KASHMIR VALLEYS 77 



CHAPTER VII 



Such life here, through such lengths of hours, 

 Such miracles performed in play, 

 Such primal, naked forms of flowers, 

 Such letting nature have her way, 

 While heaven looks from its towers. 



Browning. 



An early start A distressed damsel finds a strange cavalier 

 Snow slopes and sandals A lonely post office Supper and 

 sleep under difficulties. 



AFTER my various expeditions in search of antiquities, 

 I felt entitled to a few days' rest in the shade of the 

 great chenaar trees, whose sheltering foliage makes 

 the Moonshi Bagh such an attractive camping-ground. 

 My doonga was moored there, while I worked my way 

 through a large pile of correspondence that had 

 accumulated during my absence, and laid in stores and 

 collected necessaries for some longer marches than I 

 had as yet accomplished. 



In a few days all my preparations were complete. 

 " Orders to let go " were given, and I silently vanished 

 away in that swift and unostentatious fashion which is 

 customary in Kashmir, and which accentuates the 

 sensation of restraint on return to regions where houses 



