Mountain Journeys 159 



July 21, camp on high desert plains, at an altitude of 5000 

 meters; they suffered much from the wind: 



Travellers are frequently killed by this wind, which is sometimes 

 so cold that it checks the vitality very quickly. Men and horses 

 suffered much here from the rarity of the air. Several of our men lay 

 down on the plain, completely exhausted, and could not reach our camp 

 until the next day; some horses which fell were abandoned to their 

 unhappy fate. (P. 77.) 



They remained several days on these lofty plateaux, and in 

 reference to this, the narrator adds: 



There are a number of observations which I greatly regret not 

 having made while we were at these heights, and among them 

 changes caused in the pulse, respiration, and body temperature. My 

 travelling companions offered to submit to the boredom of having 

 their temperature taken and their pulse counted at determined times, 

 but I found that I already had too many irons in the fire. The few 

 scattered observations which I made had no great value, but they 

 prove clearly that, in me at least, altitude has only a slight effect, as 

 the following figures show. I should say that numerous observations 

 made on my companions gave similar results: 



Temperature 

 Pulse Respir. under tongue 



Ordinarily 80 24 98.2 



At Sakte, seated for several hours, 



12,900 feet, July 9 90 25 98.3 



Summit of Chang-La; 18,000 feet 



(5485 meters), July 10, after walk- 

 ing to the summit 80 26 



Lak Zung, more than 17,500 feet; 



July 24 (P. 79.) 75 24 97.8 



The second part of the book is devoted to natural history. The 

 ornithology is edited by A. O. Hume. I am quoting from it inter- 

 esting observations on the habitat of birds at great altitudes: 



One of the points which seemed most striking to me in the 

 observations of Dr. Henderson is the ease with which birds seem to 

 live at great altitudes. Our friend the Cuckoo swings on the pendent 

 branches of the birches, uttering his joyous song at an elevation of 

 11,000 feet, while snow covers the ground. The Lapwing seems at 

 home at 18,000 feet (5485 meters), the "Kashmir Dipper", which lives 

 above 13,000 feet, seeks for insects in half -frozen torrents; the 

 "Guldenstadt's Redstart" hops carefree in the snow at 17,800 feet; the 

 Montifringilla haematopygia seems to live permanently between 

 14,000 and 17,000 feet, and the "Adams' Finch" is common at 13,000 

 feet. The long-beaked tufted Lark is in places from 12,000 to 15,000 

 feet, while the Mongolian "Dottrel" and the "Ruddy Shieldrake" live 

 at 16,000 feet, and the brown-headed "Gull" at 15,000. (P. 163.) 



