Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 117 (Color Image)

0117	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

TO LAN-CHOW 83

slightly higher than the three other sides, and

seemed designed to protect the defenders in the

back. To Pereira they did not appear to be

meant for defence, for they are too narrow and

steep and are built promiscuously, sometimes on

the top of a hill, sometimes on the sides, and

sometimes in the valley bottom, and sometimes

one in front of the other. For this reason Pereira

was inclined to adopt Mr. Edgar's explanation,

and he thinks that, like Chinese pagodas, they

were intended to act as feng-shui and draw

beneficent spirits to the house.

The country to the west of the Min at this

point is occupied by the Hei-shui tribe, who are

divided into Shang and Ssia, that is, upper and

lower tribes. So far no white man had penetrated

the country. Just opposite Tateng is a village in

which lives the chief of the 'Shu tribe of Tibetans.

Continuing up the valley of the Sung-pan

River, Pereira passed sometimes through narrow

gorges and sometimes over sloping cultivated

land. At about 50 miles north of Mow-chow he

heard that the giant pandar were plentiful high

up in the hills, one day's march to the east,

and he thought this was probably true as he

passed the bamboo which they eat. But now he

could not spare the time to hunt them and had

to proceed on his way toward Lan-chow-fu.

The villages were now generally walled, for

the Tibetans had invaded the district in 1912,

captured Sung-pan, and destroyed most of the

villages southward towards Mow-chow. Many of

the ruined houses were still to be seen, but many

new houses were being built all along the road.

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