THE KARLIK TAGH 509 



cunningly led irrigation-canals from the streams on to the 

 top of the ancient moraine, where they cultivated small 

 fields of barley. 



In this naked land, denuded of vegetation, every geo- 

 graphical feature was demonstrated with diagrammatic 

 clearness. The former extent of glaciation was clearly 

 shown. I travelled for two hours over this old moraine 

 before coming to more recent ones, typified by hollows 

 filled with little lakes ; and after toiling several hours 

 through deep snow-drifts arrived at impregnable country 

 close to the glaciers which hung below the highest peaks. 

 The Bardash River had three heads ; these drained the 

 southern side of the highest points, all of them having 

 their sources in glaciers. The largest of these was at 

 the source of the tributary which rose on the south- 

 western side of Peak No. IL, but I did not measure it ; 

 the glacier on the south-eastern side was about a mile 

 in length, and that at the head of the other source 

 half a mile long. All the glaciers were very steep ; 

 and, as far as I could see, were in a state of retreat. 

 Observations on the northern side of the mountains, 

 however, seemed to point to a recent advance in the 

 snouts of the glaciers. 



The uppermost portion of the valley should afford 

 fine summer pastures, and is, no doubt, made use of 

 by the Taghliks, but at the time of my visit (April 8th) 

 it was deep in snow, which lay everywhere above 

 8,000 ft. The arid nature of this valley was proved 

 by the fact of it possessing no forest ; I saw only one 

 little group of larch trees. This is strange, because 

 forests of considerable extent exist on the southern 

 flanks of the far eastern end of the range and on the 

 northern flanks at the north-western end, yet the 



