GURLA MANDHATA 121 



which swept past us like a London fog. Presently we 

 heard the shouts of men calling to us from far below, so 

 we gladly faced towards the sound and hurried with- 

 out speaking from rock to rock, springing downwards 

 as if the devil were behind. The great stones played 

 different notes under our feet as they clinked and rocked. 

 At last we regained the beaten snow track, and rushed 

 wildly forward till we overtook the rest of our party, who 

 were wondering where we could have got to. They were 

 glad to see us, but not as glad as we were to have got 

 safely off that pinnacle. We looked at one another, and 

 thought more than we wished to say. 



The snow line in Tibet is so much higher than any- 

 where else, and the climate so dry, that I think an ascent 

 of such a peak as Gurla Mandhata, 25,600 feet, would be 

 more likely to be successful, if any person cared enough to 

 try, than the ascent of Chimborazo, or any of the Hima- 

 layan giants.* I confess I should not want to go up, but 

 at 20,000 feet I did not find breathing too difficult. 

 One's pulse certainly goes very much faster, owing to the 

 oxygen being thin, for blood must be oxidized. In fact, 

 during the three months I was in the heights my pulse 

 was steadily over 100, night and day. We got used to 

 the rarefied air, and did not have what they call moun- 

 tain sickness in America, which is like a high fever. At 

 least, we suffered less from it each ascent we made, and on 

 this occasion the headache and pressure over the temples 

 passed off as we descended. Certainly this camp was a 



* The ascent of the high mountain, Mustagh Ata, in Northern 

 Tibet, was attempted several times by Dr. Sven Hedin ; but though he 

 was accompanied by most excellent mountaineers of Kirghiz race, 

 who did their very utmost to scale this lofty snow pyramid, riding all 

 the way on strong fresh yaks so as to escape the exhaustion of 

 climbing in such a rarefied atmosphere, they found it impossible to 

 get higher than about 22,000 feet. 



