residence of two missionary ladies, and the cold weather
rendezvous of very large numbers of Bhotias ; while on
the Nepalese side there is a court house, a gaol and the
residence of the Nepalese Lieutenant, who is in civil
and criminal charge of this part of the country. The
bridge connecting the two sides here is composed of one
NATIVE CROSSING RO PE BRIDGE
rope ! The ordinary native climbs over by the help of
his hands and feet, being kept from falling into the
abyss of angry waters by a noose of rope round his
body, to which is fixed a bar of wood to counteract the
friction. Longstafi and I have been on this rope-bridge,
but neither of us could persuade the other to adopt the
native method. The more sedate cradle appealed very
forcibly to us.
We halted at Balwakot, twelve miles from Askot
and at Dharchula ten miles further on, but our stay a t
both places was of the shortest, owing to the great heat,
which is most oppressive in this long valley of the Kali
river. Further, we were much troubled by mosquitoes
and sand-flies, and at Dharchula we had scorpions,
only one of which, however, did any harm. In the cold
weather, when my wife and I were camping here,
although we had scorpions in our bedding and under our
NA TIVE CROSSING ROPE BRIDGE
pillows, and the servants were continually finding them
in their quarters, we had all escaped in the most fortunate
way, but this time one stung the cook on the
forehead in two places. He had a sleepless night from
pain, but in the morning a couple of injections of eucaine
by Longstafi brought immediate relief. This fact is of
interest because there are some who say that scorpions
and snakes lose their venom in the hills, but the reverse
is my own experience ; certainly one servant of mine
at Binsar would have actually died from snake-bite,
had it not been for instant application of the knife and
the usual remedies.