TIBETAN QUAGMIRES — THE GLACIAL MOUNTAIN. 89
nute. The storm-clouds appeared to sweep the very surface of the earth, and we felt how hopeless we were thus defencelessly exposed to their arbitrary power. The first burst of hail made the ground perfectly white within the space of five minutes. The snow fell in thick, medium-sized flakes, but the ground did not get covered to a greater depth than 4 to 5 cm., for no sooner did the snow settle than it began to melt from underneath, and by noon on the following day it had mostly disappeared, except for a few scattered patches in sheltered situations. That day the hail-storm did not make its appearance until 5 p. m.
August 12th. The brook at Camp No. XXV (alt. 5,01 I m.) continued towards the west-south-west. Whether and how far it afterwards turns towards the west or the north-west we were unable to see, because of the low rounded hills and elevations through which it forces its way before it disappears. Its volume had dwindled a very great deal, and the water was half clear, a sort of dirty green, though previously it had been yellowish brown like a clay puddle. In the morning at the camp the stream had a breadth of 9.15 m., a mean depth of 0.30 m., a maximum depth of 0.37 m., a mean velocity of 0.56 m., and a volume of 1.66 cub.m. in the second. The marks on the banks showed that it had recently been at least as high as 5 or 6 cub. m. At that season it pretty certainly oscillates in this way every day, the causes being the varying amounts of downfall, the bright or clouded con
dition of the sky, and the frostiness of the nights.
Hedin, Tourney in Central Asia. III.
Fig. 71. CAMP XXV. BEGINNING OF A STORM.
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