116 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



behind." My questioner, whose face had fallen some- 

 what, cheered up again. "Nay, I would ask if the 

 Sahib's husband is with her?" "No," I replied. In 

 these countries one does not acknowledge to non- 

 possession of such things. "I had hoped," he 

 explained, " seeing the Huzur alone and without her hat 

 that she might be a widow; it would then have bene- 

 fited us greatly if she would -have walked uncovered 

 across the fields, seeing we are attacked by the life- 

 destroying ' rai.' ' It was a pity that my " state " pre- 

 vented me from proving the value of this prescription, 

 and I was sorry to disappoint the anxious labourer. 



The Kashmiris are great connoisseurs in rice, and 

 even while in leaf they will distinguish between the sixty 

 odd varieties grown in the valley, and when well enough 

 off to do so, will be as particular as to the sort they 

 prefer for their food, as they are knowing in their 

 choice of drinking water. The red varieties are decora- 

 tive in cooking, but not so good as the white, and there 

 are an infinity of degrees in both. By nine o'clock I 

 had rejoined my doonga, which had been swept and 

 garnished in my absence and decorated by a passing 

 friend with beautiful fresh iris, and had sent a man 

 off across the fields to the queer wooden hut on stilts, 

 added to keep the living rooms (dens would be a more 

 appropriate word) above the winter floods, which pro- 

 claimed by a scarlet sign symbol of Her Imperial 

 Majesty's mails all the empire over that letters were 

 there to be obtained. As a huge pile was my spoil, the 

 afternoon soon passed without any excitement, save 

 that procured from the search for my small table knife 

 that had been shaken overboard with the crumbs after 

 breakfast. Knowing its value, I suggested that it should 



