44 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap. 



in the village, which the headman very good-naturedly 

 placed at our disposal. One, which I proposed to occupy 

 myself, was situated over a cattle stable, and a few holes 

 in the floor allowed the odours from below to come up. 

 On my pointing this out, the holes were filled up with 

 stones and earth. In one corner was a large heap of goat 

 manure, which also, when I suggested it, was removed. 

 One wall — made of wattle and daub— only came up three- 

 fourths of the way to the roof, but as this arrangement 

 admitted plenty of light and air, it was an advantage rather 

 than the reverse. Immediately below was the cattle-yard 

 attached to the stable underneath. The roof of my room 

 was a little over 5 feet high, so I could not walk up- 

 right. It also leaked in several places, but I found a 

 corner where the snow did not melt through. A lot of 

 firewood was stowed along one wall, but this did no 

 harm, and it was allowed to remain. When the floor 

 was swept, and some clean, sweet-smelling, aromatic grass 

 brought in, the room became quite a pleasant place to 

 stop in — a great improvement on the quarters I had 

 occupied the previous night. 



For the Rentons I selected a larger room — a sort of 

 hay-loft — partly filled with clean aromatic grass, some- 

 thing like what had been brought in for me, and provided 

 with a window. The only objection to it was that to 

 enter, it was necessary to climb up a rather rickety ladder. 

 The Rentons got in about an hour after me, having had a 

 very trying march. The dandy men had been falling 

 about so in the melting snow, that they could not 

 carry Mrs. Renton, who had had to walk all the way. 

 However, we got into dry foot-gear, and had break- 



