seems to enjoy complete isolation.
The next day we traversed a charming region, always going along the
river--at a turn of which we saw the ruins of a Sikh fortress, that
seemed to remember sadly its glorious past. In a little valley, nestled
amid the mountains, we found a bengalow which seemed to welcome us. In
its proximity were encamped a cavalry regiment of the Maharajah of
Kachmyr.

When the officers learned that I was a Russian, they invited me to share
their repast. There I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of
Col. Brown, who was the first to compile a dictionary of the
Afghan-pouchton language.

As I was anxious to reach, as soon as possible, the city of Srinagar, I,
with little delay, continued my journey through the picturesque region
lying at the foot of the mountains, after having, for a long time,
followed the course of the river. Here, before our eyes, weary of the
monotonous desolation of the preceding landscapes, was unfolded a
charming view of a well-peopled valley, with many two-story houses
surrounded by gardens and cultivated fields. A little farther on begins
the celebrated valley of Kachmyr, situated behind a range of high rocks
which I crossed toward evening. What a superb panorama revealed itself
before my eyes, when I found myself at the last rock which separates the
valley of Kachmyr from the mountainous country I had traversed. A
ravishing tableau truly enchanted my sight. This valley, the limits of
which are lost in the horizon, and is throughout well populated, is
enshrined amid the high Himalayan mountains. At the rising and the
setting of the sun, the zone of eternal snows seems a silver ring, which
like a girdle surrounds this rich and delightful plateau, furrowed by
numerous rivers and traversed by excellent roads, gardens, hills, a
lake, the islands in which are occupied by constructions of pretentious
style, all these cause the traveller to feel as if he had entered
another world. It seems to him as though he had to go but a little
farther on and there must find the Paradise of which his governess had
told him so often in his childhood.

The veil of night slowly covered the valley, merging mountains, gardens
and lake in one dark amplitude, pierced here and there by distant fires,
resembling stars. I descended into the valley, directing myself toward
the Djeloum, which has broken its way through a narrow gorge in the
mountains, to unite itself with the waters of the river I