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 RAMBLES IN KOOLOO 
 
 CAPTAIN A. HARCOURT, 
 
 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, PUNJA 
 
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 PRINTED BY G. A. SAVIELLE, AT THE PIONEER PRESS. 
 
 1870. -^ : 
 
 
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RAMBLES IN KOOLOO. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Three of us, P., M., and H., having found ourselves 
 at Sooltanpore, in the Kooloo Valley, determined on 
 a little exploration up the Parbuttee river, which is 
 a tributary of the Beas, joining the latter on the left 
 bank near the village of Shumshee, some five miles 
 to the south of Sooltanpore. Our traps having been 
 despatched the day before, on the 5th of May of this 
 present year of grace, at early dawn, we sallied forth 
 from the Sooltanpore rest-house, and crossing by a 
 good sungha bridge the Surburree torrent, which 
 comes down from the Bubboo Pass, entered the town 
 that stands on a slight elevation, by a species of 
 old gateway, which opened out a vista of a narrow, 
 paved, and clean street lined with shops, the owners 
 of which would appear, by their multifarious wares, 
 to do a good deal of general business. Once a place 
 of note, when it was the residence of the court of 
 the Kooloo Sovereigns, it has gradually been falling 
 more and more into decay, and according to latest 
 accounts, there are not now 500 houses in all, with 
 
 439980 ^ 
 
; a population, of over 1,100 souls. But the impetus 
 ' that the recent expansion of trade with Central Asia 
 has given seems to have reacted here, and several 
 new houses are in course of erection ; and probably 
 in a few years, if the Central- Asian trade should 
 turn out to be something more than the myth its 
 decryers state it to be, this little town may become 
 of some importance. The return of the entire traffic 
 which passed through Sooltanpore in 1869 has been 
 placed at over £150,000, which is a fact of no little 
 significance ; but as these jottings are not intended 
 to be dissertations on trade, but a veritable account 
 of a pleasant trip, let us pass out at the other gate- 
 way, and, descending by a steep slope, strike across a 
 small plain, which stretches to the Beas, here over 
 200 feet in width, and spanned by a sungha bridge, 
 which is a good deal in want of repair. 
 
 But before proceeding with an account of our trip, 
 it may be as well to enter here what were the in- 
 ducements that had led each of us to undertake this 
 somewhat out-of-the-way journey. P., then, was the 
 sportsman of our party, and as any thing was fish for 
 his net, from blue-rock pigeon to bear, he was in 
 full hopes that his battery would not unfrequently 
 be brought into good use; H., afilicted with a 
 mania for fine scenery, which, like most maladies, 
 but feeds upon itself, was well aware that there 
 would be abundant occupation for brush and pencil 
 up the Parbuttee Valley ; and M., not exactly an 
 
[ 3 J 
 
 enthusiast for shooting, was willing to take the 
 chance of what he could get, and wanted also to see 
 as much of the country as he could manage in a sea- 
 son's leave. However our tastes may have severally 
 differed, yet we were all agreed about several " trifles 
 light as air" perhaps, but without which three men 
 travelling together can't well get on. There was a 
 most charming unanimity of feeling regarding the 
 advisability of breakfast being a substantial meal, 
 lunch something more than a refection of " cakes 
 and ale," and dinner all that dinner should be, keep- 
 ing steadily in view the pet fancies of those who 
 were to be catered for. We were each prepared to 
 fully sympathise in the pursuits of the rest, there 
 being no better sign of this than the interesting fact, 
 that when one of us lit the peaceful pipe, the other 
 two were pretty sure to be not long in following 
 such a commendable example. We were all in fair 
 walking trim, but with none of that abominable 
 pride which refuses a " mount," and insists on its 
 owner doing a whole stage '' 'per 'pedes:'' we came out 
 with the full intention of enjoying ourselves, and 
 in a happy combination of knicker-bockers, wide- 
 awakes, and Norfolk shirts, we threw collars off and 
 care to the dogs (Thomas and Robert by name,) 
 which were the choice companions of our travels. 
 As to our complexions, figures, features, and so forth, 
 why enter on a description ? SufBce it to say that 
 the three of us measured something less than 
 
[ 4 ] 
 
 eighteen feet, and so now we may return to the 
 point we had arrived at before this little explanation 
 broke in upon the run of the narrative. 
 
 Opposite Sooltanpore, that is, to the due east, and 
 separated from it by the Beas river, rises a fine pine- 
 clad hill, which, running in a southerly direction 
 from the Rohtung Pass, ends abruptly at Bijli Mah- 
 deo temple, where we intended breakfasting. Sool- 
 tanpore stands 4,092 feet above sea level, and as the 
 Bijli Mahdeo temple is 8,076 feet in height, we had 
 a pull before us of about 4,000 feet. The hill-side 
 was ascended by zig-zags, and the road up to the 
 hamlet of Dyapore was quite fit for riding. Close to 
 this we found a small cistern built over with cut-stone, 
 rather a pretty spot shaded by trees, which invited 
 a halt : the Negee of the kothee,^ who accompanied 
 us through his beat, informed us that this cistern 
 was called Bhoon Bhae. From thence the pathway 
 was pretty level for a mile or two, when it turned 
 to the south, up a steep incline leading to the village 
 of Dart, picturesquely situated on a projecting spur 
 of the mountain. Before we arrived here. P., with 
 Robert, had gone off shooting, as chikor were calling 
 all round, and M. and H. waited for him to come 
 up : he had not, however, succeeded in securing his 
 birds. Leaving Dart, the road wound up a series of 
 
 * The districts of Kooloo, Lahoul, and Spiti are divided into kothees^ 
 each of which has its separate Negee^ or head-man. 
 
t 5 ] 
 
 rocky steps ; and as our sudden appearance disturb- 
 ed some diminutive cows also proceeding up the 
 mountain side, by a " happy thought" of M.'s we 
 each seized a bovine tail, and so pleasantly ascended 
 till the broken ground ceased. The track now be- 
 came rather too steep for pleasant walking in a blaz- 
 ing sun, so the ponies were called up, and we soon 
 after entered on a forest of thick kyle (Pinus excelsa) 
 observing by the way a fine tree that had been 
 struck by lightning, and down the stem of which 
 there was to be observed a long narrow line caused 
 by the passage of the electric fluid. The people who 
 were with us stated that unless a tree was hopelessly 
 destroyed by lightning, it generally lived a couple 
 of years after being struck, and certainly the speci- 
 men we passed evinced no signs whatever of decay. 
 Leaving the forest we emerged on to a grassy plain, 
 which rose in tiers to the brow of the hill whereon 
 the celebrated Bijli Mahdeo temple stood, and on 
 the shady side of which we found the morning meal 
 cleverly laid out upon a charpoy, placed at the dis- 
 posal of the khitmutgars by the kardar or warder 
 of the buildings. 
 
 The temple is a large and substantially built 
 structure, though from Sooltanpore it looks to be 
 a mere hut, in breadth 24 feet by 36 in length ; the 
 lower portion of the walls of cut-stone, no plaster 
 being used throughout. Round the building runs an 
 overhanging covered verandah of well-cut deodar. 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 supported on beams from the walls ; and the roof, of 
 six tiers of massive deodar planks, secured along 
 the upper surface by a solid beam surmounted by 
 cut blocks of wood, ornamented with tridents, over- 
 hangs, and is supported at the doorway (which, as 
 in all these temples, faces to the west), by fancifully 
 carved uprights that join on to the verandah ; that 
 on this side is of open work, being pierced with 
 arched windows handsomely ornamented. The tim- 
 bers throughout are very strong. Just before the 
 doorway, ascended by steps, are two very rudely 
 sculptured stone bulls, and some pyramidal and carved 
 masses of stone-work ; while to the right of these 
 again rises a lofty beam of deodar or kyle, inserted in 
 the ground and wedged in by huge blocks of wood. 
 The height of this pole would be about sixty feet ; it 
 was struck by lightning in the beginning of April, and 
 the marks of the damage it sustained are quite visi- 
 ble from summit to base, and as it is no longer safe 
 another pole is to be shortly run up. We were told 
 that these poles have to be re-placed generally once 
 in every two years, as they are nearly always with- 
 in that period struck by lightning, the insertion of 
 the new upright being the occasion of a considerable 
 gathering of the people. The name Bijli Mahdeo 
 signifies the frequent recurrence of thunder-storms, 
 which appear to rage. with peculiar violence at this 
 spot, that is the one noted place in Kooloo for light- 
 ning, of which, curiously enough, there is very 
 
[ 7 J 
 
 little in the Upper Beas Valley. The people of the 
 temple refuse admittance to all strangers into the 
 inner sanctum, but entrance up to this point is per- 
 mitted to those who will take their shoes off, and 
 P. and M. being curious, divested themselves of their 
 boots and were rewarded by seeing great expanse 
 of blank darkness, which gratified them a good deal : 
 there was however, it should be added, some fine 
 wood carving in the interior, which cannot be well 
 inspected when standing outside, so it was not all 
 lost-labour they underwent. Adjacent to the main 
 building is a species of out-house, used as a dhurm- 
 sola or rest-house by the people who come to the / 
 shrine. 
 
 It is somewhat curious that beyond the wildest 
 legends, there is nothing whatever to guide one as 
 to when or by whom this temple was erected ; that 
 it is very ancient is unquestionable, but in what 
 century it was actually completed there is no means 
 of ascertaining. None of the priests live at the 
 shrine, but it is their duty to attend every day, and 
 if they do their work properly, it must be no sine- 
 cure, and rather a trying business, to have to visit 
 the temple daily during the rainy season, when one 
 thunder-storm after another rages over the exposed 
 hill-side, which, with the exception of a small bush 
 that has grown over a species of raised cooking-place 
 for faqueers, cannot boast of even that most diminu- 
 tive shrub. The view from the temple is very fine, 
 
[ 8 ] 
 
 for it commands tlie whole r^nge of heights which sepa- 
 rate Mundee State from Kooloo ; and looking south the 
 Beas is to be seen winding past Bajoura, and even- 
 tually losing itself in the sinuosities of the hills that 
 crowd one above another till lost in an impenetrable 
 haze. To the north the Lahoul peaks stand out with 
 great clearness ; towards the south-east, the lofty 
 Deotiba, 20,417 feet in height, towers up with crest 
 of driven snow a lordly sentinel over that grandest of 
 all passes the Humta, and the minor mountain tops, 
 which lift their rugged fronts over the densely wood- 
 ed slopes, that on either side the valley sweep down 
 in lines of ever-varying beauty to the bed of the 
 Parbuttee river, whose waters can be traced upwards 
 for many and many a mile. 
 
 Breakfast and a pipe having been discussed, we 
 prepared for the descent to Chawan. It being near 
 mid-day, and the sky singularly free of clouds, the 
 sun's rays were powerfully felt, and a hotter walk 
 "We all declared we had seldom had before. The 
 pathway was a mere track, and in some places such 
 a very narrow and steep one, that to ride down 
 would have been impossible ; but as it neared the 
 village of Shan, the road became better, and a young 
 growth of deodar and kyle afforded a welcome shade 
 from the heat ; and now, passing by cultivated fields 
 we were soon enabled to see our tents pitched under 
 a delightful grove of walnut trees, close to the village 
 of Chawan, the canvas dwelling of the domestics 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 being located, as usually happens when those gentle- 
 men go on first, in a pleasant shady spot, infinitely 
 preferable to the one given over to our worthy selves. 
 Black partridge and chikor were calling all about 
 us, and after a bit of a rest, P. sallied forth with 
 his gun, and in a short time returned with three 
 or four brace of plump birds, which were a very 
 acceptable addition to the larder. And now, hav- 
 ing fairly earned our rest, we enjoyed to the full 
 that otium cum dig, without which life is a burden. 
 Tables are intended for various purposes, but to 
 what purpose can they be better applied than to the 
 support of three pairs of weary legs, which have 
 been tramping about half the day ; so, under the 
 spreading branches, we sat in thorough enjoyment, 
 the clink of the spoon in the friendly goblet, or the 
 gurgling of the liquid which soothingly and pleas- 
 antly spoke of creature-comfort, being the only sounds 
 that broke the repose of the hour, except, perhaps, 
 a languid interjection on the part of M. that it waa 
 uncommonly hot, or P.'s kindly utterances as to what 
 the poor beggars in the plains would give to be 
 where we then were. 
 
 Towards evening we sallied out for a stroll, and 
 lighted on a very curious growth of briar-root, which 
 had enveloped a grove of fig trees, completely encir- 
 cling every trunk and stem, and showering its im- 
 penetrable foliage all round ; completing a circle per- 
 haps 80 feet in diameter, into which there was but 
 
[ 10 ] 
 
 one difficult entrance. Standing within this natural 
 bower, one could not but follow with some wonder 
 the extraordinary snake-like contortions of the trail- 
 ing parasite, that in coils of near a foot in thickness 
 and perfectly divested of all foliage caught the sup- 
 porting branches in its vice-like grip, and in many a 
 strange and fantastic shape stretched towards the 
 earth, along which, with repeated evolutions, it 
 seemed to hurry on, ere disappearing altogether from 
 the eye. In the gathering gloom that tended to 
 magnify the size and impart a species of stealthy 
 life to all inanimate objects, it was impossible to 
 altogether dispel the feeling of awe which insensibly 
 fastens on all minds affected by anything of the 
 mysterious, and in the dim twilight the thought 
 would arise that here, where human foot so seldom 
 trod, was truly the spot where devilish rites might 
 fitly be enacted, and it required no great stretch of 
 the imagination to see the trailing creepers slowly 
 changing into serpentine life under the terrible en- 
 chantments of the demon of the forest and his attend- 
 ant satyrs. On the occasion in question, however, 
 the spirits of the wood were not propitious, and as 
 there appeared no chance of any transformations tak- 
 ing place while we were on the spot, we retired, leav- 
 ing the ground to the mosquitoes which swarmed 
 in hundreds, and returned again to camp. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 By 5 o'clock next morning we had struggled out 
 of bed, and, leaving the tents to follow, struck into 
 the road which led down to the Parbuttee, passing 
 en route the villages of Dulogee, Murolee, and Tipri, 
 which last must be a good thousand feet above the 
 river. Fine fields of poppy and wheat lay on either 
 flank, and every particle of ground capable of bear- 
 ing a crop had been seized on by the zemindars, who 
 appeared determined to let not an acre lie fallow 
 that could be reached with a mattock. Dulogee is 
 a little tumbledown hamlet, outside of which were 
 cattle-pens enclosed in great hedges of thorn and 
 briar, presumably to keep off wild animals. Tipri, 
 however, is a village of some size, with large houses 
 and a species of ruined tower, and in the old times 
 when the country was in a disturbed state, and 
 every little collection of villages had its own Tha- 
 koor or Rana, it must have been located as it is on 
 rising ground, a place of some strength. Popular 
 tradition quotes Tipri as one of the most ancient 
 inhabited spots in Kooloo ; the legend being that 
 Purus Ram (an incarnation of Vishnoo in the form 
 of a Brahmin) resided there with the Brahmins in 
 his company. From this, the path descends through 
 fields yielding luxuriant crops, to the Parbuttee, 80 
 
[ 12 ] 
 
 or 90 feet in breadth and crossed by a good sungha 
 bridge ; and now going up stream (on the left bank), 
 we gradually ascended and got a glimpse of some 
 strikingly fine views ; the charms of which were 
 enhanced, seen as they were through the maze of 
 trees which covered with creepers and flowering 
 roses, fought for place on either side of the road- way. 
 At Chani Kor, M. and H. voted for a halt, and a 
 convenient spot under an avenue of horse chesnuts 
 being selected, a pleasant quarter of an hour was 
 loitered away, while P. wandered onwards with his 
 gun. But a long pull was yet to be accomplished, 
 so casting aside dull sloth the march was continued, 
 and after two or three miles through a pretty 
 country (the village of Chong which boasts of an 
 old fort being over-head but not observable from the 
 road), a small bridged stream of very clear water 
 ran across the path, flowing from a beautiful gorge 
 to the right, the cliff above it rising in battlemented 
 crags many hundred feet in height, and descending 
 in precipitous masses stained deep with orange and 
 purple, to the thick woodland which swarmed up 
 the declivities, and hung its outposts of inaccessible 
 trees on every " coign of vantage" and overhanging 
 crest. A wondrous blue haze lay over this vale, 
 which at its furthest extremity was commanded by 
 some peaks of the snowy range, a fitting background 
 for such a lovely dell . 
 
 The view up the Parbuttee Valley looking north- 
 
[ 13 ] 
 
 east is also worth a moment's notice . The moun- 
 tains on the right bank of the river, though in the 
 foreground rather bare, merge eventually into wood- 
 ed heights further in the distance, where they are 
 met by the steeper precipices on the opposite shore, 
 which are covered with an impenetrable network of 
 splendid timber far out of the reach of the destruc- 
 tiveness of man. Over these again rises, in dazzling 
 brilliancy, the superb peak of Deotiba, with his 
 vast crest of purest snow standing out sharp and 
 crisp, while a few lazy clouds floated over-head and 
 wreathed themselves in ethereal lines along the 
 mountain tops. 
 
 The path at this point ascends a very stiff bit of 
 ground, and occasionally there occur steps, which it 
 would be dangerous to ride over ; now it turns to 
 the right (almost due east) and seems as if it must 
 desert the main valley, which however is presently 
 again lying before us ; the smaller gorge which was 
 in front being now to our left, the turbulent stream 
 that courses through it joining the Parbuttee that 
 sweeps round from the east just a little below the 
 village of Jhiree, where our camp was for the day. 
 Before reaching the tents, our attention is directed 
 to a small patch of cultivation away up the west- 
 em gorge, which is pointed out as the spot near 
 which stands Malauna, a village, the inhabitants 
 of which we are informed are " kaffirs !" at which in- 
 telligence we listen incredulous and a^mused. Still 
 
 B 
 
[ 14 ] 
 
 one reflection occurs to us all, and it is, that if in 
 truth Malauna is as high up and in such a region 
 as that shewn, we shall have a pretty tough piece 
 of work cut out for us if we still hold to going 
 so far. Jhirree is a tolerably large village, above 
 which are extensive woods, pretty well thinned 
 however by the axe. The Forest Department carry 
 on a good deal of work here ; and a noticeable 
 feature in the place is the great wood slide that runs 
 in successive tiers from the clearing to the river's 
 bank, and down which the logs are rolled when fit 
 for transport; hundreds of these were lying about 
 piled one over the other, a great many more being 
 ranged in even rows lower down, ready for the 
 onward move to the Parbuttee. The tents were under 
 a grove of horse chesnuts of considerable girth, which 
 gave complete shelter from the sun, but not, alas! from 
 the rain that before long began to fall heavily. The 
 view across the river to which the passing thunder- 
 clouds lent an additional grandeur was exceedingly 
 striking. As if torn asunder by some gigantic force, 
 rose up on either side a rugged tier of splintered rock, 
 the rigidity of the outlines being however somewhat 
 broken by the feathery links of a light fringe of 
 forest, which also filled up every gorge and recess in 
 the lower valleys. To the rear of these stupendous 
 heights in front stretched another range, which 
 almost from its loftiest reaches was covered with an 
 impalpable haze, through which the sun shot a long 
 
[ 15 ] 
 
 Btream of light that tipped every tree and eminence 
 in its path with a golden glory. But light and 
 warmth soon vanished from the picture, the gloom 
 got more intense, and the heavy clouds descending 
 lower and lower blotted out with a dull grey vapour 
 every tint that had before been a pleasure to the eye ; 
 the hoarse rumbling of the thunder re-echoed from 
 peak to peak, and ere long the driving gusts of rain 
 sent us disconsolate to find shelter in the tents. 
 
 Eain in camp is altogether a nuisance ; this we all 
 agreed to with some slight emphasis. How was H. 
 to produce those fine effects his soul hankered after, 
 as did the Israelites for the flesh pots of Egypt, when 
 no effect at all, except dense mist, was to be seen any- 
 where; how was it possible forM. to enjoy a quiet pipe, 
 even when he had got his wet matches , alight, with 
 the rain drops falling on his nose, and so disturbing 
 his equanimity ; and to what a very trifling extent was 
 P. better off* than the rest, for allowing he could clean 
 his battery twice over, he would not afterwards have 
 much more than the others to fall back upon. Now 
 anything interests people when they fall into a 
 certain state of mind, and the deux ex machind on 
 the present occasion was as insignificant an object 
 as could be fixed on. P. had exhausted his genious 
 in putting the last touch to his fowling-piece ; 
 M.'s disgust at the dampness of the atmosphere 
 was fast threatening to culminate in bad language, 
 and H. was reduced to the consideration of a pipe, 
 
[ 16 ] 
 
 while he regarded with severe mien the detest- 
 able weather which held out but small promise of 
 clearing ; when out stalked before us a most ridicu- 
 lously small and draggle-tailed fowl, with a defiant 
 chuckle and a piece of string tied round one leg ; 
 which said piece of string he drew after him with a 
 degree of pride and triumph, as if it was the poultry 
 {not paltry) equivalent of the companionship of the 
 Star of India, that his own Sirkar (in the form of 
 one of our kbits) had tacked on to his person ; that is, 
 if a creature not eight inches high can be considered 
 to have a person. 
 
 We gazed at this " fowl proceeding" with almost 
 a cheerful interest; here was one creature, at any rate, 
 that the weather could not influence to moroseness ; 
 for with a knowing look and the usual galvanic and 
 gallinaceous motion of the neck, he audaciously 
 advanced, and chuckling as he came, slowly brought 
 up one foot over the other, retaining an impression 
 in his right optic that implied in unmistakeable 
 language, that he had his weather-eye open. Nor 
 could this sagacious creature have been entirely 
 oblivious of his possible end, for every now and then, 
 and this was generally after a failure in a search for 
 nutriment, he broke out into a moaning gurgle, which 
 said as distinctly as ever did the language of fowls, 
 " Well its about time now to have done with me ; I'm 
 sick of this life." And so he went on his way, pick- 
 ing his steps in the puddles and following as far as 
 
[ 17 ] 
 
 his instinct would allow, the procedure of a more 
 majestic specimen of his race, till lost to sight in a 
 small tumble-down out-house, from which he was 
 presently brought again to notice, a captive in the 
 hands of a blood-thirsty cook ; but as his merry- 
 thought did not grace our simple meal the same 
 night, we began to hope the poor little beggar had 
 probably bolted again, and gone to some more con- 
 genial sphere where kitchens are unknown. The 
 subordinate forest officer, who used to have to reside 
 at Jhirree for some months of the year, had the use 
 of a small hut originally a bunneah's house, but which 
 has been added to a little, a rough scantling having 
 been run up on one side ; and in this, as the weather 
 was still threatening and our tent accommodation 
 was limited, we arranged to have dinner, — a repast 
 carried on with some difficulty as the wind blew 
 through numberless chinks in the rude wall, and the 
 opening of the door too suddenly was the signal for 
 all the lights going out. There is a degree of dis- 
 comfort too in a repast that has to be partaken off a 
 table, which (the owner must have been a perfect 
 Brobdignag in size) was nearly up to our chins, but 
 these after all are minor matters which do not require 
 any special mention. And this brings us to the end 
 of our second day's journey. 
 
CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Quitting Jhirree early on the 7th of May we at 
 once struck into a charming country ; the path pass- 
 ing through glen after glen filled with most luxu- 
 riant vegetation; the kyle (Finns excelsa), cheel 
 (Pinus longifolia), and deodar (Deodarus excelsa)^ 
 growing thickly by the road-side, the timber of the 
 two former particularly being more straight and lofty 
 than is generally usual with these trees. There had 
 been some cutting along the upper heights on the left 
 bank of the river, which, as before mentioned, W£is 
 on the whole far more densely wooded than were the 
 elopes on the opposite side. 
 
 Near Kushole village, which comes into view 
 through a delightful vista of deodars, the road wind- 
 ing up through these in a series of easy steps, the 
 scenery becomes very beautiful, for the river, after 
 having been concealed for some little distance, here 
 again comes into view, pouring its waters under a 
 sungha bridge that spans the stream perhaps half a 
 mile . further on, the lower reaches being heavily 
 hung with masses of pine, which the sun not having 
 yet touched were of a deep blue-purple hue ; the same 
 features of snowy range and forest-clad mountain 
 helping, as they do all throughout the valley, to add 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 their charms to the landscape " in sweet confusion 
 blending" — 
 
 " Lone Nature feels that she may safely breathe, 
 
 And round us and beneath 
 Are heard her sacred tones ; the fitful sweep 
 
 Of winds across the steep ; 
 Through withered bents— romantic note and cleat 
 
 Meet for a hermit's ear — 
 The wheeling kite's wild solitary cry, 
 
 And scarcely heard so high, 
 The dashing waters when the air is still 
 
 From many a torrent rill 
 That winds unseen beneath the shaggy fell, 
 
 Tracked by the blue mist well ; 
 Such sounds as make deep silence in the heart, 
 
 For thought to do her pB.it.'*— fKeUe,) 
 
 Indeed H. and P., who had visited the Upper 
 Beas Valley, began now to have their faith in the 
 supremacy of the latter somewhat shaken, and the 
 heresy was actually broached that nothing finer 
 could be seen than what we had before us. The 
 one thing wanting, however, in the valley of the 
 Parbuttee are the trees, which in the sister vale so 
 richly fringe the whole river's length; and neither 
 are the mountains on either side of the Parbuttee 
 so lofty or so well wooded as those which rise in 
 mighty tiers from Sooltanpore right up to the Roh- 
 tung Pass in Kooloo Proper. The vegetation along 
 our line of road was quite tropical, and this was not 
 so surprising, for the heat in this narrow valley is 
 very great in the summer months. The common 
 
[ 21 ] 
 
 edible fig here becomes quite a tree, and the olive 
 and the box flourish in abundance side by side, while 
 the alder, kyle, and cheel attain a growth which is not 
 a little remarkable. Kushole is a large village de- 
 lightfully situated on the left bank of the Parbuttee, 
 and leaving it behind, the path turns to the left 
 through a good deal of marble-like but very friable 
 rock, and crosses the river by the sungha seen 
 from the other side of the village. This bridge was 
 built, the people say, in the time of the Sikhs (prob- 
 ably about 1843), and is now becoming rather shaky. 
 The Negee of the Jwthee who, by the way, may be 
 introduced to the reader as a very obliging young 
 fellow by name Futtoo, garbed in the usual Kooloo 
 costume of a short coat, loose trousers, and flat cap, 
 with a roll of cloth round the edge, adorned with a 
 patch of scarlet at the top, pressed upon the travellers 
 the advisability of a new bridge being run up, and 
 actually offered to have such a new one built, if the 
 Government would assist with a douceur of Rs. 120 ! 
 This may not seem at first sight to be such a very 
 small sum, but it must be recollected that the Parbut- 
 tee at this point is over 100 feet in width, and that if 
 the actual cost of the construction be taken into 
 account, an expenditure of nearly Rs. 2,000 would be 
 required. Then why is it that the people will under- 
 take such a job at such a very unremunerative rate of 
 payment? Well, the case stands " thusly," as Arte- 
 mus Ward would put it. By the tenure in Kooloo, 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 the people are bound to do hegar, the manifold rami- 
 fications of which system none of us feel inclined to 
 attempt to explain here ; but as hegar means forced 
 labour, the Government can, in consideration of the 
 very light assessment, demand the services of the 
 zemindars on all public works. Now bridges are 
 essentially works of utility both to the State and 
 the people, and when sunghas are required on main 
 roads the reward the people receive ranges from 
 Rs. 200 to Rs. 800 ; but where these bridges are 
 purely for the convenience of a particular kothee, the 
 assistance given is much smaller. The sungha that 
 spans the river at Kushole is certainly so far neces- 
 sary, for it keeps open the communications on the 
 line of road between Sooltanpore and the head of the 
 Parbuttee Valley ; but Europeans seldom advance 
 further than Jhirree in this direction, and knowing 
 this well, the Negee of the kothee was aware that 
 anything like a large grant for such an almost purely 
 local want would never be sanctioned. 
 
 Perhaps the majority of those who have their in- 
 tellects raised by the perusal of the Pioneer may not 
 understand very well what a sungha bridge is like, 
 so a short description of the same may be inflicted on 
 the " gentle reader." The sungha bridge is formed 
 as follows. On either side the river, piers of rubble 
 masonry, alternated with cross braces of timber, are 
 built up, and into these are inserted stout poles in 
 tiers one over the other, the interstices between the 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 tiers being filled in "with cross beams. The poles in- 
 crease in size as they rise from the river and ap- 
 proach the upper platform, the tiers projecting in 
 succession one over the other with a slightly upward 
 incline, their shore ends being firmly fixed into the 
 tiers. Across the uppermost tier of poles are placed 
 two or three, and sometimes four trees (in length 
 from 30 to 70 feet according to the width of the 
 stream to be bridged), strong timbers being laid over 
 these horizontally, and securely fastened below, in 
 the better class of sunghas a hand rail being added 
 for greater security. A very large quantity of timber 
 has to be used in some of these bridges, one of which 
 is now being erected at Bajoura over the Beas, where 
 the river is 185 feet in breadth, and where there 
 will be on either pier four tiers of five poles each 
 (the upper ones over 40 feet in lengtji and of corres- 
 ponding girth), and three connecting trees each mea- 
 suring nearly 70 feet ! These connecting poles ar© 
 pushed over the supports till the balance has been 
 nearly lost, a thick rope having been fastened at the 
 furthest extremity, the end of which rope is held by 
 men on the opposite shore. The beam is then gradu- 
 ally tilted over and swung across, and this part of 
 the work is the most difficult, though the convey- 
 ance of the logs down to the point selected for the 
 bridge is undoubtedly the most trying in the whole 
 undertaking. 
 
 After crossing the sungha at Kushole, the path 
 
[ 24 ] 
 
 keeps to the right bank of the Parbuttee, which now 
 narrows. The road in places is very steep, and 
 numerous ranges of steps that are pleasant enough for 
 the pedestrian are anything but agreeable to the 
 owners of horse-flesh, who have good ground for the 
 fear that hoof and shoe will soon part company even 
 if nothing worse befall. There is always the chance 
 too of some native of the country, who has been 
 reposing round the corner, suddenly springing up to 
 salaam as the sahibs approach, which instantaneous 
 plunge into the light of a dark body is a trial of no 
 mean order for an ordinary steed ; but fortunately all 
 ours were extraordinary cattle, and exactly like 
 those described in such feeling language to Mr. 
 Pickwick by Shiny Villiam, for they would not have 
 shied even had they " met a waggon load of monkeys 
 with their tails burnt off." Half a mile from Mani- 
 kurn, the Parbuttee can be crossed by a very frail 
 sungha (off the main track), the supports of which 
 are perched on boulders on either side the stream 
 that seethes below an angry and rushing flood. 
 Manikurn has about fifty houses of some size, and 
 one very large temple, with six smaller ones ; but 
 we did not care to visit these or the hot springs just 
 then ; and, as M. declared it was undoubtedly time 
 for breakfast and not for humbugging with hot water, 
 we proceeded onwards to find our tent pitched on a 
 little level plot of turf just below an old ruined 
 house, the front part of which was still in tolerable 
 
[ 25 ] 
 
 preservation, and which had been placed at our dis- 
 posal. Fortunately the sun got clouded over, and it 
 kept tolerably cool all day, so we were able to sit in 
 our verandahed room with comfort. The house, we 
 were informed, was erected by some Rajah of Kooloo, 
 whose descendant, Rae Gyan Singh,* the jaghirdar of 
 Wuzeeree Rupi, annually visits the hot springs ; but 
 this particular edifice has long been uninhabited, 
 and the main building is quite untenable, though it 
 answered all our purposes fairly enough. True, the 
 flooring, composed of uneven boards, would occasion- 
 ally tilt up in an aggravating manner just at the 
 critical moment the kbits were bringing in the Ox- 
 ford sausages and the mutton-chops, when it became 
 an even toss-up for a good three-quarters of a minute 
 whether those delicacies would ever grace the board ; 
 and the steps leading to the ground were in such a 
 dismantled state that it was a trial of patience and 
 shoe-leather to encompass them ; but these little 
 matters did not much disturb our equanimity, for 
 our business after the fatigues of the march clearly 
 was to seat our exhausted frames in the most com- 
 fortable spot to be found, and with legs tossed over 
 the low wooden railing of the verandah, present our- 
 selves to the gaze of the youth and maturer age of 
 the village, which appeared to take a great delight 
 in inspecting us from either the roadway, where a 
 battalion of youngsters sat staring with open mouths, 
 * Since this was written Rae Gyan Singh has died. 
 
 C 
 
[ 26 ] 
 
 or from the corners of adjacent buildings, the fair 
 sex not being above this clandestine mode of proce- 
 dure. 
 
 In the afternoon we strolled down to the village, 
 first passing the principal temple, which we could 
 not enter. The legend has it that, 500 years ago, 
 the Parbuttee rising out of its bed swept over the 
 plateau on which stands the edifice, and so saturated 
 the soil that the building sank to the position it 
 now occupies three feet below the general level. 
 Something of the sort may have possibly occurred, 
 for the walls of the temple are more uneven and the 
 joists more thrown out of the horizontal than a mere 
 slight sinking would have occasioned ; but an emi- 
 nent engineer, who has visited Manikurn, has pro- 
 nounced an opinion contrary to this theory, being 
 convinced that the building was originally built 
 below the surface ; one fact has to be noted in corro- 
 boration of this view, and that is, that no other struc- 
 ture in the place has in like manner sunk beneath 
 the level of the ground. The Manikurn temple is 
 of a form not uncommon in the Upper Beas Valley, 
 though rare in this locality ; a pyramidal mass of 
 cut-stone being covered at the top with a cupola- 
 like wooden-roof, held up by supprots fastened to 
 the main building, to one side of which is attached 
 a low square edifice, roofed with slates of a coarse 
 grey marble, as are all the houses in the village. 
 The great attractions at Manikurn are, however, the 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 hot springs, which we visited after leaving the tem- 
 ple. The spring that used to be the most important 
 gradually subsided, and within the last few years 
 has died away altogether ; the ground around is 
 curiously marked as if with an overflow of lava, 
 which has apparently trickled over the rocks in great 
 masses, the soil in its vicinity being streaked with 
 brilliant chrome and burnt sienna. Various speci- 
 mens of rock were collected ; these were deeply tinged 
 and impregnated with copper and lead, there being 
 another formation which appeared like putrified 
 wood ; but whether it was wood or stone neither M., 
 H., nor P. could determine. Having been denied 
 access to geological academies in early youth, their 
 knowledge of geological science was somewhat scanty, 
 and the reader is therefore spared an account of mine- 
 ralogy and stratas, which, if any of the party could 
 have treated of with an approach to correctness, would 
 most certainly have been inflicted on the suffering 
 public, that only knows of the existence of granite, or 
 sand-stone when they see it in buildings, or of clay 
 when it sticks to their boots. One of the springs in 
 play is down by the river's side ; a second, which 
 for centuries has been flowing, is yearly becoming 
 less active, and the third is the one which is the most 
 important at the present time. The hole of this last 
 is about twelve feet in circumference, and there is a 
 basin of very clear water which sends the mercury 
 instantaneously up to 180° Faht., the best test of the 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 extreme heat being that every pilgrim who comes to 
 the place has his portion of rice cooked in the pool, 
 and as we were not above doing in Rome as the 
 Ilomans do, we had our supply of rice prepared in the 
 same manner, and are bound to declare that it was 
 none the worse for its immersion in this curious 
 cauldron. The raw rice is placed in a loose bag and 
 thrown into the water, which soon cooks it to per- 
 fection. There are three distinct jets in the pool, 
 which it is said rise in height as does the river, and 
 the water dashes out with a loud noise, the highest 
 jet being three or four inches in height, the others 
 bubbling up also, but with a less audible sound. The 
 rocks all round are too hot to bear the touch of the 
 naked hand, and a smell of sulphur and old shoes 
 (native) pervades the atmosphere. When Captain 
 Hay was Assistant Commissioner of Kooloo, he pre- 
 pared a bath for the use of European visitors that was 
 fed from the spring, since dried up, and the bath is con- 
 sequently empty, but there are others frequented by 
 natives, though we were not able to ascertain what 
 specific maladies were benefitted by immersion in 
 these waters : probably all rheumatic afiections would 
 be eased by a series of baths in such hot springs as are 
 those at Manikurn. The waters, of course, rapidly 
 cool after leaving the source, and at the bathing-places 
 are fit for ablutionary purposes. None of us having 
 any one of the " ills that flesh is heir to," except a con- 
 suming hunger two or three times in the day, and 
 
- [ 29 ] 
 
 that no amount of bathing could diminish, and 
 Thomas and Kobert both objecting in the most 
 unmistakeable manner to go near the tepid flood, 
 nothing remained to be done but to return again 
 towards our abode. There was a house close to this 
 belonging to the Kardar, or chief warder of the tem- 
 ples, which was sufficiently curious to merit notice 
 here. The wood-work on the enclosed verandahs 
 was most elaborately carved, every inch of space 
 round the windows being worked into a running 
 pattern of diagonal lines and rude foliage. The walls 
 alternated equal tiers of marble stone and beams of 
 pine placed in exactly parallel lines, the roof being 
 of fine white slabs of the same description of stone 
 that crops out so abundantly near the village. Close 
 to this mansion rose up the humbler houses of the 
 zemindars, which, if not so ornate, were at any rate 
 very picturesque, with their overhanging verandahs 
 and deep pent roofs, under which were suspended 
 sheeves of grass, yellow hay, or bundles of wearing 
 apparel, mixed with other miscellaneous articles that 
 in the deep shade cast from above could not be easily 
 identified. Below were out-houses for cattle and 
 here in calm enjoyment of a good feed were stalled 
 our Rosinantes, none the worse for their journey so 
 far. We made up our minds to go on to Malauna, 
 and had hoped to reach that place easily in one march, 
 but our faithful khalassie, Luchmun, a very reliable 
 authority as to Kooloo localities, smilingly informed 
 
[ 30 ] 
 
 US that it would be too much of a journey for one 
 day, so we determined on doing the distance com- 
 fortably in two stages, our first halt being at Rusole, 
 but where this interesting spot lay neither P., H., 
 nor M. had the very slightest idea. 
 
 The ponies were sent back from Manikurn as they 
 could be no longer utilized over the road before us, 
 an account of which part of our journey is given in 
 the next Chapter. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 About day-break on the 8th of May we were 
 ready for the start, and, accompanied by Futtoo, 
 the Negee, and others, who appeared to consider our 
 going to Malauna as a good joke, we struck into the 
 road followed the previous day, and passing the 
 sungha, still kept to the right bank of the Parbut- 
 tee instead of crossing over to the Jhirree side of 
 that river : the heavier tents with the ponies and all 
 but necessary equipage being returned from Mani- 
 kurn to Sooltanpore, as we were obliged to travel 
 with as little impedimenta as was possible. Now 
 leaving the river the path entered on a pine wood, 
 and shortly after Chilaul village, two and a half miles 
 from Manikurn, came in sight ; the villagers as we 
 approached producing the skin of a leopard that a 
 native sportsman had just shot, and the sight of 
 which greatly impressed Robert and Thomas, these 
 faithful companions of our wanderings immediately 
 adjusting their tails well under their hind-legs. P. 
 gave Rs. 2 for the skin, the proper curing of which 
 would, he deemed, be a profitable and pleasurable 
 amusement to his establishment. Some rocky ground 
 ensuing, the ascent up a steep gorge commenced ; the 
 path at first being tolerably good, but continually 
 gaining in difficulty as it at last rose over a long 
 
[ 32 ] 
 
 succession of wide steps ; but the sun had not yet top- 
 ped the huge mountain on our right, so we had it 
 pleasantly cool for the first part of the j ourney. Very 
 little vegetation was to be observed on either flank 
 of this narrow glen^ but clusters of pine grew here 
 and there, and the rhododendron became quite a large 
 tree, and being in full bloom, the brilliancy of its foli- 
 age was not a little remarkable. The marble-like 
 formation that was to be observed near Manikurn 
 was also very common here, and higher up the rock 
 was evidently deeply impregnated with copper and 
 iron. Along all these roads, as ought to have been 
 mentioned, there are every two or three miles regu- 
 lar banks built of loose stone, on which the zemin- 
 dars proceeding from place to place can rest their 
 hiltas or baskets ; and having now arrived at one of 
 these, yclept Shirra, H. and M. determined on a rest ; 
 but P., eager in pursuit of sport, and perhaps with 
 the legend from Cymheline in his mind, that, — " He 
 that strikes the venison first shall be lord o' the feast. 
 To him the other two shall minister," — started on- 
 wards with Robert, leaving " the other two" repos- 
 ing on the bank, which shelved up gradually behind, 
 the overhanging branches of the rhododendrons 
 stretching over the pathway, along which grew plen- 
 tifully, throwing out a pleasant aroma, the wild thyme, 
 or jungleewakt — as an abandoned individual, lost to 
 all sense of right feeling, was once heard to call it. 
 This being deemed a spot in which the influence of 
 
r 33 ] 
 
 tobacco might be supposed to have a soothing effect, 
 pipes were produced, and the smokers lay calmly- 
 enjoying the view, while they discussed in appropri- 
 ate language the chances of a European war, the 
 many charms of the Indian plains, and the income tax 
 (which they considered to be the most unobjection- 
 able impost ever hit upon) ; with such other kindred 
 topics as might have clearly proved to any one list- 
 ening, that though on a mere pleasure trip, M. and 
 H. were not unmindful of their high destinies and 
 had the interests of their country fully at heart. 
 
 From Shirra upwards, it was a mere agony that 
 may be passed over, for much of the same has to be 
 recorded further on ; the sun came out in full force, 
 and yet our halting place lay still far away above us. 
 
 But every lane has its end, and at length the last 
 range of steps was left behind, and Rushple was 
 entered, a substantial village some 7,500 feet above 
 sea level, hemmed in on either side by mountains, a 
 great deal of cultivation lying all round ; the wheat 
 we passed through being probably as fine as any to 
 be found even in England, judging from the crops 
 over four feet in height, the ears being nearly eight 
 inches in length ! The houses in Rushole are clum- 
 sily and carelessly put together, and very dirty-look- 
 ing; but as there was not room in the small terraces 
 for more than one tent at a time, and as all our can- 
 vass dwellings were widely separated, we made an 
 upper verandah in one of these tenements our rendez- 
 
[ 34 ] 
 
 vous, there finding breakfast laid out, P. having 
 made all the necessary arrangements on arrival. 
 
 At the height we had attained to the view down 
 the gorge that narrowed much toward the base 
 was of course very fine ; but, as much the same land- 
 scape was presented to us in greater perfection higher 
 up, there is no need to enter on any descriptions 
 at present. Snowy peaks lay in front, and behind 
 uprose the crests of the range we had to ascend on 
 the morrow by the Kundee Pass, ere Malauna could 
 be reached. A nice business this ascent was evi- 
 dently to be, but breakfast is breakfast all the world 
 over, at any rate where Englishmen are; and on the 
 good old principle of thinking of the evil when the 
 evil comes, we enjoyed the dolce far niente of the 
 present, bearing as amicably as we could the plague 
 of flies, which swarmed around with more than 
 Egyptian ferocity ; and moving, when moving was 
 necessary, as carefully as possible over the rotten 
 beams, that very far from touching, formed the 
 flooring of our al fresco entertainment. Truly ludi- 
 crous was it to creatures like ourselves only encum- 
 bered with two legs, to see the struggles of our four- 
 footed friends to reach us by means of a rude ladder, 
 made of notches in a beam, and then pass over a nar- 
 row pole ere a firm footing could be found ! Robert 
 and Thomas both came up once, but in returning to 
 terra firr)ia touched the latter in a fashion they 
 never expected, and no inducements were of avail 
 
[ 35 ] 
 
 to get them to renew their visits ; and they both 
 retired below in sulky dignity, refusing further heed 
 to our blandishments. 
 
 At mid-day the heat got intense, and perhaps it 
 would not be too much to say that we all for a brief 
 period partook of refreshing repose, veiled, however, 
 under the ostensible pursuit of literature ; but even 
 the charms of that thrilling narrative in the Corn- 
 hill, — " Put your nose in his face," — could not keep 
 M. from slumber ; and the geology of the Andaman 
 Islands, or the researches of the Entomological So- 
 ciety, were in the case of the other two equally in- 
 efficacious. At 4 p. M. the sun retired behind the 
 hills, and his disappearance interfered with a little 
 amusement we had in hand ; which consisted in 
 casting the glare, suddenly and with Archimidean 
 skill, by means of hand glasses, into the faces of the 
 population ; the latter, consisting mainly of children 
 in scanty raiment, evidently regarded the flashing 
 of the light upon them as the finest piece of fun 
 imaginable. The evening now came on, and as it 
 was still early we wandered about the village ; 
 Thomas behaving in such an improper manner, fly- 
 ing at the cattle with angry and vociferous demon- 
 strations, that he was summarily recalled, made to 
 sit up on a round stone, which he objected to, and 
 go through his daily exercise of catching portions of 
 bread, first adjusted on the brink of his amiable 
 nose. His feats were the astonishment of the people, 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 who, by this time, were apparently beginning to 
 believe that we had no intentions of sacking the vil- 
 lage, and otherwise rendering ourselves obnoxious to 
 a dirty but humble population. As a long pull lay 
 before us on the morrow, we separated early for the 
 niofht. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Perhaps nothing more than an early march evokes 
 curious difference as to ideas of time. Now the 
 energetic P., as was his wont, arose on the 9th of 
 May like a giant refreshed, at somewhere about the 
 middle of the night, and by the time H. and M. 
 were lazily turning out of bed, declaring it couldn't 
 be 4 o'clock, this meritorious traveller had his tent 
 down, his belongings packed up, and coffee for the 
 three of us only awaiting our pleasure to imbibe ; 
 the sagacious Robert, in his eagerness to be off, was 
 wagging his stump of a tail in a manner that threat- 
 ened to dislocate his latter end, and Thomas was 
 indulging in a series of wild gambols, that had 
 for their sole object an immediate start. Under 
 the circumstances, therefore, to contend about the 
 time of day was out of the question, so the entire 
 party of us were very soon under weigh. The path 
 on this occasion lay up the heights to the rear of 
 Rushole, and terribly tiresome heights we found 
 these before we had done with them. Up and up 
 the road wound, over loose stones, frowning rock, 
 and by objectionable precipices, which were horribly 
 monotonous in the certainty they promised of 
 speedily putting a termination to the earthly pilgrim- 
 age of the individual who might chance to take a 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 false step. We were now in the Kundee Pass, and 
 fortunately the morning was a cool one, for the 
 exertion in tramping over the nearly perpendicular 
 bank would have been something more than trying 
 had we been exposed to the great glare and heat of 
 the sun. Leaving the scrub jungle that extended 
 some way up above the village we had quitted, 
 we passed into belts of forest that here began to 
 flank the hill side ; the holly oak growing abundantly, 
 and the rhododendron still a larore tree being in full 
 bloom. At Nundrauna, a halting stage, we all 
 stopped for a good rest, and each partook of a slight 
 refection and a pipe ; not altogether an impolitic 
 measure, as it enabled the servants and baggage to 
 get ahead a bit. Moving onwards, our exhaustion 
 increased as we approached the summit, and it was 
 with no small delight we at last stood on the crest 
 of the Pass, which might be 10^000 feet in height. 
 
 The top of the Kundee Pass is a depression 
 between two peaks, and commands a most extensive 
 view of the snowy ranges ; the ascent took us over 
 3^ hours, and in the way of sport but one minal 
 was flushed, and he, unfortunately, by the people 
 above us ; and all we had was an instantaneous sight 
 of him as he floated out of reach of shot down the 
 gorge in all his sheeny brightness of green and gold. 
 On the highest point of the Pass there was a large 
 cairn of stones placed, we could not ascertain, when or 
 by whom; large perpendicular shafts of rock being 
 
[ 39 ] 
 
 inserted in the soil around it. P. and M. poised them- 
 selves in appropriate attitudes on the cairn, and H., 
 retiring to a suitable distance, at once transferred 
 them to paper, as they gazed with gloomy abstraction 
 over the ground yet to be traversed. Snow lay deep 
 on the Malauna side of the mountain, stretching for a 
 good 300 yards below ; and in this it was the delight 
 of Thomas to revel as he dashed after the snow-balls 
 that were flung in profusion down the descent. His 
 progress through the drifts was ludicrous in the 
 extreme, for it so happened that he frequently lost his 
 footing, and rolling over and over could not bring 
 himself up for several yards ; but nothing daunted, 
 the plucky fellow, after recovering his balance, would 
 dash again along the steep incline, and seldom failed 
 to bring up what he had gone in search of. 
 
 The descent of the Pass was very steep, but a 
 thick forest of pine and walnut gave a pleasant shel- 
 ter from the sun ; and half way down, M. and H. 
 were seduced into stopping for a rest, while P. pushed 
 on ahead. As lower ground was reached, the forest 
 died away, and the road, crossing a rivulet strewn 
 with the trees brought down by the avalanches, 
 struck into cultivated fields and so up the left bank 
 of the Malauna stream, the heat now becoming exces- 
 sively oppressive. The river was crossed by a sungha, 
 and then before us lay another weary ascent of about 
 a mile, ere the village could be reached. 
 
 Breakfast was laid out under a huge walnut tree, 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 which at ten feet above the ground showed by our 
 measurement a girth close on thirty feet ! and to 
 protect us still further from the sun, poles were laid 
 slantingly against its branches, and blankets fasten- 
 ed across these. During the meal, served on a string 
 bedstead, through the interstices of which a hand 
 could be comfortably thrust, one of these poles gar- 
 nished with an unpleasant head and spike of iron, 
 moved by the evil spirit of the place, came down 
 with a run, and just escaping H.'s brain box, fell 
 among the cups and saucers, which, perhaps owing 
 to the conveniently open-work of the table, escaped 
 without injury. Congratulations on H.'s good for- 
 tune having been offered and accepted, and breakfast 
 being over, it remained for us now but to light our 
 pipes and look about us. 
 
 This is what we saw. To our right and down the 
 valley, but on higher ground than was our camp, 
 stood one portion of the village of Malauna made up 
 of several good-sized houses, with the usual over- 
 hanging verandahs and sloping roofs so common all 
 over Kooloo. Between this and the lower village, 
 which was a great deal larger, stretched an inclined 
 plane of the richest green grass, broken occasionally 
 by trees and grey rock : and all around us la}' fine 
 fields, which the people have every interest in care- 
 fully cultivating, as all the lands round Malauna, as 
 are those by Rushole, are held rent-free and pay no 
 revenue to Government. Before us lay the Kundee 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 Pass, which we felt we were well out of, and behind 
 rose the Malauna Pass that was to be crossed on the 
 morrow. Having heard various queer stories of the 
 Malauna people, the Negee of Nuggur Kothee within 
 whose jurisdiction the village lies, and who here met 
 us, brought several of the inhabitants up, and with 
 these we endeavoured to enter into conversation ; but 
 it was hopeless work, and we were informed that 
 the villagers spoke a dialect that was not understood 
 by any but themselves ; though, on the other hand, 
 they were able to converse with tolerable ease in 
 the Kooloo language. The men and women dress 
 much in the same way as do the poorer classes in 
 Kooloo, but their attire has none of the bright 
 colours observable in other parts of the district ; the 
 females wear a curious species of brown cowl (like a 
 monk's) over the head, but this is not uncommon in 
 one or two villages above Manikum, in the Par- 
 buttee Valley. 
 
 The aspect of the males is very peculiar ; in stature 
 they are below the middle height, with figures that 
 are far from being well developed : their eyes have 
 a startled look ; the nose is without exception long 
 and projecting over the mouth ; and this last feature, 
 as does the narrow retreating chin, gives the counte- 
 nance an imbecile and vacuous expression. Beards 
 and whiskers are, in our acceptation of these terms, 
 unknown, and the moustache is hardly perceptible ; 
 but the hair is worn long, in elf-like and matted locka 
 
[ 42 ] 
 
 The dress is tattered, and the dirty appearance of the 
 men and the few women we saw, renders the villagers 
 of Malauna a far from prepossessing race. The word 
 race is used advisedly, for it is clear these people do 
 not form an integral portion of the inhabitants of 
 Kooloo, and are a distinct species, whose language 
 and social customs do not assimilate with those of 
 the people amongst whom their lot is so strangely 
 cast. Neither Kooloo, Spiti, nor Lahoul men can 
 understand the speech of the Malauna zer)iindar, and 
 the latter will neither eat nor intermarry with any 
 one not a resident of their village. 
 
 It is not a little curious to reflect, nor is it altogether 
 a waste of time to speculate on the probable antece- 
 dents of this isolated community ; when could this 
 eolony of foreigners have entered Kooloo ? and what 
 strong bonds of sympathy can have existed in their 
 midst, which has so completely kept them apart from 
 the rest of the population ? As Malauna lies in a 
 valley, it might be guessed that its residents in all 
 probability crossed the snowy range, and descended 
 to where they now are to be found ; but this is proved 
 to be an impossibility, for on the other flank of the 
 range, at the head of the Malauna Valley, rise impass- 
 able heights and snowy defiles, over which no human 
 foot has ever passed, and besides, these people do 
 not bear in their faces the faintest marks of affinity 
 to the physiognomy of the Thibetan or Mongolian, 
 although again, curiously enough, they have several 
 
[ *3 ] 
 
 words in their language, which are pure Thibetan, 
 such as shing (wood) and mih (fire.) 
 
 The opinion may be hazarded that they are a 
 colony from the plains, driven up many centuries 
 ago, who taking refuge in this sequestered valley 
 have been left unknown and undisturbed; and, 
 mixing but little with the people of the country, 
 have kept together in one close community, and have 
 ignored, and been ignored by, the outside world. 
 
 A break-neck path, hardly safe for men and quite 
 impracticable for cattle, leads from Malauna by 
 Bailung, an off-shoot of the parent village, to the 
 river Parbuttee, opposite Jhirree; but, except on 
 emergencies, neither do Kooloo people come to 
 Malauna, nor do the inhabitants of the latter ever 
 leave their homes. Various interrogatories were put 
 to the head-man and several other rude fathers of the 
 hamlet, but they could give no information as to 
 where they came from, and when their ancestors 
 first entered the valley. In the evening we went 
 down to the lower village, which is built, as it were, 
 round a large open square within which no native 
 can pass with shoes on, and as through this enclosed 
 space runs the high road to the several temples, it is 
 a necessity for all visitors to go about bare-footed; 
 but they did not object to our entering this sacred 
 arena booted, and taking advantage of this liberality 
 of sentiment, we sauntered about, seeing what there 
 was to see, followed by crowds of the Malauna men, 
 
[ *4 ] 
 
 who but seldom have an opportunity of inspecting 
 a white face. Last year the Forest Officer passed 
 through the village, but he was the first European 
 that had come there within G.ve years, so we were 
 objects of particular interest to these simple moun- 
 taineers. Washing here appeared quite out of 
 fashion, and we were informed that when the use of 
 water became absolutely indispensable, the victim 
 to such an adverse fate invariably got fever; and 
 one ague-stricken individual was dragged before us 
 as a case in point, he having been rash enough to 
 bathe his face and chest about a fortnight ago. Per- 
 haps they thought it was probable we should insist 
 on the whole population cleansing themselves on 
 the spot, and therefore deemed it incumbent to 
 be as positive as possible regarding the evil effects 
 of contact with cold water. Goitre, so common in 
 the hills, is quite unknown in the valley, and the 
 general health of the inhabitants was good, fever 
 being the only malady that ever gave much 
 trouble. Though so ignorant that not one soul in 
 the place can read or write, yet their ideas as to the 
 sanctity of the marriage tie are far superior to 
 those which prevail in Kooloo generally, each man 
 contenting himself with one wife ; but this after all 
 may not be held to be so very praiseworthy, where 
 a plurality of wives would, in the case of such a 
 small community, be well nigh impossible. It is 
 not so very long ago since these people used to try 
 
[ 45 ] 
 
 all disputes before a court of their own, and as they 
 seldom, if ever, are said to appear with complaints 
 before the Civil authorities, it is not improbable 
 that they still prefer to settle all village squabbles 
 themselves. The procedure adopted was as follows. 
 On the day fixed for holding a court, the Gooroos of 
 the temples came together, and sitting down called 
 out " Houroongoo-a" to collect the villagers, this 
 call being repeated thrice in one hour. Whoever 
 was absent when time was up was fined a kutcha 
 seer of kathoo (a kind of grain), and if he did not 
 appear before night, this fine rose to eight dawivas 
 (about 2 J annas), which went to the temple funds. 
 
 The court now having been formally opened, 
 the three Gooroos sat on an upper terrace, and a 
 case being called up, the judges gave their opinions 
 and delivered these to the public, who appear to have 
 acted as a species of jury. If the audience approved 
 of the decision, the same was acted upon ; but if 
 there were many dissentients, the arguments that 
 were to be brought forward were listened to ; and if, 
 finally, unanimity was impossible, the contending 
 parties each brought a goat before the god, and each 
 litigant at the same moment cutting the thighs of the 
 animal open, inserted poison in the wounds, and the 
 man whose goat first died won the case. 
 
 Husbands were allowed to dispose of their wives, 
 and if they once agreed to accept the usual price, 
 which was Rs. 40, they could not draw back ; and 
 
[ 46 1 
 
 this sum was handed to them in open court, and out 
 of it the god received a douceur of one rupee. 
 
 We enquired what the amusements of the people 
 were, seeing some of them busily engaged at hockey 
 in the square ; and were informed that they sometimes 
 danced and sang. Expressing a desire to witness a 
 performance of this nature, about twenty men pre- 
 sently arranged themselves in a line, and moving in 
 a circle gradually increased in speed, their gestures 
 being not altogether ungraceful ; a species of flageolet 
 with drum accompaniment being the dance music. 
 But it was now getting dark, and with a half regret 
 that our stay must be short, and that we had found 
 out so little of this strange people, we turned again 
 to our tents. 
 
 The legend the Kooloo folk have about Malauna, 
 which is fantastic enough to please the most exube- 
 rant fancy, is as follows : — 
 
 A long time ago (to commence in the old fairy- 
 tale style,) there were only four villages in Kooloo ; 
 these were Tipri, Chunsari, Durmot, and Tramlee, 
 which were built by the Great Purus Ram, who after 
 having defeated the adherents of the lunar race, 
 visited the country now known as Kooloo ; this be- 
 ing about the year 1400 B. C. These villages, it 
 may be mentioned, still exist. Now at the termina- 
 tion of the terrible war beween the Pandoos and 
 Kooros, the more celebrated Chiefs of India, who 
 were, as all historians tell us, regarded as gods by 
 
[ 47 ] 
 
 the people, came to the Himalayas for devotional 
 purposes, and passing from place to place at last 
 reached the ranges about Malauna. There they 
 divided off the whole of the surrounding territory 
 among themselves ; but it seems that one supercilious 
 individual of their number, whose name was Jaimlu, 
 must have had more than the usual proportion of 
 pride ; for he deemed himself quite above sharing 
 in this distribution, and proceeded to China to see 
 what was going on in that part of the world. 
 Whether he was dissatisfied with his trip, or found 
 the climate of that country did not agree with his 
 constitution, cannot at this lapse of time be clearly 
 ascertained; but apparently he deemed Kooloo the 
 more preferable land of the two, for he was soon 
 after, or long after, it does not much matter which, 
 a resident in the Upper Beas Valley ; where, choosing 
 Jugut Sookh as his head-quarters, he contrived to 
 make himself very unpleasant to a family of sixteen 
 fairies, who in vain tried to get him to leave the place. 
 Such constant quarrels were there, that at last it 
 was arranged the cast of the dice should decide who 
 was to vacate the field ; and as generally happens 
 at games of skill and chance combined, when the 
 fair sex put their hearts into the work, the fairies 
 were successful, and Jaimlu, not without some ugly 
 suspicions that he had been tricked, had to wander 
 further on. With a propensity for lofty mountains, 
 which seems to have been a distinguishing feature of 
 
[ 48 ] 
 
 'his character, he took up his abode on the peaks of 
 the Humta Pass (leading from Kooloo into Spiti), 
 and with a vanity that all his travelling experience 
 does not appear to have been able to free him from, 
 he placed his own statue in an inaccessible spot, 
 where it was next to impossible for any one to see 
 it. Perhaps weary of the monotonous appearance 
 of the everlasting snow, and dissatisfied with his 
 own stone image, which we may suppose was but a 
 rude work of art and not calculated to be much of a 
 solace to one in his unfortunate position, he again 
 took up his staff, and once more arrived at Malauna. 
 The seclusion of the place pleased his fastidious sense 
 of propriety, and by an exercise of power, the exist- 
 ence of which seems lately to have died out of India 
 altogether, he created two boys, whom he reared and 
 left before they were of an age to use their tongues. 
 What became of Jaimlu no one can say, but as time 
 advanced, and the boys began to talk, they used a 
 gibberish of their own, and the names they gave to 
 every object became the names of the same for ever 
 after ; and then the people who came to Malauna for- 
 got their own speech and adopted that which they 
 found in vogue. Hence the dissimilarity of languages, 
 which has held good from that day to this. 
 
 This legend— and a very old one it is — tends to 
 show that these people in Malauna have for many 
 centuries had a dialect of their own, and that it is not 
 of late years they have become so completely apart 
 
[ 49 ] 
 
 from the race amongst whom they reside. It would 
 be highly interesting to ascertain where they came 
 from, and to what race they may be said to belong, 
 but the problem is one that is very unlikely to be 
 ever solved. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 We left Malauna at day-break, as a long march 
 
 lay before us to which we addressed ourselves as 
 speedily as possible. The ascent of the Malauna 
 Pass, was by no means an easy journey, but perhaps, 
 on the whole, it was not more troublesome than the 
 passage of the Kundee had been the day before. The 
 track we followed, though at first bare of every- 
 thing but scrub jungle, entered at last into a region 
 of holly oak (Quercus semicarpifolia), and as is fre- 
 quently seen in these hills, as if to show that the oak 
 and the pine will not to any extent take kindly to the 
 same soil or grow side by side, not a single fir-tree 
 was to be seen on the ascent. The morning was so 
 cold, that as we mounted higher we were glad to get 
 into the sun ; and so backward was all vegetation, 
 that the blossoms of the rhododendron (this being 
 the 10th of May) were only just sprouting. These 
 last trees were clustered in considerable numbers in 
 different parts of the mountain side, and at one of 
 these clumps we noticed specimens with blossoms 
 tinted with crimson, rose, light pink, and lilac. 
 
 Just before reaching the crest of the Pass, a good 
 stretch of hard snow lay over the track ; and now 
 arriving at the summit we all stopped to look 
 around. Such a perfectly magnificent amphitheatre 
 
[ 52 ] 
 
 of snowy heights we none of us had seen before, and 
 probably may never see again. We were standing 
 at an elevation of about 12,000 feet above sea level, 
 (the highest peak on this Malauna range is about 
 12,080 feet,) and there was nothing above us but 
 the gradually sloping banks which bound in the Pass 
 itself, and which in no case were fifty feet higher 
 than the point from which we were surveying the 
 wondrous landscape that lay spread before us in all 
 its dazzling brilliancy. Peaks — the names of which 
 we knew not, and others that by previous reference 
 to the map we could pretty well identify — shoulder- 
 ed each other with their glistening canopies, and 
 away far down in the tremendous gullies beyond the 
 Parbuttee Valley were vast beds of the whitest snow, 
 that overlapped the mighty mountains which stood 
 out like the sentinels of winter against the now 
 approaching summer, that with its conquering heats 
 was soon to tear down these icy strongholds and 
 bear their burden to the thirsty plains of the Punjab. 
 North, south, east, and west it was the same ; 
 range after range, snow-capped and glacier-bound, 
 stretched backward in receding ranks ; one great 
 mass of solid ice, many hundred feet high, cresting a 
 mighty barrier to the west, which in all probability 
 was Deotiba over the Humta Pass. How could the 
 eye ever be satiated with this superb panorama ! In 
 the clear morning light, when every rugged cliff 
 stood out in startling relief against the shadows that 
 
[ 53 ] 
 
 lay cold and deep, the gaze wandered with a calm 
 delight from the surrounding eminences hoary with 
 a thousand winters, and rested on the contrast afford- 
 ed by the dense woodland that mounted up on the 
 nearer hills against the snow line, the sunlight 
 faintly playing on the tiers of forest, the mass below 
 being shaded off in a mysterious gloom of cerulean 
 blue, which again died away into, and was merged 
 with, a tender aerial grey. Not a breath of air stir- 
 red on the summit of the Pass, which was two feet 
 deep in the snow that covered the Kooloo side of 
 the descent ; not a sound was to be heard ; no sign 
 of life broke the utter stillness ; and everything com- 
 bined to bring to one's mind the mighty majesty of 
 Nature, which here seemed to have marshalled its 
 icy battalions in overpowering and overwhelming 
 strength. H. had toiled up the Pass with a sketch- 
 book, hoping to get a view from the summit ; but 
 from what point could any drawing be taken that 
 could be said to give even an approximate idea of 
 what lay around ! The snow also was rapidly melt- 
 ing, and the longer the delay the greater the diffi- 
 culty of getting down. Still an attempt had to be 
 made, and a rough idea was knocked off, which it 
 was fondly believed might be turned into something 
 respectable hereafter. 
 
 So then we prepared for the descent. P. and M. 
 preferred the more dignified process of walking, but 
 as H. had had some experience before in sliding over 
 
[ 54 ] 
 
 the snow, he allowed the others to precede him, and 
 then, with all the natives who had remained gazing 
 in solemn wonder at his efforts at high art, commenc- 
 ed preparations for the glissade, after all a very 
 simple matter. The traveller lies flat on his back, 
 keeping the legs close together, and down he goes ; 
 should the pace become too great the legs are opened 
 and the elbows dug into the snow, which, unless the 
 latter be too hard, very soon brings one up. On this 
 occasion the accidents were truly most ludicrous, for 
 not only the natives, but H. also, were continually 
 coming to utter grief, and rolling head-over-heels, 
 side- ways, or head downwards, for considerable dis- 
 tances, presenting an appearance, as each bedraggled 
 body swept past, of most utter helplessness. How- 
 ever, all in safety reached the spot where the tent 
 was pitched for breakfast, and the scattered caps, 
 alpen-stocks, and other articles being collected from 
 the drifts into which they had temporarily disappear- 
 ed, nothing now remained but to tackle the meal 
 that was laid out in the tent, surrounded by snow, 
 young rhododendrons in full bloom, and other trees 
 just springing into leaf Our table was a box, and 
 our seats the ground, over which carpets were 
 carelessly flung, and under the circumstances neither 
 the accommodation nor the repast could be com- 
 plained of After a pipe, we struck into the gully 
 covered with snow, and below which rushed a 
 torrent, and jumping here, scrambling there, and 
 
tumbling every where, at last, after a descent almost 
 more weary than the ascent, left the great beds 
 of dirty snow behind and entered on a most beauti- 
 ful valley, richly forested with various descriptions 
 of pine. Through the centre of this coursed a fine 
 spring of clear water, almost blocked up, however, 
 in many places with the hundreds of enormous 
 trees that had been swept down by avalanches. The 
 road now became good, and before long we were 
 able to see the tents under a grove of horse chesnuts 
 in a grassy camping ground called Jijmole, about 
 two miles from any village, although some signs of 
 cultivation were even here to be met with. Look- 
 ing up at the Pass from this, it seemed truly a very 
 ugly affair, and P., M., and H. all agreed they'd see 
 it somewhere before they crossed it again. As night 
 came on the cold became intense, and we were glad 
 to get into the tents ; but it was worth while linger- 
 ing for a moment outside to observe the scene our 
 camp presented. The Malauna coolies were seated 
 round a blazing fire of pine logs, under shelter of a 
 lofty bank, and the servants had crowded together 
 in a cosy nook, where a rude wall of stones between 
 two huge trees served as a protection from the chilly 
 blasts that occasionally swept down the flank of 
 the mountain; while around, on every side, rose 
 the feathery fronds of the firs, which were faintly 
 stirred as now and then they were touched by the 
 night breeze. Thoroughly fatigued after the day's 
 
[ 56 ] 
 
 exertions, the three of us slept the sleep of the just. 
 and early the following morning we had all the 
 tents down, and prepared once again to enter into 
 civilized life ; and as there was a vague rumour 
 that one, possibly two ladies might be at Nuggur, 
 collars were the order of the day, and the reckless 
 and brigand-like expression of countenance that 
 had stamped its mark on us all was now sobered 
 down into a deportment and aspect more consonant 
 with respectable attire. 
 
 Jijmole can hardly be more than five miles from 
 Nuggur, and it was not long before we could see 
 well into the glorious Upper Beas Valley, and we 
 were soon passing through scattered hamlets buried 
 in the woodland, while ever and anon a majestic 
 group of cedars circled round some rude village 
 temple, and hung their mighty branches with foster- 
 ing care over the quaint and picturesque cottages of 
 the peasantry. 
 
 A turn in the road, and Nuggur Castle was before 
 us, with its long range of buildings, once the palace 
 of the Sovereigns of Kooloo, built about A. D. 1640 
 by Rajah Juggut Sing, and now used as a residence 
 by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Sub- 
 division, at this time absent from the place. 
 
 Our little trip was now over. Certainly M. and 
 H. had their faces pretty well as red as faces can 
 become, and the garments of the latter had not 
 altogether come out scatheless, from the rapid gliding 
 
[ 57 ] 
 
 of their owner through the snowy descent of the 
 Malauna Pass ; but we had the satisfaction of feel- 
 ing we had done all we had hoped to perform, and, 
 if there had not been very much in the way of sport, 
 that nevertheless the abundant exercise we had each 
 taken had done us a world of good, and set us up 
 with a stock of health sufficient for a twelvemonth. 
 And so this veracious chronicle comes to an end, 
 and may all who undertake a week's tramp in the 
 hills be met with as pleasant smiles and warm wel- 
 comes as P., M., and H. found awaiting them at their 
 journey's end. The curtain drops, and as the lights 
 are one by one being extinguished, the audience dis- 
 appears, and our little play of Rambles in Kooloo in 
 six Acts is taken off the stage to make way for 
 some other piece. 
 
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