238 EXCURSION TO AJAGH-KUM-KÖL.
The view was sublime, especially eastwards across the valley of Tschimen, with
Kara-tschoka far below us and to the south in the distance the mighty mountain-ranges with their fringes of snow; yet there was not one glacier visible, not even of the most rudimentary type. Almost all the snow that was then in sight disappears during the late summer. The steep transverse glen up which we had just scrambled was clearly visible under our feet from end to end in bird's-eye view, while the offshoots of the mountains on both sides had a peculiarly shortened and truncated appearance. Westwards there was a fresh world of mountain-chains, cliffs, and spurs, almost entirely buried under snow; the only spots in which the naked black rock came through were those upon which the sun beat all day.
On the west side of the pass the declivity was at first rather steep, though
incomparably easier than on the eastern side; but there was just as great a quantity of detritus. We soon reached the upper gathering basin of the Paschalik-saj, and down we went towards the west-north-west and west. Just under the summit of the pass we saw on our left another pass, a good deal lower than Ghopur-alik, so low in fact that we were able to see right over it down to the flats of Jusup-alik. This second pass is however said to be inaccessible from the south.
Several of the glens that enter the upper part of the Paschalik-saj are of some importance, but all are filled with detritus, and all were dry. It was not until we had advanced a little farther down, that we discovered a spring in the main glen, its ice-sheets penetrating in amongst the masses of gravel-and-shingle. Still farther down we passed a small triangular lake, covered with bright, glittering ice. The terraced banks of gravel-and-shingle on both sides of the eroded watercourse became more developed as we advanced down the glen; often they were precipitous and a couple of meters high. Immense cliffs tower upwards on the right, or northern, side; these belong, I was given to understand, to the Ilve-tschimen. Then the glen expands somewhat, being joined from the right by a side-glen of noteworthy dimensions and of a wild, fantastic appearance. At its head we perceived imposing masses of precipitous rock, with great shelves and terraces, upon which the snow lay in long strips, looking for all the world like the galleries and decorations in a Tibetan temple. Between this glen, which runs from south to north, and our glen, which runs from west to east, there are said to stretch soft, rounded, earthy elevations, that yield good grazing in summer. At the point where the two glens unite they are joined by yet a third, coming from the south-west, namely the Buktöj-saj. From this last a track proceeds to the upper part of the Tscharklik-su, and so on down to Tscharklik; but it is reported to be difficult and awkward, crossing over several passes, so that it is only used by hunters. At the point where the three glens merge into one, and form the broad main glen of the Paschalik-saj, there is an open and spacious expanse, crossed by several converging drainage-channels. From that point the main glen assumes a more northerly direction, the component of the directions of the three constituent glens. Had the season not been so far advanced, the grazing here would have been pretty fair. Here we saw a large herd of wild-yaks. The altitude was 4057 m.
All the way from Camp XC to the summit of the pass and a good bit over on the western side the prevailing rock was grey granite. After that red sandstone
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