LEH TO YARKAND 25 



to be surmounted in the valley between Murgu 

 and Kizil Langar. 



On the whole the road does not call for much 

 description ; most of the country is as barren as it 

 can be, and gains an added desolation from the in- 

 numerable skeletons of animals which lie on or near 

 the path. With the exception of one or two views 

 the scenery is not particularly striking ; no doubt 

 the hills are very high above the sea, but then the 

 whole country is so, too ; consequently they do not 

 look much. 



Despite its great elevation (18,300 feet), and the 

 fact that many baggage animals there succumb, 

 the Karakoram cannot be called a difficult pass, 

 the approaches to it on both sides being steep 

 only for a little way from the summit, which was 

 quite clear of snow. A little way down the north 

 side is a monument to Dalgleish, who was murdered 

 here. The cairn had been partly pulled down and 

 a good deal of damage done. This we repaired as 

 well as we could, but on our return next year it 

 was down again, and the inscribed slab of marble 

 had been broken, the work, no doubt, of Pathan 

 merchants, who have a racial sympathy with the 

 murderer. 1 



Early in the season there is fair grass, all things 

 considered, at Murgu and Aktagh, and a little in 



1 The murderer, an Afghan, was tracked down in Central Asia by 

 Captain (now Colonel) Hamilton Bower, and eventually committed 

 suicide. 



