THE DOONAGIRI GLACIER. 405 



to give us all the assistance and information we required 

 regarding game. Up here we were almost above the limit of 

 forest, except for a few birch-trees and rhododendron bushes, 

 which latter were all abloom with pure white and pale lilac 

 blossoms. 



As we left the hamlet next morning and took our way up 

 towards the glacier, the snowy heights above were just being 

 tipped with a pale rosy reflection, though the dawning light 

 was still dim and grey below. The crisp frosty air was pinch- 

 ing cold, but an hour's sharp walking warmed us up. On 

 reaching the foot of the glacier, we stopped to take a careful 

 survey of the neighbouring slopes. There were three small 

 flocks of burrell visible, but the spy-glass showed that they 

 contained no old rams ; so we let them be, and went on upward 

 along the lateral moraine of the glacier in search of some- 

 thing better. Nothing more, however, being discovered, I 

 got on to the glacier and proceeded up over it, more from 

 curiosity regarding it than with any idea of finding game 

 farther up. The ice was grey and very dirty, with few cre- 

 vasses, and the surface, though lumpy, irregular, and thickly 

 strewn with large stones, was quite easy to traverse. 



I have before mentioned the enormous size of Himalayan 

 glaciers. They do not, however, often present in their lower 

 formation the broken, split-up, and white appearance of 

 Alpine ones. For this you must here ascend to a very 

 high altitude, where the ice and n6v6 are as pure as in the 

 Alps. There are very few glaciers in the Himalayas which 

 descend lower than 11,000 feet. The temperature at that 

 elevation is said to be much the same as that of 3000 feet in 

 the Alps. Owing to the heat and melting power of the sun, 

 the lower part of a glacier is here much more covered with 

 stones and dirt than in more northern latitudes. Here you 

 may walk for miles over the lower part of a glacier and not 

 see any ice. Nor do you notice the beautiful azure blue so 

 much in the depths of holes and fissures of Himalayan gla- 



