A Journey to the Salween 75 
over the plains of Assam, thus acting as the first great 
rain-screen to the deep valleys we are considering. Conse- 
quently there are probably no higher ranges to the west 
in this latitude, and the snow-line on the Salween-Irrawaddy 
divide is likely to be even lower than on the Mekong- 
Salween divide. 
Captain Bailey, who in the same month crossed to 
India further north, mentions seeing from above the Irra- 
waddy a snowy range to the east of him—probably Ta-miu 
between the Mekong and Salween, to which I shall refer 
later. He then crossed a pass between the Salween and 
the Irrawaddy 15,676 feet above sea-level, where there 
was a good deal of soft snow on June 17th. ‘The pass, 
however, would probably be clear later, and judging from 
his account, I gather that this divide is not so lofty above 
Men-kong as where I saw it further south. 
What, however, struck me more than this wild snow- 
clad range peeping up above horizontal strata of silvery 
cloud, was the appearance of quite another range running 
more or less at right angles to the above—that is 
east and west—but as I was looking at it end on, it was 
difficult, on account of perspective, to be certain of the 
direction of this range, while the fact that the far west was 
buried in cloud made it still more deceptive. Afterwards 
I learnt that the late Mr Lytton believed he had seen such 
a range from the Salween valley further south, so that there 
is some authority for my statement, but on the other hand 
Captain Bailey says nothing about a transverse range, and 
he, if anyone, should be in a position to know. 
Does this cross-range, terminating the Tibetan plateau 
in the form of a high bluff, really exist? If so, it seems 
probable that the eastern branch of the Irrawaddy at least 
rises from its southern slope. No better natural boundary 
between Assam and Tibet could be devised. 
Near the pass, the grassy hill side was honeycombed 
with vole burrows and I noticed one or two traps, but I did 
not see any voles scampering about as the pica-hares do by 
day on the Tibetan plateau. 
Descending through dense fir forest, the path lined 
with a fine mauve Primula (?. zzva/zs), we emerged on to 
open grass-covered hills where yak and cattle were grazing. 
