small importance; but as their significance is more and more appreciated, it is probable that they will exert a growing and even a preponderating influence upon the distribution of intelligent people in countries not blessed in general with the invigorating climate of the cool temperate zone. Today, for instance, India is governed from the small hill-station of Simla rather than from hot Calcutta; and retired Indian officers and civil servants who cannot return to England are beginning to see in Kashmir a place where it is possible to settle permanently in spite of the restrictions imposed by the native government. Already the great influx of summer visitors has caused a considerable number of Kashmiris to become servants or keepers of house-boats ; a distinct impetus — not always beneficial, because it encourages the use of cheaper, less durable dyes — has been given to the highly developed native arts of rug-weaving, shawl-making, and embroidery; and the merchant class, though always noted for their habit of fastening on a victim, have become more rapacious than ever. Indeed, the merchants are the bane of the foreigner's life in Srinagar. They come in boats and on foot ; in the guise of beggars and of princes ; before sunrise, at noon, and at night ; they dog one if he goes for a stroll; they sit on the bank and wait for hours to pounce upon the chance visitor. When we first tied up to the bank of the canal in Srinagar, Subhana, our factotum, suggestively laid by the door a little willow cane which might have served as a whip, and, in answer to our inquiries, remarked laconically, " For merchant." He evidently appreciated two national traits — the choleric temperament of the British officer from India and the
IIIF Color HighRes
