Black Bears 245 



The descent from this point was considerable ; every 

 turn in the path brought us many tens of feet below 

 the last. It grew warmer. The next stage brought 

 us into a thaw ; and on the more southerly side the 

 Tragbal was running with water. We waded through 

 half-frozen snow and slush, and by-and-by through 

 seas of mud. 



The ending of the snow-line was most curious in 

 its very abruptness. The green on the mountain- 

 sides, the grass, the tree tops, to our eyes dazzled 

 with the snow-glare and accustomed for days to 

 nothing but a sheet of radiant whiteness, had an 

 extraordinary appearance. Everything looked black, 

 and all wrong. And it was some time before our 

 vision became normal and we could appreciate the 

 greenness. And now the Happy Valley spread out 

 below us, with the calm Wular Lake, and every 

 step brought us down into greater warmth and 

 sunshine. It seemed as though spring ought to be 

 coming on ! 



At the Tragbal rest-house we ate some tiffin, 

 sitting in the verandah, and then made our way down 

 the zigzag road to Bandipore, where we camped by 

 a stream close to the Wular. It had been a long 

 march of twenty-five miles ; but coolies with our tents 

 had left Gorai at 4 that morning, and so we found 

 them on our arrival really pitched. The cook, how- 

 ever, and the rest of our baggage were hours behind 

 us, and we had a lengthy wait before getting anything 

 to eat. 



