XI ' THE ROUND GORGE 173 



side of the nala, but nothing Hke as close as the great 

 peak itself, whose enormous height seemed right above 

 me, and whose side looked like a single sheer precipice 

 from the snow-line on the ridge opposite to the tapering 

 apex itself. It was a wonderful sight, which, for loneli- 

 ness and sublimity, I do not think I have ever seen 

 equalled. 



When I awoke the following morning, the 23rd, I 

 found that the shikari had cooked for my chota hazri a 

 fowl which had been sent up during the night by the 

 tiffin coolie. I was glad enough to have some of it with 

 my tea, and we then started for a side glen which we 

 hoped would show us markhor. We went up the nala, 

 keeping at our then level, some 2000 feet above the 

 stream below. We took one local coolie with us, and 

 by 8 A.M. were seated on a ridge, examining a very 

 curiously -shaped ravine, which I shall call the Round 

 Gorge for convenience. 



The upper part of this ravine was to our left, and 

 consisted of a wide stretch of very steep rocks, close to 

 the crest of the range, and, where the slope was not too 

 sharp, covered with snow. Below this was a mass of 

 similar rocks not quite so steep, but also covered with 

 snow. Next came, still getting narrower as the Gorge 

 descended, a jumble of irregular rocks, mostly uneven 

 blocks — some flat, some perpendicular — but all below 

 the snow-line. The lower part of these rocks must 

 have held clay in the interstices between the boulders, 

 for cedars and pines, and bushes of various kinds, grew 

 there. Immediately below these rocks, and coming up 

 to their base, was an extensive slope of grass, ending off 



