In a way that would put even the leaning
tower of Pisa to shame. One six-storied house, of long experience
in this crooked world, had made the most wonderful efforts to redeem
his character and to recover his equilibrium by leaning the contrary
way aloft from what he did below. Poor fellow! he had been but badly
conducted in his youth, and was nobly endeavouring to correct his
ways in a mossy and dilapidated old age. The tracery of much of the
wood-work carvings, and particularly of the windows, varies greatly,
and in some places is so minute that it requires close inspection to
find out the design. Of these the Zenana windows of the Maharajah's
palace are about the finest specimens; but as there is no way of
approaching them closely, it is impossible to make out their details.
JULY 11. - Started this evening by water for Islamabad, the ancient
capital of Cashmere.
We made a slight change in our arrangements, rather for the better,
by hiring a large boat for ourselves and handing our own over to the
servants and culinary department in general.
JULY 12. - Found ourselves not very far on our road on awakening
this morning, the night having been very dark, the current strong
against us, and the sailors lazy.
Another cause of delay also, if these were insufficient, was, that
the proprietor of the boat dropped his turban overboard, with two
rupees in the folds of it, and the old lady his spouse had stopped
the fleet for at least an hour to cry over the misfortune. Before
breakfast we had a swim, and found ourselves only just able to make way
against the stream. Breakfasted on the river bank, under the trees,
and surrounded by rocky snow-capped mountains. Reading, scribbling,
and eating apricots brought us to about an hour before sunset, when
F. and I landed and went ahead to pick out a spot for a dining-room
for ourselves. In the search, we passed through orchards and gardens
innumerable, and finally decided upon a grove of magnificent sycamores
on the river bank, where we laid out our table just as the sun went
down. Within view was a picturesque old wooden bridge, on the mossy
tree-formed piles of which the bushes were growing, as if quite at
home, and hanging gracefully over the flowing river.
JULY 13. - Found ourselves at sunrise at the end of our boat journey,
bathed in the river, and started for Islamabad, about half a kos off.
On the bank we found three other travellers encamped, and leaving them
fast asleep, we pushed ahead and took possession of the baraduree. This
we found a charming little place in a garden, full of ponds of sacred
fish, with old carved stones scattered about, belonging to the Hindoo
mythology. Through one corner of an upper tank a stream of crystal
water flowed in from the mountain which rose perpendicularly behind
it - the water welling up from below in a constant and abundant
stream. Round this corner were some most grotesque stones; and here
the sacred fish were assembled in such shoals as to jostle each other
almost out of the water; but whether they were attracted by the fresh
supply of water or the sacred images covered as they were with votive
offerings of milk and rice, flowers, &c., the fish or the Brahmins
alone can tell.
Tradition states that an infidel Christian officer once killed three of
these fish, and having eaten one of them, died shortly after. Putting
their sanctity out of the question, however, the little creatures
are so tame and so numerous that few people would be inclined either
to kill or to eat them. While feeding them with bread, I could have
caught any number with my hand; and holding a piece of tough crust
under water, it was amusing to feel them tugging and hauling at it,
making occasional snaps at one's fingers in their efforts. They were
generally about half a pound in weight.
Our baraduree was built of wood, in the usual style, with latticed
windows of various designs, and having one room overhanging the
stream which ran through the centre of the house from the sacred
tanks. Directly below the place we occupied was a little waterfall,
which conversed pleasantly day and night; and by taking-up a loose
plank in the floor we could see as well as hear it. Learning that
there were some ruins in the neighbourhood, supposed to have existed
from before the birth of our Saviour, we started in the afternoon for
a place called Bowun, or more popularly Mutton, about two and a half
kos off.
The sun to-day we found very hot in this same valley of coolness,
its rays coming down on the backs of our heads in a very searching
and inquisitive manner. Along the entire path there were running
streams in every direction: and what with these and the magnificent
sycamores and walnut-trees which shaded us as we walked, our opinions
of the beauty of the country got a considerable rise. The path from
the Peer Punjal Pass by which we entered appears to be the worst
point of view from which to see the valley. From either the Peshawur
or Murree roads the effect is much finer; and from the north-east,
from which direction it is perhaps seldomer seen than any other, it
looks greener and more beautiful than from either of the other points.
At Mutton we found our three lazy friends of the morning, encamped
under the trees reading green railway-novels, and evidently very much
puzzled how to kill time. Beyond a tank teeming with sacred fishes,
there appeared nothing whatever to be seen here.
