on the snow. He was
instantly asleep, breathing heavily and snoring convulsively. His hands
and feet were icy cold. What caused me more anxiety than anything was
the irregular beating and throbbing of his heart. I wrapped him up in
his blanket and my waterproof, and, having seen to his general comfort,
I shouted to the doctor (the voice in the still air carrying for a long
distance) telling him what had happened. I pushed on with the Rongba,
who was now the only one of the party who had any strength left.

A thick mist suddenly enveloped us, which added much to our trials.
After we left Kachi at 21,000 feet we made desperate efforts to get on.
Our lungs seemed about to burst, and our hearts throbbed as if they
would beat themselves out of our bodies. Exhausted and weighed down by
irresistible drowsiness, the Rongba and I at last reached the summit.
Almost fainting with fatigue, I registered my observations. The altitude
was 22,000 feet, the hour 11 P.M. There was a strong, cutting
north-easterly wind. The cold was intense. I was unable to register the
exact temperature, as I had forgotten to take my thermometer out of
Kachi's pocket when he collapsed. The stars were wonderfully brilliant,
and when the mist cleared the moon shone brightly for a while over the
panorama around me. Though it was a view of utter desolation, it was
certainly strangely attractive. The amount of snow on the northern slope
of the range was greater than on the southern. I realized the
impossibility of taking my entire expedition over this high point. Below
me, to the south, were mountainous ranges buried in snow, and to the
south-west and north-east were peaks even higher than the one where I
stood. To the north stretched the immense, dreary Tibetan plateau with
undulations and intricate hill ranges, beyond which a high mountain
range with snow-peaks could just be perceived in the distance.

I had barely taken in this beautiful view of nature asleep when the mist
again rose before me, and I saw a huge ghost rising out of it. A tall,
dark figure stood in the centre of a luminous circle wrapped in an
enormous veil of mist. The effect was wonderful. It was only after some
moments that I realized that the ghost had my features, and that I stood
in the centre of a circular lunar rainbow, looking at an enlarged
reflection of myself in the mist. When I moved my arms, my body, or my
head the ghost-like figure moved also. I felt very much like a child
pl