KASHMIR AND THE HIMALAYAS 10%

altitudes not exceeding 18,000 feet, this grand array of
Kashmir peaks may easily be seen overtopping the broad
back of the Hindu Kush itself ; and it is thus that opportunity
 has been afforded for carrying the triangulation of
the Indian surveys northwards into the Pamir region.
Apart from this northern wilderness, which combines
the fresh beauty of many a sunny valley with the stern
grandeur of ice-bound peaks, Kashmir is a land of such
surpassing beauty as almost to justify the rhapsodies
which have been poured out in its praise by the most
imaginative of oriental poets. It is one of the few countries
in the world which never seems to disappoint the expectations
 that have been formed of it. There is not a fruit
or a vegetable that will grow in a temperate climate that
cannot be grown in Kashmir. Wine of really excellent
quality is produced there. Silk can be cultivated. The
growth of tea, chinchona, and hops have all proved a
success, whilst the natural products of the country are
varied and abundant. The manufactures of Kashmir are
‘amous—its shawl-weaving and its silver-work, its silk
embroideries and its carpets. The great valley which
stretches from the Wulur Lake to Srinagar is full of that
interest which always attaches itself to the architectural
avidences of an ancient faith.
It is difficult to write of Kashmir scenery in adequate
cerms. From the top of the Tragbal Pass, at 11,000 feet
of elevation, north of the Wulur Lake, looking across the
Happy Valley on a clear October day, one is in presence
of the full majesty of a complete range of snow-capped
mountains extending from east to west, and shutting off
the valley from farther intervening hills that stretch to
‘the plains of India. This is the Pir Panjal range.
At either end of the Pir Panjal a farther vista of silver
peaks embraces a mountain panorama, which gradually
increases in altitude to the unbroken snow-fields of Haramosh
 and the far-off solitudes of Nanga Parbat. All
around is snow; all around is the eternal silence of vast
altitudes—the mystery of unapproachable ice-bound pinnacles
 and glaciers. And amidst it all lies the valley of