Lights & shades of hill life in the Afghan and Hindu highlands of the Punjab; a contrast
Frederick St. John Gore
Paperback
(RareBooksClub.com, May 9, 2012)
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 Excerpt: ...the somewhat inconsequent way that elephants do, had got off his balance, killed his mahout the day before, and retired to the jungle solitude, where he defied all comers. He was good enough, however, to leave us undisturbed, and after a long toil uphill, we next day marched into the Jut6g bazar, where the familiar sound of the artillery bugles on the hill above disagreeably recalled to us the facts that our clothes were torn and dusty and that our boots sadly needed polishing if we wished to hold up our heads again in this civilised region. Four miles more took us to Simla, where the world of fashion had been happily consoling themselves during our absence, and where the yoke of civilisation sat somewhat heavily on us after our delightfully free life in the mountains. Nothing can come up to the pleasure of such a march through the Himalayas. Healthy for mind and body, there is food in abundance for varied interests; while the continued life in the open air at these high elevations brings with it an exhilarating feeling of the greatness of God.s world, which is almost lost sight of in the pressure of our narrow and confined struggle for existence in this nineteenth century. INTERMEZZO THE SUB-HIMALAYAS INTERMEZZO A Few weeks. stay was more than enough at Simla, for a summer resort in the winter season loses much of its raison d.itre. During most of the time I was busy developing and repacking my photographs and making preparations for my journey to the the N.W. frontier; but as I was not due there for another month, I determined to march through the hills from Simla to Dehra Dun, where by the kindness of Messrs. Mackinnon I had been promised some shooting. There are two ways from Simla to Dehra--the one, which may be called the upper road, vid Fagu and Mudh...