still keep their ground. Small ravines enter from both sides; one of them, from the right, or S.E., is called Shäryak-puli. Finally the little pass Tso-niti-kargang is reached; its height is 5,138 m. (16,853 feet). On its southern side the ground slopes down to the Kubi-tsangpo. The ridge, in which this pass is situated, is a ramification from the mountains to the S.W., and stretches N.E. forming a watershed between the Chema-yundung and the Kubi-tsangpo. To the N.W. of this ridge we find only tributaries to the Brahmaputra; to the S.E. the uppermost Brahmaputra itself. Therefore the ridge of Tso-niti-kargang has a certain importance.
Though the pass is not very high it gives us a very extensive and most instructive view. To the N. W., N., and N. E. there is a perfectly hopeless labyrinth of ridges, ranges, ramifications and peaks, all of about the same height, and therefore with a general surface which looks almost horizontal. There are no dominating ranges or peaks; it has the appearance of a stormy sea with petrified waves, a »Red Sea», for red nuances prevail in these arid mountains. In this sea, Maryum-la disappears altogether. However, the view does not extend sufficiently far to the north to reach the gigantic range in which the Ding-la is situated, and very little snow is to be seen.
To the south the view is surprising. The Himalayan giants, which from Shamsang, Nain Sing's and Ryder's route, had been seen at a great distance, now presented every detail of their wild, black, rugged peaks, the nevées in the background, and the mighty glaciers between the rocks. To the S. 5o-6o° E. there is a sharp black ridge, Taptuk, rippled with snow; beyond it, south-westwards, two other ramifications are visible. S. 30° E. a double snow-covered peak is called Lungyung. S. 5° E. is a valley with a large brook in several branches, a tributary to the Kubi-tsangpo ; a snowy mountain in its background was said to be called Rargam-nakpo. Direct south are two snow-covered cupolas. To the S.S.W. we have, just under our pass, the small lakelets of Tso-niti, beyond which the Kubiriver runs its dark grey and brownish water through its bed. In the same direction and quite close to the right bank of the river is a lake, the colour of which sharply contrasts with that of the river, for its water has a fine blue-green colour. S. j6° W. is a nameless peak. To the S. 2 5° W. is a snowy mountain Tsebo-che, and S. 38° W. another, higher, called Absi. In the background between both, very extensive nevées are visible and in the foreground between them appears a glacier called Ngoma-dingding after a peak appearing in the background. From the pass one gets the impression that the Kubi takes its origin from the Ngoma-dingding glacier. The dark muddy water seems to gush out directly from the front of its snout in sharp contrast to the blinding white surface of the glacier, where only at a few places blue and green nuances of ice are to be seen. But this is only an optical illusion, for the greatest amount of the water comes from farther west, from regions which are still hidden by hills. To the S. 4o° W. is a small double peak, called by one of my guides Mukchung-tseung, by another Mukchung-simo. It was
IIIFカラー高解像度
