102 HIGH SOLITUDES 



young wheat, blue with linseed, or yellow with 

 mustard ; and the village-borders purple with iris ; 

 or in the autumn when the chenars, the poplars, 

 and apricots are turning to every tint of red and 

 yellow and purple, Kashmir is in a glow of colour. 

 And the famous Valley is all the more beautiful 

 because it is ringed round with a circle of snowy 

 mountains of at least Alpine magnitude, with a 

 glimpse here and there, such as that of Nanga 

 Parbat, of much more stupendous peaks beyond ; 

 and because the sky is so blue, the atmosphere so 

 delicate in its hues, and the sunshine so general 

 throughout the year. 



In this favoured land there is many a variety of 

 beauty, but all is of the easy, pleasant kind. All 

 the colours are soft and soothing. It is a land to 

 dream of, a gentle and indulgent land of soft repose, 

 and calm content, and quiet relaxation ; a dreamy, 

 peaceful land where life glides smoothly forward, 

 and all makes for enjoyment and idleness and 

 holiday. 



From the pleasant Vale of Kashmir the Artist 

 would have to make his way up the Sind Valley a 

 valley typical of those beautiful tributaries which 

 add so much to the whole charm of Kashmir. These 

 are comparatively narrow, and the mountain-sides 

 are steep, but the valleys are not so narrow nor the 

 sides so steep as the valleys of Sikkim, nor are the 

 forests anything like so dense. The scenery is, 

 indeed, much more Swiss in appearance with open 

 pine forests, picturesque hamlets, grassy pasture- 

 lands, flowery meadows, and clear, rushing rivers ; 

 and with the rocky crests or snow-capped summits 



