AMONG THE MOUNTAINS 7°9 
Eventually the glen widened out every now and again, 
making room for groups of birches. At one of these 
places, called Tersek, our guide said, there were no trees 
ower down, and if we wanted fuel for a night-fire, we 
must stay where we were. The tent was therefore pitc e 
underneath some fine hanging birches, whose foliage ha 
already turned yellow. It was a particularly nice place 
for a night’s camping ; the only drawbacks were t e 
gloomy, frowning sky and the thick veils of mist which 
wreathed the summit of the mountains. The two young 
women and our guide gathered up their bundles of fuel, 
oaded it on the backs of the yaks, and returned to their 
lonely cabins up the glen. 
September 21st. We still continued our descent, the 
path being excessively steep, stony, and uncomfortab e. 
Shortly after leaving our night’s quarters we came upon 
^ gigantic fragment of granite, bearing a curious re- 
semblance to a colossal mushroom or petrified poplan 
t had tumbled down from the mountain above an stoo 
the middle of the glen, which was for the most part 
^>t in by mountains that turned their transverse y 
fractured faces towards it. Clumps of birches wild 
•^lars, and junipers were dotted about here and t ere. 
