National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

willow are plentiful to within twenty-five miles of the lake. From that on, the never failing
" bûrtzi" affords an abundant supply of fuel. Excellent grass, similar to that in the Little
Pámir, and the Aktásh and Sirikol valleys, is found throughout. The lake stream in the
first sixteen miles of its course flows between high gravelly banks, which rise to far extending
downs, dying away in the long and easy mountain slopes.

We were remarkably fortunate in meeting with comparatively little snow as far as the
lake. There was a considerable fall on the night of the 29th at Bilaur Bas, twenty-five miles
below the lake.

We reached the Great Pámir or Wood's lake on 1st May. It was entirely frozen over
and covered with snow. Its water is perfectly sweet, judging from what we used for two days
from the stream which flows out of it. It extends east and west, and is about ten miles long
by three broad. The water marks on the shores however indicate a considerable enlargement
in summer. Its height is 14,200 feet. The southern shore is even, the northern broken and
irregular. The shores resemble a sea beach from the sand and gravel which cover them.
Many signs of considerable depth were observed.

At three miles from the foot a high promontory runs out from the northern shore and
approaches the southern side to within less than a mile. The hills to the south slope very
gradually from the edge of the lake, and the peaks rise to a height of four or five thousand
feet above it. Broad plains and low undulations, for about three miles, lie between it and the
hills to the north, which appear much lower than those to the south.

The valley closes in at the head of the lake, and continues narrow for about eight miles,
when it again opens out with a steady fall to the east. Captain Trotter by examination deter-
mined the water-shed to be at this point. Two small frozen lakes were observed near the head
of the lake, under the high snowy mountains, which close in there from the south. They pre-
sented the appearance of ice accumulations, and probably, after furnishing feeders to the lake
for a short time, finally disappear in summer. A valley at the head of the lake leads to the
Wurm pass, by which the Little Pámir, Langar, and Sarhadd are reached in one and two days.

There was a great deal of snow about the lake, and it lay so deep on the high ground at
its head, and in the valley leading down east from the water-shed, that the easy regular road
that way could not be followed. We were forced to find a path along the low hills to the
north, and had considerable difficulty in forcing our way through the heavy snow drifts.

The snow ceased about eighteen miles from the lake. The eastern stream from the water-
shed is there joined by a large one from the Shash Darrah (six valleys) in the range between
the Great and Little Pámirs. Several paths lead from this point to the Little Pámir and the
Aktásh valley. We followed the united streams, here called the Isligh, down to the Aktásh
valley, a distance of fifty-eight miles, over a very gentle fall the whole way. The hills right
and left are low and rounded, with great openings and depressions appearing every where. We
were accompanied by a large party of Wakhis, acting as guides and in charge of the horses
carrying our supplies. On one of these guides being asked if paths lay in the direction of
certain openings pointed out, the answer was "Yes, there are paths all over the Pámir. It has
a thousand roads. With a guide you can go in all directions."

From the junction of the Great Pámir with the Aktásh valley we travelled eighteen miles,
south-east by south, up to the halting place, which had been agreed upon with Captain Biddulph
as the point of meeting on the 4th May. Both parties reached punctually on that date, we
having marched thirty-seven miles that day to keep the engagement.

Captain Biddulph succeeded in visiting the Chitrál passes, and made a most valuable addi-
tion to the results of our Pámir exploration.

The Alichór Pámir runs east and west, parallel to the Great and Little Pámirs. Accord-
ing to Wakhi accounts it is similar in character to them, broad at the eastern, and narrow at
the western end. It is connected with the Great Pámir by the "Dasht-i-Khargóshi," a desert
flat which extends across from about twenty miles below the Great Pámir lake. A road passes
over it and branches from the Alichór to Shighnán and Khokand. The Dasht-i-Khargóshi is