A PILGRIMAGE TO AMERNATH 



539 



and piled high on 

 the sides. It is a 

 place of worship 

 for the pilgrims. 

 Beyond this we 

 crossed a river bed, 

 at this season of the 

 year mostly sand 

 and stones, but 

 earlier, when the 

 snows are melting, 

 full of water. 



On the far bank, 

 in a meadow, at 

 13,000 feet, we 

 pitched our tents. 

 Being above the 

 tree-line, with noth- 

 i n g but juniper, 

 which is scarce, we 

 might have fared 

 badly had we not 

 found some wood 

 left by pilgrims. It 

 seems that in the 

 last two or three 

 years, since the Ma- 

 harajah of Kashmir 

 made the pilgrim- 

 age, he has sent 

 to Punjitarni each 

 year a supply of 

 fuel which the pil- 

 g r i m s can buy. 

 They had left rude 

 scales, made of the 

 branches of a tree, 

 by which the wood 

 could be measured. 

 It was probably 

 sold by the half or 

 quarter maund (80 



pounds) and perhaps by the seer (2 

 pounds), for Indians can do more cook- 

 ing with a few light twigs than any other 

 people I have ever seen. 



Neither we nor our servants practiced 

 any such economy, for on each of the two 

 nights we spent at this place we had a 

 roaring fire, and so did our followers. 

 What glorious blazes they were ! Such a 

 comfort and such a pleasure, and how 

 loath we were to leave them for our chilly 

 beds ! 



It was cold on the first of October, and 

 even with all we could pile on in the way 

 of underclothing, blankets, and eider- 



Photograph by William Jessop 



LOOKING OUT FROM THE MOUTH OF AMERNATH CAVE 



The goal has been reached, the holy scene made real to those who 

 have long dreamed of the pilgrimage. Now comes the backward look 

 to the arduous trail whose conquest has been completed. The swiftly- 

 beating heart is moved by a spirit of glad triumph. 



downs, we were not thoroughly warm at 

 night. Not much wonder that such was 

 the case, with only a camp cot in a tent 

 set on the grass. Each morning there 

 was a white frost over everything. As 

 soon as the sun rose, however, every one 

 thawed out and was happy. 



The first morning we were awakened 

 by the sound of great lamentation — a 

 coolie, lifting up his voice in loud wail- 

 ing, as they do in the East in case of 

 mourning. We could think of nothing- 

 dire enough to cause such audible sorrow 

 except the death of a man, and I must 

 confess to a fearful sinking of the heart. 



