From. Sassar not more than three or four miles of the
upward course of the river were visible, but within that
distance three glaciers were in sight. Two of these
stopped short of the valley, while the third, which was
at the most distant point visible, appeared to descend to
the river. An enormous precipice, which must have
been at least 3000 feet in height, rose on the opposite
side of the valley beyond the glaciers. Downward the
valley of the Shayuk was seen for nearly ten miles, as a
wide gravelly plain, with high rugged mountains on both
sides.
On the morning after my arrival at Sassar, it was
snowing slightly at daybreak, and continued to do so
till near noon. The snow melted almost immediately
on the level ground, but on the mountain-sides it lay all
day, down as low as the level of my tent. The afternoon
was dull and stormy, but no more snow fell. This
unfavourable weather was of less consequence, because
I had determined to halt in order to make fresh arrangements
for my baggage, being advised not to take any
cattle beyond Sassar, the roads in advance being very
bad. I afterwards found that they were gravelly, which
is more injurious than even rock to the unprotected feet
of the Tibetan bullock.
The gravelly sloping hills round my encampment were
covered with abundance of vegetation, but few of the
species were alpine, and almost all were familiar to me.
A species oi Allium, with purple flowers and broad «trap-
shaped leaves, was the most plentiful of all. Thermopsis
was frequent, in fruit; other common plants were
species of Artemisia, Cynoglossum, Cicer, and Dracocephalum.
The only new species were a very handsome
dark purple Nepeta, which grew in large tufts among
loose shingle, and a tall Saussurea, by far the largest
species of the genus which I had found in Tibet, but I
believe one of those described from Jacquemont’s collections.
A species of Rheum occurred occasionally on dry
stony places, but it was the same which I had found
several times before.
On the 15th of August I resumed my journey. The
morning was misty, with a few flakes of snow at intervals,
and the sky remained overcast all day, with high
squalls of wind. My road lay across the Shayuk, but I
found it necessary to ascend about half a mile on the
high bank before I reached a place where it was possible
to descend to its gravelly plain, which was more
than half a mile wide, and quite destitute of any kind of
vegetation. The river was running in several channels,
with an average depth of about a foot and a half; in one
place only it was as much as two feet. The current ran
with considerable rapidity.
On the opposite side of the plain of the Shayuk, I entered
an extremely narrow ravine, bounded by precipices
of black slate, down which ran a small stream, which
crossed at every turn of the ravine from one side to the
other, generally close to the rocky wall, and had to be
forded a great number of times. After a mile and a
half, the road, suddenly quitting the ravine, turned to
the right, and ascended by a steep pathway to a wide,
very gently rising plain, bounded on both sides by
snowy mountains. This plain was partly grassy, but
mostly composed of hard dry clay. In a few spots