crossed the range is Pundit Krishna, when he traversed the Khalamba-la; but Mr. Littledale reached the Goring-la (19 587), which is more to the east. He speaks of the magnificent range of the Ninchen-Tangla, as a succession of snow-clad peaks and glaciers, partially hidden in clouds and vapour, which added to their size and grandeur, while above all towered, with cliffs of appalling steepness, the great peak of Charimaru, 24 153 feet high . . . This I believe to be the whole of the knowledge we now possess of this most interesting range of mountains. Commencing at the knot of Kailas, it forms the northern boundary of the Tsanpu valley to about the 9oth meridian, and then turns north-east, so as to become the eastern boundary of the Chang, while on its eastern slopes are the headwaters of the three great rivers of Salwin, Mekong, and Yang-tsze.»
»The position of this northern Himalayan chain from Kailas to the Goring-la of Littledale, a distance of 600 miles, requires to be explored. It has once been crossed by the Khalamba pass, and a second pass was reached, but not crossed by Mr. Littledale. The Pundit Nain Sing traced the line of its peaks for 18o miles from a great distance, and Mr. Littledale gazed with admiration on the beautiful outline of a snowy ridge which shot up into the sky to a height of 24 153 feet, to the east of the Goring-la — the peak of Charimaru. This is the sum of our knowledge respecting this range of lofty mountains, which is alike the northern range of the Himalayan system and the southern buttressing range of the great Chang or Tibetan plateau, as the Kuen-lun is the northern buttressing range. A more accurate knowledge of its configuration is a great geographical desideratum. Its peaks along the hundreds of miles of its extent should be measured, its passes should be explored, the nature and extent of its glaciers ascertained, as well as its geological formation, and its relation to the great interior plateau. Here, then, is a piece of work which is well calculated to arouse the ambition of future explorers ... Running in a north-easterly direction from the Charimaru Peak, the south-eastern scarp of Tibet, with the meridional chains which branch from it, offers an equally important field of work to the explorer.»
This mile-stone in the history of exploration in Transhimalaya is of great importance. Markham regards the Kara-korum and Transhimalaya as one and the same mountain fold a view which is to a certain extent correct. He again expresses the great desirability of exploration of this unknown part of Tibet. It is characteristic of the English standpoint that Hodgson is made responsible for the name Nienchen-tang-la, a name that is said, by Markham and others, to have been »given» by Hodgson. We have seen above that Hodgson has nothing whatever to do with the original appearance of this name, which was introduced by Klaproth from Chinese sources. Markham regards the Transhimalaya as a »range» just as all his predecessors, a mistake that must be forgiven as only a portion of the system was known. He says that Pundit Krishna was the only traveller who had crossed this range, which is also a mistake, for Nain Sing and Littledale had also crossed it in its east-
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