OF THE RIVER SETLEJ. 385 



anxious wish, and it was strengthened by the appearance of the roads, which 

 from Nako had been excellent, and in front seemed still better. Indeed 

 we had been uniformly assured that they were passable for horses and that 

 no difficulty whatever would occur on this head ; but difficulties of a dif- 

 ferent kind, and less easy to be surmounted, presented themselves in the jea- 

 lousy of a strange people who owed us no allegiance, and our own want of 

 preparation for such an attempt. The season, too, was far advanced, and 

 it was known that in several parts of Kanawer snow might be expected to 

 fall daily. The apprehension that we should find some of the passes shut, 

 and the uncertainty under which we laboured as to our being able finally to 

 reach any point where we could winter, induced us at last, however unwil- 

 lingly, to resolve on returning. The difficulty, too, which we felt on account 

 of provisions, was an additional inducement; and it was determined that my 

 companion should halt the next day, and on the following, commence his re- 

 turn, while I, with a very few followers, should push on to the first Lataki 

 village, from which I hoped by forced marches to overtake him. Lari was 

 represented to be two marches, Sumra being the first, but the road was said 



t 



to be good, and 1 thought it desirable to make the attempt, if it were only for 

 the sake of fixing the extent of the frontier. It was determined that my com- 

 panion should return down the right bank, in which route I was to follow 

 liim: we should thus have an opportunity of seeing the whole of Hangarang, 

 as well as some parts of Kanawer we had not before visited. The latitude 

 of our camp here was 32° 0' 2", the elevation 10,113 feet. The river was 441 

 feet below. 



Thermometer 26°. A little after day break I left Skalkar, accompani- 

 ed by a servant, six carriers, and a guide ; a long and laborious ascent, 

 in which however the path was excellent, brought us to the Lipcha pass, 

 a ridge having an elevation of 3123 feet above Skalkar, which I have as 

 above supposed to be 10,1 13 feet above the level of the sea. So great was 

 the cold, that, at ten o'clock, the ink froze. We had, from this pass, a view 



W ^y 



