for the river then quits its own valley and flows along that which lies to the north. This last latitudinal valley is broad and open, and is bordered on the north by several double series of ranges of moderate or small elevation, and frequently broken; so that through the gaps in the little double range which separates the two latitudinal valleys from one another we often saw three or four sets of similar parallel ranges. By means of the first gap on the right the Bogtsang-tsangpo breaks through from the northern to the southern latitudinal valley. The transverse glen by which it does so is very broad and open, and appears to possess the same exceedingly gentle inclination as the two latitudinal valleys themselves. In fact, it has dropped the characteristics of a transverse glen, being in this respect very different from the last transverse glen that the Bogtsang-tsangpo makes its way through, namely the one which we left not far south-west of the Dagtse-tso. This makes, as we have seen, a sharply outlined and deeply trenched defile or gorge through the southern range. The two little ridges that rose to the west of Camp XCIII were more like the ruins of former mountain-ranges. In the more northerly of the two we discovered a couple of grottoes, which the natives of the locality use as store rooms for keeping fat and salt in. At the foot of the southern ridge stands a tiny butte, rising straight out of the ground, and at its foot some springs bubble up the water of which, beautifully limpid, gathers into little pools. The ground round about them was marshy. The grazing there was in places fairly good. Not far from these springs we crossed over a very flat threshold, which according to my aneroids lay only II m. above Camp XCIII, and from it a waterless rivulet runs down towards the river. Next we passed a small lake or large pool, situated at the foot of a red butte. From this point we saw in foreshortened perspective the continuation of the nearest range on the right and at the same time obtained a view of the nearest latitudinal valley to the north, a view that reached a long way to the west. To the north-west, in this same latitudinal valley, we perceived a small lake, and beyond it one suspected the presence of the river. This latitudinal valley is not however identical with Littledale's, but lies south of the latter, as his map plainly shows; for in this region he did not touch the Bogtsang-tsangpo at all, but has pricked out its probable course. It is invariably characteristic of all this part of Tibet, that the mountain-ranges are disposed with an inflexible parallelism from east to west, that they lie pretty close to one another, and do not rise very high above the bottoms of the valleys, but are rather steep and rocky, and consist for the most part of hard rock.
Out of a transverse glen on the south came a pretty energetically excavated watercourse, and down it trickled a rivulet, running, at all events where we saw it, towards the north, making for the Bogtsang-tsangpo. Just beyond that a fresh perspective opened out behind us: we were able to see due east down the latitudinal valley that lies south of the most important of the southern ranges which we had seen during the preceding day. The range that now rose nearest to us on
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