KASHMIR. 225 



of the river. "We gladly turned our steps in that 

 direction, and stayed there for the night, the men 

 of the hamlet assisting in setting up my tent. It 

 Avas past ten before I reached this place, so that 

 we had been above fifteen hours almost continuously 

 travelling. The party under Silas came in soon ; but 

 he himself did not turn up for nearly an hour, and 

 when he arrived he was in a very excited state. 

 After dark he got separated from his party, and came 

 down that awful gorge in company with one old 

 coolie, of whose language he understood only the 

 single word balii, or " bear " ; and no doubt there 

 were likely enough to be bears about. This was 

 clearly not treatment such as a Bombay butler had a 

 right to expect ; but a little cocoa had a beneficial 

 effect upon him : and whenever my tent was set up I 

 went to sleep in spite of the Avind, Avhich UOAV began 

 to bloAV violently, accompanied by rain and Avas so 

 Avorn out that I did not rise, or almost aAvake, till one 

 o'clock next day. 



The morning Avas Avet and windy ; thick clouds 

 covered the mountains which Ave had descended, and, 

 as they lifted occasionally, I saAV that heavy SHOAV had 

 fallen. In such Aveather, and being in a fatigued 

 condition, it Avas quite sufficient to move from our 

 exposed camp only tAVO miles, to the Thana of Dras, 

 Avhere there Avas the shelter of trees and of Avails. 

 The Thanadar there spoke of the snoAV being forty 

 feet deep in Avinter, though the height is little over 



