CHAP. VII.] ARRIVAL IN TASHMALIK PLAIN 115
that the forethought of our guides from Kaurük-Kurghan had provided spare animals to shift their loads on to. After a tiring ascent of close on 2,000 feet the Yamala or Kepek Pass, the last obstacle, was surmounted, and I hurried ahead of my caravan to reach Tashmalik if possible before dusk. The plain at the point where I struck it at last by 6.30 p.m. was a
ASCENT OF SHAGILDIK DAWAN.
stony waste, but pursuing my way by the side of the river I soon came to a canal and then to fertile irrigated lands. Men were still working in the fields and in all directions rills of water, betokening by its colour its glacier sources, were spreading fertility over the rich soil.. It was a picture of life doubly impressive after the stony wilderness from which I had emerged.
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