CHAPTER V.
THE DISASTER AT GURU.
A l l preparations were ready by the last week in March,
and on the 26th, Brigadier-General Macdonald started
from Chumbi. His first march brought him to the small
wooded plain of Gautso, where a strong little camp
had been maintained for some time. It was the last
halt below the upper limit of trees, and for the last
time we enjoyed here an unlimited supply of fuel. The
next day the force pushed on to Phari, where a day’s
halt was made to compose the column finally for the
advance. On the following day a short march was
made to a camping place on the bare plains one mile
short of the Tang la. It was a bitterly cold spot, utterly
unprotected in any way, and the two slight valleys
which meet here acted as funnels for the wind that
blows everlastingly across these frozen plains. On
the 29th of March,* the camp was struck early. Chumol-
hari rose overhead, veiling its vast icy slopes with thin,
half-frozen cloud. From behind it the sun rose coldly,
forming, by some curious series of accidents, the most
beautiful and complete white rainbow that any of us
had ever seen. There is something about a white
rainbow which is not entirely different from the plumage
of a white peacock. If you look closely you will find
that the structure of the missing bands of colour
* Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita.
Convoy of Yaks passingthe Tang la.
TH E R E W AS A B IT TE R ' STORM OF IC E -LA D EN W IN D BLOWING
W H ILE THIS PHOTOGRAPH W A S T A K E N . TO THOSE WHO
W E R E NOT THKKK IT W IL L SUG GEST A T L E A S T SOMETHING
OF THE M ISE R Y OF A BLIZZARD ON THIS T E R R IB L E
PA S S . MEN AN D B E A ST S A R E A L IK E COATED WITH IC E .
Cold grey. • . .