A GLIMPSE OF UNKNOWN NEPAL

Captain C. J. MORRIS

IT seems strange to think that there should still be territory practically unknown to us, distant only a few hours' march from a British Indian railhead; and this fact alone must be my excuse for the following notes concerning two trips into the Palpa hills of Western Nepal, each lasting only a few days, for the purpose of obtaining some photographs from the Massiang ridge.

Nepal is in all ordinary circumstances closed to foreigners; and beyond possibly a few Jesuit missionaries who are believed to have visited Western Nepal early in the eighteenth century, but who, so far as is at present known, have left no record of their travels, very few Europeans have been permitted to penetrate even such a short distance into the country as the Palpa hills.

After leaving the railhead at Nautanwa, the terminus of a small branch line of the Bengal and North-Western Railway, situated some fifty miles to the north of Gorakhpur, one proceeds by a track running through rough cultivation to the Nepalese frontier, a distance of three or four miles. At this point, where the frontier is demarcated by a line of large white pillars, there is a customs examination; but, thanks to the detailed arrangements made for me under the orders of His Highness the Maharaja, General Sir Joodha Shumshere, I was permitted to proceed without formality, and after passing through the Terai forest soon reached Batauli,¹⁹ situated on the far side.

Batauli is perhaps, with the one exception of Tansing, which is the seat of administration of this part of the country, the most important town in Western Nepal, for here most of the routes from the inner hills converge. During the winter months the place presents a scene of great animation, for most of our Gurkha pensioners living in Western Nepal pass through the town on their way down to Gorakhpur to draw their pensions.

There are about four hundred houses in Batauli; but the purely Gurkha part of the population departs to the hills during the hot months, leaving the place occupied almost entirely by Marwaris and other Indian traders. The town is a strange mixture, being in appearance neither purely Indian nor yet purely Nepalese. On many of the houses traces are to be seen of old Newar carving; in no circumstances, however, can these be compared with the many magnificent examples of that lost art still to be seen in the Nepal valley.

Large quantities of ghi are brought down to Batauli from the interior. The ghi is here refined, tinned, and sent down to be sold in the bazaars of the plains of India. Most of the cash obtained by the hill people for their ghi is expended in the Batauli bazaar, and finds its way back into the hills in the form of various cheap trade goods, among the most popular being umbrellas, cotton cloth, cooking utensils, and cigarettes.

The regiments of the Nepalese army normally stationed in Tansing usually come down to Batauli for a few months during each cold weather, where they are accommodated in stone huts on the edge of the parade-ground.

There are still visible a few traces of the old British fort built at the time of the Nepal war, when Batauli was for a few months temporarily in our hands. These remains are, however, being rapidly undercut by the river, which is also fast encroaching upon the main bazaar, and I understand that arrangements are now being made to transfer the whole town gradually to the left bank of the river, to the site now used as a parade-ground and known locally as Kasauli. Before passing on I should mention that the Nepal Government has recently constructed an excellent motor road from Batauli to the British frontier:¹ this is in marked contrast to the execrable track which runs through British territory from the frontier to Nautanwa.

The river at Batauli is spanned by a modern suspension bridge¹ and here the road proper ends. From this point one proceeds along a track of the very roughest description. These tracks are practically the only means of communication throughout inner Nepal, but they serve their purpose well enough at present. Leaving Batauli the path climbs steeply up through thick forest and almost immediately there is a strong impression of having left things Indian far behind. Huge stones and rocks litter the track and one toils painfully upward to the little hamlet of Nawakot, just over a thousand feet above Batauli. A constant stream of people, among them quite a number of Tibetans, carrying enormous loads, but still managing at the same time to sing cheerfully on their way, is always to be seen on this route during the winter months.

The hamlet of Nawakot is situated a little below the crest of the hill. Here are the remains of an old fort, now almost overgrown, and the graves of a few Nepalese soldiers who fell in the Nepal war. There was jasmine here and sweet-smelling rock-roses similar to those found in the Alps. The custom-house at the summit was in charge of an aged Brahman, and I noticed that each load-carrier, as he passed, made an offering of a piece of firewood which he had collected on his way up. Let into the solid rock in front of the guard-house was a small trisul: it had been smeared with red and an offering of forest flowers lay at its base.

¹ Not shown on map 63 M.—Ed.

From Nawakot the road descends steeply through dense forest to Dobhan, where the river is again spanned by a small suspension bridge.

Leaving Dobhan the road climbs once more gradually up to Morek, where is another small custom-house. Here I saw taxes being collected, the receipt for payment being stamped in ink on the palm of the hand. Beyond Morek the track again drops slightly and then climbs along the left bank of the Sisnu Khola, so called by reason of the large numbers of nettles growing there. At the head of the Sisnu Khola the track climbs once more very steeply up to the Massiang Ridge,¹ on the top of which is the village of that name. From Massiang there is again a drop to the Dumri Khola and a final climb up to the town of Tansing, the houses of which; together with the site of the famous Palpa Kal Bhairab shrine (said to be an exact replica of the more famous Kal Bhairab in the Durbar Square at Kathmandu), can be clearly seen from the ridge.

The houses in this part of Nepal are mostly built with the local red clay, which gives them a most striking appearance. The roofs are thatched and the beams of the houses are roughly mortised and tied, no nails being used in the construction. Beehives were hanging outside many of the houses: these were formed from lengths of hollowed- out tree-trunk, the ends being stopped up with mud. Many houses were encircled high up under the eaves by strings which were carried out over the road. To the strings were attached at intervals small bunches of dried leaves, grasses, and flowers. I also noticed several of these strings festooned across streams. Their purpose is said to be to guide wandering spirits away from the houses.

Indian corn, buckwheat, wheat, millet, and barley are grown in the Palpa district. A very little rice is grown but it is mostly imported from Batauli, although large quantities are also brought down from Pokhara,² which, although farther into the hills, is situated at a lower altitude. A few oranges, mangoes, and lemons are also grown here. In general appearance the country is not dissimilar to other parts of the Himalayan foot-hills; but it is distinctly arid and the soil looked to me to be poor. The rainfall is said to be light. Most of the houses looked clean, comfortable, and prosperous, perhaps due to the fact that there is here hardly a single homestead that does not provide at least one pensioned or serving member of one or other of our Gurkha regiments.

The panoramas accompanying this note were taken from various points above the Massiang ridge: that taken in broad daylight showing Tansing and the surrounding country from the actual Massiang saddle. On no occasion were the snows visible for more than a few minutes after dawn, and for this reason I was unable to obtain a satisfactory photograph showing at the same time both the distant Himalaya and the hills in the middle distance and near foreground. On the occasion of my first visit in 1931 I did not see the snows at all, and for this reason His Highness very kindly gave me permission to make a second visit in 1932. The photographs were all taken after a night of heavy rain, the one occasion during a week's stay on which the whole range was clearly visible.

Dhaulagiri (called by the people of this district Dhaulasiri), Macha Puchar, and Annapurna are the only peaks for which the local people have definite names; possibly because these three peaks alone are more often visible, and from this point are more striking, than the remainder of the range.

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