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CHAPTER III. 



SIRINUGGUR TO THE WURDWAN. 



3rd MAY. To the city of Sirinuggur the immediate 

 object and termination of the first part of my journey. 

 The road was indifferent and uninteresting, running 

 through a low level country with undulations, more or 

 less elevated, and watercourses. 



We passed some splendid chunar trees, and occasional 

 stretches of verdant turf; and on either side, adjoining 

 the road, were growing large patches of lilies, blue and 

 white, scenting the air with the most delicate perfume. 

 About a mile from the city one enters an avenue of pop- 

 lars, leading on to a bridge crossing the river Jhelum 

 which flows through the midst of the city ; and from this 

 bridge one obtains a general idea of the city itself. The 

 impression is far from favourable, the houses appearing 

 mean and in a state of ruin and neglect, the population 

 squalid and dirty. Nor does a more intimate acquaintance 

 remove this impression. The site of the city is beautiful, 

 the surrounding scenery all that could be -wished, but 

 man, in himself and his works, has disfigured and defiled 



