stricken-looking, by reason of the militant appearance of
their attendant greenery, waited round; the red leaves of
the singara spread out, rosette-wise, above the growing
nuts, and a perfect mosaic of minute pink, white, and
yellow blooms were also there. Fortune favoured us,
for we were well across the open water and some way
up a narrow waterway, under. shelter of some thick
willows, before the next storm broke. This time the
wind was not nearly so violent as on former occasions,
but the rumblings of the thunder were almost deafening
and unceasing, for before the vast amphitheatre of hills
that stands guardian on this side of Srinagar had done
taking up and repeating each tremendous clap, a deeper
roar told that a new one was breaking. The sky became
intensely dark, the jagged lightning showing vistas of
bending, labouring trees that creaked as the whistling
gusts passed through them, against a distant background
of dark hills and jagged peaks. Then the rain
fell in sheets, smacking the water with a sound of small
shot, and when that last venture of the storm gods had
been exhausted, we pursued a fairly tranquil way,
moving through the narrow, dark tracks of the Mar
Nulla.
In places the houses on either side almost
touched, leaving barely space for the boat to be dragged
through; sometimes there were sharp corners where a
collision with another boat was difficult to avoid; always
there was somewhat of interest to note, for we were
literally passing through the “ courts of the people,” and
Kashmirian home life is a peculiarly open and simple
thing. The houses are all high, and as the use of glass
for windows is unknown, they employ pretty wooden
shutters, carved au jour, which same jour is carefully
excluded during the cold months by a liberal use of
newspapers fastened over the openings. Most of the
people can boast some little greenery, a prettily-
covered bower, a few plants of pomegranate, or
a bed of portulacas, or stocks which are grown
on the roof, in a balcony, or just above the water in
the small, unevenly paved courts, of which most of the
Flower-covered roofs, Srinagar
houses can boast. At intervals there would be a sm a ll
Mahomedan mosque of the usual ziarat form, with
square walls of rich, dark wood, more or less carved,
and pointed roof adorned literally with cap and bells,
for the overhanging points are always finished with
tassels of wood and tiny brass bells, and most could
k