Mountain Journeys 135 



From the simple notes which they published 2i5 I extract that 

 which concerns our subject: 



October 2. Our tent is pitched at an altitude of 15,095 feet; on 

 the pass which separates Choara from Koonawur, there is only scanty 

 grass and a little moss .... During the night which we pass there we 

 all feel violent headaches, probably due to the rarefaction of the air, 

 but which the natives attribute to a toxic plant which grows abun- 

 dantly at great heights. (P. 366.) 



October 7, crossing of the pass of Toongrung (13,729 feet), no 

 effect noted; October 12, the same, at 13,518 feet, at the pass which 

 separates Koonawur from Chinese land. October 16, camp at 

 14,900 feet, and October 18, ascent of a peak rising to 19,411 feet 

 (5915 meters) : 



Violent headaches, hardly permitting us to make any efforts .... 

 The natives refused to go on .... To tell the truth, we ourselves 

 could no longer walk, so severe were our headaches, with general 

 weakness, and keen pains in the ears and chest .... The thermometer 

 did not fall below 22°F .... and yet because of the wind, my hands 

 were so numb that I had to rub them for a quarter of an hour 

 before being able to use them .... 



The travellers who cross the pass of Gangtung consider it 

 extremely difficult: they are covered with garments to defend them 

 against the excessive cold, and they complain of terrible pains in the 

 head and ears; goats, sheep, and men often die there. (P. 377.) 



October 24, the pass of Hungrung (14,837 feet); October 25, 

 the pass of Rooming (14,508 feet) ; no indication. November 22, 

 return to Soobathoo. 



Alexandre Gerard soon set out on a new journey. This time, 

 he intended, if possible, to go up to the sources of the Setlej, one 

 of the tributaries of the Indus, which comes from Lake Manasaro- 

 war. The narrative of this journey forms the second volume of a 

 work published in London in 1840. 216 It had already been pub- 

 lished in a shorter form in a scientific journal of Edinburgh, in 

 1826 and 1827. 217 Both accounts are extremely chary of descrip- 

 tions and particularly of the physiological type. I quote from the 

 volume published in London. 



The journey began June 6, 1821; Al. Gerard set out from the 

 land of Rol, at an altitude of 9000 to 10,000 feet. At the summit 

 of the pass of Shatool, at 15,555 feet (4738 meters) , where we shall 

 see that his brother was to suffer so greatly, he merely says: 



June 9. We slept very little, because of headaches and difficulty 

 in breathing. (P. 15.) 



