Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 97 (Color Image)

0097	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

TO TA-CHIEN-LU 67

paddy fields full of water. But much of it was

green with winter crops just coming on. The

weather was quite mild and sunny. South of

Kiungchow the plain is left and the road rises

gradually over undulating country. Near Ya-

chow-fu he crossed the river by a neat bridge of

bamboo and planks on bamboo rafts. On enter-

ing the city he followed behind a procession of

soldiers who were conducting two brigands to

execution. The whole city with smiling faces had

turned out to see them. Beyond Ya-chow the

road was fairly good leading along valleys, and

the inns were remarkably clean. But as he

approached Tsing-ki-hsien there was first a steep

rise of 7000 feet over a badly cobbled road which

was crowded with laden coolies, and then a

descent of nearly 4000 feet the height of the

pass being 11,130 feet above sea-level. This

pass was across the divide between the Ya and

the T'ung Rivers, and from it Pereira had a

magnificent view over the Tsing-ki plain far

below to the S.S.W. and high ranges to the

west overtopped by great snow peaks to the

north-west.

Beyond Tsing-ki, a small city of only 260 in-

habitants, he followed the main route to Yunnanfu

for a short distance and then turned up a valley

to Nitow. The hills were bare of trees, and

though the altitude was 6000 feet there was no

snow on them and the sun was bright and warm

in the middle of the day, though cold came on

after sundown. Both his boy and his cook had

taken to wearing spectacles from vanity, Pereira

thought. They posed as his secretaries or Chinese

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