82 A Sportswoman in India 



" impossible." The khuds are so steep that it is no 

 amusement to climb up them or tumble down through 

 tangled undergrowth and fir-trees. Consequently, 

 walks and rides are limited to the few stony paths, and 

 grow monotonous in a week. Except for tennis, 

 there is nothing to do : at Dalhousie there was a 

 small sized polo-ground where three a-side could play. 

 There is practically no shooting. 



Of Society I grant there is no end many sweet 

 variations ; but after all Society is to be had at home, 

 and I believe the ordinary globe trotter would lose 

 little by making it a rule to avoid hill stations like 

 the plague, and to spend his time say in Kashmir 

 where there is riding and shooting to be had to the 

 heart's content, camping and marching day after day 

 ever to pastures new, exploring a magnificent country 

 where unless you wish you need meet no one. Dalhousie 

 has, however, some points over Murree, for instance : 

 the native province of Chamba, not far off, is wild 

 and little known, and capital shooting is, with the 

 Rajah's leave, to be had there. This we had in view. 



At home we do not take enough advantage of 

 fine weather : away in the Himalayas we lived out 

 of doors. Riding out the first thing in the morning 

 two or three miles, to breakfast on some wild hill 

 shaded with great deodars and carpeted with fern, 

 we would find a quiet corner in the winding path, 

 moss to lie upon, steep rock rising sharply behind us, 

 and in front of us vistas of tree-tops and under- 

 growth half hidden down the precipitous hillside. 



