DESERT. 
79 
rest " unconformably" upon highly inclined beds of 
limestone, " c," and the upper limestone also rests 
unconformably" upon the red or ferruginous sand- 
stone. 
At Lak Zung we found water, some grass, and a 
little fuel, and as both men and animals were now 
thoroughly exhausted, many of them not reaching 
camp until midnight and a few not until next day, 
we found it absolutely necessary to halt here on the 
23rd and 24th July ; which two days were occupied 
in sending out our horses to graze, and in collecting 
all the grass we could get, to take on with us to 
next camp. All hope of assistance from the Wazir 
was now given up. We were at least 100 miles from 
any help, and we had barely enough provisions to 
keep our men alive until we should reach the Karakash 
valley. Our horses, moreover, were reduced to such a 
state that they used to turn over the baggage during 
the night in search of bags of grain, and I have seen 
them, on finding one of the bags, tear it to fragments 
with their teeth and hoofs in order to get at the 
contents. Their allowance of grain was reduced to 
from one to two pounds a day. 
As many of the horses had been left to perish on 
the road, and many of those remaining were totally 
unfit to carry loads, Mr. Forsyth determined to select 
a few of the best and leave all the rest behind, with 
as much of the baggage as could be spared. The 
Mir Sahib and Mallik Kutub Deen were therefore 
supplied with provisions and ordered to remain 
with the camp we were to leave behind, until the 
assistance we had been daily writing for should arrive 
from Ladak. About a week after our departure this 
