on steep ledges at the side. Occasionally a slushy sheet of ice still lay at the bottom of the glen. Bos-tschat is the meeting-place of two glens from the adjacent main range, each traversed by a spring-fed rivulet. At the actual conjunction of the two, the true Bos-tschat, stands a little stone hut. In the more westerly of these two side-glens were solid blocks of ice, while in the eastern prattled a muddy brook, which increased in volume towards evening. The rocks consisted for the most part of granite and mica-schist.
On the 3rd May we had to cross the pass of Sandschu, which, like the Sugetdavan, is so far of secondary importance that it only serves as water-divide between streams that belong to one and the same river-system. We started at 5.30 a.m., when nothing but the highest peaks were just tipped with the golden tints of the rising sun; in our glen the shadows lay diffuse and murky for several hours after that, and the temperature was fresh and pleasant, although chilly like that of a cellar. The weather was in every way favourable.
The glen still continued to be very narrow and deep, and its bottom was filled with blocks of granite and crystalline schist, so that riding was rather difficult and wearisome. Ever and anon we crossed over the stream, which was slightly frozen, but nevertheless kept up a faint murmur amongst the stones. At Tar-bughas or the Narrow Neck, which is a tiny expansion of the glen, a side-glen debouches from the east. The ground there was level and soft. Under the cliffs is an in-closure, in which caravans often take a rest before beginning the climb up to the pass. The glen winds with short, abrupt turns, principally towards the north-east; but its upper part, where the bordering mountain-walls decrease rapidly in altitude, is a good deal straighter. Here again snow made its appearance all at once and increased rapidly in amount. The dividing-line between bare ground and snow-covered
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