An Engineering- Triumph. 



burden. One of the loads was a small oblong box containing 

 rifle and shot gun cartridges, which looked light and enticing, 

 but proved to be a great sell when lifted, for it weighed some 

 80 lbs. To see the coolies at every stage eyeing that box and then 

 rushing to secure such a seeming featherweight afforded me nmch 

 amusement, not lessened by the looks of disgust and disappoint- 

 ment which followed. 



The Gilgit route is an engineering feat of a high order, and was 

 constructed during Colonel Durand's term of office as Political 

 Agent in Gilgit in 1889. Prior to this period communication 

 between Gilgit and Kashmir was maintained over a rough track 

 quite impassable for any but coolie transport, and often obliterated 

 entirely by tremendous avalanches which sweep down carrying 

 all before them. The only means by which supplies could be 

 conveyed into the country was on the backs of coolies, alone 

 requiring an organisation of considerable magnitude. The 

 country between Kashmir and Gilgit is to a very large extent 

 unproductive, so that all the stores and impedimenta of a thousand 

 and one kinds had to be imported. 



During the construction of the road large gangs of coolies of 

 many different tribes and castes were emploved, the management 

 of whom called for a display of that tact and administrative 

 ability in which our frontier officials excel. The road averages 

 some ten or a dozen feet in width, and during the summer months, 

 when the route is open and free from snow, a transport service 

 is maintained from Srinagar to Chalt, two marches beyond 

 Gilgit. The open season extends from May 15th to about the 

 middle of October, after which traffic is discontinued and the 

 mail services are kept up by post runners, who daily risk their 

 lives amongst the dark ravines and steep valleys of the Gilgit 

 route. 



After leaving Bandipur the road rises rapidly, in a succession 

 of zigzags, to the summit of the Tragbal Pass. I and the coolies 

 followed the short cut which leads straight up the hillside, a long 

 and exceedingly stiff climb, rendered all the more so h\ the 



