FIFTH BRIDGE, SRINAGAR 37 



All the houses are open on the side towards the 

 canal, and the glaring sun draws out and exposes 

 everything mercilessly. One simply has not sufficient 

 hands and fingers to close one's eyes and nose ! 



It is to the enterprising spirit of Mrs Clifton-Brown 

 and Madame di Philippi that I am indebted for this 

 delightful voyage ! They want to buy furs and to 

 take a photograph of the famous Moschee Ramadan. 

 Of course I am delighted to accompany the ladies. 



We do not glide over these waters in gondolas. 

 Flat-bottomed wooden boots are driven down-stream 

 by the pestilent water, and six or eight naked rowers 

 row us back later. 



We push off beyond the first bridge in the loveliest 

 and greenest part of the European quarter, and the 

 more bridges we pass the more miserable, the more 

 Oriental does the scene become. 



At last, thank Heaven ! we arrive at the Fifth Bridge, 

 where all the merchants live. Even at some distance 

 off their large signs, with such advertisements as 

 " Lucky Dives," " Poor Lazarus," " Suffering Jew," 

 and so on, can be seen, hung out as they are to attract 

 the attention of the unwary foreigner. My kind 

 hostesses also fall victims to their call, and will not 

 listen to my words of warning, my prayers, and my 

 beseechings ! England and America buy the skins 

 of all the animals on the face of the globe, Chinese 

 porcelain, wood-carving, leather and brass articles, 

 and preposterous objects made of papier or rather 



