SEARCHING FOR A PASS 985 
we had pitched camp No. VI. We were at length ap- 
proaching the upper extremity of the longitudinal valley. 
Its culmination was marked by a small depression, dry 
however ; and on the other side the water flowed towards 
the north-east. We turned off towards the east-south- 
east up a side-glen, which, like the latitudinal valley, was 
shut in between two big spurs, and, again like it, was 
traversed by a little brook, which ran so close to the clifts 
on the right that it had exposed the green clay-slates. 
But all this while we were simply marching at landom , 
we did not know how far this side-glen would allow us 
to advance. It gradually inclined however to the south- 
east, skirting a huge mountain peak on the right. When 
we reached "the foot of the mountain, we were again over- 
taken by a heavy hailstorm, followed by rain and snow, 
but not so bad as to prevent us from continuing. We 
now came to expect this sort of weather about one hour 
after noon, no matter how bright the morning might have 
In the thick of the storm we approached another toler- 
ably level watershed, which, like the former one, sent off 
its precipitation to both the east and the west. 1 now 
beoan to understand more definitely, that m the region 
through which we were travelling, the Arka-tagh system 
consisted of a number of parallel ranges, strangely ill- 
provided with transverse valleys. The latitudinal valleys 
between the ranges we were able to traverse without 
any difhculty. The side-glens only permitted us to creep 
the merest trifle further towards the south. 
After journeying eastwards for about an hour, we struc v 
up one of these side-glens ; but it soon became very 
steep. The ground in the entrance of the glen showed 
a curious formation : it consisted of fine detritus, inter- 
sected by a number of tiny rivulets which led nowhere, 
and was consequently so soft that the animals sank in it 
over their hoofs, and this tried them a good deal. 
Meanwhile we plodded on up the glen, which rapid y 
contracted ; and at its upper extremity mounted a steep 
pass, which we hoped was situated in the mam chain of 
1I.-2I 
