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.
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