Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 156 (Color Image)

0156	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

118 PEKING TO LHASA

east and apparently joined the great Amné Machin

mountain—or Anyè Machin, as it is called by the

Tibetans. He encamped in a plain with good

pasturage by the Bu-lou stream, but the strong

wind and sleet made it cold in his tent. He

was also finding difficulty in breathing at this height, 14,000 feet. Four or five miles was as

much as he cared to walk, and uphill he preferred

even less.

The Tibetan merchants with their yaks and also

a Mohammedan merchant were marching along

with Pereira. They had left their wives behind

and were travelling for five or six months in the

year. They numbered about twenty-five and

were now on their way back to Jye-kundo. The

Mohammedan merchant somewhat tried Pereira by

sitting for hours in his tent. Conversation for

these lengthy periods was impossible so Pereira

would play " Patience " and let the merchant

look on.

The Bu-lou Pass, 14,300 feet, was crossed on

May 31. The descent was easy and he encamped

by a stream flowing between grassy hills about

500 feet high. This day he lost his third mule,

but was able to hire four yaks to take surplus

boxes of stores. A party of Tibetan merchants

travelling from Tangar to Jye-kundo passed him

this day. They expected to make the journey in

sixteen days.

On June 1 he crossed a great plain with very

little grass and passed some small lakes or ponds

of a beautifully blue colour, and with duck swim-

ming on them. He then ascended a narrow bare valley to the East Ma-la-yi Pass, 14,580 feet, and

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