mugginess of the atmosphere choked and clogged the
lungs, but these periods were compensated for by a swift
gust clearing the intervening strata, tearing open a wide
peephole through which vista the lower country could
be seen, the kind of view that new inmates of the
heavenly regions rejoice in when thoughts fly back to the
comrades left below and their surroundings. Mile after
mile I could see of winding river, the Jhelum rushing
down between flower-besprent banks and rock enclosures,
the silver sheet of the Wular glistening in the
uncertain sunlight, a mirror at the foot of vast crags
that lifted jagged rocks and naked peaks heavenwards.
Later on, as the sky showed primrose and pink above
the tall pines that thrust their tops over two hundred and
fifty feet into the air, a shadow rose high above the
smaller ranges that made a triple barrier between the
river and its towering heights, and Nanga Parbat
showed himself! I t was but a fleeting vision,
and before I could thoroughly realise that I
had seen his sacred heights the vision faded,
and I could scarcely understand if I had seen
aught, or whether the whole impression had not
been the materialisation of my desire. When next I
saw it I knew my eyes had not deceived me, but I stood
lingering there in the hope that another sight might be
granted me, till startled by a raucous, reproachful
voice behind me, and turned to find my faithful bodyguard
had come to search for me, fearing evening damp
might be harmful, and reminding me that my bath and
a dinner had been ordered to r an earlier hour.
I turned away, feeding all the humiliation an absent-
minded dreamer is continually subject to when dwelling
with those who have less wandering wits. These get all