24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANATOMICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL 



over the Nathula (15,000 feet) and down to Chumbi. The other road 

 leads up to Gnatong (13,000 feet), the frontier post of Tibet, over the 

 Jelap La (15,000 feet), a very stiff ascent, by a very bad road, indeed 

 many places a mere goat's track. The latter road was taken by the 

 main column of the Mission Force. While ascending from Gnatong 

 over the Jelap La mountain sickness was frequently experienced. 

 The symptoms of this complaint are intense headache, aching eyes, 

 perhaps blindness, severe nausea and heart weakness, greatly aggra- 

 vated by the intense cold. Descending the other side of the Jelap one 

 passes through Yatung Gate, the entrance to Tibet proper. Here are 

 situated the Chinese customs. At Yatung the valley narrows, and a 

 strong loop-holed wall is built right across it, and one passes through a 

 gate and archway in the wall into Yatung village, inhabited by Chinese 

 and Tibetans. Here one first met men using prayer- wheels. All the 

 trees and bushes along the road are covered with prayers written on 

 scraps of rice-paper and there are also great poles here and there 

 bearing prayer-flags. We pass through a few Chinese villages across 

 the Amo Chu by a Tibetan cantilever bridge into Chumbi, a very fertile 

 and pleasant valley with the hillsides wooded with firs. Chumbi is 

 11,000 to 12,000 feet high, 105 miles from Siliguri, and was the head- 

 quarters of the Mission Escort during the winter. From Chumbi to 

 Phari the road is at first very bad and steep rising over 15,000 

 feet on to Phari plain a great icy plain absolutely treeless, with 

 Phari fort standing in the middle of it. The fort or Jong is a large 

 stone, English-like building, very old and broken-down in places, 

 and one passes through a big gateway into the outer court-yard, with 

 low buildings all round for animals, then through another big 

 gate into an inner court-yard, and so into the fort building, 

 which is many roomed, very thick walled and very dark. There are 

 three or four very steep stairs, or rather ladders, leading up to the 

 roof. There is one large room in the fort the Temple contain- 

 ing a few images of Buddha and a very large number of books. 

 Other rooms contain armour and arms guns, swords, bows and 

 arrows, large quantities of powder and bullets. There are always 



