KASHMIR. 239 



immense cliundrs and elms, and the long lines of 

 stately poplars, great part of the plain is a garden 

 filled with fruits and flowers, and there is almost 

 constant verdure. 



" There eternal summer dwells, 

 And west winds, with musky wing, 

 About the cedar'd alleys fling 

 Xard and cassia's balmy smells." 



It is a pity that so beautiful a country should not 

 have a finer population. At the entrances of the 

 valleys, looking at the forests, the rich uncultivated 

 lands, and the unused water-power, I could not hut 

 think of the scenes in England, 



" Where lawns extend that scorn Arcadian pride, 

 And brighter streams than famed Hydaspes 1 glide." 



My mind reverted also to the flashing snows of the 

 American Sierra Nevada, the dwarf oaks and rich 

 fields of wheat, the chubby children, the comely, 

 well-dressed women, and the strong stalwart men of 

 California, For, though the chalets were picturesque 

 enough at a little distance, they could not bear a close 

 examination ; and there was not much satisfaction to 

 be had in contemplating the half-starved, half-naked 

 children, and the thin, worn-out-looking women. One 

 could not help thinking of the comfortable homes 

 which an Anglo-Saxon population would rear in such 

 a land. 



The beauty of the Kashmir women has long been 

 1 The Jhelain. 



