nd. According
to the legend, the valley was once an inland sea; a passage opened
through the rocks environing it, and drained the waters away, leaving
nothing more of its former character than the lake, the Djeloum and
minor water-courses. The banks of the river are now lined with
boat-houses, long and narrow, which the proprietors, with their
families, inhabit the whole year.

From here Srinagar can be reached in one day's travel on horseback; but
with a boat the journey requires a day and a half. I chose the latter
mode of conveyance, and having selected a boat and bargained with its
proprietor for its hire, took my seat in the bow, upon a carpet,
sheltered by a sort of penthouse roof. The boat left the shore at
midnight, bearing us rapidly toward Srinagar. At the stern of the bark,
a Hindu prepared my tea. I went to sleep, happy in knowing my voyage was
to be accomplished. The hot caress of the sun's rays penetrating my
little roof awakened me, and what I experienced delighted me beyond all
expression. Entirely green banks; the distant outlines of mountain tops
covered with snow; pretty villages which from time to time showed
themselves at the mountain's foot; the crystalline sheet of water; pure
and peculiarly agreeable air, which I breathed with exhilaration; the
musical carols of an infinity of birds; a sky of extraordinary purity;
behind me the plash of water stirred by the round-ended paddle which was
wielded with ease by a superb woman (with marvellous eyes and a
complexion browned by the sun), who wore an air of stately indifference:
all these things together seemed to plunge me into an ecstasy, and I
forgot entirely the reason for my presence on the river. In that moment
I had not even a desire to reach the end of my voyage--and yet, how many
privations remained for me to undergo, and dangers to encounter! I felt
myself here so well content!

The boat glided rapidly and the landscape continued to unfold new
beauties before my eyes, losing itself in ever new combinations with the
horizon, which merged into the mountains we were passing, to become one
with them. Then a new panorama would display itself, seeming to expand
and flow out from the sides of the mountains, becoming more and more
grand.... The day was almost spent and I was not yet weary of
contemplating this magnificent nature, the view of which reawakened the
souvenirs of childhood and youth. How beautiful were those days forever
gone!

The more