190 SUMMER GARDENS OF KASHMIR 



its new well -laid roads. The same remark 

 applies to quite another class of pilgrim, who, 

 entering the valley at the opposite end, race up 

 to Gulmarg ; and all that many of these pilgrims 

 see of Kashmir is the forest, the faint glistening 

 mountains of the Indus, and the smooth, green 

 bowl-shaped meadow at their feet, where roimd 

 and round the hnks they go, pursuing the British 

 god of games. 



Bernier went to Achibal along the pilgrims' 

 way. " Returning from Send-bray (Bawan) I 

 turned a little from the high road for the sake of 

 visiting Achiavel (Achibal), formerly a coxmtry 

 house of the Kings of Kashemire and now of the 

 Great Mogol. What principally constitutes the 

 beauty of this place is a fotintain, whose waters 

 disperse themselves into a hundred canals round 

 the house, which is by no means unseemly, and 

 throughout the gardens. The spring gushes out 

 of the earth with violence, as if it issued from 

 the bottom of some well, and the water is so 

 abundant that it ought rather to be called a 

 river than a fountain. It is excellent water, 

 and as cold as ice. The garden is very handsome, 

 laid out in regular walks, and full of fruit trees — 

 apple, pear, plum, apricot, and cherry. Jets 



