138 THE PROVINCE OF LADAKH 



furniture is of the most primitive kind, and filthy to a 

 degree, while evil smells have a permanent residence. 

 The Beas river roars a short distance below, though only a 

 couple of miles from its source — a very lusty infant 

 indeed. 



The hanging forests in view are the only redeeming 

 feature, but they are not an annexe of the bungalow. A 

 few hundred yards up the stream is a fine waterfall, 

 spanned by a glorious rainbow when the sun gets a 

 chance to light up the spray. This is not a frequent 

 occurrence, as Ealah is a dreadfully rainy place ; all my 

 recollections of it are damped by deluges of rain. On 

 the present occasion I was obliged to wait here two days 

 till the weather cleared up sufficiently to allow us to cross 

 the pass. The mule men made the request for a halt, and 

 during the day went up to see how the snow was lying and 

 whether the road was passable for their animals : it 

 appeared that the usual annual repairs to the road had not 

 yet been begun, though it was the first of June. There 

 were several camps about the bungalow during my stay, 

 and sheep, donkeys, and ponies were straying all over the 

 place ; they too had been stopped by the bad weather. 



The mule meu, after making a survey, came back and 

 reported the road passable ; so we started at four o'clock 

 in the morning of the 3rd June for the passage of the 

 Iiotang. The first accident occurred when we had been on 

 the road an hour : one of the mules went over the side of 

 the road and fell down a steep slope. His load — two of 

 the leather trunks — went down much farther than he did, 

 but no damage whatever was done either to the mule or 

 the contents of the boxes. As we ascended higher, the 

 patches of snow became more frequent, and the mules 

 slipped about a good deal, but no accident happened, only 

 great delay. We reached the crest of the pass at niue, had 



