Page:The journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London. Volume 34, 1864. (IA s572id13663720).pdf/224

20 of which is known as Lanzopheuma. It took us two hours from the camp below to get up to the pass, and six hours more to gain the peak; it was a severe pull up. The view which I thence obtained of the Karakorām Range, rising to 22,000 ft., with fine needle-like forms, was truly magnificent; and yet these mountains were only the spurs which ran down from the great masses beyond them.

The 17th brought with it a hard day’s work; starting early, we first crossed a ridge which separated us from a ravine beyond; up which, at its head, was a fine peak called Chungoksigo, and which had to be ascended, as it commanded a view of the country beyond the valley. Our way at first was over a broad snow-bed, and then across a slope of loose débris of slate-rock which lay at an angle of 45°. The ground was continually sliding away; the whole mass seemed full of snow or ice in a melting state. How¬ ever, we managed to reach the summit about 1 o’clock, and cross¬ ing over I set up the plane-table, overlooking a ravine on the other side, down which went a small glacier. There was a sharp point of rock some few hundred feet higher than the ground we were on, and as I had sketched in all that I could see below me, we determined to go to it. Our way was over snow, and somewhat difficult. After a while it became so steep that we had to cut steps for the remainder of the way. Finally we reached the point; it raised us altogether clear of the ridge, and I was amply repaid for all the labour by the magnificence of the view. Below was a glacier with all its crevasses and varied features laid out—as on a map: to the left was Zoah, 21,000 ft., right ahead up the Hushè valley was Masherbrum, rising to 25,000 ft., with its pink-tinted rocks shining out in warm contrast with the masses of snow which rested on its sides. Our descent was at first much more expeditious than our ascent had been; lying on our backs, we shot rapidly down the snow-slopes, but the subsequent journey over the loose débris was far worse than the labouring-up had been.

On the 18th and 19th we proceeded along the Hushè valley amidst most splendid scenery, the lofty peaks rising up on either side, and with the most fantastic forms. The river, above the village of this name, consists of three branches; the terminations of large glaciers being visible up the valleys on the left. I beganmwith the valley on the right, and by evening reached the foot of the glacier (Atoser gl.) which comes down from Masherbrum.

On the morning of the 20th I started up the moraine of the glacier, and managed to scramble along for about 6 miles, when the surface of the ice became so broken that it was impossible to proceed. This glacier is continued for 6 miles further up to the ridge, which on its northern face gives off another great glacier, some 15 to 18 miles in length.

I next followed up the main stream of the Hushè River, which