The Summit at Last, 



only perform their functions under difficulties still further 

 accentuated by any attempt to force the pace. 



At two o'clock we were a long way below the summit, appar- 

 ently further off than ever, but the guide still stuck manfully to his 

 guns and declared we were now quite close. The ascent, now 

 over a long and exceedingly steep moraine, momentarily became 

 more laborious and exhausting. A pony I had brought from 

 the Hi Su had to be left behind at the last patch far below, 

 as, though marching unladen, he was quite unfit to proceed even 

 over the ground further down, which in comparison to that we 

 were now on was a mere bagatelle. The inconceivably rough 

 going was too much for him, but the yaks on the other hand 

 bore the ordeal well, accustomed as they are to live at consider- 

 able heights, although it was only at the cost of much puffing 

 and grunting, and frequent halts to gather breath for renewed 

 attempts. 



At half past three we crossed patches of frozen snow, just 

 beginning to melt under the warming influences of the sun, and 

 reached a basin shut in by the surrounding heights. Some 400 

 feet above we could discern the razor-back crest denoting the 

 summit of this appalling pass. It was a last supreme effort up 

 a slope approaching so nearly to the perpendicular that it seemed 

 a hopeless task trying to gain the top. But patience and per- 

 severance have their reward, and at a quarter past four I stood 

 on the summit, calculating the height with my instruments to 

 be 17,400 feet, and the highest pass I had yet crossed. Having 

 reached that altitude one is quite content to go no higher, unless 

 there be something tangible at the end of it in the shape of a 

 good trophy of ibex, burhel, or other horned denizen of the 

 mountains. 



From the top a grand view unfolded itself, a panorama of 

 peaks and glaciers stretching away north and south over the 

 mighty Mustagh and Kuen Lun Ranges. It was a fine display 

 of snow-capped heights, with great spurs running out parallel to 

 the main ranges, the valleys and ravines in between being lined 



99 H 2 



