AFOOT THROUGH THE 

 KASHMIR VALLEYS 



CHAPTER I 



Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road 



Healthy, free, the world before me ; 



The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose. 



W. Whitman. 



Of the curious habits of babus and tongas Of the wickedness 

 of ponies and disagreeables of an overcrowded dak bunga- 

 low The Jhelum valley. 



"TONGA hai? Kalian hai Kochwan? Babu hai?" 

 Then as bad Hindustani had no effect, and silence and 

 darkness echoed " where ? " I tried a little forcible 

 English, and demanded why a reasonable being should 

 be asked to arrive at the dak station at two in the 

 morning in the pouring rain if there was no tonga 

 and no driver? This time sheer volubility produced 

 a reply, and under a gigantic umbrella there emerged 

 from the Pindi railway station a shivering clerk in 

 limp white clothing and grey cap. 'What did I 

 want?" 



I answered to the point, " my tonga." The clerk 



