Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-15
READY FOR LONG STAY
-
81
But Other Attractions Called
Party Away.
d -.5
TO SEE LAKE MANIsBAL
-a
EXPERIENCES s5oF A JOURNEY
AFLoAr AND,IAsHoRE.
Wanting Bread Much Of the Time After
Losing the House Boat and
Friends.

written Tor The Evening Star.
Our moorings on the Dial lake proved to
be so delightful that we had quite decided
to spend a month there, when one lovely
moonlit evening Colonel r. E., who
had come out to dine with us, upset all our
plans by telling us that If we wanted to
see the beautiful little lake Manisbal we
must go at once, as later on the water
would be too low to allow of our entering
the canal gate. A grand consultation took
place and we decided to pull up stakes
literally and go off for week or more. We
made the exciting exit of the Dial Darwaza
and were pOled down the canal late the
next afternoon and moored under the row
of very tall poplars opposite our old haunt,
the post office stairs, but had passed such
a dreadfully noisy night from the incessant
chatter of the natives on the multitudinous
cook boats, in long rows on either side of
the river, and were wakened so very early
in the morning that the occupants OF our
dunga, with the exception of the mongoose,
whose vote was always cast for life ashore,
decided that they would forsake their two
companion boats, one of whom was en-
gagged in the vain attempt to get coolies to
pole them down the river and the other
wished to make up arrears of calls, and go
down the river for the day far enough to
find quiet spot. Loud were the COM
plants when we announced our decision
but as we had been told that coolies were
to be had without fail at o'clock we held
to 1t and left Srinuggur at IL, drifting
slowly down on the current through the
picturesque city, under the seven bridges
and out into the country, where we sought
the shade of some large mulberry trees
looked about for dogs on the mongoose's
account, turned that mite loose in fields of
ripening wheat and settled down for a
peaceful day. Peace, however was hard to
find, it was the day after great Mo-
hammedan festival when in two of the
mosques a hair of Mohammed is exhibited
and the faithful come from far and near to
worship. Countless dungas filled with Mo-
hammedans drifted by US, usually steered
by an old woman, always full of children,
and the occupants almost always chanting
a minor air, which we first heard family in
the distance, then louder and louder and
then growing again faint as the swift river
swept them by. We had brought food suf-
ficient for tiffin at g. and also tea and
cake, and we expected our friends at latest
by o'clock, as we had come only about
two hours from their moorings. At some
people we had met at Srinuggur and liked
drifted down upon us, hailed us, and we
made one Of them stop for tea, promising
that we would take her down in our tiny
shikara later on to- join her friends, SO at
$50 she, hearty young person who of all
things loved to paddle a small shikara, Alb
dull and one of us started forth.
Pulling Upstream Hard.
The boat being SO very small and light
and three of US padding we sped along at
a tremendous pace and made the five miles
in no time, babe adieux to our friends and
turned for the up pull This we soon found
to be quite different matter. and such a
pull as we had! Though we padded with
m we na al a.
way, and, after struggling along for over
an hour 1t was decided that one of us
should go on ahead and get one of the boat
men while the other towed the light shikara
along.
The four-mile walk was through fields of
grain or acres of iris, now nearly out of
bloom and was, in the deep, orange-col-
ored twilight, a walk to be remembered,
with here and there Mahommedan kneel-
ing with his face toward Mecca murmur-
ing his prayers and bowling his forehead
to the ground, with complete silence, ex-
cept for the lonely coo-cooing of the doves,
a sound we never liked. to tell the truth,
or the deep, heather grumble or roar of
the tame buffalos. On arriving we were
surprised to find that our dunga was still
alone in its mornings under the mulberry
trees and were told that, no word had
been received from the other two boats
and the question of dinner began to appeal
strongly to us. Abdul, who arrived a short
time after, on being consulted suggested
that eggs could be got from the village
near by and ghee, the native butter and
that if we would so far honor him as to
take some of his DIAL, sort of lentil which
we think delicious and to allow him to use
his one cook-pot in our service, which cook
pot, he assured u.s. was most clean and
freshly kelaid (tinned), he would get us up
very frugal meal. He seemed so pleased
at the prospect and there being absolutely
no other way for us to get any dinner, that
fire seems to be alight night and day. as
far as we can TELL and we paw two nice
(half a cent? each time we use their fire
and then we sat down in our cosy room
and waited. We knew, of course. that the
trouble was lack of coolies, and that orr
friends had probably sent us a note which
had not reached us. And we began to feel
deiiclous sense OF adventure steal over
US. An hour passed and it grew quite
dark. and Ismaila, our head boatman
came to us and said slowly in Hin,
dostanee: That Is very bad village
near py' Huzoor. Ihe men are very bad
and one time they stole one hundred RI
PEGS from gentleman who spent a night
here. May we 60 Huzoor?" We said that
we wished to go no farther until our
we had four men aboard it was quite safe
to STOP but to make it more SO, we would
fire off our revolver several times.
Afraid Of Their Gun.
So we got out that little weapon of which
confess we stood in great awe and stand
Ing under the mulberry tree in the darkness
let fire. bravely three times The wicked
little thing kicked violently and sounded
to our timid ears like the noise from an
enormous cannon, and we were glad when
the echoes of it ceased. All the dogs of
the valley set up howl. and the birds in
the surrounding trees made a great to do
and then silence fell. 1smaila was not a.
all satisfied with the plan to spend the
night there and we came to the conclusion
that they were all afraid. He insisted an
putting our trunks below deck and made
us promise to lock up cur watches. money
and little objects we usually kept on our
sitting room table, and. in fact, did his hest
to inspire us with fear. but with no effect
and finally to our satisfaction Abdul an,
peared and dinner!
Emergency furnishings.
We had no table cloth nor silver and
only one glass, so we spread clean sheet
of blotting paper OYER our table spread of
Kashmir embroidery, and brought out our
silver shoe horns to use as knives. forks
and spoons and we sat down to an enam-
eled iron plate of dal, seasoned with
onions, dish which looked like a lentil
porridge and tasted like nectar, or some
even more delicious thing; and another
enameled plate of eggs fried in ghee. The
latter we hesitated about eating as ghec at
any time seemed unpalat table but ghee