1868.] Notes on the Pangong hike district of Ladakh t 93 



a distance of 40 miles, draining altogether an area of nearly 400 square 

 miles. The silt which in former times has been carried down from 

 the above area has formed the plain of Ote, the broad barrier to what 

 would otherwise be a continuous long reach of water. This was no 

 doubt the old configuration of the lake, for a rise of some 12 feet 

 would cover the greater part of the Ote plain even now. In nearly 

 all the higher ravines, water is plentiful, and glaciers of the second 

 order are seen, but the streams are all sopped up in the broad bed 

 of the main valley which acts like a perfect sponge ; the stream breaks 

 out occasionally here and there only to hide itself a few hundred yards 

 down, the last water seen being above the fort of " Lanakh-khur," 

 but it nowhere is seen to flow into the lake, being lost in the sands 

 of the plain. 



Another point in the history of this lake, on which may be based 

 a good deal of theory as to its older aspect, is the former size and 

 extent of its waters, On every side unmistakeable traces that the 

 level was much above the present one, are seen in the lines of old 

 beaches and in the beds of sand, containing the fossil remains of fresh- 

 water shells,* interstratified with beds of angular debris, which I 

 mentioned before, are to be seen in the little dry ravines that cut 

 through the plain, over which the road from Mun to the Chushal 

 stream runs. Fig. 2. is a rough section of these beds, in which No. 1 

 represents the present plain of surface debris, the scattered talus of 

 rocks brought down from the mountains of the south bank, when the 

 small glaciers, at present only two to four miles long, extended nearly 

 down to the lake, as proved by their old moraines still to be seen. 

 Winter snow and the water action of time have spread their materials 

 far out, nearly down to the water's edge. No. 2 are fine sands and 

 arenaceous clay, such as would be now in the process of formation 

 near the debouchement of the Chushal stream, perhaps a little coarser, 

 which a moister climate would entail. It contains shells and stems 

 of plants. No. 3 is a bed of angular debris, the same in every respect 

 as the upper bed, No 1, but much thicker. No. 4 again are sands, 

 i like No. 2, containing the same shells. No. 5, debris as beds 1 and 3. 



* These fresli-wator shells are the same as those now found on the edge 

 of the lake, while the stems of plants are plainly discerned ; where these last 

 i are seen, the sandy clay is generally tinged with an iron colour. 



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