LE.
July, 1848.
The vegetation in the vicinity of Le scarcely differed from that of the Indus at Kalatze. The most abundant families of plants were Chenopodiaceæ, Labiatæ, and Artemisiæ, which covered the barren and stony tracts; the Boragineæ, so abundant throughout Tibet in early spring, had already quite dried up and disappeared. In the meadows tall species of Thalictrum, Silene, and Heracleum, were coming into flower, and in swamps Veronica Beccabunga and Anagallis, Limosella, and a yellow Pedicularis, were the most abundant plants.
At Le I had the pleasure of meeting Captain Strachey, who had spent the winter there, and had returned shortly before my arrival, from an exploring journey to the eastward. After a week's stay I set out for Nubra on the 19th of July, crossing the lofty chain separating the two rivers by the pass directly north of Le, which, during the summer months, presents no difficulty, and is therefore preferred as being the most direct. The pass is distinctly visible from the town of Le, to which it appears very close, though the distance is at least ten or twelve miles. I did not attempt to cross it the first day, but encamped as far up on the southern face as I conveniently could, so as to reach the top early in the morning. At starting, the road lay for about three miles through an open valley, partly cultivated, and with a good deal of swampy ground. Higher up, the valley contracted into a barren ravine, with a narrow strip of green along the margin of the stream. About half-way, the road left the bottom of the valley, and for the remainder of the march I proceeded along the bare side of the mountain, ascending very rapidly. There was a striking change in the vegetation as the height increased. On the lower slopes Cicer and Statice were abundant, with several Astragali; on the latter part of the ascent many alpine plants were observed, belonging to the genera Corydalis, Elsholtzia, Potentilla, and Draba. A very small violet was extremely plentiful in the crevices of the rocks, and among stones, after I had reached 15,000 feet. I encamped at about 15,700 feet, on a level piece of ground, a few hundred feet above the bottom of the valley.
PASS NORTH OF LE.
July, 1848.
On the 20th I crossed the pass, starting about sunrise. The morning was intensely frosty, and the stones and vegetation near the water were encrusted with ice. The path lay close to the stream, ascending somewhat rapidly among the green turf which grew along its margin, in which I found many little alpine plants, among which, a large-flowered Aster and a small poppy with still unexpanded flowers were the most conspicuous. The last part of the ascent was extremely steep, among immense angular granite boulders, with here and there a little snow in the crevices. Here a most elegant sweet-scented species of Primula was common, so firmly fixed in the frozen mud, that I could with difficulty procure a specimen. Except in very small patches, there was no snow till within two hundred yards of the top of the ascent, for which distance it was continuous, but very soft, and evidently melting rapidly. The crest of the pass was a narrow ridge of large spheres of granite, seemingly quite detached from one another, but which had probably been formed on the spot they now occupied by the peculiar decay characteristic of that rock.
The continuation of the ridge on both sides was for some distance very little more elevated than the pass itself, the height of which was 17,700 feet. To the south, the view was very extensive, embracing a great extent of snowy mountains, with numerous lofty peaks, as well as a part of the Indus valley, and the town of Le, immediately below; to the north it was much more limited, as hills close at hand completely excluded all distant view, except directly in front, where one snowy peak could be seen a long way off, evidently beyond the Shayuk.
On the north side of the pass snow commenced at the very top, and continued for at least 1200 feet of perpendicular height. The descent for this distance was extremely steep, over a snow-bed, which appeared to cover an incipient glacier. About 1200 feet below the top I came to a small oval-shaped lake, completely frozen over; a little higher up I had passed a small bare piece of rock projecting through the snow, and perhaps thirty feet long, on which the beautiful blue-flowered Nepeta multibracteata, Benth., had already put forth its flowers. Beyond the frozen lake the descent became at once much more gentle, and was partially free of snow. The path lay over a vast accumulation of angular stones, which appeared to have fallen from the rocks above. Many parts of the valley were swampy, evidently from recently melted snow, and in such places the Primula, noticed on the ascent, occurred in great abundance, its scapes rising to the height of six to eight inches, and bearing large globes of deep rose-coloured flowers. Among the loose stones Nepeta multibracteata was common. About three miles from the top I passed the end of an exceedingly well-marked moraine, which must have been deposited by a glacier at a time when, from increased cold, these masses of ice stretched down much further than they do at present. The remainder of the descent was again more abrupt, but very bare, stony, and uninteresting. A single tree of Juniperus excelsa grew in one of the ravines, and below 14,000 feet a species of berberry, with very small leaves, was common on dry stony ground. I encamped at the small village of Kardong, at 13,500 feet. The cultivation round this village was on a level plain without any terracing.
Metamorphic rocks. Alluvium. Stream. Alluvium. Metamorphic rocks.
KARDONG.
July, 1848.