Kashmir 163 



handsome Kashmiris ; but there is no question which 

 are the better men of the two. 



The storm clearing off, we were only too glad to 

 get out of the c< man-stifled " hut and, leaving our 

 own ponies behind, to begin our climb up the pass. 

 There is a summer and a winter route across the 

 Zoji La : the first zigzags up the valley, a long and 

 tedious climb, at first through birch-trees and flowers, 

 giving place to deodars and rhododendrons, and 

 ending in bare crags ; the second route lies straight 

 up the gully on vast snow glaciers, and is dangerous 

 in the summer ; the swollen torrent below wears away 

 great tunnels and cavities, above which the gradually 

 decreasing snow roof becomes very treacherous, and 

 if ventured upon, a risk is run of falling through to 

 inevitable death. 



We clambered slowly up the zigzag path, and 

 met a great " caravan " of yaks carrying salt and 

 wood. Exports from Ladak are small ; but the 

 transit trade is a large one. Everything from the 

 Punjab, Afghanistan, and Kashmir cotton, skins, silk, 

 and tea has to pass through Leh, the capital of 

 Ladak, on its way to Eastern Turkestan and Chinese 

 Thibet ; while raw silk, silver, gold, charas, and horses 

 come back in return from Turkestan to India a 

 trade which, registered at Leh, averages 134,000. 



The whole of it is carried by coolies, ydks y or ponies, 

 over the Zoji La and other more difficult passes, often 

 eighteen thousand feet high ; and it is further hampered 

 by the exclusive policy of China and Russia. 



