1846.] and Boorun Passes over the Himalaya. 115 



and in the sun at 68°. It is the Pass marked Goonas in the map, 

 which is another error, the Goonas being more to the west. " Pilgrim" 

 refuses to all this range the honour of being the veritable Himalaya, and 

 Captain Herbert considered, that the true continuation of this latter 

 was in the Ruldung group, penetrated by the Sutluj near Murung : it 

 is however merely a question of more or less ; and there is, at all events, 

 no denying that from the Shatool Pass eastward, there is a snowy 

 range, inasmuch as even on its south exposure, the snow never dis- 

 appears ; nor can the fact of its gradually declining below the zone of 

 perpetual snow in the Moral ka Kanda, between the Sutluj and the 

 Pabur, detract from its claim ; though it must be allowed, that the moun- 

 tains and Passes are inferior in altitude to those of Kemaon ; nor can the 

 north-western mountains, any more than the whole world, furnish the 

 prospect of overwhelming sublimity which the spectator enjoys from 

 the Gagur, Binsur, and many more points near Almorah. Still the 

 easternmost Pass into Kemaon from Thibet, the Byans, is under 

 16,000 feet elevation, and of so gentle ascent, that it is crossed on horse- 

 back : and the Chinese invasion of Nepal proves that, still more to the 

 east, the Passes can scarcely be so difficult as the Shatool. 



Like Dean Swift, the mountains die at top first, and except a small 

 white Helichrysum and the fragrant Centaurea, the vegetation on and 

 near the Pass is now being rapidly burnt up by the frost : two or three 

 Gentians, the Aconitum dissectum, and the Delphinium vestitum, seem 

 alone to defy its power : but few flowers remain of Saxifraga parnassise- 

 folia (orglandulosa ?), Sieversia elata, Ligularia arnicoides, the yellow 

 Tanacetum, common Senecio, and a Polygonum like the bistort of the 

 Alps. On the crest of the Pass grow the Aplotaxis gossypina, Poten- 

 tilla inglesii, Hymenolsena govaniana, Corydalis meifolia, and Saxi- 

 fraga imbricata; the last two in flower. 



We quitted the crest at quarter past 10 a. m., the wind being bitterly 

 cold, and descended 800 feet or so, over loose stones and frozen snow, 

 by a steep rocky kloof to a kind of oval basin, extending in length 

 from NNW. to SSE. from six to eight miles, by two or three across, 

 enclosed by a barrier of black broken crags, debris, and snow beds ; the 

 surface covered with snow and mica slabs, thrown about in great con- 

 fusion ; a scene of utter silence and desolation. Here and there, there is a 

 pool of water, and a multitude of tiny rills trickled under the stones, the 



