106 HIGH SOLITUDES 



has about it, above every other region, the impress of 

 both extreme remoteness and loftiest seclusion. As 

 we ascend right up the glacier either the one coming 

 down from the Mustagh Pass or the one to the east 

 running parallel with the general line of the Kara- 

 koram Range we feel not only far away from but 

 also high above the rest of the world. And we 

 seem to have risen to an altogether purer region. 

 Especially if we sleep in the open, without any tent, 

 with the mountains always before us, with the 

 stars twinkling brightly above us, do we have this 

 sense of having ascended to a loftier and serener 

 world. 



At the heads of these glaciers there is little else 

 but snow and ice. The moraines have almost dis- 

 appeared or, rather, have hardly yet come into 

 being. And the mountains are so deeply clothed 

 in ice and snow, it is only when they are extremely 

 steep that rock appears. The glacier-filled valley 

 below and the mountain above are therefore almost 

 purely white. The atmosphere, too, is marvellously 

 clear, so that by day the mountains and glaciers 

 glitter brightly in the sunshine, and at night the 

 stars shine out with diamond brilliance. The effect 

 on a moonlight night is that of fairyland. We see 

 the mountains as clearly as we would by the daylight 

 of many regions, but the light is now all silver, and 

 the mountains not solid and substantial but ethereal 

 as in a vision. 



The pureness of the beauty is unspotted. It is 

 the direct opposite of the voluptuous beauty of 

 Kashmir. No one would come here for repose and 

 holiday. But we like to have been there once. 



