678 
THROUGH ASIA 
1 ted, that I was able to get a glimpse of the magnificent 
I^morarna which lay spread out far down below our feet. 
_ n the left I got a bird’s-eye view of a stupendous glacier 
Its surface shrouded in snow. Near its right-hand or 
upper edge there was a triangular moraine lake, fed by a 
stream which issued between two black, rugged cliffs from 
a secondary glacier above. The whole of the slope 
etween the base of the secondary glacier and the 
moraine lake was strewn with pebbly ddbris, which in 
consequence of the heavy rain and snowfall of the last ’few 
days had become unsafe; in fact, the upper layer had 
already slipped, completely blotting out the track. For 
across that treacherous slope lay our path. Time after 
time whilst crossing it we slipped, and had great difficulty 
in avoiding a fall into the moraine lake some 160 feet 
below. It was a highly dangerous place, especially so if 
some of the large blocks of stone, which lay higher up, 
had started rolling down upon us. Here again therefore 
we unloaded the horses, and the Kirghiz carried their 
loads for about half a mile. 
The gigantic glacier of Ullug-art overhung the upper 
en o t e g eip presenting a slightly convex front between 
Its enclosing cliffs. Our path ran down the slope between 
the ice and the right-hand side of the glen. We came 
to a second lake, immediately underneath the vertical 
glacier wall, which was reflected on its surface as on a 
piece of transparent glass. Several icebergs were float- 
mg on the lake, and its water kept changing from one 
shade of light green to another. The surface of the 
glacier inclined at a general angle of four degrees. Both 
the upper side -moraine, which we had already passed 
and the terminal moraine were clearly distinguishable.’ 
A little further on we came to a third lake, the largest 
ot the three, and some two miles wide. At that point 
we were again overtaken by a thick, blinding snowstorm 
^ that we could scarcely see where we were going to’. 
Ihis lasted an hour, until we were clear of the steep 
s opes. Then it cleared; although the snowstorm con- 
tinued to rage in the higher regions of the mountains. 
