134 H. C. Marsh— Description of a trip to tie Gilgit Valley. [No. 2, 



the mastery, and sooner than live out, each on his own land, they still sleep at 

 night inside their forts, collecting the cattle close under the walls in enclo- 

 sures outside. 



The stream which supplies this village flows down from the range of 

 mountains that divide Dareyl from Gilgit, and along this nala come the 

 wild inhabitants of those hills to seek a description of salt-earth for them- 

 selves and their goats, on vast flocks of which they principally subsist, agri- 

 culture being at the lowest ebb owing to the insecurity of life and property. 



This village of Singul, where I stayed a week on my return from Gaokuch, 

 waiting for an answer to a letter I had sent to the Kardar for permission to 

 explore the nala to the confines of Dareyl, (but to which he would not consent 

 saying it was too dangerous) presents nothing to attract the traveller ex- 

 cept its simplicity. I used to roam about the fields and gardens, which are 

 well cultivated, producing maize, wheat, barley, beans, carrots, turnips, pump- 

 kins, gourds used for carrying water, radishes, cucumbers, and garden stuff, 

 as salads, spinach, capsicum, mint, fennel, pepper, one or two plants which 

 yield dye, &c, &c. 



The fruits in season were pomegranates, grapes of three sorts, figs, apples, 

 mulberries, peaches, apricots, and walnuts, from the kernels of which they 

 make oil, melons and a few cherries. All these fruits ripen towards the end 

 of summer, so I used to feast daily on the best while chatting to the 

 villagers at work, a quietly inclined people if let alone. No doubt with 

 proper security for property, and no marauding sepoys allowed, the 

 whole of Panyal would produce silk and grain more than enough to pay its 

 expenses. 



Iron is not found in the valley of Gilgit, coming mostly from Ladak 

 and Kashmir, consequently there are few workmen. The utensils they use 

 are mostly of a coarse soft green semi-transparent stone, called Baloshbut, or 

 pot stone ; these stand fire and are universally used throughout the surround- 

 ing countries. Bullet moulds are also cut out of the same material. 



They do not consume much meat, being too poor, but live principally on 

 coarse mixed flour, cakes, ghi and milk. Wine in large quantities is made, every 

 large garden having its wine vats. The manufacture is of the simplest descrip- 

 tion. A trough four feet long by two broad and three feet deep, is constructed 

 of large flat stones cemented with clay ; at one side, near the bottom, is a hole, 

 closed with a wooden plug covered with cloth. The grapes plucked in bunches 

 by the women and children are carried in large baskets, of which the side next 

 the back is flat ; the grapes are thrown into the vat as they come from 

 the garden, when heaped up a boy gets in and with naked feet treads it all 

 into a mash ; the plug is removed, and the juice flows off into a large hole 

 in the ground immediately under. Here it remains covered up for a month 

 or two, till fermentation is over, or till the owner has no further patience. 



