KASHMIR VALLEYS 65 



shrine I continued my way to the doonga, passing 

 idyllic houses with beautiful iris crowns; endless 

 wooden shrines, decorated with mauve alliums or scarlet 

 tulips; and at last, very weary, very footsore, happy, 

 hungry, wholly satisfied, reached my boat, where a great 

 pile of correspondence awaited me, and, most pleasing 

 of all at best we are but creatures of our appetites 

 a savoury meal, very welcome after my long fast, 

 unbroken since six o'clock tea save by some water and 

 watercress. But refreshed and rested, my thoughts 

 went back sadly to my lonely temple of the hillside. I 

 had said good-bye to a friend whom I should probably 

 never see again, save in the dull lines of fading memory. 



