Over the High Passes

London, 1987, 1st edition. 208 pp, photos. A Highland Scot, Christina Noble is married to an Indian and has two children. Nevertheless for the better part of a year she is wandering about the Indian highlands in Himachal Pradesh by herself, or rather accompanied by two male Buddhist guides - who are sometimes servants, sometimes friends - with no mention or thought for her family somewhere down south! The story tells well the trials, tribulations and triumphs of this hard life. For instance, a shepherd has brought his flock safely across the moraine, up and down the high passes, and finds a safe grazing area for them. A bear, just waking, stumbles into their midst. While goats bleat and shout, sheep in danger go silent, so the shepherd wasn't warned of the danger. The flock panics and all three hundred hurl themselves over the rock face. For the shepherd, it is a tragedy of the greatest order. He had known every animal since its birth, had protected them from all natural and unnatural hazards. Now they were dead - and there is no sheep insurance! Over the High Passes is a small story, but the pictures of a shepherd's life are well-drawn and touching and, for those who are over-read on Tibet, it provides an interesting and loving insight into a small corner of the Himalayan world. Hard cover, Dust Jacket, Fine.