18o IN TIBET AND CHINESE TURKESTAN.
mountains near Yepal Ungur, while to the west there was a long range with scarcely a spot on its vestment of snow. In this range the peaks were so numerous and so similar in height and appearance that, it was exceedingly difficult to identify from the second station those seen from the first. However, I was partially successful, and found one summit to be 21,910 feet high, while three others were over 21,000 feet. To appreciate the difficulties with which I had to contend, it is necessary to remember that the country was uninhabited and almost desert, where we had to hasten through our operations before our supplies were exhausted ; that we worked at great altitudes, my camp at Aksu being at 15,700 feet ; and that the peaks were so lofty and in many cases so precipitous that, it would have been out of the question for one burdened with a heavy theodolite to attempt to scale them in the limited time at our disposal.
Before I left Aksu I was rejoined by Raju, who brought with him the long-expected Ladakis and ninety-five sheep, laden with barley. These supplies had come under the guidance of two men from the village of Tankse, who were anxious for employment. A compatriot of theirs whom I had picked up at Yarkand had become rather lazy, so I dismissed him and put in his place one of the new-comers, a man who had accompanied Dagleish and Carey on their journey from Ladak to Polu.
From Aksu we retraced our steps to Yepal Ungur, where the river had become so swollen that we had some difficulty in fording it. Here Changfûnchuk and Sonam brought their reports concerning the routes, and, thinking that Changfûnchuk's description indicated a country not entirely impracticable for caravan travelling, I resolved to follow his directions. The supplies not required for this journey we " cached," and I had to rearrange
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