vegetation as the height increased. On the lower slopes
Cicer and Statice were abundant, with several Astragali;
on the latter part of the ascent many alpine plants were
observed, belonging to the genera Corgdalis, Elsholtzia,
Potentilla, and Praha. A very small violet was extremely
plentiful in the crevices of the rocks, and among
stones, after I had reached 16,000 feet. I encamped at
about 15,700 feet, on a level piece of ground, a few
hundred feet above the bottom of the valley.
On the 20th I crossed the pass, starting about sunrise.
The morning was intensely frosty, and the stones and
vegetation near the water were encrusted with ice. The
path lay close to the stream, ascending somewhat rapidly
among the green turf which grew along its margin, in
which I found many little alpine plants, among which, a
large-flowered Aster and a small poppy with still unexpanded
flowers were the most conspicuous. The last
part of the ascent was extremely steep, among immense
angular granite boulders, with here and there a little
snow in the crevices. Here a most elegant sweet-scented
species of Primula was common, so firmly fixed in the
frozen mud, that I could with difficulty procure a specimen.
Except in very small patches, there was no snow
till within two hundred yards of the top of the ascent,
for which distance it was continuous, but very soft, and
evidently melting rapidly. The crest of the pass was
a narrow ridge of large spheres of granite, seemingly
quite detached from one another, but which had probably
been formed on the spot they now occupied by
the peculiar decay characteristic of that rock.
The continuation of the ridge on both sides was for
some distance very little more elevated than thé pass
itself, the height of which was 17,700 feet. To the
south, the view was very extensive, embracing a great
extent of snowy mountains, with numerous lofty peaks,
as well as a part of the Indus valley, and the town
of Le, immediately below ; to the north it was much
more limited, as hills close at hand completely excluded
all distant view, except directly in front, where
one snowy peak could be seen a long way off, evidently
beyond the Shayuk.
On the north side of the pass snow commenced at
the very top, and continued for at least 1200 feet of
perpendicular height. The descent for this distance was
extremely steep, over a snow-bed, which appeared to
cover an incipient glacier. About 1200 feet below the
top I came to a small oval-shaped lake, completely
frozen over ; a little higher up I had passed a small
bare piece of rock projecting through the snow, and
perhaps thirty feet long, on which the beautiful blue-
flowered Nepeta multibracteata, Benth., had already put
forth its flowers. Beyond the frozen lake the descent
became at once much more gentle, and was partially free
of snow. The path lay over a vast accumulation of
angular stones, which appeared to have fallen from the
rocks above. Many parts of the valley were swampy,
evidently from recently melted snow, and in such places
the Primula, noticed on the ascent, occurred in great
abundance, its scapes rising to the height of six to eight
inches, and bearing large globes of deep rose-coloured
flowers. Among the loose stones Nepeta multibracteata
was common. About three miles from the top I