National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

EXCURSION TO EASTERN PAMIR, SUMMER 1894.

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the hills and have sometimes, because of the action of water, assumed phantastic forms. Grottos are often seen.

Leaving Pas-rabat we have first to our left or south three right tributaries,

Kichik-oljeke, Shagil-unkur and Chong-oljeke with 5 or 6 tents and all with yeilaks. From the north come Ak-taldu and Yam-bulak. The latter, with a hut at its mouth, is considerable. A short distance from the junction the Yam-bulak is formed by two valleys. The left or southern one of these is the Yam-bulak jilga proper which leads to Yang i-davan and Tuge-boyun-davan, beyond which a valley again joins the main valley. On this road one may also continue to Chichiklik-davan. This roundabout road, which is one day's march in length and probably very difficult, is used, even by caravans, in the winter when the Tengi-tar valley is impossible on account of ice and snow. By the right or northern valley is a road to Little Kara-kul and Su-bashi crossing Tur-bulung-davan and leaving the above-mentioned Kara-tash-

davan to its right. In the entire region of Yam-bulak there are very good summergrazings and 8o or 90 tents.

From the junction with the Yarn-bulak valley the main valley is called Tengitar, and here begins the extremely narrow and difficult gorge which is filled with foaming water amongst heaps of large round blocks, where it sometimes looks hopeless for loaded ponies. The rock is here granite or syenite and the forms of the ridges and crests more cupola-shaped, not sharp-edged and wild as in the schist region. The volume of water is small, only 2 or 3 cub. m. per second, but still the wild rapids amongst the blocks are a great hindrance as it is impossible to see the holes between the big blocks. Nearly the whole way one has to ride in the water. At dry places there is always vegetation, amongst other plants wild Rosa-bushes and birches.

From the south enters Gör- or Gur-jilga, wild and narrow but leading to yeilaks where people occupying two or three tents now were said to pass the summer. A little higher up Kara jilg-a comes from the same side; in its background we see a range with eternal snow.

Isik-bulak is a hot spring which in three small jets comes out from below a large block in the erosion terrace at the right or southern side of the Tengi-lay valley. The water is sulphurous and has coloured the stones around in yellow and brownish tints. Clouds of steam are surrounding the spring, which has a temperature of 52.8°. The spring is situated 7 m. from the bank of the brook; I o m. below the place where the spring water enters the brook the latter has a temperature of i9.0°, and 1 o m. above the same place 12.5°. Two minutes higher up we pass a second spring of exactly the same character and with a temperature of 5I.7°; above it the brook had a temperature of 12.2°. From the springs and down to Yarn-bulak the

brook never freezes; above them it freezes only at   Y

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com aratil quiet stretches. comparatively