Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-20
CHEAP TRAVELLING
-S-
House and Cook Boat for
Thirty-FiVe Rupees a Month,
WITH SEVEN B0ATMEN
d
A LAUGHABLE ADVENTURE IN A
GOOSE HUNT.
Telling the Truth is Even Harder Than
Securing Wished-For
Food.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
The bare expense of our dunga, a native
house boat in kashmir, together with its
attendant cook boat, is twenty rupees a
month for the one and fifteen rupees for
the other. or $1O.66 for the two. Our dunga
was long boat lying very low on the
water and entirely inclosed in mats made
of thick rushes which can be rolled up
every day and fastened down during the
night. 1t has a nice little deck in front, a
dining and sitting room combined two
small bed rooms and bath room and a
room at the stern for the bearer ayah.
The price included the service of seven
boatmen, four for the dunga and three for
the cookboat. 1t also includes Nirvana
dolce Tar n1ente! anything which VIII de-
scribe long softly blue days, floating slow
ly down rivers fringed with willows, and
through lakes surrounded completely by
snow mountains; long delicious evenings
moored to green bank, where the mon
goose digs for snakes, and never finds any,
and where we sit in our comfortable chairs
and sigh with content! In fact, it means
the most perfect existence possible to
human being! We left Baramoula at Z
one brilliant morning and drifted or
rather, were poled or dragged by our crew,
slowly down the river which, l must con-
fess, was one Of the dirtiest rivers l have
ever seen, but that was a matter of In
difference to US, for there was so much to
enjoy, and the spring and the sunshine to
make US glad that we were alive. The
crew appeared at least very satisfactory;
two fine big men, Ahhadu and Samdu, two
younger brothers, both very clean and
fresh Observation-Disclosures and Sidka, the
very handsome old mother Sondri In
faded red flannel skirt and chudda, and
two young servants always very dirty In
deed. The old father, Amira we met later
than all the rest put together. The two
elder brothers usually drew the boat along,
walking slowly on the raised path, with
leather belts around their shoulders. at
tached to the rope thus taking the place
of the customary horse. Where the river
was very shallow they. others of the
crew, poled the boat along for a change.
or, sitting on either side of the pointed
bow, padded with pretty heart-shaped.
gaily painted paddles. Our cooking was
done in the small cookboat, on stove
made of clay, with two holes for the cook
pots, which were all copper lined with
kelai whatever that may be. Its appear
ance that of silver. and considered
it anything but blessing. cooking
utensils had to be all refined every two
weeks. The next time come we will
bring aluminium cook pots which cost a
small fortune in Kashmir alas! The stores
provided with boat consisted of the
usual necessaries, such as sugar, salt.
flour, etc, to which were added pots of
OeHCiOuS hdSllIlllI JdI anu h idI &c pdCh-
age of dial" native seed, which, boiled
with little SALT seems to us most de-
Lcious.
Fowls Are Scarce.
Taking 1t for granted that we could get
fowls at our different stopping places. we
bought only one at Baramoula. which,
alas! proved to be a very tough old cock!
and that one we had to make last through
the two and half days until we reached
Sprinuggur. At each stop for breakfast
at $50, tiffin at and dinner at 8, we sent
out scouts to seek for chickens. geese or
ducks. but always with the same result,
they would not sell"
There were numbers of geese by the
waterside and fowls galore. but not one to
be had Finally, urged on by hunger, we
berated Ahhadu our head boatman. telling
him that he ought to have told us of the
difficulty Of getting such things. and after
we had expended much rage upon him he
started forth across the river, ostensibly on
a search for fowls. accompanied by his
mother and two brothers and by our bearer,
who was acting cook for the time being.
and left us moored to beautiful green
bank on which was collected an interested
audience of about thirty natives Where
they came from / cannot imagine, as not a
house was to be SEEN and we had purposely
left the last town far behind us in order to
try for a quiet night All of the crew ex-
cept the head bOatman slept on the cook
boat and we were thankful that there were
no babies or children. as is almost invaria-
bly, the case, to add to the murmurs which
We're waited from that boat at all hours of
the night. When added to those murmurs,
were the noises of man and beast. to be
heard coming from any native town, at all
times of the night, it was quite unbearable.
and the experience of one night taught
to seek country mooring. We walked
about the delicious country and the mon
goose dug holes and climbed far out into
the branches of trees, and the night crept
e.ti1 Il r ra-
turn We came back to the dunga in the
late twilight and Budmash, the mongoose.
went to bed in his basket, supperless. and
still they had not arrived, when suddenly a
dsheveled being appeared on the opposite
bank of the river and called loudly to us in
Kashmiri. OF course we did not under
stand. except that he was a much excited
native He then tried Hindustanee, and CT
that we could understand only that there
had been fight and although we were not
quite sure we thought that he said our
bearer had been killed.
Thrilling News.
We began to be curious but merely mo-
toned violently and murmured Tao"
knowing that In course of time we should
learn the truth; at least, not the truth, far
from it. for the truth is never known in
India and still less in Kashmir but their
version of it. A minute or two later Ahha-
du appeared in the same place, turbanless
and apparently excited also. He forgot his
manners entirely and called out in English
Supposedly, "Salaam, Mem Sahib, one big
fight twenty mems fights. Bearer all kill,
no goose. Head mans he take! Kill little
birader (brother). Bearer toor' That was
all very thrilling news and we could hardly
fail to show interest. but 1t was necessary
to preserve calm appearance. and we pre-
tended not to listen, and motioned him Wig
orously away. fs
In two minutes, he was standing before
u.s. having crossed the river at lightning
speed and again poured forth his confused
tale but it was not until the other mem
bers of the party appeared. and l noticed
that they went first to the cook boat that
we heard a connected version Of the affair
1t seems according to, them, that they went
on tour inland to. seek for provender for
us, and came upon a lot of nice, fat geese:
that the bearer had asked man of the
he had consented for the sum of twelve
annas GA cents) which is a very high price
for geese Realizing our starving condition,
and 1t being our money, he, according to
himself handed over the twelve annas and