Page:The journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London. Volume 34, 1864. (IA s572id13663720).pdf/243

Rh pile upon pile, with deep trenches and gullies, and was quite impracticable as a line of march. By means of ropes, poles, and hatchets most places can be passed; but I always found that the shortest plan was to make a circuit where it could be done, and so avoid all difficulties. The scenery along this glacier is magnificent; on both sides large tributary glaciers descend from the Mustakh ridge on the north, and that of Masherbrum on the south. None of those on the north are less than eight miles in length, and the ridges whence they have their sources have an altitude of 22,000 feet. These lateral glaciers were separated by sharp precipitous ridges of granite, from which spikes of rock jutted up here and there. Peaks K 3 and K 3a (Gūsherbrūm) were visible, towering up ahead; but I had all day been looking out in vain for Peak K 1 (Masherbrum), which I wanted a sight of in order to fix my distance up the glacier. So, leaving the men to pitch camp in as sheltered a place as they could find, I pushed on ahead, and on my rounding a spur, the great peak came into full view— one vast mass of ice falling on all sides into glacier. The pale ochre-coloured rocks showed here and there only, and in beautiful contrast to the pink-tinted snow of sunset, giving an appearance of much greater distance than the reality, for its summit was only 6 miles from me in a direct line. From the Nubra River I had reached, in 1861, to within 4 miles of the summit of Masherbrum: nearer approach on this side would not be easy, as the glacier-drainage runs nearly due east and west, close at the back of the northern face. The mass of snow, with the two cone-shaped peaks (K 3 and K 3a), was called Gūsherbrūm (fine-gold) Peak.

This night on the glacier was dreaded by us all; for in the evening the wind from the east sprung up again, and the cold became intense. The ice was much exposed, the valleys between the ridges of moraine being bounded by cliffs and slopes of glassy ice. At sunset every puddle and lake in the glacier began to film over with ice, which in the morning was more than an inch in thickness. The wind blew all night, getting stronger towards morning; and I pitied the poor coolies with only the rough, sharp stones to lie on, and separate them from the ice. The Balti, who carry only one rug, huddled together two or three under the same covering. Mahomed told me next morning that he heard them saying, “Would that the Sahib felt it as cold as this! he would soon go back.” Few, if any, got any sleep; and all were right glad when the sun rose over the peaks ahead.

As yet I had seen nothing of the great Peak of Karakorām (K 2). I knew that it could not be far off, but began to have some doubts as to whether it might not be beyond the Karakorām watershed. The end of one of the spurs from Masherbrum seemed the only accessible place whence any sufficient altitude could be