Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 136 (Color Image)

0136	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

102 PEKING TO LHAS A

mines which Mons. Geerts used to work till

Chinese corruption necessitated closing them

down.

Next day there was a rather steep ascent

for 3 miles to the top of the Ping-kou Shan,

7840 feet, the divide between the Ta-t'ung and

Sining Rivers, from which there was a fine view

to the south-west over a low range to a high

snowy range beyond. The descent at first was

good but later very bad with steep places. The

fertile valley of the Sining River was reached at

11-i miles. The soil was loess and it was about

1 mile wide, lying between bare, treeless sandy

hills. It contained many villages and some

trees. At 12 miles was Lao-ya-ch'eng, 6270 feet,

standing on rising ground and containing 55

families. At 191 miles was Kao-miao-tzu, 140

houses ; and at 30 miles Nien-pai-hsien. This

latter is a small city of about 2000 inhabit-

ants, situated at an elevation of 6270 feet.

Pereira had pushed on so as to be there on Palm

Sunday, as it contained a Roman Catholic Mission

station. This Mission was presided over by

Monseigneur Otto, who after fifty years in Kansu

was moving with the Belgian-Dutch missionaries

to Mongolia to make room for German priests.

Monseigneur Otto on account of age had re-

signed his vicariate and was acting as a simple

missionary.

After Mass on Palm Sunday, April 9, Pereira

breakfasted with Monseigneur Otto and Père

Costanoble, and then left for P'ing-chung-yi,

19i miles. After half-a-mile he crossed the

Sining Ho by a rope ferry. The river was here

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