DARDS OF AS TOR 



before five, having secured ponies to carry our baggage. 

 Abdulla went over to Astor and arranged for bringing 

 on the things which were there, but I kept on the right 

 bank of the Astor river. At Naogaon there is a sus- 

 pension bridge, and the Srinagar-Gilgit road crosses the 

 Astor river. Here I got on that road for the first time, 



Dards of the Astor District. 



intending to use it, in accordance with permission 

 obtained from the Gilgit Agency, as far as the Borzil 

 Pass, about 30 miles on.^ 



The going was now, of course, first-class, and as we 

 were getting up towards the source of the Astor river 

 the temperature was delightful, and the scenery varied 

 and lovely. About one o'clock we stopped for break- 



^ I had applied for this permission a short time before. 



