It might look very picturesque,
but I always consider the best hotel is good enough for me.

As there was not space enough in the stalls for all of us, Colonel Kelly
and I, as the last comers, slept in a little room off the main one; here
was evidently the winter store of fodder for the cattle as it was half
full of bhoosa (chopped straw). This we spread evenly over the floor to
the depth of some two feet, and then laid our blankets on top. There was
just room enough for us to lie out straight, the Colonel taking one side
and I the other, and a softer or more luxurious bed could hardly be
imagined. We had to be careful, though, not to drop matches about, and
to put out our pipes before going to sleep. A halt had been ordered for
the following day, to give the men suffering from snow blindness and
frostbite a chance to recover, so we turned in with the blissful
consciousness of not having to turn out at dawn, and slept like the
dead.

The next day, April 7, was spent in hurrying forward all arrangements
for an advance on the morrow. We also sent round messengers to all the
villagers to come in and make their submission, on pain of having their
villages burned; and seeing that we now had the upper hand, at any rate
in their valley, the inhabitants came in without much hesitation, and
also brought in a certain amount of supplies; consequently by night we
had sufficient local coolies to carry all our baggage, supplies,
ammunition, and, most important of all, the two guns. About noon on this
day, Raja Akbar Khan of Punyal, whom I have before mentioned as meeting
us on the march from Shoroh to Suigal, came into camp with fifty Levies,
bringing in a convoy of ninety Balti coolies with supplies. We were
getting along famously now, so Colonel Kelly decided to advance the next
day without waiting for Peterson's detachment, as our first object was
to open communication with Mastuj.

We had a political tea that afternoon: all the leaders of the Levies,
old Raja Akbar Khan, Humayun, Taifu, the Nagar Wazir, Shah Mirza, and
one or two princelings who had come up to see some fighting, all
squatted round our little room on the straw, swigging sweet tea and
munching biscuits, quite a friendly gathering; in fact, so much tea was
consumed that the mess president swore he would send in a bill.

We always got our earliest and most reliable information from the
Levies, as most of them had blood relations among the Chitralis. They
also kne