Nov. 1848. ANCIENT MORAINES. 233 



moraine, which proved to be upwards of 700 feet above 

 the floor of the valley, and 400 above the dry lake-bed 

 which it bounded, and to which we descended on our 

 route up the valley. The latter was grassy and pebbly, 

 perfectly level, and quite barren, except a very few pines at 

 the bases of the encircling mountains, and abundance of 

 rhododendrons, Andromeda and juniper on the moraines. 

 Isolated moraines occurred along both flanks of the valley, 

 some higher than that I have described, and a very long 

 one was thrown nearly across from the upper end of 

 another lateral gulley on the east side, also leading up to 

 the glaciers of Nango. This second moraine commenced 

 a mile and a half above the first, and abutting on the east 

 flank of the valley, stretched nearly across, and then 

 curving round, ran down it, parallel to and near the west 

 flank, from which it was separated by the Yangma river : 

 it was abruptly terminated by a conical hill of boulders, 

 round whose base the river flowed, entering the dry lake- 

 bed from the west, and crossing it in a south-easterly direc- 

 tion to the western extremity of the great moraine. 



The road, on its ascent to the second moraine, passed 

 over an immense accumulation of glacial detritus at the 

 mouth of the second lateral valley, entirely formed of 

 angular fragments of gneiss and granite, loosely bound 

 together by felspathic sand. The whole was disposed in 

 concentric ridges radiating from the mouth of the valley, 

 and descending to the flat ; these were moraines in 

 petto, formed by the action of winter snow and ice upon 

 the loose debris. A stream flowed over this debris, dividing 

 into many branches before reaching the lake-bed, where 

 its waters were collected, and whence it meandered south- 

 ward to fall into the Yangma. 



Prom the top of the second moraine, a very curious 



