28 KASHMIR 



for the lamps ; and that is all the rest I had. I was 

 very tired when I got to Srinagar (pronounced 

 (Srinugger), which is the summer capital of Kash- 

 mir, at 9.30 p.m. I was kindly, nay warmly, re- 

 ceived by Sir Francis and Lady Younghusband, 

 and most comfortably housed into the bargain. 

 The road into Kashmir runs through a country 

 singularly like the finest part of Perthshire, till 

 you get into the finer and wider part, where it is 

 more like the Pyrenees. The Jhelum borders the 

 road nearly the whole way, and is a grand sight 

 this year owing to the great volume of water. The 

 floods have been phenomenal in Kashmir, and 

 much of the country is still under water. One 

 feature of this place is the extraordinary growth of 

 Lombardy poplars. They are superb, and line each 

 side of the road for some thirty miles. Between 

 Baramulla and Srinagar the road is quite flat, 

 but between Murree and Baramulla it is hilly 

 and almost impassable at present owing to land- 

 slips and huge bits of rocks which have rolled on 

 to the road from the mountain-tops. 



When I tell you that, besides this, the road has 

 hardly any parapet, that there is a fall of some 

 hundred feet on one side, and that it is crowded 

 with troops of mules, donkeys, and camels, with 

 strings of bullock carts, and that children, goats, 

 and dogs stroll about quite unconcerned, you will 

 realise that motoring has its terrors in Kashmir. 

 The country hereabouts is quite unlike what I 

 expected. First of all, it is quite hot; secondly, 

 it is quite flat; thirdly, it is quite civilised. I 

 expected Kashmir goats on rocks, fierce men with 

 long match-locks, and something akin to savagery 



