Mussucks or skin boats for crossing the Beas river below Bajoura near Kullu by Samuel Bourne circa 1863.
Bourne, who left a bank job to purusue photography, was one of the most famous photographers of the British Raj.
He spent six years in India travelling from Chennai to Kolkata and then by road from Kolkata to Shimla. He also trekked on the Great Hindustan-Tibet road as well as extensively within Kashmir. His photographic studio -- Bourne and Shepherd -- opened in 1869, still survives on the Esplanade in Kolkata and is one of the oldest in the world.
Incidentally, an air-filled skin boat is the oldest type of boat in the world and these boats were probably made from sheep skin.
Photograph: Courtesy Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Also read: India, 56
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