102 Trip to the Bulcha and Oonta Dhoora Passes. [No. 134. 



that again, and the name of the second I do not know, (unless it be 

 " Lusher.") Chingoor may be the name of the third, or merely of the 

 ridge above Chingoor. Commenced the descent at 9h. 20m., reached 

 foot at 9h. 55m., Doong at 12h. 15m., breakfasting place of 28th 

 ultimo 2h. 30m., halted till 3h. 15m., and then on to Melum, where I 

 arrived at 5h. 40m., quite exhausted by the 13 hours' travelling. At 

 the foot of the Pass, the snow was melting rapidly, and large fissures 

 were forming, snow very soft, sun unpleasantly hot. Goonka river much 

 swollen since I passed up, and the snow-bed, by which we crossed to 

 Melum side falling in rapidly. My face and heel were exquisitely pain- 

 ful, and I was delighted to get back to Melum for my bed. The price 

 of a yak is from eight to twelve rupees ; they carry less than a jooboo, 

 and sometimes turn upon their drivers, or rush down hill when urged 

 beyond their patience ; a jooboo never does this, carries 1^ to 2 

 maunds well, lives to 30 years or so, and works 12 to 14 years. 

 Dhan Sing is my authority. In descending the Pass yesterday, I 

 heard the fall of an avalanche somewhere in the vicinity ; the noise 

 was that of a loud and continued peal of thunder ; the Bhooteas have 

 stories of men and goats being lost in snow storms and avalanches. 

 One I heard to-day was of 4 men with 500 sheep and goats lost during a 

 snow storm of 7 days near Sungon. Three men escaped back to Melum, 

 and the tribe of Bhooteas who suffered this heavy loss forswore the 

 Thibetan traffic for ever. Now-a-days, people seem to have become ac- 

 quainted with the seasons and weather ; for accidents very rarely occur.* 



* A short time after Lieut. Weller's departure from the Bhote Mahals, I received 

 an official report of two Bhooteas with 8 or 10 loaded jooboos and some sheep being 

 lost in a snow storm. Accidents of this kind are most frequent during the months of 

 May and October; in the former month from the fall of avalanches, both of snow and 

 rocks occurring in the middle of the day when the sun becomes powerful, and the 

 masses on the peaks become loosened, in the latter month from the first falls of new 

 snow at the commencement of the winter surprising parties who attempt for the sake 

 of profit to prolong the season of traffic across the Passes. In October 1837, the 

 Netee Pass was quite open on the 11th, on the 12th it was entirely closed by a sudden 

 snow storm of which I was an eye-witness. The village of Macca near Budrinath has 

 been twice carried away by avalanches since 1815, and the pilgrims who venture to 

 Keddernath too early in the month of May, are sometimes surprised by avalanches 

 falling in the three miles between Gowree Koond and the temple ; the only signs of 

 them left being sticks and shoes scattered about the snow. Common caution as to 

 choice of season would save all such accidents to the pilgrims; indeed, accidents are 

 yearly becoming of rarer occurrence. — J. H. B. 



