1876.] H. C. Marsh— Description of a trip to the Gilgit Valley. 131 



along its right bank when the water is low, but owing to its sudden and great 

 rise we had to make a long detour over a high hill up which three paths lead, 

 the upper for ponies and the lower for footmen, but being in the jungle with 

 no one to ask the road we had great trouble. The pony had to be led 

 along the upper road, too steep to ride. I wished to go the shortest cut, 

 but the coolies being behind I had no one to show me the way, so I wan- 

 dered out of the right direction and had great difficulty in finding the road. 

 At 5 p. m., I reached the top, five miles from Hunzil, and saw Panyal below 

 me due west, the descent was very bad. By sunset I reached the first 

 village, three miles from top of the mountain, called Sherote, the last mile 

 only being a good road. 



How refreshing it was to enter this oasis ! Its rippling streams, shady 

 groves and clustering fruit made us forget the fatigues of the day. The 

 tent was pitched under the Chinars, where the villagers used to assemble 

 in the cool of the evening. 



One of the streams fed a covered tank, used to keep the drinking 

 water cool, and here came the maidens not only to fill their pitchers, but to 

 have a sly peep at the strangers. The village consists of twenty houses, en- 

 closed by a stone wall, which has acted as a fort in past rebellious times. This 

 is called the boundary of Gilgit and the beginning of the country of Panyal. 

 In reality Gilgit ends at Hunzil, but they say a former Raja gave this 

 and its sister village on the other side of the river, as a dowry with his 

 daughter to a Raja of Gilgit. The boundary is only political as these 

 Sherotis have the same manners and customs as all the others villagers of 

 Panyal. 



Panyal is the long upper valley of the same river I had been following. 

 The people are all Shi'ahs, instead of Sunnis as in Gilgit. Their language 

 is almost the same, but with less Panjabi, and more Yassini and Persian. 

 Throughout this valley the people keep silkworms, and reel silk. They also 

 make wine ; of course this to an orthodox Sunni is a great sin, so they are 

 called Rafizi, Moghli, and other terms equivalent to Kafir. The inhabitants 

 are much more free and easy than in Gilgit ; the women do not hide themselves 

 or their faces, they are all dark brown, but not black. Some few of Yassin 

 and Chitral mixture are fairer than the rest, but the great heat of the sum- 

 mer keeps the colour quite brown. My cook quite beat by the march, did 

 not give me my dinner till late, and as I lit my lamp, the young fry col- 

 lected round me, and I shared my roast fowl with two boys who seemed very 

 much to enjoy a change of food, and were the envy of all the others. 



Two sepoys live here to collect toll, and tithes of all the produce in 

 kind, money being a very scarce commodity. These men are to be found thus 

 in pairs in all the villages of this country, they feed on the fat of the land, 

 pay for nothing, and consequently are well hated. They assisted me to get 



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