CHAPTER XXXVI 



THE NUMLAH NULLAH 



WE had reached the outlying ranges of the Numlah 

 Nullah, and, so far, neither Russian nor Englishman 

 had crossed our path. Those few men whom we 

 encountered were of a duskier hue. Only the mount- 

 ains became ever whiter and whiter everything, 

 rocks, cliffs, the snow itself, still unbesmirched by 

 human foot, white all white ! The summit of Pir 

 Panjal, with its silvery, jagged edges and crown of 

 rocks, beckoned to us from a lofty height a 

 magnificent sight. 



Not a breath of air, not a cloud in the sky, not a 

 sign of mist ! The snow-giant, though hundreds of 

 miles away, seems to be quite close, so clearly is 

 every peak, every curve outlined against the sky. 



In a circular valley, bathed in sunshine, we set up 

 our tents. 



Here the greater part of the snow has already 

 been conquered by its fiery enemy ; young grasses 

 and edelweiss nod their heads ; venerable deodar-firs 



stand sentry before my tent. Straight and silent, 



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