| Panorama shows the nearest part, N. W. of the Chang-lung yogrna Pass. It continues to the S. E., where we see some of the culminating ridges in the vicinity. In this direction, towards the interior of High Tibet, the water-parting system no doubt becomes comparatively lower and more irregular. To the N. N. E. high mountains could be discerned in the very great distance, but on account of clouds, were not clearly visible. The plateau-land of Aksai-chin could not be seen. It is probably hidden by smaller ridges not far away, and partly also by clouds. The gigantic peaks of the Kara-korum Mountains are hidden by the water-parting range, and even if no such obstacles existed, they would perhaps be invisible on account of the great distance. The grandest view is, however, to the S. W. and south, where the horizon was perfectly clear and no clouds covered the mountains. One gets the impression of a sea during a storm and with gigantic waves. There are thousands of peaks and ridges all snow-covered, white in the sunshine ' and blue in the shadow. Even the farthest peaks on the horizon are sharp and there is nothing like a perspective L. disappearing in mist far away. Everything is as sharp and clear as crystal. Perhaps
it would be possible to identify some of the highest peaks with the help of the map. But it would be useless and the purpose of this Panorama, which also has to be thought of as a closed ring, is only to give a general idea of the view of this world of mountains. At most other saddles situated at 5,780 m. or more, the panoramic view will as a rule be somewhat of the same kind as this, a white sea of { snow-covered mountain ranges and peaks, but with a horizon as even as that of the
sea. For, at the first moment, one is surprised to find the line of the horizon nearly as level as that of a sand desert, disregarding its similarity to a very fine saw. On the water-parting Kara-korum Range, on both sides of our pass, living rock is extremely rare. The place from which I sketched was, with one or two exceptions, the only one to be seen. The whole range appears as a flat, rounded protuberance of soft, fine material, enormous heaps of detritus, which only here and there allow some little part of the solid stone skeleton to crop out in the open air. All the rest of the living rock is in these high regions covered by detritus. But it would be very wrong to imagine the range as a comparatively regular crest, stretching in a nearly straight line to the N. W. On the contrary, it is extremely irregular, as can be seen even on my Panorama. The water-parting line of the range is winding in all possible directions , and, according to the laws of erosion, these irregularities are increasing in the course of time. Both the N. E. and the S. W. sides of the range are cut through by innumerable small valleys, every one of which has its origin in the crest of the range, and cuts its furrow deeper and deeper down into the mountain side. This excavating activity has been at a very high rate of energy in pluvial time, and during post-pluvial time it has gradually diminished, but is still going on, though at a much slower rate. The greatest amount of precipitation falls on the S. W. side, | |
IIIFカラー高解像度
