Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-26
MADE FtTE OF MOVING
A Farewell Dinner Under
Many Difficulties.
AKASHMIR FLOOD MENU
FROM TENT TO HOTEL ACROSS
SWOLLEN STREAMS.
Searching for Water in Flooded Coun-
try-Failures Before
Success.
AKASHMIR FLOOD MENU

! BARAMOULA, August H. 1903.
| On the Both of July suddenly decided
| that it would be best to leave our big, COM
| Portable tent on the hillside and go to the
| hotel. as the flood made it extremely diff
cult to get any supplies. so we Invited tie
three officers TO d farewell dinner. They re-
| sponded joyfuliy, as usual, and we had
| great fun over the bunderbus arrangement
| or plan) for it. The one of our party who
has the most decided knack for water color
| drawing cut out from an old pasteboard
| box number of tiny heart-shaped paddles,
which she decorated prettily another of the
| trio composed suitable doggerel to COM
memorate our united adventures by river
and Hood, while the third who possessed
the tiny model of a dunga, wrote out four
small menus and hung them upon it's little
| mat curtains. 1t was a menu of the sever
| est simplicity. as follows:
Potage la blocque poulet All bearer
COOK sulgam, sauce de beuvre, omelette au
jam uppare, cafe noir; but was a great sue
| cess in spite of the fact that the potags wa 9
made from small blocks of compressed SOUP
ana was slightly smoky in flavor from our
orl1tWood hre; that the sulgam a native
vegetable like a very tough turnip was,
even after hours of cooking, tough and the
sauce. made of ghee (native butter), and
that the cafe more tasted principal1v or
chicory and smoke! But a very ioiv marty
OF SIX sat in chairs far too low for the
.aple' aye soup out of cups and bowls and
sipped black coffee from tea CUPS One
Hefhper or the party could quite easily rest
ner chin on the table. but no more 80 to
lap. pA'o All hei
me next morning at IL the three officers
appeared again. this time to helm MS move
our many belongings, and soon after 10
CLOCK long lines of boatmen followed nv
. pneesties; SWeepers and the ayah. wound
h t,leir snali-hke way down the hillside to the
boats and were closely followed by the six
most interested in that vast pile of luggage
we were padded over the top of the canal
BANKS through an orchard, and across the
madam, the huge field used as polo pround
ana we found the hotel up to the second
story IN water, so We mounted the stem or
Two or the outside stairway still visible
ana passing along a corridor in which the
smell OF muddy water was very Disagree
able. mounted to the third floor and fonnd
comfortable rooms. The week spent there
was an odd experience. The water fell
rapidly. and one morning we beheld, much
10 our amusement native wadine lacrosse
the maiden up to his neck in the muddy
water, basket OF, fruit on his head ami
MS dirty clothes reposing on ton of the
liuIt! Inc next morning a high-hung car
rage grove up to our now nearly exposed
door. and after that the tradesmen and
bearers always waded to and from the
bazaar to the hotel, Once standing on the
upper balcony we saw whole family Of
waist IN water. mother plodding along be-
hind with a naked brown baby astride or
her shoulder. and three four little bows
SplaShing buSily along in the rear ccreau,
Ing TO each other and to their father tho
smallest up to his little brown neck. but as
cheerful as a cricket
Familiar Objects Again.
1t was strange to see things gradually
emerge-bushes, fences that we had forgot
ten all about. and the low godowns of the
servants. When the hotel gate first came
INTO view there was great excitement ard
many bets were made as to how long X
would be before We could walk or drive
through it. The smells grew worse and
worse daily. until finally. the water re-
ceded and left us upon what looked from a
distance like the top of a huge chocolate
cake the smell was SO unbearable that we
concluded after much urging by letter tele-
gram and word of mouth to leave the val
ley for good and all. Word came from GrI-
murg, the fashionable hill station to Kash
mir, that supplies We're growing scarce
there, so that was out of the question
Murree, the rather attractive place on the
way out of the valley toward Rawal Pindi
was full ito the brim:' Abbottabad most
easy to reach. was said to be very hot and
where TO go we could not tell. At last we
decided to go to Chamba a Hill station
about day from Amritsar but how TO
get there we could not find out, as having
had another day or two of rain, the river
was again rising, and Dhanjiboy the mail
and tonga agent, who had lust thoueht If
safe to move back into his office from the
houseboat he had been using as such dur
ing the food, was seized by panic and
evidently lost his head
He closed his office and he and his mon
were seen running to and fro between the
house and boat aimlessly, as 1t seemed,
knocking into each other shrieking at the
top of their voices and conducting them
selves in the most amusingly crazy man
ner. No information was to be had in that
quarter apparently. From the two agencies
We could only find out that the road was
badly damaged between Barmoula and
Srinuggur. but whether the tongas ran be-
tween the two places they did not know.
In the meantime the river was rising at
the top of Its speed. and we. fearing that If
we did not start at once would find it i'm
possible to get boat under the seven
bridges. went up and down the river early
on the morning of the Sd of August seek
ing for dunga or a houseboat They
were difficult to find. as the demand for
them had been so great. but at last we sue
ceeded in getting tiny dunga houseboat
which Is an ordinary dunga, boarded in,
with the mats on the outside of the board
ing. 1t had the usual sitting room. two bed
rooms and bath room. but all tiny.
The Usual Troubles.
After most dreadful scramble in get
ting our things packed and carried on the
heads of dozens of coolies, across the maid
en- to the bund. In laying In stores of bot
tied water. -four and jams, vegetables and
tea, milk and eggs. we at last at 4:30 got
aboard and gave the word to start. The
three officers came down to the first bridge
with US, helped us to get things in their
places. presented us with boxes of sweets
and oceans of advice: and then sadly got
into their shikara and left us. The last
we saw of them was al ter just mana ing to
scrape under the very low first bridge we
were standing on deck, congratulating our
selves. when, looking up, we beheld three
tail figures on the bridge watching us with
absorbing interest.
Waving a last farewell our little house
boat drifted rapidly down the current, and
in an incredibly short time we passed un-
der all seven of the bridges and were
moored under huge chinar tree where
we were to await the arrival of GUITAR Joo
the tailor. who was to finish off our puttoo
(hashmir tweed) dresses Zone pound each
and perfectly satisfactory and bring them
to us by 3 o'clock.
At we started once more and drifted
down the river until we came to a quiet
place for the night, and by 8 the next morn
ing we were OF again. The day was bright
and lovely and there were few signs of the
food until fe reached Shadipur, where we
ant ho al loo y,,Io