— 107 — 
number and the more luxuriant the thickets. The willow, 
forming them, is probably Salix zygostemon Bois. It generally 
grows to a height of 3—4 mètres, and occassionally 6—7 
métres. Further down the river other and large arborescent 
plants appear and small woods are formed in which the Salix 
mentioned still occupies the first place, but where a Betula, 
(B. odorata?)'), is likewise found, attaining a height of 10—12 m. 
Here, too are Ribes, (aff. nigrum), Hippophaés rhamnoides and 
Rosa sp. Between small woods are the great umbelliferous: 
Archangelica songorica and Heracleum Olgae, as well as Arte- 
misia aff. maritima, Elymus, Ephedra, Acantholimon alatavi- 
cum, Stipa orientalis, Astragalus lasiosemius, Trigonella Emodi, 
Arenaria Meyeri, Lactuca orientalis, Cousinia nemesskyana, all 
known from up in Pamir, and the crisp thin-leafed Saponaria 
Griffithiana. Near springs Veronica oxycarpa, Agrostis Paulsenü 
and Carex gracilis were noted. 
Salt-fields, whose existence is doubtless due to the eva- 
poration of water oozing up from below, lay stretched in 
many places along the banks of Pamir Daria. Here we found 
Saussurea crassifolia in great quantities. 
From Djangarlik our path led up and down along the 
river, through deep valleys worn by the tributaries of the 
Pamir Daria, — and high up, at a sudden turning the whole 
valley of the Pandsh spread out before us. Here lay a wide 
wooded plain, surrounded by high mountains, with the foaming 
Pamir Daria in a glistening white stripe among the trees. Still 
farther south, from the top of the next height, after many 
months spent in the barren mountains, we again saw cultivated 
land On the washed-out terraces north of the river lay the 
yellow squares of fields in green frames, with houses, smoke 
and tall pyramidical poplars. Down through small groves we 
rode, fording gurgling brooks, where the red wildbriar hung 
like fuchsias, and at a quick trot, reached Langarkish, and were 
at the same moment in Wakhan. It was September 7, and 
our first thought was, what a paradise of beauty and fertility. 
But after a short time in the narrow valleys with their fields, 
! The appearance of birch in these localities has already been shown 
by Trotrer (1878) and quoted by GEIGER, page 55. 
