ound compensated me
sufficiently for the want of every other enjoyment.

14th July. Ali allowed us to rest only half the night; at 2 o'clock
we were again mounted. A few hundred paces from our resting-place
was the entrance of a stupendous mountain-pass. The space between
the sides of the rocks afforded only sufficient room for the stream
and a narrow pathway. Fortunately the moon shone out brilliantly,
otherwise it would have been scarcely possible for the most
practised animal to ascend the narrow and extremely dangerous road
between the fallen masses of rock and rolling stones. Our hardy
animals scrambled like chamois along, over the edges of the steep
precipices, and carried us with safety past the terrible abyss, at
the bottom of which the stream leapt, with a frightful roaring, from
rock to rock. This night-scene was so terrible and impressive that
even my uncultivated companions were involuntarily silent--mute, and
noiseless, we went on our way, nothing breaking the death-like
stillness but the rattling steps of our animals.

We had proceeded about an hour in this way, when the moon was
suddenly obscured; thick clouds gathered round from all sides, and
the darkness soon became so great that we could scarcely see a few
steps before us. The foremost man continually struck fire, so as to
light up the path somewhat by the sparks. But this did not help us
much, the animals began to slip and stumble. We were compelled to
halt, and stood quiet and motionless, one behind the other, as if
suddenly changed to stone by magic. Life returned again with
daybreak, and we spurred our animals briskly forwards.

We were in an indescribably beautiful circle of mountains; at our
side lay high cliffs; before and behind, hills and mountains crowded
over each other, and in the far distance an enormous peak, covered
with snow, completed the romantic picture. This mountain-pass is
called Ali-Bag. For three hours and a half we continued going up
hill, without intermission.

A short distance before reaching the plateau, we observed, in
several places, small spots of blood, of which nobody at first took
much notice, as they might have been caused by a horse or mule that
had injured itself. But shortly we came to a place which was
entirely covered with large blood-spots. This sight filled us with
great horror; we looked round anxiously for the cause of these marks
and perceived two human bodies far down below. One hung sc