The light irradiates white peaks of Annapurna marching down the sky, in the great rampart that spreads east and west for eighteen hundred miles, the Himalaya-the Malaya (abode, or home) of him (snow). Hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea: seen under snow peaks, these tropical blossoms become the flowers of heroic landscapes. Macaques scamper in green meadow, and a turquoise roller spins in a golden light. Drones, rollers, barbets, and white Egyptian vulture are the common birds, and all have close relatives in East Africa.

The Snow Leopard