22 RIFLE AND SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



some distance from the road, and approached by a rocky 

 footpath, up which we stumbled, lighted in fitful fashion by 

 pine torches. The rooms were small and dirty, and tenanted 

 by some of the very largest hairy-legged spiders I have ever 

 seen. They looked like tarantulas, but the servants assured 

 us they were harmless. 



Friday, October 14///. — We started about nine this 

 morning, and drove through wild mountainous scenery, the 

 Jhelum valley in places contracting into narrow gorges, 

 whilst the road is scooped and tunnelled out of the cliffs. 

 Uri, the town of a Nawab tributary to Kashmir, soon comes 

 in sight, but the road has to make a detour of three or four 

 miles before reaching it. An old castle crowns the summit, 

 and round the base were clustered the Maharaja's advance 

 guard and camp. At Rampur we stopped for luncheon and 

 found the place in a great state of excitement, the Maharaja 

 being shortly expected. 



Rampur is in a most beautiful situation between the 

 rapids of the river and huge gray crags and precipices, whose 

 tops, massed with dark blue-green firs, shade downwards 

 into a forest of trees of every tint, from golden brown to 

 bright scarlet ; indeed, all along the road the autumnal 

 foliage is lovely. Above us is a deep blue sky, and purple 

 mountains, streaked with snow, shut in the distance on 

 every side. I cannot imagine anything more excmisite. 



The loyal inhabitants had attempted to gild refined 



