KASHMIR VALLEYS 101 



summer. Already Sonamerg was more than two 

 thousand feet above, and every yard brought nearer 

 the gay blossoms and balmier airs of the lower valley. 

 My guess was proved to be correct by the appearance 

 of various tents at the mouth of the Bevel nullah, but 

 the ready appearance of tea on my arrival, and the 

 whisper that the Miss Sahib's bath was prepared, 

 weakened my stern resolve, and soothed my ruffled 

 temper so much as to make a very severe lecture an 

 impossibility, and when rested and refreshed, it was 

 some pleasure to " pass the time of day " with fellow- 

 wanderers, hear where they had been and what they 

 were doing, and find that two of the party were old 

 friends. They were on shooting intent, and hoped to 

 add to their already fairly good bag of bear the 

 ripening of the mulberries bringing Bruin out of his 

 ordinary high lairs in search of such delightful tit-bits 

 and they intended to delay their progress to higher 

 regions till fine weather was more certain. A pleasant 

 evening round a fire, good-nights in the open under the 

 star-lit sky, and the party broke up, I to turn in and 

 rest, so as to be ready for an early start. By half-past 

 five I was again on the road, the camp looking very 

 quiet after the bustle of the previous evening, for the 

 sportsmen were already away in the dark for a difficult 

 stalk to a distant height, and the ladies were not yet 

 ready for their morning outing, though I saw the syces 

 rubbing down the hardy, sure-footed hill ponies they 

 habitually used on the rough tracks, gaining such con- 

 fidence in their mounts that they even ventured across 

 the rickety swinging bridges, feeling certain that if 

 there was danger the " tats " (ponies) would be the first 

 to perceive it. 



