KASHMIR VALLEYS '201 



mugginess of the atmosphere choked and clogged the 

 lungs, but these periods were compensated for by a swift 

 gust clearing the intervening strata, tearing open a wide 

 peephole through which vista the lower country could 

 be seen, the kind of view that new inmates of the 

 heavenly regions rejoice in when thoughts fly back to the 

 comrades left below and their surroundings. Mile after 

 mile I could see of winding river, the Jhelum rushing 

 down between flower-besprent banks and rock enclos- 

 ures, the silver sheet of the Wular glistening in the 

 uncertain sunlight, a mirror at the foot of vast crags 

 that lifted jagged rocks and naked peaks heavenwards. 

 Later on, as the sky showed primrose and pink above 

 the tall pines that thrust their tops over two hundred and 

 fifty feet into the air, a shadow rose high above the 

 smaller ranges that made a triple barrier between the 

 river and its towering heights, and Nanga Parbat 

 showed himself! It was but a fleeting vision, 

 and before I could thoroughly realise that I 

 had seen his sacred heights the vision faded, 

 and I could scarcely understand if I had seen 

 aught, or whether the whole impression had not 

 been the materialisation of my desire. When next I 

 saw it I knew my eyes had not deceived me, but I stood 

 lingering there in the hope that another sight might be 

 granted me, till startled by a raucous, reproachful 

 voice behind me, and turned to find my faithful body- 

 guard had come to search for me, fearing evening damp 

 might be harmful, and reminding me that my bath and 

 a dinner had been ordered for an earlier hour. 



I turned away, feeling all the humiliation an absent- 

 minded dreamer is continually subject to when dwelling 

 with those who have less wandering wits. These get all 



