INTRODUCTION xv 



large windows, though the blacks that enter are of 

 the largest, but at hand is a plentiful supply of water 

 wherewith to remove our weather stains, and though 

 on arrival at Pindi appearances are apt to be more varie- 

 gated than is desirable, at least pleasant rest will have 

 been found on the comfortable benches made up into 

 beds by the handy " man-of-all- works " engaged at 

 Bombay, and a hot bath soon removes the strange 

 museum of geological specimens collected on face and 

 clothes ! 



At Pindi the traveller can see and understand one 

 of the two great buttresses of that Pax Britannica 

 which allows solitary folk to wander unmolested from 

 the great barriers of the " roof of the world " to little 

 Ceylon, tiny pendant of the vast Indian Empire. The 

 place is a large and pleasant barrack-yard, and one 

 feels as outside the scheme of things as the small urchin 

 who peers through the railings of the Wellington 

 Barracks. Despite the incongruity one continues to 

 peep, and in consequence, the emotional traveller must 

 look out for a slight attack of Jingoism or Chauvinism, 

 or whatever " ism " it is that forces him to keep 

 reassuring himself that under no condition can 

 "Britons ever be slaves," or that such beautiful, well- 

 cared-for, well-mannered beings as our own Tommy 

 Atkins could be worth less than two of any like body 

 in any other country! 



To return to the subject of probable cost, the 

 railway journey to Pindi costs about 100 rupees; here 

 the railway stops, and one must continue one's way 



