Across tlic Roof of the World. 



tremendously high mountains, which in many places rise sheer 

 from the water's edge, towering up thousands of feet, their 

 summits capped by eternal snow. The sun has scant oppor- 

 tunity to show itself in these dark and gloomy canyons, some of 

 the villages only getting an hour or so of sunshine during even 

 the long days of summer. 



Just below the village of Atabad, a few miles out of Hunza, 

 I halted on a sandy stretch by the river to change coolies. 



THE RIVER HAD TO BE FORDED A NUMBER OF TIMES. 



From here on to Gulmit, a good 20-mile march from Hunza, 

 the river had to be forded a number of times, but as the guide 

 sent by the Mir knew the way it did not occasion more than 

 the usual blundering and stumbling over hidden boulders 

 lying along the bed. Luckily the weather was not yet warm 

 enough to melt the snow in sufficient quantities to render 

 the fords impassable, which is the case during summer, when the 



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