CHAPTER X 



MOSTLY ABOUT BEARS 



I SHOT my first bear in Kashmir. As Com- 

 missioner of Northern India Salt Revenue, I 

 marched in the autumn of 1904 from Simla 

 through the Native State of Suket to Mandi, to 

 inspect the State salt-mines ; and from the mines 

 I travelled down the Bias River to Pathankot. 

 From there I went to Madhopur, crossed the Ravi, 

 and marched along the foot-hills to Jammu ; 

 and then, crossing the Chenab, I entered Kashmir 

 by the Banihal Pass, and marched down the 

 valley to Baramula, and from there I went by 

 tonga to Rawalpindi. Lord Ampthill, who was 

 acting as Viceroy at the time, was in Kashmir, 

 and no conveyance was obtainable for the journey 

 from Baramula to Rawalpindi. But, to avoid 

 any unnecessary waste of time, I took the place 

 of the babu who was in charge of the Viceroy's 

 mail, and drove in a tonga without stopping, 

 from Baramula to Rawalpindi, a journey of 

 36 hours. I completed this expedition, in the 

 course of which I crossed all the five rivers of 

 the Punjab, by steady, hard marching in two 

 months, and acquired much useful information 

 during the tour. 



When some of my friends at Simla heard that 



156 



