CHAMBA 33 



we ever got there. We saw a good many kart, 

 big and small, feeding on the slopes above the cliffs, 

 and we looked forward to the morrow. 



But the morrow never came, that is, not the 

 morrow we wanted. After dinner it came on to 

 rain in torrents and it poured all night. It was 

 pouring in the morning when we got up and every- 

 where around us was enveloped in thick clouds, 

 and we could only see for about ten yards. The 

 rain continued all day. In the evening the clouds 

 broke for a few minutes and we could still see the 

 kart feeding; then gloom again. 



It rained for 94 hours without a break. The 

 shikaris and coolies had a miserable time. They 

 tried to creep under the big rock where there was a 

 little shelter, but water was streaming down the 

 face of it and dripped on to them ; they were drenched 

 and cold and wretched. Will said that they might 

 sleep in the bathroom of his tent, but as streams of 

 water were rushing through our tents, besides a 

 continual dripping inside, they thought they were 

 better off where they were. Even Rum John looked 

 serious after the second day of it, when he told us 

 there was very little left to eat. He, too, was wet 

 through and the chuldari soaked and dripping, and 

 how he managed to make a bit of fire with wet sticks 

 and give us hot tea, and other things, we never 

 knew. 



We called in the men next day and asked if we 

 should give up the expedition and move down, or 

 what was best to be done. They said it was impos- 

 sible to move : the streams were swollen, the water- 



