KASHMIR VALLEYS 223 



The sun was trying and my head ached from the 

 glare and the bump gained in my unlucky glissade, and 

 it was with a vast relief I saw before me, towards two 

 o'clock, pretty Gupcar with its picturesque bungalows 

 and shady plantations. Half of the value of roughing it 

 is the enjoyment of easeful comfort afterwards, and 

 that afternoon beneath shady walnuts, with many 

 cushions in place of the unreposeful saddle, will long re- 

 main to me a synonym of luxury ! The house itself was 

 typically Kashmirian pretty in design, full of repose, 

 ornamental and tasteful, every part, of course, leaked 

 when it rained, and none of the windows or doors could 

 be tightly closed such trifles do not enter into a native's 

 scheme of existence. If it is warm, doors and windows 

 must be open, and when it is cold, what easier than to 

 roll up in homespuns and furs, and hedge round the 

 shivering body with " kangars " of hot charcoal ! What 

 is time, exactitude, punctuality ? say they ; merely a triad 

 of annoyances invented by Sahibs and their folk where- 

 with to worry poor " naukar log " (serving people). 

 Living that life of dolce far niente by the beautiful Dal 

 Lake, the Takht-i-Suleiman high above, the Pir Panjal 

 still lightly crowned by snows, time even to me became a 

 thing of no importance, one day was as another, " like 

 beads in careless teller's hands, the hours dropped uncon- 

 sidered by." My luggage was despatched, with the 

 vague assurance that if it did not arrive in ten days at 

 Pindi, it would be there in a fortnight, provided always 

 cart and car tents were not tumbled down the river 

 bank. My seat was booked for a mail tonga, or " some 

 other tonga," provided there was room, and I began to 

 collect those of my orders that the merchants had 

 thought fit to complete. 



