284 TO DARJILING : FIRST HIMALAYAN JOURNEY 
is apt to give false impressions. It is essential to attend to 
such points where scenery of real interest and importance is 
to be described. It is customary to speak of peaks as tower- 
mg uito the air, which yet subtend an angle of very few de- 
grees ; of almost precipitous ascents, which, when measured 
are found to be slopes of 18° or 20° ; and of chffs as steep 
and stupendous, which are inclined at a very moderate 
angle. 
