NATURALIST IN INDIA. 163 



villages and ruined houses on our route. Extortion was the 

 order of the day ; from the ruler down to his sepoy, all aimed 

 at robbing the cultivator of the soil of whatever they could 

 lay their hands on. Nor are matters much changed for the 

 better since his death. We sat long in the verandah of a 

 little hut waiting the arrival of our baggage ; night fell, and 

 still no appearance of the servants and porters ; at last a torch 

 appeared, and coolie after coolie arrived in a long line toiling 

 under the weight of their burdens. A few minutes before we 

 had indulged in very strong language with reference to their 

 delay ; but when we saw them bending under the large 

 leather baskets our hearts failed us, and, instead of a repri- 

 mand, we praised them for their hard day's work. Poor 

 simple souls ! a little firewood and a dry corner in a shed 

 close by were all they required, and in a few minutes they 

 were singing over their little fires, and busily employed cook- 

 ing their wheaten cakes (chupattees). Each coolie is provided 

 with a walking-pole, and a T-shaped piece of wood, on the 

 horizontal part of which he rests his load without setting it 

 down. With the pole they guide their footsteps over the 

 dangerous and difficult parts. Their dress is composed of 

 home-spun gray flannel, with grass shoes, such as are gener- 

 ally worn by the poor people of the western ranges. The 

 coolie of the hiUs is a stout and robust fellow, very different 

 in appearance from the listless and apathetic native of the 

 valley of Cashmere. 



We were astonished to observe numbers of open graves, 

 and on inquiry found that it is the custom merely to cover 

 the top of the grave with wood and earth, so that after a time 

 the former decays, and the scant covering faUs down on the 

 coffin. 



On the 2d of April we continued our route towards the 



