184 WESTWARDS TO LADAK.
blowing for at least a month, and that it would continue to blow for another four months; during the cold season of the year it always blows, they declared, in that same way. The fall of snow is, on the other hand, said to vary a good deal from year to year, and generally it does not begin until the winter is well advanced. It is however at no time particularly abundant. Sometimes it does fall in vast quantities, and when that occurs in conjunction with violent wind the snow-storms are apt to be dangerous for both man and beast; almost every year a greater or less number of sheep are lost in the snow-storms.
Not far from Camp CXIII there were nomads somewhere; but zc'1eere they were our escort refused to tell us, probably they were afraid we should do their compatriots some injury. But as our Tibetans brought sheep, and also fresh and thickened milk, we understood that there must be nomads at no very great distance away.
The southern range is said to be known as Sebli, the northern as Ning, and the little freshwater lake as the Oman-tso. The leader of our escort admitted, that some years ago a Peling-bombo (European chieftain), who of course can have been none other than Littledale, had travelled the same road that we were then following. This statement is probably correct, although Littledale's own map affords no means of checking it. For example, the Oman-tso is not shown at all on that map, and yet it is of some importance, not so much for topographical reasons as because it is a well-known centre where water and pasture are to be had. It is however so small that Littledale may have considered it unnecessary to enter it on his map. Moreover it is very probable, that Littledale travelled by some other of the adjacent parallel valleys. Of the names which he records as occurring in this region my Tibetans had only heard speak of two, namely Sponjen Baptse-tso, though they pronounced it Bondsching-babtsa-tso, as also Kundor-tso; the others they knew nothing at all about. Senkor and Kamba are the names of tribes. The name Uruktuksang may possibly be a misapprehension for Rudok-tsang, or the Country of Rudok, which begins a long way to the west. I have of course no grounds, nor have I any right, to regard the names that were given to me as being more reliable than those which were imparted to Littledale. I look upon them all alike as dubious, and have no confidence in any except those that are alike in his list and in mine; as also those that were collected by Nain Singh, who was able to converse with the Tibetans more easily than either I or Littledale were. In reply to inquiries, as to whether there was not a more southerly route, the leader of our escort replied, yes, there certainly was a more southerly road through the mountains; but it was exceedingly inconvenient, as it led over several passes, which camels could under no circumstances get over; moreover the regions it traverses were not at that season visited by the nomads; you might travel there 15 to 20 days without coming across a single individual. These statements were probably on the whole correct, for we should have continuously on the south the vast swelling of the highlands which separates the region of the latitudinal valleys in which we were then travelling from the relatively lower country and the valley of the Brahmaputra on the south. It is quite conceivable that the nomads do not visit those high altitudes in the winter, for they can no doubt find better grazing farther south. Poorly inhabited
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