NATUEALIST m INDIA. 201 



Islamabad is proverbially famous for its dirtiness, and 

 fewer cities have better natural advantages at command ; 

 witb abundant water supplies, and every benefit as regards 

 position, yet no one can belp being forcibly impressed with 

 the utter disregard for anjrthing approaching order or cleanli- 

 ness in the inhabitants or their dwellings. It is perhaps too 

 severe to lay this charge altogether on the people of Islama- 

 bad, inasmuch as poverty and extortion have had their usual 

 effect on the Cashmerees in general. I always felt relieved of 

 many olfactory discomforts when I foimd myself clear of their 

 towns, and was once more among the green fields and lovely 

 groves. One of the chief songsters of the valley is the yeUow- 

 vented bulbul (P. leucogenys). The red-vented species (P. 

 JicemorrTums) is common enough in the woods of the lesser 

 ranges southwards, but not in the vaUey. Among the top- 

 most branches of the tall chunars, fluttering in the sunbeams, 

 but usually in the evening, is the small flycatcher {Hemiche- 

 lidon fuliginosa). Several specimens procured near Islamabad 

 had a good deal of rust-coloured markings on the wings, and 

 resembled the description of Hemichelidon ferrugmm, Hodg., 

 which is clearly a very close ally. 



About three miles in a south-easterly direction stands 

 the old garden of Atsibul, with its beautiful natural foun- 

 tain gushing from beneath the trap rock. The spring rises 

 with some force for a height of about a foot and a half, and 

 from its volume would indicate considerable pressure. This 

 ancient pleasure-garden of the Mogul emperors is famous 

 in the history of their times. Among its shady avenues the 

 enchanting Nourmahal spent her evenings, and the great 

 Jehangire is said to have repaired to its revigorating baths, 

 the remains of which bear the impress of their former im- 

 portance. During our visit the garden was stocked with 



