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car and driver, picked us up for a sightseeing tour of Srinagar. We stopped first on the northern edge of the city to gaze up at the lofty for tress of Harr Parabat. with outer walls built by the Emperor Akbar in the closing years of the 16th century. Then, down town, we visited the Shah Hamadan mosque, dating originally from 1395. Its spacious courtyard surrounded by an arcade with tall, slender wooden pillars was impressive. but padding around in stocking feet on halfsoaked matting did my cold no good at all.
We then strolled (with our shoes on again) through the rather muddy streets of the bazaar and down to one of the nine wooden bridges across the river Jhelum. The welter of little shops and throngs of merchants and shoppers seemed pretty much the same as in other Indian cities we had seen, but both the architecture and the people were quite different.
The three- and four-story brick houses were clearly designed for a cold climate, and the people tended to be taller, leaner and harderfeatured than we had met elsewhere. We were glad to note the contrast.
Also, while scruffy dogs abounded wherever we went in India, the only two cats we encountered, both sleek and well fed. were in the bazaar in Srinagar.
Finally. Mr. Nirash suggested that we might like to see the cottage industry that produces the famous Kashmir rugs. By now the cottage industry has come to bear a marked resemblance to a small factory enterprise, but there is no question that it is a family activity and a literal handicraft.
Each rug is woven by family group of four or five, ranging from an elderly grandfather or middle-aged father down to quite small children. They sit side by side in front of a big hand-loom, each inserting his shuttle with a different-colored thread at the appropriate moments under the direction of the senior member of the group.
We were told that the weaving of a sizeable rug might take as long as 18 months—small wonder when you learn that the finer wool rugs may have as many as 440 knots to the square inch, and silk rugs even more.
Then we were led into a showroom to look at the finished products. It was a truly superb collection. But Mr. Nirash was, I am sure, as surprised as I was when my wife up and bought a couple
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