~S THE PULSE OF ASIA
ary importance. The water-chestnut, shaped like a pair of stocky cow's horns and dredged from the bottoms of the streams; many kinds of greens and vegetables, of which great quantities are eaten ; and fruit, especially apples and pears, are other profitable crops. Cheap food may be a blessing, but in Kashmir one is inclined to doubt it. It seems as though the ease with which a living can be made were the chief cause of the reputed idleness and laziness of the people; and laziness, aided, perhaps, by the opportunities for dishonesty afforded by the large amount of local traffic and barter which the abundant waterways foster, may be responsible for much of the untrustworthiness which is said to be so prominent a trait of the Kashmiris. In this respect the latter are like the people of many parts of India; though they are not so lazy, perhaps by reason of the invigorating winter climate of their mountain home.
Our own life during the two weeks which we spent in Srinagar in our house-boat was a direct response to the abundance of water, the smooth plain, the fertility of the soil, and the consequent cheapness of the necessaries of life. Like most travelers to Kashmir, we lived in a leisurely fashion. The snow on the passes delayed our start across the mountains, and the slowness of the people prevented haste of any sort. We were not eager to get away, for the houses of wood or brick, with their green grassy roofs, were most quaint; and the orientalism of the narrow, dirty streets and the busy life of the pleasanter canals were always of fresh interest. We went sight-seeing in our own " shakari," or flat-bottomed boat, with three or four oarsmen. Brahmins squatted naked on frosty mornings while they bathed at the foot of
IIIFカラー高解像度
