crossed it, the main stream described a graceful
bend. We climbed over undulating and barren country to an elevation of
17,550 feet, where we found several small lakelets. Having marched that
day fourteen and a half miles in a drenching rain, we descended into a
large valley. Here we had great difficulty in finding a spot where to
rest for the night. The plain was simply a swamp, with several lakes and
ponds, and we sank everywhere in mud and water. All our bedding and
clothes were soaked to such an extent that it really made no difference
where we halted, so we pitched our little tent on the bank of a stream
intersecting a valley to the north. Extending in an easterly direction
along the valley rose a series of mountains shaped like pyramids,
covered with snow and all of almost equal height. To the south were
high peaks with great quantities of snow upon them. The valley in which
we camped was at an elevation of 17,450 feet. The cold was intense.

[Illustration: TORRENTIAL RAIN]

At night the rain came down in bucketfuls, and our _tente d'abri_ gave
us but little shelter. We were lying in water. All the trenches in the
world could not have kept the water from streaming into our tent. In
fact, it is no exaggeration to say that the whole valley was a sheet of
water varying from one to several inches deep. Of course, we suffered
intensely from cold, the thermometer dropping to 26 deg. at 8 P.M., when
a south-east wind began to blow furiously. Rain fell, mixed with sleet,
for a time, and was followed by a heavy snow-storm. We lay crouched up
on the top of our baggage, so as not to lie on the frozen water. When we
woke in the morning our tent had half collapsed, owing to the weight of
snow upon it. During the day the temperature went up and rain fell
afresh, so that when we resumed our marching we sank in a mixture of
mud, snow, and water several inches deep. We had to cross three rivers
and to skirt five lakes of various sizes.

Seven miles of this dreary marching saw us encamped (17,380 feet) at the
foot of a conical hill 17,500 feet high, where an almost identical
repetition of the previous night's experience took place. The
thermometer was down at 32 deg., but fortunately the wind subsided at
eight o'clock in the evening. As luck would have it, the sun came out the
following day, and we were able to spread out all our things to dry. We
had yet another novel experience.

Our two yaks had disappeared. I climbed up to