The Tsarap Lingti Valleys. 289

CHAPTER XXXIII.

, THE TSARAP LINGTI VALLEYS.

THE KHARJAK VALLEY — TREMENDOUS SERIES OF GLACIERS—
GIGANTIC PYRAMID — PERPLEXING MOUNTAINS — WONDERFUL
COLOURS—FATIGUE OF THE JOURNEY—KHARJAK VILLAGE—
ITS TALUKDAR—THESUR — JUNCTION OF THE KHARJAK CHU
AND TSARAP LINGTI — PUNE MONASTERY — CHAR — BURDUN
MONASTERY—ARRIVE AT PADAM.

NEXT morning was excessively cold, and we were glad
to hurry down the pass. The way ran down a not very
steep slope to a glacier-stream (which it might be diffi-
cult to ford during the heat of the day), then on a slight
ascent to the end of an enormous spur of the mountains
where there was a very long and extrerAely steep de-
scent to La-kung—" the pass-house," a large, low, stone
room, with no window but the door, and with open
spaces between the stones,—which has been erected for
the protection of shepherds and travellers. We were
now within the watershed of the Indus, in the valley of
the Kharjak Chu, one of the mountain streams which
form the Tsarap Lingti river. There were very formid-
able-looking mountains to the right, through which the
dhirsi, who was a great geographical authority, assured
me there was no available pass to Ladik. In and de-
scending from the mountains to the left—that is to say,
on the left bank of^the river down to Padam, and on
the right bank of the river which runs from the Pense
La down to Padam on the other side—there is probably

T