of the mountains on either side. The only thing we saw was the billowy, snow-covered glacier, and up this we kept, knowing that it must necessarily lead to the pass. We, of course, had to proceed very slowly and carefully, for fear of crevasses hidden by the snow. But, like the elephant, which will not cross a shaky bridge, the yak knows by instinct the parts that will not bear, and, snorting and sniffing along, he finds his way unerringly up a glacier ; and about four o'clock in the afternoon we reached the summit of the pass without experiencing any real difficulty. The pass was very narrow and deep-cut, and, on the opposite side, very abrupt ; and the wind blew through it as through a funnel. I never experienced such an icy blast as that which met us as we reached the summit. It came concentrating down upon us with terrific force, and sharp as a knife. We only had its full force for a few minutes, for we quickly dropped down into comparative shelter, but during that short time our faces were cut across in slashes. Most of my face was protected, for I wore a thick beard ; but Davison had no beard, and suffered very badly. His face did not recover for weeks after.
The descent from the pass for about a thousand feet was extremely rough and steep, and then we emerged on to a gentler slope, trending downwards towards the Ashkuman or Karumbar River. There was no sort of path, and, as the snowstorm was still raging, we had no means of discovering in which direction we should move, but wandered aimlessly about till we were suddenly brought up on the brink of a precipice. Here we had to halt, for it was dangerous to move when we could see little before us. But, fortunately, just before sunset the snowstorm cleared, and we looked down over the precipice into the valley of the Karumbar River far below. We followed along the edge of the cliffs till we found a way down into the valley, and, at about ten o'clock, reached a spot by the river where wood was procurable in plenty, and here we camped for the night.
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