The perils of the heights and passes of the HimÂleh are truly frightful. At Boorendo, 15,171 feet in height, one of the safest and most frequented of the passes, the guides point out a spot where upwards of twenty persons, returning from Koonacour with salt, a few years since, perished at once: they were overtaken by a fall of snow when on the other side, but they preferred trying the pass to making a circuit of six or seven days' journey; the wind got up, and they were so benumbed with cold by the time they reached the trees, that they were unable to strike a light, and slept to wake no more.

The road to Ludak is passable in the middle of winter, and is never shut by snow; but there are frightful accounts of frosts on this route. As protection against these perils, travellers clothe themselves in their journeys with a winter-dress, which is so heavy that it scarcely seems possible for them to walk. Putee Ram, a traveller, is described as wearing a garment of lambskin, called Lapka, with sleeves; the fleecy side was inward, and the exterior covered with sooklat, a kind of warm blanket, dyed blue. There were trousers of the same, long woollen stockings, and over them the usual kind of boots, the foot part stuffed with two inches of wool; and gloves of thick flannel reaching above the elbows; in addition to this, he had a blanket round his waist, another thrown on his shoulders, and a shawl wrapt over his cap and part of his face; such, he said, was the usual garb of a traveller in the winter season; adding, that he was always accompanied by a mule-load of blankets and another Lapka, all of which were required at night, when he was obliged to sleep under the snow.