A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



ask his leave (a proceeding which they appeared to 

 think unnecessary, if not foolish), we discovered that 

 he belonged to the " Kardar," who said that he 

 didn't mind my taking him. The road was of the 

 same barren description, with the foaming Indus on 

 our right hand, and low sandhills, that looked good 

 for shapoo, on our left, till we reached the fort of 

 Kbalsi or Khalatze which guards the bridge where 

 the main road from Srinagar to Leh crosses the 

 Indus. This fort is of the type usual in these parts, 

 and has been built down on the rocks near the 

 river, so that it is commanded by the higher ground 

 all round. An amusing story is told of this bridge. 

 The first camping-ground on the Kashmir, or 

 rather Baltistan, side, is at Lamayuru, and early in 

 the year an officer, whom we will call A., was 

 encamped there. It was the season when all the 

 soldier officers, simultaneously let loose from India, 

 race for the good shooting nalahs. A sporting fellow 

 will undergo incredible hardships and perform pro- 

 digious marches to be the first to arrive at the nalah 

 on which he has set his heart, and, once his tent is 

 pitched, by an unwritten law, which is always 

 rigorously respected, no one else may fire a shot in 

 that valley. Well, A. was at Lamayuru, when unto 

 him came another officer, B., who was also racing 

 along the road. They dined together, and B. 

 confided to A. his intention of taking the Khalsi 

 Nalah, where there are ibex and shapoo, and asked 



A. what he was intending to do. "Oh," said 



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