160 
NARRATIVE. 
standing every precaution, our hands and faces got 
so chapped that for weeks afterwards washing was a 
torture. The thermometer at night ranged from 
about the freezing point to twelve degrees below zero ; 
and it was no slight addition to our discomfort that 
we had frequently to ford the river and get wet above 
the knee. On these occasions our clothes became coated 
with ice, and had to be thawed before we could ven- 
ture to walk ; even the legs and bellies of the horses 
became covered with icicles. Sometimes our beard had 
to be thawed, for the breath made it freeze into one 
rigid -mass, which had often a very ludicrous appear- 
ance. 
It is to me a mystery how our Tibetan porters 
managed to exist at all, yet I never heard them utter a 
complaint, and we got back to Laddk without the loss 
of a single follower or load of baggage. Mr. Shaw 
left us in Lingzi Thang, to explore the Shy ok river, 
and the many hardships he had to undergo brought 
on a severe attack of rheumatic fever, wiiich nearly 
cost him his life. 
