54 Tableau of High Asia. [No. 1, 



is the Must&gh pass in the Karakorum chain (19,019 ft.), the third the 

 Changchenmo, or Yengi Davan (about 18,800 ft.), in the same chain. 

 None of these passes are generally used as commercial roads. The 

 highest pass as yet known to be regularly crossed with horses and 

 sheep, for the purposes of commerce, is the Parang pass (18,500 ft. ; 

 Mr. Theobald, Jr. makes it 19,132 ft., which seems too high — ) ; and 

 between this height and 18,000 ft. are situated several of the most 

 important and frequented passes, as the Mana (18,406 ft.) the Kara- 

 korum (18,345 ft.) and the Kiobrang (18,313 ft.). The lowest passes 

 in the Himalaya chain are the Shinku La (16,684 ft.) and the Bara 

 Lacha (16,186 ft.); the well known Niti pass reaches 16,814 ft. 



In the Andes, the general mean elevation of the passes is, according 

 to Berghaus : 



For the Western Andes, 14,500 ft. 



For the Eastern Andes, 13,500 ft. 



The highest passes are : Alto de Toledo (15,590 ft.), Lagunillas 

 (15,590 ft.}, and Assuay 15,526 ft.). The latter pass attains, accord- 

 ing to Schmarda, only 14,517 ft. 



In the Alps, the mean of the passes is 7,550 ft. 



The highest pass, at least in former times not frequently used for 

 commercial purposes, is the St. Theodule (11,001 ft.), upon which 

 the brothers Platter have now erected a meteorological observatory. 



3. Peaks. 

 In the beginning of this century, the Andes were supposed to con- 

 tain the highest peaks on our globe, and Chimborazo to rise supreme 

 above the rest. Though as early as 1816 this was proved by Captain 

 Webb's measurements to be incorrect, yet some time elapsed, before 

 the superiority of the Himalaya above the Andes was generally 

 admitted. Now we know, from the valuable and accurate observations ' 

 of the Gr. T. Survey of India, that G-aurisankar, or Mount Everest I 

 (29,002 ft.) is the highest peak of the world. The memoir of Major 

 J. T. Walker in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1862, 

 No. I., pp. 32—48, gives a detailed enumeration of the peaks hitherto j 

 measured in the Himalaya ; this memoir, as well as the publications 

 of Captain Montgomerie and private communications kindly received 

 from the Surveyor General's Office, enable me to state, that 216 peaks 

 are now accurately measured in the chain of the Himalaya. Among 



