they possess. There are eighteen chiefs in all; selection is made for
deeds of bravery, some allowance also being made for hereditary
descent. Wheat is their staple food, and with the juice of the grape
they make a kind of bread, which is eaten toasted, and is not then
unlike a Christmas plum-pudding.

To resume the narrative: once again, unaccompanied by my two friends, I
left Chitral on the morning of May 23rd, and struck off from Urguch,
spending the first night at Balankaru, in the Rumbur Valley. The people
are the Kalash section of the Kafirs, inferior in appearance, manner,
and disposition to their neighbours situated westwards; they pay a small
tribute in kind to Chitral, and are allowed to retain their own manners
and customs. To Daras Karu, in the Bamburath Vale, famed for its pears,
I next proceeded; here also are Kalash Kafirs, and some Bashgali
settlers. The valley is very narrow, and the cultivation restricted
principally to terraced fields on the hill-slopes. Kakar was the next
march; beyond it no trace of habitation. After a short stay we proceeded
up the valley till dusk, and spent the first part of the night under
some rocks. All beyond was snow, interminable snow. Starting at midnight
for the head of the pass (the difference in elevation between our
night's encampment and the crest was 7,000 feet) it took us an hour to
do every thousand perpendicular feet. The view on the Kotal as the sun
was rising was a sight never to be forgotten; near and around us the
hills clad in white with different tinges of red showing, and clouds
rising in fantastic shapes, and disclosing to view the blue and purple
of the distant and lower ranges. I was very fortunate in having a clear
morning, as it enabled me to bring my plane-table into great use. As the
descent was very tedious, owing to the upper crust of the snow having
melted under the rays of the morning sun, we decided on adopting a
sort of "tobogging" system by sitting ourselves on the snow, raising