Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/200

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178

HUC'S GASEOUS VAPOURS.

whilst the others were only just able to surmount the pass.^[1]

The descent from the pass was even more gradual than the ascent. It continued for fifteen miles, and terminated at the stream called Nomokhun, flowing in a gorge of which the height above the sea was 11,300 feet. And this was the lowest elevation in the whole of our route across Northern Tibet. Beyond the Nomokhun the ground gradually rises to another range, the Shuga (Chouga), lying parallel with the Burkhan Buddha and terminating as abruptly on the west, where it abuts on the Tsaidam plains.^[2] This range is somewhat longer than the preceding. It commences with the Urundushi mountains on the east, where the Shuga-gol also rises. This stream is 280 feet wide^[3] where we

↑ In his description of these mountains (ii. 210-212), Huc says that the range is remarkable for the presence of noxious gases on its northern and eastern face. He continues to relate how he himself and his companions felt the injurious effect of these gases on the pass. An exactly similar description may be found in a translation of a Chinese itinerary from Si-ning to Lhassa (Trans. of the Russ. Imp. Geogr. Soc. 1873, vol. ix. pp. 298-305), where it is said that in twenty-three places on this road deleterious exhalations, 'chan-tsi,' are met with. We were for eighty days on the plateau of Tibet and never once experienced the 'pestilential vapours' or exhalations of 'carbonic acid gas.' The difficulty of marching here as well on the perfectly level parts of Northern Tibet, the catching of the breath, fatigue and giddiness, are of course attributable to the enormous elevation and rarefaction of the air at those altitudes. This also accounts for the argols burning so badly. Again, if there really were carbonic acid, or other noxious gases, how could the Mongols live there in summer with their herds, or how could the vast troops of wild animals pasture here and farther in the desert? [See also remarks in Introduction.]
↑ In all probability these two ranges, i.e. the Burkhan Buddha and Shuga, unite in the extreme west, where they abut on Tsaidam.
↑ This was the width of the ice in the channel in winter; the stream itself is probably much narrower.

[1] In his description of these mountains (ii. 210-212), Huc says that the range is remarkable for the presence of noxious gases on its northern and eastern face. He continues to relate how he himself and his companions felt the injurious effect of these gases on the pass. An exactly similar description may be found in a translation of a Chinese itinerary from Si-ning to Lhassa (Trans. of the Russ. Imp. Geogr. Soc. 1873, vol. ix. pp. 298-305), where it is said that in twenty-three places on this road deleterious exhalations, 'chan-tsi,' are met with. We were for eighty days on the plateau of Tibet and never once experienced the 'pestilential vapours' or exhalations of 'carbonic acid gas.' The difficulty of marching here as well on the perfectly level parts of Northern Tibet, the catching of the breath, fatigue and giddiness, are of course attributable to the enormous elevation and rarefaction of the air at those altitudes. This also accounts for the argols burning so badly. Again, if there really were carbonic acid, or other noxious gases, how could the Mongols live there in summer with their herds, or how could the vast troops of wild animals pasture here and farther in the desert? [See also remarks in Introduction.]

[2] In all probability these two ranges, i.e. the Burkhan Buddha and Shuga, unite in the extreme west, where they abut on Tsaidam.

[3] This was the width of the ice in the channel in winter; the stream itself is probably much narrower.

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