56 Report on Trans- Himalayan Explorations, Sfc. [No. 1, 



traverse of the Mansarowar lake, with bearings to the peaks north 

 and south. A map of the lake will be given hereafter. Though the 

 water was sweet no exit was seen : at one point on the west the 

 ground near the Ju monastery was low, and looked as if water had 

 perhaps at one time flowed through, towards the Pakas Tal lake, 

 though it is now too much above the lake to admit of it. 



The Pundit was unable to join the Ladak Kafila; but made 

 his way by himself along the great road to Shigatze, where he was 

 stopped. This he found was by an order of the Gartok Garpon 

 sent after him by the couriers. lie was unable to advance farther. 

 Whilst marching between the Mansarowar and Skigatze he was able 

 to take bearings to various peaks north and south of the road, 

 which no doubt will add considerably to our knowledge of the 

 mountains on either side, of that route ; but as the Pundit lias 

 only just returned, there is no time to give any further account of 

 his route and adventures in the present report. 



His servant, who was sent back from Dak-korkor, managed to join 

 part of the Ladak Kaiila, and reached the Tadum monastery ; but 

 the mounted messengers of the Gartok Garpon found him out there, 

 and prevented him from advancing farther. He very narrowly 

 escaped being sent back to Gartok, and would have been lucky to 

 have escaped severe punishment. The Ladak merchant fortunately 

 remembered his old friend the C h i e f Pundit, and on being told 

 that the man was carrying merchandize on his account, did what he 

 could to protect him ; and though he said it was impossible to take 

 him to Lhasa, he managed to get him released, and ultimately the 

 man was allowed to cross over the Himalayas by a southerly road past 

 Muktinath into Nepal. In this way he was able to join on to the 

 route the 2nd Pundit traversed during their first explorations. The 

 permission to take a new route, is surprising, as the Lhasa officials 

 are always careful to make suspected individuals return by the road 

 they entered, so that they may at any rate not get fresh information 

 as to the country. Their carelessness in the present instance was 

 probably due to the humble and rather stupid look of the man, but it 

 has supplied an important link between the Tadum monastery and 

 the Muktinath slmne on the Saligrami, a great feeder of the Gun- 

 duk river. The man, an inhabitant of Zaskar, in spite of his appear- 

 ance, has a shrewd idea of distances and of the points of the compass ; 



