150 
THE VALE OE CASHMERE. 
t Nature and Art, May 1, 186?. 
The principal building in the garden at the 
present day has a verandah on two of its sides, and 
they are constructed of a black-coloured marble, 
with yellowish streaks ; so it is probable that they 
are the “ pieces of stone ” to which Forster alludes. 
In the illustration of the Nautch these architectural 
remains are seen; the pillars, capital, and lintels 
are all of this material. The building is quite 
surrounded with the water of the canal, and a 
multitude of jets d’eau were playing, which pro- 
duced a most refreshing coolness. We bathed, and 
had a combination of a swim and a shower-bath 
among these jets at the same time. We had dinner 
in one of the verandahs, and by the time it was 
over darkness had set in, and those employed in 
the Nautch had got the whole place illuminated. 
This is done in India in a very simple and effective 
manner, by a lot of small cups, called chirdgs, into 
which there is a wick, and some oil. These chirags 
Avere placed all round upon the lines of stone form- 
ing the quay of the canal, and the effect, with the 
jets of water playing between them, was very fine. 
At one spot they had placed some of these lights in 
little niches behind an artificial waterfall, so that 
they were seen through the Avater as it fell. This 
had a very fairy-like look about it. 
Our friends had engaged all the best and most 
celebrated dancing-girls in Srinugger for the occa- 
sion, and they had all arrived. Each girl has her 
oavii baji-wallahs, or musicians, which attend her — - 
generally about three performers. These, on this 
night, made a very large orchestra. We sat down 
at one end of the verandah, and Avhile Ave had 
coffee and cigars the Nautch commenced. 
I had repeatedly seen Nautches before in various 
parts of India, and I had formed the usual opinion 
of them, that they were dull, wearisome perform- 
ances ; but I must declare that the display of this 
evening Avas an exception to all that I had seen. 
The Cashmere music, instruments, and performers, 
are much more like our ideas of music than Avhat 
one hears in other parts of India. No doubt but 
this had the effect of taking away the monotony 
which every- one complains of at such exhibitions. 
Add to this that the dancers had high claims to 
beauty; the Avomen of Cashmere have long been 
celebrated. It has always been to the harems of 
Delhi what Circassia is to the seraglios of Con- 
stantinople. Many of the women are as Avliite in 
the skin as if they had been born in Europe. 
“ Goolee,” the name of the principal performer of 
the evening, could boast of the roses on her cheeks. 
She was the Noor Mahal of the evening, and well 
she merited the title. I can never forget that 
night. On talking it over afterwards, Ave all con- 
fessed to have been under the same spell of enchant- 
ment. Perhaps it was the lotos-eating — or perhaps 
the good dinner which we had just disposed of 
produced the effect ; perhaps it was the fairy-like 
effect of the place, Avith its fountains and lights. 
All was heightened by the music and the beautiful 
creatures moving before tis. There were the asso- 
ciations of the scene ; we had been imbibing the 
magic of “ Lalla Rookli ’ on our Avay over the lake, 
and here Avas the very spot where, according to the 
story, the love-sick Noor Mahal had also been a 
performer, and sung 
“ If there be au elysium on earth, 
It is this, it is this.’ ’ 
There were the houris of paradise added to make 
our “ kief” complete and perfect. There was a 
delightful dreamy reality, with at the same time a 
feeling of abstraction about it. We had ceased 
to belong to the nineteenth century : we were aAvay 
back at some distant period of time. Moore’s stoiy 
was realized before us ; it was a waking, tangible 
dream. Had a jin or a genie appeared, no one 
could have thought him out of place. Had Ave been 
asked about the Arabian Nights, Ave Avould have 
expressed our perfect faith in the truth of the Avhole 
thousand and one stories. We Avere Avilling to 
believe in Ormuzed and Ahrimanes, and all their 
armies of angels. The Peris of Paradise Avere 
not a matter of mere faith — they were realities 
before us. The spell was complete, and acknoAv- 
ledged by the whole of our party. It is a good 
thiug to be thus taken out of yourself — to cease to 
be, as it were, for the time; and I here again thank 
my friends for the sweet delusion of that never-to- 
be-forgotten night. 
Dancing-girls seem to have belonged to all parts 
of the East, and Avere in existence in the most 
ancient times. They are the only class of women 
in the East avIio receive wliat may be called “ edu- 
cation ;” they have to begin when children, and are 
carefully trained. Every rajah keeps a number of 
them to entertain himself and visitors. In many 
parts of India they are attached to the temples, to 
sing to the god, and perform at the ceremonies ; 
these girls are called “ Moorlees.” The Greek and 
Etruscan vases are familiar illustrations of dancing 
women at religious ceremonies. In the Bible we 
find that “ Miriam the prophetess, the sister of 
Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand ; and all the 
Avomen went out after her with timbrels and Avith 
dances.” The dance and the song always go to- 
gether; the dance is a series of movements of the 
body, meant to express more fully the meaning of 
the words sung. It is suiting the action to the 
word. It is far more like acting, than our Western 
ideas of dancing. The feet are only used to jingle 
the bells attached to them. It would be difficult 
in a short space to give an idea of the songs which 
they sing ; their character differs very much ; they 
range from mere doggerel to the songs ot Hafiz. 
There Avas a very favourite song called “ Angrezzie 
mat balo beebee,” which means “ Don’t speak 
English, Girl ! ” It would be difficult to explain avIiv 
it was a favourite, but the same difficulty would 
be found to explain Avliy many of the popular songs 
at home here are favourites. This particular one 
might rank, for poetic merit, Avith “Jim Ctoav ;” and 
like that once celebrated melody, it could be easily 
altered by impromptu verses. The great favourite 
Avas “ Taza ba taza,” and it is really a fine song ; it 
is by Hafiz; the ideas are good, and the words are 
musical. The refrain of it is an illustrative speci- 
