THE PARADISE OF THE INDIES          419

then passed through a place called Sengsafed, that is to say,
Whitestone, remarkable for producing in summer every
kind of flower, the same as in a well-stored garden;! and for
a circumstance said to have been observed from time im¬
memorial, that when many persons visit this spot and make
much noise and agitate the air, a heavy shower of rain in¬
variably descends. Whether this be generally the case or
not, there can be no doubt that a few years ago, when
Sengsafed was visited by Chah-Jehan, the whole party was
in danger of perishing in consequence of the violent and
extraordinary rains which fell, although he had issued
orders that no unnecessary noise should be made. This
fact will remind you of the aged hermit's conversation
with me on the summit of Pire-penjale.'^

I was pursuing my journey to a grotto full of wonderful
congelations, two days' journey from Sengsafed, when I
received intelligence that my Navaab felt very impatient
and uneasy on account of my long absence.

I regret that I can give you only imperfect and scanty
information concerning the surrounding mountains. The
subject has much occupied my thoughts since my arrival
in this country; but I can meet with no congenial mind,
with no person of observation and research, who possesses
much knowledge of the matters about which I wish to be
informed. What I have learnt I shall, however, com¬
municate.

The merchants who every year travel from mountain to
mountain to collect the fine wool with which shawls are
manufactured, all agree in saying that between all the
mountains still dependent upon Kachemire there are many
fine stretches of country. Among these tracts there is one
whose annual tribute is paid in leather and wool, and
whose women are proverbial for beauty, chastity, and
industry.    Beyond this tract is another whose valleys are

! An oasis, not uncommon in the mountain chains of the West.    A
well-known example being the ' Jardin ' of Mont Blanc.
^ See p. 410.