KASHMIR VALLEYS 159 



It was not the will that was wanting, merely the coy 

 and necessary rupees, but the man was well satisfied 

 with a small order, and showed real pleasure in exhibit- 

 ing his beautiful wares, some of the best ordered 

 for his Highness the Maharajah, and destined for 

 exhibition in London and Paris. Many of them require 

 months to finish, the enamel being slow in hardening. 

 They are made from crushed stones, and applied with 

 a delicacy of fancy and richness of effect difficult to 

 imagine unless seen. The blues made from lapis and 

 turquoise are handsome, and so is the carbuncle red, 

 but the beautiful dark greens and yellows obtained 

 from agates and amber are more striking and 

 uncommon. The old patterns, too, are very graceful, and 

 this industry more fortunate than many of the others 

 has been lucky in being unspoilt by foreign influence. 

 Too slow and costly to tempt the ordinary tourist, these 

 men have only been patronised by customers with real 

 taste, and they generally follow their stock of old 

 patterns, added to by such thorough artists as Mr. 

 Kipling, of the Lahore School of Art. Silver was also 

 used ^s a background for the enamels, but, on the whole, 

 the gilt copper was the most effective. 



I had not long returned to my boat from this 

 expedition before nay silver merchant arrived, and, 

 arranging many pillows for me, helped me into his 

 shikar, placed a mat for me to sit on, and, giving the word 

 to the men, we started at great speed, going down with 

 the tide. He had brought some new things with him 

 wherewith to entertain the " lady," and he spread before 

 me a beautiful silver ewer and basin after an old Persian 

 design, a strange teapot from Leh, curious ornaments 

 from Yarkand and Turkestan, a silver coffee service 



