THE JOURNEY INTO KASHMIR 123 



such coolies, and accordingly permanent ones have 

 to be engaged for the five days' trip. 



In the afternoon it began to rain, making things 

 very damp and cheerless. We spent the rest of the 

 day sorting out the provisions, and putting a little 

 of each article into one box, so that if we should have 

 to race for a nullah, we could leave the heavy stuff 

 to follow and ourselves hurry ahead. The shooting 

 in Kashmir is done in nullahs or nalas, the Hindu- 

 stanee word for " valley," a single sportsman being 

 allowed by etiquette to hold any one nullah exclu- 

 sively from the moment he pitches his tent within 

 its limits; but as the valleys in Kashmir vary in 

 length from a few hundred yards up to many miles, 

 it is difficult sometimes to say just how large a val- 

 ley constitutes a nullah and may be held by one gun ; 

 and this is not seldom the cause of dispute between 

 ardent sportsmen, as we were later to discover. Ac- 

 cordingly, when the snow-passes first open in the 

 spring, there is much racing for good nullahs ; and 

 since we were already late in entering we were quite 

 prepared to challenge any sportsman who from now 

 on should attempt to pass us. 



On the 1 3th we were up early and found a damp, 

 chilly morning. Eighteen ponies and some ten coo- 

 lies were ready on the bank, and after loading all the 

 baggage, we started, giving the two body-servants 



