38 THE KYBER, SIRMOOR, AND BENARES 



mountain and I thought we were " done/' but I 

 managed to get hold of an Army transport cart 

 with a couple of aged mules and a native driver, 

 and we crawled down to Nowshera, where the 

 Guides gave us a kindly welcome and refreshing 

 tea. We left at 6, but when we got about thirty 

 miles on we had a second bad break-down, and Sir 

 George refused to take us farther, as he contended 

 that there is risk on the road at night. We struck 

 the railway more by luck than good management, 

 and found a helpful station-master at a small 

 station. He rigged up a trolly, got a lamp and 

 some coolies, and we ran along the line of rails in 

 the middle of the night through a tree-darkened 

 country, with birds and beasts startled out of their 

 poor lives. It was not easy to hold on, and I 

 was so tired I nearly fell off from sheer sleep more 

 than once. We reached Nowshera at midnight 

 and managed to get some food. We had lunched 

 at 12.30 and had tea at 4, so that we were starv- 

 ing. At Nowshera we had to wait till 4 a.m. for 

 the Bombay mail, and we did not get home till 7. 

 Twenty-five hours' continuous travelling train, 

 horses, transport mule-cart, trolly, train, and 

 carriage. We were simply dead beat, but I have 

 now seen Northern India and the two frontiers, 

 and that I most wanted to do. 



From Peshawar I went to Nahan, in Sirmoor 

 State. More strenuous life ! I left Roos-Keppel's 

 hospitable house at dewy morn on the 3rd instant, 

 reaching Barara Station at 6 a.m. on the 5th 

 that is to say, my shattered remains reached that 

 said station. There I procured a tonga, which is 

 a bone-breaking, two-wheeled " machine " with 



