282 WANDEEINGS OF A 



It is called Tsiunureri by Moorcroft, which the Tartars at the 

 Poogah mines pronounce Tsomoreree. Of late years English 

 travellers hstve been accustomed to name it Chimouraree, 

 which is likely to supersede the others. There is much difiB.- 

 culty in being able to find out the names of places in these 

 uninhabited districts, for one may journey for days and not 

 meet a single native ; and when any are encountered they 

 are generally non-residents, or travellers on their way to or 

 from distant countries. 



A noble amphitheatre of mountains surrounds the lake on 

 one side, whilst at its northern extremity is the Nagpogo- 

 ding Pass, which, according to the above authority, is 17,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. Halkett made it 800 feet 

 higher, but his calculations were not studiously exact. The 

 shores of the lake are stony, and the high-water marks seem 

 to indicate considerable elevations at certain seasons — per- 

 haps during the spring and winter months, when evaporation 

 is least. Several good-sized streams run into it, but there is 

 no outlet. No doubt the waste and supply are balanced by 

 evaporation. The idea of a subterranean communication, as 

 surmised by some authorities, has no support from any appear- 

 ances observable on the lake or neighbouring country. 



Excepting one rude stone building, occasionally occupied 

 by the gopa of the district, and that scarcely worthy of the 

 name of a human habitation, we had not seen a house of any 

 sort since leaving Ghia. The solitary grandeur of the scene 

 was at first impressive, but soon became wearisome in the 

 extreme, for the eye got tired of the unbroken sheet of water, 

 then scarcely ruffled by a breath of wind, and of the vast 

 barrier-chains which, like those we had been accustomed 

 to see for weeks, presented the same monotonous similarity ; 

 whilst the stony desert plain around the lake showed not one 



