An Unreliable Guide. 



50 inches. Both sides of the ravine were treeless though grass- 

 covered, the upper reaches giving every indication of first rate 

 ibex ground, which no doubt it is, though to ascertain this by 

 actual experience would have entailed a prolonged halt. I could 

 not afford the time for this especially in view of all the circum- 

 stances, and the questionable crowd of followers I had with me. 

 I struck camp at seven the next morning, and with one of the 

 Turkis decided to move down through the rocky ravine, which, 



WK REACHED A SMALL GRASSY CLEARINO AT THE CONFLUENCE 

 OF TWO RAVINES." 



at a point opposite camp, narrowed to ten feet. The baggage 

 was to cross by a low pass to the north-east, as the guide I had 

 pressed into my service the day before informed me the road 

 through the ravine was impracticable, which was a lie, as I 

 afterwards found out, the track, though mostly through water 

 and over a vast amount of rocks and stones, being quite passable 

 for the transport. Certainly at one particular spot where the way 



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