CHAPTER VI. 



Chamba — The Maharaja's guest-house — The old English Residency — 

 Through the bazaar — A visit to the Maharaja and his brother, 

 Bhurie Singh — A Durbar Hall and a silver chair — Bound the 

 Palace — The Banee — "Dustoor" — Tennis with the Baja — A 

 leopard hunt — A model town — Serenading a leopard — A real 

 Indian dinner— Shooting gooral— The old palace— " Grandfather's 

 widows " — A grotesque escort— The Baja's aunt — The ayah as 

 interpreter — Flights of fancy — Wasted eloquence. 



November 26th, — Our road to-day descends with the river, 

 till towards evening, when there is a stiff pull up the hills 

 dividing us from the valley in which the town of Chamba is 

 situated. From the top we get a distant peep of it, buried 

 in the mountains, and surmounted by the Maharaja's palace. 

 A steep, dusty descent takes us down to Manjere, where 

 there is a good bungalow surrounded by palm trees. It is 

 a lovely warm night, and I revel in it. 



November 27th. — It is a bright sunny morning, and we 

 gradually descend to semi-tropical vegetation again. Clus- 

 ters of palms, bananas and fig-trees, lie in sheltered nooks 

 alono- the river, and the cottages have lost their Alpine 

 look, although Ave are still some 3,000 feet above sea level. 



