952 
THROUGH ASIA 
stream issued from between two lofty granite spurs which 
formed a sort of gateway, and meandered in a broad, 
shallow, silent current across an almost absolutely level 
plain. Its bed was lined with soft mud, into which the 
horses sank over the fetlocks ; there was not a pebble or 
a splinter of stone to be seen in it. At intervals the stream 
spread out into lakedike expansions, and the shoredines 
showed that when in full flood it very nearly stretched 
from one side of the glen to the other. There were 
several very sharp turns in its course, and in places it 
was divided by low islands of mud. Its volume was 
augmented by rivulets from two or three springs, situated 
at the foot of the mountains on the left, and the water 
in them was perfectly clear and fresh, although there 
were thin white lines along their edges, indicative of 
saline evaporations. 
We pitched our camp at the foot of a conglomerate 
terrace on the right bank of the stream, commanding 
a magnificent view to the south. The valley continued 
to widen out, and finally ended in an extensive plain, 
upon which several side-glens debouched, and which was 
crossed by the river Mitt, split into a great number of 
arms, many of them containing water. In the far, far 
distance, still to the south, I perceived a line of snowy 
peaks, imperfectly distinguishable through the hazy atmo- 
sphere, peeping up over the tops of the intervening ranges, 
which abutted upon the plain en dchelon. 
Our camp was the scene of much life and bustle, not- 
withstanding that there was but a scanty supply of 
pasturage, and that much poorer in quality than it was 
at Lama-chimin. In the middle of the camp were the 
two white tents, with the provision- bags, boxes, saddles, 
and other impedmienta piled up between them. The 
horses were coupled two and two together to prevent 
them from straying too far away, but the donkeys and 
camels were allowed to run freely at large, and tugged 
greedily at the grass. 
