272 TEAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPOET. 



been burned by King Abhimanu in the tenth century 

 of the Christian era. 



Camping for the night some way above this, and 

 on the opposite side of the river, I saw some magnifi- 

 cent hunting-dogs of the Maharajah, which bounded 

 on their chains, and could hardly be held by their 

 keepers on the appearance of an unaccustomed figure. 

 They were longer and higher than Tibetan mastiffs, 

 and had some resemblance in hair and shape to New- 

 foundlands, but were mostly of a brown and yellow 

 colour. The men in charge said these dogs were used 

 for hunting down large game, especially leopards and 

 wolves, and they were certainly formidable creatures ; 

 but the ordinary dogs of Kashmir are very poor ani- 

 mals, even excluding the pariahs. Bates says that 

 the wild dog exists in some parts of this country, as 

 Lar and Maru Wardwan, hunts in packs, and, when 

 pressed by hunger, will destroy children, and even 

 grown persons. 



At Bijbehara, immediately above which the Jhelam 

 begins to narrow considerably, there is one of those 

 numerous and exquisitely picturesque-looking Kash- 

 mir bridges, resting on large square supports formed 

 of logs of wood laid transversely, with trees growing 

 out of them and overshadowing the bridge itself. This 

 town has 400 houses ; and the following analysis, 

 given by Captain Bates, of the inhabitants of these 

 houses, affords a very fair idea of the occupations of 

 a Kashmir town or lame village : Mohammedan zemin- 



