proceeding to the capital of the country. The valley we were in soon narrowed to a precipitous gorge, and Lieutenant Cockerill, who explored it three years later, confirmed the stories of the Kirghiz, and indeed of the Hunza men themselves, that the road along it is quite impracticable for ponies, and even very difficult for men.
An official, with a letter from Safder Ali, the chief of Hunza, came into camp this day. Captain Durand had duly impressed him with the necessity of seeing me through his country, and he accordingly extended a welcome to me. I wrote him back a letter thanking him for his welcome, and saying I wished to travel on the Pamirs first, and would do myself the pleasure of paying him a visit a few weeks later. I then returned with my party across the Shimshal Pass, and rejoining Turdi Kol and the Kirghiz, who had been left behind with the camels, again descended the Oprang River to its junction with the Yarkand River, or Raskam River as it is known locally, at Chong Jangal.
IIIF Color HighRes
