HEIGHT OF TIBETAN PASSES 155 



Darcha on his way to Eokchen, whither he was "oins; for 

 wool. He was the first trader of the seasou, and would buy 

 his wool on the sheep's backs and take delivery at Patsio. 

 The sheep he had with him would carry his supplies. 

 Ycikiib had to be hoisted on to Chamurti and held on, as 

 he had not strength to keep his seat in the saddle ; he had 

 had nothing to eat, and could not possibly take food till he 

 had thawed a little. Probably a human being could exist 

 in this condition, like the hibernating bear, for a length of 

 time, provided no bodily exertion was exacted. Chamurti 

 kept with the two Lahouli ponies carrying the fuel, and 

 became quite sociable with them ; he had sobered down 

 somewhat now ; the three days of cold had taken some of 

 the friskiness out of him. 



We crossed the pass without the least difficulty, and 

 reached the second frozen lake on the other side at a quarter 

 past nine ; the coolies took two hours more. This was a 

 very small performance indeed compared with the passage 

 of the Rotang. The fact is, the first pass over the buttress 

 of the Himalayas is always the most difficult and trying : 

 most of those which come afterwards, on the Ladakh side, 

 are across ridges at the heads of valleys — not solid, 

 upstanding ranges of mountains with bases twenty and 

 thirty miles in breadth. The height of Tibetan passes 

 (fifteen to nineteen thousand feet) sound very awe-inspiring, 

 but, with a very few exceptions, they are passes only in 

 name. It is to be remembered that the average altitude of 

 Tibet is not less than 14,000 feet. The ascent of the 

 Baralacha is very gradual, and presented no difficulties 

 except sloping patches of snow here and there. After 

 going up some distance, level tracts are found where the 

 snow lies thickly ; in one of these is a small frozen lake, the 

 road running round its margin. This portion of the road is 

 considered the most dangerous on the pass, as animals are 



