National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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. There-
fore 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 in-
structive 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 there-
fore 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 dis-
appears 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 back-
ground, and the mighty glaciers between the rocks. To the S. 50—60° 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 Kubi-
river 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. 16° W. is a nameless peak. To the S. 25° 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. 40° W. is a small double peak,
called by one of my guides Mukchung-tseung, by another Mukchung-simo. It was