The pass in the latitudinal valley (alt. 4,82o feet) is so flat that we had to examine closely in order to discover its culminating ridge. The range that we had here, and continued to have, close on our left for as far as we were able to see, towered up above our heads like a long row of great castles of chivalry, with crenelated walls and towers, a remarkable instance of the vagaries of nature. From the pass the bottom of the valley, still continuing narrow, inclines very gently towards a miniature lake, containing fresh water, which was then frozen. Its altitude was 4,785 m. We pitched Camp CXIII 12 m. above it and not far from its eastern shore. The scenery was fascinating, but the grazing wretched.
In the first isolated little range that we passed in the morning there occurred a hard, light-green schist, dipping 31° to the S. 3o° E., which appeared to lie interbedded between the dense, white limestone which otherwise predominates throughout the entire region. The latter is brittle, and upon being struck fractures at every possible angle, and in the face of the fracture shows light-coloured, almost white, though otherwise it exhibits various shades of reddish yellow. On the left side of the pass this rock dipped 77° towards the N. 22° E. In the higher or northern range it appeared to incline also towards the north or north-east, if one may judge from the thick rocky ledges which the heads of the strata make as they crop out on this side. In both colour and shape they contrast sharply against the rounded slopes and gravelly screes above which they project.
During the day, and after an almost tranquil morning, the west wind was somewhat gentler than usual ; on the pass the wind at times veered round even to the east. But in the afternoon the west trade-wind resumed its usual force, driving with inconceivable violence through the deep latitudinal valley, which made such a convenient conduit for it. Our Tibetans asserted, that this hard wind had been
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