A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



these two opinions, and is, that a person already 

 suffering from " Berg-krankheit " is rendered more 

 susceptible to, and suffers from, the pungent odours 

 of these aromatic plants. One of the favourite 

 remedies suggested for want of wind was the 

 smelling of an onion, and it may have been my 

 imagination, but it certainly did seem to me to 

 make one feel less " blown," and as the natives 

 continually practised it also they presumably 

 believed in its efficacy. Drew mentions that the 

 wild onion is one of the plants that is blamed for 

 bad effects, so perhaps the remedy is a homoe- 

 opathic one ! On this day the coolie arrived with 

 my dak from Skardo, letters and papers being 

 full of the description of tremendous floods below, 

 and doubling my anxiety as to the fate of my 

 precious ibex-heads. 



During the night I was awakened by thunder 

 and lightning, hail and snow, but by 6 A.M. the 

 weather had cleared somewhat, and I determined 

 to attempt the Pass, as there was neither firewood 

 nor food for the coolies for another day. We 

 were soon on the snow, but though the slope was 

 steep for a couple of miles or so, during which 

 we must have risen nearly 1,000 feet, it was not 

 so soft as I had expected. The rarefied atmo- 

 sphere produced various effects on the different 

 persons. The Balti coolies, laden as they were, 

 did not go more than thirty yards or so without 

 stopping to take breath, and encouraged one 



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