THE cow's MOUTH. 167 



time for a second fair shot, and stopped him in mid 

 career with a bullet in the chest, which rolled him 

 over stone dead. This bear had evidently only 

 lately left his winter quarters, for he was very thin 

 and emaciated, a perfect bag of bones. Having 

 left two of our men to take the skin, we continued 

 our route, and at last came to the glacier, which at 

 first sight appeared like a huge embankment or 

 barrier of snow, extending right across the valley 

 there nearly three-quarters of a mile broad. In 

 perpendicular height it might have been two hun- 

 dred feet, although in places the accumulation of 

 debris and terminal moraine made it appear less. 



At the base of the glacier is a tunnel-like chasm 

 called the Cow's Mouth, through which the Ganges 

 issues forth, no insignificant sub-glacial stream, but 

 already a swift flowing river about fifty feet wide 

 and three deep. In the hot weather the volume of 

 waters increased four-fold from the melting of the 

 snow on the mountains above. Clambering up the 

 boulders of rock and debris that had been carried 

 down by the glacial action, we got upon the glacier, 

 from whence we had a glorious view of the gigantic 



