ge of the road, while far below Jhelum roared hungrily as he foamed by
the foot of a sheer precipice.

Reaching Chakhoti about four o'clock, we decided to remain there for the
night, as it was growing late and the weather looked gloomy and
threatening. Although we had only achieved a short stage of twenty-one
miles, there was no suitable place for a night's halt until Uri, distant
some thirteen miles and all uphill.

About half a mile above Chakhoti there is a rope bridge over the Jhelum,
and after tea we set forth to inspect it.

The river is here about 150 yards wide and extremely swift, and I confess
the means of crossing it, although practised with perfect confidence by
the natives, did not appeal to me.

From two great uprights, formed from solid tree-trunks, three strong ropes
were stretched--the upper two parallel, and the third, about four feet
lower, was equidistant from each.

These three ropes were kept in their relative positions by wooden
stretchers--something like great merrythoughts, lashed at intervals of a
few yards--

"And up and down the people go,"

stepping delicately upon the lower rope, and holding on to the upper ones
with their hands. The uncomfortable part seemed to the unpractised
European to be where the graceful sweep of the long ropes brought the
traveller to within a painfully close distance of the hurrying, hungry
water, before he began to slither circumspectly up the farther slope!

We stood for some little time watching the natives going to and fro,
passing one another with perfect ease by means of a dexterous squirm, and
carrying loads on their backs, or live fowls under their arms, with the
utmost unconcern.

We left Chakhoti early this morning--Tuesday--with the intention of
getting right through to Baramula. The road was of course extremely bad,
and the long ascent to Uri very hard upon our willing little nags. Of
course they have had a remarkably easy time of it lately, as we have been
limited to very short stages, and they are in excellent hard condition, so
that we felt it no great hardship to ask them to do forty-two miles:
albeit to drag a heavy landau containing five people and a good deal of
luggage for that distance, with a rise of over 2000 feet, is a heavy
demand upon a single pair of horses!

The scenery was very fine as we toiled up the gorge, in which Uri stands
on a plateau over the river and guards the pass into Kashmir valley.

The ruins of an ancient