large field of snow, sloping downwards at a very gentle
angle. In this direction the view was limited within
two miles by steep rugged mountains, which closed in on
both sides. To the right and left also, the pass was
overlooked by ridges close at hand. The only direction
in which a distant view was obtained was south, where
the mountains beyond the Piti river were beautifully seen :
from the great elevation at which we stood, their summits
were everywhere in view; their elevation was surprisingly
uniform, and the whole range was capped with snow.
The mountains close at hand presented much the same
appearance as I had seen from the rocks above our encampment
the day before.
I reached the summit of the pass, which has an elevation
of 18,500 feet, at a quarter before eight in the
morning. At that time the temperature was 28°; and
a cold southerly wind blew with considerable violence,
making us seek the shelter of the blocks which lay
around. A small red lichen, (Lecanora miniata,) on
the fragments of rock, was the only vegetable production
I observed. After an hour’s rest, we commenced
the descent over the snow-bed, proceeding towards a gap
which was visible in the mountains. The snow was
hard frozen, and crisp under the feet. Descending
steadily without any fatigue, we were soon evidently on a
snow-covered glacier. A few fissures were passed, but
mostly not above a few inches wide, and none that we
could not with ease step over, the widest not exceeding
two feet. At a distance of about a mile and a half from
the crest, the mountains, which on both sides surrounded
the snow-bed in the form of a circle, had so much approached
to one another, that they formed a narrow
valley, down which the snowy mass continued in the form
of a rugged glacier. We now left the surface of the ice,
and proceeded along the stony side of the ravine, with
the glacier on our left hand, and steep limestone rocks
on our right. Blocks of limestone strewed our path as
we descended, and numerous small fragments of the same
rock covered the edge of the glacier.
About three miles from the summit of the pass the
glacier terminated abruptly in a bluff precipice, the
height of which was more than 100 feet. Little rills
of water were, at the time we passed (9-| a .m .), trickling
from every part of the surface, and a small streamlet ran
along the edge of the glacier under an arch of ice. The
structure was here very evident jj broad white bands, and
narrower ones of a dirty colour, from the earthy matter
which they had absorbed, ran parallel to the slope of the
ravine, the arches or loops (so well explained by Professor
Porbes in his delightful work on the glaciers of the Alps)
being drawn out to a great length.
At the termination of the glacier, we descended from
the steep mountain-side, along which we had hitherto
travelled, to the flat plain, the continuation of the surface
on which the glacier rested. On this descent the first
vegetation appeared at an elevation of about 16,500
feet. Two small grasses, Biebersteinia odora, a Lychnis,
and a little villous Astrayalus, were the plants observed:
they grew in the crevices of the rock, and scarcely rose
above the ground. None of the species were different
from those collected in the mountains of Piti.
When we had reached the middle of the valley, so as