KASHMIR. 257 



cheap, and must have valuable properties ; for Cap- 

 tain Bates says, "those who live entirely on them 

 soon become fat," which probably arises from the 

 sugar they contain. Usually, in the fruit season, 

 two or three watchers remain all night in a boat 

 attached to these islands, in order to protect them 

 from water-thieves. On the Dal I ca'me across 

 several boatmen fishing up the root of the lotus 

 Avith iron hooks attached to long poles. This 

 yellow root is not unpalatable raw, but is usually 

 eaten boiled, along with condiments. Southey's 

 lines, though strictly applicable only to the red- 

 flowering lotus, yet suggest a fair idea of the lotus- 

 leaves on this Kashmir lake, as they are moved by 

 the wind or the undulations of the water. 



" Around the lotus stem 

 It rippled, and the sacred flowers, that crown 

 The lakelet with their roseate beauty, ride 

 In gentlest waving, rocked from side to side. 

 And as the wind upheaves 



Their broad and buoyant weight, the glossy leaves 

 Flap on the twinkling waters up and down." 



Still more useful for the people of Kashmir, as an 

 article of diet, is the horned water- nut (Trdba 

 bispinosci), which is ground into flour, and made 

 into bread. No less than 60,000 tons of it are 

 said to be taken from the "VViilar Lake alone every 

 season, or sufficient to supply about 13,000 people 

 with food for the entire year. These nuts are to 



