A PILGRIMAGE TO AMERXATH 



519 



stop a boulder, even 

 if he does beware? 

 In many places so 

 lightly are they 

 poised that it seems 

 as if a passing tonga 

 would dislodge them. 

 In other places the 

 bank is a cliff of al- 

 most solid rock and 

 one passes through 

 s e v e ral picturesque 

 rock tunnels (p. 517). I 

 Farther on, the val- 1 

 ley widens into a cul- 

 tivated plain. Much 

 Indian corn grows in 

 Kashmir, and I re- 

 member one patch in 

 which it entirely sur- 

 rounded the cultiva- 

 tor's hut and was 

 higher than its roof. 



A MOUNTAIN HIGH- 

 WAY THAT COST 

 MANY LIVES 



Near Chakothi the 

 valley becomes very 

 narrow again and the 

 road is a dizzy height 

 above the foaming 

 torrent. Night came 

 on as we w o u n d 

 around high cliffs to 

 our right, with dan- 

 gerous precipices to 

 our left, and we clung 

 to each other as we 

 crossed bridges over 

 some of these terrible 

 khuds. 



After leaving Cha- 

 kothi one passes some of the most stu- 

 pendous cuttings in India, the road in 

 places being dug out of the solid rock, 

 with sheer cliffs 250 feet high overhang- 

 ing it on one side and a dizzy drop of the 

 same distance to the river on the other. 

 This road from Kohala to Baramula, 98 

 miles, is considered a wonderful feat of 

 modern engineering. It was begun in 

 1880 and formally opened for traffic ten 

 years later. It cost many lakhs of rupees 

 and many lives. In one section alone, in 

 the course of four years, 54 men were 

 killed. This is now one of the best moun- 



Photograph from M. M. Shoemaker 



THE CRYSTAL FOUNTAINS OF A KASHMIR GARDEN 



Near Srinagar there are three famous formal gardens — the Xishat 

 Bagh, pictured above ; the Shalimar Bagh, beloved of Nur Mahal, 

 and Nasim Bagh, across Dal Lake from the first two. Few scenes 

 are lovelier than the terraced pools separated by the lace of falling 

 waters and embroidered with the pearls which constantly drop from 

 the fountain spray. 



tain roads in the world, and many tour- 

 ists are attracted to Kashmir, which 

 means great prosperity for the country. 



At Baramula we were greatly inter- 

 ested in the pretty Kashmir-Swiss cot- 

 tage type of house, usually two stories 

 high, sometimes four. The upper stories 

 often project over the lower, being sup- 

 ported by piles, and the fronts are quite 

 elaborately carved. The latticed case- 

 ment windows are covered with paper in 

 the winter to keep out the cold, for only 

 a few of the richest can afford glass. 



Here the road leaves the river and the 



