and to n °f at differeilt seas» ^
b r a im L 3 anmmy, and bwl ure-wfingled teaTl haer e mnaoltl avredr> y schoomvmelloenr,
but the red-crested pochard {Branta S H B
2 '7 r m f c WKM of th e n a tiv e s , a n d th e
g a dw a il a r e common, also th e b e a u tifu l p in ta il (Dafda « H towards February, when they pause on th *
north from India and settle on the tanks and pond?
Lar^e quantities of the grey goose “ au s” n« +L« Mot large silze. WOtheBr geMese ar eT Cfoiyu ncdo.mmon-bat not
hese are the chief game birds, and I must
ask pardon for treating of them in so summary
du“ a . “ “ ner- ■ ■ interest in Kashmi a3 n r? SP°rt’ bUt ^ nature at H and 1 had few or no means of identifying the
^ eautlful birds I saw or heard, golden orioles,
kingfishers, and such obvious varieties excepted But fir m a n y as p ossible of th e a ttr a c tiv e
sid e s o f th is lo v e ly valley b e fo re th e re a d e r, I h av e given
th is ro u g h lis t of g ame b ird s a n d “ sp o rtin g b a s te s ” !
CHAPTER XIX
Think in this battered caravanserai,
Whose portals are alternate night and day,
How Sultan after Sultan with his pomp
Abode his destined hour and went his way.
—Omar Khayyam.
A few facts, and still fewer names, indicating the history of
Kashmir—Kings, ancient and modern, of varying temperaments,
ending with a model ruler.
I t is a strange thing how well the face of a country
may be studied and known, and yet its history but faintly
understood. In the course of my tramps I had gathered
a few facts about Kashmir, but I really knew but little
of its early chronicles or even older traditions, so I was
glad of the days of idleness prior to my final departure
to study such modern compilations as I could obtain.
Most useful of these—and I am glad here to own to my
indebtedness—was Mr. Lawrence’s splendid work on the
land he did so much for. Government reports do not
usually err on the side of attractiveness or lucidity so far
as the outside reader is concerned, but this one is a
model of clearness and conciseness, not to mention the
superlative quality of accuracy, and so, though I read
many other histories, his notes on the political antecedents
of the State, whose financial rescue he achieved,