h a guide, in the person of a celebrated
Hindoo hunter or "shikaree," called Ossaroo; and this individual was the
sole attendant and companion of the two brothers--with the exception of
a large dog, of the boar-hound species, which had been brought with them
from Europe, and that answered to the name of Fritz.

The young botanist had come to India furnished with a letter of
introduction to the manager of the Botanical Garden of Calcutta--an
establishment of world-wide renown. There he had been hospitably
received on his arrival in the Oriental city; and during his sojourn he
had spent much of his time within its boundaries. Moreover, the
authorities of the place, interested in his expedition, had given him
all the information in their power as to the route he intended
pursuing--though that was not much: for the portion of the Himalayas he
was about to explore was at that time a _terra incognita_ to
Englishmen--even in the city of Calcutta!

It is not necessary here to detail the many adventures that befel our
plant-hunter and his party, during the progress of their journey towards
the Himalayas, and after they had entered within the grand gorges of
these mountains. Suffice it to say, that in pursuit of a beautiful
little animal--a "musk-deer"--they had gone up a gully filled by one of
those grand glaciers so common in the higher Himalayas; that the pursuit
had led them far up the ravine, and afterwards conducted them into a
singular crater-like valley--the one already described; that once in
this valley, they could find no way out of it, but by the ravine through
which they had entered; and that on returning to make their exit, they
discovered to their great consternation that a crevasse in the glacier,
over which they had passed, had opened during their absence, and to such
an extent as to render their exit impossible!

They had endeavoured to span this crevasse; and had spent much time in
making a bridge of pine-trees for the purpose. They had succeeded at
length in getting across the chasm--but only to find others in the
glacier below, which no ingenuity could enable them to get over.

They were compelled to abandon the idea, and return again to the valley;
which, though lovely to the eye, had now become hateful to their
thoughts: since they knew it to be their _prison_.

During their residence in the place, many adventures befel them with
wild animals of various kinds. There chanced to be a small herd of
"