304? Messrs A. and P. GexdH'd^S' Account of a Journey 
not a single tree or blade of green grass was distinguishable for 
nearly 30 miles, the ground being covered with a very prickly 
plant, to which we gave the name of whins. This shrub was 
almost black, seeming as if burnt, and the leaves were so much 
parched from the arid wind of Tartary, that they might be 
ground to powder by rubbing them between the hands. The 
brownish tint of the whins, together with the bleakness* of the 
country, have the appearance of an extensive heath, and must 
. strongly remind a Highlander of his native land. Our course 
from Brooang Pass was about NE. ; here we found we had 
reached the northernmost point of the Sutluj, in Lat. 31° 50'. 
It lay about two miles on our left hand ; and from this place, its 
direction, all the way to its source in the famous Lake of Man- 
suwurer, is nearly ESE. The wind was so strong that we could 
with difficulty keep our feet ; and it is said to blow with almost 
equal violence throughout the year. We saw some snow on our 
right, a little below us ; and beyond it, a peak, above 20,000 
feet high, from which the snow was drifting in showers by the 
force of the wind. 
Erom the pass to camp, the road was a moderate descent upon 
gravel, winding very much. 
Shipke is a large village, in the small district of Rong-zhoong, 
under the Deba or Governor of Chubrung, a town, or rather a 
collection of tents, on the left bank of the Sutluj, eight marches 
to the eastward. The houses here, which are very much scat- 
tered, are built of stone, and flat-roofed ; there are gardens be- 
fore each, hedged with gooseberries, which give them a neat ap- 
pearance. This is a populous place. We counted upwards of 
80 men, who, on our arrival, came to meet us, being the first 
Europeans they had ever seen. The Tartars pleased us much ; 
they have none of that ferocity of character so commonly ascribed 
to them ; they have something of the Chinese features, and their 
eyes are small. They all go bare-headed even in the coldest 
weather, and have their hair plaited into a number of folds, end- 
ing in a tail, which reaches to their rumps. Their dress consists 
of a garment of blanket, trowsers of striped woollen stuff resem- 
bling tartan, and stockings or boots of red blanket, to which are 
sewed leather-shoes. Most of them wear necklaces, upon which are 
strung pieces of quartz or bone they have also knives in brass or 
