About three miles from the summit of the pass the glacier terminated abruptly in a bluff precipice, the height of which was more than 100 feet. Little rills of water were, at the time we passed (9½ A.M.), trickling from every part of the surface, and a small streamlet ran along the edge of the glacier under an arch of ice. The structure was here very evident: broad white bands, and narrower ones of a dirty colour, from the earthy matter which they had absorbed, ran parallel to the slope of the ravine, the arches or loops (so well explained by Professor Forbes in his delightful work on the glaciers of the Alps) being drawn out to a great length.
At the termination of the glacier, we descended from the steep mountain-side, along which we had hitherto travelled, to the flat plain, the continuation of the surface on which the glacier rested. On this descent the first vegetation appeared at an elevation of about 16,500 feet. Two small grasses, _Biebersteinia odora_, a _Lychnis_, and a little villous _Astragalus_, were the plants observed: they grew in the crevices of the rock, and scarcely rose above the ground. None of the species were different from those collected in the mountains of Piti.
[Sidenote: THE PARANG VALLEY. ITS VEGETATION. _September, 1847._]
When we had reached the middle of the valley, so as to be exactly in face of the glacier, we found that a large stream issued from a vaulted cavity at its termination. For some hundred feet the stream ran among large masses of ice, as if the glacier had very recently extended further, and had melted away irregularly, leaving these masses standing. Leaving the glacier, we still followed the valley, which was confined on both sides by steep cliffs. We kept close to the stream, walking over its gravelly bed, and I collected a few more plants as I descended; none, however, new to me. A little _Nepeta_, four species of _Potentilla_, a _Gnaphalium_, several grasses and _Carices_, and a very small fern, were the species. About three miles from the end of the glacier we found our tents pitched on a small plain, connected with a lateral ravine, and covered with tufts of _Dama_, and a little species of _Alsine_ in flat tufts, which was quite new to me. The elevation of our encampment was 16,000 feet.