132 SOOROO PASS 



reaching to the knees, with continuations of the same mate- 

 rials. As far as I have seen they have no head covering, 

 but wear their greasy hair in plaits and tresses, and actually 

 adorn their chevelure with the wild flowers, roses, &c., 

 with all the vanity that might an European heauty. 

 These ill-placed ornaments are disposed over either temple. 

 They also wear felt hoots ; theirs, as the men's, heing 

 wide at top, and reaching above the ancle, giving to both 

 sexes a clumsiness about the feet, which adds to their 

 uncouth, ungraceful appearance. Both sexes wear a goat 

 skin with the hair on, as a cloak. They have some rude 

 gewgaws by way of jewellery ; and where are the females 

 found who have not ? The Australian aboriginal ladies, 

 who may be quoted as in the most humble circumstances, 

 wear a white bone thrust through the cartilage of the 

 nose-bones, shells, or stones in their ears and a dab of 

 raw meat fat, by preference, in their locks, and think it 

 the ' ne plus ultra ' of feminine adornment. It remains 

 only to note, that so valued and valuable are these 

 creatures here, that one individual is allotted to two or 

 three husbands one wife to a family of brothers which 

 of itself sufficiently establishes their utter barbarism. 



A young official, a Cashmiri, the moonshi of the Sooroo 

 kardar, had come on with us to make the necessary 

 arrangements for coolies and tattoos. One of the latter 

 had been provided for me to-day, but looked such a woe- 

 begone thing that I did not like to entrust it with my 

 person, somewhat too weighty for such a bit of a steed ; 

 so I trudged it out. But, feeling considerable fatigue and 

 soreness of foot from the long rough journey, I assented 

 to a tattoo being provided for the morrow, and several 

 were now paraded for choice, mostly mares with foals 

 beside them. By the bye, I must note that a mile from 

 Sooroo we had to cross a torrent all torrents here by 



