A SUMMER IN HICxH ASIA. 



valley usually crosses it to the right bank, recrossing 

 by another jhula at Tolti, the next march ; but on 

 this occasion the natives said that owing to the 

 river being in flood we had better keep to the road 

 on the left bank. 



Having heard that the Khitmutgar of a friend of 

 mine, when accompanying his master along this 

 road, had refused, point blank, to cross the jhula, 

 and had eventually to be blind-folded, and, after 

 having been bound hand and foot, was carried over 

 on a coolie's back, I chaffed Sekour Khan (the 

 servants had arrived in camp some time before me), 

 telling him that it was lucky for him that he would 

 not be obliged to cross it, or the same steps might 

 have to be taken in his case. " Yes, sahib," replied 

 this grave Mussulman, " but I have already been 

 across and back to see what it was like ! " I said 

 no more. I sent my Perwanas over to the Rajah, 

 who returned his compliments, and said that unfor- 

 tunately he was too unwell to come and visit me 

 (for which I was not sorry), but he begged my 

 acceptance of the customary " Dali," or present, of 

 dried apricots and currants. Running up from the 

 Indus, behind Kharmang, was an inviting-looking 

 nalah, which, I was told, led by a pass to Kapalu, 

 on the Shyok River, exactly opposite the entrance 

 of the Hushe Nalah. This was said to be full of 

 ibex, but the Rajah allows no one to go there, as he 

 keeps them all for himself (and, indeed, I don't 

 blame him), and kills them by driving, which is the 



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