Nearinof the Roof of the World. 



It had been snowing throughout the day, and thick rolhng clouds 

 of mist blotted out the landscape on all sides. At times the 

 threatening clouds would lift a little, revealing the heights on 

 either side. The wind rising in fitful gusts drove the cold mist 

 down the gorge, narrowing the field of view to a score of paces in 

 any direction. 



The outlook was not a cheerful one, and the prospects of 

 successfully negotiating the formidable pass were far from 

 encouraging. Moreover, two of my coolies were ill and unable 

 to proceed further. Such medical skill as I possessed was now 

 brought into play, their symptoms indicating a slight attack 

 of fever, doubtless due to cold and exposure during the day, 

 I doctored them with quinine, and made them as comfortable 

 as possible in a goatherd's hut, a small stone structure built 

 under the lee of a huge rock and occupied in the summer, when 

 the Kaniutis move to higher ground with their flocks. Here I 

 pitched camp, and the indefatigable Piroz Zaman served a more 

 than passable meal, after which, having taken a look at the sick 

 coolies, I retired. 



By dawn a complete change in the weather had taken place, 

 the skies had cleared and the sun shone brilliantly, such a day 

 as reveals the mountains in all their stately grandeur. Camp 

 was struck and loads equalised and made as light as possible to 

 facilitate the coolies' progress over the rock and boulder-strewn 

 ground. The two sick men were left comfortably ensconced 

 in the stone hut, whilst I pushed on with the remainder, who, 

 after crossing the pass, would return the following day. Higher 

 up, the ravine assumed a wilder and more rugged aspect, its 

 sides bare and dreary, a striking contrast to the pine-clad heights 

 of the Himalayas. Amidst this prospect of wild desolation and 

 awe-inspiring immensity, the track skirts a frozen lake formed 

 from a waterfall issuing from the mighty glacier that completeh^ 

 fills the upper end of the valley. I waited below the latter 

 to allow the coolies to close up again. Thence the march was 

 resumed; the path leading along the side of the glacier and over 



55 



