I wish (he wrote) by a sudden and vigorous blow to check this trouble on our frontier while it is in a nascent condition. The other plan would give it several months to fester and to extend itself; and, if there be among the Mohammedan populations in these regions the disposition to combine against us which is alleged, and which is indeed the justification of the measure proposed, how far might not the roots of the conspiracy stretch themselves in that time? The Afghans in their distracted state might furnish sympathisers; we should be invited to interfere in their internal affairs, in order to oppose those among them who were abetting our Mohammedan adversaries; in short, there is no end to the complications in which this postponement of active operations might involve us. Everything is more or less uncertain in such affairs; but in the absence of any very palpable blunder, what we actually propose to do would appear to be a pretty safe proceeding. The main purpose is to expel the fanatics from Judoon; and it is hardly possible that we should fail in this, as they are within easy reach of us there. The further objects—of punishing other tribes, and destroying the refuge of the fanatics at Mulka—may be abandoned if it be deemed advisable, without any loss of prestige, though of course with some abatement of the completeness of the movement. I therefore thought it necessary to adhere to my original resolution.
[Sidenote: The Himalayas.]
On the 26th of September Lord Elgin left Simla en route for Sealkote, where he was to rejoin his camp and proceed with it to Peshawur, the most distant station on the North-West frontier, before making his way to the great rendezvous at Lahore. On the way to Sealkote he was to traverse the upper valleys of the Beas, the Ravee, and the Chenab, and the mountains that divide them; his main object being to inspect the great tea plantations, public and private, recently set on foot in those parts, and to ascertain for himself what facilities or possibilities the country afforded for commercial intercourse with Ladâk and China.
For the first week his route lay nearly northwards, through scenes very similar to those which he had left at Simla. 'We are going through a beautiful country,' he wrote on the 4th of October, 'and the people seem cheerful and well-to-do.' Shortly afterwards, having passed over the Sutlej at Komharsen, he crossed a considerable range of mountains by the Jalouri Pass, and found himself in the fertile basin of the Beas. Directing his course still northwards, he followed this river up to its source among the hills; and thence crossed by the steep and high Rotung Pass from the valley of the Beas into that of the Chenab—from the rich and smiling country of Kuloo into a rugged and inhospitable tract called Lahoul. He did not, however, remain long in these desolate regions; but, after crossing the Twig Bridge across the Chandra, an affluent of the Chenab, and inspecting a wooden bridge which had just been constructed to take its place, he retraced his steps southwards to Sultanpore, on the Beas river. From thence, on the 18th of October, he wrote as follows to Sir Charles Wood:—
[Sidenote: Kuloo.]
[Sidenote: Rotung Pass.]
[Sidenote: Twig Bridge.]
Thus far our expedition through the mountains has been very pleasant and interesting. The scenery has been magnificent and the climate enjoyable, though the changes of temperature have been considerable. We are now at Sultanpore, in Kuloo, at an elevation of about 4,000 feet above the sea. But a few days ago we (the men of the party) scaled the Rotung Pass, which divides Kuloo from Lahoul, and attained in so doing a height of 13,000 feet, with a temperature low in proportion. This pass is on the road from these provinces to Ladâk and China, and I visited, on the other side of it, a new bridge over the Chandra, which will be a great convenience to traders. Hitherto, if the traders used mules or other animals of this magnitude, they could cross the river with them only by making them swim; or, if sheep were their beasts of burden, by driving them over a twig bridge, through the meshes of which many fell into the river. I crossed the twig bridge myself; and I found it about the most difficult job I ever attempted. The new bridge will be completed in a few weeks. This road, however, useful though it will doubtless be when improved, leads through Ladâk, and the merchandise transported along it becomes subject to the exactions of the ruler of Cashmere. The desideratum would be a road which would be clear of his territory altogether.
The people in these regions seem good-humoured and merry-hearted, producing for themselves all that they want; growing their own food, making their own clothes; not much given to exchanges, and extremely averse to labour. I asked a manager of a tea plantation the other day how he was off for labour. He said that he contrived to induce labourers to come to his plantation for a few days at a time, chiefly for the purpose of earning money enough to pay the Government assessment of their land; but his opinion was that, if there were no assessment, no labour would be procurable. We have not yet come across much tea. The plantations we have seen are on a very small scale, and in a nascent condition; but they are promising. There seems no reason to doubt that the climate and a certain portion at least of the soil in this district are suited to the growth of tea. The climate, too, does very well for the European constitution, though it is hardly as healthy as I expected to find it. Both natives and Europeans are subject to fever at certain seasons, especially in the valleys; but I have no doubt that the latter may do well as employers of labour. This place (Sultanpore) is only about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and I have little doubt that, were the state of cultivation and trade to justify the outlay, a cart road might be made to it without great difficulty from the plain. This would greatly develop both its natural resources and its capabilities as a commercial route.
The state of the forests which we have encountered during our route has also engaged my attention. It is sad to see how they have been neglected, and how much waste of valuable timber has ensued. The natives have a practice of girdling fine trees, at a few feet from the root, in order to strip off as much of the bark as they can conveniently reach. It is rather a difficult practice to check; but, if we can manage to draw a line between the woods in which the villagers have rights and the public forests, we may impose heavy penalties on the perpetrators of such offences…. The deodar forests cease at the Rotung Pass. There are no forests of any value in Lahoul and Spitti—scarcely indeed any wood at all.
We are now proceeding towards the Kangra Valley, where we expect to find tea plantations in a more advanced condition.
[Sidenote: Illness.]