THE GREAT ICEFALL. 255 



loose boulders, we were heartily glad to meet with a 

 distinct though narrow path leading in the direction we 

 wished to follow. After mounting for some distance, by 

 steep zigzags, up a bank broken by crags and covered 

 with underwood, we found ourselves on a sloping pas- 

 turage by the side of the Karagam glacier, the fall of 

 which towards the valley was here very considerable. In 

 about two hours from our bivouac we had gained a pro- 

 jecting brow, which had hitherto cut off the view of the 

 upper glacier. To our surprise, we found here a small 

 stone-built hut and enclosure, used by the shepherds 

 during the summer months, but not yet inhabited. 



We now saw how the gap on the right of the great 

 snowy peaks was filled, and in what manner the glacier 

 descended from the upper snowfields. A second and 

 previously invisible peak appeared further to the west, and 

 through the deep hollow between it and the summits we 

 had admired on the previous afternoon poured the main 

 body of the ice-stream, in a frozen cataract of the greatest 

 and (I speak for myself) most repulsive beauty. So great 

 was the impression made on my mind by the tangled 

 web of crevasse and serac, that I expressed seme hesitation 

 as to the prudence of our attempting to force a passage ; 

 my doubts, however, were promptly suppressed by Fran9ois, 

 who gave a very decided opinion in favour of the practica- 

 bility of the icefall. The shepherd's path still remained 

 faithful, and conducted us easily along the slopes above 

 the glacier, which are deeply seamed by numerous water- 

 courses. Before reaching the foot of the icefall, a level 

 space is found between the moraine and the hillside, 

 where the ground is covered with soft turf, and a little 

 stream has space to dance along between grassy banks, 

 and to expand itself in places into crystal pools. The 

 saucy water-nymph played us a sorry practical joke, by 



