The Picturesque Agiass Valley. 



Sogoon advised my moving up into the Agiass Valley, and 

 suggested a little ibex shooting pending the arrival of the two 

 other Kalmuks, who were well acquainted with the ground 

 higher up and the best places for shikar. 



Before starting I decided to send Rahim into Kulja with a 

 letter for the Russian Consul requesting my mail, which had 

 been forwarded to his Consulate, and also arranged for Rahim 

 to bring out supplies and several things of which I stood in 

 need, and he started the following morning, August i6th. I 

 paid off Manas Bai that day, he leaving me here to return to 

 his home in the Jirgalan Valley. 



From camp I had to cross a low ridge, whence a path led 

 down into the valley. The road lay up the left bank of the river, 

 which was now a rushing torrent, fed by numerous side streams 

 racing down from the heights on either side. I camped about 

 seven miles up, near an old disused sheep-pen, the brushwood 

 from which provided ample firewood. It was still early in the 

 afternoon, nevertheless a branch stream which here joined 

 the main valley was unfordable owing to the depth and force 

 of the water, so I was obliged to wait until the morrow, when 

 the night frosts in the regions above would restrict the volume. 

 In the evening I went out with Sogoon to look for chikor, or hill 

 partridge, but did not come across any. A storm passed over 

 the camp just after we returned, rather a common occurrence 

 in this part of the world, especially late in the day, when the 

 sky usually becomes overcast and cloudy, with falls of rain and 

 occasionally of snow. 



I was much impressed with the beauty of tlie Agiass Valley 

 and the fine grassy stretches flanked by high mountains through 

 which the river flows. The latter takes its rise amongst the 

 glaciers of the Khalyk Tau Range of the Thian Shan, and has a 

 length of some 60 miles, the first half of which is in a westerly 

 direction, whence it flows due north until emerging into the 

 Tekkes Valley. Leading off from the main valley are numerous 

 side nullahs and ravines, the majority of which held ibex. The 



209 p 



