KASHMIR VALLEYS 19 



benefit of the boatman and his family, his stove, cooking 

 pots, and stores. A bed, a table, a chair or two, a 

 gigantic bath, a folding chilumchi (basin), big hanging 

 baskets for flowers, some boxes for stores and books, 

 thick numdahs for mats and rugs, and my boat was 

 soon transformed into a home. Many "woolies," too, 

 had been purchased from a cloth merchant, and were 

 both grateful and comforting. Assiza was interested 

 in my decorations, but desired too much. " More 

 chairs," he suggested. " No space," I replied. " More 

 numdahs." ' Yes, that was a good notion ; they were 

 so warm." So a friend was brought, who, like all his 

 confreres, had the " best designs in Kashmir "- if they 

 were not the best, they proved quite as good as any one 

 else's, and two were purchased for " over and under " 

 my "charpoy" (native bedstead). Then came the 

 supreme question of dinner ; " chicken and rice " I 

 ordered casually without interest. Assiza put on a 

 deeply-hurt expression. "A meal suited to the Huzur 

 will be prepared." I smiled as I thought of the cooking 

 pots and minute table equipage; but Assiza had not 

 spoken without reason, and when he had laid the 

 prettily-embroidered cloth purchased from the copra 

 (cloth) merchant, set out the jam tins filled with iris, 

 and neatly placed my small store of cutlery two steel 

 and one silver knife I felt the preparation more than 

 adequate for any eatables likely to appear, but the 

 culinary skill of my chef had been underrated. 

 Chicken, modestly veiled in a pile of snowy rice, and 

 hedged about with a wall of spinach, an omelet that 

 emulated the proverbial frog in prodigious puffiness, 

 and a tart of dried apricots composed my banquet, and 

 Assiza glowed with pride as he removed the tart and 



