w, and markedly inclined, so that the rivers
run strong and there is no room or level for lakes. In Kashmir the
main valley is from twenty to thirty miles broad and ninety miles
long. Over a large portion it is nearly dead level. So the river is even
and placid. And there are tranquil lakes and duck-haunted marshes.

The climate is different, too. It is the climate of North Italy.
Consequently there are no tropical forests, and the mountain-sides
are covered with trees of the temperate zone--the stately deodar
cedars, spruce fir, maples, walnut, sycamore, and birch; while in the
valley itself grow poplars, willows, mulberries, and most beautiful
of all, and a speciality of Kashmir, the magnificent chenar tree--akin
to the plane tree of Europe, but larger, fuller, and richer in its foliage.

In Kashmir there is also far more variety of colour than there is in
Sikkim. And in the spring, with the willows and poplars in freshest
green; the almond, pear, apple, apricot, and peach trees in full
blossom, white and pink; the fields emerald with young wheat, blue
with linseed, or yellow with mustard; and the village-borders purple
with iris; or in the autumn when the chenars, the poplars, and
apricots are turning to every tint of red and yellow and purple,
Kashmir is in a glow of colour. And the famous Valley is all the
more beautiful because it is ringed round with a circle of snowy
mountains of at least Alpine magnitude, with a glimpse here and
there, such as that of Nanga Parbat, of much more stupendous peaks
beyond; and because the sky is so blue, the atmosphere so delicate in
its hues, and the sunshine so general throughout the year.

In this favoured land there is many a variety of beauty, but all is of
the easy, pleasant kind. All the colours are soft and soothing. It is a
land to dream of, a gentle and indulgent land of soft repose, and
calm content, and quiet relaxation; a dreamy, peaceful land where
life glides smoothly forward, and all makes for enjoyment and
idleness and holiday.

From the pleasant Vale of Kashmir the Artist would have to make
his way up the Sind Valley--a valley, typical of those beautiful
tributaries which add so much to the whole charm of Kashmir.
These are comparatively narrow, and the mountain-sides are steep,
but the valleys are not so narrow nor the sides so steep as the valleys
of Sikkim, nor are the forests anything like so dense. The scenery is,
indeed, much more Swiss in appearance wit