the course of the Dhauli at Jelam (10,100
feet), this track proceeds almost due east, rising to an altitude of
16,600 feet on the Niti, in Lat. 30 deg. 57' 59" N. and Long. 79 deg. 55' 3" E.,
which is, from all accounts, a very easy pass, and quite free from snow
during the summer months. The people of the Painkhanda Pargana use this
pass as well as the other passes of Malla Shilanch and Tumzun, besides
the Shorhoti, visited by H. R. Strachey some years ago, over which,
however, only a small portion of the trade with Hundes is carried, for it
is considered the most dangerous of the three. The cold and turbid waters
of the Dhauli, swollen by dozens of equally foaming and muddy
tributaries, become ultimately the sacred waters of the Ganges.

The three Alpine Parganas, viz., the Painkhanda, Johar, and Darma (Darma,
Chaudas, and Bias) are inhabited by races closely allied and akin to
those of Tibet proper. The region is collectively named Bhot, although
that designation is more particularly applied by the natives of India to
that portion of the country which includes Darma, Bias, and Chaudas, and
which has for natural boundaries the Kali River to the South-East,
separating it from Nepal and the great Himahlyan chain to the North-East,
extending from the Lissar Peak in a general direction of about 115 deg..

A ramification leaving the main range at the Darma Pass stretches across
from N.N.W. to S.S.E., separating the above-mentioned Darma Ganga from
the Kuti River, along which I eventually travelled on my way to Tibet.
The main elevations found on this ridge are 18,510 feet on the Darma
Pass; north-east of the Rama glacier a peak 20,760 feet; the Gurma
Mountain 20,320 feet; and others south of them as high as 20,380 feet,
20,330 feet, 20,260 feet. East of the latter summit is one 20,455 feet.

CHAPTER VII

The word _Bhot_ and its meaning--Tibetan influence--Tibetan
abuses--The ever-helpful Chanden Sing--The first Shoka
village--Chanden Sing in disgrace--Weaving-loom--Fabrics--All's
well that ends well!

THE name _Bhot_, pronounced Bod, Pote, Tuepoet, or Taipoet, by which this
inter-Alpine region is called, means Tibet. In fact _Tibet_ is probably
merely a corruption of _Tuepoet_. These lofty "pattis" of Darma, Bias, and
Chaudas nominally form part of the British Empire, our geographical
boundary with Nari Khorsum or Hundes (Great Tibet), being the main
Himahlyan chain forming the watershed be