About Thirty Yards From The House, At The Base Of An Almost
Perpendicular Hill, Were The Great Sources Of Interest
Which the place
possesses - viz., a number of springs of ice-cold water, bubbling up
to a height of two
Or three feet above the surrounding water level,
and forming three separate rivers: one in the centre which expanded
round our house, and one on either side. Around were fruit-trees of
all sorts and kinds, and from every quarter came the gurgling sound
of rushing water mingled with the singing of innumerable birds. Here
sweetly indeed do the "founts of the valley fall;" and their number
and beauty, as well as the purity of the clear and crystal streams
which they pour over the length and breadth of the land, it is which
forms one of its chief and pleasantest features, and has, no doubt,
mainly contributed to its reputation as a terrestrial paradise. To
the abundance of these streams the inhabitants are indebted for the
crops of waving rice which spread their delicately-green carpetting
over the entire valley; the purity of the waters give to the silks
the brightness of their dyes and to their shawls their fame; and from
its virtues also the love-lighted eyes are supposed to derive their
far-famed lustre. No wonder, therefore, that to the Hindoo at least,
"Cashmere is all holy land." From his sun-burnt plains and his home
by the muddy banks of his sacred Ganges, he can form but a small
conception of these cooling streams and shady pleasures.
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