MOUNT GADJUR; ITS SACRED LAKE. 95 



and on the 7th and 9th of August snow fell in such 

 quantities as to lie on the ground and form con- 

 siderable drifts. Under these circumstances scientific 

 investigations could not be successfully prosecuted ; 

 the flowering season was nearly over, and only forty 

 of the plants collected by us during the summer 

 were gathered in August. 



The summit of Gadjur is crowned by some huge 

 cliffs, in whose bosom reposes the small lake of 

 Demchuk.^ This lakelet is 700 feet long and 240 

 wide ; the access is by a narrow chasm like a 

 gateway. The lake itself is held sacred by the 

 Tangutans, and prayers are offered up here by the 

 common people as well as by the lamas of Chertinton. 

 Their superior, our friend the Gigen, lived for seven 

 years in a cave on the lake, and told us that he once 

 saw a large blue cow rise from it, swim on its surface 

 for some time and again disappear in its depths. 

 Ever since then it has been held in high repute. 



The absolute elevation of Demchuk is 13,100 

 feet, and the situation is very striking. The narrow- 

 ness of the gorge, the tranquil gleaming waters, the 

 gigantic rocks towering up all round, only admitting 

 one small streak of sky, and lastly, the solemn silence 

 almost unbroken save by an occasional falling stone, 

 move the inmost soul of man. As for myself, I 

 remained more than an hour on its shore absorbed 

 in reverie ; and when I left I felt how naturally the 

 untutored mind might invest with mysterious sanctity 



' There are actually two little lakes, but one is much smaller than 

 Demchuk, and lies below it. 



