214 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



wished for than a study, the materials for which may be 

 garnered by every roadside, in the roughest of gardens, 

 the poorest of houses? If its sorrow and disappoint- 

 ments are numerous and bitter, few things in life can 

 be more exhilarating than the finding of a rare specimen, 

 the discovery of a new variety, and if, as Stevenson 

 opined, Solomon merely noted the superlative pleasures 

 of literature when he said, " of making books there is 

 no end," the botanical student can rejoice in a taste 

 which need never fear termination from want of nourish- 

 ment or novelty. A blade or two of grass and a glass 

 has kept me quiet and amused during a long journey, 

 and I have known a severe fit of the blues cured by the 

 smiling countenance of a new anemone, while many 

 weary hours of ennui have had an exhilarating excite- 

 ment imparted to them by the comparing of specimens, a 

 sister student, and the rivalry arising therefrom. 



My wanderings that afternoon after my descent 

 from Apharwat had not taken me far from my direct 

 path, but I must own to a cowardly prolonging of them, 

 far the grumblings of my servants had become a distinct 

 annoyance. Nor was I to be spared by the mere fact 

 of returning late. The grievances were all ready for 

 me if I had shown the slightest sympathy, and the con- 

 tinued damp and late cold were no doubt causing some 

 real suffering. It was difficult to make up my mind to 

 leave without a full vision of Nanga Parbat, so I decided 

 to give him the chance of one day more on which to 

 appear, and then, if he still continued obdurate, I deter- 

 mined to march back to the valley. Time was pressing, 

 and I had but ten days before I was due in Pindi. 



