KASHMIR VALLEYS 53 



CHAPTER V 



Glowworm-like the daisies peer, 



Roses in the thickets fade, 

 Grudging every petal dear, 



Swinging incense in the shade ; 

 The honeysuckle's chandelier 



Twinkles down a shadowy glade. 



Davidson. 



Aching blisters and scented blossoms Ancient palaces and 

 living princes A visit to neglected shrines and a savoury 

 supper. 



FROM Vernag I determined to push on to Atchibal, in 

 spite of the fact that I was hardly able to put my feet 

 to the ground, the result of the rough, scorched tracks ; 

 in such a condition were they that they might have 

 been correctly described " as blisters and a sandal." The 

 sparkle in the air, however, and the early freshness, 

 the soft green of the wayside trees, the tranquil beauty 

 of the villages, set about with vast clumps of the great 

 sweet-smelling iris, purple, mauve, and white, would 

 have succeeded in putting heart of grace into a stone. 

 I was soon oblivious to all small discomforts, and as 

 thoroughly at one with my surroundings as if my whole 

 existence had been passed between a rose bush and an 



