32 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



is no village here, and it is difficult to convey an idea 

 of the extreme desolation of the scene that was then 

 before us. A few of our coolies, and the travellers 

 we had passed, had got on ahead while we were 

 at breakfast, and the former looked like ants, creeping 

 along in single file over the immense expanse of white. 

 No human habitation of any kind was visible, though we 

 were told a rest-house had been erected here. Presently 

 we saw two figures occupying a small black spot on the 

 edge of a ravine, and closer examination revealed the 

 fact, that they were a lady and gentleman sitting in a small 

 patch cleared of snow, and which turned out to be part of 

 the roof of the rest-house. They were the couple we 

 had passed in the morning, and proved to be a Mr. and 

 Mrs. Renton, who had recently come from Somaliland. 

 A small table with tea things stood in front of them, as 

 they sat with their backs to the Pass, from which a bitter 

 wind was blowing. 



On inspection the rest-house proved to be an unde- 

 sirable residence. It consisted of three rooms, forming a 

 sort of barrack with a verandah in front, and was situated 

 facing the slope leading down to the ravine, in which ran 

 the stream coming from the Pass. The snow from the 

 front of the verandah had been shovelled down the slope, 

 and a certain amount of light could get in through the 

 three doors. There being no windows to the rooms 

 they were only lighted through these doors. The 

 verandah was full, in such parts as were dry, of coolies 

 and loads. As its roof, and that of the rooms, was fiat, the 

 melting snow leaked through, and the greater part of the 

 mud floor was a quagmire. Two of the rooms were so 



