nt nature surrounding them, and this
people dressed in rags.

The capital of the country, Srinagar (City of the Sun), or, to call it
by the name which is given to it here after the country, Kachmyr, is
situated on the shore of the Djeloum, along which it stretches out
toward the south to a distance of five kilometres and is not more than
two kilometres in breadth.

Its two-story houses, inhabited by a population of 100,000 inhabitants,
are built of wood and border both river banks. Everybody lives on the
river, the shores of which are united by ten bridges. Terraces lead from
the houses to the Djeloum, where all day long people perform their
ceremonial ablutions, bathe and wash their culinary utensils, which
consist of a few copper pots. Part of the inhabitants practice the
Musselman religion; two-thirds are Brahminic; and there are but few
Buddhists to be found among them.

It was time to make other preparations for travel before plunging into
the unknown. Having purchased different kinds of conserves, wine and
other things indispensable on a journey through a country so little
peopled as is Thibet, I packed all my baggage in boxes; hired six
carriers and an interpreter, bought a horse for my own use, and fixed my
departure for the 27^th of October. To cheer up my journey, I took from
a good Frenchman, M. Peicheau, the wine cultivator of the Maharadja, a
big dog, Pamir, who had already traversed the road with my friends,
Bonvallot, Capus and Pepin, the well-known explorers. As I wished to
shorten my journey by two days, I ordered my carriers to leave at dawn
from the other side of the lake, which I crossed in a boat, and joined
them and my horse at the foot of the mountain chain which separates the
valley of Srinagar from the Sind gorge.

I shall never forget the tortures which we had to undergo in climbing
almost on all fours to a mountain top, three thousand feet high. The
carriers were out of breath; every moment I feared to see one tumble
down the declivity with his burden, and I felt pained at seeing my poor
dog, Pamir, panting and with his tongue hanging out, make two or three
steps and fall to the ground exhausted. Forgetting my own fatigue, I
caressed and encouraged the poor animal, who, as if understanding me,
got up to make another two or three steps and fall anew to the ground.

The night had come when we reached the crest; we threw ourselves
greedily upon the snow to quench our thirst; and after a shor