INTRODUCTION xvii 



paternal Government carried to the furthest limit, and 

 is equally ready to order condign punishment for your 

 servants if they overcharge in any particular, or to insist 

 on the re-loading of your ponies if overweighted. He 

 is exactly the right man in the right place, and the 

 threat of " referring the matter to him " will influence 

 coolies on strike even away in far-off valleys! It is a 

 system, the adoption of which in so-called more civilised 

 countries would greatly assist the helpless foreigner. 



Both food and firewood are cheap, so living seldom 

 costs more than about 1 rupee 3 annas a day, and 

 to save the annoyance of friction over daily pilferings, 

 it is a good plan to contract with one's headman or 

 khansama (cook) to feed one for that amount. Unless 

 one has with one good servants used to travelling, it is 

 better (and I found I was very generally agreed with) 

 not to hire Punjabi servants at enormous wages in 

 Srinagar, but to pay one's boatman, while on the river, a 

 trifle extra to cook, and to take an extra man to do 

 errands and various other small jobs, and when up 

 the valleys to choose some young Kashmiri and make 

 him headman, with the distinct understanding that the 

 right rates are known, and that you will give him a 

 small present at the end of each month if there has 

 been no friction to disturb your serenity, and no 

 attempt at fancy prices. The younger he is the more 

 likely he is to be honest, and I have seen a comfortable 

 camp managed by a boy of fifteen at seven rupees a 

 month. In the valleys, where the cold is often great at 

 night, your headman will require puttoo coats and 

 6 



