________________
Journey to Thibet company with the well-known explorers, Bon Valot, Capus and Pepin.
Upon reaching the chain of mountains which separate the valley of Kashmir from the gorge of Sind, the party was obliged to crawl on all fours almost all the way over a summit of 3,000 feet high; the carriers were quite exhausted from their heavy loads and from the fear of rolling down the deep declivity.
Descending from this point they passed through several villages, Chokodar, Dras, Karghil, etc., halting only at these places for rest or to procure fresh horses. Karghil is the chief town of the district and the scenery is certainly picturesque. It is situated on the confluence of the Suru and Wakha rivers, the view of which on its left side is one of the most striking the traveller can ever behold.
M. Notovitch procured fresh horses here and continued his journey over a route far from being pleasant or safe, sometimes passing over a very dangerous road, at other times being obliged to cross a shaky bridge consisting, as many bridges do in Kashmir, of two long beams or trunks of trees inserted in the crevices of the rocks on either bank and small poles or stones laid across, sometimes fagots being thrown on the poles and the whole covered with earth. The traveller, when Crossing this point, might well tremble at the thought of a possible dislodgement of a stone or the oscillation of the beams which would precipitate the whole .construction into the yawning chasm beneath.
: M. Notovitch entered the boundaries of Ladak or Little Thibet and was much astonished to find a sweet, simple, happy people who did not indulge in or know what quarrelling was. Especially was he astonished at this since polyandry flourishes there among the low-class people? Polyandry is a subject on which different writers have risked their opinions without knowing the facts. It is true that among the non-Aryan hill-tribes this custom has existed
73
