Considering the height above us, the selection of a suitable spot for a camp seemed all-important. From where the yaks had brought us nothing was to be seen but a broad slope of snow fringed on its southern edge by precipitous cliffs ,falling towards the glacier. In order to make sure of the chances for camping higher up I despatched the two Hunza levies on a reconnaissance. They were to examine the conditions of the snow, and to look out for some shelter in the rocks which might enable us to pass a night at a greater elevation, eventually without tents. I myself remained behind to use the comparatively clear weather for work with the photo-theodolite. The clouds that were gathering and the high wind that sprang up were a warning not to lose time.
The view which the place of my halt offered, and part of which is shown by the photograph reproduced on p. 96, was grand indeed. It comprised to the west range after range of the Pamirs, from the distant peaks of Wakhan far away to the Alai mountains. The mountains lining the valley below me on the west seemed nowhere higher than my place of observation, for which the hypsometer reading indicated 16,820 feet. From the same point splendid views were obtained up and down the Yambulak Glacier. Compressed between mighty walls of rock the stream of ice seemed in a state of petrified. convulsion. From its highest point where its firn filled the space between the twin peaks of Murtagh-Ata down to the opening of its rock-bound gorge, the glacier displayed a bewildering maze of huge crevasses. Their greenish depths contrasted vividly with the spotless white of the snow-crust that covered the surface of the ice. Opposite to us rose the almost perpendicular wall of rock which faces the great ridge ascending straight to the southern and highest peak of Murtagh. Above this rock-wall there showed the thick ice of the glacier-mantle covering that side of the mountain.
Though the sun was hidden only for short periods by light clouds, it felt cold enough in the strong breeze. So it took
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