Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century. Verne Jules
this spot that purifications in the waters of the holy river took place during the hot season.
As every pilgrimage implies the sale of relics, Herdouar was the centre of an important market, where horses, camels, antimony, asafoetida, dried fruits, shawls, arrows, muslins, cotton and woollen goods from the Punjab, Cabulistan, and Cashmere, were to be had. Slaves, too, were to be bought there from three to thirty years of age, at prices varying from 10 to 150 rupees. This fair, where such different races, languages, and costumes were to be met with, presented a curious spectacle.
Upon the 12th of April the English expedition set out for Gangautri, following a road planted with white mulberries and figs, as far as Gourondar. A little farther on water-mills of simple construction were at work, upon the banks of streams shaded with willows and raspberry-trees. The soil was fertile, but the tyranny of the Government prevented the natives from making the best of it.
The route soon became mountainous, but peach, apricot, nut, and other European trees abounded, and at length the expedition found themselves in the midst of a chain of mountains, which appeared to belong to the Himalaya range.
The Baghirati, which is known further on as the Ganges, was met with at the end of a pass. To the left, the river is bounded by high, almost barren mountains; to the right stretches a fertile valley. At the village of Tchiavli, the poppy is largely cultivated for the preparation of opium; here, owing probably, to the bad quality of the water, all the peasants suffer from wens.
At Djosvara the travellers had to cross a bridge of rope, called a "djorila." This was a strange and perilous structure.
"On either side of the river," says Webb, "two strong poles are driven in, at a distance of two feet from each other, and across them is placed another piece of wood. To this is attached a dozen or more thick ropes, which are held down upon the ground by large heaps of wood. They are divided into two packets, about a foot apart; Blow hangs a ladder of rope knotted to one of these, which answers instead of a parapet. The flooring of the bridge is composed of small branches of trees, placed at intervals of two and a half, or three feet from each other. As these are generally slender, they seem as if they were on the point of breaking every moment, which naturally induces the traveller to depend upon the support of the ropes which form the parapet, and to keep them constantly under their arms. The first step taken upon so shaky a structure is sufficient to cause giddiness, for the action of walking makes it swing to either side, and the noise of the torrent over which it is suspended is not reassuring. Moreover the bridge is so narrow, that if two persons meet upon it, one must draw completely to the side to make room for the other."
The expedition afterwards passed through the town of Baharat, where but few of the houses have been rebuilt since the earthquake of 1803. This locality has always enjoyed a certain importance from the fact that a market is held there, and also on account of the difficulty of obtaining provisions in the towns higher up, as well as from its central position. The routes to Jemauhi, Kedar, Nath, and Sirinagur all meet there.
Beyond Batheri the road became so bad that the travellers were obliged to abandon their baggage. There was a mere path-track by the edge of precipices, amid débris of stones and rocks; and the attempt to proceed was soon relinquished.
Devaprayaga is situated at the junction of the Baghirati, and the Aluknanda. The first, coming from the north, hurries along with noise and impetuosity; the second, broader, deeper, and more tranquil, rises no less than forty-six feet above its ordinary level in the rainy season. The junction of these two rivers forms the Ganges, and is a sacred spot from which the Brahmins draw considerable profit, as they have arranged pools there, where for a certain price pilgrims can perform their ablutions without danger of being carried away by the current.
The Aluknanda was crossed by means of a running bridge, or "Dindla," which is thus described: —
"This bridge consists of three or four large ropes fixed upon either bank, and upon these a small seat some eighteen inches square is slung by means of hoops at either end. Upon this seat the traveller takes his place, and is drawn from one side of the river to the other by a rope pulled by the man upon the opposite bank."
The expedition reached Sirinagur upon the 13th of May. The curiosity of the inhabitants had been so much excited that the magistrates sent a message to the English begging them to march through the town.
Sirinagur, which had been visited by Colonel Hardwick in 1796, had been almost completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1803, and had in the same year been conquered by the Gorkhalis. Here Webb was joined by the emissaries whom he had sent to Gangautri by the route which he himself had been unable to follow, and who had visited the source of the Ganges.
"A large rock," he says, "on either side of which water flows, and which is very shallow, roughly resembles the body and mouth of a cow. A cavity at one end of its surface gave rise to its name of Gaoumokhi, the mouth of the cow, who, by its fancied resemblance, is popularly supposed to vomit the water of the sacred river. A little farther on, advance is impossible, a mountain as steep as a wall rises in front; the Ganges appeared to issue from the snow, which lay at its feet; the valley terminated here. No one has ever gone any farther."
The expedition returned by a different route. It met with the tributaries of the Ganges, and of the Keli Ganga, or Mandacni, rivers rising in the Mountains of Kerdar. Immense flocks of goats and sheep laden with grain were met with, numbers of defiles crossed, and after passing the towns of Badrinath and Manah the expedition finally reached the cascade of Barson, in the midst of heavy snow and intense cold.
"This," says Webb's narrative, "is the goal of the devotions of the pilgrims. Some of them come here to be sprinkled by the sacred spray of the cascade. At this spot the course of the Aluknanda may be traced as far as the south-western extremity of the valley, but its source is hidden under heaps of snow, which have probably been accumulating for centuries."
Webb furnishes some details respecting the women of Manah. They wore necklaces, earrings, and gold and silver ornaments, which were scarcely in keeping with their coarse attire. Some of the children wore necklaces and bracelets of silver to the value of six hundred rupees.
In winter, this town, which does a great trade with Thibet, is completely buried in snow, and the natives take refuge in neighbouring towns.
The expedition visited the temple at Badrinath, which is far-famed for its sanctity. Neither its internal nor external structure or appearance give any idea of the immense sums which are expended upon it. It is one of the oldest and most venerated sanctuaries of India. Ablutions are performed there in reservoirs fed with very warm sulphureous water.
"There are," says the narrative, "a great number of hot springs, each having their special name and virtue, and from all of them doubtless the Brahmins derive profit. For this reason, the poor pilgrim, as he gets through the requisite ablutions, finds his purse diminish with the number of his sins, and the many tolls exacted from him upon the road to paradise might induce him to consider the narrow way by no means the least expensive one. This temple possesses seven hundred villages, which have either been ceded to it by government, given as security for loans, or bought by private individuals and given as offerings."
The expedition reached Djosimah on the 1st of June. There the Brahmin who acted as guide received orders from the government of Nepaul, to conduct the travellers back immediately to the territories of the Company. The government had discovered, a little late it must be admitted, that the English explorations had a political as well as a geographical significance. A month afterwards, Webb and his companions entered Delhi, having definitely settled the course of the Ganges, and ascertained the sources of the Baghirati and Aluknanda; in fact, having attained the object which the Company had had in view.
In 1808, the English government decided upon sending a new mission to the Punjab, then under the dominion of Runjeet Sing. The anonymous narrative of this expedition published in the "Annales des Voyages" offers some particulars of interest, from which we will extract a few.
Upon the 6th of April, 1808, an English officer, in charge of the expedition, reached Herdonai, which he represents as the rendezvous of a million individuals at the time of the yearly fair. At Boria, which is situated between the Jumna and the Sutlej, the traveller was an object of much curiosity to the women, who begged permission to come and see him.
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