136 Historical 



At the pass of Boorendo: 



June 16. As usually happens at these altitudes, we hardly slept 

 at all, worn out by headaches and an extreme difficulty in breathing. 

 (P. 37.) 



At the pass of Keoobrung, 18,313 feet, he is a little more 

 explicit: 



June 24. I felt great difficulty in breathing, and great weakness, 

 but no headache, although my followers suffered from the accelera- 

 tion of circulation noted by M. Moorcroft: the temperature was 46°. 



August 30, he made the ascent of the pass of Manerung at the 

 enormous height of 18,612 feet (5671 meters) . 



We were ascending the mountain very slowly; respiration was 

 difficult and we were almost exhausted at every step. The crest of 

 the pass was not visible, and we did not know when our troubles 

 would end: the road ascended at an angle of 30° 



Our situation was different from anything we had experienced 

 before; it cannot be described. Long before we reached the summit, 

 our respiration became panting and oppressed, and we were forced 

 to sit down after a few steps; even then we could hardly inhale a 

 sufficient quantity of air. The slightest movement was accompanied 

 by weakness and mental prostration. We suffered thus for two miles; 

 the last half-mile was in perpetual snow. At the summit, the barom- 

 eter registered 15.300 inches, the thermometer 36 °F 



Several of my followers could not cross the pass on account of 

 headaches. The length and the difficulty of the ascent, the rarity of 

 the atmosphere, the rigor of the climate, although it was summer, 

 make this pass dangerous to the sturdiest persons. (P. 240.) 



September 29, he had reached Kotgurh, the end of the journey. 



In the first volume of the work published by Lloyd, there is a 

 letter from Dr. Gerard, narrating his journey to the passes of 

 Shatool and Boorendo, with the purpose of determining the line 

 of perpetual snow. It is dated from Lake Charamace, at 13,800 

 feet, August 18, 1822. 



At the height of 15,000 feet, the same symptoms attacked him 

 and his travelling companions: 



I cannot describe the extreme fatigue which the last 500 feet 

 caused us. Distressed, sick, we could not use our arms to break off 

 a piece of stone with a blow of the hammer. Respiration was free, 

 but insufficient, our legs could hardly support us, and our faces were 

 drawn as if we were going to have the fever .... 



All my people were in a wretched condition, I suffered from 

 headache, and everyone was complaining. (P. 308.) 



It was August 9, they reached the summit of the pass of Boo- 

 rendo, at more than 15,500 feet, the thermometer standing at 37°: 



