From Dalhousie into Chamba 99 



ourselves at Kudjiar, than which in all India it would 

 be hard to find a more lovely spot. We turned down 

 the steep, pine-clothed hill into a small valley enclosed 

 by forests and mountains, sheltered from every storm 

 on all sides, a little oasis rich in emerald-velvet, lawn- 

 like grass. A hollow in the centre contained a tiny, 

 rush-encircled lake, said to be without bottom. The 

 regal deodars were mirrored in its transparent depths, 

 straight as an arrow, rich yellow and green fungus 

 enveloping their trunks ; paludas and firs filled up 

 the spaces between them. The soft lawns round 

 the pool lay warm in sunshine and quiet in long, 

 solemn shadows cast by the dense jungle which 

 surrounded them, draping the gaunt nullahs, and 

 forming the abode of hordes of chita, black bear, 

 pine martens, foxes, and many more. The dak 

 bungalow where we were to put up stood a little 

 above the margin of the lake. 



Tea in the shade ended, we lay on the turf, with 

 a great sense of calm and rest. The ponies, each 

 with his syce, grazed close by contentedly ; the slanting 

 sun added fresh beauty every hour ; the blue gloom of 

 the pines grew more dense ; the strange sough of gusts 

 moving among the tops of the deodars was unearthly. 



Kudjiar is "a lodge in some vast wilderness for 

 which one sighs when in the midst of bustle at 

 once sordid and trivial." It satisfied. And soon 

 over it all flooded " the yellow gold of the gorgeous, 

 indolent, sinking sun, burning, expanding the air." 

 It sank quickly, and left the pine-hung promontories 



