NATUKALtST IN INDIA. 305 



sportsmen to the valley, it is seldom now that even the most 

 expert and persevering are so successful. We reached Seri- 

 nuggur on the 6th of September to find the quarters in City- 

 Gardens filled with European visitors, chiefly officers returned 

 from shootiQg excursions, none of whom had been more suc- 

 cessful than ourselves ; and among the various competitors for 

 the honour of having made the best bag of the season, Young 

 stood pre-eminent, 



The grapes of Cashmere are not equal to those of Cabool, 

 possibly from the little trouble taken in rearing them. Unless 

 in the gardens about Serinuggur, it is no uncommon sight to 

 see them growing in great profusion in the jungles. The 

 peaches are excellent ; so are the mulberries and walnuts ; but 

 the apples are spongy, and the pears have not the flavour of 

 the European fruit, doubtless from want of due attention. 



The prince, in the absence of his father, who was. reported 

 to be seriously ill at Jamoo, gave a state dinner, to which all 

 the English residents were asked. The festivities, as usual, 

 were preceded by a natch, after which we retired to the 

 banqueting-room, where upwards of thirty English officers 

 sat down to dinner. The prince, of course, was debarred on 

 religious grounds from eating with us, but he stood by and 

 saw the lions feed. After dinner a comedy verging on the 

 improper was performed by a very dirty-looking company on 

 a temporary stage in the reception-hall. The prince wore a 

 finely-worked turban-like head-dress with heron's plumes, after 

 the Sikh fashion, with a jacket of blue and white velvet, 

 magnificently ornamented with precious stones. I never 

 before saw him appear to such advantage, and could not help 

 admiring his becoming costume until he rose from his state 

 chair, when the close-fitting tights (rather baggy posteriorly) 

 and the meagre proportions of his lower extremities appeared 



