FROM LADAK TO EAST TURKESTAN.
We crossed the river the first time that day just above Kaptar-chane. For crossing we generally selected localities in which the river was flat and broad, 3o to 40 m. across, and not more than half a meter deep, and where the boulders in the bed were not so big as to prove a hindrance. After that we travelled for some distance on the left bank, proceeding north, afterwards north-east, and then we forded the river again. Subsequently the glen became more winding than it had hitherto been and the scenery more diversified and wild. At intervals a side glen debouched, opening out glimpses into the heart of the mountains; on the whole however side-glens are rather few in that part of the country. Along the right side of the glen we observed a mountain path, which, I was told, leads to the open grassy tract of Nja-
jaghmik, where flocks of sheep are wont to be grazed in the winter. We then proceeded along the foot of a vast mass of marble, the rock being snowy white and beautiful to look at, though seamed with cracks. After that our direction was north-west, until we reached a part in which the glen was narrow and inclosed between steep, though not very high cliffs, where we forded the stream three times. From the east enter two large side-glens, and down the lower of these a brook was flowing, though near its outlet it had formed sheets of ice. Every now and again we observed at the foot of the mountains little rivulets, which owed their origin to snow melting in the vicinity, and there too an occasional spring contributed its quota of water. On the left side of the glen there is a saline spring, the incrustations of which have given rise to formations like stalactites. After we forded the stream the third time we set our faces towards the west-north-west; here again there was an accumulation of grey drift-sand. Shortly afterwards we were again forced to cross the river by a projecting headland; then we passed a fresh zone of sand, and a scree of stones, at the foot of which was a rivulet issuing from
Fig. 327. CROSSING THE SCHEJOK RIVER.
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