Beyond the Pir Panjal; life among the mountains and valleys of Kashmir . town of Pampoor,with its extended plateau famous for fields of saffron, thepurple masses of which are well worth a visit in the lateautumn. It is indeed a most beautiful sight. When theflowers appear in the month of October, there are sheets ofpale purple blossom. The colour is so beautiful that largenumbers of people go out to look at it. In the autumn theair is clear and the sun bright, the soil has become somewhatdry and, in the sunlight, is of a reddish yellow colour. Andsuddenly we catch sight of a wide stretch of ri
Beyond the Pir Panjal; life among the mountains and valleys of Kashmir . town of Pampoor,with its extended plateau famous for fields of saffron, thepurple masses of which are well worth a visit in the lateautumn. It is indeed a most beautiful sight. When theflowers appear in the month of October, there are sheets ofpale purple blossom. The colour is so beautiful that largenumbers of people go out to look at it. In the autumn theair is clear and the sun bright, the soil has become somewhatdry and, in the sunlight, is of a reddish yellow colour. Andsuddenly we catch sight of a wide stretch of rich petals too are so delicate that the transmitted light ofthe sun imparts a peculiar brilliancy to the saffron is one of the most ancient plants cultivated in Kashmir,for there is a legend that in the time of King Lalataditya aNag or water-nymph who had an eye affection which wasaggravated by the poisonous vapours proceeding from hisown mouth sought relief from a famous physician who livedin Padampoor (Pampoor). The physician effected a cure by. THE GREAT WATERWAY 37 tying up the Nags eyes with a cloth. Out of gratitude theNag gave the physician a bulb of saffron. As evening again draws on, away to the east the mountainsglow with sunset tints—the snows suffused with delicatepink, the slopes orange - coloured and their interveningvalleys a deep liquid violet. Ever and anon we meet boats being towed or three members of the crew—men, women and littlechildren—are harnessed on to a slender rope and may be seensteadily pulling the boat up against the current. For theboat-people, although usually leading an apparently lazylife, will cheerfully work hard, day and night, if necessary(Plate 6). A few miles below the city of Srinagar we obtain a mostimpressive view of Mount Haramouk with its roundedeastern summit fenced round by mighty precipices andjoined by a jagged western arete. The whole mass standsup abruptly 12,000 feet above the level of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmountai, bookyear1912
