78 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



are not movable quantities, and letters and bills pursue 

 one from Dan to Beersheba, every casual acquaintance 

 being let into the secret of name and address ! 



Slowly we punted our way through the Mar Nullah, 

 where the obviousness of the odours was compensated 

 for by its piquant picturesqueness, passed under bridges 

 some of them so ancient that they named Akbar 

 as their founder through other waterways, where 

 a very heavy thunderstorm delayed us, fierce gusts of 

 wind alternating with the deafening roar of the long, 

 echoing claps. After tying up for the night under the 

 protection of some willows, we crossed the Anchar 

 Lake, a vast swamp, at times almost silted up with solid 

 land, and before the afternoon were at Ganderbal, the 

 starting-place for travellers up the Sind Valley en route 

 to Ladakh and Baltistan. The last reach before fetching 

 our moorings proved a severe pull, the stream, swollen 

 by the melting of the snows, flowing down with fierce 

 force, threatening to tear away the remaining piers of 

 the broken bridge and overflow the low-lying fields. 

 We found eventually a sheltered backwater, and, 

 sending out my men to collect a couple of baggage 

 ponies and some coolies, I roamed around and amused 

 myself sketching, in very unskilful fashion, fascinating 

 iris-crowned ziarats, dark-eyed children with scarlet 

 caps, roughly-carved gateways set in flaming wild 

 pomegranate bushes, and other delightful scraps of 

 colour. The stuffy heat was trying, and added strongly 

 to my desire for cooler regions a desire more than 

 satisfied, as will be shown. The mulberries were just 

 beginning to ripen, and the children were out busily 

 picking them. Thousands of these trees are found in 

 every part of the valley, giving shade and refreshment 



