So far all our camps had possessed native names. From August 3 ist, we approached regions where even the Ladakis knew no appellations. I, therefore, now began to give the camps Roman numbers. The distance to Camp I only amounted to 7.3 km., the last place where some scanty grass was to be found south of the pass. At Camp I the absolute height amounted to 5,17o m., meaning a rise of 288 m. from Camp Chula, or 1:25.4, or a much greater acceleration in the ascent than on the day before. The direction is N. E., but the valley is winding, and sometimes one is riding to the north. Some snow had fallen during the night, but most of it disappeared in the course of the day.
The bottom of the valley is covered with gravel, and the living rock at the sides is the same folded sandstone as before. Terraces are standing at the sides, though much smaller than lower down. At a place where the valley becomes narrow there is a little stone wall. At the right side the living rock was now grey, fine-grained sandstone-schist, strongly folded as before. Now there is no trace of a track, and no other signs of human visits than the little stone wall, which may be a hundred years old or more. Finally we enter a very small tributary valley from the right and ascend its winding course, where now only a very little brook remained. Living rock is rare, and only to be seen at the base of the slopes where the flood water is eroding, and at some places higher up. The rest of the slopes consist of gravel, sand and dust, the results of the strong powers of weathering. In this valley we have not to ascend any fatiguing terraces, but follow its bottom the whole way up, constantly crossing the brook. The morphology has undergone a considerable change. The relative altitude of the mountains has gradually diminished, and their forms are more rounded and flat or cupola-shaped. The valleys are less energetically eroded and the terraces often interrupted or missing altogether. The little brook is all that is left of the majestic Indus in this direction. The Ladakis believed it would
IIIFカラー高解像度
