372 KULU BELLES. 



the community are not too proud to earn a trifle by carrying 

 your baggage, and after depositing their loads, these holy 

 Lamas may be seen receiving the obeisances of the villagers, 

 and distributing blessings with outstretched hands. 



After quitting the snow and ice on the top of the Hampta 

 pass between the districts of Spiti and Kulu, how changed 

 was the aspect of the mountains on its southern side, from 

 the barren dreary solitudes amongst which we had been roam- 

 ing during the past four months ! With what keen delight 

 did we hail the first glimpse of the green slopes, birch- woods, 

 and pine-clad hills of Kulu a country as famed for the 

 romantic beauty of its scenery as for its bonny lasses ! Of 

 these latter, we met two very pretty specimens as we were 

 descending the track from the pass. One of them in parti- 

 cular was a perfect model of rustic beauty, as, with her long 

 glossy tresses falling dishevelled about her shoulders, and the 

 olive complexion of her face all flushed from climbing up the 

 hill, she stopped to take breath, her large brown eyes wide 

 open with half-startled amazement at thus unexpectedly 

 meeting with two such wild-looking figures as the Major and 

 I presented, with our red sun-cracked faces and old travel- 

 worn clothes. Most of these Kulu belles endeavour to 

 heighten their natural charms by wearing, in addition to their 

 own hair, a long thick plait of black worsted coiled round a 

 little cap of some bright colour jauntily set on the crown of 

 the head. They are very fond of adorning themselves with 

 flowers, with which we noticed most of the women we met 

 had tastefully decked their chignons. The men also had 

 generally a flower or two stuck in their caps or behind their 

 ears. 



On reaching Sultanpore, the chief town of Kulu, we put up 

 in a house and procured some fresh vegetables luxuries we 

 had not indulged in for months, the afore-mentioned " fees " 

 in Spiti excepted. A newspaper many weeks old, that had 

 been left there by some former occupant, was greedily pounced 



