384 SACRED HOT SPRING. 



discern that the image was profusely adorned with gold and 

 jewels. One of the gems on its forehead, a large diamond, to 

 which my attention was particularly directed, could distinctly 

 be seen sparkling in the torchlight. Although for five or 

 six months in the year the temple has no other guardian than 

 the deep snow under which it then lies buried, such is the 

 religious some might call it superstitious veneration with 

 which it is regarded by the natives, that no attempt is ever 

 made to plunder it. I doubt very much whether any such 

 " heathenish " (?) and " idolatrous " (?) feelings would influence 

 the mind of the enterprising burglar of our own enlightened 

 land. From the shrine I was taken to see the sacred hot 

 spring which issues from the rocks below the temple. The 

 steaming warm water is collected in a large roofed tank, 

 where the pilgrims perform the ablutions which are supposed 

 to purge them of their iniquities, though I had ocular proof 

 that this ceremony is not always infallible as regards their 

 dirt. 



Next morning, after a refreshing tub in hot water brought 

 from the spring, I started to return to Joshimutt, much edified 

 by what I had seen of the so-called " heathen " pilgrim at 

 Badrinath. 



There is a shorter way of reaching Niti village from Bad- 

 rinath than that round by Joshimutt, by proceeding up a 

 lateral gorge to the left called Beeundyar, about six miles 

 below the temple. It is a difficult route, over a very high 

 pass, and was at that season quite impracticable. The only 

 European who, to my knowledge, had up to that time ever 

 traversed it, was my old friend Colonel E. Smyth, one of the 

 boldest cragsmen and most experienced mountain-hunters that 

 ever climbed the Himalayas. I give his own graphic and 

 interesting account of his experiences on that occasion: 



" On the 30th October 1862 I had just come from Hundes 

 to Gumsali, and as I had to go to Badrinath and Mana, and 

 as the weather was fine though very cold, I sent off my ser- 



