KASHMIR AND ASSAM 273 
already a precedent on a small scale for such a 
scheme, for the source of the water-supply of 
Srinagar is fully protected from man and beast, to 
the great benefit of the sanitary conditions of 
the city, where in former days cholera was too 
frequent. 
Shooting in Kashmir has arrived at the stage 
when it is chiefly for the elect. The days are past 
when the sportsman could roam the hills as he willed 
in search of the noble Kashmir stag and of the 
red-bear, and bring back many a trophy after a 
delightful tour in the wilds. Here, as elsewhere in 
India, there is not enough game to go round: red- 
bear are scarce, and the deer resort to the Maha- 
raja’s preserves, which are watched jealously by a 
competent staff commanded by European officers. 
Stags may still be obtained as they cross the passes 
in their seasonal change from one locality to another; 
but many are killed in the preserves in drives 
organized for the pastime of the mighty, who have 
no time to spare to enjoy the pleasures of the stalk 
on the open mountain, or to listen by the camp-fire 
to the belling of the stags. 
In the spring of 1907 we again went to Kashmir 
on leave, and found the valley in the throes of a 
cholera epidemic that precluded all enjoyment in 
marching; so an inferior side of Kashmir life was 
tried—the indolent existence in a roomy house-boat 
on the clear waters of the Dal Lake, within reach of 
the iron water-pipes of civilization. The beauty of 
poplar and plane, of the iris and water-lily, of the 
orchards white with blossom, of the blue hills barred 
with mist and capped with snow, afforded luxurious 
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