470 Journal of a trip in the Siklcim Himalaya. [No. 5, 
stew of yak’s heart and kidneys which we discussed with a hunter’s 
keen appetite. 
Another superb morning : the night was intensely cold, and the 
thermometer a little after sunrise stood at 111° . Having made all 
the necessary arrangements for an absence of four days, and leaving 
all heavy baggage behind, at 10.30 a. m. we started for a place situ¬ 
ated near the base of the Pundeem mountain, on the left bank of 
the Ratong river, several miles further up the valley, called Aluhtong, 
where there is a yak-grazing post. After proceeding about three 
miles along yak tracks over grass and low rhododendrons, we com¬ 
menced a steep descent through rhododendron forest, and after¬ 
wards through firs, and reached the banks of the Ratong about 
noon. The river here is broad and rapid, but as we ascended 
the valley, it became less rapid and of smaller dimensions. It 
was not without difficulty that we found our way along the broad 
valley, over masses of loose stone and broken ground, by following 
the course indicated by small piles of stones erected by the yak 
herdsmen. We increased the number and size of these useful guides 
for the benefit of our friends in the rear, and after two or three times 
losing our way, reached our destination at 2.30 p. m., and some of 
the party an hour later; and the baggage coolies late in the evening, 
looking half frozen. We brought on a tent for the latter ; and before 
turning into our own hovel, we satisfied ourselves that these were 
well supplied with fuel, yak’s flesh, and rice for their evening’s re¬ 
past. The grandeur of the surrounding snow-clad mountains, and 
the wildness of the scenery of the valley of the Ratong, surpass¬ 
es any thing of the kind I have elsewhere witnessed in the Hima¬ 
layas. On looking directly north up the valley, Ivanchunjingah 
rose majestically above everything else. Between us and it, thrown 
completely across the valley, and only two miles distant, was seen a 
stupendous morain a thousand feet in height, which forms the con¬ 
spicuous object seen from Darjeeling. Immediately on our right, out 
of a long range of perpetually snow-clad mountains running parallel 
with the valley, rose the formidable peak of Pundeem, 22,015 feet in 
height, at the base of which rests the glacier above alluded to, and 
many other masses of debris washed down from above in wild con¬ 
fusion. To our rear, winding its course down the broad valley, the 
hills on either side being covered with dense fir forest often down to 
