THE GLACIERS OF MUS-TAGH-ATA 319 
we heard a rushing sound, which our hosts explained was 
always audible after heavy rain ; it was the rain-water 
streaming over the precipices. 
My first business at Kotch-korchu was to pay and 
dismiss the two Kirghiz, Nur Mohammed and Palevan, 
who had done good service hitherto, but knew nothing 
of the glacier world up above, neither had they any yaks. 
In their stead I engaged a couple of Kirghiz belonging 
to the place, and had their yaks out on parade in the 
evening ; yaks being the only riding-animals which can 
make their way at all in these high glacial regions. 
On July 27th, mounted on a splendid black yak and 
accompanied by a couple of Kirghiz as guides, I steered 
my course eastwards towards the first glacier to be ex- 
plored, Gorumdeh. We rode quietly along over country 
sloping towards the north, and cut through by three small 
glacier streams. Leaving on the right some angular inky- 
black rocks, we discovered behind them a small sflacier, 
excessively steep at its upper end, but of no very great 
extent. Farther to the east there were several similar 
prominent outcrops of rock, huge ragged masses of moun- 
tain, between which the glaciers thrust out their finger-like 
projections towards the north. The largest of these was 
called Gorumdehning-bashi (the Head of the Stony Tract); 
its stream, which gathered up glacier water from all the 
other brooks, flowed through a deeply excavated channel 
and farther down united with the Ike-bel-su. 
I contented myself with mapping the left lateral 
moraines of the Gorumdeh glacier whilst riding up. 
For this purpose I only used the compass. The distances 
I measured by adding up the yak’s steps, allowing for 
the errors due to our irregular course, and after having 
previously measured how many steps on the uneven 
ground corresponded to a hundred yards. 
The lower part of the Great Gorumdeh glacier was so 
encumbered with gravel and other detritus that it was 
often difficult to distinguish it from the neighbouring 
rocks. How steep this stream of ice was will be under- 
stood, when I state that the point of the tongue inclined at 
