130 Historical 



d'Andrada, 202 have I found clear indication of symptoms which 

 one can attribute to the effect of the air of lofty places. This mis- 

 sionary had the courage to cross the Himalayas almost alone on 

 his way from Cashmere to Tibet: 



There begins a region of lofty mountains which one cannot cross 

 in less than 20 days. There is nothing there but rocks almost always 

 covered with snow .... 



Partly from disease and partly from a certain pestilential 

 exhalation from the ground, suddenly one feels a violent inward 

 revulsion which kills in a quarter of an hour. I attribute these 

 sudden deaths to the cessation of natural warmth which is checked by 

 the great cold, and especially to poor food. (P. 13.) 



But as for him and his two companions, he complains only of 

 the extreme cold, partial freezing, numbness of hands and feet, 

 and "loss of appetite" (P. 16), the only symptom which one can 

 attribute to decreased pressure. However they had passed through 

 very lofty regions, since they "reached the summits of all those 

 mountains where lies the lake whence issue the river Ganges and 

 another which waters the lands of Tibet" (P. 16). It is evidently 

 Lake Manasarowar that d'Andrada means. 



Dr. Bernier, 2 " 3 who in March, 1663, followed the Grand Mogul 

 Aureng-Zeb from Lahore to Cashmere, had to cross a lofty moun- 

 tain, still covered with snow; but he speaks only of the cold, and 

 alludes only to the difficulties of the trip in speaking of the 

 journeys of the merchants who go to Kashgar and Tibet across the 

 lofty ranges. 



The accounts of Father Verbiest, 204 who in 1683 accompanied 

 the Emperor of China into Eastern Tartary, and those of Father 

 Gerbillon, 205 from 1688 to 1698, mention no sufferings. 



In October, 1714, Father H. Desideri left Lahore for Cashmere, 

 "across the Caucasus", as the Himalayas were called for a long 

 time. May 17, 1715, he undertook the terrible journey through 

 Tibet, and reached Ladak June 25. Among his discomforts he 

 mentions only fatigue, cold, wild winds, and the reflection of the 

 sun upon the snow. 200 



In the second half of the eighteenth century the political rela- 

 tions of the English with Boutan and Tibet begin. In 1774, Bogle 

 was sent to the Grand Lama by the governor of India; J. Stewart, 207 

 who has narrated his journey, makes no allusion to the effect of 

 the mountains. 



In 1783, Samuel Turner 20S was entrusted with the same mission. 

 He crossed the high passes of Boutan, and stayed several months 



