Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 158 (Color Image)

0158	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

120 PEKING TO LHASA

encampments round the lake. Here he stayed for

a day.

On June 4 he made a short march by a small

shallow lake with Tibetan encampments round it

and halted for another day at a good grazing

ground to give his mules a chance of feeding on

better pasturage. On June 6 he reached a big

plain, mostly boggy and broken ground but with

good pasturage, where there were several encamp-

ments of Yü-rung-wa Tibetans. Most of their

tents were black but some were white.

On June 7 he marched to Ta-yeh-ma-t'an, or

Big Wild Horse Plain, a great plain stretching

away to the west and south. The ground was

very broken and looked as if countless men had

started making shallow military pits and after

digging out several spadefuls had stopped. All

the Tibetans were moving in the same direction

as Pereira and looked like a Biblical scene from

Exodus.

The meteoric changes in the weather at this

time were specially remarkable. Like the strong

winds they were characteristic of Tibet. On this

day, after east wind and rain, the afternoon turned

out beautiful. Then the wind suddenly shifted to

the north and blew like a hurricane and rain fell.

Another fine spell followed and then a hurricane

and rain again. Finally there was a fine and

peaceful night.

The great plain was crossed the next day for

6 miles and Pereira then ascended the Yeh-niu-

kou, or Wild Ox valley, fording the Dug River, 1

foot deep, four times. This river he followed up

on June 9 and camped at 14,802 feet. He was

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