THE KARLIK TAGH 517 



the Tian Shan, and of wild-pig, while the grassy slopes 

 above the forests supported large herds of ibex, some 

 of which carried remarkably fine heads.* 



The existence of these forests will seem the more 

 peculiar when the distributions of other forested areas 

 of the Karlik Tagh are enumerated. The northern side 

 of the range, where one would most expect forests, is 

 bereft of trees of any description. The nature of the 

 ground — an exposed plateau — being quite unsuitable. 

 On the southern flanks, the Shopoli forests cover by far 

 the largest area : occasional groups of pine or larch are 

 found in most valleys, but the only other large extent 

 of forest is in the upper Edira Valley. Not till one 

 reaches the Barkul basin are forests encountered of any 

 considerable extent. The whole length of the northern 

 flanks of the Barkul Range has a forest-belt, especially 

 at its eastern end in the neighbourhood of the cols that 

 lead over to Kumul ; the rounded hills to the east of 

 Chagan-bulak Pass being very extensively forested. The 

 Barkul forest-belt runs westwards for some seventy-five 

 miles, and finally disappears. 



To return to our exploration of the valley of the 

 Little Koshmak. From a camp at 8,500 ft. we made an 

 ascent to the head of the valley, mapping its course 

 and attempting an ascent of Peak No. IX., — the pinnacle 

 of the snow-cornice which had shown up so well from 

 Shopoli. We steadily climbed up the ridge dividing the 

 two sources of the river, until an altitude of 12,988 ft. 



1 A head, picked up in the Little Koshmak Valley, measured 47^ in. 

 The wild-sheep of the Karhk Tagh must also run large, for Miller found 

 some horns on a tomb at Togucha which measured 59 in. in length — with 

 the tips broken off, — while Younghusband picked up several old horns 

 lying on the eastern spurs of Karlik Tagh which measured 54 in., and 

 one gigantic pair of 62 in. in length. 



