Crossing to the
right bank of the river by the usual rickety bridge, we continued our way,
as the farther up the glen we get to-night, the less shall we leave for
to-morrow, when we intend to visit the Kolahoi Glacier.
The cream-coloured courser nearly wrecked my Kashmir holiday at this point,
owing to the silly dislike of white folk which he possesses in common with
the buffaloes. As I was incautiously handing Jane her beloved parasol, he
whisked round and let out at me, and I was only saved from a nasty kick by
my closeness to the beast, whose hock made such an impression upon my
thigh as to cause me to go a bit short for a while.
We camped in rather a moist-looking place, where the wood begins to show
signs of finishing, and the slopes fall steep and bare to the river.
A rather rank and weedy undergrowth was not inviting, and was strongly
suggestive of dampness and rheumatism. It was fairly chilly, too, at night,
as our camp was some 11,000 feet above the sea, and the little breezes
that came sighing through the pines were straight from the snow.
_Sunday, June 25_.--A most glorious morning saw us start early for an
expedition to the Kolahoi Glacier. The sombre ravine in which we were
camped amid the pines lay still in a mysterious blue haze, but the sun had
already caught the snow-streaked mountain-tops to our left, and gilded
their rugged sides with a swiftly descending mantle of warmth and light.
A very fine waterfall came tumbling down a wooded chasm on our right, and
as fine waterfalls are scarce in Kashmir we stopped for some time to
admire it duly.
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