INTRODUCTORY. 
11 
was chiefly confined to asking after each other s 
welfare. 
In answer to his request that I should inform him 
of any discoveries I might make in his territory, I 
promised to do so ; but I politely hinted that I had 
already discovered one thing, namely the want of 
good roads. He did not seem to like this much, and 
so, after wishing me a safe journey, the interview 
terminated. 
The last thing an Oriental ruler thinks of under- 
taking is roads, and it is certainly very remarkable 
how trade finds a passage for itself, and actually forms 
a road over a difficult hilly country ; much as a stream 
makes its way to the sea, and almost as little affected 
by physical obstacles, or political revolutions. 
During the Indian Mutiny I am told that camel 
loads of grapes were brought as usual from Cabul, 
and offered for sale in the British camps before Luck- 
now, and the owners, when refused the exorbitant 
prices demanded for their goods, turned their steps 
towards the besieged cities. 
The route from Jamu to Yarkand may be divided, 
for convenience, into six very distinct portions. 
1st. From Jamu to the Kashmir Yalley, nine days 
journey, about 106 miles. 
2nd. From the top of the Banihdl Pass, on the 
south side of the Kashmir Valley, through the vale of 
Kashmir; and up the Sind Valley to the Zoji-la 
Pass, nine days journey, about 144 miles, fifty of which 
may be accomplished by boat — viz., from Islamabad 
to Srinagar, and thence to the mouth of the Sind 
Valley. 
3rd. From the Zoji-la Pass, through Laddk, to 
