A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



of the destruction of the bridge at Kargil was telegraphed 

 to me. By the time I had arrived there was no bridge left 

 over the Sooroo, and the rivers which unite at Kargil were 

 impassable. The place where the break had occurred was 

 one hundred and twenty miles from the nearest town. Tele- 

 grams had to be despatched for wire and other material 

 necessary, and the villagers were collected from the 

 southern glens to fell the tall poplars at the Kargil fort, 

 prepare planks, and forge rough nails which would be of 

 use until supplies should arrive from Kashmir. The prin- 

 cipal difficulty lay in the question of how to convey orders 

 over a river across which the voice could not travel, and in 

 which no boat or raft could hope to live. Ladakhis who 

 had attempted to cross the river higher up had been 

 drowned. The officers who were camped on the right 

 bank of the river, unable to return to India, signalled that 

 they were willing to do all in their power to help. A 

 Ladakht warrior was discovered who possessed a bow and 

 arrow dating from the time when the country was ruled 

 by its own Gyalpos or Kings. Orders summoning a road 

 official from Leh were affixed to the shaft. It fell short 

 and was lost. The next carried the message. By the 

 same means plans and drawings were passed backwards 

 and forwards. At this time the officers encamped oppo- 

 site had a narrow escape. Their tents were pitched in 

 some fields near the village of Chalaskot, beneath a range 

 of snow-capped mountains towering many thousand feet 

 precipitously above them. About midday a dull report 

 was heard and a great piece of the mountain side appeared 

 to be moving. A large area had become detached by the 

 bursting of a subterranean lake, and was descending like 

 a stream of lava upon the devoted camp. Work had 

 fortunately been closed for the midday rest, so the camp 

 was not deserted. Figures could be made out with the 

 glasses striking the tents and moving horses and household 

 goods and chattels. They were just in time. Everything 



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