290 TEAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



and experience on this subject; but this Kashmir 

 snake I refer to eluded my grasp. It was only about 

 two and a-half or three feet long, and had the appear- 

 ance of a viper; but I do not know what it was. 

 The ganas, or aphia, is a species of viper which is 

 said to be very dangerous, and is most dreaded by 

 the people of the country. The latter name has 

 suggested, and very properly suggests, the o<is of 

 the Greeks. Serpents are scarce in Kashmir, and 

 do not at all interfere with the great pleasure of 

 camping-out in that country. There is more an- 

 noyance from leopards, especially for people who 

 have small dogs with them ; for the leopard has quite 

 a mania for that sort of diet, and will not hesitate 

 to penetrate into your tent at night in quest of his 

 game. 



Achibal and Yernag are two delightful places, such 

 as no other country in the world can present ; but 

 their general characteristics are so similar that I shall 

 not attempt to describe them separately. They re- 

 semble the Shalimar and Nishat Gardens, to which I 

 have already alluded, but are more secluded, more 

 beautiful, and more poetic. Bal means a place, and 

 Ash is the satyr of Kashmir traditions. Ver, accord- 

 ing to Elmslie, is the name of the district in which the 

 summer palace is situated ; but it is properly vir, which 

 may be either the Kashmir word for the weeping 

 willow (which would suit it well enough), or an old 

 Aryan form for the Latin vir. On the latter sup- 



