158 WANDERINGS OF A 



CHAPTEE IX. 



S^art for Cashmere and Ladakh— Incidents on the way to Murree — Black Bear, 

 variety of^Changes of Temperature — Beauty of Scenery — Native Surgery 

 Discovery of a New Species of Bullfinch — Native Tyranny and Extortion 

 — Birds — Scenery — Traces of Glacial Phenomena — Dogs — Scenery at 

 Uri— Magnificent View— Birds— Antiquities— Deodar Cedar — Noushera— 

 First Peep at the Happy Valley — Ornithology of the Jhelum — Serinug- 

 gur — Goulah Singh — His Mode of Governing — Wretchedness of the Inha- 

 bitants — Shawl Manufactures— City Lake — ^Turkish Bath — Boatmen — 

 Heronry — Chinese Jafiana. 



Accompanied by Young, we left Eawul Pindee on the 24th 

 of March, and rode straight for the mountains, intending to 

 gain the Murree Sanitarium or the lower ranges at dusk. 

 However, our hopes were doomed not to be realised, although 

 the morning was promising, and the fresh relays of horses at 

 different points indicated a rapid journey. Murree is only 

 occupied during summer ; its distance from Eawul Pindee is 

 36 miles. It is situate on a ridge, at an elevation of from 

 7500 to 8000 feet above the level of the sea, and at the time 

 referred to was only being formed, and consec[uently little 

 more than the barracks and a few cottages had been built. We 

 breakfasted at Salgram with our two friends Morrison and 

 Salkeld. The latter has since enrolled his name with many 

 others in the memorable phalanx of Indian heroes who fell 

 before the walls of Delhi. After commencing the ascent over 

 a road by no means easy, the coming storm began to show 

 itself by dark masses of clouds and distant thunder and 



