CLIMBING MUS-TAGH-ATA 
231 
sometimes being obliged to trust ourselves to bridges of 
a more or less precarious character. One of these bridges 
formed the prominent feature in a very picturesque piece 
of scenery; for one end of it rested on a big round 
boulder which choked the bed of the river. The valley 
descended at a very steep inclination, and the river 
tumbled down one cataract after another. But as we 
went down, the narrow passages of the gorge, such as the 
one I have already described, were choked with thick 
mist, completely shutting out the prospect, although the 
bare cliff walls gave back the echoes with a singularly 
penetrating sound. The ground was extraordinarily 
THE GHEZ-DARIA 
rough and stony. Gigantic blocks of gneiss were half 
embedded in the stupendous conglomerate precipices 
which overhung the path ; but so loosely fixed, that every 
moment I fancied they must break away and crash down 
upon our heads. In truth I was considerably relieved 
when we had passed the last of these perilous places. 
By this the temperature had completely changed. We 
now perceived for the first time that the season was spring. 
Ihe minimum during the previous night was 3i°8 Fahr, 
(-o°i C.). At midday it was 46°4 (8° C.), by two o’clock 
in the afternoon it had risen to 52°9 (ii°6 C.) ; by three 
o clock to 55°4 (13° C.); by four o’clock to 58°! {i4°5 C.); 
and by eight o’clock in the evening to 59°(i5°C.); the 
