KASHMIR AND THE HIMALAYAS 129
which it is not possible to refer in detail. Of most of
them it may be said that they are but partially fitted to
the full requirements of European colonisation, although
they are the “staff of life” to the Indian official. To this
general statement two possible exceptions may be made.
Kashmir possesses already a resident population of Europeans,
 and there indeed permanent settlements may eventually
 develop under more enlightened administration than
exists at present; and in Kulu, again, a tea-growing and
fruit-cultivating community exists, which is almost analogous
 to a colony. But the Kulu Valley is too restricted
in size to serve as an experiment of any value from which
to form conclusive deductions.

Kashmir has been a fruitful source of literature from time immemorial,
 but not much has been written illustrative of its physical configuration.
 Again, the Indian Survey reports are chiefly responsible for the
opinions expressed in this chapter. Godwin-Austen, Tanner, Montgomerie,
 and others have all contributed to an accurate knowledge of
the construction of the Kashmir mountain systems on both sides the
Indus. A. Durand and Knight have written charming books on the
scenery and the ethnographical characteristics of the remoter districts of
Gilgit and the trans-Indus. The occupation of Chitrdl opened up a
large area for fresh inquiry. Griesbach and Lydekker have examined
its chief geological features. Leitner investigated the languages and
ethnography of the Indus basin, and has written some learned treatises
on the subject in the Jnaian Antiguary. But the best book on Kashmir
for the study of the ordinary reader is by W. R. Lawrence (* The Valley
of Kashmir”), which gives a comprehensive account of the chief features
of the state in comparatively modern times. Kashmir is full of archeeological
 interest. This subject is fully dealt with in the Archaeological
Records of India, and is referred to on broader lines in Fergusson’s
“History of Indian Architecture.” For Himalayan studies the reader is
referred to the standard works of Sir J. Strachey and Sir W. W. Hunter;
to contributions to the Kgya! Geographical Society's Journal by Sir R.
Strachey, Godwin-Austen, and Tanner. Oldham and Griesbach have
written of the geological evolution of these stupendous mountains ; Sir
Martin Conway and Mr. Douglas Freshfield have made the extreme
north-west and the extreme south-east familiar in more recent works