Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-11

white iris Tho nat country about fslama-
bad is simply carpeted with Iris. either q
dwarf variety. pale lavender. or huge.
deep purple flower, as well as the smaller
and very fragrant white kind. At one end
Of the dirty old town is a lovely common
with perfectly enormous chinar trees here
and there. q Hindoo temple at one side,
in which is a huge figure of Ganesh. tho
elephant headed god, painted bright scar
full of sacred fish. which relished very
much the chupettie, or flour cake, we threw
to them. They are small fish rather like
a trout and are regarded with great in
terest and pride by the natives The little
shops of the place are filled with a coarse
sort of embroidery and objects in painted
wood spinning wheels, tall candelabra ana
drinking cups painted in brilliant reds and
green's, and still more gorgeous tobacco
boxes. silvered over and painted in pretty
designs in hideous green and magenta. One
OF these last we bought for IL cents, as
in the sunlight on the mud floor OF the lit
tie shop. it looked very gay and eastern. :"
1t still looks gay and eastern" but In our
artistic little sitting room In the dunga 1t
Is the one discordant note.
els Really Eastern"
The drinking cups, some of which we
bought to use as vases, leak badly until
they are well oiled within. but it is well we
got them, as our boatmen have brought us
great armsful of iris and a fine Powered
lilac. which Is out now. as well as branch
es Of the lovely pink blossom OF the plum
tree. The embroideries are principally. l
think. entirely in the form Of curtains call
ed Gubbahs, and we were told that when q
chudder Of lambs wool has worn thin and
is too utterly used up to be longer made
use OF that 1t Is washed 1--WE hope this
part is true) and then dyed and covered
all over with embroidery in q long loose
stitch in every color Of the rainbow. and
sold to the innocent tourist who considers
1t very eastern" which 1t Is indeed, Tar
more SO than he knows! We ordered pair
of these curtains made for US. choosing IN
place of the hideous crimsons and garish
greens q white ground and dark red Dor
der. the white to be covered with pale
terra-cottas and leaf green's. and the red
done in the same terra-cotta and white.
We carefully chose all the shades and
trusted that they would give us clean.
or new chudder! In two days the Gubbahs
came and alas! the pretty pale shades we
had chosen were minus and a sort of cher
ry pink and scarlet combined hideously
with orange. German blue and an ugly
emerald green, took their place! We were
greatly Disguised, but when we hung them
against the mating in our boat, they look
ed so Enthusiastically a product Of the far
east that we were quite content, In spite
Of the combinations. They are mass OF
embroidery, the "Kensington st1tch' and
the design is quite perfect. 1t Is pity that
the native who shows such aptitude for
design should be destitute Of all eye for
color. The town of Islamabad Is surround
ed by cemeteries in very close proximity
and as we noticed that some of the graves
had stone monuments, long, and tapering
in steps to the top. and some had none,
we asked the reason Of 1t and were told
that those with the monuments. were the
graves Of men and the stone was intended
to represent the long eastern pen box, so
that the men might have their writing
materials close at hand The women, of
course would never need them either in
life or death! poor eastern woman!
An Important Event.
AS we took the mongoose with us into the
town, we attracted even more than the
usual amount Of attention and In rescu-
ing that tiny animal from the jaws OF
NANCY pariah-dog one OF the party lost
purse containing ten-rupee note. AS soon
as the loss was made known we all turned
back on a search, but without hope, know
ing the propensities Of the average native.
lordly tones demanded the presence OF the
"headman," and very soon tall ana
6ignified person with very rehned ana
almost Intellectual face appeared. Follow
all stood upon the lovely village green sur
rounded by a steadily and rapidly 1ncreas-
ing crowd, while the commanding looking
old colonel poured forth our woes and
OffereQ a reward IN case lHo puISC Wei
returned instantly. The headman looked
at us with a half smile and with great
curiosity but gave US little hope. He SAID
he would take Colonel B. before the judge,
but that he would like to show MIN ms
book Of chits first. 80 the great book was
opened and we found many distinguished
names therein. testifying to the amiable
qualities of the headman and OF his en-
deavors to crafty any wishes 81 theirs
made known to him. Colonel B. said he
would add our names II the purse were
promptly forthcoming and we all started
off to see the judge. The court was held
in an Enclosure behind high walls. ana
through the doorway, very high. arched
and beautifully carved. we women, who
were not allowed to enter the sacred pre-
cincts, could see that the judge and his
servants sat upon a raised stone oais, COW
cred with a carved and painted wooden
canopy and were clad in snowy white with
very large turbans. After nearly half an
hour our colonel returned and told US that
the whole time had been spent In compli.
ments and promises, none of which he felt
were of the slightest value and that If any
one of them all should by chance be hon.
est the others would surely make up for
It, and that there would be only enough
Of the ten rupees to pay for their self
claimed rewards Such must have been the
case. for that was the last heard of the
ten-rupee note!
Incidents Of an Hour.
"Abdu1r' "HuzoorW "Chota hazr. in
stantly; 1t Is late Eyes. huzoor. but
baby on the cook boat has fallen upon the
river and no hot water Is forthcoming"
Get hot water at once. as 1t is o'clock.
and do not let this happen again!" AL!
this with great ferocity. Yes. huzoor,"
with equal meekness, and In ten minutes
the tea appears. That is the character OF
the native. No matter how pressing his
duties. if something turns up to attract his
attention. all of them are neglected, al
though he knows that by so doing he will
incur a dreadful berating from his master.
1t may be thought that baby falling over
board should be considered serious mat
ter but as we have seen those f1shed out
of the water during the course Of our ten
days in Kashmir it will be seen that 1t Is
not an unusual occurrence, and not of
enough consequence to put off the arrival
of chota hazri at 7:3O. The small boy of
the crew, Sidka, Is usually given the care
of our tiny mongoose. when he Is allowed
ashore without his harness to explore the
countless holes in the river banks and one
day he (the boy was seen flying wildly and
silently along the crest Of the bank evil
IDENTIFY pursuing his small charge. OF
course we were all after him in a moment,
with visions of bloodthirsty dogs in our
minds The stout colonel called from his
boat to know the trouble, and we all stood