IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.9 |
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Citation Information
THE PASS OF ILIK-SU.
57
We camped at the aul of Ilik-su at an altitude of 4,133 m. There we found six Tajik tents. The inhabitants had arrived in the middle of May. During the winter they live at Masar and lower down, for the cold is sharp in the Ilik-su valley and the considerable amount of snow makes it difficult for the sheep to find grazing and for the men to find fuel. A great part of this snow is said to be due to the S. W. wind which sweeps heaps of snow up into the valley. At Masar, on the other hand, the broad, open valley is swept free of snow by the wind. In the summer there is very little wind. Rain is rare; the precipitation falls as snow.
The Tajiks of Ilik-su have large flocks of yaks, sheep and goats, but no camels. Most of them are perfect nomads, as they dwell in tents even at Masar and not in lam-ui or stone houses as do several other Tajiks. The household and the flocks are looked after by the women, just as in the Kirgiz auls.
The black schist near our camp lay in 87° N. 3o° E.
The following day I made an excursion with yaks up to the pass of Ilik-su. The distance is 6 km. Just above the camp the valley becomes narrow, but there is still grass and grazing flocks. The ascent is increasingly steep; as an average it is as i : 7.5, for the camp is at 4,133 m. and the pass at 4,935 m. The grass disappears and there is only gravel. A part of the valley is a narrow gorge with relatively low hills at the sides. To the right the hills are hidden by detritus, to the left the living rock stands in 68° N. 46° E. At one place there is a little threshold of solid rock across the valley where the brook forms a cascade. Finally the valley is transformed into a trough with snow-patches. This we leave to our right and the path climbs the extremely steep rocks at our left where the schist forms steps. Everything is covered with slabs and flakes of schist, where only mountain ponies and yaks are able to climb.
This difficult passage leads directly up to the pass of Ilik-su, which forms a vaulted platform smaller than those of the other passes. A rudimentary glacier is seen at the southern side of the threshold. From this glacier a little brook starts to the east. The eastern slope down from the pass is said to be easier than the western, which is an exception to the rule we had found with the other passes. It soon enters a narrow gorge now supposed to be very difficult from blocks which had fallen down from the sides during the earthquake. This gorge is joined by the one from Taldi-kol. There are small patches of jangal or forest, and at one place wheat and barley are grown. The name of this place is Uruk, and it is situated near Raskan-darya. From Uruk there is no road along the river; it is a cul de sac. From the pass three mountain shoulders are seen eastwards, and at greater distance a mighty snow-covered range.
R. IX.
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