Page:Younghusband - Kashmir.pdf/42

 16 SCENERY AND SEASONS

range was bathed in dazzling light, the northern showed up sharp and clear with the sun’s rays beating straight upon it, while the distant ranges right and left faded away in haze and dreamland. Soft woolly clouds floated along the mountain- sides. A sharp, crisp air freshened one up and broke the water into dancing ripples on which innumerable duck were bobbing up and down.

At the end of March I visited Harwan, a very favourite spot, once the abode of a famous Buddhist saint, and now best known as the site of the reservoir for the water-supply of Srinagar and of the tanks for trout-breeding. Rain had fallen in the night, and heavy clouds hung overhead with only occasional glimpses of intensely clear blue sky between them. But spring was now distinctly advancing. The great chenar trees, two and three centuries old, were still bare, but the willows were showing fresh young leaves ; the apricot trees were covered with clouds of blossom, pink and white. The mountain-sides were dotted with white wild cherry and pear and apple in full bloom; the ground was often white like snow with the fallen petals; the young hazel-nut leaves gave freshness to the mountain-side; and near at hand were