CHAPTER III. 



Through the Hunza Valley. 



GiLGiT lies to the north-west of Kashmir, and was constituted 

 a Pohtical Agency in 1889. Within the hmits of this Agency 

 are included Hunza and Nagar, the northern boundaries of which 

 strike the point where three empires meet. The distance from 

 Srinagar is over 200 miles, but since the construction of the 

 military road it has, so far as the summer months are concerned, 

 been shorn of many of its difficulties. It is a lonely sojourn in 

 this distant spot, and the long winter cuts one off from com- 

 munication with the outer world, often for two or three weeks 

 at a stretch. But it has its compensating advantages, for few 

 sporting localities rival the deep ravines and precipitous slopes 

 which are the dominant note of this trans-frontier possession. 



On the afternoon of my arrival I witnessed a game of polo 

 by native teams in company with the Political Agent, Major 

 A. B. Dew, and his charming wife. Polo is the national game of 

 the Gilgitis, and, judging from the number of players, the ground 

 on which it is played, and the general devil-may-care manner in 

 which everyone dashes about, death ought to exercise a prom- 

 inent part in it. The players consist of about ten a side, usually 

 captained by the local king, or some other equally important 

 individual. From the point of view of first-class polo the game 

 can scarcely be called a success, but the participants seem to 

 thoroughly enjoy it, paying scant attention to such details as 

 crossing and other fouls, the while careering up and down the 

 ground, barging into members of the opposing team and generally 

 making a fast and truly furious game of it. It usually lasts two 

 hours or more, and the same ponies are used all through. 



