1 POLO AT LEir
2 185
3 trains of roolies to carry my loads, was not bound for
4 sportinj^- purposes, and had sliown good reasons for my
5 wish to yisit Ciilgit, T was in hopes that my application
6 would not be refused.
7 I passed my time ver}' pleasantly at Leh for a few
8 days, wandering about the environs and taking photo-
9 graphs. The Naib Wazir also got up some amuse-
10 ments for us, notably polo, the indigenous game of all
11 the highland country between Tihet and Chitral, as
12 well as of Manipur. At Leh it is the custom to play
13 in the bazaar, all l)usiness being suspended for the
14 l)urpose. The Xaili Wazir issued the order, all the
15 shops were closed, and the strains of a native band, in
16 which kettle-drums, trumpets, and surnais — the sound
17 of which last is like that of bagpipes without the
18 drone — were the pruicipal instruments, gave notice to
19 the citizens that the play was about to commence.
20 The players were all Ladakis, mounted on capital little
21 ponies. There can be no doubt that, though this game
22 is native to the country, we have much improved upon
23 it, and polo as played by British officers in India is a
24 far superior sport. We sat on the flat roof of the
25 Court House, with the Naib Wazir and other notables,
26 to view the curious spectacle, while the populace
27 crowded all the other roofs on either side of the
28 ground. The band played without pause, the air always
29 becoming more rapid and noisy when either side was
30 approaching a goal, and subsiding to low and queru-
31 lous notes if the chance were losL When a goal was
32 won there would be a triumphant and discordant out-
33 Inirst of nmsic. In some ])arts of I)altistan it is the
34 custom for the beaten side to dance for the amusement
35 of the spectators.
36 I was surprised one day, while walking- down the
37 bazaar, to see some small T.adaki boys playuii>- at a