Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 148 (Color Image)

0148	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

112 PEKING TO LHASA

consisted of his boy, six followers, including a

Tibetan and Mongol interpreter, four soldiers,

eight horses and fifteen mules besides the five

mules and ten donkeys.

After crossing the Hsuang-shui Ho, the north

branch of the Sining River, the road ascends the

narrow but fertile valley of the Sining Ho.

Treeless hills from 500 to 700 feet in height

bounded the valley on either side, though in the

valley itself there were trees for the first 3 or

4 miles and a few small Chinese villages. The

first stage was only 12 miles and Pereira pitched

his tents at San-kun.

Shara-kuto, the last Chinese town, 22-1-- miles

from Tangar, was reached on the following day. It

consists of some fifty houses surrounded by a

mud wall. Leaving this town and the Sining

River valley the road ascends a grassy valley with

some recently started cultivation to a pass,

10,780 feet, over the Jih-yüeh Shan range, 27 miles

from Tangar. This is the boundary between the

Kansu and Ch'ing-hai Provinces. It is also the

real boundary between China and Tibet, though

the present frontier is the Tang-la Range, running

east and west, the divide between the Salween

and Mekong rivers.

Typical Tibetan grass land, valleys and hills

all grass, and not a tree nor a house to be

seen, was the character of the country on the

far side ; and Pereira encamped on May 12 1

mile from the pass at a height of 10,770 feet.

It was generally warm in the daytime, though

the winds were rather strong, and it was cold in

the mornings. Away to the south could be seen

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