A KECONNAISSANCE. 233 



of whose works formed the bulk of our travelling librar}-. 

 Our companions did not return till late in tlie afternoon, 

 bringing with them mj revolver, but without having 

 gained much additional information about the mountains. 

 They had taken shelter, during the worst of the storm, 

 in the house before mentioned, and then climbed the 

 ridge, between two of the sources of the Glola-Squali, to 

 a height of about 11,000 feet. The ground was covered 

 with snow of the most extraordinary pink or rather brick- 

 red hue, a phenomenon we noticed frequently. It is of 

 very rare occurrence in the Aljjs, and when seen there, 

 the pink tinge is not generally so vivid. Clouds had 

 hidden everything except the tail of a glacier on their 

 left, so that we could form no definite plans, and had 

 nothing to do but to wait till the weather cleared. 



July 8th. — The rain was over when we awoke, and the 

 bright morning sunshine poured down upon the rich 

 basin below us, and brought out fresh beauties of colour 

 and distance in its wooded slopes. The j)eaks overhead 

 stood out boldly against the blue sky, and everything 

 looked fresh and inviting. It was manifestly a day for 

 a view. Our chief object was to inspect the southern 

 face of the Adai Khokh group, and to ascertain if there 

 was a reasonable j)rospect of effecting any high passes 

 or ascents in it. The best way to go seemed to be up 

 the hillside behind Grurschavi, as we knew that w^e must 

 soon gain a sufficient height to see the great chain over 

 the grassy buttresses which now hid it from us. At the 

 back of the cottages is a burial-ground, marked by some 

 tall tombstones, where the ' rude forefathers of the hamlet 

 sleep' under the shade of fine trees. We kept along 

 the edge of the little plateau on which Gurschavi stands, 

 until we came to a bridge over a stream flowing out of 

 a recess in the south-eastern angle of the ranges which 



