On October 20th we started for this pass, which proved to be the highest we had hitherto had to conquer on the plateau-land, being only 169 m. lower than the Chang-lung yogina. Camp XLIV had an altitude of 5,346 m. ; the pass was 5,6 I i m. high giving a rise of 265 m. in a distance of 4 km., or at the rate of I :15, which indeed was very steep under the prevailing circumstances. Camp XL V had an elevation of 5,386 m, or 225 m. below the pass; the distance being 6.2 km., the rate of fall is as I : 2 8.
Crossing several small erosion beds, we keep to the east over barren, gravelly ground, now everything covered with an unusually thick and uninterrupted sheet of snow which, as a rule could have been 3 inches, but became thicker the nearer we approached the pass. Living rock was found only on the pass itself and consisted of greenish grey quartzitic sandstone. The view I had hoped to win from this height was hindered by a new snowfall, which was driving the fine dry snow in clouds around the mountain crests. Only occasionally I got the impression of a plain being situated from N. 35° E. to N. 6o° E. and being of a yellow colour. It seemed to be rather distant and obviously S. E. of the mountain system we were now crossing. Straight to the east is a high part of our range which conceals everything in that direction. To the S. 700 E. one only suspects through the clouds the existence of two small ranges, and beyond them the ground seemed to be level. One of my men, whom I had sent up to this pass the previous afternoon, had reported that the ground to the S. 500 E. seemed to be a comfortable plain so far as he could see, and such also proved to be the case. To the S. 76° E. at a very great distance, he had seen a considerable group with eternal snow, and to the N. 6o° E., another snowy mount not less high. Unfortunately these mountains were now completely hidden. On the pass a west wind was blowing and the temperature was —I o.'°, due to the great height of 5,611 m. The valley down from the pass follows a winding course, generally to the N. E. Just a little below the pass there was a low threshold to the right, which may possibly have presented a more comfortable way down to the flat land to the S. E. The valley is rather narrow between rounded hills. Living rock is rare; at one place it consisted of a green schistose rock in so advanced a state of weathering that Professor Hennig has not been able to give its petrographic description. Lower down, the rock was dark, hard schist. The bottom of the valley is filled with gravel and is completely barren. In its bed there is ice everywhere. The snow was deeper on this side of the pass. From the right or south a tributary valley enters and the pass valley continues to the N. N. W. We leave it to our left and go eastwards over flat, soft, barren hills to a place where Camp XL V was pitched and where nothing except snow was to be had, not even the ordinary yapkak plants. The snow covered everything, and dung was difficult to find. Two yaks appeared at this desolate place. Two men were sent eastwards
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