NEPALESE ADMINISTRATION 69 



may almost say what also pained me most was 

 the marked contrast between the condition of a 

 country and of its inhabitants governed and 

 administered by the Nepalese, and that of some 

 parts of India which I have seen which are 

 governed and administered by us. The contrast 

 was, I regret to say, unfavourable to our rule. 

 In Nepal the people look well nourished, well 

 developed, bright, self-reliant, and happy. The 

 villages are a picture of neatness, and I believe 

 that every one contains a guest-room so scrupu- 

 lously clean and so nicely kept that a European 

 can with safety put his bedding on the floor and 

 go to sleep on it. Their drinking-water is kept 

 in well-covered and clean cisterns, which results 

 in the inhabitants being very free, I am told, from 

 the diseases so prevalent in India. The cattle 

 might almost be English cattle; the herds are 

 large and the beasts themselves are sleek and fat. 

 The women are all dressed rather like Scottish 

 labourers' wives of old days they appear very 

 well-to-do, having a great number of heavy silver 

 necklets and bracelets. The men are well and 

 powerfully built, and, so far as I can judge, 

 extremely well disposed to any stranger who might 

 come amongst them. The country generally 

 presented a prosperous and a green appearance. 

 The background of the Himalayas, wooded at the 

 foot and bare higher up, and snow-capped in 

 some cases, was very beautiful, and although the 

 heat was intense, the air felt crisp and healthy, 

 though I am informed that the whole district is 

 very malarial. This is the only occasion on which 

 I have taken quinine. I did so because I was 



