Part 19 (1/2)
_April, 1848._]
The platforms of lacustrine clay are called, in Kashmir, ”_karewah_.”
They are often quite dry, and generally uncultivated, but where water is procurable they are highly cultivated, yielding luxuriant crops of wheat and barley. A proper application of artificial irrigation would, I believe, make the whole of these more elevated parts of the plain fertile, as the soil is everywhere well adapted for the growth of corn. These karewahs generally run parallel to the lateral streams which join the Jelam, and extend from the base of the mountains till they are cut off by the river. There are, however, in the upper part of the valley, several isolated patches, all horizontally stratified, from which I infer that they had originally been continuous. One of these, near Bijbeara, forms a table-topped hill of considerable extent, surrounded on all sides by low land. Several low hills near Islamabad, also, are evidently outlying patches of the same formation.
The sands and sandy clays of these platforms are usually quite non-fossiliferous; but I determined the lacustrine nature of the strata by finding, on the flanks of Takht-i-Suleiman, a hill near the town of Kashmir, and close to the city lake, but at least thirty feet above its level, a bed of clay, which contained, abundantly, sh.e.l.ls of the genera _Lymnaea_ and _Paludina_.
The main chain of the Himalaya, north of Kashmir, consists, where I crossed it, by the Zoji pa.s.s north of Baltal, of metamorphic schist; and all its branches, which descend towards the plain of Kashmir, seem to be formed of the same rock. Along the north side of the valley, however, a series of hills of trap rise, almost isolated, out of the plain. Ahathung, near the Wulur lake, is, I believe, the most westerly of these, but I did not visit it, and only infer its structure from its conical shape and from its similarity in appearance to those further east. Near the town of Kashmir there are two of these isolated hills, composed of an amygdaloidal trap: these are Hari-Parbat, which is fortified, and Takht-i-Suleiman, which rises about eight hundred feet above the plain. The former lies to the north-west, and the latter on the north-east side of the town.
The lake or _Dal_ of Kashmir lies to the north of the town, stretching from the base of these two hills to the more lofty mountain range which bounds the valley on the north. It is nearly circular and four or five miles in diameter, but is only open in its northern half, the end nearest the town being occupied by large islands, with narrow channels between them, in some of which there is a good deal of current. Its waters are discharged into the Jelam by a considerable stream, which, flowing from its south-east corner, runs to the westward in a course nearly parallel to the southern margin of the lake for nearly a mile, when it turns abruptly south to enter the Jelam in the middle of the town of Kashmir. This stream is evidently an artificial ca.n.a.l, and the embankment by which it is separated from the lake appears to have been constructed in order to keep the surface of the latter higher than it would naturally be. The stream at its point of exit from the lake flows through a narrow ca.n.a.l of masonry, and has, when the Jelam is low, a fall of several feet. A pair of flood-gates prevent the return of the stream in times of flood, when the waters of the river are higher than those of the lake.
The Wulur lake, below the junction of the Sind river with the Jelam, appears to be similar in appearance to that close to the town, and, like it, to owe its extent in part to artificial means. Its dimensions are, however, much greater. There are several large marshy tracts in different parts of the plain, which, by a little engineering, might also be converted into lakes: one in particular, near Avantipura, is quite under water in spring, though in summer and autumn it is only a swamp.
[Sidenote: CLIMATE OF KASHMIR.
_April, 1848._]
The climate of Kashmir is the same as that of the interior valleys of the Himalaya, but modified by its extreme western position, which brings it within the influence of the spring rains which prevail in Affghanistan and the countries on the lower mountain course of the Indus. There are at least four months of winter; and in general a good deal of snow falls. March and April are very rainy; the summer months mostly dry and fine. The periodical rains of India cannot be said to extend into Kashmir; but in July and August showers and thunder-storms are said to be frequent. The spring and autumn are unhealthy seasons.
In the former, the cold rainy weather affects those who have already suffered from the malaria produced by the action of a powerful sun on neglected swamps. The abandonment of cultivation, in consequence of the long oppression of the country under a foreign government, has been the cause of the increase of marshy ground. The river in seasons of flood rises higher than the level of the lowest portion of the alluvial land, and is only excluded (as in Holland) by means of artificial works along the course of the river. By the omission to repair these _bunds_, or d.y.k.es, a large extent of country which might be under cultivation is left in a state of swamp.
[Sidenote: VEGETATION OF KASHMIR.
_April, 1848._]
There is no natural forest on any part of the open plain of Kashmir, and the cultivated trees are not numerous; the plane, poplar, and willow are all common, with numerous fruit-trees, chiefly walnuts, apples, apricots, cherries, and quinces. A mulberry is also common, the dried specimens of which are in no way distinguishable from those of the common white mulberry of Europe, with which I have compared it.
The vines are trained up the poplar-trees, rising to their very tops, and hanging down from their summits. A species of _Celtis_, which is commonly planted around the town, is, I think, the most tropical of all the Kashmirian trees, being common in the warmer valleys of the outer Himalayas; it is, however, I think, _Celtis australis_, L., a species which is a native of western Asia and eastern Europe, and appears to find its eastern limit in the Himalaya.
At the time of my arrival in Kashmir, the fruit-trees were in full blossom; the wild vegetation had, however, made very little progress, only the earliest plants being in flower. The spring flora was eminently European in character; not only the genera, but many of the species, being identical with those of our own island. _Cruciferae_ were the most abundant natural order; and, among many others, I collected _Draba verna_, _Capsella_, _Erysimum_, _Alliaria_, _Turritis glabra_, and European species of _Lepidium_, _Thlaspi_, _Alyssum_, and _Sisymbrium_. Other common forms were _Lycopsis arvensis_, _Lithospermum arvense_, _Myosotis collina_, _Scandix Pecten_, _Ranunculus Philonotis_, _Anagallis arvensis_, _Euphorbia Helioscopia_, and several species of _Veronica_. None of the annual plants were Indian forms, though a few of them were such as occur commonly in the plains in the cold season. The shrubby vegetation was very limited: a Juniper (_J. communis_), a _Cotoneaster_, _Rubus_, _Rosa Webbiana_, _Zizyphus_, _Elaeagnus_, _Daphne_, and two species of _Berberis_, were the most common. A few straggling trees of _Pinus excelsa_, which grew on the northern face of the low hill called Solomon's Throne, were the only pines which I saw in any part of the open valley.
FOOTNOTES:
[16] This juniper has a very extended range in alt.i.tude, being common in the drier parts of the Himalaya at elevations of 12-13,000 feet, and in some parts of Tibet, where it meets with a higher summer temperature, even as high as 14-15,000 feet. It is the _Juniperus excelsa_ of Wallich, and, so far as the point can be decided by dried specimens, seems identical with specimens in the Hookerian Herbarium, collected in Karabagh and Sakitschiwan by Szowitz, and communicated to Sir W. J. Hooker by Fischer. The Taurian specimens of _J. excelsa_ from Bieberstein are, however, a good deal different, and are perhaps only a form of _J. Sabina_.
[17] In Moorcroft's time, this place was a small village.
CHAPTER X.
Environs of Kashmir -- City lake -- Gardens of Shalimar and Dilawer Khan -- Pampur -- Avantipura -- Platforms of lacustrine clay -- Mountain of Wasterwan -- Ancient city -- Clay, with sh.e.l.ls and fragments of pottery -- Ancient temple imbedded in clay -- Lakes caused by subsidence -- Islamabad -- Shahabad -- Vegetation -- Vernag -- Banahal Pa.s.s -- Valley of Banahal -- Tropical vegetation -- Pa.s.s above Chenab Valley -- Nasmon -- _Jhula_, or Swing-bridge -- Balota -- Ladhe ke Dhar -- Katti -- Fort of Landar -- Mir -- Kirmichi -- Tertiary sandstones -- Dhuns -- Seda -- Jamu.
During my stay in Kashmir, besides the necessary ceremonial of complimentary visits, my chief occupation was visiting the princ.i.p.al places in the vicinity. From my residence in the Sheikh Bagh I had easy access to the river, as well as to the ca.n.a.l by which it communicates with the lake. A broad road, three-quarters of a mile in length, shaded on both sides by very fine poplar-trees, runs from the eastern end of the town, parallel to this ca.n.a.l, as far as the hill called the Takht, at the foot of which is situated the pa.s.sage by which the lake discharges its waters into the ca.n.a.l. The weather was very favourable, the spring rains having terminated a day or two before my arrival. The Kashmiris are accomplished boatmen, a great part of the population living upon the water; and as most of the conspicuous objects around the town are only accessible by water, I gave pretty constant employment to a boat's crew whom I hired during my stay.
[Sidenote: LAKE OF KASHMIR.
_April, 1848._]
My first visit was to the lake, and to the celebrated gardens on its northern sh.o.r.e, which were the delight of the emperors who made Kashmir their retreat from the heat and cares of Delhi and Lah.o.r.e. The southern part of the lake is very shallow, and I sailed along narrow channels, which separated large patches of tall reeds, among which a very narrow-leaved _Typha_ and an _Arundo_ were the commonest plants.
Three or four species of _Potamogeton_ were abundant in the lake, just coming into flower, but most of the water-plants were only beginning to vegetate. I saw three or four flowers of a water-lily (_Nymphaea alba_), and could just recognize _Villarsia nymphaeoides_, _Menyanthes trifoliata_, and _Trapa_, all of which had been recorded by previous travellers as natives of Kashmir. I looked anxiously for _Nelumbium_, but saw no signs of it, except the withered capsules of the previous year, many of which I observed floating on the lake.
[Sidenote: GARDENS OF KASHMIR.
_April, 1848._]
The gardens of Shalimar and of Dilawer Khan rise in a succession of terraces from the margin of the lake. They are laid out in a stiff formal style, straight walks crossing one another at right angles, and are irrigated by means of straight water-courses, branching from a long ca.n.a.l which pa.s.ses down the centre, through a succession of ponds well built in masonry, and provided with artificial fountains, which are made to play on festivals and holidays. Pavilions of fine marble occupy the intersections of the princ.i.p.al walks. Magnificent plane-trees form the chief ornament of these gardens, which are now much neglected; straggling bushes and a wilderness of weeds occupying all the less conspicuous parts, while the main avenues alone are kept a little neat.