1 3890 VIEW OF ALI MASJID.
2 mortar, ascended the hills on the right. As we
3 climbed by degrees into loftier regions we felt
4 the temperature becoming more agreeable and
5 refreshing the higher we rose; but the sun was
6 still exceedingly powerful, and produced a good
7 deal of thirst, which we were glad to slake at a
8 diminutive spring that we fell in with two-
9 thirds of the way up. We rested a short time
10 beneath the shade of some trees that had grown
11 up in its vicinity whilst our followers partook
12 of the grateful element; and then, dismounting
13 from our horses to walk up a precipitous steep,
14 we shortly afterwards gained the crest of the
15 ~ ridge, which must have been between two and
16 three thousand feet in height.
17 « From this eminence we had a beautiful view
18 of the Pass, with the long-desired fort of Ali
19 Masjid in front of us, about four miles distant,
20 and which, situated on a rocky and almost
21 isolated hill, appeared an exceedingly strong
22 place. It is considered the key to the defile,
23 and our present operations are only prepara-
24 tory, to our endeavours to obtain possession of
25 it. We looked around in vain for Ferris, who