From The Second View Point Mountains Are Seen Descending On
A Pleasanter Part Of The Shayok Valley In Grey, Yellow,
Or vermilion
masses of naked rock, 7,000 and 8,000 feet in height, above which
rise snow capped peaks
Sending out fantastic spurs and buttresses,
while the colossal walls of rock are cleft by rifts as colossal. The
central ridge between the Nubra and Upper Shayok valleys is 20,000
feet in altitude, and on this are superimposed five peaks of rock,
ascertained by survey to be from 24,000 to 25,000 feet in height,
while at one point the eye takes in a nearly vertical height of
14,000 feet from the level of the Shayok River! The Shayok and Nubra
valleys are only five and four miles in width respectively at their
widest parts. The early winter traffic chiefly follows along river
beds, then nearly dry, while summer caravans have to labour along
difficult tracks at great heights, where mud and snow avalanches are
common, to climb dangerous rock ladders, and to cross glaciers and
the risky fords of the Shayok. Nubra is similar in character to
Ladak, but it is hotter and more fertile, the mountains are loftier,
the gonpos are more numerous, and the people are simpler, more
religious, and more purely Tibetan. Mr. Redslob loved Nubra, and as
love begets love he received a hearty welcome at Digar and everywhere
else.
The descent to the Shayok River gave us a most severe day of twelve
hours.
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