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Beyond the convents the valley again contracted, and on crossing a third, but much lower, moraine, a lake opened to view, surrounded by flat terraces, and a broad gravelly shore, part of the lake being dry. The reflected lofty peak of Nango appeared as if frozen deep down in its glassy bed, every snowy crest and ridge being rendered with perfect precision.

Ascend to Nango mountain Moraines Glaciers Vegetation Rhododendron Hodgsoni Rocks Honey-combed surface of snow Perpetual snow Top of pass View Elevation Geology Distance of sound Plants Temperature Scenery Cliffs of granite and hurled boulders Camp Descent Pheasants Larch Himalayan pines Distribution of Deodar, note on Tassichooding temples Kambachen village Cultivation Moraines in valley, distribution of Picturesque lake-beds, and their vegetation Tibetan sheep and goats Cryptogramma crispa Ascent to Choonjerma pass View of Junnoo Rocks of its summit Misty ocean Nepal peaks Top of pass Temperature, and observations Gorgeous sunset Descent to Yalloong valley Loose path Night scenes Musk deer.

On looking out this morning, it was with a feeling of awe that I gazed at the stupendous ice-crowned precipices that shot up to the summit of Nango, their flanks spotted white at the places whence the gigantic masses with which I was surrounded had fallen; thence my eye wandered down their black faces to the slope of debris at the bottom, thus tracing the course which had probably been taken by that rock under whose shelter I had passed the previous night.

Return from Wallanchoon pass Procure a bazaar at village Dance of Lamas Blacking face, Tibetan custom of Temple and convent Leave for Kanglachem pass Send part of party back to Dorjiling Yangma Guola Drunken Tibetans Guobah of Wallanchoon Camp at foot of Great Moraine View from top Geological speculations Height of moraines Cross dry lake-bed Glaciers More moraines Terraces Yangma temples Jos, books and furniture Peak of Nango Lake Arrive at village Cultivation Scenery Potatos State of my provisions Pass through village Gigantic boulders Terraces Wild sheep Lake-beds Sun's power Piles of gravel and detritus Glaciers and moraines Pabuk, elevation of Moonlight scene Return to Yangma Temperature, etc.

The view into the Kambachen gorge was magnificent, though it did not reveal the very bottom of the valley and its moraines: the black precipices of its opposite flank seemed to rise to the glaciers of Nango, fore-shortened into snow-capped precipices 5000 feet high, amongst which lay the Kambachen pass, bearing north-west by north.

The marches between them are as follows: 1. To Yalloong two days; crossing Kanglanamo pass, 15,000 feet high. 3. To foot of Choonjerma pass, descending to 10,000 feet. 4. Cross Choonjerma pass, 15,260 feet, and proceed to Kambachen, 11,400 feet. 5. Cross Nango pass, 15,770, and camp on Yangma river, 11,000 feet. 6. Ascend to foot of Kanglachem pass, and camp at 15,000 feet. 7.

Nango is about 18,000 feet high; it is the next lofty mountain of the Kinchinjunga group to the west of Junnoo, and I doubt if any equally high peak occurs again for some distance further west in Nepal.

Eastward the moraine stretched south of the lateral valley, above which towered the snowy peak of Nango, tinged rosy red, and sparkling in the rays of the setting sun: blue glaciers peeped from every gulley on its side, but these were 2000 to 3000 feet above this moraine; they were small too, and their moraines were mere gravel, compared with this.

The air was not very dry; saturation-point, 0.670°, whereas at Calcutta it was 0.498° at the same hour. The descent was to a broad, open valley, into which the flank of Nango dipped in tremendous precipices, which reared their heads in splintered snowy peaks. At their bases were shoots of debris fully 700 feet high, sloping at a steep angle.

I marched up the left bank of the Nile at a considerable distance from the water, to the Isamba rapids, passing through rich jungle and plantain-gardens. Nango, an old friend, and district officer of the place, first refreshed us with a dish of plantain-squash and dried fish, with pombe.