THE JOURNEY INTO KASHMIR 121 



indeed, impossible, on account of the great distances 

 which separate the haunts of the different kinds of 

 game which inhabit them. As it was, having chosen 

 Baltistan as our field, and keeping in view as tro- 

 phies only the ibex, markhor, sharpu, and red bear, 

 we were almost incessantly on the march, and dur- 

 ing the three months of our expedition covered well 

 over six hundred miles on foot of actual travelling, 

 exclusive of the great amount of ground covered in 

 searching for and stalking the various kinds of game 

 when once arrived in their respective countries. 



Upon leaving Srinagar it was therefore necessary 

 first to cross the big range of mountains which divide 

 the Valley of Kashmir from Baltistan, which is best 

 effected by means of the Zogi La Pass, approached 

 through the Sind Valley, an arm running from the 

 main Kashmir plateau ; and thither accordingly our 

 first steps were bent. 



These doongas, in which we were to cover the 

 distance to the head of the valley, are the Kashmir 

 travelling boats; they are long and narrow, with 

 straw mattings at the sides to keep out the wind and 

 rain, and are towed along the canal by boatmen, or 

 manzis, one of whom with his family lives in the 

 stern of each boat, his sons helping him by paddling 

 in the bow, and his wife by steering in the stern. Be- 

 hind these comes a kitchen boat, carrying one's shi- 



