We pitched our tents at Lalpura in a
grove of giants, the majesty of which formed an exquisite contrast to the
white foam of a cluster of apple trees in bloom.
It has been so hot to-day that we have stayed quietly in camp, reading,
sketching, and enjoying the _dolce far niente_ of an idle life.
_Sunday, May_ 14.--On Thursday we left Lalpura and marched to Kulgam, a
short distance of some eight or ten miles. Mr. Blunt, the forest
officer,[1] had most kindly placed the forest bungalows of the Lolab at
our disposal; but, as they all lie on the other side of the valley, we are
obliged to camp every night. We have been working along the north side
of the Lolab, as the shikari is full of bear "khubbar," and as long as the
weather remains fair we really do not much care where we go! Skirting the
foot of the wooded ridge on our right, and with the flat and populous
levels of the valley on our left, we marched along a good path shaded in
many places by the magnificent walnuts and snowy fruit-trees for which the
Lolab is justly famed, until, crossing the Pohru by a rickety bridge, and
toiling up a hot, bare slope, we reached Kulgam, nestling at the foot of
the hills.
After tiffin and a short rest we set forth up the nullah behind the
village to look for (need I say?) a bear. The gradient was stiff, as usual,
and the path none too good. Feeling that our laborious climb deserved to
be rewarded by, at any rate, the sight of game, and Ahmed Bot having sent
a special message to the Lumbadhar at Kulgam directing him to keep the
nullah quiet, we were justly incensed when, having toiled up some couple
of thousand weary feet, we met a gay party of the _elite_ of Kulgam
prancing down the hill with blankets stuffed with wild leeks, or some such
delicacy.
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