THE TOWN OF SRINAGAR 29 



children, double as many hands, and ten times as 

 many fingers bring about this wonder. 



There is something almost uncanny in the com- 

 plete power of those thin brown joints, and it is 

 overwhelming to see how they master millions of 

 the finest threads and govern the mechanical action 

 of big wheels and little wheels, cylinders, balls, 

 poles, rolls, innumerable tiny spirals, hooks, teeth, 

 pins, all of which passionately rush, swirl, hiss, roll, 

 squeak, pull, hammer, stamp, beat, whirl, stretch, 

 wind, groan, and tear along under the influence of 

 electricity and Western will. 



How much sweating goes to make up those rich 

 brocades, and who would have guessed that so much 

 silk could be spun in this poor State of Cashmere ? 



It is to Great Britain's spirit of enterprise that all 

 praise is due, and especially to English endurance ; 

 for with all their might and main, by all the means 

 possible to their Oriental cunning and obstinacy, did 

 the kings of this district and these mountains set 

 themselves against Western progress. Thus it is 

 that in spite of all persuasion from Calcutta, the 

 many railways planned by the English in Cashmere 

 and Jammu have not yet been built. 



Srinagar's silk factory broke the ice of Oriental 

 opposition. It is already the source whence are 

 drawn at least half of the State revenues ; it helps 

 the populace to earn honest livings, and increases the 

 well-being of the lower classes. Will His Highness, 



