A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



sariat. Though this was not quite the season to 

 shoot game, I must plead the fact of having to 

 replenish a somewhat depleted larder with whatever 

 I might obtain. The usual road up the Shyok here 

 crosses to the village, or rather district, of Kapalu, 

 which we could see on the left bank, and which 

 appeared to be a most prosperous place for these 

 parts ; but our way became a mere goat-track 

 leading along the right bank. For some distance 

 w r e ascended a very steep path which brought us 

 out on to the top of some tremendous precipices 

 overhanging the river. Here I made my first 

 acquaintance with a frequent feature of this country, 

 steep slopes of shale standing at an angle that I 

 should be afraid to mention (suffice it to say that 

 it is the steepest slope at which loose shale can 

 stand), the stones of which fell away under our feet 

 as we crossed until they took their final plunge over 

 a precipice of some 1000 feet. Some miles further 

 on, the path led us down to the fields of Machilu, 

 the village at the entrance of the Hushe Nalah, to 

 reach which we had compassed so many weary 

 marches. This nalah, or valley, runs almost due north 

 from that of the Shyok, and is between twenty and 

 thirty miles in length. It leads up to the Mustagh 

 group of the main Karakoram range, with whose 

 peaks, which compose the highest group in the 

 world, viz., " K 2 or Mount Godwin Austen " (28,265 

 feet), Gusherbrum (26,378 feet), and Masherbrum 

 (25,678 feet), everyone who has read Sir Martin 



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