156 THE JOURNEY TO LADAKH 



liable to slip if there is much snow, and, if laden, are 

 certain to be lost. A trader lost a pony here last season, 

 and it was still lying, load and all, in the lake. There was, 

 however, not the slightest danger when we passed, as this 

 part of the road was quite free from snow, notwithstanding 

 the recent heavy falls. A little way beyond the first 

 frozen lake is a ridge, looking back from the summit of 

 which a grand snowy panorama lies spread before you — a 

 splendid stretch of mountains along the entire line of sight 

 from right to left, a glorious tent-shaped peak of pure white 

 arresting the eye over minor elevations. The view was 

 bounded on both sides by two snowy wings, the slopes of 

 the narrow valley by which I had just ascended. It was 

 a study in white : neither rocks, earth, nor vegetation were 

 visible anywhere, from the white carpet at my feet to the 

 horizon far away in the south — an unbroken white expanse 

 unequalled on any other mountains on the globe. The next 

 hardly perceptible undulation I walked over was the top of 

 the pass, where are two stone huts and the usual Tibetan cairn 

 with ragged flags stuck about it. To the right as I passed 

 north, a short distance off, was the source of the Chandra ; at 

 my feet rose the Bhaga — a few yards only divided them. The 

 Lingti stream, down which my path dipped, begins its course 

 at this point also ; so that I now stood on the water-parting 

 between the Indus and the Chinab. The snow meltinjT on 

 this slight elevation feeds these three rivers here, and, after 

 hundreds of miles of widely independent wandering, meet 

 again in the turbid water of the " Panjnad " below Miiltan. 

 What a contrast between the scenes of separation and 

 reunion ! Descending the other slope, the road winds 

 among overturned rocks as far as Kinlang, the usual 

 halting-place. There are two double huts in a stone 

 enclosure here, and below is the bridge crossing the stream. 

 The baggage animals had to go by the old road, as the bridge 



