the
deep and tortuous path that had been hollowed out in the snow, and the
reddish tint of which was markedly outlined in the otherwise spotless
white of the mountain.

The descent was more precipitous than the ascent, but it was much
shorter, and did not require the exertion we had been obliged to make on
the other side of the mountain. The extreme steepness of the way
assisted us, on the contrary, in the descent, for we had merely to let
ourselves go; the only danger was that of rolling down too fast, or of
stepping out of the beaten path, and being thus for ever buried in the
bottom of some abyss. In a country such as this, accidents of this
description are by no means chimerical. We descended easily then, now
standing, now seated, and without any other mischance than a few falls
and some protracted slides, more calculated to excite the merriment than
the fear of travellers.

Shortly before arriving at the base of the mountain, the whole caravan
halted on a level spot, where stood an Obo, or Buddhic monument,
consisting of piled up stones, surmounted by flags and bones covered with
Thibetian sentences. Some enormous and majestic firs encircling the Obo,
sheltered it with a magnificent dome of verdure. "Here we are, at the
glacier of the Mountain of Spirits," said Ly-Kouo-Ngan. "We shall have a
bit of a laugh now." We regarded with amazement the Pacificator of
Kingdoms. "Yes, here is the glacier; look here." We proceeded to the
spot he indicated, bent over the edge of the plateau, and saw beneath us
an immense glacier jutting out very much, and bordered with frightful
precipices. We could distinguish, under the light coating of snow, the
greenish hue of the ice. We took a stone from the Buddhic monument, and
threw it down the glacier. A loud noise was heard, and the stone gliding
down rapidly, left after it a broad green line. The place was clearly a
glacier, and we now comprehended partly Ly-Kouo-Ngan's remark, but we saw
nothing at all laughable in being obliged to travel over such a road.
Ly-Kouo-Ngan, however, was right in every point, as we now found by
experience.

They made the animals go first, the oxen, and then the horses. A
magnificent long-haired ox opened the march; he advanced gravely to the
edge of the plateau; then, after stretching out his neck, smelling for a
moment at the ice, and blowing through his large nostrils some thick
clouds of vapour, he manfully put his two front feet on t