Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 121 (Color Image)

0121	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

TO LAN-CHOW 87

but in the winter it is snow-bound and is not

generally used till April or May. Pereira, there-

fore, descended the Pai-shui-ho, here an insignifi-

cant mountain stream. The valley lies between

hills of a height of from 600 to 1200 feet. A high

range stands some miles to the north, running

from east to west, and occasional glimpses are

had of a high rocky range to the south. Only

three villages of over ten houses and a few

scattered houses were passed on February 14.

The inhabitants were mostly Tibetans of the

Shu tribe. Pheasants appear to be plentiful.

Nan-p'ing was reached on February 15. It is

a town of 345 families situated at an elevation

of 5350 feet. The weather was beautifully warm,

and Pereira saw a lizard and several butterflies.

The inhabitants had seen few or no Europeans, so

he had a continuous stream of visitors passing

his door and making holes in the paper windows

so as to have a view of him. After considerable

trouble he found a Mohammedan who could talk

Tibetan and knew the short direct route to Choni,

and he left Nan-p'ing on February 18.

He first had to retrace his steps up the Pai-

shui-ho for 18 miles, and then on the following

day ascend the valley of the Hei-shui-ho, which

flows down from the northward. The stony path

led up the left bank through gorges and narrow

valleys bounded by rocky hills up to 1000 feet.

A few Chinese villages were passed, and as prob-

ably no foreigner had ever been along this route

before, the villagers turned out in numbers to

see him. A few miles from T'sao-pa he left

the Hei-shui-ho and ascended the narrow valley

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