Brooang was about N. E., here we found we had reached the northern point of the Sutlej in latitude 31° 50′, it lay about two miles upon our left hand, and from this place its direction all the way to its source in the celebrated lake of Mansurowur is nearly E. S. E.

The wind was so strong, that we could with difficulty keep our feet, and it is said to blow with almost equal violence throughout the year. We saw some snow on our right a little below us, and beyond it a peak above 20,000 feet high, off which the snow was drifting in showers, from the force of the wind. From the pass to camp, the road was a moderate descent upon gravel, winding very much.

Shipke is a large village in the district of Rongzhoong, under the Deba or Governor of Chubrung, a town, or rather collection of tents on the left bank of the Sutlej, eight marches to the eastward. The houses here are very much scattered, and are built of stone with flat roofs, there are gardens before each hedged with gooseberries, which give them a neat appearance. This is a populous place; we counted upwards of eighty men, who on our arrival came to meet us, being the first Europeans they had ever seen.

The Tartars pleased us much; they have none of that ferocity of character so commonly ascribed to them; they have something of the Chinese features, and their eyes are small; they go bare-headed even in the coldest weather, and have their hair plaited into a number of folds ending in a tail two or three feet long. Their dress consists of a garment of blanket, trowsers of striped woollen stuff resembling Tartan, and stockings or boots of red blanket, to which are sewed leather shoes; most wear necklaces, upon which are strung pieces of quartz or bone; they have also knives in brass or silver cases, and all carry iron pipes of the same shape as those used by labourers at home, and the higher classes have them ornamented with silver; in common with the inhabitants of Koonawur, the greater part of them have a flint and piece of steel for striking fire, attached to their apparel by a metal chain. The women whose dress resembles that of the men, were literally groaning under a load of ornaments, which are mostly of iron or brass, inlaid with silver or tin, and beads round their necks, wrists, and ankles, and affixed to almost every part of their clothes.

13th October.-Halted. My brother took a walk of about a mile farther on, with the perambulator and pocket compass, for we did not think it

advisable to use the theodolite in the presence of the inhabitants, knowing their extreme jealousy; he had proceeded a little way from the village before he was perceived, when immediately the people dispatched a couple of horsemen after him, and crowded round the tent, making a great uproar. My brother had begun to return before the horsemen overtook him; they told him they had come to bring him back, but seemed in perfect good humour, laughing whilst they spoke; they insisted upon his going before them, and would not dismount when he bid them.

About 9 o'clock, the Chinese Officers, of whom there are several to regulate the affairs of the country, brought sixteen seers of flour, which they requested us to receive as a present, and it was no unacceptable one, for our people had had but little food for the last three days. In the forenoon, the principal Officer shewed us a long piece of parchment, written in what we supposed the Chinese character, and gave us to understand it was an express order from the Garpan of Garoo, under whose authority the Debas are, prohibiting strangers from entering the country; he at the same time said, we had so many people with us, (having nearly 100,) that he could not oppose our progress, but it would cost him his head if he gave us the means of going on, so he would not supply us with provisions, which was the most effectual mode he could have adopted to stop us.

During the time we were at Shipkè it blew a complete hurricane, and the aridity of the wind dried up every thing exposed to it; the leaves of our books were more bent than I ever remember to have seen them in the hot winds, and no dew was observed.

The lat. of Shipkè by meridian altitudes of stars is 31° 48′, and the long. 78° 48′, its extreme height is 10,527 feet, and the thermometer ranged from 38° to 60°.

The people are affable and good natured, and allowed us to handle their pipes, knives, &c.; they thronged round our tent from morning till night, and we found it the most difficult thing to understand them even with the aid of interpreters, for the Koonawur words we had picked up, which were of the utmost use to us during our tour, were not intelligible here. This evening the articles that had been so long in the rear came up.

14th October.-At sunrise, when the thermometer was 31°, and before the inhabitants had risen, I set up the theodolite and took the bearings

and altitudes of the remarkable peaks; one of them covered with snow above 20,000 feet in height, is only 4 miles from the village from which it subtends an angle of 28 degrees; another called Tuzheegunj, 22, 488 feet high to the north of the Sutlej, was seen under an angle of 23° 31', these elevations were observed with the sextant and artificial horizon.

We exchanged a gold button for a goat, which we took with us to Soobathoo; the wool is extremely fine, and almost equal to what is used for the manufacture of shawls; we were informed the best was procured further to the eastward near Garoo, which is the famous mart for wool. The goat scarcely differs from the common one, and it does not appear to be a distinct breed that produced the shawl wool, but its fineness seems to depend almost entirely upon the elevation and coldness of the climate. We ourselves had an opportunity of seeing this at Soobathoo, 4,200 feet above the sea, the wool is little better than in the plains of Hindoostan, but it gradually grows finer as you ascend, and in Koonawur, where the villages are more than 8,000 feet high, it is fit for making coarse shawls.

Garoo or Gartop, by the accounts of fifteen different people, is reckoned 11 marches from Shipkè, and the road consisting of gentle swellings, is described as being so good, that the trade is carried on by yaks.

After breakfast, we returned to Numgeea by the same road as before, and on the 15th of October struck off to the N. W. towards Ludak, crossing the Sutlej a mile from the village by a crazy bridge, constructed of ropes made of the bark of a tree, with basket-work of twigs forming a curve almost the sixth part of a circle. The breadth of the river was 74 feet, including a large rock in the middle occupying 42 feet, the extreme height of the bed is 8,600 feet. This day we travelled 7}} miles, passing over a mountain of 13,186 feet, the ascent of which was very steep upon rugged rocks, and above 4,500 feet. We encamped near a stream at the height of 12,800 feet, and had but a small supply of fire-wood, the country producing nothing but the prickly bush before-mentioned, and another not unlike broom.

16th October.-Seeing high mountains to the eastward, which appeared to be practicable, and thinking the distance short, we resolved to attempt them whilst our baggage proceeded direct to Mako, only about 3 miles from our camp. We accordingly set off after an early break

There was

fast, and went up the face of a steep hill for 1 mile, sometimes over large misshapen masses of granite, sometimes upon a gravelly soil covered with brown furze and various kinds of aromatic shrubs. not the least trace of a foot-path, and the prickly bushes impeded us not a little, every moment running into the feet through the shoes which were of the kind used by the natives, our own stock, from the badness of the roads, having been long since worn out. The height of this station was 14,900 feet. There being another higher peak without snow that seemed near, we moved towards it, but were never so much deceived in distance, it took us full three hours to reach its top, and the ascent was very tiresome, lying over enormous detached blocks of stone, often resting upon small bases, tottering under the feet, and seeming ready to overwhelm us; the last 200 yards were still worse, and we were obliged to use both hands and feet, now climbing up almost perpendicular rocks, and now leaping from one to the other; a single false step might have been attended with fatal consequences, and we had such severe headaches, and were so much exhausted, that we had hardly strength sufficient to make the effort, and it required no inconsiderable one to clear the deep chasms which we could scarcely view without shuddering. I never saw such a horrid looking place, it seemed the wreck of some towering peak burst asunder by severe frost. After much delay, we got up the theodolite and a couple of barometers, at 4 P.M. the mercury stood at 16.170 inches, and the thermometer was 29°, which compared with corresponding observations made at Soobathoo, gives the height 16,921 feet. We observed all the surrounding peaks, and then proceeded to the village of Nako at a quick pace, the road for the first mile was a steep and rocky descent, afterwards a more gradual one to camp, where we arrived at dusk. The distance by perambulator was ten and half miles, but we must have travelled upwards of eleven, for the wheel could not be rolled to the top of the highest peak.

17th October. From what we saw yesterday, we were convinced we could reach a more elevated spot, and thinking the attainment of a great height more desirable than a high latitude, we resolved to try it again, and rather defer our intended journey towards Ludak, than let slip such a favourable opportunity. From our experience of the slowness with which the perambulator can be rolled over the large

stones, we sent it together with the large theodolite a-head at 8, and moved ourselves at 10. The road at first was tolerably good, lying up'on turf and passing some lakes which were frozen over, latterly it was rocky and the ascent fatiguing, but not near so difficult as yesterday's. We stopped several times to look out for our people, but not seeing any sign of them, we dispatched a man to Nako with orders to bring our bed clothes, a few bundles of fire-wood, and some food to meet us, whilst we proceeded on to a kind of break between two peaks. The last half mile was generally over snow, and both my brother and I felt completely debilitated, and were affected with severe headaches and pains in the ears; the highest vegetation we saw was a plant with leaves like sage, but without smell, it grows at the height of 17,000 feet, beyond which elevation we found no soil. At the top of our station between the peaks, the barometer shewed 15.075 inches, which gives the height 18,683 feet. The thermometer when first taken out of the case was 30°, but in less than a quarter of an hour, it fell to twenty-two degrees below the freezing point. After taking a few bearings, with all possible haste, we set out on our return, and at dark met our servants with our bed clothes 1 mile from Nako, and halted for the night at the height of 13,724 feet without a tent. Our people had brought wood, but not flint to strike a light, we therefore sent them back to the village for some fire. It was past 11 before they returned, and during an interval of near 5 hours, we sat shivering with cold, for the thermometer was 6° below the freezing point, and we had only a couple of blankets each to wrap round us. After we had lighted a fire, we made a large quantity of punch, which we continued drinking till near two in the morning, and I do not recollect any thing that ever refreshed me so much.

The length of our march to-day was about ten miles, and we ascended 6,800, and descended 5,000 feet perpendicular height. The people with the perambulator and theodolite missed the way, and did not arrive till midnight, and their hands and feet were almost frozen.

18th October. The thermometer at sunrise was 16°, and the cold intense, we could not sleep much owing to it, for excepting a few sticks which we kept for the purpose of preparing breakfast, our firewood was exhausted.

We wished much to see the barometer below fifteen inches, and determined to make another attempt to reach the summit of a peak north