Near our camp there was not a vestige of grass, so we had to fall back upon our limited supply of bhoussa and grain. Of course the mules and ponies had to go waterless, although we were able to collect sufficient snow for the use of our men and ourselves.
We had already turned to our left again, and had ceased to follow the Pangong Lake, but had continued to make a long ascent. On leaving our encampment by the rocks, up, up we went; a blinding sleet blew in our faces, making it hard to see more than a few yards. At the top of this pass, which was called the Ann Pass, sickness from the unaccustomed height in no way sweetened the temper of some of our men, and we found no pleasure attached to the operation of finding out the height of this pass with the hypsometer, with a temperature just about freezing-point. We hurried down the other side of this comfortless pass, and for the rest of the day marched along a rocky, stony pathway, amidst a continuous snowstorm, when suddenly, on a bend to our left, the whole aspect was entirely changed. The heavy clouds gave way to a warm and genial sun. Thick brushwood and green grass replaced the sharply-angled rocks and those countless loose stones that lay about everywhere, as though they were a bore to themselves and to all others. A clear stream, too, ran merrily through this pleasant spot. No wonder the kyang and antelope had chosen this as one of their favourite districts to wander into, and the hares had grown fat and multiplied.
[Illustration: ON THE BORDERS OF TIBET; OUR CAMP AT NIAGZU.]
At this stage we had come nearly forty-five miles from Ludhkong, and this was Niagzu, a place well worthy of note, for it neither lies in Ladakh nor in Tibet. We had thus reached the border of the land we were anxious to traverse. Having pitched our camp, we looked forward to the morrow with composed feelings. First of all, we knew our mules and ponies would enjoy a complete day of rest and freedom, wandering through the fresh green grass or by the clear, trickling stream. We felt our success depended in no small measure upon their welfare. We rejoiced, too, that thus far we had managed by tact to prevent our men from turning back, and reckoned that, could we only manage to go a little distance beyond the frontier, they would be in our hands and not we in theirs. We had, in truth, overcome what we considered as difficulties such as made us more sanguine for the future. The day we waited at Niagzu for the arrival of our hired yak was an ideal one, when much could be done in rearranging the loads we had with us for the continuation of the journey. The numerous hares, too, afforded sport and provender for ourselves and our men. How anxious they were to hallal this small game in the orthodox manner, little dreaming that a few months later hunger would cause all these religious scruples to be put aside and forgotten for the time being!