1838.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society, 481 



500 feet below us were scarcely at all affected by it, and summer and winter were 

 reigning at the same moment on opposite sides of a mountain torrent at dis- 

 tances not more than a mile apart. We had evidently however fairly entered a 

 region whose temperature was far below what we had been accustomed to for 

 many years, and vegetation no less than sensation proved it ; on every side we 

 had oaks, firs, rhododendrons, weeping cypresses and apples. At 10 in the 

 morning of the 8th February, while the snow was falling heavily the thermome- 

 ter stood at 46 and strange to say in the afternoon at 4 p. m. with the thermo- 

 meter at 42o a rapid thaw took place, and we resumed our march on the 10th to 

 Tasangsee the residence of a sooba in Lat. 27° 34' 25" Long. 91° 15' and 5290 

 feet above the sea. 



We had now arrived near the north-eastern foot of a lofty range of moun- 

 tains called the Domylala, the passage of which we were told would prove 

 difficult as the greater portion of it lay through snow, but that we should 

 be able to cross it in time to obtain shelter at a village on the opposite side 

 before night. Under this impression we started from a halting-house on the 

 morning of the 15th of February at an elevation of 8000 feet above the sea, and 

 after ascending 1000 feet entered a snowy region, where we found every tree 

 heavily laden with icicles and snow, and the latter in many places so deep as to 

 render extreme care necessary in travelling along the narrow ledges of gneiss, 

 which projecting in many places from the face of the mountain afforded a very in- 

 secure and scarcely distinguishable path for the traveller. Here we met cedars of 

 considerable size, but the snow so buried all the inferior shrubs that it was almost 

 impossible to obtain a sight of one. We toiled up this steep and weary ascent 

 until 1 o'clock when we reached a ridge which proved to be 11245 feet above 

 the sea. This we were told was the culminating point of the range, but we 

 found to our cost that it was not so ; we descended for some time and again 

 crossing numerous peaks by zig-zag paths intersected by torrents which rushed 

 under a superficial coating of ice, finally reached the northwest crest from 

 whence we looked down almost perpendicularly on the massive platforms which 

 formed the basis of the ponderous ridge above. This point was 12480 feet above 

 the sea, and we commenced the descent about 3 p. m., and here the cold became 

 much more severe ; the rocks were coated with ice ; huge icicles hung from them 

 in every direction, and yet the thermometor stood 2° above the freezing point*. 

 At halfpast four we reached an open platform sloping gradually to the westward, 

 and then pushed on through a succession of ravines expecting every moment to 

 arrive at the promised village where we were to obtain rest and refreshment. 

 The increasing darkness and difficulty of the road rendered advance every minute 

 more impracticable and we were at last so completely involved in darkness that 

 it was quite impracticable to advance further, no trace of a path being percep- 

 tible, and we determined to retrace our steps to an open spot in the rear rather 

 more free of snow than any around us. We did not reach this halting-place 

 until past 8 o'clock, when we contrived to make an old tree contribute to our 

 comfort by converting some of its branches into fire-wood ; and passed the 

 night in the open air surrounded by snow at an elevation of 96U0 feet above the 

 sea. Blake and myself with three or four servauts were the only persons 

 who reached this spot, Griffith had halted a little behind us and the 

 people of the camp were scattered over a line of about 3 miles in length, 

 extending from the foot of the descent to the entrance of the ravines. The 

 village we did not reach until past 10 o'clock the following morning, and 

 several of the Bhuteeahs with the baggage did not arrive until two days 

 afterwards. 



In crossing this lofty range several of the party suffered from vertigo, 

 sickness and difficulty of breathing, and even much lower down the highly ratifi- 

 ed state of the air was proved by the faint report of our guns. We had fortunate- 

 ly a perfectly calm atmosphere while effecting this arduous passage or the con- 

 sequences might have proved most serious to many of our followers, none of whom 

 had ever before been so exposed, hinge the village at which we halted for two 

 days, is 6330 feet above the sea, so that in this march we had ascended three 

 thousand and descended nearly six thousand feet, in a distance of 15 miles, 

 * See the explanation of this apparent anomaly J. A. S, Vol. V. 427.— Ee, 

 3 m 2 



