1 I ..
2 II
3 (avoiding the inconve¬
4 nience of eomproTiiiimijg myself with the English, by hoeoniipg
5 an ditacht of the hostile Eiith camp, wir'd, subsequently caused
6 the dismissal of’ Colonels Moutou and ilurbon), and also of
7 becoming personally acquainted with the Ranee, whose portrait
8 I have presented to iny readers.
9 The result of the war on the Sutlej, I have already mentioned ;
10 . nil, ns mv office at Lshore was almost annihilated on the aiiiuxa-'
11 tion of the I’unjab by tbc English, I made up mv mind to return
12 to Europe; but the season not being favorable for the?homeward
13 voyage, I determined to employ my leisure in visiting the valley
14 of Cashmere, which is rich in historical, physical, and industrial
15 interest, hoping not ouly to obtain a collection of the plants of
16 that country, and tiinitenrich botanical science; but also, at the
17 tune time, by excursions into the surrounding mountains, to
18 improve my health, which had been sensibly impaired by the
19 duties mid unceasing exertions of the past two year .
20 Having obtained flic necessary permission from the English,
21 government at Lahore, and also from the Maharajah of Cash¬
22 mere, t.holub Sing, 1 departed from Lahore, and readied the
23 valley of Cashmere in three weeks, without tin* occurrence
24 of any incident worth noting. Arrived here, I entered into
25 communication with the maharajah, and lie proposed that
26 1 should enter his service*. This, however, I declined, more
27 especially as it would interfere with my proposed journey
28 to Europe; but 1 promised him that 1 would hasten my
29 return to Indio, and pass a few years in bis country, not
30 only ;n cultivating ground on my own private account, but
31 also according to his desire, in attending to his personal ser¬
32 vice. The maharajah was anxious to know what sort of
33 firming 1 intended to adopt in Cashmere, when 1 informed
34 him that I had observed that, notwithstanding the great eon-
35 sumption of tea and sugar in his dominions, the cultivation
36 of them had never been attempted, and that they were con¬
37 sequently imported from foreign countries. The sugar used
38 in C'adiriieio is imported from India, and is conveyed with