TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 151 



On the right of the glacier rose the three great Jumnotsi peaks, designated in Sheet 

 65 of the Trigonometrical Survey of India Black E, Great E. and Little E, the 

 altitudes of which, as given in map, are 21,155, 20,916 and 20,122 feet. The peaks 

 designated in the Trigonometrical Survey Great E. and Little E. are the two 

 summits of a mountain which the natives call Banderpouch. On the left the glacier 

 was bounded by a wall of precipices, terminating in the lofty snow-covered peak of 

 Sumeru Parbut. The height of this peak is not given in the Survey Map ; but, 

 from its appearance, as compared with that of the measured peaks, and also from the 

 height it rises above the limit of perpetual snow, I should estimate its altitude at 

 about 18,000 feet. The altitude of Banderpouch ke Ghattee I estimate at about 

 16,000 feet. 



In making my agreement with the Brahmin, I was under the impression that 

 Sumern Parbut was one of the measured peaks, and it was not until I reached Ban- 

 derpouch ke Ghattee that 1 discovered my mistake. As soon as I did so, I wished 

 to alter our route, and to attempt the ascent of Banderpouch. But the Brahmin 

 would not agree to this : he affirmed that Banderpouch was inaccessible. We there- 

 fore turned to our left, and scaling the precipice, and creeping along its narrow ser- 

 rated ridge, in two hours and thirty minutes the Brahmin and myself reached the 

 summit of Sumeru Parbut. Mr. D'Aguilar, finding that he could not proceed 

 further without being obliged to bivouac for another night in the cold, had left us at 

 the foot of the ascent leading to Banderpouch ke Ghattee. Lieut. Sandilands reached 

 a point within about half an hour of the summit, when he found himself so severely 

 affected by the rarefied atmosphere that it was physically impossible for him to 

 proceed. When he turned he was attended by only one of the rajpoots, all the others 

 having deserted him before. 



My Brahmin guide, a very fine athletic young man of 25, did not seem to suffer 

 in the least, but on our return to our tent he was unable to eat his bread. My eyes 

 ached a little, my breathing was a good deal affected, and my spirits very much 

 depressed ; but I retained sufficient energy and physical power to persevere almost 

 continuously in the exertion of climbing, and on my return to our tent, my appetite 

 was not at all affected, and I ate a hearty supper. It was a quarter to two when we 

 reached the summit. When I commenced my journey to Jumnotsi I had no 

 intention of attempting the ascent of any culminating point, and did not, therefore, 

 provide myself with any instrument, excepting a thermometer and a surveying com- 

 pass. Several weeks before I had broken my thermometer, and was therefore 

 unfortunately totally destitute of the means of making observations. I, however, 

 observed that the surface of the snow was melting, — a little rill of water trickled 

 down on the face of a fragment of rock which projected through the snow. This 

 proves that at two o'clock in the afternoon on the 30th of October, at an altitude of 

 18,000 feet, the sun has sufficient power to raise the temperature above the freezing- 

 point. 



At ten minutes after two we commenced our descent. In 1 hour and 27 minutes 

 we reached the bed of the glaciers ; in 53 minutes Banderpouch ke Ghattee, where 

 we rejoined Sandilands and one of the rajpoots ; in 57 minutes the lower edge of 

 the Dhotee Tiba glaciers; and iti 1 hour and 17 minutes, at 38 minutes after six, 

 we rejoined our tent. The total time occupied in the descent, from the time we left 

 the summit until we reached the tent, was 4 hours and 28 minutes. On the following 

 day we continued our descent to Kursallee, which we reached in 4 hours and 

 11 minutes. Before reaching the edge of the Dhotee Tiba glacier we had been 

 enveloped in a dense mass of cloud which entirely concealed every landmark. We 

 were very apprehensive that we should have missed our tent. Had we done so, we 

 should probably have perished before morning. Next day, before we reached Kur- 

 sallee, the first snow of the season began to fall, so that the opportunity of further 

 exploring the icy regions of the mountains was gone. 



I am now about to rejoin my regiment in India, and am likely to be stationed 

 ■within reach of the Himalayas, so that 1 hope, in the autumn of 1854 or 1855, to 

 pay another visit to Jumnotsi. Should I do so, I purpose to encamp in the plateau 

 between Dhotee Tiba and to devote three or four days to an attempt to ascend one 

 of the great Jumnotsi peaks, having found by experience that 1 suffer comparatively 

 little from the rarefaction of the atmosphere ; and having tested the intrepidity and 

 energy of the Brahmin guide, 1 am in hopes, if I can discover an accessible path, 



