KASHMIR VALLEYS 73 



in that line, but, though rushing mountain streams may 

 be alarming, they are very preferable from the waders' 

 point of view to sloughs of despond. I know now 

 what Christian felt, and I sympathise. I received no 

 sympathy in my misadventure; two small children 

 looking on were only intensely amused! Having made 

 my preparation, I advanced a step ; gently and swiftly 

 the black mud closed over my foot and embraced my 

 ankle; another step forward and the dark waters, or 

 rather the terrible clinging mud, had enveloped me to 

 my knees. I waited for nothing further. I cared not 

 for the Greek ornament hidden away in the dome, the 

 description of which had so raised my enthusiasm. I 

 minded not that others had overcome the difficulty. I 

 was ready to own myself vanquished, chicken-hearted, 

 anything, if only I could succeed in escaping from the 

 soft, hot blackness, with its terrible possibilities of 

 writhing life and slithery inhabitants. Far, far better 

 than such sensations was it to sit on the bank and gaze 

 at the curious stone roofing in pyramidal form following 

 the lines of the high pediments, and speculate how long 

 it would be before the trees and plants that had grown 

 between the blocks would have accomplished their 

 wicked designs of destruction, or whether any could be 

 found interested enough to attempt some preservation. 

 Large portions of the roof have already been forced out of 

 position, and it will not be long before it has entirely 

 fallen in. At Patan, a little village between Srinagar 

 and Baramula, there are also remains of two very fine 

 temples erected by some pious king and his like-minded 

 queen. They are of comparatively late date, probably 

 not earlier than the end of the ninth century. 



The most ancient relic of all is the temple of the 



