OVER THE ULLUG-ART PASS 68 1 
goats, and horned cattle were industriously grazing. On 
our right was a high platform of conglomerate formation, 
Md on the top of it stood the town and fortress walls of 
Pash-kurgan (the Stone Fortress). The situation of the 
place put me forcibly in mind of Fort Pamir. The latter, 
like Tash-kurgan, stands on a conglomerate terrace, in a 
wide valley, and with a large river flowing past it ; and 
It also commands an equally extensive view of its own 
neighbourhood. 
Here an extremely joyful surprise awaited me. I fell 
in with my friend Mr. Macartney, who had been suddenly 
ordered to report himself to the head of the English 
Commission, appointed to act with a Russian Commission 
KIRGHIZ AUL NEAR MUS-TAGH-.ATA 
of military officers for the delimitation of the frontier-line 
of the tw'o empires on the southern Pamirs. I pitched my 
tent beside his, and we spent a right pleasant afternoon 
together. 
On July 27th, along with Mr. Macartney, I paid a visit 
to the village of Tash-kurgan. Both village and fortress 
presented a melancholy appearance. The whole neigh- 
bourhood had been violently shaken by earthquakes 
lasting from July 5th to July 20th, and every house in 
the place was utterly ruined ; the few which still stood 
had gaping cracks in the walls, reaching from roof to 
foundations. But then they were constructed of materials 
little calculated to withstand earthquake shocks, namely 
rubble and coggles, plastered with clay. There were also 
•several cracks in the earth, stretching from south-south- 
11.-2 
