OVER THE AKATO-TAGH AND THE TSCHIMEN-TAGH.
The most important topographical feature of the day's march was that we crossed over from the glen of Mandarlik to the glen of Kar-jakkak. Both glens proceed northwards from the main range of the Tschimen-tagh and possess the same geographical value. The pass we crossed by is situated in the crest which separates the two glens from one another; in fact this is the only place in which this particular crest can be crossed, for lower down, where it consists of rugged cliffs, it is impassable.
Fig. 39. THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE VALLEY OF MANDARLIK ABOVE THE CAMP. THE RIGHT EROSION TERRACE IS DISTINCLY VISIBLE. TO TETE RIGHT OF THE PHOTOGRAPH IS THE METEOROLOGICAL
OBSERVATORY.
With respect to the climate a great change had taken place. For a short time that evening the wind blew with great violence from the north-east, and though we had but a drizzle around the camp, we saw how heavily it was raining lower down the valley. During the night it snowed pretty smartly, and next morning the entire landscape was covered with a thin but unbroken sheet of snow. But by 8 a.m. big patches of bare ground were showing through it, and two hours later most of the snow had disappeared; though through the haze and the heavy rain-clouds we perceived above the camp the white gleam of the mountain-slopes to the southwest. Owing to the rain and the snow the soft soil had become very slippery and greasy, in fact it was no better than a mud-puddle. During the course of the day the brook swelled greatly, so that by the evening it was a roaring, foaming torrent of a brownish-grey colour. The temperature of the water amounted to 2.1° at 9 p.m. Thus the name of the place, Kar-jakkak (_= Where the Snow Falls), proved
IIIF Color HighRes
