Chap. XXII. 



NAINEE TAL. 



397 



China would be of great value in the Himalayas, 

 more particularly a fine large clean-stemmed kind 

 common about the temples in the tea-districts. Some- 

 thing of this kind appears to be much wanted in the 

 provinces of Gurhwal and Kumaon.* 



When I reached Nainee Tal I was kindly received 

 by Captain Jones, who offered me quarters in his 

 house until my dak was laid for Meerut, to which 

 I was now bound on my way to Calcutta and Eng- 

 land. Nainee Tal is one of the prettiest stations 

 I have seen in the Himalayas. Its romantic-looking 

 lake is almost surrounded by richly wooded moun- 

 tains. A fine broad road has been made round the 

 edge of the lake, and the houses of the inhabitants 

 are scattered on the sloping sides of the hills. 

 Schooners and pleasure-boats are seen daily sailing 

 on the lake, and when viewed from a high elevation 

 have a curious and striking appearance. From one 

 of the positions where I stood I could see the lake, 

 and through an opening in the hills the far-spreading 

 plains of India. Heavy masses of clouds were hang- 

 ing over the plains far below the level of the lake, 

 and the little vessels were actually sailing about at an 

 elevation higher than the clouds ! 



On the 28th of July I left Nainee Tal and took 

 the road for the plains. Mr. Batten accompanied 

 me down the hill as far as a little garden which we 

 had agreed to visit, where we found breakfast await- 



* The observations, in this chapter, upon tea-cultivation in India, 

 are taken, by permission of the Honourable Court of Directors of the 

 East India Company, from a Eeport which I had the honour to make 

 to the Indian Government. 



