KASHMIR VALLEYS 133 



apart, the whole geography of the city was mapped out, 

 I could trace my path of the previous day and under- 

 stand the devious waterways of the city and the lovely 

 green lanes where barges were carts of the Dal 

 Lake, and make up my mind which was to be my 

 itinerary for the afternoon's expedition I promised 

 myself. I came down the east side of the hill, or rather 

 after following for some way a track on the northern 

 slope, circled it to the eastward, joining the Gupcar 

 road where the spur, of which the Takht is an offshoot, 

 has been cut through to improve the connection between 

 Srinagar and its pretty suburb on the shores of the 

 lake. Here various houses for European visitors have 

 been built, and there are also many for those whose 

 business keeps them all the year here. 



The hour was too early for formal calling, so I left 

 the pretty houses and gardens of Gupcar just showing 

 on my right, and turned away round the foot of the hill 

 along a path, so narrow in places that there was hardly 

 space between the mountain's rocky base and the lake 

 waters for the pedestrian. In other parts, where there 

 is sufficient open ground, vines are much grown, and they 

 climb the tall poplars and mulberries, sending long, 

 swinging trails from side to side, forming exquisite 

 screens of greenery. Hops, too, grow here, and the 

 factories are close by in which the raw produce is trans- 

 ferred into excellent liquids, beer, wines, and liqueurs 

 (cherry and apple brandy). Though the day was young, 

 I should not have regretted the appearance of some 

 samples, for my expedition had, on the whole, been a 

 warm one, and close down by the lake I found the heat 

 very trying after the cooler regions I had been marching 

 in. The thickets of cluster roses and heads of blue salvia, 



