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| 0355 |
The heart of a continent : vol.1 |
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only been there in the late summer and early autumn ; but I
found ice in the basin inside my tent in August, the thermo-
meter at zero (Fahrenheit) by the end of September, and eighteen
degrees below zero at the end of October. Lord Dunmore
found his thermometer at five degrees below zero inside his tent
in November. Strong winds, too, are very frequent, and in-
crease the discomfort arising from the cold very considerably,
and this is further augmented by the lassitude and weakness
brought on by the elevation. So that the cold, the winds, and
the elevation together, render life on the Pamirs anything but
cheering.
In spite of this severity of the climate, however, the in-
habitants of the Pamirs remain there the whole year round.
They are almost entirely Kirghiz, with a few refugees from
Wakhan. These Kirghiz are a rough, hardy race, as they must
necessarily be ; but they have little character, and no aptitude
for fighting. They are avaricious and indolent, and possess few
qualities which would attract a stranger to them. They live in
the same felt tents which I have already described in the
account of my journey from Peking.
At Aktash we found three or four tents and a "beg" or
headman appointed by the Chinese. He was very civil to us,
and made no difficulties whatever about our proceeding round the
Pamirs, which at that time were considered Chinese territory.
We accordingly struck off almost due west across the range on
the western side of the Little Pamir to the valley of Istigh
River. In all this eastern part of the Pamirs the mountain
ranges are low and easily crossed. No snow-peaks, like those
to the west of the Victoria Lake, or the Lake of the Little
Pamir, are to be seen. They appear to have all been worn down
and rounded off. We had no difficulty, therefore, in crossing
first into the valley of the Istigh, and then from there to Chadir
Tash, on the Alichur Pamir. On the way there, at a place
called Ak-chak tash, we found some hot springs, the temperature
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