by tonga or riding. If time is no object and the season
is not too early, there are various beautiful routes over
the mountains, by Jammu, by Poonch, by the Pir
Panjal. Going by these passes camp outfit must be
taken, of course, a sufficient number of coolies and baggage
ponies, also riding ponies, for many of the marches
are very trying, and the uncertainty about food and fuel
makes it difficult to stay to rest. Going up early as
I did—at the beginning of April—the Jhelum route
was the best, and a tonga can be ordered at Pindi from
the contractors there for about ninety-five rupees;
besides this, a small tip will have to be given to the
driver, and there are one or two tolls to be paid on
entering Kashmir territory; if the whole cart is
not required, a seat can be had in the mail
tonga for forty-five rupees; only a small amount of
baggage is allowed, the rest must be sent on
beforehand by ekka, costing about five rupees
the maund (84 lbs.). There are dak bungalows on
the route where the journey can be broken, and where
the prices are fairly moderate except for English
goods. While in Kashmir the cost of living can
be calculated to a nicety. A “ doonga, ” — the
native boat—can be hired for from twenty to thirty
rupees a month, including the boatman; and a reliable
list of rates for the purchase, of all daily requirements,
from the hiring of coolies to the price of bread, can be
obtained from Sahib Rao Amarnath, an official
appointed by the Maharajah to look after the interests
of visitors. He represents in his fat, comfortable person
paternal Government carried to the furthest limit, and
is equally ready to order condign punishment for your
servants if they overcharge in any particular, or to insist
on the re-loading of your ponies if overweighted. He
is exactly the right man in the right place, and the
threat of “ referring the matter to him ” will influence
coolies on strike even away in far-off valleys! I t is a
system, the adoption of which in so-called more civilised
countries would greatly assist the helpless foreigner.
Both food and firewood are cheap, so living seldom
costs more than about 1 rupee 3 annas a day, and
to save the annoyance of friction over daily pilferings,
it is a good plan to contract with one’s headman or
khansama (cook) to feed one for that amount. Unless
one has with one good servants used to travelling, it is
better (and I found I was very generally agreed with)
not to hire Punjabi servants at enormous wages in
Srinagar, but to pay one’s boatman, while on the river, a
trifle extra to cook, and to take an extra man to do
errands and various other small jobs, and when up
the valleys to choose some young Kashmiri and make
him headman, with the distinct understanding that the
right rates are known, and that you will give him a
small present at the end of each month if there has
been no friction to disturb your serenity, and no
attempt at fancy prices. The younger he is the more
likely he is to be honest, and I have seen a comfortable
camp managed by a boy of fifteen at seven rupees a
month. In the valleys, where the cold is often great at
night, your headman will require puttoo coats and
b