32 OUR JOURNEY OUT
grass lands and orchards stretched back to the
mountains.
But we were not across the lake. From the
westward a rain-cloud was approaching, and soon
the whole face of nature was changed. Small
waves arose ; then a blast of wind swept down part
of the matting which served as an awning to our
boat, and in a moment we were in danger of being
swamped. The rowers at once began to talk wildly,
evidently in great fear of drowning. Several
other dungas, which were near and in the same
plight as our own, came up, so all the boats were
lashed together by ropes. Meanwhile the women
and children (for the Kashmiri lives on the dunga
with his wife and family) were screaming and
throwing rice on the troubled waters, presumably
to propitiate the evil beings who were responsible
for the perilous state of affairs, and seemingly this
offering to the gods was effective, for the angry
deity, the storm-cloud, passed on, the wind dropped,
and without further adventure we made land at
Bandipur on the northern shore of the lake in
warm sunshine.
Here we found ponies which had been hired for
us by Major C. G. Bruce of the 5th Gurkhas.
He had travelled all the way from Khaghan to
Kashmir in order to engage servants, ponies, etc.,
