ii6 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



Venice of the north, with its canals, its bridges, its 

 old rickety houses jutting out over the river, and be- 

 hind them its great lawns and chenar groves. Mer- 

 chants are paddling up and down in their doongas 

 displaying or delivering their wares; barges and 

 ponderous house-boats are making for the country ; 

 English residents are skimming by in their light 

 kishties their Kashmiri crews, in bright uniforms, 

 moving together in perfect stroke. The sun seems to 

 be always shining, the water sparkling, the natives 

 laughing. Everything is bright, merry, and full of 

 life. 



The chief thing that strikes one about Srinagar is 

 the extreme greenness of the grass and foliage. The 

 whole place, outside of the dirty quarter of the ba- 

 zaars, is like a great smooth lawn, interspersed with 

 houses and roads, and shaded by immense chenar 

 and poplar trees. There is something thoroughly 

 refreshing about it, especially after one has been see- 

 ing the burnt, hungry soil of the plains ; and the air 

 has a bracing effect of its own, which reminds one of 

 October mornings at home. The city is much like 

 Venice in the way it is built, being intersected with 

 canals which run off from the Grand Canal the 

 Jhelum River in the centre. On this are all the 

 countless shops of the shawl-merchants, silversmiths, 

 wood-carvers, and the many other trades for which 



