KASHMIR VALLEYS 37 



the water again. " Such a one last year turned round 



CJ \J 



a Sahib's leg and bit his putties (leg bandages), but it 

 failed to do harm." Happy valley, where even the 

 " poison worms " are innocuous, perhaps by order of the 

 great chief of the clan, Nag, the snake god, who is 

 satisfied by being so persistently and consistently 

 worshipped through long ages by many folk and many 

 religions. 



Later we passed Bijbeharra, a beautiful town, with 

 a splendid bridge of the usual Kashmirian type, sup- 

 ported by enormous square piles of alternate logs and 

 stones in layers, usually laid on a foundation of sunken 

 boat-loads of stones. The enormous force of the stream 

 is somewhat broken by the triangular wooden abutment, 

 weighted with boulders, with the apex towards the 

 currents. Largish trees had grown from between the 

 logs, and with its vast camping-ground shaded by 

 giant chenaars, carpeted with sweet-scented white iris 

 and overlooking the private gardens of the Maharajah, 

 it was a very lovely spot. A large Hindu temple had 

 recently been built for the prince, the steps 

 approaching it formed of carved blocks, evidently 

 taken from some of the ancient Hindu buildings in the 

 neighbourhood. Late in the afternoon two striking- 

 looking women passed along under the trees, their 

 ample scarlet petticoats, immensely high-peaked caps, 

 and flashing black eyes a curious contrast to the 

 drab-coloured housewives of the country. They were 

 like gorgeous tropical birds in a home wood, and I 

 guessed they belonged to the gipsy folk that curious 

 race so apart from all settled life that they are like 

 immigrants from another planet, called Banjaras in 

 India, Watals in Kashmir, Romany people at home. 

 The characteristics of wild beauty, rough musical talent, 



