We looked for and found Kachi. He had slept like a top, curled up in his warm blanket and my overcoat, and was now quite refreshed, so all united again, we continued our race downwards, exchanging our experiences and sensations. We had no very serious mishaps, and life and strength gradually came back to us again when we descended to lower elevations. The ascent from the glacier at the bottom of the mountain to the summit occupied four and a half hours; the precipitous descent, without counting stoppages, only the ninth part of that time, the distance covered being about one mile and three quarters. Over the same trying stony valley we reached camp during the early hours of the morning. The distance from camp to the altitude reached and back was over ten miles; therefore, during the twenty-four hours I had altogether gone eighteen miles (quite a record at such great altitudes). I may here also remark that, since breakfast at six o'clock the previous morning, I had taken no food of any kind, thus making an interval of twenty-three hours between one meal and the next. The anxiety of my men in camp was intense. They had lost all hope of seeing us again, and they were quite reassured when I told them that we would proceed later in the morning by the Lumpiya Pass, which was believed to be far easier. In no time they had lighted a fire of dung, and after having had (at five o'clock in the morning) a handsome feed of rice, _chapatis_, extract of meat, and strengthening emergency food, we felt we were entitled to a well-deserved rest. CHAPTER XXV The sources of the Kuti River--The Lumpiya glacier--The summit of the range--Bird's-eye view of Tibet--Rubso frozen almost to death--The Lumpiya Pass--Two coolies in distress. AT 9 A.M. we were ready again to start. The thermometer registered 40 deg. inside the tent, and the minimum temperature outside during the night had been 14 deg.. We followed the Kuti River at the foot of the mountain range, travelling in a direction of 298 deg. (b.m). On rounding a prominent headland, where the Kuti River flows through a narrow passage, we saw facing us on a mound, fourteen stone pillars and pyramids with white stones on them and the customary flying prayers of cloth. It is from this point that the ascent to the Lumpiya Pass begins. [Illustration: ASCENDING THE LUMPIYA PASS]