254 WANDERINGS OF A 



nath. A few of their women were exceedingly beautiful ; the 

 slender forms, dark-brown faces, black eyes, and long ilowing 

 hair of the girls were very characteristic of Zingari descent. 

 They spoke Hindostanee, but the conversation between them- 

 selves was carried on in a dialect said to be peculiar to the 

 gipsies of India. At night they lay in a circle under a 

 tree, where they spread mats, and placed their goats, goods, and 

 chattels in the centre. "When I awoke at 5 A.M. the following 

 morning they had gone on their pilgrimage. At Chacar I was 

 met by a courier with a letter informing me that I had been 

 granted three months' additional leave of absence. Accord- 

 ingly, with a light heart, we turned our faces once more 

 towards Cashmere, and by forced marches were enabled to 

 rejoin Young and Halkett at Serinuggur on the 25th of 

 June, in time to make preparations for the expedition to 

 Ladakh. The monsoon had fairly set in, and the clouds 

 we observed before banking up in large dark masses on the 

 tops of the mountains were now showering down their con- 

 tents on the vaUey. Scarcely a day passed without rain, 

 which more or less confined us to our log abodes. I found a 

 rest requisite on my own part after the heat and fatigue of 

 the previous fortnight, and was only too glad to avail myself 

 of a week's rest among the, society of many excellent friends ; 

 amongst others, that of Major M'Gregor, government politi- 

 cal agent, and his kind lady. Young joined from Wurdwun 

 with a bag of twenty-seven bear-skins, and by dint of his in- 

 defatigable industry and perseverance had managed to out- 

 number every one in hunting trophies. 



The theory of monsoons has been so ably discussed by 

 Dr. Maury that one need have no hesitation in quoting 

 his authority on this subject. He says — "The south-east 

 winds from the Indian ocean and the Arabian sea, on 



