154 Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan, fyc. [Aug. 



allel to the course of the river. These hills rose abruptly out of the wa- 

 ter in bold rocky banks with many deep inlets, promontories, and one 

 or two small islands of the same character. This part of the lake is 

 altogether so irregular in outline that it could hardly be defined without 

 detail- survey and close inspection of every point. The eastern shore was 

 bounded by shelving ground and low hills, the south end being a good 

 deal recessed, eastward, into a deep bay, the middle part advancing, 

 further westward, in a rocky bank of moderate height, and the north 

 end sweeping round to the westward, as far as could be seen, with a 

 margin of green grassy plain from the back of which the Gangri moun- 

 tains rose in dark steep slopes. The main peak of Kailas, now beauti- 

 fully developed to its very base, was seen on the extreme left of the 

 range, (so far as visible to us), and over the low hills in the middle of 

 the eastern shore, a streak of bright blue showed a distant glimpse of 

 Manasarowar. The western shore of the lake was undulating ground or 

 low hills, over which we had been travelling this morning, at the foot 

 of steep and lofty hills here and there streaked with snow. The water 

 of the lake was of the clearest brightest blue, reflecting with double in- 

 tensity the colour of the sky above, and the northern horn of the water 

 overshadowed by the wall of mountain rising above it, was darkened in- 

 to a deeper hue, partaking of the fine purple colour that distinguishes 

 the rocks of Gangri. Fresh breezes broke the surface of the water into 

 waves that rolled upon the shore. The surrounding hill sides, though 

 very bare of vegetation, were tinted with many shades of red, brown or 

 yellow, happily varied with the margins of verdant grass in other parts 

 of the shore, and bright sunshine spread a warm glow over the whole 

 landscape, entirely divesting it of the cold barren aspect that might be 

 supposed inseparable from these intemperate regions. The beauty of 

 this novel scene appeared to me to surpass any thing that I had seen on 

 the south side of the Himalaya ; it certainly far exceeded my expecta- 

 tions, and I felt already repaid for the trouble of my expedition. 



Our course now inclined to the northward, and as we proceeded, the 

 hilly bank on which we had been travelling subsided into level shore 

 sloping down to the water's edge. Our road lay over this for two or 

 three miles, the water half a mile to our right ; and as far to our left we 

 passed Chabgia Gumba somewhere, not visible under the steep hill- 

 side ; this I believe is the only Gumba* on the banks of Rakas Tal. 

 * Gumba, Monastery. 



