A Rock-bound Valley. 



away and drowned. The river was now a roaring channel, the 

 sun had reached the zenith of his power, and the effect on ice 

 and snow resulted in every ravine being turned into glacial 

 rivulets, each contributing its quota to the main stream. 



The width of the Kulan Urgu Valley varies at different 

 points, in some places being as much as two hundred and fifty 

 yards and in others narrowing to forty paces. At intervals along 

 the valley are signs of cultivation, mostly in the shape of 

 barley, whilst here and there groves of apricot trees surround the 

 tiny mud-built houses of the inhabitants in this out-of-the- 

 way corner of the world. The valley is shut in on both sides 

 by stupendous mountains rising abruptly from the water's edge, 

 and recalling the mighty canyons of the Fraser River in British 

 Columbia, through which I travelled some years ago. 



109 



