a thousand pities to destroy the freedom of these mountain peoples ; to break up those primitive courts where the ruler meets his people face to face, and knows each man among them as they know him ; and to wither their simple customs, as the grass is withered by the frost, by introducing the cold system of British administration, the iron rules and regulations, and all the machinery of an empire into this little state. But when Government can see that the ruler is ready to help them when aid from him is required ; when they see that he recognizes how essential to his very existence as ruler of the state it is that he should have dealings with no other than the British ; when they note that he governs his people without oppression ; and when ruler and people realize that Government has no wish to destroy their independence, or to interfere with their customs ;—then it is evident that satisfactory relations have been established, and that Government is in a far better position than if the country were governed directly.
In Hunza there are now rather less than a hundred Kashmir troops, connected by small posts with the garrison at Gilgit, sixty-five miles distant. There is also a British officer to conduct the relations of Government with this state and with the neighbouring state of Nagar across the river. Hunza is ruled by a half-brother of the late chief Safder Ali, named Mohammed Nazim, a pleasant-mannered, intelligent man, about thirty-four years of age. He and the successive British officers who have represented the Government of India in his state have always been on very intimate terms, and the duties of the latter have become so light that, since the end of i 894, no special political officer has been deputed, but the military officer attached to the Kashmir troops stationed in the country has been instructed to carry on the little political work that has to be done. The presence of just a few troops in the country, and the certainty of Government support, serve to keep the ruler and people steady, and the British
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