Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 84 (Color Image)

0084	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

54 PEKING TO LHASA

Pereira he stopped his devotions and several times

called out to him to come and have a cup of tea.

At the summit he stayed in the same temple

that he had occupied in 1910. The guest room had

been rebuilt and he was given an excellent room

with clean plank walls, three panes of glass in the

window, two clean bedsteads, a table with drawers

and a large charcoal brazier. There were thirty

lamas. The sub-Prior was a very nice man who

had been to Mandalay. When Pereira gave him

his card and he saw that he was a General, he

sprang to attention and saluted to show that he

knew the right thing to do.

In the Ching-ting temple, which is situated on

the highest point, is a fine bronze screen presented

by the Emperor K'ang-hsi. Behind the temple

is the famous suicide's cliff, believed to be the

greatest known precipice in the world. But on

account of clouds Pereira could not see more than

50 yards down.

The magnificent panorama extending to the

west over countless ranges Pereira did get a view

of in 1910 ; but on this occasion everything was

denied him. And he missed the sunrise, the

famous Buddha's glory, which apparently is a

kind of rainbow reflected down the precipice from

the sun behind, whilst figures standing on the

brim are magnified into gigantic shadows with

their heads touching the rainbow. On a clear

evening countless lights twinkle far away in the

plain below.

The descent to Omei-hsien, 26 miles, Pereira

easily accomplished in under twelve hours. From

there he made his way up the Ya River to Yachow,

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