148 
THE YALE OF CASHMERE. 
[Nature and Art, May 1, 18(>7, 
which they also worship.” These remains of the 
worship of the serpent* are very curious, ancl much 
might be made of it as an evidence ; but it is not 
the purpose of the present article to express an 
opinion upon either one side or tire other. These 
statements are cpioted to show the interest which 
attaches to this part of the world, and they may 
serve to explain why the tendency of thought in 
our own time is to make this central region the 
cradle of the human family. Near to this the 
Hindoo places among the unapproachable heights 
of the Himalayas the heaven of Maha Deo ; from 
whose throne + of gems there Hows the sacred Ganges, 
reputed to be one of the rivers of Eden by Jose- 
phus, in which the worshipper purifies himself 
both bodily and spiritually, and desires that, after 
death, his body may be thrown into it, as into the 
way to heaven. 
Cashmere itself is “holy land.” To the north is 
the Hindoo Koosh. To the ear accustomed to the 
language of India this word Koosh, or Kooshie, 
requires no explanation : it is in constant use to 
express satisfaction or happiness. It was from this 
more northern direction that the Hindoo went south, 
with the then simple worship of the Vedas, with 
the Soma j nice and the Cusa grass. The G'/icesdins, 
or Chaldeans, seem to have been some peculiar 
order of priests or Brahmins, and modern specula- 
tions point to the region of the Hindoo Koosh as 
the source from which they wound westward to the 
Euphrates* A passage from the “Mahabharat” 
will show what were the ideas of this early people. 
It is from an address by Chrishna to Arjuna : — 
Hereafter, ne’er shall be the time, when one of us shall 
cease to be. 
The soul, within its mortal frame, glides on through child- 
hood, youth, and age, 
Then, in another form renewed, renews its stated course 
again. 
All indestructible is he that spread the living universe ; 
And who is he that shall destroy the work of the Inde- 
structible? 
Corruptible these bodies are, that wrap the everlasting soul — 
The eternal, unimaginable soul. 
For he that thinks to slay the soul, or he that thinks the 
soul is slain, 
Are fondly both alike deceived. It is not slain — it slayeth 
not ; 
It is not born — it doth not die ; past, present, future, know 
it not ; 
Ancient, eternal, and unchanged, it dies not with the dying 
frame. 
The associations and ideas of those ancient days 
contrast strongly with the realities of the present. 
The ideal Greek of Homer and the reputed cha- 
racter of his modern successor are no less at variance 
than is the Hebrew of the Law and the Prophets 
with him of later times. So with the people of 
Hindostan ; the pure religion of the Vedas appears 
in all its simplicity in opposition to the thirty-two 
million of gods, which form the Hindoo Pantheon 
of the present. The Pandean heroes must be con- 
* The serpents are called in the ancient language the 
nagas ; in Hebrew the serpent is the nachash. 
f “ A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, pro- 
ceeding out of the throne,” — Rev. xxi. 1. 
trasted with the cowardice and cruelties of the 
Indian mutineers. 
The reputation of the people of Cashmere is not 
good. Their character is proverbial. The following 
will indicate that such is the case : “ If you meet a 
snake, do not put it to death, but do not spare a 
Cashmerie.” “ Do not admit a Cashmerie to your 
friendship, or you hang a hatchet over your door- 
way.” 
“ Many fowls in a house will defile it, 
And many Cashmeries in a country will spoil it.” 
I cannot give the data of these sayings, but it is to 
be hoped that they are the exaggerations of pre- 
judice. The government is very Oriental and 
exacting in the matter of taxes, and the people are 
kept very poor. When the Punjaub became 
British territory Cashmere formed a part of it, and 
it was sold to Gholab Singh. To raise the ne- 
cessary amount of rupees he founded a system of 
taxation, which endures to the present day. The 
great body of the inhabitants are Mahomedan, but 
the Government and the Bajah are Himloo ; hence 
another source of objectionable laws. A Maho- 
medan will eat beef, but the Hindoo law makes it 
death to kill the sacred cow. The follower of the 
prophet is allowed to eat fish, but the worshipper 
of the thirty-two million of gods will not permit 
the dwellers of the water to be eaten. As the 
reason of this last restriction is curious and illus- 
trative, it should be told. 
The first morning after arriving at Srinugger, 
my boatmen brought me some fish, and on talking 
with them they explained that they had been 
fishing by means of my name ; otherwise, they said 
that they would be put in prison : no native dare 
fish on his own account, but the sahibs were an 
exception to this law. This law turned out to be a 
result produced by a belief in the doctrine of the 
Metempsychosis. When Gholab Singh died, the 
Brahmins declared that his soul had transmigrated 
into a fish ; hence the law to save the rajah in his 
new state of existence from being hooked and 
devoured. When my boatmen brought me fish 
again I always made a pretence of being very 
particular, wanted to know if they had caught the 
Bajah, and expressed decided objections against 
breakfasting off the father of the present ruler of 
Cashmere and Jummoo. If “ cold missionary ” 
could have been added to this transmigrated Bajah, 
what a choice bill of fare it would have made ! 
This association of ideas I could not explain to my 
boatmen ; but whenever I made inquiries about the 
fish, a sly smile of satisfaction appeared on their 
faces, indicating that they were pleased at my 
ridicule of such an absurd law. 
The trade of the country is very much fettered 
by the heavy taxes. At all the passes leading from 
Thibet there are custom-houses, where a large duty 
is levied upon th e pushm, the fine w’ool from which 
the shawls are manufactured. This wool is all 
brought in from the countries to the eastward, and 
Cashmere owes its celebrity for shawls to its being 
simply the outlet of this product. There is also a 
