NARRA TIVE. 
and a report was brouglit that they had been halted 
at a grassy spot to graze all night. 
On July 30th we started at 6 a.m. to cross a pass 
to Gnischu, sixteen miles distant. On starting, the 
thermometer was at 13° F. The ascent was very 
gradual and easy, except for two miles near the top. 
All the rocks in this ravine, from Grokra to the pass, 
consisted of slate, gneiss, and mica schist, except near 
the hot springs, where some fossiliferous limestone 
was seen. In many places the strata are very much 
contorted. This pass, a new and easy one, having been 
discovered by Dr. Cayley, we afterwards distinguished 
by the name of " Cayley' s Pass it is to the east of that 
taken by Messrs. Shaw and Hay ward. Its altitude 
above the sea was ascertained by the mercurial baro- 
meter to be about 19,600 feet, yet there was no snow 
on the pass itself, and very little on the hills near it. 
After crossing, we found a few patches of snow in 
shady spots on the north side. 
Strange as it may appear, I saw several butter- 
flies* near the highest point, although there was no 
vegetation. We encamped six miles from the top of the 
pass, and 800 feet lower down, at the junction of two 
streams, the place being hence called Gnischu orGrnichu 
{^ni, two, and c/iu, water — Tibetan). Our camp was 
pitched close to one of the streams, so that we were 
well off for water, but there was absolutely no fuel, 
no grass, nor vegetation of any kind ; and with the 
exception of some ravens, which had followed us from 
Le, no animal life was seen. Next morning we began 
to get alarmed about our supplies. It was a remark- 
* A note by Mr. Bates on this species of butterfly will be found in another page. 
