90 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



in search of their lost relative Csomo, and it was only 

 "by some accident he was able to tell them where the 

 Hungarian they sought was buried. 



Before me lies a cold windy plateau 13,000 feet 

 high, with a gradual descent to some white granite 

 and mica-slate precipices, which have to be painfully 

 climbed up ; while beyond, a steep and terribly long 

 ascent leads up to a great bank of snow, which must 

 be crossed before it is possible to commence the 5500 

 feet of descent upon Sugnam. Feeling myself be- 

 coming weaker every hour, I must confess that my 

 heart almost failed me at this prospect ; but to have 

 remained at that altitude in the state I was in would 

 have been death ; so, after hastily drinking some 

 milk, which the pretty Kanam women had been con- 

 siderate enough to bring with them, we pushed on. 

 Xo yaks could go up the white precipice, and there 

 was nothing for it there but climbing with such aid 

 as ropes could give. High as we were, the heat and 

 glare of the sun on these rocks was frightful ; but as 

 we got up the long slope beyond and approached the 

 bank of snow, the sky darkened, and an intensely 

 cold and violent wind swept over the summit of the 

 pass from the fields of ice and snow around. There 

 was no difficulty in passing the bank of snow, which 

 turned out to be only patches of snow with a bare 

 path between them; but at that height of 14,354 

 feet, or nearly as high as the summit of Mont Blanc, 

 with its rarefied air, the effect of the violent icy wind 



