Leaviiiij the Confines of Civilisation. 



met an envoy of the Mir of Hunza returning from Yarkand, 

 whither he had been to present gold dust, the annual tribute 

 paid by the Mir to the Chinese Government, to whom the former 

 has owed nominal allegiance for centuries. The envoy and his 

 party were bringing presents in return, probably of greater 

 value than those taken to Yarkand, and spoke of the good time 

 they had had in Chinese territory, where they had been well 

 received by the Celestial authorities. The envoy told me the 

 Kilik Pass was closed on account of the depth of snow, and 

 that he and his followers had crossed by the Mintaka. This 

 was unwelcome news to me, as the Mintaka, being further to the 

 east, would necessitate a detour and result in a much longer 

 trek to the poli ground. 



I arrived at Misgar at half-past three in the afternoon, the 

 last coolie coming in at six, not a bad performance considering 

 the nature of the road and the constant succession of rocks and 

 boulders over which one has to scramble. 



Misgar is the last inhabited village in the Kanjut Valley, 

 and lies at an elevation of 10,200 feet. It is situated on 

 the left bank of the river, here flowing in a deep chasm in 

 the centre of the valley, a steep and zigzag path conducting 

 to the higher ground where the village stands. There are 

 no trees here and wood is brought up from the river banks 

 lower down the valley, where the willow jungle gives the 

 villagers their firewood supply. It is a desolate windy spot, 

 and the general aspect of bare rocky mountains and entire 

 absence of foliage is cheerless and depressing. 



The lumbardar of Misgar had gone up to the Kilik to ascertain 

 for me the feasibility of crossing by this pass on to the Pamirs, 

 and I was informed would meet me the next day. As usual 

 I declined the offer of a house to sleep in, preferring the outer 

 world and my tent, where there was less chance of being invaded 

 by hosts of live-stock, so prevalent in the native dwellings. 



At Misgar the Mir's henchman left me to return to Hunza, 

 and the faithful Piro, in conjunction with Giyani — who exercised 



53 



