Western Himalaya and Tibet

s-Snow-bed and glacier-First plants at 16,500 feet-Parang valley-Gorge leading to Chumoreri Lake-Kiang, or wild horse-Chumurti-Remarkab

arrive at inhabited tracts. The principal part of our effects were carried by men, but our party was so large that it was not easy to provide porters for the necessary amount of food during a

gments. The rock was limestone, the same as had occurred everywhere since leaving Lara. A little village called Ki, and a large monastery, situated on a curious, seemingly isolated, conical hill above the village, were passed on the right hand. Soon after, the ascent became rapid on a steep ridge to the east of the stream, and the Piti valley was completely shut out fr

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ossing this on the morning of the 6th, we ascended the slope of the hill above the village, among cultivation which rose on the hill-side fully 300 feet higher. Except one field of oil-seed, the crops were all barley, which was ripe, and partly cut: it was apparently very poor, being thin and deficient in ear. After leaving the cultivation, we continued to ascend

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he rose, the common Rhamnus of Piti, a little shrubby Potentilla, a spinous Astragalus, and several Artemisi?, were the common shrubs, and two species of rhubarb grew abundantly on the dry hills above Kibar. The Dama, which shuns the level country, the Allium first observed the day before, and Lamium rhomboideum of the Hangarang pass, were almost the only striking plants observed; all the others were those of the ordinary flora of the dry hills and gravelly

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. These gradually contracted as we advanced, but again expanded at the point where we encamped, which was close to the bank of the stream. The ravine being now more open, we could see the hills to better advantage, and were struck with astonishment at the desolation by which we were surrounded. We were, in truth, in a wilderness of rocks, which to the

assed from the shingle, which was confined to the base of the ascent, the ridge was dry and gravelly, with tufts of Dama and of a species of nettle. Above 16,500 feet, the spur was rocky and uneven, and some alpine vegetation was observed, for which I conjecture that the melting of the snow had probably supplied moisture, as lower down the sterility had been complete. About fifteen species were collected, two Potentill?, Biebersteinia odora, a Lychnis, a little tufted saxifrage, and species of Nepeta, Art

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scertaining to what elevation I should find vegetation. An Alsine was common among the gravel, with two small plants which were not in a determinable state; and on the rocks, to the highest level to which I succeeded in ascending (probably 17,600 feet), the little Allardia continued to occur occasionally. The ridge afforded a good view of the mountains round. The range to the north, which we had still to cross, lay in a semicircle behind; to the east was the c

few paces took us beyond the shingly ravine in which we had been encamped, and the remainder of the ascent was throughout over loose angular fragments, the débris of the cliffs on the right. Under the latter we passed, winding round the side of the semicircular bay, till we got to about its centre, when the ascent became

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d in on both sides. To the right and left also, the pass was overlooked by ridges close at hand. The only direction in which a distant view was obtained was south, where the mountains beyond the Piti river were beautifully seen: from the great elevation at whic

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towards a gap which was visible in the mountains. The snow was hard frozen, and crisp under the feet. Descending steadily without any fatigue, we were soon evidently on a snow-covered glacier. A few fissures were passed, but mostly not above a few inches wide, and none that we could not with ease step over, the widest not exceeding two feet. At a distance of about a mile and a half from the crest, the mountains, which on both sides surrounded the snow-bed

om 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

lacier 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,

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e 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

tone, bounded the view on both sides. In front we seldom saw more than a few miles; and behind, the view was in general equally limited, though occasionally we could see, up a lateral valley, the peak of a snowy mountain. The valley was almost invariably wide and level, once or t

ed it gradually became more so. In the earlier part of the descent, the alpine forms were the same as those to the south of the Parang pass, and the plants were few in number and much scattered. Lower down, however, more novelty was met with. A little willow was the first shrubby plant, and was followed by Ephedra, Myricaria, an

longer met with. The large Hyoscyamus of Piti (Belenia of Decaisne) had made its appearance, with tall Artemisi?, a Clematis, a rank-growing Corydalis, Cicer Soongaricum, and other plants in no way alpine. I was much surprised to observe so complete a change in so mode

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irect route to Le, but we were desirous of visiting the more eastern districts, so as to reach the Indus as soon as possible. The mountains in this gorge suddenly lowered; a wide gravelly plain sloped gently up to a low ridge, which did not appear to rise higher than two or three hundred feet above

moreri lake has certainly no outlet, but from the nature of the surrounding mountains, everywhere steep and lofty, there can be no doubt that at one period its waters were discharged at its south end by the narrow valley which we saw from the south side of the Parang river[12]. An accurate determination of the height of the separating ridge above the present surface of the

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ch was interposed between us, prevented our approaching nearer. We afterwards frequently saw these animals, but from their extreme wariness, and the open nature of the country, we were never fortunate enough, notwithstanding repeated trials, to get

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out half that distance from north to south. The borders of this wide expanse were very low platforms, almost horizontal, and not more than from six to ten feet above the river. The middle portion was a plain of gravel, scarcely higher than the level of the stream, and evidently occasionally submerged. Here the river bends rapidly round towards the south-east. The district at which we had now arrived is called Chumurti, and about eight or ten miles to the east of our encampment on the 11th of September, is a village or assemblage of tents called Chumur, from w

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with the Piti river, are within the British territory; but the most important, because the most populous, part of its course lies within the Chinese border. The boundary of the Chinese district runs nearly from north-east to south-west, passing a little to the west of Rodok, and crossing the Indus at the village of Chibra, where Mr. Trebeck wa

with the drainage of the Sutlej. The great line of watershed between the Indus and Sutlej lay still before us. This chain, which is the prolongation of Kailas, must be called the trans-Sutle

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leaving the valley or plain of the Parang river, and ascending an open, almost level valley, bounded by low hills. The mountains on the left, which were interposed between our route and the Chumoreri lake, were the most rugged in sight. In the centre of the plain was the channel of a stream, very shingly, but without water, along which, or on alluvial banks only a few feet higher, we gradually advanced. The level of our camp on the Parang river had been 14,800 feet; and from this we were now gradually but impercepti

To the north and east, low gently-sloping hills as barren as ever rose from the edge of the green plain; and in the north-east corner, close to the foot of the hills, a large fountain, discharging copiously clear tasteless cold water, was evidently the source of the stream which flowed over the plain. The grassy turf produced a considerable number of plants, not a few of which were new to me. An Umbellifera, an Aster with large purple flowers, a Saussurea, and two species of Pedicularis, one with w

re covered the surface. The ascent was very inconsiderable till towards the end of the day's journey. The distance travelled was about ten miles, and we encamped at about 15,800 feet, on the left bank of a small stream which descended from the north, the borders of which were swampy and covered with green turf, in which the common plants of the country occurred, such as little gent

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le way. Its banks were green with a narrow belt of turf; and the bed was often rocky, the rock being still clay-slate, notwithstanding the granite boulders everywhere scattered about. The edges of the stream were frozen, spicul? of thin ice adhering to the herbage. The vegetation was quite alpine, the elevation being certainly above 16,000 f

ow dry, and its steep stony banks were covered with bushes of Dama. Still gradually ascending, we crossed the same ravine a third time, where its bed was upwards of 17,000 feet. There was again no water visible, but the ground was still moist, the streamlet probably, as is very general in these arid regions, trickling under the surface among t

hundred yards, and covered with boulders, principally of granite, but a few of quartz and of a trappean rock, quite black and homogeneous. The outline of the mountains was generally rounded, and they rose gradually in both directions above the pass, which had an elevation of 18,100 feet. The view, both towards the direction in which we had come and that in which we were proceeding, was rather extensive, but from the prevaili

tween Kunawar and Hangarang. It was not, however, on this account the less puzzling, nor was it till I crossed the Sassar pass, in August, 1848, that I could at all conceive in what way it was to be expl

orthern exposure, was still covered with snow to at least five hundred feet below the level of the pass. The small quantity of snow seen in the distant view was very remarkable, and the more so as there was no indication of diminished elevation; ridge rising beyond r

ed under the gravel. Soon after leaving the crest of the pass, we came upon clay-slate rock finely laminated, and dipping south-south-west at a high angle. The valley by which we descended gradually contracted into a rocky ravine, at last very narrow, with high precip

n very hard, and with numerous quartz veins; no more greenstone was observed. The stream, copious when we started, gradually disappeared as the ravine widened, and water soon lay only in pools along the gravelly bed. Boulders of granite were abundant all along. After three

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rounded hills, ran to the north-east for nearly five miles. The appearance of the country was very remarkable. The hills were all very gentle in slope, and quite rounded in outline, so that the surface was almost undulating. It required reflection on the fact that we were traversing a tract in which the bottoms of the valleys were from 15,000 to 15,500 feet above the level of the sea, to make us aware of the very mountainous nature of the country we were passing through, which w

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de. About a mile from its eastern end, this plain was lower than in any other part. We had been descending along it from west to east, and we could see that beyond that point it rose gently to the eastward. The surface of the lowest part was covered with a hard shining white clay, without

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t the very edge of the precipice. The road descended in a narrow gorge, which had apparently been worn by aqueous action in the almost perpendicular cliff. On emerging from this gorge, we found ourselves on the border of a very extensive perfectly level tract, seemingly surroun

nastery inhabited by about twenty lamas, built on the summit of a steep hill which rises abruptly out of the plain. We encamped in a ravine at the foot of

uous and sluggish, wind over its surface. These were frequently three feet or more in depth, and contained multitudes of small fish, usually about six inches in length, but growing to eight or ten inches at least. They were a species of carp. We tried to eat them, but, though

e snow in spring. In some parts there were extensive patches of Dama. A species of Elymus and a Blysmus were very abundant. The ground in the vicinity of the streams was swampy, and the coarse grasses of the drier parts were replaced by little Potentill?, Glaux maritima, Taraxacum, Aster, and a number of Chenopodiaceous plants. In the running waters a Potamogeton and Ran

e doubted that it has at one time been a lake, which has been gradually silted up; but it is not easy to conjecture the length of time which has elapsed since it became dry land, in the absence of any know

ving no tenants. To the east of the monastery, on the border of the plain, watered by an artificial channel brought with considerable labour from the river, we observed two or three small fields. The grain, which was barley, had been cut and carried away, so that harvest at Hanle was over. The view from the top of the monastery wa

a dark-coloured greenstone, with large crystals scattered through it. Close to the foot of the hill, the clay-slate was i