Lögberg-Heimskringla - 23.09.1965, Síða 7

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 23. SEPTEMBER 1965
7
Glimpses C
Framhald frá bls. 2.
Pakistanis, who know these
people, took a different view.
They pointed out that this is
a way of life for these people,
and has been for thousands of
years, and the last thing they
want is to change it. If they go
without shoes, it does not
necessarily mean that they
cannot afford them. It more
likely means that they do not
care for them. They are never
exposed to extreme cold, for
they move to the warmer
plains in the fall when the
weather in the mountains
becomes cold. They have
their own language and
customs which they by no
means wish to give up. They
have a sort of freedom which
they would not exchange for
the greater amenities of the
village-bound farmer.
We left Balakot at 6.30 in
the morning and arrived at
Kaghan four hours later after
a brief stop at Kawai where
the mountain scenery is
particularly grand. Just be-
fore reaching Kaghan we
stopped to look down on our
experimental wheat plots, 300
feet below the road. The rest
of the day and the next day
were to be spent in attending
to them. There we were met
by Mohibul Haq who had
come up earlier from
Peshawar to superintend the
experimental work.
To my surprise, Kaghan,
although it has a rest house,
was not even a village. We
were put up in the rest house,
but purchases of food for cook-
ing had to be arranged with
the local farmers and the
choice was therefore limited
to what they had. However,
both mutton and chicken
were to be had and flour was
available for making chap-
patis and paratas and there
was plenty of milk, tea and
eggs. So there was nothing to
complain about. But meals
had to be cooked at the little
office by the jeep road and
brought by landrover to the
rest house a quarter of a mile
away.
The climb down to the
wheat plots and up again was
somewhat of an ordeal for H.
and me, who were no longer
young. The landrover drove
down the road to the spot
where we had stopped that
morning, directly above^the
plots, and we climbed down
the steep slope by zig-zag
paths. Towards evening, be-
fore we climbed up, Sulyman,
who had observed my pro-
gress down the slope, handed
me a stick so I would not lose
my balance on the way up;
for if one lost balance it was
difficult to say where one
would stop. H. and I made the
trip to the top with only two
breathing stops while the
f Pakistan
mountain-conditioned Pakis-
tanis waited patiently at
the top. That night sleep came
easily despite, or perhaps
because of, the steady roar of
the Kunhar River as it
tumbled over the rocks near
the rest house.
On July llth, after a break-
fast of paratas and boiled
eggs we paid our bills (mine
amounting to only 8 rupees
and 3 annas plus tips of four
rupees) and set off, by jeep
caravan, for Naran, a thou-
sand feet higher up the valley,
where we arrived just before
noon. On this stretch of the
road the valley is even nar-
rower, the slopes steeper
and the mountains higher and
more wooded, and the whole
country is wilder of aspect.
The road was rougher and
narrower, without parapets
or protective railings. In one
place, an overhanging cliff
caused us to stop to estimate
the chances of the landrover
clearing it, which it did by a
few inches. (On the way back
we were less fortunate. A
repair crew had raised the
road level slightly. As we
drove under it there was a
horrible grinding noise. The
luggage rack, fortunately
empty, had caught on the
rock above and was none the
better for the incident.)
Just before reaching Naran
the valley widens out to form
flat bottom land perhaps
half a mile in width through
which the river flows more
gently than in most places.
Here may be seen fishermen
angling for trout, which is
one of the reasons for the
popularity of Naran. On this
flat land our wheat plots
were located, at an elevation
of 8000 feet. The reason for
choosing his rather inaccessi-
ble place for our experi-
mental plots was that here, in
the damp, cool mountain
climate conditions were favor-
able for the development of
the wheat rusts. Any varie-
ties or hybrid lines free of
rust here would be considered
to have satisfactory rust
resistance. But we did not
entirely depend on nature to
produce the rust; for we
brought along with us our
own rust spores for inocu-
lation of the wheat plots.
Naran, unlike Kaghan, is a
considerable village with
several rest houses and a
cooperative store At this time
of year it is crowded, and at
first it was not clear what
sort of accommodation we
would get, despite prior reser-
vations. But by evening the
matter was resolved. The H.s
had a room to themselves and
Meraj and I another. Here
there was more variety of
food than at Kaghan. After an
afternoon of work we were
treated to a delicious trout
dinner.
Next day was Sunday. The
morning was spent in a drive
a little distance up the valley
where we picknicked at a
place where the river widens
into a little lake, a peaceful
and beautiful spot. In the
afternoon, Mrs. H. having met
some boy scouts at the co-
operative store, we were in-
vited to their lodge for tea.
So in the afternoon, at four,
we set out for a walk to the
lodge: the H.s, Sulyman,
Mohibul, Meraj and myself.
This meant another climb of
300 feet or more, for the lodge
was located on the mountain-
side with a splendid view of
the valley. The scouts, mostly
students from Government
College, Lahore, had walked
most of the way up the valley
and, moreover, had daily
walking tours through the
mountains to visit villages and
get acquainted with the
mountain dwellers. Some of
them were decidedly footsore.
The tea, at a long table set
up out of doors turned out to
be a very pleasant occasion;
the scouts were so obviously
pleased to have the visitors
and displayed much curiosity
about ways of life in North
America.
One of the things that at-
tracts one’s attention in this
mountain valley is the life of
the farmers. In the upper
reaches of the valley there is
virtually no bottom land
along the river, and yet the
farm population is consider-
able. Everywhere along the
green slopes, to a height of
several thousand feet above
the river, one sees the farm
houses: box-like structures
with the rear part buried in
the mountain and a small
platform in front. The first
thought is how they can
survive snow avalanches and
tumbling rocks. Daily one
sees them driving their three
or four cattle (a small moun-
tain breed) along the steep
paths. How do' they and their
animals survive the winter?
For this is a snowbound
country for which the Govern-
ment of Pakistan has an
airlift service to drop food
supplies at times when other
communications become im-
possible. Nevertheless they
do survive, somehow. It is a
case of adaptation to environ-
ment. I was told that these
farmers, when transferred to
the more congenial environ-
ment of the lowlands, were
rather helpless.
The trip from Naran to
Balakot was uneventful. The
only delay we had was oc-
casioned by meeting a
caravan of more than 60
camels arriving at a timber
depot for loading. Each camel
is loaded with four timbers,
each about nine or ten feet
long, two of these being load-
ed on each side. The chief
danger from the meeting of a
vehicle and a camel comes
from the swinging of the
timbers. The heavy timber
might break a window or
even push the vehicle over
the edge of the road. But the
camel drivers are careful and
now and then a driver will
place his hand on a timber to
prevent the swing.
From Balakot, where we
arrived about noon, the H.s
and Sulyman went on in the
latter’s landrover to Abbota-
bad while Meraj and I waited
for our landrover to come.
In about an hour H.s landrov-
er, which had remained in
Abbotabad during our trip,
came to get us and brought
the news that our vehicle
was not coming. We thereup-
on proceeded to Abbotabad
where I put up, along with
the H.s, in the Bukhara Hotel,
as it was by now too late for
us to continue on to Murree
which we had planned to do.
In the morning we found
out that it had rained heavily
and there was some discus-
sion as to the advisability of
taking he mountain road o
Murree. We decided to try it
anyway. At the entry into the
mountains we found the
roadbed washed away but as
a road crew was already
working on repairs we were
able to cross the washout.
Mashir, our driver, not being
used to mountain roads, was
somewhat nervous on the wet
and slippery roadbed; so the
trip of 39 miles took us about
three hours. We missed the
most spectacular scenery on
account of the fog which
hung about the mountains.
Arrival at Sunny Bank, at
the top of the path leading
down to our cottage, caused
some commotion as it seemed
that half the population of
Sunny Bank wished to carry
our luggage down to the cot-
tage, for a consideration, of
course.
Fréfrtir frá íslandi
„Hægt að úirýma
ólyktinni"
Hér á landi er staddur um
þ e s s a r mundir J o h n N.
Rennenberg, forstjóri fyrir-
tækisins Edw. Rennenburg &
Co. í Baltimore í Bandaríkj-
unum, en það fyrirtæki fram-
leiðir ýmiss konar vélar fyrir
efnaverksmiðjur. Mr. Renn-
enburg er hér á vegum Gísla
Halldórssonar, verkfræðings,
en Gísli var um nokkurra ára
bil starfsmaður fyrirtækisins.
Edw. Rennenburg & Sons
hafa á undanförnum árum
framleitt lykteyðandi kerfi
fyrir verksmiðjur, en kerfið
er byggt á uppfinningum
Gísla Halldórssonar, verk-
fræðings. Sagði Mr. Rennen-
burg, að kerfi þetta hefði ver-
ið notað í verksmiðjum í
Bandaríkjunum og gefið full-
kominn árangur. Kerfið
byggðist á því, að reykurinn
væri hitaður upp í 1400 stig í
Fahrenheit og væri síðan
þriðjungi reyksins hleypt út,
en afgangurinn tekinn aftur
inn í ofninn. Sagði Mr. Renn-
enburg ennfremur, að ekkert
mælti móti því að kerfi þetta
mætti nota hér og þá t. d. við
útrýmingu lyktar þeirrar, sem
leggur yfir Reykjavíkurborg
frá Kletti og Örfirisey.
Mbl. 1. sept.
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