CHAPTER LXXVII. 
WE ENTER UNINHABITED REGIONS 
A ugust 7th. We had a long- and difficult day’s 
^ journey. At first we kept along the terrace between 
the river and the foot of the mountains, in which granite 
was now succeeded by dark clay-slates. Then we 
descended a steep hillside to the Kizil-su (the Red 
Water), which issued from a broad valley on the left. 
Leaving the broad open valley of the Mitt on the 
right, we struck up through the valley of Yappkaklik, 
which was also broad, and rose with a gentle ascent 
between the massive mountain -spurs which encloseci it. 
This valley too was joined by several side-glens. The 
first we passed was a so-called bikar-yilga or cul-de-sac, 
which was said to terminate in a wall of inaccessible 
ak-chakkil-tagh, or “white wild cliffs.” The second led 
to a gold kan (mine), where the men had been so success- 
ful in their search for the precious metal, that they had 
obtained sufficient for the season, and were already on 
their way home. 
The valley gradually curved round towards the east. 
Far away in the south was a perfect chaos of mighty 
mountain-peaks and snow-clad summits. The sai (the 
word sai means also a river-bed filled with stones) of 
Yappkaklik was traversed by a turbid stream, which 
gathered up numerous little brooks and torrents from 
the side-glens as it passed. It was itself very broad 
and shallow, and generally occupied at least one -half 
of the bottom of the valley, which consisted of soft 
humus, with a scanty growth of vegetation. The clay- 
slate cropped out only at the top of the enclosing 
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