not the least worthy of medieval saints-not unworthy of the honour eventually assigned to her of being the adopted patroness of Spain. Her modes of religious thought, her forms of religious expression, her habits of religious life, all differed in many respects from those which have prevailed in our own and in other periods of the Christian era; but deep down beneath them there lay the faith which worketh by love, and which overcometh the world-the faith common to Christianity in all its varied phases. Teresa's greatness lay in this that-without family influence, without great mental culture, despite the hindrances of powerful opposition and persistent calumny, hampered alike by poverty and sickness and distrust-through downright determination she effected what might well have been deemed an impossible reform. Her motives, her aims, her desires were uniformly lofty, and the mainspring of her energy was the constraining love of Christ. Who can doubt it that reads such an extract as the following from her Camino de Perfeccion:

'It will be a great thing at the hour of death to see that we are going to be judged by One whom we have loved above all things. Securely may we set forth to answer for our sins: for it will not be to set forth to a strange country, but our own native land, since it is that of Him we love and Who loves us' (ii. 368).

ART. III. THE ROOF OF ASIA.

1. The Pamirs. By the EARL of DUNMORE, F.R.G.S. Two vols. (London, 1893.)

2. Diary of a Journey across Tibet. By Captain H. BOWER, (London, 1894.)

3. Climbing and Exploration in the Karakoram Himalayas, By W. M. CONWAY. (London, 1894.)

THE wonders of the mountain region of Central Asia seem to be inexhaustible, and an extraordinary fascination is attached to this part of the earth's surface. Its towering mountains with their immense glaciers; its desolate plains with their numerous salt lakes; its strange inhabitants with their extraordinary religion, characterised by its priests, monks, monasteries, and holy shrines; and its remarkable geological features, which manifest the existence of larger glaciers, greater lakes, and powerful volcanic activity in former times, all combine to render the region one of striking importance and of surpassing interest.

Tibet has for ages been the land of romance, and is regarded as a Holy Land by millions of the human race. All over its mountains-in its habitable portions-the monasteries of the Lamas may be seen, either perched on the hilltops or nestling beneath the overhanging precipices; and these monasteries are filled with monks, clad in bright robes, with mitres on their heads and with praying-wheels in their hands. The holy city of Lassa is an object of deep veneration, and in its great temple-which is splendidly adorned— crowds of devout worshippers listen to the service chanted by Buddhist priests and monks.

Tibet consists of two great divisions-the habitable valleys and the table-lands. The former are included within the basins of the Upper Indus, the Sanpu (Brahmaputra), the upper portions of the Yang-tse-Kiang, the Mekong, the Salween, and the Sutlej above the village of Shipki. But a greater interest is attached to the table-land. This is a clearly defined region, and is bounded on the north by the Kuen-lun and Tash Dawan ranges, and on the south by the great snowclad chain which runs along the northern watershed of the Sanpu. The western boundary of the table-land may be roughly traced along the range which runs to the east of the Shayuk, and then, bending to the south-east, gives rise to the head streams of the Indus from its western slopes. The eastern boundary is doubtful, but it is probably somewhere to the west of the upper course of the King-cha-Kiang, and recent explorations have shown that the Great Plateau stretches far to the north and east of Lassa. The axis of this wonderful mountain-land lies in the region where the Indus, the Sanpu, and the Sutlej rise, and from this point the valleys slope to the east and west, and the plateaux diminish in elevation.

The central region of the Great Table-land, which is called the Chang Tang and lies in Chinese territory, was traversed in 1873 by the Pundit Kishen Singh, who was connected with Sir Douglas Forsyth's mission to Yarkand, and by Messrs. Carey and Dalgleish in 1885. Starting from the Nyak-cho-which is the eastern continuation of the Pankong Lake-the Pundit crossed vast plains on which grass and water were both abundant. The elevation was nearly 17,000 feet; but the journey was easy, although somewhat unsafe from wandering tribes. Herds of antelopes and wild asses were frequently met with, and salt lakes abounded. The road at last descended from the Great Plateau, and, passing through Kiria, reached Ilchi, the capital of Khotan.' 1 Carey and Dalgleish entered this table-land from Chang Chemmo.

Westward of these great rolling uplands, and divided from them by a lofty ridge which has snowy peaks of from 22,000 to 23,000 feet in height-lie two extraordinary plateaux, shut in on all sides by lofty mountains. The southern of these, which lies immediately to the north of the Chang Chemmo valley, is called the Ling-zi-Thang plain, and is sixty miles long and twenty broad. It is a dreary waste of gravel and sand, and is 17,000 feet above the sea, and a mirage quivers constantly over its barren wastes and sandy swells, transforming its black rocks and sterile mounds into fantastic forms. A ridge of gloomy mountains called the Lokzhung Mountains forms its northern boundary, and beyond this range comes another great plain, slightly lower but equally desolate, and on its northern fringe rise the Kuenlun Mountains, many peaks of which are heavily snow-clad and send down extensive glaciers.

From the western edge of the Great Plateau, or Chang, which runs along the chain of mountains which gives rise on its western and southern flanks to the streams which run into the Upper Indus, smaller plains run out towards the west, their elevation decreasing in a westerly direction. Some of these plains along the upper courses of the Indus and the Sutlej are exceedingly beautiful. Their surfaces are richly clad with grass, which affords pasturage to great herds of wild asses (kiangs), graceful antelopes, and wild sheep. The distant snowy mountains form a beautiful background to the picture, and the sky above is of a deep and delightful blue. On the Upper Indus there is a great expanse which is called the Antelope Plain from the multitudes of these graceful creatures which roam over its surface, and the upper course of the Sutlej is also bordered by fine grassy plains with low rounded hills. These plains contract in size towards the west, and their slope in this direction becomes more and more abrupt, until they terminate in the broad open valleys of the Upper Sutlej and Indus.

Returning now to the Great Central Plateau of Tibet, or Chang, we must notice the remarkable journey of the Pundit called Nain Singh, who traversed its southern portion in 1874 for many hundreds of miles.1

Having received a scientific training in India, he started from Leh, the capital of Western Tibet, and reached the eastern end of the Pangkong Lakes. Thence he ascended the gentle slopes which here form the western front of the Great Tibetan Plateau. The journey was easy, for the 1 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1877.

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country was open, and only rolling hills extended on all sides. Gradually the Pundit reached a vast table-land, on which there were neither villages nor settled habitations of man. Great plains covered with grass stretched away in all directions, sometimes bounded by low sloping hills, but at other times an immense verdant plain extended to the very horizon. Not a sign of man was visible, but the great plains swarmed with animal life. Wild asses (kiangs) were seen in vast numbers; magnificent wild sheep came up close to the travellers and gazed on them without fear; while antelopes were sometimes seen in herds of thousands at a time, and when the sun shone on the myriads of their moving horns, the horns glittered like the bayonets of an army of marching soldiers! Sometimes, far off in the distance, snowy mountains were visible, and at one point of the journey the great snow-clad Targot Peaks, 25,000 feet high, were discerned to the south. In the midst of these plains the Pundit came upon a cultivated district, surrounded by a ring of mountains and called Ombo. Here there were villages and monasteries, and he found fine lakes with houses on their banks. Leaving Ombo, he again entered the uninhabited region of grassy plains and immense open valleys, and met with many beautiful lakes. The general slope of the country was very gently towards the north, and the elevation was, on an average, from 15,000 to 16,000 feet above the sea. At last Nain Singh reached the holy lake of Namcho, which is 15,200 feet above the sea, and, crossing the great range which forms the southern rampart of the Great Plateau, he reached Lassa, and thence made his way, by the inhabited valleys of Tibet, across the Himalaya, to Assam.

Turning now to Western Tibet, we find ourselves in a country which is fairly well known, as it is included within. the dominions of the Maharajah of Kashmir. Roughly speaking, Western Tibet may be said to consist of the basin of the Upper Indus, with the exception of that part of the basin which lies within Chinese territory. The southern boundary of Western Tibet runs along the crest of the lofty Himalayan ridge which is called the Zanskar Range, and which divides the basin of the Indus from that of the Chenab. The culminating point of this range occurs in the Akun Peaks called Mer and Ser, which are 23,300 feet above the sea, and rise between the valleys of Suru and Wardwan. West of these peaks the southern boundary of Western Tibet is formed by the ridge which encloses the Valley of Kashmir on the north, and from this point the boundary runs along the south-western limits of the Astor river.

The northern boundary of Western Tibet is formed by a chain of mountains which is far grander than the Western Himalaya, and is called the Mustagh or Karakoram Range, and its peaks rise constantly to a height of from 25,000 to 28,000 feet above the sea. Over this magnificent range, which extends from the Hindu Kush to the Karakoram Pass, there are few passes practicable for commercial intercourse. Omitting the routes over the Ling-zi-Thang and Kuenlun Plains, which are too long and too high for general use, the best road is that which leads over the Karakoram Pass. This pass is 18,800 feet high, but is free from snow in summer and is easy to cross, although the approach to it by the glaciers of Sassar is difficult. West of the Karakoram Pass it is very difficult to find a practical pass over the Mustagh. That at the head of the Saltoro valley, which leads over a huge glacier, is too difficult for general use. The Mustagh Pass, at the head of the Baltoro glacier, was abandoned some time ago owing to the enormous accumulation of ice upon it, and a new track was opened up by way of the Punmah glacier. Captain Younghusband crossed the old Mustagh Pass in 1887, and found it fearfully dangerous; there is no practicable road over the Mustagh in this direction owing to the difficulty in crossing the enormous glaciers. The easiest routes over the Mustagh to the plains of Chinese Turkistan are at the head of the Kanjut valley, and the direct road from Wakhan to Kashmir and India lies through Yassin and Gilgit, down to the Indus at Bunji; and as this route is comparatively easy, it ought to be closely watched and carefully guarded.

The space included between the Shayuk and the district of Rondu on the south, and the Mustagh on the north, contains a perfect sea of enormous snow-clad mountains, from which descend the largest glaciers in the world, excluding those of the Polar regions. The traveller standing on the top of any pass on the mountain range between the Indus and the Shayuk, and looking northwards, beholds a region of ice and snow of amazing extent spread out before him; and sees the magnificent snowy peaks of the Mustagh, forming a sublime background and extending all along the northern horizon from Hunza on the west to Nubra on the east. As he gazes

on this amazing sight, he does not know which to admire most-the innumerable towers, pinnacles, and domes of the towering snowy mountains, or the gigantic glaciers, which, like vast icy rivers, fill all the valleys. A most valuable account of these glaciers has been given by Colonel Godwin