S

A few hours' rest, a hearty meal, and by 9 A.M. we were ready again to
start, this time with the entire expedition, over the easier Lumpiya
Pass. The thermometer registered 40 deg. inside the tent. The minimum
temperature outside, during the night, had been 14 deg. We followed the
Kuti River at the foot of the mountain range. On rounding a prominent
headland, where the Kuti River flowed through a narrow passage, we saw
on a mound fourteen stone pillars and pyramids with white stones on them
and some Tibetan "flying prayers," mere strips of cloth flapping in the
wind. It was from this point that the ascent of the Lumpiya Pass began.

Our route gradually ascended, going north-west first, then swinging away
to the north-east, until we attained an elevation of 17,350 feet on a
flat basin covered with deep snow. So far we had gone on with no great
trouble, but matters suddenly changed for the worse. Each coolie in the
long silent row at the head of which I marched sank in snow up to his
knees, often up to his waist. Their dark faces, wrapped tightly round in
turbans, stood out in sharp contrast upon the white background. Some
wore fur caps with ear-flaps. All had sheepskin coats and high boots.
Many used snow-spectacles. Watching this silent procession of men with
heavy loads upon their backs, struggling higher and higher with piteous
panting, one could not help wondering anxiously as to how many of them
would return to their own country alive. Moving cautiously to avoid
treacherous crevasses, I made my way ahead to a spot six hundred feet
higher, where I halted for a while on a rocky island fairly clear of
snow. As coolie after coolie arrived panting hard, he dropped his load
and sat quietly by the side of it. There was not a grumble, not a word
of reproach for the hard work they were made to endure. Sleet was
falling, and everything was wet and cold. From this point there was a
steep pull before us. To the left we had a glacier, the face of which
was a precipitous wall of ice about one hundred feet in height. Like the
Mangshan glacier, it was in horizontal strata of beautifully clear ice
with vertical stripes of dark green.

The doctor and I went ahead. In our anxiety to reach the summit we
mistook our bearings. With great fatigue we climbed an extremely steep
incline. Here we were on a patch of troublesome loose stones, on which
we struggled for over half an hour, until we reached the summit of the
range, 18,750 fe