10 



AFOOT THROUGH THE 



The curious formation of the valley was very 

 observable as we drove along, for, as the vast over- 

 hanging ranges receded from the river, the under cliffs, 

 called " karewas," became visible. It is supposed that 

 these formed the bed of the great lake once co-extensive 

 with the present Jhelum valley. The fan-shaped 

 plateaux are now the favoured land for cultivation, their 



Ekkas at Baramula 



rich, alluvial soil being the best suited for the saffron 

 crop, a very valuable product. It was a land of con- 

 trasts that we were being whirled through. Some- 

 times mammoth slabs of rock towered above us in a 

 manner anything but reassuring when one noticed the 

 easy way in which they disintegrated after heavy rains ; 

 water-falls, frost-bound above, sun-loosened below, tore 



