TO FORT PAMIR AND BACK 395 
made a right good feast. Speeches were made on various 
topics ; songs were sung without end, but to very halting 
melodies, in fact the echoes of entire operas struck against 
the cliff walls, but, I must confess, in such inharmonious 
tones that, had an operatic singer heard us, he would 
have been tempted to use his legs rather than his voice. 
Happily our only audience were the Kirghiz, who stood 
round us in a ring, looking very much astonished, 
apparently under the impression that we had taken leave 
of our senses on the way. Midnight was approaching 
when our musical entertainment came to an end, and we 
were overcome by the sound sleep which was invariably 
ours. 
The next day we halted at Ak-alkhar, for there Captain 
Saitseff had sowed some barley and wheat, turnips and 
radishes ; and all had succeeded beyond expectation, 
although it w'as at an altitude of 11,000 feet. During 
the course of the day I mapped part of the river towards 
the west, and afterwards we spent another jolly evening 
together, parting early on the morning of the 29th, the 
Russians to return to Fort Pamir, and I and my men to 
continue our ride up the valley of Ak-alkhar. 
In two day’s-marches we crossed the Bazar-darah chain 
and discovered a new pass (15,970 feet), to which I gave 
the name of Saitseff It was only of secondary importance, 
as it was difficult to cross, the incline being very steep and 
the declivities covered with fine schistose gravel, in which 
the horses had hard work to keep their footing. A barely 
visible path showed that the sole frequenters of this pass 
were kiyick, tekkes, and arkharis, that is to say, wild goats 
and wild sheep. 
On the southern side of the pass the country dipped 
gradually down through the defile of Mus-yilga to the 
broad valley of Alichur, inhabited by the population of 
120 Kirghiz uys (tents). This valley, in the longitude 
of Ak-alkhar, lay about 2000 feet higher than the valley 
of the Murghab. Two more days brought us to Sumeh, 
at the east end of the Yeshil-kul (the Green Lake) 
on the way we passed Ak-balik (the White Fish), or as 
