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 HEAVY RAINS aT

grand avenues of chenars sloping to the water’s edge. Above the far border rose a mountain ridge still clothed in snow; above that again the lofty Haramokh ; and away in the extreme distance lay the fairy Khagan snows; while on the whole scene there swam a purple-bluey haze, growing more purple and more blue the more distant it fell, and giving to all a softening sense of peace and ease. For tenderness of restful beauty this scene is not to be surpassed.

So far the weather had been exceptionally fine and warm for the season, and the rainfall to date from the commencement of the year had been three inches below the normal ; but now a wet spell _set in such as one has to expect in the spring in Kashmir, which is always very uncertain. Qn April 12th there were 2? inches of rain. The total for the year now exceeded the normal by four inches. ‘The river rapidly rose ten feet, flooded all the low-lying fields, and seriously threatened the European quarter. Finally, snow fell in Srinagar itself. ‘The maximum temperature in the shade rose to only 50°, while the minimum at night fell to 83°. It is always the exceptional which happens —in weather at any rate. So this must not be