64 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chap, v 



which he gets by a series of frail-looking galleries and 

 ladders, till he reaches the point, some 50 feet over the 

 river, at which one end of the rope bridge is attached. 

 The opposite end of this bridge is considerably higher 

 than that on the right bank, consequently the passenger 

 finds that he has to begin going upwards before he is at 

 all half-way across. 



As rope bridges are peculiar structures not very well 

 known, it may be of interest to describe in some detail 

 the one below Rondu. The ropes of the bridge were 

 attached to a horizontal beam which lay behind, that is 

 on the land side, of three upright beams or logs, kept in 

 their places by being buried in a large mass of loose 

 stones. There were no holes in the rock for the uprights 

 to fit into, probably because the making of such things 

 was beyond the power of the villagers who put up these 

 bridges. The strain of the bridge kept the horizontal 

 beam tight against the three uprights, to which it was not 

 fastened in any way. The ropes were made of strands of 

 birch twigs, plaited together in the ordinary three-plait, 

 each strand being about as thick as a man's wrist. There 

 were three main ropes, one for the footway and one for 

 each hand. The footway rope in the Rondu bridge 

 consisted of five strands, and the two side ropes of four 

 each. The three ropes were connected, at intervals of 7 

 or 8 feet, by a single strand running from one hand 

 rope down to the footway, round which it was wound once 

 or twice, and up to the other hand rope. At intervals 

 of about 10 yards a piece of forked stick, about 3 feet 

 or so long, was placed between the hand ropes to keep 

 them apart. Over these the passenger had to step as he 



