KASHMIR VALLEYS 137 



held by the members of other castes, for these people in 

 their gardening operations handle " that which is 

 unclean," and consequently are practically "outcasts" 

 from any decent society. 



Besides the crops raised on these curious water plan- 

 tations, the Dal, like the Wular, yields a rich harvest 

 from its numerous weeds and flowers. The singara 

 (water nut) was not yet ripe, but everywhere I noted the 

 pretty little rosette of leaves that marks its presence. 

 This is one very widely used and most valuable food- 

 stuff. Then various seeds are collected and parched, 

 the most prized being the seed of the lotus, " the jewel 

 in the heart of the lotus," which, whatever its mystical 

 interpretation be, in practical life is certainly a reality. 

 The leaf stems of this plant are also used as a vegetable, 

 and the reed, everywhere very plentiful, besides its value 

 as the raw material, from which is made the matting 

 used by all the inhabitants as curtains, screens, and 

 shutters, provides a pith from which a rather nice, sweet 

 paste is manufactured. Besides all these special pro- 

 ducts, there remains a vast quantity of green stuff 

 carefully harvested, and either eaten as spinach or salad 

 by the various beings who inhabit the shores, and as 

 fodder for the cattle. 



The boatmen are great talkers, and are almost too 

 willing to impart vast stores of information on 

 the very slightest provocation. The lake people, 

 like water folk in most parts of the world, 

 have a peculiar language of their own. Passing 

 through the region of the oblong cultivated beds 

 and under some ancient bridges, we emerged into 

 the centre of the lake, where there was no shelter and 

 a fairly stiff breeze scuffled the water, swaying the great 



