1 272 RECEPTION OF THE RAJAH.
2 fruits that were then in season, melons, grapes, &.c,
3 were standing at every corner of the road. These
4 were presented with a respectful salaam, the villagers
5 at the same time crowding round the good Rajah's
6 horse, touching his feet with their hands, and then
7 carrvin"" thcin to their foreheads. All seemed cheer-
8 ful and contented. The fruit trees were in full shade
9 and bearing, and their little plateaux were covered
10 with the ripening harvest. The cockscomb, both red
11 and yellow, was contrasted in colour with the more
12 delicate tint of the blossom of the buckwheat; and
13 amongst other corns, the Kunguni millet,* the most
14 beautiful of all, was very abundant, and its large
15 massive ears bent downwards, as if they had been
16 pendants of frosted gold.
17 The prettiest villages are, I think, on the western
18 side of the valley ; and at Glioma Ghondu in particu-
19 lar, the walnut-trees are very large, and so numerous
20 as to form an extensive grove, under the shade of
21 which Dr. Falconer and myself once breakfasted, pre-
22 viously to shooting two or three brace of hares in the
23 Tartarian furze on the banks of the stream.
24 The river which joins the Indus near Nynsuk, at
25 the foot of the rock of Iskardo, was nearly one hun-
26 dred yards in width at the top of the Shighur valley,
27 when the Rajah and myself arrived from the castle on
28 the third day. The crossing of the Rajah's retinue oc-
29 cupied many hours, and was effected upon rafts about
30 * Panicum Italicum.