KASHMIR AND LADAK 
is a good plan to go to bed in the clothes you are going to wear the next 
day, with the exception of the boots, so as to be able at any rate to break- 
fast and start warm; after you have once started, the labour of climbing 
the hill may be relied on to maintain the temperature. 
Those who do not wish to devote all their time to shooting can spend 
a delightful month or two idling in the valley, either on a houseboat or in a 
luxurious camp pitched near the water’s edge. This land of Lalla Rookh 
produces excellent fruit — pears, apples and walnuts — in abundance, so that 
one can do oneself well while idling. Grapes have been introduced and 
wine manufactured, but so far this seems a doubtful success. The native 
of the country is as a rule a poor creature, his chief characteristics being 
cowardice and an inability to tell the truth, and he does not much appreciate 
being made into a soldier. 
During midsummer the heat in the valley is considerable, and mosqui- 
toes abound, so that the majority of the residents retire to the hill station 
of Gulmerg, where polo, golf and other sports may be indulged in; or if 
disinclined for so much society, a camp is made in one of the upland valleys 
where the simple life may be led. 
There are many interesting spots in Kashmir for the traveller to visit 
without going far away from Srinagar. The ruins of the old Hindu temple 
at Martand, near Islamabad, should not be missed, and the remains of the 
beautiful gardens at Achibal and Manasbal, as well as those at the end of 
the Dal Lake, are well worth seeing. 
The carpet factory at Srinagar should be inspected and the workshops 
of the woodcarvers and silversmiths, and the visitor is not likely to leave 
without purchasing some specimens of the artistic products of the country; 
in fact, he is sure to be much worried by the pertinacity of the trades- 
people, who will never leave him in peace, and invade the houseboat or 
hotel bedroom alike with their wares. 
In the following pages will be found a brief description of the game 
animals of the country, but as some of them live many marches apart it 
would be too much to expect to secure specimens of all in one season. 
Kashmir has a wonderful fascination for the sportsman and lover of the 
beautiful, and one can quite realize the sentiments of the Emperor Jehan- 
gir, who, when asked, as he lay on his deathbed, if there was anything he 
wanted, replied, “ Only Kashmir,” and turned his face to the wall. 
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