Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 162 (Color Image)

0162	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

122 PEKING TO LHASA

But what seemed to distress him were the rain and

snow and the broken marshy ground, and the

paucity of inhabitants and lack of anything to be

bought.

The Ch'a la Shan, the divide between the

Yangtze and Huang Ho, he crossed the next day

at an elevation of 15,439 feet. Hills on either

side rose some 400 to 600 feet higher and

were covered with snow. This main range runs

N.N.E. to S.E., and its branches are likewise

covered with snow and must be about 16,000 feet

high.

The headwaters of another great river, the

Ya-lung, which flows down to Szechwan, lay on the

far side of the Pass. It was the only great river

of China he had not yet crossed, and is here known

as the Ch'a Ho. He reached it after a very boggy

descent from the pass, and having waded across

it followed down the broad, grassy, boggy Hsia-

ma-t'an valley and gradually leaving the snowy

hills entered a fine rolling grass country where he

camped, having marched 11 miles.

Following down this same valley on June 14

he camped by a pond after a march of 17

miles. The going was good for the first 6 miles,

then marshy and broken. On the way he saw a

herd of about a hundred wild asses. Snow lay on

the ground as he started and a cold wind was

blowing, but the snow soon melted, the day became

mild, and in the afternoon he basked in the sun.

There was a fine view to the south-east of a range

20 to 30 miles away, apparently of black rock

and partly covered with snow.

Again, on June 15, he followed down the same

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