210 TO THE KARAKORUM. 



I came back to camp and enquired after Subhan, who 

 emerged from the shuldary, and reported himself some- 

 what better, but that Phuttoo and Mooktoo were ill ; the 

 latter's whining voice was heard in corroboration, com- 

 plaining of the cold. These men are in every respect as 

 comfortable as my domestics, and have the advantage of 

 being inured to the rigours of a cold climate ; whereas 

 the others are denizens of the sultry plains of the 

 Punjab, and yet they do not complain ; though shivering, 

 they are content and cheery, and, I believe, quite despise 

 these unmanly hunters. 



I continued my stroll up the valley, and ascended a 

 high hillock near the glacier which presents a truly for- 

 midable aspect, its congealed masses being broken into a 

 multitude of conical peaks which look as though they bid 

 defiance to any attempt to scale them. Viewed from this 

 eminence, the icy scene around was grand in the extreme. 

 I overlooked the upper gorges of the highest mountains, 

 all of which appeared to converge towards a centre, their 

 immense contents of snow and ice radiating, as it were, 

 and uniting, the distance blending them and mysteriously 

 concealing the vast and irregular spaces that really sepa- 

 rated them. The sun was warm and genial, the air sharp 

 and fresh, under which influences I felt simple existence 

 delightful, and rejoiced devoutly in being the creature of 

 the Beneficent Creator of these mighty works. 



In the afternoon I walked to the foot of the glacier to 

 examine the path, and went over a considerable tract of 

 snow, but could not discover the track up the glacier, 

 which must be very steep and difficult. On my return 

 the unhappy shikarries, who had remained all day rolled 

 up in their blankets, crawled to my tent and expressed 

 their shame at being ' hors-de-combat ' without any ap- 

 parent reason. They all complained of severe headache, 



