The _Nerpani_, or "waterless track"--Exaggerated accounts--A long
shot--The rescue of two coolies--Picturesque Nature--An
involuntary shower-bath--The _Chai_ Pass.
THE renowned _Nerpani_, or _Nerpania_, "waterless track," begins at
Gibti. Very few travellers have been on this road, and by the accounts
brought back many people have been prevented from imitating their
example.
[Illustration: THE NERPANI ROAD]
Personally I found the track far better than I anticipated. I have been
on worse mountain roads among less precipitous cliffs. From what I had
heard it seemed as if the greater part of the road for several miles was
supported on crowbars fixed in the rock, but such is not the case. Here
and there, however, are found along the track spots overhanging
precipices; and where the perpendicular cliff did not allow of a road to
be cut except at great expense, crowbars have been more or less firmly
planted horizontally in the rock, and a narrow path made over them with
large slabs of stone. The drop from the path to the river is often from
eighteen hundred to two thousand feet, and the path is in many places no
wider than six inches. But to any surefooted traveller that would not
constitute a real danger. The road is tedious, for the Nerpania cliff
along which it has been constructed is subdivided into three smaller
cliffs, separated in turn one from the other by ravines. It is thus
troublesome to climb up and down some thousands of feet, each time along
interminable and badly put together flights of steps, only to descend
again on the other side. Some of the descents, especially the last to
Gulamla, are precipitous, but with no nails in one's shoes and no stick
in one's hand, there is really very little danger for people accustomed
to mountaineering.
These are the main elevations on the road: Gibti, 8650 feet, 6750 feet,
7600 feet, 6700 feet, 7100 feet, 6600 feet from Gulamla. At bearings
magnetic 350°, going close to the river-bed through a gorge, one obtains
a fine view of a huge gneiss peak towering on the left side of the
_Neganza_ or _Nejangar_ Mountain. This peculiar rock, shaped like a
fortress, goes by the name of the Ladjekut Peak and rises where the
Nejangar River meets the Kali. Here we pitched our tents.
[Illustration: THE NERPANI ROAD]
Towards sunset there was much agitation in camp over the appearance of
wild goats on the other side of the Kali River in Nepal.
"Your rifle, Sahib, your rifle!" shouted a chorus of impatient natives.
"Quick, quick, your rifle!"
I seized my Mannlicher and followed the excited gang to a place some
hundred yards away, where a large boisterous crowd had collected to watch
the game.
[Illustration: THE NERPANI ROAD]
"Where are they?" said I, as I could not see anything.
"There, there!" they all screamed at the top of their voices, pointing to
the summit of the opposite cliff over four hundred yards distant.
"Oh, that is too far."
"No, no, Sahib, please shoot," they all implored.
[Illustration: THE NERPANI TRACK]
I put up the Lyman back-sight to four hundred yards, took aim and fired.
Down came rolling from rock to rock the poor wild goat, amid the frantic
excitement of the crowd around me. It rolled down until it came to the
shrub and vegetation, where its progress became slower. It fell on the
small trees and, bending them by its weight, it would drop a few seconds
later on to a lower one. The trepidation on our side was intense. At last
the graceful body stuck across a bigger tree and swung on it for some
minutes. The oscillation slowly ceased, and tree and goat became
motionless. There our prey stuck fast.
[Illustration: THE CHAI-LEK PASS]
Hatchets were immediately produced, and two tall trees hurriedly cut and
felled. A bridge was being spanned to cross the dangerous cold and swift
waters of the Kali. A tree was thrown across, and its point just about
reached a high rock on the other side. Then, amidst a dead silence, a
coolie balanced himself over it. He had nearly reached the opposite bank
when there was a crash. The tree broke, and the man was in the water,
frightened and screaming pitifully, clutching a branch with convulsive
fingers.
Another coolie went to his rescue, but the tree being now swung by the
current, he also was pitched into the water. It was only after a terrible
moment of suspense that our men had the common sense to draw the tree
back towards the shore. One and all joined in a supreme effort, and the
two men were eventually saved.
[Illustration: A NARROW GORGE BETWEEN TWO MOUNTAINS]
Our way to the next camp was first through a high narrow gorge. A
beautiful waterfall on terraces faced us. From 6700 feet, the road
ascended to 7650 feet, then on flights of steps and in places over
crowbars the weary traveller descended to 7000 feet, where at Malpa the
road was for a space nearly level. The Malpa River, running from North to
South, was crossed. On the Nepal side across the Kali the vegetation was
luxuriant, while on the Kumaon side it was sparse and bare. Farther on
another beautiful waterfall.
The track now rose on a steep incline to 8120 feet among huge rocks and
boulders. What with the gigantic snow-peaks, the pretty waterfalls, the
weird character of the country traversed, one got so interested in one's
surroundings that one forgot all about any difficulty of climbing. From
barren hills and rocks the track suddenly became clayish and sandy, and
in a series of zigzags well shaded by _Tchuk, Utish_, and _Ritch_ trees,
with a thick undergrowth of scrub wood and stunted vegetation, we found
ourselves down as low as 6750 feet, ascending immediately after in a very
short distance to 8100 feet to Camp Lahmari.
In olden times the path went over the highest part of the cliff, and it
took a good walker the whole day to reach from one spring of water to the
next, hence the name of "waterless."
Here practically ended the _Nerpani_ (waterless track), and an
involuntary shower-bath soon awaited the passer-by, drenching him to the
skin, unless he was provided with waterproof and umbrella. The spray
descended from a great height for a length of some thirty or forty yards,
the road being very narrow and very slippery, so that progress was
particularly slow. The name of the waterfall was _Takti_.
The track, if not more level, was nevertheless better after this to the
sore-footed walker. It was less rocky and devoid of the tiresome flights
of steps.
On leaving Lahmari we immediately had a steep rise to 9600 feet. Then a
drop of 400 feet, and we found ourselves on the Buddi River, a tributary
of the Kali. Just above the bridge was a magnificent waterfall, by the
left side of which we found a kind of grotto hollowed out under a rock.
The Shokas and Tibetans used it as a camping ground.
To our right, high up on the cliffside, was the picturesque village of
Buddi (9300 feet), with its two- and three-storeyed houses. Below and
over it in long zigzags could be seen the track ascending to the top of
_Chai-Lek_, or _Tcheto_ Pass as the Shokas call it. At bearings magnetic
170° we had the towering Namjun peak, so high that I was told it could be
seen even from Almora and Ranikhet.
Then as we proceeded up the steep clayish track, I could not, on looking
back, help admiring the magnificent Kali valley with its gigantic cliffs
and gorges surmounted by lofty snow peaks. On the _Chai_ Pass the two
aneroids I had on me registered an altitude of 11,190 feet. I was now on
a small flat tableland. Darcy Bura, the richest Shoka trader from Buddi,
had erected here a bargain-house for the purchase and exchange of borax,
salt, wool, and other articles from Tibet. On the left side of the road a
large cave in the rock had been walled and partly roofed over for the use
of wife-seekers from the villages of Buddi and Garbyang. These houses
were called _Rambangs_, and were an old institution among the Shokas, of
which I shall have occasion to speak at length later on. As everywhere
else, a few high poles with flying prayers and a bell had been placed
near the pass.