750 EXPLORATION IN CHINESE TURKESTAN. 



handful of Gurkhas and Dog-ras, and. tinally breaking- the resistance of 

 the Kanjuti hill men, won his Victoria cross. It was pleasant to note 

 that the ]»rave mountaineers who were vanquished here looked bade 

 upon this daring exploit of their (juondam foe and conqueror with 

 almost as much pride as if it had been performed by their own side. 

 A short distance higher up the valle}", near the village of Thol, I 

 noticed a well preserved little stupa, a monument of those early cen- 

 turies when this secluded valley, like the rest of the difficult hill tracts 

 farther Avest, held a population attached to Buddha's faith. Was it 

 the .same small Kanjuti race, puzzling by its complete isolation in 

 regard to language and ethnic origin, which now occupies Hunza? 



At Aliabad, near the capital of the Huiiza chief, 1 spent two days 

 busily occupied with the rearrangement of all loads for transport by 

 coolies; for the difficult mountain tracks by which alone the Tagh- 

 dumbash Pamii' can be approached during the sununer months, from 

 the side of llunza, are absolutely impassable for any beast of burden. 

 Acting on th(> instructions kindly sent in advance by the political agent 

 at Gilgit, Wazir llumayun, the energetic chief adviser of Muhammad 

 Nazim, the present Mir of Hunza, had made ample preparations for 

 the trying route ahead. It was difficult to realize that this little 

 mountain chieftainship was, until ten years ago, by reason of the free- 

 booting and slave-raiding expeditions which it sent forth — and Wazir 

 Humayun himself had led more than one successful raid of this kind — 

 the terror of all neighboring regions. 



On June 20 I moved my camp to Baltit, where I i)aid a return visit 

 to the INIir in his old and highly picturesque castle. 1 was interested 

 to note in the carved woodwork of mosques and other structures dec- 

 orative elements of ancient Indian type, while in the furniture and 

 tittings of the Mir's residence modern central Asian and Chinese inliu- 

 ences were plainly discernible. On the following day we commenced 

 on foot the series of trying marches up the gorge of the Hunza River. 

 The winter route, which crosses the river bed at fre([uent intervals, 

 had ])ecome wholly impracticable, owing to the melting snows and the 

 swollen state of the river. The |)recipitous mountain spurs and the 

 great glaciers descending to the left bank of the river had daily to be 

 crossed by tracks which may rightly be described as a succession of 

 Alpine climbing tours of a decidedly tiring nature. They often led 

 over narrow rock ledges and by rough ladder-like galleries (raflk) along 

 the faces of cliffs, where the carrying of loads would be nervous work 

 for any but such extraordinarily sure-footed and active hill men as the 

 people of Hunza. Frequent enough were the places where even ray 

 little fox terrier, accustomed to rough climbs from many a tour with 

 his master, had to be picked up and carried. 



Toiling along these precipices, amidst scenery truly inspiring in its 

 rugged splendor, I was often reminded of the vivid accounts which 



