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



few pencil notes for my field book, &c, my hands being nearly disabled 

 between cold and gloves. 



This place, Ningri, is but a narrow ravine far recessed in the Byans 

 Himalaya, with little to be seen but bare walls of rock with glimpses of 

 snowy summits behind. There was so little fuel forthcoming that I 

 could not boil my Thermometer here, but the elevation may be estima- 

 ted at 15,000 feet, 100 feet above Pala, which I reckon to be 500 feet 

 higher than Maghram, the ascent up the ravines from that place being 

 very moderate. 



Bhauna, with Anand, now returned to Pruang to visit his friend 

 Tidya-Makhpun, realize some debts and pick up the news. With the 

 Bhotias I started for Byans at 8.25 a. m. course westward (by south) 

 up the Ningri ravine. We met severel Hunias on the road with laden 

 sheep, &c. and they stared at me with no little astonishment, as I now 

 showed my face without reserve, but none of them presumed to ask 

 questions, which were rather defied by the confident air of the Bhotias 

 who had regained their courage now that the danger (such as it was) 

 was over ; among a party of Hunias I met " the man of Lamjung" 

 again, who also recognized me with some surprise ; he appeared to be 

 doing a little in the salt and grain line in partnership with some Kham- 

 pa. They asked three rupees for a puppy worth a timashi, for which I 

 had offered a rupee. 



Three or four miles of straight and tolerably easy ascent by a fair 

 road (for these parts), brought us to the top of Lipu-Lekh by noon. 

 Seven or eight hundred vertical feet of the summit was pretty well 

 covered with snow, but this was for the most shallow and well frozen, 

 or when otherwise, so beaten down by the traffic of men and cattle, as 

 to make a very good path, over which we travelled without any difficulty. 

 The sun was shining bright, but the passage of snow was not long 

 enough to entail any injury from the glare, though that was of course 

 considerable over the snow. The rarefraction of the air was sensible 

 but no way distressing to any of us except the ponies, who seem to 

 have very little endurance in this matter. Altogether, I found the as- 

 cent nothing more than a pleasant morning's walk, and that after an 8 

 hour's march through the preceding night. A Barometric measurement 

 of this pass made by Manson, 14th October 1828, made the elevation 



