CHAPTER XVII 



AUGUST 19-26 FOB RANG TO KUGRANG 



Character of Changchenmo valley — No inhabitants — Little fuel — Bitter 

 wind — Hot sun — Chorkangma — Mr. Vaughan — Marsemik La — 

 Rimdi — Pamzal — Gogra — Raw and cold — Yet sun very hot — Herd 

 of wild yak — One large bull — Who charged when wounded — Measure- 

 ment of bull — Search for rest of herd. 



The valley of Changchenmo, which we were about to 

 visit, is one of the most hopelessly dreary places I have 

 ever seen. Its average elevation above the sea is about 

 15,000 feet, and the only track into it from the west 

 leads over the Marsemik La (18,420 feet), one of the 

 highest passes in Kashmir. The valley is entirely 

 uninhabited except for a short time in the summer, when 

 the salt traders who come down from the Tibet hiorh- 

 lands pass through it on their way to Rupshu, or a 

 sportsman enters it in pursuit of game, or the neigh- 

 bouring Champas send their herds into it for pasture. 

 The different places to which names have been given 

 have become known as encamping grounds, mainly 

 because grass and water are there available in the 

 summer months. Firewood is, I believe, only to be had 

 at one spot, Pamzal ; but here there is no grass. The 



