Chamba into Kashmir 141 



or fourth day, and rode him wherever the ground 

 would allow, dismounting and leading him when it 

 became too bad. We went up and down some 

 dangerous and difficult places, and time was apt to 

 breed contempt. One no longer realised how danger- 

 ous it was. Many of the paths were barely three feet 

 wide in places, with a cliff above on one side, and a 

 precipice below on the other ; they were the roughest 

 tracks, and one came to vast rocks and had to follow 

 a sort of staircase up them, with no proper footing for 

 a horse at all. 



It was very nervous work at first, but, as I said, 

 we grew used to it. Descending a steep ravine, I 

 remember, as I rode over a little bridge at the bottom, 

 loosening my short skirt, which had caught up under 

 the saddle. S. was in front, out of sight, with M. 

 Slowly Sphai clambered up the path on the other side 

 until we were nearly at the top. The last little bit 

 was much steeper ; on the left a wall of rock rose 

 perpendicularly above our heads, on the right the 

 narrow path broke off into a sheer precipice down 

 to the gorge far below. 



Making an effort up the last steep bit, Sphai dug 

 his willing toes into the rock and broke into a jog ; 

 at the same time he turned a little across the path, 

 inwards, which, of course, threw his quarters outwards. 

 With one of his hind-feet he loosened a rock at the 

 edge, and his foot went over with it. 



It is almost impossible to describe such scenes, even 

 though this one will remain in my memory as long 



