Feb. 28, 1859.] IN THE ALA-TU AND AC-TU MOUNTAINS. 137 



Here I again discovered mimeroiis shells, and after digging up a few 

 inch.^ of sand with my dagger found a bed of several kinds. 

 Having gone about three miles, we came upon another deep channel 

 coming from the south-west, in which a rapid stream was running 

 over a rocky bed. The guide led the Avay up the bank to a point 

 where we could ford without difficulty. Here the stream was about 

 twenty yards wide, and deeper than agreeable, for in one part it was 

 up to our middle and exceedingly cold, proving that it had come 

 from a snowy source at no great distance. Our guide informed me 

 that this river ran into a cavern in the mountain, and that no one 

 dare approach, as Shaitan had his dwelling there. 



Just at dark we reached our resting place, where we found a 

 comfortable berth under some overhanging masses of granite, which 

 had been scooped out by water, and here we lost no time in taking 

 our glass of tea with a few scraps of soaked hyran. When darkness 

 spread his mantle over the valley, shutting out of view the moun- 

 tains to the south, we had nothing to look upon except the riven 

 and serrated cliffs rising above us. These were partly lit up by the 

 flickering light of our fire, giving a spectral appearance to their 

 singular forms. This was the place on which Kinsara had lived, 

 and my guide told me that no one of the band ever dared to disobey 

 his orders, as doing so was certain death. He had acquired un- 

 bounded power over the mind of his followers by his bravery. If a 

 desperate attack had to be made against fearful odds, he led the 

 band, and was ever first in the fight, shouting his cry with uplifted 

 battle-axe, and plunging his fiery steed into the thickest of the 

 battle. This gave confidence to his men and was the secret of his 

 success, but the Kirghis thought he was in league with Shaitan, and 

 that no steel could touch him. 



At the foot of these rocks many a man had rested before being 

 sold into slavery, often seeing his wives and children divided among 

 his captors. As we sat around our little fire watching the red glare 

 upon the rocks, we were suddenly startled by a vivid flash of lightning 

 which for a moment illumined the whole valley and adjacent moun- 

 tains with a pale blue light. We were almost blinded, and the next 

 instant left in thick darkness. A heavy roll of thunder now echoed 

 among the mountains on the opposite side of the ridge under which 

 we were encamped, several other flashes followed, all equally grand, 

 but the storm passed along the chain and did not reach us. 



The night passed over and the day dawned without our being 

 disturbed, and long before the sun cast his rays into the valley we 

 were up. While tea was preparing I rambled along the base of the 

 cliifs, and found additional indications of tliis basin having once been 



