Western Himalaya and Tibet Part 24

The meadows close to the edge of the river were invariably swampy, and had a peculiar vegetation of their own, consisting of two species of _Triglochin_, a white-flowered _Taraxac.u.m_, a little _Primula_, _Ranunculus Cymbalaria_, and _Glaux_, with _Hippuris_ and _Utricularia_ in the pools of water.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] A species of vine was very common in the forests, climbing to a great height on the trees, which very closely resembled the common cultivated vine, from which it is not, I think, specifically distinct.

At the same time, my specimens are scarcely distinguishable from _Vitis Indica_, L., a species of the plains of India, not uncommon in hot jungles, even at a considerable distance from the foot of the mountains.

CHAPTER XIII.

Rope bridge across Zanskar river -- Tongde -- Zangla -- Road leaves Zanskar river -- Takti La -- Nira -- Bridge over Zanskar river -- Singhi La -- Phutaksha -- Wandla -- Lama Yuru -- Cross Indus river -- Kalatze -- Nurla -- Saspola -- Nimo -- Le -- Pa.s.s north of Le -- Small glacier -- Kardong -- Kalsar -- Vegetation -- Diskit -- Pa.s.sage of Shayuk river -- Upper Nubra -- Vegetation of Nubra -- Hot spring at Panamik.

[Sidenote: TONGDE.

_June, 1848._]

I remained at Padum two days, to make inquiries as to the road and arrangements for porters and supplies. On the 27th of June, I commenced my journey towards the Indus. The road lay down the valley of Zanskar, crossing the eastern branch of that river opposite the town of Padum, by a rather insecure-looking rope-bridge, high above the stream, which was deep, rapid, and muddy. The rope, as is usual in Tibet, was formed of willow twigs. After crossing this bridge, I followed the right bank of the stream in a north-easterly direction, princ.i.p.ally over dry, desert, stony plains, considerably elevated above the river. These high banks were composed of fine clay, which was occasionally quite pure, but more frequently contained numerous fragments of a black slate rock. These were especially abundant where lateral ravines descended from the mountains, while in the intervening s.p.a.ces the clay was comparatively free of them. The same black slate cropped out _in situ_ in several places along the bank of the river; and from the numerous boulders everywhere scattered over the surface of the platform, it appeared to be the prevailing rock in the mountains on the right. The platforms usually terminated abruptly, being either scarped or sloping very steeply towards the river. A strip of low, wet, gra.s.sy ground, which was more or less covered with _Hippophae_ jungle, was generally interposed between the cliffs and the river. When this was absent, the steep slopes were barren till close to the water's edge. On the left bank of the river, after the first two miles, the table-land sank, an extensive low plain forming a tongue of land between the two branches. On this low land, close to the eastern river, and about two miles from the town of Padum, lay the fort occupied by the military force of the valley: a small square, with four round bastions. After marching nine or ten miles, I encamped at a small village called Tongde, among undulating clay hills, by which the view of the river and valley was excluded. Nearly opposite, a mile or two below the junction of the two rivers, was Karsha, at present the largest town in Zanskar: it lies in a ravine at a considerable distance from the river, and, from the steepness of the slope on which it is built, presents rather an imposing appearance.

The level tract intervening between the town and the river was covered with cultivation.

[Sidenote: ZANGLA.

_June, 1848._]

On the 28th, I continued along the valley, but in a more northerly direction than the day before. The lofty snowy range to the south-west was now finely seen, forming a semicircle of rocky peaks behind Padum. The road lay again over dry plains, partly stony, partly hard clay; even the banks of the river were dry and stony, without a vestige of turf. The only species worthy of note which occurred during the day, in addition to the plants common on these barren tracts, was _Oxytropis chiliophylla_: it was very scarce at the beginning of the march, but before I had reached half-way it had become so abundant that at a distance the ground appeared of a bright red colour, from the immense abundance of its flowers. Several villages were pa.s.sed on the road, and two considerable streams, both of which had excavated deep ravines in the loose conglomerate of which the plateau was formed. On the latter part of the march, the mountains which formed the right side of the valley approached close to the river, leaving no pa.s.sage along the bank, so that the road made a short steep ascent over loose s.h.i.+ngly debris and rocky ground, and continued for more than a mile along the face of the ridge. After that distance, it descended to a gra.s.sy, saline, very swampy plain, close to the river.

I encamped at the village of Zangla, which lies at the base of the mountains, on the upper part of a steep stony slope, extending down to the river.

The alluvial platforms during this day's journey were generally of great thickness. This was especially the case around Tongde, where the clay formation formed considerable hills; and on the latter part of the march, where the mountains advanced nearly to the stream. Here high banks of clay were acc.u.mulated on the ridges, and were frequently, as in many other parts of Tibet, worn into fantastic shapes by the melting of the snow. Near Zangla, too, detached ma.s.ses were seen clinging to the sides of the mountains, at considerable heights, in positions which indicated great denudation.

[Sidenote: THE ROAD LEAVES THE VALLEY OF ZANSKAR.

_June, 1848._]

The result of my inquiries at Padum had been, that the lower part of the course of the Zanskar river (which I had hoped I might be able to follow to its junction with the Indus) was so rocky and difficult as to be impracticable, and that at the present season, when the torrents were all swollen by the melting snow, the only practicable road to the Indus lay through the mountains, at a distance from the river. I was now approaching the point where the road entered the mountains, and could already see that the fine open valley through which I had been travelling was soon to have an end. At Zangla it had become sensibly narrower, and the mountains on both sides, still tipped with snow, were extremely rocky and rugged.

The earlier part of the march of the 29th of June was still parallel to the river, partly over table-land, at other times through a dense jungle of _Hippophae_, which covered its low banks, as well as several islands in its channel. After about four miles, the road turned suddenly to the right, and, leaving the valley altogether, commenced a rapid ascent on the steep slope of the mountain. From the point at which the road turned off, the Zanskar valley ahead could be seen to narrow rapidly, by the closing-in of the mountains. A turn in its direction, at the distance of four or five miles, hid the further course of the river from view, but the steep scarped mountains, which seemed to rise almost perpendicularly from its bed, left no doubt of the difficult nature of the country through which it ran.

The first part of the ascent was very steep and bare. A p.r.i.c.kly _Statice_, in dense round tufts, made its appearance after the first few hundred feet, accompanied by another very common Tibetan plant, which had not been met with in the open plain, a species of _Cicer_, described by Bentham as _C. microphyllum_, if indeed the Siberian _C.

Soongaric.u.m_ be not the same species. This plant is remarkable, not only for a very viscid exudation, but also for its peculiar strong aromatic and pungent odour, which, except that it is very much more powerful, a good deal resembles that of its cultivated congener _C.

arietinum_, the well-known _gram_ of Upper India. It also recalls to mind the smell of the common black currant, which, however, is more aromatic and less pungent and acidulous. On the lower part of the ascent the prevailing rock was limestone, of a dark bluish-grey colour, extremely hard, containing many white veins and crystals of calcareous spar; it closely resembled the limestone of the Hangarang pa.s.s, and, like it, alternated with hornstone and cherty quartz rock, and with finely laminated slates.

[Sidenote: MOUNTAINS ON RIGHT BANK OF ZANSKAR RIVER.

_June, 1848._]

On leaving the bare slope, the road entered a narrow ravine, and continued to ascend rapidly along the bank of the streamlet which trickled down it. The ravine was full of loose angular stones, and had on both sides high rocky precipices of limestone and slate. Close to the little rivulet, a willow, a _Lonicera_, and a rose grew in great plenty among the loose stones, forming a dense bushy ma.s.s of green, six or eight feet high, which contrasted strongly with the barrenness of the s.h.i.+ngle remote from the water, and of the rocky walls on either side. The ascent was rapid, and ere long, as the elevation increased, the shrubby vegetation disappeared, and the only plants which grew among the loose fragments of slate were a few small alpine species: _Anemone_, _Corydalis_, _Thermopsis_, and _Androsace_, were the genera to which these hardy plants belonged. In the crevices of the rocks, a large fleshy-leaved saxifrage, of the subgenus _Bergenia_, was common: it was a different species from either of the two hitherto described from India, as well as from _S. cra.s.sifolia_ of Siberia, and was particularly interesting as a connecting link between these two floras. Further on, the ascent became more gentle; a few small patches of snow were pa.s.sed, and soon after, the road ascended a very steep and s.h.i.+ngly slope after the north side of the ravine, to the crest of a ridge, the elevation of which I estimated at about 15,500 feet.

The top of the ridge was rounded, and had more soil, and, as a consequence, more vegetation, than the stony dell below. Several plants of the valley reappeared, particularly _Lithospermum Euchromon_ and a species of _Cynoglossum_, both of which seem to have a wide range in alt.i.tude. A few new species of _Cruciferae_ and _Astragalus_ were obtained on the ridge. There was a very good and extensive view to the north, of mountain behind mountain, all bare and desolate; but in every other direction ridges close at hand intercepted the view.

The most distant ridge had much snow on it, and appeared very elevated: I supposed it to be that between the Zanskar river and the Indus. After leaving the ridge, the road gradually descended towards the north, down a ravine full of fragments of slate: the hills on both sides were low and rounded. On the descent, _Caragana versicolor_, the _Dama_ of the Tibetans, occurred very plentifully; it is, however, in general, much less common in the north-west parts of Tibet than further to the south, where it is very luxuriant. Following the course of the ravine, after a considerable distance, I observed bushes of willow and _Lonicera_ to appear in the dry channel, and almost immediately afterwards a little water was found trickling down it, so that I was enabled to encamp, after rather a fatiguing march, at an elevation of about 13,700 feet.

[Sidenote: NARROW RAVINE.

_June, 1848._]

Next day I continued to descend the ravine. The hills were now considerably higher and more rugged than in the upper part, and were faced by cliffs of a clayey conglomerate, partly soft, but often indurated. A rapidly decaying yellowish slate, in highly inclined strata, was seen occasionally in the bed of the river. The stream was, as usual, fringed by willow and _Lonicera_; and a species of poplar, forming a small tree, occurred frequently. There was scarcely a single vestige of vegetation on the mountain-sides. After descending about two miles, I reached a large ravine, the slope of which was much more gradual. The banks were still composed of clay conglomerate, which rose in lofty precipices on both sides; after about three miles, however, this disappeared, and the ravine became very narrow and rocky. The road was now very rugged, ascending high on the mountain-side, and then descending to cross the stream. The limestone cliffs, which here approached within ten or twelve feet of one another, were marked with horizontal undulating grooves, perhaps indicative of the former existence of a glacier in this spot. As I advanced, after crossing to the right bank of the stream, the road became still more rocky and difficult, till at last the ravine in front became quite impracticable. I now turned suddenly to the right, and entered a narrow pa.s.sage with perpendicular walls of rock, down which ran a very small streamlet. In this dark shady dell, which was so narrow that the light of the sun could not possibly reach the bottom, there were several large patches of snow. The ascent was at first rapid, but after a mile and a half the slope became more gradual and the ravine considerably wider. The usual shrubs then appeared on the water's edge, close to which I encamped, after a march of perhaps nine miles, at about 13,600 feet, very nearly the same elevation as the place from which I had started in the morning, and in an equally desert situation. The whole march was exceedingly barren, and without any cultivation or village. A few small bushes of juniper (_J.

excelsa_) were met with about half-way, for the first time during my present journey.

[Sidenote: TAKTI Pa.s.s.

_June, 1848._]

On the 1st of July, I continued the ascent of the ravine, which was still extremely barren and stony, except in the immediate vicinity of the stream, where the usual vegetation of willow and _Lonicera_ continued plentiful. A few birch-trees were seen on the road-side.

After following the ravine for nearly two miles, I reached a point at which it divided into two branches. The luggage porters took that to the right, which was said to be easier, but longer, while my guide led me to the left, up a steep ravine, which, after a few hundred yards, contracted to a mere fissure three to six feet in width, with very lofty rocky walls, and full of loose s.h.i.+ngle. In several places, large ma.s.ses of hard smooth ice had to be pa.s.sed, which, from the steepness of the slope, proved no easy task, and would certainly have been almost an impossibility for loaded men. After pa.s.sing through this fissure, which, as usual, opened out in its upper part, the road turned to the left up a long steep s.h.i.+ngly hill-side, to the top of the ridge, which was rounded. While in the ravine I saw no plants; but on the s.h.i.+ngly ascent a number of alpine species made their appearance. One of the first was an _Anemone_, but by far the most abundant was a yellow species of _Thermopsis_, which was in full flower, and seemed to thrive best among loose stones. A small _Veronica_, with bright blue flowers, occurred several times on the ascent.

The pa.s.s over this ridge is called Takti La. Its elevation was, according to my observation of the boiling-point of water, 16,360 feet. The mountains to the right and left, rising perhaps 1500 feet higher than the pa.s.s, obstructed all view. Behind, the landscape was shut in by a lofty snowy mountain, not a mile off; and in front, part of the same snowy range which I had observed from the ridge two days before, was visible. There was a good deal of vegetation at the top, which was in part swampy round a small spring, where probably the snow had only recently melted. The plants were all alpine: _Biebersteinia odora_, a well-known North Asiatic form, was very common, with several _Ranunculaceae_ and _Cruciferae_, and one or two species of _Polygonum_.

[Sidenote: NIRA.

_July, 1848._]

On the steep s.h.i.+ngly ascent which faced the south, I had met with no snow till close to the top, when I saw a few very small patches. On leaving the top of the pa.s.s, the road continued to run along the side of the mountain on the left hand, nearly level for about a mile. As I got more fully on the north face, I found snow lying in large patches, which were melting rapidly; and when fairly on the northern slope, I found that, though very steep, it was covered by a continuous bed of snow from the very crest down to about 15,500 feet, as near as I could guess. The view to the north, which, from the pa.s.s itself, had been very limited, was now extensive. The range in front was everywhere tipped with snow, and the road up to its crest, with the pa.s.s by which I was to cross it, were distinctly visible. Between this range and that on which I stood was interposed the deep ravine of the Zanskar river, the course of which could be traced for a long way, though from the precipitous rocks through which it ran, the stream itself could not be seen.

I find it extremely difficult to describe in an adequate manner the extreme desolation of the most barren parts of Tibet, where no luxuriant forest or bright green herbage softens the nakedness of the mountains, but everywhere the same precipices, heaps of rocks, and barren monotonous deserts meet the eye. The prospect now before me was certainly most wonderful. I had nowhere before seen a country so utterly waste. At the great elevation on which I stood I completely overlooked the valley, and the two or three villages which I afterwards found to exist were either seen as mere spots, or concealed by ranges of hills. Directly in front, across the Zanskar river, a rocky precipice, worn and furrowed in every direction, and broken into sharp pinnacles, rose to the height of at least 2000 feet, overhanging a deep ravine, while to the right and left mountain was heaped upon mountain in inextricable confusion, large patches of snow crowning the highest parts.

From the edge of the snow I descended rapidly to the village of Nira.

On the earlier part of the descent, the ground was soft and miry from the recent melting of the snow, which still lay in the more shady parts in large patches. A bright yellow _Ranunculus_, with numerous petals, and the pretty _Lloydia serotina_ were plentiful close to the snow. Further down, the road was extremely stony, and the descent very abrupt, but towards the end I followed the course of a small streamlet, the margins of which were skirted by a belt not more than a foot in width of vividly green turf. The village of Nira, in which I encamped, was 12,900 feet above the level of the sea: its cultivated lands were extensive, and both in the village and on the hills around, juniper-trees of considerable size were common.

[Sidenote: CROSS ZANSKAR RIVER.

_July, 1848._]

[Sidenote: YULCHUNG.

_July, 1848._]

On the 2nd of July I crossed the Zanskar river to the village of Yulchung (13,700 feet). At Nira, besides the usual crops of barley, there was a good deal of buckwheat, which was just above ground. The fields were bordered, as usual, by a rank vegetation. A _Nepeta_, very like _N. Sibthorpiana_, was quite new to me, and a tall erect _Wahlenbergia_, with very large pale greenish-blue flowers, and coa.r.s.e, somewhat fetid leaves, was very abundant, just coming into flower; the rest of the plants observed were the same as in the upper part of Zanskar. The stream which ran by the village had in some places spread out into a marshy meadow, in which a large pink-flowered _Cardamine_ or _Dentaria_ occurred plentifully, with _Orchis latifolia_? a white _Juncus_, and many common plants.

Below the village the descent was bare and stony, and extremely abrupt the whole way down to the river; the Tibetan rose was in full flower on the road-side. The river did not come into sight till it was close at hand, the bottom of the ravine through which it flowed being narrow and rocky. A common wooden bridge, without side-rails, forty or fifty feet above the surface of the water, was thrown over at the narrowest part, where the stream was hemmed in by high rocky walls, and was, I think, not more than forty feet broad. The current was rapid, and the water much discoloured. The course of the river at the bridge was easterly, but below, after a slight bend to the south of east, the valley seemed to take a more northerly direction, and above the bridge it came from the south-west. The banks of the river did not seem to be at all practicable, and I was informed that it was only when the river was frozen that travellers could proceed down it to Le. Accounts differed much as to the length of time required for the journey, and I could not discover that any of my party had ever travelled it, so that I presume the route is not very much frequented.

Immediately after crossing the river, a long, steep, utterly barren ascent commenced over stones and s.h.i.+ngle. A deep ravine, with a small stream at the bottom, lay to the right of the road, beyond which were the lofty rugged precipices which had been so conspicuous from the heights the day before. At about 13,000 feet I gained the summit of a projecting ridge, which rose, a little to the right, into a rocky peak, and then sank abruptly down to the ravine. The road then dipped into a hollow filled with large boulders and fragments of rock, perhaps of glacial origin, and rose again more gradually to a second ridge, in the hollow beyond which lay the village at which I had determined to encamp, its lowest houses overhanging the deep ravine on the right. The elevation not being materially different from that of Nira, the plants of the cultivated grounds were the same. _Potentilla anserina_ was very plentiful, and remarkably luxuriant.

The rocks during the ascent were chiefly a very hard but very brittle quartz or schist, alternating with loose crumbly slates, and a little limestone. I diverged a little from the direct road, to visit an iron mine, and to see the process of smelting. The ore was yellow ochre, occurring in a breccia-looking conglomerate situated on the flanks of a steep narrow ravine. There were two smelting furnaces, built of stone, of a conical shape, three feet in height, and about six inches in diameter at the top. The fuel employed was charcoal, and no flux was mixed with the ore.

[Sidenote: SINGHI Pa.s.s.

_July, 1848._]

On the 3rd of July, I crossed Singhi La, the pa.s.s which I had seen so distinctly on the 1st. The ascent commenced at once from the village of Yulchung, over dry rounded hills, at the same time receding considerably from the deep ravine on the right. No rock _in situ_ was visible on the earlier part of the ascent, the hills being entirely covered with coa.r.s.e gravel and small stones, among which a spinous _Astragalus_ and a species of _Polygonum_ were the predominant plants; a glabrous _Artemisia_, a little _Euphorbia_, and the p.r.i.c.kly _Statice_, were also frequent. After about 1000 feet of ascent, plants of the alpine zone began to appear. Afterwards the ascent was more gentle, over similar ground, till I attained an elevation of about 15,000 feet; at which height the road was for some distance nearly level, winding round a deep bay or hollow in the mountains, with high hills rising on the left hand, and the deep ravine still on the right.

Several small streams were crossed, and many alpine plants seen, all familiar to me, except a species of rhubarb, which grew among the s.h.i.+ngle in considerable quant.i.ty, and which is probably an undescribed species.

After completing the circuit of the deep bay, the ascent recommenced, but was not at all rapid, till within a few hundred yards of the top, when a short steep pull occurred. On the latter part of the ascent, from the loose, stony nature of the soil, vegetation was very scanty; and at the top, which was rounded, there was absolutely none. The elevation was 16,500 feet. Several large patches of snow occurred on the south side when close to the top, but not continuously. The view was extensive to the south, embracing a considerable portion of the great snowy range north of the Chenab, which, from the great elevation of the spot on which I stood, as well as of the intermediate ranges, and from the much smaller quant.i.ty of snow on its northern face, looked much less imposing than it does when viewed from the Indian side. Right and left were huge rocky peaks, and in front the view was obstructed by mountains close at hand, except to the north-west, in which direction a long gently-sloping valley was visible, running between two steep ridges, along which, I was informed, the next day's journey lay. From the top of the pa.s.s I attempted to form an estimate of the height of the neighbouring ranges, taking the quant.i.ty of snow as a guide, and it appeared to me that they were in general between 19 and 20,000 feet, a few isolated peaks only exceeding that alt.i.tude.

Such guesses, however, are necessarily extremely vague.

Quartzy rock, slate, and limestone, alternated during the ascent; and near the summit of the pa.s.s the limestone evidently contained organic remains, perhaps coralline, though the traces were not sufficiently distinct to enable me to decide the point. The fossils were not observed _in situ_, but the angular fragments in which they occurred did not appear to have been transported from any distance.

On the north side of the pa.s.s a snow-bed commenced at the very crest, down which the descent was very steep for a few hundred yards. The snow was very soft, and was rapidly melting, but it possibly covered a permanent ma.s.s of ice, as it terminated abruptly, and the valley at its base was wide and but little inclined, with only a few patches of snow. The ground near the snow was swampy, owing to the rapid thaw.

Here a little sweet-scented _Primula_ was abundant, with one or two more alpine plants. The road followed the course of a wide arid valley, descending very gently. Two species of rhubarb were common, and a dwarf willow fringed the margins of the stream.