20 



AFOOT THROUGH THE 



gave me the daily " hisab " or account. Then my 

 " hukms " (orders) for the morrow were given, and with 

 the straw blinds firmly secured all round, the fore part 

 lowered till all was taut and closed, I was ready 

 to turn in under my warm coverings, a kangar well 

 filled with glowing charcoal beside me, as cosy as 

 in the most comfortable home bedroom. 



Early next morning the splash of water told 

 me we were moving, drifting down through the 

 city, moved by the swift tide. By the time I 

 was up we were clear of Srinagar and its many 

 bridges, and were passing along iris-bordered banks, 

 the boat dragged by the brothers the younger pair 

 this time the tiny child acting as leader, with a 

 loop of the tow rope round its waist, the father 

 following to take off all strain. A pause for breakfast, 

 a meal shared by two dear little Kashmiri robins, who, 

 with the topsy-turvydom of the country, wore their red 

 under their tails, and then I too went ashore, and 

 during most of the day tramped along the bank ahead 

 of the boat. Masses of iris and branches of sweet 

 hawthorn were used to decorate my home, and late in 

 the afternoon the lonely sanghara collectors of the 

 Wular were surprised by the apparition of a floating 

 " jack in the green." These dwellers round the great 

 Kashmirian lake are strange, unsociable folk, picking 

 up their living by harvesting the water nuts. We had 

 been lucky in meeting with no mishap crossing so late 

 in the day, for frequently wild storms sweep down 

 from the mountains, and are very dangerous to the 

 flat-bottomed native boats, and many an accident is 

 recorded as having taken place on this, the largest 

 lake in India, fifteen miles by twelve broad. The 



