National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
|
|
Color Thumbnail -
Table of Contents -
Page Number -
Biliographic Information (Metadata) -
Caption -
Color Image -
Gray HighRes. Image -
Facing Pages -
Graphics -
| 0305 |
The heart of a continent : vol.1 |
Citation Information
OCR Text
covers the ice. We took our plunge into the middle of this
glacier at midday. Snow was falling, and at 4.30 p.m. the
clouds became so heavy, and it was altogether so threatening,
that I thought it best to halt. Of course, no grass or fuel
was obtainable; but we had brought two pony-loads of wood
with us, so were quite happy, though this was not a particularly
cheerful-looking spot, with the snow falling hard, the great
white ice-pinnacles of the glaciers rising all round, the
mountains hidden by the heavy snow-clouds, and no place to
encamp on but a very stony hollow.
The Gurkha havildar was in great form. He had a joke
about getting hold of some "narm pattar," soft stones, to lie on,
which kept him and all the Gurkhas in roars of laughter. I
asked him where he had got the joke from, and he said some
sahib had made it at Kabul in the Afghan war.
On the following morning we set out in a heavy snowstorm
—so heavy that even the bases of the mountains on each side
of the glacier were at times not visible, and the summits were
not seen till midday, and then only in glimpses. Immediately
on leaving camp we were confronted by a series of very bad
crevasses, running right across our path. Things looked hope-
less at one time, and it was like finding a way through a maze.
The naik and I went on ahead, and by going from one end of
each crevasse to the other, we managed in every case to find
a way across, though to advance a hundred yards we often had
to go at least six times that distance, and once we completely
lost our front in the maze and the snowstorm, and were wander-
ing off up a side glacier, till I recognized that we were in the
wrong direction by a hillside appearing through the mist.
We finally got clear of the bad crevasses, and then had a
fairly clear run for a couple of miles, and were beginning to
congratulate ourselves that we had got over the worst of the
glacier, when we came upon another series of crevasses of the
most desperate description—the ice, in fact, was so split up
1
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
12
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
22
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
32
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
43
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
53
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
63
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
74
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
85
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
96
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
106
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
116
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
126
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
137
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
147
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
157
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
169
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
179
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
189
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
199
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
210
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
222
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
233
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
243
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
255
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
266
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
277
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
287
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
297
.
.
.
.
|
303
304
305
306
307
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
317
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
327
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
337
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
347
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
357
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
367
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
378
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
388
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
398
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
408
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
419
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
430
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
440
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
450
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
461
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
471
.
.
.
.
|
.
.
.
.
482
.
.
485
Copyright (C) 2003-2026
National Institute of Informatics
and
The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.
