136 A Himalayan Pass. 



not loo unpleasant crossing. 1 started ahead of the camp with 

 a single orderly, so as to collect and observe unhindered. 



The first part of the road zigzags up an enormous hump 

 of the mountain, and here, owing to the rain, we saw nothing 

 of interest save a cock Meadow Bunting {Emberiza cia stracheyi) 

 which was feeding by the path. On reaching the top of the 

 hump we exchanged the rain for the biting wind which is 

 usually the unpleasant characteristic of this pass, and which 

 blew steadily in our faces most of the way to the summit and 

 over, and made progress more troublesome than it need have 

 l)cen. Here, however, the way was enlivened by the presence 

 of a large number of Red-billed Choughs (Pyrrhocorax 

 pyrrhocorax), which were feeding on the grazing grounds or 

 floating over our heads with their musical call, so reminiscent 

 at times of the Jackdaw that I scanned the parties half in 

 expectation of a " russet pate." 



Here I may explain that the whole of the road over the 

 pass is treeless ; the roughly built mule road winds through 

 green pastures studded with Potentillas, Dwarf Iris, Anenomes, 

 and other Alpine flowers, and littered with boulders and stones 

 that time and the melting snows have brought from the heights 

 above. A few drifts of snow still lingered about the road in 

 sheltered crannies. There was, of course, plenty of snow on 

 the heights that surround the ])ass, and indeed fresh snow had 

 fallen that night. 



We passed the Choughs, and for a long way saw no birds 

 .'!t all, not even the Snow Pigeons {Colitniha Icuconota). which 

 are usually seen about the road. Then at about i2,oco ft. a 

 cheery song revealed the presence of a pair of Ruby-Throats 

 (Luscinia pcctoralis) who were probably nesting in the tangle of 

 fallen rocks where they were living. A short search revealed 

 nothing, and doubtless the nest was deep down somewhere in 

 the crannies and could only have been found by careful w^atching. 



As we neared the summit (13.000 ft.) the wind grew colder 

 and the prospect more bleak ; water meandered in every direction 

 from the melting snow drifts which alternated with huge 

 outcrops of rock; mist rolled through the gap of the pass in an 

 almost continuous stream, and we only had occasional glimpses 

 of the rockv snow-girt crests which rise on each side of the 



