Page:Younghusband - Kashmir.pdf/266

 198 THE PEAKS AND MOUNTAIN RANGES

Feet, Makalu. . . . . . - 27,790 TS,. ww ee 86,867 Dhaulagiri 6 wwe Se G19 XXX. . . . . . - 26,658 Nanga Parbat. . . « « « 26,620 *

Being more accessible than the remote K’ the observations for its height were made at much closer quarters, the nearest observation point being 48 miles distant instead of 61 as in the case of K*. It was observed in all from eleven different points, of which the most remote was 188 miles. But until it had been measured by the Survey it had been marked on maps as only 19,000 feet.

Colonel Burrard says it is “the most isolated and perhaps the most imposing of all the peaks of Asia.” It certainly is remarkable for its isola- tion. With the exception of subordinate pinnacles rising from its own buttresses, no peak within 60 miles of it attains an altitude of more than 17,000 feet. Throughout a circle of 120 miles’ diameter Nanga Parbat surpasses all other summits by more than 9000 feet. And its upper 5000 feet are pre- cipitous. It stands out therefore in solitary noble- ness, and it can be seen on its northern side rising 28,000 feet from the Indus, there only 8500 above the sea, But whether it is of all mountains the