538 



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Photograph from William Jessop 



AMKRNATH CAVE AS SEEN FROM THE CREST OE THE SXOW-ElELDS 



The steep ascent to the cave's mouth can be plainly seen. To foreigners this final climb 

 in the rarefied air is a proof of pluck. To the pilgrims' the heart-breaking scramble is the 

 prelude to a spiritual enthusiasm born of two ice mounds hidden in a dark cave. 



peaks jutted up into the sky. To the left 

 of the defile we followed little more than 

 a sheep's path trodden over the steep side 

 of a mountain, while between, at a giddy 

 depth, the stream cut through rocks in a 

 series of beautiful waterfalls. 



On up we went, through another 

 meadow inclosed by towering domes and 

 minarets of solid rock, past the source of 

 our mountain river, and finally emerged 

 on the top of Punjitarni Pass, 14,000 feet 

 above sea-level. Here we picked eidel- 

 weiss and had a nice tiffin of canned 

 tongue, hard-boiled eggs, tea from a 

 thermos flask, and our precious pigeon. 



How good it all tasted and how re- 

 freshing! But who could linger long 

 over a mere meal, with the everlasting 

 hills in every direction? Looking back 

 down the ascent that we had just made, 

 outlined sharply against the sky, we could 

 see eight peaks, six of which were snow- 

 capped. 



From the top of the watershed, look- 

 ing forward over the way we had yet to 

 travel, the Amernath Mountain rose 



ahead of us in barren grandeur. Two of 

 the three rock peaks were covered with 

 snow. To the right of us we had again 

 the long moraine slopes crowned with 

 horizontal rock strata, the top ones 

 bulged in a curious way, as though 

 pushed out by some disturbing force be- 

 fore they were quite cool. 



To the left were the head-waters of the 

 Sind River, and beyond them rose moun- 

 tains in rounded domes, where earth and 

 rock of softest reds, browns, and grays 

 blended into an exquisite coloring impos- 

 sible to describe. The path, for some dis- 

 tance scarcely distinguishable, led down a 

 grassy slope, past patches of snow, said 

 by our guide to be the remains of a storm 

 of the week previous, over the stream 

 several times, and up, down, and around 

 the grassy hill. 



Sometimes we looked down a preci- 

 pice to the torrent below ; at others we 

 simply crossed the hillside. 



Just before reaching Punjitarni, there 

 is a steep descent, at the right of which 

 is a big rock with loose stones on the top 



