, and the next morning
the first detachment of two hundred Pioneers, under Borradaile, marched
off. The local Bible, commonly known as the Gazetteer, states that it
never rains in Gilgit; this being so, it naturally started to rain on
the morning of the 23rd, and kept it up for two days. We were marching
without tents, so the first night the men had to run up their waterproof
sheets into shelters.

Colonel Kelly, Luard, and myself started about 2 P.M. to catch up the
troops, who had started about 9 A.M. Luard had a beast of a pulling
pony, and as his double bridle hadn't got a curb chain, it was about as
much use as a headache, so I suggested he should let the pony rip, and
promised to bury his remains if he came a cropper. He took my advice and
ripped; you couldn't see his pony's heels for dust as he disappeared
across the plain. We found him all right in camp when we got there.

The men were already in camp, and pretty comfortable, in spite of the
rain. Colonel Kelly had a small tent, and the rest of us turned into
convenient cow-sheds. We were not troubled with much baggage, bedding,
greatcoats, and a change of clothing; the men had poshteens (sheepskin
coats), and everybody pleased themselves in the matter of boots, most of
us preferring chuplies--a native kind of sandal with a leather sock, a
very good article in snow, as you can put on any number of socks without
stopping the circulation of blood in your feet. Officers and men were
all provided with goggles, and very necessary they were.

We had a very jolly mess. The force being so small, the 32nd Pioneers
kindly asked the remaining officers to mess with them, every man of
course providing his own plate, knife, fork, and spoon, the cooking pots
being collected for the general good. We had breakfast before starting,
the hour for marching being 7 A.M. as a rule. The Pioneers had some
most excellent bacon; good eggs and bacon will carry a man through a
long day most successfully. I remember that when that bacon gave out,
there was more mourning than over all the first-born of Egypt. Mutton we
never ran out of; like the poor, it was always with us.

We got into camp as a rule some time in the afternoon, and then indulged
in tea and chupatties; whisky was precious, and kept for dinner, which
took place at dusk. Sometimes, when we got into camp late, dinner and
tea were merged into one; however, it made no odds, we were always ready
to eat when anything eatable came