valley, a good trade 

 might result, but sugar cannot be produced on the spot. 

 The experiment of growing sugar-cane is, I believe, being 

 tried, but the inevitable heavy cost of carriage would again 

 probably swallow up the profits. Though Kulu may not 

 be a money-making country, it is, without doubt, a perfect 

 paradise for the European with a small competency, who 

 wants a quiet place, with a perfect climate, beautiful 

 surroundings, and cheap living, in which to end his days. 

 Probably, with very few exceptions, this was the intention 

 of those who settled here and made Kiilii their home. 



