Identifier: ruinsofdesertcat01stei (find matches)
Title: Ruins of desert Cathay : personal narrative of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Stein, Aurel, Sir, 1862-1943 Archaeological Survey of India
Subjects:
Publisher: London : Macmillan
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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r side of our ridge the view for surveypurposes was far less comprehensive and defined. Thefantastically serrated ridges before us to the east andsouth-east formed manifestly but a big transverse spurcompletely hiding the axial range of the Kun-lun. Wecould clearly see that the stream coming down in thevalley below us was far larger than the one issuing fromthe Kashkul Glacier. But of the proportionately biggerice-stream which feeds it, only a small portion of theterminal moraine was visible about two miles higher up,the rest being hidden by the rocky spur on which westood. The plane-table made it evident that this, to us,invisible great glacier must descend in a big bend fromthe east or north-east slopes of the triangulated snowypeak of 23,071 feet, and the panorama taken from abovethe Brinjak Dawan in 1900 seemed to confirm this assump-tion. But, to complete our survey with reasonable accuracy,an advance towards this eastern and main head of theNissa Valley was indispensably needed.
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cH.xv CROSSING OF ICE-FED TORRENTS 187 When we had clambered down over the somewhateasier east slope of our spur and had rounded its foottowards Kashkul, return to camp was still seriously-obstructed by the glacier streams intervening. In theearly morning they had been crossed without any trouble.Now in the afternoon the increased volume of greyish-white water sent down by the melting ice and snow ofthe higher slopes had swollen them into raging torrentswhich even yaks could not face without risk of beingswept off their feet for some distance. Luckily the yaksbrought up from Nissa seemed accustomed to fords withrolling boulders under their feet and to swimming too.By having ropes taken across from the opposite bank andattached to their nostrils, sufficient guidance was securedfor the sluggish beasts to carry us and our instrumentsthrough the racing torrent without more damage thana ducking up to the waist. CHAPTER XVI ON THE OTRUGHUL GLACIER Early on the morning of August 19th I had o

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