1848.1 Narrative of a Journey to Clio Lagan, fyc. 333 



ficult and even dangerous. The people of Humla and Jumla are said 

 to be such a lawless set, and so little restrained by the weak Govern- 

 ment of the Gorkhas, that traders would have no great security by this 

 route, even if the opening into Pruang were not barred, as now by the 

 Chinese system of Lhassa. 



After this the Khampa treated me to one of their complimentary 

 chorusses ; the whole party of them, half a dozen men and women, 

 joining hands in a semicircle, sang together, if such an unmusical noise 

 could be called singing, keeping time with a most uncouth swinging and 

 swaying motion, — as good dancing as their song was music. On the 

 British side of the snow, this performance is generally expected to ter- 

 minate in bakhshish, and my Khampa would not stop till I silenced 

 them with my silver. 



Budhi, 14 th October. — Thermometer at sunrise 42°. The air filled 

 with what appeared to be the larvae of Locusts 1 or the Lamce, as they 

 might as well be called ; they seemed to be the same sort of animals, 

 whose skeletons I saw on the top of the Gori Glacier in Jwar last June. 

 Thermometer at sunset 54°. 



Golam La, 15 th October. — A very stiff march ; 6^ miles on the 

 map, occupying 1\ hours. Having started with all my people rather 

 late, i. e. at 1\ a. m. I got my breakfast at Golam La by 4 p. m. 

 The road from La-mare to this is very precipitous, in steep and nar- 

 row steps, the greater part of the way, and yet I got over the worst 

 places in a Dandi* (being lamed by tight shoes). The Bhotias were 

 very clumsy at this work, being quite unaccustomed to it, but managed 

 to tumble along somehow by dint of main strength ; and as for ease to 

 myself it was merely a transfer of exertion from legs to arms to keep 

 my seat under the violent tilting to which the Dandi was subjected. 



This road would be utterly unfit for riding on ; indeed it would be 

 bad for a led horse. 



As well as I can make out, La in the Bhotia language signifies a 

 large rock, and these two places, La-mare and Golam-la, derive their 

 names from the great boulders lying upon the encamping grounds. 

 Thermometer at sunset C0°. 



\§th October. — Golam-la. Thermometer at sunrise 50° ; at 7 a. m. 

 52° ; boiled at 198° ; elevation 8000 feet ; the confluence of the Na- 

 janggarh with the Kali is some 15000 feet below. 



* A hill litter. 



